Chapter 49
It's a plan. Crazy, thoroughly so. But a plan nonetheless. Better than doing nothing, as it goes.
Madara went down to the freighter's rather modest armory, and had soon equipped himself with a suit much like the OCA, except this one conceal Chakra emissions. Making it one of the very few effective means for kalinin to move around without being detected. Or at the very least make the user more difficult to find, in a galaxy filled with sensors, to which they're like walking signal flares. It was essential, or this plan would be far beyond the impossible to accomplish. It in great part dependent on using the enemy's poor relationship against them.
It's a truly daunting distances he needed to travel here. Once he finished donning the armor, and inserted the chakra battery, he warped himself away from the freighter.
The Uchiha reentered the world on the surface of a craggy asteroid on the very periphery of the asteroid belt, looking over the distant Geth fleet – with the titanic wasp-shaped dreadnought in the middle of it – as he contemplated his next course of action. Watching as the dreadnought opened fire and obliterated yet another asteroid close to the convoy the minute it slipped away once again, followed by another projectile that passed into the belt without causing much damage at all. Either it struck something further inside, or managed to travel all the way through and exit on the far side. Not as implausible as it may sound, some of the asteroids in the belt are either too small to slow the projectile or lacking in mass.
"Those shots..." he quietly muttered to himself, "... are probably my best shot to make this work." the first phase involved trying to snatch the projectiles away while they're in flight. Doing it right at the barrel would look immeasurably more suspicious than doing the same to those vanishing in the depths of the belt. The only question was, were those fired randomly.. or is there some plan involved?
Madara banished that thought immediately, deeming it naught but a pointless exercise.
The man remained there until the next shot fired. Hurling a thirty-kilogram slug into the belt at 1.2% the speed of light. It was awe-inspiring to think about, that this concept originated from cavemen throwing rocks... gradually expanding upon until it turned into a weapon of mass destruction such as the one before him.
He watched the slug vanish into the belt, and quickly decided to pursue it.. warping away with his 'Space-Time migration technique' and reappearing more than two thousand kilometers further in. He did this another couple of times, observing the projectile's trajectory until he finally landed himself directly in its path, and applied the same technique to open a portal leading his own pocket dimension, completely emptied into the state of a vacuum – and expanded it until larger than himself, to ensure the kinetic energy in the projectile's wake won't rip him to pieces in the process.
The wait was short and excruciating, until the projectile finally arrived and rushed right into the portal. Followed quickly by a pause until he chose to end the technique. The remaining kinetic energy had by then traveled harmlessly past the boundaries of the portal and knocked aside several nearby asteroids. That done, he felt a sudden pain and sank to his knees.. panting already from exertion. He had so far, in quick succession transported himself across a distance of nearly ten thousand kilometers with a heavy focus on accuracy in order to catch a projectile that could very easily ruin a city's day if it had been directed towards a planet. Already, a huge amount of chakra had been spent. Even the battery was quite drained now.
And he needed at least three more to set up a 'convincing argument' for the next stage of the plan.
But it was a good start, so for the time being; he decided to retire to the freighter and get some rest.
Over at the Citadel embassy, the wait for a private meeting with the council was mercifully short. As soon as they arrived, the group was ushered into Udina's office.. except Kakashi and Naruto was left outside to guard the door... alongside about twenty officers from C-Sec who eyed them warily. Few had forgotten about what happened the last time the kalinin paid the Citadel a big visit.
They could hear some of the words exchanged in the office until the word was given to Javik, who spoke at length without interruptions. Or at least as long as questions weren't asked. At least for now, the meeting revolved around an extensive Q&A with the prothean handled by the council, and Shepard. Mei, Ino and Shikamaru seemed to be listening more than intervening.
"Feeling well?" Kakashi asked, perhaps for the tenth time this last hour alone.
"I'm fine.." the boy grunted irritably, rubbing a hand across his chest like he had been stung.
The older shinobi did not bother to pry. Naruto can sometimes be stubborn to a fault after all. But he gleamed enough information in that brief response and gesture; the boy's recovering, but not as quickly as hoped. To Kakashi, the whole thing involving the sealed maker wasn't all that different from the case of the Nine-tails. They both react to certain stimuli in ways that can be troublesome for the host.
He sighed and let the subject lie. Leaning against the wall and watching various aliens as they walked past, slowing down slightly to glance at the heightened security before going on their way. Among them an elegantly armored Asari with light-blue skin who slowed down more than the others, visibly hesitating before moving on. A few of the other aliens noticed that too and watched her movements obliquely.
Kakashi exhaled faintly and turned his gaze back to the wall on the opposite side of the hallway. Minutes quickly passing before the asari stomped past them again.. this time with disgust plastered all over her face. Not even slowing down... she simply left.
"Now, what was that about?" one of the turian officers asked out of the blue.
Naruto groaned, "You're asking me?"
The Jonin rolled his eyes, prepared to step in if an argument crops up.
Shepard almost felt sorry for the council as he watched their dismay at what Javik had told them over the course of this Q&A session. That is not to say he was unaffected by it.
Basically, Javik had just shown the council just how little the people of this cycle knew about the protheans. They weren't a peaceful scientific culture at all, more like aggressive imperialists who conquered and enslaved species with the justification that all life should stand together against the threat posed by synthetics. Their own version of the geth being; the Zha'til. They were also – to a man – Social Darwinists almost to the extreme.
Somehow, he managed to at the very least find a sense of admiration in regards to their pragmatic approach to war, no matter how brutal, monstrous and draconian their methods might be. Part of which were the genophage-like disease they unleashed against the makers, which the council did not want to believe was true when they first heard of it during that fateful briefing before the assault on the collector base... but which is completely undeniable now. The Zha'til was starting to become something truly monstrous, so as to avoid wasting resources.. they curbed the utterly alien Makers on the spot – just because their psychometric skills did not work on them – by sterilizing them.
But no matter how unforgivable, because of that act, it was a major trigger for the following series of events that lead to the kalinin becoming what they are today. If it wasn't for that... well...
Not that he was willing to condone the action though. There's a certain line between respect and thinking of it as the right thing to do.
"And so, now you know." Javik started hammering in the finalizing lines of this session, "I don't care if you don't understand me. Condemn and hate me all you wish. All I exist for now, is to see the reapers end. So is there anymore questions you want to ask, or shall we put aside this and focus on the real issue?"
Tevos seemed to be the only one remotely composed at this point. The rest either stunned or deep in thought, trying to digest all this information. "That will... be all, Javik." her tone slightly awkward.
The alien gave her both a nod and a frown as he leaned back against the bench he and rest of Shepard's group sat on.
"If you're done, can you answer me this..." Shepard spoke up finally, "... why do you trust Kabuto so much, to the point of handing him so much resources? Have you already forgotten what that bastard tried to do?"
"And what about you, who blew up the Bahak system? You've killed more people with your own hands than most." Sparatus growled.
Valern brushed that aside, "To answer your question: He came with offers of aid, and he offered much. So far it seems we've made the right choice, made evident by his contributions so far."
"And Shepard, we haven't forgotten what he and his accomplices attempted. We got people keeping an eye on his operations. He doesn't walk around unsupervised."
"One wrong step, and we'll bring him in." Sparatus said.
Udina stepped away from the window he had been staring through during most of Javik's monologues, "And as long as he continues to shell out contributions to the war effort, we'll continue to feed him resources."
"One day, councilor.." Shepard started pointing out, ".. One day, that willingness to offer support to people like him will come around and bite you in the ass."
"It is not like he controls the war effort however." Sparatus protested with a hint of anger, "He provides ships and equipment. But ultimately their deployment will be up to us. And considering the enemy the entire galaxy's currently at war with, any assistance is deeply appreciated. You said as much – though not in as many words – to reach out to non-Citadel affiliated factions for assistance. Even outrageous ones such as the Rachni and Geth." fixing Shepard with a glare, "You suggest calling for aid from those hostile to Citadel space, yet at the same time you condemn us for seeking aid from a dangerous vector just because he's not on your list of choices. Tell me, Shepard... aren't you being just a little bit hypocritical here?"
That stung. And with that, the turian councilor had successfully cornered him. Shepard realized that trying to take down Kabuto this way would only hurt his own credibility. How would he be able to mount an operation to retake Earth then? There are too many lives at stake for him to start getting selfish now. "So what can I do? What can I do to get your support?"
"Trying to carry the burden of the galaxy on your shoulders again, Shepard?" Sparatus lowered his voice, "What is it you plan?"
"What else?" the commander spread his arms wide, "We'll only defeat the reapers by combining our strength, something no other cycle before us have managed because of the reapers' control over the mass relays. We need to use this distinct advantage to build an armada like no other."
"And with the current state of things. How will you do this?"
"For that, I'm all ears. Please, I just need something to start with."
The council seemed willing to consider this. And the turian among them did seem to have something, "There is one thing. Primarch Fedorian recently called for a war summit to be held. However, since the reaper siege against Palaven escalated, we've largely lost contact with him. His last communique came from Menae, where our forces are currently bogged down in a protracted ground war. Commander, you got the most effective stealth-capable ship in Citadel space. It's the only ship that can make it past the reapers and get him out before things get even worse."
"And this will help me, how?"
"Shepard.." Mei spoke up with a raised hand, "If a Primarch's anything like a Kage, it's probably one of the best places to start."
"It is. The Primarch's the highest ranking officer in the hierarchy." Sparatus confirmed with a nod to the mizukage, though with slight awkwardness. He still remembered back when she used him as target practice albeit that was when she was under Cerberus control.
"Idealism can only go so far. If you want to reach your goal of assembling such a fleet .. You need for people in power to see you eye to eye. With Fedorian's help, that fleet you envision will be more probable than just a dream."
Shepard thought about it before his mind was made up, "You're right. Councilor, I'll do it."
"Good." it was probably the first time Sparatus smiled for what seemed like days, it was almost bizarre to watch. Even to his colleagues.
"And what of you?" Valern directed that question at Mei, as she's the one currently representing the faction she's part of. "Will you follow him?"
"To a point." the woman said. "We don't have the numbers to afford to get too deeply involved. We'll participate in this war, but in battles of our choosing."
"But for now...?"
"We'll head back to Palaven and see if we can assist. A few of us have clearly demonstrated that they can bring the smaller Destroyers down. There, we can try our hand at taking down their Dreadnoughts."
"I can imagine it won't be easy." Tevos commented.
"At least this time we'll be able to run wild instead of being forced to be cautious. That alone is a welcoming change."
Sparatus cleared his throat in slight indignation, "Just don't destroy our forces in the process."
"Naturally. We're shinobi, not hooligans."
Shepard was at the least relieved that the council's attitude towards the kalinin has lightened. Anderson did a nice job before he left the Citadel.
"Just do what you must. I will be watching you." Javik said, nodding with his eyes closed.
"Scary business all of it." Ino said nervously. "Naruto and Hinata might be able to handle those things, but I can't."
"Don't worry..." Shikamaru muttered quietly from where he stood almost invisibly, next to the door. "... you just might be able to nag them to death."
"Shut it."
"That's enough you two.." Mei told them as she rose from the bench, "I doubt the primarch's got the time to wait for us to stop dallying. By your leave, I'd like to return to the ship immediately."
Tevos looked up to her, "B-by all means." she nearly stuttered.
"There's no way you'll make it close to Palaven on that scrapheap you call a ship however." Udina said with no small amount of apprehension.
The mizukage and Shikamaru both winced at that. Their ship has served as their home for quite a long time already. So any downgrading remark towards it could be taken as a personal insult. Ino only came back to life recently, so she hadn't yet become attached to it that way. Still, Mei saw his point.. The Lance of the Six Paths is no stealth ship. "I was thinking the team we'll have go to Palaven might be able to hitch a hike with the Normandy. Of course, if the commander's fine with it..."
"They're more than welcome to join us." Shepard replied in kind as he stood up. He and the woman quickly shaking hands amiably.
"Good. Now if there is something else..."
"Not at all. We're done here." Shepard said, momentarily meeting Udina's gaze before he and the rest turned to leave.
"Then, this meeting's adjourned." Tevos said, and raised a finger to her chin.. looking mighty awkward all of a sudden. "Habit. My apologies."
Valern groaned, "This case wasn't half as embarrassing as others I can name. Take some solace in that."
Shepard wondered briefly what that was all about as he headed on his way out along with the rest when Mei approached him from the side.. "First, you need to come over to our ship. Nagato got something to show you."
He raised an eyebrow at her, "What is it?"
"Something you'll find interesting. Call it a boon."
Shepard paused for a moment as he exited the room. "Alright. Show me."
She smiled smugly, "Right this way then, commander."
"Hey, Ino. Sure took your time." Tenten greeted the Yamanaka as the latter entered the changing room. Just like the Normandy, the Lance of the Six Paths got a pair of bathrooms, separated by gender. But in this case attached to each its changing room.
"Give me a break..." Ino groaned as she hurried to get undressed. "It can't be helped. I can't control the length of those meetings." and quickly stacked her clothes on the bench before she threw herself underneath the closest available shower head, which immediately sprayed her with a steady stream of hot water, causing the girl to shiver in delight. "Ah.. been too long~"
"I know the feeling.." Tenten giggled, wrapping a towel around herself after the quick shower she just took.
The other girl hummed, "What's that?" gesturing at the measuring band nearby.
Tenten went and picked it up, "According to Nagato, we've gotten some new suits. And for the comfort of the wearer, their size can be adjusted. So, we need to take each others measurements. And before you ask, Kurotsuchi took mine before you came."
Ino seemed rather amused all of a sudden, the sudden grin on her face made the other girl giggle.
"What is it?"
"Just thinking of medical examinations long ago. Those were the days."
"You're talking like an old woman." Tenten laughed.
Ino sighed, "And just like that you killed the moment."
"You're welcome."
They shared a laugh. The pleasant sound echoing faintly throughout this miniscule space. Tenten plucking up the measuring band and readied it, "Heh. Finish the shower quickly, need to take your measurements next."
Behind them, a mechanical hiss announced another arrival as Hinata entered the changing room, and made sure to close the door behind her before she went over to the bench.
"Hey, slowpoke.." Tenten went over and prodded a finger against the Hyuga's left shoulder, "You're even slower than Ino today."
"S-sorry." the girl meekly replied.. "Got a lot on my mind."
"Did you... watch the news earlier?" Ino asked curiously.
"Not much.. By the time I went to see, it was almost over."
"Naruto got a bit of pain in his chest during it. What about you?"
"... A little."
"Don't know much about the whole Maker business yet. But damn, it must have been hard on you two."
"Y-yeah." Hinata replied, clutching her chest for a moment before pulling her jacket off, quickly undressing so she could get in the shower as well. "And it still is. All we can do, is wait for them to be extracted. And I fear Kabuto's the only one who can do it."
"Damn... that's not good."
"Most disconcerting is that we know so little about him." Tenten spoke up, "His life's so shrouded we don't know what is true or false. Much less what he's truly capable of. He was once confirmed to be at the skill-level of a Jonin, but that was years ago."
"He's a very intelligent and shrewd man." Hinata said as she finished undressing and moved over to the shower head next to Ino's. The other two girls almost feeling flat next to the Hyuga for a moment before the conversation managed to find its way back onto the right path. "That's about all we need to be mindful of right now."
"Y-yeah.. you're right." Ino said as soon as she stopped feeling like she's Sakura next to the girl taking a shower alongside her.
"You know what?" Tenten inquired.
"What?" both of the others asked in unison.
"Nagato's got an interesting idea, concerning those suits."
Hinata blinked, "A-and that is?"
"Some of the new suits will allow us to possess the strength of a Jinchuriki without having those monsters sealed inside our bodies. Think about it, you and Naruto, backed up by the power of two tailed beasts, each."
"To me... it sounds like asking for trouble."
Tenten seemed excited enough as she pushed on, "But if it works. It could give you a major power boost."
"Uh-huh." Hinata nodded, her reaction rather lax.
"What do you mean, uh-huh?" exasperation coloring the brunette's tone.
"You don't know how difficult being a Jinchuriki is. If something goes wrong for everyone wearing each their armor backed by the power of a tailed beast, terrifying things can happen." the Hyuga paused as she tried to explain with a degree of seriousness, "It's not just about raw power. Power alone is nothing but an ingredient to invite chaos without the strength to exert control and proper judgment."
"You're saying we can't afford to lose control." Ino replied, more a statement than a question.
Hinata was unresponsive as she locked herself down in deep thought, letting the warm water pour down across her body until she finally leaned forward.. touching the wall with her forehead, "Yes.." she finally parted her lips to say, "...we can ill afford any loss of control, or we will be lost as well. The hachibi said something like that, back when Killer Bee taught us."
"That thing could talk?" Tenten asked, her curiosity piqued. "Thought it was just Killer Bee speaking whenever that thing opened its mouth."
"When it had something to say. B-but, there's always been a strange sense of sadness in its voice, I've always thought that odd."
"That's our observant Hinata alright." the blonde commented with a grin. "What was it so sad about?"
"I... I don't know. I just... kind of read it between the lines. It's probably nothing."
Ino stepped away from the shower the moment she was finished. Its scanner quickly noting the absence of a body underneath the shower head and stopped the water. "It's either there, or it isn't. Maybe it was so fed up with being cooped up inside that silly rapper wanna-be." But before she could get back to her clothes, Tenten intercepted the blonde from behind.
"Now, where do you think you're going?" the brunette snickered, cracking the measuring band like it's a whip before coiling it around the blonde's chest before she could even jump away.
Ino squealed as the cold band was brought against her soft skin. The sound so sudden and high-pitched that it made a certain alien sitting conspicuously against the wall just outside the changing room – as if trying to listen in – wince.
Javik just happened to be there as he wondered where the blonde female went all of a sudden, and ended up finding something interesting to investigate, this place contained many things worth investigating. Though an interruption rarely came alone as someone approached him from just around the corner, snickering at the sight.
"Ho... what are you doing here, four-eyed freak?"
The prothean looked up to give the approaching Hidan a glare appropriate to the situation. He was especially not pleased with the apparent nickname.
"Wait, don't tell me..." Hidan said before Javik could say anything at all, momentarily distracted by the giggles coming from inside the changing room.. "Oh, I get it. You old dirty sly fox you!"
Javik's face quickly twisted to show a deeply flummoxed grimace. "What...?"
"And lucky for you, I know of a pretty nice peeping spot." gesturing over his shoulder, "Here, I'll show you."
But before the misunderstanding could escalate further, it was blown into orbit around the galaxy as a nearby female cleared her throat in disapproval as Mei and Konan made their appearance.. both probably on their way to take a shower too when they came across the two acting so suspiciously.
Hidan immediately fell flat against the floor both mentally and physically, knowing what's about to come next. Javik himself felt a rising sense of dread he hasn't felt since the first time he fought in the proximity of a reaper, and could not for the world understand why.
He would soon learn that there are things perhaps more terrifying than reapers in all the cosmos.
The plan was in motion, at last. The last few hours of intense tension was about to be lifted as the line of freighters slowly climbed through the asteroid belt, aiming to get back into the emptiness of space beyond.
Zetsu watched the ghostly holograms as he watched the Madara's labor give ample fruits. His unblinking gaze set on the images of the massed ships between them and the mass relay. "Any moment now..." he let the words slip.
Another fleet of geth came through the relay just a few minutes ago, moving in to join the reaper fleet which almost seemed to balk in disgust at their approach. But, by doing so, they unknowingly gave their prey the most legitimate vector to pull this whole thing off.
But it needed to get started soon. It did not take long before the closest fleet started reacting, with the massive dreadnought pivoting to bring its massive main gun to bear. Gradually circling this part of the belt with nearly exaggerated slowness. During all of this, a projectile suddenly spat forth from the prow of the ship.
It barreled through space, and went straight through the reaper fleet without hitting any of them. But despite the apparent failure, the massive ships seemed to jerk in an outrageous manner.
And that was before another two projectiles were launched in quick succession from the approaching geth fleet behind them, also courtesy of Madara. "So... this was his plan, huh?" he asked himself while watching the last pair of bullets ram themselves into the back of a reaper with impunity. Though without causing much in the way of damage at all. It almost jumped in surprise and whipped around with anger flaring up if those aggressively flashing lights across its blackened hull are of any indication.
Either they saw through Madara's plan, or they genuinely thought their own servants had just turned on them. Either way... without delay, they struck back against the geth fleets to obliterate both of them. If they somehow managed to find out Madara's at fault, they would still destroy the geth simply to prevent similar incidents from happening again. Basically cleaning the scene to make sure nothing can be used against them.
Zetsu looked to the side as a black spot appeared in thin air next to him, indicating Madara's return. "Now?"
"Now." the leader emerged, once again quite strained from the effort. The galaxy sure liked providing its inhabitants with challenges.
Zetsu quickly moved to broadcast a message across the freighters on a hurriedly encrypted line, "Alrighty. All ships, get out of the belt and initiate pinpoint jump to the mass relay immediately. We're getting out of here."
The number of asteroids around their ships gradually declined over the course of the next quarter of minutes while the battle started far away. Lights filling the distant view that lasted for the blink of an eye. So distant none of them could even hope to see the fleet action with their bare eyes.
The hologram however showed as the reaper dreadnought among them landed on the geth equivalent closest to the freighters' position. The victim tried to retaliate, but the giant synthetic above soon dissected it grossly. Laser-like red lights of melted metal slicing through the hull of the ship now deemed too worthless to suffer the existence of any further.
Deep inside, the reapers utterly terrified him. And if asked, would not be afraid to admit it. Zetsu swallowed nervously. Wishing the world were as simple and relatively harmless as it used to be just a few years ago, remembering the time with fondness when he was simply a spy for Akatsuki. Where he could watch battles such as the one between Itachi and the brat Sasuke from a safe distance.
Now, he lived with the knowledge that though they were far away from the main action, the fact never left him since he first learned of it, that they're still well within range of the enemy guns. A fact which the universe eagerly reminded him of as the freighter in the rear of their diminished formation took a shot and vanished from the display. A Destroyer disengaged from the fight with the geth to pursue the small smattering of ships trying to slip by.
Madara stood as unflinching as a mountain though, "Jump." he demanded with no apparent sense of urgency. Just a dangerous tone that indicated slowpokes would suffer much worse than simple death if his subordinates did not comply with his order immediately.
Zetsu, reassured by his boss' steely disposition repeated the order. The stars beyond the canopy of the bridge subsequently turning into stripes signaling a successful jump.
"When we reach the relay, set our heading to the Armstrong Nebulae, and then to Hades Gamma. The enemy will very possibly try to follow us through the relay."
"A-alright. We'll be at the relay within the hour."
"Good. Keep me posted." Madara finally said before he left the bridge, leaving Zetsu alone in the bridge along with the less than talkative bridge crew as they nearly mindlessly went about their duties.
With little else to do other than wait. Hoping he wouldn't be forced to fight something like a reaper in the near future. It was bad enough just seeing one. But in a way, he would be fighting them soon by proxy, through those clones of his.
Author note: Another chapter done. In retrospect after the previous chapter I thought I may had bitten off more than I could chew. But things seemed to work out just fine.
