Urdar Clanship, Deck 4, 1:30 pm 3rd May 2184
Naruto Uzumaki, 'Alliance Lieutenant' and Spectre's Soldier
"Well, if we didn't know where the bridge was before…" Naruto chuckled to himself slightly as Shiala sent an unimpressed look his way, some people just didn't appreciate humour under heavy machine gun fire it seemed.
They had taken the first two decks with relative ease, his shadow clones moving like Shades of the Shinigami to deal with the off duty Batarian raiders and crew members, knocking out non-combatants and leaving them under the guard of his clones.
Whilst he had every intention of keeping some of the actual Batarian raiders alive, Jane-chan needed witnesses and evidence to use against the other Batarians after all, deck 5 had included the 'leisure area' for the raiders.
The things that had been happening there… suddenly Naruto had been a lot more understanding of Shepard's view about 'the bug-eyed slaver bastards'. Needless to say, there had been more blood spilled than was strictly necessary.
"Another squad trying to flank us. The black armoured ones seem to be holding back for now." Shiala punctuated her statement with a steady burst of assault rifle fire, catching at least one Batarian moving between cover, her biotic ammunition tearing through armour and flesh with ease.
After Naruto and his clones… cleansed the fifth deck, it was clear that the Batarian crew were now aware of their ship invasion.
Every corridor was now littered with improvised bulwarks and traps, and many of the rooms were either fortified or booby trapped, in some cases both.
"Well, if they're focusing on us, they aren't going after the others anymore." Naruto punctuated his comment by charging out from the cover they had taken as a temporary bastion, shields flickering under the fire of the few Batarians able to keep up with him.
But whereas the earlier lightning strike style assaults had shattered whatever group was obstructing them, the group of Batarians he was charging towards didn't panic, turning as an almost coordinated group towards the charging human and unleashing a wall of...flames?
"SHIT!" It was only a quick substitution, from the clone he had been keeping back deliberately for this kind of issue, that stopped Naruto from finding out what being BBQ felt like.
"That, that wasn't much fun." It was a sign that the Batarians were getting organised and catching onto his lightning style assaults, something Naruto had been hoping they were either too stupid or off-guard to manage.
"Lieutenant. Less than 30 minutes before the planned event. We need that ship offline otherwise the colony will be devastated!" The live communication from the Normandy was a better indicator of the seriousness of the situation than its content.
Such a communication meant that the Normandy had effectively 'pinged' itself to the various Batarian ships, and whilst Joker was no doubt moving the ship away or perhaps leaving a comms buoy to mislead the Batarians, it wouldn't work for long.
The 'event' that Joker was talking about was the arrival of the 3rd fleet into the Exodus Cluster, something that would no doubt be picked up by the Batarian scout ships in short order, but they hoped the Batarians would assume they were referring to the Asteroid.
Still, that wasn't something Naruto really had time to think about right now, as their cover received another battering of grenade explosions and munitions fire. He had his time table, and it looked like he would need to bring out some of his 'bigger guns' to make sure he was on time.
"Try not to get your arm blown off brat. Or do, I suppose that could make this more interesting…" The 'helpful comments' from Kyuubi showed that the giant fox had finished sleeping for the moment, though it did seem to spend most of its time doing that these days.
Turning to Shiala, he did his best to signal that she should hunker down defensively, as she had been 'captured' and didn't have her headgear to allow for easy comms communication. He wasn't sure how successful he was, but the wave of flames rolling over their rapidly deteriorating cover meant he needed to act now.
Channelling chakra into his arm, Naruto stood as the flames stopped for a moment, his armour barely holding under the weight of fire in his direction before he unleashed his strike. He barely had time to see the nearest Batarian's eyes widen in shock, before his attack slammed into the closing flamethrower wielding soldiers, and everything went white.
The shockwave that slammed him backwards told him that clearly something had gone wrong, or very, very right depending on how you looked at it. The sudden pull on his body in the direction of the attack told him it was probably the former. Chakra enhanced hands dug into the steelwork of the floor beneath him as his vision began to clear, keeping him in place as he saw the results of his 'small' attack.
About 20 metres from where they had been hunkered down, the corridor was pretty much demolished, great rends in the floor, walls and roof, sputtering flames and sticky liquid covering most of those surfaces. Judging by the pull that was coming from that direction, Naruto had to assume that at least one of these rends had caused damage to the external structure of the ship, and that he was currently at risk of being… what was the word Shepard had used?
As he saw Shiala grabbing frantically at the wall of the barricade, Naruto realised that the ringing in his ears wasn't from the explosion any longer, rather a ship alarm along with a deep Batarian voice shouting something in the Batarian language that his suit translator wasn't currently translating.
He could see a pair of heavy blast doors closing slowly ahead of them, past the area currently venting atmosphere, and he assumed there was a similar process happening along the two other routes that lead from their current position. He wouldn't waste time looking, as he could see several Batarians doing their best to reach the doors, in a manner that he could only describe as desperate.
It was time for a 'seat of his pants' type plan, something that Naruto knew annoyed the strategists amongst his friends. Given he still needed to make it to the bridge to disable the Harbinger, Naruto turned his grip into the deck floor from a clinging point to a push-off point, getting his legs underneath his body as he twisted to face the direction he wanted to go.
Shiala had about half a second's warning as he pushed off from the floor, wall running towards her at the greatest speed he could manage. Leaping off and using the pull of the tear to his advantage, Naruto arced past her position and grabbed her flailing arm, dragging her with him as he created several clones.
These clones worked together to form a series of steps for him to push off of as he bulled through the destroyed section, shifting Shiala behind him as one of the black armoured Batarians noticed their approach and raised his shotgun. A Warp, that slammed into the Batarian before he could fire, reminded him that his passenger was far from helpless, and the attack bought them the time he needed to get through the blast doors.
Creating almost a hundred clones to deal with the remaining Batarians in this section of the ship, as the time for subtlety had most definitely passed now, Naruto turned his attention to the White Armoured Batarian lying on the floor nearby. His first assumption, that he had been the captain of the ship given the bodyguards and white armour, was proven wrong as the two remaining black armoured Batarians were withdrawing from his clone onslaught, rather than attacking in an attempt to retrieve him.
The Batarian was still groggy, but as her helmet began to move she seemed to realise who was stood in front of her, and the panic in her body language was clear and easy for Naruto to see.
"Now, Batarian-san… I have some questions for you, and you better hope that I like your answers…" Given he was still wearing his skull epitaph mask, and had just blown apart what seemed to be a good portion of the ship's most competent security team with a single attack, Naruto was feeling fairly confident of his chances in making the Batarian talk quickly…
!"£$%^&*()_+
Asteroid X57, 1:23pm 3rd May 2184
Jane Shepard, Council Spectre and Hero of Elysium
"You humans." As she strode into the centre of the atrium style room that served as the buildings main open space, Jane wasn't surprised to find a tall black armoured Batarian stood at the top of the stairs in front of her, flanked on either side by particularly monstrous looking Varren while almost two dozen Batarian soldiers moved into cover on either side of him.
Such numbers would normally worry Jane a little, but the sounds of movement behind her told her Xeveena and Garrus were moving into position, along with almost 30 Galcvar clan members who were still capable of fighting.
"You are almost as much trouble as the impertinent slaves that seem to think you will 'save' them from their rightful place in the Galaxy…" The Batarian, Balak if the name given by one of the surviving Galcvar members had given her was correct, was so angry that his arms were shaking slightly as his hands curled into fists.
"Well, you know how the human saying goes, all attempted genocide and no play makes you look like a dick on a stick." Jane wasn't in the best of moods herself, there had been almost 200 Batarians to fight to get to this point, and the cramped rooms and corridors played into the defenders' hands more than her own.
There had even been one of the Batarians who had been arrogant enough to assume he could negotiate their escape with her, by claiming he had nothing to do with the plan of dropping the asteroid onto Terra Nova, merely thinking the plan had been a Slaving raid. As if that made things any better, something she made very clear by beating him into unconsciousness with the arm she had biotically blown off.
She had enjoyed beating the bastard into the ground a little too much… Perhaps Wrex was starting to rub off on her... Still, the bastard would live… maybe.
Still, she wanted evidence that the Hegemony Government itself was behind this attack, so she tried to actually do things by the book for a change…
"Release your hostages, surrender yourself and your men now, and I might let the Council do the questioning rather than doing it myself." A small snarling noise erupted from one of the Batarians in cover near Balak, who merely spat on the floor in obvious disdain.
"I do not answer to the Council, or their murderous dogs… Still, I wanted to see the Butcher of the Clans for myself. You're smaller than I expected given the horror stories. Maybe the stories are merely about your horrific features instead..." A click in her ear, a signal from Xeveena that she had her sniper rifle set up and ready to fire, made Shepard shook her head as she took a step forward and drew the Batarian combat blade she was more than slightly infamous for.
"Why don't you come down and size up against me personally then, rather than hiding behind hostages like the craven you are, Du'kashat (Batarian equivalent of bottom feeder). Then again, I suppose the Hegemony have always hidden behind words when it's actions have risked reprisals of a dangerous nature." Unfortunately, her attempt to anger Balak into revealing whether or not he was working directly for the Hegemony didn't seem to have worked, as Balak merely snarled for a moment before shaking his head and continuing.
"And you humans always assume that you are righteous in your actions, such as your 'defence' of the Skyllian Verge, when we were already colonising it before your kind even had Mass Effect technology! The slaughter you carried out there, in the name of 'self-defence', makes even the Alliance's actions on Torfan pale in comparison!" There were several barked agreements from Balak's Batarians, the tension in the room causing his Varren to claw at the ground restlessly and snap their jaws in obvious hunger.
Jane knew that the point about the Skyllian Verge being settled was not entirely incorrect, it was something that some in the Alliance Military likened to the settling of the America's by the European Powers almost 700 years beforehand. But there hadn't been any raids or any aggressive attacks by the Alliance as they colonised the Verge, despite the almost constant raiding and slave taking attempts by Batarian 'pirates', not until the Skyllian Blitz at least.
Balak slammed his hand into the atrium's polished granite stair handrail, causing the surface to crack and splinter, before continuing his furious monologue.
"And did the Council help us against the vermin infesting our space and stealing resources that should have been ours? No, they left us to defeat and humiliation, all because they thought fighting the humans would be more trouble than it was worth." Or, more likely, The Council had its own grievances with the Hegemony.
It wouldn't be the first time the Council used a proxy to deal with a problem of theirs rather than actually come up with a solution themselves. But in this case, Shepard thought they hadn't gone far enough.
"Perhaps they felt that the Batarians had overstepped their bounds, or maybe they just remembered Mannovai. Actually, it was probably Esan, as there were almost 100,000 Asari on that world before you 'brought it peacefully into the Hegemony'. Strange that none of them were ever heard from again…" Normally, Jane wouldn't be trying so hard to push her enemies to continue monologuing, but Tali was currently using a remote hack into Kate Bowman's Omni-tool to try and diffuse the bomb that had been placed with the hostages.
Thankfully, Jane had convinced the young Engineer to stop trying to contact them after her second attempt to 'help'. As useful as the information about the Batarian numbers had been, there had been too big a risk of her being caught and killed by the Batarians.
"Enough!" It seemed that she had finally touched a nerve through the already shaky control Balak had on his emotions, the Batarian thrusting a hand up and out dismissively, a motion that had guns on both sides being readied.
"As much as I would like to deal with you, and the vermin who you associate with, I have other things to do." Such as running away like a coward with his tail between his legs, Jane thought bitterly, as Balak showed he had a dead man's switch in his other hand.
"So, either you stand down and let us leave, or I blow up the hostages and the clanship will unleash death and fire on your filthy colony. Leaving their deaths on your conscience, if you still have one of course…" There was half a second of indecision, where Shepard mentally analysed the distance between them, a Biotic charge could cover that distance if she got the jump on him.
But, the chances of her grabbing the switch before he released the button weren't exactly great, and even that wouldn't stop the Clanship if Naruto's team hadn't managed to disable it yet. And the Batarian attack so far had been bad enough, an orbital bombardment would almost certainly devastate the colony for decades to come.
"You do realise that there will be no shithole dark enough and deep enough to stop me finding you?" As she signalled her forces to stand aside, though none of them lowered their weapons beyond half-cocked the entire time, Shepard uttered a promise she had every intention of keeping.
"That, Commander Shepard, is something I am counting on…" Balak's face was understandably smug, as he moved down the steps and walked past her, his Varren following behind before his troops ran after him.
It was only after they had all left the room, with Tali announcing apologetically a minute later that she had isolated the bombs from any external signals to detonate, that Shepard allowed herself to smile.
"Normandy, make sure you keep track of any signal that leaves the surface before I do, that's the bug we want to follow." It was one of the reasons it had taken Shepard as long as she had to get to the main room, all of the Batarian ships that had been docked with the Asteroid's base had been given 'gifts' of tracking beacons and navigational bug programs.
"Spectre, not that we wish to question your plan, but letting Balak escape..." This had come from the female Batarian who she had initially pitched the revolt to, who had proved more than a decent combatant once the restrictions on her armour and shields had been removed.
"We focus on saving people first Jv'kari. Besides, there is an old saying on Earth. Grudges are for those who feel they are owed something." Gesturing towards the door Balak had left through just before, Shepard used the same dismissive gesture he had used at her.
"And I don't want to deal with the idea of that bastard owing me anything…"
!"£$%^&*()_+
Svyatyagor 'Blood and Contempt', Command Deck, 2:04 pm 3rd May 2184
Jagard Urdar'ken, Urdar Clan Leader
"What do you mean we cannot use the weapons systems!" Jagard was well beyond the end of his admittedly short tether of patience now, the still smoking corpse of the Security team member next to his command chair a clear reminder of this point for the rest of the Batarians in view.
The fool had come back to report they were rapidly losing ground to a 'human onslaught', obviously thinking that his cowardice in running from the enemy rather than stamping them into the ground would go unnoticed. But given the continued loss of communications to both the Security Chief and his Clan Guard, Jagard was now starting to think that he had perhaps been a little hasty in killing the craven straight away.
Perhaps he should have focussed on getting more information about this 'onslaught' first.
"Someone has hacked into our systems, it's all we can do to keep them from breaching our Shield systems. If the security teams can't drive them back soon…" At Blvardak's almost panicked response, Jagard wanted to scream in frustration, both at the incompetence of his people and at that bastard Balak.
This was meant to be an easy mission, a chance for easy glory and credits that would have seen his clan rise through the ranks in the Hegemony. Now his clanship was being overrun, his raiders were getting mauled by a fish and a ragtag group of rebellious sheep, and now Balak wasn't answering his comms.
Jagard suddenly stilled in place, his mind working in overdrive as he thought back to the way the mission had been presented by Balak and his Overseer master.
With dawning horror and the cold feeling of betrayal in his stomach, Jagard realised that the mission had been sold to him too generously. Balak only demanded 10% of the overall profits that would have been made from the slaves, a figure low enough that Jagard hadn't even tried to haggle, and the Batarian Black Ops Commander hadn't mentioned any of the salvage or other items Jagard had been 'reclaiming' from Terra Nova.
"It's a trap… A trap by those Overseer bastards!" Obviously one of the other, more powerful clans had felt threatened by his clan's rise through the ranks, and had used some kind of leverage to get the Overseers to send him on this mission.
It obviously wasn't all going to plan, given the arrested descent of the asteroid that had occurred in the last 10 units, but if Balak had managed to get himself killed on this seeming suicide mission then the Ruduki deserved nothing less.
The Alliance had been warned of their arrival, there was no other explanation for the assault teams on the ground and on his ship. The reports of an Alliance ship landing on the surface of the planet, despite none of his ships being able to get a reading of any ships in or off the planet, meant that the rumours of a new secret Alliance ship were almost definitely true.
And that meant…
"Contact the scout Frigates, they are to activate active scanning now!" Even as Blvardok stilled for a moment in obvious confusion at his unelaborated order, Jagard was activating his Captain's terminal, doing his best to work out what forces he still had available to him.
The truth… wasn't something that made him feel confident. They still had the clan's 8 frigates, the serf clans 4 frigates who were currently acting as scouts, and the majority of their attached crews, as well as about half of the raider forces who were still on the ground in the city. But that was less than a third of the manpower that Jagard had brought to this fight, and with the way the crew transponders were disappearing off his tactical map at a rapid rate, he would lose the clan ship in less than 10 units.
"They are reporting nothing Clan...wait, multiple inbound vessels!" That was the last war blade in the back for Jagard, and a sign that he needed to act now if he wanted to avoid the clan's complete destruction.
"Recall all Raiders, tell them to withdraw to the Clan Frigates instead of here, all Clan Frigates are to prepare to withdraw in 5 units, whether or not their crews are all back. The Scouts are to withdraw at full speed and head on a solar slingshot trajectory, we will disperse into the far reaches of the sector and then lightning strike through the relay. Standard Dark Run Protocols." It wouldn't matter for the serf Clan Frigates, they wouldn't be able to outrun the approaching Alliance frigate 'wolf packs', but at least if they tried to run, they would end up being destroyed rather than surrendering.
His clan would already be the scapegoat of this debacle, he needed to avoid giving the Alliance any more evidence to hunt down each and every one of them.
Even as the different members of the crew tried to carry out his order, whilst also trying to ask what they were going to do about those boarding the Clanship, Jagard activated a program only accessible through the captain's console and with his biometric identification. The male baritone of his own voice recording blared out on the speaker system in the room.
"Warning, Ship Self-destruct sequence initiated. Ship destruction in 3 units." It was about 7 of the human's blasted 'minutes', more than enough time for Jagard and the bridge crew to use the escape pods based on this deck.
Given he had fired all the escape pods from the lower levels in the same activation, the bastards trying to take his ship were going to be in for one hell of a surprise.
Even as he stood from his chair though, with every intention of being the first in the escape pods, Jagard couldn't shake the feeling he was being watched by someone. But looking around for a moment, he was sure the crew were all too busy carrying out their last instructions to waste time looking at him.
Given the multitude of emotions that were currently swirling in his chest, most of which fuelling his anger, Jagard brushed off the feeling as simple frustration and the desire to lash out at someone. And he had enough targets for his ire when he got out of this mess, starting with that bastard Balak.
"Sir, Frigate Kl'shalek (Young Blooded or Virile) is not responding to our hails at all, and has been moving to the edge of sensor range for several units." Jagard didn't even try and hold in the stream of filth and fury that erupted from his mouth, expletives following curses as he stormed towards the nearest escape pod.
That ship had been the one he 'loaned' to carry Balak's 'terrorist' forces, so obviously the gutless worm had already been running by the time the message had come through to target the colony with the Clan Ship's weapons.
Reaching the escape pod, already mostly filled with the various officers and crew assigned to weapons control or piloting the ship, Jagard activated the escape pod's door system. There were still two or three empty seats, but with the majority of the security elsewhere it wasn't as if there would be a lack of seats on the other pods.
Barely 30 seconds later, the rest of the bridge crew had made it to the escape pods, and to Jagard's surprise the launch sequence began immediately. It shouldn't have been possible without his omni-tool's authorisation, to prevent cowardice or mutiny in the face of battle.
The only other place it could be activated from was…
Ripping himself out of his seat, Jagard reached the small viewport from the escape pod into the ship. Just as the escape pods activated and he was thrown bodily against the hatch, Jagard caught sight of a hooded human sat in his captain's chair, the woman throwing him a casual wave even as they raced off into the depths of space.
The Escape pods were locked onto the nearest frigate, and even as he was able to drag himself to a chair, all Jagard could do was use his Omni-tool to begin a system wide data-wipe of the Clan ship.
How much good it would do, with an infiltrator already on his bridge, Jagard didn't know. But his focus was now on surviving the next few days…
Then he could start plotting how his Clan would come back from this, and who exactly was going to pay for this betrayal...
!"£$%^&*()_+
Command Deck, SSV Logan, 10:15 pm 3rd May 2184
James Anderson, Human Alliance Captain
Bleary eyes looking at a watch, that feels both too tight and too loose at the same time, Anderson internally regrets not taking up Admiral Singh's offer of a bunk when he arrived in orbit over Terra Nova.
He had been up for almost 36 hours at this point. Between co-ordinating the Alliance 3rd and 5th fleet response to the possible attack on Terra Nova and then commandeering the SSV Serengeti when they received confirmation from the Ontario that the Normandy had gone dark for at least 6 hours, all but confirming the attack was taking place.
The Serengeti had been docked with the Citadel as part of Vice Admiral Mikhailovich's attempt to inspect and report on the Normandy. And given the scuttle-butt about what had occurred between Mikhailovich and Shepard, Anderson had taken more than a little bit of personal enjoyment at presenting Udina's signed instructions to head to Terra Nova with all speed, leaving the man with less than half his crew when they undocked.
"Communications with the captured Batarian ship established Admiral, Normandy and the Citadel are also connected." The clear, concise report brought Anderson's flagging attention back to where he was now, aboard the command deck of the SSV Logan standing with Admirals Singh and Mikhailovich by the Communications terminal.
"Thank you Tucker, patch them through please." Befitting a Dreadnaught, the Communications terminal of the SSV Logan was far larger and more complex than even the one on board a prototype Frigate like the Normandy.
It could communicate over much greater distances easily, and more importantly, it could serve as a hub to allow multiple calls to be connected directly to each other.
Standing in the middle of the circular apparatus, which would transmit his image to the receiving stations, Anderson knew that Admiral Singh would not cast a particularly commanding image to those receiving their broadcast. At 5"4 and with a wiry build, the Admiral often had to be mounted on a podium when making speeches in public to ensure he could be easily seen.
But his underwhelming physique was merely something Singh used to his advantage more often than not, and the enemies of the Alliance had learnt their mistake far too late far too often.
"This is Admiral Nirjhar Singh, of the Human Alliance 3rd fleet, in command of the SSV Logan. I have Vice Admiral Mikhailovich of the 63rd Scout Flotilla and Captain Anderson with me. I hear you and your team are responsible for preventing these Batarian Bastards from destroying Terra Nova Commander Shepard, job well done all round." There was an angry hiss over the communications for a moment, before the familiar figure of the Commander appeared.
"I wouldn't throw insults around about all Batarians so quickly Admiral, though it is good to hear from you again Nirj." Anderson's eyebrow quirked slightly as Shepard of all people told someone off for insulting Batarians, especially given the last few days, but then the Commander moved to the side and a Batarian appeared in the picture.
Given the rarity of Batarian women amongst the higher ranked members of the Batarian Hegemony, it was only the 3rd time that Anderson had encountered one face to face. Compared to the curved ridges of male Batarians, the smooth ridges of cartilage sharper and more defined on a thinner face, almost enclosing the Batarian's four eyes in a protective bone shield.
It was a shock to the others as well, though Singh hid his reaction relatively well, as Commander Shepard continued speaking.
"This is Jv'kari Glavcar, former slave caste of the Urdar clan and interim Clan Head until they have a decision from us as to how they can proceed. We have just under 300 of her clan currently aboard the former Urdar clanship, given the animosity that will no doubt be rife amongst the survivors it was the only place we could take them. I gave them the choice of entering Alliance custody until the situation calmed itself, but they preferred another option offered to them…"
"And what option would that be, Spectre Shepard? Given the fact that this is the second attack on Alliance Personnel by suspected Hegemony forces in less than 2 cycles, I am surprised you are giving them a choice at all." There wasn't obvious hostility in the question from the Turian Councillor for once, and Anderson could only assume that the severity of the situation had forced the Turian to evaluate his actions.
"Is this thing working… I hear Jane-taichou and some rōjin I don't recognise, but I can't see any of you. Kasumi-chan, can you? Thanks…" As the fourth image appeared in a burst of static, answering the question of the Turian Councillor indirectly at the same time, Anderson couldn't help but chuckle at the figure that appeared.
Lounged on what could only be the captain's chair of the Batarian capital ship, though it honestly looked more like a throne than anything else, was Naruto Uzumaki. Judging by the sigh that could be heard from the Council's connection, it wasn't just him that could already tell how much more interesting this call was going to get.
"Ah, Jane-taichou! Apologies, the Batarians did a number on the ship's systems when they were abandoning it, and I'm only one man despite the help of my new crew…" The joke got chuckles from pretty much everyone who was in the know, whilst Singh gave a bemused look.
"Apologies, as I quite clearly have missed something. I assume you are a member of Shepard's team given the differential term that you use in addressing her, even if your tone does not match it." Whilst from most it would be seen as a rebuke, Anderson knew better.
Singh was an operative first and foremost, the whole Admiral business something that the man sometimes claimed happened by accident. As such, he was far more relaxed in terms of rank and address than most in the Alliance Hierarchy.
"Ah, sorry Jiji, thought Anderson-san would have filled you in. I am not officially a member of Jane-taichou's team… Think of me more as a private citizen who happens to be accompanying them and decided to help fight these… pirates." That… That was suspicious, to the point that the hairs on the back of Anderson's neck were half raised by the time Uzumaki gave his usual disarming smile, the suspicion only getting greater when Shepard didn't disagree with him.
"Pirates? These were no mere pirates' boy! We have more than a dozen recorded ship signals fleeing the planet when the 3rd Fleet arrived, and that is ignoring the monstrosity you are currently lounging around on…" There was a bark of laughter borne from relief, from the Council line of all places, as Mikhailovich took a step into the middle of the room.
"Now watch and see how it looks from outside Sparatus…" The words, obviously intended to be quieter than they actually were, made everyone pause for a moment. Then there were chuckles from everyone who had seen the interactions between the Council and Naruto at different points.
"Actually, the Normandy recorded fourteen Frigates and a Cruiser in addition to this ship, though one of them had almost left the system by the time the Batarians started to flee. In addition to the two the 3rd Fleet managed to destroy, the Normandy was the one who disabled the other 3… Interesting how having a ship with a stealth drive proved so useful." Anderson didn't even try to hide the proud smile on his face as his protege threw the Vice Admiral's view on the Normandy back in his face.
"And you think that is something to boast about? It is no doubt because of your ship and your actions that the Batarians knew of our approach!"
"So, for future reference, it is your preference in case of an enemy attack on one of our colonies, for us to do nothing and let the colony be destroyed? Or do you mean we let thousands of citizens get abducted and taken into slavery so that the Alliance can have it's 'heroic' space battles?" Shepard had obviously been learning from Uzumaki, the non-confrontational tone and body language somehow emphasising the absurdity of the position Mikhailovich was taking.
Before Mikhailovich could hope to respond, Uzumaki cut into the argument like a snake in the grass.
"And where is your proof that this isn't pirates Vice Admiral-san?" Whilst the ninja was still lounging in what was obviously meant to be a relaxed manner, his tone had lost most of its cheeriness as his eyes fixed on Mikhailovich.
"Contrary to what you obviously believe, Batarians aren't stupid… Well, that stupid, sorry Kari-san." Uzumaki raised a hand in apology towards the Batarian with Shepard before continuing, though Anderson noted that the Batarian didn't look all that offended.
"Anything that could have been considered incriminating evidence on the ship was wiped before they even arrived in system, and the captain then initiated a data purge on the rest when he left. With the choice between preventing the ship's self-destruct mechanism, or saving the data, there wasn't much of a choice." Uzumaki paused at this point, his gaze daring someone to try and imply they had done the wrong thing.
"From what we can gather from the captured Batarians and the remaining data, this is just a relatively minor clan, who were at best ambitious if not just plain greedy. Even with proof that Balak-teme was here, all the Batarian government have to do is disown his actions and claim he acted on his own, somehow absolving them of any damage or guilt caused by their agent. There is a recent precedent for such things after all."
There was an awkward cough from Shepard at this point, obviously Uzumaki had overstepped some line that had been agreed before this call, but he had an unfortunate point that no-one could really contradict.
"What Naruto is trying to say Vice-Admiral, is that this is no different than the attack on Elysium. We know they did it, but there is no direct link to any of the governmental bodies in the Hegemony. They've been doing this since before we had space flight, to keep getting away with it they need to be somewhat competent at covering their tracks." Shepard was clearly unhappy about this outcome, which given her past was hardly surprising, but he doubted even Mikhailovich would try and call out The Hero of Elysium over Elysium.
"Well, that's all well and good Shepard, but the Alliance will be launching a full investigation into this, we have the resources that your team do not, so when we take those ships, we might find something incriminating." Anderson did his best not to let his tired body bristle at the sound of Udina's voice over the communication net.
Why had the man sent him all the way here if he was going to be piggybacking onto the Council's call? Still, the Ambassador was missing the obvious point the two confidants were trying to make, something even Anderson's exhausted brain had clocked onto.
"Surely Ambassador, a Council led investigation, both into the attack of one of its Spectres and the following attack on your colonies by a rogue clan would be better? We would have to send Spectres into Batarian Space to ensure that there was no evidence of Hegemony involvement, whilst the Alliance double or even triple their anti-pirating forces around their colonies. Then, even if the Batarians claim there is bias, they cannot do anything but provide us full access, or risk war." The Asari Councillor, whose name escaped Anderson's tired mind right now, seemed to have clocked onto what the Spectre and her 'companion' had concocted in their own heads.
Still, it was probably best he intercedes and point out the other advantages, before Udina became his usual bitter self and thought he was being attacked rather than just told he was incorrect.
"And of course, if this is the act of a rogue clan, or pirates, then the Hegemony have to disavow all claims to the people and equipment involved in both attacks, making a mockery of their previous protest about the attack on Commander Shepard and reducing the risk of reprisals against the former Slave Caste members. And when we begin a systematic cull of every pirate lair in the Terminus, in response to this unprovoked and unsupported attack, they can do nothing about it."
And the bastards would still probably think they had gotten away almost scot free, meaning that there wouldn't be a massive uptick in 'unrelated' pirate attacks that 'happened' to originate from Hegemony Space.
"We have 7 Spectres on their way to Hegemony Space, we originally planned on sending only 3 to begin with, but all of them volunteered. I think the Hegemony is going to find out exactly how bad an idea attempting to assassinate a Spectre is." And the amount of havoc one Spectre could cause was something that Shepard had been making clear over the last few months.
What a team of co-ordinated, and from the sound of it vengefully enthusiastic, Spectres could do was something Anderson didn't particularly want to imagine. Well, maybe as the Batarians were the targets, he did.
"Good to hear, though I wouldn't mind going to do some investigating myself. I think the work I was doing on the Citadel speaks for itself." It wasn't just Anderson that winced at the reminder of the paperwork debacle, that had arisen due to Uzumaki's 'spring cleaning'. It was true that crime was down almost 20% compared to the previous galactic year, but the mess left behind had been daunting to say the least.
"But, as we still have Saren-teme to hunt down, I will resist my urges for the time being." There was a collective sigh of relief from everyone bar the two Alliance personnel that hadn't dealt with Naruto, giving Shepard the chance to move the conversation forward.
"As any involvement from my team in the investigation will have the Batarians screaming from their pulpit, we will hand over the captured frigates and Urdar Clan members that we have captured over to the Council's investigators as soon as we can. My repair teams are already working to make the disabled ships functional enough for a trip through the Mass Effect Relay." The elephant in the room, or at least, the blonde sat on top of this particular elephant made itself known with a dismissive snort as he finally stood up.
"But if you want to access my ship's data banks, your investigators will need to book a time slot in advance. I am a busy man after all." Naruto's sudden comment made it clear why he had announced himself as a private citizen earlier in the report, and why he and Shepard had focused on calling the Batarians pirates.
In response to the Batarian pirating attacks, prior to the attack on Elysium and the Purging of Torfan, the Alliance had authorised Privateering for the first time in almost 3 centuries. Whilst most private citizens didn't have access to the materials or manpower to be able to contribute, there had been several prominent figures and private security companies who had been more than happy to take the commissions offered on Batarian pirate ships captured.
The fact they got to keep the ships as well was, of course, the real motivation behind the 'patriotism' many of these new Privateers showed. And, as far as Anderson was aware, the Anti-Pirating Prize Law was never revoked, given the continued if reduced threat of pirates in the lawless areas of the Galaxy.
"You are invoking the Prize Law? I suppose as this is Alliance Space it does apply, though I don't think the Commission ever covered ships of this size…" There was quiet for a moment, as everyone digested this rather shrewd political move from Shepard and her team, before the Sparatus spoke up, his voice approving for once.
"I have read of this law, there are several members of the Turian military that are petitioning for a similar law to be enacted. But surely you… Ah, I see where this is going. I am sure if we look at the records, you are waiting for the data transfer in order to officially induct people into your service as a Spectre?" Naruto's face gave the slightest of twitches as Sparatus managed to see the trap he was about to drop face first into, a sign that the ninja was disappointed no doubt.
To his credit, the Turian Councillor was a lot more collected than he had been in all the previous interactions Anderson had seen with this pair. At Shepard's somewhat curt nod, Sparatus looked at his fellow Councillor's for a moment before sighing and speaking once more.
"You will have what files we can salvage by the end of the day. We will also send you all the standard Spectre Documentation and Training files, which honestly, we should have done separately. The reason we didn't transfer anything before was because when Saren was outed, he released several highly advanced cyber parasites into the Council's systems, focused primarily on his record and mission history." Sparatus' face was quite pained at this ground-breaking revelation, though given the Turian's dogged defence of Saren, both publicly and privately, the betrayal must have been quite personal.
"Even after our Cyber teams managed to isolate and purge these attacks, there were dozens more hidden in his remaining files, which aggressively attacked other systems and risked compromising Citadel Security altogether. Our cyber-security forces have been working round the clock to try and mitigate the damage to other Spectre's information systems, as everything related to Saren has been quarantined until we can be sure there is nothing else lurking in the shadows." And they couldn't just admit this because… Oh right, politics.
No wonder Sparatus had been so aggressive on the matter.
"And you only tell us this now? Do you realise how much time and energy was waste…" Udina's connection to the call suddenly dropped, and Admiral Singh didn't look the slightest bit guilty as his hand moved back from his control panel.
"Apologies Councillors, we seem to be having some communications difficulties. I am sure we can fill Ambassador Udina in on the details of the rest of the discussion separately. Now, Commander, I am sure your team wishes to rest after such a difficult mission. But if you can fill us in on the situation on the ground, as well as the broad details of the opposition faced, then my forces can take over the grunt work."
Shepard smiled as she nodded in agreement, and now that Anderson was paying attention, the woman looked about as tired as he felt, the signs of combat clear on her armour in the form of dirt, scuff marks and blood.
"Thank you, Admiral. I am just connecting you to my most experienced operative on the ground, he has been coordinating the response in Scott (A/N: Terra Nova's Capital City) and has more accurate numbers than I do." The space occupied by Ambassador Udina less than a minute ago was soon filled with the bulky figure of Shepard's Krogan, armour pitted with bullet scoring, blood still dripping from his mouth.
And to Anderson's slight surprise, he felt that such a switch wasn't a bad thing.
"We're going to need every doc, nurse or engineer that you have on your ships, and we need them yesterday." Someone said something from off screen that Anderson didn't catch, but it seemed to be a criticism as Wrex growled and tossed his head for a moment before continuing in his blunt manner.
"We don't have full counts, with all the people that were abducted or fled the city, but we are easily in the thousands of dead, and at least 30 times that somewhere between bleeding out slowly to walking wounded. The Defence Force for the capital has 17 combat ready members left, and these are mostly medics and maintenance staff. There are no confirmed surviving combat team members as far as we can tell, though the old man should be confirming that with the survivors on his ship."
Anderson wished he could say he was surprised or shocked, but the entire Defence Force for the planet had been about 5,000 people, and it was hardly like they had been expecting the attack.
"Most of the City Centre has been damaged in the fighting, especially with the strafing runs done by the Batarian transports as they flew in and out of the place. Personally, I think it adds character, but some of the structures are going to need tearing down and rebuilding." Which would be no small cost.
Though given the alternative of what would have happened if Shepard's team hadn't arrived, it would only be the bean counters on Earth that would be making those complaints, rather than anyone on or around the colony.
"There are still some Raiders who didn't manage to evacuate before the rest of the cowards ran, I have the others organising tracking them down and hemming them in." Anderson was slightly shocked that Wrex wasn't out actively hunting the Batarian survivors himself, but given his blood drenched armour, that was probably what he had been doing just before the call.
"We have almost 4,000 people aboard The Burning Leaf. Whilst most of them aren't injured beyond bumps and bruises, we'll be keeping them aboard until Wrex is able to exert some level of control on the ground. Dropping a bunch of civilians into a still semi-active warzone is probably not a good idea. There are three sections of my ship that have been breached, three dead and seven injured marines, and a bunch of dead and captured Urdar Batarians that I want off my ship as fast as possible."
With Uzumaki's interjection and the report on the Batarian ship, the rest of the reporting came thick and fast, Anderson's synapses firing just enough for him to take in the key details. Prisoner exchanges to the Council forces, securing of evidence and how to manage the local populace were covered, as well as the search patterns that the 3rd Fleet would be using to try and catch the remaining Batarian ships before they could loop back to the Mass Relay.
Given the range ships could initiate a mass relay jump, it would be impossible to block access to the relay completely, and playing defensively would just give the Batarians time to plan and coordinate their escape.
"I will head to this Pinnacle Station as soon as Admiral Singh formally takes control here Councillors. If we are going to become an official Spectre team, it is probably best we smash all the training you guys have set up." Anderson zoned back in as he heard Shepard discussing her plan, and noticed her sigh slightly before turning to Naruto.
"And I can't believe I am going to say this, but... Captain Naruto, what is your plan now?" Naruto seemed to ponder things for a moment, before giving a massive grin.
"Well, Shepard-taichou… I think I have a few ideas…" And at that point, Anderson decided he was going to stop listening altogether.
And given the groan from the Council's communication terminal… He wasn't the only one that was terrified of Naruto's 'ideas'.
He could only hope that Naruto's plan involved going somewhere that wasn't the Citadel...
A/N: I thought long and hard about this chapter, and had about four different versions that I came up with at various points. Everything ranging from Shepard and the team wiping the Batarians out almost to a man, to Balak having a back-up plan of detonating the fusion torches and devastating Terra Nova with a rain of Asteroid chunks.
I like to think that I have come to a decent compromise, with the Batarian raiders getting beaten quite handily at a tactical level, but on a strategic level everything isn't quite as rosy.
Regarding the Hegemony not being ousted and war declared, this will be covered in depth in the next few chapters. But in essence, given the threat of the Reapers, Shepard and her team are aware that a galactic war only plays into Saren's hands. That doesn't mean there won't be fire and vengeance at some point, but it will be tempered and targeted, in a way that can't be traced back to her or the Alliance (*Cough* Naruto's 'PLANS' *Cough*).
I decided to not have the Council as an overt protagonist, and to stop bashing on Sparatus as much as I have been doing. I like to think my reasoning is at least a decent reason why we never actually receive any information on Saren in the game, but I am sure some people will disagree. It also leads quite well into the Pinnacle Station DLC mission, though I will have it serve as Spectre Orientation and Training in addition to the 'challenge' missions to push the top operatives.
Jane-chan will love the paper-based teaching I am sure!
As always, let me know what you think, reviews are always nice food for thought when it comes to writing more!
Defias Out