Chapter Six: Where's the Blacksmith?

"Urgh. You're heavy." Anakin complained as he trudged forward helping a limping Vader by putting one of Vader's arms over his own. They were on their way back to the surface of the dungeon. Vader was using using the force to lug around the various crystals and loot drops they found on their minor excursion.

"You know as well as I, that this wouldn't have happened if you didn't hold back against that giant." Anakin jarred.

"And if I had unleashed the full power of the force maelstorm, the entire dungeon would have been annihilated. That would not bode well for the economy of Orario." Vader replied much to the chagrin of Anakin who replied back immediately. "That wasn't what I was talking about. I know that you aren't that sloppy. Barring your occasional overconfidence, that giant monster would not have been able to catch you off guard regardless of the circumstances. What's going on?"

Silence was all Vader could reply with, the two pairs of footsteps echoing down the hallways of the dungeon where nothing else could be heard. That is, until Vader spoke up. But by then, they had already stepped out of the dungeon and on the streets of Daedalus.

"Multiple pairs of eyes have been constantly watching us ever since we stepped out of the house this morning. The moment we neared the tower of Babel was when their gazes intensified. Exhibiting my full power just to entertain the spectators would be a fool's venture."

Anakin looks behind, above the tower of babel, to a crow perched above a building. They were watching them. His gaze shifted around their surroundings as they walked on, he could feel a few gazes emanating from a some alleys.

"They move faster than I had expected...I had already predicted them to try and spy on us ever since Ouranous' trial. I suspect that they were discontent with the result of our case." Anakin commented. "So that explains why there have been no applicants to our familia. We were being boycotted." Anakin stated.

"Conniving curs. I had reason to suspect that they might try to ambush us during the dungeon, shich was why I was more reserved during fighting." Vader said as he wheezed through his life support system.

"In that case, why didn't you act? Knowing you, you would'nt have hesitated to cut them down. You and I hate being spied on after all." Anakin questioned.

"It is not that I did not act, it was because I simply could not. I merely chose to ignore them. There was no justification in confronting them as they had not directly harmed us, and even if we did confront them, they would have just turned the confrontation against us and could potentially frame us." Vader reasoned. "Keeping the enemies close and making them think that they are in control...Impressive."

"That sounds like something Sidious would say." Anakin replied, though with a bit of distaste in his voice when mentioning the name and continued to speak. "If that is the case, then is it right to assume that their goal was to prevent our familia from growing, much less get started was so that-"

"So that we are unable to pay off the penalty." Vader replied quickly and with bold finality. "That is not all. I also suspect something else. I did some research in my free time about the political structure of Orario. Orario currently runs a democratic-parliamentary style of government, though with that being said, some gods are more influential than others. The one who has the most wealth, power and connections is the Freya familia, followed closely by the Loki familia, the Hermes familia and the Apollo familia. These four are the current ruling familias after the previous ruling familias were ousted a few years prior. As to my suspicions, I suspect that they plan on preventing us from consolidating more power in the future."

This implication had Anakin thinking. They able to contend with gods and win in a direct confrontation against multiple ones, that signifies the strength of not only them as gods, but the potential of any familia members they might have. They already possess the strength to lead, traim and nurture a proper familia. If in the future they manage to get a secure a proper foothold within the politics of Orario, then their influence will only skyrocket. This is what the others are afraid of. Rougue gods coming to power. Which led to the current tactics of the enemy.

Not only are they stunting the growth of the familia and cutting off any possible opportunities for them to grow. But they are being denied the road to success.

"The only saving grace here is that the guild is a neutral government body. I suspect Ouranous has something to do with that, seeing as Ouranous was the only one of neutral stance against us during the trial and the guild was the only one willing to sell us land for a proper base of operations, putting to and to together, it seems like a reasonable theory. And Hermes. If it wasnt for him we would not have any funds whatsoever." Anakin speculated, his face growing darker by the minute. He was veey much distressed.

"Fortunately I have a plan to get around this little scheme of theirs. If they do not wish for us to expand our familia, then so be it. We will play their little game and we shall crush them." Vader claimed eliciting a curious look from Anakin who asked for him to go on.

The silence following was palpable, a pregnant silence filled with anticipation.The only thing Vader replied was one word. And that one word gave Anakin the biggest smile of his life ever since they set foot in this new world.

"Droids."

~~~*~~~

*Klink* *Clank* *Smash* *Fwoosh*

Hephaestus was a busy woman. That was a given since she not only does she run a weapons and armor company, but is also the head of her smithy, coupled by managing her own familia. Some of her familia members mitigate the amount of work she has to go through, but despite all this her familia was a renowned oneand this alone multiplied the work she has to go through with.

Her busy day started from sorting out papers pertaining guild matters, tall towers of papers on the desk of her office filled her table ranging from finances, weapons commisions, magic weapon orders, arms and armor procurement, sales reports and etc.

And here she was in her private workshop, blacksmithing magic weapons commisioned by the Loki familia.

*Smash* *Clink* *Bam*

The sound of steel hammering against each other was the only thing that could be heard in her smithing room and a massive fire lit forge emmiting orange sparks of flame with a seething red anvil the only thing in sight and a sweating Hephaestus that was wearing a brown apron against her white long sleeved shirt. Her steady breathing and nigh unbreakable concentration when forging weapons and armor made for a captivating sight to see. This was especially true for one of her familia members who came in after she didn't reply when the familia member knocked. It was Welf Crozo.

It was a normal day for Hephaestus. That is until Welf informed her of who was waiting for her in the lobby.

"Uh, lady Hephaestus, somebody wants to see you."

*Clank*

"Tell them I'm busy. Better yet, send them off." Hephaestus said dismissively.

After hearing their response, Welf awkwardly reploed with "The thing is...they said they won't take no for an answer."

"If it's Loki, tell her the usual-"

"I think you should consider seeing the guy, lady Hephaestus."

"Oh, pray tell who is this guy that's intruding on my work? It better be good or else-"

"It's Lord Skywalker and Lord Vader"

The sound of a hammer dropping and hitting the floor resonated in the walls of the smithing room, effectively silencing the previous noise of clanking and striking of metal and steel. And Hephaestus face had an shifted from a stoic look when she was smithing to that of an apprehensive one unbeknownst to Welf. Especially after she heard the last name mentioned.

~~~*~~~

Vader and Anakin was now waiting for Hephaestus in the lobby of her familia's mansion after speaking with a young man with red hair who introduced himself as Welf about their intended business. There were seats but none of them opted to sit. As for Vader's current condition, he could endure for a while, he was after all, accustomed to pain- courtesy of Palpatine. As for the condition of his suit, they stopped by their "house" beforehand to do simple repairs with whatever they had as a temporary solution to prolong Vader's deteriorating suit without maintenance. Which was why the plan was that Anakin would be the one doing the talking and negotiating with Hephaestus regarding their future "business venture" while Vader merely stood and acted as moral support...or to "convince" Hephaestus with his presence. A notion that Anakin was against with, but saw the importance of doing so.

Moments passed and Hephaestus herself made an appearance alongside that Welf fellow, who for some reason felt a lot apprehensive compared to the chill and laid back demeanor he had when dreeting Anakin and Vader before. It was actually a surprise that he reacted that way in their first meeting compared to their reputation in Orario. Hephaestus was the same but instead of pure apprehension, there was also a bit of fear laced with a little bit of...respect? At least that was what Anakin and Vader sensed. They can practically see through their emotions and thoughts as if they were holding a sign that says so.

Anakin got down to business immediately.

"Greetings, lady Hephaestus." Anakin said with a business smile with a cordial tone as he walked towards Hephaestus with a hand forward, signalling a hand shake.

Hephaestus took the gesture and shook hands. "Y-yes, Greetings. W-welf informed me of something you wanted to talk about?"

"Ah yes. I will cut to the chase as we ourselves are in a hurry, especially my...brother here." Anakin said and promptly continued to speak "You see, we decided on establishing a...production type familia instead of being an exploration type familia."

"I see...wait we? As in the two of you?"

"Yes. Actually, due to a few circumstances that led one thing to another, we will actually be running a...joint-operation familia." Anakin explained half lying-half saying the truth. Explaining the unexplainable as to how and why they would be sharing a familia would be hard considering that Hermes himself, one of the senior gods did not know what to make of.

"I was hoping you would be interested in a...joint business venture." Anakin stated which made Hephaestus interested.

"Then this is not the proper place to speak of such matters, let's move to my office."

...

...

...

"And this is?" Hephaestus asked holding a somewhat thin stack of parchment paper that was 20 pages long. Unbeknownst to her however, was the papers contained the necessary materials and tools for Vader's suit and maintenance proper and the materials and tools needed for a droid manufacturing facility and for the droids themselves. A list of all the things they need to "borrow" so to speak.

Of course since this planet is underdeveloped and lacking in technology, adjustments were made. The droids will be made with whatever strong and adequate materials of this planet are as they do not have access to alloys like the the ones used to built the droids of their world. So they had to use whatever materials they have access to or something that can be considered the equivalent of the like. The same can be said for the droid manufacuring facility, sesing as the planet has not even entered the digital age. But Anakin and Vader confident in their robotics, mechanical and engineering skills. I mean they C3PO from metal scraps and spare wires. This was perfectly doable.

"The thing is, lady Hephaestus, we plan on establishing a business, as we mentioned earlier. Now, the problem is, we lack the facilities and necessary equipment for doing so." Anakin said, earning the curiousity of Hephaestus.

"And what kind of business are you trying to establish?" Hephaestus asked.

"I'm afraid I can't say the specifics, due to some circumstances on our end. But if you are concerned about us rivaling yours as weapons manufacturers then your concerns will prove to be unfounded." Anakin explained. "All we ask for a lend lease of equipment and materials." Anakin propose.

"A lend lease? I'm sorry, but I haven't heard such a term before. What is this lend lease you speak of?" Hephaestus asked curiously.

'Good she has taken the bait.' Vader mused to himself.

"Well, as I have said we lack the material and equipment for our cause. Materials delivered under the lend lease would be supplied at no cost, to be used until returned or destroyed. In the event that an equipment is damaged upon return or is destroyed, proper compensation will be payed alongside the return value of the other materials. This way, not only are you only just lending us materials and equipment effectively without cost since we will be returning it all- and compensate for all the damages, which means you aren't losing on anything but you will also profit from the interest." Anakin proposed.

Hephaestus and Welf considered the prospect and went over some of the details in a contract attached to the stack of paper given to Hephaestus and found no discrepancy on this "Lend Lease" of theirs. It even stated that the interest rate will be as high as 30 percent! Which would mean the more she lends and sponsors them, the more profit she gains. A win-win scenario, and this contract is verified by the guild too!

"Fine. I'll approve of this...Lend Lease." Hephaestus answered.

"Thank you." Anakin replied.

"I'll have all that you need shipped to your estate within this week."

To Be Continued

Thank you for reading.

Next update: The Hokage are Part Time Huntsmen (Naruto X RWBY)