A Pair of Stellar Blades

by KuronoDono12

The war against the Naytiba has dragged on for centuries with no end in sight. In that time there have been six missions to end the war by wiping out the Alpha Naytibas and Elder Naytiba. Yet all attempts have ended in total failure and countless dead. Now another mission is about to begin. Among those being sent are a pair determined to end the war once and for all.

Chapter 1

Author Note: Howdy everyone, hope you're all doing good. Got a new story for you all to enjoy this time a Naruto x Stellar Blade Crossover…Possibly the first one ever depending on when I get this out LoL.

Anyway I was super excited for the game and freaking LOVED it. Combat is awesome, Story is really interesting, Eve is BEAUTIFUL, and graphics are amazing. I have beaten it three times and actually Platinumed the game. I REALLY hope they come out with a Stellar Blade 2 as it's a Universe/Series that has A LOT of potential to it.

That being said, as I was playing the game and loving every minute of it I had the vague idea of a crossover idea forming in my head. Then after beating the game, talking with some others who have played it…Big shoutout to HaretaSora…I fleshed out the idea and here we are. Also another shout to Jebest who helped out with a segment of this chapter that I was stuck on for quite some time.

Also as of 6/15/2024 the Email Alert Bug is back yet again…Like seriously wasn't even a week or two since the last time I think. That being the case BE SURE TO FAVORITE any and ALL stories when you Follow them. This is because even if the Email Alert Bug happens you will still be alerted to the stories being updated when you check your Favorites or when you use the APP.

With that being said let's begin shall we…

The sound of two blades clashing filled the air accompanied by showers of sparks. A screech of metal scraping against each other wailed as the two blades slid apart and their wielders separated jumping away from each other in order to regain their standings.

On the left side of the room in which the fight was currently taking place was one of the combatants a male. He had a slim yet toned swimmer's physique that was currently being hugged tightly by the skin-tight skin-tone colored bodysuit he was wearing. The man had short length spiky blonde hair, and bright blue eyes. Tightly gripped in the man's hand was a large broadsword consisting of a two-sided blade with a hollow portion in the middle of it.

Across from the man stood his opponent, a woman. Said woman was a beauty to say the least. She had dark-brown hair pulled back into a ponytail that went down to her shoulders that flowed like water with every move she made. Her eyes were a brilliant hazel brown rested perfectly in her strikingly beautiful face. Her lips were a natural soft shade of pink. Much like her face the woman's body was a thing of beauty, slim yet curvy. The most eye-catching aspects of it being her ample yet proportionate breasts that while more than a handful were not overly large to the point they looked out of place. A slim waist that curved inward before curving out to form her firm rounded ass that led down to thicc toned thighs and long model-like legs. Much like her male opponent she too was clothed in a skin-tight, skin-tone bodysuit that only further highlighted her curves. Tightly gripped in her right hand was a sword identical to that of her opponent's.

The two combatants narrowed their eyes at each other for a moment before in a burst of speed they charged each other once more, resuming their fight. In a flurry of slashes, stabs, screeching metal, and sparks the two clashed. Though neither managed to land a hit on the other as they were seemingly equal in skill and speed. Then like a bolt of lightning it was over in a flash as with one final shower of sparks the two ceased all movement.

"Very good you two" a female voice calls out from the sidelines accompanied by the sound of clapping. "Though it would seem like one again it's a draw" she added with a shake of her head as the two were constantly ending their spars in stalemates. Sure enough the two combatants were both poised to deliver a killing blow on the other, yet they were also vulnerable to the other's killing blow as a result. The woman just shakes her head at this "Alright Naruto, Eve that's it for today." she says as the man and woman remove their weapons from each other's throats. Said weapons then proceeded to shrink down and disassemble before forming a series of ornaments that attached themselves to Eve's ponytail, or a necklace in Naruto's case.

"Heh another draw Eve, one of these days one of us will beat the other" Naruto remarks with a slight grin on his face as he looks at the woman.

"Yes and hopefully it will be soon as these constant draws are beginning to grow tiresome" Eve remarks in slight annoyance as over the years the two had done nothing but stalemate each other.

"Well look at it this way, we are pretty much equal, but Tachy-nee still kicks our butts unless the two of us team up against her" Naruto counters looking towards the other woman in the room who just raised an eyebrow at this.

Much like Eve, Tachy was a stunning beauty herself with long flowing raven-black hair framing her hazel brown eyes and angelic face. In addition her body-shape was also much like Eve's though with slightly larger breasts that strained a bit more against the skin-tight bodysuit she wore.

"Yes and that is likely why she is the Squadron Commander" Eve remarks with a nod of her head as the raven-haired woman was their superior in both rank and power.

"Alright you two that's enough" Tachy remarks with a wave of her hand ceasing their propping her up. Yes she was able to beat each of them in solo combat which was impressive given how strong the two were. However despite her also being able to best them when they double-teamed her, what they didn't know was that the fights were much closer than the solo ones. In fact the two had nearly pushed her to activate her 'Burst Mode' on more than one occasion and it made the woman wonder just how strong the two would be if they each had their own 'Burst Mode'.

"So Tachy-nee, any word from Mother Sphere lately?" Naruto asks rolling his neck to relieve some tension. The blonde was curious to know the latest news regarding their potential deployment to Earth. Eve perked up hearing him ask this as she two was wondering if there had been news.

Tachy almost bit her lip not wanting to tell the two what she had heard. However the woman figured it was better they heard it from her than someone else. "Yes, the next assault will be taking place in exactly twenty-four hours. The 7th Airborne Squadron just like the squadrons of the past is tasked with locating and eliminating any and all Alpha Naytibas, along with Elder Naytiba" she relays to them causing their eyes to widen slightly at the drop being so soon. "The strikeforce will consist of all three hundred members of the squadron and five dropships" she adds.

"The whole squadron?" Eve asks in slight shock as the 7th Airborne Squadron was the largest of any squadrons so far. In Fact the 7th was bigger than the previous squadrons 5th and 6th combined.

"It seems Mother Sphere isn't messing around" Naruto remarks as to send so many forces at once was a bit of a gamble. The five dropships and likely large amount of fighter craft alone was a considerable amount of resources to commit to a single assault. But to add onto that by sending the entire squadron was a risk given the track record of the war so far. Not to mention it left only the 8th Squadron stationed on The Colony and given how the 8th squadron was significantly smaller than the 7th it was a risk. Even more so as apparently they were far from being combat ready if the rumors about them were true.

"No she isn't. This war has dragged on long enough, and far too many of our sister's have lost their lives in pursuit of the extermination of the Naytiba. Thus an 'All-out' strategy was chosen this time. The tradeoff being that should we fail it will likely be decades if not a century or two before another attack can be made" Tachy relays as it was the truth. With the amount of resources and personnel Mother Sphere was committing to the assault it would be a long time before another attack could happen. The woman then shakes her head, another assault wasn't going to be needed. Her squadron was going to be the ones to end this war once and for all. For if they didn't then that meant that she, but more importantly the two standing before her would have fallen…and that was something she would not allow for the two.

Shaking her head of those thoughts Tachy refocused on the here and now instead of what could happen "That being the case it's time for a final check on your gear. Are your exo-spines up to date and in good working order?" she enquired about the status of the two's gear.

"Yes my Reflex-type Exospine is working in peak condition" Eve remarks with a nod of her head as she had just gotten a tune up for it the other day and the engineers ensured it was in perfect working order.

"Same with my Chain-Type" Naruto adds with a nod of his own. The blonde had chosen to go with an exo-spine that would increase the force of his attacks thus increasing the damage they inflicted. He had initially contemplated having a Reflex-type installed like Eve but figured his reaction time was already high-enough to avoid enemy attacks. Not to mention that his suit's armor had an enhanced shield capacity to it already so the added shields the Reflex-type would have given were not only redundant but potentially even risky as it could potentially drain the energy of his Body Core faster.

Tachy just nods her head upon hearing this "Very good, now I suggest the two of you get some rest and I will see you two at the drop pods before launch" the woman says before leaving the room

After Tachy exits the room Eve turns to Naruto "Tomorrow is the day" she says in reference to the upcoming mission and all that came with it.

Hearing this Naruto places a hand on her shoulder "Yep we drop feet first into the hell of war" he remarks before cracking a slight lopsided grin "But so long as the two of us stick together those Naytiba don't stand a chance" the blonde adds confidence in their skills.

Hearing the blonde's confidence Eve giggles a bit "Let's not forget Tachy" she adds with a soft smile.

"Heh true with the two of us and Tachy-nee those Naytiba will be running scared!" was the blonde's joking response as the two began to walk out of the room to get a little rest before the mission.

(24 Hours later, Low Earth Orbit)

Slowly making their way towards the planet were five large spaceships accompanied by dozens of much smaller ones. The massive ships were a dull-white color and vaguely resemble a whale with their elongated-egg shape that had fins sticking out nearing the spinning engine at the aft. These massie ships were the Dropships of Mother Sphere and between the five of them housed the entirety of the 7th Airborne Squadron as they descended towards Earth.

Inside one of the ships Naruto stood next to the entrance to the drop pod that would soon deliver him to the hellish battle that was about to take place. The blonde was giving himself a final once-over making sure he was in peak condition knowing this was going to be his greatest test yet. Satisfied to see that he was, Naruto then checked over his skin-suit making sure it was in working order and that it would activate properly upon landing to which it was as well. With one last check of his sword activating it and then deactivating it having it reform as his necklace the blonde was satisfied with his testing.

Looking around he saw all his fellow squadron members doing the same. There were times that he wondered why he was the lone male squadron member. In fact in the history of the squadrons there had never been a male member which made him wonder why he was the first. Shaking his head of those thoughts and looking to his right, Naruto noticed Eve finishing up her own check of her equipment. The woman saw him staring at her and gave him a nod to which he reciprocated before the two turned to the central path of the room.

Walking down said path was Tachy, the woman looking at each of the squadron members before stopping to address the group "The mission will begin momentarily, everyone to your pods and good luck" she says to the group before walking off to enter her own drop pod.

As they go to enter their pods Naruto and Eve share a look giving each other a nod. The meaning behind it, unspoken yet understood 'Good Luck'.

Taking a seat in his pod as the hatch closes behind him Naruto looks on as the interior of the lit up showing the diagnostics of the pod along with on the right a list of all the squadron members and their vital signs. The blonde's attention was then brought to the communication device of the pod as it crackled to life "Transmitting Final Briefing…As of now Airborne Squad 7 will exterminate the Alpha Naytibas occupying District 3. Main Objective is the capture or dispatchment of the Elder Naytiba. Dropships now entering the atmosphere" the voice over the comm says as a tremor shook the pod from the ship entering Earth's atmosphere.

Outside the ship the dropships of the attack force began to extend the flaps near their aft section while flaps on the nose of the ships opened as well. "Threshold has been surpassed, activating shield" one of the crew of the ships announces to the squad members as a clear energy shield consisting of connected hexagons appears in-front of the nose of the dropships.

As the fleet grows closer to the planet a massive flare up of lights appears on the surface of the planet moments before huge bolts of energy fly up at the descending ships. As the energy nears the ships it appears as if they would collide with the protective shields. However moments before impact all of the bolts break apart into a spiraling collection of smaller bolts that spiral around the shields. With thundering explosions the bolts slam into the dropships blasting away chunks of their hulls and sending debris flying into space.

From within his pod Naruto is rocked side to side from the force of the impacts hitting the ship he was in. "Code Red! Code Red!" one of the ship's crew exclaims over the comms.

The barrage of spiraling beams continues to pelt the dropships with one shot blasting away one of the stabilizing fins at the aft section of the lead ship. With the fin gone the dropship begins to list to the side before turning perpendicular to the planet and descending ships blocking their way. However the blockage didn't last two long as several more beams slammed into it mid-ship ripping the ship in half the destroyed halves now floating in the path of the next ship.

Luckily for the following dropship the halved drifted apart enough for it to squeeze through the gap between them albeit barely as the twisted metal of the debris gouged deep furrows along the side it. From within his shaking pod Naruto winced hearing the scraping of the metal. Seconds later flaps on the underbelly of the ship opened up revealing launch tubes in which the drop pods of the squadron members on the ship rested. "All available drop pods will be ejected according to Protocol B-32!" was announced over the shipwide comms seconds before the drop pods were fired off in a continuous volley from the ship. Just as the ship had finished firing off the last of the drop pods it was carrying a massive laser blast slammed directly into its mid-ship in a massive explosion that ripped the ship apart.

From within his pod Naruto felt the sudden acceleration of his pod being launched "Here we go" the blonde mused to himself as he kept his eyes trained on display of the squadron's vitals. As his drop pod and those of his fellow squadron members continued their descent to the ground they were unaware of the devastation to the rest of the squadron. Of the three intact ships one was plummeting to the ground, its entire aft section ablaze. The second dropship was beginning to break apart in the atmosphere having suffered catastrophic hull damage, the entire top of the ship having been blasted away. As for the final ship it was rapidly descending to the surface a massive billowing cloud of black smoke billowing out from the bow, likely the result of a direct hit to the ship's bridge and thus killing the bridge crew instantly. The ship as a result is now out of control in its doomed descent to the planet and the squadron members aboard, still in their pods with no way to launch them. Thus in the span of mere minutes the 7th Airborne Squadron consisting 300 members had been dealt a devastating loss of life as all that was left of them were the 60 pods launched from the one ship.

Yet for those 60 pods and the occupants within them the danger was far from over. As they continued their descent the ground to air-fire continued with several pods being destroyed. A near miss to one pod ended up knocking it of course and into another pod causing a small explosion on the latter yet it remained intact. From within his pod Naruto's eyes were glued to the display of the squadron's vitals. The blonde grit his teeth as he saw name after name vanish indicating the death of the person it belonged to. His eyes widened briefly as he saw Eve's name flash for a second but remain lit, likely indicating that her pod had received slight damage to it but was otherwise intact sending a wave of relief over him.

Then with a heavy crash the blonde's pod reached its destination of the ground. Wasting no time, Naruto quickly grabbed the handle to the hatch and wrenched it to the side, sending the hatch popping off. Grabbing either side of the opening the blonde launched himself out of the pod and into the air flipping as he did so. As he flipped through the air his Skin-suit glowed briefly before fading away and in its place was his combat outfit.

Said outfit consisted of a black and white padded and armored robe with shoulder guards and matching hybrid glove-armbands and finally the black and white flat footed boots. Landing on his feet Naruto quickly activated his weapon, the blade forming in his hand as he looked around the chaos around him. The sky was filled with blasts of anti-aircraft fire, explosions, and debris from the drop ships and destroyed drop pods. Off in the distance the blonde could see the absolutely massive artillery-like Naytibas that were launching said anti-aircraft fire.

Hearing a crash, Naruto looks to the left and sees another drop pod land not far from his position. Rushing over to the pod he reaches it just as the hatch opens to reveal Tachy. The woman climbed out of the pod, her skin-suit vanishing and in its place a skin-tight black suit with orange highlights formed. "Tachy-nee!" Naruto calls out, alerting the woman to his presence.

"Naruto, you made it." Tachy remarks before they see another pod land not far from them "C'mon we should link up with whoever that is" the woman states getting a nod from Naruto as the two quickly rush over to the pod.

However the pod hatch doesn't open immediately leading to the two thinking the occupant hadn't survived the drop. The two turned to leave the pod when suddenly they heard a noise that caused them to stop in place. Coming from within the pod was a banging as the occupant was apparently alive but stuck in the pod as the interior hatch handle had seemingly stopped working. "Naruto stand guard, I'll open the pod" the woman commands before grabbing the emergency release handle of the hatch and pulling it. With a hiss the hatch popped open and the occupant surprised Tachy "Eve!" she said thankful that the woman had safely landed.

"Ta-Tachy?" Eve states a little delirious from the rough landing. She then takes note of Naruto whose back was to the two standing defensively in front of them eyes trained for any possible threats "Naruto?" she adds upon seeing him.

"Eve, are you alright?" Tachy asks, seeing the slightly disoriented state of Eve.

However before Eve could give a response a large explosion bloomed not far from their location "Tachy-nee, the Naytiba artillery seem to be zeroing in on our position" Naruto remarks with a hardened gaze as he stares out at said enemies off in the distance.

Briefly looking behind her in the direction of artillery, Tachy silently curses before turning her attention back to Eve "This place is dangerous, we need to move" she remarks before holding her hand out to Eve. As Eve takes hold of Tachy's hand the woman pulls her from the pod just as above them one of the smaller strike craft flies overheard before exploding as it is struck by the blast from one of the Naytiba artillery.

Fully free from her drop pod Eve stands there for a moment gaining her bearings as her skin-suit glows briefly before fading away to reveal her squadron uniform. Said uniform consisted of a skin-tight bodysuit much like Tachy's though instead of black with orange highlights it was a gradation of creamy white going to gray before having a tinge of green while other parts having metallic green. The metallic green parts were primarily a strip running down the center of her chest leading to her inner thighs and legs before wrapping around to cover her buttocks as well.

With Eve now in her uniform and having regained her bearings the trio turned towards the direction of their objective and spotted three of their fellow squadron members running off in the direction of the rendezvous point.

"It's this way to the rendezvous, keep alert and move quickly" Tachy orders before the trio run off in the same direction they saw their comrades run. However they barely made it a hundred feet before a trio of Naytiba popped outta the ground. Said enemies were a little shorter than the warriors and resembled a fleshy sunflower. "Eve take the one of the left, Naruto the one in the middle, I have the one on the right!" the squadron leader commands as the three lunge at their respective opponents.

Eve delivers a slash to the Naytiba's stalk-like neck before performing a backwards flip to avoid the sweeping attack it countered with as it swung it's neck at her trying to sink the teeth of its head into her. Landing on her feet Eve retaliates with a wide slash that catches the monster just below the head and severs said body part off killing it.

Naruto raised his blade to block the headbutt attack from his opponent, the action dazing the monster and knocking it off balance. Capitalizing on this the blonde swung his blade diagonally, the weapon connecting with the Naytiba's torso and slicing into it deeply though not killing it. In response the monster let out a shriek before lunging it's head forward attempting to bite into the blonde only for Naruto to turn to the side and bring his blade down severing it's head.

The duo looked to their right checking if Tachy needed any assistance with her opponent only to see the woman swing her sword to the side casting off the Naytiba blood coating it "Good work you two, do you have the coordinates to the rendezvous point?" she asks them.

"It's at 2 o'clock roughly 400 meters in front of us" Eve remarks looking in said direction at a large ruined building complex.

"Great let's move" Tachy commands with a nod before the three begin running in said direction. As they run, above them an attack ship is hit by an artillery blast causing it to spiral out of control and slam into a radio tower "Look out!" the commander calls out as the tower comes down towards them.

Jumping back just in time Naruto and Tachy narrowly avoid being crushed by the tower and the debris it kicks up upon impacting the ground. Giving each other a look to see the other was okay, they share a nod before leaping over the fallen structure and rejoin Tachy "That was too close" Naruto remarks with a shake of his head as the three resume running towards the meet up point.

"Look, more squadron members!" Eve calls out noticing a pair of fellow members not far ahead of them fighting a couple of Naytiba.

Said Naytiba were a large monstrous humanoid type creature that stood several feet taller than the women fighting them. The most defining characteristics about it being the large flattened head with a single yellow eye…and the huge bladed whip-like right arm it had.

Unfortunately though the trio arrived at the scene too late as they were just in time to see the Naytiba knock aside the blades of the squadron members before killing them. One of the women was sliced in half from left shoulder to right hip. While in the case of the other she was brutally impaled on the monster's bladed arm in a shower of blood before being cast aside. The monsters then turned their attention to the new arrivals before charging at them.

"Watch out, it's an unlisted Naytiba!" Tachy calls out as she blocks the bladed attack from her opponent.

"Damn there wasn't supposed to be any undocumented Naytiba in this area according to the briefing!" Naruto calls out blocking an attack from the Naytiba as it swung its arm down at the blonde. With a grunt of excursion Naruto managed to overpower the monster knocking it off balance slightly. However instead of capitalizing on this and pressing the attack he slid to the side and out of the way for Eve to come in and deliver a stab into the monster's chest. With a yell of her own the woman managed to force the monster to the ground with her sword still embedded in its chest. Not being idle Naruto flipped over the downed woman and monster deflecting the retaliation strike of its blade from piercing into Eve and giving the woman enough time to slice her weapon up through the monster destroying it's core and killing it in the process.

As the Naytiba began to crumble and fade away into black ash Naruto helped Eve to her feet and the two looked to see Tachy finish off her opponent as well "C'mon we gotta move, but keep an eye out for more!" the woman ordered as the trio resumed their run to the rendezvous point.

For the next several minutes the trio ran only stopping briefly whenever Naytbia of both the unlisted ones, and the small flower-like ones would rise from the ground to impede them. Though it was more of an inconvenience than a danger to the three. Naruto and Eve would fight in perfect harmony with each other. When Naruto would strike, Eve would block, when Naurto blocked, Eve struck. The two flowed around each other's moves as if it was a dance while off to the side Tachy expertly dealt with all the foes that came at her with ease.

Resuming their run once more Eve suddenly lurched forward with an audible groan as a small shower of sparks erupted from the illuminated drive on the back of her uniform. The woman's pained noise caught the attention of her fellow warriors. "Eve what's wrong?" Tachy asks with a worried look on her face.

"It's my body frame" Was the response Eve gave a pained look on her face.

"You must have taken a bit of damage during your pod's violent landing" Naruto remarks in realization as given the external damage to her pod it likely took some damage in its descent to the ground leading to a rough landing.

Reaching into a compact pouch molded into her uniform Tachy pulls out a small vial and tosses it to Eve "Here Eve take one of my recovery vials" she says as Eve catches the first aid item out of the her thumb Eve snaps off the glass top of the vial and drinks the red liquid within immediately feeling the healing effects wash over her.

With Eve patched up the three resume their run towards the rendezvous point "I can see the rendezvous point!" Naruto calls out looking up ahead where at the top of an incline an abandoned facility rests.

"Right we're almost there, pick up the pace!" Tachy yells as the three begin running even faster that they start leaving a trail of dust in their wake. However as they start running up the incline to the base artillery fire begins raining down all around them "Don't stop you two!" she calls back to them, leading the charge.

The barrage of artillery fire not only continues to rain down around them but in fact grows heavier. Despite numerous near misses and dodges of flying debris the trio make their way up the hill unscathed so far. Their strategy of watching the ground in front of them and for the shadows of descending artillery shots being their only saving grace in avoiding certain death.

Reaching the top of the hill Eve lets out a sigh of relief "That was close" she remarks glad to have reached the end of the artillery barrage and thus the rendezvous point. However the sounds of heavy fighting soon reach her ears causing her to look forward and her eyes to widen.

"Shit" Naruto remarks as he sees the sight as well. Said sight was a group of about eight of their comrades facing off against a large hulking brute of a Naytiba with a pair of massive mace heads for hands. The monster was clearly no easy enemy given it was not only holding its own against their comrades but had also clearly dispatched of at least two of them already with a third on the ground bleeding heavily.

"Is…Is that an Alpha Naytbia?" Eve asks in a slightly fearful tone as the Alpha's were second only to the Elder Naytiba in their lethality. They were so lethal in fact that no one had ever even defeated one.

"We can figure that out later, right now we need to help!" Naruto remarks readying his weapon as Tachy pulls out her own blade and Eve does so as well before the three start running to join the fight.

The squadron member laying on the ground bleeding heavily clutches the wound on her chest as she flips onto her back only for her eyes to widen in terror as the Naytiba looms over her. She watches helplessly as it easily bats aside one of her comrades before raising its massive arms in an attempt to crush her. However it was not the Naytiba that the woman was looking at in terror but rather the massive burning hulk of one of the dropships rapidly crashing down towards her and the others.

With a deafening crashing and however of flame and metal the doomed ship crashes directly on her, the Naytiba, and her comrades in a fiery wreck. The force of the impact sends a shockwave out that sends Naruto, Eve, and Tachy flying back having BARELY avoided being crushed as well. Their ears ringing and vision blurred the trio slowly start to get up with Tachy being the first to regain her senses "My god" the woman says in shock at the sight before her.

"No way" Naruto remarks being the next to get up and see the sight in front of them.

Finally getting to her feet Eve shakes her head to clear any lingering disorientation before her eyes widen in disbelief "No…No!" she nearly yells in horror as she stares at the carnage before them. Scattered across the ground was what little remained of their squadmates' bodies. Some were merely a head or a limb lying in a pool of blood. Others were twisted and mangled with missing limbs or halves. "...The squad's life signs…they're all…" she mutters in shock.

"We're the only three left" Naruto remarks in disbelief as well. One of the enhancements all squadron members had was to be able to detect the life signs of fellow airborne squadron members near them. And the only three lifesigns he was picking up were his, Tachy, and Eve's. The shock of the situation was immense to say the least as in the span of less than an hour, the squadron had been reduced from 300 members to a mere 3.

At this realization Eve gained a broken look on her face as she collapsed to her knees in despair. "Eve…Eve pull yourself together" Tachy says approaching the shellshocked woman and gently holding her by the shoulders.

"Tachy-nee is right Eve. We can't break down or all their deaths will have been meaningless" Naruto adds, tightening his grip on his sword in suppressed rage. Internally the blonde was raging at all of their comrades being killed off. But he couldn't give in to that rage as it could lead to his own downfall.

"That's right, and we haven't completed our mission yet. It's up to us to see this mission through and carry the memories of our fallen comrades back to Mother Sphere" Tachy remarks to Eve as she gets to her feet.

Looking up at her comrades' faces Eve feels her resolve being restored and slowly gets back to her feet picking up her weapon as she does so. However as she gives the two a nod a banging is heard coming from the wreckage of the downed drop ship.

"No way" Naruto remarks with wide eyes as there was likely only one cause of the banging and it was unthinkable to say the least. However it was as he thought as the banging got louder and louder as the side of the dropship bulged out before in a screeching of metal it was ripped open and the Naytiba burst out of the hole.

As the monster slammed its massive mace hands down into the ground in front of the trio it created a spark igniting the dropship's spilled fuel and setting the whole area ablaze while also creating an explosion that sent the three skidding back. The Naytiba proceeded to menacingly stand to its full height before raising its arms above its head and slamming the two mace heads together, challenging them.

Seeing this Tachy grits her teeth as she tightens her grip on her weapon knowing they were in for a tough fight "Eve, Naruto…are you ready?" she asks her companions though not looking at them and keeping her eyes trained on the threat ahead in case it was to attack suddenly.

"More than ready" was the blonde's reply as an arc of his beta energy crackled briefly around his sword in the form of blue arcs of electricity.

"Same" Eve remarks steeling her resolve and readying her own blade before the three charged the monster.

Tachy was the first to get to the new arrival first, sword striking its brutish, flabby gut with a series of strikes. She soon braced for impact when the Naytiba's right mace hand struck her weapon, causing her to skid back a bit. These actions gave Naruto and Eve enough time to get in the rear and begin their assault. Both delivered a series of swings and would've continued if the Naytiba hadn't turned. Naruto covered Eve by taking the harsh blow from the mace-wielding monster, having Eve sidestep and sweep into the Brute Naytiba's guard to continue her assault. The blonde recovered with a wince from the impact, quickly moving in to cover the defensive by taking more of the heavy blows, all before thrusting his sword into the belly and carving upwards. In the midst of this, Tachy had leapt into the air and was carving on the monster's upper region before landing in front of Naruto to take her turn in defensive actions.

With it being the three of them, they are somewhat able to take turns with one drawing the Brute Naytiba's attention while the other two attacking the blind side. However, they couldn't let guard down as such and action could give the monster an opening to land a strike on them, and such a strike could very well end any of them given its monstrous strength.

At one point, the Naytiba swung both of its mace-hands onward. Eve and Naruto quickly brought up their swords and took the hits, causing both to skid back. Their opponent swiftly moved when their guards were down, but Tachy came in to block and parry the coming hit before swinging her sword upwards. This left the Brute Naytiba wide open, which was exploited by Eve jumping on Naruto's weapon and was launched like a missile directly at the monster's side. The force of Eve slamming into and slicing through the monster in addition to its already fatigued state from all the damage it had taken so far caused it to wobble.

"It's faltering press the attack!" Tachy called out noticing how the Naytiba seemed to be starting to slow down given the amount of damage that the trio had inflicted upon it. With that being said the trio acted fast unleashing a barrage of rapid slashes on their opponent. The ferocity of the slashes actually began to force the Naytiba to stumble back a bit.

Tachy followed this up by coating her sword in her orange-colored beta energy and with a trio of slashes delivered just as many arcs of said energy flying towards the monster. Upon making contact with the Naytiba said energy arcs proceeded to cut deeply into its thick fatty flesh and for a brief moment the blinking red core of the monster could be seen.

Not wasting a moment Eve and Naruto capitalized by coating their swords with their own blue colored beta energy and leaping towards the monster with their sword arms pulled back. The pair let out a unified yell as they released their attack in the form of a trio of rapid piercing stabs into the deep lacerations in the Naytiba's chest. Each thrust penetrated deeper and deeper into the monster's flesh with the third strike hitting home as their blades pierced and shattered their opponents core.

Landing back on the ground the trio watches as the Naytiba let out a final groaning roar before collapsing to the ground where it began to fade away into black ash, the trio breathed in heavily to regain their breath.

"It wasn't an Alpha," Tachy states, "but it was a strong one." She then turned to Eve and Naruto. "You both fought well. Even better than during training." the woman adds praising their fighting as she places a comforting hand on Eve's shoulder.

"We were all together, but then…" Eve begins to say before wincing and groaning as she keels over in pain several sections of her back sparking heavily.

Seeing this Naruto's eyes widen and he reaches out to support her only with his right arm for his shoulder to spark heavily and a hiss of pain and the limb to go limp.

"You two have sustained serious damage to your body frames" Tachy states in observation as she gingerly helps Eve to her feet and looks at Naruto.

"Must have overloaded my shoulder from blocking so many of that bastard's strikes" The blonde says in realization as it was a safe bet the brute of a Naytiba they just fought was the cause of his injuries. Especially since in Naruto's opinion each strike he blocked from the beast felt like he was blocking several tons each time.

"We need to find the nearest supply camp in order to get the two of you fixed up" Tachy remarks as such camps were left scattered throughout the staging areas from previous airborne squadrons. Naruto walks over to Eve and slings her left arm over his shoulder to help support her as the two slowly begin making their way away from the battle site. However as they do Tachy gains an alarmed look "Wait you two I hear something" she warns looking all around for the source of the sound. A source that she finds upon turning around behind her to see a swirling mass of black feathers rapidly heading towards them "NARUTO EVE!" Tachy calls out in warning right before the entity slams into the ground behind the trio causing an explosion that sends the three flying.

Landing roughly back on the ground and rolling to a painful stop Eve and Naruto groan in pain with Eve's back sparking more heavily, while Naruto's left leg sparks as well. Tachy, who had managed to right herself in the air and land on her feet, sees the two downed and rushes over "Are you two all right?" she asks a hint of worry in her tone at seeing their state.

Eve could only groan and paint in pain for a response as beside her Naruto managed to sit up a bit with a wince "Not doing to good honestly, pretty sure my leg is outta commission" the blonde remarks as he tries to move said limb only to wince in pain and see it remain motionless. Naruto then heard the flapping of wings causing him to turn in said direction which was directly behind Tachy "...Tachy-nee" he whispers with a wide-eyed look on his face as he stares at what's behind the woman.

Slowly turning her head to the side Tachy lays eyes on the creature standing not far from the trio. Said creature was a tall harpy-like Naytiba with digitigrade legs, holding a pair of large hand sickles. The monster's entire body from its clawed feet to the tips of the feathers on its large wings was a dark jet black not unsimilar to the coloring of a raven. The sole exception to this was a gold almost ornamental looking six-eyed mask on its face though the creature seemingly lacked eyes.

"...Alpha Naytiba" Tachy utters in a slight whisper as there was no other explanation to what she was looking it. Not to mention how the Naytiba practically radiated a sense of impending death around it. Slowly and cautiously so as to not provoke a sudden attack Tachy stood up and reformed her sword gripping it tightly as she took a side-ways stance to the Naytiba.

In response the Alpha Naytiba let out a screeching roar in challenge before the two began to slowly circle around each other. As she slowly stepped further away from the downed forms of her companions Tachy narrowed her eyes at the Naytiba "Here friend…it's me you want" she says with a glare, bringing her sword up level with her head in a high-stab stance. For a moment Tachy's attempt at drawing the monster's attention to her seemed to work. However that hope was dashed when she noticed the beast shift its gaze towards Naruto and Eve causing her eyes to widen in alarm.

In a split second accompanied by her shout of "No!" It happened. The Alpha Naytiba made a blitzing dash towards the two downed squadron members. To his credit Naruto reacted fast enough in a feeble attempt to defend himself having shifted his sword into his left hand. Though he was never able to make said attempt at defense due to Tachy throwing herself between the charging Naytiba and her comrades.

With the sound of blade slicing through flesh accompanied by the woman's pain-filled scream, and a spray of blood she had managed to protect her injured comrades though it came at the expense of her left arm having been cleaved off at the shoulder by one of the Alpha Naytiba's sickles. Both Naruto and Eve gained wide-eyed looks of horror on their faces at this sight. their horror only increasing as they were helpless to watch as the Alpha Naytiba followed up its attack by impaling Tachy through the abdomen on its other sickle and lifted her into the air. With blood pouring from her severed arm, abdomen and dripping down the blade embedded within it Tachy coughed up some more of the red liquid of life as she weakly turned to look at the two. "Naruto…Eve…Run…get out of here" she weakly says using all her strength to not only stay conscious but hold onto the blade upon which she is impaled in a feeble attempt to buy them as much time to escape as she can.

"TACHY/TACHY-NEE!" The pair yell out in despair at the sight of Tachy impaled on the sickle.

Noticing the woman clenching it's weapon the Alpha Naytiba seemingly scoffs before with a flick of its wrist it tosses said weapon and Tachy uncaringly to the ground before turning it's attention back to Naruto and Eve. It began slowly advancing on the two almost as if it was relishing in its victory instead of quickly making the kill. Though the beast titled its head at the sight of Naruto holding his sword up at it with a look of rage on his face. With a screeching sound that sounded almost like laughter it resumed its slow advance. A lazy flick of its other sickle ended the feeble defense and knocked the sword out of Naruto's hand causing it to deactivate. The Alpha Naytiba then proceeded to raise the sickle above its head in preparation for the killing strike it was about to deliver.

The eyes of Naruto and Eve were transfixed on the blade poised to end their lives in mere seconds. They could think of no way out of the hopeless situation they were currently in. Death was all but guaranteed. "What was the point of all this?" Naruto thinks to himself in despair.

However the blonde's thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the loud sound of gunfire immediately followed by several explosions striking the Alpha Naytiba's chest causing it to screech loudly as it was knocked back. A side effect of this however was the force of the explosions also knocking Eve and Naruto back a bit due to how close they were to the Alpha. The shockwaves dazed the already injured pair and knocked them unconscious. Though seconds before they were, the two heard the sound of an engine and could just make out some sort of vehicle with someone riding it rapidly approaching them.

End Chapter 1

Ending Author Note: Well there is Chapter 1 of what is potentially the FIRST ever Naruto x Stellar Blade Crossover and I hoped you all enjoyed it.

Now one thing I want to mention is that a lot of stuff namely in regards to Naruto, Eve, Airborne Squadron Members in general, abilities, Naytiba and so on is going to be explained as the story progresses. This is mainly due to how stuff is revealed in the game.

Additionally as I stated above BE SURE TO FAVORITE! Given how that's one of the best/most reliable ways to find out if a story is updated whenever the Email Alert bug happens like it currently is. Another way is to use the Fanfiction App if you are able as notifications still work on there.