XxX ~ xx ~ XxX ~ xx ~ XxX ~ xx ~ XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Over a short bridge and behind makeshift barricades were a dozen or so heavily armed men and women of all ages, species, and creeds, armors mixed and not uniform in any form of the word, weapons of all types and all qualities and quantities. Two had pushed past the largest barricade and onto the bridge as the Gunship above them swirled out of control, but before they could make it to the building in front of them, one was dropped with a shot to the skull, and the other was stuck with a flaming orange device through the heart. Inside the building were Garrus Vakarian and Emily Shepard, guarding their position.

It looked as if that had discouraged the rest, as a few fled back out of the way and only potshots from back alley snipers were pinging the walls around the window. Sitting down, Garrus groaned in exhaustion. "Tarak's gonna be pissed you gave me a shot to the engine. That thing won't be up for a while unless they have some engineers... I still think we need to kill the bastard and get ready to escape this place."

Crouching beside him and giving him her last spare clip, Shepard nodded. "I know... We will. Just not yet. Keep them back, but don't end it. If whoever is supposed to come to recruit Omega's Archangel doesn't show in the next four hours, we tear them apart."

Garrus sighed with mild exhaustion; "You think... Naruto really is back?"

"...I'm going with my gut," Emily was quiet for a long minute before she spoke.

"Assuming it is him, and he's really on his way with Cerberus agents in tow... What exactly is your plan? You've been fighting Cerberus for two years, if this is your brother he'd not be actively fighting on their side without some kind of VERY good reason after his history with them. What makes you think this situation isn't complicated enough to be... Oh, what's that word he always used? Flubber?" Remembering one time he heard the blonde rival marksman's usual non-professional banter sometimes. As much as it was the strangest thing to a military-raised Turian, Garrus missed those times dearly.

A minute of thought on what the heck that word was trying to imitate, it had come to her with a soft smile. "Fubar. An acronym that means; 'fucked up beyond all recognition'. Not bad on trying to use it, almost accurate in that scenario. I still don't know, but I've got several theories. So many, based on so many rumors, with evidence enough for any to be correct. Were you with me when we found the AI research Cerberus was doing? Can't remember, hitting so many bases leaves my head fuzzy on the dates these days

"It has felt like ages ago, doesn't it? Spirits..."

Shepard rolled her shoulders; "So many damn rumors floating around, hard to keep up anymore. But go with the Intel Hackett gave."

Sitting by the Dextro, Emily just relaxed, as everything seemed quiet. "I did find something strange, though. Rumor hit the net about some sort of being that snuck around places of importance. No one had the chance to see this being, but there were several times people apparently saw a strange armor design, sort of a hack and slash style put together thing. A part of it even had an old piece of armor welded on, with the N7 logo on it, and a scorched-off nameplate, the only visible letters spelling 'maki'. It was seen on Feros, a scientist swore seeing it on Ilos."

"Any chance that it was Naruto, but he lost his memory after somehow surviving planetside?"

"Not a chance. You didn't see Liara before leaving for your own devices, did you? I followed up on what she sent us that one time. She found Naruto's body, told me no one would be alive from what she saw of it. She said she lost it shortly after and hasn't gotten word on any leads since." Remembering what the Asari friend of theirs said made Shepard feel like the Cerberus link made more sense now. "Regardless, I found that creature wearing the N7 armor. It was a single lone Geth, with a hole in its chest being covered by that piece of armor."

If a Turian had eyebrows, Garrus would have raised his; "Geth? Only one Geth?"

"I know it sounds weird."

"Weird would be seeing Wrex in one of those dance vids on the extranet. This sounds outright bizarre." The Turian went quiet for a moment as he thought; "But the way it sounds like it's following or tracking where you and Naruto along with the rest of us went."

Emily leaned against the wall; "I had a feeling you'd say that. But why one Geth? An assassin model? But why wear a portion of N7 armor?"

"Your guess is as good as mine, though likely more colorful."

Shepard could only scoff with a playful shove of her Turian friend. Sighing, however, she had her own theory. "Evidence so far shows Cerberus operating with AI, and I picked up echoes of a project somewhere with Geth being used in experiments from the group. Add on the most interestingly bizarre part of that Geth unit being a skilled marksman with a sniper rifle, seeing it take down a beast a mile out with thick hide and a single shot? No Geth we've met handles a rifle that well. Maybe Cerberus has an AI that's imprinted with my brother's personality in some form of infiltration unit. One that's not obviously a robot like the Geth."

A thought popped into the vigilante's head. "Cerberus making an actual AI that's got the memories and skills of THE Son of Mercy, sounds like Mouse on the Citadel's got a hand in it; remember that human male that was selling illegal VI's of Naruto? Maybe we pay him a visit after we get out of here."

At that Emily gave a deadpan; "That sounds sloppy. Not even Cerberus would use some random VI from a small timer."

"Was a thought."

The Captain sighed; "At any rate. We won't know until we get out of this mess. Tarak and Garm will not make this easy."

"Agreed. Tarak's scared shitless after I harassed him for months, and Garm's not taking a head-on approach until he knows he can get close without needing that helmet of his. As long as they stay scared, we can wait it out. Four hours, right?" Garrus checked his rifle, making sure every heatsink they had that had even a single shot left was ready for use. "Let's make it count."

"Always, Vakarian." They could hear the scuffling of barricades. It was going to be a long four hours...

XxX xx XxX

"UP TOP!" Not a second later, the Vorcha who was shooting rockets at them from a balcony up and away from them by a long shot was already falling, a bullet right to the skull. They had made their way into the large industrial warehouse district, the giant vents of the station's atmospheric controls above them, and with hard-to-reach targets launching high explosives at them.

Jacob was in cover with the others; "Have I mentioned Vorcha are annoying little shits?"

"Noted;" Naruto quipped; "And the Krogan helping them are even worse."

Miranda typed quickly on her Omni-tool; "We need to get the cure disputed and fans working or every alien race in this ward will die."

"Well, at least she's not xenophobic. Still, the time to figure her out will come later." Knowing she was right and doing what was their objective was were two very different situations. "Singularity, someone hit the two Krogan at the door close enough to launch a grenade!" Grabbing his launcher, Naruto grabbed the one in the launcher and used his Omni-tool to introduce an incendiary charge to the core. Making it unstable enough to cause an eruption with an area of effect, but not enough to short out without an outside force.

"Copy! Jacob, pull the Vorcha with the flamethrower out of cover!" Flaring her power, the tight-suited scientist generated the field ready in her palm.

Generating a barrier around him, the soldier got from cover to do as he was asked, grabbing the Vorcha with the tanks on his back into the air as he tried to run for the stairs. As he was pulled up at speed, Miranda tossed the volley directly for the center of the area with the door, where many of the Blood Pack was still holding out.

Seeing that Vorcha careening into the air, the leading member of the squad generated a signal that made the internal workings for the gas and fire rupture, causing it to explode and kill the offending enemy of his deadly intention. With his line of fire free, Naruto fired his launcher, the unstable grenade being sucked right into the vortex of the large and expanded Singularity field that was pulling several of the Vorcha and Krogan from cover, though some of them were holding on to anything they could grab to keep in cover.

It did not help them, as the Grenade's instability was ruptured from the high compression field, causing it to explode with enough force and fire to cause the field to suddenly and violently burst into an inferno ball of flame, exploding with such force it killed every single out of cover enemy and caused those that could still get into cover to suddenly be lit up by highly compressed heat, a Plasma scorching through their armor and causing them intense pain as they ran around trying to get the burning sections of armor off their bodies even as their flesh was being seared through.

It was only inevitable they were then cut into by the rapidly incoming fire from the three-man squad, cutting through them like butter, even the Krogan were filled with enough lethal gunshots to drop dead on the floor. After a few seconds of silence, Jacob holstered his shotgun. "Seems clear, Commander."

"Let's get this over with," Naruto declared as they went for the main machine of the ventilation system.

Miranda let out a long sigh; "Maybe Aria will be more pleasant after this."

"Doubtful..."

"What, helping make sure her station doesn't succumb to a horrifyingly visceral virus that would end her life in a week? Yeah, just another weekend outing I guess. No different than the Council there." Jacob scoffed and shook his head. The trio made their way down to the carnage in the small plaza.

Not really caring about the small details to talk much, the team did find it strange. The group here didn't seem like a defense group, more like reinforcement coming in. They might have saved themselves an even harder fight in the actual system further in. Though what Jacob said made his partner curious. "How so?"

The two Cerberus agents looked to each other a moment before Jacob gave the signal to Miranda about it. As the team stopped for a second, the biotic woman tried to explain clear but quickly. "No less than two months before you died on the Normandy, Batarians sent an Ambassador to the Citadel to negotiate a peace between us and them. Of course, the face value of it all was a facade; even if many wanted to believe our continued discord with the Batarians would finally end. Turns out, they were trying to kill every high-ranking political leader they could with a biological attack. Jacob was on vacation, I was sent in to find evidence of this attack. Long story short, we managed to save the Citadel from a horrible viral gas, but it was not exactly public knowledge."

Naruto looked impressed; "This is the same Cerberus I fought right?"

"As I said, not everyone is a racist bigot in this bunch," Jacob remarked.

Miranda continued; "Rather we simply want to elevate humanity to have equal footing with the other races. By all accounts we are a thousand years behind the Turians, Salarians, and most definitely the Asari. There isn't malice or prejudice in the majority of us for any of the other races. And while yes many of our methods are questionable, are the other races free from dirty hands?"

"We both know that's not true. But ethics and morality should be held instead of immoral experiments."

"As we've tried to communicate to you, the cells you've fought against were rogue units. Freedom of expression is something that's a double-edged sword, it's restricted by the Alliance but desired by everyone, even yourself. The Alliance brass will punish anyone doing the right thing because it was against the rules, but let someone have too much freedom and they might go too far. The solution is finding the middle ground of accountability without the red tape."

"And sometimes the Red Tape is there for the very reason of not letting things get so out of hand that it's practically mass murder. Rogue or not, they were Cerberus." Catching himself, the blonde shrugged it off. "I said I'd be open to seeing Cerberus from all sides of the arguments, but don't expect me to believe without evidence that everything immoral was just a rogue cell. We're on the clock, we shouldn't be stopping here actually, let's get this cure in, and then we can talk about it."

"Aye, Aye, Commander." Jacob looked to Miranda, who shrugged herself, and then the three kept going the path to the environmental station.

It didn't take long before they started hearing voices ahead, though it didn't sound like the growling of Vorcha. It also sounded like two parties arguing about something, one sounding very scared.

"We know you were spreading the virus," The voice was unmistakably Batarian who yelled in accusing.

"No! I was administering the cure for people!"

"LIES!"

"It's the truth!"

The team had their weapons at the ready as they neared a door where they heard the screaming. Nodding to Jacob, the former Alliance soldier typed on the console door opening it to find a group of Batarians surrounding a human man in medical fatigues.

Despite the obvious terror in the man's eyes he kept pleading to his aggressors; "Please all I want to do is help you and everyone in the ward! I want to stop this madness and cure everyone!"

"Put your weapons down!" Naruto had his drawn and aimed for the primary agitator, "He's not your enemy!"

Quickly, the Batarian growled and pulled the human doctor into his chest and served him up as a hostage and bullet sponge. "You drop yours! Humans, all alike! No mercy for the Batarians!"

"Says the ones who were showing no mercy for anyone else in their way. Quite hypocritical for you to be so angry over a virus when your people did it first." Miranda readied her biotic field, hoping for the command to fire.

Although one of the Batarians, with all of them having gotten ready to defend themselves when the order to drop weapons was issued, noticed who it was. "It's Uzumaki! Wait!" This one lowered his gun. "Let's hear him out. At least for now." Something about this Batarian was familiar to the blonde alliance officer.

"Professor Mordin Solus was able to create a cure for this plague, but I need to administer it to the ventilation."

The lead Batarian sneered; "That Salarian madman."

Jacob came to Naruto's side; "That madman wants to fix this."

The Batarian looked unconvinced as the blond spoke again; "Give me a chance to prove you wrong about us humans. But let your hostage go."

"What have we got to lose," The Batarian who called out Naruto addressed; "Either we die from this plague or a bullet. I'd rather not be both."

A few seconds passed. The leader of the group scoffed hard with bared teeth but softened up. "We let him go, you let us go, deal?" Getting a nod, the four-eyed resident put his gun up and let the assistant to Mordin go, and Daniel scurried to the side as all guns from the Batarians were put away.

"Guess we're both wrong about the other side, huh? There can be cooperation and respect." Putting his gun away, Naruto came up and offered a hand. "Get to the clinic while you can. The doctor will keep you safe until I can get the cure in the air."

With the fact his companions also put their guns away, it was finally a situation dealt with. Choosing to shake the blonde's hand, the Batarian hummed. "Guess so, human. Just be careful, the Vorcha are many and have been coming through in waves since this all started."

"There are a few Krogan with them; a battlemaster Horsan Grax is leading them. Watch out for him, he's twisted. Even by Krogan standards." With that, the Batarians left the room.

Daniel sighed out; "Thank you for saving me. And stopping them. Did Mordin send you?"

"Yes," Miranda nodded; "We cleared the path to the clinic so you can get back safely."

"Thank you. I don't see honesty much here in the lower regions of Omega, I half expected a shootout." Daniel started gathering his supplies to start his way back.

Getting to the door, the Commander chuckled. "Someone has to start showing it before it becomes commonplace. Keep an eye on yourself, alright? Let's go, guys, no more time to waste."

As they moved further in, Jacob could almost smell the atmosphere. "Getting close. If that Batarian is right, we'll be getting into another rough firefight." Taking a glance at the blonde, the soldier was worried. "You may not have a choice in the matter of using your biotics."

Miranda was quick to speak; "If you have no other choice I suggest keeping it as minimal as possible. Your body is still adjusting to your new level of biotics."

"Noted;" The blond huffed as he put in a new thermal clip and they began to leave the room.

Passing through a long hall they reach an area with a flight of stairs going up. As well as several Vorcha and Krogan waiting for them as they start firing.

Getting behind cover, the three managed to take little hits, thankfully the barriers they had were hard enough to withstand the VERY high amount of bullets whizzing by. "Well, they weren't distracted it seems!"

A moment had passed whilst the team tried to get an angle on the battlefield, but it was long enough for the firing to stop, and one of the Vorcha to speak. "Haahhh! We knew the doctor would send someone to stop us! I did not expect the once dead Son of Mercy to appear. The Collectors will be very pleased when we bring them your corpse!"

Poking his head out a bit, he gestured the two with his hands, hoping they would understand when he saw the place where they should strike. "Yeah? Did they want this plague too? What purpose does this serve, vermin?"

The Vorcha hissed; "Why ask dumb question when about to die!"

"Not much for conversation is he," Jacob reproached.

Miranda deadpanned; "You expect sophistication from Vorcha?"

"Counter argument, why answer when you're about to die?" Feeling the pain in his head from attempting to cause a distraction, Naruto grunted through it to create a Singularity above all the enemies in the front of them but did not consider how much power he was able to produce, which was very little. "Create large explosions, but small friggin black holes, great."

Not wanting to overdo it, he instead shifted the smaller force down as the Vorcha started reacting to the red mass of energy above them, the Krogan already charging. "Keep the Krogan back! Miranda, off to the side! Jacob, some assistance!"

"Understood!" "Roger!"

Raising from cover, Jacob threw a forceful biotic pulse that knocked the closest Krogan backward and into the Singularity, and after reinforcing his barriers with his own biotic power, fired his shotgun into the next charging enemy. Swinging around the side, Miranda threw one of her spare thermal clips and it bounced off a Vorcha's arm, before suddenly bursting from the impact causing its internal core's unstable sabotage to erupt and blow said arm clean off, giving her a couple of shots to his heart and head.

As deadly as she was, she still had a Krogan charging her, and as she saw the Singularity behind him suddenly explode, she generated a lifting field right in front of him, giving her time to kill the brute. Though the armor of the massive Krogan was superior to her SMG's stopping power, causing her gun to overheat before she could get a kill shot in. As she started swapping thermal clips, the Krogan got reoriented enough to raise his shotgun, giving her a very bad feeling of dread.

It was gone in a second, though, as the shotgun suddenly sparked and the thing caused a severely powerful burst of heat and flame out of the exhaust folds that melted the armor right through and burning the Krogan's face. This gave the Cerberus agent enough time and even a clean shot to rapidly fill the enemy's head with lethal amounts of foreign matter at speed before he dropped from the waning powers of the field. "Thanks, Commander!"

The blond gave a nod as they inspected the area for more hostiles; "Clear!" Naruto sounded off with Jacob following. "So up those steps and we're at the ventilation."

"And likely where this Horsan Grax is," Miranda spoke checking over her SMG.

"Then let's not keep him waiting." The resurrected Spectre declared as they ran up the steps nearing the door that slides open. They entered an enormous structure that house two very giant fans meant to circulate the air in the ward.

And there stood a towering scarred Krogan in rage armor with a dozen Vorcha around him; "Never thought I'd see someone back from the dead," The Krogan smirked; "Horsan Grax."

"Hired gun of the collectors eh," Naruto remarked with his gun raised.

"They paid quite well to watch this place tear itself apart. Would be laughing to see Aria skinned alive by her people. But I'll settle for you Uzumaki. Maybe show that bastard Wrex I was always the best."

"Keep dreaming... Better yet, why the hell are you even accepting this virus? What, they didn't mention? Vorcha are immune to all diseases, they CAN'T die from this stuff, and it's engineered to not affect humans. You though? Everyone else in the galaxy? You'll die from this stuff too."

Chuckling, the warlord stepped up, his biotics flaring in a show of strength. "Oh, you think so? See, I knew the Salarian was working on a cure. I told these Vorcha to keep it intact. I'd be free and clear, with my men at the ready and healthy. So now, I kill you and take the cure whilst the place becomes a cesspool of rotten diseased corpses, and then we take the station over and start preparing for a whole galaxy-wide campaign."

They had to admit, the plan was creepily solid, even for a Krogan. Still, they didn't have much time. "We have to take on a small army here, what're your orders, Commander?"

The blond kept his eyes on Grax who was fixed solely on him; "Can you guys handle the Vorcha? I think our Krogan friend here wants a one on one with me."

Jacobs's biotics flared; "We got it, Commander, you handle tall, ugly, and demented there."

"Gladly... How about it, Grax? Let's take this somewhere none of our group can play dirty, just outside." He knew what he was asking because the room's space outside was a lot more constricted. Close range against a Warlord? Grax was almost manic with his grin, and once the nod came they both left the inside of the control center. As the doors closed, the firefight began.

Grax flared his biotic prowess even further as he stepped close to the blonde. "Heard about your superior biotics, even Justicars respect you. I faced one once, back when I was just starting out. She nearly killed me several times over in a few days. Let's see exactly how powerful you are."

Glaring at the large enemy before him, with blue head plate and fierce brown eyes staring at his blue orbs, Naruto knew he couldn't fight this guy with his biotics... But that just made what he was about to do that much more surprising. He was going to insult this guy the only way Grax would understand. "You're not worth it..."

The harshest of insults, Grax suddenly flared up in a rage, and stomped forward, head reared back before slamming forward. "RAAAAAHHH!" Though his smashing head-butt was met with a fierce high heel kick, causing him to be suddenly cartwheeled onto his back from the force of the kick.

Taking this chance to run and gain distance, Naruto got as far into the distance he could before hiding behind a wall. "That all you got, Grax?!"

"You RUNT! That's it, you're head is getting stuck on my war-pike and preserved in chrome!" Getting up, the angry Krogan roared in rage before sending a large force of biotics all around him in a shockwave.

Bullets started flying soon with Jacob and Miranda handling the Vorcha who attacked wildly. "Filthy humans!"

"You're not exactly beauty queens yourselves!" Jacob quipped

"Just like the time that we hit Omega together almost two years ago all over again. Feeling up for this, Jacob?" Gathering her small arms, the skin-tight suited agent prepared her barriers.

Preparing his own, Taylor had swapped thermals for his shotgun and breathed to steady himself. "Get ready for some feedback, we gotta end this once and for all, and make sure Grax doesn't kill Naruto. Delta seven?"

Looking over, he saw her smirk and nod. Within seconds he ran from cover and got in the middle of the field. He used his biotics to pull over the first enemy he thought was a good target and as the Vorcha got close, he slapped the back of him with a disc before blasting him with a pulse sending him right back in. As the vast amount of enemies were firing at him, his barriers were just about to shatter when he was suddenly pulled in by Miranda, getting behind cover as she signaled that disc he planted and the Vorcha exploded, causing three others to die and two to get pretty hurt but not exactly out of the fight.

Thankfully, it was both an explosive and an EMP, causing the shielded enemies to lose all protection as she started firing both weapons into the fold, killing off another three or four enemies, including one Krogan who had managed to charge in undetected and got extremely close, enough so she shoved the SMG into his face and the last few rounds did him in before the SMG clicked and exhausted some extra heat build-up.

Her barriers starting to fail, she got behind cover again as the remaining Krogan and some of the Vorcha still alive started crowding in to surround their cover.

Her ocean blues soon took note of a Vorcha coming up some stairs hold a flame thrower; "Well our day just bloody improved," Sarcasm thick in her tone.

Grax was throwing around whatever he could get his biotic powers around, trashing the smaller space trying to find his human enemy. "COME OUT! Don't you DARE ignore me! I am not so weak to be beneath you, I will crush your skull!"

"It'll be hard to mount my head if my skull's been crushed!" Knowing full well he couldn't just use his biotics, he had to do something drastic and also very dangerous. With his Omni-tool ready, he waited. "Then again, you're not too bright huh? Too bad Wrex would have snapped your neck the moment he got close to you. Well, if he thought you even a threat!"

Because he spoke up, the large Krogan was able to figure out where he was. That was his plan all along, as Grax charged in and slammed the corner around where Naruto was and then came around to grab the blonde, only for everything to turn horrible for him. As soon as he turned the corner, he was suddenly flashed and blinded by a seriously bright light.

He couldn't tell when the light faded from sight what was going on, but he felt something hot coming his way and tried to kick out to stop the human from any funny ideas. It didn't, as he felt his face suddenly roast under some sort of intense heat, a fire burning away his flesh. Thankfully for him, he was a Krogan, with a redundant nervous system. Unthankfully, his eyes were burned and melted right out of his skull, causing him to permanently become blind as he flailed around, swinging his Biotics around like a wild maniac.

A few moments of this wild rage went by before he stopped and tried to listen. The noise from his rage dying down to heavy breathing and the noise of the sparking electronics that once were street signs but now broken. He didn't get much chance to hear where Naruto was, not before being brought to his knees by a kick shattering his kneecap and causing him to kneel from the sudden loss of support. "Uzumaki! You're DEAD!"

"You first, Grax... You know, people seem to forget that I took hand-to-hand combat training, and I've got high scores on all technical skills the Alliance could give me. I don't NEED my Biotics to beat you, even if they could work right." That got Grax's attention. Seeing the Krogan look confused, Naruto smiled softly. "That's right. Ever since I came back from the dead, my powers have been on the fritz. But no one alive who would face me as an enemy currently knows this. And none who would be my enemy and knows this will ever be alive to tell the tale. May the Goddess embrace you."

Planting his SMG to the Krogan's forehead, just under the plate, he pulled the trigger until the entire clip overheated.

The blond exhaled a long sigh; "Tough as hell but Wrex hit better during sparing." He gazed at Grax's corpse before sprinting back to the control room. He opened the door and started peering over to Miranda and Jacob who were finishing the Vorcha. He quickly came to their side to assist them. "Having fun!?"

"You have a strange definition of fun Commander," Miranda quipped.

"We got some snipers on the high ground, both sides. They can't pick us off here, but we're not exactly able to get close enough to hit them with any biotics without risk of headshots." Jacob looked around to the two sides, seeing some Vorcha moving around to gain a better vantage.

Getting his rifle up, the blonde sighed. "Alright... We just need one to make it, so here's how we get to it. Miranda, you got the cure, you get the system running." Naruto gave her the vial before turning to Jacob. "Toss her there, alright? The minute she gets there, she'll be targeted. That's my chance to start taking out visible targets. You head down that way-" Pointing to the rightmost path down. "And give them some hell with this." Shoving the heavy weapon into the hands of his partner, he nodded. "Got it?"

Jacob grinned; "You got it Uzumaki."

"I hate Omega..." Miranda groaned getting ready to run as her life depended on it.

"Noted, agreed, let's finish up here then. NOW!" Naruto jumped out of cover and sprinted to the nearest column cover on the side Jacob was heading to, rounding the dark-skinned soldier as he enveloped the Cerberus scientist in biotics and propelled her forward at a good speed to avoid any sniper fire from taking her out. As soon as she got close he let go and ran down the right side, clicking the loader and getting a grenade ready to launch.

The real fun began when Naruto knelt along the column as if sitting down in a chair as he took aim and popped the first Vorcha's head from out of cover the moment they tried firing at the rapidly moving woman below. Each head was quickly taken down, a third then fourth and before Naruto knew it his clip finally heated to ejection. As he changed thermal clips, he heard the first boom behind him, as Jacob took out the scaffolding on the near end and ran forward.

Rushing ahead to what looked like a room, Jacob ran away from the first scaffolding falling behind him and popped another grenade up to take the next section out. "Two more and we're done on this side!"

Moving up the way to the next column, the blonde kept an eye for any enemies ready to take Miranda out. "Almost through here!"

The chaos was a good thing, preventing much of the focused fire on Miranda, who had gotten to the controls and started putting in the commands and hacking the system back into operational order. As soon as the system started firing up, she slipped the vial into the dispersion center. "That should do it."

It was not as it seemed, however. The system was working, but the fans weren't all operational. They only delayed full asphyxiation by a few hours with the slowly building air pressure. "Damn it! We need to get to the fan control systems! They aren't hooked into the main console!"

"Who builds a system that needs separate control systems in several locations!?" All he could do was groan as he took out the next Vorcha in a second. As his next clip was being replaced, he heard Jacob's last explosion. "Done over there?!"

"Not quite! There's a control system here! I'll handle it!" Running into the room, the doors opened to a Krogan, who grabbed onto the soldier's neck and lifted him high. "AGH!"

"Ready to die?" The Krogan smiled viciously.

Jacob's biotics flared before sending the strongest throw he could muster sending the Krogan flying and letting go of the Corsair. Sucking in as much air as possible he soon aimed the grenade launcher at the Krogan who hit the wall at the far end but quickly rose. "Are you?" He pulled the trigger.

The explosion made the Krogan into a paste on the wall but thankfully did not damage the nearby console, which almost gave the short-haired man a heart attack. Knowing time was of the essence, Jacob rushed in and started the fans back up. "Omega's engineers are damned idiots. Not hooked up to the main console, but still to each other?" Once he hit the switch, every fan worked overtime, and the main console was ready to fully send the cure free. "All systems go!"

Seeing the system fully engaged on their end, and the cure's particles flying off into the pipes, Miranda walked up to Naruto who was calm and standing still, just looking around. "Any other surprises?"

"Doesn't seem so. No more Vorcha on the rafters, every Krogan down, we've got it done. The district should cool off, but Omega's nothing if not a giant vacuum of crime. Chaos first, then a new power shows up to 'demand rent for protection' as it happens to become."

"How it was when you ran with the foxes?"

Scoffing, the blonde started walking for the doors. "We didn't, though others tried on us. If anything, we threw our own punches back at the assholes. Let's get back and see how the clinic is faring, then get Mordin on board. Jacob!?"

Not long from being called, the former alliance officer pulled out from the rubble, huffing as he had gone through a lot of exertion. "Here. On our way back?"

"You know it. Fall in, Taylor." With that, they made their backtrack trip to the Salarian doctor.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

With no Vorcha or Krogan, the team made their way through the district quickly. Returning to Mordin's clinic they noticed the couple they ran into along with the sick Batarian they found when first arriving. Checking on them, they offered their gratitude for saving their lives. The Batarian especially admitting he was wrong about humans in general.

Going through the hall they entered the former STG's operation room while he was tending to a wounded Turian beside a grateful Daniel. "Ah! Your work was successful. Cure dispensed, Vorcha and Krogan dealt with, and district safe and secure. Well done, Uzumaki."

"You should know my resume, I don't give up until the job is done."

Finalizing his work, the doctor smiled brightly. "Of course. STG files know your work very well. Though always believed in personal experience. Clear to me now, your drive is unstoppable. Even when asked small favor, you do as you promise." With a lower grateful voice, the Salarian bowed his head. "Cannot thank you enough for Daniel. Bright kid, taking over in my absence."

"But doctor!" Daniel stopped his work to look to his mentor. "We're still just getting things recovered, we might still need your help."

Shaking his head, the good doctor took a sharp breath in, steeling himself. "Not quite, you can do just as well without me. Naive, maybe, but a great physician. Besides, promised to join once plague was dealt with, importance of keeping promises already explained to you."

Daniel looked hurt but understood as he gave a nod; "Okay, thank you for everything professor."

The old Salarian nodded before turning back to Naruto; "Ready to leave Omega when you are."

"Not leaving here just yet," Miranda explained; "We're also at this station for Archangel."

"Hmm, heard of him. Been causing trouble for the merc groups and slavers throughout the station. Smart, skilled, very effective." Mordin mused.

"And, my sister is with him. So it's definitely past time we get to them." Turning to Miranda, the blonde sighed. "As much as numbers would help, it's probably best not to take the entire team out for them. Make sure the clinic's secure, and get Mordin settled into the Normandy. Jacob and I will meet up with Zaeed and figure out our next move, probably going in with the merc groups and figuring out ways to bring them down so we can get out easier."

"Understood, Commander," Miranda nodded as she motioned for the doctor; "This way professor."

Mordin gave a nod; "Yes, but do be careful Uzumaki. The leaders going after Archangel are extremely dangerous."

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

After speaking with Aria's guards, the team splitters as Naruto and Jacob went to the afterlife to meet up with Zaeed.

Coming into the club, Naruto saw Zaeed waiting by the bar. "Took ya long enough. Got some information, thought you'd appreciate it when you finally turned up."

"What's the word?"

Crossing his arms, the rough riding mercenary was almost cocky about the situation. "Well, they've been throwing every able body that takes the job at your sister and this Archangel guy, but they are getting rather strained. At this point, Tarak's got no choice. No chance either, by the sounds of it. With the leader of the Eclipse gone, and the Blood Pack bringing in major explosives from their warehouses to the party, it's obvious they are going to do something drastic to get this one Turian bastard. No idea who he is, but I already like him. Set up at a dead end with the only way in being an exposed section of street and a bridge."

Looking at his blonde partner, the soldier was impressed. "Sounds like it'll be easier getting in, and once we're all there it's a fire-squad getting out. Chances are good, Naruto."

"I already got us an in, we just step in, I pay the upfront price, and we get transport via the Suns. Easy enough."

"Then let's go," Naruto remarked as they follow Zaeed; "You familiar with these merc bosses?"

The older man gave a nod; "Know Tarak, the Batarian shithead, but he's one hell of negotiator and fighter. Though I hear he'd gotten a bit lazy on Omega. Least 'till Archangel showed up and started raising hell."

As the team got into the booth, Zaeed put forward a chit. The Batarian hummed. "Alright. You weren't kidding, a three-man team. The cost is upfront, as agreed. Alright, you're in the system now." After inputting the information, the gang member sighed. "For you two, as I explained to this guy, you bring your personal armor and weapons, no problem there it seems, and this exchange does not make you a part of any of the three gangs, you are freelancers, no exceptions. If your buddies die, you don't get their cut, and you report to the sergeant, the transport driver will tell you where they are. If that's all, the car's going to be waiting for you outside the club. Next in line please."

As the three started leaving, Naruto saw a VERY young man in very poorly maintained clothing and a severely bad-looking firearm brush past them. "This the place for joining up as a merc?"

"How old are you?" The blond called out garnering the young man's attention as well as the Batarian.

"Old enough," The kid spoke defiantly; "Heard there was some action and wanted to get into it!"

Zaeed snorted; "Kid, about the only thing you'll get, is a bullet in the skull."

The kid glared; "I got skills, old man!" He pulled out an SMG; "I just got this baby and want to-" His gun was soon snatched by Naruto who quickly dismantled the firearm, rendering it unworkable; "That cost me six hundred credits!"

"You'll thank me later, get a refund." Naruto quipped handing the younger man his broken gun.

"Be glad, kid. That thing wouldn't have worked anyway, whoever sold it to you obviously sold you a dud." Jacob followed quickly as the kid was deflated. It didn't take long for the trio to get to the transport, and start their way in.

As they landed, the Batarian got ready for his return trip. "Alright, off you go. Follow the barricades to Cathka, he's by the downed gunship. Be careful, the street's got every sightline from here to the building those two are in. As much as think we should take out that Turian, the moment Shepard joined the fight was the moment we were never going to win."

The blond gave a nod; "Thanks."

"Getting in will be easy," Zaeed quipped as they strolled through the district; "Getting out will be a bitch."

Gunfire catches their attention seeing a few mercs standing at a guard post.

As they saw one of the Eclipse at a far door gesture them over, the team started past only to have one guy get shot through with a single round and get blasted off the post and onto the floor next to them. Choosing not to let the next shot get any closer to them, the trio ran past the open firing line and into the building for cover.

The team got in and saw several mercs and gang members of various states of pain. "Damn, whoever this Turian is he has to be retired special forces. This kind of damage was done before my sister even arrived? That's impressive."

The team started heading through when Edi came onto the communications. "I have not been able to plot a course through in a safe way from your position. Unfortunately, you will have to risk being shot yourselves in order to get closer. Also, I recommend attempting to sabotage any or all systems from the gangs that could make your escape more troublesome."

Thankfully only they heard her. As Naruto pressed onto his Omni-tool to send EDI an affirmative without speaking, Jacob noticed a manifest and grabbed onto it. "Interesting..." Pocketing it, for the time being, he followed Naruto to the door. "Got something that might make things go smoothly with Aria."

They came to a door that opened showing a dozen LOKI and one YMIR mechs. "Guessing the Eclipse never got to use these since most are gone," Jacob spoke up.

"Tarak will put them to use," The aged merc addressed; "Might want to change that."

Naruto nodded as he went for the terminal connecting to the mech. The door to the room close with the blond getting to work.

It didn't take long, the mech's software was shut down so putting in a simple virus was not going to be noticed. Getting out of there, the team saw Vorcha guarding two doors. Going through the one that seemed to be a building to go through, they were met with an angry giant red armored brute of a Krogan. "And I told you to get us an IN! When are those tunnels going to be cleared?!" The human in blue armor was knocked clean out and on his ass on the floor before he could answer. "Stupid Suns... Wonder why I even listen to their idiot plans."

The Krogan's mood had gotten worse at the sight of three humans walking in; "Lovely, more idiots hired by the suns."

"And who are you besides a ray of endless sunshine," Naruto quipped back.

"Garm, all you need to know human. You want a conversation? Head elsewhere."

Not wanting to provoke the giant Krogan they left into a large hallway with makeshift walls and platforms for the mercs and the remaining Eclipse taking shots at Archangel.

Though the open path was ill-advised, the three managed to get through alive... even though Naruto had taken a shot to the shoulder that miraculously didn't go through his shields. As the team got around, they checked the armor. "Not a scratch. That thing felt like a jackhammer though, why didn't it go through?"

Zaeed hummed aloud. "Interesting..." He knew the sound of a shock hitting the shields. In fact, he used something just like it. "It's a concussion blast. Some of the newer model rifles tend to lack power for penetration, but some models have a program system that anyone who knows their weapon can take advantage of. Almost like the older shotgun models where you launch a larger projectile at high velocity but also higher resistance. It doesn't pierce armor, but its main purpose is to obliterate shields."

That made the blonde have so many questions. But they didn't have time to answer them. Still, one was curious to him. "Either he thought my shields were stronger than normal, on the fly, or he wants me alive. The latter seems unlikely, but…"

Finally making it to the last barricade, the team had found on the other side a gunship, with a mechanic working to fix it. As they got closer to one of the other Mercs, they had to ask. "Where's the one in charge here?"

"If you're looking for the main boss of this thing, Tarak's held up in the room over there." He pointed to a nearby door and huffed. "If you're with the infiltration team, the Sergeant is over by the gunship, but that bitch of a Spectre is tearing us apart."

As if to make a point that she didn't hear, one of the guys from the barricade got up to fire only to be shot to the floor. The team looked to see an orange device sticking through his head. Looking at it, the revived natural biotic sniper was impressed, seeing it was a literal piece of hard light from Omni-gel with incendiary properties burning away at the dead mercenary's skull. Jacob whistled. "I wonder if that means she's running low on ammo."

"She's been drilling dozens of us with those things, ever since she got here. If that's her being out of ammo, I would rather take a bullet." Scoffing, the man was having a mental breakdown. "I ain't moving from this spot, whatever you do just do it. I didn't sign up to fight a goddamned Spectre!"

"If you're not up for it why haven't you left?" Jacob question.

The merc gave a pointed look; "A guy did once hearing a Spectre is helping Archangel. Garm blasted his head off."

"Guys, I think we should visit Tarak. The jackass will probably be able to tell us what the full plan is if I ask. Maybe that would give us an edge..." The old merc had a point.

Following Zaeed's advice, they went through the sliding door entering a hall. And could hearing a Batarian yelling wildly; "I'd say your old buddy is angry," Jacob quipped.

The old merc grunted as they entered a second room where a group of Suns was standing around by one Batarian screaming. Tarak's eyes glanced up; "Who brought these... Zaeed!?"

"What crawled up your ass," Zaeed jested.

"A who, actually, and I'm in deep trouble! This guy's harassed me for months, he's almost had my head a dozen times! Traps in my home, assassination attempts when I'm having dinner, it's been relentless!" Tarak slammed the table with his fist. "And now he's got that damned Spectre here! Without his team he was vulnerable, but now... I just know if we don't take him out today, we're all doomed."

"I see. The last time this happened, you did the same thing as now, negotiations with former enemies to gain some ground. Garm know you'll probably tear the pack's cut from their greedy fingers?"

Tarak huffed; "Like I give a shit about that Krogan blowhard. But it is damn good to see a friendly face."

"Likewise..." Stepping up, the one-eyed merc was going to make this quick. "What exactly do you got planned? You want this guy dead, but he's got you down a kill zone. Seeing as we're the infiltration team, I'd feel better knowing what is in your sleeve when we manage to sneak past the bridge."

Getting a call suddenly, Tarak cursed under his breath. "Yeah?... Shit... Can it still fly?" Looking his way to the three mercs with him now, he nodded. "Get it as in working order as you can, we may not have a choice but to use it if things go south." Setting the call down, he sighed. "I got some planning to do here, but my Lieutenant can fill you in. Don't take too much time, Cathka's getting the all-clear to run our final team down that Kill zone. Maybe with you here, I got a chance."

Zaeed gave a nod; "You never know."

The human female Lieutenant walked over; "Glad you know Tarak. He hates dealing with freelancers."

"I remember," The old merc nodded; "So what does he have planned to get Archangel?"

A rocket launched from the barricade, trying to hit anything that could cripple the duo in the building across the bridge. Though it was unknowingly disarmed through a cyber-attack thanks to the Spectre, and with her rifle she gave covering fire to make the immediate threat duck. "Think he's got the message?"

"If he didn't, he'll figure it out soon." Gathering his next thermal clip, he noticed his ammo compartment. "Shields went down, he's fine. How he moved was clear, it's no machine under that armor." With twitching mandibles, the Turian was surprised with how much of the metal was shaven off at this point. Forgetting it, for the moment, he got up and tried to take out the bigger threat with the launcher.

His blue eyes gazed through his scope, setting his sights on the armored woman holding the weapon in question. His breath was even, his heart calm before pulling the trigger. The enemy had zero time to react as the bullet went through her shields and armor, going through her skull. She collapsed like a broken puppet no longer held up by strings.

"Well, that's another headache out of the way." Garrus quipped getting back to cover.

Light amusement danced on Emily's face; "And only a dozen more mercs to deal with."

Didn't take long before seeing the team make their way, and fast, across the way to the downed gunship. "They're on the move again. Shouldn't be much longer. I don't see anyone else coming down the entry point, they must be out of volunteers. Tarak's plan will probably be an all-out rush to the door with every able-bodied mercenary they have on the barricades."

"Think they've got the ship operational?" After they put it down, it wouldn't ever be fully operational for weeks, but the worry was the short-term fight they'd make it go through for one last attempt.

"We'll see." And they did. As the forces stopped firing, the entire street became silent. "Get ready..."

Within minutes, every single Merc started pouring through the bridge, jumping the wrecked taxi that Shepard crashed getting there, dozens coming along with several mechs from the back coming in and carrying a YMIR. The full-on assault had started, and the one-armed woman launched an incinerating blast at the closest runner, which hit the ground next to him when he tried dodging out of the way. Unfortunately, it was under lots of pressure and when it erupted it did so with a very large fireball that launched two runners off the left, three of the right, of the bridge, and the dude who dodged lost a leg and was flung into the ground forward with his weapon launched from his hands.

Any runner still coming was easily picked off by every shot taken from the Ex-C-Sec agent's sniper, head after head and heart after heart shot through until the clip overheated. Not a single runner was making it through with the shotgun fire taking out the remaining runners of at least their shields before being shot through the heart by a flaming bolt of hardened Omni-gel.

The three-man squad they were waiting for finally dropped in ahead of the mechs, giving the duo a rest to set things up for the inevitable ambush of the mechs coming in. Emily saw what seemed to be her brother closer now, and the face was unmistakable with whiskers and all. Her helmet, as was Garrus', was on so when he looked up he only saw the armor. As they came in, both she and her Turian friend tossed out two devices across the bridge and waited.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

As Naruto and company ran across the bridge they saw the devices flung towards them. Comms they quickly put in their ears; "Emily..." Naruto muttered.

The other end was silence before coming to life; "My fifteenth birthday."

"Found the entire Star Wars collection and we all watched it in one day."

"Get your butts in here and we can get to taking how the hell you're alive and what Cerberus has to do with it. They chose to let the Mechs from the Eclipse do some work over any merc that chose not to come across."

"Don't worry, they activate that YMIR and we'll have plenty of time as it tears them a new one." Leading the team into the building the blonde found that the place was littered with so many VERY heated up thermal clips. Up the stairs, and into the main bedroom with the balcony the duo were fighting in, he was suddenly grabbed onto by his sister, whose helmet was off now.

Emily said not a word as she just held her brother close. Though her body shuddered wildly. Naruto only held her in return while looking to Archangel; "Garrus?!"

The Turian gave a nod; "Damn glad to see you alive too, Uzumaki."

"Heh, sorry I died before we got to finish the bet..." Grin and all, it made the hug from his sister tighter before he was let go. "Punch me all you need to, by the way. Pretty sure the whole galaxy thinks I'm suddenly part of their group of my own volition. Cerberus brought me back goddess knows how."

The old mercenary stared out the window a bit. "We should keep the reunion short, that mech might be hacked but it's not like we're done yet. Pretty sure Tarak's cursing my name out there."

The blond gave a nod as the siblings detached going into soldier mode; "The hired mercs look to be all but dead now." He walked over as the YMIR was still wreaking havoc.

"Yeah," Garrus quipped; "Leaving Tarak and Garm to deal with along with their gangs. Not easy by a long shot."

"Especially with our remaining supplies. I'm near out of Omni-gel, and we're both running on three clips each for a single gun only." Showing the last few by the couch, Shepard could only look to the fresh group with them. "Don't know how much you've got on you, but if we want out it'll have to be enough."

Fortunately, the blonde and his two comrades had gotten the details from the Batarian leader of this expedition. "Won't be much further. With their mechs, the mercs, and most of their forces already down by a large margin? They only have the last resort left, being Garm and Tarak. Garm's got his Blood Pack rigging explosives to whatever tunnels and back doors you got in this place, set to go off any minute now. If that fails, Tarak's jumping into his ship and coming for you with air support as any Suns still alive try and rush you guys."

"Still gonna be a tough fight, but at least it'll end quickly. Not to mention, we took out the engineer fixing the gunship, so it shouldn't be as problematic when it comes up." The darker man with them felt uneasy for a moment before understanding why. Looking out, he and the rest noticed that every mech was destroyed, including the YMIR now. "Seems our talk time is short."

All five took to cover to avoid any gunshots; "Garm and his crew will likely come from the tunnels. I need someone to deal with them," Garrus addressed.

"I'll handle that," Naruto remarked; "Jacob, you're with me. Zaeed, stay with Emily and Garrus."

His sister gave them a look; "You sure just you two?"

With a nod and short smile, the blonde assured her with his simple look. Turning to Garrus, he asked. "Where are your back doors?"

Pointing straight backward, Garrus explained. "Downstairs, back wall. I had to blow some of the entryways further out, so as long as they only get through one of the doors it won't be too hard. Then again, Tarak would've taken that into account... There are 3 bulkheads, close each of them and it'll cut them off entirely. No way in after that besides the side door, and we'll bottleneck them if that happens."

"On it. Cover us." With three rifles giving the gangs less accurate firing lines, Naruto and Jacob leaped over the couch and the indoor window, making it to the bottom level and racing their way to the back door.

Getting through, they saw the first bulkhead. "Alright, we cut them off here... Strange they haven't blown the tunnels open yet." Almost right after saying it, Naruto wanted to bite his tongue, cause not seconds later the floor shook as the explosions happened. Through the straight door, they could see the rubble flying from such an explosion down the long hallway.

Not letting a single second pass without action, the duo made their way to that first door. Seeing how the Bulkhead worked, made the previously dead Commander impressed. "One circuit activates the weights, and then it just piles on until the thing shuts and no amount of hacking will do a thing. He knew he'd have to close these eventually." As the timer started down to the door slamming shut for good, they saw Blood Pack coming their way. Thankfully, all they had to do was keep in cover.

With the door shut, they need not worry about that one, but they were now in need to get to the next two, one on each side. Heading to the right, Jacob led into the garage, which led into a backstreet and narrow corridor. Thing was, they saw an entire group pouring in before they could even touch the door. "Shit! We're not closing that thing easily."

"No?" Naruto grabbed a metal object and flared his biotics, thankfully this time he tried not to use too much power but he did have to imbue the object with the force needed. Turning the corner of the big truck he was behind, he chucked the object and it hit the button, causing the doors to start the countdown. With little time before he was being shot at, the blonde shot the button and made sure it couldn't be disabled. "We still have a dozen here, and any who make it through before that thing finally shuts on them!"

"Suppressive fire!" Jacob yelled as they kept the pressure of Vorcha and Varren charging them.

A stray bullet nicked the gas canister of a Vorcha wielding a flame thrower. The escaping gas was soon ablaze causing a large explosion sending many of its ilk flaying and burning.

Rifle in hand and Varren closing in, Naruto took to shooting the biggest brute he could see, a Krogan at the door with a heavy rifle sending several bullets at Jacob, who had to hide behind cover as his shields almost gave out from the starting spin of the flurry of metal. The Viper was just to his taste, firing a single shot took out the shields, and he was easily able to fire the next thanks to the low recoil as it punctured the armor of the helmet. Though it must have been stopped by the natural plate armor on the head of the Krogan, so he took two more shots as fast as he could as the Krogan started turning his fire at the one shooting him in the head.

He didn't get much into the blonde as the shields broke but he himself dropped as the sniper fire finally took him down. Jacob watched as his partner took that chance, but noticed a Varren coming around the corner with a Vorcha storming in behind him. "Behind!" Biotics flared, the former Corsair trainee sent that Vorcha into the wall.

The Varren launched itself at the unshielded human sniper, only to have an SMG shoved into its mouth and the rain of bullets into its body made it into holey meat. Taking his last few shots of his Sniper, Naruto took the Vorcha down and began to reload his clips. During this, Jacob turned to see the door as it slammed shut, and directly onto a Krogan and Varren who didn't hurry fast enough. Thankfully, this meant no more reinforcements.

Sad news, they still had a good few with guns after them. All of which were Vorcha, the Krogan troops were no longer a concern. "Alright, time for a headache." "YO! How much can you put into a Warp?"

"As much as needed, just toss what you got! I'll head around and flank!" With that said, Naruto flared his crimson energy and ran around the crates. The duo was ready to just end this, as Jacob lifted a large explosive device from the side, and pulled it into the middle of the group still firing at them. As it was in the air, Naruto grunted in pain as his head lit up with feedback as he sent a large ball of biotics into the device, and the resulting explosion was so huge it nearly brought the garage down on them all, but thankfully it only caused the floor at the door, and the ceiling above the explosion, to fall straight down and the enemy was no more.

Another explosion caught their attention as they saw a massive garage with a Blood Pack running in. At the head was Garm who growled at the sight of the two. "Kill those vermin!"

Naruto and Jacob were quick to cover as bullets started flying.

"Garm's here! Better get ready over there!" Popping up to toss a grenade, Naruto saw Garm running more towards the inside of the building. "He's on his way, we'll try getting behind him after we take on these Krogan shitheads!" The grenade blew, though the fire towards them didn't stop.

"Loud and clear, Tarak's already got the gunship up and running, he's going to wait until Garm's here probably to get us all in the crossfire. Suns closing in on all sides. Get back as soon as you can." Hearing his sister loud and clear, the Commander took his sniper and was ready to get through this.

Getting up to the window of the inside of the building, Zaeed and Shepard got ready to face every flanking enemy coming into the building, as Blue Suns were pouring into the other side of the building, and it did not take long for the doors to open up to Garm and a handful of Krogan soldiers. Seeing her robotic arm's small display, she cursed. "Great... Zaeed, try and take out any of the shields off those suns, alright?"

"Roger!" With a click of his rifle, Zaeed sent a Concussive blast that rippled through one of the Omni-Armor Blue Suns and started firing into them until his thermal overheated and hissed. Taking one down was enough for him as he got behind cover to get a new one in his gun. Looking up to Shepard, he noticed her Omni-Tool changed shape to what looked like a wrist-mounted crossbow that sent a flaming bolt into an enemy. "Well, that's a neat trick alright."

Naruto growled avoiding a stray flaming round while watching Jacob send a strong biotic shockwave through the enemy sending them flying. Biotically the blond pushed the garage button which closed thankfully automatically, leaving a small group of Vorcha to quickly deal with.

Hissing from feedback, Naruto got his SMG and flared his biotics even more. "COVER ME!" The last two Vorcha were in his sights as he pulsed a Barrier over himself to keep from getting hurt. As his red energy covered his being, and as he ran, the biotic powerhouse found himself with a familiar feeling, as suddenly he launched himself forward with instant propulsion and his body smacked right into one of the Vorcha, causing him to be launched into the wall of the building so hard his neck snapped from the impact.

Head ringing, body buzzing, all he could do was grab the gun arm of the last Vorcha and pull him in, smashing his head into the ugly alien gang member and then hammering his SMG into the Vorcha's neck and firing through his skull. As the Vorcha dropped, so did he to his knees. "Damn it... What the fuck did I just do?"

His old partner was quick to his side; "Not a clue, but can you keep going?"

"As if you have to ask." Immediately he started running with Jacob following as they went back to help Emily and the others.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Garm smiled with murderous glee walking into Archangel's main base. His eyes shot upwards to the second floor; "I'll finally crush that little Turian skull of yours." A high-speed bullet pierced through the head of one of his Vorcha making him shift his head.

The Krogan growled at the sight of Uzumaki and Taylor; "You're really starting to piss me off mammal."

"I haven't even gotten started big guy," Naruto smirked before charging the blood pack leader.

"First Archangel, then you. Get them!" Pointing at the duo he let loose the Krogan under his command to face them off as he ran his way up the stairs, shotgun unholstering in his hands.

Lifting the first Krogan, Jacob ran in and with his partner into the fray. One thing that the blonde taught him during their time training together was that a Krogan up close was deadly, but not very bright. Taking his shotgun, he blasted the lifted Krogan backward, though not killing him at that range yet, and pulled the charging Krogan coming for Naruto towards him instead.

With that out of the way, the Commander got blasted by a shotgun that took down his shields. Bringing up his barrier again, he tackled the one with the shotgun and stomped on his chest, slamming the barrel of his sniper to the head and firing two shots. His tackle gave the fourth Krogan an idea though, and the blonde was soon tackled and slammed into the pillar next to the stairs.

With a shotgun blast to one head and two more before overheating into the back and through the chest of the lifted Krogan, Jacob finished his end. But seeing his partner in trouble, the soldier charged in and kicked the back of the knees of the Krogan slamming his friend into the pillar. Giving Naruto a break, it also gave him leverage to pull his SMG and fire through the gang member's skull, making sure not to try through the plate on the head.

With them dropped, Naruto groaned and forced himself back up to take to the stairs. As they came in, however, they saw Garm dropped to the ground by Shepard. The Captain had managed to break both his legs and as the two walked in snapped his arms from his sockets. She held onto the back of the Blood Pack leader's head and looked to Garrus. "You had trouble with this one?"

Mandibles twitching in shock, the Turian could only shake his head in disbelief. "How the hell did you move like that?"

"Bau. After getting my arm back he gave me a week of training and drilling me into not letting anyone get the jump on me again. Great physical therapy for me."

"I have to thank him then," Naruto addressed taking in everyone to see how they were; "So this just leaves Tarak and the Suns."

Zaeed grunted; "You could hear him screaming all the way over here. Bloody bastard is seeing red now knowing I'm helping the guy who tried to off him a few dozen times."

"Which works in our favor as he gets sloppy when angry," Garrus remarked. "His Lieutenant is a pain in the ass though. We have to watch out for her."

Jacob rolled his neck popping it; "Damn this brings back old times."

"In the good way or bad?" Naruto saw his partner smirk and shrug, obviously in both ways. "We took out a fair amount of Suns before Garm got here."

"I'm still alive, assholes!" Garm grunted as he was unable to move his body except with a little wiggle. "And you'll pay for this!"

Deciding to end it himself, Garrus popped two rounds in the head and walked up to Zaeed. "How many more are left?"

After counting everything in his head, the old merc crossed his arms. "Besides that damned Gunship on its way? His right hand and a small fire team, about a dozen or so."

"Then we set up inside until all that is left is the gunship, and then we take him out gunship and all." Giving her brother a bump to the shoulder, Emily took to grabbing her rifle. "Running low here, make every shot count."

They were quick to take up good strong positions of cover and the best places to pick their spots. The adrenaline coursed through their veins like wildfire as they readied themselves for the last push from the remaining enemies.

Garrus kept what exhaustion was creeping in back as he held his sniper rifle.

Taylor let out a deep breath beside Zaeed who was the most relaxed of the group. His lone good eye narrowed as they all heard the sound of a gunship; "Here he comes..."

Naruto gripped his SMG tightly with his eyes faintly shifting from blue to red and back.

Something about this last push was causing the blonde to feel a well of power inside him, but not the same pain from feedback as he had before. Something about it felt familiar. But he had no time to think on it, as the Gunship started blasting the wall to the side out, much to Garrus' prediction.

As the wall blown open, the entire final group poured in guns blazing and pinning the group down behind metal shelving and cushioned couches. Pupping from cover, both Garrus and the mercenary with them popped off consecutive concussive blasts that tore the shields off four of the Suns coming in, which gave the other three shots to take them out, with Naruto firing burst rounds into one, then the one beside them before getting back behind cover as a sniper tore through his shields from the back, thankfully only getting his shoulder, nicking the armor mostly.

Getting one of the unshielded of the group, the Spectre fired into the chest of them and saw the sniper fire, quickly activating a very unusual signal that caused every gun in front of them to suddenly overheat their clips. With the Blue Suns all wondering what was going on, only one was on point by suddenly overloading Shepard's gun... and her arm, which went limp for the time being.

Finishing off the final unshielded enemy was Jacob, but as the electrical feedback in the area just jammed every Suns gun, and the overload taking their strongest fighter's mechanical arm offline, the first thing he could think of to give them breathing room was to cause a shockwave to erupt and blow backward the one who overloaded Shepard.

It didn't work, however, as the woman was shielded by a barrier before throwing a warp at him. As Garrus and Zaeed both took to firing and pinning down the rest of the suns, Shepard grabbed her rifle with her left arm and stood up to send her Concussive shot into the face of the barriers that were up for the troublesome gang member. Not letting up the trigger, she had broken not only the barriers, which shattered and caused the woman to recoil from the sudden vulnerability but had caused the secondary armor of Omni-gel to break as well. "GET HER NOW!"

Not needing another word, Naruto came up with his Sniper in hand and fired, but was surprised when one of the grunts blocked his shot, killing themselves to save the now ducking lieutenant. "Shit!" Not letting his chance go by, he shot just the very tip of the head off another blue sun in cover, which was enough to end their life of crime forever.

"Not fast enough asshole," The human woman yelled out checking her weapon. "I knew I'd seen you before blondie. Naruto Uzumaki!"

"Nice to meet ya!" He reloaded his gun; "Now kindly surrender!"

"Fuck you!"

Zaeed gave a partial smirk; "Well you managed to get her blood boiling."

After a moment, Shepard managed to get her arm working again. With full functionality, she broke cover to suddenly send out two large technical devices towards the Suns. "Take this one then! Thermal Crash!" One ball of pure white, the other of hellish red, the moment they met atop the remaining Suns was the moment they were done for.

The absolute cold and burning hellfire of her cryo and pyro tech launchers suddenly burst like a small nuke and caused the entire room to shake, and also cause such force that it snapped limbs and necks from the crushing force alone. But the aftermath was almost acidic as the dust that flew on the remaining living gang members corroded their armor and caused them to panic to get the hell out of there, which given the fact the only remaining left were only about five of them, six if the Lieutenant tried to move into the open, they were quickly dispatched by the remaining fire the group could send their way before their thermal clips were smoking from overheat.

With the remaining only being the problem of the bunch, the group was slowly making their way out from cover to get some distance and some flanking room. Each only had very few shots left in only their remaining weapons with still working thermal clips. "You're through! Surrender and let us through in peace, or you're dead!"

"I'd still kill her, brother." It was clear how two years changed his sister, as she glared down the barrel.

As they moved up, the Gunship suddenly appeared through the wall. "I got you now, DIE!" Tarak launched every missile pod into the building, as long as it killed his target he didn't care anymore what kind of damage he did, or if he went out of favor with Aria for destroying whole districts.

As the missiles came for them, the entire group started running for any kind of cover. Naruto, however, stopped dead in his tracks as time slowed. Inside him, a voice rang out but was so low he couldn't hear it clearly. Whatever it said, in his heart he knew what it wanted. Turning, flaring his biotics, he sent a pulse of biotic energy and caught every missile mere feet from hitting him or the ground around him. His head clear, not an ounce of pain as his eyes were scorching and glowing red, slits in his eyes and his whiskers growing thicker as the aura around him matched that of his fight with Saren, a cloak of a fox. "YOU FIRST!"

Pushing every missile back, and aiming them right for the Gunship, it was inevitable that Tarak would be screaming for every second until the blast took him, and he with his gunship was no more.

Tarak's Lieutenant stared wide-eyed at the sight along with the others. "What are you...?" She shuttered quickly grabbing her gun only for a bullet to end her through the heart.

Naruto however stared at himself and his hands; "What the hell is this?" He froze for a moment as the image of the red Asari became clear to him again. As if she stood in front of him with time itself becoming still. "Who are you?"

"Naruto?" The blond blinked as he turned to see his sister and the others came to him. "Are you okay?"

"You're not feeling like you're about to fall over... That's good; maybe the implants are working overtime and getting through your power. The last time you did something this big, you nearly had a seizure." Jacob was happy to see this time was different.

Naruto shook his head and let go of the image of the rather weirdly red Asari. "Yeah, I'm fine. Strangely, as you said... Anyway, I think the district is pretty much dead, so we can get going." Looking towards his sister and their Turian friend, he nodded. "Pretty sure you know why I even came here. For you two. Didn't expect you to be a Vigilante, Garrus."

Shaking off the surprise the Turian chuckled; "Glad I can surprise you. So what do you need? Think I'm free for the week."

Naruto bit back a snort before shaking his head; "Can tell you back on the Normandy."

That drew the attention of Emily and Garrus.