Yo! Chapter 3 is up for y'all to enjoy, but don't forget to review at the end!

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Chapter 3

Explosive save! Meeting the locals

Recap:

They were pinned. They were about to die. The mutants were closing in, lascarbines braced at their waist and muzzles pointing right between their eyes. So, they sat still, waiting for that ever-faithful las-bolt to send them to the Emperor's side. They heard voices; small unintelligible mutterings and grunts and every so often, the sentence, "Rume Dar Madre!" Finally, the clack and whine of three lascarbines being reloaded and armed alerted them as the mutants raised and aimed their weapons…

End Recap:

Earlier that day…

Naruto was extremely bored. He, his friends, and the ghosts had been deposited on Lexion for half a day now. They had immediately made haste for the shed that was the planned meeting place. So, they had made camp here and had been waiting (a.k.a: doing nothing) for the past twelve hours. The only thing they had to occupy themselves with was getting to know each other a bit better as well as briefing on the world they were on.

Throughout his twelve hours of wait, Naruto had gathered many opinions and different pieces of information. Contrary to popular belief, Naruto was quite smart; he just had no common sense and no enthusiasm in math and science as well, so it was not surprising that he actually understood what everyone had said.

The ghosts that Gaunt had brought with him: Caffran, Rawne, Mkoll, Mkvenner, Bonin, Domor, Feygor, Larkin, and Varl, were all generally nice people. Gaunt himself had a rather dry sense of humor and had such an affinity with words that he was able to inspire people on the spot with his speeches.

Varl, in a nutshell, was very fun to be with. The sergeant with an augmetic arm (got it blown off in some war) always seemed to have a joke to tell, he was sociable and very jovial in nature. He seemed to make his fun by making other people have fun. One of his chief means of entertainment, it seemed, were the numerous gambling rings he set up; from chicken fights to other games, he always had some different game to have fun and make money with.

Larkin…Larkin was hard to describe. He had good eyes and vast amounts of experience, but his nickname, "Mad" Larkin was aptly given. He just didn't seem right in the head anymore. The master sniper was jumpy and didn't trust a thing that he hadn't seen through his personal scope. The scope was like his lifeline, he said, "This scope shows me the truth. I don't trust anything or anybody that I haven't seen through this first."

Feygor was hard and generally unsociable. Kind of like Sasuke to a lesser degree. He stayed quiet most of the time and seemed to mostly listen to only Rawne's orders. When he did talk however, it was in a bare monotone voice that sounded constantly sarcastic, due to the augmetic voice box that he received after getting his natural one blown out in some other war somewhere…again.

Domor, "Shoggy" Domor as he was called, also was blinded in the same war that Feygor and Varl had obtained their wounds. Apparently, he got his nickname because his new eyes made him look like an animal back on their home; on this, "Tanith". Domor was a detection specialist and it was his job to seek out mines and other buried explosives and traps.

Bonin was a scout. Not one of the more famous ones, he was a good scout nonetheless. He had lived through a number of fatal situations and it was said that he was born under a lucky star. He was mild but still somewhat sociable, and was serious when he needed to be. All in all the model trooper.

Mkvenner was another scout, said to be the best in the regiment next to his sergeant Mkoll. He was skilled in hand to hand combat and had a twirling, graceful style that seemed to seamlessly incorporate bare hands or any type of weapon in it; whether it was a staff, a sword, a club, or something else, he was masterfully proficient in it. It was rumored that he was a descendant of something called the "Nalsheen", a group of warriors that were proficient in the old arts and had saved Tanith from government corruption. He was generally cold and businesslike, but it didn't seem nearly as hostile as Feygor.

Mkoll, Mkvenner and Bonin's superior, fitted into the name of ghost perfectly. A master of stealth, he was able to vanish anywhere and everywhere. Even the ninja were in awe at his ability. He was modest to a fault and kind, though he tended to be extremely quiet. Probably due to his training as a scout.

Rawne…Rawne was bad. That's all Naruto could say. He gave him this uneasy feeling, and Naruto felt as if he would never trust him. He seemed angry all the time and most of the ghosts (other than Feygor) generally stayed away from him. He was like a snake, ready to strike when the time was right, and you never knew who the next target was. Also, he seemed to have this unreasonable hatred towards Gaunt. Though Naruto thought I should be grateful. It seems that his hatred used to be much, much, much stronger.

Lastly, Caffran. He was the youngest of the group, but no less skilled and valuable. He was nice enough, though nowhere near as friendly as Varl, he was helpful, too, trying to assist the ninjas into getting acclimated to the environment and teaching them how to use different little devices that they brought with them. Also, it seemed to be common knowledge that he and his girlfriend, Tona Criid, adopted two kids named Yoncy and Dalin. Criid , Yoncy, and Dalin were waiting back in the ship for him.

The ninja were also informed about what kind of world they were on. As they were already told, Lexion was a chaos infected and chaos controlled, thus marking the place as extremely dangerous and psychologically damaging. Before it was taken over by Chaos, however, Lexion was a prosperous forgeworld, a world used to manufacture weapons, armor, kit, and other items. It was the third largest in the Sabbat worlds, under Fortis Binary and Calniyth respectively. So, they could expect the entire world to be covered in cities and hives, with numerous mines in between. Factories and Churches of the Ecclesiarch would be most common next to the numerous habs that the people used to live in. Thus, there would be a hard time finding food, but there would be plentiful cover. There was more, but the rest had to be learned from experience.

Thusly, everyone was equally as happy as they were surprised when the sounds of gunfire welled up from outside. They slipped quietly toward the direction of the noise and hid behind the remains of a second wing building next to the munitorum storage shed.

What they saw surprised them, to say the least. There were three big things that were firing down upon three men, one of which was incapacitated and unable to return fire, unlike the other two. Noticing the possibility that these were their contacts, Gaunt decided to save them, "I think it's time for the ninjas to show what they can do. I'll let you guys take care of this one."

Nodding, Kakashi took control of the situation, "Naruto, you're the number one surprising ninja, so surprise them for me. The rest of us will be here to support if you need it. Besides, I want to see how good you are, I haven't seen you for almost six months, after all."

Naruto just grinned widely and said, "You got it, Kakashi-sensei!" Then, he was gone.

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Present time

The mutants raised and aimed their weapons as the two active members of the reception squad closed their eyes in preparation for the inevitable shot, then…nothing. Wow, that was anticlimactic Whitman thought it didn't even feel like anything happened. I always expected my death to be a little more…eventful. So, having nothing else to do, he opened his eyes (mind you, his whole thought process took, like, a second and a half) to find a small, black metal blade sticking out the side of the middle mutant's head. There was something fizzling attached to the blade, too. As the mutant fell, he noticed that it was…

A piece of paper!

His moment of doubt as to the paper's usefulness only lasted a second however, as even before the dead thing hit the ground, it exploded in a brilliant flash of heat and light, blowing Whitman and his squad away in the resulting concussive blast.

Sitting up, the sergeant was just in time to witness a blonde boy in a strange black and orange outfit assault the remaining to minotaurs, who were starting to stand up from the blast, a little bruised and burnt, but nothing too severe.

Naruto rushed in, throwing four kunai at the rising enemies. Then, shouting out his favorite jutsu, created a group of six clones who closed into the mutants in arrowhead formation.

The remaining minotaurs were stunned from the blast, but were able to raise their guns and fire before he reached them. Spraying randomly, they managed to split the formation apart and shot six of them, all of which went up in smoke. They were engaged in melee battle by the little boy that had accosted them before the could reload. His initial punch flinging one backwards, Naruto aimed his second punch at the other mutant, who was just able to bring up an arm to block his devastating haymaker.

The monster's arm was still tingling from the blow, and so it used its other arm to swing around the carbine and tried to butt the ninja from the side. Naruto simply ducked under the weapon and furiously slammed the back of his hand into the mutant's face. Undaunted, the monster rose again and was joined by the other mutant, who by then had recovered.

Seeing both of them, and realizing that he would have trouble fighting both of them with taijutsu, he decided to finish it quickly. That one would do nicely Naruto thought. Using chakra to jump extremely high, he took out a kunai and threw it. Making a cross-shaped seal, he yelled, "Kunai to kagebunshin konbi! Furu! Kunai ame!" (Kunai and shadow clone combination! Fall! Kunai rain!). One kunai multiplied into millions, and they fell like a black rain, completely covering the night sky. The patrolling mutants couldn't escape in time, as it covered the whole field, and so could only stand there, shaking in fear as they awaited their imminent death. Unfortunately, however, it also covered the area where Kakashi, Gaunt, and the others were observing as well, and once they realized this, they all ran back into the shed, not a second before the kunai hit the ground.

The ground was black with kunai, but only for a second, as they poofed into nonexistence a moment later. The minotaur's corpses weren't even recognizable anymore because of the puncture wounds carpeting them. All of the remaining strike team stared in awe of the damage Naruto did. Finally, Caffran broke the silence, "Holy feth, the damage that could do to infantry…such a wide area of effect…" he said in a tinier-than-usual voice.

Naruto landed and waved to his comrades, "OOOIIIII! How was that!" He yelled/asked.

Only Kakashi gave a reply, "Naruto, when did you learn that?"

"Oh, I invented it while I was on the trip with ero-sennin" Naruto answered, "He thought it would be good if I had a highly damaging jutsu with a wide area of effect that didn't take too much chakra."

Not take too much chakra? Kakashi thought Well, I guess that makes sense, seeing that Naruto uses kagebunshin a lot and has a superhuman amount of chakra… Damn, I wish I was able to copy that with my sharingan…

Suddenly, Caffran noticed something, "Oh, Shit! Where're the contacts!"

Eyes widening in realization, Kakashi attempted to calmly ask Naruto, "You didn't kill them, did you?"

Scratching the back of his head sheepishly, Naruto replied, "hehehe…No, I don't think so…"

Kakashi's eye bugged out, "WHAT! You don't know if you killed them! You moron! Why the hell did you use that jutsu if you didn't know that they would live through it!" Well, there goes his attempt to stay calm…

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They eventually found the men they saved. Apparently, they cleared out and waited under an awning behind the shed even before Naruto used that jutsu (which awed them to no end).

After a lot of thank yous, congratulations, wows, how did you do thats, oohs, and ahs, the men were finally ushered into the shed and onto some chairs (Dilram was still out however, and was given a bed of hay to lie on off to the side). Inside, Gaunt confronted them, "I suppose you are all members of the resistance?" Whitman and Vanderson nodded, "Members of the PDF, all of you?" another nod, "I see, tell me your names and ranks, then."

Whitman introduced himself first, "My name is Eilhad Whitman. I am a sergeant of the Lexion PDF." He saluted to Gaunt before sitting back down.

Vanderson went next, "My name is Felhar Vanderson. I hold the rank of corporal in the Lexion PDF." He saluted as well before sitting back well.

Gaunt gave them an approving nod and said, "Right. Whitman, Vanderson, let me be frank with you. You were all led to believe that we are the forerunners to a larger invasion meant to free this world, am I right?" Becoming anxious at what this was about, the two men nodded hesitantly, "That was a lie. We are not going to be leading anything of the sort. We are alone here and will not be getting any reinforcements."

Utter shock. That was the emotion that ran through the two resistance member's veins at that moment. Fighting down his grief and disappointment, Vanderson managed to ask, "Then…sir…what are you here for?"

"We are here on a specific mission. We are a strike team sent here secretly to retrieve a captured Imperial Prisoner. And once again, we are alone; we will probably not be getting any reinforcements. We might not be able to be extracted as easily as well. Well, will you still guide us to where we need to be?" Gaunt asked.

This time it was Whitman who spoke up, "Yes, we will. Even if no invasion is coming in, we have nothing left to lose and might as well help the Imperium as best we can."

Gaunt smiled. It was a tight, small, and somewhat forced smile, but a smile nonetheless, "I thank you, sergeant. Now, to business. You know this place best, where should we go first?"

"Sir, it's already been about thirty minutes since we've left the base, and so the bombs will have already gone off and the distraction will be wearing out soon. I suggest we leave immediately for the base so you can inform the men there and we can get proper help." Whitman suggested.

"Good thinking" Gaunt complimented, before turning to his men and the waiting ninjas, "Right! You heard him! Let's move out!"

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Naruto and the rest of the team had already packed up and were moving down the alleyways of wrecked munitorum buildings. They were making good time towards their destination and Naruto was currently watching two ghosts, Varl and Caffran, moving down the streets, making sure it was clear when further up, he saw a small lump. The as of yet amorphous shape seemed to be moving towards them. I was…crawling? Immediately, Naruto called attention to the thing now identified as a wounded human by leaping down from his position under the awning of a building and running to the person, "Hey!" Naruto yelled, "There's a wounded guy here!" Naruto had never seen such wounds. He seemed to be bleeding from numerous puncture wounds that have been cauterized once before, turning into a completely gross mass of roiling and boiled flesh. Naruto almost threw up Ugh, these wounds, what could have caused this? Is this…is this what becomes of…true war? To say Naruto wasn't affected by this thought was a lie. Little did he know, however, that it would get much worse before it all was over.

By then, the rest of the team had rushed up. "Vils!" Whitman, Vanderson, and even a recently recovered Dilram cried, "Vils! Vils! Wake up, man! Shit, what could have done this to you!" Naruto was dragged to the side, motionless and silent, still trying to comprehend what was going on while the others tried to see if they could help the fallen comrade.

Hinata came to inspect the person, as she was the only trained medic on the team (the ghosts hadn't thought to bring any corpsmen with them). After performing a diagnostic scan, Hinata sighed and shook her head. "It's no use. The burns from whatever weapon that had wounded him are too extensive and I don't have enough skill to heal all the other small wounds as well. He only has a few minutes as most." Hinata said with a heavy and depressed voice.

Attempting to sit up, the man dubbed 'Vils' tried to grab their attention, "It doesn't matter, leave me here! You have to run to the next base! The Chaos is following me and…and…" He had to stop, as he leaned over and coughed up blood

Trying to be comforting, Whitman knelt next to his comrade, "Shh…take it easy, Vils. Now, what were you trying to say? And what?"

The dying man turned to look at him with scared eyes, "It's the lieutenant, sir. He's dead."

just in case any of you were wondering, a corpsman is a soldier who is trained in basic medical processes so he can treat men who've been wounded on the field before getting them back to a proper hospital. (a corpsman is not a doctor!)In addition, corpsmen also have to be priests in order to give absolution to those who died onthe field as well.

The quote, "There are no atheists in foxholes" is not an argument against atheists, it's and argument against foxholes.

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