*in space, at Blaze's starship.*
*Blaze is in the command center looking out at space*
*Blaze then brings up a holoprojector and makes a call*
B: Fire at dealt's asteroid! *The gunner salutes and then a cannon fires and it hits where Dealt is.*
*The cannons fire at the asteroid but nothing happens.* Ship's Ai: other miss Master Blaze.
B: Yes indeed. Has Advent woken up?
SHIP's AI: Negative Sir, He remains unconscious in the sickbay.
B: FIND DEALT!
*Meanwhile, somewhere deep within Earth's moon*
D:...so….I'm guessing I'm not getting my cheese? *being tired of moving things.*
*Blaze is trying to find where dealt could be yet nothing is showing up on the radar.*
D: soo while I'm on…tied up and wherever Candyman is and If I remember right, blaze said that he will meet us on the moon…I wonder how that's going?
*Blaze is ready to order an attack on the moon*
D: mm I'm sure it's fine.
*back at Blaze's starship.*
*it's taking all the soldiers to stop blaze from blowing up the moon.* soldier one: sire you shouldn't blow up the moon!
B: Who said anything about blowing up the moon. As I am sensing something on that damn moon and it is NOT DEALT
A: *Snoring loudly as he uses a Moon rock as a pillow* No mommy, I don't wanna go to school today, I wanna stay here at home and bake cookies with you
*The people around him are sweat dropping*
Soldier 5:*looks at blaze* Sire, is this dealt guy that bad? *sees dealt from the side, never officially met the mad shadow.*
A: *Snores louder* Shut up; yakitori no baka
B: You can ask some of the other people of the force they will say YES! He fucks with everything no matter what!
Soldier 5:So the stories about driving someone into complete madness are true?
B: HE ALMOST DESTROYED ONE OF OUR FLEET SHIPS MANY TIMES
Soldier 2:that only happen because he wanted a cookie
A: *Twitches in sleep* Why is all the rum gone?
B: Because a stupid idiot named Dealt shot it into space. SOLDIER, You need to know when to leave shit alone.
A: *Eyes snap open, jumps to feet* Target Dealtshadow35; Mission Destroy! FOR VODKA-COMETH
B: I will give you a starfighter if you want Advent
A; *Nods* I also need; The Big Baby Boomer…
B: Done!
A: What are the three rules when it comes to The Big Baby Boomer?
P: Be two hundred feet away. Never fire upon an inhabited planet and three DON'T do anything stupid with it
A: *Shakes head* No, Rule one is; Don't talk about Big Baby Boomers. Rule two is: Don't talk about the Big Baby Boomer; Three is if someone asks, Shoot first then answer later when you remember you shot in the first place.
B: Ok
*with dealt*
D: *stares onto the ceiling that is the moon's ground while moving along with the machine*...I'm bored….I should get out of here…oh well, we don't own anything, besides the plot, enjoy!
Beyond the Neon Moon
Chapter two
XxX-last time-XxX
"So, how long do the numbers show that we have left?" Kakashi asked her.
"The numbers show three months, however, as the moon's orbital distance comes closer the window grows shorter, so too do the days become faster, at any rate. In all honesty, you're looking at a total of barely a month left before it crashes into the surface. The numbers won't be lying to you, if anything three weeks is a stretch of generosity." she informed them.
"Get the members of both flight crews here, NOW!" Kakashi bellowed out as he smashed his fist on the table.
The growing danger grows ever closer and time is running short by the second.
Would they be able to save the world; or was there something else afoot?
XxX-Now-XxX
Kakashi Hatake was not a happy camper-by a long shot. Having been told that there were less than three weeks to potentially save his home, was not as thrilling as being able to coast for six months.
It was three days of agonizing waiting but eventually both shuttle crews had finally made it-and Naruto's relationship with Grayfia was a well known thing, but Kakashi explained that it was his plan for her to be brought in simply for her expertise; but in the end it made Naruto happy to have his other half there by his side.
Raven Branwen, and Glynda Goodwitch were some of the more technical people they brought simply because their job was to try and keep both ends open. Raven due to her communications job for the Army before she was med-boarded for her PTSD in the Army back in Iraq and Glynda for her skills in inventorying supplies in her service to the Marines despite not having seen any combat in her duration as a soldier.
Matsu had basically scammed her way into the shuttle crew-and not everyone was happy about it, and by that; NOBODY was pleased she forced Kakashi to let her in the team despite there being others almost equally as qualified as the red-headed she-devil.
Kazehana was a former botanist that took inspiration from the comic books and was actually in the process of creating a serum that would promote plant growth and waste decomposition without adverse side effects, sadly more than likely her research would never come to its fruition and be used.
Uzume was a free spirit; and sadly the best mechanic in the Air force seeing as she was the S-I-C to the Command Sergeant Major of the mechanic division for the aircrafts, and the Command Sergeant major was unfortunately both to old and getting close to his retirement meaning he wasn't going anywhere which was when he offered up Uzume in his place.
Momo Yaorozu was also a person of circumstance to have been brought into the mission. From a fairly rich family, she offered her services up when Nasa asked knowledgeable medics and she stated she had a few Doctorates from Harvard and even had a friend who was just as skilled as her due to being taught by the foremost medical trainer and expert in the world; that being the former beloved Tsunade Senju who died of breast cancer three years ago as she finally managed to synthesize a cure for her ailment but was to far along for treatment.
Ezra Scarlatina-or Scarlet as most called her, was the only person in the armed services that could provide suitable challenges for Naruto and rivaled him for his spot as the world's greatest fighter jet pilot. Having flown and trained with Naruto for a vast majority of their career it was actually Naruto who brought his old friend into the fray due to her skillset being just as good if not potentially better than his own with some specific planes under her wings… command.
Tsukiumi Namikaze; Naruto's half sister from his father after divorcing his mother when he was young-and born of an affair at that. She was loved by both her stepmother Kushina and her older half brother who showered her with gifts the world over. Her expertise in genetics was potentially the most valuable thing about her. She had been working for a medical company dedicated to helping men or women who had lost limbs in various accidents or even battle regain the missing piece of themselves. Apparently it was Ezra who threw down her name and reasoned that her knowledge would be most valuable if any forms of life were located and deemed threatening but were high priority for study.
Unfortunately, Matsu Sato's skills were indeed the best of the best. Having hacked the entirety of the planet on ACCIDENT mind you allowed her to not only decimate the F-B-I for a solid 24 hours, she managed to rob the Federal Gold Reserve of 2.8 TRILLION dollars in gold. Yea, she was still paying that bill back with interest as she managed to actually make a seemingly legitimate withdrawal of the money and stash it somewhere secret where it remained hidden to the current day.
Tifa Lockhart was and still is, a marvelous Mechanic. Her skills in the civilian world were praised all over the world seeing as she could make or break a vehicle with a few simple tools. Apparently her skills were so great, she took a junkyard bound car that couldn't properly run and won a 5 mile drag race using a can tab as a form of nitrous to boost her speed just before the car decided to spontaneously combust just as she crossed the finish line and won the race.
Asia Argento was a kind and gentle soul who only wished to help the less fortunate. Having caught Tsunade's eyes when she was only 16 when a elderly man was run over and was given a cracked hip and broken arm, she was given a free scholarship under Tsunade along with Momo to become one of the greatest medics in the world, her current profession is transplanting organs; and she's very good. A lot even call her the Surgeon of Life and Angel of Death due to… you know… transplanting the specific parts of human anatomy. Funnily enough, Kakashi only nominated her due to him being the elderly man that was saved when the car hit him and he wanted to repay the favor in kind.
As for Naruto himself, well that was easy. His skills in aviation piloting were some of-IF NOT-the best in the world. He was able to pilot two UAV drones simultaneously before he destroyed Bin Laden's final retreat before the man was captured and later on beheaded. Then, when a Heracles 3-130 Cargo Plane bound for India with a Buford Tank was shot down, he managed to save not only himself but the entire flight crew he was flying with to deliver the tank when the plane was brought down. Oh but that's not all, with enemy fighter jets swarming around the slowly falling-via parachute-tank, Naruto took it upon himself to personally man the .50 cal machine gun and hold them off in probably the world's strangest aerial combat fight in history. When he shot one of the jets down and destroyed two of the chutes, he then manned the tank and somehow managed to fly it enough to where he destroyed the remaining four planes and maneuvered it to safely crash into a lake by constantly firing into the water to maintain a safe freefall before he drove it out of the water and to the base to be delivered-just with less ammo and a few battle scars to the look. Then he was nominated for his Purple Heart, the Medal of Honor and as well as a whole series of other awards rightfully given before he was brought home to receive his new assignment as a Spacecraft pilot.
And they have been informed that plans have been rushed and they have to begin the mission within two hours, which means they have little time to get any affairs in order before they go.
Naruto goes to let his mother know where he is going to space for a mission and he is also getting things that he needs. Along with the rest of the team. As they are getting ready they are all concerned about how this mission will turn out. As they are all very nervous about what will happen on the mission.
And that's it for Naruto, meanwhile, for Grayfia, she called her family but no one answered, so she guessed that she couldn't reach them. Given where they lived and thus likely at a shelter, she calls again and this time, she leaves a voice message.
"Hi mom and Dad, I know that I can't reach you right now, but I just want to let you know that I will be heading into space for a mission that I was called to. I will miss you both but I hope that we can see each other again soon. I love you both very much." said Grayfia, she hangs up and sighs as she wonders if they will get it.
Sometime later, everyone did what they had to do and so they put on their suits for the takeoff. Naruto sighs as he zippers up and looks at the photo of his family. He smiles as he knows that he has to succeed on this mission.
No matter what.
As Naruto wants to come home to his whole family as that is the most important thing in life. Naruto then gets ready to head out to where he is meeting his team.
Time skip, 5 minutes later before launch as both teams are making their shuttles. Naruto looks ahead toward his shuttle and how soon he will be able to head where he will be sitting.
Naruto lets out a breath that he was holding as he is nervous as he's used to playing around the sky but space might be the next level, scratch that-it was the next level. As the elevator doors open up and let the teams in and they go up.
Grayfia notices Naruto, "it will be alright Naruto, just deep breaths" as she tries to help him relax.
"yeah, it just…if it was any other circumstances, I would be more thrilled" he explained as he smiled.
Grayfia says "I know, babe, I know" as they felt the Elevator stop as both teams had reached the top at their respective sides. As they look at the two shuttles and pause. One of the mechanics points to the right, "Endeavor Crew to the right, Independence crew to the left." he waves them, Naruto-Asia-Grayfia-Tifa-Matsu-Tsukiumi all take the right while Erza, Uzume, Momo, Raven, and Glynda go the opposite.
"We have minor details on what's going to happen, but we can give what we got." Kakashi's voice fills the speakers in the cockpit, "The moon will make three full revolutionary passes, three. In those three passes, asteroids the size of Rhode Island will be breaking off and falling through the atmosphere. You will have a single refueling seeing as the Relo depot is coming into orbit above us. We believe that shortly after the depot will be destroyed from solar activity and as such, your fuel levels will need to be heavily monitored, don't pull off long-range movements and waste what fuel you can get, allow the moon's gravity to pull you, and use the thrusters to steer you, only use the main engines as a last resort and try to preserve the remaining fuel in the tanks. If this does turn out to be a one-way mission, I pray that you find Solace in being able to live out the remaining time you have with each other and not on a dead rock in the middle of space. For the duration of this mission, Captain Naruto, you are hereby promoted to Full Admiral and will maintain full control over this mission and those partaking in it. Your second in command will be Captain Ezra Scarletina for the secondary shuttle crew. If there is no feasible way to restore the moon's orbit, you will move to mars using the prototype ODSY drives within the engines, but be warned, they can only be used once. You will be the sole hope of the human race surviving. We had hoped for more time, more preparation, more crews. But, I can honestly say, the future does look bright with all of you leading it. Admiral Naruto, as the sole male of this mission, if the Earth is destroyed and the moon is a non-viable habitat, the Mars Mission will be the new Prime Directive. You will be the one to repopulate the human race with your female compatriots, use whatever means you must to save our livelihoods and our people. Good luck, and Godspeed to the lot of you."
Naruto and his sister grimaced at Kakashi's words, that was…. Unsettling to say the least.
Disturbing-yes.
Disgusting-oh absolutely.
They had shivers just thinking about performing… that act with one another.
As they're getting things ready, Matsu says something to get everyone's attention, "So with everything going on…does anyone else want to bet that it's aliens?" said Matsu.
Everyone in the cockpit looks at her with Grayfa saying "really? We are in a crisis Matsu and you are thinking about tiny green men?"
"Grey actually, but I'm just saying, with the mission we have, which is stupid in theory already mind you-that anything is possible." she states.
"I think you just watch way too many syfy movies, everyone knows that Aliens ain't real" said Naruto then he and the others hear.
"Begin countdown." Kakashi said before an alarm went off, "What is it?" he asked.
"Sir, the first rotation is about to pass us. A massive gravity wave is approaching us as we speak."
"Did he just say, a gravity wave?" Naruto asked with wide eyes.
"Endeavor, Independence, you need to take off now, we can't wait any longer!" Kakashi called into the speaker.
"Sir, what about you and everyone else inside?!" Naruto demanded.
"We're dead already, begin count down immediately!" Kakashi commanded as he felt a pull starting to move him backwards, "You have less than three minutes, you need to take off in one or else you'll be submerged as you do! Loosen all shock absorbers, lift the tail rudders to drag you towards the approaching moonrise, and activate the main thrusters as soon as you reach 10,000 feet while you jettison the main tank and boosters. Now go, thirty seconds!" Kakashi commanded.
Suddenly, the two crews look out the window towards the sea and feel their eyes widen as an easily 500 foot wave of water raced towards them. Naruto spoke into his communicator, "Screw thirty seconds, go for ignition!" he commanded as he flipped the switch, the thrusters igniting in a golden halo of flame and smoke that quickly filled the air. The shuttles shook and rocked violently as gravity fought both with and against them as the twin vessels fought to lift up off the ground. And surprisingly enough, the shuttles had barely begun to take off into the air as the colossal wave reached them, quickly burying them under the power of the sea.
"We're underwater guys!" Grayfia cried out in horror.
"Don't worry. With the thrusters ignited from beforehand and the provided lift before it reached us, we'll be able to swim through the water like an underwater launched missile from a sub! Just pray that the heat of the engines allows us to push through and not have us be torn apart!" Naruto told them as he fought for control of the steering.
However, the horror of the idea wasn't as bad as it seemed; despite being fully submerged underneath hundreds of thousands of gallons of seawater. And within a minute, they were free. The two shuttles were being pulled through the air by the massive gravity wave given off by the moon pulling them into the sky as the two rockets soared through the air.
Fire roared out of the two engines as the ships raced into the sky for their one and only mission with their crews safely inside. However, one shuttle had immediately started experiencing problems as Naruto watched a series of alarms blare causing him to curse, "The ascension trajectory is off!" he said loudly as he watched the screen light up to show what was wrong, "Our right booster is losing thrust!" he called out. And he wasn't wrong, the thruster in question was sputtering weakly-trying to fight to keep ignited and carry the shuttle into the sky, only to go out moments later, "Right thruster is out, we're pitching to the right 7 degrees. Thruster down to zero." he said flipping a switch to send all available fuel l into the left booster rocket and auxiliary thruster from the main tank.
"We're drifting left 11 degrees!" Asia called out to him in panic, "14 now!" she told him.
The two rockets were out of alignment as Ezra's shuttle soared at its intended angle while Naruto was losing control of his own, the trails of smoke curving very differently than what they were meant to for a good take off, "We better do something fast or we'll crash!" Asia said worriedly.
"I knew I never should have come with you!" shouted Matsu as rattled about in her seat in a panic, now having second thoughts.
"Let's lose the other booster!" Naruto called out, "We'll see if the moon's gravitational pull can drag us the remainder of the way up." he told her as he pointed to a button, "The release is right there to your right!" he told Asia.
"I'm not an astronaut, I'm a damn doctor, I wasn't trained for this kinda shit!" the blond woman yelled out in panic before she found the button and pressed it, the two rockets breaking off and falling back down to earth.
"Come on baby, climb!" Naruto urged the shuttle before another alarm filled their, "Main tank is empty, drop it!"he told Asia as he nodded his head as she pressed the button to release the large fuel tank strapped to the rocket's belly as he ignited the main engine of the spacecraft and shot through the air.
"Oh god if this doesn't work we're dead!" Grayfia cried out.
"Well yea this better work!" Asia called back here with wide eyes.
"We're going to slow!" Naruto called out as he looked at his instruments in worry, "I don't know if we're gonna make it!"
"Wait wait wait, look at our trajectory!" Asia called out pointing to the panel, "Our velocity is still increasing." she said with surprise.
"It's still going up." Naruto said as he watched the ascension trajectory fix itself to show alignment with the moon's orbital path, "We did it, we made it!" he cheered out. And not a moment too soon as the alarms shut off as the shuttle reached the outer reaches of space.
Matsu snorts in disbelief as she watches her phone float in front of her, "Uh… guys…." she says with wonder.
Naruto asks "What is it, Matsu?" as he is driving.
"Take a look out the window! The view is breathtaking!" said Matsu as everyone but Naruto looks through the window and sees what many would only see in books or dreams, the endless vastness of space.
Grayfia says "wow, I could stare at this forever."
Naruto on the other hand "we can do that when the mission is done, for now" he groans a bit "we have to hurry and refuel while we still can. And there's the depot with the other shuttle."
Slowing his craft down he opens a communication with the other shuttle, "Ezra, can you hear me?" he asks.
"Loud and clear Naruto, you had us worried for a moment there, what happened?" the redhead asked him.
"Thruster died on us, but the gravity well pulled us the rest of the way. Have you refueled that bird yet?" he asked her.
"Raven and Uzume just finished actually. We'll move out the way so you can hook up the pumps on your end," she said as the shuttle slowly pushed away from the station.
Naruto activated the thrusters to slow the shuttle before he maneuvered it to where the nose faced away from the moon, "Aright Grayfia, very gently with the maneuver, brought the shuttle to the docking line." he told his lover. Next to him, Momo stood on the station with a hose in her hand-having jumped out the airlock with him to help fill the shuttle up when the others decided to hang back and learn the fast way to maneuver the shuttle in the vast emptiness of space.
"Ok, very gently." the woman muttered to herself, "Sure, I can do that." she told herself as she moved the joystick up, slowly bringing the spacecraft up to the pumping dock.
"Alright, now switch to station-keeping mode, i'll take it from here." he told her.
"I can't believe you just did that." Matsu complimented her.
"Yea, neither can I."Grayfia laughed out.
"Are you sure you haven't done this before?" Momo asked her.
"Pretty sure." Grayfia said as she wiped off sweat from her side as she wasn't sure she could do it or not.
"When I was ten, I dressed up as an astronaut for halloween. Some kid named Scotty Douglas told me I'd never go to space cuz I looked weird and wore glasses." Matsu said with a small smile of nostalgia.
"Well, if only Scotty Douglas could see you now." Asia giggled. Off to the side, Matsu shouted "in your face Scott!"
"Ok Grayfia, open the fueling valves on the shuttle tank, it's those little switches that say fueling valves." he told her as his lover flipped the switch he needed.
"Ok, they're open." she responded as the screen lit up to show the fuel levels.
Matsu-behind Grayfia, poses with Asia as she holds her phone up and gives a tongue and middle finger to the camera while Asia rolls her eyes as the flash sets off.
"I have to tell you something," Momo told Naruto.
"Sure, what is it?" he asked.
"You know that one song from high school I could never sing right-Africa by Toto? It is 'I bless the rains down in Africa' like you said." she said grinning.
"I told you. You know, I also have a confession to make as well." he told her.
"What's that?" the brunette asked him.
"You were my first kiss back in first grade."
"I knew it, that bitch Kagura was always gloating about how great of a kisser you were. So when did you make out with her?"
"Third grade actually. Before Grayfia moved into town we became friends and eventually an item as you well know," he told Momo.
A ding went off as Momo laughed, "Alright Grayfia, you can turn off the valves while I strangle your husband to be." she said, smiling widely.
Graufia sighs deeply as she flips the switches again and turns them off, "The fueling valves are closed." she responds.
"Momo turn around." Naruto said in a serious voice and pointed behind her.
The sight she saw was both amazing and horrific at the same time, the moon was coming around the earth, and was pulling large amounts of debris-be it from the earth itself was unknown-through the air around it.
"We need to go now. While we still have time." the blond said seriously.
And with that, the two return to the shuttle.
The two shuttles slowly cruised through the atmosphere towards earth, slowly spinning and dodging the ever growing asteroids that had broken off the moon and filled the air around them.
"So, the current location where Kakashi said was most likely an entry point into the moon was in the Mare Crisium crater." Matsu said as she looked at the detailed plans for the two shuttles.
"That's so cool!" Momo said as she pulled out her phone and snapped several photos-drawing blank looks from the others, "What, it's on airplane mode." she told them.
"Well, we can't stay here long, the debris field is growing and we don't know how long we got until it proves fatal," Naruto said.
And unfortunately, his words proved to be correct when a particularly large asteroid smashed through the right-wing of the shuttle causing him to curse as he hit the wall, "What was that?" Asia asked.
Naruto was looking out the window and grimaced, "That was the sound of our right-wing being torn off." he said.
"I hope we didn't really need it." Matsu said.
"Sadly we did. Call Ezra, tell her we're jerry-rigging a towing line, and if we can't do that, we'll strap the bellies together and conserve fuel and steer with her shuttle as we head inside." Naruto said seriously, "We're running out of time."
With a more viable option in the form of tying the ships up by the bellies, Naruto soon took command, and Ezra was designated to follow his moves. Seeing as she was the only other actual pilot among them, she knew how to fly mirror winged to him-they'd done it a couple of times before back in Iraq when Bin Laden was on the run.
And soon, they were inside the Mare Crisium, the dark tunnel in which their mission was said to be located. And just in time as a large chunk of rock broke off and blocked the escape route back outside the vast tunnel.
"Turn on the floodlights," Naruto said pressing a button caused the tunnel to light up.
"How deep will we be going?" Asia asked.
"If Grayfia's hunch is right, roughly 20-45 kilometers before we pass through the mantle," Momo said to her.
"Hey, can you fly closer to the walls?" Grayfia asked curiously. Watching as the dark silver/gray rock passed she had to shake her head when a metallic gray started passing them, "This must be the hull of the megastructure. The moon's mantle is just the protective shell around it. That's genius." the woman said happily.
Naruto cleared his throat and edged away from the wall with Ezra til the wall surrounding them vanished as they entered an inky blackness that coated their vision, "Full halt Ezra!" he commanded as he pulled on the rear thrusts to slow the tied up ships and stopped them, "From here on, we're towing one another. I can steer this baby using the auxiliary thrusts, just don't let your line snap off me and keep up." he told her.
"Copy that, releasing grappling lines now," Ezra said,
Flying with one wing was harder than it looked, and steering was even harder, but eventually, the narrow passage they had initially entered gave way to a large open area that was slightly illuminated much to their surprise.
Lightning crackled through the darkness, connecting to large structural pieces surrounding the vast space around them.
"Oh please tell me this is happening…" Momo said as she observed one of the large rings moving past them, "They're turning…" she whispered in awe.
Metal creacks which sounded more like roars sounded through the air causing them to wince from the loudness, "They're like wheels, or…or rings." Grayfia muttered.
"Is this how the moon stabilizes itself? Some kind of gyroscopic system." Matsu whispered in awe.
"Over there." Asia pointed as the two shuttles glided through the massive openings before them-the shuttle passing by uninhibited. Before them, four massive rings rotated around a very blinding light-blocking their view for the moment as they soared closer.
However, as they passed the outer rings, the light gave way to reveal a startling sight to all of them, a white star barely a quarter the size of their own moon, "Oh my god, that's a white dwarf." Grayfia said in shock, "I knew it. They've harnessed the building blocks of the universe!" she exclaimed excitedly.
"Is that a good thing?" Momo asked.
"Sorry, but I can't really talk right at the current moment as so many of my theories are becoming life right now, I think I might just cry," Grayfia said happily.
"Save the tears for a later time, we're coming around," Naruto said as he pulled around the ring closest to them-Ezra following close behind them.
"HOLY SHIT!" Tsukiumi cried out in excitement, "FIELDS!" causing everyone except Naruto to look at her, "Ok, I once read Grayfia's theory that all Mega Structures were designed to be arcs of sorts, sue me!" the blond blushed at them.
"Didn't you write that theory back in high school when you were high on weed?" Momo asked Grayfia curiously.
"One time, I smoked weed one time." Grayfia sputtered out.
However, before they could fly any further, something jostled the steering controls and yanked them away from Naruto, "Shit! I've lost telemetry control over the shuttle!" he said in a panic.
"Well, do something!" Asia cried out.
"I'm trying, but nothing is happening! Ezra come in, I've lost telemetry control over my shuttle's flight control!" he called out.
"Yes, we're experiencing the same thing here!" she responded in a panic.
"Wait, wait wait, all Megastructures are said to be run by a benign AI and powered by a White Dwarf, what if this is taking us somewhere we need to go and not simply want us to go?" Matsu stated.
"Then you're crazier than I thought!" Asia called back to her.
"She might be right Naruto, let whatever is controlling the shuttles lead us!" Ezra told him.
"But what if we die?! Then this whole mission is lost as is the earth!" he called out.
"J-Just trust me, please!" she called out before Naruto grunted and released the controls over to whatever was guiding it.
"Not like I have a fucking choice!" said Naruto as he
grunted as the shuttle's forward boosters shot out powerful streams that pushed the shuttle left and towards a wall, Ezra's shuttle followed behind, "WALL!" Naruto cried out, "We are so dead!" he said in fright.
"This is all your fault!" Grayfia yelled at Matsu.
However, the section of the ring before the two shuttles split open and a powerful green beam struck the two shuttles and yanked them in for brief seconds before the two shuttles crashed onto the ground provided to them. The windows cracked and began leaking the precious O2 they needed to breathe, most of the two teams were passed out, but Naruto fought the inky blackness as he struggled to reach for his helmet. Fingertips brushing against the helmet, he dropped as he lost consciousness.
~XxX-Unknown amount of time later-XxX~
Naruto twitching as he slowly regains consciousness while hearing a couple of voices, "Naruto, wake up, wake up! We need you to see this" said the voice of Matsu.
Naruto groans as he opens his eyes and sees Matsu above him and says "Ugh… the fuck? What's going on, I feel heavy all of a sudden." before he rubs his eyes.
"The gravity is back on. Some of the others have gone missing, we need to go look for them before they get hurt or worse so get up!" she says as Naruto gets up and sees most of everyone from both crews are nowhere in sight and it's only Naruto, Matsu, and Erza and it seems they're hiding.
As Erza is on watch, "W-What the, where is everyone?" as he rubs his head as the last he could remember was losing consciousness.
"To make a long story, Naruto, you were knocked out and been out for six hours now and within that time, we lost track of everyone"
Naruto growls out "Dammit this is not good at all. We have to find them. But where do we start looking?"
Naruto is worried for the teams as he is hoping they are all safe. Because Naruto looks ready to murder something if his team is hurt. Naruto gets up with Matsu helping him up.
Erza says "I hope the others are all ok." she keeps watching as she won't dare to look away cause if she does, that thing will find them and take them away like it did with the others.
THUMP!
Matsu gets scared because Naruto smacked his fist onto the wall, "what can we do?!" Naruto asks in an angry voice.
Because everything turns against them, they just need a small miracle!
As if their prayers were answered.
BOOM!
There's a loud explosion is heard where they are, Matsu shouts "what was that?!" as she thinks if that thing is now using lethal measures?!
Erza wide her eyes as she sees the black mist thing coming where there are thus moved away in order to keep herself out of view but it just went past them, "I don't think, it was that mist thing, If anything I think it went to check it out…we should hurry and locate an armory or something to fight off that thing"
Naruto nods "We need to get geared up and find the others. I am not leaving anyone behind, damn the mission. We found a potential home to sustain some modicum of a human population while this crisis is happening." the others nod in agreement
They look out then they move and stick to the walls so they can keep hiding, as they move around carefully and slowly.
Until they arrived at a door which Naruto is the first to go in to check, and surprisingly enough, as they reached a couple of feet away the door slid open into a long illuminated hallway, "I guess we follow the lights." Ezra said nervously.
Naruto looks at the women, "I'll take the lead, just in case. If something is down here we can't fight off, you retreat to the shuttles or to somewhere safe and try to find a way back to earth." Naruto shudders before he looks at the others and asks "Anyone else nervous about this?" as both Matsu and Era raised their hands "Good I thought I was the only one."
Naruto couldn't help but gulp as he starts walking down the illuminated hallway with the other two behind him.
As the three walk, there are no signs of traps or any other thing, or trips on beams that would activate hidden terraces.
This went on until they reached the end of the hallway, and a series of lights turned on towards the right, "I guess it wants us to go this way…" Naruto said quietly. They walk for a series of twists and turns before a final door opens to reveal large expanses of green grass that stretch out as far as he could see, the width of the large expanse of the fields easily being as wide as the entirety of New York itself. It was incredible. There were tree's, birds, hell, even insects from some of the sounds heard. He could hear running water indicating that there was either an artificial river built within the ring to feed the trees and grass and sustain them indefinitely or a brook built up by humanoid hands.
"Look, over there. Houses and stuff were built, should we check them out?" Ezra asked him.
"You two stay here just in case. Password Erza, is Thunder, access is Storm." he said and she nodded in understanding.
It was an Old fashioned Pass Code that the Army used when in enemy territory. It'd work something like this. The pass code would be stupid but sound similar to this; "Oh, this storm is gonna flood us out." or something like that they were pilots, not infantry dammit! Regardless, the password to get access into the patrol base-if used-was needed and it'd go like this, "Yea, the Thunder sure is roaring tonight." but you get the gist of it.
Old fashioned, but good.
Naruto walks as he sees the grass and more as he thinks 'this unreal, how is this even possible?' he keeps moving until he sees the building, 'Who or what could possibly make this in the middle of the moon? And for what reason?' thinks as he keeps on moving. As he needs to have a closer look.
XxX
"The Homestead is to the North West. It's that double-story building where some of the others sleep. It also contains the kitchen. The Gathering is held in a room in the Homestead. At the back of the Homestead is the Slammer, a place that functions as a jail. The Gardens are to the North East. Seeing as the entire ring we live on is nothing but a large area where crops are grown and water is pumped, as it never rains in the Glade unless we go to the control center and make it. Some of us actually like to sleep on it at night in sleeping bags since there is not enough room in the Homestead. Then we have the Deadheads South West. It's a small forest area with a graveyard we made for those who died. It's been fifty years so we only lost a single generation of the elders so far, it's sacred land so be careful where you walk and step; kapeesh. Last but not least is the Blood House to the South East. It's that large barn over there and it's where livestock is raised and slaughtered for food. Any questions?" the tall blond woman asked the group of stunned women who had wandered into their home-surprisingly enough.
"W-We need to go get Naruto, Ezra, and Matsu-they need to see this!" Uzume said in shock.
"But they likely think we are in danger and we don't know if Naruto regains consciousness," said Grayfia.
"And who is this Naruto, sounds strange for a woman's name?" the lady who gave them the oh so lovely tour of her home for who knows how long.
"Naruto is my boyfriend and lover. He came with us as leader of our mission to try and save our home," said Grayfia as she looked at a woman, her long blonde hair with blue eyes as she had a very voluptuous figure with large breasts. This woman's name is Layla.(1) Sighing ather confusion, Grayfia says "Naruto is a guy's name"
Layla goes wide eyed with shock and says "Oh well it has been a while since any of us have seen a man. I hope we can meet him soon" as she wants to see a male again as it would be wonderful. Her grandfather was so kind and her father died when she was a little girl and the other two males died trying to activate the strange technology they grew up around.
Layla then asks "So tell me Grayfia why are you so worried about him?"
Grayfia says "It's just that I love him so much and I want to have my future with him. I want to be his wife in the future"
Layla thinks on it "wife? Wife? I think I heard of it before"
Momo whispers to Tifa "this is a bit odd, it's like they've been here for their whole life"
Tifa says "yeah, I get ya, and I don't think they're so bright when it comes things like..men and names"
Raven snorts and looks to Layla glances in her direction, "You, let me ask you something. How long have all of you been here?" she questioned the woman.
"W-Well could you be more specific. Like what do you mean, here as in this spot or here at this place?" Layla asks.
"On the ring, you live like you haven't seen or heard of male contact in a long time. How long have all of you-sans the group I came here with, lived in this ring habitat?" she demanded.
"You mean the gyrosphere? All of the people on the ring have been here their entire lives with the exception being a couple of the elders who were born somewhere called earth. Unfortunately there was a low birth rate seeing as there were only about a dozen people from the original elder's that arrived and tried making a suitable population, but the birth rate wasn't as much as they had hoped, two or three children per family-mostly females. The last male that we knew of died about fifteen years ago and we kinda sorta forgot what they were without a face to put them with." Layla said.
"Well, how many people live on the habitat rings, there are four of them we counted." Raven stated.
"None except here. The Elders all claimed to have been dragged by an unknown force of energy into the ring before their vessels crashed and were damaged beyond their repairing capabilities. Of the three rings we know of surrounding us, no contact has been made nor attempted simply because the population here is all that we know of." she told Raven sincerely.
Raven says "so wait….then you have been here since you were born? And that means your grandfathers must be from earth at some point in time" the blond woman nods to that,"And that would also mean your whole…community has been here for well over 70 years," said Raven.
The crewmembers are shocked to hear that, Layla says "Yes we have and we have forgotten a lot of our heritage as we can't contact the earth at all. I just hope things are ok."
Raven is thinking about what she has just learned, "I have a question… are there others?"
Layla looks confused by this and asks, "others?"
"Other colonies," said Raven with a sigh.
"No, we have a small community here on this ring alone and that's about it I'm afraid," she responds.
Grayfia steps forward and looks a bit worn down, "How many people are in this so-called community?" she questioned.
"There are sixty of us here in this small community on this side of the ring, another thirty on the quarter intersection, twenty or so after that, and then roughly another fifty at each quarter location. This community is the largest simply because it was inhabited first. Most of the people in the communities were located in some type of suspended animation… a pod of sorts that kept them frozen. We so far only found a few who make up a bulk of the quarter zone populations with ten apiece. We keep the numbers here low through genetic mixing for couples thus the reason why there are no men; simply because there are no male donors to give the genetic material to mix with viable candidates for population growth." Layla told them.
"I stopped listening after you said quarter intersection." Grayfia admitted.
"She's basically saying they take their own genes; most likely an egg from the ovum tubes where the embryos are located, and then find a suitable mate and combine their genetics using the sophisticated tech here to hold a population rather than die out," Momo explained.
Grayfia sweats as she kinda understands yet doesn't, her skills in science ain't that great, Tifa gets it and explains it in simple words for Grayfia to understand "basically, they take the most healthy traits and remove the bad ones and have the next generation be way better than the last."
Grayfia blinks at that as she says "wait won't that mean let's say, they had sex with their…oohh" she doesn't speak it out loud as she finished with "that's something"
Tsukiumi is looking around while everyone else is talking then she notices, 'wait is that?' she sees Naruto with camouflage face paint covering his facial features and large chunks of tree limbs and shrubs across his-he was in a gilly suit?! How'd he get one into space much less here?! The commando dressed male was peeking out from the corner of the wall as he sees his sister noticing, so without a word, he just waves to her to come to him, she does so as she says "I will be back, I saw something I want to take a look at" she gets up and walks over to where Naruto is.
Tsukiumi looks around to see if anyone is looking and whispers as she pretends that she's studying something "good to you're up" Naruto nods to her as he whispers back "status report"
Tsukiumi moved a bit of her hair to the back of her ear as she whispers "turns out, there are people living within the moon"
"Kind of figured that out when I saw the buildings. How many occupants are here?"
"This is the only ring occupied by any populace, and unfortunately it's all women from what it seems. They use the moon's advanced technology to maintain their numbers. Roughly, I'd say there's a couple hundred in total if not a little more." she informed him.
"Seriously, an Amazonian tribe on the moon, that's a first," Naruto muttered to himself as he thought this is something out of comic book.
"Well no, there are men, but from what I and the others learn, there's a very low number of them, at least five or ten." Tsukiumi explained,
"So how many are either young or elderly?"
"From what I know, they're all in their late 40s, early 50s, but they have also been having problems of birthing new males" she filled him in,
"I see," said Naruto,
"Oh my, this all seems very interesting….so what are we talking about?" said a 3rd voice.
Naruto turned around and got into a fighting stance, "Come on out, there's no use hiding anymore!" he demanded.
"That's strange, weren't you the one sneaking around beforehand?" the feministic voice asked him.
"I was monitoring my sister and the others who joined me on the journey here, I didn't realize you Amazonian warrior women-whatever you call yourselves, would watch us every second of our duration being here." he retorted.
"And just why exactly are you here?" the woman asked him as she stepped into the light to reveal a lovely young woman with dark brown hair, lovely green eyes, and a voluptuous figure.
"We are here to try and find a way to save the earth, our home planet which this moon orbits around." Naruto explained, "Now, who are you?"
The woman blinks a couple of times before she bursts into laughter. It took her a bit, but when she got her laughter under control she inhaled before answering, "My name is Miki."(2) she told him, "Now, who are you and why bring this woman over to this slightly secluded area?" she demanded.
"She's my sister, and she's also a botanist; a person who studies plants. I was only checking on her and then getting a preliminary report on everything thus far. I was unconscious for a few hours, but when I woke up there was me and one other who stayed by the ships who remained in our vehicle." he told her.
Miki "I see…so come on, out of the shadows with you mister" Naruto groans a bit as he does so and since he was kneeling, Miki notices how tall Naruto is, "wow you're tall! Taller than my papa when he was younger!" said Miki.
Naruto says "well, um, I'm about 6'3 after all" his sister nods as it is true,
Miki "I'm sure if Caretakers need samples to create our children, they would-be tall as you are if you donated some!" she says as if it is normal.
Naruto blinks at that as he thinks 'Care Takers?' the same goes for his sister, Tsukiumi however quickly steps in front of the older male blond, "Yea, that's a no, he's already promised to someone else who is already here with us." she responded to Miki quite sternly.
"It's usually not an option for most males in the population as the wavering midochodiatic DNA separates bloodlines. I'm sure we can find a use for him if he decides not to help our people here." Miki says calmly.
"Umm. I hate to be the bringer of bad news, but seeing as you already found me sneaking about-take us to your leaders. It's imperative we speak with them." he stated.
"Nobody speaks to Lady Yasaka or her advisors. Trust me when I say you're better off telling us what it is you seek and then be on your way back to your home..wherever this earth is." Miki said surprisingly harsh to him.
Naruto snorts as he begins removing the reconnaissance suit and tells her, "If we leave now, there will be no home for us to go back to. The moon is about to collide in less than 28 hours with the planet. I don't know how powerful this rock you live inside of is, but even I doubt it can withstand colliding with something four times its own size." he tells her.
Tsukiumi stops Naruto from further talking as she asks "ma'am…just how much do you know about earth?"
Miki looks at the two blonds and answers "nothing really if anything, you two are speaking nonsense" with a hand on her cheek.
Naruto and Tsukiumi look at each other, noticing the 'sky', it is just blue, it doesn't show anything else. This means they don't have time for this, "forget this, ladies!" Naruto calls out to the rest of the crew and hears Naruto, "we have to go!"
Grayfia shouts "Naruto!" she runs up to him as she has been worried as Tifa "sorry but we gotta go it seems!" she and the others get from their seats and head over to Naruto aka, the leader of the group/crew.
The other women who ain't going over to Naruto as they try say something to stop them but they have no words over them, given that they are in fact outsiders.
Momo says "Major, orders sir?!"
Naruto says "yes, simple, we need to get out there and stop this massive rock from crushing onto our home and we can't reason the people here as they don't know what's going on"
However, before they could move an elderly voice laughs, "St-Stop the moon from impacting the earth?" a masculine voice said drawing their eyes to the direction of the speaker, "The moon's gravity isn't what's causing the inevitable impact, the only way for this moon to hit the earth is if one of three things happened. The first was if you obscured the nigh endless energy produced by the core of the Dyson sphere-which you are currently on and that problem was fixed when I was a baby in my mother's arms. The second was if something large enough to physically alter the moon's trajectory of orbit around the earth, or if something was in fact wrong with the planet itself. Seeing as we haven't felt our wonderful home shake from any type of impact, I would assume that the problem lies down on Earth. Most likely a problem from the planet's core, which does provide a substantial amount of gravitational force to move the moon out of its predetermined orbit by force due to its size. Massive city-sized asteroids breaking off, crashing down; the removal of the atmosphere, and then the tectonic activity to major fault lines. The problem isn't us boy, it's yourselves. We lived in peace and harmony before you stepped in." an old man sitting in a wheelchair-surprisingly enough-told him.
"Who are you?" Naruto demanded.
"Ethan Armstrong, son of the famous Neil Armstrong who first stepped down onto the moon 70 years ago, at your service." the man nodded to the group.
"Well, if what you say is true-" Naruto said, not noticing the shocked look of Matsu's as the man said literally everything she had discovered and had her force herself here, "then how do we save our home?" he questioned.
"You don't, at least, not the earth." Ethan told him, "I'm sure you came into some type of force that took control over the ships that brought you here yes, that's the Operating System to the Dyson sphere, it knew you were coming before you even left the earth more likely and sensed your electronic signature as soon as you left the atmosphere. But, seeing as I am the eldest person on the ring, I can actually help you out where the others might not have." he said smiling softly.
"And just how could you do that?" Grayfia asked him.
"Simple, the builders of this marvel didn't just make a small inhabitable area for some meager crops and trees, oh no no… they made a full on terraforming marvel of technology and left it to its own whims. There is more to this beauty than even the other inhabitants realize. Now, while your vessels may have been destroyed, the builders of our beloved moon where we now stand didn't just build a small habitat, they left us quite an arsenal of powerful technology that if we so wanted to, could have used to take over your home down on earth. The metals here are nigh indestructible even to the modern ICBM Nuclear Warhead hidden in your silo's. The ships they left in the hangar bays are gigantic enough to smother a state the size of Texas… well a large portion of it anyways. But, regardless, one of these ships alone can hold a population of easily 50,000 people as non-crew and a working crew of 3,000 alongside the non-crew personnel with enough room for a dozen families to live comfortably. Now, while it is unfortunate to say, there is no hope for the earth, the moon has a 70-90 Percentile chance of coming out intact with minor damage, but the planet itself won't survive. You can use a ship to make a series of trips to the planet, grab a chunk of the population and return here and drop them off and go back to save as many as you can. Simple, right?" Ethan asked him.
"But how would I pilot an alien ship?" Naruto demanded.
Ethan smiled at him, "You won't have to, that's the great thing about interstellar technology that's peak proficient and advanced, words count more than actions with it." he said politely, "Now go save as many people as you can, we'll try and maintain course here in the meantime." he said as they reached a wall that opened. With a small push that was surprisingly strong and powerful from the old man, Naruto stepped into the large hangar and felt his jaw drop in shock.
What Naruto sees is something way more advanced than all he has ever fly-in, as its smooth surface, black color with a bit of gray on other parts as well as white glowing lines, the front of the vessel is built similarly to the SR-71 but easily ten times larger and faster. The metals making up the ship are fused so perfectly he can't tell if it was all just one vessel, but this was insane.
"This is nuts," Naruto as he walks up to it with the old man in the wheelchair says "yes it, though I could never use it given my body won't able, but I think you can handle it"
Naruto touches the black-colored metal and it feels very smooth to the touch yet there's something else, "this feels surreal" said Naruto.
The old man says "why don't you give it a test run before you go out there?" with a smirk on his face
XxX-XxX-XxX-XxX
1: Layla is the name for the female character portrayed by lady Phenex from Highschool DxD
2: Miki is Issei Hyoudou's mother from the same series as Layla.
XxX-XxX-XxX-XxX
*somewhere within the moon*
D:*just staring at the ceiling while thinking about just destroying the whole place all the while just hanging around*...I wonder if candyman and blaze miss me? In fact…what are their even doing?
*not know what's going on, so dealt is just staying put for now* D:...I should get out of here, I've been in the same spot for who knows how long…..now then *turns into liquid and free himself from his imprisonment then turn solid again* and I'm FREE….where do I go now?
meanwhile in space!
A: *Sleeping peacefully with a rock pillow floating through the abyss* Maybe I could drink a latte…
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