FLIGHT OF THE KITSUNE STAR STRIKER
"Normal speech"
"Inner thoughts"
[Talking through a Comm Link]
Chapter 16: Get your head out of the Clouds!
Naruto and Chopper were currently on board the Kitsune Striker and almost reaching their destination that is the CloudRunner Fortress, Tricky didn't tag along due to the issue of EarthWalkers and CloudRunners not getting along so it will be just the two of them for now.
Slippy appeared on one of the screens [You're about to arrive at the CloudRunner Fortress, Naruto!]
"Anything you can tell us about it?" Naruto inquired with Chopper listening in.
[According to the database, the CloudRunner Fortress stands on a ground that is rich with gold and other valuable minerals. With this massive amount of wealth, Scales would become unstoppable]
"Then we need to put a stop to that,"
Peppy spoke [For this operation, I suggest that you and Chopper utilize a stealthy approach]
"Why?" asked Chopper curiously.
[I have no doubt that Scales would have prisoners since he has successfully captured the fortress like he did with the SnowHorns. This time, you need to keep your presence unknown to avoid a hostage situation]
Naruto nodded in understanding "I see what you mean, we'll do it quiet then,"
Upon arriving at their destination, Naruto and Chopper took note of how the buildings of the fortress were designed to look like blue-and-white ruins which it is surrounded by a moat, they also saw signs of battle judging by the broken parts of buildings all over the place.
"No doubt the CloudRunners gave it their all but it wasn't enough," said Naruto with a frown.
[I'm beginning to think that it was a bad move for us to let the Queen CloudRunner go on her own, she alone can't possibly fight them all] said Levy with concern.
"I've been thinking the same thing for a while on our way here,"
"Then let's hurry and find her before anything bad happens," said Chopper urgently.
"Alright then, let's go,"
The duo proceeded to cross the long bridge to the fortress but saw that there were several Sharpclaw soldiers patrolling the bridge. Recalling Peppy's advice, Naruto took to using the broken debris on the bridge as cover while sneaking up to the soldiers and knocking them out with strong chops to the back of their heads which instantly resulted in them being warped away to who knows where. However, upon reaching the entrance, they found it being locked with a gate.
[You need to find a way to open it, try looking around for any clues to doing so] Julia advised.
With that said, the duo explored their surroundings and went down to the moat where they came across a pressure plate which seemed to make white glittering energy rings appear across the area and heard a ticking sound akin to that of a clock, making them realize that they need to go through the rings before time runs out. After successfully doing so, a switch appeared above the gate which Naruto shot at with the Fire Blaster to unlock it, enabling them to go inside.
Going inside, Naruto and Chopper cautiously made their way to an open courtyard and were shocked to find Scales holding the battered Queen CloudRunner by the throat whilst sneering at her.
"Oh no, the Queen's in danger!" said Chopper.
"I know that it was the fox and his companion that set you free, how else would you find your way back here?" said Scales in annoyance.
"I do not know what you're talking about," the Queen responded, not wanting to reveal anything to the enemy for the sake of the planet being restored.
"Don't think you can lie to me, tell me where he is!"
"…you wouldn't have to find him, he will find YOU instead and give you the judgement you so deserve!"
At this, Scales threw her to the ground and started to hurt her brutally.
"Why that no good…!" Naruto gripped the Dragon Blade tightly and prepared to move in and strike evil general down once and for all.
[Naruto, maintain your position!] Peppy called out urgently.
"Screw that, can't you see what he's doing?!" Naruto snarled in anger.
[Yes I am, but you aren't seeing that he's trying to lure you out by doing this. no doubt he's aware that you would come and is doing this on purpose. By trying to rescue her openly, he would threaten the lives of both her and the prisoners in order to restrain you. Were it not for that, I wouldn't have even tried to stop you]
"But…," Naruto gritted his teeth, wanting to refute but couldn't deny it. With great hesitation, he released his grip on the Dragon Blade, the weapon itself growling at why they aren't smiting this evil from the face of the planet "…he'll pay for this, I swear it,"
[I wouldn't have done any better than you Naruto, pretty sure I would have rushed in if I was in your shoes] said Fox sadly.
"Oooh," Chopper was just as distressed, this goes against everything he was taught as a doctor who's supposed to aid those hurt.
After beating the queen, Scales gave an order to his troops "Take her away and lock her in her throneroom, she will serve as an example to the others to never defy me!"
The soldiers complied and carried the beaten Queen CloudRunner away as Scales also took his leave but not before deploying sentry drones to patrol the area for any intruders.
"*Sigh* Now what do we do besides the obvious?" Naruto inquired whilst looking around.
[Naruto, I've been working on something and sending it over to you now] said Slippy.
Naruto got a notification on his Connexus then mentally activated them to project a holographic visor with the HUD displaying a loading bar which was at 99% before hitting 100% "What is it?"
[It's a Holographic Disguise designed to make you look like a SharpClaw solider, this should be able to help you sneak around much easier. I bet that you can use it to get into the dungeon and free the prisoners] Slippy explained.
"But what about me?" asked Chopper confusedly, knowing understanding why he hasn't received one.
[Well, given your size, you might stand out to the others]
[No worries, Chopper. You can hide out here and maintain contact with us in case you see anything going on out here] said Levy assuredly.
"Okay…,"
"Alright then…," Naruto activated the Sharpclaw Disguise, making himself look just like one of the soldiers "Wish me luck,"
He left his hiding spot and cautiously explored the place; he made sure not to speak so much and had to imitate their dialect to pass off as one of them. He soon found the entrance to the underground dungeon but he had to stay out of the sight of the sentry drones in case they can see through his disguise. He silently made his descent through the windy tunnels but took note that they weren't operating at full power.
Naruto eventually located the prison cells and saw a BoneHead in one of the cages and a young CloudRunner in the other, both under the watch of a Sharpclaw Soldier who was asleep. Coming up with an idea, Naruto approached the soldier and shook him awake.
"Huh, what you want?" the Sharpclaw soldier.
Naruto replied in their dialect "Me here to take over, watch prisoners,"
"Good, me finally go for break. Hungry for food," the Sharpclaw soldier grunted in response and left the room.
After making sure that the soldier was gone, Naruto wasted no time in using the staff to activate the switches and releasing the prisoners which confused them greatly. Naruto approached the Lightfoot and deactivated the disguise to introduce himself.
"Not to worry, I am Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze from the Star Fox team. My companion and I are here to aid in the restoration of the planet and defeat General Scales," Naruto explained.
Nodding in understanding, the Lightfoot introduced himself "I am Gradabug, CloudRunner's chief engineer. When the SharpClaws attacked, we deactivated the power generator for the Wind Lifts by hiding away three crystals and locked the room. I'll give you the Power Key to open the Power Generator room but you need to find the crystals in order to reactivate it,"
Gradabug presented the Power Key which is a purple crystal shaped like a lightning bolt that he hid away before being captured. Naruto took the key and put it in his pack.
"Thanks, I'll get right on it," said Naruto, then he made his way back to the courtyard and met up with Chopper but not before taking down the soldiers in the dungeon so as to make it easier for Gradabug and the others to be able to escape much easier once he reactivates the Wind Lifts.
The duo searched around the courtyard and managed to find the crystals locked away in chest which Naruto had to use the staff to unlock them to obtain before heading to the Power Generator room and unlocking the door with the Power Key. However they soon discovered that the room is full of gas hazardous to them. They had to hold their breath and quickly insert the crystals into their respective pedestals which reactivated the Wind Lifts and even expelled the gas from the room so they can breathe again. Naruto and Chopper left the room and met up with Gradabug and the others.
"Well done, with the Wind Lifts restored, you can move throughout the fortress with ease," said Gradabug.
"Great, we'll search for the Queen next and make sure that she's okay," said Naruto.
"Please do, we are all worried for her. The Wind Lifts will take you to the Sky Docks which is where you'll find the Queen locked in the Royal Chambers,"
"Don't worry, I'm a doctor!" said Chopper with eyes full of determination.
The duo used the fully active Wind Lift to ascend to a higher floor where several SharpClaws were waiting for them, unfortunately they ended up becoming punching bags for them to vent. Naruto made use of the Sharpclaw Disguise to open special security doors that can only be unlocked by a SharpClaw and soon arrived at the Sky Docks. After further traversal and combat, they managed to reach the royal chamber and found the queen locked in a cage.
"Naruto, Chopper. You came!" the Queen was relieved to see that they're alright.
"Please stand back, we're getting you out of there,"
Naruto waited for the queen to comply then he swiftly unsheathed the Dragon Blade to slice through the cage and create an opening, Chopper wasted no time in rushing in and immediately began tending to the Queen CloudRunner's injuries until she was doing okay.
The queen bowed her head in gratitude "Thank you, but I still need your help,"
"What is it?" Naruto inquired.
"When I was captured, my children grew scared and hid throughout the fortress. I need you to guide them back to me,"
"But how can I do that? I doubt they'll trust me since I'm a stranger to them,"
"There's a flute inside the chamber, play the song when you hear them. Its call will guide them back to me. Please hurry, if the SharpClaw finds them, they'll leave the fortress forever," the queen gestured to the flute in the chamber which resembles a sea conch for Naruto to pick up.
"Alright then, I'll get your kids back to you,"
"I'll stay and make sure that she's patched up," said Chopper with the fox Faunus nodding in affirmation.
Naruto quickly left the royal chamber and began his search through the Sky Docks, he came across some of the SharpClaws waving their weapons at young CloudRunners which he suspects to be the queen's children and immediately came to their rescue after thoroughly beating the grunts. Some of the children were still wary of him so he brought out the CloudRunner Flute and played the tune that the queen taught him, this made the children perk up and chirped a similar tune in response before flying away in direction of the royal chamber. He continued this process as he searched throughout the fortress and guided the rest of the children back to the queen after defeating several Sharpclaw grunts. After making sure that they're all safe, Naruto returned to the royal chamber to find the children with the queen who is relieved to see them safe.
Once more, the Queen CloudRunner bowed her head in gratitude "I am thankful to the both of you for your help in this dire time, I shall aid you in locating the SpellStone," she flew up to a perch above which turned out to be a lever as it activated something "Scales has hidden the SpellStone inside the treasure rooms, you must find the SpellStone and return it to the Force Point Temple,"
Naruto nodded in affirmation "Will do, and we'll make sure that Scales pays for what he's done,"
"Our planet is in your hands,"
The duo took their leave and went through the passageway, the place soon got darker the deeper they went so Naruto used the Firefly Lantern to light up the path for them to be able to see. They soon came upon a crack on a way and Chopper shift to his Heavy Point to create an opening with a fierce punch for them to cross over to the other side and find a ladder when they climbed down along it. Arriving at the bottom, Naruto and Chopper went through the tunnel and reached the treasure room where they found whom they were looking for.
"Scales!" Naruto yelled angrily.
Said person turned to face Naruto and Chopper with a scowl on his face, he turned to the SharpClaw Soldiers that were getting on board the speeders with one of them carrying the SpellStone and commanded them "Get the SpellStone out of here!"
"Neither you nor the SpellStone are going anywhere!"
Naruto dashed forward with great speed, Scales grabbed one of the soldiers and flung at him but the fox Faunus quickly reacted by sliding underneath the thrown grunt before jumping into the air and dealing a powerful flying side kick into Scales's chest which knocked him into a pillar.
Scales snarled at Naruto for the attack then noticed that the soldiers have taken off with the SpellStone then sneered "We will settle this some other time, you can count on that," he pressed a button on his belt buckle which teleported him away before Naruto could stop him.
"Naruto, they're getting away with the SpellStone!" Chopper called out urgently.
Naruto spotted the speeder belonging to the unconscious SharpClaw and quickly got on it "Not on my watch!" then he zoomed off in pursuit.
Music Start: Sonic Adventure 2 OST; Green Forest
Naruto was slowly catching up with the group of Sharpclaws which they saw and proceeded to attack by deploying bombs, forcing him to take evasive action by constantly veering left and right to go around them. Naruto took out the staff in its closed form and utilized the Fire Blaster to destroy the bombs as they were launched at him, he got an idea and proceeded to channel his aura into the staff, making it glow intensely with each passing second then he took aim and launched a large fireball at the SharpClaw's speeder, damaging it to the point of making the rider lose control and crash into a wall.
"That's one down," Naruto stated as he rolled throttle to catch up with the others.
[What did you do to launch that large fireball, Naruto?] asked Julia curiously.
"The Fire Blaster normally shoots small fireballs rapidly, so I figured that I can gather the energy and compress it before launching all at once," Naruto explained whilst maintaining the targets in his sight and catching up to them.
[It kinda reminds me of the laser cannons on our Arwings] said Slippy thoughtfully.
[We can talk about that later, Slippy. Right now, Naruto needs to focus on catching those guys and getting the SpellStone back] Fox pointed out.
[Oh right]
One of the SharpClaws looked back and saw Naruto behind them and was catching up to them, he snarled out his fellow SharpClaw and gestured towards the fox Faunus, giving him an idea how what to do against him. They both slowed down positioned themselves so they could get Naruto in between them.
Realizing that they were intending to ram into him from both sides, Naruto thought fast and quickly switched from the staff to the Dragon Blade. Right as they both swerved to ram into their target, Naruto twisted hard on the handlebars to make his speeder go into a spinout and at the same time swinging the Dragon Blade around himself in order to draw power from the momentum to slice their speeders into two pieces, sending the SharpClaws along with their bisected speeders tumbling along the ground.
However that maneuver wasn't without consequence, Naruto saw that his speeder was releasing smoke and gradually losing speed over time. He looked ahead to see several more of the SharpClaws riding in front of him and got a rather crazy idea. He planted his feet on the seat of the speeder with aura being concentrated into his legs, then he performed a mighty leap off as he flew through the air and landed on top of the speeder which shocked the SharpClaw riding it.
Naruto smiled sheepishly "Sorry dude, but I'm gonna need your ride," he kicked the SharpClaw off and took over to continue his pursuit.
[There's only the SharpClaw with the SpellStone, don't let him get away!] said Peppy urgently.
"No worries, I got this!" Naruto twirled the Dragon Blade to hold it in a reverse grip with one hand with his eyes focused intently on the last SharpClaw rider then threw it with great force, sending it spinning through the air like a buzzsaw to strike the speeder, causing it to malfunction and careen right into a stone pillar then fly back into Naruto's hands as he slowed down to a stop next to the wreckage. Naruto got off the speeder and approach the wreckage to find the SpellStone unscathed before picking it up and putting away in his pack.
[Great job, Naruto. Now you just need to return it to its rightful place] Fox commended.
Naruto nodded in affirmation "Roger that,"
Music End
Reuniting with Chopper, Naruto returned to the Kitsune Striker where he found the Queen CloudRunner along with her children and Gradabug waiting for them.
"Well done, you were able to retrieve the SpellStone," said Gradabug.
"Yeah, but Scales got away before I could take him down," said Naruto with a frown.
"But with Scales gone, my people are finally free to rebuild and for that…," Queen CloudRunner bowed her head "You have my eternal gratitude,"
With smiles, both Naruto and Chopper bowed in return then they got onboard the Kitsune Striker and took off with everyone watching, hoping that they succeed in restoring the planet and putting a stop to General Scales's dark conquest.
During their flight, General Pepper contacted them [Good job on acquiring the second SpellStone as well as putting the fortress back in control of the CloudRunners, you two]
"Thanks, General," Naruto replied.
[Now you need to return the SpellStone back to the Ocean Force Point Temple. It must be somewhere near the sea, have you two been anywhere like that yet?]
"Yeah we did, at Cape Claw which is where we found the Queen CloudRunner imprisoned," said Chopper.
[Then that's the best place for you to start looking for the temple]
Naruto nodded "Alright, we'll check it out,"
[Very well then, good luck. Pepper out] the general ended the transmission.
Afterwards, they returned to Thorntail Hollow and met up with Tricky before making their way over to Cape Claw so they could begin their search for the Ocean Force Point Temple. During their trek, Tricky asked them how things went when they were at the CloudRunner Forest out of curiosity and they told the young prince of their experience there.
"Those Wind Lifts sound like fun," said Tricky thoughtfully.
"Maybe after the planet is restored, you can ask your dad for permission to go there and play. The Queen is not a bad person, she even has children too," Chopper suggested.
The young EarthWalker was unsure "I don't know…,"
Naruto spoke up "Hopefully after all this and things are more peacefully, your tribes would be able to cooperate with each other. This way, something like this would never happen again,"
Leaving the subject for later, the trio soon arrived at Cape Claw. Suddenly, they heard a commotion and located the noise down at the beach where they saw several SharpClaw Soldiers ganging up on a LightFoot who is trying and yet failing to fight them back with a spear.
Naruto sighed in mild annoyance "Man, these SharpClaws are everywhere. Let's go and help that guy out,"
"Me first, Jump Point!" Chopper shifted forms to performed an enhanced jump to ascend into the air till he was right above the SharpClaws "Heavy Point!" he then shifted to his hulking form and rapidly descended with his body outspread for a body slam. Some of the SharpClaw soldiers were quick to get out of the way but a few weren't so fortunate and ended up getting crushed under the normally pacifistic doctor.
Naruto also leapt into the scene with a flying roundhouse kick to a SharpClaw soldier's head and spun around to parry an incoming strike with a backhand swipe from another then retaliated with several rapid left jabs to the chest before dealing a nasty uppercut below the chin to knock him into the air and crash back to the sandy ground.
Chopper found himself surrounded by SharpClaw soldiers but remained undeterred "Kung Fu Point," he shifted to a more squat figure with his face and head being wider while having no visible neck. His arms and legs are short and very muscular though not as much as Arm Point "Here I come! Hai-yah!" he lunged at the enemy and attacked fiercely with kung fu moves which left them in a state of confusion and unable to react appropriately to his techniques.
"Whoa, what kind of moves are those?" asked Tricky, feeling both confused and curious.
Naruto took the time to explain since Chopper is currently handling them all by himself "That's a fighting style called Kung Fu from my home planet, Chopper created this form by combining the power of Arm Point and acrobatic skill of Jump Point. Put them together along with that fighting style and you get a doctor who knows how to hurt just as much as he knows how to heal,"
Soon enough, there were SharpClaws sprawled out all over the beach before being warped away with Chopper turning back to normal. Naruto and the others went to check on the LightFoot to see if he's alright, but the reception wasn't so friendly considering the fact that he started pointing his spear at them.
"Hey! You stay away, you steenking furballs or me smash you good!" said the LightFoot in a threatening tone.
Chopper was shocked while Naruto got annoyed "Is this how you thank those who save you?"
"Me trust no one," the LightFoot put away his spear and held out what appears to be an orange crystalline gem which appears to be containing a small flame within it "SharpClaw say I steal their things but they steenking liars!"
"For once, I'm thinking that they're telling the truth on this one," thought Naruto, he could sense the mystical energy from the gem.
Unbeknownst to them, SharpClaw Cannon stationed at a temple nearby was being manned by a soldier who took aim and fired a cannonball which blew them away from the point of impact, putting Naruto and Chopper on high alert. The LightFoot fumbled with the gem in hand and looked to see the cannon targeting him directly, making him realize the situation then reacted accordingly.
Naruto caught sight of something heading towards him and instinctively caught it then saw that it was the gem then figured what was going on "Hey hey hey! Don't toss the hot potato over to me!" he threw the gem back at the LightFoot, changing targets for the cannon to aim.
The LightFoot shook his head in disagreement "Me get out of this place!" he flung it back at Naruto "Adios!" he leapt into the water and swam like his life depends on it which is pretty much the fact.
Seeing the LightFoot flee, Naruto sighed as he looked at the gem in his hands "Might as well keep it, if the SharpClaws want it so badly then it's best that it stays with us,"
"Well dad told me that there's a temple here, maybe that's where the gem is from," said Tricky.
"And I'm sure that the SharpClaws have taken over it," Chopper added.
"Sounds like I need to use the Holo-Disguise to get inside," said Naruto thoughtfully.
Sure enough, Naruto was right as the security were similar to the ones back at the CloudRunner Fortress so he had to use the disguise to gain entry but found the chamber completely submerged in water. He and Chopper worked together to activate a switch in the chamber but it didn't seem to have an effect.
[How about checking outside of the temple, maybe that switch was meant for someplace else] Levy suggested.
Taking her advice, they left the temple and noticed that one of the waterfalls had stopped flowing to reveal a opening at the bottom so they swam through it to a small room where they found a Krazoa head statue head but it was surrounded by flames. Naruto used the Freeze Blast to douse the flames, there he saw another gem like the one he has with him in its mouth.
"What do you guys think, should I take it?" Naruto inquired.
[I believe you should, it might help in gaining access into the main section of the temple] Peppy suggested.
"Alright then," Naruto took the gem and placed it inside his pack but then he noticed that the room began to get filled up with water but managed to find an exit to return to the main temple which was now open to him.
He went inside to the now dry chamber to find two more Krazoa Head statues on opposite sides of a locked stone door and knew what he needs to do as he placed the Fire Gems into the empty slots but nothing seemed to be happening.
[Hey Naruto, isn't one of the gems glowing because of the sun? maybe that's why the door isn't opening because both aren't shining] Slippy pointed out.
"In that case…," Naruto looked to see that one of the eyes of the Giant Krazoa Head was blocked by vines, so he placed Tricky on a stone pillar and activated it to rise to a point so that the young EarthWalker could use his flaming breath to burn the vines away for the sun rays to shine through on the second Fire Gem which finally got the door open.
There was one more room with a puzzle to unlock where he had to manipulate the water levels before finally arriving at the Ocean Force Point temple and used the SpellStone to gain access inside.
Inside of the temple, Naruto and the others had to deal with a lot of puzzles in order to get around such as the correct pathway to take when crossing over an electrified floor, using the SharpClaw Disguise to open certain doors and switches, and even operating a unique stone maze until they arrived at the main chamber where Naruto placed the second SpellStone into its respective slot before finding themselves being warped back to the entrance of the Ocean Force Point temple.
[Well done, Naruto. That's the second SpellStone back where it belongs] said Fox.
Naruto nodded in response "Now we need to learn where to find the next SpellStone or Krazoa Spirit,"
"Let's head back to ThornTail Hollow and inquire from the queen, she might give us a clue on where to look for either of them," Chopper suggested.
"Yeah, I'm sure she does!" said Tricky in agreement.
"Since we're all in agreement, let's head back to ThornTail Hollow,"
With that, the trio began making their way back to their main base, unaware that trouble is targeting them which isn't the SharpClaw.
This is Hussbek online with the latest chapter, Naruto and Chopper arrive the CloudRunner Fortress and proceeded with the infiltration. They almost blew their cover when they witnessed Scales brutally beat the Queen CloudRunner and swore retribution upon him. With Slippy providing a disguise, Naruto snuck into the dungeon and freed the prisoners then worked their way to rescuing the queen and her children. The duo ventured into the treasure room and found both Scales and the second SpellStone whereas the former escaped but not before receiving a taste of Naruto's anger then he chased down the SharpClaw soldiers on speeders to retrieve the SpellStone.
Returning to ThornTail Hollow and heading over to Cape Claw in search of the Ocean Force Point temple, the trio came upon a group of SharpClaws attacking a LightFoot and immediately went to help the latter only to be treated rudely by him. A bit of a incident led to them being in possession of a gem which turned out to be important enough to help them gain access in the sealed temple and finally place the second SpellStone back where it rightfully. Now, Naruto and the others return to ThornTail Hollow in the hopes that they would be able to know where they can find either the Krazoa Spirits or the SpellStones.
Instead of having Naruto and Chopper getting captured which frankly would seem odd in this story, I made it that they rather took a stealthy approach this mission and rescue the prisoners first so in a way it would be different and yet similar to how it went in canon. Took a lot of work to make the chase as interesting as possible with new moves for the Dragon Blade and Krystal's Staff. If I seemed like I skipped through the exploration of the Ocean Force Point temple, I didn't want to bore you all with a thick wall of text of every single detail but instead give keypoints since you've either played the game before or just watched the playthrough on YouTube. Be sure to read and review like always.
This is Hussbek from Ghana.
Signing out and staying alive.