This is my latest story. I got the idea from the challenge ICHeart made up. This is my very first attempt at writing this kind of crossover. Hope you like it.
For those that feel confused after reading this chapter, please see the Author's Notes at the end of it.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or StarCraft 2.
"CHIDORI!"
"RASENGAN!"
Two young ninja lunged at each other with their most powerful techniques, creating an unimaginable force between them. The waterfall behind them was disrupted by the unleashed power, the stone wall beginning to crack, large chips falling down to the valley. However, neither of the youths paid attention to anything other than their opponent. This was probably the most important fight they've ever had as rivals.
And best friends.
Uzumaki Naruto couldn't let his friend go to Orochimaru. There was no way that he'd allow that snake freak to steal his body. If he had to break every bone in Sasuke's body and drag him back to Konoha kicking and screaming, he'd do it! And to do that, the blond pushed more chakra into his attack, mixing it unconsciously with the energy of the demon that was locked inside of him, willing it to overpower his rival's jutsu.
Uchiha Sasuke had a hard time keeping both his Chidori and his Cursed Seal Level Two in check, while trying to surpass Naruto's Rasengan in pure force. The blond didn't understand! Sasuke needed more power to kill his traitorous older brother for what he did to their family, and the snake Sannin promised it to him. Only his hatred kept Sasuke going all those years after the death of his clan, his ambition to avenge all those that fell to Itachi's blade. Naruto couldn't possibly understand his pain. That's why Sasuke needed.
As they pushed each other to their limits, their chakra flaring all around them, something unexpected happened. The accumulated energy exploded, sending both genin in opposite directions, but not for long. Before either Sasuke or Naruto could say anything, they were being pulled back by an unknown force. Everything was being sucked into what seemed to be a rift in the air, large enough for an adult human to go through... not that either of the two boys wanted to test it.
Sasuke tried to fly away from the danger zone on his monstrous wings, but the winds were too strong, and he didn't know how to use his new appendages to their fullest. All he could was flap them as hard as possible, but it was clear that he couldn't fight with the violent air currents. Naruto saw this. He himself was trying to hold onto the ground with the red chakra claws, and needed both hands to have any chance of getting away. Looking back at Sasuke's weakening form, the young Jinchuuriki of Kyuubi was facing a dilemma. He closed his eyes for a moment, only to open them again with a new resolve.
He made a decision...One that will have a great impact on many lives, even some he was unaware of.
Using all his remaining chakra and will, Naruto let go of the safe ground that kept him anchored. When he got into his desired position, the blond ninja shot a long chakra arm into Sasuke. He grabbed him and then threw deeper into the valley, away from the dangerous rift. Before he was sucked into it, Naruto looked to where his best friend had landed, and smiled sadly. Sasuke watched helplessly as the blond was closer to his doom. With his Sharingan eyes still active, the avenger could read Naruto's lips, even from the distance that was between them. The message was clear, and shook the Uchiha to the core of his soul.
'Live well, Sasuke.'
A second later, Naruto was plunged into the deepest darkness he had ever experienced, and he couldn't stay conscious any longer.
Mar Sara
August, 2496
I have no idea what happened after I got sucked into that strange wormhole. All I saw was pitch black darkness. No light or sound. Then, a terrifying explosion reached my ears, so loud that I thought I'd go deaf. Moments later, I felt like I was falling from a great height, and before I could do anything, I crashed into something hard and blacked out.
There was no way for me to tell how long I was unconscious. I only remember pain, lights, and voices around me. Someone must have found me and taken me with them. The strange thing was that I couldn't understand whatever they were saying, like it was a completely different language than my own. I couldn't listen to them any longer because I was still weak from the fall, and I returned to dreamless slumber.
When I woke up again, it was already evening. Even though I couldn't see or hear anything very clearly yet, I could tell that I was in a hospital from the smell in the air. The sterile environment of medical facilities was always unpleasant to me. Not to mention I get bored very easily in hospitals and try to run away. This time, however, I couldn't even dream of even getting out of the bed, because I could feel many dressings on my body, not to mention both my left leg and right arm were is casts, most likely broken.
After adjusting to the light in my room I noticed another person walking through the door. He was a tall man with short brown hair and a trimmed mustache, wearing clothes that I had never seen before, with several shining chains that looked like they were made of gold, which was probably true.
The man started saying something, but I couldn't understand a word. Several times, he repeated two words. At first, I didn't get what he was saying but when he started to point at himself with one hand, I understood that he was introducing himself. To me, it sounded funny. I mean, I never met anyone who would be called Jim Raynor before, so who could blame me?
I tried to say my name, but no sound could come out of my throat. It was so sore, and the glass with water was too far on the nightstand beside my bed for me to reach. The man, Jim Raynor, saw my struggles and handed me the glass. Just a few gulps of the cold liquid brought a sweet relief to my throat, enough so I could speak again. Knowing that he won't understand me, like I couldn't him, I pointed at myself and spoke.
"Watashiwa Uzumaki Naruto, 'ttebayo!"
The man looked at me and then burst out laughing. I was a little annoyed that this strange person was laughing at me and I voiced my impatience; he may not understand my words, but my voice should be enough to have his attention. Imagine my shock when, after calming down, this guy spoke to me again, but in my own language! I could understand everything he said!
Immediately, I started asking questions but Jim, as he requested me to call him, stopped me and said that he'd tell me everything I wanted to know, but my priority at the moment should be getting back to full health. At first I didn't want to listen, but when a sudden wave of tiredness hit me, I thought that he was probably right. I laid down on my pillow and closed my eyes, waiting for sleep to take me. One question though didn't leave my mind.
'Where am I?'
I was able to leave the hospital after a week of recovery, which surprised everyone. I explained to Jim that I always was a fast healer, and it looked like he bought it. I couldn't just tell him about the demon that resided in my gut. That wouldn't be good. Though I still had casts on my leg and arm, Jim got me a wheelchair and brought me to his home where I met his wife Lidya, who insisted that I call her Liddy, and their one year old son Johnny. After introducing myself to them, Lidya surprised me by talking to me in my own language. Apparently, both she and her husband learned it at different times, and just never had any use of it until now. Talk about being lucky.
Several more days passed, and I still lived with the Raynor family. My limbs slowly healed, and I could leave the bed, but I had to go everywhere using crutches. I missed my home dearly, so when Jim came back from his office one night, I asked him if he could tell how far Konoha was from this place. He looked like he never heard of such a village before, as did Liddy. I asked them again about Fire Country, along with the other Elemental Nations. They were silent for a while before we all sat together at the table, and they kindly asked for me to tell them about myself and my life before Jim found me. I didn't see any harm in it, so I told them everything I knew, excluding Kyuubi, my jutsu, and any other information that could be used against my village. At first neither of them looked convinced, but when they saw my serious expression, it was clear to them that I was telling the truth, or at least something that I believed was truth.
To demonstrate that I wasn't lying to them, I tried to use my chakra and spin the water in my glass. It worked, but I was exhausted by the little exercise, as I wasn't fully recovered. However, to further prove my point, I took a sheet of paper, and with the chakra in my hand, I wrote my name on it. That little act seemed to shock them even more, but something was wrong. I could tell that they were worried, especially Liddy.
Jim sighed heavily and told me about the place I was in.
Machines that he called computers sensed an anomaly and an explosion above one of the sectors. As a marshal of Mar Sara, it was his duty to check something like that, and being a former member of the military, he only took a few men with him on the mission. They rode to the place that had several crystal formations around, and they found a crater in one of the largest crystals. Inside, he found a heavily wounded blond boy, age thirteen or fourteen, with shards of the mineral sticking out of his body. They were startled to learn that there was no trace of any kind of shuttle or pod that the boy could have gotten there with. Leaving it for later Jim ordered his men to take the boy aboard their vehicle and keep him alive until they got to the nearest hospital.
There was more to it. People traveling in spaceships to other worlds. Monsters that plagued space and destroyed all other life on inhabited planets. Weapons that could wipe out cities several times larger than Konoha in a blink of eye. Armies of steel-wearing soldiers to protect the ordinary people from outside dangers...
This was too much. It was all too much for me to handle. To be told all this...I couldn't handle it. I tried to escape, called them liars, and tried to break any genjutsu that I could be in. Little Johnny woke up from the turmoil and started crying, making Liddy leave me and Jim at the table. Later I felt guilty about waking a little kid like him, but at the time I was too shocked and angry to care. Jim tried to calm me down, but I wouldn't listen to him. Just then, Liddy came behind me and held me firmly in place. I struggled to get free, but she wouldn't budge. She hugged me tightly and whispered comforting words into my ear.
I couldn't take it anymore and cried. Liddy still hugged me, rubbing my back in soothing circles. I let loose all my anger, fear, sadness, and loneliness through the tears that fell from my eyes.
For the next two weeks I was like a ghost. Even though my injuries were fully healed a few days after that little incident, I rarely left the bed. Liddy was especially worried about me, though I have no idea why. I wasn't her child, hell I wasn't even from the same world! Why did she care so much about me? It didn't make any sense to me. Finally, Jim got fed up by the atmosphere that slowly taking over his house. Despite his wife's and my protests, he dragged me out of the bed and took me to the local gym. Some people were watching everything that took place there.
Without any warning, Jim threw me onto the ring in the middle of the gym and ordered me to get up. When I did, he rushed at me with raised fists. Not thinking much, my ninja instincts and training kicked in; I blocked or evaded almost every punch that was sent at me. I even countered some and got a few good hits in myself. When we looked at each other, both sweating, panting, and bruised beyond belief, Jim asked one simple question that changed my attitude afterwards.
"Are you better now?"
For some unknown reason, I started to laugh. Soon enough, Jim and I were laughing loudly and even joked at each others wounds. Though when we got home, Liddy scolded us for such reckless behavior. Man, was she mad! I almost thought that she'd spank me, but Jim had it really bad; he had to sleep on the couch that night, and we both kept spoiling her until we were forgiven for that stunt.
I felt like I found my place in this alien world.
I finally felt like I had a real family.
March, 2497
Several months passed since I started living with Raynors's, and to my great surprise and joy, they accepted me as a member of their family. I looked to Jim as if he was my own father; he taught me about the laws and some history of the humans in the Sara system, and while I always slept through Iruka-sensei's lectures, here I actually paid attention. He also showed me how to operate all those high tech devices. He and Liddy taught me how to speak, write, and read English, the native language in most human-inhabited systems and planets. The whole studying thing wasn't easy, but by some miracle I managed to keep myself awake and learn as much as I could, because if I was ignorant here, like I was until now, it would probably have some unpleasant consequences.
On a more pleasant note, Johnny already sees me as his older brother! His first word was Naru! We were overjoyed that he started to speak at such a young age. I was especially happy, because this meant that I truly was a part of this family.
After some thinking I also started reviewing all the ninja training that I got from the Academy, Kakashi-sensei, and Ero-sennin. It was necessary so that I won't get rusty, and who knows, those skills may come in handy later. Simple chakra control exercises were even harder for me now. I couldn't create a single Kage Bunshin for some unknown reason, but surprisingly the Rasengan was very easy to form. Now I can summon my strongest jutsu without any help from a clone!
When it came to taijutsu, Jim took me to some friend of his that was supposedly a great master in several hand-to-hand combat styles. He showed me kata and explained what each style represented, then I had to do exercises he assigned to me. It was hellish training, and I thanked both my ungodly stamina and my accelerated healing, but the results were worth the pain I had to endure. In our spars we fought like equals, but I still the lacked experience my master had, so it was easy to predict who won most of them.
July, 2498
A great tragedy fell upon us. Two months ago Johnny scored highly on a psionic evaluation at a young age, and so was considered "gifted". This caught the attention of the Tarsonis Institute of Health and Research, which invited him to take part in trials to develop his psionic potential, reminding the parents that it was their duty to send him. Jim and I didn't trust them for several reasons, but Liddy convinced us that this could be great chance for her son to further develop his unique abilities. Reluctantly, we agreed, and Jim signed the papers that made the whole thing legal.
Only a week after they took my younger brother, we received a message about a shuttle accident. All the crew and passengers died. Lidya blamed herself for Johnny's death, even when both Jim and I did everything in our power to convince her that it wasn't her fault. We all suffered, but it was just an unfortunate accident. We couldn't get through to her however... Liddy died from grief several weeks later. Neither Jim nor I were the same afterwards.
I threw myself into even harsher training, and my father buried himself in his work. All we could do now was to cope with the loss of our loved ones and mourn them properly.
December, 2499
This was the first time I experienced a real war. An alien race came to our system and started destroying the planets around ours, like our neighbor Chau Sara. When they came to Mar Sara, everyone was panicking. There was a large number of zerg forces that infested the planet and were now on the move. Jim's militia did whatever was humanly possible to calm the people, but the situation was really tense. Most of the population was evacuated to concentration points in the wastelands where ships would take people to a safer location. I was helping too, after being assigned to Terran Marines when I was finally sixteen. The training lasted only a month before we were all mobilized to defend civilians during the evacuation. Because of the lack of equipment, not all soldiers got the powered armor suits, including me, but I managed without that ass-large piece of junk on my back. I prefer mobility above protection. Though I must say, I found myself quite capable with the rapid-fire C-14 rifle.
Backwater Station was under the attack by the zerg, and Jim went with his men, despite having orders to not do it. I knew that he'd have problems because of this stunt, but he wouldn't be the man I know if he left that post and it's crew to the zerg's mercy. He commanded several troops to hold the enemy back while his own platoon rushed to take back the post.
We didn't have to wait long before first signs of the zerg's forces caught up to us. I never thought that I'd see something more ugly than Sasuke's Cursed Seal transformation or the fish-guy sidekick of his brother Itachi. But those zergs took the cake.
I shot any of those bastards that came too close. Some of them got past the guarding soldiers, and some just ripped through them. Never before have I seen such horror. Screams of pain and fear...Blood spurting everywhere...Guts spilling on the ground...
I'll never be able to forget that sight.
During the confusion, I was separated from my group. I tried to find some familiar faces but it was impossible. Then I was grabbed from behind and drugged. After that, I don't remember anything more.
Vyctor V
May, 2501
It's been already two years since I was brought to this place, the Fujita Facility. A facility where Ghosts, elite operatives of Terran military, were trained. Apparently, the same agents that came for Johnny stuck around longer than they had to and sent a report about me having "unique non-psionic powers", which probably meant my chakra, even if I still couldn't use anything other than control exercises and Rasengan. Their superiors got interested in me, and waited for an opportunity to get me. The panic and evacuation of Mar Sara was just the opportunity they needed.
Jim couldn't and still can't help me. His stunt in getting that post from the zerg got him a prison sentence; he was arrested for ignoring orders, along with all his men. I don't know the details, other than that he got help from inside, and together with his militia he escaped. Ever since that day they were on the run. Ever since, I haven't gotten any kind of message from him.
He probably thinks I'm dead.
Anyway, through trials and research, the scientists responsible for the whole project discovered that in my blood there are microscopic shards of some mineral that they called a Khaydarin crystals. They told me that it was that thing responsible for my slight psionic powers. During the tests I was able to focus my will on a cup of water and move it without touching it. Not only that, but my senses were better than ever, and I could always tell if there was someone close by, even if I didn't see or hear them.
Those guys were very interested in my chakra. The first day I was brought here, they got someone who could read my mind, something like the Yamanakas' mind jutsu. This person went into my mind and looked through memories regarding my ninja training. After that, I was put on a special training regime that included both physical and mental training, along with experiments with taking my chakra and transferring it to the others. Some high officers wanted to have Super Ghosts, ones that could not only use psionic abilities but also be able to stick to the walls and walk on water. They failed, of course.
Apparently, the corrosive effect of Kyuubi's chakra was effective even without me using it consciously. Did I mention that the guy who read my mind lived only a day afterwards? I heard that he died a very painful and gruesome death, the poor bastard. Only four other people lived through this procedure, so instead of trying to make more, the scientists decided to first learn more about my chakra and how the new guys are handling it, before making any more attempts. However as they were at it, the scientists managed to expand my own dormant psionic powers to a level that was much higher than a normal Ghost. I wondered if Kyuubi's chakra reacting to both the experiments and the microscopic crystals inside my body had anything to do with it.
We lived and trained together, always had to do tasks that pushed us to our limits, always being on the brink of death or insanity. The mental training was the hardest to endure. Sometimes I would even forget my own name, but Kyuubi would help me through the hardest stuff. The Fox and I reached an understanding while surviving in this alien dimension. He too was afraid of the unknown threats that could put our lives in danger. Not to mention that neither of us was ready to die just yet, especially so far from home.
My other teammates, however, didn't have such luck. They'd been here much longer and had already forgotten what their real names were. The procedures in which they were given portions of my chakra didn't help, either. Because I felt responsible in some way for their state, I decided to name them myself, and treat them as if they were my family.
Daisuke is probably the largest guy I've ever seen, and that's including Itachi's fish-sidekick. He's a year older than me, over six and half feet high, has short brown hair, broad shoulders, a muscular build, and is overly obsessed with big guns. He's a pro when it comes to demolition, using heavy weapons, piloting vehicles, and he's always ready to help the others. He's like a big brother to me, though he could quit with his habit of messing with my hair, it's really annoying. Not to mention that he often jokes around and tries to be funny, though sometimes it brings more trouble than fun. He's always preferred heavy armors and very big guns, like the equipment used by marines, over the subtle Ghost ones, though he's managed to limit himself to his favorite rapid-fire C-14 rifle with a built-in grenade launcher, and a techno-psionic broadsword that he could swing around easily. For armor, he used two marine gauntlets, a chest plate, and heavy boots that gave him stability when shooting with a rocket launcher. Underneath all of this, he wore a standard Ghost suit. I've never seen him slowed down by all that heavy equipment.
I have no idea how to describe Yori, though. That man is one of the most eccentric humans that I ever met, and that's counting me with my ramen, and Lee and Gai-sensei's antics. When it comes to machines and inventing things, he starts laughing maniacally, then talks about "improving" the equipment, and then he laughs some more. As for his appearance, Yori is slim and has medium-length black hair that he ties in a short ponytail. As for his skills, you can't find a better hacker and sniper around. With a standard rifle, he's able to shoot down a leaf from a tree and only hit its stem, and all that from over two hundred yards. This guy can also turn off or reprogram a defense system of any kind in record time, and is also very talented in chemistry, biology, and physics. When it comes to his inventions, he more than once failed, but like me, he never gives up once he gets started. It's an admirable trait, but it's sometimes so darn dangerous, especially when he's working on new kinds of missiles or grenades. And we're even the same age. Yori prefers the standard hostile environment suit, only adding a pair of laser daggers in special sheaths inside his boots.
The only female in our little band, Hoshiko-chan. So frail and innocent. Always kind to others and wanting to help anyone in need. After the procedure of implanting my chakra in her, her hair turned silver; she's keeping it short to not let it get in her way. She has fair pale skin, an athletic body, very good proportions...Ugh, Ero-Sennin is popping in my head again...Anyway, Hoshiko is two years younger than me, a skilled medic, and a very powerful psionic, more powerful than anyone else in the whole facility, though she can't use her inner powers too much or they'll start hurting her. She's the youngest of us, so we sometimes treat her like the baby of the bunch...Which she hates, of course, and often scolds us for it, especially when Daisuke and Yori make fun of her. Despite that, however, she's foremost our precious little sister. She, like Yori, uses a normal Ghost suit, preferring a pulse handgun for a weapon. As our medic and medium, Hoshiko mostly stands at the back of all our battles, supporting us by using her powers in predicting where the enemy will appear next, or influencing them with a little telepathy. Afterwards, she would always patch us up with her medical knowledge. I think she could even rival Baa-chan in that department.
The last one, and the oldest of our group, three years my senior to be exact, is my third brother, Osamu. He's a little taller than me, has similar body build to mine, and very agile. He's our hand-to-hand combat specialist. All kinds of taijutsu of this world: karate, judo, kenpo, kung fu, jujitsu, muay thai, and so many others, he's mastered them all. It was all possible thanks to an advanced training system that the facility provided, allowing him to expand his talents towards martial arts. He's also a skilled tactician and could probably give Shikamaru a challenge. Sometimes though, he's a little too cocky for his own good, but who am I to talk about someone's cockiness, huh? Not to mention that with the whole badass look, the black long coat, and round hat a'la bounty hunter, you'd think that his ego would burst. As for weapons, Osamu would take out his double guns or psionic blade and either shoot down or cut down any opponent that came at him.
Through the training and experimenting on our powers, the five of us managed to establish a mind link with each other. Thanks to that, we always knew where the other members of our little family are and what are they doing. Of course, we had to learn also how to block the thoughts of someone probing our minds, because other psionic users could use this opportunity to harm us. Kyuubi, surprisingly, was a great help here. Along with this, I taught my adopted siblings everything about chakra, and how to control and use it, as well as my native language. It was fun to piss off all those scientists who couldn't understand what we were talking about. We bided our time and planned the escape from this prison. All we needed was a good opportunity, a few more gadgets from the armory, and maybe some good luck wouldn't hurt.
Koprulu Sector,
"Soaring Eagle"
August, 2508
We managed to escape the facility before the finalization. I really didn't want to have my head cut open and have an implant placed in my brain. There was no way I'd let my siblings go through something like that either! It reminded me too much of a certain snake and his sick experiments!
So, before anyone knew what was going on, I pumped myself with Kyuubi's chakra. Yori used several grenades that we smuggled from the armory the other day, Daisuke along with Osamu knocked out any guards that we came across, and Hoshiko managed to deactivate any psionic users that could try to stop us. I myself blew away the heavy doors to the shipyard with my Rasengan, and all guards there fell prey to our grenades and the other weapons that we managed to take with us. We got to one of the light cruisers there and then we left Vyctor V.
We were finally free.
However, there were several things that we had to work out first. There was Second Great War going on for the last four years now; no place was safe enough for us now. Also, our budget was very thin, and maintaining a ship and other equipment would cost a fortune. Yori proposed that we could always rob ships of the Confederacy, but that idea was quickly shot down. Then I remembered how Zabuza lived as a missing nin, and that there were always warriors not affiliated to any village, working for various people, like those thugs under Gato in Wave Country. I decided to let the others know about my plan and to see what they thought about it. To my surprise and pleasure, everyone accepted becoming mercenaries. Even the name I thought for our ship was welcomed warmly. From that day onwards, we were known as the Soaring Eagles.
Through the few years after our escape we all changed in one way or another, taking advantage of our newfound freedom and unrestricted individuality. The first one was Yori. He let his creativity run wild when it came to modifying both our equipment and what we managed to get from the facility. He started with our environment suits, tuning them to not only our psionic powers but also to our chakra. Not only that, this guy outdid himself by creating nanites, microscopic robots that were powered by our chakra; their main function was to repair our suits when they got torn in battle and create a small force field that furthered the suits' ability to protect the wearer when in hostile environment. Now no matter where our mission takes place, our suits are able to withstand the environmental conditions. He even admitted that the idea came from my memory about the Aburame Clan and my old friend Shino, and their ability to use the Kikaichuu beetles.
A couple of months back, we raided one of the Dominion's space stations for supplies. To our surprise, we didn't find anyone there. No personnel, no soldiers, no one was there. Being on guard the whole time, we looked around, trying to find anything that could be useful for us. That was another thing that shocked us. The storehouses were full of advanced technology, mainly what we could recognize as Protoss' weapons and armors. Apparently, this station was doing some kind research on alien technology and trying to make them useful for humans. Yori was like a little kid in a candy shop when he saw this. Immediately, he started to pack everything that caught his eye, which means that he made trips to that warehouse and back several times. After filling our cargo bay and downloading all the information from the station's main computer, Yori barricaded himself inside his room, and the rest of us could hear weird sounds coming from there.
After about two weeks, he finally came out with a bunch of new inventions in hand. We all looked wary at the prospect of testing any of those gadgets. It wouldn't be the first time something Yori created or upgraded , exploded in our faces. However, we remembered that when our 'genius' put his mind into making something of real quality, then we could always count on his creations.
During those long years, I was slowly realizing that I'd probably never go back home. My nindo was to never give up...but this was different. I have no idea why or how I got here in the first place, so how can I even think that there is any way to get back? It's so hard to think that I'll never see Konoha again, or my friends...My old life is definitely over. Thankfully, I found people I can call my family, so it's not really that bad. And surprisingly, my inner fur ball was also a source of comfort. Finally, we reached an understanding where I'm not constantly threatened with losing my mind when I'm using his power. I even earned the privilege of hearing Kyuubi's true name, which made me feel deeply honored. Kurama was also the last link to my home world. Together, we strive to survive in this dangerous dimension. We also managed to even change the seal and my mindscape to something more bearable than that sewer; now it was the great forest that I remember surrounding Konoha, just without a village in the middle, and Kurama's seal was now in the form of a collar around his neck. He didn't like at first, but anything was better than that cramped cage.
My psionic powers developed further. Now I'm a medium telepath, and I could sense danger better than most Chuunin back home, maybe even some Jounin. Not that I'm on the level of Yamanaka's mind-walk jutsu, but I can always tell if the person I'm talking with is lying or not. Add to that my devil's luck with gambling, and we have the reason I'm wanted in several illegal casinos that our group chose to relax in. Needless to say, those guys don't like when you blow the toilet up with an experimental bomb (Yori), eat all the free buffet (Daisuke and me), seduce the daughter of some rich client (Osamu), beat up other clients for groping your ass (Hoshiko), or clear several tables and gambling machines in a row, taking some serious money with you (me). We had to quickly evacuate, but with the cash I won it wasn't an issue to find another resort to charge our batteries.
May, 2510
I was getting better and better at handling my psionic blades, and I must say that while my brother is crazy and weird as shit, he did a really good job with these beauties. They were just like the ones used by Protoss' Dark Templars and Zealots: two foot long blades of pure energy shooting from the gauntlets on my wrists that were adapted to human physiology, with the ability to cut through almost anything. A little strange thing was that the color of my psi blades was deep crimson red, probably because of Kyuubi's chakra.
The unexpected result of that training was that I finally met my parents. Who would have thought that I'm the son of Konoha's second Jinchuuriki and the greatest Hokage that ever governed the village? I was so happy and sad at the same time, we could finally make peace with each other and they could move on to the afterlife, seeing as the seal and my control over Kurama's chakra was good enough. Afterwards I spent some time crying over it and letting bottled-up emotions out. I needed it.
Several times we crossed paths with Jim. He hadn't changed much. He just appeared older and more tired of everything. Constant battles with the Dominion, The Swarm, and other life-threatening dangers took their toll on him. The last time we met, he told me about this woman he was close with, Sarah Kerrigan. She was betrayed and left to fend for herself against a whole army of zerg, while the rest of the Terran troops evacuated from New Gettysburg. The last time I saw him this devastated was when Johnny and Liddy died. I decided to cure my stepfather's depression with a good old sparring session, the rest of guys from my team joining us. Afterwards we all got chewed out by Hoshiko, who wasn't happy about healing all of us, leaving the most painful and least threatening injuries as a punishment; she even went as far as to get Kurama on her side! How that girl made the most powerful demon from my old world agree into not healing me completely, I'll never know.
Several times I met quite a unique Protoss, a banished Dark Templar named Zeratul. It appears that my stepfather has some really weird friends. Zeratul explained to me how he sensed my presence and looked for me. He once saw me training with my blades, and offered training in the art of using such weapons. I accepted. Now I feel like no opponent is a threat to me, though one of the first lessons I learned from being here is to never let myself fall into ignorance, as something like this could easily kill me. Heh, I don't think even Kakashi-sensei would underestimate me now.
The Zerg Swarm was getting more and more fearsome with each passing day. Its path was marked with blood of billions. Some planets we saw were like giant graveyards; dead and silent. The most terrifying thing, however, was the current leader of this monster horde, the so called Queen of Blades. We could all feel her ominous being, shadowing the whole galaxy, as her troops conquered one world after another.
We knew that sooner or later, the Soaring Eagles and Queen of Blades would cross paths. The only question was, when?
January, 2511
Jim contacted me again a few months after our last encounter and told me about the job he and his Raiders were doing for some large corporation. They had to find old artifacts of some ancient race called the Xel'Naga. Now that I think about it, Zeratul mentioned them a few times during my training with him. Something about them being the creators of the Zerg Swarm and the gods of Protoss. It was said that those powerful beings will come back to this world, bringing either prosperity or destruction to all living creatures.
Back to those artifacts, Jim also shared with us the rumors that those items are so powerful that by using their power, we'd be able to defeat the Zerg, or at least get rid of their leader\, so that for at least a while this war would stop.
There was something more to it that I couldn't put my finger on.
I got another message from Jim just a few hours ago. It said that he was joining forces with the young prince of the Dominion to stop the Queen of Blades and her troops, taking the battle to Char. Just like all those years ago, the Terran and Protoss alliance was going to capture and destroy both the first and second Overmind. This message sounded almost like...he thought he wasn't coming back from this. He thanked me for coming into his life, and that he always loved me like I was his own flesh and blood.
My first thirteen years of life were filled with loneliness; only after graduating from the Academy had I formed real bonds with other people. My team, the other Rookies, and all the people I met during missions. And now, the person I looked to like a father thought he was going to die in this battle with zerg, and he dares to think I'm not going to help him? Oh, no way in hell am I sitting this one out!
Ignoring the questioning gazes of my siblings, I went to my quarters and looked over the equipment. I, too, made some personal changes to my Ghost suit: overall it was white and black in color, with two orange stripes going all the way down the sides and sleeves, a dark orange chest plate, and two armlets in the same shade of orange. From these came two gauntlets from which my blades came out, and if I manipulate my chakra and psi power correctly, they can become launchers that shoot bullets of pure energy; this ability fascinated Zeratul after I used it for the first time during our training together.
While fashion never was my forte, there was one thing that I had to do for my look. I still held Konoha and memories about my old life there dear to me, so I carved the Leaf's symbol on the left side of my breastplate. Sometimes...the memories came to me in my dreams. I miss my old life so much. At least this symbol will remind me of my old home.
Fully prepared I walked out of my room. Only five words left my mouth, but it was enough.
"We are going to Char!"
I'm Uzumaki Naruto, Jinchuuriki of Kurama, the Kyuubi no Youko, former shinobi of Konohagakure no Sato. I'm the leader of Soaring Eagles, student of Jiraiya the Toad Sage and Zeratul the Dark Templar! Son of Uzumaki Kushina, Namikaze Minato, and Jim and Lydia Raynor!
Time to kick some scaly asses!
"Hold them back! Don't let any of them pass!"
"GHRAAAAA! My arm! My fucking arm!"
"You want a piece of me? Come and get me!"
"Where are the tanks? We need artillery support right fucking now!"
"Medic! Call the medic!"
It was chaos, a huge bloodbath for the Terran forces. Char wasn't a hospitable planet, with oceans of fire, titanic storms, and an atmosphere that would burn a man alive. Add to that the creatures that wanted to rip you apart, and you've got a real hellhole.
Only a madman would want to fight here. A very brave, very stupid madman.
James Eugene "Jim" Raynor shot down any zerg that dared to come at him. Orders had been given out, now he and his men had to hold the enemy back until the Xel'naga artifact, brought by the general, charges up. Then maybe the Queen of Blades will be defeated once and for all. Maybe it'll save Kerrigan.
"Ultralisk!"
The frightening scream of soon-to-be-slaughtered marines brought Jim back to the reality. Immediately, he started shooting at the closest beast, only for it to turn and charge at him. The gigantic monster raised its huge, sharp, bloodied blades to cut the commander of the ground units in half, just like it did with at least a dozen of other soldiers. Jim was still shooting, aiming for the little head, but it was very hard to kill something like that. Things didn't look good when the Ultralisk was less than two yards from him.
Imagine Jim's surprise when his target fell down, dead at his feet. The beast's head was cut and burned at the same time, leaving only a smoldering hole.
"Yo, Pops! You were almost crushed by that bug! Do you have no shame'ttebayo?"
Jim looked around to find the source of the strangely familiar voice. The last piece of the sentence hit him like a ton of bricks, and he started to laugh loudly.
"There is only one person in the entire universe that would say something like that!"
Naruto turned off his cloaking, becoming visible to the world. The mechanical mask folded itself into his suit and he took off his goggles. Beside him, Daisuke materialized, holding his favorite four-missile rocket launcher over his shoulder, ready to take out anything that came too close. On his back he had a marine rifle with slight modifications. Besides the half-foot blade hidden under the barrel, Yori had mounted a grenade launcher and a vision scope to it. The big man couldn't be happier with such tuning to his gun.
"Nice to see you're still alive, Jim." Naruto said to his stepfather.
"You know me, kid. I always have a card to play." Jim looked over to the dead zerg giant. "But this was a close one. Thanks for help, but you could have made the kill before it got so close to me."
"A hero always comes at the last minute!" Naruto boasted. "Don't complain like some old man! You're still in one piece, aren't you?"
"Better wrap up this family reunion, you two. We'll be having company soon." Osamu, who appeared out of nowhere, readied his two pistols after pointing at a very large cloud of something that was coming at them frighteningly fast. He changed the view of his goggles and got a close up view. "From the looks of it...there are over a hundred zerglings...a few dozens hydralisks...and the air is full of mutalisks and other flying scoundrels...Fuck! They changed direction and are going straight to the base! The Queen of Blades is with them!"
"Kerrigan? We have to get my boys there quickly and support the defense, or all will be lost! The General won't be able to hold them!" Jim shouted in slight panic. There was too much at stake to lose right now.
"There's more!" Daisuke suddenly spoke. "Boss, there's another group of mutalisks and some overlords! One of them is carrying some kind of Protoss piece of crap!"
"Yori, you hear that? Scan that group and come here! We've got some more people that need a ride!" Naruto called to his communicator.
"Aye sir!" the technician called out. But a few seconds later, he wasn't in a cheerful mood. "Aniki, we're in deep shit! Very deep shit! My instruments show that it's a psionic warp core, most likely from a protoss ship! A thing like that can send a quarter of planet to another galaxy if it explodes! And the artifact is almost ready to release its power! I don't want to think about what will happen when that energy meets this unstable core. This is critical, Aniki!"
"What?" Naruto yelled out. This was bad, very bad. He went through their options and formulated a quick plan. "Yori! We'll drop Jim and his boys as close as we can to the attacking horde, then we'll go straight for that core!" Naruto commanded his kin, before sighing. "Also, tell Hoshiko to start preparations. We might need to let our Eagle 'spread its wings' here."
There was a little static before Yori was heard again. "Roger that. You may be right about using 'that'... But neither me or Hoshiko like the ide-"
"DAMN STRAIGHT I DON'T!" A loud woman screamed, making Naruto take out the headset from his ears to keep himself from going deaf. "After this is over, you'll be in a lot of trouble Naruto-niisan! Hoshiko out!"
"You heard the lady, Aniki." Again, Yori took over the radio. "I'll send you a shuttle two clicks to the east from your current position. Be there there in fifteen minutes. Yori, out!"
"I'm still amazed how that girl can put up with your crazy shit and not kill you all in your sleep." Jim said, clearly amused by how the only female member of his son's crew managed to handle her male family. Not to mention what she did to a guy twice her size when the poor idiot tried to hit on her and feel her up at the same time. Let's just say that he could sing with a nice soprano now.
Suddenly, Naruto was hit with a great bloodlust. The feeling was accompanied by an overwhelming sense of power and an almost crushing presence. The last time that the blond felt something like was when he faced Orochimaru of the Sannin, when he and Ero-sennin had to find Tsunade and the snake ninja attacked them.
"Everyone! Go to the landing zone! Now!" Naruto shouted to the group.
"What is it otouto?" Daisuke questioned his blond brother.
"Something big is coming, and it's powerful and fast." Osamu answered the bigger man. He was a better psionic than his younger brother, but it still didn't compare to the powers both his leader and little sister had. It would be wise to listen to either of them when they 'sensed' anything. "Jim Raynor, sir! Daisuke and I will escort you and your men to the landing zone!"
"I'm not leaving you here alone Naruto!" Jim ignored the other man, focusing his sight on his adopted son. He already lost so much, enough is enough!
"You seem to be forgetting who you're talking to, Pops." The blond ex-shinobi's voice was colder than the empty space of the universe. Two flaming red blades shot from the gauntlets, the air around Naruto became heavier, and the rock under his feet shook and cracked from the released power. The young man faced his stepfather, who in turn visibly flinched at the sight of two blood-red eyes with slit cat-like pupils. "Stay here and you'll only be in my way. I'll cover your retreat and join you soon enough. Now go!"
Seeing that there was no use in trying to convince the young Jinchuuriki to reconsider, Jim could only turn around and look at the man he was proud to call his son. "Make it back alive, kid."
Finally alone, Naruto could only wait for the enemy to show up. It didn't take long.
About dozen hydralisks emerged from under the ground, lunging at the lone blond. The Uzumaki male became a blur, not even bothering with activating his cloaking device. While they were very dangerous opponents for a single human, Naruto wasn't a common soldier. Before ten seconds passed, all the zerg were turned into smoldering bits. Not lowering his guard, Naruto called out to the still hidden enemy.
"How long are you going hide yourself? I don't have time to play with your dogs! Either you come out or I'll look for you!" Adding a little chakra to his vocal cords, the blue-eyed man roared to the hostile world. "KERRIGAN!"
"My, oh my...How rude of you...It seems to me that no one taught you how to talk in a lady's company." From the shadows came the Queen of Blades, in all of her frightening glory. She smiled, clearly amused by how this one little Ghost wanted to stop her and the Swarm. "I know about you, Naruto Uzumaki, son of Jim Raynor. He told me some stories about your life together, and how proud he was to have a son like you." Kerrigan petted a hydralisk that came to her on its big head and the creature hissed in content, keeping an eye on the blond, ready to strike at the order of its Queen. "A shame that you both were separated for so many years, only to die on this planet."
"We'll see who's going to die here!" With those words, Naruto charged Kerrigan. "Let's dance, you scaly bitch!"
Yori was checking the instruments for a fifth time in the last ten minutes, making sure that the energy output, generators, and shields were all in top shape. The Eagle One was closing in on the escaping zerg that held the protoss psionic core. The brilliant, and at the same time a little loony, scientist of the Uzumaki family made many complex calculations and simulations on the ship's main computer, trying to figure out how to prevent a catastrophe on a global scale. While it wouldn't be bad to wipe out a zerg infested planet, he preferred to be a few light years away from the danger zone, if he could help it.
Meanwhile in the medical bay, Osamu and Daisuke were being patched up by their little sister, but not before getting an earful from her for being reckless on a hostile planet. Hoshiko always hated when her brothers would do that, and Naruto was the worst of them in that department.
"You two are lucky that I love you enough to actually treat you after all the stupid things you guys do." Hoshiko grumbled as she finished tying up a bandage on Daisuke's left calf. "Seriously, getting hurt from a single zergling of all things because you two wanted to find out who could kill more? And letting your guard down on an battlefield before making sure all bugs are dead?"
"Gimme a break, squirt. It was only this one time. You're overreacti-YAAAGH!" Daisuke yelped as his little sister tied the bandage a little too tight on the wound.
"Let me remind you that my worries and overreacting saved you more times than I care to count." Afterwards a little smirk appeared on her lips. "Also, it wasn't the first time, or do I have to remind you about the incident on the Omega 7 colony, hmm?"
Both brothers winced at the memory of the mentioned incident. Their group was hired to kill some very big bugs that were harassing colonists and destroyed many fields on the farms. A quick job and easy money, but Daisuke and Osamu had a little accident and were swallowed whole by the queen of the bugs, which was a low level telepath, and had the ability to project illusions to deceive its prey. Daisuke and Osamu saw a beautiful, naked, and horny woman before them, and went to her unaware. Next thing they saw was the creature's digestive system, which was taking them straight to its stomach. They got out of course, blowing the queen up from the inside, but it was still very embarrassing: first being deceived by a mere illusion, then getting eaten alive by an oversized cockroach.
The rest of their family laughed at them for about a week.
"I thought we agreed to never mention it again." Osamu grunted, his younger brother nodding as he, too, found the whole incident embarrassing. The self-proclaimed 'badass bounty hunter's' pride suffered from this incident. Not to mention the smell was on the both of them for weeks.
"You should have learned from that mistake! God above only knows ho-"
Hoshiko's rant was stopped by a sudden impact that shook the whole deck and threw all three siblings off their feet. Soon after, their crazy genius's voice sounded from the ship's intercom.
"All hands on the bridge! I repeat, all hands on the bridge!" No one knew what to say to the message, and when another shock hit them, Yori's voice became more impatient. "GET YOUR LAZY ASSES ON THE FUCKING BRIDGE ALREADY! The situations is critical!"
The last part was enough to make all three members of Soaring Eagles mobilize and run to the bridge. When they arrived, Yori was already at his post, and from what the three could see, he was making some complicated simulations, judging by the tempo of his fingers hitting the console's keyboards and the columns of very long calculations appearing on the screens before the sniper.
"Yori! What the h-"
"Shut up brat!" Hoshiko immediately stopped her rant. Whenever any of her brothers exploded like that and called her 'brat', she knew that the matter was very serious. After getting everyone's attention, Yori showed the screen with a live broadcast of Naruto fighting a large number of zerg forces and...
"Kerrigan? What the hell is the Queen of Blades doing there?" exclaimed Osamu, his fists squeezing hard on the console. "She was supposed to be focused on getting the artifact!"
"Well, apparently she changed her plans." Yori replied sarcastically. "We have a bigger problem. Check this." Once again the image on the screen changed, this time showing a flock of flying monsters, surrounding something that emanated strange blue and white lights. "That there is the unstable core that I reported to Naruto. Current data say that we have a little less than half an hour before the complete overload, and the collapse of the fabric of this universe."
"Say what?" Daisuke, asked a little confused. He wasn't stupid, far from it, but whenever someone started using too many scientific terms, the demolition expert tended to get lost.
Sighing, Yori tapped a few more commands on the keyboard, bringing on the main screen an animation, with several diagrams and columns of calculations. Seeing the confused faces of his crew, the genius technician went into what the others called "Scholar Mode", and started an explanation.
"Seeing that Naruto isn't originally from this world, it's safe to assume that there are other dimensions, aka other realities. You keeping up with me?" Everyone nodded, so Yori continued. "From aniki's explanation, I deduced that the joined forces of corrupted chakra from the Cursed Seal, added to already destructive power of the Bijuu, managed to tear a hole in the space-time continuum for a brief moment. This tear sucked in the closest power source, in this particular case Naruto in his Kyuubi cloak, and closed itself up. That, of course, is only a theory of mine." Yori finished.
"And what does all this multi-dimensional mumbo-jumbo have anything to do with our current situation?" Osamu asked, not having the patience to deal with the eccentric behavior of his brother.
"That, Osamu-niisan, is an excellent question! My calculations show that when the core reaches critical mass, it'll collapse into a dimensional tunnel that will rip this system apart, and given time, destroy the very fabric of this universe." To the surprise of gathered people, the crazy glint in Yori's eyes that appeared whenever his spirit as a scientist got excited suddenly disappeared, replaced by the cold and calculating gaze of a professional officer. "The only solution to avoid such a scenario is using our most powerful weapon. Naruto already expressed his approval."
Daisuke was the first to find his voice again.
"Wait, you don't mean...!"
"When Naruto gets back on the ship, we're launching the Void Cannon!"
One after another, the monstrous creatures lunged at Naruto, who tried his best to keep them all at bay with his energy blades. He slashed through every opponent that dared come too close to him, all the while keeping an eye on his true target, the Queen of Blades.
Finally, Naruto found an opening to use one of his special attacks. Calmly he deactivated the blades and joined his hands together, his gauntlets facing the target, and the psi-energy mixed with his Jinchuuriki chakra. A powerful aura surrounded him, and all the monsters held back their assault, sensing danger in this one human. Kerrigan also felt something that she thought she would never experience...fear.
The mixed energy created a sphere of whirling blue, red, violet, and white energy. Finally, Naruto stopped charging. He aimed the ball of energy, two times bigger than a human's head, and shouted the name of his technique.
"Rasen Bakudan Taihou (Whirling Bomb Cannon)!"
The blast was at least thirty feet in radius, and the fearsome Queen of Blades and most of her troops were caught dead in the middle of the explosion. All the zerg around her were dead, shredded by the sheer force they had to endure in their attempt to protect their leader. Kerrigan wasn't in much better shape. She lost both her bony wings, her left arm looked like it was going to fall off any minute, and her whole body was covered in cuts and gaping holes.
Despite all of that, the female hybrid still found the strength to smile at her opponent. It wasn't an arrogant smirk like she usually liked to show to her enemies. No, it was a smile of acknowledgement; Naruto proved to her that he's a strong warrior, worthy of praise from her.
"You win this round, Naruto, son of Jim Raynor. But the battle is still far from finished, and your allies are in danger. Better help them." With those words, the Queen of Blades vanished beneath the soils of Char.
"Shit! I lost her trail." Naruto cursed under his breath. Despite being quite a powerful psionic, Kerrigan was still much better than him, and she could perfectly mask her escapes. Then he heard Yori's voice in his headset.
"Aniki, we really need you on the ship. We're ready to fire the Void Cannon! All that's left is you getting on board."
"Alright. I'll be there in a moment." Flashing a few seals, Naruto prepared the one jutsu that made some things easier in this world. 'I'm so glad Tou-san taught me the Hiraishin and how to make the seal for it.'
With that last thought, the blond man vanished in a burst of gold light.
"What's the situation?" Naruto called out as he entered the bridge of Soaring Eagle, still covered in dirt, dust, and blood from the fight just moments ago. Four pairs of eyes focused on him. Yori, especially, looked uncertain. Something was very wrong here. "Well?" The blond man asked a little more annoyed at the silent treatment.
"Aniki...I have some disturbing news..." Yori started uncertain, then continued when his adopted brother and captain nodded at him. "I did more simulations and some calculations. We can still avoid the disaster of this warp core explosion by shooting it with our Void Cannon, but..."
"But..?" Naruto urged him. He didn't like where this was going.
"But we don't have enough power to fire the cannon from a safe distance. For this to work, we'll have to go within the blast radius. We won't be able to escape, not with our engines damaged like they are." Yori looked over at his siblings and fellow crew. "This will be our last stand-"
"No!" Naruto interrupted him. "Just put all stations, except for mine, on auto-pilot. I'll fire it while you all take the shuttle and escape. That's an order!" The blond man didn't want his family to risk their lives. He'd gladly sacrifice himself for them. However, their answer was not what he expected, since now he was lying on the floor and the left side of his jaw hurt, courtesy of Daisuke, who looked furious. Before Naruto could utter another word, the giant man grabbed him by collar and brought him up to eye level, not even bothered by the weight of his commander.
"Now you listen here, Naruto-baka. I may forgive you for saying such a nonsense once, because I know how you think, but when you pull rank and order us to abandon you like that, I just want to beat you black and blue." Naruto gulped at that. His brother may not be as smart as the rest of his family and himself, but that guy could punch a hole through a brick wall, without any enhancements. In pure physical strength, Daisuke was the most powerful Uzumaki in their group. "We're staying together. If one of us wants to go from this world in such a fashion, that's fine, but don't you try to deny us the same fun." He said, grinning at the last part and letting his adoptive brother go.
"Just like when we first met in that facility, we only have ourselves. Nothing is holding any of us here... And what's life when the war's over going to be like? If not Zerg, then Protoss or Dominion will be the end of us." Osamu used his logic, but as you can guess, he had some joke about their situation. "Besides, I don't mind going out with a bang!"
"We're going with you, Nii-san. You might as well get over it." Hoshiko said. The next thing Naruto knew, his sister's arms were wrapped around him in a loving hug. "We are family, and we stick together. Isn't that what you taught us?"
Naruto was moved, tears slowly falling from his eyes. They were all right. He was an idiot. Family is always together, for good and for bad. He couldn't deny them that.
"I...Thank you, guys..." The original Uzumaki wiped his face and looked at his crew with a new determination burning in his blue eyes. "Let's show those lizards and everyone out there how Uzumakis get the job done!"
"YEAH!"
Jim was currently looking at the Soaring Eagle as the ship headed for a large flock of zerg flyers. Cannons and guns shot everything that came too close to it. Soon, some powerful energy was building up.
"Naruto, what do you plan to do?" Jim asked himself out loud. One of his soldiers came to him.
"Sir, what are your orders?"
"Cover that ship! We'll give them the support they need to complete their task. Move!" The marine saluted and walked away, while Raynor looked at his adopted son's unit. 'I hope that you know what you're doing, kid.'
"Two minutes to core's overload! Sixty-eight percent power gathered! Ugh!" Yori tried to keep up with the computers calculations, but it wasn't easy when the whole deck shook every time a larger monster hit them. "We need at least eighty percent to fire a decent shot! I don't know if we'll be able to get to them!"
"Keep your stations!" Naruto commanded. "Leave the energy to me!"
Because of a few ingenious modifications done by the eccentric scientist and sniper, the generators had crystal cores that could be charged by using either psi-energy or chakra. The only thing was that you had to have a humungous amount of either energy to charge even a tiny bit of those generators. Thankfully for them, Naruto was the rare case that had a shit-ton of chakra.
'Kurama, I need you here!'
'I know! Now keep your mouth shut and let me do my job!' The red demon chakra flowed through Naruto, and thanks to a siphon gadget attached to his battle station, the energy was quickly charging the generators of the Void Cannon.
"Seventy-five percent!"
"Fuck! We lost decks four and five! Seven through nine are on fire!" reported Daisuke in the Engineering Station.
"Eight of our turrets are destroyed! The shields are losing power!" Osamu called out from the Tactical Station.
"Seventy-seven percent!"
"We're surrounded by dozens of zerg flyers!" Hoshiko read from the Radar & Psi Station.
"Eighty-three percent! We're good to fire! Now, Aniki!" Yori gave the signal, and Naruto didn't think twice.
"Void Cannon, FIRE!"
Several decades after the battle on Char, historians called this event as The Falling Star, based on words from the few eyewitness' that survived so long after the war. A lone ship charged a large flock of zerg flying forces, where the later research showed the presence of powerful psi radiation and Protoss warp technology, in the speculation of stopping whatever the aggressive creatures planned.
Shortly before the planned activation of the Xeno Artifact, in order to destroy all zergs in a huge area, the mysterious ship fired a single, but also very powerful, weapon. To some of those that could see the phenomenon, it seemed that whatever that weapon was, it created a miniature black hole, which for the lack of a better term, 'sucked in' all creatures around it, including the Protoss device.
The story differs from person to person, however one thing was the same between them all. The ship was too close when firing its powerful weapon, and most likely because of the damage it received during the battle, the crew wasn't able to escape before the weapon was fired. The shockwave that destroyed all zerg for miles around the base, sealed the fate of those brave people, by sending their vehicle towards the black hole.
The sacrifice of those brave people will never be forgotten by those that fought in the battle on Char on May 21st, 2511.
All records of the event were destroyed by Dominion's censoring committee.
A/N: Finally! I finally finished this chapter! Probably the longest I have EVER written down. Took me so long...All because of what happened IRL.
First, I got a paid practice in the tax office in my city, then a few days before the day I was to begin my work there, my grandfather died of a stroke. That was in late March. Then I was busy with my work, so I had little time for writing. Almost two months later, my second grandfather died, from Appendicitis that was recognized too late. It was...a hard time...
As you may notice, most of this chapter is like a one huge flashback from Naruto's perspective. I made it that way, because it created an easier path to go through the time Naruto was in SC universe, than to write several chapters about the years he spent there (don't forget, Naruto is 28 when he joins Jim on Char - ending of Wings of Liberty – so he spent 15 years in SC dimension; for more info, see ICHeart's profile and read his challenge, the second option). If someone doesn't like it, then I guess you can't make everyone happy.
I know that those who played and are fans of StarCraft may find my version different in some places from canon. All I can say is that I tried to be faithful to the information I found on the net (only played SC and Brood War), but I also had to keep in mind ICHeart's challenge rules. I can only hope that I did a relatively good job in compromising those two cases.
About the information help for all those that aren't really into Star Craft, I recommend that you see this site: StarCraft Wikia
There's not much more that I can say, other than the next chapter won't be coming up anytime soon, the action will be now purely in Naruto's world, and that there won't too much SC technology other than a few minor and original ideas of mine (like Naruto's Psi/Chakra Gauntlets with the option of shooting).
All that's left is to ask you to review this story, so I know what to correct in future chapters. The more you tell me what you think of this story, the more ideas it may bring me, ergo the next chapter may come faster.
Ranting: I still can't shake off the fear for my stories because of the new policy of . I mean, seriously, not counting the lemons, how can we, the authors, be able to say if the battle scenes in our stories (especially ones that some of us wrote basing on anime/manga like Naruto and Bleach) aren't too violent for M-rating? Also, if a story has 40-some chapters, and intimate love scenes (not really detailed) appear only in two or three of them, is this still a reason to take the whole story down, along with its author's account without any warning? This is just wrong!
End of rant.