Hey guys. Allow me to first apologize for my prolonged absence. Let me now also say this is the chapter where I probably lose most of you guys. You see, I've made the executive decision to abbreviated this chapter, though not as much as the next one, which will contain both Feros and Noveria in one. You see, I just want to get this section over with, as opposed to my more... methodic pace in the past. There isn't much room for variation in these places, I found them rather dull in the game, and I really want to get to Virmire. So, yeah, I may be rushing, but my passion for this story is dwindling, and I don't want to lose it completely. So just try to enjoy this as best you can.
/
Chapter 11: Extraction
As Naruto exited the med-bay and headed up to the flight deck, part of him considered simply hanging a right and entering Shepard's new office to reveal to the commander what he had learned. The blonde's thoughts were such a jumbled mess, however, that he wouldn't even know where to start. So, instead, he headed for the flight deck, planning to have a little conversation with Joker. While the two hadn't actually had much interaction so far, Naruto thought that the pilot's affable personality would help him relax a bit, even if the conversation was brief.
Just as he was passing by the navigational systems, however, he was stopped by a voice.
"Excuse me, Lieutenant, but if I could have just a moment of your time."
A bit surprised, Naruto turned to find an older man behind him. He was bald, and what facial hair he had was grey. If the blonde remembered correctly, it was the ships navigator. Parsley, wasn't it?
The name didn't matter, he thought, as he responded, "Yes, how can I help you?"
"Sorry to disturb you, but I was just wondering if you knew what the Commander was planning."
Naruto was perplexed by the question, partially because it could be alluding to several different things, but mostly because as an executive officer, the navigator could easily ask the Shepard himself. It lead Naruto to believe there was something deeper to the question.
Deciding to just take the question at face value and humor the man, he simply shrugged his shoulders and said, "Shepard still hasn't told us where we're headed, so I can't be of much help. So what's the problem?"
Looking a bit disheartened, the navigator typed something into his holopad and showed Naruto some data. "Currently, the Commander has identified three points of interest, Feros, Noveria, and our current destination, Therum. None of the planets have anything in common, that I can see, anyway, and I fail to see how Saren would have any interest in any of them. Granted, I don't know his goals, but still. I feel as if we're wasting time, given the distance between the planets' respective systems."
Naruto's brow furrowed as the connotations of what the navigator was saying dawned upon him. "You don't have much faith in Shepard, do you?"
The man looked taken aback by this, but Naruto continued before the navigator had a chance for a rebuttal.
"But why? From what I know, you've worked with Shepard and Anderson before, the latter obviously being in charge, but the former also having a great deal of authority. While Shepard doesn't want his position, at least, not how he got it, that hasn't changed his attitude, as he's always been a bit secretive. That's what the files say. Anderson was also secretive, though, telling his crew information when they needed to know, so the Commander's practices aren't the issue here. So, what is?"
Naruto's tone was both deadpan and probing throughout, and he could see the navigate blanch as he spoke, sweating almost feverishly as he went on. By the end of it, the man was looking at his feet to avoid the blonde's piercing gaze. "It's just, I'm concerned with his actions recently. He basically just let a whole bunch of strangers aboard the ship. There's the krogan at the weapon's lockers, the quarian near the engines, one turian stationed at the Mako and another holed up in the medical offices. He isn't keeping an eye on any of them, and has known them for five hours at most. Understandably, I'm a bit worried."
Naruto noticed that the navigator omitted Ashley from his concerns, though, she was an Alliance soldier, to be fair. However, Colban was as much an enigma as the others. There was no excuse for not mentioning him. In the end, the blonde just sighed, placing a hand on the man's shoulder.
"I suggest following the Commander's orders and actually getting acquainted with the crew before letting your passive racism start turning you paranoid. Now, if that's all," he said, before simply walking away and leaving the navigator standing there feeling a bit ashamed and more than a little annoyed. Naruto didn't have time for people like him.
The blonde continued forward with no more distractions, passing several monitors on the way before coming to the cockpit. Although he didn't turn around, or make any indication that he knew Naruto was there, Joker asked, "What can I do you for?" still staring intently at his interface, fingers dancing across his keyboard.
"Joker," Naruto responded in greeting, causing the man to momentarily stop what he was doing and turn to him. He soon went back to work, though.
"Didn't expect to see you here, Lieutenant. Shepard's usually the only one to come up here nowadays."
"I take it that means you haven't yet met the new members we've taken aboard."
"Nope," Joker said. "I expect them to stay put for the most part, and my ass is pretty much married to this seat, so I doubt we'll meet for a while. You know, until I'm relieved from duty for a bit or they actually wander up here. Other than that, the Commander tells me you think they're nice people... for the most part."
"Really?" asked Naruto, a bit surprised that Shepard would be talking about him, regardless of the situation. In any event, Joker's easygoing attitude did calm Naruto a bit, and that was really all he had went their for. "I see. Well, thanks for the chat, but I should be going."
Naruto was just turning when the pilot called back to him.
"Hold up. That was too short for a conversation. At least, for a normal person. Only Shepard can get away with that. You came to me, so you must have wanted something, something you got since you're leaving, and I honestly doubt it was simply to ask if I had 'met the new members we've taken aboard'. You're not that simple, at least, I don't think so. So the question remains, what did you want?"
Joker's tone had turned more serious, something which caused Naruto to pause for a bit. However, his shock was quickly overcame as he chuckled a bit.
"Heh, no hiding anything from you, I guess."
"Yeah, well, I'm a people person. What do you expect? Now please tell me what this was all about."
"Truthfully, I just wanted a little talk. Something to pass the time."
"Then talk to Presley. I'm sure he'd love to bitch to you for an hour," said Joker, causing Naruto to mentally kick himself for not remembering the navigator's name sooner. "So why me?"
"As you said, you're a people person," Naruto shrugged. "I got a lot on my mind. You make me forget the troublesome bits. In short, talking to you is calming."
For a moment, their was silence. Then, it was joker's turn to chuckle.
"That's the corniest thing I've ever heard, but whatever. If what you say is true, than I'll probably talk to you later. See you, Uzumaki."
"Yeah, see you later," Naruto responded, turning around and leaving the pilot to his work, much calmer than he was before as he went to talk to Shepard.
/
"So in essence, you didn't learn much."
Naruto was now standing in front of Shepard. He had just given his report on what he had learned from the crew, and was waiting for what the commander's next orders were, ready to swallow a lump of bitter anger at his words. That is, until he actually heard what he had to say.
"That's what you expect me to say, isn't it? Perhaps because deep down you feel that way? But I disagree with that. I see the necessity of forming relations before you really get to learn something about somebody. No, Uzumaki, I think you did a good job. Keep it up."
"I don't quite understand, Sir," responded Naruto, seeking some understanding to the commander's words.
"I'll make this simple. The reason I'm using you as a go-between is exactly as I stated; I don't believe that the crew would be entirely honest with me if I were to ask questions of the... personal nature. That requires a relationship to be built, which requires time I seem to be sorely lacking at the moment. I still feel the need to understand them, though. Don't get me wrong, I intend to get more personal time with them all, but as of now, you are pivotal in helping determine who would work well together. Besides, you're doing me a favor. How could I possible angered by that."
"I see."
There was a slight pause.
"I understand you had a talk with Presley."
"You could say that," the blonde replied, a bit of annoyance in his voice at remembering the navigator.
"You should know that he's old fashioned in his ways, and hasn't had much actual interaction with other species. He means well, but just ignorant. That doesn't mean he isn't logical. He'll come around."
"If you say so, Commander," Naruto said, not quite convinced. It did bring up another issue, though. "He did mention where we were headed, though, as well as other potential destinations. He didn't see any connection between them, or significance, period, and neither do I. So what's so important about Therum, Feros, and Noveria?"
"No, I suppose you guys wouldn't know much about those places," Shepard said, almost to himself. Then, he just shrugged. "It's actually pretty simple. Remember that mystery voice on Tali's recording? One of the Councilors identified it as Benezia, an asari matriarch. She apparently has a daughter, Doctor Liara T'Soni, an expert in Prothean technology, who is part of an excavation on Therum. Noveria has recently had several large shipments moved in, some type of advanced technology. Form reports, it sounds like their pieces of Geth. As for Feros, the place has recently gone dark, almost like Eden Prime. That's why those places are important."
"Okay, that makes sense," the lieutenant nodded to Shepard. "Thanks for clearing that up."
"Fifty hours, that's how long until we reach our destination. Take it easy until then. Get to know the squad a bit better until then, and please keep what your doing for me secret."
"Yes, Sir," the blonde said, and with a salute, left the room.
/
Two days had passed quickly, during which Naruto had done as the commander had asked and socialized more with the crew. In passing, he had learned Shepard had met with them all and actually got off rather well with them all. Or, at the very least, he was respected by everyone.
In any event, the blonde now found himself in the loading bay before Shepard, which had been cleared simply because of what was behind the commander. It was time to put the Mako through its paces, and because of how it was to be unloaded from the ship, the room had been cleared to minimize injury.
Next to Naruto was Tali, the only other person in the room. The blonde knew she had been chosen for her technical skill to aid in operating the vehicle. As Shepard gave a basic rundown of the mission, Naruto once again went over the roles. Basically, there was a driver (Shepard), a gunner (himself), a someone to ensure that the Mako was operating a peak efficiency (Tali). Having no experience with the machine, Naruto was a bit curious with how it would preform, but was nonetheless confident in his skills to troubleshoot whatever went wrong.
He vaguely heard Shepard explain that communications hadn't been heard from the dig site for a while, and as such, to assume there were hostiles. They would be dropped a mile outside just in case there were civilians there and they were simply having trouble with their systems. The girl seemed to comprehend rather quickly and was eager to go, though it was easy to see she was also nervous.
Before long, Joker came over the internal communications system and announced that they were nearing their destination, prompting Shepard to order the squad into the small terrestrial craft, Tali first, than Naruto, then Shepard.
The first thing the blonde realized was more spacious than he had thought. He expected it to be incredibly cramped, and while it was still a tight fit, there was definite elbow room. Seeing Shepard had already settled into the driver's seat and Tali was acquainting herself with the diagnostics station, Naruto climbed up to the gunner's nest and strapped himself in, starting the systems.
Joker's voice soon came on the radio. "I hope you guys are ready, because we're nearly at the drop zone. Thirty seconds out." The man then began informing them of every ten second interval, and from outside the vehicle, the blonde could hear the bay doors opening, followed by feeling everything lurch as the man reached five seconds.
With the Mako now started, Shepard rolled the transport off of the Normandy, putting it into free-fall far above the planets surface. As they approached the ground, the commander only said, "Brace for impact," as he engaged the thrusters to soften the landing a bit. As they hit the ground, though, the whole craft still jolted quite a bit, prompting him to ask, "How are we looking, Tali?"
"Everything's still running smoothly, Commander."
"Right, then let's head out."
As he said that, the engine revved and soon they were traveling at an impressive pace. Naruto kept a look out for anything suspicious, surveying their surroundings.
The ground they were driving on was largely loose gravel and solidified magma, with a small path weaving through pools of lava, meaning Shepard had to take it easy, as if he got too close to the edge of the path, it would mean the end of all of them.
It didn't help that further ahead Naruto spotted a small group of geth, including rocket troopers and a giant, animal like geth. The slight, "Shit," he muttered caught the attention of Shepard, as the blonde than asked, "Tali, what is that thing?"
As the young quarian looked forwards and saw the thing, she simply said, "It's an armature. My people used to use them for heavy industrial work. It's heavily armoured and its retrofitted pulse weaponry could easily tear this thing apart. You need to take it down before it spots us!"
"Use the heavy cannon, Uzumaki. Try to take out the shock troopers along with it. I'll position us a bit closer."
"Right," was the blonde's response as Shepard maneuvered onto a slightly more stable patch of gravel. Using the targeting computer, he locked onto the giant synthetic being. Then, at the push of a button, Naruto fired the Mako's cannon at the geth, before turning the machine gun onto the unsuspecting group.
The shell impacted the armature's kinetic barriers, bringing them offline temporarily, but other than some superficial damage, it was protected from the majority of the damage. The foot soldiers weren't so lucky, quickly getting mowed down by concentrated automatic fire.
With Naruto concentrating elsewhere, however, the armature was given the opportunity to fire back, launching a shimmering ball at the Mako. Seeing this, Tali was quick to cry, "Watch out!" to which Shepard responded by hitting the thrusters, sending the vehicle into the air and barely over the blast from the geth, which impacted a little behind them.
The sudden take-off, though, surprised Naruto, as did the awkward landing and abrupt acceleration forward so as to avoid slipping into a lava pool. As he was still firing at this time, his shot naturally went wide as he lost control, the bullets flying all over the place before settling on the side of a nearby cliff.
The shots chipped away at the rock, sending vibrations throughout the whole structure, up to a rock balanced precariously on its edge. A small earth-slide occurred, wherein the massive potential energy of the boulder quickly shifted into kinetic as it rolled down the cliff face.
Picking up the vibrations, the armature could only look to its side just as the giant rock crashed into it, crushing its durable frame and sending its white coolant everywhere. The small team could only look on in surprise.
"Let's try to be a bit more efficient next time," Shepard said, turning around to see Naruto sit back up in his seat after being tossed about by the impromptu flight. He could only chuckle at that in embarrassment.
/
Minutes later, the Mako slid around a corner, nearly on its side, as a barrage of shots whizzed after it, several impacting the hull of the vehicle. In response, the turret turned to face the group of pursuing geth and blasted them into oblivion with a thunderous roar.
A curtain of dust was kicked up, and from within, one could see a growing light, which was soon shot at the Mako, dispelling the smoke and revealing and unmarked armature. With ease, the Mako weaved around the blast, before beginning to circle the mechanical menace. It attempted to track the crew, turning slowly in circles as the tires of the vehicle just kicked up more dust.
Unable to track them, the armature had no defense when they rammed its back legs, causing it to collapse on the vehicle and get caught up riding on its top. The inertia that built up carried through with the armature as the Mako violently braked, sending it tumbling across the ground before it smacked into a rock wall.
Not letting up, the cannon just unloaded on the machine, rockets and bullets quickly reducing the giant geth into a pile of scrap. From inside the safety of the vehicle, Shepard just sighed.
"So much for being efficient."
Soon after they had taken on the initial onslaught of geth, they had come across an abandoned security checkpoint that had been commandeered by more of the synthetic beings. Having immediately come under fire from turrets and troopers, the crew tried to take a small path around the complex, but found that it still lead into the base. So, Shepard decided on another alternate route. Using a gentle slope on a large rock, he launched the Mako off it and went over the gates.
While they had scrapped the rear tires off the adjacent wall going over it and had a rough landing, the biggest problem was that a bunch of geth had stormed out after them and set off an alarm, alerting everyone else in the area of their presence, and while they did deal with their initial pursuers, they now had to face who knows how many more forces, probably laying an ambush for them.
Still, they had a mission, and they would see it through. So, undaunted, Shepard drove them through a nearby tunnel at an easy pace. Naruto was wary, though, constantly scanning the now confined surroundings, making sure Tali didn't have to divert any axillary power to defend the Mako.
As they reached the end, Naruto immediately spotted a pair of geth toting rocket launchers. Acting before they could, he launched a missile at them, obliterating the geth. Shepard just drove over the shattered remains, stamping them into the ground with the Mako's heavy tires.
There was another tunnel further ahead which the group quickly ducked into. Again, no troubles were encountered inside, but when they emerged, they were now on a rocky crag. To the left was a large pool of magma, nothing preventing them from driving off the edge and to their doom. To the right was a large cliff face, a pipeline running along side it, probably to supply some facility with fuel. Behind them was obviously the tunnel they came from, and in front was a winding path, guarded with turrets and squads of geth, including a few armatures and a larger version of the four-legged machines.
"Try to pick them off, Uzumaki. I'll maneuver around the shots."
Naruto just responded by targeting the turrets with more missiles and using the machine gun on the regular troops. The bullets tore the machines apart, as the blonde efficiently split his concentration and fire between targets.
And, while they were continuously being shot at, Naruto's quick take-down of rapid-fire units and the range between them and the targets made it so he only had to maneuver slightly, ensuring that the lieutenant's shots remained dead-on for the most part.
Soon enough, it was only the Mako and the giant armature that remained on the rocky crag. Naruto began firing on it, but after only a few moments saw that it had both superior shields and armor than that of its predecessors.
"Tali, what's up with this one?" asked the blonde as he fired a missile directly at it before resuming regular fire, all of which just seemed to be shrugged off.
Looking up from her station and out the window, Tali just shrugged. "I couldn't tell you. It just seems like a large armature to me, but who knows what the other geth actually did with it."
"Hang on, I'll drive around it. Look for a weak spot."
Shepard hit the acceleration, driving in a circle around the geth. He noticed that aside from following them with its optics, it made no movement. It unsettled the commander. Still, he gave the order to start firing, slowly approaching the armature as he circled.
A few moments and several missiles later, the shield had yet to drop, and no structural weak point was identified. Naruto was the first one to lose his patience.
"Why don't we just ram it? I mean, the cliff ends right there, we should be able to just push it off."
"I'm a bit concerned with why it hasn't attacked us yet, though," Tali voiced. "Maybe it doesn't register us as a threat. If it's defective, we should just drive by it."
"Whatever the case, its obvious we're wasting time," Naruto growled. "Let's just go."
"Agreed, we have more important matters to attend to."
And with that, the Mako backed off and began to drive away. Naruto kept his eyes on the giant geth, though, and was glad he did when he saw a large pulse ball get fired at them.
"Turn now!" he yelled abruptly, almost making Shepard flip the whole vehicle, but it was better than getting hit by the attack. They were still affected by the large explosion that fractured the ground, but only enough to shake them up a bit.
Facing the geth again, Shepard swore, seeing that it was fast approaching and was whipping its neck about like a giraffe would to fend off a lion. He quickly reversed, watching as the mechanical beast tore through a protruding rock near them, causing it to crumble.
On the upside, this brought down the behemoth's shields, something Naruto capitalized on by opening fire right away. However, Shepard saw the geth's optics glow red, before it began attacking with a surprising aggression. It kept firing at them, ripping up the crag, as well as lashing out with its neck when it got close enough. The commander was hard-pressed to keep dodging, and Naruto found it nigh impossible to maintain a bead on the monstrosity for more than three seconds.
To top it off, the geth managed to confine them to a small area by destroying the ground around them, and what they could drive on was quickly vanishing. With little room to maneuver, Naruto managed to nail the armature with a rocket in the optics.
For a second, the crew thought they had put the machine out of commission as it wavered a bit, their view of the impact spot obscured by smoke. When it vanish, though, they saw that while the area was heavily damaged, it was still very much operational. And it seemed somehow enraged, as shown by it charging directly at them.
"Shit," Shepard swore, seeing that their options were limited. The ground left and right of them was much too damaged to escape on, and the crag just ended in a pool of magma behind them. As the armature was upon them, he told the team to, "Hang on," as he hit the thrusters, launching them just over the geth as it ran off the cliff and vanished in the magma.
Their heavy landing, though, compromised the stability of the weak ground, meaning that they had to race away from the area. They managed to avoid the ground buckling out from under them and following the giant armature, if only just, and went into another tunnel.
On the other side was a small blockade of three geth with rockets. Shepard just drove through them and their barricade, tired of dealing with the machines. His frustration just rose when he saw that the only way forward was much too narrow to pilot the Mako through. It was also unlikely they could drive over the small canyon, and since it was surrounded by more lava, going around wasn't an option either.
With a sigh, he simply shut it down, opened the hatch, and said, "I'll call in Joker to pick the Mako up after we secure the objective. We continue on foot."
Tali and Naruto were behind him, all drawing weapons as they walked through the narrow passage. It opened back up soon enough, and inside the now wider canyon, they could see fortifications heading up a small hill.
"Uzumaki, take point," said Shepard, surveying the cliffs around them for potential hostiles. The blonde complied, ducking down behind a small barrier before moving up cautiously, the other two remaining hidden by the barriers behind him.
Peaking out from one of the barriers near the front, Naruto saw a geth patrol nearing. He quickly ducked down, motioning for his companions to do the same. While he could no longer see them, he could hear their steps clearly, the scraping of rock on metal getting continuously louder until they began to pass by him, not seeing them as they went down to exit the canyon. As soon as they finished passing by him, Naruto began to focus his powers, before launching them at the geth patrol, lifting them all into the air and suspending them their.
The geth were easy targets for Shepard and Tali, and when they finally fell to the ground as motionless scrap heaps, the two moved up to Naruto. They could see that he was breathing a bit heavily and was sweating a bit.
"What's wrong, Uzumaki?" asked Shepard, crouching down to help him off the ground.
Naruto wiped his brow and slowed his breathing before replying, "It's nothing to worry about. I just overexerted myself."
As he said that, he looked over to the ten destroyed geth.
"Just take it easy. We're almost there."
Up ahead was an encampment. Shepard spotted it before-hand and had motioned them to stop. On the far end, a sniper tower was visible, and milling about down below were at least a dozen geth, several with rockets, all most likely on high alert.
"Okay, there should be a factory up ahead after this. Just remember to hit your marks, move quickly," at this moment the commander peaked around cover and fired one shot, decommissioning the sniper in the tower and alerting the other geth to their presence, "and keep your heads down."
/
The team had pretty much mowed down everyone in there way to the factory, never stopping long enough for the geth to get a bead on them. However, it was when they actually got to their destination that they ran into some real trouble. Along with the expected troops waiting for them, as soon as they arrived, a drop-ship also showed up, unloading a few more soldiers as well as an armature. And if that wasn't enough to contend with, there were also a few much more agile geth, who had a tendency to leap from walls and ceilings, keeping a low profile and taking potshots with mounted snipers.
Somewhere along the line, Naruto was tasked with eliminating the pests while Tali and Shepard focused on the armature and foot soldiers, either disrupting their shields or placing shots into their processors. The blonde's simply solution was to meticulously trap his synthetic targets int the air with singularities and blast away at them, quickly dispatching them before he focused his energy into protecting the rest of his team with a barrier, allowing them to peak around cover more readily and not give the geth a chance to rest.
When they did finish, Naruto quickly let down the barrier, exhausted by the effort he had expended recently. While it was true others with proper mastery over their biotics wouldn't have this problem, it was because their implants wouldn't let them. All implants had a cooldown period that prevented those who used it from using their powers consistently, due to the fact that the implants themselves couldn't handle that much stress, let alone the body, salarian or krogan. And since it was the implants themselves that honed the natural power of these individuals, they really couldn't just ignore the cooldown. Though it wasn't unheard of of someone making modifications to their implants to allow them to be overtaxed, doing so almost always resulted in permanent neurological damage.
Naruto, though, didn't have that problem. Despite his extraordinary biotic powers, the military had still tried to saddle him with a top of the line implant, just to make him an even more valuable asset. Problem was, all the specialists said he was incompatible. His handlers, though, didn't listen, and had hi m outfitted for one. Literally seconds after installation, before he even consciously channeled energy into the implant, it short-circuited, and the doctors had to act fast to remove the thing before any real damage could occur. It just gave those who wanted to all the more reason to dissect him. In any event, because he didn't have to worry about overloading a capacitor, his biotics could both be used more often and be stronger, though he became fatigued easier.
While the crew may not have known the specifics it appeared that they quickly came to understand he got worn-out quickly, and thus allowed him a brief reprieve before moving on into a tunnel leading underground. Their target was part of an excavation team, after all, so with any luck, she would be down there and the geth wouldn't have gotten to her.
That, of course, didn't mean the geth didn't have a presence in the mines. As soon as the group had exited the tunnel leading to the surface, they found themselves under fire while up on some catwalks. They returned fire, picking off the hostiles in the immediate vicinity and moving downwards, trying to find Doctor T'Soni.
They quickly boarded an elevator that would take them to a lower level, doubting that she would be near the surface. Luckily, the geth weren't nearby, giving Naruto a chance to actually survey the caves. It was clear that a science team had been down there, what with barriers to block off pathways that had little importance or were too dangerous, to the equipment littered along the bottom of the mine. They stopped before reaching the bottom, though, quickly unloading and dispatching any geth that came after them, before loading into another elevator and continuing down.
Lack of maintenance soon made itself apparent though, as the console began to spark and their lift just stopped, causing them all to stumble.
"Damn it!" Shepard swore, nearly going over the edge and falling to the platform below. He did just end up jumping down though, seeing as the distance wouldn't cause any real harm and they did have to move on, prompting the others to follow. Unfortunately, they wouldn't be able to climb back up, not that they would be able to get the lift working again, so they would need to find a new exit when the time came.
In a good turn of event's, though, they didn't appear to be alone, and the geth weren't their company. "Hello, is anyone there?" asked a voice just below them, probably hearing their approach. "I'm in need of some assistance. If you could help, that would be great."
Making use of the stairs, the team moved down, seeing an asari trapped behind a barrier in front of them, also inside a small force-field inside of that. A relieved look came across her face as she noticed them.
"Can you hear me out their? I'm trapped and need help."
Cautiously, Shepard approached, asking, "Who are you? What happened here?"
"My name is Liara T'Soni, researcher of Prothean technology and head of this expedition."
Her voice came through distorted, though was still easy to make out.
"Look, I don't know what happened out there. One minute I'm working, the next the geth are attacking. I hid behind this barrier because I knew they couldn't get to me, but must have triggered a secondary system. I've been trapped for three days, unable to move. Can you find a way to get me out?"
"Looks like it's your lucky day," Shepard replied. "We'll think of a way to get you out."
"Behind me is a control that should release the barriers hold on me. The only problem is you need to find a way around the barrier curtain. I wouldn't know how to go about that, though."
"I remember seeing a mining laser on the ground floor when we were on the elevator. Maybe that could disrupt the barrier," supplied Naruto.
Liara looked at him, panicked, "No, the variances in the energies would just cause the barrier to implode, and the resulting shockwave from the created vacuum could end up collapsing the cave."
"We tunnel under then," Naruto shrugged.
"That could work," she replied, visibly comfortable with that idea compared to the last. "But be careful. There was a krogan with the geth. They've been trying to bypass the barrier for a while now, but don't know where they went. They could be anywhere."
"We'll keep that in mind. Just sit tight and we'll have you out soon," said Shepard, not giving the doctor a chance to reply before leading his squad further down.
Once on the ground, they moved over to the laser, quickly hacking it and aiming it at the wall under the barrier. The rock crumbled away, revealing a small path through to a chamber on the other side. The chamber had a slightly concave floor, centering on a large pillar in the middle that led up for at least a dozen stories. In front of them was a small console, which Shepard activated, setting the lift they were on in motion. They were soon on the floor they had just left, only behind Liara.
"Oh, great, you're here," the woman said, relieved. "That console over there should deactivate my containment field."
Looking to where she directed with her head, the team saw it just to Naruto's left. Casually, the blonde turned to it and brought down the containment field, causing the asari to fall to the ground with a grunt, before turning to them and thanking the group.
"You have no idea how much I appreciate you coming along."
"No time, we still need to get you out of here," Shepard sounded off, turning back to where they came from. "I assume this elevator takes us back to the top level."
"It should," Liara replied, prompting everyone to get on. "I still can't even begin to understand how all this happened. I mean, why would the geth come here?"
"We have reason to believe Matriarch Benezia is involved."
"Benezia?" Liara asked, more than a bit surprised.
"A turian named Saren is also involved, looking for something called the Conduit," Tali filled in, ignoring the exclamation. "Considering you are an expert on the Protheans, Benezia probably told him about you and he wants you to help him find it."
"The Conduit? I've never even-..." Liara was stopped from completing her sentence as the world around them rumbled, causing them to stumble a bit. "Oh no, that laser must have triggered a seismic event. We need to leave."
"Way ahead of you," said Naruto, activating the elevator as Shepard called Joker.
"We need a pickup, Joker. How soon can you be here?"
"About eight minutes, Commander."
"Make it five."
They soon came to the top of the elevator shaft, only to see a yellow krogan with a small escort of geth., a barrier behind him.
"Give up the scientist," he growled out, before giving a cocky sneer. "Or don't. That would be more fun for me."
Naruto sent a look over to Shepard, who nodded before conveying it over to Tali, who repeated the action. All at once, the three drew weapons and dove behind cover, Shepard dragging the unprepared scientist with him.
Naruto quickly condensed some of his biotic energy and sent it at the krogan, causing the reptilian-being into his contingent of geth and into a wall, smashing one and leaving the rest to be picked off by and Tali. This just pissed the krogan off, though, as he brushed the blast off and the charged the blonde, getting to top speed before increasing his mass and rushing him with the force of a freight train.
Naruto, shot a few rounds into the krogan, hitting him as his shields were still down, but not slowing him in the least. At the last second, he vaulted over the beast, blasting him once more to increase his velocity further and causing the krogan to crash into the large central column, fracturing it deeply and causing the platform they were on to slip.
"Everyone, to the door, now!" Shepard shouted over the roar of the mine collapsing, deactivating the barrier, and revealing just how badly the rest of the tunnel was crumbling. Naruto ran over to them, jumping off the platform and ready to follow, only to hear the shifting of rubble and and roar of bloodlust. Turning, he saw the krogan get back up, clearly injured and pissed as he once again charged blindly. Naruto sighed.
"Stay down!"
With that, he blasted the krogan back once more, slowing him enough that he couldn't get to them just as the elevator platform slipped even more sending the krogan downwards several stories. This really didn't bother the blonde or anyone else as they race for the exit, avoiding falling debris. It wasn't that far from the catwalks they came in from, but they were collapsing like everything else, pushing everyone to get up them as quick as they could, before rushing out the tunnel, just as the roof caved in fully, sending a plume of smoke racing after them.
But, they had made it, and as tired as they were, that was all that mattered.
"Is this what it's normally like with you guys?" asked Liara, panting, though not as heavily as the exhausted Naruto, who had spread himself out on the ground to get some rest.
"I didn't sign up for this," Tali muttered to herself.
Shepard just looked them over, then to the sky as he saw the Normandy approach.
"Something tells me we should get used to it."
/
If you haven't noticed by now, I take liberties with certain events from the main game. As far as I know, and I could be wrong, the quarians are only familiar with the typical geth platforms, maybe the more sophisticated combat ones as well. I'm pretty sure geth stalkers, colossi, and the like are actually adapted by the geth themselves. What I'm trying to say is, armatures probably aren't retrofitted quarian industrial machines. Then again, I'm too lazy to check the codex entry.
Anyway, if you want the details of my absence, or my new update strategy, look at the latest chapter of Rosario Kitsune. I also want a lot of feedback on this chapter, as I'm still trying to get back into the groove of things. That being said, I'm not sure why so maany of you like this in the first place. If you could tell me, that would be great. Now, onto the last piece of business.
As you may have noticed, I recently stopped the poll on my next story, and I've decided to post the results here, since I'm pretty sure this was where I announced the poll in the first place.
Bringing up the rear is Family Problems. Not that surprising, as it was a crack-fic, and with the demographic I target, I didn't expect many votes for it. Still, it got eleven votes.
Next up was Necessity. Shame, as this was my personal preference, though I assume people didn't like the style enough of the preview, or it didn't give enough information.
Sixty-six people say I shouldn't start a new story. The rest of the internet disagree.
An honorable mention goes to The Power Within, especially since I never got around to getting a preview for it out. People apparently liked the idea regardless.
In third place is the Freelance Monsters. With twenty percent of the vote, this was always a strong option, as it had a well-written review and was original enough to gather a nice little following. Sorry, this won't be continued as of yet.
And so, the winner is... Blind Them, Kazuki! Not surprising, as this was the frontrunner from the very start. Once again, it was original, and it was a bit retro, so I'll be glad to start this as soon as this fic is finished with the first arc (game).
So again, thanks to all who voted and... wait a second... folks, breaking news! There was a miscount! Tying for first place is Hand of the Artist! This actually was a surprise, especially considering when I checked before I left, this was doing just better than the folks who said I shouldn't start a new story. I have no idea how this happened, but am pleasantly surprised nonetheless. This will be continued alongside BTK, though both will be low priority.
So if you want to take a look at the results, the poll should still be up, you just can't vote anymore. I'm sure you're excited if your story was picked to continue. I'll see you all next time with an update for MIB. Until next time. Once again, sorry for fucking up my own shit. I got over it, now you get over it. Acolyte out.
