Normandy Cargo Deck, An hour before the Op at 'Dr Heart's' Clinic
Ashley Williams, Alliance Navy Gunnery Chief and Spectre's Soldier
"And this is where we store most of our immediate supplies, including the ones that were requisitioned during the ambush." When Ashley had been 'asked' by the Commander to 'assist' the C-Sec Forensics Specialist come on board for Weapons and Ballistics Analysis, she had, rather poorly of her now she thought about it, assumed that it would be a Salarian or an Asari.
So when Joker had called her up to the Command deck, Ashley had been more than slightly surprised to find herself looking at a female Krogan, something that had been noticed by the Krogan in question who portrayed an aura of expectation and patient acceptance. After getting over the initial shock though, Ashley found Ai to be very different from her experiences with other Krogan, even ignoring the fact that Ai was almost a foot shorter than any other Krogan she had met.
Ai had quickly explained that she hadn't even met another Krogan until she was almost 50, and given she had been raised by an Asari/Salarian couple, she had found the 'fight first, ask questions never' attitude espoused by most Krogan as almost incomprehensible to her.
"'Requisition', that is one of the more interesting ways I have heard battlefield looting being referred to as… Sorry, I didn't mean to… it's just that this is my first time on an Alliance Ship and working directly with a Spectre to boot." That didn't mean that Ai didn't take anything from her heritage, the dry and unsubtle sarcasm would make her fit in with Wrex on a humour basis if nothing else.
"No problem, it's not exactly what is considered respectable or honourable, but Lieutenant Uzumaki and the Commander are more concerned with keeping us alive and well provisioned. Given we are trying to track down another Spectre, with decades of resources and experience beyond what we have officially been given, I personally have no complaints with bending the rules to play catch up."
Given the reservations of not only Lieutenant Alenko but also Liara and members of the Alliance Marine teams towards Naruto's 'requisitioning', the fact that others were disapproving of the practice didn't even faze Ashley for a moment. If it weren't for the fact that Naruto or his 'salvage teams' cleared the areas even while combat was going on, she would probably have assisted, as she very much meant what she had just said.
Even if this Batarian ambush ended up having nothing to do with Saren, the fact that they had been outnumbered and caught by surprise on the supposedly 'safe' Citadel for a second time only made it clear that playing by the rules was going to put them at a mortal disadvantage.
"Thank you, I will make sure that any equipment not linked to the civilian deaths aren't considered official evidence then, Gibbs hinted as much when he sent me here with Xeveena. Can I check your team's weapons first? Best to clear all of them in case you need them before I am finished with the… That is a lot of weapons…"
Given the Mako was now stored on the Ontario most of the time, Commander Shepard and the rest of them had spent some time altering the layout of the Cargo bay to suit their needs. Where the Mako had been there was enough space for a small sparring area, for Naruto to train the Civilians in hand to hand combat, or for when she or one of the other marines wanted to be put through their paces.
Around that were supply crates and other ship related storage, though most of these were now stored on the Ontario given the massive difference in storage capacity. This accounted for about two thirds of the right hand side of the Cargo area, with the remaining space on that side allocated for the storage lockers for the strike team members, though even that was getting very cramped given the number of team members they had now. The other half of the cargo space had been transformed into Equipment storage racks and facilities, primarily to make the lives of those who liked to tinker with the weapons such as Ashley and Wrex easier, as Naruto had a bad habit of simply piling his spoils indiscriminately.
"They certainly weren't on the Citadel for a casual stroll, which makes me wonder how they got through Hangar Security without raising any alarms or alerts by C-Sec." It was a rhetorical question for the most part, the lack of all but the most basic security on the Citadel something that had been raised and then 'suppressed' as part of the official investigation into the assassination attempt of the Commander and Executor Pallin.
Given that the attempted suppression of the issue had only come after the initial report had been published to the senior bureaucrats on the Citadel, it had taken no time for the whole document to be leaked onto the extranet. This had been something of a scandal at the time, though it had quickly been overtaken by other gossip as was typical of the Citadel's populous.
"The Executor has the same concerns, he has members of our cyber division checking for discrepancies with the docking and cargo records of the last few days, but given the volume of traffic…" Ai shrugged in a 'what can you do' manner, before she let go of the grav cart she was pulling along full of her scientific instruments to move towards the nearest of the weapon racks, which contained some of the side arms and smaller weapons the Batarians had been carrying with them.
"Based on the preliminary analysis, the deaths of the civilians were mostly caused by large calibre rounds rather than standard ammunition. So, while I test your team's weapons, would someone be able to separate out those types of weapons? It would definitely make things quicker to sort out…" Ashley knew she could have called one of the crew to do it, but given everyone would merely waiting for some lead for them to chase, it wasn't like she had a lot else to do right now.
"Sure, I will sort through them now, it shouldn't take too long…"
!"£$%^&*()_+
Normandy Command deck, 20 minutes later
Mari, 'The New Growth'
"Has anyone reviewed the footage from…"
"What about this? This ship…"
"Who took my coffee!"
It was strange to see such a… contrast… there really wasn't a better word, between 'her' memories as Shikamaru and the chaos that was happening around her in the ship she now called home. None of the, admittedly disorganised, memories she had of the ninja were of much use in this situation
For the most part Mari found herself relying on the memories of Shiala, the fles-Asari offered to the Old Growth by Saren, whose memories had been copied by the Old Growth. The Asari Commando had been well travelled, even before she had joined up with Matriarch Benezia and then ultimately Saren, driven by a wanderlust that many Asari fall prey to at least once in their comparatively long lives.
Such experience would be advantageous for Naruto to use against the Cold Ones and their puppet who pretended to be the puppet master, the part of her developed by Shikamaru's memories allowing her to analyse the Asari's fighting style and be impressed at her skill, if not her magnitude of ability in comparison to what she had 'seen' some ninja perform.
The fact that Shiala was still on the Ontario, in one of the retrofitted cells Naruto had requested, was something that Mari thought might be useful in the near future. Though, in all the chaos that had happened since finding Ino on Feros, Mari got the feeling that Commander Shepard and Naruto had forgotten about the recovering Asari Commando. If so, they probably wouldn't mind if she struck up a deal with Benezia's ex-follower, physical training would always beat memories or theoretical knowledge after all.
"Is it always so… Chaotic aboard this ship Officer Mari? I will admit this is not what I expected of a Spectre's crew, even in these circumstances…" It took a few moments before Mari realised that the question had been directed at her, mainly by looking around to see that there was physically no one else within easy hearing distance, her eyes meeting those of the Drell Xeveena who was looking at her now with the sort of piercing gaze that made it difficult for Mari to not reflexively alter her form for combat.
Naruto had asked Mari to keep an eye on the C-Sec officer while she was on the ship, a sign that many of Commander Shepard's crew took as an indication of her skill and trustworthiness, but Mari wasn't so sure. In fact, logically she knew this was as much a test for her abilities outside of combat, a rather troublesome sign that Naruto knew exactly where she was lacking in.
"No idea, I have only recently come aboard myself." Even as she finished speaking Mari winced, knowing even before Xeveena's eyes widened ever so slightly that the Drell had caught her slip up.
"So, they assign a rookie to keep an eye on me and make sure I don't go anywhere I shouldn't, I think I should feel a little upset about that. But I suppose I shouldn't look a gift cow in the mouth…" The odd phrase threw Mari off for a moment, and she had to resist the strange urge to correct the phrase to what she thought was correct.
But that was based on Shikamaru's memories, so for all Mari knew the phrase Xeveena had used was correct in this time/culture. Thankfully, before Mari had to work out whether she needed to try and continue the conversation, Xeveena's omni-tool beeped to life with a series of messages.
"Ducky has been efficient as always it seems. Is there somewhere… Quieter that we can go? I wish to have a look through the data myself, before handing it over to the crew, I am meant to be assisting the investigation after all. Besides, they are all running around like a group of headless… You get the idea." Mari didn't, or at least didn't get whatever reference Xeveena was referring to, but reaching out to her spores she focused on answering the question rather than her need to develop her common knowledge in the near future.
"The area by the cockpit should be free, and it is a little quieter at least. Could you forward me the data as well? Then I can look through it at the same time." If the Normandy was in flight then the cockpit wouldn't have been free, Joker even slept in the pilot's seat sometimes, rather than go through all the effort of hauling himself down to the bunks on the crew deck.
But even Joker needed downtime, and reaching out further with her ship wide network of spores, Mari found the man playing some kind of card game with Engineer Adams and a couple of the other engineers. Mari had been more than prepared to not release any spores on the Normandy, given what had happened to the colonists on Feros caution was expected if not outright suspicion.
But after the Batarian ambush, which she hadn't even heard about before it was almost over due to her self appointed task of watching over Ino from the shadows, Commander Shepard had ordered her to do it the moment her sister was in the Med-bay. It seemed that the Commander was far more protective of her newly discovered family then worried about another espionage attack.
"Of course, please lead the way. Though you will have to provide me an extranet address for me to send you the files." For a moment Mari froze, realising the gigantic error she had potentially just made, given that her own Omni-tool was less than a day old.
She had Shiala's memories of how to use such a device, which helped. But she hadn't even gotten around to trying it out, let alone setting up an extranet account, after a Naruto clone dropped it off earlier that 'day' cycle. Pressing the email function on her omni-tool, Mari was more than slightly relieved when it started up, with a single email in her inbox that she immediately realised was probably from Naruto.
"Of course, here is the address." Reeling off the numbers that she had instantly memorised after opening 'her' email for the first time, Mari knew that Xeveena was probably surprised by her actions, but the Drell didn't mention it as she typed away into her omni-tool.
"There you go. Now let's have a look." As Xeveena started looking through several 3D representations of what looked like the Batarians initial autopsies, there was a stream of pinging noises that symbolised the arrival of the same data to her omni-tool.
There was a massive amount of data, which given it had only been a few hours since the ambush was a sign that at least one part of C-Sec was efficient in its operation. Just because the data was available though didn't mean that Mari knew where to start, the Old Growth had never had to deal with such a form of data crunching. Shiala had always been more of a 'solving problems directly' type as well, which left Mari with one persona she could call upon.
Mari didn't dislike the memories that Shikamaru had forced upon her, especially as they had saved her life with Naruto, but that didn't mean they weren't… different. Even as she 'plunged' into them, she could feel her own mindset changing to become similar to that of the Shinobi who Naruto referred to as the 'lazy genius'.
Little facts from around her suddenly began to jump out to her in a way that they had never done so before, even glancing at Xeveena made her head hurt from the number of subtle 'tells' that the Drell had, the conclusions her mind reached echoing like little voices in her head as Mari drew her eyes back to the data in front of her.
Well trained, far beyond C-Sec standards…
Pendant chain visible around neck, only personal touch to her otherwise regulation prefect C-Sec uniform. Strong attachment to pendant, but one that implies that the one it is related to is no longer here…
Beyond Email and official C-Sec security programs, nothing other than the starting programs on her Omni-tool…
Lonely…
The last point was particularly jarring to Mari, even as a flux of similar data began to flow over her from her spore 'network', the little voices growing to a cacophony in her mind as she struggled not to grab her head as the pain built.
If this was what Shikamaru had to put up with all the time, no wonder the man liked to spend as much of his time asleep as he could. Given some of the things her spores had just 'told' her, Mari wouldn't be able to look at some of the crew in the same way again. Breaking her connection with her spores for the moment, Mari almost sighed in relief as the voices disappeared, and after a few moments she was able to focus on the files in front of her once more.
Focussing seemed to help, as the voices about the other things she could see/hear/smell disappeared almost entirely, allowing her to begin searching through the documents with remarkable speed.
"Officer… Mari!" The shouting voice in her ear suddenly brought Mari from her zoned in state to find Commander Shepard and Naruto stood next to her, the blonde ninja looking relieved even as he dodged back to avoid her reflexive punch.
"Xeveena has been trying to talk to you for the last ten minutes, but got no response from you, given your 'focussed' state she grew concerned and contacted us. It's good we got you out of that, Joker needs his seat back…" A glance at her Omni-tool told Mari she had lost almost an hour in her focussed state, and she was never more pleased about being a plant rather than an actual Asari as she didn't blush, though judging by Naruto's teasing smirk he could sense her embarrassment even if she wasn't actively displaying it.
Eyes darting around the cockpit, muscled slightly tensed and knees slightly bent…
Smile that doesn't match body language, one hand always near weapons pouch…
Nervous about ambush and weakness in Citadel security…
Eyes not focussing on me while scanning, other hand relaxed and smile changing slightly as eyes pass me…
Happy to see me?
"She found something?" Mari did the best to ignore the voices in her head, as she separated from Shikamaru's memories once more, the throbbing headache something she could deal with once the focus was off her.
Mari had news of her own to share of course, but it would take quite some time for her to sort it all out in her own head, now that she didn't have Shikamaru's mindset to assist in that process.
"We will worry about that later, when the rest of the crew are back I will brief everyone. Are you okay though? It was almost like you were in a trance. I am sure that Medic Nirali would be available if you are not feeling well." Commander Shepard's concern was a slight surprise, given the Slayer of the Old One had more than enough reasons to dislike her, but after a moment Mari was cognizant enough to shake her head.
"I am fine, I just let my focus get away from me. I will head to the med bay though, I seem to have a bit of a headache…" Naruto's eyebrow gave the slightest of twitches, enough of a reaction to let Mari know that he suspected she wasn't telling them everything, but as she stood a little shakily he merely shifted to allow her past.
Whether that was because Naruto trusted her enough to tell her later, or because of some other reason she couldn't quite fathom, Mari decided she would think about it later, after she had managed to get rid of this blasted headache!
[]{}#%^*+=
Commander Shepard's Cabin, The Normandy, 20 minutes after end of Dr Heart Op
Naruto Uzumaki, 'Alliance Lieutenant' and Spectre's Soldier
"You are not the one we expected to see Officer Uzumaki… Where is Commander Shepard?"
'Busy making sure the Normandy is ready for hunting the moment everyone gets back on the ship. But, there's no way I'm telling you that…' Looking across the Commander's cabin to where the Communication relay had been set up, Naruto shrugged.
"No idea. But, if I had to guess, I would suppose that she's dealing with the aftermath of what has gotta be the fifth or sixth assassination attempt that has been launched against our team on the Citadel. Got to say the place isn't seeming anywhere near as secure or safe as you guys claim from your ivory tower…" It was probably a little too blasé a crack about the broadcasts the Council had done, in the aftermath of the rocket attack, but Naruto was angry enough that he didn't care about annoying the Council a little more than usual.
Unfortunately, the Councillors seemed to have developed thicker skins since the last time he had gotten into verbal combat with them, as the Turian Councillor's gritted jaw was the only sign his words had any effect.
"The dangers of being a Spectre are well known throughout history, perhaps the Alliance should have looked deeper into that before risking you… I mean their hero in such a manner." Not bad from the Asari Councillor, Naruto could feel his anger rising at the casual disregard of the threats Jane-chan faced, as well as the implying that closeness they shared had been noted and frowned upon by Jane-chan's 'Commanders'.
"That's true, such a position of responsibility always comes with risks, which is usually why they are such respected and well provisioned roles. How is the 'automated' transfer of Ex-Spectre Saren-teme's files to Commander Shepard going by the way?" He could have carried on the taunt, with a jibe about how little time it had taken Saren to get hold of Nihilus' files, but given the flinch from the Asari Councillor it seemed that wouldn't be necessary.
"Enough, we did not contact one of our Spectres for the purpose of getting into a shouting match with one of her lowlife mercenaries. Go and find Commander Shepard, and tell her she is to report to the Council chamber now. She will be remanded in the secure holding facilities at C-Sec, until the C-Sec investigation answer the accusations the Batarian Hegemony have raised about the unlawful murder of their lawful agents…" The Turian obviously enjoyed the opportunity to rub in the fact that officially Naruto was nothing more than a thug, seconded by the Alliance to serve under Shepard as a hired gun.
But as the purpose of their call became clear, Naruto lost the easy-going smirk that had been present for the conversation so far, reaching over the table to press pause on the small voice recorder that Commander Shepard had record every conversation she had in her quarters. Ignoring the looks and insisting comments from two of the three Councillors, Naruto rewound the recording and played through the Turian Councillor's words once more.
"Huh, and here I thought I'd misheard again." Placing the recorder down once more, after re-pressing the record button of course, Naruto let his face fall into the emotion dampening mask that some of the survivors taught him and the other genin.
"Stop your babbling…" That was as far as the Turian Councillor got, before Naruto slammed his fist into the metal table without holding back, he'd pay Shepard-taichou for the dent in it later.
"I think you will forgive me for 'babbling' in a few minutes, though that depends how quickly you get it through your close-minded heads that I am preventing a galactic civil war by not bringing Shepard-taichou here…" For a moment there was complete silence, before the Turian Councillor growled in anger.
Before the Turian could say anything though, the Salarian acted. The frog like alien raised they omni-tool arm and a flash erupted from it, making the Turian's visage disappear from the screen. There was a rather uncharacteristic look of fury on the Salarian's face, as they turned their gaze on the Asari Councillor, who seemed like she wanted to protest.
"Enough, two of you obviously clouded in your opinions regarding Operative Uzumaki, reason unknown. No doubt one of many things Councillor Valern did not transfer when replacement vote succeeded." It was at this point that Naruto felt a little embarrassed beneath his mask, now that he focussed on the Salarian, it was obvious that this wasn't the same Salarian that had been on the Council during the Saren debacle.
Based on the way that the new Salarian had spoken, it was entirely possible that the Saren debacle was the reason that the position had changed hands.
"Rather than acting like human tadpoles, perhaps better if Operative Uzumaki and I conversed by ourselves. Then, when he has passed on concerns and I evaluate them as threat assessment, he can contact Commander Shepard whilst we convene. Or, perhaps the two of you can act like the professional representatives you are?" Given the sharp look the Salarian sent Naruto's way when he tried to pipe up, it was clear that they had some words to aim in his direction if he did, as the sounds of the Turian Councillor's shouting lessened and then disappeared.
"You have been in this role less than a week Councillor Dezoro, obviously you still need to learn how to act a little more professionally yourself. We do not attack each other as a method of stopping an argument." Despite the Asari's admonishment, it was clear that she wasn't going to be more difficult about the 'reminder' she had been given already, causing the Salarian to lower their Omni-tool once more.
"Yet, personally attack skilled assassin with known techniques that would make infiltration of Council chambers undetected simple, and with other skills still hidden? Logic dictates such an enemy is best to avoid, ally would be preferred. Good to see you understand my point Councillor Tevos, Councillor Sparatus letting heart rule head again…" From the exasperation in Councillor Dezoro's tone, even if they had only been in the role a week, the Turian Councillor had been a pain in the ass the entire time.
"I am not happy with the situation, and we will be having words when this is done Councillor Dezoro. But, I have learnt that dismissing Operative Uzumaki lightly is a very dangerous idea, and I will admit I let my desire to get back for his earlier embarrassments get the better of me. I apologise to both of you." The apology was unexpected enough that Naruto let the surprise he felt appear on his face for a moment, though the Salarian waved it off dismissively.
"Words easy, actions much better tell of sincerity. Now, Operative Uzumaki. Elucidate on Galactic war you foresee. Possibility is very real, hint you gave very useful in highlighting reason, but your reasoning important for understanding." The female Salarian, though he couldn't be sure given how similar Salarian's looked to him, ignored the shocked look on Councillor Tevos' face as she gave him the chance to speak.
"Well, there are two possibilities as far as I can see, though the first is the only one I am sure of. Given the desire to effectively imprison Shepard-taichou without a trial on murder charges, despite the fact that the videos of the Batarians launching the ambush against her are already all over the extranet, it would be less than an hour before that got out to the masses." The fact that Naruto would have it spread over the Citadel in less than half that time went unsaid, the Salarian Councillor had already indicated she had been read in on his abilities.
"Given the concerns about anti-human sentiment amongst the Alliance raised during Saren-teme's trial, and the disparity between how you are treating the 'Hero of the Alliance' in comparison to the teme's treatment, there would be riots in the streets. Even if you did manage to suppress them without any deaths, which I doubt, the C-Sec investigation then becomes pointless." To Naruto's surprise, Councillor Dezoro was smiling at his words, while Councillor Tevos was frowning in a manner that made it clear she was trying to mentally refute them.
"You would either have to follow through with charging Shepard-taichou in a show trial that wouldn't be worth the scroll it is recorded on, or to drop the charges. The first would definitely cause the Alliance to break with the Council, if not launch Spec Ops operations to rescue her." Operations that he would be a part of, officially or otherwise.
"Even if we did rescue her without killing anyone, the Batarians would declare war on the Alliance for 'obstructing justice' or some other such bullshit. The Council races would then be drawn in or would have to admit the farce, fully destroying any chance of reconciling with the Alliance for centuries either way. Even if you dropped the charges, the Batarians would retaliate with their 'pirate' fleets attacking every small colony remotely near the Terminus, and the results would be pretty much the same."
It was the extreme scenario of course, cooler heads would probably have prevailed before Jane-chan even made it to the Presidium, but Naruto was done playing nice with these idiots. He had extended the olive branch during Saren's trial, and this conversation was the metaphorical equivalent of setting it alight after covering it in toad oil.
"You certainly have a flair for the dramatic, Operative Uzumaki, you can't think that the Alliance would break with the Council over a singl…" Councillor Tevos was cut off as Councillor Dezoro spoke up.
"Reputed Hero of largest invasion since Human First Contact, First Human Spectre and well publicised savior of at least two human settlements in recent months. That is just top three notable achievements from memory. As pivotal figures in destroying galactic balance go, far more influential than nearly anyone I could list. Commander Shepard is known to nearly every human in the Galaxy, unwise to underestimate importance as figurehead." Naruto had to give credit to the Salarian, as Tevos' face paled a little as the logical argument neatly demolished her own.
"You… have a point, though in my defence Sparatus vastly overstepped himself in his demands. Apologies Operative Uzumaki, the actual reason we wished for Commander Shepard to stay on the Citadel is to respect the procedures set out in the Council mandate regarding Spectres. We made a mistake, not enforcing them with Saren, and I am sure you can understand why we cannot skirt the rules again after that."
It seemed Tevos had changed her view on this matter, though given that was perhaps because she realised how dangerous her previous stance could have been, Naruto didn't feel like relaxing anytime soon.
"Point about anti-human sentiment clear, but not risk hinted at by Operative Uzumaki, at least not obviously." Naruto kept finding his respect for the new Councillor rising, as she caught onto the fact he had been less willing to point out, to the Council at least.
But just because she was currently aligning with him didn't mean she was an ally by any means, and competence was as dangerous in an enemy as it was helpful in a potential friend, something he would have to keep an eye on no doubt. Still, she had left the door open for him, and to not say something now would definitely impact any positive impression she had of him so far.
"The second risk is dependent on two things about the Batarian complaint, the first being whether it is an official complaint? And the second is whether the Councillor used the complaints words verbatim about the ambushers." Even as Naruto spoke, he could see the wheels turning in Councillor Tevos' head.
Despite the fact he saw her and the Turian Councillor as idiots for how they had dealt with Saren, and Jane-chan in general, he doubted you could become one of the Citadel Council by being a complete idiot. A moment later it seemed that she understood what he was implying as she rapidly tapped into her omni-tool for a few moments before shaking her head.
"It is an official complaint, which given that it had only been an hour or so since the attack when we received it means they must have known the attack was going to happen before it did." Given the amount of evidence, and paperwork that had been needed before Jane-chan and the Alliance could launch any action against Saren officially, Naruto wasn't surprised by this revelation.
"But Councillor Sparatus seems to have been taking liberties with his wording again, they state that the dead Batarians are 'innocent Hegemony citizens', nothing about them being agents." Councillor Dezoro chuckled a little morbidly before waving her hand dismissively again.
"Wording still dangerous, Hegemony cannot claim mere pirates or gangsters when murder attempt proved by C-Sec. Indeed, timing of complaint can only show prior knowledge of attempt by Hegemony leadership, at least some of them. Operative Uzumaki is almost certainly correct in his views, premeditated murder attempt on Council Spectre by Batarian Government. More than enough reason for military reprisal if brought to the public, which confining Commander to Citadel certainly would lead to."
"I am assuming, given your antagonistic avoidance of mentioning where Commander Shepard is, that you have a lead of where these attackers came from?" The tangential comment from Councillor Tevos caused Naruto to raise an eyebrow, the limit of showing his surprise that he would let slip through right now.
"And if we did?" Tevos and Dezoro shared a look for several seconds, before for the first time in the conversation they appeared to agree on something.
"If lead leads direct to Batarian space, pass lead onto us. Council must formally announce grievance before Spectres move into Hegemony in force to 'investigate'. Would request delayed departure, until we can organise other Spectres to join you, force in numbers after all." Tevos picked up where Dezoro finished, an uncharacteristically harsh expression on her face.
"Even if the lead is not towards Batarian controlled space, this attempt proves that the Hegemony think that they are untouchable for whatever reason they have concocted in their heads. I will have all of our intelligence gathering efforts focussed on the Batarian 'pirate' operations in the Terminus, and we will pass along ALL the information we already have to you. While we will initiate our own response diplomatically against the Batarians for their arrogance, crippling the Slaving operations in the Terminus will be a good start in convincing them of their error…"
Naruto relaxed his mask completely now, as it seemed that the Council had it's own issues with the Hegemony. While they didn't want a war to erupt, something that Naruto could support given the current situation with Saren and the Reapers, a line was very clearly being drawn now.
"Well in which case Councillors, you better get your spies to work, because if C-Sec's lead pans out we will be going outside of Citadel Space…" That was as much as Naruto was prepared to give regarding the lead, as he didn't know whether the Council were anywhere near as secure as they thought they were.
Given how easily someone like Kasumi had gotten onto the Normandy, Naruto guessed it was probably not much more difficult to infiltrate the private areas of the Council chambers.
"Very well, though full report after lead followed required Operative Uzumaki, then discussion over your relationship with this Council can be mediated in calmer setting. Your powers make you a unique asset, or a powerful enemy if left to fester. As former STG operative, prefer not to make enemies due to extenuating circumstances…" It wasn't a rebuke as such, but it was clear that Councillor Dezoro was judging him as being as part of the problem between him and the Council, rather than just the other Councillors.
"Of course Councillor, I look forward to working more with you in the future." The fact that Naruto actually meant what he said seemed to get across in his tone or his slight bow, as Councillor Tevos' shocked face was the last thing he saw before the connection was cut.
There was a moment of silence, as Naruto let the emotions the rather confrontational conversation had stirred up, before a voice spoke up with unconcealed amusement in it's tone.
"And here I thought your respect for authority figures had improved Naruto-kun, but perhaps that is just for Jane-san after all…" Given the chaos that was going on everywhere else on the ship, and the fact that Jane had commandeered the infirmary, Naruto had brought Ino through to the Commander's cabin for some peace and quiet.
As much as Ino tried to claim she was okay with the translator, Naruto could tell that she was struggling with adapting to their new circumstances, as much if not more than the difficulties she was having with her leg. Given the Council were pretty much the last people he wanted her introduced to, something she agreed with after explaining their connection to Saren and the Geth, she had stayed near the door and out of sight while they were talking.
"Not you as well Ino-chan, Sakura-chan's going to kill me if she hears stuff like that when we find her…" Naruto wasn't stupid enough to actually try and deny the accusation outright, if there was one person better at sniffing out lies than he was, it was the girl who had helped develop his natural ability with her clans' teachings.
"Forehead will get over it, in fact she…" Ino paused for a second, blushing slightly before shaking her head and speaking once more.
"Never mind, don't think I didn't notice the lack of denial there Naruto-kun. Does our little knucklehead like hot older women now?" Naruto could have tried to press, about whatever it was Ino wasn't telling him about Sakura-chan, but this was the closest to being 'back to normal' as he had seen her.
"N-No idea what you are talking about Ino-chan. Why, are you jealous that I won't be giving you all my attention…" He didn't exactly have to force the stutter at the start of his response, as he did have feelings for Jane-chan that he knew were beyond that of friendship.
But his ability to turn Ino's attempt to tease him back on her seemed to throw his fellow blonde off for several moments, a blush crossing her face as he mentally scored a point for himself on the metaphorical board that logged the two's teasing competition.
There was still several dozen more ticks on Ino's side, he noted with a mental sigh, before turning his attention back to Ino as she suddenly smirked. With a single push of her arms, Ino threw herself out of her wheelchair in his direction, Naruto's arms wrapping around her instinctively to steady her.
"I don't think you could handle even half of me Naruto-kun, and I wouldn't want to ruin our relationship by embarrassing you in bed. Though, if you want to, you are more than welcome to try..." As she sensually whispered the words into his ear, pulling his chest tightly to her own, Naruto groaned mentally even as he tried to remain composed.
Damn it, another point to her...
!"£$%^&*()_+
Normandy Command Deck, 12 hours after Batarian Ambush, 1 Hour after Dr Heart Op
Nirali Bhatia, Spectre Medical Assistant, Navy Corpsman
"If any of you have somehow managed to miss it, over the course of the last 48 hours on the Citadel, the Normandy has been infiltrated by Cerberus, and we have been attacked by two different groups of Spec Ops soldiers numbering in their dozens." Commander Shepard was at her most imposing, as she stood in front of the Normandy's gathered crew in her full combat armour, this speech being fed to the Ontario live so that Captain Seratha and her crew were involved as well.
When Naruto had told her husband that the Citadel, or even Alliance space, wasn't as safe as everyone believed, Nirali had thought he was only saying that to persuade the man to stop arguing with her. But when Commander Shepard laid out how dangerous the last couple of days had been, it became clear that Naruto had been somewhat optimistic about his outlook.
"From these attacks, and the other attempts on the lives of myself and my crew, we have yet to suffer a permanent casualty. However, this is mostly due to luck and poor planning by our adversaries, and I cannot continue to risk your lives on the chance that Saren keeps sending the same level of useless idiots after us." There were one or two chuckles at the reference to the quality of Saren's would be assassins, but these were mostly from the Spectre's strike team itself.
"The Citadel has proved that it isn't 'safe place for civilised people' that the Council likes to claim it is. And even this dock, which we are temporarily renting from the Alliance, isn't secure enough to prevent 'Alliance' personnel walking in whenever they like." There were a few confused looks around the Normandy's crew at that comment, though Nirali had happened to be 'in the know'.
That morning, despite everything that had happened with the infiltration of the Normandy and the Batarian attack, some Alliance Admiral had decided that it was the perfect time to perform a 'surprise inspection' of the Normandy. The man had demanded Commander Shepard's presence for the entire trip, forgetting or ignoring the fact that the Commander was no longer part of the official Alliance command structure.
The man, Mika...something or other, had been completely shocked therefore when Shepard appeared at the Normandy's airlock in full combat armour. She then proceeded, in a manner that could only be described politely as 'blunt', to tell the Admiral that appeasing his desire for 'a pompous parade to sooth his ego' was at the bottom of her list of priorities not just now but in general.
Though the man seemed to be more than a little annoyed at the disrespectful tone Commander Shepard had used, he surprisingly didn't lose his temper, though it seemed to be a close thing as he stalked away like a wounded predator looking for an easier target to hunt.
"So, thanks to patronage from an source that would prefer to remain unnamed." To her credit, Commander Shepard's eyes didn't even flicker in the direction of the most likely culprit, but that didn't stop the majority of the Normandy's crew from glancing over to the blonde haired man most likely the 'patron' in question.
"A pair of berths will be available for us at the shipyard owned by Shinobi Shipbuilding Co at a very reasonable rate. Though this is based on one of the lower wards rather than the Presidium, they have given us permission to modify the security of the berths to our specifications." That, that was beyond generous, and Nirali would be quizzing Naruto later on exactly how he could afford to be so blase with his finances.
While most most goods were relatively cheap on the Citadel, in comparison to border or Terminus colonies at least, what wasn't cheap was space. Every inch of space on the Citadel was owned by the Council, leased on two year or five year contracts, and something the size of a ship hangar would cost more than Nirali would probably ever earn.
"But first, we have some Batarians to hunt down." Commander Shepard's eyes almost turned into slits at this point, her mouth turning into a slight snarl.
"The bastards who survived attacking me aren't talking, and C-Sec will take too long to interrogate anything out of them as it is. Luckily, Agent Xeveena here managed to use the data supplied by C-Sec's mortician to prove that the majority of the assassins had been on the Citadel for less than two days, which narrowed down our search period for ships arriving and leaving significantly." Commander Shepard gestured and a small transport ship appeared in the Command view screen.
"This ship was found to have not paid its latest docking fees, and the dock manager remembered it being manned by Batarians, which she found unusual, given its original Relay point in the Exodus system. Facial scans confirm that two of the deceased are the ones who claimed ownership of the ship, though their records have already been proven fake." The Exodus system was definitely a surprising location for the ship to have come from, though if they wanted to try and hide any links the Hegemony, going through Alliance Space may have been a good idea.
"We thought this might be a dead end, until Agent Mari raised a terrifying idea of why the Batarians allowed the leaking of my Sister's location to happen this week. After all, if there is one thing that the Batarians could do to strike at humanity, more than assassinating the Hero of Elysium…" A planet appeared on the screen, and it took a few seconds for Nirali to work out what was being displayed, just in time for the impact event to draw several gasps from around the room.
"Then wiping out the largest non-Sol colony with an asteroid would certainly have an impact…"
A/N: I knew exactly where I wanted to get too with this chapter, the challenge was getting there while not just jumping to it. There was much needed character development, not just for Shepard's crew but the Council as well, a perfect sign that the Council's actions are not just being accepted by everyone.
Abbie as a Krogan? I know it was technically done in Andromeda, but I like to think I have put my own little twist on it. The redesign of the Normandy's cargo deck has also needed doing for a while, and I hope the description gives enough of an idea of what I am trying to go for.
One of the things that was brought up was people wanted Shepard/ Naruto to get a base, probably using one of the various bandit bases you end up attacking in the numerous side quests. It may end up happening at some point, but it is more likely to be a Space station, and financing one of them as a hideout would be expensive. I can justify to myself Naruto being able to buy the leases of the shipyards given that this Normandy crew are taking everything left after fights, including what is screwed down, but space station defences would make that seem like pocket money.
Between that, and the equipment Naruto is getting from the mercs trying to take down Skull, there is enough money that never officially appears in Shepard's accounts for him to put 10-20 million down on a three or four dock shipyard. It pretty much clears out the 'hidden' kitty the team was building up, as well as the money he has been earning as Skull, but if he can crew the shipyards with some willing Quarians and help with the heavy lifting then it will be worth it in the long term.
So, we our first mass effect DLC. Matching this up with the assassination attempt not only makes for a lot of action in the next couple of chapters, but the ramifications could be quite interesting to see as well.
Let me know what you think guys!