Naruto, Star Wars 1. Set the Mood

A place hidden by the purloined letter method

Forgotten and ignored by many

Distracted from by the bright light of Coruscant

.

Called O'maki

A few cities but each different,

each named for what lies in the mists after death.

.

**The Underworld**

**The Abyss**

**Hell's Fires**

**Makai City of Vice**

**Afterlife**

**Devils Abattoir**

**Maze of the Lords of Lies**

**Damned Shadowlands**

.

Even a place kept off all maps

**Here Lie Monsters**

within the sunlands of the waste


	2. Begin Shivering

**ABANDON HOPE YE WHO ENTER HERE**

**WHAT SECRETS LIE WITHIN THESE DARK GATES?**

**ONLY THE SHADOWS KNOW**

**.**

**THE GALAXY IS A BIG PLACE**

**NO ONE KNOWS WHO YOU'LL MEET**

**OUT WITH THE OLD, IN WITH THE NEW**

**BEWARE**

**SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES**

**.**

* * *

.

Imagine an ancient race old, the only race in existance

arrogantly crafting worlds for their race to populate spreading out across the galaxy

terraforming worlds

shaping worlds and creatures from remote preparing each world for habitation before they arrive

living and ruling for centuries to thousand of years

till their empire became spoiled and decadent

then forgetful and lazy till things started to break down,

no longer working as an empire

fueding worlds, blood sports and body modification rampant.

mechanization and genetic alteration considered normal

racial pride shattering unity till even the original form was lost or forgotten

civil war and ultimate weapons were crafted and used

and an empire lay in ash, at least one pocket galaxy lost to plague, a dead zone for millenia

surviving colony worlds no longer connected to capitals, and their technology scrapyard ruins

broken civilization became barbarian survival

.

and forgotten by all

the terraforming network ignored and forgotten to the point access was lost

who worries of their house and the potted plants or pets when they find themselves in a war zone

but worlds continued development and repair based on partial commands by random links

made by dreamers, insane, children, others reaching out for something more

some even thinking they talked to gods, the most recent call it the Force

.

races returning to primitive form and survival depending on evolution not whim

some of the races are even new forms

crafted creatures that became sentient

dependant of the link to maintain their sentience

if cut off from the Force they become only animals again

.

the 'light' side handling herbivores and plants

the 'dark' side handling predators and carnivores

.

in all the force moving each race to the humanoid form

with each generation increasing the capacity of the next

even allowing crossbreeds and hybrids

adapting, shifting, tweaking, bypassing normal evolution

perhaps trying to recreate its creators

.

and now something new

what happens when chakra meets the force


	3. Whisper

uneen from behind a whisper

pain, a twisting flash before a spinning world

long dark chill cold, a fall, slamming into a surface

unable to move, fear for self, fear for friends

flash then darkness

.

* * *

Holonet Planet Matrix

Droid Binary

.

[droid net:unknown energies detected]

[type: unknown - no match in system]

[location:unkown - insufficient time to fix location]

[general area: underworld lower city, pit to docks]

.

* * *

.

Underworld Lower City

Rewire District

Nameless Tower

.

pain, body sleeping in the wrong position

wind passing from underneath, a changing odor moment to moment

a metalic taste of blood dried on lips, as moisture applied by tongue and breath

bright light as eyes flutter open then shut

.

twilight under grey skies

sitting up, pain flares and the world spins as a stomach has its say

reflexes twitch and the vomit is shot to the side

.

the supporting surface on shifts

thick wire mesh rusted broken and snapped in many places

barely supports, warily dragging his form to the firmer surface nearby

pitted and cracked the ?stone?metal? is far more stable

than the broken mesh vent, where air is pulled through

.

almost passing out as adrenalin leaves the system

hands fumble torn clothes, pouch intact, holster intact

jacket shreaded, hyate intact but damaged, sliced and melted three-quarters

of the way though diagonaly on one side, that may explain the head-ache

.

light off metal shows fair skin, blond hair, blue eyes, intact head 'whew'

headache as a memory hits, **"-TO, YOU would lose your head if it wasn't attached!"**

from a shorter pink hired banshee with glowing green hands

'Hmm, think she is a friend, but why do I want to run?'

.

pains fading, and looking around.

stone metal monoliths rise from ground level buildings

towering to the sky, holding a grey sky of metal

buildings hanging from the sky-ceiling hang as if bats or icicles

"What is this place?"

looking down past the edge of the building

unable to see the ground, only platforms and bridges between buildings and

flying metal carts in a thousand forms flying like starlings

and the pit shows things do go deeper

.

.


	4. Going in Blind

.

Underworld Lower City

Rewire District

Nameless Tower

.

a metal box approaches picking up debre, metal and organic with thin metal arms

"hey those are mine" the kid snatches his knives from the rear bin of the droid

ignoring the organic, all debre was systematically picked up

the hyper active blond was kept busy as he had to pick up his gear

and retrieve anything picked by the droid, and it always seemed to go left when he went right

talk about frustrating

he rescued his undamaged gear

.

hearing hissing like a broken water pipe

the kid turns away from the mobile trash can cleaning the area

turning a corner nearby an odd form in a vest stomps into view around a corner of the rooftop

wiping a yellow stained rag over its face and head

pointing to the teen hisses

{where were you when the bantha poo-doo hit the fan}

"..."

shock looking at a talking lizard, and an old one at that

"..."

looking at the body impression in the fan exaust port

{kid you ok?}

eying the impression in the fencing grate

[kid], ~kid~, #hello#

several other languages are tried as the old lizard tries to talk to the injured teen

carefuly, as several pointy weapons lie around the damaged grate

and hang from his leg strapped belt holster

carefully leading him to a doorway takes the unknown into the unknown

.

down below after a ring hall

dodging cleaning boxes scrubbing yellow stains off the floor and walls

{here boy} points to room, going in, metalic junk heaven

point to a chair, {watch this} activating an old com system used for schooling

"sugoi"

the watching the screen in shock, the trandoshan steps out

heading upstairs to the roof

brings back a damaged grate, pictures of the same

and organic samples in vials

.

{who to contact? Well, lets check if local first.}

{perhaps a reward if he's a noble}

dialing com codes.

.


	5. Noise

.

Underworld Lower City

Rewire District

Nameless Tower

.

days later the boy speaks an infant's level of Dosh and Basic

bringing a piece of junk to nameless for a description of what it is

slowly learning of the new city he is in

while replacing shreaded clothes with gear

left behind from prior tenants

.

nameless introduces nar'uto to three circle combat

three circles drawn provide the four rings for sparing

winner of last fight has to stay in inner ring as if guarding an item, person or holding a prisoner

if another is aiding or fighting, the other has to stay in 2nd ring

3rd ring is for long range attack

4th ring means there is no limit for attacker

.

sadly the trandoshan thought to spar with the kid

finding out that his warrior is too old for anything major

peeling nar'uto off the floor to answer the door

.

opens his door sees the expected old friend

oddly munching on a snack

.

letting in his old sullustran friend, Leeds looks the kid over, {Nameless, has he been trained?}

smirking with old fangs, {Can already take an old lizard like me, but is not local, none missing.}

{been training him in the main hall, some have been asking if I train others again}

{strangest thing is no rebellion or arguing with me, pulls his weight}

{learning iron claw, fast fang, and strong talon, is a very offensive type}

{no lash tail, kick claw or spin toss}

.

Nameless points out the boy's gear {already has thousand creds of usable blades on him}

{calls himself a nija shiny bee, names nar-uto}, hearing his name boy turns to host

tapping floor for attention, tilting his head. nameless waves him back to console

{you could sell him.} the old man replies, watching the boy manipulate the com display

snidely, in a questioning voice {honorable warrior's like us? right, rather lose hide for the silent man's boots}

.

{hard to believe he dropped in on you} smirks the old sullustran

{harder to believe, he lived, Leeds} replies the old trand {but you saw the pix, anything on the samples?}

{human, abilities unknown. nothing matched in the limited database I was accessing}

{nothing else? nothing to even tell where his kin are?}

.

{nothing, either he is crafted, and tossed or being sought, or..}

{or..} looking at the sullustran

Leeds replies {best guess, new world, first contact. but no word at the archives of anything}

{anything goes then} mutters Nameless

.

Leeds finishes his snack and pulls out another from a pouch

offers it with a wave, Nameless takes it ripping a chunk, hmming at the taste {not bad}

{scares off the human rippers, humans hate it, called spoo}

{Bo and Mack are selling it, they picked up a cargo of it cheap}

{human ripper hated spoo so much he passed on mugging me when he saw me snacking}

.

{welcome to the hell world of O'Maki kid}

"nani?"

motioning him to the table

the old sullustran puts his hands out, palms up in the middle of the table

nods to the boy glancing at his hands

cautiously the teen's hands move across the table to meet palms

lightly watching for sudden movement palms meet

.

his arms and body numb, his brain itches

=hello=

.

* * *

.

omake

.

force echos cause a mass sneeze in konoha's ranks of ninjas

tsunade begins a new roster of tests that begin making ninjas

think medics are half-vampires

"_**NO, not more blood samples, we are not ill, its our ninja paranoia**_"

"**NO, will not spend more time in therapy, to pad your bills**"

.

"ah, the ones who did not escape, must be ill"

.


	6. footsteps

the boy's eyes widen hearing a voice in his head

telepathy used in this way is something new to Naruto

".. hello"

=Leeds= the old sullustran pointing to himself

=how=

=telepathy=

.

=I= =am= =here= =to= =teach= =you= =Basic= =the= =standard= =language= =for= =communication= =with= =many= =races=

=while= I teach you the =information= =is= =pathed= =into= =you're= =mind=

.

=as= I teach, =each= =word= =links= =in= with =your= =own= language =linking= the =associational= =connections=

=needed= =that= =form= you're own language as each =locks= in, =it= =forms= =more= connections

=thanks= to the telepathy =linguistic= =training=

.

=please= =note= as =we= =talk= the =words= =will= =start= to form =patterns= we =can= =use= to =chat= =together=

=without= =having= to =fumble= =through= the associational connections you =are= =using= =making= =mistakes=

.

the old sullustran pauses to take a deep breath, dropping the connection to rest

drinking some water, while resting from the telepathic connection

a few minutes later holds out his hands to continue

.

you're =on= the =world= =of= =Makai= in the =largest= =city= =called= =Underworld=

=this= is the =lower= and =poorer= =section= =called= =Rewire= =near= the =pit=

.

we will be =resting= =soon= please =do= =not= =run= =off=

you are =currently= =a= =guest= of =Nameless=

are you still =hurt= =or= =injured= =from= the =fall= that =landed= you on this =tower?=

are you a =mature= =adult= of your =species= or =considered= a =young= =child= =still?=

.

heavily sweating and tired, Leeds breaks off to rest and gather his energy

drinking more water, the boy in a daze as his mind is linking the words used

to his language from home mumbling as he works through the patterns

"you are-you're"

"form-forms"

"word-words"

"use-using"

looking at his hosts looking somewhat warily

"I am not injured"

"I am young but considered an adult" pointing to his hyate and tapping it

"how did I get here?"

.

looking from the kid, Leeds looks at Nameless {you sure you want him able to chat?}

snacking on stick of fried spoo, he comes back to the table

finishes his food drinks some water settles down and continues the 'chat' session

.

=all= we =know= is you =fell= on namless's =roof= and =barfed= =vomit= into the =air= =system=

the system =sprayed= =over= the =main= =hall= and =splashed= =everyone=

the =smell= will =probably= =linger= for =days= or =weeks=

.

=what= do you =remember?=

.

"I don't remember much, everything is hazy"

"I think I heard someone say die to me, then a cold pain"

"falling, slaming into someone more pain, a major headache"

"falling, then lying on metal at the top of this place"

.

=now= =onto= the =important= =things=

gaining narutos attention, Leeds asks,

do you =prefer= your =food= =alive= =when= =eaten= like the =hutts= =eating= =gakk=?

naruto faceplants into the table as

images of gakk, hutts eating, cause nausea to feedback over the link to Leeds

do you =eat= your food =raw= or =cooked=?

.

=meat=, =vegtables= or =both?=

=sliced=, =mushed=, =intact?=

=separated= or =mixed?=

.

do you =drink= =water=, =fermented= =beverages= or =other= =liquids= with your food?

do you =sleep= in a =bed= to =rest= or a =mat= on the =floor=

following his facial expressions and feedback from the link

the two elders set up a eatable meal each could stand

.

later as the guest heads to bed

Nameless calls "goodnight brat"

.

returning to the main room, Nameless is surprised to see Leeds still waiting

{Nameless, I sensed something odd while linking the words to his language tree}

{there was something odd, a presence, it was faint but at the edges of detection}

Nameless looks at Leeds worn and fatigued form {is it bad?}

{it was like an echo, a shadow, a breeze. I have no idea what it was}

{mostly because it is hard linking to him, he has the lowest link to the force I have ever seen}

.

* * *

.

holonet planet matrix

droid binary

.

[droid net:anomaly]

[anomily in slum level, slag area, tier 0 genetic database]

[weekly update reported unknown geneline]

[tenative type human, further details masked and blocked]

[no matches or links in any database]

[detail: not force sensitive, metaclorian count zero]

[detail: sample decayed prior to full analysis]

[anomaly: existance of a zero count, wanted for analysis]

.

money is paid on a little information

where information

is more valued than gold

.

* * *

.

silver ships arrive at the capital

shadows in holos

buying a death

on a distant world

.

* * *

.

omake

.

"you lost naruto?"

"hmm"

"a while back I found a whole supply of latex gloves"

"lets give a bunch of ninja silver shafts"

"thousand years of death"

"eternal pain"

"lets play doctor"

snap

.


	7. Itch

.

Holonet O'Maki Planet Matrix

droid binary

.

[droid net: reported assassination]

[type: linked to failed reported assasination attempt - Count D'nai de Monay]

[location: 4th level main traffic corridor, vehicle on autopilot]

[details: dropped into open aircar, stunning injury to driver, lethal to secondary passenger]

[disposal: protocol droid picked up blaster, shot intruder, tossed body overboard into main traffic corridor]

.

[info: weapon lodged in guest after strike on Count D'nai de Monay]

[datastick and case lost in mid-air spin of aircar]

[methods: tenative-assumed cloaked ship or one-use jetpack]

.

[details: protocol droid has since gone missing, programming state unknown]

.

[droid net:anomaly update]

[info: black card issue warrant: assassin bounty]

[payment: weight in gold - dead, twice weight in gold - alive wanted for questioning]

{details: target presumed killed due to blaster hit and fall}

.

[droid net:assassin update]

[added reports: 3 hits on body of assassin as dropping through traffic levels]

[details: impacted cargo lifter type 4 before sliding off, glance hit tier 2 advertising board, damaged swoop bike from nightrider gang]

.

[forensic analysis: assassination attempt no blood found]

[metal cloth analogs found - tech 2c for metal, tech 1d for cloth]

[metal iron/steel analog no molecular match]

[cloth plantfiber woven at c rank but indicators for machine creation tech 1d]

.

[alert level 0 maintence droids to take to priority processing if found/scraped up]

.

* * *

.

several days later

Leeds arrives at the door

.

looking rested Leeds asks, "are you ready for more?"

naruto bounces to the table, "I'm ready to chew kunai and spit senbon"

"sit, shortly we will continue"

looking to Nameless, {Mack and Bo need to see us at the Pit after training}

munching on snacks Leeds gets a drink and heads to the table

amused by the hyper naruto, fidgiting in the chair

.

* * *

.

kyuubi wakes up, `**What is this?**'

.

* * *

.

supprisingly to Leeds the mental paths to naruto are clear and easy

allowing more than one word slow shouting

compared to the previous visit

.

=lets introduce ourselves=

=as I told you I am Leeds a sullustran of high age=

=my position in rewire, such as it is, is as a translator. if needed I can act as a speaker-representitive=

=for those who cannot speak basic=

=his name is Nameless, a trandoshan hunter of high age=

.

=since we know you are not from around here=

=welcome such as it is, to the world of O'maki=

=the capital and eight major cesspits=

.

=a multi corperation pesthole=

=the main product for the entire place is to build and support ships=

=each city was named after a races afterlife=

.

* * *

.

dropping the link, Leeds gathers his energy

sipping his cup of guma, before returning to the link

.

images flow with the descriptions

making narutos eyes widen in shock at the places and forms within

.

* * *

.

=Maze of the Lords of Lies=

=capital of the planet, sometimes called Lordlies to the posh=

=headquarters for all merchant activities and corperate backstabbing planetwide=

.

=Underworld=

=where we are, is the main producer of phase crystals=

=coming from the pit you saw, used for particle shields, hyper cores, igniter-crystals=

=grown, found or dug out=

.

=the Abyss=

=crack chasms filled with water and seafood=

=produces drugs, and food supplies by hanging gardens=

.

=Hells fires=

=metal construction, engineering by lava mining via droids=

=shipstone charging and major ship construction=

.

=Makai city of vice=

=the wild fringe-entertainment district. home of chimeras=

=beauty slaves and exotic chimera slaves=

=from gambling, to anything goes=

.

=Afterlife=

=home to cyborgs and weapon engineers=

=sadly they are accident prone so all major weapons are tested in outer system, hopefully=

.

=Devils Abattoir=

=military annex, training grounds and barracks=

=home to assassins, bounty hunters, and mercs=

.

=Damned Shadowlands=

=medical experts using living 'volunteer' test subjects=

=home of bodysnatchers, may they all fail, and fill their own quotas=

.

=Here Lie Monsters=

=rumored separate continent=

=genetic manipulation/malformed chimeras dumpground=

=survival games, military test zones on live targets, dump ground for the inconvienent=

.

* * *

.

pulling back from the link

looking eye to eye with a serious look to naruto continues

=here every corperation seeks an edge=

=if they can craft a person, one to position them past their rivals, they do so=

=culls and failures are tossed out or put back in the blender=

.

=you can sell your genes but only if 'they' are interested=

=might get enough money to travel anyplace=

=but you could have thousand kids clone slaved out=

=perhaps ten thousand if rare=

.

=here decisions are made by putting your money where your mouth is=

=and the one who pays the most wins the bids/decision=

=often the winner gets their money back as it cycles back in their profits=

.

* * *

.

shocked by the memory images from the old alien

kyuubi reaches out and tries to grab at the memories

tapping into Leeds deep core

Leeds gasps passing out in pain

.

* * *

.

{Leeds took it to far again}, shaking his head

unaware of what happened

Nameless picks him up and sets him on a backless couch

.

'perhaps I can get a finders fee for training him'

"lets go for a walk naruto"

.

a few blocks away a white painted face blocks the way

"hey chummer, yo in my sprawl, pay toll"

flips a knife palm to palm smiling with teeth at the pair

.

"kick his ass kid, lets see what you've got"

tilting his thumb-claw at the ripper

.

running forward, naruto tries by reflex to use his usual kage bushin with the unusual result of no bushin

yet the hand maneuvers disturb the ripper

"quit trying to slip gear out of you're clawholes, runtpup" calls Nameless

.

the ripper tries to thrust but naruto levers his arm up

letting him kick the ripper's feet out from under him, slamming the ripper's lights out

"remember no killin naruto", calls out Nameless

.

sliding out out of shadowed doorways, "the jokerz will take you apart"

two companions to the ripper in similar odd clothes

charge at naruto trying to take him down

"we'll send your pieces to the bodyshop" curses one of the white faced attackers

.

naruto stops the knife wielding right opponent with a forearm block

burying his fist in lower reaches of the attackers gut.

quickly stepping aside of the left attacker to dodge a glowing sparking rod

he moves in, bending the weapon arm aside to keep the weapon away

brings the sparking rod against the owners shoulder

.

dropping like a log, naruto steps away from the collapsing punk

almost stepping into an oncoming attack from a bleeding foe

.

the ripper finds his wrist held in claws stopping the downsweep knifing

"fool, killing not allowed in these areas"

swinging the ripper into the wall face first

wincing in pain Nameless holds his lower back

"drat, my back, my back"

"oh my lumbago"

.

"new lesson naruto", looking to the kid, "can you guess whats next?"

"take their gear and prank them?"

naruto's reply gives him pause, "what do you have in mind?"

.

grabbing food at the grill and booze from the cantina

the pair return to the tower in tome to see Leeds stir

"what sort of cruiser hit me"

.

"while you were out we took a walk and tested naruto's skills in a fight"

"cleaned the alley south of here thats been a problem"

"kids good" watching as naruto berates himself for missing the first ripper getting back up, nameless swats naruto's shoulder with the back of a clawhand

"don't complain about a loss if you're still alive, most idiots are dead"

"was just going to salvage their gear but naruto suggested better options"

"alley now has some funny temporary decorations"

.

* * *

.

elsewhere

.

having rescued the child from an outworld and the life of a slave, his fate now comes to the decision point

"No, to old is he to learn, to much fear"

"based on the laws of the council, Master, he will not be trained"

.

watching through a hidden camera

an old hand grasps to fist, a grin on an old males face, as he imagines the prize falling to his hand

.

"My word has been given, I request a leave of absence"

.

stunned looks sweep the chambers population

"denied"

.

marching to a computer terminal, a few minutes are spent pondering the records

typing, many look on in shock as he has his back turned on the council

looking to the child, summons him to the display

.

"well that was the first and second best options, so we shift to the third best"

"sign here son", the screen closing as the boy finishes signing

"then by the laws of the council I step down and retire"

.

father looks to son as they leave a silent council

"lets go pack"

the two grab packs unopened in the few hours since their arrival

leaving the ornate tower

.

the silent watcher's shock matching the council's

.

.

elsewhere

a failed assassination

sabers flash

a dart from the shadows bringing down

the blackguard, killed to keep secrets

.

* * *

.

omake

.

kyuubi sits upright "**I'm not a tendril monster**"

behind him nine tails like male peacock fan spread out

tips twisted spelling K-I-N K-Y behind him

lettering glowing in neon

"**yess-ss, sacrifice the virgins to the fox-lord**"

"**only 18-year mature female hotties need apply**"

.

later

"**new record 15 at a time**"

there are times when all males brains run south

.


	8. Scent

.

Underworld Lower City

Rewire District

Nameless Tower

.

after a snack Nameless heads to the door

"Gear up Leeds," he calls "lets head to the Pit."

a "You to pup." causes naruto to grab his gear, happy to get out more

.

* * *

.

Underworld Lower City

Pit Claims Area

South Edge

.

at Pits edge by the vators

Nameless calls out to the two workers ahead, "What's clawing your hides kids."

"Leeds said you needed us?"

Mack and Bo wave back from where they are munching lunch

.

watching the trio, Bo sets aside his salami sandwich, leans back as the trio sit down

"Two corps pulling a tag-team ordered their mining bots and droids to do an unauthorized ramp mine."

"Deeper than anything prior, and at an odd angle."

.

slinging a thumb to the trios left, "We salvaged some info from a damaged droid they left behind."

.

"our droid is slicing the core of the one they left" pointing to a shoddy floating sphere

"From what we could find of their orders after they pulled out,"

"they were planning to send side mines out like a drillworm nest."

.

beeping from their nearby droid

causes the pair to pull their datapads from their belts

reading the info relayed by IR laser to their data pads

.

Mack and Bo groan, reading spliced and hacked files

showing several corps have lost all their driods and mining bots down the shaft

.

Bo nods to Mack and grabs his sandwich finishing his lunch as Mack picks up the FYI brief

"The mining bots found something in the pit."

.

"They used disintegrators and had no magma-lock to prevent backflow if they hit a lava pocket"

Bo grabs his drink, "tunnel went through our claim, bypass undermining at its best"

"they tried to bribe then steal the claim by force then lost it all", taking a sip

"their decker tried to splice our droids", spitting in a bucket to the side

"hour long shoot out brought to an end by them collapsing the roof on their own heads"

"their droids are gone and the claim dropped to us, as the only access was through our claim"

.

"now as the nearest claim, if we can set up and secure the entire tunnel then we own it"

"thats the best option for us, problem is something took out two companies worth of droids and mining bots"

"we need to run an evaluation walkthrough, which for us means grabbing anything we pass."

"If we find enough we can buy a magma-lock or two depending on how fast and far they mined."

.

"Second problem is that two companies of droids may turn on us down there if they have anti-theft programming"

"we need a team that can handle droids, if you want to have shorty there as our packrat he's welcome if you vouch for him."

"Other issues are the corps trying to reclaim the mine, if they send more guard or hire mercs we may need to fight."

"The first set of corp guards were not happy the mine was declaired a false claim."

"Others may try to pirate the work or raid what we collect, shares of the mine come after the magma-lock is paid for."

.

Bo washes the remains of the food down picking up the conversation as Mack finishes

"we have some odd readings, new stuff not seen before"

"salvaged data says their entire group of droids went offline"

"whatever is down there jams all signals, blocks all commands, they might even still be working down there"

"but the bots and droids just drop off the map down there due to the white noise"

"and at least two branches of the megacorps upstairs are trying to decide if they want to continue"

"corp politics trying to open a corked bottle of crazy up in the gardens"

"as Unitech takes on Tekworks, debating the mine, they must have info we don't"

"had a short alliance due to back-knifing about losing even the droids invested"

.

mack and bo ask the trio to go down with them

"do you three want in?" grinning when the pair get nods from all three

"Air packs and pressure fields will be needed."

"Mack grab gear for shorty, and get him equipped", only stopping when nameless calls "have him repeat back the instructions to verify."

the short pair head to a locked cache bunker

Bo looks to the elder pair

"Looks human, do you vouch for him?" nodding to naruto

"he dropped in on me three weeks ago, but has passed every test so far"

Nameless starts telling Bo details of the kids visit as they gather their equipment

Leeds heads to a storage bay console, programming orders into two moble pods in a separate cache bunker on the other side of the bay

both start moving to a boxdrop vator

.

* * *

.

Underworld Lower City

Pit

Elevator to The Maze

.

during the trip down the secondary vator shaft of the edge support

naruto picks up a thread of a conversation

.

pointing at the trandoshan "he keeps the riff-raff out of the tower and acts as a maintence man"

"think of him as the landlord for the tower"

chuckling as he senses curiousity from the youth

"you look like you're interested in more of the story" leading naruto on

"are you sure you want to listen to old stories pup?"

.

"how did we meet?", Leeds laughs, as Nameless groans

Bo and Mack set up a game of Khet, playing as they listen

.

"sadly its an old dry story, and since we will be dusting it off, the drinks will be needed"

teasing naruto more while setting up drinks

as the lift lowers the party into the deeps of the pit

.

"his name was stripped from him for disobeying orders"

"his leader out of greed was betraying his oaths, allies and army, putting it out of position"

"allowing it to be easily defeated by those who had bribed and suborned the lord commander"

"seeing his orders made no sense he disobeyed and prevented his forces from being sacrificed"

"causing him to be stripped of rank and name"

"many would have killed themselves to clear the dishonor"

"he chose to make his life a stain on the honor of the lord commander"

"making many question the commander's motives"

.

"assassins were sent for years to kill Nameless and expunge the lord's dishonor"

"planning to make it look like Nameless killed himself to take the blame on himself"

laughing at naruto's undivided attention at the story

.

"many killers were sent and stopped, the last batch though,"

"the killers were trying and coming close to bleeding him out, fighting him"

"we met as the assassins blocked my path and tried to order me away"

"ended up rescuing him, taking down the assassins between us"

.

smacking his claw to the table, "bastard, tell him all the details if you're telling the story"

Nameless snarls to Leeds

Nameless turns to naruto "what he's not saying is he was drunk enough to dislike being ordered by sloppy fools"

"while they were trying to deal with an intruder in their murder, I slipped loose."

.

"that fight became very public as sullustrans are high order gossips, broadcasted the entire fight by his droid"

"worse for the lord commander, his fools were defeated on camera by a drunk sullustran and a half-dead dishonored warrior"

"an entire claw of the Phantom Accord assassin guild exposed on a thousand screens"

glasses ring as the elders tap them together then down the liquids

.

turning and looking to naruto

"whats your home like"

.

"Well we're a city called a village surrounded by vast woods, ruled by the hokage"

"the ninja council and the incompetence council(civilians) advise him"

"the incompetence council is lead by the power mongers"

"I call them the three stooges"

.

"they try to rule the village and dump the paperwork on the hokage"

"the kage usually finds ways to dispose of the paperwork"

.

"rice paper and soy ink get used to make dumplings"

"akamichi take care of those"

.

"uchiha use to burn their portion"

.

"inuzukas have their pups house-trained on their quota"

.

"nara crossed their deer with goats"

"and the paperwork becomes deer feed"

.

"aburame use paper wasps to make cardboard"

.

"yaminaka use it as fertilizer or form paper cups to hold plants"

.

"never figured out what the hyuuga do with it"

"I think it has something to do with the stick up their rumps"

"and their consipation problem"

.

* * *

.

Underworld Mid City

Library District

Lair of Cards

.

"Hey King Diamond"

"Found info on the roadwart who dangled the club trio"

"Was seen headed to the Pit snacker and teeth leading"

.

"interesting"

"info was just slung out from the BANK"

"he's got a bounty on him"

"send the spades out after him if he does go in the pit"

"they know the area better"

"tell them alive is worth twice the purse"

"as answers are wanted by the payday"

.

* * *

.

echos from elsewhere

.

Amedala looks at Jinn, "this is message I recieved a few minutes prior to your entry"

pressing a key on the display

a holographic form shimmers above the desk "Vynar Taverrild, Speaker for the Council to the Senate" Jinn muses

"yes", pressing play the recording continues "Queen Amedala greetings from the Jedi Council"

"our apoligies Qui-Gon Jinn is no longer available due to cirumstances beyond our control"

"the jedi council has assigned master Windu to assist you, Obi-Wan Kenobi has been promoted to Jedi Knight"

"he will be remaining with you, but the new master will also have a padiwan to assist your party"

"Master Windu will be joining you shortly with his padiwan"

.

the hologram continues, "on other matters"

"your ladyship Qui-Gon Jinn had some differences with the council and has been retired"

"he was always one of our best yet could be quite unpredictable"

"sadly we request you refrain from interaction with him till the situation stabilizes on the matter of his retirement"

"the details are giving many in the council headaches on several details points"

.

.

"now how could they have known we were headed this way?"

"could your security check for any trackers?"

"certainly, If I cannot aid you, you will need others, the captain will assist"

.

"Well, my apologies" bowing to the queen

"It looks like my direct help you would cost you the support of the Jedi Council when Naboo needs it desparately"

"By your leave", bowing and leaving the room, escorted by the guard captain

.

* * *

.

omake

.

"sucks to be us then"

"if the demon is dead then the kyuubi is loose"

"best start practicing your fuinjitsu, guess it will call for"

"a hundred of your best ninja to sacrifice themselves to delay it or seal it"

"while the life force of several hundred civilians and prisoners are used"

"to seal it again, when it comes calling, knocking on your door"

"and what high clans will have to sacrifice their newborn kids"

"till one survives the sealing process"

explains the hokage

.


	9. Door

.

Underworld Lower City

Pit

Elevator to The Maze

.

naruto watched as his team-mates tried to understand what had been described to them

a city in woods they could understand, but how they disposed of paperwork

shorted their brains out long enough for the vator to reach Pitstop

.

what marks do you want as your claim,

each checks with the local authority linked to the Pit-boss, to see if their claim mark is still theirs

naruto uses the spiral leaf after he finds the spiral is in use by someone else

.

Mack takes the group to a supply area in the maze, part of their first minor claim

opening up the chained and locked area

revealing shelves filled with old used equipment and gear

most salvaged and repaired to still be useable

.

Mack describes the tricks of deep crust mining as he grabs a pack and puts in pressure containers of varied sizes into it

"the types down here are rylith, pontite, and saber crystals"

"rylith for guns, kunda for medical and communications, byrothsis for cameras and droids we can hope for"

"those are steady sellers, but rule of thumb is pick up anything crystal and pack it"

"here is a can of spray seal, create a mark the size of your head as part of the claim"

"saber crystals are only bought if someone from the jedi or other religions want them"

"they tend to sell slow, but even shards can be synthisized into whole crystals"

.

Bo swaps out with Mack after he gets his gear set up

when Naruto grabs 12 empty packs

"You won't be able to carry that much"

oddly when Naruto comes back from the shelves

ten of the packs are gone

Bo just shakes his head assuming Naruto put them back on the shelves

.

using a waterglass against the wall Bo shows some tricks for mining

"one of the simple ways to mine is if the crystal is loose then just layer the air field over the base of the crystal"

"running the net handle on the space between the glass and wall", naruto is surprised when the glass pops away from the wall

Bo spins the net 180 to catch the glass in the net, reminding naruto of the goldfish netting challenge at carnivals

"the internal pressure exposed to our lighter pressure will snap off the crystal better than any hammer"

.

"many first time fools just grab the crystal and pull to have the crystal go to shards in their hands"

"as the crystal falls use a scoop-net to catch and put in a shielded pressurized container"

"the best are kept pressurized and used for blaster or cannon booster crystals"

.

* * *

.

Underworld Lower City

Maze of the Pit

Allied Team Claim

.

cycling through a pressure airlock to reach the newer tunnel

Mack and Bo guide the trio past the collapsed tunnel that buried the attacking corp droids

catching naruto attention, Leeds waves him over, "If you see a droid alert any of us"

"the only droids that these two have are rebuilt defence droids and they look like junk metal"

"the four of us are packing restraining bolt pistols, and if we get a good hit the droid will be ours as salvage"

"once we reprogram it anyway"

.

the team of five walk down a long tunnel that narrows to single person width more than once

several times their sensors go off, causing a search of the section

.

one reading caused Bo to curse like a long hauler

pulling a red can of paint and painting long red bars on one side of the mine tunnel

"Oh those sod faced idiots, they were mining next to a lava chamber."

"If they had breached the chamber without a magma-lock they could have taken out the entire pit."

the two elders pull red cans out and go back about several hundred feet and paint floors and walls

Bo advises naruto while waiting "They are marking an area for a magma-lock, looks like we will need more than one"

after passing from the pocket area another magma-lock area is painted "to keep the magma contained if it breaches"

"else we would lose most of the mine"

.

"So kid what other places are on your world"

"Uum hold on a minute." naruto starts humming a song chanting

.

"The earth moves as a landslide."

"The water washes over."

"The fire carries through the air."

"Wind flows over."

"Lighting the sudden light."

.

"we have five major nations called earth, water, fire, wind, and lightning"

"each is home to one of the major ninja villages"

.

"what was the song you sang?", leeds asks

"Old man hokage taught me the countries and other villages by using kids songs,"

"the major nations, major villages, and minor villages are the only ones I remember at the moment."

.

miles pass, in a cave pocket that went up into darkness and down past their meager lights

crystals could be seen in the walls far out of reach of the shaft ledge

they're shocked when Naruto walks past them walking on the wall

.

shaking his head Bo whispers "ever seen anything like it?"

"nope, not even jedi or sith have ever walked walls" Leeds replies

"he says he does water also" Nameless remarks

"what is he a saint?" Mack snarks

.

harvesting the crystals and netting them as taught

he shifts them to the pressure canisters, sliding them into the pack

he brings back half a pack from the lit area

worn and huffing drops to the floor, looks at his wide eyed party

.

* * *

.

further back at the old claim

laughing forms run and tumble to the old claim door

painting the walls in tribal forms from ancient cards

one form slides to the door, pulling tools out trying for general access

"Ace, this is a Dc-90 lock its so old it can't be sliced"

burning a hole and inserting a spy

"Blitz," cursing "this pockers rigged"

"can't see whats rigged but its manual"

"Blitz, sensor just went off, I jammed it to outside"

"if their deep in the mine the scan alert won't read, maybe"

Ace signals him away from the door waving up another

"duce it" pointing to the door

.

* * *

.

Mack stops suddenly, calling out "we've got trouble"

checking his datapad "someone's forcing the door at the claim"

"Get this they screwed up so bad it put that old door into lockdown mode and they had to blow it open."

"Scanners show 11 intruders, no droids, moving out of the bunker into the new mine."

"Eight miles we've come almost four miles down."

"We have to intercept them before the lava chamber,"

"even if we beat them they could be dumb enough to blow it out of spite."

.

* * *

.

echoes from elsewhere

.

"Our friend had several trackers on him, the strongest ones were in his battery packs for his lightsaber"

"best guess is they track all lightsabers, since when would a jedi be without his lightsaber?"

.

"Captain, I noticed we have several new guards"

"Yes mum, with the loss of our guards in escaping the blockade"

"I contacted and hired several new members for the guard detail"

"I hope they can take orders better than our allies did"

"your men, your responsibility,"

"one does look old and the other small though"

"Don't worry I have shown them the 12 inch nails"

"Nails?"

"yes the ones that will be hammered through their feet if they disobey"

"they got my point quickly"

.

"Mam, when we leave for naboo they and a few others being hired will assist against the blockade"

"How will we be paying for this?"

"A few wagers made with remaining money on tatooine"

"Apparently the hutts have very high odds on our failure"

"And the others hired"

"well.."

"the old man had contacts that owed favors"

"He could not use them before as his prior employers would consider them ..."

"Beneath them"

"So he dusted off his com book..."

"Made a few com calls... "

.

* * *

.

omake

.

lost my eyebrows to a taijitsu using ninja from Konoha

he was experimenting with a old Martial Arts form: Manyu Hiken-cho from the Manyu Clan

the form allows the women to steal from others to enhance their own physical form

for women it enhances their breast size

for men the physical body and facial hair

but since many oriental types have no beard hair, it enhanced his eyebrows

you too may lose your eyebrows to Maito Gai

.


	10. Ghost

.

Underworld Lower City

Maze of the Pit

Unitech-Tekworks Abandonded Claim

.

the party starts hustling back to the lava chamber

Nameless looks at their pace climbing back up the shaft

slogging on, Nameless signals Naruto to join him

"Naruto how fast, and how long can you run 3 miles uphill"

smirking at the old lizard "fast and about 20 min" the others eyes widen, as they listen in

.

"we do not have your speed," huffing from the climb so far "I'm sending you ahead, you willing?"

Naruto nods

"I want you to delay them and keep them from reaching the lava chamber before us"

"they are marching down hill, with us climbing"

if you can get past the lava section," Nameless hands him a pistol, "fight a slow withdrawl if you can"

"try to distract them and buy us time to get there to back you up"

"they have used explosives once, so keep moving, go"

running into the darkness of the deep tunnel ahead, the slower four cannot even see Naruto's lamp to mark his speed

.

four forms run and bounce down the slope, gravel and dirt shifting underfoot

slowing only at an area painted by marks in a glowing red

planting more 'gifts' while one calls back on his com

.

spotting naruto further down the tunnel, the leader point to and at their target

"Hey chummer, you're coming with us" he calls out, "we're taking you in for your bounty, the payday awaits"

shockingly, naruto walks up to them nodding

they do not hear the hissing under his jacket

.

in their midst the explosive note under his jacket explodes, disrupts the clone

also throwing the gang members to the walls

.

thunder roars, filling the mine, two jokerz are flattened, after being tossed down the tunnel glancing off the walls, the others are slung to the walls

crumpling from the blast, stunned they are vulnerable, they never notice the fast moving form knocking them each out

.

quickly the jokerz limbs are tied in wire, and stripped of gear

.

continuing the run uphill Naruto shortly makes it to the tunnel near the lava chamber

not seeing the 'gifts' naruto trips the first and closest of the mines

.

momentum accelerated by the blast, yet his mobility aids in evading the majority of the explosion, naruto rolls to the wall

"drat they have traps here also", Naruto mutters to himself as his ears and body slowly recover from the blast

.

unseen a crack in the wall forms due to the blast

something small slips through, moving to to the warm form nearby, finding a torn wound it enters sliding under the skin,

like a piece of shrapnel it slides through his skin, entering its new host

.

Narutos blast wounds and scrapes shrinking as he picks himself from the mine floor

spotting the other two mines, naruto runs up the wall, avoiding the other mines

naruto uses his paint sprayer to paint rings around the mines, without setting them off

.

back to running, Naruto dims down his carrylight

jogging silently naruto listens for his opponents

moving past a cavern area of no interest

grinding steps are heard, approaching from further on

"Are we there yet"

"fifteen bottles on a wall, one falls off and fourteen more to bury"

"Ace daddy, I have to go to the throne"

"what a batch of white elephants" mutters the leader

and other mixed whining and bad puns echo to Naruto

.

skipping back Naruto plants his own gifts, paper sliding under gravel and dirt silently

his shoulder and back spasm mildly in remembered pain

slipping into the empty pocket cavern he 'tags' two sections before returning to the lava chamber tunnel and marking it

.

as the jokerz enter the cavern one swings his light to the side, spotting and lighting up one of narutos tags off to the side

"looks like someone posted a snail-mail notice"

as they approach the curling design on paper, naruto sets it off

flaring, the sunburst tag brightens the chamber

.

the lightblind jokers curse as their eyes become useless

the leader of the pack twists the tops of two spray cans tossing one to front and back

explosions from the grenades rock the room affecting no one except the cave

.

naruto seeing several moving past the trapped floor, sets off the tag in the middle of the pack of jackals

gravel and the explosion scattering the gangmembers

further down the tunnel what was a crack becomes an arm long red crack

.

four new forms glance around the edge of the exiting tunnel

seeing the scatterd forms climbing to their feet, narutos friends start shooting the jokerz

from the limited cover of the tunnel passage

.

twisting the tops of their sprayers the jokerz sling them at the party of old farts

"jokes on them" naruto mutters as he aims at the spraycans turning into burning grenades, some of the grenades are deflected in mid-air as small blades strike them out of the air

thrown and blasted away by the improvised grenade missed by the small blades, it tosses and slams the defenders to the walls, pressing them back

the older defenders shake off the effects to return fire, the blaster fire dropping the remaining jokerz

.

gasping from the run and fight Nameless calls out "Naruto run to vators from pitstop, find the mazeboss"

"tell him **Code Lava Class C 2B**"

.

Naruto takes off hearing the ugency in his friends voice

blurring with speed running through the tunnels

.

* * *

.

Underworld Lower City

Pit Maze

Elevator up

.

The wookiee mazeboss hammers a button hearing naruto's message

pointing to gathering miners he issues orders echoed from his translator collar

"Establish two temporary A-class locks in front of the access the Corpies aborted tunnel and the brats claim."

"Main team will go in with droids carrying a C-lock and two B-class, MOOVEE." roars the wookiee

.

one form in the chamber tries to move up to naruto

only to be knocked aside by the wookiee mazeboss

barking and howling his translator collar snaps orders to naruto "Well, boy take us there"

the engineering party moves off with the wookiee and naruto in the lead

narutos speed checked by the wookiees grip on his jacket

.

* * *

.

Underworld Lower City

Maze of the Pit

Allied Team Claim

.

Mazeboss arrives with droids and teams

**"Details" **looking at the four worn miners

.

"We had jokerz using grenades next to a lava chamber", pointing to the tied up and dead spades

"And the chamber is breached" pointing to a man high crack

.

the wookiee watches the four, pressing a button on his collar "You realize if the locks are not paid for, the entire dig becomes an open claim"

"and you lose your own claims" the four elders nod in resignation

.

releasing the button he turns and gives orders to the teams that came with him "We need a class C magma-lock here for setup, code lava"

"also needed for safety are two class B magma-locks for corridor, set them up first"

.

droids carrying parts for a b-class door move past as a different group sets up others, covering both ends

of the tunnel section. ten minutes pass before the doors are complete and magnetic fields lock on, shielding the door and walls

.

after they test solid, the mazeboss turns to the party asking, "Do you want the C-class to replace the cracked area?"

Nameless nods after looking to his friends, "Sooner or later it will breach, this will make the tunnel useable or seal the breach and we will tunnel around"

.

nodding the mazeboss orders the droids still in the section into the locked section with the parts for the smaller magmalock

opening the wall, cutting around the crack, droids are covered in yellow fog as gasses fill the area

minutes later the gas thins as air is swapped out. droids are spotted finishing work on the door to the magma chamber

.

"Here's the info on the chamber from the droids" relaying from his datapad to the teams

"The doors are now on the com relay and the area mapped to your claim"

"You have 70 cycles to pay or lose all, sign here." the mazeboss has all five mark the document on his datapad

turning to leave, he signals his team and droids to pack and move out

.

unseen the sliver of metal slides deeper into the host coming to rest behind the liver

threads of metal begin to slide into the surrounding organs

.

the party rests while scanning the data on their pads

"gas vent but crystals are present"

"going to need a lava bot to access"

.

Nameless shakes his head, "Good job Naruto." enjoying Naruto's wide grin

Leeds is crying, whimpering "Have you seen the charges for the locks and the emergency placement."

"Yep."

"We're alive and have 70 cycles to mine before we lose it all."

"Back to work, lets get marching."

.

* * *

.

echos from elsewhere

.

a silver ship with escorts returns home

frustrating a blocade

an army assembles with friends made from former wary opponents

lighsabers flash

in a high tech mine

a dark form drops

.

* * *

.

omake

.

"Gandalf where are we?"

"I have no idea Frodo"

.

"Hey chummers why you sailing a white wood boat on a cave sea"

"you nobles like the last batch?"

.

"Why do these idiots read something and then try to duplicate something"

"from their primitive histories"

.

"we we're not supposed to arrive here!"

"well, welcome to O'maki, now get your boat out of the water before it gets eaten by Tiny"

.

soft hidden giggles

from 6 distant forms

an elderly male with a spoon like sword

a woman of black tresses snacking on candy, feeding the dragon wrapping her shoulders

wild haired holder of a black scythe, giggling like a loon

a metal legged man looking around at supply opportunities

long coated blind man "time for changes"

.

"First time I've seen the Mists of Ravenloft do something 'good'."

"They were headed simply for a dead end."

"Probably something elven"

"oops"

five look to the loon with the scythe

"Did he get blood from a kender at our last stop?"

.

Elves in Space!

.


	11. Shadows

.

Underworld Lower City

Maze of the Pit

Allied Team Claim

.

"So why are the doors so expensive" asks Naruto asks Nameless

Bo chatting to friends with the mazeboss to have the claim door repaired also

as the party watches from the side, as the bodies of the jokerz get removed by the miners

finally the emergency teams exit and the damaged door is closed, a fast sweep of the area removes the risk of hidden surprises

.

"First of all the management of the mines do not want people to have valid claims often because a claim can cover a large area limiting the mining." Mack calls out

as he and Leeds take point heading deeper into the mine, guns unholstered

.

Naruto speeds up to join the conversation, Mack comments to Naruto

"Unless we get lucky and find more than we have, then we lose the claim and new miners move in and start doing tunnels off the sides as the corperations were planning"

"If we find enough then we own the claim and we can rent space on our claim to other miners"

"We can also charge any 'tax' we choose on what they find"

.

Bo adding his two credits, when Mack grabs a drink

"Trouble is we cannot enforce the tax as corperations do, not enough muscle"

"The fact is, the maze authorities will claim all the crystals mined as we come out"

"The only ones who ever profit from mining are corperations who 'smuggle out' crystals by paying bribes, to the republic officials to look the other way"

"They will probably offer to buy the claim from us and pay us off, if we don't sell then they would probably kill us by assassination and take the claim,"

"we had written them into our wills, all it would take is one of us losing our claim for them to take over."

"The amount of manpower a corperation could gather, would just push the rest of us to the side."

.

marching past layers of different rock strata

the team marking different areas when sensors give reading of possible interest

Naruto often marking areas based on feelings of not wanting to be left out

the team scouting it way through the new claim

"Could we form a corperation to defend ourselves against the others?"

.

Nameless starts hissing like a leaky steam-pipe, holding himself up with a hand on the wall, laughter also coming from the others, to Narutos puzzlement

Leeds picks up the conversation seeing the others are too breathless from laughing

"On this world corperations are the lowest of the low, scavengers that exist only to try to rise to the top of the pile,

"Czerka is a good example, its been around forever, but sees only numbers and how it relates to its profits."

"The members are always backstabbing each others to advance, sooner or later someone we would hire"

"would kill us and take over control for themslves or sell out the rest for a profit to another company."

"Here on O'maki, a hostile takeover leaves no survivors."

.

* * *

.

lookin disgusted at the level of thievery allowed, Naruto grumbles

"Is there any way to prevent them from stealing the claim for a pittance or becoming as bad as they are?"

.

Nameless grunts, shoving off from leaning against the wall, waving to Leeds that he was taking point

Leeds drifts back to Naruto as the others move up and past.

ruffling Narutos hair in passing, "Let me think on it, we may have some options"

Naruto looks hopeful spots the chamber where the fight happened "Ah my tags."

darting to the sides the team watches him peel paper tags off stalagmites and search under the gravel for others

.

Bo watching Naruto pointing asks "whats with the paper?"

looking up from the floor as he pulls a tag out of the gravel "explosive seals and flare tags"

"Out of paper!?" Mack asks with a poleaxed look "How does that work?"

.

pulling out some paper, a small cup, a vial of ink and a brush Naruto starts setting up an demonstration

"Nameless said there was no paper so he got me some material flimsies are made from, insulation plastic he called it"

"the pens are engineer's scribes he provided said the would mark all materials"

cutting his palm and pooling the blood in his hand "I mix my blood charged with chakra with the ink" pouring the blood into the cup

opening the ink vial, he pours in the ink and mixes it with the brush as the four watch

"then with care I create the flare or explosive seal on the paper" painting a design with care

ten minutes pass before he finishes, he then goes over the work carefully

sitting back "this one passes inspection, I then charge it up, storing more chakra as the ink dries"

"and now its ready to use against any jokerz or others that think we are easy"

.

wetting dried lips, "how much effect does it have?" asks Mack

Naruto looks to Mack enjoying the gobsmacked looks on his friends faces

grabbing a pack hidden in the shadows filled with gear looted from the jokerz

rummaging in it, lifts a recognizable can "the jokerz paint grenades were comparable" holding up one as an example for a moment

returning the can to the pack, he hands the pack to Mack, he carefully pours the cup into the vial and seals it, packing up.

"they are great for pranks"

.

after demonstrating a flare tag for the party

rubbing the spots from his eyes, Mack grins to the kid "thats rather amazing Naruto" Naruto's grin matching his

"now my next question is, what is chakra?"

.

moving on, the party reaches the new magmalocks a few minutes later

while listening to Naruto's version of chakra

.

Leeds interrupts Naruto's descriptions "Hold the rest for a moment pup"

"Keep guard while we check over the new work, the doors have to be inspected to see if anything was missed by the droids"

opening the two main airlocks begins the inspection ending minutes later as Bo's cursing catches attention quickly

"The signal relays on the doors to the mine network have been left turned off, so they are not on the official claims till activated. if activated it will link in but..."

"But what?" asks Leeds, Bo points to the access panel of the lava chambers door "The controls have been left on remote access, someone wanted to kill us by opening the lock to the lava chamber"

"With us in between the others, the mine stays useable, but dead we are no longer a valid claim"

.

Mack sputters "Thats acting fast"

Nameless "Someone's already moving, do we want to rig it to make them think it was successful?"

Mack grins "False signals to match the orders, but the doors on manual for local control only"

Bo strokes his chin thinking looks to Leeds "How fast would they act, what would they use?"

"Claim takeover paperwork takes ten hours at best to process" Leeds responds

"Interrupting the paperwork can happen anytime as long as we show up alive"

Bo grins "If they try to take over, they have to pay for the doors minimum, if we show up, after they pay..."

"We keep the doors and claim" states Nameless "We gain an enemy, they gain a jumpers rep.."

"Shootout" states Mack

"Last man standing shootout for the claim vs unknown numbers"

Leeds calculating "60 cycles mining then head up, rest then show up fresh 2 hours before"

.

the party starts rigging the doors, Naruto sent to storage for parts twice

when the party activates the relays nothing happens

"Maybe their planning to get us on the return trip or a supply run?" inquires Mack

the party starts to think their paranoia is getting unreasonable till

their gear is gathered and they go through the locks to the deep mine

and the chamber's lights go out as rigged

.

"Someone was watching" "Fracking camera or droid" "Handle it later, follow the plan off to mining"

five fumble in the dark leaving the chamber

.

* * *

.

almost a mile past their last stop the tunnel slows its desent and levels off, further on

Leeds motions everyone to a stop, "Hey guys I'm seeing droids"

"There is no movement"

.

moving forward the group sees dozens of still forms, "Blitz, looks like something took them apart"

poking at the stiil forms, "Whatever it is it chewed the small bits off"

"Nothing living inside the frames" whispers Leeds

.

with Nameless and Bo on watch, Leeds and Mack start salvaging the cores to slice for info

"After you get done with each one we will salvage it for parts"

"Even Naruto will get a crash course in droid salvage and repair"

.

salvaging small bits vital to droids the party loots the machines

Naruto collects the bulkier parts into an empty backpack

.

seeing the empty sack being filled, "Naruto what did you do with the crystals you collected back at the vertical shaft?" Nameless asks

'Please don't let him have lost what crystals we have found so far' hoping to himself

giving Nameless a huge grin, Naruto pulls out a scroll, Nameless remembers Naruto working on in the past fortnight

"It's in here" and opens the scroll showing twisty designs of ink

.

putting his hand on the edge of the pattern, a puff of smoke catches everyones attention

"Huh", "What", {Vards, whats dropping}

Nameless's jaw hits the floor as a different backpack sits on top of the first scroll pattern

.

winching his jaw back up from its dislocation

"How, what?"

grinning "sealing scroll" says Naruto from here he's seated on the gravel floor

"Huh"

"It's called a sealing scroll, its for storage where I'm from" says Naruto

"When you asked me for more paper weeks ago" Nameless comments, "I thought you were drawing religious symbols"

.

tapping Narutos shoulder Leeds asks

"How much can be stored in each?"

"And what is stored currently?"

.

"Empty packs in 9 of the 10, had the prior crystals from the shaft in the 10th,"

flipping his hands around a foot box cube, "they can store about a 1/2 full pack"

Naruto takes some of his droid parts and sets them with the semi-full pack

touching the pattern, the pack slides into the paper taking most of the parts

"Yep, the first ones totaly full", the few parts remaining Naruto sets aside

unsealing the second seal Naruto stores the spares with the second pack

.

stunned by what they saw, Leeds asks

"Why didn't you tells us about this!"

.

"Didn't think it mattered"

"Nameless helped with the paper and saw me making them"

"Is it important?"

.

watching all the adults and elders facepalm, Naruto starts getting the impression it could be important

.

"Is it bad?" Naruto asks in a small voice

.

"No, Naruto", patting him on his shoulder with a claw, "but it may be very important for us."

"People have been trying to smuggle out crystals for years"

"The only ones who can, are corperations who spend fortunes to bribe the replublic representitive"

"For a few crystals to be slipped by ignored"

.

"we are in a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation"

"if we do not find enough crystals then they will take the claim from us"

"if we bring out enough crystals to get rich, they will devalue the crystals and leave us a pittance"

"because they set the value of the crystals as only they can evaluate the value"

.

"How can they get away with it?"

"This world is based on the rule might makes right"

"Nothing is true, everything is allowed"

"Others perform senseless acts of cruelty for any profit to survive"

"When others would draw attention to themselves, we hide in plain sight."

"Loyalty is in short supply, some others blindly follow the truth, and get ground up by the system"

"It is always changing and remember that everything is permitted."

.

"Now lets see if the scroll has any effects"

attaching one of the undamaged scanners salvaged from the droids to his sensor staff

waving the major probes across the scroll, he grins

"Perfect no resonance signal from the crystals, gentlemen we are in business" laughing

.

"Lets find more crystals"

.

* * *

.

echos closer to hand

.

"She does not suspect" questions a rippling blue form

"No, she thinks the jedi abandoned him"

"Simple to take the message when the map was altered"

.

"Currently she is killing the warlords thinking their alliance was the cause of his death"

"She will hold the planet soon"

"Fan her rage, drown her in her fear, have her fall to the dark side"

"She is a tool for our use, shaped by your suggestion to that warlord"

"When she falls,"

"we will step in, she will have handed us the planet"

"She is the means to the goal, just a step on our path"

.

* * *

.

omake

.

years later

.

a female dressed as Boba Fett ruining his rep

"ooh, I'm afraid of spiders"

Boba comes by

catches the poser in a coil whip

"who's posing today?" winching the form into a nearby tree

pops the top (removing the helmet)

"ah, my grandaughter"

"here's more spiders for you"

scoops up several into the helmet

puts the helmet back on and seals it

the thrashing form hanging from her heels in the tree

is entertaiment for hours for the elder fetts

.


	12. Twilight

.

Underworld Lower City

Maze of the Pit

Allied Team Claim

.

miles down the tunnel

black and grey forms skitter toward the party, some dropping off stalagmites flying at the group

the party starts firing at the approaching swarm

"those murglak pockers found and opened up a deep cave inhabited by mynocks" hisses Nameless

as dark forms swoop from the walls flying to the attack

impressions of winged leeches or flying snakes, trying to bite and latch on ensue in the chaos

Naruto ends up knocking off any of the beasts dropping onto his allies, knifing a few of the crawlers,

are a few of the impressions of memories as the fight happens almost too fast to think,

only react

.

the cavern lair is littered with the forms of the parasitic mynock as well as their former droid victims

the party takes a breather as the fight ends

.

Nameless calls out to Leeds

"Leeds, Bo, Mack go left and hunt down any stragglers, Naruto and I will go right doing the same."

"Watch for cracks they might hide in and mark them with seal paint."

"They may also be hiding near the droid parts, do a full sweep then we will rest and collect parts and crystals"

.

finding an exit tunnel not carved by droids the duo mark the edges

"smooth and curving like there was water flowing or draining through it" Nameless mutters,

"this sand floor is the waste from whatever thay ate that had minerals in it"

.

occasional blastershot echo the cave as the two parties call out about clearing nests of eggs,

searching crystals and droid parts being fed on by adult and infant mynock

nests are cleared of crystals and parts and stored in Narutos scroll filling another pack

.

further on a pool of unknown liquid sits in the lowest point of the chamber

when he finds it dissolves metal, motioning Naruto to stay clear "probably a major acid"

Nameless marks the edge and paints a boundary to guage height in case the pool changes

.

gathering back in the entrance tunnel, the party shows off the semi-full packs of salvage, updating everyone on the chamber.

the chewed on crystals are stored in the far end of the scroll for when the team returns to the surface

entire party grinning at the thought of bypassing the robbers in authority

.

* * *

.

After resting, Nameless waves for attention to end the side chat and pull everyone together

"Now this cavern is where the corperation droids were stopped by the mynocks,"

"but there is a flow tube we can try, or we can shift to full mining of the areas we marked"

"it will take 4 hours to get the gear and we'll have 50 hours to work"

Mack and Bo look at each other "mining for us, tube's to small for us"

"We'll head up and grab a shield emitter and sensors to keep out mynocks that escaped, no way we got them all."

Nameless nods "I'm also too big, Leeds and Naruto can check after we get back, but if it narrows down to far, just come back." he orders the pair

glancing at the two "There may be more mynocks, check in every cycle, we will set up relays to stay in communication as we come down."

"When we get back I'll try to get one or more of the droids working, but I'll need you Leeds to slice and program it for us,"

"barring that I'll get one of the mining disruptors working and set up support chambers for this end of the mine."

.

"Lets go grab the gear and supplies from storage" waving too the duo the trio head up

Leeds motions naruto to stay seated

"We'll stay here, till they get back, I'm not as young as you,"

"for now unpack the droid parts so I can check their condition and repair them if possible."

"If we had been the ones to open the chamber I would be worried about more mynocks"

"but with the droids supplying the food for the mynocks most of them would have kept to the cavern till food ran low again"

"Leave the parts out, on spare paper if you have enough, they can be bait for any mynocks we missed"

"but up that tunnel, there could be anything."

"they had to feed on minerals to thrive down here, but we are well past known mines and still do not know what the corperations were after"

"keep watch while I grab a nap"

.

* * *

.

after an hour nap, Leeds wakes hearing naruto working with different items

"What are you working on Naruto" walking over to where Naruto was seated

"Playing with some of the droid parts that are not too damaged."

"Some of the parts ripped out by the mynocks had their own tool casings, the mynocks had not yet chewed through"

"Others had parts that could be swapped out on other sections for something useable."

nodding Leeds takes a seat nearby and gives pointers while working his datapad, slicing the programming control cluster from one of the droids

.

"can you sketch out a map of your home planet?"

"sure" replies naruto, pulling a flimsey out and using a scribe has a sketch of the elemental continent in short order

Leeds takes it and scans it into his datapad having it try to match it against known planets

"while that runs, any other songs from your home?"

.

homesickness crossing his face "yah a few, jiji taught me"

humming "the first one deals with the elements shinobi can use in our jitsu"

"Wind, Water, Fire, Earth and Lightning"

.

feel the wind in your breath

waters tides in your blood

fire in your heart

earth in your bones

lighning in the nerves

.

"the major villages shinobi operate out of"

"Cloud, Mist, Rock, Fire and Wind"

.

clouds move across the sky

gathering the water for mist

Rocky earth grows the crops

as the fire warms the homes

winds move beginning the clouds again

.

"and the minor villages and countries that are sometimes allied"

"Tide, Wave, Grass, Star, River, Rain, Tea and Snow"

.

tides circle the waves

grass waves to the stars

rivers move through rain

tea as the snow dances

.

"they are mostly used as nursery rhymes to teach little kids before school studies"

setting down his improvised tools

"I think I just made my first droid" Naruto calls out

looking at what just looks like a five finger hand out of metal

.

as it suddenly skitters forward on its fingertips in his direction

"what is that thing" Leeds calls out as he leaps back swearing

.

with a chipper voice it replies "I like that name, TH-NG, thanks for naming my model, meatbag" turning to face Leeds

"hnn looks like I'm a lefty" with a jolly voice

"power and sensors minimal, no armor or weapons, horrifying to be disarmed and reduced to such a state"

.

Leeds looks at it with caution "I think its core needs a memory wipe, badly"

"Naruto, was that core from one of the mining droids?" not letting it out of sight

TH-NG starts moving around checking the area "nope, it was from Nameless's junk room."

"Junk room, he does not have a junk room!" the duo watching the hand skitter around with a lifted wrist

puzzled naruto looks to Leeds "Sure he does first room just off the main."

"Just off the main..feltercarb, that was his room for battle trophies and war gear."

"It was one of the few things he said I could have that he was not attached to, said it was the smallest core he had seen."

"You grabbed an assassin or battle droid core from a couple decades ago"

feeling a tapping on his shoe, naruto looks down

"Master?" inquires the droid looking up at the two

.

"Is that normal for this area?" turning and pointing into the main cavern

turning their lights into the cavern they see something moving

flowing from the tube is a liquid like tendril, silvery in their portable lights

sweeping back and forth it flinches away in defense momentarily from the mynock remains it brushes up against

probing the animal remains it shifts position

then sweeping over the mynock's form it shifts away leaving no remains

.

moving to the pool it extends forward and visibly the pool level drops by inches

when it pulls back Leeds and Naruto notice the droid arm used by Nameless to probe the pool is also gone

.

* * *

.

echos from somewhere closer

.

thrown to a wall

shivering as a dark form advances

"so Nightsister, you wish to study under me"

"Yes"

"then nightbride, three times you must pay"

"with your blood and flesh"

moving suddenly, his new student screams to echo her pain

.

later

as the tall form moves away

"As the first grows, so begins your training"

as he leaves the room

she hears a droids quiet voice before the door slides closed

"Master, the hunter Fett is here with the bounty as you requested"

her eyes open

.

* * *

.

omake

.

A little known fact:

The First Hokage was the oriental equivalent of Jonny Appleseed in Fire

Assisted on a related note by the Acamichi Clan having hundreds of recipes for apples

.

ninja jump through trees, to avoid the rotting apples on the forest floor

konoha was chosen for the ground growth of the apple trees

chakra based tree climbing was developed to harvest the apples

.

one cousin could do more plants, but was less motivated and was married to the nara

blackberry bushes were prefered, but had to compete with the local deer

thus beginning the nara herds

.

Madara avoided eating apples as the First could make seeds sprout from inside or track them


	13. Ripples

Underworld Lower City

Allied Team Claim

Mynock Cave

.

hours pass as the duo watch the silvery tendril, working on their projects, they keep an eye on the fluid metal rope at all times

shifting across the far third of the floor and walls, huntng, the mess is swept leaving no debre, not even sand is left behind

TH-NG crawls up Naruto's clothes to get a better perch monitor it at all times

.

"Statement: highly efficient at absorbing acids, silicates and minerals"

unseen in the shadows left by the directed lights, the black fluid moves to the doorway using the cracks of the walls

sliding to naruto it attaches to his clothes, looking like just another patch of wiped lubricant from Naruto Working with the droid parts

.

* * *

.

noise of shifting gravel and the chatter of discussing what areas to mine first, herald the return of the trio

groaning the trio unload packs along the tunnel to lighten their loads

Nameless reports to Leeds "Took care of the hidden camera, turned out the lights, moved it, now all it can see is a dark tunnel"

noticing the odd looks from the pair, the trio go quiet

pointing into the chamber Leeds croaks "Something odd showed up."

.

the three shift to watch as the tendril continues cleaning and probing the chamber

"Came out and started little more than two hours ago."

"Cleared the liquid from the pool and removed any debre or mynocks it contacts,"

"its moving like it expects to be attacked, I think the mynock were eating it for its minerals and metals."

.

setting down the last of the equipment they brought carefully

Nameless, Bo and Mack watch the tendril for several micro-cycles

.

"Lets see if it stays away from a shield generator."

sticking a portable generator in the nest chamber on the floor in one of the of the uncleaned areas, Bo switches it on by remote

with a short range shield, then expanding it slowly to cover most of an area.

oddly the tendril seems to avoid the area of the shielded equipment by a wider margin than the visible shield effect

Nameless spends time watching the tentacle "Does not look actively hostile, an active shield keeps it away."

.

He starts unpacking gear from one of the packs, "Naruto, here's a datapad for you to use."

handing him a battered datapad "The twins had a spare, so thank them" grinning

.

"Now lets see if a shield really affects that tendril." Nameless sets up a second generator in an area cleared already

setting the field for almost 5ft range into its 'sweep zone'

the party is surprised when the field is activated by Nameless the tendril stops momentarily but continues its sweep

moving further into the area shielded, closer to the generator

.

manipulating with the shield control, Nameless tries various modes

electrical, heat, pain and sonic screens have no effect but cold-heat siphon mode

caused it to retreat quickly

.

"Must be something native to deep crust, likes heat but hates the cold."

"Kind of makes sense, mynocks can exist and survive in space, so they could nest in areas it would avoid."

.

when Bo and Mack begin to start mining for local deposits further back in the tunnel

it stops for a few seconds before withdrawing completely from the cavern

.

spotting silvery flakes left behind "Ah samples, kind of like how nova slugs leave slug crystal behind."

the flakes are scooped into sample containers "Lets see if these will hold." setting them aside to be monitored

'the cold probably caused the flaking' Nameless notes the details in his datapad on the shield levels used

.

Leeds sends to Nameless's datapad some downloaded records

"Found a record in one of the buffers on one of the droid cores for the last minute before deactivation"

.

* * *

.

the stored holo shows 3 uniformed humanoids in the tunnel directing droids to mine toward the cavern

when the cavern was opened they and the droids entered the cavern, the mynocks decended on the droids

the party watches as the leaders acting in panic, try to use the bots and their mining disruptors to shoot the mynocks.

several of the droids having optics covered, fire blind, downing 2 of the humanoids

the third was watched diving into the pool to escape the mynocks and blaster fire, thinking it was water, unaware it was acid

the droid watched as he surfaced several time, before the droid was deactivated by a mynock

"The poor fool was unable to issue any orders due to the acids effects."

.

"There was also reference on another droid core, to information about deep core samples from a nearby target area about a mile past the cavern."

Nameless looks over the data "So its just outside our claim unless we expand it by exploring the tube."

.

Leeds also comments "Want to bet that the two Corperations are still after something there."

.

giving Leeds a sideways look "Do you and Naruto still want to explore?"

.

* * *

.

Nameless watches the pair move into the tube

.

after updating Mack and Bo he starts assembling the parts of the remaining mining droids

getting one running with one of the wiped behavior cores, he makes sure the control cluster has no hardwired loyalties.

Clearing the software protocols he sets them for mining only, no self defence. Unlike the three corperate fools who managed to kill themselves with their own droids.

.

Having the first droid pick up his mining disruptor, he starts having it sectioning off an area near the tube.

He sets it to follow the signal of his exploring friends,

muttering to himself, "lets see how many droids we can get running from parts"

.

sadly, Bo and Mack hate his race's music, they say it sounds like steam pipes blowing their gaskets.

crooning to himself, grinning he pumps up the volume

.

* * *

.

moving through a low cramped tunnel of heated dark stone, the two move slowly as the tubes curved sides make for a slippery floor.

several times Leeds has Naruto use a mining disruptor to shear off protrusions to clear the path for ease of passage.

.

eventually and happily the passage opens to a vertical shaft with crystals

.

using the disruptor the pair move down the walls by creating ladder steps, Leeds moving with care from step to step harvesting the crystals

15 major crystals, 45 smaller and an abundance of shards are cased, packed and sealed to Leeds delight

having worked from the middle down the pair grin at the amount above the tunnel yet to be cleared, pockets of crystal still visible in their limited light

placing a claim beacon the two paint their claim marks in the entrance and exiting tunnels

.

moving on, the tube widens and continues leading the pair in a twisted path to an even larger chamber twice the size of the mynock chamber.

Filling one section is a shimmering pool.

The fluid metal fills 20 percent of the chamber in a pool at the deep left end of the sloped chamber.

Ripples shiver the surface, flickering the lights they carry to the walls showing deep cracks clawed into the walls and ceiling.

Seeing the shivering surface increasing pace as they step nearer, the two back off.

"Definately reacting to our presence." Leeds remarks

TH-NG snarks, "You mean it surrounding us is not hostile?"

Alarmed the pair spot the tendrils that moved from a crack and cut off their exit.

.

oddly tendril tips dance around like snakes to pipe music

Naruto feels a shivering sensation and feels flush as nerves start going twitchy

Leeds seeing Naruto almost going into a panic sets down the portable shield and activates it

shifting it to anti-heat mode the tendrils back off from the shield letting Naruto recover from his panic attack

mumbling to Leeds, "Sorry, I almost blew it and ran in panic."

patting his shoulder, Leeds replies "No worry, if the shield did not work, I would have panicked also."

.

"Now since I do not see any exits, we can asume the tunnel stops here."

spotting some left behind flakes of metal from the retreating pool's tendrils

he pauses pulling out ceramic containers and collects some of the more easily gathered flakes

"Lets move the shield back to the entrance, mark the walls and set a claim beacon."

.

moving carefully only in areas cleared by the shield, Leeds spots an odd circular hole in the roof near one area off to the right

"I think that is the drill hole the corperations drilled to get the core sample.", as the two are distracted by movement in the hole

they spot an odd form crawling out, Leeds pulls his pistol and shoots it cursing, "Mynock!?, blast it, those back cycled corperate bantha fodder."

"I hate those things.", cursing and laughing Naruto keeps an eye on both the tendrils from the main pool and his elder.

.

At the exit, Leeds waves to Naruto calling him closer "It's irony the murglacks drill the hole for samples,"

"but the mynocks moved in and nested in nearby chambers while they were testing the cores"

"Their own miners died by what they let in because they did not seal the shaft"

.

"Naruto with your wall walking can you walk upside down?"

puzzled Naruto nods

"Ok, head back the way we came grab some of the rocks you seared off when the tunnel was tight, and bring back some of the larger pieces."

"When you get back I am going to need you to shove several of the smaller pieces up the bore then hammer the largest into it sealing it."

"Don't know what this thing is" pointing to the pool "but it does not deserve to be eaten by mynock."

grinning while sitting down "I'm going to sit here and shoot any mynock popping out."

.

when returning Leeds waves to Naruto, "Had four more come out, shot each, and the pool cleaned them up."

"Anything that disposes of mynock has my respect"

as Naruto starts filling the bore and hammering the blockage in, noise from one of the walls near Leeds grabs their attention.

unseen by any, Leeds has a new black stain on his clothes

.

shortly an opening forms, as the new tunnel widens, a battered mining droids steps out

the first using the mining disruptor, the second moving debre assisted by a one armed third droid that moves about clearing the walking path

rubbing his chin on seeing a familiar face behind the droids Leeds catcalls, "Just couldn't stay behind could you."

waving back Nameless replies "Always have a plan B."

.

* * *

.

leaving behind a shield to block both passages and camera to monitor the bore and pool

they leave the pool for later

.

backtracking the tube they cut the tunnel into the tube near the vertical shaft

letting Naruto gather the upper crystals while gathering the other crystals and shards to pack

Nameless asks Naruto "What else can you do?"

jumping from the wall to the tunnel ledge Naruto forms a handsign taking a familiar form

Nameless laughs "you look older than any of us"

.

Pulling out a sensor and scanning Naruto's altered form

"TH-NG what do your sensors say?"

"Scanning, normal humanoid parameters, this is not emitting any energy like a skin cloak."

"Delight, master can be the ultimate infiltrator."

.

Leeds notes this and remarks

"You realize, we can send you ahead in disguise and sell some of the largest crystals at reasonable rates," seeing narutos grin, continues

"without them thinking you are with us and having them drop the value?"

.

"Carrying an active comlink he can also allow us to hear what is going on for better timing."

"This may allow more accuracy on the targets to be neutralized." is noted by the droid

.

on the march back up to old claim storage

the party rests and plans their moves topside

snacks and tales pass back and forth

.

"hey kid want some spoo? asks Mack "fresh off the transport"

"Sure." Naruto replies, "What was the ship name?", "Warhammer 4000"

snacking "Tastes like squid jerky." replies Naruto around a tough piece

"Don't talk with your mouth full." mentions Bo

.

"How did you guys get here?"

.

Mack and Bo grin, "Since we're swapping stories. Back home we kept a station running"

"A guy I know told me the government in our area had no need for the B5 station anymore."

"So the government 'retired' the station by blowing it up."

"We watched it go, but later saw something bout a year later, a mobile black version."

"When it was reported we were shipped out and 'lost' to a backwater station"

"When a friend said we were to be killed, we faked our deaths by blowing up a wrecked shuttle"

"It was being repaired by us for hobby, we used it's unstable engine to blow up the 'killers' in faking an escape."

"we then left using the real shuttle, and took over the assassin's main ship"

.

looking Naruto in the eye, "Never piss off an engineer, it's harder to keep something running, than letting it blow up."

smiling to Naruto Mack grabs his drink, "Engineers can make everything go wrong at once, and smear their opponents."

"unsung heros, because few talk about the details of what goes wrong."

.

Picking up the conversation Bo steps to Narutos side, "We had to sell it long before we got here, some credits were used getting here."

"When we got here talk about whining, we had to go back to school, we had to update all our skills,"

"had to take all the credits left from selling the ship to get new credentials."

Mack and Bo laugh, "Now that we are updated on the local tech, we are roaming and fixing for pay or trade."

.

Nameless calls out from the lead catching everyones attention, "We have several matters to discuss"

"figure equal shares on this, but do we want to keep the entire run?"

"they are goin to be 'taxin' us like crazy and the charges they have shown already,"

"are ten times normal."

.

Lookin each other over Bo and Mack grin, "No way do we make this easy for them." Mack replies

adding his 2 credits Leeds speaks up "we have the option of paying it ourselves or running a trick"

"It will scalp someone, hopefully the assassin who tried to fry us alive."

"We also have our packs full and a scroll that may smuggle out ten packs of the best crystals."

.

"Naruto may be able to score what the prices are and beat our run by going in disguise,"

"he can hold it for hours and still be hyper." hearing this the boy pouts momentarily.

.

Hand seals flash as Naruto takes on what for him was a familiar form

"Will this look make them cautious?"

"Can we craft an oversize vibroblade to match this swords form?"

"Looks like a sword for a rancor" states Nameless, "Well Engineers? the challenge is yours"

Looking it over Bo states, "Almost a shield, as well as a weapon, might have to use a layer of the claim door, hour for the blade."

"Can you handle the field vibration cutter and other internals, Mack?" Mack answers Bo with only a grin

.

* * *

.

echos from elsewhere

.

"master, an assassin was stopped, while protecting the queen"

"the assassin had an acomplice that killed him with an odd dart"

"keeping him from being interrogated"

.

as for the dart I recommend our friend at the diner on level 411

.

in a greasy diner

on a metal coated world

questions are raised over a dart between friends

a place mentioned

warning of the customs

a friend watches the door close

.

you could have warned him

i am the first to retire in over 600 years

they may send hunters

their choices are him, windu or both

.

a question to the grandmaster

turning to a child

the child answers when questioned

pointing to an empty spot in the holo display

.

concerned at the missing piece

"you look.. as will I"

.

* * *

.

omake

.

Little known facts of Konoha

The Black Widow of Konoha

some ladies take their pound of flesh with them

"Kakashi, you don't mind leaving yours, right?"

.


	14. Rustle

.

**Underworld Lower City**

**Maze of the Pit**

**Pit Claims Area**

.

a large form, barechested in a black robe slides into the office, a huge blade back-strapped towering over his left shoulder

setting down three mid sized cylinders each the size of a drinking cup "Tally them up, I have places to be."

adding a pressurized sweepings box to the table, the end covered in red black remincent of blood

checking his desk console sensors, scanning his guest for hidden crystals, and finding none

moving with care, the republic noble carefully picks up the containers

.

"You are new." looking from his headband to shirtless chest, sliding the containers into a pressurized chamber "Who did you kill for them?"

smiling through the thin wrapping cloth masking his lower face, "They are still around." resting his hands near his belt

"I killed em with laughter, you did not want see the recusitation." seeing the nobles curious look he continues, "It was a scuffle over shares, they will be here later.. once they wake."

"W-why did my guards let you in with that blade?"

smirking at the noble, "They were not dumb enough to try to take it away."

tilting his head and nodding toward the emptied containers being ejected "Found a pocket the size of my head, three major crystals and rest smaller shards."

"Where did you find them, any other pockets?" returning the emptied containers to the warrior

answering he watches the noble "If there are, I will find them later. **If** the price on these make it worth the effort." sliding the empties into a side carry pouch

.

pushing across his desk a verified credit stick, "We need as many crystals this size as possible."

raising a hairless brow, "Why the fire sale then?" checking the stick value on his datapad

"Market went from a glut, to under the supplied need, the republic has ordered over 200 large new ships from the mixed shipyards, all yards are reving up."

"Engine level drive crystals like these are needed, if you are still partners with your 'friends' you might be able to keep them working."

"Talk from Coruscant is of a police action on a rogue world or cluster, price will keep going up as long as the need is there."

.

"Groups will be offering bonuses to keep the miners in the maze digging, those that keep producing will get more lenience from management."

"The bonuses alone might cover a year of easy living."

noise off from another room stops the conversation as people barge in, only to stop as a blades huge edge hammers across the doorway

sudden instinct and fear stop the advance of the disarmed before the threshold

.

Looming large the two meter form snarls to the intruders, "Leave, business is being conducted here."

only easing off when the noble states they were expected

.

Pushing into the room, when the noble waves aside the tall bladed hunter

an armored and empty holstered form followed by the wookiee maze boss and others

"Hey I'm partnered with those deadbeats, they put me in to defray the money they owed me."

escorting the known hunter from the office to a large open information center "How did they die?" turning to the man reclaiming his sidearm

.

after reseating his returned equipment the hunter turns to the rep

lookin at the noble, "They tried to mine the lava chamber, probably the child thinking he was shielded by his equipment."

disappointed the noble has a droid pull up a hologram of the maze and highlighting the section concerned

irked the hunter looks over the holo "When will the paperwork get done?" pointing at the highlighted area

"If you want to start the repayment for their debts it might speed up the paperwork on giving you rights to the mine."

looking to the main rooms console "The issues are:"

"Three magma-locks were provided on an emergency basis, cost and fees are still being calculated,"

"Two challenges to your prior partners from the corperations are under review, they had legal rights, but you do not."

"Did you salvage any crystals from their remains?" the bounty hunter shakes his head "Area has to cool."

"Then you need to pay the fees outright, that will clear that part of the problem."

"Your papers and the papers forwarded by Renraku showing your share that you hold, can then clear you for the ownership faster."

"We are 4 cycles from the claim going to free claim status due to the unpaid charges."

"What do you want to do?"

.

"Blast, this may take most of my spare funds, what is the total?"

"25,000 credits for each of the big doors, 20,000 for the C, the emergency setup of two lava doors in case of total breech 50,000 each" this alone turns the hunter's skin grey

continuing the rep states further charges, "droid services, fast response emergency teams, body disposal to the shadowlands" most decent miners cringe hearing this

"redeemed some of the costs by selling the surviving jokerz to Makai" some miners hearing this leave to puke, before returning

many of the fast response members whisper among themselves discussing shares involved

the growling of the wookiee mazeboss clears an area near him

"Total charges passed down by admin come to 250,000 credits." stating the amount like it was logical and normal

.

shocked at the total 'that was more than three times more than the bounty on the kid was worth!' the hunter considers his options

looking off to a nearby Renraku representative

with shaky hands he steps up to the computer and makes payment transfering from several accounts

unnoticed as each card or credit stick is put away it is swapped out

.

the representitive steps forward drawing the attention of other corperate interests in the chamber

Unitech's and Tekwork's pit minions start muttering into comlinks

handing the Republic pit representative a dark card, the Twi'lek stands next to the hunter

.

"Renraku supports our hardworking colleague, the difference is covered to continue future services" Bowing before moving forward

The Twi'lek looks to the representative "Are all the charges here listed?" holding up a black card

face in sour prune mode the representitive nods "All charges are currently listed awaiting final payment."

nodding in dignified victory the Renraku agent slides his card into the computer

paying the balance, then moving to store the card in his sleeve

handsigns unseen under a nearby cloak cause the card to slip from his fingers and drop in the sleeve

causing the Twi'lek to fumble transfering the card into his sleeve catch pocket

.

realizing that a corperation had found a method to take the claim numerous miners growl

frustrated the republic rep shakes his head, resigned to the fact Admin was going to have no chance at the claim

'the bosses are going to go rancor over this' looking at the hunter and rep

"Since the charges have been paid, the claim files will be processing now and clear within the hour."

"Once cleared, you will have to set the area claimed, are you limiting the claim?"

.

the hunter is about to reply, before stopping as the Renraku rep puts his hand on the hunters shoulder

looking and grinning at the other corperate agents "standard area for now, we will be expanding it soon"

wincing and gritting his teeth the republic rep notes the computer with the details for finalization.

.

pressing button on a com link hidden in his belt,

Naruto 'henged' as Zabuza watches the real show begin.

.

chimes ring and an droid voice "Statement: claim change-claim beacons activating for the disputed location under discussion."

everyone in the holo chamber turn at whiplash speeds to the display

"Claim area expansion from magma-locks to current new beacons 40% increase in area,"

"scanning system for overlaping claims," droids shift and check the main holo grid, "no competing claims in area, closest location 2 miles distance"

"Anomaly: second claim on direct path to end chamber of final beacon of first claim"

"Secondary claim ownership: combined Unitech-Tekwork project"

tunnels in the holo shrink expanding the area to show the approaching tunnels

.

cursing is suddenly heard from the side where the representitives for the two corperations stand

dozens of miners are heard muttering while watching the proceedings

.

"Statement: secondary claim has activated additional beacons, added tunnels are indicated for another half mile dug from setup of last beacon"

"disputed area now being shown" as the holo shows overlapping area still far short of the endchamber

"time limit for final mediation for disputed claim area now activated"

"no further digging allowed, representitives to be sent to establish endpoints before final division"

.

"Droids being dispatched from base stations"

the hunter and the Renraku rep go white at the next statement, "Changeover of claim forms on basis of death of prior claim holders, on hold."

"Claim and accounts involved locked-down. Lockdown activated and established."

.

laughter is heard, shocking many, the tall bladed warrior is almost doubled up laughing

his next statement makes everyone stand open-eyed "You tried to claim jump people who were not even dead?"

"I have heard of dumb thieves but this sets a new low."

.

chimes ring and the computer announces "first claim personell arriving"

Nameless and Mack show up first escorted by droids followed by a crowd of miners tagging along

the following miners slide to the sides heading to other groups checking what was going on

.

Looking at the Hunter, Mack shakes his head "Looks like we are alive, did you miss us?"

"Seriously, no really seriously, you did miss us, when you tried to kill us." Leeds and Bo join the others followed by a Naruto clone

shaking his head, "poor form, poor form: and you got caught also." gazing at the whitening Twi'lek rep

.

as the party advances the bounty hunter sees Naruto alive and reaches for his pistol

'if he does not die then his bounty will go on my head for collecting before showing his corpse'

people scatter in the line of fire, seeing the hunter moving to shoot

.

dozens of riled miners draw and level guns even as the blasters of the droid escort open fire

shields activating admin droids turn the armed hunter into smoking char

the Renraku rep crawling away smoking from having been on the fringe of the target

Only to be stopped as the edge of a huge blade drops in front of him stopping his progress long enough for a sandaled foot to slam him to the floor

pinning him down, "with your friend gone due to his stupidity, you get to answer his questions." a chill voice states

.

"What was your part in this mess?" asks Nameless, as he lifts the suit bending him backward over the computer console

nodding to the tall human, the warrior steps back, whimpering in pain, the rep talks of taking a rival corp claim

causing them to loose time and money, mostly just normal business doubledealing

nameless and party looks to the republic rep "Admin's position?"

.

Looking at the mood of the miners, the noble steps back "We follow the code and the Deal stands"

cursing the Renraku rep shoves Nameless aside

"No, for Manhandling me and killing our agent, I decree you under bounty from Renraku for assaulting a black card, 100,000 credits, ea..eee"

his voice shifting to high pitches as a foot and leg interrupt his ranting speech, the swinging kick lifting him yards from the floor

the below the belt kick curling him up around shattered bones and pulped essentials

"Get this fool to a bacta-tank, he's delirious," states the towering warrior,

looking around at the miners "and if the scum asks."

.

"Tell him to get the name right, it is Zabuza Momochi, Demon of the Mist." he states in a chiding voice

forming a handsign with a maniac grin just before mist flows around and over him blocking vision in the entire room

his last statement lingers in the mist filled chamber "Be warned though, those that pay the bounty, as well as any hunters will be hunted in return."

the chilling echos of the last statement fade as the mist does

with Zabuza nowhere to be seen.

.

* * *

.

[droid net:unknown energies detected]

[type: unknown-match in system]

[location:Pit]

[area: Claims area Maze]

.

[identified humanoid: Zabuza Momochi]

[unknown abilities]

.

[Bounty target spotted]

[BANK notified]

[anomalous information: Target declared dead by Bounty hunter]

[Hunter dead, probable false claim]

[contacting BANK on original bounty]

[original bidder will likely re-post on target]

[analysis: possible clone/twin?]

.

* * *

.

**echoes from somewhere closer**

.

"blast that warlord, she destroyed the arena and wiped out all the fighters of every stable"

"and now the herd of commoners has nothing for entertainment for months"

.

"I think it is time to pack-up and relocate"

"where should I go"

pulling out a datapad, "what places are available and what favors are owed"

"entire new stables will have to be set up"

.

"ah Petranaki arena on Geonosis"

"bloodsports and executions"

"not long lifespans for stable gladiators"

.

"oh yes, expendable chimeras from O'maki"

"yes that will work, Night is there"

"lets call and chat about old favors and debts"

.

**other echos**

.

"master Jocasta Nu" calls yoda as he approaches

stoppping and bowing to the grandmaster she smiles

"how can I help"

"puzzled am I"

"a detail deleted it was, from the database"

"information on a starsystem or planet called kamino I seek"

.

looking puzzled at the inquiry, she pulls out her datapad

"ah data, Nu -314"

"removed by order of a master from the main database"

.

"Nu -314?"

"any item or information deemed dangerous by a master is removed from the database"

"just because it was removed from the database, does not mean it has been removed from the archives"

"each master archivist, as information is removed or secured, sets the data aside"

"it is secured in a standalone database in case it is needed again, or opinions change"

"it is in the grandmaster database accessed only by the archivist that removed it, the master archivist, and the grandmaster"

"it allows history and the true details to not be forgotten"

"For us and others 'those who forget the past are doomed to repeat the mistakes made', is the reminder."

.

"It also carries the tales most want forgotten,"

in a teasing voice, "have you forgotten your own time in the stacks, yoda shelfhopper?"

.

* * *

.

**omake**

.

do you remember the songs you sang as a child

are they near and dear to your heart

sung to to the music of your work as an adult

.

taught to children with light and hope

the fun when a day of work done

words for wisdom sung for a caring heart

.


	15. Tears

.

**Maze of the Pit**

**Pit Claims Area**

.

the Renraku agent is scraped off the floor and taken to a limited medical faclity before being sent up to Pitstop

everyone else is chatting and gossiping on the events of what they saw

interupted by the claim computers beeping

a droid voice announces "Statement: droids have finished the sweep evaluation of both claims."

"First claim stands as is, second claim has continued digging by use of droids, not stopping as requested"

"Admin rules: first claim has right of way" the holo updates showing the perimeter driving into the side

of the corperation claim like a bite mark in a fruit

.

the computer system beeps

"Request: will original claim owners mark files to acknowledge."

sending the files to the datapads for the corp agents and Bo and Mack

reluctantly the agents mark the files knowing they lose the claim again if they do not sign

pulling the signed files from each of the datapads

"Claim ownership established, areas established, all fees paid, registered and logged."

states the computer

.

Bo and Mack head to the computer for some last minute detailing

waving the rest of the team over

"Paperwork set up as you suggested Leeds" states Bo, Mack just grinning

the elders grin, looking the files over then signing

cuffing naruto on the shoulder Mack points Naruto to the computer console

"You sign too, Brat. You worked your ass off for this also."

reading the document, "Are you sure?" seeing all four nodding he signs

Leeds nods, "Welcome to the claim."

.

the distracted Republic Noble seeing the full packs, waves the group to the evaluation office

worried about about how his bosses were going to land on him for loosing the claim and bolluxing up

the fact of the three corperations pulling a back knifing was not new, but the scale was shifting.

.

taking their packs to the republic reps office they start pulling cases from their packs

escorted into the windowed office, the weapons carried are set aside before entry

.

looking over the packs being opened and emptied he sees a couple midsized crystal tubes pulled out

but oddly they are not put forward

after feeding the shard trays into the pressurized case for crystal analyzation, he activates the crystal scanners

checking his sensors for crystals and finding none unreported, the noble sends the group a puzzled look,

"No large crystals?" as the extra tubes are repacked

.

"No, probably cleaned out by the corps as they mined."

curious, but not wanting to lengthen out the analysis

"Many of these shards were in th' mynock nest, some may have been the larger crystals"

.

"Many were trying to have us sell options or info in route to here" Bo comments

"You're holding back on the Admin?" the white faced noble asks

"Not us, we would lose the claim anyway." Nameless replies, "Also we just scored high on bribes from the corperations" holding up several cred sticks.

"Ones wanting the duos info on what was being mined and the duo wanting to know what happened to their men"

"Even gave us updated info on the going prices."

"More than one of the other miners was looking to get in on working parts of our claim if the fees or 'tax' was reasonable."

.

"Looks like Admin trying to 'pad the bill' and cost us our claim, did not sit well with many of the other miners" Mack replies

"Word of mouth says many are packing up, that the robbery being done is not worth the effort of harvesting crystal,"

"if people cannot work claims without unreasonable charges then they will be closing up shop."

Leeds snarks "Someone else might be holding back till the price becomes more stable."

"Or working elsewhere." points out Nameless

.

"Also with the corperations not setting up the doors on our original claim and biting into the area around our claim,

"Lady Luck and Murphey says that the mine may breech soon, and flood." states Mack

whipping around at the statement, the noble stands alarmed "What!?"

.

"The partnered corps dug a bore hole for samples, then left it open and mynocks moved in from somewhere using the bore."

"Their own team was wiped out by their own mistakes." Leeds explains

.

"Might even be smuggling crystals out by using bore holes by using them as carry tubes to bring out the crystals bypassing you entirely."

.

"Do you have any proof?" asks the noble

muttering "Yea." Leeds pulls out his datapad "Recorded the mynocks coming out of the bore before I shot the vermin."

pulling up the recording, he relays a copy of the holo vid to the nobles datapad

"We did a temporary seal to keep the mynock out and will do a permanant one ourselves,"

"chamber is also shield-sealed in case of flood, and is behind a magma-lock so our claim is not at risk."

"Sadly no crystals in that chamber."

.

the noble hearing the details after seeing the video almost panics

sending for the mazeboss, he sends the mazeboss off with several teams to review the droid holoscans of the duo corp claim

including orders to see if the duo are setting up magma-locks

he also starts sending memos off to his bosses up above to track the bore path

also to be on watch be on watch for bore smuggling, after adding the details and notes

.

"We might even follow the bore up in case to find and clear the vermin nest."

"Hate the pests" comments leeds, "Can't send droids, mynocks will just snack again."

.

"May even sell the claim, too much looking like its jinxed." mutters Bo,

"Let all the corperations fight it out, if admin is going to be playin the corp's games."

.

"We even have the duo on approach already, they may try to dig around and block any claim expansion." points out Nameless,

"They have more droids an' time. They can block us off and expand around and seal us off."

.

Leeds takes over the conversation looking to the rep, "Told a few of their rivals that we might sell if the price is right,"

"may even have offers once we hit pitstop, we already agreed not to let them do crossbidding and divide us against each other."

"We sell as a group or not at all, any one trying a divide and conquer, is automatically out of the running."

"Also we paid for the claim rights for the year, with extra locked in, to keep the claim ours for longer if things do shut down or go crazy."

.

leaving a shell-shocked rep behind the group takes their money exiting the office

.

* * *

.

**Maze of the Pit**

**Pit Claims Area**

**Elevators Up**

.

on the elevator up, after activating a jammer to disable the sensors Nameless grabs Naruto by the arm

"When you took down the rep, what did you think you were doing?"

"I thought it would be best if he did not finish his statement, and focused him on Zabuza instead of us."

"Figured what he was saying was bad for us, as all the miners and guards started to get greedy looks, crossing their faces, even the wookiee."

.

* * *

.

**echoes from somewhere closer**

.

70000 LY from core

.

elsewhere

on a hidden rim world

a hyper ring Delta-7 fighter approaches an ocean covered world

beacon destination the floating wave city

Tipoca

.

* * *

.

**omake**

.

shiver, women thinking scary things

Tsunade being as strong as she is, is known for her punishments more

if she says you have your head up your rump

she's the one who usually puts it there

.

the medic nins have with the practice provided

gotten to the point it only takes an hour to fix

sadly

the incontinence takes months to go away

.


End file.
