Third Person's Point of View
Location: Main Conference Room, Deck 1, USS Enterprise-D, Main Conference Room
Stardate: 41783.46 (October 14, 2364 – 09:00 Hours)
The curved expanse of the Enterprise's conference room was quiet as the senior staff assembled, stars streaking by through the panoramic windows as the ship cruised at warp. Captain Picard stood at the head of the long table, his hands clasped behind his back, his gaze shifting from one officer to the next. To his right sat Commander Riker, composed but watchful; Counselor Troi beside him, her expression full of empathy for the young cadets seated across from her. Data's golden eyes flickered with curiosity, while Worf loomed silent, arms crossed, studying Naruto as if weighing his spirit. Naruto sat at the far side of the table, his mates lined on either side of him, cadet uniforms freshly pressed, faces set with determination. Himawari perched close to her father, her small frame straight-backed, her cadet collar gleaming.
Picard's voice was calm but heavy with authority. "Evidence recovered from the Cochrane points to the existence of a Romulan science station. Its purpose: experimentation with Borg nanites on orphans, as was done to Ensign Rahl. Intelligence believes this outpost lies near the edge of the Neutral Zone, cloaked and shielded. The Admiralty has assigned us to locate and dismantle it." He allowed the words to settle, his gaze steady on Naruto. "This will be your first true test, Lieutenant Uzumaki."
Data leaned forward, hands folded neatly on the table. "The Romulans are proficient in cloaking technology, but they have not yet perfected the complete masking of tachyon emissions. A grid of tachyon detection beams, deployed along the border, may reveal the station's presence." His tone was clinical, but his eyes flicked to Naruto as if measuring his reaction. Naruto listened carefully, his fingers tapping the table lightly before he spoke. "Tachyon nets could work, but the Romulans will expect that. If they're experimenting on children, they won't risk exposure. They'll bury the station deeper, close enough to feed off border traffic, but hidden where cloaks blend best: a nebula." The room shifted, several officers glancing at one another. Worf grunted, his deep voice carrying both skepticism and respect. "He thinks like a hunter."
Riker frowned, leaning back. "You're suggesting they'd hide inside an ionized nebula? That would strain their power systems." Naruto shook his head, his voice firm. "Not if they're using Borg tech to stabilize their grid. It's what I'd do if I wanted both cover and strength." His words hung in the air, confidence burning in his nineteen-year-old frame, tempered by lived battles that none of them had ever walked. For a moment, the senior staff was silent, then Troi spoke softly. "He believes this completely. And… he's not wrong."
Picard allowed the faintest smile, his voice thoughtful. "Then we will test your theory, Lieutenant. Mr. Worf, prepare tactical drills for close-range engagement in a nebular environment. Mr. Data, run sensor modifications to amplify tachyon detection through interference. Mr. La Forge, coordinate with Engineering to adjust the shields." He turned, meeting Naruto's eyes directly. "And you, Lieutenant, your insight will guide this mission. You and your team will accompany the away detail once the station is located. Consider this your first command outside of simulation."
Naruto's breath caught as every mate at his side straightened, pride and fear mingling in their bond. Hinata squeezed his hand under the table, her soft voice steady. "We're ready." Tsunade leaned forward, smirking despite the weight in her chest. "About time we see real action." And Shion whispered a quiet prayer in Bajoran, her eyes burning bright with conviction.
Picard's gaze swept the room, his voice final. "We stand at the edge of more than Romulan deception. The work being done at that station threatens not only the Federation but the very soul of what it means to be free. We will not allow it. Dismissed."
Location: Main Engineering, Main USS Enterprise-D, Main Engineering
Stardate: 41783.61 (October 14, 2364 – 13:45 Hours)
The warp core pulsed like a living heart, its blue-white column bathing Main Engineering in a constant hum of power. Geordi La Forge stood at the master systems display, the "pool table" already buried in sensor calibration readouts when Naruto and his mates entered, their cadet uniforms catching the overhead light. Himawari trotted beside them, wide-eyed, her hands clasped behind her back as though afraid to touch the sacred machinery. Geordi glanced up, his VISOR gleaming, and managed a smile. "So, this is the crew of cadets that already has half the Admiralty talking. Well, welcome to Engineering. Let's see if you're as good with ships as you are with prophecies."
Naruto stepped forward, golden sparks flickering faintly beneath his skin before he forced them down. His voice was steady, carrying both humility and confidence. "We're not here to impress anyone. We're here to help find the station before the Romulans can hurt anyone else." His mates fanned out around the pool table, Samui crossing her arms, scanning the tactical readouts; Ino and Hinata linking their senses to the data streams; Mabui and T'Pol leaning in with sharp Vulcan logic; Mei tapping her claws lightly against the railing, already thinking in terms of fire and steel. Geordi pointed at the schematic of the Neutral Zone nebula cluster. "If Uzumaki's right, the station's hiding inside interference. Our normal sensor sweeps won't cut it. We'll need an edge."
Naruto reached into his uniform, pulling out the small crystalline drive, the same one that housed Kurama's link. He placed it gently into the pool table's auxiliary port, his hand lingering for a moment. The core lights dimmed, then flared brighter, as a soft, familiar voice rippled through the room. "Kurama, interface complete. Enterprise, you're mine now, too." Engineers jumped back at the sudden intrusion, but Geordi raised a hand to steady them. The pool table display shifted, its outlines rimmed with golden energy as new diagnostic layers appeare,d tachyon grids overlaid with chakra-infused resonance mapping. Naruto exhaled as he felt her presence steady within him. "She's not just interfacing, she's reading the interference like it's alive."
Data stepped forward, his head tilting, eyes flickering as he analyzed. "Fascinating. The integration is not parasitic, as one would expect of Borg-linked code, but symbiotic. It is as though the ship's sensors are receiving…intuition." His gaze locked on Naruto. "Lieutenant, this may allow you to anticipate Romulan cloak vectors before they appear on standard readouts," Worf growled softly from where he had taken post near the door, his eyes narrowing. "That gives us the hunter's edge. If it works, the Romulans will have nowhere to hide." The room felt suddenly smaller, the tension thick with anticipation.
Naruto leaned over the pool table, golden light flickering faintly across his fingertips as he traced the nebula map. His voice was quiet, but it carried raw conviction. "They're not just hiding. They're experimenting on children. That means supply lines, power draws, something that leaves a mark even in a nebula. If we thread the tachyon sweep with Kurama's pattern, we'll see it." Hinata placed her hand on his arm, her lavender eyes glowing softly. "And we'll hold you steady if the bond tries to pull too hard." The mates all nodded, their unity palpable, their emotions raw but resolute. For a moment, even hardened engineers fell silent, watching as something greater than technology and training unfolded before them.
Geordi finally grinned, shaking his head in disbelief. "Well, I don't know what you all are… but if this works, you just gave us a fighting chance." Kurama's voice purred through the console, warm and proud. "Not 'what,' La Forge. Who. We are Naruto Uzumaki, and we're not done yet."
Stardate: 41783.68 (October 14, 2364 – 16:10 Hours)
The resonance of the warp core throbbed like a distant heart, steady and deep. Light from the golden-tinted LCARS overlays shimmered across the faces of the assembled cadets and officers. At the center stood Naruto Uzumaki, his fingers splayed across the glowing interface, feeling not just reading what pulsed beneath the ship's skin. His uniform clung to his frame, a cadet's dark grey, yet his collar bore the silver bar of a field-promoted Lieutenant. The nanites beneath his skin were dormant for now, but his soul was anything but.
"I feel it," he whispered, not to the crew, but to Kurama. "I know you do," came her voice, silk threaded with light and electric warmth, resonating through the comms. "The nebula is speaking. And the silence it tried to hide…has fractured." Tenten leaned closer, her fingers sliding across the golden-enhanced sensor map. "There's a distortion here, like something tugging on space, but it doesn't register on standard scan bands. It's hiding."
"Not hiding," corrected Kurenai, her crimson eyes flashing in thought, "anchored. Whoever they are, they're not just buried in the interference they have shaped it around them." Mabui's brow furrowed as her Vulcan logic warred with the unknown. "The phase pattern is…irregular. This isn't a simple cloaking field. It's absorbing tachyon feedback, breaking coherence, and reemitting sensor wash to mask the signature. But it's imperfect."
Naruto's right hand trembled slightly. Chakra spiked involuntarily in his forearm, his injector port flashing a dull amber. Hinata stepped forward without a word and pressed her hand against his chest, her gentle mind touching his. "Breathe with me," she said, voice like starlight.
The tremor faded. The golden nanites eased back into harmony, Kurama humming softly in the background of his mind. He gave her a silent thank you through the bond. "The trail…it is not just tech," Naruto said aloud, turning to Geordi. "It is an emotion something leaking through from the other side. Frustration. Desperation. They're not just hiding…they are waiting."
Kurama's voice came again, softer now, intimate through the deck-plated connection. "There's a corridor ahead. I've traced it as an ion bleed curved by warp wake residue. Whatever cloaked station is out there, it's adjusting its position slowly, a kilometer at a time, likely to avoid long-range triangulation. I wouldn't have noticed it if we weren't already inside the distortion."
Shion's expression grew solemn. "The Romulans are playing a long game, Naruto. They're using tricks I've only heard whispered in the Cardassian fronts. Patience and cloaked teeth." Samui folded her arms, her voice clipped but clear. "If we act too fast, they'll vanish again. We need precision. Subtlety."
"You all act like I'm some wild trigger," Naruto grinned faintly, shaking his head. "We've been through worse. We do this right, together." He placed his hand back on the golden surface and closed his eyes.
The room dimmed. The LCARS panel surged gold overlay, intertwining with blue and white Starfleet data. Chakra flickered like heat lightning across the ceiling panels.
"I've overlaid the path into the nav grid," Kurama announced. "It's safe, but narrow. Like threading a needle in the dark with a blindfold on if that blindfold were made of phase-shifted plasma storms."
"Perfect," Naruto said, opening his eyes. "Sounds like my kind of party."
Location: Bridge, Deck 1, USS Enterprise-D → Transporter Room 3, Room 2054, Deck 6 → Romulan D'deridex-class Warbird (Deep Redava Nebula, Cloaked Sector)
Stardate: 41783.94 (October 14, 2364 – 20:34 Hours)
"Captain, we're receiving a narrow-band hail," Lieutenant Worf said from tactical, voice alert, not alarmed. "It's coming from a cloaked contact just off our port bow, one hundred seventy-five thousand kilometers out. Faint energy bleed matches D'deridex-class hull profile. But there's...no power signature beyond life support."
Picard leaned forward. "Open a channel." The voice that came through was stuttering, static-laced. "This is ekkt civilian freighter T'relaan…hrrrk in distress. We are requesting…humanitarian assistance." Geordi frowned from Engineering over the comm line. "That's no freighter."
Naruto stepped forward from where he stood near the science station, Hinata just behind him, her hand lightly touching his back, anchoring him. Kurama's voice thrummed in his mind, golden and wary. "It's not a trap. But it's not what they claim either. This feels wrong."
"I volunteer for the away team," Naruto said firmly, facing the captain. "With my cadet unit. This smells like a Romulan deception, but not a hostile one. I think something went wrong. Badly."
"Agreed," Picard nodded, eyes narrowing. "Worf, Data, accompany them. Use pattern enhancers. I want full tactical awareness. Mister Uzumaki, you have mission lead authority."
Location: Main Bridge, D'deridex-class Warbird, Cloaked Zone
20 Minutes Later
The air was cold, but not in temperature, but in silence, the absence of motion, of breath like the very walls of the Romulan warbird dared the intruders to make noise. Naruto materialized onto the bridge first, golden nanites buzzing subtly in his blood, refraining from full Borg-mode activation. His mates Hinata, Tenten, Samui, Kurenai, and Mabui flanked him, each scanning the chamber with tricorders and trained instincts, with Worf and Data guarding the rear.
"I don't like this," Tenten whispered, pulse elevated. "This place should be crawling with crew, but it's like… they're here, but not alive." Hinata whispered with eyes wide. "They are alive, but they are…quiet. Like echoes. No surface thoughts, only whispers."
That's when Naruto heard them, a ripple no, a chorus of female voices poured into his mind like warm light wrapped in static. "Our King…our Light… our Golden Bond…" His breath caught. He staggered. Kurenai moved to steady him, but he held a hand up, shaking his head.
"I hear them," he murmured. "They're not machines. They're like Ensign Rahl, but hundreds of them. No… over a thousand. Kurama, how many life signs?" Kurama's voice over the away team comm was filled with hushed awe. "One thousand, four hundred ninety-nine. All female. All present. All calling you by name, Naruto." Samui paled. "The Romulans… they did it again. Experimented on their own."
"They were trying to control assimilation," Mabui said. "Like the Rahl. But this…this is a ship full of survivors." Data approached the sealed door to the ready room. "Captain's quarters. Sealed internally. One life sign inside is fully Romulan, not hybridized. She's… trembling." Naruto stepped forward. He placed his hand on the lock and activated the override, the doors hissed open.
Inside the Ready Room
The chamber was dark but warm lit only by the faint green glow of emergency lighting. Huddled near the back, phaser pistol in hand, was a Romulan woman, her breathing sharp and panicked. Her uniform was ripped at the collar, and her eyes wide with fear.
She looked up at Naruto then gasped. "You're him…The voice they all speak of…" she whispered, lowering her weapon. "Are you going to…finish me?" Naruto knelt, hands open. "I'm not your enemy. I'm here to help. Please your crew… they're alive. They're waiting. They need you." Her lower lip trembled. "My first officer… she was my sister…my twin sister…She was taken first. I locked myself in here when the lights died…I thought she had come back to kill me."
The door behind Naruto hissed again. In silence, a beautiful Romulan-Borg hybrid stepped forward. Her skin was smooth, olive-toned, with green luminescent veins running just beneath the surface. Her armored torso replaced her former uniform's upper half, leaving her shoulders and well-endowed chest framed by Borg alloy.
"Liala," she said, voice soft, almost shy. "You always were dramatic." The captain's eyes flooded with tears. "Jelna…?" The hybrid Repises. "I remember…I remember everything now." She stepped forward and dropped to her knees, embracing her twin. "I am not lost. He… Naruto…he brought me back."
Jelna looked up, golden energy pulsing in her eyes. "Sister…It is time…I'm no longer the commanding officer…You are not either…He is." Liala stated. "You want me to…surrender this ship to him?"
"You're not surrendering, sis" Jelna whispered, pressing her forehead to hers. "You're setting us free." Liala turned to Naruto. "Then… I, Commander Liala of the I.R.W. Vereth'kha, formally cede command to you, Lieutenant Uzumaki."
Bridge: 12 Minutes Later
The lights flickered. Then steadied. Consoles warmed. A low hum returned. Power crawled back like a waking serpent. "Comms online," Kurenai reported. "Enterprise is hailing." Naruto stepped forward. "On screen." Picard appeared, framed in the blue haze of the main viewer. "Report, Mister Uzumaki."
Naruto straightened. "Sir. We have recovered the crew. One thousand, four hundred and ninety-nine hybridized survivors. All female. One unaltered captain. They are stable and requesting asylum." "Understood. Proceed as necessary," Picard replied, but his eyes widened slightly at the next sight.
As the bridge systems surged to full, a massive port rose from the central console circular, golden, crystalline, and pulsing like a heartbeat. Without hesitation, Naruto stepped forward and inserted his right forearm into the port. His golden nanites flared just as a golden glow shimmered to his right.
Kurama materialized in hard-light form. Her Starfleet uniform shimmered with tailored perfection, her nine golden fox tails curling with radiant energy. One Borg eye-piece glowed from her left socket, elegant and seamless.
"I am Kurama," she said. "And this ship is now… family."
Location: Command Center, I.R.W. Vereth'kha D'deridex-class Warbird, Docked, Enterprise-D Sensor Range, Redava Nebula Deep Sector
Stardate: 41784.07 (October 14, 2364 – 23:14 Hours)
The silence on the Vereth'kha's bridge had transformed. What was once still and heavy with shadow now pulsed with soft light and awakening power. The crystalline node pulsing at the command nexus had accepted Naruto's golden nanite injection. Kurama had manifested beside him in full form, clad in her Starfleet Sciences uniform, her nine golden tails curling behind her, Borg eye-glow washing across the dark green of Romulan steel.
"System interfaces responding, the ship recognizes you as primary command authority. Full access to databanks now unlocked" Kurama said, her voice low and reverent. "I can feel them," Naruto whispered. "All of them. Their minds… they're not just calling me King because they were programmed to. They chose it. Out of pain. Out of survival."
The Romulan hybrid First Officer, Jelna, stood to Naruto's left, hands folded, her golden-glowing eyes reflecting Kurama's aura. "We saw something in you… even before the link was whole. Our sisters on DS7 were the first. You freed one. Rahl. That ripple… came here."
"Kurama Begin with the logs," Naruto said, Kurama nodded once and touched the console. A Romulan database sprang into view green, cryptic glyphs shifting, then translating into Federation Standard as Kurama filtered the stream. Screens appeared around them in a rotating arc, each showing fragments: stardate records, genetic overlays, assimilation records, video logs. One symbol caught Naruto's eye that keep poping up. "No… that can't be," he muttered.
It was a mark a sharp-edged black-and-red sigil made of three interlocking spirals enclosed in a triangle. He had seen it before. Not here. Not in this universe. But in the final battle of the Fourth Great War… carved into Obito's chestplate. It had survived the time transition.
"What is that?" Worf asked from the side. "It's… not Romulan. It is other. It's something we carried with us, unknowingly," Naruto replied, hand tightening into a fist. "This shouldn't exist here."
One screen opened into a personnel file. Dozens of profiles flashed by Starfleet. All female. All missing. Stolen from DS7, Deep Space Four, even the neutral zone. Their bioscans flickered with attempted assimilation, marked either "Completed," "In Progress," or... "Failed." Then one stopped him cold. "Sakura…" he breathed.
She was older now, as he was nineteen, the same age he'd been before rebirth. The image was a full-body holograph, chilling and incomplete. She stood no, hovered in a Borg stasis cradle. Her body encased in hybrid armor, shaped and sleek, with full curvature on display, exaggerated like the others except her eyes were closed, and her vitals pulsed low. Her status read: INCOMPLETE HYBRIDIZATION – MISSING PRIMARY NANITE PAIRING – STASIS HOLD (SECTOR 1199.7-G, NEBULA CORE STATION SIGMA-23)
Samui stepped forward. "You know her." "No We Know her as she was one of us," Naruto whispered. "But she didn't make the crossing…or so we thought. She was supposed to reincarnate. We all felt her spirit go quiet. But now I know why. They pulled her. Before the soul could settle. She's here…But she is trapped."
Mabui's fingers danced over the terminal. "Location locked. Sigma-23 is not on Romulan star charts. The coordinates are subspace encrypted. This base doesn't report to the Senate or Tal Shiar." "Then who does it report to?" Kurenai asked coldly.
Kurama's voice turned to steel. "It answers to no state. No flag. No Starfleet or Empire. It answers only to the symbol. A hidden faction using the resources of both governments. Rogue scientists, ex-Tal Shiar, former Section 31. They're using the nebula as a veil." Naruto turned toward the Romulan captain, Liala. "Will your people help us stop them?"
Liala stepped forward, gaze firm. "This ship was built to enforce Empire law. But my crew my sisters have been violated. I will see the ones responsible broken. You lead. We follow."
Secure Comm with Enterprise-D and Romulan Command (Encrypted)
Minutes Later
Picard's face filled the screen. On the secondary screen, a Romulan Admiral-General Tavos appeared, flanked by diplomatic officers. "This information," Picard said, "is…astounding. Starfleet Intelligence will want a copy, but we must act first to protect the lives aboard that station."
"We agree," Tavos said. "No politics. No press. No delay. If this Sigma-23 facility exists then both our peoples have been compromised." Naruto stepped into view, flanked by Jelna and Kurama. His golden aura flickered just beneath his skin, steady and warm. "Then let me lead," Naruto said. "This ship is mine. Its crew is healed but still Borg enough to resist what's coming. I'll take a joint task force in. Federation. Romulan. My cadets. My mates. We'll find Sigma-23 and end this. We'll bring back whoever we can including Sakura."
There was silence on both ends. Then, from Picard: "Approved." And from Tavos: "Make them pay."
Location: Deep Redava Nebula on Approach Vector to Sigma-23 Experimental Station
Stardate: 41784.35 (October 15, 2364 – 06:24 Hours)
The veil of the nebula shifted like a curtain of living smoke as the joint task force pushed deeper into the unknown. The USS Enterprise-D, with her sleek frame and soft warp field hum, held formation starboard of the IRW Vereth'kha, while three Romulan D'ridthau-class birds-of-prey maintained a diamond escort pattern around them. Their phasers, disruptors, and deflector shields were fully powered, yet none had fired a shot. Not yet.
Inside the bridge of the Vereth'kha, Naruto stood tall, gold light flickering subtly beneath his skin from the nanites harmonizing with Kurama's integrated presence. His mates stood beside him Hinata watching from ops with silent focus, Kurenai coordinating psi-readings, Tenten tracking movement signatures, and Samui at the tactical overlay with her arms folded, calculating. Kurama's voice emerged from the gold-threaded LCARS interface, calm and resonant: "Nebular interference fading. Cloaked drift pattern decoded. Target emerging bearing zero-three-one-mark-one-five."
The mists parted. And there it was…Sigma-23. A station of monolithic size, larger than any Romulan outpost recorded in Starfleet archives. Its structure was dark, chiseled, and ringed with glowing emerald nodes each pulsing slowly like a heartbeat. Antennas twisted like mechanical vines across its surface, and at its base, twenty small craft launched in a perfect dispersal pattern.
"Hostiles?" asked Worf's voice over the secure channel. "Not all of them," Naruto murmured, eyes narrowing. Kurama confirmed it moments later. "Half are standard Tal Shiar drone-fighters. The other ten…Romulan-Borg hybrids. Almost identical architecture to our sisters aboard this vessel."
"They're coming for us," Mabui noted, watching the pattern emerge. "But the hybrids aren't attacking." Naruto's fingers gripped the command port, golden lattice briefly flashing across his forearm. His mind reached not with words, but with presence. He felt them.
The ten hybrid fighters piloted by females, half-Borg, half-Romulan suddenly trembled in their formation. Green-glow transitioned to soft gold. Chakra harmonics registered through the interface. The psychic link flared. "King…" came the whispered thought from ten minds at once. "We were waiting…You are real… Our King"
Hinata gasped softly. "They linked. Fully and without resistance." And then like a switch flipped those ten fighters turned, banking hard and opening fire not on the Vereth'kha, but on their Tal Shiar-aligned counterparts. "I knew it," Naruto said, voice like steel wrapped in sunlight. "They weren't lost. They were stolen. And now…they're coming home."
Aboard the Enterprise-D, the bridge crew stared in disbelief as the hybrid fighters, now bearing gold-tinted wake trails, coordinated with lethal efficiency flanking the Tal Shiar drones and cutting through their ranks with brutal precision. "They've turned on their own?" Riker muttered. "No," Picard said quietly, his voice filled with gravity. "They've returned to someone who sees them as people. As more than weapons."
"Bridge to Engineering," Picard continued. "Lieutenant Commander Kurama advise your Captain. The Enterprise stands ready to assist. His war has become our duty."
Main Bridge of the Vereth'kha
As the final Tal Shiar-aligned fighters were disabled, the gold-tinted hybrids returned to formation, floating in a crescent arc like protective wings around the warbird's hull. Jelna turned to Naruto, her armored chestplate still shimmering faintly. "Sigma-23 didn't account for a living resonance. For your presence. They couldn't predict the link."
Naruto exhaled slowly. "That's their mistake. They assumed hybrids were programmable. But they forgot one thing." Shizuka asked from the side "And what is that". Naruto's eyes gleamed with golden fire. "That I was born stubborn. And no one steals family from me."mKurama's golden interface bloomed into full tactical display. "Station weapons online. Heavy subspace turrets rotating. Deflector-linked plasma cores spooling. They're preparing for a siege."
"They won't get one," Kurotsuchi said firmly from damage control. "Not if we breach from within." "We still have that opening," T'Pol added, stepping beside Naruto, her voice measured and exact. "Their carrier fighters cleared a ventral maintenance shaft wide enough for infiltration. If we deploy a combined infiltration team hybrids and Starfleet we can get inside."
Naruto nodded. "Do it. I'll lead the strike. I've already felt Sakura's mind. She's alive. They need us in there." Kurama leaned forward from her hardlight form, golden eyes glowing. "And I will hold the gate while you're gone. This ship, your ship… will wait for you."
Location: Hybrid Incubation Lab, Deck 47, Sigma-23 Experimental Station
Stardate: 41784.56 (October 15, 2364 – 10:03 Hours)
The atmosphere inside Deck 47 was heavy with a sterile, artificial chill, the kind only found in places designed to hold life without respecting it. The glow from overhead Borg lumens bathed the dark corridors in alternating waves of green and gold. Kurama's golden LCARS threads pulsed faintly from Naruto's wrist interface, projecting filtered scans over the station's corrupt signal distortions. Aboard the Vereth'kha, Jelna and the hybrid pilots watched silently through neural relay, ready to deploy if resistance stirred.
Naruto moved forward first, his Cadet uniform sealed for tactical deployment, the Starfleet delta on his chest flickering dimly in the recycled station air. His mates followed close behind Mabui with her tricorder, Tenten with her phase rifle at the ready, Kurenai and Hinata walking in step, eyes scanning for psionic traps. Behind them, Yugito Nii and Mikoto Uchiha guarded the rear, flanked by two hybrid commandos. None of them spoke but they didn't need to. The moment Naruto's golden nanites shimmered faintly through his exposed injector port, they all felt it. A low, distant hum in the walls… as if the station itself had inhaled.
"This deck wasn't a lab," Mabui said, her voice tight. "It's a womb." And it was. Rows of incubation pods lined both walls stacked three high, connected by pulsating green conduits and chakra-infused metallic supports. Each pod was filled with a female figure. And each bore a species identifier etched onto the black alloy at its base: Human, Vulcan, Bajoran, Klingon, Orion, Cardassian, Romulan, Caitian but never Trill.
"They couldn't assimilate Trills," T'Pol said quietly from the side, hands clasped behind her back. "Symbionts and Borg nanotech were inherently incompatible. The ones they tried… died."
Naruto's heart clenched. "They picked the ones they thought would survive better." He stepped closer to a pod labeled Lieutenant Saelok – USS Asha – MIA: 2363. A Vulcan. Her hair floated freely within the fluid, and she bore no visible scars, only the distinctive silver-and-black body armor from the neck down, molded seamlessly to her curvaceous, well-developed frame. Her breasts and hips were outlined clearly, the suit enhancing both protection and allure, like all the hybrids they'd encountered.
"I served with her," Mabui whispered. "She was logic-bound. Brilliant. She had a sister on Earth." Naruto reached out and the moment his palm touched the interface, her eyes opened. And found that they were Gold, not green. Her pod hissed and it Released…"King…" she breathed…And as if awakened by a signal every pod along the deck began to react.
Lights pulsed. Fluids drained. Hundreds of bodies powerful, feminine, hybridized began to stir. Some opened their eyes, others began to smile. They weren't mindless drones. They weren't broken. "They were never failures," Kurama said through the comm, her voice laced with wonder. "They weren't waiting for a signal… they were waiting for you, Naruto."
All around him, the pods unlocked and lifted. One after another, enhanced women of every known Alpha Quadrant species stepped forward in silence, kneeling as one. Their forms were identical in quality well-endowed, muscular yet graceful, their armor form-fitted with Romulan-Borg architecture woven to highlight not just function but identity.
Hinata spoke softly beside him, her hand reaching toward one. "They're bonded now. To you. To your light. They knew they weren't lost… because something in their souls remembered your chakra." One of the hybrids, a Betazoid with silver hair, stood upright. "We have no designation… but if you will it… we are yours." Naruto stepped forward, his voice steady as he looked out over the crowd. "You don't need designations anymore. You have names. You have lives."
Kurama's voice cut in again. "Naruto biometric resonance across all pods has synchronized with your nanite frequency. They were never meant to be activated by the Sigma-23 scientists. Their bonds were delayed, their hybridization stalled at the final neural layer, waiting for the correct 'signal host' a stabilizer with golden-core nanites. That's you."
"Then we end this," Naruto said, turning toward the command console at the end of the room. "We liberate the rest. Then we bring Sakura home."
Location: Core Chamber (Designation: Stasis Lab Theta Prime), Deck 99, Sigma-23 Experimental Station
Stardate: 41784.78 (October 15, 2364 – 13:52 Hours)
The chamber at the center of Sigma-23 was unlike anything Naruto or his team had seen before. Circular in design, but layered in arcs of green-tinted Borg alloy and Romulan blackstone, it pulsed with quiet, calculated dread. The lights in the ceiling blinked irregularly, as if unsure whether to reveal or hide the truth slumbering within. Each step into the chamber felt heavier, thick with meaning and fear. At its heart, elevated on a dark dais with three segmented armor rings surrounding her stasis pod, floated Sakura but not as Naruto remembered her.
Her long hair was swept back behind her head, weightless in the stasis fluid. She was perfectly still, but her body radiated raw, pent-up energy. The pod armor was thicker here her hybridization clearly more advanced than any of the others. Her body was wrapped from the collarbone down in a jet-black Borg-Romulan armor casing high-tech, seamless, curved and unmistakably tailored to her frame. Her chestplate was sculpted, powerful, curved around her full, heavy bust; her waist and hips were high-formed and armored in spiraled plates, while her thighs were reinforced like a hunter's limbs, built to move, to strike. She was a weapon. A queen not yet awake.
"This is wrong," whispered Hinata, her voice trembling. "Those inhibitors… they aren't passive failsafes. They're active. If she wakes wrong, she'll die. Or be triggered into killing herself." Kurama's voice emerged through Naruto's neural comms. "You must override them manually. They're neural, spinal, and chakra-inhibitor locks programmed to reject any unauthorized energy source. But your nanites… your golden core… is compatible."
Naruto took a breath, then stepped forward. His team stood back, giving him space, eyes focused on him with faith, worry, and awe. "You've got this," Mabui said. "Bring her back," whispered Ino. "I'm right here if you fall," said Hinata, her hand over her heart.
Naruto removed the outer gauntlet of his Cadet uniform, revealing the golden injector port gleaming beneath his skin. The moment his fingers touched the command terminal on the stasis cradle, the room reacted with blades of light sliced across the chamber in red warning arcs, and mechanical arms twitched above Sakura's pod.
"WARNING: Protocol Chain Sigma-Kilo-Three activated," announced a distorted female voice. "Triple-kill matrix engaged. Kingbreaker filter: offline. Intrusion detected."
Then Naruto let go, but he didn't think he let go, he released control of the golden nanites within him. His skin shimmered. Chakra surged. Borg-lattice veins of pure gold raced across his neck, arms, and chest. His eyes ignited with golden fire…Golden Borg Mode: ACTIVATED.
Kurama's voice merged with his as they pushed chakra-guided nanites into the central inhibitor core. "Three chains, Naruto," she said gently. "Neural, emotional, spiritual. Only you can walk all three." He stepped up to Sakura's pod. "I'm here," he whispered. "I didn't forget you."
He placed his hand directly over the main interface, syncing his golden core to hers. Static erupted. Pain surged. The first inhibitor flared Neural. Sparks exploded from the side of the pod. Sakura's fingers twitched. Her eyes fluttered once… then stilled. "Chain One released," Kurama confirmed.
The second lock fought harder Emotional. Naruto's memories slammed into him: the Team 7 days, the long silences, the unspoken things left behind in the last war. He closed his eyes and whispered, "You were always strong, even when no one saw it. Now let me see you again."
His golden nanites surged forward. The second lock cracked. Sakura gasped within the pod.
Then came the final chain Spiritual. It lashed at Naruto like a mental whip, attempting to sever his bond from hers, to force forgetfulness, to erase hope. But Naruto smiled. "I never left you." His eyes glowed brighter than ever before, his soul reaching for hers across the dark divide. And the final inhibitor exploded.
Pod Alpha-One…Status: STASIS LIFTED
Subject: Sakura Haruno (Hybridized: 98.7%)
Reactivation: STABLE
Chain Lock Status: BROKEN
Sakura's eyes snapped open brilliant gold around shimmering green irises. She looked down at herself, then up at Naruto confusion, fear, and recognition flooding her features. Her lips parted, and her voice, though rough, came out like a thread of silk. "Naruto…you really came for me…"
Naruto reached for her, pulling her into a steady embrace as the pod lowered around them. She trembled, not from cold but because the programming that kept her silent, obedient, broken was finally gone. "I'm here," he whispered again. "And I'm not leaving." The others surrounded them, letting her see familiar faces some she knew, others she didn't. But every single one offered warmth.
Kurama's voice pulsed over comms. "Connection stabilized. Sakura is fully synced. No residual Tal Shiar control code detected. She is… herself again."
Location: Deep Core Containment Vault Omega-1, Deck 100, Sigma-23 Experimental Station
Stardate: 41785.09 (October 15, 2364 – 17:28 Hours)
The silence in Vault Omega-1 was oppressive. Not empty oppressive. It pressed down on every breath Naruto and his team took as they descended through the triple-sealed grav-lift into the final sub-deck of Sigma-23. Sakura, now fully awake and walking alongside him with Kurama's golden nanites softly flickering at her temple, stayed close. She knew this place. Even if she couldn't remember why, her soul trembled with dread the closer they came to the vault's core.
Kurama's voice came through, steady and low in Naruto's neural link. "Naruto… I've just broken through the last encryption layer. This chamber Vault Omega-One contains the central failsafe of Sigma-23. One subject. One designation: Queen Xira. Genetically engineered from all successful hybrid templates: Human, Vulcan, Bajoran, Klingon, Orion, Cardassian, Romulan, and Caitian. Intended to command all." Naruto's eyes narrowed. "But there's no link?" "None," Kurama replied. "They never completed the bond. No golden core. No stabilizer. She is…raw. Alive. Dormant. And dangerous." The chamber hissed open.
And in its heart floated the most imposing hybrid any of them had ever seen. The stasis cradle holding her was suspended in a full-body inertial containment field, with six braided energy conduits spiraling from the walls into her spinal node. She wasn't moving but she wasn't lifeless. Her armor shimmered with energy even at rest, and her body…Naruto stared.
Seven feet tall, Queen Xira was a living sculpture of terrifying beauty and war-forged femininity. Her frame was curvy and powerful, yet flowed like living steel. Her body from the neck down was encased in Borg-forged alloy, dark silver with emerald lines tracing her muscles, her hips, her abdomen, and the deep swell of her well-endowed bust. Plates shaped to fit her hourglass form extended down her thighs and calves like predator armor, while her boots clicked faintly in containment pulses.
She opened her eyes…Not green…Not gold…Both split vertically down the center. And she screamed. "Containment dropping!" Sakura shouted. Tenten and Samui snapped their rifles up as the cradle split and Queen Xira descended like a living shadow. But Naruto held out a hand. "Stand down! She's not attacking. She's reacting." Hinata stepped to his side, her Byakugan pulsing as she reached out with her mind. "She's screaming… because she doesn't understand what she is. Her mind is broken but not evil. She doesn't know if she's still alive."
Kurama's voice was grim. "The neural inhibitors are active but fraying. If she lashes out, her psionic and physical output could level the station. We need a stabilizer. Now." Naruto didn't hesitate. "I'm going in," he said, voice hard. He stepped forward as his golden nanites pulsed into overdrive. His right arm shimmered veins lighting gold. Chakra exploded outward as the golden lattice spread across his skin like glowing circuitry…Golden Borg Mode: ACTIVE.
"I see you," Naruto said, stepping into her presence. "You're not alone anymore." Her eyes focused. "You're… the signal…" Then she charged. Her massive body slammed into him he held fast. Her claws reached out but instead of tearing through, she froze just inches from his chest. His golden nanites surged forward into her skin through their contact. Her breath caught. Her legs gave out. She collapsed into him, shaking. And the bond snapped into place.
A wave of psychic and neural resonance exploded through the chamber. Every hybrid on the station, even those in the upper decks felt it. Jelna dropped to one knee on the Vereth'kha. The hybrid pilots bowed their heads. Even Kurama, within the Enterprise's systems, whispered aloud: "She has found her King."
Minutes passed in silence before Queen Xira slowly raised her head from Naruto's chest, voice barely above a whisper. "I…I remember now..My name was Annabell Anna Parkson…Rank Captain…USS Asha, NCC-72432. We were patrolling the outer zone…and then then we were taken."
Sakura turned, eyes wide. "The Asha? Lieutenant Saelok she served under you!" As if summoned, Saelok stepped forward from behind. Her Vulcan features froze in shock. "Captain Parkson…?" Xira blinked, the name settling in her like a forgotten melody. "Saelok…You are still you…"
"We were both taken the same day," Saelok said softly. "The crew our crew. They must have…" "They took the ship," Naruto realized aloud. "The Asha. They didn't just take you they took everything. We might still be able to use her to get out of here." Xira taller, armored, and now peaceful turned her golden-green eyes on Naruto.
"I was made to command them," she said softly. "But I choose…to serve beside you. I was their queen by design. Let me be your Queen… by bond." Naruto nodded, reaching for her hand. "You already are." Hinata stepped forward with a gentle smile, placing her hand over Xira's. "Welcome, Queen Two."
Location: Dock 12, Core Ring, Sigma-23 Experimental Station – USS Asha (NCC-72432)
Stardate: 41785.91 (October 14, 2364, Time: 15:26:00)
Kurama's golden-lit interface pulsed across the walls of Dock 12's maintenance bay, casting deep shadows over the ruined consoles and crushed support braces. "Naruto, there's something here," Kurama said through the commline, her voice soft yet urgent. At the back of the chamber, under debris covered in black dust and fused cables, a smooth, burnished metal panel glowed faintly gold beneath Naruto's fingers. "This terminal… it's old," he murmured, then inhaled sharply as it unlocked with a chime and flared to life. A display lit up a docking status feed bearing the unmistakable designation: USS Asha (NCC-72432) Excelsior-class – Docked and Active.
"Are you saying she's here?" Hinata gasped, stepping forward, her violet eyes wide with wonder. Shion put a hand on her shoulder, voice trembling, "She was declared destroyed thirty years ago Starfleet blackboxed her during the Second Romulan Conflict." Naruto leaned forward, fingers flying over the ancient LCARS console, clearing subroutines layered in Federation, then Romulan, then Borg code. "She's not just here," he said, his voice shifting into command. "She's alive. The Asha's waiting."
A second terminal hummed behind them, flickering to life as Kurama's chakra-based resonance passed through the room. "Naruto," she said, her voice sharp. "There are more than just Asha. Twenty-one ships intact, hybrid crews, female only, all from 2363 Starfleet, Vulcan, Bajoran, Klingon, Orion, Cardassian, Romulan. Every ship's signature is active." Naruto's head turned sharply. "How many?" "Ten thousand, nine hundred and fifty life signs, all in stasis, and they're waking up. All of them are bonded to you, Hinata, and Queen Xira."
A distant groan of hull plates echoed like a sleeping giant stirring. "We need to move now," Tenten said, loading her phaser rifle with a trembling but determined hand. "If Section 31 or the Tal Shiar gets here before we launch, they'll destroy everything." Naruto tapped his badge. "Naruto to Enterprise-D Picard, we're seizing the USS Asha. Prepare to receive 22 active warp signatures. This is about to get loud."
Within ten minutes, Naruto and his bonded team Shion, Ino, Samui, Hinata, Tsunade, Kurenai, Tenten, Mabui, Yugito, Shizuka, Mei, Kurotsuchi, Mikoto, Konan, Kaguya, Anko, Fū, Guren, T'Pol, and Queen Xira had spread through the bridge, engineering, tactical, and sickbay of the USS Asha, the command interfaces responding to their presence as if recognizing long-lost kin. "It feels like… like she wants us here," Mei said, fingers brushing the gold-lit console. "She knows us," Queen Xira replied, her voice deep and resonant beneath her gleaming Borg armor. "She was made for this moment."
Then, one by one, the other ships powered on, reacting to Naruto's chakra and soul-bonded resonance. Four Miranda-class, three Constellation-class, two New Orleans-class, and one Excelsior-class the USS Grace Hopper (NCC-72433) formed the restored Federation core. The Vulcan T'Plana-class cruiser hummed to life with elegant gravity. Bajoran Interceptor lighting flared in brilliant amber. Then came the Klingon quartet: two 2363 K'Vort-class Birds-of-Prey, one 2363 K't'inga-class battlecruiser, and the towering 2363 Vor'cha-class attack cruiser, its hull scars glittering with battle-patina. Next came the Orion interceptor and Orion corvette, engines purring like coiled serpents.
Behind them rose the Cardassian Galor-class and Hideki-class, and then the darkest among them, the cloaked shadows of two T'Liss-class Birds-of-Prey, a sleek and lethal Ha'feh-class warbird, and the towering 2363 D'deridex-class warbird. Naruto's breath caught as the ships' systems began to hum in unison golden light pulsing from every nacelle, window, and shield matrix. "They're alive," Hinata whispered. "They were waiting… for us."
A channel burst to life. "This is Commander Tavos of the IRW Vereth'kha. We are… witnessing the impossible." A feminine voice answered across the Romulan channel, choked with emotion. "Brother?" the woman said. "Tavos, is that you? It's me Aelira." The Commander of the D'deridex-class warbird blinked, his eyes wide. "You... you used to call me that when we were little." "And I still do," she said. "I'm home."
Captain Picard's voice echoed over the combined allied frequency. "Naruto, what am I seeing?" Naruto stepped forward on the Asha's bridge, voice clear and heavy with purpose. "Picard, these ships… they were buried here for forty years. But they're not lost. They're part of a new fleet. The Golden Hybrid Fleet. And they're with us."
Suddenly, 25 Section 31 ships and 25 Tal Shiar vessels decloaked across the sector fifty rogue warships bristling with weapons. Naruto didn't blink. "Brace for contact," he ordered. "They'll try to stop us." But then, something darker emerged from their center: three warships with Borg-modified hulls, crackling with dark green lightning a Vor'cha-class attack cruiser and two K't'inga-class battlecruisers all unmistakably female hybrids under Tal Shiar rogue control. Their gold was corrupted twisted with Borg-green.
"They're like me," Naruto murmured, his eyes glowing. "But broken. Infected." Queen Xira narrowed her eyes. "They were taken. But the one in the center she's Tal Shiar-born." "I'm targeting her first," Naruto said. His voice dropped, full of weight. "Kurama, lock weapons."
Before weapons could fire, twenty allied ships jumped into the system Romulan, Federation, and Klingon all bearing official markings. "This is Admiral Torvak of the Romulan Senate," a new voice said, clearly stunned. "By the stars... those ships were lost. What…what have you done?" Naruto exhaled and lifted his chin. "We're not running anymore. This… this is our stand."
Location: Borg-Fused Vor'cha-Class Attack Cruiser, Orbit of Sigma-23 Experimental Station
The flickering green haze of assimilated plasma conduits hissed and popped as Naruto stepped through the threshold of the Vor'cha-class hybrid vessel's main junction hub. His golden nanites shimmered faintly beneath his Cadet uniform, hidden from view but active alert. Kurama's voice tickled his mind through the comm-link embedded into his soul. "The infection's core is two decks down. Her signal's weakening, but she's still fighting. You don't have much time."
"Then we go now," Naruto said aloud, his voice laced with urgency and steel. "We're with you," Hinata whispered beside him, her pale eyes glowing faintly under the dim, eerie light. She kept close, her undine-chakra presence grounding the mental link between them all.
"I've got flank," Kurenai muttered, sweeping her phaser rifle across the corridor. Her Romulan blood pulsed beneath her skin, guiding her through the familiar tension of boarding ops. Ino tapped her tricorder, her Betazoid senses pairing with the readouts. "She's still conscious… but caged in a neuro-cortical field. The Tal Shiar fused her with the command protocols."
Xira, towering and armored in her gleaming female-adaptive Borg shell, clenched her armored fists. "This is a crime against evolution. They tried to break her will." Naruto looked up at her. "And that's why we're here."
They reached the assimilation chamber her prison. The moment the doors parted with a hydraulic hiss, the hybrid captain was revealed, bound against a glowing control node, her once-regal Klingon armor torn and fused to the chair. Mechanical cords pierced her spine and shoulder blades, and her body twitched with residual sparks from the neuro-override. Her eyes were open but glazed.
"She's still inside," Naruto muttered, stepping forward. "I can feel her fighting." Hinata placed her palm on his shoulder. "Then guide her home." With that, Naruto stepped into the light. His eyes flared golden, the lattice of nanites dancing across his skin, and as his hand touched the console, a surge of chakra poured into the system. His voice lowered, directed only to her, both physically and psychically.
"I am Naruto Uzumaki… Lieutenant, soul-bonded to the Hive of Freedom. You are not theirs anymore. I see you." Her eyes snapped wide. "Gaaaah!" she screamed, then went still. The black veins across her neck and face began to dissolve, replaced by golden lines that shimmered like light across storm-tossed water. Kurama's voice entered again. "She's stabilizing. You did it, Naruto." The moment her body was free, her fellow hybrids struck.
Aboard the K't'inga-class battlecruisers orbiting alongside the Vor'cha, the female Klingon-Borg crews launched into coordinated strikes against the rogue Tal Shiar ships still in range. Explosions lit up the void like fireworks. What was once a dark trap now became a battlefield of liberation.
"She controls the other two," Ino said, scanning. "Those cruisers…they were waiting. Watching. And now they've turned." Kurenai lowered her weapon and smirked. "They were never truly gone." Xira confirmed with, ""They were always hers and now they are ours." Naruto helped the hybrid captain to her feet. Her strength was slow to return, but her gaze was fierce…unbroken.
"I am Commander Ka'Nara, last Captain of the 23rd Squadron," she growled. "These ships…these warriors…they are mine." She turned, bowing deeply to Naruto. "And now… we are yours." The bridge shook. Kurama's voice rang out once more. "New contacts 25 Obsidian Order ships have entered orbit. They've answered Sigma-23's call."
The newly-freed hybrids responded before the enemy could fire. Golden pulses of Klingon disruptors and hybrid-modified torpedoes slammed into the Obsidian Order's advance ships. The Golden Hybrid Fleet roared with newfound purpose.
And above them all, Naruto stood at the center, a young lieutenant whose soul shimmered with the golden heartbeat of liberation.
Location: Command Core, Borg-Fused Vor'cha-Class Attack Cruiser, Current Golden Hybrid Fleet Flagship
The tension in the air was palpable as the hybrid command crew of the Golden Hybrid Fleet's flagship Vor'cha-Class Attack Cruiser stood at full readiness. Golden LCARS interfaces shimmered across every panel, overlaying traditional Klingon controls with Kurama's chakra-tuned resonance data. Naruto stood near the central tactical display with a firm posture, his field Lieutenant's rank pips glinting softly beneath his Cadet uniform collar. Around him were his bonded soulmates Ensigns in name but seasoned in resolve each calibrated to the new rhythm of war. Through their soul-bond network, especially the telepathic channels led by Hinata, a low hum of unified thought ran beneath the surface.
"I feel them before they decloak…" murmured Hinata, her voice as calm as the stars. "Fifty total. Obsidian Order. Klingons. They're here." "They think this is going to be a massacre," growled Mei Terumī, her tone edged with Klingon fire. "They're about to learn what we became while they played war games with ghosts."
Kurama's voice echoed through the neural interfaces and speaker panels alike. "All vessels confirmed. Twenty-five Cardassian signatures Keldon, Galor, and Hideki types..maneuvering right into aggressive line. Twenty-five Klingon battlecruisers K't'inga-class and K'Vort-class holding position just beyond tachyon scatter. Classic Obsidian-Klingon standoff doctrine. They expect panic."
Naruto narrowed his eyes. "Then let's give them unity." The command interface shifted as Kurama brought up a full fleet overlay. The twenty-five Golden Hybrid vessels shimmered gold across the display ships thought lost, ships reborn with female hybrid captains bonded to Naruto and the Hive. Each shimmer of light was not only a warship but a soul: liberated, linked, and burning with purpose.
"Command overlay to all Golden Hybrid Fleet captains," Naruto said, voice steady. "You've felt the pain they caused you. Today, we fight not just for survival but for truth. We are not shadows. We are not broken. We are not your toys. We are reborn in gold, in unity, and in fire. Let them come." Just as the orders were relayed, the commline buzzed again this time from a vector Kurama had designated as neutral anomaly. Ten Klingon Defense Force vessels and ten Cardassian military ships dropped out of warp. The fleet bridge went silent.
"They are not rogue," whispered Tenten, eyes wide, tapping her Trill-spotted cheek. "They are…observers." Kurama confirmed it. "Verified transponder signatures. Non-rogue. Status: stunned. They're seeing ships from their own fleets ones reported MIA, destroyed, or unrecoverable… alive."
A holocomm feed surged to life in the center of the bridge. A Klingon captain his forehead ridges scarred, his eyes fierce appeared, flanked by two aides. "I am Captain K'Tor, of the IKS M'Chargh. I demand to speak to whoever commands these… golden vessels. Who has taken my sister's ship?" Xira stepped forward, the plating of her golden-trimmed Borg armor gleaming in the command lighting. The moment her face came into focus, shock rippled across the line. "Annabell Anna Parkson?!" the Cardassian captain on the secondary screen blurted. "You were… dead. You were dead!"
"I was," Xira answered quietly, her voice deep, powerful, laced with raw fury. "Until your rogue brothers tried to use me and my crew as experiments. I am alive because he," she gestured to Naruto, "freed us. He is not my captor. He is my King."
Silence reigned. Then Captain K'Tor placed his fist to his chest. "I saw your grave. I spit upon it in rage. I mourned you with blood and fire. And now… you return. My honor demands I stand beside you." The Cardassian captain followed suit. "Then we stand with you too. My cousin was aboard the Okara. You… brought her home. Let us avenge what was done."
And just like that without ceremony or song ten Klingon and ten Cardassian ships turned to flank the golden fleet. "Now this," Kurenai whispered with a Romulan edge, "is a story the Empire will never believe."
Naruto nodded once, then turned to his mates his eyes glowing faintly gold, his heartbeat synchronized with Kurama's oscillating pulse in the drive core. "Kurama, bring all fleets to combat-ready yellow. Golden Hybrid Fleet, forward formations. New allies, take flanks. Rogue vessels…we are coming."
On cue, the golden lattice of Naruto's Borg Mode flickered to life across his skin. Not full activation just enough for Kurama to ride the interface, to pulse into every vessel, every helm, every heart.
Today, the Freedom Hive was not alone. Today, the corrupted would burn.