A mass effect and Naruto crossover, please enjoy, grab your popcorn or other food you have in the fridge and enjoy this fanfic.
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Prologue
Feared Reverence
People always argue about how humanity started. Is it because of divine intervention or evolution? Wars are waged because of it; whole people are slaughtered. Yet, no one denied the origin of Chakra. The origin of unlimited energy that humans have at their disposal. Descending from the heavens at first as a parasite, used by an evil Goddess to enslave mankind, and finally used by two benevolent gods to protect and guide humanity. The energy that made the Turian fear us, the energy that made the Asari look at us with despair, the energy that made the Salarian look at us with envy and jealousy; the energy that can make even children as strong as Krogan.
Humanity contacted the wider galaxy with conflict. Something that the species expects and also dreaded will happen. Humanity thought there would be a massacre, even with their chakra they did not expect they'll win against an alien race that is far more advanced and far older than them. Oh, how wrong they are. When in actuality; the ones that have poked the sleeping giant that is the human race should be grateful that their species will not ensure the wrath of its guardian.
This is the story of human dominance, a reluctant one.
……
376 YEARS AFTER THEIR ASCENSION
HUMAN EXPLORATION SHIP: SSV HIRUZEN
MISSION OBJECTIVE: INVESTIGATION OF ALIEN RELICS, CHARON RELAY.
Kazama did not hide his emotion of being irritated as he walked the ship's corridor toward the bridge. Men and women that are lower than him in rank sidestepped or turn their pace seeing the sour mood of the young captain. There are some, who are brave enough (dumbarses and newbies) that saluted their captain only to be ignored by him. The Captain is in a sour mood but not so bitter that he would chew people just being respectful. Besides, the subject of his ire is not his crew, the one deserving is his higher-ups and their unrealistic timetable.
The mechanical sliding door opened and the seal sensors recognized his chakra. He can only twitch his eyes seeing the sorry state of the ship's bridge: scribbled papers, canned energy drinks, and more importantly the scientist and his crew that are helping them; all of them sleeping on the floor. All and all the view made him recoil in disgust. Though, even in all of this chaos one woman is being odder than the rest of the bridge oddities. Her eyes darted from the paper she was writing on and the alien relic that was shaped strangely like an instrument back to back. Approaching her; the Junior Captain was about to speak but was silenced by the woman who is similar in age to him with an arm.
"What is it, Kazama?" Asked the woman rather annoyed by him not looking but still writing.
"The 5 Kages accelerated the plan," she stopped writing and straightened her back, "The Uzumaki are also questioning the importance of your research." Dropping such an important name, she slammed her desk and stood up from her seat. Looking at Kazama with a look of fear and anger. Kazama pitied her. Being questioned by the progeny of the two gods about the importance of her life work. At the same time, he can't muster enough sympathy to do anything. What she's researching is at best useless in the grand scheme of things and at worst heretical. Researching a new technology of FTL when the holy ones already gave us an effective method. Not to mention; the enormous resource she has been given, an entire destroyer. An old destroyer but a destroyer nonetheless. If it was not because of her family's reputation, her research will probably be scrapped at the first delays she faced. Quite telling of her family's power; that she can afford so much time and withstand the Uzumaki's clan pressure. With time she and her clan will bend, no one can stop the Uzumakis, not even the five Kages.
Quickly calming herself, the lead researcher and head of the entire expedition take a deep breath. "Then we will comply. Is the core already installed?" The Nara Woman asked Kazama.
"Yes. The experimental core has already been installed inside the Hiruzen and your clan's frigates," said Kazama robotically. The lead researcher nodded, finding his report satisfied her.
"Tell the crew we will conduct the test in the next 4 hours and also," she looked at the mess in the bridge, flinching and a look of guilt could be seen on her, "can you…."
"It will be done, lady Nara," he bowed to her. She bowed back.
"Then I'll take a shower, uhh, bye," she walked with a quick pace outside the bridge, her head high with her hand covering them. Kazama is now alone in the dirty bridge room, seeing the Nara woman run with the honor she has left like a little girl. Embarrassed that the bridge is dirty because of her work.
'For a woman that is from a clan, she's pretty cute,' thought Kazama. Cracking his knuckles he then kicked the nearest sleeping person whether it was a man or a woman to wake them up. "Wake up you cunts!!" just another bad (Normal) day for the SSV Hiruzen.
The alien object was found near a new colony called Shanxi. It was stumbled upon by the planet scouts when trying to survey the system for any resource they can exploit in the future for the growth of the colony. What they found instead is an anomalous region patch of space in the outer layer of the system. When they reported their finding to the alliance, Anbu quickly covered the finding from the public's eyes and ears. At first, they didn't want to do anything with the alien relic deeming it too dangerous to research. This isn't the first time such a similar object was found in alliance space; there's even one In the solar system. They deemed it too dangerous as they were afraid that the object would alert the ones that built it. A more advanced race than them if they can build such massive structures with element zero at its core, a well-known element that is difficult to use by human standards. It was only because of a certain Nara that they finally gave the green light for research to commence.
Kazama gazed at outer space, checking the two frigates lining up into formation at their side. The fleet (if you could call an old destroyer and two civilian frigates a fleet) is checking for any problem with integrating the eezo core with the chakra reactor. They did not want in any circumstances to blow up mid-jump. The plan for the test is simple: activate the relay, use it somehow, arrive in one piece, scout the area, get back, and deactivate the oversized gun. It is a gun, no matter how much the researcher told him that it was a mass relay or any scientific Jargon that he, a captain (even inside Anbu) will never understand. But, he'll concede to the scientists to call it a relay. It's much cooler sounding than an oversized gun.
The Relay is covered in thick ice, and trying to get rid of it will be hard. Nope, they just got closer to the relay, and some computer magic by the researcher activates the relay and removes the ice in under 10 minutes. 'That was simple. Too simple.' Kazama wants to voice his concern but holds them as the bridge celebrates their success. Waiting for a moment for them to shut up, he spoke, "I find it concerning that it's this easy to activate the relay. Don't you think so too, Lady Nara?" the woman turned to him and smiled.
"Just call me Shikako, Captain Kazama. We Nara don't like to be called so formally. Answering your question, yes, I do find it odd that such an advanced species only require an eezo core to access what is essentially their teleportation gateway; making any species with even the basic mastery of the element able to access it. My shinobi and clan training would call it a trap but the scientific part of me…" she smiled with enthusiasm looking at the device Kazama can even see her eyes sparkle.
"Is too curious right, Lady Nara?" She was annoyed again by Kazama when he intentionally used her title. She glared and playfully punched Kazama. "On a serious note, should we?" Kazama's eyes darted to the relay.
"Yes. Order the fleet," she cringed saying the word fleet, "were going in."
"You heard her!! All stations prepare to jump!!" The fleet approached the relay. The cruiser frame was shaken because of the anomalous gravity field, barely holding from being crushed by the gravity field the relay generated. They expected that they'd arrive instantaneously at whatever system the relay would take them to, similar to the flying Raijin-based FTL. The truth is, it takes them hours to arrive. Several tense hours with engineers and bridge officers using the ship sensor to make sure nothing was wrong with the jump.
But, the process of using this alien form of FTL revealed one indisputable fact, a fact that made this experiment useless and the one that defended it into trouble. "This form of FTL is slower than ours," he said without missing a beat and Shikako clenched her fists.
"I know," she said simply.
"What will you tell the Kages and more importantly them?" Kazama said this time with concern. 'I'm not close with her yet seeing her career at stake is harrowing.'
"The truth," she has already accepted her fate. Kazama patted her on the back.
"Let's just hope what's on the other side is worthwhile for them not to just demote you." Kazama hoped this would cheer her up a little bit. It worked as she smiled at him. "After this mission let's drink together, my treat." That made her beam.
"Thank you, Kazama." She said while holding up tears.
"Thy welcometh," she suddenly laughed when Kazam used such an archaic word.
"You dork!"
……
"We lost contact with the SSV Hiruzen and its research vessels. The last signal we received was 4 hours ago. The survivors have been safely teleported, Lord Uzumaki. What's left of them." A woman wearing a mask of a cat kneels to a shadow. The room they're in is filled with the true symbol of power. Red patterned swirl with 3 tomoe dotted it; the image of the legendary ocular Jutsu. You would think that for such a powerful family they will show their wealth and power. But not them, the room is bare with only one circular window on top of a sitting position.
"Cause?" Said the man with a calm voice yet a hint of worry.
"The survivors manage to retrieve the memory seal," replied the woman carefully saying her word without insulting the man.
"Show me." With his permission, the woman stood up from her kneeling position pulling out a data pad. She put it on the ground making a hand seal and a hologram appeared recreating the bridge of SSV Hiruzen and its crew.
" Exiting FTL in 5 4 3 2 1." The bridge shook as men and women used chakra to not fall from the sudden move the ship made. " Lady Nara, the second stage of the plan is complete. Your orders?" Asked the captain.
" Continue to stage three. Let's hope we can find anything worthwhile here. Also, I think it's wise we leave a teleportation seal behind so that other alliance ships can use it as a beacon don't you think so too Kazama-san? "She said the captain's name playfully and childishly. When the captain glared at her, she only laughed heartily seeing his serious reaction. " You're so easy to tease and fun to play with that trying to not bother you is almost impossi…"
"Speed it up Neko," ordered the man, "seeing my goddaughter flirting with a man is unnecessary for me to see."
"As you wish my lord."
" All hands on battle station!! I repeat man your batt-" The recording stopped forcefully. Fire, explosion, and panic are what the man can see.
" Any survivors?" asked the man.
"As dictated in the navy protocol the use of emergency singular teleportation would prioritize the highest-ranking member of the ship. The seal made sure of it. The captain and Lady Nara are alright sir."
"And the rest of the crew?"
"Dead," Neko said with no emotion.
"dismissed," the man ordered. With a final bow, Neko left the room. Unknown to anyone but the gods, he cried. "Ancestors I've failed you again."
…..
TURIAN CRUISER/FLAGSHIP: THS VANKER, 34th PATROL FLOTILLA, 10th TURIAN FLEET.
MISSION OBJECTIVE: PATROLLING THE BORDER OF CITADEL SPACE.
Cassius Commodus yawned for the 4th time this day. He is bored, spirits he is bored. While his brother is running around in the Terminus system killing pirates, he has to patrol what is essential in the middle of nowhere. There's no major system, no major planet, they're only here because there's a dormant mass relay that has to be checked out to confirm its deactivation. Even if the task is important, he can't convince himself of the mission's importance. Don't get him wrong, he knows the consequences and implications of an active dormant mass relay; the Rachni have burned that fact in the galaxy's mind even after millennia of their species extinction. And because of that fact, everyone knows opening a mass relay without the Council's permission and political favors from high places you can't activate one willy-nilly. Even if you have all these things you still need to follow the procedure to activate one to the letter, and oh boy it's a long one. Heck, even pirates followed this rule. They don't want to be branded in history as the ones that unleash a threat that could destroy every civilized species on the Galactic scale. And exactly because of that fact patrolling a dormant mass relay with the chance of it being activated is slim because of its location and common sense from the public that makes the mission hard to justify.
'I should've joined the army,' grumbled Cassius, 'Join the navy they say, see new places they say, sexy blue Asaris they say. It's been 2 years. I haven't seen any active combat except for some warning shots to civilian ships to order them to halt. But even that moment is far in between,' he was about to sleep when his friend Kavius Arvius nudged him to wake up. He thanks him silently as he can feel the Commodore lasering him with his scrutinizing eyes.
"Tell me, how did you even pass the Academy, Cassius? You're second in command for my ship and fleet, transferred last week, and in the short time I've known you it's clear to me that you're incompetent," the man sneered. "I wonder what Admiral Calix sees in you."
Cassius restrains his hand to not punch the commodore in the face, only gripping his hand but his face doesn't show that he is disturbed by his superior insult.
"Same to you sir," he answered vaguely, not specifying who he is his subject. Some of the sensor officers chuckled only to be silenced by the commodore's glare.
Commodore Veller. An old bitter man that is nearing the end of his career even after 60-plus years serving the hierarchy the chance of him getting a promotion is close to zero. As a leader of a patrol fleet in an unknown sector doing basic tasks. Contrasting brightly with Cassius who has only served for 2 years and is already second in command for a patrol fleet. The older of the two was about to speak when one of the bridge alarms flared.
Relay 314, the object of their inspection illuminated in a blueish color breaking the ice that it is in case in. There is no noise, only a visual cue of the ice cracking revealing the previously dormant mass relay to be active.
"All hands, man your battle stations!!"
Chaos erupts
The inexperienced crew of the Vanker even in panic managed to remember their training and executed them perfectly no matter how green, all of them they all are still Turians. Discipline, Honor, and martial mentality are their greatest strengths. No matter how much fear and doubt have stricken them, duty comes first! Even Cassius is proving why he is deemed worthy by his superior to be promoted to the rank of captain. Commanding the crew with efficiency and effectiveness that he is surprised to have. Commodore Veller however only stood in silence proving to the rest of the crew why he would never be promoted.
A few minutes later, two ships entered sub-light speed, one cruiser, and two destroyers.
"Lt. Vieux. Their design, does it match any known species?" Cassius waited to hear the sensor officer give his assessment. Deep down however he knew that that ship was never encountered by anyone in the galaxy. The design of the cruiser is militaristic with its sharp design and cannon littering the frame. Yet also showed a style of symmetrical beauty. Triangle in shape, like a weird knife, and what he assumed was a bridge that is styled like a temple in the olden days of Palaven. The two frigates however are minimalistic, with no guns, and an overload of sensor suits and has a different symbol from the larger vessel.
'Two research ships and one cruiser escort,' concluded Cassius. But the size of those research vessels is only made with research in mind is too darn big. It's either a militaristic species that also prioritized knowledge or we're encountering brutes that overcompensate their intelligence with equipment. Cassius hoped it was not the latter.
Assessing the strength of the alien ships and comparing it to the 34th patrol flotilla, he regained his confidence. The alien only has 1 cruiser and 2 destroyers while theirs has 1 cruiser, 2 destroyers, and 4 frigates. Not to mention the alien destroyers don't have that many guns on their deck.
"None of them match any known design in the codex, sir. I think we just made first contact with an unknown species."
'I wonder how he came to that conclusion,' thought Cassius.
"But that's not the only weird thing sir. Their mass effect field is only enough for the vessels to safely travel using the relays. It is not enough to power the entire ship. They need a second power source. It's as if they don't need element zero in the first place. I tried to access their mainframe but I haven't found any sign of electronics in their ships."
"Are you suggesting that they've found a way to enter FTL using technology that is not Prothean-based? And they're species that can travel the cosmos without any electronics, lieutenant?" Cassius asked Lt. Vieux.
"Yes, sir," Vieux said with a voice mixed with horror and awe. A species that doesn't need electricity and element zero yet manages to travel the star. How powerful for this Alien that they manage to do it.
"Spirits help us all. Contact high command. Tell them that we've contacted an unknown species and initiated the first contact protocol. Hail them, it's time we discuss with the newcomer."
"No." Everyone born from their mother asrses look at the Commodore in shock. "They've violated one of the most important Citadel laws. That is beneath us. Destroy them and we'll use the relay to enter their homeworld."
"But sir this species doesn't know about the cit-"
"Are you disobeying my orders, captain?" The commodore grabbed the handle of his pistol. "The hierarchy doesn't need slouches and cowards like you." He shut his mouth, closed his eyes, then glared at the Commodore.
Cassius was about to argue more with the commodore, but his friend Kavius beat him to it. "Respectfully sir, that is an idiotic move. For all we know we're dealing with a threat that can be more dangerous than the rachni. We need more reinforcement from the rest of the 10th fle-" a shot in the face and Kavius is no more among the living.
"Does anyone wish to share a similar mind as his?" The crew was silent, not voicing any sound to rebuke the crazy commodore. While Cassius, Cassius only clenched his hand seeing his friend die in front of him. "FIRE AT THOSE SHIPS!!"
And just like that a violent first contact was made.
An unhonorable and ignoble act by a species spouting the most about the opposite.
……..
SHANXI, 7 HOURS AFTER SSV HIRUZEN DESTRUCTION.
Cassius peered into the garden world below him. They called this planet Shanxi home-no, one of the homes of a race called humans. When they exited the jump using the relay they didn't face any resistance whatsoever. Only satellites covered in weird symbols, when they cut it in half they found no wiring whatsoever, only inks, paper, and more of those strange symbols. Their technology is strange. Using runes to power their equipment by absorbing some form of energy into their machine. Cassius would call it magic, but that would destroy every conventional knowledge he had about the universe. Lieutenant Vieux is already almost driven into madness by such a primitive species that manage to travel the stars using only ink and symbols. He doesn't want to share the same fate.
Then they scam the planet itself. One city, one city that doesn't even have a population near 1 million. This isn't their homeworld, it's their colony. The realization made the old Commodore realize his mistake. From the planet's surface came multiple lasers of unidentified energy. It is slow and easy to dodge. That doesn't mean the turian avoids damage. Just being near that cumulative of weird directed energy made our shield take a considerable amount of damage. When he looked back at where those lasers had hit. A rather large asteroid the size of a small moon was destroyed. Cassius doesn't want to imagine what a direct hit would look like.
The Commodore finally this time having some sense ordered to locate where these aliens were firing their battery of laser weapons ordering our onboard troops to destroy it at all costs and ordered one of our frigates to request reinforcement from the hierarchy. The Turian marines located these fixed firing positions and using transport vehicles dropped their troops. 5 hours into the operation were massacred. Of the original 2.000-strong strike force only 719 returned alive with heavy injury. All of them spoke of the same thing: devils. The recording in their helmet gave the patrol fleet the first image of humans. The first thing Cassius notices is that they're weirdly similar to Asari; the difference is they have hair in a variety of colors, different skin colors, and two genders. Reinforcement arrives just in time to save us 30 minutes after the Turian 5th and 12th fleet unloaded their troops planetside with the mission to take the planet-only city. Something that we will never overcome is now in front of us on the fabric of reality itself a weird symbol appeared and all of us felt fear.
"How many ships do they have Lieutenant Vieux?" Asked the Commodore.
"198 ships sir," he gulped, "80 frigates, 50 destroyers, 45 cruisers, 23 dreadnoughts," two more ships with just a glance Cassius can already see their length is about a quarter of the length of the citadel itself. "And yeah those two. Permission to use the toilet, sir?"
"Denied."The Commodore said immediately.
"Oh ok," he sounded meek.
"You've doomed us all Commodore. You fucking idiot!!!" Cassius shouted at him, unable to contain his anger. He only stood regretting the choice he made. "You've doomed us all!!!"
No answer; only silence from the man that will be written down in history as a failure, an incompetent fool that brought war to the galaxy.
……
I've been thinking about the concept of this fic for 6 months and just now I've finished the outline of how it would work. If you expect a fast update I'm sorry this one will be monthly. I have too many fics in my hand.
And I have to study hard for university.
Ok bye