"There they are!" One of the Blood Pack members bellowed, pointing at Kisame and the others, him in particular.
The missing-nin grimaced.. "You got me at a disadvantage here." a shrug followed.. "No matter." he lifted his massive weapon of his at them... "I will be shred you apart all the same."
"Bring them down!" the response came and several of the Krogan seemed to pulse with biotic energy. The two Kalinin rendered immobile almost immediately upon the wave of energy striking them. A moment of vertigo taking hold before they were hurled against the wall behind them. The Blood Pack charging at full speed towards them.
Hidan flailed at the biotic effects that filled the air around him.. "Aw, come on!" he growled harshly.
Kisame managed to regain partial control of his limbs and forced his palms together, managing to form a Tiger hand seal. Creating a water clone that managed to stop a Krogan trying to ram him at full speed. But being a water clone, it does not have much in the way of stopping power.
Hidan managed to array his scythe in front of him in time to impale a Vorcha that had gotten too close for comfort. "Oi, a little help here brats?"
"Just take the blame for getting us into trouble when we get back, okay?" Naruto's voice called out.
The other was about to respond in the affirmative when Naruto hollered; "Time for some crowd control! Kisame, bring the water!" the boy yelled as he summoned a pair of shadow clones before he leaped down into the arena.
"Okay!" Kisame responded as he formed the necessary hand signs... the effects from the biotic attack finally starting to wane. Setting off a tidal wave with what water he could summon at the time.
The boy held out a hand to his clones as a Wind style Rasengan formed in the palm of his hand and thrust it downwards against the newly created wave of water whilst the Blood Pack continued to approach, most brandishing shotguns, only a few still holding onto the clubs they wielded on the way in.
But too late,the mercenaries found themselves hit by a wall of water, the addition of the wind enhanced Chakra sphere into the tidal wave turning it into a hurricane, rotating so violently that it functioned as a solid barrier. Only the Krogan seemed to understand the situation, but they could not do anything about it. The violent mix of Jutsu's exploded outwards, sending the whole gang flying through the air as a direct counter-reaction to their attempt of breaking through it by force. Most scattered across the arena, greatly shaken by the experience while the water came to cover most of the area, cascading freely. A few Vorcha found themselves unfortunate enough to be crushed to death by their Krogan superiors as they landed.
When the Blood Pack members finally managed to get up and pick up what weapons they could find and regrouped. All now warily keeping an eye on the newcomers.
Naruto and Hinata stood at the front while Hidan and Kisame still appeared to be stuck against the wall, trying to fight off the remainder of the layered biotic throws.
"Okay, give up! We got you surrounded!" Naruto blurted out, eliciting some laughter from the Blood Pack before them. Most of the guards that had been trying to destroy the invading Blood Pack appeared to be long dead at this point.
"You and what army?" the Krogan leader of the gang shouted, laughing at such a ridiculous outburst.
And while they laughed, Naruto made the required hand sign. The entire area around them seemed as though it exploded within the next instant, startling the mercenaries.
The gang stopped laughing immediately as they backed themselves into a tight circle, stunned as hundreds of people identical to the boy emerged from the smoke.
"Two-hundred. Three-hundred. Goddess." the ruler of Omega quickly counted as she continued to watch, a grin appearing on her face.
The shadow clones quickly split up into groups of two each. Each group forming it's own giant Rasengan.
The Krogan and Vorcha had been so stunned by the sight that they did not noticed Hinata approaching them until her presence became too intrusive to the closest Vorcha, whom tried to lash out in anger. Only to see the visage of the girl fade, replaced by burning pain in it's shoulders, screeching in alarm as the arms fell limp.
They all focused inward at the sudden sneak attack, trying to hit the Hyuga whom darted through their rugged formation, her arms nearly a blur. It only took a few seconds before nearly fully half of the standing enemies, all Vorcha, collapsed with pain in their shoulders, their tendons cut with pinpoint precision. Gentle fist. It's not just for disrupting Chakra veins, it's also perfect to cause severe internal injuries as she shot Chakra needles through her fingertips. However, the Krogan with all their heavy armor and thick hide stood unfazed, but confused at what just happened as they stared at their suddenly crippled subordinates.
"Y-you bitch!" a Krogan howled as he brought up his rifle and tried to strike the girl as soon as she stepped away from the crowd on the other side from where she entered. But surprise stopped him from completing the motion as the hundreds of clones now raced towards them. "Weapons free!" he shouted at his comrades.
The mercenaries let loose with all weapons they carried, the Vorcha just standing around and incapable of lending a hand to the effort, could only howl in anger at their sudden helplessness. The gunfire popped several dozens of the clones as they closed the gap. Shotguns, rifles, biotic powers lashed out from the group. They succeeded in destroying many more clones before those furthest behind managed to finally get in close and deliver the massive blow, bombarding the aliens from all sides.
All the clones that made it into close range managed to score a hit, and in some places, multiple Rasengan's would connect with one single target. But there was more than enough for all that stood outermost in the group of Blood Pack. The Chakra spheres grinding through their kinetic barriers, through the armor, into the hide below. The mercenaries could not find any opportunities for crying out in pain as when the spheres finally dispersed, they did so with explosive force... catapulting them into the teammates behind. The group falling to pieces as Krogan and Vorcha alike were either crushed or thrown wildly around the arena.
And with that, once the last of the Blood Pack collapsed to the wet floor beneath them, silence descended on the area. What guards remained topside in cover began to reappear, running to check on the wounded, while a few dropped down to the arena to check the bodies of the mercenaries and the contestants scattered across the area. Many of them casting wary glances at the Kalinin on the way.
"Here's one, still awake." Naruto called out as he approached what seemed like the only remaining conscious Krogan of the lot, Hinata following him in turn.
The Krogan groaned.. "Just go ahead, kill me. It's a sweet mercy compared to what they will do to us for our failure."
"What do you mean?" Naruto asked, frowning at the being.
But the wounded Blood Pack mercenary only huffed a response... "None of your damned business."
"Then make it my business." a voice uttered coldly. The Krogan raised his eyes only to behold the visage of Aria approaching, her eyes glowing as if on fire. Her face twisted into a mask of rage, escorted by a sizable detail of Guards. At least several hundred more had arrived, gathering around the arena. She threw him up to the wall by deploying her biotics.
"P-please, I-" the Krogan began, fear crossing his voice.
"Who sent you? Tell me or I will make sure you die a truly painful death!"
"W-we were simply following orders. The Collectors...!"
"What about the Collectors saw you fit to butt into my event?"
"T-they wanted the Kalinin. The Collectors found out that they just appeared on this station. Gave us details for reference, but only showed one image... looking like that guy over there!" the Krogan continued, pointing at Kisame, whom still remained on the far side of the arena, him and Hidan collecting themselves.
"Why, what are these Collectors? What do they want with us?" Naruto shouted.
The Krogan and his interrogator briefly glanced at the boy. "I don't know. All I know is that they want you captured. They offered a lot of credits and new technology in exchange for any captured Kalinin."
"So they are Kalinin after all. The search for weapons on two of them revealed the energy within them. I simply had to know for sure." Aria almost whispered.
"T-to what end?" Hinata asked.
Aria eyed the girl for a second.
Whatever the Asari wanted to say from there was interrupted by a series of odd noises coming from the door from which the Blood Pack emerged.. Two guards quickly ran over to see what's coming, only for them to be knocked away by a large metal creature that smashed it's way through the cargo door, stabbing and killing them almost instantly.
"Damn! They are coming.. They are-" the Krogan managed to utter in horror before a particle beam from the Praetorian vaporized his head in one shot. Coming under fire from all the guards and mercenaries loyal to Aria for it's troubles... and from the door, several Collectors emerged, just the first of many.
Aria discarded the corpse to the floor.. her rage reaching new levels as she regarded the Collectors that poured through the cargo doors, guns blazing. She opened a link to all of her assembled forces.. "Kill them all!" the Asari howled, receiving dozens of confirmations, affirmatives and loud wolf-howls as all armed forces present responded and began firing on the invaders. Just the beginning of a major firefight.
Aria turned to the Kalinin.. "Follow me, and I'll get you out of here. Kalka! Make sure no Collector leaves this place alive!"
"Will do!" the Batarian responded further away as he picked off a Collector with his heavy pistol, a clear hole punched through the creature.
The Shinobi briefly discussed their options after Kisame and Hidan joined up. "Alright. Lead the way." Kisame finally said.
They ran through the lines of the mixed alien forces that maintained a constant stream of fire against the swarm of Collectors that quickly responded in kind. Aria and the Kalinin approached the exit up by her lounge after having ascended through several stairs.
One of the creatures gazed up at where they ran.. it's eyes glowing as red-hot veins seemed to split it's carapace apart.. a biotic aura cascading around it. "-Assuming direct control!" a mechanical voice boomed out across the chamber.
"What the hell is that?" Naruto gasped upon looking over his shoulder at the creature as it glared back up at them.
"Their leader can possess it's servants to take command on the field. Ignore it and keep running." Aria informed them, pressing the command to open the door at her lounge so that the Kalinin could flee through it, the Asari quickly following suit.
Almost as if in rage, it blasted from the palm of it's hand a biotic attack that threw several people off their feet and tossed them at their surrounding comrades. "I am Harbinger!" it bellowed as it kept launching attacks upon the defenders, ignoring it's minions falling all around it. Others quickly catching up and joining the fray, Husks and Abominations rushing ahead, clawing at those whom they could reach.
"Leave the dead where they fall! Continue the attack!"
The fleeing group quickly exited the establishment. The people within the club being in the process of evacuating at full speed the moment they found out about the battle at the arena. Naruto wondered why Aria's helping them escape.. though admittedly they would not have managed to get away from the Collectors nearly this fast otherwise.
The crowds parted as the group plowed through. Only stopping once they found themselves arriving at the store in which the Shinobi tried to shop at prior to Kisame and Hidan trying the fighting event for it's prize money. And then only because Konan and Mei left that store at that very moment, the bags they carried along looking quite heavy, probably filled to the brim with supplies. The Batarian shop owner looked like he had suffered the greatest beating of his lifetime. Other people appeared to be present within the shop as well, guards from the look of it. All either unconscious down on the floor, or cowering behind the counter.
The moment Konan saw them, she shot them a glare that could have blasted through a significant potion of the station, everyone in her line of sight fell backwards to the floor, except Naruto. But only because Hinata moved behind him to hide from Konan's gaze.
"Where in the world have you four been?" Konan shouted at them.
"U-um, we can explain!" Hidan responded, sounding surprisingly meek.
Aria got back up and regained her composure. "You should wait with explanations until after you get off this station. The Collectors have come here looking for you."
"The what...?" Mei asked in confusion.
"Gives me chills thinking about them... They were covered by the stench of death. I can feel it even all the way up here." Naruto described, visibly shuddering.
A faint click could be heard, Aria opened up her com link and whispered into it. "-What?" ... "You should leave, now. Some of them just managed to get past my people."
"What I don't understand..." Kisame said finally, pacing his words slowly... "Why are you helping us, being the ruler of what could be considered a hive of the wretched. With such a background, you don't exactly come across as someone charitable."
Aria eyed him for a moment.. "You really want to know? Unlike the Citadel, as scared they are of anything out of the ordinary. I see benefits in helping you. On short terms, you owe me now for lending you a hand. And on longer terms, I see an opportunity for productive future business. Might makes right in the Terminus Systems, after all."
"Sound enough." Kisame replied .. "Must have been thinking about it for a while."
"True. Ever since I first heard of you, and the subsequent rejection by the Citadel. I wondered about the possible benefits from befriending you when there are no one else for you to turn to."
"A long way we have fallen when the only friends we can scrounge together are renegades and crime bosses." Konan face-palmed, rude perhaps. But she felt disappointed.
"We'll take what we can get." Kisame shrugged.
"Good, now you should leave.. preferably in a hurry. The Collectors continue to approach... aw hell." Aria said quickly jumping away from the group as a biotic projectile passed overhead. Further away, a large group of Collectors appeared, coming their way.
Konan saw now what Naruto meant.. those creatures visibly reeked of death. And all of her senses screamed at her that nothing about the creatures are natural at all. No life could be seen in their eyes, almost like walking dead. "Back to the ship!" she ordered the others, her voice carrying more urgency than intended. But the others did not comment on it as they all ran with all speed, rounding the next corner before a hailstorm of projectiles shattered several stands. Aria herself melting into the panicking crowd without anyone noticing, watching as the enemy swarm rushed past her in pursuit.
The chase was short and hectic, the Kalinin threw all the cumbersome objects they found along the way across the area to slow down the pursuers. Occasionally throwing down explosive tags and smoke bombs to obstruct the Collectors' field of fire. Sometimes Naruto summoned shadow clones and had them scatter to confuse their pursuers in the midst of the smoke bombs. They eventually found themselves back at the docks and rapidly approached the Lance of the Six Paths. Finding Kurotsuchi standing guard at the airlock, a pistol at her hip. Obviously bored out of her mind from the looks of it. Until the group arrived that is.
"Hey, you got the supplies! And found our poor lost shee- eh?" she was about to finish her sentence when a bullet pinged off the nearby hull, a horde of four-eyed creatures appearing not far from the rest. "Get in, get in!" she shouted.
"We are, for Kami's sake, we are!" Hidan shouted as he darted in, followed quickly by the rest.. Kurotsuchi provided some cover until Konan and the rest got on board the ship, blowing a clean hole through one of the Collectors before retreating into the airlock and closed it off.
Konan quickly moved to the intercom. "Nagato, Shikamaru! We need to leave now, don't argue with me!"
She broadcast the message across the ship, sending all Kalinin unknowing of the situation into a frenzy. "Roger that." Shikamaru shouted, greatly annoyed by the sudden call, sounding as if he had been napping on the bridge. The boy quickly went through the initial inspection procedures before he started the engines, and the mass effect generator. The ship flared to life and detached from Omega's docks. Slowly accelerating away from the station.
Behind it at the docks, Harbinger stared at the departing ship. "You have merely delayed the inevitable." it uttered darkly. "Releasing control."
On the other side of the station, a Collector ship detached from the docks and departed in pursuit, a smaller ship was left behind to accommodate the drones that could not get back in time. Deep within the seemingly organic cruiser, the cruiser powered up it's particle beam weapon.. sending forth a lance of energy at the fleeing Hensa.
"What was that?" Onoki shouted as he watched the displays, showing the beam that passed merely a dozen feet off the hull.
"We are being pursued. A cruiser of unknown profile!" Preta Path spoke up, scanning the ship approaching from behind them.
"Shikamaru, prepare the ship for jump!" Onoki hollered towards the youth.
"Drive is hot and ready." Shikamaru flatly stated.
"Get us to the Mass relay, now!"
In the moment before the particle beam veered to the side to strike at it's intended target, mass effect fields wrapped around the Lance of the Six Paths and propelled it into FTL, vanishing into the distance. The Collector Cruiser quickly aligned itself to follow the same jump vector and jumped after the fleeing cruiser.
Several days later, the enormous Migrant fleet passed through the local star system, taking little note of the gas giants within the system, nor it's moons. All bereft of useful resources of any kind.
It had been an hour since a lone frigate suddenly added itself to the already huge ship count within the system, but different in that this one belonged to Cerberus. It waited in the dark side of the closest moon facing the passing Quarian Migrant fleet, poised to strike.
A crazy thought all things considered, but a small ant can topple an elephant given enough effort.
"It's too much to hope for, I'd say. They most likely know that we are here. But they won't chase us off unless we go too close." George informed the other whom also viewed the displays.
"It does not matter, as long as we know the interior of those ships... being intercepted are the least of our concern." Madara spoke with a hint of irritation.
"Quite honestly, I disagree. The men are uneasy enough as it is. You know, I've worked my ass off to gather them. Had to hire Blue Suns even. Not that they will complain about the pay we offered them. But they were expecting more ships on our side."
"The number of ships are irrelevant." Madara coldly stated as he continued to glare at the displays, singling out ships. His eyes were resting on the images of the massive Life-ships. Alas, he doubted that they place such artifacts in such blatant locations. "That." he pointed at an aging gunship that seemed to be patrolling at the outermost edge of the Flotilla, closest to them. "Gather everyone now, the operation will soon commence."
George carried his doubts, but since the Illusive man saw it fit to give Madara overall command of this operation, he could not complain much. He sent the general message across the ship, ordering everyone to gather in the hangar.
It took the greater whole of ten minutes before everyone managed to assemble in the hangar... Madara pausing to look over his current forces. Sixty-two men and women under arms. Thirty-five Cerberus Commandos... twenty-seven Blue Suns. The rest appeared to be pirates, lone mercenaries and such.
"Alright, listen up." George shouted. "The operation will commence as soon as this briefing is done. This man will be your Commanding Officer for the duration of this mission." he gestured to Madara.
The gaze amongst the crew collectively settled on the lone Kalinin, slightly confused about the concealing mask the individual used. But if Madara knew of their discontent, he gave no sign of it. "I am Madara Uchiha." he introduced himself shortly. "The objective of this operation is simple. We will go in, retrieve this artifact." he raised a hand and pressed the button of a controller, a screen opening in mid-air to display the tablet. The image came from one of those that have already been found. But considering the former, nothing different was expected of the third one. "And then get out. Failure will not be tolerated."
"And how exactly are we going to do that with just one ship and a few dozen armed personnel?" One of the Blue Suns asked, several of those around him nodding.
"I have a way which will not require us breaking through their defensive line. Sufficed to say." he raised his voice as the murmurs among the crowd increased.. "Sufficed to say! There will be no difficulty in getting in and out, the only complication is to subdue the crew of any ship we end up on. If it tries to resist." he paused... "Kill it."
There remained some doubtful looks among those present, but otherwise they remained quiet, as if Madara's confidence started to rub off on them. Armed, armored and ready.
"Any further questions?" George asked... silence filled the room.
"Then we are ready. The operation begins now!" Madara spoke, signaling the end of the briefing. "Don't pull the triggers of your guns by accident though, this might feel strange the first time."
The gathered armed force stared at him in confusion as the space around them seemed to blur. Reality seemingly bursting at the seams. And in a moment, all present in the hangar vanished... the assault beginning a mere moment late as the crew on board the first targeted Quarian ship suddenly found themselves fighting for their lives.
He tried to sleep, but found no rest. Shepard wondered just how long he could go on like this without any leads. Maybe everything would have been simpler if they never encountered the Kalinin, though he did not regret saving them. But they produced a great number of difficulties along the way as well. Not to mention jarring experiences. He thought back on the mortally wounded visage of Tali that a young Kalinin in Cerberus' employ showed him. It was merely an illusion, but thinking about it still made him feel the cold running through his spine.
He eventually got off his bed and stared emptily at his aquarium. But he was interrupted as EDI's voice called out to him. "Shepard. Tali would like to speak with you. She told me it's urgent."
Shepard gave a curt nod.. "Alright, I'll be down in five." he responded before leaving the room, heading down to engineering and turned to move through the additional doors between him and the Quarian Engineer, whom already stood facing the door as he entered.
She spoke before he could greet her, sounding greatly distressed. "Thank you for coming down on such short notice. There have been an emergency broadcast."
"A broadcast?" Shepard asked.
"Yes... Shepard, the Flotilla is under attack. T-they were taken by surprise. And so far they have no idea what's attacking them!" she replied, her voice shaking.
"How?"
"I don't know how. They are losing contact with one ship after another. And the enemy are long gone by the time reinforcements arrive. Only for another ship to drop off the grid. There are no survivor in any of the 'infected' ships so far. The Admiralty board are now referring to the enemy as 'Ghosts'."
Shepard thought it over very quickly, it did sound suspicious. For some reason he could not help but think that some Kalinin might be involved. Tali stared at him with pleading eyes. He knew what she hoped for him to do.
"Don't worry Tali. Inform your superiors that we will come to lend a hand." Shepard looked up at the ceiling.. "You listening to this, Joker? I know you are."
"Just a little." Joker admitted, a comment could be heard from EDI trying to lecture him about eavesdropping on other peoples conversations.
Tali went right on typing in commands on her Omni-tool.. "Transmitting the coordinates for the Flotilla's current location."
"Okay, checking." Joker called out as he checked the information. "Whoa, a lot closer than I thought it would be. We should be there within the day. As long as we don't run into trouble or delays."
"Thank you." Tali said, at the same time visibly trying to force herself to be patient. Almost as if getting set to go EVA and push the ship.
"Just relax, and make proper preparations. I'll get the team ready."
"Yes, Commander. Thank you." Tali repeated while nodding gratefully, watching as Shepard gave her a comforting smile before turning to leave.