And here we are with a brand new chapter. Hopefully I can get this one out a lot faster than the last one.
RagingStar19: Yeah, you had problems getting the last one out, didn't you?
LeafRanger: Well to be fair, I completely re-wrote half that chapter because I realized the idea I was going with wouldn't have worked. Honestly, after one or two of the reviews I got on that chapter, I'm starting to think I should have re-written it some more.
Alicia: What do you mean? *is in the middle of snacking while lounging on the couch*
LR: Well basically…I sort of need to put more of a focus back on Naruto. Not to the point of him overshadowing you, but he needs to be a bit more…in this fanfic. At least, that definitely is one problem I can solve with this fanfic. Others…well…not much I can do without starting over from scratch.
Diehard FemShepLiara LeafRanger: OH HELL NO! YOU ARE NOT DOING THAT TO US!
LR: I'm not, I'm not. I did consider it, but in the end I decided against it.
Diehard ShepTali LeafRanger: Good. Otherwise we'd have to castrate you. And I think Tali would do it with a shotgun.
LR:…oh c'mon, not you guys too. What causes all my personalities to turn against me?!
RS19: You cause your personalities to turn against you.
LR: Shut up. *pouts in a corner, only to get run over by Wrex bursting through a wall*
Wrex: WHERE IS THAT PYJAK?! DID I HEAR HE THOUGHT ABOUT CANCELING THIS FANFIC?!
LR:…ow…
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Mass Effect. They are the property of Masashi Kishimoto and Bioware respectively. This is a non-profit work of fan made fiction. Please support the official releases.
Chapter 21
That's Gratitude For You
Arcturus Station
Onboard the massive station that served as both the military and political headquarters of the Systems Alliance, the Alliance Parliament members were gathering. The parliament had been called into session almost immediately after the attack on Eden Prime, and had been in daily sessions since then as the parliament members continued to discuss the ongoing conflict with the geth and how to best protect their borders and bolster their military. One of the benefits of meeting on the military headquarters of the Systems Alliance was they received almost instantaneous updates regarding the military.
The meeting room used by parliament was a semi-circular stadium, with the representatives of the nations of Earth, as well as the human colonies, seated in rows of seats all facing in and down towards the raised platform where the Prime Minister and other officials would sit. Down on the floor level were a few high ranking flag officers of the Alliance military, including Admiral Steven Hackett.
The members of parliament began to quiet down as Minister Samuel Meinz stood, moving to the podium so he could address them. A VI drone spoke up, calling their attention. "Come to order. The fifty-seventh session of Parliament has begun," the drone reported before beginning to record the session.
As all members of parliament now grew quiet and focused on the podium, Meinz nodded. "Esteemed members of Parliament, we have an update on the current situation with the geth. Admiral Hackett, if you will?" He asked while indicating the admiral should rise.
Slowly the aged man stood, moving to the center area and the podium for guest speakers. "Thank you Prime Minister. Ladies and gentlemen, I am here to report that Operation Hidden Blade was a success. The joint operation between our forces and those of the quarian Migrant Fleet resulted in the capture of the main geth base, as well as the eventual routing of all geth forces from within the cluster," he reported.
Claps and muted cheers met his words as the members of Parliament celebrated the news of the success of the operation. While they had not known the full details, they had been approached in order to help secure the aid of the quarians in the joint operation. As the clapping died away, Hackett continued. "A wealth of data and technology was captured by our ground forces, though it will take time to decrypt much of the information. We have already begun a collaboration effort with the quarian's to attempt to decode the intelligence gathered, in hopes it will help give us a further edge over the geth forces."
"That is good news indeed. We must be sure to extend our gratitude to the quarians for agreeing to help us with this endeavor," Meinz said, before a soft chime arose from one of the representatives seats, indicating they wished to speak. "The chair recognizes Representative Miriam Ryte of Terra Nova," he said as a woman of African descent stood from her seat.
"Prime Minister, fellow representatives…I believe that we should do more than simply offer our gratitude to the quarians of the Migrant Fleet," she said as she looked around the room and the other representatives. "I believe we should look upon this as an opportunity to perhaps finally gain a true ally for the Systems Alliance."
A murmur of surprise went up from across the room, before Meinz drew their attention. "Would you please elaborate?" He asked.
"I believe that our current situation is the final proof we need that the Council does not intend to support us in a manner that is truly helpful," Ryte said, drawing everyone's attention back to her. "After the First Contact War, the Council did not force the turian Hierarchy to make appropriate reparations to us for the loss of lives and the damage to the colony of Shanxi that they perpetrated against us without cause or provocation. After Mindoir the Council refused to act against the batarian Hegemony or even against the pirates and slavers who continued to harass our space. Nor did they take action after Elysium was attacked and their own citizens put in danger. Even now the most they are willing to do when the geth have attacked our colonies, led by one of their own Spectres gone rogue, is to send a Spectre to try and hunt them down. They continually tell us that these are all matters that we alone must deal with, instead of protecting and aiding us as they claim they would when we first became a Council Affiliate race. Yet they also expect us to be ready to offer aid should they call for it."
Another chime sounded, this time leading to an Asian man to be recognized. "While what you say is true, we must remember that they need to make decisions that impact multiple races," spoke Ye Xinya, the representative of the People's Federation of China. "While I do agree that they could offer greater aid then they have so far, they must consider the ramifications of any decision and how it could affect the rest of the races under their protection."
"You mean protecting their own," Ryte retorted, barely keeping the scorn out of her voice. "They won't come to our aid if it means endangering their own people. Even still, that is all the more reason we should reach out to a race not bound by the problems the Council has. Members of Parliament, I motion that we open negotiations with the Migrant Fleet and propose an alliance between our two peoples," she said proudly.
Immediately several representatives were speaking all at once, surprised by this move. The motion was quickly seconded by another before Meinz managed to restore order. As soon as things quieted down a new voice spoke up, this one tinged by artificial filters.
"I do not know if that is such a wise idea," Udina spoke through a holographic projector, allowing him to view the proceedings and speak up in turn. "The Council might attempt to 'encourage' us not to go through with such an alliance when they hear about it. Not to mention the negative attention we might draw for allying ourselves with the ones who created the very threat that now endangers both ourselves and potentially other races. And finally, can we honestly say that the quarians are one of the best races to ally with? They have little to offer us and their own reputation is…'questionable', to say the least," he finished.
"And what does it say about us if we cannot learn to stand on our feet against these threats and obstacles?" One representative, Terrence Georgios, asked as he stood up. "I agree that the Council has shown no interest in aiding us when we need it most, but that does not mean we should turn to another race for help. We should face this problem alone, so that the galaxy can see that we humans are not pushovers, rather than letting them see us crawl and beg for aid from others."
"I see things differently," another representative responded. "The quarians know more about the geth then any other race, and by allying with them, we show that we are taking this threat seriously. Furthermore, the quarian's reputation is one built upon bias against a race the Council seems determined to continue to punish for a transgression that no quarian alive today ever made. Instead of seeking to help the quarians settle somewhere new, so that the quarians are no longer the 'wandering vagabonds' everyone claims they are, everyone seems to think only to whine and complain and exacerbate the problem, making it worse. As for Representative Georgios statement, it will do us little good to try and prove our worth if we die vainly in the attempt. It is not weakness to seek aid from others."
Ryte picked up from there. "I agree completely. I think the fact that the quarians came to our aid when we asked, rather than telling us it was our problem to deal with, speak volumes to the validity of their so called 'questionable reputation'. In fact, wasn't it a quarian who was responsible for exposing Saren's treachery to the Council? The one serving with Commander Shepard on her mission?"
"That is enough," Meinz said, quickly regaining control and cutting off Udina before he could reply. "Representative Ryte's motion has been seconded. We shall discuss the matter properly before voting on it," he said.
The representatives all settled back into their seats, watching as Ryte began her defense of her motion. Within the hour, the vote was cast.
SSV Normandy, Four Hours Later
Inside the VIP quarters on the Normandy, Tali murmured softly to herself as she looked over the data pad in front of her. Said data pad was displaying a stream of encrypted information, a portion of the data taken from the geth base on Solcrum during their attack two days earlier. Following their successful capture of the base and driving off the geth reinforcements, both Alliance and quarian technicians had set to work stripping every bit of useable data from the geth servers. Tali had been working alongside them and had found this heavily encrypted data cache buried deep in the memory banks of one of the servers. She had of coursed shared it with the Alliance but had requested that she be allowed to turn it over to her own people as her 'gift' from her Pilgrimage. The lead quarian technicians agreed, knowing how important such a thing was for a young quarian.
She sighed, sitting back as she placed the data pad on the table and glancing around the quarters that had been her home on the Normandy. Even now she felt rather strange since in the Migrant Fleet, quarters of this size would be used to house an entire quarian family. Even the members of the Admiralty Board, and the captains of the various ships, would have been sharing this amount of space with their families. She had done her best to try and make use of as much of the room as possible and not waste any of it. The walls of the room were cluttered with engineering tools, components for modifying and upgrading weapons and armor, medical gear to treat herself in the 'safe environment' of this room, and everything else she thought she might need to better fulfill her role as a member of Alicia Shepard's ground team and an engineer on the ship. Even then she felt like there was too much space.
She was drawn from her musings as the intercom activated and she heard an unfamiliar human voice. "Miss Zorah? We're receiving a communication from the Admiralty Board of the Migrant Fleet, addressed for you. Shall I rout it down there to you?"
Tali immediately sat up, surprised to hear that. "W-what?! Oh yes…please do so. Thank you," she said hurriedly as she activated the monitor on the table in front of her, wondering who was calling her. Was it her father? She nervously sat for a few moments, waiting for the message to be routed to her. As soon as the image appeared on the screen she felt a mixture of relief and disappointment as she saw a familiar quarian figure. "Auntie Raan," she greeted with a soft smile.
On the screen was a female quarian clad in a dark and light brown colored suit, with a pattern of perpendicular lines decorating the cloth wrappings. Admiral Shaala'Raan vas Tonbay, commander of the quarian Light Fleet and member of the Admiralty Board alongside Tali's father, returned the smile. "Hello Tali. I'm happy to see you're well. You certainly seem to have had a lot of excitement on your Pilgrimage so far," the older quarian said, her voice tinged with a thick accent.
"Oh yes. Very exciting, what with the killer geth, the rogue Spectre wanting to kill me, and then the mercenaries coming after me as well," Tali said jokingly.
"And yet you've managed to come through it all safe and sound so far. For which both I and your father are very grateful. He was quite worried after you contacted us about joining this human's mission. The last time I saw him this anxious was when you were being born," the older quarian said warmly.
Tali blinked in surprise at that. "He was worried?" She asked, her tone tinged with disbelief. Her communications with her father usually were through messages, and he usually seemed straightforward and curt in them.
Raan let out a soft sigh, frowning to herself. She had been a close family friend of the Zorah's, being present for Tali's birth and trying to help both her and Rael'Zorah move past the death of Tali's mother. She had sadly watched as Rael became more distant with Tali after that point, hence why the young quarian girl might find it surprising to hear her father was worried about her. "Yes my dear. Actually…that's part of why I'm contacting you. Your father feels that it might be better for you to return to the Fleet now."
Tali's eyes widened at that. "But…my Pilgrimage? I'm not done yet," she said worriedly. "If people thought I was getting special treatment and being recalled early, it could-," Tali started to add, only to be interrupted by Raan.
"Do you have a gift for your chosen captain and ship?" Raan asked her. "I was under the impression that you found an encrypted cache of geth data."
Tali hesitated before nodding slowly. "W-Well yes, I do have that," she said.
"Tali…you've already created a favorable impression amongst many in the Migrant Fleet," Raan said, catching Tali by surprise. "Even before this joint operation between our people and the humans, your interactions with this…'Shepard' have been benefitting the Fleet. Besides the information being shared with us, we also received permission from the Alliance to trade with several of their colonies, with assurances we would receive fair prices for goods. And now…not even an hour ago…the humans approached the Conclave with the offer of an alliance with them."
Tali's silvery eyes went wide behind her mask as she slumped back in her seat, absolutely shocked. "T-They…they did?" She asked quietly in disbelief.
The older quarian woman nodded. "Your actions, even if indirectly, have had a huge impact on the Fleet. This alliance could finally turn things around for our people. Potentially more resources, support from their colonies, possibly even help in settling on a planet of our own. We might even be able to start planning to retake Rannoch."
Tali took a shuddering breath at that, almost overwhelmed at hearing Raan's words. For three hundred years her people had been pariahs in the galaxy, looked upon with disdain by so many. She had never experienced it in person until she left for her Pilgrimage, but she had heard enough stories from others on the Rayya, as well as experiencing the moments when the Migrant fleet would be turned away from various colonies. So, to hear about someone wanting to possibly ally with her people was quite a shock. Especially since it seemingly all began with her joining Shepard's crew.
She paused for a moment before sitting up. "…I'm sorry admiral but….I'm staying here. If it weren't for Naruto I wouldn't be alive right now…and thanks to him and his sister, these opportunities for our people have come up. I want to pay them back, for all they've done," she said, trying to sound as confident as she could.
Raan's eyes widened, before she nodded. "I see then. That's very admirable of you Tali. And…in truth…your Pilgrimage isn't just for you to go out and find a gift to bring back. It is so you can experience life outside the Migrant Fleet, gain insight and knowledge, and bring it back here to share and help the Migrant Fleet survive. I hope that you will stay safe though."
"I'll try to. And…say hello to my father for me. Tell him…I'll be careful. Keelah Se'lai," Tali said with an eye 'smile'. One that Raan returned before ending the message. She sat there for a few moments before standing up and heading out the cabin door.
In the mess area, Naruto was smiling as he sat down at one of the tables, a bowl of steaming ramen in front of him. He took a few moments to savor the smell before proceeding to dig in, happily slurping up the dextro noodles. However, he paused in his eating as Tali sat down opposite him, her shoulders shaking a bit. Thanks to the sight of her eyes being scrunched up a bit, he knew she was likely suppressing some giggles as he hastily finished swallowing the noodles.
"Enjoying your meal?" She asked him as Naruto sheepishly grinned, before she grew more inquisitive. "What is that exactly?"
"It's a dextro version of a human dish called ramen," Naruto said with a slightly embarrassed chuckle. "I sort of have a thing for it….it was the first meal my dad ever made for me. I found a few recipes on the extra-net that utilize a variety of different ingredients for different species, so whenever I get a chance, I whip up a bowl."
"It looks rather interesting," she said, studying the half empty bowl before looking up at him. "I actually wanted to talk to you…well you and your sister."
Naruto sat back, releasing his bowl and the fork he had been using. "I'll go get her if-," he started to say, only for her to shake her head.
"I'll tell her later, but…I…I know I thanked you once already, but I wanted to thank you again. For everything you've done for me," she said. "You saved my life on the Citadel, and then again from Fisk. And you and your sister have gone out of your way to make me feel comfortable here, and…and…well help me out when I needed it. Your sister got permission for me to share information with the Migrant Fleet and now…I mean, it's inadvertently, not because of anything we actually did but…well…there's talks about an alliance between your people and mine," she said.
Naruto's eyes widened at that as he leaned forward, hands on the table. "Where did you hear that?" He asked in surprise.
"One of the admirals just contacted me, told me that apparently…your government reached out to the Migrant Fleet, about beginning talks between them. I mean, nothing is certain right now; the talks might even break down but…if they go through…this would be something big for my people. Having an ally, a real ally, after three hundred years of scorn and bigotry. And…it's because of everything that's happened here. Us working together on this mission," she told him, her voice starting to get a bit heavy with emotion. "I know you and Comm-I mean Alicia didn't have anything to do with this talk of an alliance but still…I just…wanted to say thank you…for all of this," she said.
Naruto gave a half grin as he nodded. "Well you're welcome, though you don't need to thank me. I just was doing what I thought was right. Besides, it's not every day I get to rescue quarian royalty," he added with a teasing tone.
"I told you I'm not-," she instantly reacted, only to narrow her eyes at him. "You're not going to stop doing that, are you?" She asked him with a slightly annoyed tone.
"We'll see…milady," he said with a grin, going back to eating his ramen. She let out a sigh as she slowly stood up.
"And suddenly I'm feeling slightly less thankful," she snarked, causing Naruto's grin to widen a bit. He liked it when she came out of that shy or formal shell she put up.
At that moment, however, Alicia came out of the captain's cabin, looking rather serious. "You two, head to the briefing room. We've got a bit of a situation," she ordered, causing Naruto to sigh.
"When do we not these days?" He muttered, hastily finishing his ramen and putting the dish in the galley sink before heading up to the briefing room behind Tali and Alicia as the latter contacted the others via the ship intercom.
Once they had all gathered in the briefing room, Alicia activated the holo-projector. "I know everyone was hoping to relax for a few days, but unfortunately a new situation has risen. Commodore Kahoku has gone missing."
"Who?" Wrex grunted, shifting in his chair.
"You remember that scout ship we found that had been destroyed by the thresher maw? It was under his command," Naruto said, looking to Alicia. "I'm guessing he found the ones responsible for what happened?"
Alicia nodded as she tapped some commands into the console, causing several documents as well as a map of both a nebula cluster and a system to pop up. "Yes he did…its Cerberus," she said.
Naruto and Ashley both immediately swore while Liara and Tali both looked confused. "What is this…Cerberus?" The asari asked.
"It's a human-centric terrorist organization," Kaidan explained, looking slightly grim as well. "They claim their working towards the betterment of humanity, but have attacked several human colonies, ships, and VIPs, as well as those of the Council races."
"Ashley and I had a run in with them about a year after the attack on Elysium," Naruto said. "They had infiltrated the Marine garrison at the colony of Watson, and were attempting to hijack some weapons. We managed to stop them, though the majority of their team got away."
"Apparently they were behind that beacon and the death of the Centaur's crew," Alicia said, indicating the data behind her. "Kahoku managed to track down the ones responsible. He sent me a message shortly before we received the call about Operation Hidden Blade, but I didn't access it until yesterday. According to his message, he was attacked by one of the crewmen of his flagship, forcing him to go into hiding long enough to transmit the information to me via the Spectre's office on the Citadel. I tried to contact him, but I received no answer. No one at Arcturus Station or on his ship have any idea where he is."
"So what are we going to do?" Ashley asked, causing Alicia to bring up the nebular and system maps.
"We're going to strike back at Cerberus. I contacted Admiral Hackett about everything. Since we have potential sleeper agents in the Alliance, he authorized us to run this mission off the books to keep Cerberus from finding out. We're going to be attacking a Cerberus facility located on the planet Binthu, which is in the Yangtze system of the Voyager Cluster. According to the intel Kohaku sent to me, the facility is geared towards experimental weapons technology and genetic research. It falls under the command of someone called Danzou Shimura, apparently a self styled 'general' in the Cerberus organization."
Wrex looked over the amount of information before snorted. "Your man went to the Shadow Broker. No other way he could have gotten this much intel otherwise," he said.
Alicia nodded slightly at that. "I was figuring the same thing, especially after running it past Fohlohk," she said, again referring to her godfather Jiraiya. "He told me he wouldn't have been able to get half the intel we've got here, so it must have come from the Broker. As it is, we know that the base is on Binthu, but we don't know the layout or the strength of the forces there. We'll be entering the system quietly, drop the Mako far enough away, and then come in as quietly as we can to try and get the lay of the land. After that we'll either go in quietly or loudly, depending on which will most likely work for us. So I want everyone to check your equipment and be ready for another drop," she ordered.
"Heh, glad to know things aren't getting boring around here," Wrex said as he stood, followed by the others as they filed out. Alicia moved to the galaxy map and quickly input a new course.
Shortly after, the intercom activated. "Uuhh commander, you do know we just got done with a whole big battle thing, right? Don't we get some R&R before rushing off to our deaths again?" Joker asked from the helm.
"I wish Joker, but this is important. Be ready to activate the stealth drive as soon as we get to the Yangtze system. I want us on silent running all the way to Binthu," she ordered.
"You got it Commander," he responded as Alicia moved away, heading to her quarters to catch at least some rest before the mission. All while the Normandy began to pull away from Solcrum, leaving the joint quarian-Alliance ships behind as they headed out.
Planet Binthu
Deep within the Cerberus facility on Binthu, Sasuke Uchiha stood in a room, staring at the only illuminated portion of said room. In the center of the room, beneath the only light, was a table upon which rested the cooling body of Admiral Kahoku. Around the corpse were machines that had been hooked up to his body. Some of them had been medical equipment meant to monitor his vitals, although all of them were now off as there was no point anymore. The other devices were of a far less savory nature.
The Cerberus operative turned to one of the technicians manning the machines. "Clean up this mess," he ordered, leaving the room and proceeding down the hallways of the Cerberus facility, passing a few scientists and technicians as he did so. Every so often he'd pass one of the security personnel, clad in white armor with gold trim, who would salute him as he passed. He simply ignored them, stalking his way towards the communications room where he quickly accessed the long range communications network.
Within moments, a stoic low voice responded from the other end. "Operative Uchiha, report."
"Interrogation of the captive has ended. All relevant information regarding compromised data was extracted. Subject was terminated following conclusion of interrogation," Sasuke reported, knowing that General Shimura preferred short quick responses conveying relevant information and nothing more.
"Status of the compromised data?" Danzou Shimura demanded, causing Sasuke to pause momentarily.
"Already in Alliance hands. Subject sent the data through civilian communication lines to Spectre office on the Citadel, where it was transmitted to Spectre Alicia Shepard. Confirmed by technicians hacking the terminal used by the subject," he reported.
There was silence for several moments before Danzou spoke again. "I am disappointed, Operative Uchiha. Your failure has jeopardized our entire operation."
Sasuke bristled at Danzou's words, thankful that it was audio communication only so the man wouldn't see the glare of anger Sasuke was sending to the terminal. "We will know if the Alliance makes plans against our operation here. Our agents-," he started to say, only to be interrupted.
"I will not take that chance. Spectre Shepard commands a warship with stealth capabilities we still do not fully understand or know how to counter. She has the authority to operate outside the laws and boundaries of society, and a crew that so far have proven quite effective against enemies that our own soldiers would struggle against. It is very possible she is already on her way now to wipe that facility out. You will begin evacuation procedures. All data and material connected to Project Olympian are priority one. All other materials and personnel are of secondary importance. Understood?" Danzou demanded, his voice carrying the slightest trace of anger.
"….yes sir. Evacuation procedures will begin immediately," Sasuke reported, before cutting the communication. He waited a moment, one fist clenched before slamming it into a wall. Taking a deep breath, he activated the inter-base communications network. "This is Operative Uchiha to all personnel. We are evacuating this base. Prioritize evacuation of Project Olympian. All security personnel are to prepare for possible incursion," he ordered, cutting off the communications.
Immediately alarms sounded throughout the base and he could hear the thud of boots and feet as the various soldiers and people began preparing for evacuation. Sasuke turned and headed directly for the command center, to oversee the entire process.
Yangtze System, three hours later
The Normandy quietly hung in space, her engines silent and most of her systems powered down outside of necessary life support systems and the passive sensors. Alicia stood behind the sensor officer, watching as the sensors continued scanning the system for any signs of ships or satellites.
The sensor officer finally shook her head, looking up from her screen. "Nothing ma'am. There is nothing out there at all," she reported.
Alicia gave her a nod. "Alright, but keep an eye out. Who knows what Cerberus is hiding out here exactly," she said, moving to Joker. "Take us in but do it quietly. I don't want to spook them. Bring us into orbit around Binthu until we can find a good spot to drop the Mako," she ordered.
Joker nodded, quickly accessing the controls. Soon the sleek ship was moving again, Joker building up the speed slowly to keep a power spike from being detected. Alicia moved back towards the CIC, meeting Pressly there.
"Once I take the ground team down, I want you to linger in orbit. If you detect any ships trying to escape the planet, interdict them. Try to disable if you can, but do not let them leave this system," she ordered.
"Yes ma'am. We'll take care of them, don't you worry," Pressly said with a salute. Alicia quickly returned it before moving to the command pulpit, watching the holographic map that displayed the system and the Normandy's position.
Soon enough, they were in orbit of Binthu and the map changed to show the planet, with a blinking red dot indicating the position of the Cerberus base. Alicia highlighted that section, bringing it up to see the terrain around the base. She frowned, noting it seemed to be a fair amount of open ground. "Looks like they cleared out some of the terrain to give themselves a good field of view," she murmured.
"It'll make approaching undetected that much harder," Naruto said, having come up to join her in analyzing the base location. "There are some hills we could use to hide the Mako behind, but that's still a bit of a trek on foot to get to the base."
"Still better than going in guns blazing. If we can catch them by surprise, all the better," Alicia mused, looking over the facility itself. It was little more than a small bunker disguised as a hill, indicating the majority of the base was likely underground. She activated the ship intercom. "Ops, Conn. Can we get ground penetration scans?" She asked.
"Not without going active, ma'am. I'm running a passive scan of the area, but all I can tell you is there are some power sources underground," the sensor officer reported.
"Understood," Alicia replied, closing the intercom before studying the map again. "We'll have to go through the front door then. We'll park the Mako behind these hills and-," she was quickly interrupted by the sensor officer.
"Contact! Unidentified ship leaving the planet surface! Identifying underground hanger entrance!" The quick report came in as the map updated to show a section of land retracting and a ship lifting off. The passive scans quickly began to paint an image of the craft, revealing it to be a medium sized transport ship painted in white and gold with the Cerberus logo on the side.
"Well, there's a second way in," Naruto said, watching the map. "Though we'd have to wait either for a ship taking off or landing to get in there."
Alicia tapped her chin in thought. "…actually…no we won't," she said, before turning to one of the nearby officers. "Tactical, mark that location. What would we need to blow that door wide open?" She asked.
The tactical officer studied it before conferring with the fire control officer. "…ma'am, a direct hit with our main cannon should be enough, though we might want to add in two missiles just to be sure," he reported back.
"Alright then. Pressly, as soon as we've landed, get the ship ready for an attack run. When I give the signal, hit that hanger door. Make two runs if you have to but take it out. While you're doing that…we'll go in the front door."
"Ma'am?" Pressly asked in confusion. What would be the point of attacking the hanger door if they're not going to use it to get in?
Naruto however just grinned. "I get it. A nice distraction to draw their attention away. By the time they realize what's going on, we'll be inside. And they won't be able to launch ships until they clear away the rubble."
"Which will give us more time to get in there and take down as many of them as we can," Alicia finished. "Pressly, you have the conn."
The two N7's quickly headed down to the hanger deck, grabbing the last of their equipment as their team waited. Alicia quickly laid out the plan for them as they climbed into the Mako, before signaling Joker to take them in.
The Normandy quickly began making her approach, entering the planet's atmosphere and soon angling along the approach vector to drop the Mako. The trick was to come in low enough and far enough away that the Mako wouldn't appear on sensors as soon as it left the hanger bay. Joker was bringing the ship in as low as he could while still giving Alicia enough time to slow the Mako's momentum in the drop, lest the vehicle hit the ground too hard and flip over.
Inside the Mako, Garrus and Tali both were murmuring under their breath, the two of them apparently following Naruto's example of constantly praying each time they were in the vehicle and Alicia was driving it. Their prayers were soon interrupted as Alicia gunned the engine and the IFV shot out again into open space, suddenly dropping before Alicia began applying the maneuvering thrusters. The vehicle hit the ground and rolled, skidding and fishtailing a bit as Alicia quickly fought for control and brought it to a controlled stop.
"How are you all still not used to this?" Ashley asked, seeing the queasy body language of Tali and Garrus, before Naruto grabbed her attention.
"Williams, I've been in a lot more drops with the Commander then those two and I'm STILL not used to them," he muttered, head slumped a bit.
"You know, if you all don't stop mocking my driving I'll turn this Mako around and drive us back home," Alicia pouted, drawing some chuckles from Kaidan and Ashley as she started driving towards their destination, her latest selection of metal blasting out of the interior speakers.
Meanwhile, the Normandy was repositioning itself, waiting for the Commander's signal as the fire control officer began preparing the weapons. Pressly was coordinating with them and Joker to make sure that they got the best angle with the main cannons to blast the hanger door. Joker was grinning quite a bit, as the maneuver would involve a straight dive, holding it long enough for the cannon and missiles to fire before pulling up fast enough to prevent them from crashing into the ground. 'All in a day's work,' he thought with a grin, preparing himself.
On the ground, Alicia kept the Mako as low as possible, using valleys and hills to constantly keep them below possible Cerberus scanners. The terrain was fairly hilly with plenty of low areas for them to avoid enemy radar. However, Cerberus had apparently flattened the land for some distance around their main entrance to prevent a approach in vehicles near the entrance itself from being undetected. Now she arrived at the last low valley behind a hill, parking there and stopping. "Alright team, ride's over. Time to enjoy nature," she said, popping the hatch after ensuring everyone's suits were sealed. The ground team piled out of the Mako, forming up around it as Naruto quickly scaled the hill, crouching down low at the top and pulling out his Viper sniper rifle.
From his vantage point, he slowly began a scan of the base, using his scope to search for any signs of life. Finding none he signaled the others, who quickly moved to join him.
"Nothing out here Commander. No signs of life, and I'm not seeing any signs of automated defenses," Naruto reported. Alicia just nodded in response, using her own helmet's HUD to zoom in. Not nearly as effective as a sniper rifle but better than nothing.
"Yeah, I'm not seeing anything either…still doesn't mean there isn't something out there. They hid that hanger door pretty good; they could have a dozen turrets hidden underground," she murmured. She turned her head, looking to where Tali and Kaidan were. "Can you two scan for anything like that?"
Both of them immediately pulled up their omni-tools, setting to work pulling up programs to scan for electronic signatures. After a few moments Kaidan shook his head. "Nothing Commander," he reported.
"I'm not detecting anything as well," Tali said, looking up. "They could be shielded, but given the amount of cleared land, I don't think they'd be able to hide that many without us detecting at least some abnormality."
"Then we'll just have to wing it. Get ready to run on my mark," she said before activating her suit's radio. "This is Normandy 1-1 to Normandy Actual. Begin your run."
In high atmosphere, the Normandy began to accelerate from the holding pattern it had been in, Joker building up speed before flipping the craft over and sending her into a dive towards the Cerberus facility. The tactical officer was watching his screen, waiting for the right moment to switch power from the stealth systems back to weapons, to maximize surprise. However, it would be he who was surprised as he saw a change in their target. "Enemy hanger is opening!" He quickly reported.
Pressly quickly looked at his own screen, seeing that indeed the hanger door was opening, as well as the first glimpses of another transport ship waiting for the clearance to take off. "Switch fire to that transport ship!" He called out, making a snap judgment.
"Switch power to weapons! Now!" The tactical officer shouted, readjusting the aim as the fire control officer began adjusting the missile yields for the new target.
Inside the facility, a Cerberus technician manning the sensor console in the command center cursed. "Alliance ship! It just popped out of nowhere!" He called out.
"Man your stations!" The officer in command shouted as a new klaxon went off, warning the entire base of enemy attack.
Alicia watched as the silver streak that was her ship shot downwards towards its target, before there was a streak of light that shot out from its underside, followed by two missiles. There was a thunderous crack from the magnetically propelled round easily breaking the sound barrier, followed by a slight shockwave and the roar of it ripping through its target. This was soon followed by the two missiles hitting home as well, ripping apart the Cerberus transport attempting to take off. They saw the fire and smoke rising up from the explosions, and heard the alarms, faint in the distance.
"That's our cue people!" Alicia shouted, surging up and immediately running down the hill, quickly followed by the others. All of them had weapons drawn, sprinting across the open ground, eyes wide and constantly switching between checking their HUD's motion sensors for contacts and sweeping their horizon.
Naruto kept pace easily with Alicia, hearing the sound of his breathing in his helmet and the muted thuds of his and everyone else's boots hitting the ground. They drew closer to the hidden bunker, finally dropping into a crouch near it. Tali and Kaidan, the two tech experts, quickly set to work searching for a control panel or something they could hack into to find the door while everyone else raised their weapons, keeping an eye out for any surprises.
Inside the base, Sasuke pushed past some engineers rushing to the hanger to help the damage control crew's deal with the fiery mess there, making his way to the command center. "Report!" He barked out angrily.
"An Alliance ship came out of nowhere and took out the transport ship that was attempting to leave," the officer in charge reported. "The ship is currently circling overhead, likely waiting to target any other ships we try to launch."
Sasuke quickly took a look at the visual profile of the ship. "…it's the Normandy. Looks like the Alliance sent their pet Spectre and vulzan after us. Any signs of ground forces?"
"We can't be sure. The explosion in the hanger disrupted power to several systems. We're attempting to reboot ground sensors," the officer reported.
"Get the hanger bay cleared and launch the fighters. They'll have to distract that ship while the remaining transports evacuate. And have security teams stationed at the entrance and the hanger area. I'm betting we'll be hit by a ground attack at any moment. And let me know the instant the sensors are back up, especially if they detect anything," Sasuke ordered, moving to another console.
Ouside, Kaidan quickly let out a sound of triumph as he accessed a panel and began hacking into it. "Thirty seconds and we'll be in," he reported.
"Wrex, you're up first on the door, clear out any security. Kaidan, you're behind him. You two establish the foothold for the rest of us," Alicia ordered, gripping her shotgun as the team prepared for the entranceway to be revealed.
Kaidan finished his hack, quickly activating his tech armor and pulling out his Locust SMG as a section of the hill covered retracted, revealing the open doorway. Wrex immediately squeezed his large armored bulk inside, Eviscerator shotgun at the ready as he scanned for any signs of enemies, with Kaidan following him.
The two of them soon found themselves at a security checkpoint, with a surprised man in white and gold armored looking up. He was reaching to slam an alarm button when Wrex's shotgun ripped through his barriers and slammed into him the wall, quickly followed by Kaidan leaping over the desk and pinning him there. The others quickly followed, filing into the room as Wrex and Kaidan kept the security guard pinned.
"Alright, good work team. Tali, get to work on that security console. Kaidan, Liara, secure the prisoner. Everyone else, secure the perimeter," Alicia ordered, with the team leaping into action. Naruto took Ashley, Garrus, and Wrex to watch over the hallway beyond the security checkpoint as Kaidan and Liara quickly bound the prisoner with binders that had been in a locker near the guard's desk, with Kaidan disabling the guard's suit radio. Tali was hacking into the console before nodding to Alicia.
"Done Commander. I have access to their security cameras and alarms. I've disabled the intruder alarms so they can't activate them," she responded.
"Good. That should buy us some time-," she started to say, only for a squad of Cerberus soldiers to round the corner. The Cerberus troops, numbering eight in total, froze in surprise at the sight of the waiting ground team.
"Drop your weapons now!" Naruto shouted, Lancer up and ready to fire. The lead Cerberus soldier instead started to raise his own weapon, only to be instantly cut down by the combined fire of Naruto, Wrex, Ashley, and Garrus. Immediately they switched fire to the next Cerberus trooper, who was raising his weapon as well, his barriers quickly being obliterated before rounds ripped through his armor. The other Cerberus troopers fell back behind the corner, firing wildly as they ran.
"Guess the subtlety option is gone now," Naruto said as Alicia joined him.
"Guess so," she said while priming a grenade and tossing it around the corner. There were cries of alarm followed by an explosion and a cloud of fire and debris from the grenade. Alicia raised her shotgun, nodding to the others. "On me," she ordered.
In the command center, Sasuke felt the floor shudder slightly underneath him as well as the faint sound of an explosion. "What was that?" He demanded of the hapless sensor officer.
Before he could respond, the intercom crackled to life, filling the room with sounds of pained grunting. "Command…this is…Bravo five…intruders in base…repeat…intruders in-," a pained male voice said, only to be interrupted by the sound of something striking near the radio with a lot of force, a pained grunt, and then static.
"That was the team we sent to the main entrance sir!" The officer reported, causing Sasuke to narrow his eyes.
"The attack on the hanger was a diversion…they did that to draw our attention away from the ground team. Have all remaining available security personnel head towards the main entrance. And speed up the evacuation. I'll see about stopping these intruders myself," he reported, turning away as one hand slid down to the short single edged sword sheathed at his side.
With the ground team, Liara winced as she felt rounds impacting the barrier she was holding up. "A-Are you almost done?" She asked, looking over her shoulder at Tali who was hacking into another terminal.
"Almost, just a few more seconds," the quarian assured the asari as she quickly bypassed Cerberus security and downloaded a map of the facility. She had been unable to do so at the security checkpoint, and this, the first terminal she had come across, had been out in the open with another squad of Cerberus troops coming towards them. The others had spread out into cover, firing on the Cerberus troops, but the terminal had been out in the open, leading to Liara and Tali working together to secure the information.
Tali let out a grunt of satisfaction and quickly drew her shotgun. "Done! Sending schematic to your suits!" She called out over the squad radio. Liara quickly focused her biotic barrier, reshaping the energy before firing it at a group of security guards hiding behind a couple of containers. The biotic energy detonated into a singularity, lifting them up and allowing Garrus to quickly pick them off as Liara and Tali dove into cover.
Alicia frowned as she saw a second squad of Cerberus troops join the remains of the one they were currently engaged with. "We've got more company!" She called out, pulling back behind the support column she was using for cover as the new troops opened fire on her team, forcing them back into cover.
Kaidan quickly sent an overload program at a couple of Cerberus troopers, disrupting their shields and forcing them into cover. One of them wa dropped when a burst from Ashley's Vindicator tore through the weaker material around their neck, with the marine sergeant ducking back into cover. "If they get anymore help they can keep us bottled up here for hours!" Ashley called out.
"We need to flank them somehow, force them back. Liara, can you keep lobbing singularities at them?" Alicia called out to the asari.
Liara was fumbling to slot a new thermal clip into her Tempest SMG. "I-I'm afraid not Commander! They keep firing at me as soon as I poke my head up!"
Naruto was quickly scanning the room, searching for some way to get to the troopers. The room was a large rectangular one, dotted by support columns, several crates, and also a number of heavily reinforced desks and large consoles. The ground team was using a few of the crates and support columns on one side of the room for cover, while the Cerberus troops were doing the same on the other side. He blinked and narrowed his eyes before speaking. "I think I've got a plan. Commander, can you and the rest of them try to force their heads down?" He asked.
"What are you thinking Naruto?" Alicia asked, barely flinching as a round ripped through the corner of her cover near her helmet.
"I'm thinking that I can maybe use those desks over there to sneak around to their flank," Naruto said, nodding to some desks lined up alongside one wall. There were gaps between them, but if the soldiers were distracted and he kept down low, he could maybe slip through.
Alicia narrowed her eyes before nodding. "Do it. Everyone, covering fire!" she shouted, popping out to spray rounds from her Lancer at the Cerberus troops. The others did the same, with Garrus giving Naruto a quick pat on the back to signal him.
The vulzan marine, holstering his Lancer, quickly darted out and dove behind one of the desks. He quickly drew his Carnifex as he began to crawl on the ground, keeping low behind the cover. As he reached the first gap he waited, peeking out and watching as the Cerberus troops popped up to fire, then dropped into cover again to either let their own weapons cool or as one of his teammates began to fire on them. Quickly he moved again, darting to the next desk and proceeding like that until he had finally reached the Cerberus side of the room. Pausing to ready himself, he gripped his Carnifex in one hand while unsheathing the gauntlet blade on his other arm. He steadied himself before lunging out.
A Cerberus trooper was in the middle of reloading when Naruto came around the corner, the woman not even being able to react as Naruto's blade took her through the throat. Naruto quickly fired on her companion, a man who fell to the ground with his visor riddled by bullet holes. Naruto quickly moved to the next group of Cerberus troops, leaping over a desk to land feet first into the chest of a rising soldier, driving them to the ground as he fired first into their helmet. He quickly shot another trooper in the knee and then the head before spinning as another trooper raised their Lancer to fire at him. His blade lashed out, cutting through the material at their elbow and causing the trooper to scream in pain while dropping their weapon as Naruto grabbed them, spinning them around and using them as a bullet shield while two other troopers from another position fired at him.
And that's when a blue blur crashed into one of them, revealing Alicia who slammed the Cerberus Trooper into a wall with her biotic charge, blasting them point blank with her Crusader shotgun before turning and smashing the weapon into the back of the second trooper's helm. Wrex came roaring after her, smashing into the reinforced desk two other troopers were using for cover. The desk was torn from the floor and became a battering ram as the krogan drove it and the troopers behind it into a wall, quickly firing his Eviscerator at them both. One's helmet and head exploding in a gory mess of bone, blood, and brain matter, while the other had their chestplate ripped open, the shrapnel like rounds ripping through their organs.
The other Cerberus troopers quickly began to retreat until Naruto launched a singularity in front of them, the red biotic energy quickly catching them and holding them in place. Alicia and Wrex quickly were upon them, knocking them out before Naruto released his singularity and let their unconscious bodies hit the floor.
"Alright. Kaidan, Williams, secure the prisoners," Alicia said, turning to the next doorway, only to find it shut and locked. "Tali, can you get that door?"
"Yes Commander," Tali said, moving to the door and quickly beginning to hack into it. She snorted as she saw the simple systems. "I think this terrorist group needs to-," she started to say, only for the door to suddenly unlock and spring open. Before she could even react there was an iron grip on her arm, yanking her forward and spinning her around. In a second she had a blade up against her throat while her arm was being held forcibly behind her back.
Everyone's weapons were up, trained on the armored figure holding Tali at sword point. Unlike the Cerberus troops, who were decked out in armor similar to standard Alliance Marine Combat armor, this figure wore a suit that was a lot more streamline, with armor plating seemingly molded onto the figure's body over their suit. The helmet was sleek, the front of it covered by gold and black opaque material, making it impossible to see their face. The armor, unlike the Cerberus troopers, was primarily charcoal black, with white and gold trim. (1)
Before they could react the figure had dragged Tali through the door, turning long enough to launch a biotic blast at Alicia, causing her to be thrown back into Kaidan, Ashley, and Garrus. Wrex roared and began to charge forward, only for a blur to dart past him as Naruto leapt through the doorway. Almost as soon as the vulzan marine passed through it the door slammed shut behind him, locking in place as Wrex slammed into it. Alicia quickly scrambled up, activating her suit radio. "Naruto, status report!" She called out, only to hear static on the other end. "Naruto?! Naruto! Damnit it," she said, getting no response. "They must be jamming our radios. Kaidan, get on the door and get it open!"
On the other side of the door, Naruto was up with his Lancer at the ready, locking onto the figure that was quickly backing up down the hallway with Tali kept between them and Naruto. He followed, weapon up as he waited for a moment to shoot. Tali was struggling in the figure's grip, trying to break free, only for the blade to press tighter against her throat. "I wouldn't if I were you. I don't even need to slit your throat to kill you, I just need to cut into your suit," the figure said, their voice distorted by a helmet filter.
"You've got nowhere to go," Naruto said, following them. "Your ships won't escape the Normandy and you've got nowhere else to go on this planet. Surrender now," he said.
The figure chuckled softly. "Oh actually, I'm pretty sure I will escape. Your ship is good, but can it handle a swarm of fighters attacking it and intercept our transports at the same time?" They asked.
Naruto narrowed his eyes behind his visor, still following them carefully. "Even still, do you think I'll let you take her hostage onto one of those ships? You'll just kill her once you've escaped," he countered, weapon ready.
"Oh I wasn't going to keep holding her hostage. I just needed something to draw you here," the figure said, stepping into what appeared to be an empty lab. The figure stood in the center of it, Tali still held hostage while Naruto entered, warily looking around.
"Why are you after me?" Naruto asked cautiously, wary of a trap. The figure didn't answer him, turning their attention instead to Tali.
"Quarian, you will remove your weapons one by one and toss them over to that side of the room," they ordered. Tali hesitated until the blade pressed harder against her throat, causing her to slowly use her free hand to do as they said, tossing her weapons to the side. "Good," the figure said. "Now I know you are probably just dying to utilize one of your nasty little tech programs on me. I wouldn't do that if I were you. The whole time I've been holding onto your arm, my suit has been uploading a virus into your suit's computer. If you try to activate any of your tech programs, it'll automatically shut down your suits life support functions and erase your suit's hard drive. I doubt very much you want to go breathing in all the diseases and germs we humans have been leaving behind in here," they warned before looking up to Naruto. "As for why I wanted you here, it's simple. We have unfinished business," they said as the front of their helmet became transparent, causing Naruto to growl as he found himself looking at a familiar face.
"Sasuke Uchiha. Why am I not surprised?" He snarled, seeing the Cerberus Operative smirk back at him.
"Indeed. I really should have thanks Kahoku for sending his information to you and your sister. Though I doubt he would have cared after I killed him," Sasuke said, his voice filter disabled now. "Now, I think it's time we got reacquainted."
Sasuke suddenly threw Tali to one side, his empty hand coming up and launching a biotic throw at Naruto. Naruto dodged to the side, firing a burst from his Lancer as Sasuke dove behind a lab table. Tali quickly got into cover as well, accessing her omni-tool and cursing as she saw that Sasuke had been correct.
"Tali, are you okay!?" Naruto asked, hiding behind a console.
"I will be after I clean out this shit the bosh'tet left in my suit!" She shouted, growing angry at being captured and the fear she had felt as well. She set to work activating her anti-virus programs to clear out the virus while Naruto quickly popped up, firing at the table Sasuke had taken cover behind. The Cerberus operative had holstered his sword, drawing an M-5 Phalanx Heavy Pistol which he popped up with, rapidly and accurately firing at Naruto.
The marine captain cursed as he dove down, his shields flaring for a moment from two hits before he got into cover. He holstered his Lancer, redrawing his Carnifex and quickly using that to engage Sasuke, the hand cannon offering more maneuverability from his cover. At the same time he charged up his biotics into one hand before launching a pull towards Sasuke, in an attempt to yank him out of cover. The Cerberus operative rolled away before it could impact him, coming up behind another console as he countered with a throw that slammed into Naruto's lab table, causing it to smash into Naruto. Caught off guard, he was knocked back, but quickly rolled to his feet and started firing at Sasuke as his opponent charged at him.
Sasuke held up one hand, creating a biotic barrier between him and Naruto as he charged, his eyes now glowing red with his cybernetic enhancement as he drew his sword. Naruto kept rapidly firing his Carnifex before tossing it aside and extending both his gauntlet blades as Sasuke lunged and slashed down with his sword. Naruto parried it to one side while stabbing at Sasuke, who twisted his head away from the second blade, using the momentum of the twist to spin around and slash again at Naruto. This time he raised his arms, crossing them and catching the blade against his armored gauntlets, before kicking Sasuke away.
Tali cursed as she pushed herself into a corner, trying to keep hidden as she continued to work on clearing the virus Sasuke implanted in her suit's systems out. She couldn't make a break for her weapons, out of fear that Sasuke could remote activate the virus, so this was the only thing she could do at the moment.
Naruto blocked another slash from Sasuke before seizing his arm, head butting him in response. Sasuke staggered back as Naruto quickly capitalized, tackling into him to try and drive him to the ground. Sasuke barely managed to keep his feet, smashing an elbow into Naruto's back before shoving the vulzan off of him. Naruto hit the ground but rolled, coming up with his Carnifex and firing it point blank at Sasuke. The shields of Sasuke's armor flared and broke, but the operative managed to dive into cover, drawing his Phalanx and firing it at Naruto and forcing him down as well. Naruto quickly slotted a new thermal clip into the weapon, panting slightly as he checked for any signs of his opponent. "Don't tell me your tired Sasuke. I thought we had unfinished business?" He taunted.
"We do, vulzan. But I'm just savoring the moment," Sasuke shot back at him. "It'll be such a delight to destroy the Alliance's pet alien."
Naruto narrowed his eyes before slowly crouch walking around the console he was using for cover, moving slowly as he readied himself to fire or react at a moments notice.
At that moment, his radio briefly crackled to life. "…aruto, can you-…. peat, can you hear me? We've almost…door unlocked!"
Naruto paused for a moment, trying to understand what he'd heard, and that's when Sasuke came around the table, slashing at him once again with his sword. Naruto quickly dropped to the ground, spinning and kicking Sasuke's legs out from under him. The two of them quickly scrambled to their feet, guns aiming at each other, when a shotgun blast ripped through the air, some of the pellets impacting Sasuke's shields and make them flare again.
Tali stood there, shotgun in hand, aiming to fire again at Sasuke who quickly ducked and bolted for the exit on the other side of the lab from where they had entered. Naruto quickly followed, with Tali waiting as she heard the pounding footsteps of the others approaching.
In the hallway, Sasuke was opening a door when Naruto came upon him, Lancer now in hand. "Hold it right there!" He said, even as the door opened for Sasuke to enter. The Cerberus operative turned, grinning to Naruto.
"Do you really think I will, vulzan?" He asked with a smirk. Naruto kept his Lancer trained on Sasuke, who merely smirked more. "That's gratitude for you…I did save your sister's life after all, didn't I?"
Naruto flinched ever so slightly at those words, but that was enough for Sasuke to duck through the doorway, sealing it shut behind him as Naruto's Lancer barked out, the rounds hitting the door. He rushed up to, accessing the holographic command, only for it to not respond. Cursing, he slammed his weapon against the door, but it did little.
At that moment, the base's intercom activated and Sasuke's voice could be heard over it. "By the way…thank you for your generous donation to Cerberus, Captain Naruto. It has been…revealing," he taunted, before the intercom went dead. Naruto let out another curse as he turned and stormed back towards the lab.
There he found the others, with Kaidan and Tali working one of the few consoles not damaged by the firefight as the others stood there, waiting. Alicia frowned as she saw Naruto arrive. "What the hell was that about?" She demanded.
"It was that bastard Sasuke. The one me and Ashley ran into at Watson? He wanted another fight with me. And he confirmed that he was the one who saved you on the Citadel," he spat out.
Ashley growled softly as her grip tightened on her Vindicator. "Wish I had popped that bastard as soon as we saw him here," she said.
"What did he mean though, by you contributing to Cerberus?" Wrex asked, receiving glares from Naruto, Alicia, and even Ashley.
"Hell if I know," Naruto said, only for Kaidan to respond.
"I think I know," he said, looking over at them. "There's barely any data left. They scrubbed their databanks clean. However…someone left a file behind. Specifically…I think they did so for you."
"What do you mean?" Naruto asked, coming over as Kaidan stepped away, showing him a file labeled simply 'Naruto'. Frowning, the vulzan activated it and began to read it over. His eyes widened before his fists clenched, his body shaking as his biotics began to flare around him.
"Naruto…what is it?" Alicia asked worriedly, having not seen her brother this upset since they were teenagers. Naruto trembled before turning and hurling an insanely powerful biotic throw that ripped through several lab tables and consoles, destroying them utterly as he let out a roar of anger.
"THEY TOOK MY BLOOD! THOSE BASTARDS TOOK MY BLOOD!" He roared out, slamming his fists down on another table and smashing it in half, causing everyone to back up, startled by his outburst. Most of them looked confused, while only Alicia seemed to understand the implications as Naruto stood there, trembling in rage.
"W-what…what exactly is going on here?" Liara asked cautiously. Alicia took a deep breath, stepping forward and placing a hand on Naruto's shoulder. He glanced at her, seeing the questioning look in her eyes before giving a curt nod as he turned and stormed off.
Alicia watched him go before slowly turning to the others. "You all know how Naruto can see the memories of his parents, his grandparents, and his other ancestors? That's in his DNA. It's his way of connecting to a people he never truly got to know. And Cerberus basically helped themselves to his blood, violating the sanctity of those memories, of his only connection to his entire race," Alicia said somberly.
"But…they can't view those memories, can they? Don't they need to be a vulzan to do that?" Ashley asked, eyes wide.
"I don't know. If they experimented enough with gene splicing…they could force a host to be able to view those memories. Hell, maybe they just want to figure out how to trigger the same ability in humans. The point is…whether they can view the memories or not, they still stole this from Naruto. And it's even worse considering this is little different then what the Protheans did to him as a child," the human Spectre said.
At the moment, her suit radio crackled to life. "-...Commander, can you read us?! Commander!" Pressly's urgent voice echoed in her suit radio.
Alicia quickly touched the side of her helmet. "Pressly, what's going on?" She asked.
"We lost contact with you shortly after you entered the facility. Cerberus must have had some type of jamming signal up. Their ships are in full evacuation up here. We're currently engaged in a dogfight with several fighters, while their transport ships are escaping!" The Normandy's XO quickly reported, causing Alicia to curse softly.
"Do what you can, but keep the ship safe. We'll report back as soon as we've finished clearing out this base. Out," Alicia said, before looking to the others. "Alenko, Tali, finish getting what you can out of that console. I don't care if you have to strip it apart, just get me every bit of information you can. I'll retrieve Naruto," she said, moving into the hallway her brother had disappeared into.
She found Naruto leaning face first towards the wall, head lowered as his shoulders trembled. Alicia gently came up next to him, touching his shoulder but getting no visible reaction from him. She stayed like that for a few moments, before he finally spoke.
"Is this all I am to the galaxy?" He finally asked her quietly. "Am I nothing but some…specimen, to be used, to be experimented on? The Protheans did it to me…I know some of the scientists who were examining me when mom found me wanted to do so…the Council wanted to make me into an operative they could use, the Alliance were using me as some sort of trophy until the Skyllian Blitz…and now this…"
Alicia squeezed his shoulder, though he probably didn't feel it through his armor. "You know that's not how we see you. You're not some specimen or experiment. You're my brother, you're our comrade, and you're an Alliance Marine."
Naruto just raised his head; his blue eyes still amethyst from the biotic energy he had been pushing out. "…I just wish people would let me live my life… instead of…instead of using me," he said quietly.
"I know…I'm sorry Naruto," she said quietly. "I promise you, we'll make them pay for this. We both will."
Naruto looked at her, before looking down, taking a deep breath. "…please just give me a few moments…I'll be ready to move then."
Alicia nodded as she stepped back. "I think Cerberus is escaping, so we'll simply secure what's left of the base. Still, keep your guard up," she warned, before moving away.
Naruto slowly stood up straight, closing his eyes as he tried to steady the emotions swirling inside of him. He knew he shouldn't have lost his control there, but the provocative words Sasuke had made, his taunts and jeers, had left him frustrated and angry. And then learning that his blood, the source of his only contact and knowledge of his people, had been taken and experimented with by Cerberus was the final straw. The rage, born of the trauma and fear he felt from being experimented on the Protheans as a small child, had now been intensified by Cerberus' actions. He had thought he at least had some control over what he had felt regarding the Protheans, but this…he wasn't sure what would happen now.
He took a steadying breath, trying to put a lid on his emotions until he could try and deal with them later, before turning to rejoin the ground team in clearing out the base.
Yangtze System Mass Relay
Sasuke could only smirk, feeling quite pleased after receiving notification that his little present had been found and opened. He knew it was petty and stupid, but he couldn't help but enjoy the idea of taunting Naruto with that knowledge.
He gripped the controls of his personal ship, a shuttle-sized craft designed to aid him in infiltrating systems and planets and to carry everything he needed to complete missions for Cerberus. He had used it to slip away while the Alliance frigate had been engaged in a dogfight with several Cerberus fighters, all while trying to interdict the Cerberus transports carrying the base's personnel and equipment. It wouldn't have mattered as much if the Normandy had intercepted the transports, as the most important equipment, data, and supplies had been evacuated in the first couple of transports which had successfully escaped. Sasuke couldn't help but grin as he prepared for the relay jump.
"Until next time, Naruto," he said, before his ship as hurtled away into space.
And chapter. Whew, glad to finally get that done. Writing the last half or so of this wasn't entirely fun.
RS19: Well you certainly tried to be dramatic at the end there.
LR: I figured this would be something very personal to Naruto. This is his only way to connect to his biological family and his people, and Cerberus basically is screwing around with it, not treating it or him with any respect. Add in the trauma he suffered as a young child at the hands of the Protheans, and how similar this is to that, I think it would definitely stir up a lot of emotions.
Alicia: *Cocks her shotgun* I don't like you screwing with my brother like that.
LR: …well…then you're really not going to like what I have planned a few chapters down the line here. B-But don't worry, it all has a really good purpose, one way or another!
Wrex: *Cocks his shotgun as well* Are we having some target practice?
LR: ….ummm….HELP ME A7XFANATIC! *Runs for the hills with the two shotgun wielders chasing after me*
A7X: *Watches the frantic chase*: Uh, yeah, a special forces commander that has space magic AND an 800-pound lizard with anger management issues? No thanks, I'm good.
LR: WWWWWHHHHHYYYYY?! *Keeps running*
So I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and you're staying safe and sane during this crazy time. Thanks again to a7xfanatic11 for his help betaing this fanfic.
1. For reference, the male version of the Cerberus Spirit Armor from Mass Effect 3's Citadel DLC.