Chapter 38
Storm the Front
The Normandy Crew watched the Akatsuki shuttle finish its landing inside their ship. Kushina waited alongside Raval, Shepard, Kaidan and a squad of armed Alliance Marines. Any funny moves and the boarding party would be met with a hail of bullets.
To say Kushina was surprised would be an understatement. She had never expected Tobi himself to make an appearance, but their last conversation had confirmed the man would be here. Maybe if she could capture him, interrogate him, then...
"Don't think about it, Commander. He's tougher than me..." whispered Raval, much to the Commander's surprise.
She looked at the boy who was giving her a sweet smile, but behind it Kushina could see the seriousness of that threat. She had seen Raval take out platoons of Geth, Asari, and even Krogan. He even faced off against Saren and survived, and if someone like him said something like that...
The door of the shuttle opened up and her attention was directed in that direction.
"I wonder what sort of clowns are these people?" wondered Shepard,
The redhead was not wrong in saying so as a diverse crew stepped outside. All of them were armed and wearing combat armor, Kushina easily spotted a Turian, a Quarian, An Asari, even a human male and female. Quite a diverse crew...
All of them had their faces covered in order to hide their true identity. They were here as a part of a joint operation in her power as a Spectre.
However it was the last one that grabbed her attention...
A human male was the last to step out of the shuttle. Unlike the others he was not armed or wearing any sort of armor, instead he was dressed in a crisp, unique military uniform that Kushina had never seen before. A stark white haori with golden shoulder clips fluttered behind him. His face was covered by the same mask that Kushina had seen in their vid conversation.
However it was his stance, posture, and the way he carried himself that struck...
Beside Kushina, Raval gave a crisp salute. The leader's eyes zoomed in on his comrade, and Kushina narrowed her eyes when she saw the man offer a perfect military salute back to Raval. It was a perfect textbook gesture, something which only highly trained military personnel could perform to this detail.
The Alliance Marines inched their finger close to the triggers as leaders of both factions stepped towards each other. The Akatsuki crew did the same.
Kushina was surprised when Tobi saluted her. In reflex and a gesture of peace, she gave him the same courtesy outside of protocol.
"I have wanted to meet you for a long time, Commander. My wish has finally come true..." said Tobi politely,
"I remember meeting you last time..." replied Kushina frankly, as he chuckled a little.
"I'm sorry those circumstances weren't better. But as a gesture of this new co-operation of our factions against the Reapers, I have already provided the Alliance with the Prothean Beacon. Hope your people are satisfied..." said Tobi seriously, earning a nod from her.
"My experts say the beacon is fully functional. I have to admit, I didn't think you would actually honor the deal..." admitted Kushina,
"Raval and this Alliance between us is more important to me than that beacon. Besides I already got what I wanted, so I returned what was rightfully humanity's" answered Tobi without hesitation,
"You speak as if you care about humanity?" asked Kushina skeptically,
"I have fought for humanity longer than you can imagine, Commander. I have made sacrifices just like you, just because we are in different factions doesn't mean that I won't look after the interests of my race..." said Tobi tersely,
From behind his mask, Naruto could see the thoughts that were going through his mother's mind. He glanced at the armed marine squad, as well as the sniper that was hiding in the vents. It seemed the Alliance had other plans for him, or maybe this was the will of his mother.
He sighed inwardly.
Kushina was a marine, she would not rest until she had what she wanted. In this case, it was capturing him and getting all the information he had. Then it was her duty to hand him over the Alliance Military, because despite his good intentions he had stolen from the Alliance, harmed its personnel and affected their image in the galaxy.
All charges enough to have him executed.
He hated politics, certainly not when the Reapers were tearing the galaxy apart. His mother was trying hard to hide her true intentions, the scheme might play out right now, or during the mission, or after it. But it would happen, he was sure of that.
And in doing so his comrades lives would be put at risk, including Mikoto's.
The entire war effort would be destroyed just because the Alliance couldn't handle another party in this war.
It was time for drastic actions.
"Commander, tell your sniper to stop pointing at my head..." warned Tobi, surprising the redhead Commander.
"Oh, so you saw him after all. Now why don't you surrender and we can discuss this in a civil manner, or you can take the hard way..." said Kushina coldly,
Silence stretched between them, the soldiers of both factions were now getting a little tensed as none of them could hear what was going on between their leaders.
Kushina's breath stopped when the glass on the mask instantly opened, and she was staring straight into the gaze of a fully evolved sharingan.
Her mind was assaulted by another entity. In a matter of seconds, she found herself standing in a vast prison cell.
In the middle of which bound by chains was her only son with two armed guards standing behind him. Their guns pointed at her innocent boy.
The trance ended and her pale face saw the sharingan disappear as the mask slid back around those cursed eyes.
"If we die or are captured, my guards have explicit orders to kill your boy. I'll send him back to you in a box..." warned Tobi without a shred of mercy,
"You-" snarled Kushina, her hand already unleashing her sidearm.
Suddenly the Normandy shook terribly.
An unbearable pressure descended inside the ship, twisting metal, shattering glasses, marines and technicians grasped their chests and fell to their knees. The killing intent and malicious aura affecting even their breathing.
Kushina herself had been sent sailing back to a wall due to the sheer chakra that had been released right in front of her. From the corner of her eyes, she saw Tobi's entire body was covered in a deep glowing blue chakra field. The power releasing from him was enormous, even his own comrades were on their knees not able to bear his power.
Yet he never made any further move to attack anyone. His masked face still stared right at her, daring her to make her choice. Kushina was in a dilemma.
Her plan of capturing this man had failed. He was far more powerful than she had initially imagined him to be.
If she went through with her plan, then the Normandy would become a battlefield. She might achieve victory if she managed to defeat Tobi, which didn't seem easy to her. And now that she knew he had the sharingan...
Maybe he was lying about having her son. But if it turned out to be true, and her actions harmed her son...
She grit her teeth and slammed her hand on the wall behind her. Damn it all...
Kushina nodded as she got back to her feet. The killing intent not bothering her at all much to Naruto's surprise. He stopped his hostile action much to the relief of the people present in the area.
"Stand down, everyone!" ordered Kushina, and saw Tobi signalling his own team to do the same.
Kushina glanced back at Raval who simply rolled his eyes making her clench her fist.
"Your team stays here under the custody of my marines. They will not step out of this area, or they will be shot down!" warned Kushina in a stern voice, her eyes glaring bloody murder at the masked leader in front of her.
"Agreed. Anything else?" asked Tobi calmly, as if the previous few minutes had never happened at all.
"You will debrief my team, Raval will also be there. The Council has ordered me to go to Noveria, apparently your information about trouble in that system turned out to be true" said Kushina flatly,
Kushina saw the man raise his arm and tap the omni tool on his wrist. Her own Omni tool flashed and her eyes widened on seeing the amount deposited in her bank account.
"For the damage to the ship. If it's more feel free to inform me" said Tobi respectfully,
Then without another word, the man simply walked towards Raval while ignoring the gawking looks directed at him by the Alliance personnel. Kushina glanced down, so far Tobi had honored their deal. He had returned the Prothean Beacon intact, was willing to share information, even her hostile action right now didn't bother him. It was as if he had expected such a thing and simply dealt with it.
The amount he had given her was enough to repair the minor damage the ship had suffered. She'd have to check with Jackson and Adams about that.
So, with a heavy sigh she gestured her team and Tobi as well as Raval to follow her.
The elevator could only take the first group making her and Tobi wait for the next round. She saw his team silently take position around their shuttle as the Alliance Marines watched them hawkishly.
"Do you have my son? I want the truth!" hissed Kushina, ready to kill the man if he lied.
"Yes. Although his circumstances are better than what I showed you, but that can change if you threaten this mission or my people. Am I understood?" asked Tobi flatly without any mercy,
"This is my ship. You don't get to order me around!" said Kushina defiantly,
Despite the mask, she could feel the glare of those sharingan eyes set back on her. To think he had such a lost dojutsu, Hackett and Anderson needed to be informed so that they could dig up more information the Alliance might have on him. She couldn't afford to risk her son's life, even if this was a bluff. She simply couldn't!
"This is my war. You don't get to fuck that up as well!"
Kushina gawked at his audacity, Tobi neither cared as he simply walked inside the elevator and turned back towards her.
"Clock's ticking, Commander"
The Akatsuki squad watched as Naruto and Raval returned back from their meeting with the Normandy officers. Naruto briskly walked ahead, his earlier outburst of power made the marines around their shuttle instantly part ways for him to go through. Although their fingers were placed tightly on the trigger, ready to fire if he made any dangerous moves.
"Glad to see you made it, Raval..." said Garrus with a smile,
Raval was about to speak but then his eyes caught sight of the Alliance marines watching his comrades. He wordlessly gave a signal and soon enough all of them started retreating back inside the shuttle for a private chat. Schenkopp gave him a small salute which Raval returned, the Hyperion Marine Commander then took up position outside providing a watchful eye for the rest of the group.
The moment they were all inside, Raval came face to face with a dejected Mikoto who had already removed her mask.
"I..."
The ashamed women was surprised when she was engulfed in a warm hug by the XO.
"It's alright. I told you I'd find my way home" said Raval with an easy smile, as if escaping death was an everyday affair for him.
"I didn't want to leave you behind" whispered Mikoto guiltily,
"I know. Mikoto, did you do what I suggested?" he asked quietly,
She gently broke the hug and the beaming smile on the woman's face was all the answer he needed to know. Smiling, he glanced towards Naruto who had also removed his mask and the blonde give him a grateful smile.
Naruto chuckled a little when as soon as Raval stepped a little away from Mikoto, he was grasped in a fierce hug by Tali, followed by Liara. While the females thanked their ancestors and goddesses for his safe return back to their group, Garrus simply teased that even death found Raval too ugly to take. Which was quite the opposite.
Mikoto couldn't help but stare at both Naruto and Raval. While the blonde was more handsome and charming, Raval was also good looking with his mixed German and Indian lineage. Most of all he was good at dealing with people, something which Naruto greatly valued and respected the man for.
Together they were the two spheres that kept Akatsuki together. And Mikoto couldn't help but see that in a span of few months, their rag tag group of strangers and misfits were all that stood between the Reapers and the galaxy's annihilation.
"We'll be staying here until we reach Noveria. None of us are allowed to leave this deck" said Naruto seriously, bringing the group's attention back on the mission they were about to undertake.
"Understandable. They are being cautious considering our past history with each other" agreed Mikoto,
"We are still treading on dangerous ground. I have warned my mother than any attack on us will result into the death of her son who is in my custody. It should be enough to keep her in line" revealed Naruto with a guilty sigh,
"Why didn't you use the Sharingan on her?" asked Mikoto hesitantly, but there was no accusation in her voice.
She saw him flinch a little and she gently guided them both to the end seats in the shuttle. Away from the others who were busy catching up with Raval.
When Mikoto was sure, they were out of the listening range she looked at him with concern.
"I couldn't do it" he confessed, shame clearly visible in his eyes.
"Those soldiers death hurts you, doesn't it?" asked Mikoto compassionately, he nodded.
"I am trying to achieve my objectives without turning people into slaves with my Sharingan. I managed it with Aria, and I am trying to do the same thing with my mother. I know it won't be possible everytime, but I must try. If I don't, then how will I be different from the Reapers? It's difficult for me to look at myself in the mirror after everything I have done" confessed Naruto hesitantly,
"But-" protested Mikoto,
"He's right..."
The couple were surprised when they saw the rest of their comrades staring at them. Naruto's gaze connected with Raval who looked directly in his eyes.
"The Reapers are disgusting and all of us did some immoral things to keep them in check. Liara told me about everything that has happened, and I think it is time we limit your use of those eyes on other people" said Raval frankly,
"But we would lose so much of if we do that" argued Liara, but even a child could see the Asari's heart was not in her words as she stared at Naruto's guilty face.
"We already control the Terminus Systems. We have sway over the Human Ambassador, Akatsuki is now one of the most powerful shadow organizations in the galaxy. We have fleets, soldiers, experts, technicians, money. I heard Sakura mentioning the damage the over usage of those eyes is having on Naruto's health, he could go blind at this rate. Would that help the war?" argued Raval passionately,
Whatever little argument Mikoto and Liara had left was destroyed on hearing those words. Neither of them ever wished to see such a pain be bestowed on Naruto.
Garrus and Tali nodded in approval of Raval's argument, even as the XO stared directly at his leader and close friend.
"In hopes of defeating the enemy, we all have sacrificed parts of our souls. All of us have sinned and it will haunt us for the rest of our life. We should stop before we become no better than the Reapers" requested Raval,
"I know. I'm not saying I won't use those eyes ever, but I can't live with myself if I continue on my current path. From now on, I have decided to use them only on the bastards who are worse than scum. Or if we are really cornered, is that fine?" asked Naruto hesitantly,
Naruto felt a great burden being lifted from his shoulders when his friends gave him approving nods and smiles.
"Jash, what do you think of Kushina and her crew? Can we trust them?" asked Naruto seriously,
"I think we should give them a chance. Maybe they'll trust us more after this mission" suggested Raval, as Naruto smirked.
"You were always the most optimistic among us" teased Naruto,
Raval shrugged and glanced at the smiling people around him. His decision to return now seemed like the right one, for over the months he had developed a connection with these people from different races. He had a home, friends he could depend on, and something to believe and fight for.
And he had only one person to thank for this second chance. Someone who had recommended his name for this team and given him this second chance.
Seeing Mikoto beside Naruto made him smile, as his thoughts drifted towards another raven haired beauty. But he couldn't stop the brief pang in his heart.
Naruto didn't miss the fleeting look in Raval's eyes, the look in his friend's eyes was of pain which the XO hided behind a polite smile.
(One Day Later)
The Normandy appeared in the Pax System. Kushina stood in the CIC, beside her stood Shepard and the two senior Akatsuki officers. Both unarmed and being constantly watched by three armed marines standing behind them.
"Jackson, how's the situation?" asked Kushina seriously to her ship's pilot,
"Ugly, Commander. I am spotting multiple destroyed communication buoys, alongwith the wreckage of several ships and shuttles. Both Military and Civilian, they were ripped apart just like at Feros" reported Jackson grimly over the communication channel,
"How about Noveria's defenses? They had a small fleet and several orbital defense stations" suggested Tobi, this was not good news and made their task even more difficult.
"Destroyed" came the somber reply from Jackson, the Normandy's pilot.
"All of them?" asked Shepard grimly,
"Roger. The whole planet has gone dark, even the emergency communication lines have gone dark. I've got a bad feeling about this, Commander" said Jackson frankly,
"What about Geth Ships?" asked Raval seriously,
"None in this sector. But LADAR is painting heavy movement in Noveria's skies. Most probably shuttle transports"
"Commander Uzumaki, does this ship have probes?" asked Tobi quickly,
"We did. But most of them were used up in our previous mission, and since we haven't been resupplied fully we do not have probes at the moment" answered Kushina disappointedly,
Tobi exchanged a glance towards Raval, despite the mask hiding his face Naruto saw Raval reading his thoughts in a few seconds and give a nod.
"Then I suggest you prepare a strike team. I and Raval will land on the ground first and scout out the situation" suggested Tobi,
"Perform air drops? Raval is qualified for such a task, but are you?" asked Kushina doubtfully,
"Just give us the gear, Commander"
That was all Tobi said before turning around and marching back towards the elevator. Raval gave her a small salute before following after his leader with an amused smile on his face.
Kushina watched the men walk beside each other at a relaxed pace, no tension visible in their body movements.
Still she would be damned if she let two suspicious operatives drop on the surface without Alliance eyes on them. She needed to trust the intel sent her way, and she knew just the person for the job.
Kushina turned towards Pressely, a smirk visible on her face.
"Get Shepard ready for the jump!"
As it turned out, both Shepard and Alenko were qualified for jump and Kushina later decided sending her XO out there alone with two dangerous men was not a safe decision. Shepard needed to have backup in case the Akatsuki officers turned hostile.
And in case they didn't, then sending Alenko only increased chances of the Recon Team.
The Normandy had entered Noveria's atmosphere fully engaged in stealth mode, avoiding the few transport vessels that passed nearby. Kushina had them scanned and marked for future intelligence reports to be submitted to her superiors.
She had positioned her ship at 15,000 feet above Noveria's main spaceport. Safe enough for the Recon Team to jump from and not close enough for her ship to be detected by whatever hidden technology the rogue Planet might have. There had been incidents in the past when Salarian ships had been easily detected by the planet's defenses and blown out of orbit. While the Normandy was a top of the line stealth ship, the Commander still wanted to keep it safe until necessary.
The Akatsuki crew stood beside her watching the Recon Team taking position near the bay doors, all of them were dressed in combat suits. Once the intel was given, the Strike Team combined of Alliance and Akatsuki soldiers would be unleashed in Mako and Stealth Shuttle respectively.
She still found the amount of resources and dangerous technology the Akatsuki had access to a little daunting. But now was not the time to think about it.
Kushina saw the bay doors of her ship open letting in Noveria's cold air, it was breathable but the temperature dropped to several minus degrees. She flinched on feeling the rough air current outside, the Recon Team would have to be extremely precise in the drop or they could be floated far away from their chosen point. And only Kami knew what was going on this planet!
Tobi had changed into his own combat armor and was currently sporting a series of weapons strapped all over his body. His traditional mask was replaced by a recon hood, one of the rare gear available only to the best soldiers the Alliance had. Raval was donning the same mask.
While the remaining two members of the team were wearing Alliance armor and were also heavily armed.
Still, the drop was going to be rough.
Tobi stepped at the edge of the rail taking in the fall beneath him, he then turned towards his remaining three team members and despite the hood Kushina knew he was grinning.
"Come on, you apes. You wanna live forever?"
The Akatsuki leader jumped out, Raval exchanged a nod with Shepard and Alenko. The rest of the Recon Team ran straight ahead and executed a textbook jump.
Kushina exchanged nods with the Akatsuki crew as the cargo bay door slowly started to slide shut. The Commander then quickly walked back to the elevator. With Tobi out in the field, she had to assume mission command and wait for the intel.
(Half an Hour Later)
The Recon Team took up positions just four kilometers away from their target.
Despite their best efforts, they had been swept atleast that much distance away from their landing zone. Now they were forced to trek through Noveria's hazardous environment to the main spaceport of the planet.
But the team was made up of some of the best soldiers humanity had to offer. Two N7's, a dangerous biotic, and a former Cerberus Assassin.
All four humans charged towards the spaceport with Naruto in front, the team was moving in a diamond formation with Shepard on left, Raval on right and Alenko guarding their rear. So far they were yet to come across any hostiles but one could only be too careful.
They had lost communications with the Normandy courtesy of signal jamming tech on the ground, and until they could find and destroy it Kushina would be in the blind, and no help would come if the Recon Team faced any problems.
After an hour of charging towards the spaceport, the team had almost reached their destination.
They were forced to halt when Naruto raised his hand.
He pointed his fingers out front and silently the team took cover in the snow. The electric fence of the spaceport was a few hundred meters in front of them, but what caught the Akatsuki leader's eyes was the thing inside the spaceport
The scanners of his helmet zoomed in and what he saw was heavily disturbing.
"What is that?" asked Kaidan over the squad channel,
"Looks to be some kind of bug. Gods, there are so many of them!" reported Shepard in alarm,
"I guess we now have a brief clue as to what's happening on this planet. The spaceport seems to be overrun by these bugs" deduced Raval,
Naruto turned to face his team.
"Nothing's changed. Unless we get hold of the Spaceport, and disable the jamming we won't get any help from the Normandy. And if Kushina charges in blindly, then our comrades will be massacred. We have to take the spaceport!" said Naruto decisively,
"With just the four of us?" asked Kaidan in disbelief,
He looked to Shepard for support, but the redhead was silent. Kaidan was shocked, even a reasonable person like Raval gave Kaidan a grim look. The Alliance Lieutenant looked at the hordes of foe waiting for him.
They were bugs. All of them had four feet, with two nasty tentacles flying wildly around them ready to kill anything that got close enough. Judging from the acidic markings on the buildings, they also had some toxic attacks in their arsenal. The Spaceport was covered in blood and body parts, it seemed the defenders had been hunted down to the last man.
And now his team wanted to go through that with just the four of them. Kaidan didn't like it, but he was a marine.
Besides, what other options did they have?
Still...
He saw the tension in Raval and Shepard's eyes even through their combat helmet's glass. The N7's were worried, they were willing to fight but they were walking into the unknown with foe that they had little information about. An enemy force that easily outnumbered their small team.
"Marines, I'm here with you!"
The three tensed humans looked in surprise at their team leader. He looked back at them with grim determination and there was a fire in his eyes.
"Captain..."
"I'll charge up front and distract them. You three take up position on the rooftops and rain down hell, we'll turn the area into a kill zone. Shepard and Alenko you have brought grapplers, haven't you?" asked Tobi seriously,
"Yes, we have!" confirmed Shepard,
"Good. Then wait till I give the signal"
He was satisfied when no one doubted or questioned his orders. It seemed his little burst of power aboard the Normandy was enough to convince Shepard and Alenko regarding his strength. He exchanged a nod with Raval before running straight forward.
There was no use for stealth if the entire spaceport was overrun by those bugs, sooner or later they would be spotted.
It was better to deal maximum damage to enemy forces by catching them by their necks in a surprise attack
He jumped easily over the twenty foot fenced electric wall much to the surprise of his Alliance comrades who gasped over the comm channel. Gracefully, he landed on the other side. His Sharingan came alive and easily spotted the nearly hundred bugs patrolling the area.
They were yet to spot him, so he used the chance to plant explosive charges near the fence borders. He was almost done placing the last charge when he heard a screech. Turning around he saw a bug had spotted him and was now charging towards him. The remaining creatures were also alerted and were rushing in the direction of their new prey.
He unleashed his full chakra and killing intent. The bug army came to an abrupt halt as the creatures bristled against each other, the snow around melted unleashing quite a large amount of water. Seeing that his enemy was uncomfortable, Naruto clasped his hands together. Noveria was an ice world, meaning large amount of open water available easily to him.
"I won't take long!" said Naruto,
Shepard had subtly activated her vid cam inside her helmet, the Alliance needed every bit of intel they had on this soldier. But even she was stunned when Tobi used the melting water around to create two large waves. Within seconds the bug army was flooded from both sides, the creatures howling as they crashed against each other in the raging waters.
"Checkmate" whispered Raval,
Alenko saw lightning burst from Tobi's hands hitting the trapped bug army inside the water. The results were catastrophic.
The Recon Team watched in awe and horror as their leader electrified the bugs brutally. He never hesitated, never wavered even as disgusting bug blood and flesh was spilled. Even as the air turned foul from the now burning bodies that were slowly reduced to char.
"Perimeter forces neutralized. Moving forward, how copy?" asked Naruto calmly,
"Solid Copy, Captain. We are moving forward" answered Raval professionally,
"Very well. Assume positions and cover me"
The fence was blown apart by the explosive charges set a few minutes earlier paving a clear way for the recon team to charge through. And they did just that, Raval simply ran to the nearest building and started running up to the rooftop by running up the wall.
Shepard and Alenko blinked at that move, but quickly fired their own grapplers. The metal hooks connected with the rooftop edge and both marines used their magnetic links to pull themselves upwards on their respective buildings.
Naruto nodded in satisfaction as his team adopted a V-formation atop the rooftops. He heard the three marines placing explosive charges near the doors of the rooftop just in case the enemy units in the building tried to create an ambush.
He confidently marched forward in the open, just in time as bugs from every corner of the spaceport came crawling out drawn by the sounds of the previous battle.
All of them madly charging towards him.
"Light em up!" he ordered with a feral roar,
He smiled in satisfaction as the devastating gunfire erupted from the rooftops. Hundreds of slugs were fired on the bugs one after another by his squad members. It didn't take more than a few seconds for the front line to falter. Naruto saw Alenko raising his hands creating a biotic Stasis halting several more bugs.
Shepard clenched her fist detonating a Bitoic Warp which cleared a large amount of the stationery bug forces.
Raval rained down hell on the rest of the army from his heavy machine gun, Shepard supported him by hurling two grenades that took out another squad of bugs that had cleared through the bodies of their comrades at front.
"Squad reload and take one. I'll take it from here" said Naruto calmly, his chakra and muscles regaining their strength.
He unleashed his sword from his hip. Channeling chakra through the fine metallic weapon, he heard his team reload their weapons. With the two biotics recharging their energy as well for another push.
"Open fire in twenty"
With that order, Naruto charged forward. The bugs had by now realized the danger he presented and started firing great amounts of acids and toxic liquids from their mouth. His Recon Hood and Sharingan easily spotted the incoming attacks, with his red eye even predicting the exact trajectory and point of impact.
With blinding speed he carved through the bugs at front. His chakra powered sword tearing through their flesh and limbs easily. The bugs closed in on him from all sides, but he simply grabbed one of the dead enemy trooper from the ground and using him as a weapon he tossed the remaining bugs aside by flinging their dead comrade at them.
Before the enemy could close in on him again, the devastating barrage of slugs was again fired by his highly trained comrades. The bugs despite their numbers were being cut left and right, many were being shred to pieces by Shepard and Alenko's biotic combos. Raval mercilessly gunned down the rest.
The few that did manage to reach near were sliced apart by Naruto's sword.
"Flashbang!"
Shepard's frantic voice cut through the squad channel making Naruto look at the ground. There were two of those stun grenades lying extremely near him, before he could move they exploded right in front of him.
The Uchiha screamed when his red eyes clearly saw the blinding light and the horrible sound that pierced his ears. Even the nearby bugs roared in pain. Naruto was sent sprawling to the ground, everything around him getting dizzy and blood slowly leaking from his eyes and ears.
He could distantly hear his team members communicating desperately with each other, gunfire echoed all around the area. Suddenly, there was another sound.
The bugs around him were cut down as the three Marines came charging towards their injured team leader. Shepard and Alenko started laying down concentrated fire forward as Raval helped Naruto get back on his feet.
The Akatsuki leader was dizzy, a massive headache burning through his skull as blood stained his face.
Still, as his vision cleared barely he saw something more horrible than the bugs coming towards his team through several storage doors.
Their cries sending a shiver through Naruto's heart.
"Goddamn, those husks again!" yelled Shepard furiously, as she opened fire.
"They're not alone. What are those other monsters? Is that a Turian?" asked Alenko in horror,
Naruto and Raval watched in horror as the remaining doors around the area opened up as more and more enemy forces charged towards their surrounded team. He definitely recognized the humanoid husks that were first spotted on Eden Prime, but this time they were not alone.
His eyes spotted several rifle carrying creatures that definitely had the body structure of Turians. But now those souls were corrupted by synthetic body parts and rotten flesh.
But his attention was majorly fixed on the tallest and most dangerous of the creatures.
"Is than an ASARI?" asked Raval in horror, even as he rained down slugs on the approaching enemy forces.
The man's statement had merit as Naruto saw nearly thirty of those monsters. Standing nearly seven feet tall, with the basic body structure of Asari. The monster bitches had extended bellies, the once graceful Asari tentacles were now elongated and sharp. Their once feminine hands were now extended into dangerous claws, their beautiful faces were mutilated beyond recognition, their demonic eyes screaming murder. And Kami that screech!
Noveria was not under attack. The planet had been long since overrun, and under full control of the Reapers.
Its population reduced to mindless shock troops.
"Incoming biotics!" yelled Alenko,
Shepard frantically created a biotic barrier supported by Kaidan as the Asari like creatures rained down repeated biotic charges on them. The Turian monsters supporting those bitches with heavy gunfire.
"There's too many of them. We're fucking surrounded!" yelled Raval, even as he desperately continued firing on the army of human husks swarming towards his team.
"We can't hold on much longer!" screamed Shepard,
Suddenly one of the Asari flashed right beside the Recon Team. Naruto instantly pushed Shepard out of the way as the monster's biotic charged claw shattered the barrier, the talons embedding deep inside Naruto's chest as he pushed Shepard away from what was a killing blow.
Raval instantly turned around and his chakra powered hand cut clean through the Asari's skull making it fall on the ground.
Shepard watched in horror as Naruto fell to his knees, blood pouring madly out of his chest. Raval grabbed the injured man by his waist and hoisted him up on the shoulder.
With one hand, the former N7 pointed his heavy machine gun pouring an entire magazine worth of slugs inside another one of the Asari creatures head making it explode.
"Shepard, right-"
There was the unmistakable sound of a body hitting the ground. Shepard watched in horror as Alenko fell to the ground with two clean bullet rounds having cut right through his upper chest area.
"It's a trap..." thought Shepard in horror,
Grabbing Alenko's form by the shoulder, she started hauling her injured comrade towards one of the shuttle bays that was not full of enemies.
She continued laying suppressing fire from her rifle as she dragged Alenko.
Raval was a few meters behind her as he carried their injured team leader while also firing short bursts of fire back at their pursuers.
"Shepard, pop smoke!" ordered Raval, as he turned around and killed another group of husks pursuing them.
The female marine officer had just hurled the smoke grenades up front when another one of those Asari creatures flash forwarded and emerged right in front of Raval. He surprised the creature by throwing Naruto at its face, it raised his hands to stop the incoming body and in turn exposed her chest fully. Raval punched his lightning cracking hand through the monster's heart while catching Naruto with his other hand.
Even as the Asari monster crumpled to the ground, Shepard heard a distinctive sound she had became familiar with over the years. Her eyes widened in horror as the grenade that had landed near Raval exploded, sending the former N7 and Naruto crashing several feet away. Both the men crashed horribly against the wall, their slumped forms never moving again.
Shepard laid Alenko on the ground as she spotted a swarm of bugs arriving from the shuttle bays she had previously decided to take shelter in. From the remaining sides the rest of the Reaper troops charged forward, husks at front, Turians providing cover fire and Asari monsters hurling biotic charges.
She tried contacting the Normandy again but failed.
Her face lost all color, as she hurled all her grenades and flashbangs in different direction in hopes of stalling the converging enemy forces. A few were killed, several more stunned or wounded, but the rest just kept on coming.
The redhead grabbed her shotgun from her back, placing the devastating weapon in her left hand and her rifle on the right hand she opened fire on all sides.
"AAAAAAAA!"
The last thing she saw before succumbing to darkness was the sight of two bugs jumping on her, and the sound of her flesh being torn apart.
Everything went silent.