Reaper Threat v2
Chapter 13.
The Citadel – Zakera Ward – Factory District
It didn't take a lot of work to track down "Fade", who just happened to be a disgraced C-sec officer named Harkin, at the factory district of Zakera Ward. Naruto, Garrus and Sasuke had made their way there by car. Now, the three were fighting their way through the place, taking out one patrol of Blue Suns after another.
"I wonder just how bad we've hurt their numbers over all the missions we've taken against the Blue Suns," Sasuke thinks out loud, "We must really be putting a damper on recruiting." His sharingan allows him to lead his target, a Blue Suns FENRIS mech, perfectly for the head shot.
"Between them, the Blood Pack and Eclipse, I doubt any of the merc bands are doing very well after all we've done to them," Naruto notes as he takes out a blue suns heavy trooper, "They're really not much better than cannon fodder."
"Maybe they can all join forces and call themselves the White Zetsu," the Uchiha joked, making Naruto laugh and miss his target.
"White Zetsu?" Garrus asks
"During the 4th shinobi war, there was this guy on Madara's side, called Zetsu. He had two completely independent halves, one white, and one black." Naruto explained as they rounded a corner, and Naruto headshot a grunt merc with his pistol, "Madara made thousands of clones of the white half, and sent them out to fight the entirety of the forces of all the Great Nations. They were really weak, and good for nothing more than cannon fodder, and to exhaust us for their Edo Tensei troops."
"Edo Tensei?"
"A resurrection Jutsu," Sasuke told the Turian, "with a sacrifice, Madara, or Kabuto, exactly, was able to resurrect any extremely capable warrior he wanted...and Kabuto had a bunch of sacrifices, from all of Orochimaru's hideouts. He resurrected some of the strongest, and most notorious warriors from the five great nations, including my brother, Itachi, who defeated Kabuto, and released the Edo Tensei jutsu."
"How did you manage to win this war?" Garrus inquires as he snipes a FENRIS mech.
"The Dobe here," Sasuke said, pointing to Naruto, "fought against Madara, who just happened to be our old sensei, Kakashi's old teammate, Obito, and a resurrected Madara Uchiha, along with Killer Bee from Kumo, Kakashi, and Gai. They held their own for a long time, and even went up against the resurrected Juubi, ten-tailed biiju, until the shinobi alliance gathered along with them. Before you ask, Naruto, I heard this from Kakashi, after I got back to Konoha."
"Tsunade said you won the war singlehanded," Garrus asked, "How did that come about?"
"Well, Granny Tsunade and the five Kage all had their hands full with the resurrected Madara, and would have all died, if it wasn't for the fact that Granny Tsunade isn't just the best medic in the whole world, but also the last of the Senju clan. Katsuyu, her slug summons, was able to bring her back from almost dead, and then also heal the Kages. They didn't get a chance to get into the fight with the Juubi, because they were carted to the headquarters, where medics continued to work to save Tsunade."
"Naruto helped the alliance come up with strategies that would confuse Madara, and Obito, as well as defeat the Juubi," Sasuke continued, "When they say he 'singlehandedly' won the war, they mean he was the turning point. Being the most unpredictable ninja on our world, he was able to think outside the box, and help the shinobi alliance defeat Madara, Obito, and the Juubi." Sasuke then turned his attention to the two heavy mechs that were aiming at the three warriors. With a few hand-signs, he unleashed a lightning storm on the two mechs that fried every circuit the machines had.
The three friends then ascended to the control room, where Naruto and Sasuke cornered Harkin, and chased him right into a forearm shot from Garrus. Garrus tried asking nicely for the information, but Harkin wouldn't budge, until the Turian knocked the rogue down and stood on his neck. After that, Harkin was singing like Rosemary Clooney on stage at the Kennedy Center. He set up a meeting between Naruto and Sidonis, in front of the Orbital Lounge.
Over the short car ride, the three continued to talk about Garrus' plans for revenge. Even Sasuke, who had taken the 'avenger' path a long time ago, tried to talk the sniper out of it. In the end, they left Garrus in his sniper's perch and went to speak to Sidonis.
"Look at this guy, Naruto," Sasuke stated, "He may not be in the grave, but he's pretty much killing himself with guilt. That's not living."
"Tell me about it," Naruto responded as he signaled Sidonis over, "You Sidonis?"
"Don't use that name," the Turian replied, "What do you want?"
"I'm a friend of Garrus, and..." Naruto began, but didn't get a chance to finish.
"Garrus? Is this some joke?" Sidonis questioned, but wound up making direct eye contact with Sasuke's sharingan, and then stuck in a genjutsu.
"Now, you will listen to me," the Uchiha said, "We're all that's keeping him from putting one right between those beady little eyes of yours. He's out to kill you, and we're hoping we can keep him from going that far. Now, I'll release this genjutsu, and you'll listen to my partner, ok?"
"You have my word," the turian replied, and Sasuke released the genjutsu.
"What do you want to say?" Sidonis asked Naruto.
"Tell me what happened on Omega," Naruto ordered, staying between Garrus and a prime shot at his target's skull.
"The Blue Suns and Blood pack got to me. They said they'd kill me if I didn't turn on Garrus," Sidonis explained, "The guilt's been killing me since I left Omega. I don't sleep at night. Food has no taste. Every time I close my eyes, I see their faces."
"He's already paying for what he did, Garrus," Naruto said over the radio, "What good will killing him do?"
"Tell Garrus," Sidonis started, "Now that I think of it, there's not much I can say to Garrus that would do much good, is there?"
"Just tell him to go," Garrus called back, "Just get out of here."
"He's giving you a second chance, Sidonis," Naruto told the Turian, "Don't waste it."
"I won't."
With those words spoken, Naruto and Sasuke walked back to the car. "Any word from Shepard?" Sasuke asked.
"She and Thane got to Kolyat just in time," the blonde sage replied, "I've been monitoring communications all this time. I need to thank Jane for showing me how these Omnitools work."
"Yeah," Sasuke chuckled, "There is NO going back to Konoha after this, is there?"
"Not for me, there isn't."
The two drove back up, and picked up Garrus, who, after a few minutes talk, was convinced that letting Sidonis live wasn't a mistake.
"Where are we going now?" Garrus asks.
"The Presidium," Naruto answered, "We're meeting Jane, Gaara, and Sakura there. Cerberus doesn't have any kind of bugs in the Councilor's office, so we're going to talk to Anderson about our plans for the Illusive Bastard."
"If we can get the Alliance on the plan, then we'll have not only the mercs, but also the Alliance forces to take care of any Cerberus fleets."
"What we need is reliable intel on where the Illusive Man is," Garrus notes, "There are few places where that kind of intelligence can be found. Only one I can think of is the Shadow Broker."
"That's a trump card that Jane wants to play after we finish off the Collectors," Naruto notes, "She has intel on where to find the Broker, and can give it to Dr. T'Soni on Ilium. From there, we can take down the Broker, and ransack his intelligence networks for what we want."
"Shrewd, Guys," Garrus smirked, "I like it."
Citadel – The Presidium – Councilor Anderson's Office.
"I see you guys handled your business," Shepard said, walking up and hugging Naruto, "And Bailey says you took down Fade, too. Seriously, Garrus, Harkin? He was just a drunk last time we met him."
"Well, he turned really bad afterwards," Garrus noted, "When, I have no idea. After the original Normandy went down, I went to Omega."
"Anyway, you've done the Citadel, and C-Sec a favor in taking him down," Anderson told the group, "Now, what is this plan you have in store for Cerberus?"
"I think you need to sit down for this one, Councilor," Gaara says, "We've got a lot to disccuss."
45 minutes later
"I'll say, this is really a grand plan you have for taking down Cerberus," Anderson states, "And you want to keep this under wraps until you get the intel you need, and take down the Collectors, right?"
"Yes, that should give you time to outfit as many shinobi as you can with armor and equipment for the raid," Gaara began.
"And get Admiral Hackett and the Fifth Fleet on board as well," Shepard added, "Cerberus will surely have fleets stationed all around the Illusive Man's location. That, or they think that we'll never find him, and have no security at all."
"Either way, we'll need the Fifth Fleet ready to go, and you say that Aria T'Loak is supplying technicians from Eclipse?"
"She hates the Illusive Man as much as the Alliance does. They keep involving themselves in business on Omega, and she wants them gone," Shepard added, "The Illusive Man has pissed off too many people in the galaxy to NOT take him down. Hell, if asked, I think we can get the Quarians to add some muscle to this little action. Tali says that they blew up one of the ships in the Migrant Fleet."
"I remember," Anderson sighed, "Grayson. Sanders told me what he'd done. I think they even experimented on him, implanting him with Reaper Tech. Word has it that he attacked the Grissom Academy not long ago...and didn't even look human."
"Why is Cerberus experimenting with Reaper tech?" Shepard asked, "That stuff is too dangerous to mess with. Don't they know about indoctrination?"
"I doubt the Illusive Man cares," comes a voice from the lift. The crew turned around to see Miranda Lawson and Jacob Taylor walk in, "All he cares for is results. Word has it he's looking for a way to control the Reapers."
"Miranda," Gaara says, "What brings you here."
"A lot of soul searching, and a few conclusions," the australian brunette answered, "After all, This team has done more to help me than Cerberus ever has, and I feel a deep connection to them, but mostly to you, Gaara. I will continue to play the part of the, what does Jack call me, Cerberus Cheerleader, until we take down the collectors, then I'm finished with them."
"I never liked them to begin with," Jacob stated, "But the pay was good, and where else can a soldier of my talents go, except maybe the Blue Suns."
"I've seen humans in Eclipse," Miranda joked, nudging Jacob in the ribs. After this exchange, the two sit down, Miranda snuggling in close to Gaara, who puts an arm around her shoulder.
"Anyway, Councilor," Gaara says, "Can we assume that we have Alliance backing for a mission to take down Cerberus?"
"I think it's long overdue," Anderson responded, "I'll get Hackett in on it. You finish off the Collectors, then gather the intel you need. We'll ready the Shinobi for battle, and have the Fifth Fleet ready to take down any Cerberus ships in the system. Also, tell Chief Williams that she is transferred to the Normandy. Unofficially, of course, until Cerberus is destroyed. Once that happens, you are welcome back to the Alliance with open arms, Shepard."
"Then take these," Shepard said, handing Anderson a handful of OSD's, "These discs contain our gun-camera footage from Freedom's Progress, Horizon, and the Collector's Ship. We'll supply more of the Derelict Reaper and the Collector's Base at a later date."
"Good luck, Shepard, and Good hunting."
Normandy SR-2 – Briefing Room – 2 hours later.
"Ok, here's where we're at," Shepard began, "We're all ready to rock, but we have one piece of equipment we still need."
"The Reaper IFF," Mordin noted, "Only way to get through Omega-4 Relay."
"Right. Now, I'm going to take two teams with me into the Derelict Reaper. My fire team will be Me, Garrus and Zaeed. Our advance team, going in before mine, will be Konoha Team 7. Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, You three will be going in to whittle down any resistance you find in there, and clear a path to the IFF. Worst case scenario, we may only be able to get one team on, and you guys are some of the strongest we have, and have good teamwork. I'll relay to Sakura's hardsuit a picture of what we're looking for, since she's obviously the brains of the team."
Sakura giggled while Naruto and Sasuke pouted. "We won't let you down, Shepard."
"As always, I'll be monitoring communications with Joker here, until my team is ready to move in. Should anything happen that we can't move in, I'll contact you," Shepard continued her explanation, "Guys, this is crunch time. We're about ready to hit the Collectors, and hit them hard. If I were to estimate our chances right now, I'd say we're as ready as we can get. The only thing we need is that IFF. Team 7, are you ready?"
"You know it, Jane," Naruto smirked, "Teme, Sakura-chan?"
Sharingan eyes flared red. "You don't even have to ask, Dobe."
"We're ready to go, Commander," Sakura stated, "Leave it to us."
"Commander, We've just made the first jump. ETA to Derelict Reaper: 2 days," came Joker's voice on the intercomm.
"Good, Everyone, dismissed. Get some rest and stay loose," Shepard ordered the team.
"So, you're sending us in ahead of your team?" Naruto asks.
"Garrus told me how you three handled those Blood pack Krogan," Shepard said, "I think you can handle it. Plus, I want to see how a full shinobi team operates, and you three are it. Gaara will be with me in the cockpit, monitoring communications, since he knows shinobi battle tactics and can tell me what you guys are doing in there."
"We'll be kicking ass and not worrying about names," the blonde smiles, "But until then, there's only one ass I'm thinking about." He snaked his arm around her waist and pulled her in close to him.
"Time and place, Mr. Uzumaki," Shepard grinned, "And this is neither. Well, Time, yes. Place, no. Not by a long shot."
"Then let's take this elsewhere." Naruto and Shepard retired to their cabin, as the Normandy sped toward the derelict reaper, where they could find the IFF they need to get to the Collectors' homeworld.
End Chapter 13
A/N: Ok. Derelict Reaper and IFF installation next time, then SUICIDE MISSION.
Next time: Chapter 14