Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Mass Effect.

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Escaping Hades

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Chapter Four

"How are we doing, Kurama?" Naruto asked with a bit of paranoia, the Ambush cloaked and currently drifting at a painfully slow rate in the general direction of the Chimera III and its entourage where they had the Jon Grissom Academy surrounded. Using a number of external retro-jets magnetically 'slung' to the hull of his ship, the once-thought obsolete technology was now giving the Ambush the ability to move while still cloaked, albeit, at a painfully slow pace. He wanted to get into position before putting his plan into motion.

"Four minutes and thirty-nine seconds until the Ambush is in position, Corporal." The silky smooth female voice responded emotionlessly, the polar opposite of Miranda's current mood. She was now certain that her former lover was insane.

"You can't be serious, Naruto! This is suicidal!" Miranda cried, practically begging him not to go through with his plan. Ignoring her for the moment, Naruto finished putting his armor on before placing each of his weapons in their respective places, leaving his helmet off for the moment. "Naruto, look at me. Look at me, damn it!"

"...Miranda, everything is going to be fine. This isn't the first time I've done this." Naruto reassured, without success, after sighing and turning towards the nervous wreck that was Miranda, holding her by the shoulders in an attempt to be more comforting. It did little to help. Heaving another sigh, Naruto leaned forward and gently kissed her on the forehead. She couldn't hold out much longer as tears actually began to well up in the corners of her eyes "Relax, okay? I'll be fine. If it makes you feel any better, I promise to come back to you alive and in one piece. Okay?"

"...Okay..." Miranda whispered weakly as she closed her eyes and slowly leaned against Naruto, wrapping her arms around his armored torso as best as she could while her tears silently fell from her eyes, still fearing for his life. The only thing that reassured her, however, was the fact he had promised to come back. No matter what, Naruto would always keep his promises and, so far, he had never failed to keep one that he had made, especially those he had made to her. Embracing the distraught woman, Naruto decided that he'd treat her to something special when they got back to the Citadel. Sighing once again, Naruto gently kissed the top of Miranda's head before gently prying the woman off of him. Drying her eyes and recomposing herself, Miranda locked eyes with him before grabbing the solid collar of his body armor and pulling him forward, kissing him passionately and lovingly. When they broke apart, she forced a seductive smirk into place in an effort to keep from breaking down again. "There's more where that came from, but only if you come back to me unharmed. Deal?"

"The Ambush is now in position, Corporal. Current distance from Chimera III: two thousand, seven hundred, fifty-two meters." Kurama stated as the Ambush came to a complete stop, running perfectly parallel with the Chimera III with its starboard side lining up with the Chimera III's port side.

"Deal." Naruto answered with a slight chuckle before Miranda went back to the cockpit and strapped herself into the chair, placing her breather mask over her face. Putting his helmet on and shutting his locker, Naruto stepped out of the room and into the small 'hallway' that separated the cockpit from the 'pilot's quarters', being something akin to a really tiny lobby, while the door to his room sealed itself shut. Standing directly across from the only door on the Ambush, Naruto knelt down into a stance similar to that of a sprinter's 'take off' position. Secretly taking a deep breath to settle his own nerves, Naruto couldn't believe his lie had actually fooled her; he had never done this before. The only reason he was considering it was because he had seen it on an old sci-fi movie that he had watched almost a year and a half ago, which gave him the inspiration to create the Exo-atmospheric Vector Adjustment system and permanently mount it directly to his armor; one never knew when it would come in handy. "Kurama."

"Yes, Corporal." The VI responded, not needing to be told what to do. Instantly, Naruto's body suit and armor became air-tight, just as it had been back on Mars. Simultaneously, however, two noticable ridges running vertically along the back of his shoulders flanking the collapsed forms of the rifles mounted to his back seemed to rise near their bases, opening up to reveal a set of three tiny exhaust tubes of some kind while another pair of similar ridges opened up along his lower back between his two Hornets, on the top and bottom of his forearms, the front of his armored shins, on the back of his calves, and on his chest, all of the 'exhaust tubes' pointing down toward his feet. "EVA propulsion modules deployed. EVA guidance and control avionics now active. EVA systems now active. You are clear to launch, Corporal."

"On my mark..." Naruto responded, casting one last glance over at Miranda without turning his head, the holographic HUD shining a serene blue-green from within his helmet. Closing his eyes and taking one last deep breath to calm down completely, Naruto mentally repeated his promise to Miranda to help solidify his resolve before his eyes snapped open. "MARK!"

Almost instantly, the door snapped open and the vacuum of space pulled at him with enough force to send him rocketing out of the Ambush at incredible speeds, the door sliding shut a second after he had evacuated the craft. Frantically, Miranda undid the straps holding her in the chair while tossing her breather mask aside, instantly turning to the holographic plates on the console, quickly bringing up everything she could to observe the man she still 'not-so-secretly' loved. Hurtling towards the Chimera III, Naruto controlled the EVA engines through very slight movements, the ultra-sensitive motion detectors that spread throughout the entire suit picking up even the slightest of muscle spasms all over his body. Almost imperceptibly tensing the muscles in his right arm and leg, Naruto's course shifted to his left by a full three degrees, putting him back on course with an automated access hatch Kurama was supposed to be hacking through the use of the Ambush's communication array. Gritting his teeth as he reached the half-way mark, Naruto had yet to recieve confirmation from Kurama that his only hope of survival, the hatch, had been unlocked.

"Kurama..." Naruto growled quietly through clenched teeth, only to silently curse under his breath and adjust his course to avoid being hit by an oblivious Kodiak moving from the Chimera III to the Academy. Now incredibly nervous and tense, Naruto struggled to get back into the proper 'trajectory lane' and realign himself with his destination. Three-quarters of the way there and still no answer. Panic started to settle in. "Kurama."

"..." No answer still. Eyes widening as he suddenly feared that the VI wouldn't be able to open the hatch in time, Naruto felt regret for not kissing Miranda longer than they did and telling her that he still loved her; if he could, he would tell her now, but he didn't have the time. Two hundred meters and closing, Naruto was only seconds away from making contact with the sealed hatch, which would result in his immediate death...

"KURAMA!" He suddenly yelled with anger and desperation, being only ten meters away from the hatch...which suddenly hissed open, the vacuum of space sucking out the artificial atmosphere of the internal chamber with enough power to form enough of a 'cushion' that pushed against his rapidly moving body, slowing him down by nearly thirty percent of his original velocity. Instinctively throwing his arms and legs forward as he tilted his upper body into an upward position while all of the EVA engines fired at full power, Naruto managed to slow down just enough to avoid getting hurt...but not the rough landing. Grunting with pain as he bounced and rolled across the floor, he soon slid into the far wall side-ways almost a full hundred feet from the hatch he had just entered through, said opening having sealed itself shut just moments after his entry. Growling through gnashed teeth, Naruto glared off into the distance with wide eyes as he stayed exactly where he was, his heart thundering in his chest.

"Sorry for not responding, Corporal. I was unable to maintain the connection with the hatch while maintaining radio contact with you. I was forced to disconnect my communication programming from you in order to make sure the hatch remained accessible." Kurama suddenly spoke up and while he couldn't discredit the VI's reasoning, that didn't mean Naruto still wasn't royally pissed off, scared shitless, and relieved beyond belief all at the same time. Murphy's Law passed through his mind at that moment; if it can go wrong, it will. Letting out a brief grunt of acknowledgement, Naruto slowly forced himself to his feet, the EVA systems deactivating one by one until his suit was operating via its usual systems. Although oblivious to its creator's mood and ignorant of emotion, Kurama followed the plan and began the first step of the second phase, resulting in Naruto's HUD shifting from the soothing blue-greens of the EVA avionics and guidance systems to the fierce red-orange of the suit's primary combat systems. "All combat systems are now active, Corporal."

"Hmph..." Naruto snorted as he manually deactivated the air-tight seals in his suit to keep from wasting anymore of his limited oxygen reserves before drawing his Mattock rifle, shouldering it as a short-range 'mini-map' appeared in the top right corner of his HUD, giving him a general idea of his location and the location of any detected enemies within a fifty foot radius of himself. Without wasting any more time, Naruto proceeded out of the relatively empty room, heading towards the bridge via the maintenance tunnels; they were more direct and quicker, but also maze-like and riddled with countless alcoves and hiding places that the enemy could ambush him from...

At least his previously untested EVA system proved to be a near-flawless success...

Back in the Ambush, Miranda had been immensely relieved when Naruto had made it aboard the Chimera III without incident, with the exception of the shuttle that almost hit him. Sinking to her knees while letting out the breath she hadn't realized she had been holding in, she stayed like that for several long minutes before getting up and sitting back in the pilot's chair, waiting for the signal to retrieve him. Why did that blonde bastard have to make her worry so much all the time?

And why did he have to make her so damn emotional, too?

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'Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!' Naruto chanted in his head like a mantra, having hidden himself amongst the ceiling of pipes and cables above the walkway of the maintenance tunnel. Below him was a pair of Centurions patrolling the area; simple to get rid of, but Naruto wasn't exactly in a good position to take them out and if he used any of his guns, it'd cause enough noise to draw attention, setting off the alarm and bringing down however many Phantoms on top of his head, let alone whatever other military forces the Chimera III supported within its hulls. Thankfully, the two soldiers decided to move on from the intersection they were in and continue their patrol, causing Naruto to heave a silent sigh of relief. Naruto quietly made his way back down to the ground before deciding to plan ahead. Kneeling down for a moment, he drew a combat knife with a monomolecular blade that had been hidden in a sheathe-like compartment built into the side of the armor covering his right foreleg. Gripping the black handle tightly as he held it in a reverse-grip, Naruto glanced at the grey blade, pleased to see that the non-reflective coating hadn't been rubbed off since he had last applied it.

Even in the dimly lit tunnels, something a simple as the glare of a lightbulb reflecting off his knife could get him killed...

Shiiing!

"Shit..." Naruto growled under his breath, the sound of a sword being unsheathed from behind him making him tense. Spinning around, Naruto just barely managed to block the polished straight-edge monomolecular blade with his combat knife, catching the cutting edge of the sword on one of the serated teeth lining the bottom of his knife's edge. Gritting his teeth, Naruto barely managed to stop the sword completely as his eyes locked onto his attacker's face. "Kai Leng..."

"Uzumaki. I had a feeling you were here. I just didn't expect to find you so soon." Kai Leng greeted calmly before suddenly kicking Naruto in the chest, knocking him back, but Naruto recovered quickly by rolling backwards and springing to his feet, his knife held up at the ready. A moment later, a sword was thrown at his feet, confusing Naruto slightly before noticing Kai Leng still had his own in his hands; he wanted a duel. "We never did find out who the better swordsman was. I believe now is a better time than any. And don't worry; I won't trigger the alarm so long as we're fighting."

"Hmph. Never took you for having any honor, so don't be offended if I call 'bullshit'..." Naruto snarled as he stomped on the pommel of the sword, kicking it up into the air. Snatching the handle of the spinning sword with his left hand and flipping it into a reverse-grip, Naruto got ready for what could possibly escalate to be the hardest fight of his life; he knew better than to underestimate Kai Leng and he could only hope being in a rather cramped corridor would help limit Kai Leng's options. Letting his adrenaline surge through his veins, Naruto suddenly lashed out with a swipe from the sword, forcing Kai Leng to lean back and to the side in order to avoid injury, but that was exactly what Naruto wanted him to do. Stepping forward right after attacking, Naruto swung his knife around, landing a minor, but bloody scratch across the Cerberus assassin's cheek, only to reverse the movement of his arm in an attempt to stab the man in the chest with it, but Kai Leng was limber enough to move out of the way of serious harm, recieving only a second bloody scratch on his shoulder, suddenly cautious to get in too close with Naruto; the blonde didn't get cocky, though, and stayed where he was, waiting patiently.

Kai Leng was like him; every fight, whether they won or lost, made them stronger. For them, even a brief exchange, like a moment ago, was the equivalent to a full-scale fight, always learning from everything going on around them. The only real difference between them, apart from morals and goals, was their choice in sources of power. For Naruto, it was the body and mind while Kai Leng sought after the immortality of the machine, relying on technology to make him stronger and faster. Naruto had hard-learned combat experience and scars worn like medals of both honor and shame; Kai Leng had enhanced sensory cybernetics and flawless skin from cosmetic surgeries to remove the imperfections. The only real thing they shared in common was the desire for the prolonged existence of the Human race, but their methods and reasons were far from being remotely similar.

The assassin was xenophobic, like almost all of Cerberus' agents and employees, and shared the Illusive Man's views on ruling over the other races, if not completely wiping them out after bleeding them dry of anything and everything of value or use. Naruto, however, knew different. Only through unity would they, along with the other races, be able to stand against any threat and survive; the Reapers being a prime example. If the races didn't band together to fight back, they would be wiped out and there was nothing they could do to prevent it.

"Corporal, I have detected traces of Reaper technology present on the ship. Relaying the coordinates of its location to you now." Kurama spoke up from within his helmet, the volume low simply due to the tension of the situation. While not an AI, Kurama was still more advanced than any VI known to man; in fact, it was probably just below an AI in terms of processing capability since Kurama was capable of 'learning', but only to a small degree. What took AIs seconds to learn, without outside assistance, would take Kurama an hour. However, that gap was slowly being closed with every upgrade Naruto installed into its programming. He had been noticing certain...anomalies, however, in Kurama's code during the past few months and they had been spreading more than before ever since he had installed the VI into the Ambush's systems, but he had no idea why the changes were occuring. He would have to look into it when he got the chance. "I am also picking up a signal from Kai Leng that is similar to Reaper technology; possible indoctrination."

"So, the Illusive Man stopped pussy-footing around and finally started tinkering with Reaper tech, eh?" Naruto questioned sourly, internally enjoying the look of shock on Kai Leng's face. Using that momentary lapse in concentration, Naruto lunged forward, swinging the sword in an upward slice, only to suddenly lunge forward and bring it down in a stab. Cursing as he barely avoided having his thigh skewered, Kai Leng swung down at Naruto's neck, only for the armored soldier to spin around slightly while still crouching and block the sword with his own, his knife just barely grazing the inside of Kai Leng's thigh, but it was enough to draw blood and cause the man a decent amount of pain. Rolling away to dodge the assassin's retaliatory kick, Naruto stood back up, his eyes locked onto Kai Leng's face. "You're getting sloppy, Kai Leng. That's three times now that I've drawn your blood. Did you forget to install the latest upgrades again?"

"Shut up, you fool." Kai Leng hissed before going on the offensive, each of his attacks easily blocked by his opponent with minute and simple adjustments of his left forearm's placement, the blade of his borrowed sword running parallel to it. Suddenly throwing his knife into the air and distracting Kai Leng's attention for that split second, Naruto thrust his right hand forward, jabbing his knuckles into the black haired man's throat, stunning him and making him stumble back. Catching his knife, Naruto swung it in a horizontal arc, cutting into Kai Leng's chest just enough to leave a painful wound that warranted concern and drawing blood a fourth time, only for the follow-up swing with his sword to be blocked by a Phantom's blade as her cloaking device timed out and deactivated. Eyes going wide, Naruto wasted no time in stabbing the woman in the side of her neck, his knife easily gliding through her flesh and severing her carotid artery, trachea, and jugular vein all at once. Kicking the dying woman in the chest to knock her back into Kai Leng while ripping his knife free, Naruto flipped the sword into a regular forward-grip and moved to stab through them both, but the Phantom, with the last of her strength, fired off a single shot from her Palm Blaster, heavily damaging the supports to the metal grate floor panel Naruto was standing on and causing it to cave in, dropping him down into an air vent access hatch below him as he lost his grip on the sword, its blade impaling the grate-work directly in front of the hole in the floor.

"Sonuvabitch! KURAMA!" Naruto snarled urgently as he maintained his grip on his knife while a series of serated monomolecular bladed scallops deployed from the sides of his armored forearms before he drove them into the surfaces of the two conjoining walls that formed a corner in the square air vent behind him. Screeching to a halt after a few seconds, Naruto heaved a sigh of relief. He had no idea where the air vent led to or when it ended, but he didn't neccessarily want to find out, having already fallen a good hundred feet or so in the short few seconds he had been falling. Kicking out the vent screen directly across from him, Naruto ripped his right forearm from the wall before slipping his combat knife back into the sheathe on the side of his right calf. Kicking off the wall with a grunt of effort and enough force to completely dislodge the scallops on his left arm, Naruto barely managed to cling to the edge of the rectangular opening, the scallops snapping back into the housings. While he was glad that he had taken a great many sword-fighting classes in his younger years, the thirty-eight year old soldier actually didn't like them, preferring knives for CQC situations. They were smaller, making them lighter and easier to maneuver, especially in tight areas with the only real downside being a lack of reach, something his guns could more than make up for. Hauling himself through the opening with another grunt, Naruto hit the ground on his back with a heavy thud and a drawn-out groan of pain, finding himself in what seemed to be a storage room.

"...Could have used a 'heads up' back there, Kurama..." Naruto grunted out in complaint as he stood up, glancing around the small room for anything that could be of use to him for a reasonably good distraction to buy him some time. Yet again; if it could go wrong, it most certainly will...

"Sorry, Corporal. The Reaper signal from Kai Leng was interferring with the short-range stealth-system sensors. I did not detect the Phantom until just before she was revealed." Kurama answered, making Naruto grunt out an unintelligable response as he started fussing with a couple containers of cleaning chemicals, pouring a handful of them into a single metal canister. Dousing a rag in the fluid and stuffing it through a hole he put in the container's lid by stabbing it with his knife, Naruto walked over to the air vent, staring at the metal container in his hand.

"Activate the EVA rockets on my right forearm." Naruto ordered a bit absently, kind of wondering if his little concoction would even work. A moment later, the narrow exhaust ports were revealed and three thin jets of blue flame-like plasma were expelled from them. Using the heat they gave off, Naruto lit the soaked rag before dropping the canister down the air vent. As the EVA rockets deactivated once more, Naruto calmly waited, but after almost a minute and a half of nothing, he couldn't help sighing heavily with defeat. "Well, there goes my plan..."

KA-BOOOM!

"...Never mind." Naruto mumbled to himself, feeling the floor shake faintly from the resulting explosion of his haphazardly devised home-made bomb. As smoke leaked out of the air vent and alarms started blaring all over the ship, Naruto pressed a button on his belt, causing the color of his armor to flicker before it went from grey and black to white and yellow in the proper colors of Cerberus, his guns as well. It was another 'untested' gadget of his, but if he grabbed one of his guns, drew his combat knife, or even used his Omni-tool for anything, the holographic camouflage would glitch out and deactivate, blowing his cover. That didn't mean he couldn't use someone else's gun or weapon, though, and Kurama was quite handy. However, getting hit with anything would also result in the deactivation of the hologram. "The Infiltration Camouflage works, too. Good."

Without another word, Naruto exited the room, watching as troops and various Cerberus members ran up and down the halls, everyone trying to either figure out what was going on or to find a way to fix it. Smirking within his helmet, Naruto was thankful that Kurama had gotten a complete scan of the ship and was transmitting an accurate mini-map to his HUD with updates to its status every ten seconds and a guidance system that kept him from getting lost. A Carrier was a big ship and he had to locate a single room amongst the countless others. Granted, most bridges are usually located in the same general spot, but...

"Kurama...Where was that Reaper tech located?" Naruto inquired curiously, suddenly rethinking his plans.

"In the Armory's Research and Development sector, Deck G-5, Lab 6." The advanced VI responded while a transparent blue-print of the Chimera III appeared across the HUD of Naruto's visor, the image narrowing down until it locked onto the room in question, a locater marker designating the room. Naruto smirked a little more than before, turning down a corridor. Oh, he was going to have some fun...

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"One, two, three...Seven Centurions. That's it?" Naruto mumbled to himself, feeling a little disappointed as he peeked around the corner to see the number of soldiers standing guard outside 'Lab 6'. Glancing up above said soldiers after hearing something, Naruto suddenly paled. A mounted, self-targeting, auto-turret armed with twin-linked mass accelerator cannons. Between dealing with a Phantom and dealing with an auto-turret, he'd sooner go for the Phantom. He hated turrets. Grumbling under his breath, Naruto decided that his usual tactic of brute force wouldn't hold up this time. Bringing up his Omni-tool and causing his Infiltration Camouflage to glitch out that resulted in the holographic pattern twitching and flickering before disappearing completely, Naruto started hacking the localized security system, focusing primarily on the turret. Throwing glances down the hall he was in just incase of any patrols, Naruto focused back on hacking the turret. After registering himself as a 'friendly', he quickly switched the turret's 'allegiance' so that all Cerberus agents were now targets.

The sounds of heavy gunfire informed him that he had been successful...

"That solves that problem..." Naruto mumbled before pulling out a grenade, arming it, and throwing it up at the turret just as it started sinking back into the ceiling. Closing up with the grenade housed within, the resulting explosion a few seconds later completely destroyed the turret and doubtlessly alerted several nearby patrols, if the cannon fire hadn't already. Swiftly accessing the doors to Lab 6, Naruto tweaked the system to deny all access before jamming the systems needed to physically operate the doors, essentially sealing himself within the lab; he needed time. Ignoring most everything in the lab apart from the piece of Reaper technology sitting on an examination table in the center of the room, Naruto started getting some ideas. Again. "Hey, Kurama. Is it possible for you to harvest some of the Reaper code and reprogram yourself into an AI without becoming a part of the Reaper code yourself?"

"Unlikely. Risk of indoctrination is 99.9%." Kurama responded, making Naruto scowl faintly, but he smirked faintly a moment later.

"You may be a VI, Kurama, but I made you. If I didn't think you could do it, I wouldn't ask." Naruto commented as he glanced around the room, a little surprised to see an inactive and primarily intact Geth Prime platform lying on another examination table off to the side. Walking over to it, Naruto started examining the platform for any serious damages or anything that might hinder its ability to operate. Checking the security systems again, Naruto grimaced faintly when he counted out at least two dozen varied Cerberus soldiers headed in his direction from all across the Armory sector. "Just harvest the code and isolate it, Kurama. I'll deal with it later, okay?"

"Affirmative, Corporal." Kurama remarked before going silent once more as it focused primarily on the Reaper code, requiring almost all of its primary processing capabilities just to defend against the Reaper's infectious digital programming. It would be quite a bit of time before the VI would be available once more. While Kurama was busy with that, Naruto quickly glanced around before finding and gathering the needed tools for his newest plan. Once he had everything, he started removing the Prime's chest armor, soon exposing the internal workings and its core, the source of its power and 'collective sentience'. Taking out a small, but powerful data storage device, Naruto placed it on top of the Prime and, after a couple minutes of searching for the proper port he needed, was just about to plug it in when the muffled noises of Cerberus agents trying to get in came from the doors. Giving a silent prayer that his plan worked, he plugged the device into the Prime's inactive core before bringing up his Omni-tool, quickly accessing the hard drive and downloading the programming it contained into the Prime's core. Once it was done, he unplugged the device, put it back in the pouch it came from, and quickly started mounting its armor back on, finishing just as the three red lights that made up the Prime's 'eyes' started to flicker and brighten with activity.

"..." Naruto was silent as he watched the Prime, taking a step back and holding his Mattock in his hands, nervous that his plan might back-fire and unleash a Prime on himself. After a moment or two, however, the lights faded back into darkness. Growling, Naruto gave the examination table a strong kick out of frustration that shook it and the Prime's synthetic platform. Figuring it was probably out of power, Naruto decided to screw being 'nice' and ripped out a power cable from a nearby computer system, only to jam the still-live end into the Prime's side. Flinching back slightly as the sparks temporarily blinded him, Naruto held it in place for a few seconds while blinking the spots out of his eyes before tossing it off to the side, glad that he had insulated his suit from electrical surges a long time ago. Drawing his Mattock again, Naruto took a handful of steps back when the Prime started waking back up, twitching slightly.

"Come on...Work, damn it..." Naruto growled under his breath, keeping his eyes on the Prime as he watched it slowly start to sit up. He swore that if his program didn't work, he'd never mess with AI/VI programming ever again. Mostly because he might be dead before he could ever take a crack at it again; while unarmed at the moment, a Geth Prime was still incredibly dangerous. As the Prime got up from the table and stood completely still beside it, Naruto waited a few seconds before cautiously walking over to it. "Identify."

"Geth Prime heavy platform, no individual designation." The Prime responded before turning its head to Naruto, its programming finally registering another presence. "Identify."

"Corporal Naruto Uzumaki. I'm the one that woke you up." Naruto answered firmly, but clearly as he kept his rifle aimed downward with the stock still pressed into his shoulder. He was actually sweating from within his suit. While he knew he could take the Prime down, if need be, it would cost him a good bit of time and thermal clips; both of which were things he didn't have a whole lot of. Not to mention that it would probably hurt a great deal as well. "Identify allegiance. Are you my ally or my enemy?"

"..." The Prime was silent for several moments, most likely 'contemplating' the pros and cons of either answer, decyphering which would be the most logical. "...Ally."

"..." Slowly letting out the breath he had been holding, Naruto slowly lowered his rifle a bit more and relaxed his tense muscles just a tad. "I don't know why I'm saying this, but I'll trust you. For now. Do you know where you are?"

"Negative." The Prime responded in the same deep monotone as before. Naruto refrained from grumbling or complaining and simply asked another question.

"Are you connected with the Geth consensus?"

"Negative."

"Are you still allied with the Geth consensus?" Naruto inquired cautiously. This was the moment that would prove his program worked or not.

"...Negative." The Prime responded, this time hesitating for a couple seconds before answering. Naruto breathed a sigh of relief before holstering his rifle for the moment. Looking around the lab again, Naruto spotted what looked like a weapons locker of some kind near the very back of the room. Walking over to it and investigating, Naruto couldn't help grinning, feeling kind of lucky now after so many incidents of bad luck so far. While it wasn't geth weaponry, it would still do and would prove more useful at the moment since it was disposable and easily replacable. Grabbing only a basic Cerberus Harrier, Naruto walked over to the Prime and handed the rifle to it. "Why is weaponry required?"

"To keep it short and sweet, we're in hostile territory. I'm currently on a mission that involves me killing the Cerberus agents on this ship, if not outright destroying the ship itself. Understand so far?" Naruto recieved a nod from the synthetic. "For now, everyone on this ship is to be considered an enemy and is to be eliminated unless I say otherwise. Understood?"

"Affirmative." The Prime responded before promptly examining the weapon it had been handed, quickly and effortlessly figuring out how to use it to its maximum potential. Arming the weapon, the Prime awaited further orders.

"Now, I can't just keep calling you 'Geth' or 'Prime' or 'Synthetic' or whatever. So, I'm going to give you a name and if you want to keep it after this is all done with, that's up to you. For now, you are..." Naruto paused and glanced up at the Prime from his Omni-tool checking on the Cerberus troops still outside, trying to get in. "...Centurion."

"Designation registered and confirmed." The newly named Centurion responded before addressing Naruto once more. "What is the directive, Corporal?"

"..." Naruto stayed quiet for a moment, accessing his Omni-tool to manually check on Kurama's programming, specifically searching for any signs of indoctrination from the Reaper code it was collecting. Finding none and noticing that Kurama was almost done gathering what it could, Naruto finally spoke up. "For the moment, we're waiting on my VI, Kurama, to finish gathering data on something. After that, we're going to pretty much take control of this ship and destroy it. From there...Well, I don't know. I don't usually plan very far ahead. Things tend to go bad around me for some reason."

"..." Centurion remained silent, instead choosing to 'observe' its new ally.

"Corporal, I have finished collecting and isolating a portion of the Reaper code, but I will not be of much use. Most of my primary programming is required to contain the code at the moment." Kurama responded before going silent once more, making Naruto sigh. Quickly opening up a com-link with the Ambush, Naruto waited until it was answered by Miranda. "What's going on, Naruto? Are you ready for extraction?"

"No, not yet. I just wanted to inform you that Kurama isn't going to be able to pilot the Ambush. You're going to have to do it yourself, but..." Naruto paused and glanced over at Centurion for a moment. "We might have an extra passenger for a little bit."

"What do you mean by that?" Miranda questioned suspiciously, but Naruto dismissed it.

"Long story. I'll tell you later. Naruto, out." The armored blonde then deactivated his Omni-tool and glanced at Centurion, only to point at the door casually without looking away from the Prime. "Do you mind getting the door for me? I kind of locked myself in. You don't have to worry about being rough. If at all possible, bust it down."

"Affirmative." Centurion responded before mounting its rifle to its back and approaching the twin doors...

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