A/N: And here we are again for chapter nine of my slowly by surely advancing story! This one's not nearly as long as my other chapters simply because this is more like a transition chapter, getting content in in short bursts rather than long drawn out chapters that would just bore you. Not to say im going to do this all the time or abandon long chapters, but when I finished, I thought "There's nothing else I can add to this chapter." Dunno why, but I just felt that this was an appropriate sized chapter. Quarter one of school is now complete by the way. YAY! Its going by pretty fast isn't it? I'm kind of happy, and kinda sad at the same time since we all know schools gets harder as time goes on. But, enough about me. Lets start off this chapter with some acknowledgemnts, shall we?

Ty to Kage Bijuu, zentary, Frostius, , Freehawk, storyreaderlovespie, dbzlover, Konekoeureka, ficgenie, omega5, ficgenie again, redhrard, and georgeofthecity. Honestly I think ahlf of the anonymous reviews are by the same person, since the grammer is allmost exactly the same. But hey, I aint complaining so long as they give me nice LONG reviews. Hint hint.

Now to answer some questions:

Kage Bijuu: It's tough to say since the confederacy DID use biochem weapons, so its possible. We'll have to see what happens in the war.

storyreaderlovespie: Don't worry, that will be explained in the next few chapters. This one was just a stepping stone to them.

Konekoeureka: I agree, but Homeworld 2 is a far cry from both Star Wars and EVE Online unfortunately. Besides, I don't know enough of the backstory to include them anyway even if I chose to.

omega5: Like I said to storyreaderlovespie it will be explained later on.

ficgenie: It will be explained like I said to storyreaderlovespie and omega5.

(Now see why I think they're the same person?)

georgeofthecity: I may a tad bit here and there, and the ending to this story will be super different than canon. I hope you look forward to it!

Now, onto the story!


Chapter 9: Transitions

At one point in time, you could look up at the starlit sky and say, "It's so peaceful up there." But those thoughts were abandoned thousands of years ago by both the people of the Know Galaxy and of New Eden. Space, the supposed final frontier of peace and unity for Man had only become another battlefront, as had every other new field of exploration before it. The Americas, the ocean floor, the sky above it, the space above Earth, Mars, Venus… the list goes on and on. The only consolation was that there were no more unknown stages of war.

Land, sea, air, and space. These were the only realms Man could assert his dominance, and assert it he did. For tens of thousands of years, the Milky Way was explored and raped, its worlds and suns exploited for whatever resources Man could find. But when even those could give no more, and Man could travel no further, he turned on himself, returning to the only place he truly lived; the realm of war.

Man's natural instinct is to fight, to prove his right to live as one greater than the defeated. But Man tires of it as well. Like an everyday routine, he wakes up, wars, and sleeps, then wakes up and does it all over again. But when EVE appeared and gave Man a new hope, he jumped at the opportunity and set sail again for parts unknown. But as if the Universe knew of Man's insatiable lust for conquest, it punished him, tearing him from himself. And Man once again knew agony. But the Universe failed in one regard: it let the part of Man that got through EVE live. But even though the piece was small, it was still part of Man, and so was subject to his habits and desires. Like a seed from a dying plant, it took root and in that new galaxy it grew, festering like a disease.

The Universe learned its mistake and tried to erase Man from that pure, virgin galaxy. But it was not long after the Universe fell into a great sorrow. Man had grown too much. He now adapted to his surroundings, bending them to his desires, however impure. And so Man grew, and grew, and grew, and then expanded, spreading like a much needed cure across his home he ironically dubbed "New Eden."

This was Man's creed. He would never change. He would never be able to live with the Universe as he had long ago. And so the Universe turned his eyes away from Man in both galaxies; whatever happened happened by Man's hand. The Universe would no longer shield him from disasters or gift him with rewards. For the first time in his known life, Man felt truly, and utterly alone.

For tens of thousands of years, this remained the case. Man did as he had done for hundreds of millennia. Without the Universe's guiding hand, Man could not progress beyond himself.

But the Universe could only turn away for so long. Like a parent who had chastised their child, it could feel regret for what it had done, and thought that perhaps it had been too harsh. Unable to help itself, it dared to glance behind and gaze upon the doomed galaxy it had turned away from so long ago. What it saw was nothing short of stunning… and horrifying.

Man had fallen beyond what he had been before, but with that fall came technology and actions of such perversion that the Universe couldn't help but marvel at. It truly could not associate with this creature anymore. At least, not until he had learned his lesson. It would not abandon him, for the Universe was now enthralled by Man and his potential. The Five Empires were less than perfect, but it could see events on the horizon that would unite Man against the darkness of himself, and it would be that day that Man truly warranted reconciliation with the Universe.

But it was not the Five Empires the Universe was so interested in. Oh no, it was the millions of humans who called themselves "gods." These humans were different from the rest. Connecting themselves to their massive metal machines of destruction, they channeled their darkness through their weapons, spreading like flame to paper with every unit of ammunition fired.

But even so, what amazed the Universe was that these humans found a way to circumvent death, in a way. When their current body died, their memories would be sent to a copy of themselves, and they would awake and return to their daily lives. Truly…Man was capable of great… and evil deeds.

But the Universe, no matter how much it tried to quarantine Man, could do nothing as Man learned to create what it called "wormholes." Tunnels stretching through space and time to instantly transport him across the face of creation. The Universe tried to remedy this by closing them as soon as it could, but alas, there was one that had escaped its sight. No, rather, one that it couldn't see.

The cause for this blindness came in the form of one whom among men rightfully held the title of "god."

The name of that god was Pain. And the Universe, or better known to him as Fate, meant absolutely nothing to him.


Naruto slowly awoke from his sleep to a sweet smell. As his eyes slowly slid open, he was greeted by a mass of dark hair. For a moment he stared blankly at it, trying to remember where he was. But last night's events weren't too far from his mind, and he easily recalled them. He smiled softly at the back of Hinata's head. They seemed to have switched places in their sleep, leaving Naruto's back to the cabin wall and Hinata in front of him. They appeared to have slid next to each other, leaving no space between them, but surprisingly, Naruto felt no hormonal surges from the realization of how close they were. His expression didn't even change. He simply didn't feel the need for those kind of actions. He gently snuggled up closer to her, pressing his body to hers.

Unfortunately, she stirred. He flinched in regret but quickly shook it off. He gently brushed some hair from her face and she groaned softly. Slowly, she awoke to his caresses. Naruto was sure as soon as she got out of that phase where your awake but still think your dreaming, she'd jump up in surprise.

To his pleasant surprise she slowly rolled over to face him. Her eyes were half closed and her smile was so endearing, he couldn't help but lean forward and press his lips to hers. It lasted only for a second or two, but the affectionate action was enough for both of them to feel the love they each held for the other.

He backed away and smiled at her. Her face only glowed with more happiness. "Morning." He said quietly.

"Mmm… morning. Wha~aah… time is it?" she yawned out, her body tensing as she stretched her stiff muscles.

Naruto looked over to the clock on the horizontal panel jutting out from the wall that served as a nightstand. It displayed foreign digits that he couldn't for the life of him decipher.

"I don't know. But then again I don't really care." He said, settling into the bed. She smiled at him, reaching over to brush a bang out of his eyes, as he had done to her just moments ago. They would have lain there for a long while more were it not for a short nock at the door. He sighed in annoyance, and Hinata seemed realize they were no longer alone. Naruto threw his side of the covers back and carefully crawled over the Hyuuga and to the floor on her side. Clad only in his boxers and black tee, he walked over to the door, but he was a guy, he didn't care. Hinata on the other hand suddenly had an insight into the mind of guys; they don't care how they look.

She rose from her place on the bed and brought the covers to her chest. Even though she wore her gifted kimono, she was still very vulnerable to the lecherous eye. Naruto went to the door and seeing no eyehole, cracked open the door to see Zetsu standing there. "Oh, morning Zetsu."

"Morning? More like afternoon." He said dryly. Naruto shrugged and opened the door fully. "No like I can tell." He said glancing back at the clock.

Zetsu looked him up and down before raising an eyebrow. Naruto stared him for a moment, not getting what he was looking at. Zetsu shook his head and continued. "Anyway, I guess it's understandable considering you two haven't had much rest lately."

Naruto nodded in agreement before stepping aside and gesturing to the cabin. "Come in?" He asked simply.

Zetsu nodded and stooped down to get in. Naruto closed the door behind him. "I brought you guys some food." Zetsu said simply, pulling out a scroll and handing it to Naruto. "There's a refrigerator in those cabinets over there…" he pointed to a small kitchenette on the other side of the room. "…and a microwave too."

Naruto took the scroll and nodded in understanding. "Oh and by the way, you'll be glad to know we've left that godforsaken dustbowl behind."

Naruto smiled, looking back at Hinata who had "relief" written all over her face. When he turned back to Zetsu, he wasn't there. Instead he'd walked past Naruto to an empty wall and looked at it for a moment, golden eyes darting across it. "If you want a good look at where we are now…" He found the small panel and pressed it. A plate of the wall slid back to reveal a window to the outside. But it was what was behind the window that had both Naruto and Hinata suddenly star struck. Quite literally.

Beyond the sheet of permaglass lay a field of twinkling stars, each one flickering in the blackness of space. To their right, and almost of view was, almost unbelievably, a tan and white planet. For a few moments, no one said anything. Hinata had gotten up to join Naruto at the window, not caring about her appearance at the moment. Naruto eventually forced his eyes away from the incredible scene and turned to Zetsu. "H…H-how is this-…?"

"Space travel. We, meaning you two too, now find ourselves in a different galaxy, and in this galaxy, I'd say just about anything is possible."

Naruto suddenly had a flash back to his conversations with Zetsu the day before and vaguely recalled the plant man saying "worlds." He had passed it off as a slur or an ambient sound. But now it made sense.

Worlds… Plural. If there was space travel, then that means there must be dozens, maybe hundreds of worlds out there. But as he looked back out at the stars, he couldn't help but wonder, 'which one is ours?'


"Time's up. Let's get this show on the road." The sound of fuel cells and power systems thrummed through the gargantuan hanger, the clanking and groaning of docking struts detaching broke the constant hum in staccato bursts. A long series of affirmatives followed immediately after. Row after row, column after column's engines roared to life as they slowly headed for the mouth of the massive station that housed them. It was time to leave and save their brethren. To anyone outside, capsuleer, civilian, or military, the sight of battleships undocking by the dozens would be enough to both awe and frighten anyone. But they were fortunate that they were not the targets of this newly unleashed wrath.

When the armada finally complete undocking and cleared the station, as one they turned on their sides and pointed to the nearest stargate. And as one they vanished into the blackness of space. Jonathan's massive Rokh battleship accelerated through space in the middle of the fleet. It would be several jumps before they made it to the wormhole. 'Another few minutes probably.' He realized.

"RSR facility "Horizon" contacting Empowered. Do you copy?" His radio crackled to life. He responded accordingly. "Roger that Horizon. I read you loud and clear."

"Very good. Please hold for linked broadcast." The voice on the other end ordered. A few seconds later a familiar voice streamed over the fleet communications channel.

"This is Pain, founder and CEO of Red Sun Rising and of Akatsuki. I'm sure you all know the situation, but I'll repeat it anyway: Onyx has found itself caught in a wormhole and need help establishing a permanent foothold. This is a critical mission that is necessary for our eventual migration. I won't lie to you. We don't know what these new threats are capable of. Be ready pilots…"

The fleet slowly decelerated at the rendezvous location and there, as promised, lay the wormhole that had caused such a stir. But what astonished all present was the massive construct around it. Nearby, a small outpost station lay with giant modules surrounding it. And in front of the wormhole, another fleet lay. A quick scan or zoom in showed them to be members of Red Sun Rising. Nearly thirty ships lay in formation around the wormhole. What amazed Jonathan and indeed every other capsuleer was not the numbers, but rather the numbers considering the type of ships. Command ships were a special class of ships that took years to learn to fly and equip correctly, even with a capsuleer's unique accelerated learning system. Using a battlecruiser's hull, they were engineered to command fleets with exclusive "gang-links" that helped reduce the stress put on a ship for a specific function allowing massively increased functions.

And with thirty or so of those ships in the same fleet each running their own gang-links… It staggered the imagination to even try and think what those ships were capable of. But the greatest of these facts was that all of these pilots, as he read the names, were senior members of RSR. Of the ten member corporations that comprised Akatsuki, Red Sun Rising was the most powerful. Red Sun Rising members kept to themselves, rarely speaking to anyone outside their conglomerate and willing to do whatever is necessary to win.

"Prepare yourselves soldiers. We won't slow down for anyone who falls behind. We won't protect the incompetent. We won't protect the weak."

Jonathan would have quirked and eyebrow if he could. 'Why does he mean by we?' It was then he noticed among the mass of battlecruiser sized ships a battleship. But this battleship was no ordinary vessel. Any new pilot wouldn't think twice of it, but to an experienced capsuleer like Jonathan, the difference was painfully obvious. While the Apocalypse battleship was common, there were three variations. One was a suped-up version that was placed in a different class known as Marauders. The second was the Navy Issue Apocalypse, a ship that could be purchased from the Amarr Navy for a hefty fee that few in New Eden could even dream of making.

The final version was the fabled Imperial Issue Apocalypse. Only five were ever known to exist; four were given out as reward from the current emperor of Amarr to the winners of the Galactic Tournament. Three of those were destroyed and the other was kept under lock and key by Arenis Xemdal, a proud owner of the last "Impoc."

The only other Imperial Issue was given out as a prize for a lottery. 'But the winner donated it back to the Amarr Navy, so how…?' His question was answered as soon as he realized who was in it.

Pain.

'How the Hell did he get an Imperial Apocalypse?' The idea one could purchase it back from the Amarr Navy was simply impossible. If it were possible, it would cost one several hundred billion credits. Possibly even trillions! If it weren't for his mind being disconnected from his body his eyes would have popped out of his skull in shock and awe.

Jonathan suddenly found a new view of Pain creeping into his mind. Pain was a man of untold power and influence, as well as impossibly deep pockets. For once in his life Jonathan unexpectedly felt a strange twinge of jealousy towards the man. But it didn't feel quite like greed. If he didn't know better, he would say it was like what a rule-bound child felt toward an older man who was unrestricted felt like.

Then he realized; he felt inferior. This man who had appeared out of nowhere with technology and authority beyond Jonathan's wildest dreams and took command of his alliance with the greatest of ease… It was nearly intolerable.

And as soon as that epiphany came, it went, replaced by anger. He was inferior and he knew it. But the maddening thing was that there was nothing he could do about it.

"All ships prepare for entry." The cold voice broke his thoughts like a mirror. Gathering his wits, he pushed his new feelings away. Even if he was inferior, he knew how to behave as a fleet commander.

"You heard him boys, get ready." He called to his fleet members. An affirmative from each of them followed.

"OK, Go."

The command ship fleet plus Pain's Impoc slowly vanished into the wormholes event horizon, vanishing from this galaxy. With a leader's air, his Rokh followed them through accompanied by his battleship fleet. Whatever waited for them on the other side, he would be ready for it.

Pain slowly walked through the middle levels of one of Coruscant's market areas. Walking by a fruit stand he plucked an apple looking produce without so much as even looking at it or slowing down. Taking a left into a nearby alley he leapt up with such force the ground below him groaned in stress. The wind instantly tore at his cloths and hair as he rocketed high into the air, finally arriving at and surpassing the building's roof. Slowly he descended, landing softly on the dense metal. Standing straight he walked to the edge and gazed out at Coruscant's busy night sky. Lights from thousands of vehicles of different shapes and sizes crisscrossed the lanes of traffic in between space scraping building in the distance.

It wasn't the first time he'd simply stood and watched this view. Until his compatriots returned or contacted him, he had nothing to do but this. Konan stayed faithfully by his really body's side in an apartment in the upper echelons of the city planet. With the heights those buildings could reach, it was possible for Nagato to control all six bodies planet wide.

It was pleasantly peaceful this night, and it pleased him to know it. After all, peace was what he strove for. Interlocking his fingers in front of him, he poured his chakra into the sky and watched in satisfaction as the stars were slowly blocked out but the newly forming rain clouds. The first telltale signs of it were in the humid air that began to blow and the pitter patter of distant rain.

A gentle beeping from his belt drew him from his work. Reaching down and placing the communication device to his ear he said, "Go ahead."

"I've secured the temporary services of the Kyuubi and the Hyuuga girl. But it's a delicate non-aggression agreement, so I'm being nice to them. As much as it pains me… But it looks like if we're able to somehow control the Hyuuga, we can manipulate the Kyuubi."

"I told you we're not doing that. We need everyone's help right now, no exceptions. And what do you mean we can manipulate him?" Pain rebuked and then questioned his plantlike subordinate.

"Turns out their hot for each other if you know what I mean. Pathetically so. And I do mean pathetic." Zetsu commented dryly.

Pain mulled over this but continued on, deciding he would contemplate that later. "Fine, just bring them here and we'll figure out where to go from there."

"…And if they don't want to stick around?" Zetsu asked after a moment.

Pain couldn't help but smirk. "I'm fairly certain they will." And ended the call.


A/N: And that's chapter nine! Again, sorry for its miniscule size, but like I said, I felt it was appropriate. For some reason it won't let me underline the text so it looks like communications will be done in italics from now on. Its realy annoying. Also, if you play EVE or know someone who does, please refer this story to them. EVE Online is not a popular category here on and its disappointing to know that. It also doesnt help that I can only choose two categories for crossovers, which is somehting they should change. Oh well, when life give you lemons... well you get the idea.

Leave a *cough* LONG *cough* review for me on your way out. If you have any comments or questions, don't hesitate to ask! But its very difficult for me to respond to anonymous reviews that have questions, so i'll prolly do that at the beginning of each chapter.

Just throwing that out there.

Till next time! o7 (thats how we salute in EVE :P)