I have been really busy with work, so its been a while since my last post. But I am back :)
I will now respond to the review
bankai777 - Thank you for the review, no he will not
And with that said on with the chapter!
Book 4 - Star Trek: Predator - Sad Day for Konoha's - Chapter 3, Entering Cardassian Space
The Flyer had been left behind to continue the investigation, Naruto was getting into position to begin scanning the floating debris
"Lets begin scanning the debris field" Kira said
"Scanning, the debris field is consistent with what we would expect from the Lexington's mass" Suzu reported
"But can we confirm it is from the Lexington?" Naruto asked
"That's what we need to find out" Kira stated
"But why wouldn't it be from the Lexington?" Ino asked
"To throw us off track" Kira answered
"Look at this, I think this part has the Lexington's registry number on it" Suzu stated as the debris appeared on her screen with the Lexington full registry number
"Interesting" Kira said as he examined the readings
"You find that interesting?!" Neji responded, slightly upset at the sigh of the debris
"What I mean is that I am finding it interesting that the hull fragments haven't all aged the same" Kira began to explain "Here look at this, the piece from the Lexington, and here is a random piece from the debris field" He said showing both scans
"The Lexington looks like its only five years old and the other one looks like eight years old" Sasuke commented
"How would that be possible? Wouldn't the entire hull be the same age?" Naruto added
"Exactly, this is something that we wouldn't have been able to figure out without a thorough investigation. These guys are smart very smart, they used parts from other ships, they even made sure they were all of the same class. From my scans there are at least three ships in this field, and the Lexington has only two pieces of hull fragments" Kira informed them
"Then that means..." Neji began to say
"Yeah, you guys might have been right all along" Kira stated
"Then we must tell Starfleet!" Naruto said happily
Kira shook his head "Its not enough evidence for them, not right now. Maybe in times of peace they would have done a more thorough investigation, but during times of war all they can do is think about the war. I don't blame them, its their job, that's why Section thirty one still exist, to fill in in these times" Kira explained
"So now we know they are still alive" Neji said as he felt relieved
"Not exactly, this just means that we know this debris isn't the Lexington, for all we know they took the ship and killed the crew" Kira stated
"Or worst.." Naruto added as everyone turned to look at him "Speaking as someone who has been taken prisoner by these aliens, I wouldn't want anyone to ever go through what I have. We have to find them, especially Hinata" He said
"Why Hinata?" Neji asked
"They are after Konohan people" Naruto answered
"We have to find her now!" Neji stated as he was not fearing the worst for Hinata
"I am trying to scan the area for any warp trails, but the alien ships seem to almost leave no trails behind at all" Kira said as he worked his console
"If they leave no trails then how can we find them?" Naruto asked
"I said almost, and I think I just found what I'm looking for" Kira started "But you guys aren't going to like it, its going strait into Cardassian space" He added
"I don't care if it was heading for towards the Delta Quadrant, Hinata being dead is one thing, however being tortured, having experiments conducted on her, feeling pain... That is an entirely other thing" Naruto stated with conviction in his eyes
Neji looked at Naruto and smiled, he had always respected Naruto in the past as a genius ninja, however seeing how far he would go to save Hinata only made him respect Naruto even more "And the same goes for me" Neji stated as he stood next to Naruto as they nod at each other
"I never expected this mission to be an easy one"Sasuke added as he joined them
"I got a demotion for this, so I will be dammed if I don't see this to the end" Ino said as she got up
"Cardassians be dammed, they messed with one of our own. They need to know the consequences of dealing with a Konohan" Suzu stated as she joined the group
Kira smiled, he admired their sense of loyalty towards each other "Then I guess its settled , I borrowed the newest Romulan cloak for the flyer, however the Cardassian's have gotten from the aliens some rather good cloaking scanners, its now impossible for Romulan or Klingon strike forces to make surprise attacks like in the past. However, a small shuttle like the flyer might just have a shot at passing their sensors as long as we don't get too close" Kira explained
"Alright, tell me the course to set" Naruto asked as he sat back down at his station
"Heading zero two one mark five" Kira told him
"Course set and speed set" Naruto stated as he entered the command into his console
"Engaging cloak, Naruto take us to warp when ready" Kira signaled
"Engaging warp engines" Naruto stated
The nacelles extended outwards from the hull just before the ship vanished, the only thing you heard was a ship jumping to warp
The flyer had been flying towards Cardassian space for the past tree hours
"We are about to leave Federation space" Naruto warned them
"From here on out we cant afford any mistakes, Suzu you watch the sensors for anything, if an asteroid such as moves oddly I want to know about it. Naruto don't leave the helm for a second" Kira told them
"what about Sasuke, Ino and I?" Neji asked
"You three get some rest, when Naruto and Suzu are tired you will take their posts" Kira told him
"And what about you?" Sasuke asked
"I can go several days without sleep, don't worry about me" Kira answered
"Like hell, you need to rest as well" Sasuke told him
"I will be fine, I have gone an entire week without sleep once" Kira stated
"We don't need a tired out commander, I am sorry but I'm with Sasuke on this one" Naruto said in agreement with Sasuke
Kira let out a sigh "Let me guess , if I don't rest one of you is going to knock me out?" Kira asked with a slight grin
Naruto smirked "The though had crossed my mind"
"He would do it to" Ino added
Kira just shoot his head in defeat "Fine you win, I will go rest a bit with Neji and Ino, Sasuke you can stay here and go with Naruto and Suzu, but if you guys detect anything I want you to wake me, understood?" Kira stated seriously
"Understood commander" Naruto answered back
Sex hours latter the flyer was still at high warp following the trail
"The trail is getting stronger" Suzu stated
"That must mean were getting closer, hang on Hinata" Naruto said with determination
"Wait a minute, Suzu are you seeing this?" I think long range sensors are detecting something" Sasuke told them
"Confirmed, whatever it is its big" Suzu informed them
"Naruto change course to zero five three mark nine" Sasuke instructed
"Course set" Naruto answered as he tapped the course correction in his console
"Transferring my data to your console, what's our ETA?" Sasuke asked
"At our current speed three hours, I could raise our speed and be there in forty two minutes" Naruto answered
"No Kira said any faster and we risk getting detected" Suzu warned them
"But we have to reach Hinata as soon as we can, we just have to! If they found out she's from Konoha then she could be in pain or worth, she could be dying!" Naruto protested
"But if we are detected and caught, not only will we not be able to save her, but we would be giving them five new Konoha test subjects and one genetically enhance human" A voice stated from behind
When they turned around Kira was standing in the back of the flyers cockpit
"Commander.." Sasuke stated, acknowledging his return
"Report" Kira ordered as he made his way to the front of the cockpit
"We think that we may have detected a ship on long range sensors matching the warp signature, at our current speed it will take three hours to reach sir" Sasuke answered
"Alright, you three rest up, Neji and Ino are on their way, I will wake you in three hours, now go" Kira ordered as he took Sasuke post
"Aye sir" All three of them stated as they walked out while Neji took the helm and Ino took the ops
Ino immediately spotted something "Sir, there is a ship trailing us" She quickly informed them
"What?" Kira said slightly surprised
"It looks like they are trying to mask their signature" Ino told them
"That is Impossible, there was no one behind us just a few moments ago!" Suzu stated as she couldn't believe she would have missed something like that
"Are you three still here? I said to go get some rest! We will handle this" Kira sternly stated
"Don't worry Suzu, I am sure they just happen to pick up our trail, its nothing you missed" Ino said in an attempt to reassure her
"Exactly so get some rest, Ino are there any nebula's in the area?" Kira asked
"No sir, nothing around us" Ino answered
"Well I came prepared for something like this" Kira answered
Sasuke, Suzu and Naruto finally left the cockpit
"How could I have missed it" Suzu said as she sat down in her bunk still upset
"Look, we are all tired, let them deal with it" Naruto told her as he laid down in his own bunk
Sasuke sat down next to her "He is right, don't blame yourself for this" He told her as he held her
Back in the cockpit Kira had started to put his plan into motion
"Ino prepare the probe that I put in the torpedo launcher, configure it to match our warp signature, Neji prepare to drop out of warp" Kira ordered
"Sir?" Neji asked slightly puzzled
"I adapted a Romulan cloak to the probe, it has a warp engine, this is a type of probe used by Section thirty one ships, if they catch up to it then they will think that the federation sent the probe to spy on them and with luck, they will ignore us, but our timing has to be perfect" Kira explained
"Understood sir" Neji answered as he got ready to drop the flyer from warp
"Neji, as soon as I give Ino the order to fire, you have to drop us out of warp. If you miss it you might give away our plan" Kira told him, Neji simply nodded as he stood ready "Alright Ino, ready, FIRE"
As Ino fired the prob the flyer instantly dropped out of warp
"Now shut down everything except for life support and the cloak, we are going into gray mode" Kira ordered
"Aye sir, powering down all systems except for life support and the cloak" Ino answered
All the lights dimmed down, the consoles went black as the flyer was powering down she began to drift in space
"Now, we wait and pray" Kira stated as he sat back into his seat
End Chapter 3
And thus the chapter comes to an end, will Kira's trick work? Find out in the next chapter :)