(Triangulum Galaxy—Ceph homeworld)
One thing most beings who encounter the Ceph would theorize about their homeworld is that it must be aquatic. Well, seeing as how they are a species that share physiological similarities to cephalopods, that would be an understatement. No one save the Spectra have ever treaded on the artificial landmasses of the planet so none other could give you a description.
For starters, it was VERY cold. The skies were a perpetual mixture of black and blue and one would always have a crystal clear view of the stars whether during the 'day' or 'night.' The atmosphere at ground level was at a constant average of 12 degrees fahrenheit.
Inside the water, that temperature dropped even more to—29 degrees. Normally, water would have frozen over a hundred times by then but this water was different. The exact details of how the Ceph do this is unknown nor did it ever really interest the Spectra enough to discover why as they would have no use for such a thing. A species that relied heavily on nuclear power and dark matter maybe, but not the Spectras. The Ceph were kept it around this temperature as they personally preferred that level of cold.
The planet was originally all water until the Ceph advanced enough to create the artificial continents to generate power for the facilities beneath the water's surface. A massive elevator system was devised for the convenience of the Spectra after both sides grew more comfortable around each other. It was made from flexible metals that would bend with the flow of the oceans and was able to withstand the pressure of the water by flooding the interior with a special blend of oxygen-rich water to allow non-Ceph to breathe once inhaled. This would also equalize the pressure from the outside.
It was on this elevator that Naruko, her son, and her guard detail were boarding to take the trip down 1,938 miles to the surface of the core of the planet which itself was a massive core of ice due to the extreme pressure of the water around it. These kinds of planets were one in a billion within the universe and were literal lottery prizes for any space faring civilization with no access to fresh water outside of melting ice comets or their own planet's supply. The Ceph were believed to have evolved from small, microscopic organisms over billions of years that were not even native to this very planet.
However, any hope of finding their origins were impossible due to the length of time between when they supposedly arrived here and when they were capable of physically reaching their homeworld had they known where to find it. As they are now, it is nothing more than a long standing curiosity at the most for them and not a priority to allocate resources to.
As the elevator door closed, the lift began filling with the perfluorocarbon liquid. To humans, their first reaction would have been to jump and holler due to the temperature of the liquid but for a Spectra or a Gynoid, the sensation was ignorable. Naruto squirmed at the sight of the rising water but Naruko was immediate to hold him tighter to her body.
"It's alright, my little child. You aren't old enough to do this yet so I'll share my warmth with you and then you won't notice anything different."
She closed her eyes briefly before her body started undergoing a physical change on a cellular level. Along her arm where she held Naruto, her skin started rippling as if thousands of needles were trying to push themselves out of her body as well as the affected area glowing pink. In seconds, thin tendrils sprouted from her arm and attaching to the body of Naruto, burying through his soft skin. As the water rushed up to Naruko chest level and near Naruto, his body calmed down as his internal temperature began imitating his mother's so as the water engulfed him, he was discomforted only by the physical sensation of being submerged.
He glanced around in wonder as the water made everything weightless and floaty as his body felt weightless and his mother's long pretty hair floated around her like a veil. He saw her make a facial expression before her hair moved with a mind of its own and twisted itself into a long French braid while leaving two bangs to float by her face.
All at once, women all around the omniverse felt jealous for some reason.
As if they shared minds, his mother and their guardians concentrated for a moment where in a brief glow of pretty white and green lights, strange objects appeared already attached to their upper-backs. These were jetpacks reengineered for submersible travel. Naruto hadn't even known the elevator ride started until his eyes gazed out at the dark world underwater. Thousands of lights passed by his eyes, ranging from groups of Ceph in the natural states to battlecruisers speeding towards the surface. It was over within ten minutes, not much happening save Naruko pointing at any object that they passed that was big enough for them to actually recognize due to the speed of the lift.
At the bottom of the lift, the door opened, leading to a long, empty hallway. The group used their thrust packs to speed them along the mile long corridor. Along the way, several sensors scanned them harmlessly. At the end of the hallway, the door opened to reveal a massive ante-chamber about several hundred meters high and wide. The floor beneath them was actually the ice core of the planet.
The room was filled with thousands of lights most common as blue and red and the area was also populated with hundreds of Ceph in their most natural state. Living and evolving on such a planet, they were semi-transparent 'blobs', like a jellyfish, that were shaped like squids except the 'body' attached to the 'limbs' were vaguely humanoid in shape, with distinguishable shoulders, neck, waists, and a head where indentions in the heads were slight indentions. One wouldn't really know that if not for the gold orbs within the head that were placed similarly to a human's eyes. There were no skeletal structure within their bodies except in the heads, but instead of hard bones, their 'skulls' were made of a hard, rubbery membrane.
Naruko's entourage drew many curious glances. They weren't particularly new, yet they weren't a common sight either. The one who seemed to unconsciously draw the most attention was the baby in Naruko's arms that gave off a unique Ceph signal similar to a Warrior-caste.
'Ah, another new mind. Not Ceph either. Interesting.' was the general thought running through the Cephs' minds after studying the child a bit. It was only more interesting since the child appeared to be Lunaru Fenris' child. Yes, they all knew of her and could recognize her immediately. While she looked like 'just one woman', she held an absolute authority over her people, like the Omega Ceph, controlled the most militarily powerful space navy in over a dozen galaxies, has lived for and led her people successfully for over several million years (a feat unheard of for any other organic the Ceph had met besides the Leviathan), and she had this air of power that felt like an ocean being held back by a wall of saran wrap.
This entity came to them one day with a hand of friendship and over the years has more than earned their respect. They also knew of certain secret (not so between these two species) situations with the spectra people and knew that if that child was Naruko's, than he would pretty much be the most protected individual in any galaxy due to both his gender and royalty.
Naruto looked about the room and idly tried to reach out to the squiggly people but Naruko was already on a schedule and comforted him when she told him he couldn't play with them now.
The group exited the ante-chamber through the massive thirty meter door on the other end. Coming inside the main room, the group were met with the an empty space save for a giant hole in the floor that had a glowing turquoise color to it. The room began vibrating as a massive metallic snake-like machine rose from the hole, it's head thick and armoured and about twenty meters in width. The body connected to the head didn't fully emerged from the head, giving the head enough slack to move around the massive chamber freely if it needed to.
The head had sever dozen fist-sized lights glowing and blinking as it swerved from left to right, taking in those who had answered its call. It scanned the six individuals, identifying each one, taking note of the new faces of KOS-MOS and T-ELOS, before settling on Naruto's tiny form still cradled to Naruko's body, the small psychic link it felt suddenly appearing a galaxy away, within the Ardor-133 sector. It knew it didn't have any Ceph in that local galaxy so what a link connecting directly to the Omega Ceph instead of the nearest Alpha Ceph was doing there was baffling. It had sent out a message to it yet it didn't respond to its leader's call.
A rogue? No, that wasn't possible when it was the Omega Ceph who called. To its surprise, it also detected another link, though dormant, and it matched the one it usually shared with the queen of the Spectras. That's when it got interesting. It had no idea Lunaru Fenris was traveling that galaxy as the last message from them was in the galaxy Reticulate-293 area, more than two galaxies away.
Looking at the source of its interest, the little lifeform was an ant compared to it but thanks to its advanced sensors, it could see what could not be seen with just eyes. It saw the dormant power locked away. The potential the young boy held was utterly massive.
Then it noticed the truly massive, albeit for its size, source of power centered around the child's stomach. It was wild and energetic in nature though it seemed to be resting as of now. The Ceph themselves could produce power sources far greater, but that would be tampering with the dangerous elements of anti-matter or nuclear energy. While it wasn't the largest it'd seen for something around its size—a subtle glance towards Naruko—to fit it in a child merely days old was very daring and unheard of for someone like Naruko to do to her own child, the first that it's ever known her to have. She certainly didn't say anything about being pregnant throughout their occasional talks.
"YOU...CERTAINLY KNOW HOW TO KEEP...THINGS INTERESTING, LUNARU FENRIS."
The voice of the Omega Ceph was like a loud vibration through the water, its waves hitting their bodies at all possible angles as if it was using the water itself to talk through. The lights glowed an orange color for every word it spoke, giving it an intimidating appearance.
At the least, for any that weren't on its good side or a baby who could recognize no ill intent. Really, for all the Omega Ceph was, it might have just been a big, glowing puppy to Naruto who gave a few-quite literal-gurgles in underwater laughter. The Spectras and Omega Ceph were amused by this.
"I do try from time to time, Omega. Afterall, stagnation is tantamount to extinction. I wouldn't want you to get bored to death," Naruko shot back with a surprisingly playful tone.
"HNNN, SO HOW DID YOU BECOME A MOTHER? I...FELT HIS PSYCHIC SIGNAL… SO FAR AWAY… WHERE NO CEPH ARE.. ONLY TO FIND YOUR DORMANT SIGNAL… NEARBY."
Naruko didn't seem surprised and chose to tell it the entire truth, as well as her promise to Kyuubi and what some of her plans were concerning that planet.
"My people will remain neutral and generally isolated in those specific areas while Naruto's progress is monitored during his stay there."
"A BOLD PLAN… AMBITIOUS… YOU DON'T HAVE MUCH… HOPE FOR THESE NINJAS… DO YOU?"
"None whatsoever," was her immediate reply. "These ninjas' world and way of life revolve around causing death to each other. The only innovations they make are of how to be more creative in killing each other more effectively. While there are those who do not contribute to this cycle, they still coexist with it symbiotically." Her tone was sharp and cold in a complete 180 twist compared to earlier.
"My word is the only reason I will even step foot on that planet again. This chakra is unique to their world and is interesting, but when our island facilities are built, and Obito begins his plans, we will have more than enough samples to study, cultivate, and share. Kushina and Obito's genetic memories have given me so much to study myself. My will be curious to meet this Uchiha Madara when he eventually is revived."
"I WILL KEEP AN EYE… AND EAR… TOWARDS THIS PLANET… SUCH LIVELY WORLDS… ARE TREASURES TO PRESERVE… SHOULD THESE NINJAS… EVER EVOLVE… ENOUGH TO CAUSE LARGE SCALE… DAMAGES TO THE ECOSYSTEMS THAN… THEY WILL BE PURGED LIKE THOUSANDS OF OTHERS HAVE!"
The Omega Ceph's voice rose near the end of its declaration, his body thrummed with promise and his voice was joined by trillions of other Ceph across the universe.
Had the Kyuubi been awake for any of that conversation, it would have had a mixed range of emotions.
Once the thrumming died down, Naruko posed another question. "Has there been any more developments with Object 4-DG?"
The Ceph leader responded with a low humming of its answer. "IT STILL SLUMBERS BUT… THERE IS A FLUCTUATION DEEP WITHIN IT… FOR THE FIRST TIME IN… TWO MILLION YEARS… NOT SINCE… THE PRECURSORS' DEMISE.. AT THE HANDS OF THEIR TRAITOROUS CHILDREN… I CAN NOT HELP BUT… ANALYZE ITS MOVEMENTS… IN CORRELATION TO YOUR MOTHERHOOD… THERE ARE FORCES STIRRING, LUNARU FENRIS. THE FUTURE IS… CLOUDED."
The Omega Ceph's words were ominous and foreboding to Naruko who instinctively held her child closer. "An uncertain omen. I have already commissioned the Spectra's space navy to double its numbers as that thing has been getting bolder lately," she said, spitting the pronoun for whatever held her discord. "Those foolish, ignorant governments that call themselves the Citadel Council and the Covenant have been facilitating its growth tremendously over the past three thousand years. The Reapers are still slumbering and I would have had my forces destroy those mass relays the moment the Protheans were wiped out had I known what they were helping to nurture back in the Void Galaxy. Unfortunately, the Citadel species are too spread out and if I were to suddenly destroy those relays, hundreds of colonies would be completely stranded from each other given their poorly copied Prothean-inspired technology."
"ARE THE MORPHUS AND ELDARIANS AWARE OF THIS?"
Naruko's frown turned a little softer at the mention of two species who her eyes looked upon positively. "Yes, they have been made aware. They both have divided their fleets to watch both the phenomenons along with my fleets. The Chozo and Luminoth are much too small in number and the former have been having problems with a meteor carrying a radioactive, mutagenic compound in it that crashed onto their planet Tallon IV. This compound is very corruptive, capable of self-replication by converting matter into more of itself. It looks like blue soliquid most commonly taking the form of roots or vein networks within a body, and it emits a very high radiation level."
"A TRULY… DANGEROUS COMBINATION… DEFINITELY A PARASITIC LIFE FORM… NO SUBSTANCE MATCHING THAT DESCRIPTION ARE KNOWN TO US."
"I'm not surprised. The organism seems to exist solely in the Gardola Galaxy, just a few beside our own. Inquiries across friendly species in that galaxy have yielded results, the Space Pirates calling the substance 'Phazon' and they seem to have about a century's worth of experience in handling it. It's incredibly useful as an energy source, but its very nature corrupts both sentient and non-sentient life around it if proper containment measures are not utilized. I'll send you what data we can gather on it so you can keep a watchful lookout."
The Omega Ceph's lights blink rapidly before calming down. "YOUR WORDS HAVE BEEN… HEEDED. THE CEPH WILL KNOW… OF IT SHOULD IT COME NEAR US. NOW… LET US TALK… NOT OF BUSINESS… HOW OFTEN WILL… YOU COME BY? I HAVE… BEGUN TO LOOK FORWARD TO… OUR TALKS."
And so, two incredibly long-lived beings were about to fall into a pattern of companionable conversation when Naruko received a message from her ship in the form of a buzzing noise in her mind. "I apologize, Omega, but I am receiving a call from my ship who know to not disturb our meeting unless it's important."
The massive metal obelisk of authority gave what one might have interpreted as a nodding motion. Naruko thanked it and answered the call. "What is the emergency, Karin?"
Naruko was silent as her X.O. explained the situation, one that made Naruko frown in distaste. "Very well, I will be back aboard shortly. Have the ship prepared for immediate departure." She 'hangs up' and looks to Omega. "Unfortunately, our talk will have to wait, Omega. I am needed to make haste to back to Spectra space."
The announcement certainly was interesting. What would require the Outer Heaven's intervention that the fleets of the Spectra could not handle without? "A CERTAINLY CONCERNING SITUATION?"
"Unfortunately. A hostile first contact with a species who think themselves our masters in every way. They came across one of our patrol fleets by accident and instantly attacked. The 36th SPL colony defense fleet 'XNFE' have so far repelled three different assaults at the colony. Apparently, while these barbarians have numbers, they have no tactics. Hacking has revealed their enormous populations so they have the numbers to throw at us consistently."
"INTERESTING… WHAT IS THIS SPECIES?"
"Hacking has shown that these 13ft tall green humanoids call themselves… Orcs. I intend to pay their nearest planet to ours a visit and send them a message they'll never forget. Could you be a friend and beam us up to our ship?"
The Omega Ceph made something of a chuckling sound. "DON'T GET CARRIED AWAY, NARUKO. I ALSO EXPECT YOU… TO VISIT US WITH NARUTO… SOME OF THE CHILDREN… THOUGHT HE LOOKED...'CUTE.'"
Naruko felt another spike of irritation for some reason like a bad sense of foreboding in the future. "I'll make all the effort I can, friend."
The Spectra group disappeared into a vertical beam of white light, leaving the Omega Ceph to retract back into the deep pit the rest of its body was in.