Shinobi Controlled Space
Horizon
One Day after Operation: Providence Keep
The planet of Horizon was a small industrial world at the very edge of Shinobi Controlled Space and therefore the nearest to the Citadel Theater of War. The planet itself was unremarkable, that is, if you discount the giant motherfucking Yggdrasil tree that took up 15 kilometres of the planet.
The planet Horizon was one of the few mass-producing shipyards of the Shinobi Alliance, the other being Shinobi no Chi, Geko, Der Arch, and Sayang. The planet itself was highly defended by the Shinobi Alliance given how long it takes to produce a Yggdrasil tree, not only big enough to create ships of all sizes but provides the raw materials to manufacture Crystalised Chakra efficiently and that in itself didn't speak to the sheer volumes of chakra it produces. Most of the cities on Horizon was dominated by large towering trees and vines criss-crossing around them. The sheer volume of Chakra in the air of the planet was enough to turn any hardened Shinobi into a hippy.
So it was no wonder that there was a total of thirty ships in orbit, fifteen frigates, ten cruisers and five battlecruisers with three Orbital Defense Platforms guarding the planet from an invasion. So, with all these factors combined it was no surprise when Horizon was chosen to be the Command Centre of the entire Shinobi war effort.
Indeed, within the large hollowed tree of the Yggdrasil, its impenetrable bark offering the perfect shield and privacy, were three of the Shinobi's military leaders spearheading most of the operations while the Kage was away on other duties.
Those people are the ANBU Commander, Falcon, High-Kage ICRU Commander, Takumi, and the High-Kage Army Commander, Kevin Goldfield. These people were currently spread out around a small holographic table projecting a galactic map, a small part of it signifying Shinobi Controlled space while the rest was marked bright red, enemy territory.
The ICRU Commander was dressed in all black fatigues, black combat vest over his chest and ceremonial katana sheathed on his hip. Over his eyes was an Accelerated Information Gear, the spiritual successor to the Gale-force reading glasses, that helped in tactical planning. Next to the ICRU Commander was the Army Commander who was dressed in pure light desert sand camo with green jungle stripes combat fatigues under a combat vest, completing the ensemble was a pair of armored greaves.
Falcon was dressed in the normal ANBU uniform the only difference being his black and green cloak over his armor and tanto being sheathed next to his right thigh. Unlike the ICRU Commander both Falcon and Kevin had opted to not wear the AIG Glasses.
"Reports from the ANBU on Thessia are stating that the main military force on the planet has resorted to Guerilla warfare, coming in and causing some trouble before our Shinobi could snuff em out" Falcon said as he leaned over the holographic image of Thessia and if a bystander was looking at him they'd have described him as a benevolent god waiting to wrought punishment on the wicked.
"Divert the ANBU Operatives to deal with them, the troops have to stay within city walls if they don't want to get bombarded in orbit" Kevin advised.
"This isn't my first rodeo you know" Falcon commented dryly. Kevin's face scrunched up slightly but he shook Falcons remark away and focused on the hologram.
"3rd Fleet has been repurposed on Guard duty while 1st, 2nd and 3rd Fleets are prepared to make a move into enemy territory" Kevin and Falcon turned to Takumi as he spoke and both saw no reason to interrupt, "The question, however, is whether we should spearhead towards Thessia or should we open up new fronts on the Turian or Salarian side."
Kevin cupped his chin in thought, idly watching as Takumi shifted his glasses over his eyes and responded, "Pros and Cons?"
Falcon answered the question, "Heading to Thessia? Get our boys back and take the species that have a monopoly on trade, Cons is that the enemy would most likely suspect that and we'd lose a good amount of ships to get to Thessia, not to mention to sidetrack and take areas of interest while the other option lets us put more pressure on the Turian or Salarians while at the same time maintaining our grip on the Asari, bad news is that the troops on Thessia would probably not be seeing a relief force anytime soon" Falcons listed off calmly and Kevin was sure he was saying it out of experience.
"I don't know how I feel about leaving troops on an enemy homeworld, surrounded by enemy fleets and unsure if they could even eat anything there" Kevin sounded uneasy, given the fact he was still slightly new to command, since he had become the High-Kage right at the end of the Colonial Rebellion, he was far less...dehumanised than his counterparts.
Takumi gave Kevin a non-impressed look and Falcon was doing the same though it was hidden underneath his mask. "Kid we all gotta make sacrifices, some of them bad and some of them good but these choices are things that we have to make, in these situations it's best our moral compass is turned off" Kevin flattened his lips and didn't meet the eyes of Takumi as he merely stood there with his hands around his chin.
Falcon sighed to himself before he jabbed a finger down towards a small cluster of stars, "If we're opening up new fronts then we should aim here" Takumi blinked as his eyes followed Falcons finger and nearly growled when he saw the small planet.
"Palaven" He spat, "It's as good a place as any. We'll probably have to skirt around the borders and then go in from the flank, no way is our fleets going to survive a hit from the fleet they have stationed over their home planet" Falcon nodded his head in agreement and began writing these notes down on a small journal he kept on his person.
"Shouldn't the Vice Admiral be here since he is in charge of the fleets?" Kevin sounded confused at this and both senior members sighed, 'Damn rookies' they thought in unison.
"The Vice Admiral is in charge of the fleets, yes, but during wartime land engagements are as much space as it is dirt. We plan the strategy that is most acceptable in terms from a dirt soldiers perspective then we forward this information to the Vice Admiral then he'd either accept them or refuse them. It's how the system works" Takumi explained to him.
"Seems like we're doing all the work" Kevin didn't seem to like that notion. To his surprise however Falcon wrapped his arms around himself and laughed into the air after his comment.
"Trust me Rook, if you see his desk and all the damn papers on it you wouldn't be saying that" Kevin made a small lopsided grin as the ANBU Commander patted his shoulder and Falcon pretended not to see it.
"What about the land troops though? The enemy's fleets already outnumber ours what about their ground troops?" Falcon stretched out his back and allowed Takumi to answer the question.
"The Asari don't have a standing military per say, at least 9% of their population actually enlists while their young ones usually join up in mercenary bands and what not. By a guess at least half their population knows how to fight given their long lives and profession choices." Takumi paused for a slight moment, "The Turians are a martial state, imperial and war-like. Their economy is mostly headed by the Volus but the few Turian companies they have are built upon the foundations of war. They make a profit out of violence without violence, not a bad market scheme. We should have a talk with the Kage about this. Now about the Salarians" Takumi looked pointedly at Falcon and the ANBU Commander grimaced.
"The Salarians are a bunch of smart egg-heads who specialise in intelligence gathering and experimentation. I already filed in some paperwork with reworked protocols detailing proper action to be taken with Shinobi corpses, at the least if destruction of the body is improbable then destroying the Chakra system is imperative and if a soldier finds himself tied to a table then self-destruction is mandatory" All three of the Commanders grimaced, each reliving their own memories of psychotic scientists trying to unlock the 'secrets' of Chakra.
"All in favor to open a front on the Salarians?" As one all three Commanders agreed and they forwarded their information to the Vice Admiral.
Terminus System
One can ever truly blame the Shinobi for their paranoia. As powerful as they were in the eyes of the Galactic world, to themselves their power would mean nothing if they didn't know their enemies, their own fear a weapon all on its own. So it was no wonder that the Shinobi had spent five months just garnering as much information it could from Galedia and the Prisoners of War they had.
Now their knowledge of the known galaxy was rudimentary and basic but they knew enough to be comfortable with dealing with their new and strange enemy.
But no matter how they garnered information, whether through asking or mind raping someone, there was always mention of a place known as the Terminus System and no matter how deep the Shinobi digged all they found was rumors and tales. For a shinobi, rumors were a powerful weapon and they did not like it being used against them. Thus, they sent an expeditionary ship to discover what exactly the Terminus System was.
That ship was the NSA Kurama.
Keitaro was wrestling both sleep deprivation and listening to his pilots banter like an old married couple. The NSA Captain was rubbing the sleep out of his eyes as the NSA Kurama made a full burn through this 'Terminus System'. As the first and only Sarutobi Class exploration and defense ship it was the most obvious candidate in traversing this new and potentially dangerous place. Many Turians and Asari that the Shinobi had interrogated had referred to the System, one place in particular as, 'The Place where Secrets lie' or 'The place where law does not exist'. For a shinobi secrets and lawless were everyday problems but unknown secrets and laws wasn't.
For all this Keitaro wasn't exactly worried. He was giddy. He had became the Captain of the NSA Kurama to be an explorer and adventurer. That changed after he went on a self-made campaign against pirates and slavers, further when he went to war with the three new alien species but now he was discovering something, making a name for himself in a world other than gunfire and explosions. A part of him wished Honoka was by his side but seeing just how dangerous the galaxy is, after the introduction of alien life, he felt better that she was on reserve with the Gun Brigade in Konoha city.
But that didn't mean she wasn't going to stay in touch with her older brother.
Hey Big Bro,
You should see what's going on in Konoha City, the people are practically calling for news of the war- and not for the reasons you might think. The Gun Brigade is on high alert now and I heard you were part of the retaliatory fleet against the aliens. Are you okay? You should have messaged me or sent a letter. I was so worried.
Some Inuzuka Clan members and Yamanaka members stopped by the Uzumaki compound, they told me how they had lost some members to the war already.
I don't like this. And I don't like how you're getting pulled away to some place dangerous like Mom and Dad. Just promise this war won't take you away like the last one did to Mom and Dad.
Love,
Your sis
Keitaro was smiling softly as he read the letter on his datapad. The Uzumaki family had never really been big, there were a few families and what not but they were all tight knit, closer than any other family. He and Honoka especially so. He sighed to himself, lost in thought, and quietly kept his datapad on a slot in his chairs arm rest. The Uzumaki took a moment to enjoy the sights of the stars in front of him. The wonders its mesh of purple, white and black gave off breathtaking in Keitaro's opinion and he had realised just how wondrous and beautiful this strange world he traveled through, a world full of mysterious and untapped knowledge.
"Sir, scans have picked up an anomaly, short bursts of seismic activity on a nearby planet Sir. Its not naturally occurring, might be worth a check" Carlos announced by his side. Keitaro nodded his head, passing the information to Nani inuzuka and getting the ship warmed up.
"This better not be a bomb or something" Keitaro joked as the ships turned on its axis towards the nearby planet. Keitaro reclined comfortably against his chair and listened passingly to his pilots arguing.
"And I'm telling you the Crystal Chakra Core is fine, there's no reason to vent off excess Chakra yet!" Jacob whispered harshly as his hands danced across the ship's controls, maintaining the shops rudimentary and complex functions.
"But I got a spike in the engines and too much power is being pulled out of the Namikaze Seals! You and I both know what could happen if the seals malfunction even to the percentile" Nani whispered just as harshly back. Jacob looked upward in exasperation and cursed.
"The vent will only do a force cooldown of the core and I'll have to circumvent the system to restart the transmission seals!"
"What's worse? Death or five minutes of extra work?"
"I'm burning off calories for that extra work!"
"You're such a lazy fat-ass!" Nani huffed as she brought her hands down through her instruments, a quick application of chakra to help boosts its effects. "One of these days you're gonna get a kid who's-" She paused as a red warning light flashed across her screen, the same thing happening to her co-pilot.
"You see that right?" Jacob breathed. Nani was silent as she watched the readings. If the scans were showing anything, it was that a very large wave of Eezo was traveling towards them...and fast.
"I'm blaming this all on you" Nani hissed. Jacob was silent as the wave struck the Kurama and havoc reigned supreme. The Seals connecting the various pieces of equipment on the ship with the Chakra Core literally lit up in alarm as the foreign energy filled their systems and turned them to an energies equivalent to a drunken stupor, the Terminals lining against the walls began exploding in blue fires of chakra as Naval Officers and Servicemen found their faces torched and mangled as overwhelming heat and debris slashed through them.
Keitaro was fortunate to have been seated in the middle of the entire room and before he was able to even sit up straight, two identical explosions occurred, he himself being sandwiched in between. The Uzumaki found his white uniform catching on fire and had just enough time to shield his face from the worst of the hit but his right arm was left a smoldering mess. Keitaro last lucis sight was his First Officer jumping forward and shielding Yumi Yamanaka from pieces of shrapnel impaling her and then...there was darkness.
XXX
"Did the weapon work?" A crazed female voice asked, her mesmerising voice offset by her twitchy trigger finger.
"It appears that it worked" Another voice answered, the distinct restless tone of a salarian.
Within the shadows the female smiled dangerously. "Our jobs done then." The female walked out of the shadows that her ships provided, accompanied by two others. Both she and her companions was dressed in faded yellow armor with a white logo plastered at the front, slow sadistic smirks playing at their lips and blue skin shining in the sunlight.
"It's time for the Eclipse to go looting" Jona's smile would have made a lesser man crawl away in fear.
Codex: Yggdrasil
The Yggdrasil is a biologically engineered Shinju Sapling made near the Shinobi Space Age. The Yggdrasil trees take near a century to grow into a fully grown tree but when it does, its height would nearly rival that of the clouds.
Unlike the Shinju tree, the Yggdrasil acts more as a connection between Nature Chakra and Human Chakra. Because of its large size and its near supernatural abilities it constantly vents excess chakra into an atmosphere, this in turn makes whatever planet a Yggdrasil is located in to be very rich in chakra and thus, it isn't uncommon to see trees taller than the highest Shinobi Skyscraper.
These Yggdrasil trees find themselves now being used as shipyards where Shinobi Ships and Chakra Crystals are manufactured like clockwork. The trees impenetrable bark also makes it the perfect base of operations or bunker during war time. Yggdrasils are also the birthplaces of Fairy's though only three known incidents has this happened.
The Yggdrasil tree is essential for the Shinobi war machine as well as any future economic and agricultural endeavor for the Shinobi Alliance.
Codex: Eternano
A rare genetic mutation only seen with those of Earthland, Eternano is an amazing biological innovation that notable members of Earthland had been privileged to attain due in part to their Nature Chakra rich environment. For years the people of Earthland had considered the abilities of the Eternano as magic when in actuality they were using and controlling the power of Nature Chakra.
Though this in itself is impressive, as every mage on Earthland had the capability of becoming a sage, the Eternano is not quite at the level of Sannin Mode or carry the same destructive power as the Tailed Beasts.
In modern times mages find themselves in the Army or Navy with many of Earthlands innovations, such as the Lacrimas and Such, were being used by the Civilian community as it was cheaper than their Chakra equivalent, for whatever reason.
Codex: Mercenary Bands
Sometime after the Pirate Wars, a multitude of Mercenary Bands had appeared all throughout Shinobi Countries, such as Fiore and Despin. These Mercenary Bands were ruthless individuals comprised of Ronin, Former Gunmen and Dark Mages, all united for the prospect of money. These Mercenary Bands wreaked a far greater threat than Pirates ever did and The Uchiha Police (Before the Police Acceptance Act) found themselves calling more and more for the AFSA's assistance. For the next coming years Mercenary Bands continued to run amok on the Shinobi homeworld and after space travel their effects reached even to the stars.
Nowadays however Mercenary Bands perform behind the curtains dealings with various Shinobi Governments, fighting Proxy Wars and performing the less than acceptable acts of war (See: The Pennington Station Massacre) There are still quite a number of Mercenary Bands still in operation, even after the NSA's march against them.
The most notable of them were the GHOST Mercenary Group founded and led by Takashi the Current Kyuubi Jinchuuriki.
Authors: I feel as though I'm messing up the story. Am I messing up the story? Is this still enjoyable?