The Burning Leaf, Citadel Mass Effect Relay, 07:00 4th May 2184
Nirali Bhatia, Spectre Medical Assistant, Navy Corpsman
"This is Captain Lia'vella of the Citadel Defence Fleet, identify yourself and your ship at once!" Stood on the bridge of their newly renamed ship, Nirali used the opportunity of the targeting alarms going off to cast a knowing look towards the commander's chair.
"No need for that Nirali-chan. I suppose it was a little too much to hope the Council would let the Citadel Fleet know we were coming." Compared to his original lounging posture during the call with the Alliance group, Naruto was taking things far more seriously now, though that was at least partly because of the new crew he was in command of, in name if not function.
"Your orders Captain?" Jv'kari was taking to her new role remarkably well, though she was still far too deferential in Nirali's opinion.
There had been several questions raised amongst Commander Shepard's crew at Naruto's decision to choose her as his No 2, but Naruto waved them off in his typical genial manner without really answering any questions. Given most of the crew currently helping to man the bridge had first-hand experience of receiving the young man's somewhat selfless generosity, Nirali knew that none of them would be pushing the matter too hard in the near future.
"Patch me through Kari-san, we knew that dropping a Dreadnought class ship into Citadel space was going to push some buttons. Might as well make my new position official." A new position that had involved a considerable change in costume for some reason, something that young Nora had taken a lot of joy in contributing 'suggestions' towards.
What resulted was a mixture of several stereotypes ranging from 'Bounty Hunter' to 'Space Cowboy', though Nirali would be the first to admit that Naruto pulled off the long black trench coat, Stetson and double bandolier remarkably well. Now she just had to persuade him to lose the spurs off his shoes, the black bullwhip and fake lightsaber attached to his belt and she might not feel too embarrassed to be seen with him in public.
"This is Captain Naruto Uzumaki of the Prize Ship The Burning Leaf, on our way to the Citadel for repairs and refitting, as well as Alliance Personnel for long term medical treatment. There will be 4 Frigates coming through in the next day or so, of Batarian origin, though the Council has taken control of them for the purpose of an official investigation."
There was silence for a moment, before this Lia'vella spoke up once more, the earlier panic at least partially gone from her voice now.
"Understood Burning Leaf, you will be escorted to the coordinates we are sending you now. Be aware, we will be sending boarding parties to search your vessel, in line with recent updates to Council security measures. As you will be berthing on the Citadel directly, all weapons must be submitted for registration before arrival, and new regulations mean that only authorised personnel will be permitted to carry weapons above certain restrictions. " Nirali wished she could feel surprised at the new security measures, but instead she felt a small degree of relief.
It wouldn't be fool proof, especially as they could have only been implementing the new measures in the last day or so, but it showed that the Council were finally paying attention to the problems in their own back garden.
"Thank you Captain, we will send across the details of my crew shortly, Burning Leafout." After Jv'kari cut the communications link, Naruto stretched out all of his limbs like a cat that had been lounging in the sun too long.
"Thanks Kari-san, make an official note or something, first thing we are changing is this chair." That comment brought several chuckles from the bridge crew, though Nirali knew there were a lot of other points that needed to be addressed before they looked at things like comfortable chairs.
The bridge of the Burning Leaf was massive, easily four times larger than the Normandy's entire command deck, and this was mostly because of the Batarian's command system rather than out of any practical benefits. Where the Alliance would have at most two people for each ship function even for a ship this size, the Batarian ship had at least five, with each control station limited to handling only small sections of the desired function.
The Quarian's from the Ontario had been able to patch the control systems sufficiently for them to be able to get the ship back to the Citadel, but with the limited number of competent crew members they had available, they would struggle to aim the ship's guns at a stationary target, let alone participate in actual combat.
Personally, Nirali was wondering what Naruto had planned for the extra free space, which would become available when they ripped out the existing systems. But then again, given he had already turned several of the rooms on the lower decks into training rooms that seemed closer to the torture chambers they had been originally, she wasn't entirely sure she wanted to know.
"Nirali-chan, have we got lists of all the lo… equipment that we brought on board? I imagine if we don't tell them we have enough arms and armour to outfit an entire mercenary company before they board, they will be a little twitchy." Naruto's question brought Nirali from her musing, and reminded her of the rather large 'promotion' she had received upon joining Naruto on his new ship.
"The final details are still being compiled by Xeveena and Ai, but we can send them across what we have now. We knew we would need them for your trip on the Citadel, and I wanted to have a full understanding of our other supplies before you go shopping." When she had turned in a full inventory of the Burning Leaf's medical supplies, as well as detailed lists of what they were missing, Naruto and the others all reacted with considerably more surprise and appreciation than she had expected.
The fact that appreciation had led to her appointment as the ship's Quartermaster, as well as the only medical professional aboard, was less appreciated than Naruto seemed to understand when he had offered it to her. If it weren't for the fact that Samesh seemed to enjoy being the ship's Sous Chef, and had been more than happy to help her with the inventory, Nirali would probably have said no.
Once they were settled, and she was less concerned about Naruto bankrupting himself with his latest 'business ventures', Nirali would enjoy discussing the pay rise she would be expecting if he wanted her to continue in both roles. Even if Naruto offered her less than the figure she had in her head, her dream of an Earthen Restaurant would be within her reach!
"Fantastic Nirali-chan! Kari-san, let's contact C-Sec as well while we are waiting. Probably best to have the Executor know we are coming with another batch of weapons. I'm sure Pallin-san is looking forward to having me back on station…" Seeing Naruto doing his best to maintain a serious expression on his face, as he uttered the greatest joke of the day in Nirali's humble opinion, broke the professional barrier she had been keeping up all morning.
Given Mari, Aleena and even little Nora joined in with her laughter, Nirali didn't feel even slightly guilty as Naruto pouted a little. The ninja turned ship captain seemed to realise they weren't going to finish laughing at him for some time, as he proceeded to ignore them and start talking to the clearly confused Jv'kari
"No respect Kari-san, nothing. Get me that line to C-Sec and then gather a security team. I have some investments to check in on…" And all of sudden, Nirali's humor dampened considerably.
Why did she get the feeling that the shipyard he had bought weren't the only thing he was referring to...?
!"£$%^&*()_+
Shinobi Shipbuilding Company Hangar 1, Citadel, 14:00 5th May 2184
Lia'Vael nar Ulnay, Quarian Pilgrim (2nd year)
"You two, when you have finished replacing that armour plating, get down to the main platform right away. You are wanted there for some reason." Doing her best to focus on the welding work she was doing, Lia'Vael felt her stomach drop at the human's words.
Their crew boss, a rather angry human by the name of Gar'reth, or something like that, would only be allowing them to stop working mid-shift if his boss had told him to do so. And as a Quarian, being forced to see 'the upper management' usually only meant one thing.
"Why?" Her shift mate, a Quarian who had only started his pilgrimage 4 months before, was considerably more vocal than she felt comfortable with being.
Thankfully, Gar'reth seemed content to ignore the question as he stamped off back down the gantry, no doubt there were other workers to terrorise. With no one else to complain to, and seemingly still naive about how life on the Citadel worked, her shift mate turned back to her.
"We haven't missed a shift, get paid considerably less than those 'experienced' human crews that are always 'losing' valuable parts…" The anger in his voice was matched by the feeling in Lia'Vael's stomach, but in all honesty she had been expecting this since the change in ownership of the shipyard had been made known to them.
Not that the dozens of new people, varying from smartly clad humans to a few Quarians like herself, in the previous weeks had been exactly subtle. And if there was one thing Lia'Vael knew well, the first thing a new owner would be doing is 'streamlining' their business.
"Efficiency cuts, always easier to lose day to day workers first, rather than the contracted workers who can demand severance money." That was the excuse Lia'Vael had received previously, when her previous employers had been bothered to justify kicking her out rather than just telling her she wasn't getting paid.
Finishing the last section of welding required for this plate, Lia'Vael put down the Welding torch and lifted the personalised welding mask made to fit to a Quarian's mask. She would leave it nearby, the last thing she needed was being arrested for 'attempted theft' again on top of losing what had been a steady job by Quarian standards.
Whilst she didn't have the foolishness to think that every crime levelled at a Quarian was without merit, some of the most sophisticated crime gangs on the Citadel were Quarian after all, Lia'Vael was very much reaching the end of her mouth filter in terms of patience.
Manoeuvring their work platform back up to the gantry way, Lia'Vael was now glad she had ensured that she kept nothing she couldn't live without in her locker, as she could see other crews moving back in the same direction. In fact, as she gave a second look over the hangar, it looked like everyone had been called over…
Pessimism warred with her battered and bruised optimism for a moment, as she tried to convince herself that this wasn't what she had originally thought. She nearly succeeded, until they reached the stairs leading down the main hangar floor, and saw more than 20 Batarians stood covering the exits from the hangar, whilst half a dozen C-Sec operatives stood with a young man she recognised as the new owner of the Shipyard.
Rather than the very smart suit that he had been dressed in when he had made the tour of their facility, he was now dressed in combat armour and touting weapons to boot, which very much changed the perception of him Lia'Vael had first formed. She had thought him a spoilt child, obviously born into money if he could afford to buy out some of the galaxies most expensive real estate in a single swoop.
Now though, clad in light combat armour and looking down with a blank mask impression on his face, Lia'Vael got the feeling she had gotten the wrong impression of her new boss. And judging by the fact that every member of the Shipyard's management team was stood amongst the crowd of workers, she hadn't been the only one.
Reaching the edge of the crowd, slipping past the small groups of humans and other Council races to stand with the group of Quarians towards the front of the still growing mass. Not because they wanted to be at the front, Lia'Vael thought bitterly even as one of the other Quarian's beckoned them over with a muted wave that fitted the mood a little too well.
"You've missed quite a bit already." The excited tone in the old Quarian's voice, a 'permanent' Citadel Quarian that decided for whatever twisted reasoning that life on the Citadel was better than it was in the Migrant Fleet, surprised her enough for it to show in her body language.
"You know the Operations Director Benoit?" Lia'Vael did know the name, though thankfully had never met the human who had been in charge of the Dockyard on behalf of the company who owned it, so nodded her head after scanning the hangar and not being able to make him out.
"New boss shows up with all these C-Sec goons following him, just as Benoit is finishing his monthly 'report' meeting" Otherwise known as checking the figures and working out how they could hide the unofficial work they did on some of the ships that came through the shipyard, and therefore pocket the proceeds.
If any of the management thought they were being subtle, Lia'Vael worried for their mental aptitude.
"Benoit comes storming down to try and head them off before they can see anything they shouldn't, and barely gets a sentence in before they grab him and cuff him, right in front of everyone!" That, that was a surprising twist…
Looking closer at the group of executives and other higher management people in the front of the crowd, Lia'Vael now noted that there were a couple of others missing that she knew held important positions. But before she could think things through any further, the reason all of her colleagues were gathered spoke up.
"Now that you're all here, or at least nearly all of you, allow me to introduce myself." Lia'Vael doubted anyone really needed to be reminded who he was, but she had to admit he was good at grabbing everyone's attention.
"I am Naruto Uzumaki, Founder of Shinobi Shipbuilding and new owner of this dockyard. That makes me your new boss, and I want nothing more than to support those that have put their blood and sweat into running this place." He smiled at this point, a smile that probably looked warm and friendly to most people.
But Quarians looked to body language rather than facial expressions, and Lia'Vael's reading was that of a Varren, looking down on a drunken Volus and waiting for the right moment to strike.
"So I looked into your contracts, and I feel that your previous employer had been very harsh to most of you regarding salary increases and overtime pay. Barring a few known friends of Mr Benoit in fact, it's noted that none of you received the last 3 quarterly bonuses, despite the fact the credits were allocated as such." That got angry mumbling from nearly all of the contracted workers at this point, and despite the fact his body language hadn't changed in the slightest, this Mr Uzumaki was proving he knew exactly how to handle a crowd.
"Not to worry though, my legal team have prepared new contracts for all loyal employees that have much greater benefits included, and those bonuses will be back paid in full…" He paused, as there were noises of celebration and joy, even amongst some of the younger Quarians who were clearly not paying enough attention.
When Mr Uzumaki continued though, his smile now matched his body language, all teeth and cold humour.
"Once of course, the required tests, interviews and reviews have been carried out." It was like someone had vented the entire room, the only noise the slight laughter of the young Asari, stood next to what she assumed was the girl's mother and recording this?
"You see, with the misappropriation of funds by the management of this dockyard, there is already a black mark that could be placed on my company's image, which in turn would reflect badly on you all. So for the last 3 weeks I have had some external contractors looking at various aspects, both commercial and personnel related…" It was very tempting for Lia'Vael to turn and look at the non-Quarians now stood silently behind them, as a faint glimmer of hope and satisfaction settled in her stomach, but she didn't dare take her eyes off her new boss in case he dropped the other EMP on her next.
"I haven't looked through the reports in great detail yet, I am a very busy man after all, but I know there are some employees who have been… taking advantage of the lax management here. Being the generous man I am, I don't want to punish those who were perhaps led astray by those above them. So before I ask these officers to act on the information I have about various charges that could be raised, I thought I would give anyone who feels this might apply to them the chance a simple way out." Mr Uzumaki gestured off to his right, where three Turians were stood with data slates.
"Anyone who decides to terminate their employment here in the next 5 minutes will be able to leave without any risk of punishment. A clean slate and a positive reference for their next position elsewhere. Anyone who doesn't obviously doesn't have anything to hide so will be able to take the new proposed contracts and review them for tomorrow."
It was a bluff, or at least that is what Lia'Vael assumed, but it was quite a clever one. Mr Uzumaki had already revealed that he had uncovered Director Benoit as a criminal, and that would no doubt be in everyone's minds as the metaphorical clock began to tick down.
"You… You're bluffing! Trying to strong arm us into signing less favourable contracts to save a few credits!" This came from a Turian that Lia'Vael vaguely remembered was the Citadel Union of Workers representative amongst the group.
There were several mutinous mutterings of agreement from different groups at this, though Mr Uzumaki didn't seem too worried as he flicked through data on his omni-tool, before stopping and looking up.
"Of course not, Mr... Caeeus Quanian? Once you have had a chance to read the contract you will see that the average pay of workers at this dockyard will go up almost 10%. Though, as you are one of the few to continue receiving his bonuses and pay increases, I don't think you will see such an increase in your wages. Especially when the extra Union membership 'fees' that you have been taking from your fellow workers are returned to their rightful owners…"
The mutterings were now considerably louder, most of them now directed at Caeeus rather than Mr Uzumaki, the Turian stuck between outraged and horrified as Lia'Vael turned and eyed the crowd.
Whilst Mr Uzumaki's hard approach was definitely going to get rid of the worst elements in the dockyard, depending on who managed to hold their nerve, she had no illusions that he even needed anything close to this level of theatrics to deal with her and her fellow Quarians.
"Four minutes ladies and gentlemen." The revelation of Caeeus' misdeeds seemed to have been the final piece of dirt to block the air filter, as one of the younger mechanics moved towards the stage, ignoring several whispered threats and warnings from his colleagues.
Then there was a slow trickle of people from throughout the crowd, though by the end of the five minutes at least half of the contracted work force had stepped forwards and left the hall. Only two Quarians had left, though there were several who were clearly tempted.
"Interesting…" Mr Uzumaki looked at his omni-tool again, before waving to one of the C-Sec officers.
"All yours Gibbs!" The grizzled looking Turian seemed to bristle at the familiar address before he shook it off and took centre stage.
"All those on the following list are to consider themselves under arrest for various crimes, which will be detailed in the warrants you and your attorney will be reading during the initial interviews. If you don't have an attorney, an attorney will…" Chaos exploded around Lia'Vael as it seemed to dawn on everyone that their new boss hadn't been bluffing at all.
That meant he had probably investigated every single one of them before this show piece, and that many Private Investigators would cost more than the shipyard would make in profit for the next quarter.
Just who in the Keelah's name was this human?
Captain's Quarters, The Normandy, Pinnacle 17:10 7th May 2184
Jane Shepard, Council Spectre
It had been 2 days of written testing and presentations, during which she had to stop Wrex from murdering their 'teachers' at least twice. Personally, Jane was most annoyed when the Commander of the Station himself had presented a battlefield representation of her desperate defence of Elysium during the Skyllian Blitz, Commander Ahern trying to pick apart every decision she and her fellow marines made during the defence.
So when the opportunity to cut loose came earlier this afternoon, with the beginning of the 'scored' training simulations, pretty much her entire team had been prepared to inflict more than a little violence.
They had smashed the record on the first mission so comprehensively that the station Commander had actually questioned her about potential pre-mission 'intelligence gathering'. The accusation of cheating didn't even upset her, that much at least, though he was clearly upset when she laughed in his face. She and her team had been involved in more combat in the last few months than most serving military personnel saw in a lifetime, and the enemies they were facing were pathetic in comparison.
The simulated 'Geth' were so poorly programmed it actually had thrown them off at first, with the Geth not using cover effectively or even acting as a united enemy force, though Jane supposed that there was a lack of available data outside of the Normandy's crew more than anything else. They'd been holding on to all combat data and their tactics since the fight on Feros, mostly because she didn't trust the Council not to leak it to Saren, and the Alliance not to leak it to Cerberus.
But given she was currently staring at the holographic representation of the Illusive Man, through the intermediary of Naruto's new ship and its communication systems, Jane wasn't entirely sure where the Cerberus threat was most prominent now.
"Commander. When Captain Uzumaki informed me that you would be joining this conversation, I must admit I was more than a little surprised." Despite his words, the Illusive Man's tone and posture showed no such surprise, and Jane wouldn't be shocked if he had expected her last-minute decision to be involved in the conversation.
"Just because I don't trust you doesn't mean I won't listen to what you have to tell us. Your information on my sister was correct, and even the ambush led to us rescuing a human colony, so I won't risk missing out on further opportunities because of my desire to mount you on a stake ass first." To his credit the Illusive Man did look at least somewhat apologetic at the mention of the Batarian attack.
"I can only hold my hands up and admit it was a mistake by our internal security, and my own error for missing the traitor in Cerberus' midst. The information we have obtained about the origins of the payments to my former agent will be with you by the end of the day, as I am sure you will want to deal with the Batarian 'pirates' behind it yourself." Both of them paused, looking towards the currently silent 3rd member of this little chin wag.
Naruto didn't even seem to notice, working through various forms and documentation on his desk that Shepard assumed were part and parcel of his new role. Seeing as her resident ninja wasn't going to interject, though she had no doubt he was listening in, Jane decided to carry the conversation forward.
"That information will be… appreciated." It physically hurt her a little when she said that, but she managed to keep it from being audible in her tone.
"No need for pretences Commander, I prefer people to be honest, even if it is in their anger and dislike of my operation. Contrary to popular belief, I am not one for politicking if it can be avoided." Despite the offer to be honest with her feelings, Jane didn't entirely relax, this was still a potential enemy she was talking to after all.
"So no more attempts to infiltrate the Normandy? As much as Kasumi was of assistance in saving Terra Nova, the next person that tries something like that will be dealt with rather more abruptly." Especially as Naruto wasn't around to prevent her dealing with such attempts in a more permanent fashion now.
"No need, I got all the information I needed from your response to the infiltration, though I think Agent Lawson will take some time to recover from the 'slight'. She can hold something of a grudge I'm afraid." Jane let out a small laugh, pleased to have annoyed someone at Cerberus, though a deadpan comment from the new ship captain stopped her from responding directly.
"So the four human applicants I have received CVs for that are obviously spies aren't yours Jiji? Good to know." There wasn't even the slightest of twitches from the Illusive Man, but it was clear to everyone present that Naruto had just scored a point in whatever game the two of them were playing.
"I... may have mentioned to the units I have operating on the Citadel to provide an applicant to test your screening protocols Mr Uzumaki, though I had assumed they would coordinate to only send a single candidate. I suppose it wouldn't help if I promised that they have all been instructed to aid you and Commander Shepard in any way they can?" Naruto seemed to consider it for a second before smiling and wagging a finger in the Illusive Man's direction.
"So there is at least one that I missed? If you wanted to provide me with a more direct contact Jiji you should have just asked. I don't suppose Pretty-chan is available?" The question about this Agent Lawson caught Jane off-guard, and given the raised eyebrow from the Illusive Man she wasn't the only one.
"Agent Lawson is one of my top agents, and manages many of my field teams that don't require my direct oversight. I would immediately say no, but you have me intrigued as to the reasoning behind your request." The Illusive man wasn't the only one, and if this wasn't just a new strategy by Naruto to throw his opponent off track they would be having words.
"She can think for herself." Naruto seemed to think such a short explanation was sufficient, going back to his paperwork.
"Naruto…" Jane managed to keep the majority of her annoyance out of her tone as she grabbed his attention once more and waiting until he looked up with genuine confusion on his face to gesture that he needed to explain further.
"What? I don't want someone who has to go back to Jiji every time I want information or their thoughts on what we do next. No offence Jiji, but from what I have seen of most your people so far, zealot is the word I would use. And not in the good way. Given how she snapped at you after you rescued her, she isn't afraid to tell her superiors when she disagrees with them. But at the same time, she is clearly loyal to your cause, can plan and execute missions without direct oversight, and I assume she is combat capable given she was in the field in the first place." There was a moment of silence, as Jane tried to understand Naruto's logic.
She was also doing her best to ignore the darker part of her mind, that was trying to find fault in his reasoning for having another woman under his command aboard his ship.
"Interesting analysis Lieuten- I suppose it's Captain now actually… And here I thought you might be asking for me as a contact merely because you found me attractive." The arrival of a fourth member to their conversation should have been an unpleasant surprise to Jane, but she supposed it actually helped prove Naruto's point.
As this Agent Lawson stepped into view through the Illusive Man's communication device, Jane felt the stab of hate that most women felt when they saw what they thought was a more attractive woman step into 'their space'. Dressed now in military style fatigues, rather than the casual business wear she had been wearing on the Citadel to blend in, the woman managed to look more attractive despite the clear attempt to not flaunt her body.
"Mr Uzumaki, Commander Shepard, I know you have already met. But allow me to introduce you to Miranda Lawson, one of my top operatives." The Illusive Man seemed to have conceded Naruto's point about Lawson, the man stepping back literally as well as figuratively in the conversation.
"I still prefer Pretty-chan…" Naruto trailed off as Miranda's professional mask morphed into a cold glare that even Jane was slightly impressed by, the young ninja holding up his hands in a clear sign of surrender.
"But I suppose we are being professional here. Sorry Miranda-san, you are very beautiful and would definitely be more fun to contact than Jiji, but have you seen who I work with every day?" Naruto made no indication of who he meant with that backhanded compliment, but Jane allowed a self-satisfied smirk to show as Miranda's eyes darted her way for a second.
"Who you work with is precisely my concern. A female Batarian first officer; Ms Goto as your Counterintelligence Officer; Corpsman Bhatia as your medical officer; three Asari including two who seem to have past ties to Saren or other Anti-human efforts. There seems to be a single underlying theme to your recruitment efforts, or am I to be convinced it's all just one big coincidence?"
To his credit, Naruto looked genuinely confused at what Miranda was getting at for a moment, before his face suddenly reddened slightly and he reached up to scratch the back of his head.
"You wouldn't believe me if I said I never thought of it like that till now? Thought not. Blame Jane-chan, she's the one that decided she was keeping Wrex and Garrus on the Normandy. And in regards to picking a contact for Cerberus, it's a choice between you and the samurai-wannabe at the moment, so… no contest?" The attempt to shift the blame onto her wasn't entirely fair, though given the crew of the Ontario were almost 70% female, perhaps she had her own hiring bias to think about.
Miranda continued to stare coldly at Naruto for several moments before she nodded slowly, the smallest of smiles on her face for a second before it was flattened into her seemingly default serious mask.
"It's not like I will ever step on your ship, so even if you are trying to build your own little pleasure boat harem, I won't have to deal with you in person." As Naruto descended into a bunch of rapid and rushed denials, that Jane got the feeling were at least a little exaggerated, the Illusive Man decided to bring the conversation back on point.
"Well, now that the two of you are on more agreeable terms, we can work out the details of the 'first point of contact' later. I know that Commander Shepard has a busy schedule for the next two weeks, so I imagine it will be Mr Uzumaki and his new 'team' that will be actioning this information." Miranda nodded at the subtle reminder, before turning to face Jane fully for the first time in this conversation.
"We have intel on the Geth setting up outposts on at least half a dozen worlds in the Skyllian Verge. The reasons for these bases are unknown, but given the increase of Geth attacks on shipping and small outposts in the region, they probably serve as resupply points and relay bases." Miranda pressed some keys on her omni-tool, and the image of the two Cerberus members was replaced with the galactic map.
"Our scout ships have confirmed two of the base locations in the Armstrong Nebula, the other locations are merely the systems that have been identified with increased Geth activity." Jane looked at the highlighted locations, a small frown forming as she tried to work out what purpose these Geth would have in Saren's grand plan. If it were to do with the Reapers, such as excavating another Prothean Artefact or 'obtaining' another Prothean expert like Liara, the Geth would be concentrated on a single system, two at most if there was some uncertainty over the location.
"Spoiling attacks, trying to divert attention and resources from other sectors. At best this is a secondary objective for him, probably trying to force the Alliance Navy to spread their forces as thinly as possible before his actual attacks, wherever/whatever that will be." There was no comment from the others, meaning they most likely agreed.
"So the question is Commander, what is Saren doing if this isn't his actual objective? Given all of Saren's official resources have been frozen by the Council, it's not as if there is much of a paper trail we can follow to find where he is holed up." The Illusive Man seemed to be happy to take a more back seat approach for this conversation now, Miranda's tone lightening slightly as she responded.
"If you can find out what these people were doing, and how they were paid and who, then we might have some leads to follow." It took Naruto several moments, which took away some of the impressiveness of his immediate solution to their dead end, before quite literally dozens of faces appeared on the screen.
It took a moment, given that some of the photos were somewhat blurry, before Jane started recognising some of the pictures. There were some of the people who had attacked them on the Citadel at various points, but there were also what looked like pictures from people's social media profiles or professional work profiles.
"I assume there is some link between these people and Saren?" To Jane's surprise, there wasn't any level of distrust or disbelief in Miranda's voice at Naruto's revelation.
"I'm not sure they directly link to Saren-teme, but they either tried to kill us, spy on us, report everything we do or a combination of all three. I have Kasumi-chan and my contacts following up, but some support in accessing their electronic history would be very useful." Jane was looking at the photos that were clearly taken in public, usually in crowds that were probably following members of the team, there was something that was picking at her and she couldn't work out…
"There!" The fact her exclamation was copied almost perfectly by Miranda in timing was more than slightly irritating, but the fact she had caught something Naruto had missed was more than enough to make up for it.
"Not the same Asari in every picture, but the same one appears at least 3 times in your photos." Highlighting the images she meant, Jane saw that Miranda was highlighting different pictures, though the Cerberus woman waited until Jane had finished speaking before adding her own comments.
"These Asari are all dressed in exactly the same clothes, all two seasons behind the latest fashion trends and clearly not form fitting. Bought in bulk and used to help them blend in with the crowds, standard Asari Commando tactics." Jane couldn't help but quirk an eyebrow at Miranda's knowledge of fashion trends, a sign of normalcy that she didn't believe Cerberus agents were capable of.
"Really? I just thought that was an Asari culture thing…" Naruto didn't look too embarrassed at the oversight he had been caught in, though Jane got the feeling that the ninja would be kicking himself for the assumption he had made later.
"It doesn't matter Naruto, the fact you got all of these images is what gave us this lead." Jane wouldn't admit it out loud, but the beaming smile Naruto threw in her direction at her reassurance gave her a warm feeling in her stomach for a moment, before the embarrassment at having such a feeling about someone almost a decade younger than her kicked in.
"Well, we know that Saren has at least one accomplice who is an Asari Matriarch. I will have my teams look into tracking these Commandos, if you can do some digging on the Citadel to determine where they might be based?" Naruto started nodding, but then paused and looked in Jane's direction.
Whilst they had discussed the fact that him taking command of the Burning Leaf meant he wasn't going to be under her 'command structure' anymore, it was nice that he still wanted her opinion before agreeing anything. Especially as this was the group that Jane had considered in the top 5 on her shit list only weeks before.
"Talk to Shiala and Mari Naruto, since both of them worked for Matriarch Benezia, they will have knowledge of who these people are and what their tactics might be. I am sure they will have your new business under observation now, so you and Kasumi should be able to do some counter shadowing without arousing too much in the way of suspicion." It went unsaid that the two of them would only be seen if they wanted to be.
"Got it Jane-chan! Once I am doing with some business matters, I will get to work on these guys. Should have something by the end of the week. Anything else Pretty-ch... Miranda-san?" Despite changing his form of address part way through, Naruto looked a lot less intimidated by Miranda's glare at his nickname for her this time, his cheery smile not diminishing in the slightest.
"Nothing of immediate concern, I am… sure that I will be in contact with you soon Captain Uzumaki." The sigh that Miranda failed to repress entirely made Jane smirk, even after the four of them finished the call and she was left alone with her thoughts.
Whilst Naruto unleashing his brand of annoying on Cerberus isn't exactly what she had planned for her long-planned revenge… It would do as a starting point…
A/N: I've been building towards this for some time, but we are finally at the point where we separate Naruto from Shepard, in terms of responsibilities if not in terms of importance. Even with the Council finally admitting that they have F**ked up regarding Saren, and pushing for action against the Batarians, there needed to be something… more.
As I've mentioned previously, stealth capability or not, the Normandy is not a suitable ship for hunting a Geth War Party, let alone their 'Dreadnaught' (nothing has been revealed that Sovereign is anything but a Geth Ship at this point). It's good for finding them without being detected, but Shepard is expected to be taking the fight to the Geth forces in the contested regions of space, so the building of resources and ships is a must.
So Naruto continues to build a base of operations, and as shown in this chapter he is quite literally 'the boss over your shoulder' from hell. Shadow Clones and now Kasumi's expertise means he can follow his employees everywhere and make recordings of their misdeeds. Given the amount of backroom dealing that seems common on the Citadel, having the ability to scare his employees onto the straight and narrow will be vital to preventing sabotage or espionage.
One of the things I realised I was doing was a 'Quarians are all misrepresented and profiled!' approach a little too much, so hopefully this chapter has started to show that there ARE some Quarian Criminals. These won't be encountered on the front lines though, more the 'white collar' type crimes that for the most part don't catch the attention of Spectres like Shepard.
Next Chapter, Asari Commandos and the slow build up to Noveria! I just want to make people aware that if they HAVEN'T read 'Medic Effect' and don't want spoilers, don't read it! I very much hit on an idea I liked there, and it will be being implemented in one form or another for this story!
Don't say you haven't been warned :)
Anyway, drop me a review and let me know what you think!
Defias out!