If you got this notice on 10/30/16, it's a repeat.

KrossoverXKing presents the much-anticipated installment of:

The Memoir of Tali'Zorah vas Yoko

a Mass Effectand Naruto crossover.

See first few chapters for Disclaimer

Wooh! That's fast! I wanted the chapter for Operation: Eden out before TWD Season 7 premiere since it's a zombie fic, and here I am, screwed up circadian rhythm and all. It's 1:20 AM on 10/23, and I decided to start writing the next chapter for you guys.

But man, has it been a crazy week. The Sun&Moon demo came out, RWBY Season 4 premiere earlier, TWD season 7 premiere later today... And ya got lil' ol' me posting two chapters in a week.

Anywho, this is your glossary for this chapter.

Raan/Migranta – Raan are Quarians on Rannoch, Migranta are Quarians who followed Naruto.

SAS – Stealth Action Suit. A joint Xen/Reegar/Zorah project to truly make the Zorahs the Shinobi of the Quarian Race. Not even Tali knows all of its functions.

Citadael – the Citadel.

Uzushionium – near-indestructible metal from Gakure. The Zorah Clan were as knowledgeable as Naruto when it came to its properties.

Naru'Zumaki vas Yoko/Admiral Zumaki – What Naruto is commonly called in this cycle.

Segmented Enhancement Armor – Dead Space Armor. Sue me (please don't).

Maledicta – Multi-Lateral/Directional Chakran Transference Array(MLDCTA) – a Mass Relay.

Protector – What most people, aside from Tali and Asari, call the Geth in this universe. Orange-lit Protectors are known as Geth, because they aren't protecting anyone.

Gakure – Chakran home planet, originally Joab(Enoch, Rosetta Nebula).

Chakran – Naruto's race. The original Chakra wielders.

Ninjato – Gakure's Military.

Chouwa no Kuni – originally Amegakure. Where Naruto and Sasuke chose to begin the path to peace, right in between three of the five Great Nations.

-X-

Citadael: Zakera Ward – Chora's Den

-X-

It was still too early for me to comprehend how irrevocably my life had changed. Well, that's not exactly true. I was riding a high of adrenaline and new experiences. I had yet to process the fact that my father had betrayed our family, as well as Admiral Zumaki. He had betrayed everything he had done and we had ever did.

I had left my planet, fleeing from members of my own race who would sooner hang me than help me.

I had stopped a master from betraying his apprentice.

I had almost been killed by a Reaper...

I would crash eventually, but until then, I would just keep on being me.

An excerpt from The Memoir of Tali'Zorah vas Yoko – Page 12

The two disc-shaped grenades impacted each other right where Nihlus wanted them to, drastically changing both of their trajectories so they made right angles right inside the door.

A pained scream was abruptly cut off as the incendiary part of the incendiary grenade came into play, a fwoosh~ turning the man into fine ash.

Garrus, using the smoke caused by the other grenade and his own thermal scope, shot a man who had perched atop the bar with a triplet of cryo rounds. The first two destroyed his shields, while the third impacted his throat, the flexible rubber-like material offering no protection unlike the ceramic/carbon composite armor.

"Tali, Ashley... you're up."

Both females nodded to SpecTRe Shepard's order, the Quarian taking point. Using the active camoflauge of her SAS, Tali went left and lined up her own shot at someone hiding behind a partition near the door. It was actually the second-closest, the man behind the closest partiton having met his end at the hand of Nihlus' grenade.

Ashley stepped through the thinning smoke, finding her target on the right, and putting her assault rifle's automatic setting to the test. Tali, for her part, leaned over the partition and shot the Salarian there with her Tanto shotgun.

"RRRAAHHH!"

Jane was quick to appear at hearing the charging Krogan's roar, who was headed straight for Tali. At the same time, Garrus caused another merc's gun to explode in his hands, the adversary having peeked out from behind the pillar in the center to attack the Last Zorah, whose camoflauge apparently shorted out when blood had gotten on it.

"Suiton: Mizurappa!" The aptly named water trumpet slammed into the Krogan, sending him careening back and crushing an unfortunate Human when it impacted the wall.

Nihlus used his jets to land atop the bar, killing the bartender who also held a shotgun with his HMWP: X. This allowed Ashley to mold her chakra in preparation for the last enemy, who cowered behind a metal crate.

"Chidori..."

Gathering lightning in her right hand, Ashley held the wrist with her left hand as she aimed her palm at the man still hiding behind the crate.

"Senbon."

With those two words, dozens of needles formed from lightning sped forward, the brunette's manipulation and concentration so fine-tuned she arced them over the crate, before they shot straight down like rain.

Only Nihlus was jaded enough to look behind the crate and check as they entered the hall for the back office.

Lightning Release was the most versatile and destructive element of the current century, as it had been for the last three. Nearly everything ran on electricity. Anything that used Eezo used electricity. If one were to use Lightning Release on Eezo, it would continually gain mass as long as that person kept up the flow of chakra.

In weapons, their force came from sending very lightweight grains of metal at high velocity, said velocity giving the small projectiles their force. When hit by Lightning, however, the grains were no longer lightweight, and instead overheated the gun due to it trying to push the heavy metal filings to the same velocity, which usually ended...explosively.

With armor, there was no stopping the list of problems that could be caused by a small application of pulsating electrical current.

Once again, Tali hacked the door open, followed by Ashley tossing a frag grenade in, then she and Nihlus entering and taking out the two distracted grunts.

It was an ingrained efficiency. Turians and Humans regularly intermingled in combat-related operations, and a hybrid of their pre-contact militaries was born to accommodate both races.

And it was a force to be reckoned with, that camaraderie. The unstoppable force of Human ingenuity combined with the immovable object known as Turian discipline made any enemy think twice about attacking the military backbones of the Citadael.

There was no 'Let's use Human tactics', or 'Let's use Turian tactics'. It was one in the same for the past three centuries.

The next door was unlocked, so Jane and Garrus took to dealing with whoever was on the other side.

Garrus aimed his gun right at the seam of the sliding doors as he kneeled right in front of them, even as Jane readied her katana and opened the door.

There was no hesitation in the redhead's actions as she used her cybernetics to their fullest potential, blocking the shots that flew over her significant other, while Garrus' shields absorbed the rest.

The resounding CRACK of the sniper rifle put an end to the assault rifle's constant barking by way of ending its owner's life.

And now, only one door stood between them and Saren Arterius.

"Lady Zorah," Nihlus began, "I wish for you to be the one who breaches this door. Your Stealth Action Suit will be able to handle whatever final defense my mentor has prepared, and you will be able to get a read on the room before we close the door."

"I can do you one better," Tali said, glad to show off something more than her hacking ability. According to Ashley, Migranta Quarians were as defined by their technological ability as they were their suits.

As much as she was proud to be a loyal Zorah, a loyal Migranta Quarian... Tali was also her own person. She needed to be known for something other than what every other Migranta Quarian was known for.

She was a Zorah, the Last Zorah, Tali'Zorah. And like Tarquin Victus told her, she needed to show everyone what exactly that entailed.

She reached into a pouch on her SAS, pulling out eight metal discs. Six of them were elongated, while the other two were regular circles. She proceeded to place the six ovals on her fingers, while the two circles went on her palms. She also knocked her heels on the floor, causing a simlar configuration to activate in her shoes.

"I'll mark the enemies on your HUD, then attack from above as a distraction."

Garrus' question of "How?" was answered as she began climbing up the wall, into an overhead vent.

The simple explanation for the intricate process could be summed up in one word: magnets.

The wafer-thin discs were made of Uzushionium. The Chakrans' signature metal was special in one way, and what a way it was.

It only reacted to the elements created purely from chakra.

If you wanted to melt it, it required the flames of Amateratsu, or several prolonged fire jutsu. For all other fire, it didn't even get hot.

It was only conductive of electricity directly formed from chakra. For all other electricity, it was an insulator.

It was impervious to rust unless the water was formed inside the body. Already existing water manipulated by chakra was just as useless as the water it came from.

Luckily for Tali, her Stealth Action Suit came with a chakra separator, much like Admiral Zumaki's Segmented Enhancement Armor. Normally used to separate yin and yang from each other to allow minor repairs – which is why her armor had survived being passed down over 40,000 years – it also allowed the creation of every element within a small radius around her suit.

If she was cold, the suit created fire chakra in order to heat up the surrounding air. If the suit was dirty, a quick application of water chakra usually washed away, followed by a drying courtesy of wind chakra. Earth chakra could strengthen the flexible bodysuit to be as strong as diamond, and lightning chakra powered the entire thing, though there was a battery pack just in case.

It was magnetism caused by the constant back-and-forth between the suit and the wall (which was made of Uzushionium just like every other fixed part of the Citadael), while she stayed connected to the discs because of the strong static generated by her suit due to this action.

She needed the discs because if she had just tried connecting straight to the wall, it would have simply magnetized the wall, while she'd be stuck to it due to static, which was embarrassing enough to think about.

The discs, however, could hold their magnetism long enough for her to remove her hand and place it higher, dragging herself up. A decrease in current allowed her to remove her hand, while an increase allowed the strength required to hold her weight as she pulled herself higher up the wall. The ones on her feet worked the same way, but those were mostly needed when she was crawling along a ceiling to keep her lower half from hanging.

"So cool!" Ashley gushed at seeing a true shinobi skill, with Nihlus nodding in agreement.

The Asari believed the SpecTRes were a counter to the Zorah Clan. The SpecTRes were, in fact, an homage to that brave family.

But there were instances where the original far outstripped its modern-day counterpart, the chakra separator being a prime example. For scientists, separating the two halves of chakra was like trying to separate oil and water with a fork. There was just no way that was happening. And using Lightning Release and having it constantly re-enter your suit simply compounded the chance of something going wrong. The chakra separator was a generator, conductor, and insulator all in one for electric-aligned chakra. There was no risk of problems from that device.

"It's coming in," Jane supplied helpfully as their HUD was updated. Jane saw it first since none of the others had their helmets on, while the redhead's was directly sent to her cybernetic eyes.

There were two turrets on the opposite wall, while their target was standing between them. Standing in a corner near the door was a Human male with a simple pistol.

"That's Fist," Nihlus supplied. "He's the owner of this bar. C-Sec can't find any evidence, but he's in contact with some shady individuals, namely the Shadow Broker... Lady Zorah, can you create a distraction or short out the turrets? If we simply open the doors, it'll just give away the element of surprise we have."

"Got it. One distraction, coming up!" the Quarian responded enthusiastically. Now that she was in her element, she seemed to be coming out of her shell somewhat.

Her element, of course, was stealth and sabatoge. And now that she was surrounded by friendly territory, as well as having back-up, there was no longer a limit on what she could do.

Channeling Lightning Release into a high explosive grenade was never advised unless you had a fully matured Sharingan and fully mastered said element, and even then it wasn't something one normally did.

Of course, if you were a professional saboteur who had been working up to this point for the last fifteen years, then you had a grasp on what to do in this situation, as well.

Impressive shields were the only reason the rogue Turian SpecTRe between the two destroyed turrets wasn't killed in either blast. The Human in the corner, though across the room, fared much worse. Shrapnel was imbedded in his arms and legs, and scorch marks had scored hits on clothing and skin, alike.

Immediately after, the two Human females and two Turian males burst into the room, guns at the ready. Tali dropped down from the overhead vent, pointing her shotgun at the silver-armored Turian. Only Ashley had her weapon pointed at the injured Fist. While he had no weapon, if he decided to charge, the distraction would be enough for a seasoned SpecTRe like Saren Arterius to take advantage of.

"Rushing in as usual, Human," Saren mocked, staring the fuming Jane down. He placed a taloned hand on the wall behind him, tapping a scorch mark caused by the lightning chakra. "Collateral damage is generally frowned upon. Isn't that right, Fist?"

"Gah-haha!" Fist cried out, unable to move his arms much more than lowering them slightly. "Fuck every one of you!" He glared at the assembled group, tears of pain in his eyes. "I hope you die in a god damn fire!"

Nihlus shook his head, HMWP: X still trained on the oldest Turian of the three of them. "You're coming with us, Saren. You're surrounded, outnumbered, and by now C-Sec has cordoned off here and the spaceport. There's no way you can leave the Citadael."

"Unless I'm already gone, Nihlus," came Saren's voice from their side, where a previously off television – which had escaped damage – now showed the silver-themed Turian on a metallic throne in a dark room, pipes visible on the ceiling. "Every time you think you're a step ahead of me, I've moved three steps already."

Nihlus scowled darkly at the television, before he began pacing back and forth. The 26th Armiger Legion, which he had been a part of, was all about misdirection and subterfuge. What looked like him clenching his fists in anger was actually him tapping out a message to Tali, which appeared on her HUD.

'Track it.'

She and Garrus had been staring at what they thought was Saren, but was apparently a hologram of some sorts. They hadn't actually got close enough in case it was rigged with a proximity sensor, or a laser that triggered when interrupted.

But when that message came up, Tali was quick to trace the signal by sending something through it. A millisecond-long sound bite at 0 volume was more than sufficient for her purpose, and having it play automatically when arriving would mean it got lost in the transmission.

There were a dozen terminals just on the Citadael that the signal bounced to, but it eventually rocketed away, latching onto a comm buoy before using a passing vessel to pass through the Maledicta and-

"It seems you're trying to find where I am," Saren's cold voice interrupted, causing her to flinch.

"Of course," Nihlus shot back. "You thought I wanted to talk to you for this long?"

"We are master and-"

"We are enemies!" Nihlus growled, left eye smoldering. It was almost hypnotic how a single ripple emanated from his pupil, passing over his iris and pulling the blue behind it and turning his normally black sclera violet before it disappeared behind the lid, the eye going back to normal.

Saren was visibly taken aback.

"The Ri-"

"You will die by my hand," Nihlus promised. "I will find you, use the skills you taught me, and end the threat you pose to this galaxy. You sullied the reputation of the Protectors by using them as your army. You nearly killed myself and Lady Zorah when we stumbled across your operation. You're working with the Reapers, and that is something I have to bring to Admiral Zumaki's attention."

"Speaking of the Geth..." Saren finally managed after viewing the legendary Dojutsu, "that's not a hologram." And with that, the television turned off.

But something turned on in its place.

"Geth!" Tali shouted, watching the orange-lit, silver-plated droid destroy the hologram that had been cloaking it like an aura.

Its Spitfire was raised, the barrels already rotating, warming up and releasing grey smoke from the muzzles.

Protector weapons were special for two significant reasons.

Instead of a full-tilt fire-rate until the weapon overheated, it used a concave down, increasing curve, rising quickly to a point where the barrels cooled as quickly as the shots were fired before plateauing. This meant that weapons from the Protector Armory did not overheat.

The second reason was their ammunition. Highly compressed – and therefore very hot – Indium(III) Sulfide gas was both ejected and cooled by the barrel, which had changed its state to liquid by time it had reached the end. The quick speed at which that liquid metal was traveling meant it was now needle-shaped. When exposed to room temperature, it finally hardened in that shape, which could pierce armor and shields as easily as flesh.

But due to the properties of the compound, it reacted explosively when it came in contact with water, which every organic had an abundance of in their body.

And the grey fire it produced as a muzzle flash was as iconic as the Jinchuuriki.

The phase-shifting rounds shattered as they failed to find a target, the Geth tracking Tali relentlessly.

But Tali was used to running; she had been doing so for all her life.

"Duck!" Ashley shouted, seeing the shots get closer and closer to the Quarian. She saw no choice but to dive for the corrupted Protector with her hand wreathed in lightning.

"Chidori!" she shouted, her lightning-encased hand piercing armor and circuitry as easily as water.

The Geth, for it was not a Protector, immediately shut down, Ashley having severed the thick cable that paralleled its spine.

"What was that?" Jane asked, horrified as the Geth slumped to the floor. As someone who had visited the Migranta Fleet, to see the protectors of the loyal Quarian race try to kill one of its most iconic members was...horrifying.

Nihlus rubbed his left eye in phantom pain. "Tali," he said instead of answering his protege, "were you able to trace the signal?"

"No," she replied, upset that her hack was found so quickly. "I can only say it left the Serpent Nebula. Since I was tracking the signal, I would have picked up a return signal if he was just giving us the run-around. But it left and didn't return. He caught me as the ship I latched on entered the transference tunnel..."

"During the transference...or just before?" Nihlus muttered before glancing at the Migranta Quarian. "Is it possible the signal came from that ship...that Saren was on it?"

"Theoretically," Tali replied uncertainty, "but it's just as likely that he had used that ship to piggy-back his signal into here, and it was simply coincidence it was leaving as we tracked it."

"Or the ship is under his command, and he used it like you said, Lady Zorah, but wasn't actually on it," Garrus offered. He had spent a year in C-Sec cybercrime, and that had been a more difficult case. "What sort of ship was it?"

"The Qrow," she replied. "It's labeled as an SSREV... What's that?"

"The coolest fucking thing in the world," Jane replied darkly, glaring death at the screen Saren had used.

"SpecTRe Short-Range Enforcement Vessel. It's a stealth SSTO fighter jet available only to SpecTRes," Nihlus replied, staring at a wall as if it would eventually crack and tell him just what the hell was going on.

"But they revoked his status," Jane said. "That means he shouldn't be able to pilot it."

"He shouldn't have been able to turn it on," Nihlus said lowly. "There's something going on... Something I don't want to believe is true, but the more I think about it, the more it seems to make sense. The fact that this...abomination of a Protector was allowed on the Citadael in the first place..." It was just the first, most obvious, nail in the proverbial coffin.

"We're out of here," he suddenly replied, turning abruptly. There was a stiffness to his gait at the no doubt traitorous thoughts swirling in his mind.

"Where we going?" Jane asked, being just behind and to the right of the tall Turian. Next to her was Garrus, just as eager for the answer, but less pushy than his girlfriend.

"Away from here," he said. "Away from the Citadael, away from the Athena Nebula... I heard the Traverse was great this time of year," he replied with a faint smile.

"Aw yeah!" Ashley said, she and Tali bringing up the rear. "Covert Ops, off the books. No fate but what we make!"

"You Humans and your quotes," Garrus replied in a good-natured jibe, shaking his head.

"Well we got two Turians, and one of them is a SpecTRe, the first Human SpecTRe, myself of course, and Lady Zorah! Nothing's gonna stop us!"

Tali blushed at being called Lady Zorah yet again. "Y-Ya'know," she stuttered, rubbing her hands together nervously, "you can just call me Tali."

"Huh?" Ashley replied eloquently. "Why's that?"

Everyone was now cramped in a skycar. The five of them, in full combat gear, was a tight fit in the four person vehicle. Luckily, both Jane and Tali's outfits were more bodysuits, and the redhead had opted to sit on Garrus' lap, granting a little more space than what normally would have been in this scenario.

"I mean, I'm just Tali. Sure I'm Tali'Zorah nar Migranta-Zorah, and that's supposed to be a big deal 'cuz of what my ancestors did, and I'm the last one now since...since my dad..."

Tali took a deep breath, glancing out the window as ships passed through the Serpent Nebula, igniting the raw chakra there. When it wasn't feeling like it was threatening to tear your ship apart, the myriad of colors that reverberated through the clouds was very beautiful, much like Rannoch's equatorial aurora borealis.

"The point is, whatever my ancestors did, it wasn't me. I have done nothing aside from temporarily delay them every once in a while, and for the last five years, I was the only one doing so. Me. Only me... Me, against an entire planet of Rann Quarians who had a 'Kill On Sight' order for me."

"Isn't that normal?" Jane asked unthinkingly. She, a newly instated SpecTRe, flinched when those slit silver eyes turned to regard her fully. "Sorry," she said.

"No," Tali finally said after nearly a minute of eye-contact, "it wasn't."

And that effectively ended the conversation as the skycar stopped at the Human embassy. Everyone piled out of the small car, grateful for the space.

"I'm going to call Admiral Zumaki," Nihlus said. "He needs to know about...everything that's happened since Eden Prime. Then I'll see about getting us a ship. I'm hoping for a frigate, but we'll probably be getting a corvette." With a quick nod, he separated himself from the group.

"Me 'n Garrus are going shopping!" Jane called out enthusiastically, her switch in emotions unsurprisng. She always was one to jump back up after being knocked down, it seemed.

"We are?" Garrus said, having not been informed of his participation in...anything. Then, seeing death tinted pink, quickly changed the tone of his last statement.

"We are," he said, as decisive as a guillotine.

"Get us something nice!" Ashley called out to the duo as they reentered the skycar, more than likely headed to the Silversun Strip. The brunette then turned to the silver-eyed Zorah. "So, where do you want to go La-Tali?"

Tali tilted her head, her shoulder-length silver-green hair covering one eye. "I've never been here," she dead-panned.

She was not prepared for Ashley's response. The pseudo-Uchiha placed both hands on her shoulders, staring straight into her luminescent eyes, while her own dark orbs seemed to absorb any light near them, helped by thick mascara and dark eyeshadow.

Slowly, ever so slowly, Ashley's hands creeped up, cupping the Quarian's face as they inched closer and closer.

Suddenly, Ashley pressed, Tali's cheeks squishing together and giving her comical fish lips. She held the younger female in that position for quite a few uncomfortable seconds. Their noses were nearly touching.

"I know."

With that, Ashley released her, laughing at Tali's dumbfounded, blushing face. She could no longer keep the act up.

"Ahhhh..." Ashley sighed after nearly two minutes of laughing at her...well, Tali was basically a disciple in Ashley's religion, wasn't she? The Unitoligist simply smiled, replying "sorry, but you wanna be Tali, not Lady Zorah."

So that was her response to a name change?

"Tell me about the Citadael," Tali finally decided, seeing as they had a pretty good angle on the entire thing. From where they were, the Presidium Tower cut their view in half horizontally.

"Eh," Ashley began, "you want a history lesson? Alright..." She leaned against a wall, staring at the ward arm nearly straight above them. After a second's hesitation, Tali joined her. "Well, that's Zakera Ward. It's got a little bit of everything. Most of the affiliate races stay there, but everyone visits it.

"Tayseri Ward's next to it. It's Asari only. Not much I can say about it, except I heard there was a giant theater there...

"We're on Shalta Ward. The Human Ward officially, but lots of Turians and Quarians stay here, too. Us three hang out a lot for some reason...

"The one behind us," she said, gesturing vaguely in that direction with her head, "is Kithoi Ward. Salarians own that one. Lots of libraries and universities. Some of the banished Asari risk death just to go there. I heard about one Asari, Dana-something or other, that was actually found dead. She was studying more efficient recycling methods and was doing a stint as a sanitation worker..." Ashley shook her head. "Never seen an Asari get down and dirty before." She blushed, then amended, "not in that way, at least... But C-Sec always suspected foul play."

She quickly changed topics. "Last one's Aroch Ward in front of us. Process of elimination should have let you figure that one out," she smiled.

"The Turian Ward," Tali said confidently. It seemed like each of the Council Races had a ward, while Zakera Ward was more of a catch-all.

"Yup," Ashley agreed. "It's mostly them, Quarians, and Humans again, just like here in Shalta."

"You said I was getting a history lesson," Tali said. "This is just exposition." Ashley chuckled at that.

"You need to know where the friendlies are at."

"Shalta and Aroch."

Ashley looked visibly confused. "Not Kithoi? We're good on with the Salarians."

"No," Tali said with finality, shaking her head for emphasis. "That Asari, Dana Whatever; if you think about it, who is the most likely to have killed her? Not Salarians, who were probably getting compensated somehow by letting her work. Not other Asari in the same boat as her, they know how it is..."

"But Asari commandos who were ordered to do just that," Ashley gasped, staring over her shoulder with a new sense of fear. She then turned to Tali, a sense of wonder pervading her visage. "How did you-"

"I had to think like that," Tali said simply, causing the brunette to nod.

Ashley shook her head, before a full-body shiver traveled down her body. She shook her head again once again when it was done.

"Anyways, history lesson. Well, Admiral Zumaki wasn't actually the one to envision the Citadael. That was his sister-in-law, Ino-hime, who called it the Geranium. It was meant to house the warriors and ships of Ninjato during their fight with the Reapers, or Shinigami in Chakran."

"Why?" Tali asked. While she was good at discerning covert operations and other small-scale attacks, such a large-scale operation – involving the entire Chakran Army and Navy – was somewhat beyond her.

"I'll give you a hint: this is always where they meant to put it," Ashley supplied. At Tali's continued non-answer, she replied "they were keeping the Reapers away from Gakure. This is on the exact opposite side of the galaxy from Gakure. Back then, the Reapers weren't as strong, or as smart as they are now.

"The Chakrans had just finished what Admiral Zumaki calls the Galactic War, and were immediately thrust into the Reaper War.

"No one's really sure where the Reapers came from, but they existed during the Galactic War, which was against Leviathans and Kaiju, but didn't attack until after the Chakrans had won.

"Anywho, the first Geranium wasn't made of Uzushionium, and the Reapers eventually destroyed it, along with most of Ninjato's ships and warriors. After that, it was just him, Sasuke-sama, and Hanabi-hime. Unfortunately, Sarada-hime, Ino-hime, Shino-sama, Gaara-sama, and Konohamaru-sama had all died by that point. Oh, um, those eight were the leaders of Chouwa no Kuni, which was the first and only successful Ninshuu village.

"After a while, Admiral Zumaki was the only one left alive, and the Reapers decided that since they couldn't kill him, the fact that he was the last of his race meant there would be no more Chakrans, which would have to do."

"They let him live?" Tali asked incredulously. That was nothing like what she knew about the Reapers.

"They had no choice," Ashley replied with a smirk. "They couldn't hurt him, and he was killing them by the dozens. They knew Chakrans needed a male and female to have a baby, so figured just leaving him alive was better than becoming extinct by his hand, instead.

"But let me finish," Ashley finally said. "Admiral Zumaki created the Geranium, out of Uzushionuim this time, in hopes that whatever race found it would be able to hide inside during the Harvest...

"But the Reapers had replicated the Leviathans' thrall ability, and used the Inusannon to open the Geranium during their Harvest. Admiral Zumaki was only able to save a few thousands-"

"Only?" Tali said in disbelief. That sounded like a lot when dealing with a Harvest.

"The Inusannon population was somewhere in the tens of Trillions when the Reapers came," Ashley explained. In that sense, a few thousand was lint in your pocket compared to a wad of hundreds. "When Admiral Zumaki confronted the Protheans, they blatantly refused him, so he closed the Geranium to them and hid with a race that would eventually evolve into the Quarians. When the Reapers came, Admiral Zumaki locked down the Maledicta connecting Rannoch to the rest of the galaxy."

"What happened to the Protheans?" Tali asked. Had Admiral Zumaki really just let an entire race die because they slighted him?

"They died," Ashley said simply. "They were arrogant after defeating a machine race known as the Zha'til, and believed they didn't need him. They tried to imprison him, they tried to forcefully open the Geranium, but neither were successful.

Ashley quickly changed the subject. That was a sore spot for Unitologists, though it was mitigated somewhat by his crying for Deoxys. "Admiral Zumaki waited until the Reapers were gone and allowed the Quarians free reign of the galaxy. They were the ones to rename the Geranium into the Citadael."

Ashley shrugged. "That's it. Quarians couldn't stay there due to their immune systems and it was eventually found by the Asari. And here we are."

"Tell me about Unitoligy," Tali said, absorbing info like a sponge. As long as Ashley was offering, she'd take advantage of that offer.

And so the two of them sat there for nearly an hour, Ashley explaining her religion and how it escalated the space race, making Humans the fastest aside from the Chakrans to go from propulsion to space-flight.

How there were extreme elements of the religion that performed mass suicides in the world's rivers.

How there was almost planet-wide peace due to the fact that their deity was very clear on what he meant by certain passages.

How their religious text was simply his autobiography, and was almost 3 million words and nearly 15,000 pages long.

The spoke about other things Ashley was knowledgeable about that Tali wasn't, such as modern technological advancements and weapon specifications. That probably took the longest out of all the topics they had discussed.

By time they were finished, the Citadael had entered its night cycle. Just as the two were about to borrow guest rooms at the embassy, however, a skycar touched down.

Jane hopped out, excited for something. Garrus, as well, didn't look like the typical 'man who had been forced to go shopping by his significant other', either, actually carrying four black cases of various length and bulk, while Jane was carrying a mid-sized one, herself.

"What're those?" Ashley asked, confused at the couple's grins.

"Wouldn't you like to know," Jane teased sticking her tongue out.

"We would," Ashley deadpanned, almost making the redhead trip.

"Stop teasing them," Garrus replied. "Give them to them so I don't have to carry them," he added, showing his own motive.

"Are these...for us?" Tali asked, almost afraid of asking.

"Well, us and Kaidan. Nihlus already has one," Jane said, confusing the two females until she popped open her case.

A matte black weapon was on a black cushion to prevent damage inside the glossy black case, while red lights striped the front near the muzzel. Next to two equally black thermal clips was a metallic black plaque, while silver letters spelled out the type of weapon it was.

HMWA: X – a SpecTRe-issued assault rifle.

Ashley nearly fainted. "C-Can I... I-I-"

Garrus finally had enough, setting the cases down. They noticed the top of the cases had a white arch, with three stars inside in a triangular formation. It was the symbol for the SpecTRes. Said symbol was identical to that of the Zorah Clan, though the arch was purple, the top star was gold, and the bottom stars were grey and silver.

It was also similar to the symbol for the Systems Alliance, who had imitated – not outright copied – the Zorah symbol.

Humanity's held a red arch, while a blue circle meant to symbolize Earth was in the middle, surrounded by eight white stars, one for each successfully colonized garden world aside from Earth.

The top, smallest case was set aside – "for Kaidan," Jane told them – to allow Garrus to hand Ashley a case with identical dimensions to Jane's.

"And this is for you, Lady Tali," Garrus said, handing her a case which, while similar to the other two females', was much thicker.

Tali dropped to her knees, placing the case reverently down as she popped the lid open.

HMWSG: X – the SpecTRe shotgun.

Tali wept tears of joy at the flat black weapon, two horizontal red strip lights near the front end. She had never been given a gift before. In fact, she was pretty sure her father didn't even know when her birthday was, though her mother's diary gave a hint, narrowing it to the first two weeks of October.

Next to the weapon was another item. The plaque was askew, not meant to be there in a weapon case when it was simply advertising a bracelet, but what a bracelet it was.

The plaque read HMOT: X. It was a SpecTRe-grade Omni-tool.

Tali scrambled up, hugging the redhead with all the strength she could muster. Even Garrus, who had opened his HMWSR: X to show it off, was stopped in his tracks as the now-emotional Quarian hugged his girlfriend.

"Damn, that's cute," Jane muttered. "She fell asleep."

It seemed the day had finally caught up to young Tali'Zorah. The emotional roller-coaster that had been the last 12 hours finally took its toll, deciding an inopportune nap was compensation enough.

For now...

-X-

5882 words without AN's?! NOICE!

This one came out super-fast. What's it been? A week? And that includes me posting a chapter for Operation: Eden, too!

Shout-out to my fans who love this story. And more than a few have found this, then went to my page and favorited two stories! That's amazing.

Let's see here. Here's a few stats that are mind-boggling(circa 1:45 PM EST on 10/26):

75 reviews! And they're so positive I archive them and show them off to my family. So I truly appreciate your love for this story.

Follows/Faves: 463/361! I'm sure there's some crossing over between the two, but that is phenomenal! Protecting River, my second most popular despite being the only one in the Naruto/Serenity crossover(there's a single one in Naruto/Firefly as well), has 88/75. That's a fifth!

Communities: 8. Not sure what those are, but it's in eight of them. It seems to be a more specific favorites list.

Views: 34,609! What!? I don't even think I've talked to that many people! In my life!

You guys... You guys are amazing.

Sigh, now on to important stuff for those of you who actually read the AN at the end.

I was thinking about creating a . I know, I know, I never wanted to do it either. Coeur Al'Aran has one so he can quit his job. He also offers writing advice and skype calls if you give him $100 a month.

And three people have done it.

I...am not that greedy. Nor am I that talented to offer advice.

I'm a pretty good grammar beta. Y'know, spelling, punctuation, and all that stuff. I do my own beta work, and when I read back, I see maybe one mistake every other chapter, so if there's two of us, it'll be perfect.

I have LibreOffice and Microsoft Word if that matters.

The point is...I need money. I've been searching for a job for almost two months now, but my car was totaled near the end of July 'cuz some idiot ran a red light and t-boned me, and I lost my job the first week of September, limiting my search area to about 5 miles since I have a rickety little bike with a pedal that won't stay on. I live with my mom, and she provides me with a room, utilities, and dinner.

Breakfast and lunch are not a constant promise. Internet is not promised. My mom barely uses it.

What I'm saying is...if I opened one, would you pledge at least a dollar? I think it's a monthly thing, but at the same time, if you do that, I will beta read for you. I'm not a good muse, but I can help with that if you want as well.

I'm supposed to be paying my mom $100 a week for the above-mentioned perks. At the same time, she told me that until I get a job, I can pay her $50 a week.

So my first goal would be $250 a month, and if I reach that, I could rest easy knowing I'd have internet to keep writing, as well as more time to search for a job. I could also increase the chapter length by a thousand words, making them 6-7k word chapters.

At the same time, if it seems like you are really into it, I could up it to $500 a week, and focus full time on writing, meaning the chapters could actually come out two a week. This is just to show I can write this fast. I've been laser-focused on this and spending an hour searching for jobs. But if that happens, I can make this my main focus.

There's a poll on my profile if you think I should open one. I won't if you think it's a bad idea.

Sorry for the long AN, but this is important, and I want your opinion.

Next chapter is for Protecting River, then its back to this one.

See you all then.

Ja Ne!