Reaper Threat v2
Chapter 24: The Reapers Arrive
Earth: Vancouver: Systems Alliance HQ
Six months have passed since preparations began for the Reaper assault. Currently, the Normandy was docked on Earth, and her commanders were making their way through the halls of the Systems Alliance military command headquarters.
"Shepard, Naruto," said Admiral Anderson, "I'm glad you two could make it. I assume you've read everything that R&D's done to prepare." Anderson shook Shepard and Naruto's hands and then began leading them away. "The war council is waiting for us," he explained.
"yeah, and I still wonder if we're ready," Captain Alexa J. Shepard responded, "The Crucible project is still under construction, and the new weapons won't be ready for a while."
"We still have the biiju," Naruto added, "Grandma Tsunade has already said that she'd send a biiju in to help fight off the Reapers on the council capital world, as well as Tuchanka and Rannoch. Not to mention that we've brought additional shinobi forces into the Alliance to help in the ground war."
"I know that Kurama goes with you, Naruto, but who's the biiju being sent to Earth?"
"Matatabi, the 2-tailed cat," the shinobi explains, "She should already be here, just in a hiding place until needed."
"Actually, she's not far off," Kurama stated, "I can sense her close by, maybe even in this building. That tricky cat probably took a human form."
"The Biiju can do that?" Naruto asked his friend
"When we're not sealed, yes," Kurama explained, "it's how we keep from destroying everything in our path. We either take on a smaller animal form, or a human form. Matatabi, Saiken, and Kokuo always did like taking human forms."
"Cool," Naruto thought, then told everyone, "Kurama thinks Matatabi's taken on a human form and is lying low until needed."
"Anyway," Anderson stated, leading the two into the council antechamber, "The Crucible project, while proceeding off the books, is at only 65% complete right now. The dreadnaughts we're developing to roll out with the crucible should be ready at the same time. Any action we undertake should be to buy us some time to complete the crucible."
"The council is ready for you, Admiral," a clerk told the group as they proceeded through the doorway and into the enormous council chambers.
"Anderson, Shepard," one councilor began, "Glad you two could come. The news we're getting is, in a word, monstrous, to say the least."
"We've lost contact with every colony we've got outside the Sol relay," another one continued, "Whatever this is, it's incredibly powerful."
"You're just asking me to confirm your own suspicions, councilor," Captain Alexa J. Shepard interrupted the council, stepping forward, "The Reapers are here."
"And what of our preparations?"
"Progressing," Anderson advises, "But it's slow going since we're doing all this off the books through a few of Shepard's contacts as a Spectre."
"And those contacts are?" one advisor inquired.
"Spectre business," Shepard stopped him, "Classified above even your pay grade."
"Plus they'd flip their proverbial shit if they knew we were getting the alliance materials for these projects through not only the Shadow Broker, but also Aria T'Loak," Naruto thought, then spotted a female lieutenant reading over a data pad. Her green eyes looked almost catlike, and then he noticed her nametag, which read, M. Tatabi.
"Sneaky feline," Kurama thought, "She took a human form and is acting as an assistant for these people till needed. M. Tatabi? That's Matatabi, alright."
"What do we do until these projects are ready?" the final councilor inquired of Shepard.
"We do what we must," Shepard advised, "We fight or we die. Either way, this isn't a war we can win conventionally, which is why we have all this going on. Until the Crucible and the Dreadnaught escorts are complete, we need to buy some time. I'm taking the Normandy and we're going to see what we can do to aid our allies in the galaxy. The bigger the fleet to escort the crucible in, the better our chances of victory."
"Where would you start?"
"By evacuating the council from the citadel, as well as a few others," noted Anderson, stepping forward.
"What others?"
Anderson continued, "Mordin Solus, Sakura Haruno, and the rescued Krogan females from Sur'Kesh. We understand that the genophage cure is just about ready, and all Mordin needs is some tissue samples from a Krogan male. Urdnot Wrex will meet us at the starbase where we'll drop off the council, with another Krogan friend of ours, Grunt."
Naruto's Omni tool beeped, and the shinobi checked out the message. "Trouble on Palaven. Heading there to get Primarch and Vakarian. Meet at starbase. S.U." Naruto then stepped forward. "Right now, Palaven's under attack. A spectre is moving in to collect the Primarch, and his party."
"Since you know about this, then I'd assume that the spectre is…" Shepard started to ask, before Naruto finished her statement.
"Sasuke Uchiha," he said, "And if anyone can get the Primarch out, it's him."
"We'll have to do everything we can," Anderson stated, "To buy us time to complete the Crucible. Shepard, Naruto, you two head to the Normandy. Go to Mars and pick up Javik and Dr. T'Soni. From there, proceed to the Citadel."
"Don't worry," the lieutenant that Naruto pointed out earlier told Shepard, "We can hold out as long as necessary."
"Good luck, Anderson," Shepard told her old C.O.
"Excuse me," a technician reported, "We've lost contact with Luna base."
"They're already on the moon?" Anderson not so much asked, but tried to wrap his head around that fact.
"U.K. Base has reported Reapers on the ground," another one began, "Switching on video feed." The video was grainy at best, so they switched to SKY News, which was showing Reapers already going to work on destroying the British capital. It's then that the unmistakable sound of reapers could be heard in Vancouver, and a massive Sovereign-class reaper descended from the skies, its main gun unleashing a blast that sent everyone in the building flying.
Menae – Moon of Palaven
"General Corinthus, I'm Sasuke Uchiha," Sasuke introduced himself to the Turian Commander, "I'm looking for Primarch Fedorian and Garrus Vakarian."
"Vakarian's fighting alongside General Victus," Corinthus informs the shinobi spectre, "Fedorian was killed an hour ago. Sovereign class reaper destroyed his shuttle."
"Who's next in line? We need Turian support once we're ready for the galaxy's counter attack."
"Luckily, Uchiha, I just received word from Palaven command. The next in line in the heirarachy is General Victus."
"Good," Uchiha thinks, "I can grab him and Garrus and get them both to the starbase to begin preparations for ending this war."
Earth – Vancouver
"Alexa," Naruto called to Shepard, "You ok?"
"Ears are ringing, but I'll be ok," Alexa Shepard replied as Naruto and Anderson helped her up. The three walked over to what remained of the building's window to survey the damage, and what they saw was catastrophic. The Reapers were quickly reducing the city to rubble, destroying buildings and leaving nothing in their wake but a swathe of destruction that could be seen from space.
"And I thought Madara's jutsu was destructive," Naruto thought, "This is on a whole new level."
"We can win this, Kit," Kurama reminded his vessel, "We've got plans already in motion that will allow us to end this, but we've got to give them time to work."
"That means we need to get to work."
"Naruto, Shepard," Anderson ordered, "You two get to the Normandy and get off planet. Collect Liara T'Soni and Javik from Mars, and then rendezvous with the Citadel council. I'll stay here and see if I can help rally our people until the crucible is ready to roll out."
"I'll help here as well," Matatabi added, "When you return, bring my brothers."
"I'll bring the Biiju, the Shinobi, and the rest of the galaxy, Matatabi," Shepard told the two-tailed biiju, "Just stay safe and pick your shots carefully till we get back." Naruto then put a hand on Shepard's shoulder and the two disappeared in a flash of yellow.
Menae
"Don't give them an inch, men," General Adrian Victus ordered his men, as they fought off a small army of reaper forces.
"Pretty soon, general," Garrus Vakarian advised his commander, "It may not make a difference." His statement was cut short, though, by the appearance of a massive purple entity slicing through the reapers like a hot knife through butter. A reaper brute charged headlong at the newcomer, but was incinerated by black flames. When the fighting had subsided, the purple being disappeared, revealing Sasuke Uchiha. "I was wondering when a shinobi would show up," Garrus said, shaking Sasuke's hand, "But I never thought it'd be you."
"We can catch up later, Garrus," Sasuke noted, "General Victus, I'm Sasuke Uchiha, a council Spectre. Primarch Fedorian was killed by Reaper forces. You're the new Primarch. You need to come with me in order to help the galaxy plan our counter attack against the Reapers."
"Fedorian told me of the plans and preparations already made," Victus responded, "I'll come along. How are the preparations progressing?"
"Mordin Solus and Sakura Haruno have the Krogan genophage cure almost ready to go," the Uchiha explained, "They just need a few tissue samples from a Krogan male to finish it. The Crucible and the Alliance's new biiju-class dreadnaughts are at 66% complete. Until they're ready, though, we're fighting a holding action. The other races are contributing ships to escort the crucible, but the main escorts will be the biiju-class dreadnaughts."
"We're building our own biiju class ships," Garrus added, "The shipyard is hidden deep in the Krogan DMZ. They should be ready soon."
"Good, now if you two will hold on, I'll get us to my ship." Sasuke then thought, "Good thing I had the dobe teach me this jutsu before I started spectre training." The three then disappeared from the Turian base, and soon, Sasuke's ship was launching from Menae's surface.
Athion Cluster – Starbase – 2 days later
"If everyone is here, now," Councilor Tevos began, "then we can get started. All the council races have been making preparations for the Reaper invasion. Now, we can begin to plan our counterattack. Admiral Hackett?"
"Currently, the Alliance has some of the best scientific minds in the galaxy helping to build the Crucible," Hackett explained, "As we speak, progress is at 67%. The Alliance and Turian Hierarchy are also building several new ships, armed with new weapons based around the biijudama. These weapons are so powerful that only a dreadnaught can carry it. Since they're being built alongside the crucible, they also sit at 67% complete. Primarch Victus?"
"Our own preparations are progressing," Victus added, "Our Biiju-class ships sit at 72% complete, and will be ready when the time comes to roll out the crucible. Dr. Solus, how is your work on the genophage cure going?"
"Ready to synthesize cure now," Mordin answered, "Will release cure on Tuchanka with Shepard's help."
"I'll join you," Gaara of the Desert interceded, "Shukaku is on Tuchanka, and as such, I feel I can be of assistance."
"One other thing," Tevos stated, "Valern and I helped to negotiate a peace between the Quarians and Geth. Since the invasion started, however, we've lost contact with Rannoch. Shepard, after curing the Genophage on Tuchanka, we need you to see if they need help on Rannoch."
"Count on me, Councilor," Shepard responded, "Garrus, Sasuke, you two going to rejoin the Normandy crew?" Both just nodded, which got quite a grin from Naruto
"Alright," Tevos concluded, "This meeting is adjourned. Admiral, Primarch, keep us informed on the status of your people's projects. Shepard, good luck on Tuchanka and Rannoch. We'll inform you of any other tasks we may have for you. Goddess be with us all." After Tevos finished, everyone dispersed, out to get started on all they had to get done.
End Chapter 24
Coming soon: Chapter 25