Spirit of the Fox

(Seven Months Later – September 23rd, 2531 – Reach, Epsilon Endari System, 4:03AM)

Naruto rubbed his eyes tiredly for a moment before letting a small sigh exit his lips. Truly, it had been quite quick with his work and with Catherine Halsey during this time frame. His lips tugged upward in almost a gratifying way at how their work had turned out with the few ONI scientists assigned to work on the project and it was amazing to say the least.

The ONI scientsits were skeptical at first as Naruto being the director of the project, given he was only sixteen at the time. Catherine assured their work would benefit humanity during the war, and looked quite driven and interested during the project's time frame. The scientists begrudgingly let the issue down but still sent rather odd looks that they were working under someone who was younger then they were.

The first month or so was quiet without any real success, Naruto had decided to take slow steps, making the generator so that it would be built up inch by inch to make sure it functioned correctly all the way to the end of the project. By the third month, the generator was fully functional, but he wanted to make sure the power output would be sub stained as a large field around a ship like the one's the UNSC used.

So to make sure, he also added in an absorption matrix that would take the hits of plasma torpedoes and make the shield stronger, but there was only a limit to what it could take.

By now however, there were three of the generators. One of them would be put in the Spirit of Fire along with it's new upgrades. The trinium plating was mixed in with Titanium-A and made it twice as strong then before, Naqudah was then used for a new resource as an FTL drive's form of fuel.

Both the mines were also taken over by the UNSC, though eyebrows rose at who had made the mines in the first place was still a question hanging in the air. Naruto shook his head amusedly at remembering the shocked looks of the scientists when the shield had first worked. He also introduced fuuinjutsu to the Spirit of Fire and had made a channeling point for the Naqudah in the FTL drive, thus making the three mile ship the fastest one in the UNSC fleet, while it took weeks at least to get to another system, the Spirit of Fire could do it in under fifty hours which was nothing short of amazing to Admiral Hood.

Naruto was also currently working on a personal project of his that he considered rather impressive in the eyes of the UNSC. A program that would prevent rampancy of an AI, he had already read up on AI's and found it quite fascinating that while AI's that were smart were incredibly valuable, they only lasted about seven years. But it was a slow process given the memory, so he would have to compress the data before introducing it to the AI. His first thought was using the program on Serena, thus she wouldn't suffer rampancy or expire, he smiled slightly, he had to admit ideas like this were usually churning in his head until he couldn't take it anymore and just had to get designs for a prototype set up.

Naruto sipped some coffee as he eyed the generator in a specially made, fortified bullet proof glass that was also designed to absorb a residual explosion from a MAC cannon. An amused look crossed his face for a moment at that, Admiral Hood had decided to test the naqudah combined with an MAC round and it was shocking to say the least. When it was tested in liquefied version on a derelict colony ship, the round tore through the midsection and exploded inside the ship, he still could not get those reactions out of his head from the Senior Staff of the UNSC when the ship was split in half.

He sipped his coffee again with a small sigh. He however had trouble with the cybernetic suit as it had to be updated with new nanomachines, they were much more effiecient at repairs now and it had to built from the ground up using his original plans as the base model.

So far, a few features had been added, for example it now had a neural interface, but Naruto had already covered that by putting a seal on the back of his neck that would connect with the system, thus enabling him to use an AI or a memory chip.

Naruto ran a hand through his hair in a thoughtful manner of the dimmed room, he also added on a magnetic strip on the back in place of the seal that had been there. Refractive coating was also added onto the suit so that it would dispense plasma attacks.

He rubbed his temples for a moment with aggravation, then sighed before draining down the last of his coffee with a slight smile.

(9:34 AM – Reach, Naruto's Room)

Glyphs went by one after one on Naruto's laptop, the blond idly looked over a few holograms depicting the shield world and the ships that had been seen, it was mostly from Red Team's view while the blond frowned a bit. He had already translated them and found the words "Forerunner" as well as "Reclaimer" what these meant, he had no idea.

But what puzzled him was what happened to the Forerunners, surely they were a technologically powerful society that once existed, he came to a rather grim conclusion that they were destroyed by the "Flood" as they were called in the glyphs, some were a warning to others.

NAruto grimaced mentally, if such powerful people were overrun, how? He rolled his eye to himself, over confidence. Their very means were their own undoing as a result of trying to get rid of the Flood.

His thoughts were cut off when Serena appeared on a holo-projecter. "Naruto, Dr. Halsey would like to see you".

Naruto paused and nodded before disconnecting his PDA with his laptop, Serena vanished as Naruto got up and went to the door, deciding to walk there.

(Dr Halsey's Lab)

Catherine couldn't be prouder of the work she had refined. She had to admit, while Naruto had made a cybernetic suit with limited resources and slightly crude manners, it without a doubt was impressive even to her.

But what amazed her was the sheer resilience that was latent in trinium, combining it with Titanium-A, she had made quite a durable suit for combat and reconnaissance. While Naruto helped her piece things together, he was quite vauge on a few parts. Halsey respected that seeing as how she was the master mind behind the Spartan II Program.

Her thoughts were cut when Naruto came through the door when it slid open, a cup of coffee in hand. "Late night?"

"Up until Four AM" Serena piped up for him while Naruto sent her an annoyed look at the holo projector, he chuckled weakly despite having gotten so little sleep, he was used to it.

"Personal thoughts" he said simply while she nodded her understanding. Catherine stood as Naruto asked "I take it the final touches were finished?" he asked as Catherine as she began to walk away and Naruto followed.

Reaching a tarp that was on a pedestal, she tore it off as Naruto rose his brows, she certainly made due when things were due.

"Impressive, no?" she asked as Naruto eyed the new exoskeleton, sipping his coffee. The suit was now totally black but had some silver metal parts to it with now two eyeholes that were like slits (Pic on my profile). "Nicely done, what did you use besides trinium?" he asked curiously as Catherine smirked, glancing at the suit.

"A variant of Titanium-A, more like an alloy if you wanted me to be honest" she explained "The repairs are three times faster due to the nanomachines, you already made some "Personal" adjustements" this made her eyes glitter at remembering Naruto's explanation of Fuuinjutsu. "I also added an effect I think you'll like" she started, getting his full attention "I made a hypersonic view now integrated into the suit's system, you'll be able to see through walls and such as a result." That got brows raised from Naruto "Trinium had been combined with the reflective coating has made it twice as strong as how the Mark IV shrugs off plasma attack".

Naruto paused lengthy "You like going all out, don't you?" he asked amusedly with a smirk on his face. Catherine only smiled "I make sure to triple check" she responded curtly while Naruto's lips twitched, holding down a grin. She certainly brightened up a bit.

Their conversation was cut short when Hood entered the room with a grim look on his face. "Sorry to interrupt, but urgent news has come up" he directed at Naruto who snapped to attention.

"Given the data you gave us on Covenant movement, we were able to evacuate certain colonies in time before they arrived" he smiled slightly, but lost it for a serious look "The Covenant's next target is Helos VI".

Catherine's eyes widened a bit "Helos VI…isn't that a major economic distribution center for the UNSC?" the colony itself was far from the inner colonies but was halfway into the outer colonies. If lost, it would do irreparable damage to the UNSC's infrastructure. It connected the two as a food distributer and metals exported, while many colonies had the resources, it's metal was near refined making it valuable.

Hood nodded "Gear up, Petty Officer Third Class. We originally planned on showing off the refitted ships, but it seems our schedule will be cut short" he got a salute from Naruto "Red Team will be going as well with the Spirit of Fire, you leave in Three hours."

Naruto dropped the stance and asked "When will the Covenant be arriving, sir?" he asked in a casual manner. Hood responded "One Week, you'll be arriving in less than a few days of the invasion." He got a nod of understanding from Naruto.

He glanced to Catherine and nodded as Hood left the room. She smirked a little "This is gonna be good…" she reffered to the fact that this was the first deployment of their new tech thanks to Naruto. He shared the smirk as he approached the nano suit and set down his coffee.

(Three Hours Later – Assembly Area)

Falcons and Pelicans swooped down with calmed velocity, most got into the three ships that would be a leaving deployment as well as Scorpian tanks being seen, new recruits and currently active soldiers entered the ships with grim or nervous looks.

Naruto sighed as he stepped off Hood's Pelican "So, you finally finished three ships?" he asked, referring to the Spirit of Fire which looked brand new and had a dark silver sheen to It. The blond was now wearing his new and updated exoskeleton with the helmet tucked under his arm.

Hood nodded, stepping off and onto the landing platform "Four more ships are along the way, and should be finished within the week" he explained, drawing an understanding nod from Naruto.

The other two ships were stripped down when first started The project had been started years ago, but never left the ground until Naruto came around with the proper materials needed for the new ships. Two Astraeus class ships that were half constructed were finished off with a naquadah reacter boosted with a Shaw Fujikawa FTL drive, they along with the Spirit of Fire would assist Helos VI in its defense.

Not to mention that with the shields installed and the new metals, iot could take up to 2,000,000 hits from plasma torpdeos, with the shields installed these would be the ships leading the warfront against the Covenant. It was also over 2,438 meters in size. The Spirit of Fire had new upgrades with the shields and fuuinjutsu'd FTL drive along with naquadah installed, making it an enhanced FTL drive like the two

"Ah, I forgot as to what division I'm with…"

At this, Hood nearly grinned but smiled "I'm placing you with Red Team" his amusement was inward as Naruto looked at him with a whiplash of shock. "Your skills and knowledge go beyond normal Marines" he explained, drawing a contemplating look from Naruto "Red Team doesn't have a tech expert like you, as such I think you'll be suited for the position" he pointed at Naruto's right shoulder and was surprised to find a red phoenix with a silver outlining showing it was the Spartan symbol along with the Petty Officer Third Class emblem below it.

Naruto shook his head to snap out his shock "Sir…thanks"

Hood nodded giving a salute that Naruto returned before he put on the helmet with a small hiss sounding out and whisked away in a Hirashin. Hood had seen it before and was not surprised before he got onto his Pelican and left.

(Spirit of Fire- Hanger)

Douglas sighed aloud, watching as Alice inserted 14.5x114 mm rounds into clips for her SRS 99C-S2. She was on her fourth clip when said Spartan broke the silence "So, new team member?"

Jerome turend to Douglas who was sitting on the tank, since it held his weight "Lord Hood said he was very…talented.."

Douglas nodded and paused "Wait, you don't think he means…" he trailed off while a grin formed under his helmet. Alice was in the middle of putting her third bullet in the clip when she stopped "The kid?".

Jerome nodded which he could imagine their surprised faces "Hm hm, he's ranked as a Petty Officer Third Class now, under me at least in rank, but he may move higher as he worked with us briefly on his home planet" he explained while the two nodded their understanding.

"Given how he's made shields for three ships, not to mention ones of the Astraeus class ships…." He shook his head "ONI cooked up good on this one" Douglas pointed out at the end while Jerome paused and gave a reluctant nod.

They were moreover lounging in one of the areas for tanks, where they had conversations. Their musings were cut when the sound of a duffelbag hit the floor and eyes turned to see a black and silver exoskeleton suited teen.

"Upgrades go well?" asked Douglas, seeing Naruto nod and a slight hiss was heard as the helmet came off "I'll give Dr. Halsey her credit for this one" the blond chuckled a bit while Jerome looked on curiously, then eyed the red phoenix at his right shoulder along with his rank symbol.

"Newest team member.." Alice mused to herself in amusement and chuckled a bit while Douglas commented "So, what's your role with us, was Admiral Hood specific?" Naruto saw the curious manner in their body language despite being well hidden.

"Tech expert mostly, but I am a suitable sniper" he saw Alice snap her head to him "Backup and cover from a Falcon" he explained simply before he saw her nod in understanding.

"So, what's on about Helo IV?" asked Jerome, turning serious to end the conversation. Naruto in response said "From the message and mapping info I got from the Coveanant base, we have three Covenant Super Carriers on the way, with back up consisting of two CCS Class Battle-Cruisers" silence reigned but the faint reloading echoed to this part of the Spirit of Fire.

"….Our forces consisting of two…what were they called?"

"Astrareus-Class" Naruto supplied helpfully drawing a nod of understanding from Alice"Along with the Spirit of Fire, we should be able to handle this, though it's most likely their ships will stall us to do a ground campaign."

Jerome nodded thoughtfully at that, that was the usual strategy used against the UNSC to overwhelm their forces. Their thoughts were broken when Captain Cutter's voice sounded throught the ship "Attention all crew, we are scheduled for take off, resume your normal duties".

The ship shuddered as the the rocket boosters activated, the Four held where they were as they felt themselves leaving the atmosphere. The three ships took off to space with Naruto and Red Team leaving the hanger just as the ships went into slip space.

(Several Hours Later – Indoor Shooting Range)

Alice eyed the sniper rifle Naruto had made, and had to admit it was quite impressive despite it's small appearance. He had taken the base model of the DSR of the 21st Century and modified it to fit today's standards. It looked sleek and had that futuristic look, it also had a six times scope along with an ACOG scope as well too.

The other Marines and ODST's were rather apprehensive around a sixteen year old, even more so he was rumored to be part of Red Team, most of the ODST's scoffed at that or gave a glare in their direction which they deigned to ignore.

Naruto fired once with the 990MM long gun, it was by far his favorite model he had made with past designs scrapped.

It pierced a holographic target's head while Douglas looked on approvingly, twirling a combat knife. The other Marines paled at the mere skill that Spartans had with a combat knife.

The main reason for the animosity against the Spartans was when John 117, current Commander of the Spartan II program had fought against four ODSTs and killed two while the others had severe injuries. Naruto shook his head to himself before completing that thought, it left a rather bitter rivalry between the two groups as a result. The blond sighed, they were in the middle of a war while they cared more about killing the other over pride of who would win the war. Unbelievable.

Naruto spoke up to start a conversation "What upgrades was made to the Mjolnir?" he asked, firing once again, the magazine capacity was ten for the rounds, which were now coated in a Titanium-A alloy.

"Reactions, got our plasma dispersement metals upgraded" Douglas piped up, speaking rather casually for his normally gung ho attitude. "Got that trinium upgrade combined with the Titanium-A alloy" he smirked knowing this was later into their newest team member's seven month overwork drive "It's a bit lighter than usual. It's also got a small naquadah generator pack that provides shields" he ended almost sounding giddy.

Naruto chuckled a bit before saying "Who do you think designed those?" he asked rhetorically. Douglas blinked then slumped his shoulder in what seemed to be disappointment "Damn…" he muttered before perking up "Hang on, do you have shields?" he asked curiously.

Naruto shook his head "No, Dr. Halsey is figuring out how to make that compatible, most of our attention was focused on shield design for the ships and enhanced FTL drives" he shrugged casually at the end, ignoring the shocked silence from the Three Spartans. Naruto inwardly thanked his privacy seals that blocked out the certain words he wanted.

He knew that they would reach Helos VI in less than three days, leaving two to set up the defenses of the planet and work out a strategy to take down the small amount of Covenant ships. In his mind, he knew the war was truly beginning.

Author's Note

Wow! The action is a coming people! I will post the photo of Naruto's new exoskeleton due to his partnership work with Halsey. A battle scene is coming up soon and believe me, Naruto will show off his tactic skills in Naval works as well as during the Covenant Invasion of Helos VI, this is an OC planet but it will suit what I plan to do next.

And I will post photos of the two new ships as well too on my profile, enjoy everyone, and have a nice time with my story.

Also, the idea to make Naruto a member of Red Team was my own idea, I mean come on people! He took down an entire Covenant Base single handedly.