Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Mass Effect.

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Escaping Hades

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Chapter Nine

"I said I'm fine! Now get off me!" Naruto growled out as he broke free of the nurse that was trying to get him back in the wheel chair. Huffing with irritation, Naruto adjusted his uniform a little before continuing down the hall, putting his gloves on his hands as he did. Despite having been stuck in a coma for two days and kept in the hospital for three days after that, he looked no different than he had prior to the attack. Except, he now had a watch-sized heart rate monitor strapped to his right wrist, a temporary thing to make sure his heart rate didn't get too high and cause any permanent damage before he was fully recovered. After signing himself out of the hospital, Naruto felt it was as good a time as any to have a drink. Thankfully, he was allowed some time off-duty to fully recover, but he would have to be more careful. He wasn't very fond of hospitals.

"Well, well, well...What do we have here?" A familiar female voice questioned tauntingly from off to the side as the blonde entered the Purgatory bar. Naruto stopped where he was and groaned slightly. Calmly turning to face the person, Naruto mentally cursed upon seeing that it was her; Aria. "Looks like someone's been moving up in the world...How many asses did you have to kiss to get back in?"

"None, actually. They were the ones doing the ass kissing this time around." Naruto retorted, sneaking a beer off the tray of a passing waiter while the salarian was distracted. Walking up the stairs to the VIP lounge Aria was sitting at, Naruto glanced at the two turians standing guard at either side of the walkway half-way down, pausing and taking a closer look at them. "You guys look strangely familiar...Weren't you the guys that escorted me to Aria that one day back at Afterlife?"

"Leave them alone, Wraith. I have a job for you." Aria spoke up, distracting the blonde and making him continue up the stairs, sitting on the semi-circular couch at the opposite end of her.

"And what makes you think I want any work from you?" Naruto commented, his mood soured a little as he recalled something. "Don't think for a moment that I've forgotten about that little stunt you tried to pull on me a couple months ago when we last spoke."

"What are you talking about?" Aria questioned, the signs of honest confusion catching Naruto's attention and making him frown slightly.

"Hm...So you didn't know that the ship you arranged for me had been sabotaged?" The blonde questioned while taking a sip of his beer, raising an eye brow curiously when Aria showed signs of anger at that.

"That bastard...I gave specific orders that no one was to make a move against you." The 'Pirate Queen' growled before looking back up at the Major sitting across from her. "Enough about that. I need your help with something."

"And that would be?" Naruto inquired before taking another drink, resisting the urge to give her hell about 'asking' him for a 'favor'.

"Taking back Omega." Aria responded, surprising the blonde. The last thing he had expected to happen before Hell froze over was Aria losing control of Omega. "About a month ago, Cerberus attacked us and took Omega away from me."

"Hm. What kind of resistance is to be expected?" His answer was met with Aria passing him a data-pad. Glancing through it, Naruto whistled slightly and took another drink of his beer. "The usual ground troops in large numbers, a few Atlas mechs, some funky looking Lokis...What the hell is this thing?"

"I don't know, but I'm guessing that it was some kind of experiment Cerberus conducted with Reaper technology. Those are the things they used to smoke me out so that they could come in and take control of Omega." Aria answered, getting Naruto's full attention as he narrowed his eyes at the creature depicted on the pad. "They have the ability to...convert others...into an abomination like themselves, so it's best if you keep your distance."

"As bad as I want to rip Cerberus apart, I can't right now." Naruto offered in apology. "I'm sure you heard about what happened during the attack last week, but I haven't been cleared for combat yet. Once I am, I'll help you. Okay?"

"You better. In the mean time, I'll see if I can get my hands on Kovus, if the coward isn't already dead." Aria responded calmly, though irritated at the same time. As he left Aria and her goons behind him, Naruto finished the beer in his hand and set it down on a passing waitress's tray while snagging another beer on another waiter's tray. Smirking the whole time, Naruto knew he now had leverage over Aria and if she was as smart as she thought she was, she knew it as well. And there was nothing she could do to change that fact...

xXx

"Eight T5-V Battlesuits, eight N7 Hurricane submachine guns, five N7 Valiant sniper rifles, four N7 Valkyrie assault rifles, four M-77 Paladin heavy pistols...eight N7 Typhoons? What the hell do you need eight Typhoons for?! Then you got four M-451 Firestorms and four M-560 Hydras?! Really?!" Miranda ranted furiously with a look of disbelief on her face as she stared at the blonde haired Major she had 'cornered' in the hall, who was actually rather calm about getting his ass chewed out for spending the better part of a million credits, leaving his personal bank account almost fully depleted of funds with only a few hundred thousand being left over. "And that's not even the end of the list! Dozens of top-of-the-line parts for just about every gun ever made, a very large collection of assorted mechanical parts, an even larger selection of computer parts, heat sinks that could turn an interceptor's engine into a refridgerator, a blue boxe, and three blue box network nodes?! Really, Naruto?! Just what the hell are you trying to build?!"

"A doom's day device..." He responded casually and calmly, but he couldn't keep a straight face and snickered slightly, causing Miranda to kick him in the shin with a venomous glare. "OW! Alright, alright! It's a space station, damn it!"

"Damn it, Naruto! Be serious!" Miranda barked out, barely resisting the urge to smack her lover on the back of his head. With a chair. The whole time, Naruto was just glad he had downloaded the designs and specs onto a temporary memory bank he had connected to Centurion's primary processor. That way, while he was stuck dealing with the pissed off Captain in front of him and looking for a way to calm her back down, Centurion was busy in his workshop fabricating some of the components for the first half of a two-part project he had been tossing around in his head for a long while. Before she could come up with something else to say, Naruto reached forward and pulled her close, kissing her deeply and lovingly while fighting to ignore the heel pressing down on his toes. Thankfully, the pressure lessened as Miranda started melting into the lip-lock, moaning softly as she began to return it. When they finally broke apart, Miranda gave him a half-hearted glare while using him for support for the moment. "You're an asshole, you know that?"

"That's what everyone keeps calling me." He retorted with a small smirk, getting an irritated growl from Miranda. "So...What do you say to going out somewhere for dinner tonight back on the Citadel? Maybe go out for a few drinks afterwards? I've got a few days before I'm put back to work, so we might as well use our time wisely, right?"

"Oh, yeah?" Miranda questioned with a small beguiling grin, leaning in closer to kiss him again, this one being a simple and tender kiss on the lips. "Where did you have in mind?"

"Why spoil the surprise?" Naruto countered before turning the brunette around and lightly slapping her on the butt, making her jump slightly. "Go start getting ready. I'll be up in a moment."

Once she was out of sight, Naruto turned on his heel in an instant and started running to his workshop, wanting to check on Centurion's progress while he had the chance even though the Prime had just started three hours ago. He couldn't help it; he wanted to get the system set up as soon as possible...

xXx

"..." Sitting quietly in the hotel room she had rented for the 'night', Ta'meera sat at the foot of the bed, holding a gift she had been given just a little less than a year ago. It was a pair of old M-3 Predators that had been painted black with a dark red tribal fox running along both sides of either pistol. The man she knew as 'Fox' had given them to her when they parted ways just as she had done with the old face mask to her enviro-suit helmet. After losing everyone she had come to know and cherish since she first stepped foot on the Tortuga and later took command of, the Quick Quarian didn't want to lose anyone else. She had been foolish and brash back on that Cerberus ship, which cost her everyone she saw as family. Except one, the only member of her crew, since she came into command, that left the Tortuga of their own choice. The only one left alive now, apart from herself. She could still hear the last thing he had said to her that day...

"Good-bye? What the hell are you talking about, Ta'ra? We'll see each other again one day. That, I promise you."

"Ta'ra..." She whispered softly, recalling Fox's old nickname for her. Smiling sadly at the pistols she was holding, Ta'meera found it ironic how even without meaning to, the crazy blonde had kept his promise to her. That was one thing she could always count on, Fox's promises. No matter how bad the situation or how great the disadvantage was for him, he would always manage to keep his promises. If she didn't know any better, she'd swear he had somehow figured out a way to cheat Death with all of the crazy and suicidal stuff he pulls off on a daily basis. Smirking slightly, she recalled their little interaction back on the Cerberus cruiser. The shoot out between her crew and Cerberus had shaken her, but because of Fox's taunting, she had found her spine again. And it hadn't been the first time he had had to do that for her, either. Looking back down at the twin pistols, Ta'meera narrowed her eyes behind her mask, no longer indecisive about whether she should leave or stay with the Troy...

xXx

"..." Sitting in the middle of the floor of his cell, Azote remained vigilant, just as he had been since he had first arrived on the Troy. He had long since figured out how to break free of his cell without tripping an alarm, he had memorized the route from the hangar to the brig when he was brought aboard the Troy, and he deduced that with a ship of this size, there was always at least one Kodiak in the hangar at all times. In the corner of the room was a rather well-secured armory locker, his equipment having been stored there. Five minutes to break free of the cell, fourty-five seconds to break into the locker, fifteen seconds to rearm himself, and three minutes to reach the hangar with a buffer of two additional minutes to compensate for any unforeseen delays, obstacles, or detours. The only thing keeping him from escaping...was his honor.

Many Salarian STG operatives weren't exactly symbols of trust, honor, or loyalty. They were trained to risk everything for the good of the mission, no matter the cost. So long as the end result was to their benefit, the stakes were never too high and the cost was never too great. Azote was one of the very few that had a personal code of honor, rules that he would never break no matter what. One of those rules was never leaving debts unpaid and another was to never disrespect someone that had saved his life. To escape from the Alliance destroyer meant disrespecting the Major and leaving a life-debt unpaid. Thus, he stayed. For how long, though?

Would he merely stay until he's repaid his debt? The Major did offer him a place among his crew, but should he take it? That was the question plaguing his mind at the moment, just as it had been since the Major had first proposed it...

xXx

"You're such an asshole." Miranda grumbled quietly with a pout while Naruto couldn't help chuckling at her behavior. "Here I thought you were going to take me out to a nice restaurant and you take me to your mother's place."

"Hey, you still had a good time, didn't you?" He countered, something Miranda couldn't argue. She actually had a great time. They had even decided to forego going out for drinks in lue of having a few drinks with Kushina, who had brought her own 'date'; Kakashi. Naruto had harrassed the two for hours because of their budding relationship, but only out of good fun. "Besides, I haven't seen her in a long time and figured it would do us all some good. Next time, though, I promise to take you out to an actual restaurant, okay?"

"You better." Miranda mumbled as she rested her head on his shoulder while walking down the hall to their bedroom, her arm wrapped around his waist while his own was stretched across the back of her shoulders. When she yawned tiredly, Naruto smiled warmly before gently picking her up bridal style, making the woman blush heavily. "H-Hey! Put me down!"

"What? I can't carry my beautiful girlfriend to the bedroom?" He asked a bit teasingly, smirking impishly at her and only making her blush even more. However, she stopped her protesting and immediately snuggled up against his chest with her head on his shoulder and nestled up against his neck, smiling happily as she closed her eyes. By the time they made it to the room, Miranda had already fallen asleep in his arms. Smiling lovingly, Naruto gently laid her down and carefully got her ready for bed, peeling off her favourite skin-tight black body suit after setting her boots down at the foot of the bed with his own, her jacket draped over the back of a chair. Stripping out of his own clothes, Naruto slid under the covers behind her and wrapped an arm around her waist, holding her tight against him with his nose buried in her hair, slowly falling asleep. Smiling in contentment, Miranda slowly fell asleep for real as she was lulled into blissful unconsciousness by the addictive warmth her boyfriend's body gave off all the time...

xXx

"Mm...Mornin'..." Kushina mumbled out as she walked into her kitchen in only a pair of baggy black pajama pants and a tight fitting light grey tank top, her favorite dark crimson robe draped over her body. Giving the red haired woman a kind smile as he greeted her in return, Kakashi Hatake took another sip of coffee. He stood at an even six feet with a lean, but slim muscular build and gravity defying silver-grey hair, his lone right eye being a dark brown while a simple black eye patch covered his vacant left eye socket. "Oh...You made breakfast?"

"Mm-hm. I figured I would make something for us to eat before I left to go on patrol." The C-sec officer answered, currently dressed in his uniform, while Kushina helped herself to some of the scrambled eggs and pancakes, sitting down at the kitchen table across from her 'not-so-secret' boyfriend after pouring herself a cup of coffee. "I still can't believe how well Naruto's doing. He's now a Major, he's got himself a beautiful girlfriend, and he even has his own ship, one that he personally designed. That boy ceases to amaze me to this day."

"Yeah, I'm so proud of him." Kushina agreed, smiling fondly as she recalled last night's events. "I'm glad he's doing better now. I barely had five minutes with him before Cerberus attacked..."

"Hm..." Kakashi hummed out softly in agreement, the happy mood darkening slightly. Sighing heavily, the man set his mug down and looked up at Kushina. "You have to tell him..."

"I know...It's just...How do you break something like that to someone?" Kushina countered softly, frowning slightly in worry. "'Hey, son. How are you doing? Oh, by the way, we're not human.' Yeah, I see that going smoothly..."

"Don't be like that. I have no doubt that he doesn't already suspect something. I read the report Commander Shepard handed in after the incident on Mars a while back." The silver haired cyclopian officer commented. "He was in the Archives, Kushina. He probably already knows something..."

"I know, but still..." Kushina sighed out quietly, setting her fork down and slouching in the chair. "We've kept it a secret from the entire galaxy for generations. Not only that, but he's the last of the Nine Guardians. The strongest of them, too...How do you explain something like that to someone that knows virtually nothing of their true heritage and ancestry, Kakashi?"

"I never said it was going to be easy." Kakashi responded before taking another sip of his coffee and sighing slightly. "If you want, I'll take care of it, okay?"

"No...No, I'll do it. I just...need the right moment to tell him. He's already got a lot on his plate right now..." Kushina countered, sighing quietly and smiling weakly at the silver haired man when he gently took one of her hands into his own. Most people couldn't tell, but the man's entire left arm was a cybernetic prosthetic limb covered in a layer of fake, but real-feeling skin. Even his left leg, from the knee down, was a mechanical prosthetic covered in faux skin. He had lost both limbs and his left eye in a rather vicious shoot out with the Turians during the last stretch of the First Contact war; it was the same battle and the same explosion that killed Commander Minato Namikaze, Naruto's father. Kakashi had been a Lieutenant Commander for the Alliance Marine Corps back then and was awarded countless medals for his efforts in the war. If he had continued his career as a marine, he would have definitely been promoted to General by now, but he had wanted to live a quieter life after suffering such crippling injuries and retired from the Navy. Unfortunately, he didn't know how to live the life of a normal civilian, so he moved to the Citadel and joined C-sec, quickly moving up the chain of command before coming to a stop as Lieutenant Commander, Kushina's second-in-command. Even after all these years since then, Kakashi's PTSD would act up on occassion, but he had a good enough handle on himself that it didn't get out of control...

"Kushina?" Kakashi inquired softly in concern, snapping Kushina out of her thoughts. "You okay?"

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine. Just thinking." She reassured while nervously tucking her bangs behind an ear, giving him a small smile. Even though she was in her sixties, she still looked as young and beautiful as she did in her late thirties and early fourties that she would still get the occassional cat call and wolf whistle from people on the streets. It was all a result of her lineage, as well as Kakashi's and Naruto's and many others scattered throughout the galaxy; they were Shinobi, blessed/cursed with long life spans that allowed them to live an average of about a hundred and ten years. However, with them being a full-blooded Uzumaki, Kushina and Naruto both had even longer life spans, being an estimated one hundred and fifty years. For humans, the average expected life span of a civilian was still only about eighty to ninety years while those of any real military position had shorter ones of only sixty to seventy years.

"Alright. I need to head out before I'm late for my shift." Kakashi commented before standing up and walking around to her side of the table, catching Kushina off guard when he held the back of her neck and kissed her on the lips. Melting at his touch and returning the kiss, Kushina suddenly just wanted to force Kakashi to call in sick so that she could spend the whole day with him in privacy, still having another two days of vacation time to fully recover from her injuries. It had been so long since she had last been seriously injured that she just didn't heal as fast as she used to. Getting a soft moan of complaint from the woman as he pulled away, Kakashi couldn't help smirking as he pulled up the cloth face mask tucked under the collar of his uniform top over his nose, hiding the lower half of his face behind the black fabric. "Maybe later tonight, okay?"

"There's no maybe about it. Here, tonight. No excuses." Kushina growled quietly as she grabbed the collar of his uniform and pulled him back down, pulling his mask down with one finger before smashing her lips against his in another kiss, only a little more passionate than before. "I mean it."

"Okay, okay. I get it." Kakashi laughed softly as he was finally released, letting him pull his mask back up over his nose. "I'll come by as soon as I clock out, okay?"

"Promise?" Kushina asked, sticking her bottom lip out slightly as she gave him a sad look. Laughing again, Kakashi shook his head slightly at the woman's antics.

"I promise, okay?" Kakashi reassured before rolling his eye when Kushina instantly gained a beaming grin. "Can I go now? You're going to make me late again."

"Fine, go." Kushina huffed while tucking her bangs behind her ear again, waiting until the man was almost out the door before calling out to him again. "I'm going to hold you to your word, Kakashi Hatake! Not a second late, you hear me?!"

"Hai, hai..." Kakashi sighed out with a smile on his masked face as the door slid shut behind him, reverting back to their native language, which was strangely not too dissimilar to the human Japanese language...

xXx

"Centurion..." Naruto began as he stared at just how far along the Prime had gotten, unable to look away from the synthetic's progress in the construction of the Major's plan. "If someone were to look up the definition of a workaholic in the dictionary, they would find your picture next to it."

"This platform does not require rest, Major. It was only logical that this platform finish assembling the system hardware." Centurion responded, making Naruto sigh. As intelligent and self-aware as it was, the Prime was completely ignorant of sarcasm and devoid of a sense of humor. "Should this platform begin the installation process?"

"Yeah, I guess. Go recruit a few of the engineers to help you out." Naruto answered while rubbing the back of his neck. Giving a slight nod, Centurion wordlessly leaving the workshop to do as it had been instructed. Looking around the workshop again, Naruto couldn't help smirking slightly. Although currently in pieces, the Prime had built the each of the network hubs and all of the necessary circuit boards for the new supplementary system Naruto was going to equip the Troy with, which included a currently unused and inactive blue box system, which was the heart of the system itself. He was finally going to upgrade Kurama into a full-blown unshackled AI, which would help accelerate a lot of systems in the destroyer-class warship. A few examples of such advancements would be faster and more accurate targeting programs for the GARDIAN defenses as well as the broadside and main cannons, more accurate and precise readings from the long-range sensors, and even better internal security to keep anyone from sneaking aboard and doing anything they weren't supposed to be doing, but that was only the first part of it all...

Smirking slightly as he stared at the unfinished mechanical behemoth in front of him, Naruto couldn't help admiring the Prime's handiwork. The synthetic machine stood just a few inches shy of seven feet tall with a humanoid build, only the legs were digitigrade like those of an animal's and its head was based off of a fox; ears and all. It was the mechanical vulpine equivalent of a werewolf, its currently unarmored body designed to house numerous weapons systems that hadn't yet been finished while it was capable of switching between two different modes; bipedal and quadrupedal. He had gotten the idea after hearing about what EDI, the Normandy's resident unshackled AI, had done with the gynoid Naruto had 'killed' back on Mars. Smirking one last time, Naruto turned and left the workshop as well, the door sealing itself shut behind him as he started making his way elsewhere, his Omni-tool flaring to life over his left forearm as he opened a ship-wide channel over the intercoms.

"Alpha Squad. Report to the mission briefing room." Naruto instructed over the intercom before deactivating his Omni-tool and tucking his forearms behind his lower back, smirking slightly as he wondered how the four marines would react to what he had in mind. Reaching the set destination a minute later, Naruto looked at the four metal lockers set up in the back and glanced at his watch, mentally counting down the time before the squad arrived as he thought back to his days as a marine, however short that period may have been before his undercover mission. 'Five...Four...Three...Two...One...'

"Alpha Squad reporting, sir." Vasquez stated as he and the three other marines stood at attention, each one dressed in their uniforms. Naruto smirked slightly, a little impressed that the four soldiers had arrived at the same time he had predicted, which was a full fifteen seconds shorter than the old drills marines had to go through during both basic and advanced training.

"Hm. Fifteen seconds faster than regulations require. Impressive." Naruto commented quietly, before stuffing his hands in his pockets as he turned to face the four soldiers, smirking slyly while crossing his arms over his chest. "Anyways, I wanted to run something by you guys. You see, I'm in need of some heavy firepower out in the field, but I just can't carry it all on my own. Would you mind helping me out with my little problem?"

"I...don't think I understand, sir." Vasquez questioned with a look of confusion on his face, suddenly feeling rather suspicious of the Major and whatever it was running through said blonde's head. Naruto's smirk merely grew.

"You see those lockers behind me?" Naruto asked while nodding his head towards the four armory lockers behind him, getting affirmative responses from the members of Alpha Squad. "Well, I need you to carry what's inside them. You're each responsible for the contents of each locker starting now. Go take a look at what you'll be hauling."

"Yes, sir." Vasquez remarked cautiously before motioning for Diangelo, Arcaino, and Romanov to follow him. As they opened each of their lockers, none of them were prepared for what they saw inside, shocked looks of disbelief etched into each of their faces. Nicolai Romanov was the only one capable of talking at that moment. "No way..."

"So, you like 'em?" Naruto asked with a hint of sarcasm in his tone as he clapped a hand on Diangelo's and Arcaino's shoulders, both well-known for being lovers of mayhem and destruction. Set inside each locker was a black and dark grey camouflage colored T5-V Battlesuit, a black N7 Valkyrie assault rifle, a black N7 Valiant sniper rifle, a black N7 Hurricane submachine gun, a black M-77 Paladin heavy pistol, and a black N7 Typhoon machine gun. Emblazened on the shoulders of each suit was a stylized golden colored circular shield-like image not too different from those once used by ancient Greece with two spears crossed behind it while a pair of gladius swords were crossed over the front of the shield. "Oh, and did I forget to mention that I need a team to operate that heavy firepower?"

"Permission to speak freely, sir?" Vasquez requested quietly, getting a nod from Naruto. "What is the meaning of this?"

"They're yours. It'll take a while, but the other marines here aboard the Troy will be getting similar equipment." The blonde answered calmly as he sat down in a metal fold-out chair behind the simple metal desk set off to the side, kicking his feet up on top of it as he leaned back in the chair. "Like I said, I need heavier firepower in the field. The fights you've been in so far was just a tussle in the school yard. From here on out, we'll be facing some serious competition."

"You mean Cerberus..." Diangelo remarked, getting a serious look from Naruto, who stood back up and pressed a button on the desk, causing the holographic projectors built into it to flicker to life, but not produce an actual image just yet.

"And the Reapers. However, to get to the Reapers, we have to go through Cerberus." The Major remarked before numerous images popped up, depicting each of the known units Cerberus offers in their forces, including their warships and other known vehicles. "I spent a year inside their organization. I had become the Illusive Man's top soldier and strategist, his best and most trusted general. I know their secrets, I know their tactics, I know how the Illusive Man thinks. Many people that know of Cerberus and the Illusive Man and Shepard's connection to them think it is Commander Shepard that the Illusive Man is threatened by; they're wrong. It's me. Two years ago, when I fled Cerberus, I had single handedly disabled an entire Cerberus flotilla of four frigates and a cruiser in less than thirty minutes and escaped. Since then, I've gone on to disable and destroy several dozen of their frigates, four of their cruisers, one carrier, and two dreadnoughts, all without having a single comrade fighting beside me. I've destroyed a third of their scientific division, sabotaged numerous military installations they have scattered throughout the galaxy, and blatantly robbed several of their shell company's of every last credit they had to cripple them financially. Now...I plan on taking them out for good. In order to do that, however, I need an army. Doesn't have to be a big one, but I still need soldiers that are willing to go the distance and still keep going long after that."

"You need firepower?" Vasquez asked rhetorically as he turned for a moment, retrieving the Typhoon from his locker. Looking it over for a moment, the man pressed the stock into his shoulder while keeping it pointed down in a stand-by position, his visage stoic and expressionless. "I'll be sure to bring all the guns I can carry then."

"Same here." Arcaino spoke up while Diangelo and Romanov nodded in agreement. Naruto smirked slightly before tapping one of the holographic screens. Each of the screens changed, the picture of a brown haired woman appearing along with a number of other images showing a place called Sanctuary and several different Cerberus troops in the area.

"Good, because we've got some business to take care of. This woman is Captain Lawson's sister. I haven't told her yet, but Oriana recently went missing. As have a lot of other people after going to a place called Sanctuary on Horizon. As in hundreds, if not thousands, of people." Naruto explained before shutting down the holographic projectors. "I suggest you familiarize yourself with your new equipment fast becasue we leave first thing in the morning. For now, we need to load up the Trojan Horse with everything we'll need for the mission."

"But sir...Wouldn't it be better if we went there with the Troy?" Romanov inquired, getting a negative shake of the head from their commanding officer.

"No. The Troy would be spotted too soon and we have to hit them before they realize we're there. The Trojan Horse, however, has the same stealth capabilities as the Normandy SR-2, which will allow us to land near the facility without being detected. No, this is a Black Ops mission. That's why I haven't informed Captain Lawson of her sister's disappearance. Only us and three others will be going. Once we're aboard the Trojan Horse and on our way, I'll brief everyone fully." Naruto informed, surprising the four marines. "I suggest you bring as many thermal clips as you can carry, boys. We've got a lot of shooting to do..."

xXx

"Naruto? What's going on? Where are you going?" Miranda asked worriedly and suspiciously as she approached her fully armored, though unhelmeted, blonde haired lover in the hangar only eight hours after the secret meeting with Alpha Squad. Behind him, the four marines, clad in their new Battlesuits, were busy double-checking their supplies along with Azote and Natalia, who was clad in a set of armor salvaged from a dead Phantom during the attack on the Citadel, only the white armor plating was painted dark grey with the yellow markings painted black. It had also been modified and upgraded by Naruto the day before.

"I'm sorry, Miranda. I can't tell you. Classified mission from Hackett." Naruto answered, internally cringing at his own lie. She would not so easily forgive him for it, once she discovers that it was a lie, but he was ready and willing to suffer the consequences. His beloved's sister was in danger and he was not about to let the only family member she ever cared for die without trying to do something about it. Gently cradling the back of the black haired beauty's neck, Naruto kissed her lovingly on the lips, easing her fears a little. "I'll be back soon, okay? Alive and in one piece."

"Promise?" Miranda asked hesitantly, getting a confident smirk from the Major.

"I promise." Naruto swore before kissing her one last time. "Keep the Troy in the vicinity of the Citadel for now."

"Alright." Miranda acknowledged softly before hesitantly leaving, heading back to the bridge. That was when Naruto spotted a certain somone approaching the Trojan Horse with Centurion, who was now solid black, strangely enough. He didn't recall doing that...

"Ta'meera? What are you doing here?" Naruto questioned as the quarian and the Prime came to a stop directly in front of him. "I thought you would have left by now."

"I still owe Cerberus for what they did to my family." Ta'meera responded sharply, but her animousity wasn't aimed at him. "Besides, I have nowhere to go and with the Reapers running rampant through the galaxy, there's no point in trying to run."

"I know that already. I meant what are you doing here in the hangar?" Naruto questioned, only for the Quick Quarian to grab the collar of his suit before he could react and yank him down so that they were eye-level.

"I. Owe. Cerberus. What part of that do you not understand, you stupid bosh'tet?" She quietly growled at him. Idly, in the back of his mind, Naruto knew it was just his luck he would be 'friends' with what was quite possibly the most aggressive, dominating, and possibly mentally unstable quarian to ever exist. Not to forget, the most tempermental, too.

"Alright, alright. I get it." Naruto responded calmly while holding his hands up half-heartedly in submission, prompting the woman to let go of his armor. "Just hurry up, okay? We're already running a little behind schedule."

"Hmph. I've already got everything I need." Ta'meera snorted while adjusting her holstered Locusts, the modified black Predators Naruto had given to her in the past now mag-locked to her thighs under the baggy chaps covering her legs, keeping them hidden just in case she needed them in a pinch later on. That was when Naruto decided to address the changes to Centurion.

"Ta'meera...Were you tinkering with my Prime?" Naruto growled quietly in mild annoyance as he glared at the short female, who suddenly looked away 'innocently', though he was certain she was smirking impishly behind the armor plated visor of her enviro-suit's helmet.

"Negative, Major. This platform performed the upgrades with only minor assistance from Ta'meera vas Tortuga." Centurion responded, catching Naruto by surprise. The Geth's armor plating was now pitch black with what looked like a solid black Geth Pulse Rifle mounted to its back behind its right shoulder, a solid black Geth Plasma Shotgun set along its lower back, and a solid black Javelin sniper rifle mounted to its back behind its left shoulder. Strapped around either of its thighs were two black bands of fabric with numerous thermal clips set in each slot on all four bands while a bandolier crossed its torso from its right shoulder to its left hip, bearing numerous thermal clips and several grenades. "Due to the rising threat level of enemy forces, this platform deduced that an upgrade was in order."

"And the guns? I didn't have any Geth weaponry stored in the armory or my workshop." Naruto inquired, this time getting a response out of Ta'meera.

"I had stashed a few guns back on the Citadel last year just in case something happened." The quarian answered, trying her best to sound 'innocent', something she had never been, even when she was a child. Thus, she failed. Miserably. "I have no need for them and with them being Geth-made weapons, I thought who better to use them than a Geth Prime?"

"Just get on the ship...I'll deal with you two later." Naruto huffed with slight annoyance, pinching the bridge of his nose in a futile attempt to stave off the minor headache he was getting. All the while, Ta'meera was grinning cheekily as she followed the Prime aboard the Trojan Horse...

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