Naruto Current Combat Load:

Armor: Experimental Forerunner Mjolnir Mark I

Human Weapons: BR55 Battle Rifle, M6G Magnum, experimental sniper rifle

Covenant Weapons: None

Equipment: (2) frag grenade, (2) stun grenade, (1) stun grenade

0908 hours, February 23, 2551 (military calendar)

UMC Command Center

Planet Reach

Can the UMC and the UNSC defend Planet Reach from a Covenant invasion? That's the question that was asked in a private meeting. In the room was Naruto, Tsunade, Shizune, and a few other commanders and officers from the UMC. Projected on the monitor was Dr. Catherine Halsey, Fleet Admiral Hiruzen, and other officers and clan leaders. Clan leaders like Hiashi of the Hyuuga Clan, Inochi of the Yamanaka, Mikoto of the Uchiha, Mito of the Uzumaki, and Tsume of the Inuzuka.

"If they invade with a fleet the size of their usual, then no" answered Naruto making frowns and mumbles echo all around. He continued on "multiple UMC fleets are in the Asari sector, increasing the defenses, other fleets are defending the home sector, and the remaining are building up or in repair. The UNSC fleets and ships are scattered all around defending from different attacks. The Fleet if you would call it that here is understaffed"

"And what would you purpose we do when they invade?" asked Mikoto as she, like everyone else knew that it was only a matter of time before they arrived in force.

Tsunade taking the lead tap a button on the table to activate the 3d projector to show the planet Reach. "We have a single fleet patrolling the space elevator and orbital station. It's not one of our larger fleets but it's a decent amount with a good combination of ships. We also have a few mine fields and a total of 35 Super Mass Defensive Heavy Turrets. The same turrets are being built in the Asari sector. These defensives will last some time before being overwhelmed."

She then zoomed in to the ground view of the UMC territory. The orbital elevator was in the center surrounded by numerous buildings. Surrounding the orbital elevator were different sectors for different purposes. The sectors were industrial, living, military, and dry docks. "We have defenses like MAC's and shielding set up all over the area. These defenses above and below will stall the Covenant invasion, but it suggested we evacuate the planet. Move all personal and assets off immediately. Anything we can't take we will destroy so it can't be used against us" she finished.

Mito hearing this gave a nod as others spoke among themselves. "Naruto" she stated gaining his attention. "Your insight on this?"

"I say we do as she says. Once we are built back up, we will take the planet back. We can replace these buildings and items. Most likely better than before. But we can't replace lives" he stated gaining mostly everyone's agreement. "So, this is the plan. We shall begin evacuations now. We will use the Orbital lift, ports, and docks. The personnel not assisting with the evacuations shall combat any Covenant forces until they are done. I will be personally assisting the UNSC and UMC to fight the Covenant. I can do a lot of damage on the ground, but space is out of my hands" he finished. With that all parties started planning and commencing the evacuations as Naruto stepped off for his part. To hunt the Covenant.

Nightfall

As parts of Noble team were on their own recon mission, Naruto was performing his own in the area. That was to find their main base of operations. Holding onto the top of a tree he was shadowing a covenant patrol consisting of a single elite and a group of grunts. He could continue to shadow them and hope for them to eventually lead them to their main base of operations.

Or….

Letting go of the tree trunk he fell down landing and crushing the elite. With the elite crushed to death, the grunts panicked only for him to draw and gunned them down with a silenced pistol. Single rounds to each of the grunt's heads ended any noise that would have occurred. With the patrol wiped out, he continued on. After all the best way to flush out the location of the enemy base was causing enough attention to draw them out. It also helped Noble Team as it drawn attention from them.

Walking off to find the next patrol, he left the dead bodies where they were. No need to hide them as he wanted them to know that he was hunting them. And hunt he did. One by one Covenant patrols fell prey to him in large quantities. They even started adding vehicles to their patrols which did nothing but made them easier for him to find.

With the elimination of patrol number twenty he saw from his vantage point that they were increasing the size of their patrols as well as the number of them. Something very foolish of them to do as they now led him to his prize. A shield covering what looked like a mini city. The shield covered the area so the lights wouldn't show but once you get closer, you can start to see it. Sneaking up closer to a nearby cliff, he could now see the bright city holding numerous troops and factories.

'They must have been setting up for a long time to prepare for this' he thought zooming his helmet's camera to get a closer look. "Kora, link this feed up to command, so they know what they are up against" he ordered.

: Will do, setting up link now : she called out establishing the connection.

From the UMC Headquarters Tsunade was looking over the preparation and evaluations when a link request came in from Naruto. Bringing it up and displaying it on the main monitor, everyone stopped what they were doing to see the large Covenant base underneath a shield.

"Naruto, is this real?" questioned Tsunade.

"It is. They must have been on the planet for some time. And with the amount that has been built, I can only think of a super carrier supplying it. It is unknown if it's still in the area."

"We will come up with some options. For now, gather as much intel as you can and then pull back. We need all the time we can, so don't startle them any more than you have into attacking".

"Understood. I'll set up defenses and then return to base" he finished as he placed his hand down on the ground. Along the armor on his arm, seals appeared and glowed blue. In a puff of smoke, a medium size missile turret appeared on the ground. Typing a few commands on the console the turret turned to face the shield and went on standby. Moving all around he placed more turrets well hidden by seals and on standby.

UMC Main Headquarters

Landing on the platform in a crouch, Naruto stood back up with his helmet retracting to see a pelican land nearby to offload its passengers consisting of part of Noble Team. From around the base aircraft were quickly taking off and landing as the plan was to start the evacuation quietly. Any form of panic or mass rushing could startle the Covenant into attacking early. So, buses were moving back and forth into the cities and villages to pick people up and transport them here. From here they would either board a ship, aircraft, or the orbital elevator.

Walking up to the Noble operators Jun and Natalie he asked, "How did the mission go?" Upon noticing him the two gave him a quick salute and started reporting.

"The mission went well. He tracked down the Covenant to a few of their small bases and cleared it out" started Jun removing his helmet. "We also assisted some marines and armed civilians in defending themselves from the Covenant forces. Finishing the mission up we found the pylon creating the dark zone and place charges upon it to be detonated later. We also found the reason for the dark zone" he explained.

"The Covenant base and invasion force" answered Naruto much to Jun's confusion on how he got that information. "I was on my own scouting mission and discovered it. Your mission allowed for us to find the pylon that was helping hide everything. Now go get some rest. We have a war to fight tomorrow." He finished his talk as Natalie took off her helmet to reveal her short dark red hair and blue eyes. She could be mistaken for a Uzumaki easily if he didn't knew better.

"Where will you be tomorrow?" she asked in a low but stoic voice as he smiled at her. It seems being in that team has brought emotion and free thinking to her.

"I won't be far from you and Noble Team. I will be leading the charge in order to cause as much destruction and attention upon myself. You just have to use that opportunity to complete your own missions". Giving her a pat on the shoulder he left the two for them to link up with the others as he went inside the building.

Kora had already briefed the others so there was no need for him to speak to the others again. So, with that in mind he went to his room to relax. With the doors closing behind him, he placed his armor to the side and headed for the shower.

Turning on the water, he allowed for its warmth to embrace him knowing that it would probably be the last time he would feel it in a while. Closing his eyes as the rain pelted his body, he sensed before he felt a pair of hands wrap around him from behind. Following the hug, he felt a pair of large breasts pressed up against him.

"This may be the last chance we get to enjoy this for a while" whispered a voice he recognized as Tsunade's. "The fights will be fierce" she added as he gave a grunt of agreement.

"Then we better make this moment last until we can go again" said Naruto turning around, wrapping her in a hug and kissing her deeply. Pressing her back against the wall, he continued making out with her when she placed a hand on his chest to stop him.

Getting him to stop for a second she spoke "I thought that since we have a very important war coming up and anything could happen, to add something to this".

Hearing this he felt another pair of hands touch his back making him turn around to see a blushing and naked Shizune there. "Better late than never" she stated while offering a shy smile before stealing her nerves and placing a light kiss on his lips.

Note:

Thank you to those who help support on the pat account and also thank you for the reviews. Your support helps me create more chapters a lot quicker.

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