1034 hours, February 21, 2531 (military calendar)
Planet Reach
Naruto's Home
Naruto was home with his family enjoying his time off. He knew things could pick up at any moment so he decided to use this free time to spend with them as much as possible. He also had Karin staying with currently as she seemed to pick up so much knowledge from the present occupants. Seems like she had a talent for technology. Learning from Catherine and Tenten would help increase that knowledge she desires. Tayuya was currently with Kushina while Fuka was with Mito spending some time with the kids. Seems Fuka loves kids like Mito.
Looking at a laptop with Karin, Naruto was explaining key features of the ship as well as some projects in development. While learning she was giving her feedback on them. It helped to have a person on the outside look in on things. It was when they were going over another feature a alert appeared on the screen. Putting the files away Kora and PJ appeared on the screen.
"Report"
"A UNSC fleet is slip spacing in at close range. They are heavily damage and pose a risk to the planet's inhabitants if not properly sorted" reported Kora
"What are their status?"
"All the ships have received damage of all sorts but most of them are extreme. Some are losing control of the ships and at risk of crashing into the planets surface" said PJ
"Where?" he questioned as PJ displayed the heavily damaged fleet and their projected crashes. Some were into mountains and some were cities. "Estimates shows casualties reaching 16 million. Triple that number if the warheads onboard go off in the crash" warned PJ
"Kora patch me in to Admiral Holland. PJ prepare the sentinels to launch on my signal to secure and save those ships" he ordered as the two nodded and went away.
While he waited he could see the Fleet warp in from a distance and slowly approaching the planet. He wasn't sure if he had enough sentinels to save all the ships but he could at least make sure none of them crashed into the cities. "Karin, can you go inform the others of the situation?" he asked.
"Sure. I'll be back in a few" she stated getting up and walking off
"Major Uzumaki, this better be important. I have a crisis on my hand" warned the Admiral appearing on the computer screen with a grim look on his face.
"Of course Admiral. I know you mean the Fleet above. I have robots know as sentinels in my possession. With your permission I would like to send them up to help stabilize the Fleet and make them land in your shipping docks. Them crashing could have devastating effects" he explained making the man frown.
"You are correct in that assessment. We don't have many options to stop a crashing Fleet short of destroying or shoot them down. You save them and I owe you a debt" he answered
"All I ask is for our forces to prepare the bays for the ships and to not shoot them" he requested as the Admiral nodded. "Consider it done and good luck" he finished ending the channel call.
"PJ, send the sentinels. Prioritize the ships crashing towards the cities" he ordered.
"Right away. Sentinel are deploying" spoke PJ as from all around the surrounding areas sentinels of different varies and sizes were floating off into the sky in the form of a trail. "Also when they are up there, have then scan for trackers and destroy them if you find any" he added unknowingly pushing back a plan invasion in the future some time.
Orbit
The Fleet was in all sorts of conditions but most of them were on the decent towards the planet. As the ships were coming closer sentinels met them at the crossroad and started latching onto them performing different tasks. Some were repairing the damage they had sustained while others were assisting in a course correction and control.
Some of the larger sentinels started teaming up and latching onto whole ships to move it through the space. Precious Justice being in control of the sentinels could see that she didn't have enough to save all the ships at once. But she did have enough to stall their decent and rescue ships by groups at a time. Which was the best way to go about it.
Sentinels pushed back the ships into a stall as others brought ships down at a time toward the UNSC ship docks. While this process continued sentinels worked on 'stopping the bleeding' in order to make sure no further damage accord. She already had the trackers destroyed which was a good idea from Naruto. Now she was performing scans on all the armaments to make sure none of them were in danger of exploding.
Down below the people of Reach could see ship after ship being moved to the UNSC repair docks by the sentinels. Some ships had massive plasma scorching on them while others were still on fire. It goes to show them, how serious the war with the Covenant has become.
Naruto could see the ships being saved from a disaster which made him grateful of having sentinels. 'Now that he thought about it, he could use the favor from Holland to get the dum A.I.'s Tenten needs' but that could be worried about later. Right now, he wanted to find out where this Fleet came from and any other information, he could gain from it.
He was sitting back reading the reports as they came in when he noticed some rushing about near him. Looking up he could see Sasuki rushing to get herself ready to head out which was curious. She never rushes like this much in a hurry.
"Sasuki, what's going on?" he questioned wanting to know the reason. Hearing her name she paused to see Naruto coming towards her with a worried expression. "The Fleet that came in was commanded by my father and brother. I was told to come to the hospital urgently by kaa-san" she explained before continuing on moving.
"Oh, I'll come with. I'll be happy to lend any support I can" he stated as she thanked him for his offer and lead them to the car which would transport then to the emergency pelican.
With the pelican rushing to the hospital in record breaking time, they were dropped off at the helipad allowing for them to rush off into the building from the roof. Running through the hallways after asking the nurse for directions they made it to hall that had Mikoto standing there with her hands covered her eyes.
"Kaa-san!" she called out gaining her attention. Moving her hands away to face them they noticed tears running down her eyes. "Oh, Sasuki-chan" she stated holding her hands out for a hug to which Sasuki did. Hugger her tight she let go to look her sadly in the eye.
"Your tou-san didn't make it" spoke softly making Sasuki cry as well. "Your brother is in there undergoing surgery but the doctors say he will be fine" she added as they hugged again in sorrow.
"How?" whispered Sasuki. "A bombing run on his ship. They Covenant got through the line and bombed his ship. The bridge was destroyed for the most part but with his last breath I'm told he activated the slipspace to get everyone else out. He died a hero" Mikoto whispered
"I DON'T WANT A HERO! I wanted my dad" she whispered at the end before crying again in the hug.
"Such sadness this war is causing you. Fighting such terrible odds and losing so many loved ones" whispered a dark voice in Naruto's ear.
'What do you want Kaguya?! This is not the time'
"While yes, this isn't the time but it will be. You will come to a crossroad in the future. Will you seep into the darkness to protect your loved ones or will you end up like her" she stated making him frown. "But there is another way to avoid both options. That is to give yourself to me. Completely"
'And what would that have entitled?' he questioned to which she laughed and faded away.
"Nothing good and you know it. But it would be fun to see you choose" spoke a dark voice confirming that he was listening in the whole time.
While he didn't want to accept the offer, he also knows that the longer he took getting his army combat ready, the more things like this happened. Plans needed to be accelerated. They needed to fight back, now. But he wasn't stupid. He didn't want to rush everyone to an early death. They needed to strike right when the enemy wasn't expecting them.
Years Later 1034 hours, December 10, 2536
With the years passing by the situation around the galaxy had changed. The Covenant forces had increased their campaign against the humans, laying waste to numerous worlds. Fleets were being brought away from the outer colonies to defend more important worlds. Some worlds having no protection against the Covenant onslaught. This led to a series of repercussions.
The first was that billions of people were getting killed without standing a chance. The second was that people flee planets in the hopes of finding much safer worlds to live in. This started a massive migration that the UNSC was unable to handle. Some personal who were a part of the UNSC either deserted or left the service due to their family and home being unsafe. Another issue was that planets were banding together to form their own government in hopes of creating their own methods to defend themselves.
One of the fleets protecting the sector that housed the plant Elemental was pulled away leaving them defenseless. This angered the citizens of the planet like many other planets citizens. This also led to talks with the all the nations of planet Elemental on what to do. They were an outer colony like others. Needing a temporary solution immediately Maelstrom was hired for the complete defense of the planet and soon sector. In return the planet as a whole gave them resources and money for compensation.
With the Maelstrom having complete defensive control of the planet, ramped up their productions and creations. When a ship would enter the orbit of Elemental, they would see a large orbital lift branching off the planet. Surrounding the planet were multiple defensive stations holding state of the art weapons. Warships were moving about in patrol while a massive fleet stayed in hover waiting for enemy contacts. Nearby the planet work was being done on the moon to make a ring around it for docking stations, as well as multiple moon bases and cities.
On Planet Reach the orbital lift was finished as well as the base. Surrounding it and the base were warships moving about in patrol as the fleet was grounded for preparations for the upcoming missions. Centered on the runway was the ship Elemental's Freedom. Surrounding it were upgraded ships of all kinds. The first noticeable ones were three Epoch carriers and a single Punic warship. Around them were numerous Cruisers, Destroyers, and Frigates.
Walking down the halls of Elemental's Freedom was an older Naruto looking over his pad. Not much has changed about him except for the fact that he had a small beard and a ponytail. He was on the way to check up the Spartans. He wanted to see if they were prepared for the upcoming mission. After checking in on them he would have head to the briefing for the upcoming mission.
Entering a set of automatic doors, he walked up to a few Spartan II in the Spartan Command Deck. Noticing his arrival, they saluted him before going back to their work. Continuing on he walked up to the window to see the bay containing numerous Spartans. These were the Spartans of Alpha company. With his teams combined work, they improved the whole Spartan process for them. They were originally expecting around 300 Spartans but with the increased refugees the UNSC had a surplus of kids who wanted revenge for the Covenant. So that 300 turn into 800 Spartans. They just had to teach the kids to control and harness that anger.
800 Spartan III in different armor variations were training on different decks as Spartan II's were all around assisting in their training. He could proudly see that with his team's intervention, they were not cannon folder or throw aways. They are true Spartans and while most were not on the level of the older generation, the older generation had strong chances of losing if facing two or more. With them and all preparations they had made Operation: PROMETHEUS should be a success.
Note:
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