Hello! Welcome to my latest solo project, hopefully a good one that garners more interest than Boruto: Online did. I've been itching to do a sci-fi Naruto story for a while, and I've finally gotten down to settling on this!
The format of this prologue is pretty unique to me. It's not something that I've done before, and hopefully, readers will find the premise revealed through this prologue of sorts interesting enough to support and follow the story for as long as I can maintain it (hopefully to completion).
Enjoy, and please review! (Also, I don't own Naruto.)
Year: I
Date: January 1
Time: 01:21:53
Command Log #: 1
TEST TEST TEST TEST TEST
Automated data recording system/storage test.
Please disregard.
TEST TEST TEST TEST TEST
Year: I
Date: January 1
Time: 01:30:26
Command Log #: 2
Well, we're off. We've left Earth's orbit, shut off the thrusters, and have successfully jettisoned ourselves into open space. Everyone is still cheering 'Happy New Year!' and celebrating on the high deck, drinking and kissing and saying goodbye to our old home.
Everything looks to be in order right now, at least with the core systems, this log, and the archives. Of course, with the Vessel being the size that it is, there's bound to be one or two bolts out of place at any given time, which is stressful.
Everything about this is stressful. Monumentally so. The Vessel is the first of its kind, and its mission is direly bold. This titanic whale of a spaceship is basically a roaming colony, a habitational craft with the capacity to hold almost a small country's worth of people and to sustain itself comfortably for at least the next millennium, and the technology to remain in stable contact with Earth.
Even if it was reasonably feasible to turn this ship around and return to Earth, we aren't meant to. We're meant to sustain a civilization out here, scouting the uncharted beyond for livable planets, and/or intelligent life to parley with. We're condemned to the stars.
That sounds bad, and I know it shouldn't. Almost everyone is beyond excited for this endless journey, and anticipating what we might see. Somewhere inside, I am, too.
But the thing is, this is how I think about it. Over the course of human history, there have been an infinite number of inspirational, pretty-worded quotes about the endless beauty, potential, and majesty of outer space, all spoken by people who have either never been, or have never been deep enough to really know what space is like.
Maybe that's just me being paranoid. Maybe these feelings will fade over time and I'll learn to be excited about this like everybody else. Hopefully.
This log has gone on forever. I'll try to make future entries less wordy.
HC-1 NARUTO UZUMAKI
Year: I
Date: January 15
Time: 22:14:46
Command Log #: 7
We've officially cleared the solar system, and are preparing to engage the hyperdrive engines for our first big jump. Deep-scans aren't showing anything of note in this arm of the Milky Way, so we're planning on flying in a circle around our home galaxy until we hit something. Lovely.
Meanwhile, on the inside, establishing the government is going smoothly, and with almost everyone assigned to and residing in the five 'Gakure-class' habitational dome-cities, the first census should be expected to take place by the end of the month. The rest of the High Five are pleased that everything seems to be falling neatly into place.
That anxious feeling is going away, slowly but surely. Maybe it was just nerves, and the expectation that I need to lead a large number of these people as we travel through space. Sasuke always did tell me that I worried too much. Sometimes, I wonder if **DATA EXCISED**
I probably shouldn't say that. Sasuke wouldn't like it. He has the same faith in me as everyone else in Konoha (for whatever reason), and I need to honor that by being the best High Commander I can be.
HC-1 NARUTO UZUMAKI
Year: III
Date: December 9
Time: 21:28:10
Command Log #: 272
The armada's Scouting & Exploratory Division has been going on regular routine patrols in a 1-kiloparsec sphere around the Vessel for the past year, to investigate star systems of interest and glance around for any little things that may have fallen under the Vessel's radar.
SED shuttles come back after almost every scheduled patrol with reports (of varying lengths and interest) about the surrounding area, information which is relayed back to Earth, for their use in future expansion endeavors. One shuttle came back early last week, with major hull and engine damage.
The entire armada is under HC-3's jurisdiction, and Darui only recently disclosed the full debriefing. The early shuttle encountered a field of what the shuttle captain described as corrosive slime after sniffing out a strange signal north-Z-positive of the Vessel: amorphous nonintelligent lifeforms composed of viscous mass and excitedly shifting colors, which would stick to the shuttle's hull and slowly corrode it away, adding the broken-down mass to their own.
**EXTRANEOUS DATA EXCISED**
Long story short… they found lots of crates within a massive, 'singing' slime body in the nucleus of the field, with a mass roughly equivalent to the size of a pretty bulky cruiser, but with most of the crew already suffering from heatstroke, there was no way to comfortably retrieve it, so they used autopilot to return to the Vessel with a distress message.
Kiba was captaining that shuttle, and he's still recovering, there's murmuring and concern in the cities, talk from Darui about reorienting the Vessel to keep that 'jelly field' in our sights until we can recover those crates and see what's inside, and my wife is due to give birth any day now.
Yeah, kinda stressed.
HC-1 NARUTO UZUMAKI
Year: IV
Date: July 5
Time: 12:28:10
Command Log #: 280
Lots of things have been happening at once lately. There was a baby boom in Konoha shortly after Hinata and I went public with her pregnancy about seven months ago. HC-3 and HC-4 reported similar booms at about the same time. Darui blames Fleet Commander Bee, who fathered a (kinda funny) scandal when he impregnated a government official in Kumo. Gaara admits that the boom in Suna was likely in response to reports of his own wife's pregnancy.
Death rates have been slightly higher than birth rates these past three years, another possible contributing factor, even though both have been very low in general. I'm rambling. The point I'm trying to make in this log is, my son was born last night at a little past 23:00, Boruto. Sakura and Sasuke were ahead of the trend; their daughter Sarada was born about a week ago, and most of our friends seem to be expecting births sometime within the next few months.
At the same time, the squadron Darui put together from Scouting & Exploratory and Capt. Jiraiya's Tactical Offensive Action Division left the Vessel today to hopefully recover the extraterrestrial cargo that was found. Everyone on the bridge has been chattering away about the observation drones tailing after the squadron for us, and the interested public, to see what happens. It's the closest thing to reality television the Vessel has gotten since New Year's Launch.
The ships are properly outfitted with heat shields, to repel what HC-2 has dubbed the 'space amoebas' that congregate at the area of interest without needing to overheat the ship, so nothing should go wrong. Although now that I've said that, something's bound to go wrong. Misfortune loves to be taunted…
HC-1 NARUTO UZUMAKI
Year: IV
Date: July 10
Time: 13:13:52
Command Log #: 281
Those worries are coming back, in full force, and those worries are resonating throughout Konoha and the rest of the Vessel, I can feel it.
The recovery mission took an unexpected turn for the disastrous. As they approached the jelly field, the squadron was ambushed by hostile ET fighter ships. Jiraiya's ship and several others were neutralized in a hail of laser fire unlike anything we had in our arsenal. The TOADs rallied quickly, to their credit, in spite of the loss of their squad leader. Even though the TOADs were outgunned, the hostiles were outnumbered, and the four enemy ships were eventually terminated, but not before neutralizing another 75% of the squadron.
What stung the most was having to tell our cheering citizens that what they saw was live, and not cleverly scripted CGI to entertain them. There were too many casualties for what was supposed to be a C-Rank recovery mission. I lost my friend and mentor. Hinata and Tenten lost Neji, leaving Tenten's unborn child without a father. Kurenai lost Asuma and had to explain to her daughter why her father wasn't with the broken squad when it came back. Not to mention the losses the other cities suffered.
But the mission was successful. The victory is much more bitter than it is sweet.
HC-1 NARUTO UZUMAKI
Year: IV
Date: July 29
Time: 21:20:41
Command Log #: 282
It's been a few weeks. Earth sent their condolences. We haven't really recovered yet, but we've finally put our time of grieving aside to take on our current situation. Humanity's first contact with intelligent life resulted in 27 casualties. We have no idea where the 'Hornets' – as HC-2 has dubbed them due to the distinctly angular and tapered shape of the aft of their ships – that attacked us are, and because of the frank lack of communication on their part, we don't have a definitive reason for why they attacked us in the first place.
We have theories, of course, the most widely-accepted at this point being that the crates we discovered and recovered from the amoeba forest belonged to the Hornets, and they were trying to stop us from stealing their property.
This theory is supported by what we found inside the crates when we eventually managed to get them open: xenotech. A large cruiser's worth of alien technology, weapons, and parts that look aesthetically similar to the Hornet crafts that decimated the TOAD squadron.
They've yet to be tested, but the brains down in R&D predict they might behave like the weapons that the Hornets were utilizing, and if they can be reverse engineered with a suitable mix of human-made parts and xenotech concepts, within the next few years, this technology could be mass-produced and innovated even further to better arm the entire armada in case the hostile aliens make a reappearance.
Even though we're technically interstellar thieves, I can't bring myself to feel sympathy for the beings that murdered some close friends of mine. They can consider their neutralized fighters and stolen cargo as recompense, for all I care.
HC-1 NARUTO UZUMAKI
Year: IX
Date: October 12
Time: 17:03:08
Command Log #: 973
HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY!
from himawwwwwwwwwwwwwww**10,692 CHARACTERS OF EXTRANEOUS DATA EXCISED**
Year: IX
Date: October 14
Time: 20:31:09
Command Log #: 974
Something very strange happened the other day.
Progress with reforming the armada, rebuilding our crafts and retrofitting them with re-engineered xenotech has been going smoothly, and that day, like every other one of my birthdays since the launch, I had to prioritize work over family, unable to celebrate at home with them. Hinata brought little Hima up to city hall today to spend the day with me, which brightened everyone's day.
The strange thing happened while I left Himawari in my office to play with my command console for a minute while I made a quick trip outside to take a call from HC-2, probably about research progress. I still can't really describe it; no one can. But during the call, at a little past 17:00, I heard and felt a sudden screeching pulse all around me that rolled through my entire body. It made me sick to the stomach and weak in the knees, all five of my senses were tingling, and it was like there was an itch somewhere on the front of my brain that I just couldn't scratch for the life of me.
The phone stopped working and started making a curious sound, which I later realized every other radio device on the entire Vessel was making as well when the pulse occurred. All communication and navigation were shot. The sudden wave of nausea that overcame me overcame everyone else as well, to a variety of effects, depending on age range, **EXTRANEOUS DATA EXCISED**
What bothered me the most was what was happening to the children. It took a few minutes to regain my bearings and feel able enough to go up and check on Himawari. The security officer I had left in the room to watch her had been knocked unconscious by the pulse, and Himawari was just standing at my console, as still as a statue, staring up and to the right with her jaw hanging open. She'd been typing a message to leave in my command log, and her finger was still on the 'w' key.
She fell unconscious the moment I touched her. I wanted to scream and panic, but I just couldn't. Crunch time was when I was at my calmest and most collected, and I just knew I needed to get her to the hospital. **EXTRANEOUS DATA EXCISED**
Eventually it all calmed down. I saw the scariest picture in today's news, of a circle of children at a daycare center playground in Kiri, standing like cultists and staring dead-faced up into the sky. Chojuro let me know today that the signal burst from a strange Hornet device that R&D was testing, and after analyzing the consistent signal that had overtaken all radio equipment that day, it coincided with a coordinate positioned northwest-Z-positive, which was the same direction the affected children were reported looking. The signal was pointing toward the Andromeda Galaxy.
I knew exactly where we were NOT going anytime soon.
HC-1 NARUTO UZUMAKI
Year: XIII
Date: May 4
Time: 15:48:52
Command Log #: 1322
In a 3-2 decision today, High Command has decided to jump to the Andromeda Galaxy on the first of next month. Gaara and I were against it, but the rest of the High Five see no other option. We've finished charting and reporting our findings on the Triangulum Galaxy and our Milky Way. Andromeda is the only major body left in this cluster. Avoiding it just because of the recovery attack and the Psionic Pulse incident is foolish, superstitious cowardice, as HC-5 put it.
What's frustrating is that they're right. It's been almost a decade since the attack, and I'm still hung up on it. I still miss Jiraiya and Neji and Asuma, and I'm still crushed about everyone else who died that day. Plus, I've been holding onto the conclusion that going in a direction that was pointed to by the technology of a hostile alien race was really grabbing the idiot ball with both hands. But that was five years ago.
There's no guarantee we'll encounter the Hornets again. And even if we do, thanks to their technology that we bought with our blood, we're prepared, just in case.
HC-1 NARUTO UZUMAKI
Year: XIV
Date: February 10
Time: 09:16:15
Command Log #: 1555
Today is the day we're scheduled to finally drop out of this endless journey through hyperspace and land on the edge of Andromeda. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't on edge. Part of me is expecting the Hornets' full military power to be waiting to vaporize us as soon as we're out of hyperspace.
Part of me is also slightly concerned that I noticed my son's admission letter for the Armada Cadet Training Academy came across my desk yesterday. I set it aside, and plan to talk to him about it when I get a free chance. It's hard enough as it is being a High Commander unable to spend a decent amount of time with my son. I don't want to think about how much harder that would be if my son is also a soldier.
I really don't want to think about this. Hopefully, once we're out of hyperspace and in Andromeda, the first wave of scouting reports should take this off my mind.
HC-1 NARUTO UZUMAKI
Year: XIV
Date: April 7
Time: 22:04:00
Command Log #: 1563
There's something wrong with this galaxy.
I felt it the moment we dropped out of hyperspace, and alerted the rest of the High Five about my feelings, but they thought it was still me fretting about the Hornets. I thought so, too, but after the SED shuttles came back today with their reports, I know that it's different. Some of the shuttles that went out there felt the same feeling that I do.
It didn't take long to find life; this galaxy exudes life in all directions. One SED shuttle came across a planet made entirely of functional, self-sustaining biomass. An actual living planet with continents of flesh, oceans of digestive fluids, and a gravitational pull that's frighteningly disproportionate to its mass. The shuttle that found and investigated the planet almost couldn't escape.
Another planet was discovered with a giant hole carved through it, from one end of the planet to the other. It was cold and lifeless, and the ruins discovered by the SED shuttle as it scanned the frozen surface showed that it had once been inhabited.
Another shuttle discovered a patch of starless darkness true-Z-negative, directly below the Vessel. That shuttle returned early, refusing to investigate it, claiming that it felt 'wrong'.
There are so many more strange and barely-believable stories about what the SED found just within a kiloparsec of the ship, and some SED shuttles returned late, or not at all… But the most consistent finding between a majority of the returning SED shuttle reports is the omnipresent feeling of being observed. Our arrival has caught the attention of something large and out of the scope of our comprehension, I can just feel it.
I had mentally prepared for another encounter with the Hornets, but I'm not so sure now that any of us are prepared for what else is in this galaxy.
HC-1 NARUTO UZUMAKI
Year: XIV
Date: July 27
Time: 14:50:31
Command Log #: 1603
All of the excitement that the Scouting & Exploration Division had once felt about going out every few weeks to patrol the stars and discover what's out there has turned into dread. There's nothing but gaunt faces walking around the Loading Bay, stocking the ships, making calls to their families, etc. Because what's 'out there' is more than likely dangerous, disturbing, or both, and while there's never any guarantee that scouts would come back from their missions, the risk has never been greater. The entire armada is still talking about the ship that autopiloted itself back to the Vessel with a completely catatonic crew and strange symbols carved into the walls, and the titanic 'Androkraken' that devoured a SED shuttle and an observation drone whole.
What makes it worse is that we're stranded out here. Our connection to Earth only works within or around the Milky Way. We're almost a megaparsec away, and until we have this galaxy charted well enough to be conclusive about the scope of its contents, we have a duty to uphold.
Who knows, maybe we're just in the bad part of Andromeda right n**DATA TRANSMISSION INTERRUPTED; LOG DRAFT AUTOSAVED**
Year: XIV
Date: July 27
Time: 17:03:45
Command Log #: 1604
We were attacked. The Vessel was attacked directly. A battalion of Hornets fell out of hyperspace an hour after the SED left for their regular patrol, and fired upon the Konoha dome with something very high-energy and explosive. Our shields held up, thankfully, and they were only carrying one high-energy weapon, but I feel like their use of it was more to send a message than to actually attempt to do damage. They still outgun us even though we have their tech.
The Defensive Action Division was quickly mobilized, and several Big Daddies were launched to protect the Vessel and terminate the threat, but by the time the defense squad had rallied, the Hornets had moved on to their real target: the Vessel's engines.
Even though it seemed they weren't too familiar with the Vessel's workings, the attacking squadron of Hornets managed to accomplish their apparent mission before the Big Daddies wiped them out. They damaged the Vessel's propulsion thrusters and hyperdrive thrusters, leaving us like sitting ducks, unable to get away from the area for at least the next couple of days while we rushed to repair.
The children who were hospitalized in the Psionic Pulse Incident almost six years ago are suddenly aggravated. All of them, including Himawari. All across the Vessel, eight and nine-year-old children are causing a ruckus, yelling, crying, 'They're coming!'
I wish I could say 'God help us,' in good conscience, but I'm pretty sure whatever gods are in charge around here aren't on our side.
It's coming; I don't know what, I don't know when, but something is coming, soon. We're better armed than we were during their first attack, and Darui and the armada are preparing for anything. It has to be enough. Our future depends on it.
HC-1 NARUTO UZUMAKI
Year: XIV
Date: July 28
Time: 06:24:33
Command Log #: 1605
DANGER DANGER DANGER DANGER DANGER
Critical system damage at time of recording.
Corrupted data excised.
DANGER DANGER DANGER DANGER DANGER
Shields fai
ovrwhelme
gines damaged, bu
yperdrive nly chnc
sry hnata kids
I love you
Year: XVI
Date: August 23
Time: 11:24:31
Command Log #: 1606
TEST TEST TEST TEST TEST
Automated data recording system/storage test.
Please disregard.
TEST TEST TEST TEST TEST
Year: XVI
Date: August23
Time: 11:54:03
Command Log #: 1607
Just over a year ago, our Rikudo-class habitational starship, known simply as 'The Vessel', was the target of a full-scale hostile extraterrestrial attack in a southwestern-Z-negative system of the Andromeda Galaxy, where we still reside today.
With no method of communication and no opportunity to parley, we have no definitive indication of why we were attacked, though we largely suspect the enemy's aggression to be linked to the advanced technology that was unwittingly stolen from them 12 years ago.
The most recent attack would have more than likely ended with the complete destruction of the Vessel and everyone on-board, had a risky retreat order not been taken into effect. With damaged engines and an insecure hull, a manual hyperdrive jump was attempted from the Vessel's main bridge by Naruto Uzumaki, First High Commander at the time of the attack.
The retreat was successful, but at a great cost. Unable to withstand the pressures of hyperspace in its state, the Vessel quickly tore itself to pieces, exploding across the galaxy. Automated emergency procedures had already taken place, and the habitation domes (Konoha's, at least) detached from the Vessel and survived its destruction relatively intact.
Konoha, and a large amount of scrap and small spacecraft fell out of hyperspace in an uncharted segment of the Andromeda Galaxy, at unclear coordinates, where it is now currently in a stable orbit around an earthy, uninhabitable terrestrial planet dubbed Thera.
The locations of the other four Gakure-class habitational domes are unknown. The location of Naruto Uzumaki is also unknown. Although it should go without saying, for the record, our mission has now changed. We left Earth sixteen years ago to pioneer the expansion of the human race and discover methods and places to which our people could reach and settle, in the Milky Way and even beyond. But without the Vessel, and with our former millenium's worth of rations now dwindled down to a measly decade, our mission is now one of survival.
I have no delusions about returning to Earth. But with every breath I take and every decision I make as interim First High Commander, I will make sure that these people, my people, live to see tomorrow.
HC-1 SASUKE UCHIHA
There you have it! This story isn't going to be told entirely like this, by the way. Just the prologue. There will be command logs at the start of every chapter, but the plot itself will move forward in regular story format.
I hope you enjoyed it, and I hope this prologue and the premise interested you enough to give this story a chance. If so, feel free to leave a review!
~M.H.C~
Till next time!