Naruto: Infinity Divide

Duel Over Eremar

Blanket Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Star Trek

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

This chapter we get to see Mabui take command. Enjoy!

Port = Left

Starboard = Right

[ ] Signifies a foreign language

Last time:

Dream…

"Heir of Otsutsuki, what is it you seek here?" thundered a female voice.

Naruto found he was in long white robes that had an emblem that was a circle with an eight pointed star on it. Four points were black and four were white. He also noted the symbol was tattooed on the back of his right hand. The blonde saw he was in what looked like some sort of assembly hall. He asked, "Where am I?"

"You are in the Hall of Elders where the dead preside as judges." said the same voice. "We are curious why you came to Ozari-thul after all this time."

The blonde simply said, "I come seeking knowledge. I was ignorant of my relation to Empress Otsutsuki."

There was a pregnant pause and then the voice said, "If you were unaware then you coming here by chance…"

Naruto said, "The odds are immeasurable."

"Indeed." said the voice. "Still, you passed the test of Guardians and showed a great mastery of chakra for one so young. You have earned the right to enter the Tomb of the Holy Empresses. Speak only to your Holy Ancestress for she is wise. Let the others rest."

"I shall do as you have instructed." said Naruto with a bow.

"Go now Heir of Otsutsuki; forge your destiny among the stars."

Dream end…

…

Naruto awoke with a jolt. He noticed a slight discomfort on the back of his right hand and instinctively channeled chakra through it. The Otsutsuki Clan emblem glowed there for all to see. When he stopped channeling chakra it vanished, and Naruto's hand returned to normal.

'What have I gotten myself into?' wondered the blonde. 'I need to contact my Grandmother Kaguya before I enter that tomb…if I enter it at all…'

…

Chapter 40

Stardate 2274.222, Eremar System, U.S.S. Gettysburg

"Ship's Log, Stardate 2274.222: Commander Mabui Kumo reporting. Our sensors have picked up a cruiser sized vessel coming towards the Eremar System at warp factor two. As the Captain and two Away Teams are out of transporter range for the time being and the U.S.S. Gettysburg is going to intercept the unidentified cruiser by moving to orbit the gas giant Eremar III. Hopefully this will draw the cruiser away from investigating Eremar II. The last thing we want is the Klingons or Tholians to discover the Tkon ruins there. As the situation is delicate, we hope to diffuse the situation without violence. Time will tell if the unidentified cruiser cooperates…"

Naruto M'Fau walked onto the bridge of the Gettysburg. Mabui turned to him and said, "Welcome back Lieutenant Naruto; it is good to see you have recovered."

The blonde hybrid replied, "Thank you Commander." He went over to the science station and relieved the Ensign on duty there. Focusing on the readings Naruto examined the approaching vessel and said, "It's a Klingon D-type hull, type unknown."

"How can you tell at this range?" asked Rafi incredulously from the helm position. "We've been trying to identify it for an hour."

Naruto said, "The warp field's pattern correlates with Klingon types. Tholian types have a totally different layout."

'Of course Naruto would know the warp field patterns.' thought Samui. She wanted to face palm. 'We've been trying to identify the ship by its mass.' "Perhaps we can talk with the Klingons. Tholians generally don't negotiate with anyone."

"Agreed Lieutenant Schrodinger." said Mabui. "Hopefully the Klingons won't be of a hostile disposition."

…

IKV Abomination

"We are now entering the system." said the helmsman. "The Federation Ship is in orbit of the gas giant. Readings aren't clear on the exact type but it is a heavy cruiser class hull."

Konmel was in the Captain's chair and said, "Red alert! Captain Burot to the bridge."

The red alert klaxon was blaring when Captain Burot burst onto the bridge. He looked at the sensor tech's station and growled, "Turn off that damned noise! Go to condition yellow. The Federation vessel isn't even visible from here. Sensor Tech, where are they and what is our ETA to the gas giant?"

"The Federation heavy cruiser just went into the shadow of the gas giant's rings sir." replied the sensor technician. "Our estimated time to reach the gas giant is one hour at our current speed of warp factor two."

"Shall we increase speed sir?" asked Commander Konmel.

"All that would do is wear our shields down in this dust field you idiot." scolded Burot. "Steady as she goes helm."

The helmsman acknowledged his orders and Konmel thought aloud, "What about the element of surprise?" Burot didn't deem it necessary to answer his executive officer.

"We are being hailed by the Federation ship Captain." said the communications tech.

Burot said sarcastically, "There is your element of surprise Konmel." He turned to his communications tech and said, "Put the Federation hail on screen."

Mabui's attractive face appeared on screen, and she said, "This is Commander Mabui Kumo of the Federation Command Cruiser U.S.S. Gettysburg. Identify yourself Klingon vessel."

Captain Burot replied, "This is Captain Burot of the Imperial Klingon Vessel Abomination. We have come to see why you have entered contested space."

Commander Kumo looked slightly irritated and said, "This space is not claimed by anyone and is not contested. It is not your place to police us either…However in the interest of keeping the peace we are out here examining the methane breathing life forms in this system. They were found years ago when both of our peoples were occupying Taurus Reach. There was never a chance to document them at the time."

The Klingon Captain almost gasped and asked, "Are we talking about intelligent life here?" 'If it's another race like the Hydrans then high command needs to be alerted.'

Mabui shook her head. "Negative. They are primitive insectoid types. Our hopes to find intelligent life in this system have been dashed so we are surveying what actually is here."

Konmel popped up on the screen and asked, "What about the other two planets in the system?"

The Federation Commander gave Konmel a long, withering stare as if to say to Konmel, 'Are you a complete idiot?' Mabui cleared her throat and said, "The two inner planet's crusts were completely blown away in the supernova; what do you think the odds of life being there are?"

Burot nudged his executive officer off screen with his foot (also off screen) and said, "Very well Commander Kumo, the Klingon Empire has better things to do than monitor your bug collecting so carry on. Abomination out."

…

U.S.S. Gettysburg

As the IKV Abomination turned away back in the direction it came from, Mabui ended the transmission and let out a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding. "Very nicely done Commander." complimented Samui. "They appear to have bought your bluff perfectly."

Mabui gave a small smile and said, "Thank you Lieutenant but it was mainly the truth with a little bit of falsehood mixed in."

"I'm glad we avoided conflict regardless." said M'rella. "I'm sure Captain Sarutobi will be pleased."

"We could have taken them." said Rafi with a grin. "It was just a D6 after all; right Naruto?"

Naruto replied, "The IKV Abomination is the 26th D6 cruiser built and has been around for decades according to our intelligence. It is safe to say the odds of victory were in our favor but not guaranteed. Avoiding combat and a loss of life was a victory in and of itself."

…

Eremar II, geofront

Captain Asuma Sarutobi was beginning to wonder where the Gettysburg had gotten off to. It had been three hours since their last contact. The absolute need for radio silence to the ship was starting to wear on him. Unlike the science teams who were quite content to work away in the darkness of the Tkon geofront all day long he was very concerned about what was going on up in the heavens above Eremar II. 'I should have let Mabui stay in charge of the Away Teams but I just HAD to see this place. Well Sarutobi, you've been in worse spots.'

Commander Lyakat came over and said, "Captain, we estimated at least eight hours until the ship returns and have enough supplies to last a week down here easily. Try to relax sir."

Asuma turned to the Saurian scientist and said, "Am I being that obvious?"

"You've had your head craned up staring at the ceiling for fifteen minutes straight sir." said Lyakat. "Your neck is going to cramp at this rate."

"I guess I should give my neck a rest then Lyakat." said Asuma with a chuckle. "When I was a first officer, I always was planet side and figured Captain Terumi could handle whatever was thrown at her. Now that I'm the ship's Captain I worry that the ship needs me in the command chair whether it's necessary or not. I guess I need to have more faith in my subordinates."

"Well, if Commander Kumo is anything she's a competent officer." said Lyakat as he patted the Captain's shoulder. "The U.S.S. Gettysburg is in good hands Captain."

Asuma smiled and said, "You would make a good counselor Commander Lyakat. Show me what your teams have come up with while I've been staring into space."

Lyakat chuckled. "It's mainly what Ensign Rafi calls creepy crawlies, but I'll be happy to show you…"

…

IKV Abomination

An hour later Commander Konmel was beside himself. "Commodore Tsume told us to deal with the Federation ship Captain! Why did we not destroy them?!"

Burot said, "Commodore Tsume's orders, my call. There was no need to attack or even fight them. It would have served no purpose for the Empire. Besides, if you didn't notice that was a Command Cruiser Konmel. We were seriously outgunned." The two officers had a staring contest and Konmel finally averted his eyes in shame. The Captain nodded and said, "I'm going to my quarters to present my report to Commodore Tsume." As Burot strode towards his quarters he felt a disruptor bolt hit him in the back. His last thoughts were, 'Konmel, you coward!' before he disintegrated.

Commander Konmel holstered his pistol knowing he never could have taken Burot in a fair fight. He was hyperventilating and sweating heavily. Konmel had just committed an act of cowardice by shooting his commander in the back. But now he had command of the Abomination and was determined to destroy the Federation cruiser to restore his honor!

…

Konmel strutted onto the bridge and said, "As of Stardate 2274.222, I am assuming Command of the Imperial Klingon Vessel Abomination. With the death of our Captain I see no other choice than to correct his grievous error and destroy the Federation heavy cruiser Gettysburg. Only when the enemy is destroyed will the Empire and Commodore Tsume's wills be carried out…"

…

U.S.S. Gettysburg

It had been an hour since the Abomination had departed and Naruto was carefully observing the Klingon ship on one of the sensor channels as they quietly orbited Eremar III. Mabui wanted to wait until the Klingons were well out of sensor range before returning to Eremar II's orbit. The blonde Vulcan turned to Mabui and said, "Commander Kumo, the IKV Abomination is headed back towards us at warp factor five. Their estimated time to our position is 8 minutes."

Mabui commanded, "Condition red! Prepare for ship-to-ship combat."

"We have an incoming transmission, Commander." reported M'rella. "Commander Konmel of the Abomination is demanding our surrender!"

Commander Kumo frowned and said, "Let them eat static. Begin offensive jamming. If they want a fight the Gettysburg will give them one. Helm bring us around 120 degrees to starboard."

"120 degrees to starboard; acknowledged." replied Rafi as she brought the Federation cruiser around smoothly.

Looking at the tactical readout Mabui said, "Lieutenant Nadeshiko, weapons status."

"The phasers are all charged and the photons are ready with standard loads." answered Shizuka. "I can have the photons at full overloads in two minutes."

"Begin overload process Shizuka." ordered the Commander.

"They are firing disruptors." said Naruto as the Gettysburg shook. "Two of the four disruptors hit us. The shield reinforcement absorbed it, Commander."

The Klingon cruiser continued to bombard at range with negligible results until they got close and changed tactics.

"The Abomination is side slipping to our port Commander." said Samui.

Mabui said Rafi, "Helm, bring us around to port to hit them broadside."

As the Gettysburg turned hard to port; the Abomination opened fire at point blank range. "Two disruptors and five phaser twos incoming!" called Naruto as the forward and forward port shields were hit.

The Gettysburg shook heavily, and Naruto reported, "Number one shield is down 53%; number six shield is down 60%. No internal damage."

Mabui quickly ordered, "Shizuka, fire at will!"

The crew watched as four overloaded photons and ten phaser ones from the Gettysburg punished the entire port side of the Abomination. The Klingon cruiser was careening in a flat spin and was clearly out of control. The crew cheered. Mabui said "Naruto, give me a damage assessment on the Abomination."

Naruto nodded. "The IKV Abomination is missing its number five and six shields entirely. The ship is crippled and barely warp capable. Her fire control is offline…They are completely at our mercy Commander."

"Open hailing frequencies." ordered Mabui.

M'rella replied, "Hailing frequencies are open Commander."

"This is Commander Kumo of the U.S.S. Gettysburg." said Mabui. "Abomination, you are hereby ordered to surrender and prepare to be boarded."

"This is Commander Konmel of the Abomination." came the crackling audio reply. "We will never surrender to the Federation or anyone!"

Rafi said, "If they don't bring that ship under control, they are going to hit the planet's rings."

Mabui looked vexed and said, "Prepare a tractor. If the Abomination levels out, we can pull them out."

"Attempting a tractor lock." said Shizuka. "The Abomination is tumbling too violently to lock on to her."

"Try again." ordered Commander Kumo.

Shizuka said, "Tractor is-"

"Too late." said Samui as the viewscreen flashed. "The Abomination just hit the rings…"

…

Eremar System, U.S.S Gettysburg

"Ship's Log, supplemental: Commander Mabui Kumo reporting. The Imperial Klingon Vessel Abomination has been destroyed in combat with the U.S.S. Gettysburg. We suffered moderate to heavy shield damage but the Gettysburg herself is undamaged and the shields will be fully repaired within an estimated four hours. After an unsuccessful search for survivors, we have returned to Eremar II to continue our original mission of exploring the Tkon ruins…"

The Gettysburg arrived in Eremar II orbit an hour after the Abomination was destroyed. Mabui said the M'rella, "Ensign M'rella, open hailing frequencies and contact Captain Sarutobi."

Asuma's relieved voice came in over the communication channel, "It's good to hear from you Gettysburg. Commander Kumo, what is the ship's status?"

"We have moderate to heavy shield damage Captain." answered Mabui. "We engaged and destroyed the Klingon heavy cruiser Abomination after negotiations failed. I will have a full report for you when you return to the ship."

"Were there any survivors from the Klingon ship?" asked Captain Sarutobi.

Mabui answered, "Negative sir. We searched and found nothing."

"More's the pity…" replied Asuma.

…

Lieutenant Commander Lyakat was soon hustling samples up to the Gettysburg via shuttlecraft and Captain Sarutobi returned to the ship. He grinned at Mabui and said, "I guess you had quite an adventure while I was planet side Commander."

Mabui said in a flat tone, "It was an adventure I could have done without sir."

Sarutobi laughed and said, "I wasn't expecting the Klingons to crash the party."

…

Naruto was down in the ship's labs unloading and organizing samples when Commander Lyakat came over and asked, "How are you feeling Lieutenant Naruto? I'm surprised to see you up and back on duty so quickly."

"I am capable of being on duty, but I am still not fully healed." said Naruto.

The Saurian nodded. "Well, I want you at 100% before we enter that tomb in case there are other…obstacles."

"We are in complete agreement Commander." replied the blonde Vulcan.

…

Naruto and T'Lyra's quarters

After a long hard day of work, Naruto came to the conclusion that he really wasn't in top shape and needed to rest. Once he got comfortable the blonde reached out with his thoughts to his Grandmother Kaguya…

…

Dream…

Naruto found himself sitting on the stone steps to his Grandmother Kaguya's tower where he usually appeared. He saw Kaguya in her white robes descend the stairs to greet him. "My grandson; we have not talked in a while. It is good to see you."

"Greetings Grandmother; it is good to see you as well. I have come seeking your advice." said Naruto. Seeing Kaguya nod he asked, "What do you know about the Tkon Empire and the Otsutsuki clan's connections to it?"

Kaguya looked surprised. "You've found something about the Tkon Empire?"

Naruto nodded. "We've discovered the remains of the Tkon Capitol city Ozari-Thul. I touched a door and my chakra interacted with it. There was a trial I was tested in and having passed it I was given permission to enter the Royal Tomb to talk to Empress Otsutsuki. I was wondering how closely related we are to her as they call me the 'Heir of Otsutsuki' rather than a simple descendant."

Kaguya said, "This is certainly a surprise. As I was the last head of the Otsutsuki clan I suppose it would make sense for you to carry the title of heir."

"You 'were' the head of the Otsutsuki clan Grandmother?" asked the blonde.

The Rabbit Goddess replied, "I was until I was sealed away by my sons for 1,000 years. I can only assume someone else in the clan took the mantle. Still, if you are called the Heir by the Tkon…"

"How closely are we related to Empress Ostutuski?" asked Naruto inquisitively.

Shrugging, Kaguya said, "I always thought us being related to the Tkon was just family lore. To be truthful I'm rather bedazzled that it is true. I am sure that we are thousands and thousands of generations removed from Empress Ostutsuki. I will be very interested in what you find out Naruto." Then she smiled, "Now tell me about this trial you went through…"

…

Dream end…

…

Naruto woke in the middle of the night and found his mate T'Lyra was fast asleep snuggled into his right side as usual. He gently wrapped his arms around her and fell back sleep in her warmth…

…

Stardate 2274.224, Eremar II, geofront

Two days later a fully healed Naruto was standing at the door to the Tkon Imperial Tomb. He paced his hands on the doors and once again the name Otsutsuki glowed in the script of the Tkon Empire. Naruto gave the doors a minimal push and they swung open in total silence as if they weighed nothing. To everyone's surprise the tomb was dimly lit with torches of green flame over every elevated grave. One out of the lot glowed extremely brightly and Naruto assumed that was his destination.

The blonde stepped forward and noticed a chakra barrier that he passed through harmlessly with a rippling effect. Looking back, he said to Commander Lyakat and the others, "I do not believe it is safe for non-chakra users to touch this barrier. Please stay back."

"Make sure your recorder is active Naruto." said Lyakat. "Nothing is too insignificant in there."

Naruto nodded. "I have it on and active Commander." The blonde went into the tomb noticing a tiny draw on his chakra reserves from the floor tiles. Reaching out with his senses he realized it was his own chakra that was powering the chakra barrier at the entrance and the many torches in the room. He marveled at the efficiency the tiny amount of chakra he was using could power so much. 'I wonder if the guardians and the illusion of the stadium were powered by my chakra as well.' he thought. 'I wasn't paying attention at the time given I was in mortal combat.'

As Naruto approached the grave of Empress Otsutuski, he saw an image of a blue haired woman that had porcelain skin who was absolutely radiant to his eyes. She smiled at him and said, "Come closer to me my heir so I may gaze upon your face." Her azure pools were identical to his and she delicately cupped his cheeks with her hands. "Beautiful child, you inherited my eyes. What is it you seek here?"

"I only seek knowledge Empress." said Naruto. "I hope you are willing to teach me sage mode."

Suddenly she grabbed Naruto's face in an unbreakable grip and said, "What makes you think you are worthy of sage mode?! I will take your chakra and suck the very marrow from your bones!" Here beautiful body turned into a centipede like form from her torso down and wrapped around the blonde in an attempt to crush him. Her eyes lit up with chakra as she rapidly drew it out of Naruto. "You are MINE boy!"

The rest of the landing party was shocked and horrified at what they were seeing at a distance. Shizuka tried to breach the chakra shield with a phaser but found it was impenetrable. She cried out to him, but Naruto couldn't hear her are the cacophony the centipede woman was making.

Naruto thought, 'I refuse to die at the hands of this spirit.' He ignited his fire and wind chakra at their maximum and choked out, "You want chakra? I'll give it to you." He glowed red as a maelstrom of fire chakra flooded from his body and started burning the creature calling herself Empress. She screamed in agony as the flesh burned off her bones leaving a skull like face with eyes like fiery coals. Naruto's voice took a dark edge of a shinobi and he hissed, "Die now, choking on your screams."

The creature's body finally stopped screaming as it disintegrated into ash…

When the smoke cleared and the wind died down Naruto was bordering on chakra exhaustion and stumbled back. He breathed heavily and his entire body hurt. He heard a melodic face say, "Bravo my child. You are indeed my heir to have defeated my tomb guardian." The woman had white hair and white eyes like Kaguya. She smiled and said, "I am the true Empress Otsutsuki. You are exhausted my child; let me restore you." Her hands glowed softly with green healing chakra. "I will heal your body and then we can talk about your many questions."

Naruto's eyes blazed with chakra and he stood up through sheer willpower alone. The blonde said, "No. No more. I am leaving this place."

Empress Otsutsuki looked shocked and said, "But you are my heir! I have so much to teach you. I could make you a GOD compared to the others out there!"

"I don't need godhood and I don't need you." said Naruto. "Sleep forever Otsutsuki for I will not return." Naruto stumbled out of tomb, through the chakra barrier and willed the doors behind him to close. They heard Otsutsuki's wails of anguish for Naruto to come back to her as the doors slammed closed forever…

Lieutrnant Commander Lyakat was gaping like a fish and gasped out, "The knowledge she has could…!"

"It could destroy us." wheezed out Naruto in a tone of finality. "I am badly wounded and need to go back to the ship…"

…

Stardate 2274.228, Eremar II orbit, NCC-1728 U.S.S. Gettysburg

"Personal Log of Captain Asuma Sarutobi, Stardate 2274.228: Lieutenant Commander Lyakat and the science staff have concluded that the entire city of Ozari-thul is powered by chakra energy and our research can only progress so far without Lieutenant Naruto's help. Naruto is currently in a Vulcan healing trance to restore his body with the help of our medical staff. Doctor Kato says it's a miracle he was able to walk away from the tomb with the extreme stresses on his body. On a personal level I'm a bit dismayed with the situation. As an explorer I feel cheated that we cannot do more but as a Starfleet Captain I feel Lieutenant Naruto may have saved us from opening Pandora's box…"

…

Down on the surface Commander Lyakat was sealing up the last of the equipment on their initial survey of Ozari-thul. He took one last walk around the wonders of the plaza and stopped at the Tomb of the Empresses. He was about to go back to the shuttle when he noticed something glowing at the base of the door. The Saurian went over and found five emerald colored, paper thin crystals that were about 15cm tall, 7cm wide and chevron shaped. On them in Tkon script was the name Naruto. Lyakat didn't know what they were, but he packed them away as if they were priceless gems. 'Perhaps Lieutenant Naruto will be willing to examine these when he awakes.' thought the Saurian.

…

Naruto awoke from his healing trance in Sick Bay. The last of the chakra burns on his body were healed and his chakra reserves were fully restored. When he awoke Doctor Shizune Kato was running a medical scan on him. The black-haired woman smiled warmly and said, "Good morning to you Lieutenant Naruto. I'm glad to see you are awake. When you said you'd wake up in four days I didn't expect it to be on the hour."

"We Vulcans are trained from a young age to internal keep time." said Naruto. "What is my condition, Doctor?"

"You are ridiculously healthy given the condition four days ago." said Shizune. "As a matter of fact, your bioelectric energy reserves have skyrocketed."

Naruto frowned slightly before holding out his hand and making a simple rasengen. Shizune looked dazzled at the glowing sphere before Naruto closed his hand and cancelled the jutsu. 'I hardly felt the pull on my chakra from that jutsu.' thought the blonde. 'Just how much stronger have I become and why?'

Doctor Kato asked, "What was that Naruto? It was beautiful to look at."

Naruto raised an eyebrow and said, "It was a rasengan Doctor. It's a deadly offensive jutsu with a high chakra cost. I made it to test my chakra reserves and you are correct. My body is overflowing with chakra for some reason. I have no explanation for it."

"Next time warn me then." said Shizune with a pale face.

"Of course, Doctor." replied the blonde with a tiny smile.

…

An hour later Naruto had passed a full physical and was cleared to return to duty. He went to his quarters and found T'Lyra having lunch with her friend Brea Mathuin. Naruto was shocked at how fast T'Lyra moved to embrace him. He wrapped his arms around her, and they kissed passionately. Brea was kind of dumbfounded as the most she'd ever seen the Vulcan pair do was a gentle hug or crossing fingers. When the young couple separated T'Lyra said, "I've missed you. Welcome home."

Naruto gave her a tiny smile and said, "It's good to be home."

Hours later Naruto was relaxing as he filled out his reports on what he'd seen when he'd interacted with Empress Otsutsuki and her Tomb Guardian. 'Even thinking about it makes me tired.' thought the blonde. That was when he heard his door chime and Naruto asked, "Who is it?"

"It's Lieutenant Commander Lyakat; may I enter?" asked the Saurian scientist.

The hybrid said, "Unlock. Please enter Commander Lyakat." The Saurian came in and Naruto motioned for him to sit. "Welcome Doctor Lyakat, tea?"

Lyakat smiled and said, "Yes, thank you." 'I was afraid Naruto would be furious with me but then again he is a Vulcan.' "I wanted to see how you are doing Naruto. I can't tell you how sorry I am that you were injured again. Frankly I thought Lieutenant Nadeshiko was going to murder me."

Naruto poured the tea and gave Lyakat a cup before pouring his own. "Shizuka is rather fierce when it comes to protecting others she cares for."

The Saurian cringed and said, "So I noticed. There are some crystals I found outside the tomb doors with your name on them." Seeing Naruto's eyebrow raise in its usual manner Lyakat qualified his statement by saying, "I mean that literally Doctor Naruto. I brought one with me. The other four are in the ship's labs being examined." He pulled a chevron shaped crystal that had Naruto engraved on it in Tkon script. After running the universal translator over it the blonde saw that it indeed had his name on it.

"It's a data memory crystal." said Naruto. "You activate it by running your finger across the top and putting a bit of chakra in." The blonde mentally growled. 'It seems that I've picked up knowledge from Empress Otsutsuki whether I blocked it out or not.' Seeing Lyakat's stunned look Naruto said, "Apparently there was an information exchange when that thing tried to kill me."

Doctor Lyakat said, "Ah, I see. Do you think it's safe to activate?"

Naruto nodded. "They are designed for memory storage like a book or library. It should be harmless but I'd rather open it in the labs than here in my quarters."

…

The two Doctors went down to the lab where Naruto's friend Ensign Maya Ayasugi greeted them warmly. "I'm glad to see you are back Naruto." She then added, "You seriously need to stop trying to get killed."

Lyakat sweat dropped and said, "Lieutenant Naruto has assured me these crystals are harmless in nature. They are data crystals meant to be read like books."

Ayasugi looked dubiously at the emerald crystal chevrons and said, "Be careful Naruto."

The blonde nodded and ran his finger across the top of the crystal and a massive map of the Tkon Empire appeared. Everyone gasped knowing exactly what this was. It was all in Tkon script but there was no reason it couldn't be translated. "This is fantastic." said Lyakat as the others murmured in agreement. The sciences department knew they had their work cut out for them, but they were eager to start.

"Let's look at the next one." said Naruto. Seeing everyone agreed he deactivated the map and activated the next one. The words VEIL/UNVEIL? came up leaving the group befuddled. Naruto touched his finger on the crystal and ran his finger vertically downwards. Ozari-thul and several other planet names appeared. They were able to pick out a few such as Wsor and Rzom that were major colonies. Naruto tapped the name Ozari-Thul and then Veil. Then the red alert klaxon started going off and they heard, "Battle stations, Captain to the bridge!"

…

When Lyakat and Naruto got to the bridge the first thing they heard was Rafi's irritated voice saying, "The whole damn planet just disappeared!"

Lyakat chuckled and said, "Naruto; can you unveil Ozari-thul?" The planet reappeared and everyone on the bridge gasped but Naruto and Lyakat. The Saurian said, "Magnificent! A perfect way to protect a planet is to make it invisible. I am absolutely awed at this technology!"

Asuma growled and said, "Lieutenant Commander Lyakat, would you mind explaining what the hell is going on?!"

The Saurian regained his composure and said, "Forgive me Captain Sarutobi; I was just so overwhelmed. Apparently the Tkon Empire created something like a planet sized cloaking device for their various worlds. It seems that we inadvertently discovered how to activate and deactivate it."

"Cancel the red alert." said the exasperated Mabui. "Go to condition blue. It was just our science team at work."

…

The bridge crew was in the Staff Meeting Room within the hour. Mabui said, "So in essence we can hide this entire planet at will using the Tkon veiling technology?"

"That's exactly right!" exclaimed the excited Lyakat. "In other words, we can veil Ozari-thul and safely leave the system without worry of the Klingons or Tholians finding this amazing technology. When we return, we can simply unveil the planet for further exploration."

"That is incredible." said Shizune. "I wonder what kind of medical technology they had."

Samui looked over at Naruto and said, "So we should veil this world and leave before other Klingon or possibly Tholian vessels arrive."

Naruto nodded and said, "Keeping this technology out of the reach of our potentially hostile neighbors is paramount. If they discovered it, the results could be a new war over Tkon technology."

Captain Sarutobi said, "I agree with Lieutenants Schrodinger and Naruto. This technology is both too valuable and too dangerous to explore in detail at this point. We have a good, solid initial survey of Ozari-thul so let's head back to the safety of our own borders once we veil that planet."

"There is so much more to learn but…I'm forced to agree." said Commander Lyakat in defeat. "There is no need to expose ourselves to further danger." he added. (Shizuka's burning glare at Lyakat over Naruto's injuries had nothing to do with the Saurian's decision at all…nope. Not one bit…)

…

Stardate 2274.230, Eremar System, U.S.S. Gettysburg

"Ship's Log, Stardate 2274.230: Captain Asuma Sarutobi reporting. The Tkon Capitol Planet Ozari-thul is veiled much to my amazement. It is as if the planet simply ceased to exist. We are headed out of the Eremar System and out of the Taurus Reach back to the safety of the Federation border. Our estimated time of arrival is four days. I am proud to say that the U.S.S. Gettysburg and her crew have performed well under some very unusual and stressful situations. On a personal note, I have to say that chakra technology is almost beyond comprehension. While I am in favor of studying it; letting cooler heads prevail like Lieutenant Naruto and Lieutenant Samui Schrodinger is in our best interests…The Tkon were so advanced it makes us look like children…"

…

POSTSCRIPT:

Well, the first part of the Tkon Arc is complete. There will be more down the line. Next chapter we'll return to Federation Space. See you next time. Blue out. 10/1/23