Godo: Time to grab a heavy hitter! Ready all?
Arch-Daishou: Enjoy!
xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx;
The shuttle had a smooth ride down to the outskirts of the complex; it was almost too smooth, but as the doors opened, the entire group spilled out. Lined up against the wall of the broken-up scraps of metal that made the complex outside perimeter, the team had signaled the shuttle off.
The engine's noise stopped ringing in their ears long enough for them to hear orders… over megaphone speakers? "Pre-recorded messages over a loudspeaker? Charming…" Miranda put out.
"Jedore loves to hear herself talk," Zaeed muttered, checking his assault rifle.
Jacob typed on his Omni-Tool to get a complete layout of the place; "Place is a goddamn maze thanks to all the ships and shit dumped here."
"Could prove problematic in a firefight; decent cover may be less optimal," Mordin chimed.
"Right." Naruto looked over at the group. From what he knew about them so far, combat-wise, he had to make a game plan combat-wise. Quick on his feet in assault tactics, the blond gave his input. "Garrus, you and I are going to hang behind the group, take out from range anything in our sights. Jacob, you take Emily as forward. Zaeed, you keep Mordin safe as you two and Miranda take any good cover and show me what you got. Kasumi plays ninja spy."
"Just keep count on our little bet; I don't want to have to count both our kills." Garrus set his Mantis to Armor Penetration.
"Sound strategy, good to see profiles were correct." The good doctor mentioned.
Gathering her newest rifle, the darker-haired sibling got in position. "Right, STG. Heard about you from Xanpahl, Mordin. He still praises you on use of combat tech using Omni-gel." She also heard much more regarding Mordin's work from Bau, but she kept that to herself for the moment.
Noticing her new Rifle, though, Naruto had to ask. "Never saw a model like that."
Showing it off a second because they had to move forward, she smiled. "Prototype. Kassa Fabrication's attempt at a marksman rifle, first one trying it. Since I'm their most famous license holder. Mattock M-96."
Kasumi looks at her Omni-Tool; "If I can get to a console, I can wreak some havoc on any defense turrets, mech, and drones they have."
The blond thought for a moment, "Can you turn all that against them?"
"In my sleep Senchō," She smirked while she pulled out a custom-built SMG.
"Alright then. We have our game plan. Keep to the wall until we get some cover." Moving forward, the team gave a brisk pace to the entrance of the maze. As they turned, they saw movement ahead. And not very much cover, but enough to get their forwards into the fray. "Jacob, shield!"
"On it!" Projecting his forward barrier field, the soldier blocked incoming fire as Zaeed hit the first bit of small cover and tossed one of his grenades out to deal some damage.
Beside him, the Engineer extraordinaire that was Captain Shepard got in front and, with her Omni-tool, generated a hard light Omni-Shield that took some fire as well. "Miranda, Area Warp!"
As soon as the grenades went off, covering one of the enemy mercs in flames, Miranda rushed out to get in beside their former Suns recruit and flared her Warp to arc up and then slam down into the inflamed individual. Somehow, the generated field had caused a destabilized oxygen-rich zone that ignited and caused an even heavier blast of flames to kill outright the enflamed merc and force the others to be blown back or engulfed in even more flames.
Seeing their chance to advance, the forward team of Jacob and Shepard went up, with Jacob lifting the few in an area up, three being pulled into the air. Then, as the entire squad rounded forward to find better cover, Zaeed and Garrus took out two lifted individuals, Miranda overheating her SMG to take the third out from range.
Retracting her shield and two shots later, the mechanical armed sibling called out their victory. "Scouting party. Not very many came this way. We have a wounded member here; come on up."
The group comes towards the lone surviving human Sun member who sat on the ground holding the wound on his side. "Shit... Shit... Goddamn it..." He curses while hissing in pain.
"Looks like a flesh wound," Garrus whispered to Emily.
"He doesn't need to know that," Naruto remarked as he overheard as he knelt to the man; "Guessing our arrive was noticed?"
Recognition soon came to the man's eyes; "You're supposed to be fucking dead, Uzumaki."
"I got better," He leaned in; "Where are Jedore and Okeer?"
"I ain't tellin' you squat." Though they weren't tapped into comms, this dude had his blasting enough that they could hear they have requested an update of some kind.
With a loud scoff, the one-eyed merc stepped forward. "Listen, kid. You've got a few choices. First, you could tell them to bugger off and give up your boss. You live long enough to find treatment elsewhere, get off-world, find better work. Or, you rat us out, die, we kill Jedore anyway. Trust me, I know the bitch, you ain't getting paid a single credit if you survive this raid. Why risk your life for no pay?"
At that, the young merc blinked as he thought for a moment, "Oh fuck this shit." His Omni-tool comes to life as he activates it. "Giving you the coordinates now."
Naruto's omni-tool glowed as he gave the nod and pulled out a medi-gel stim; "Find some worked elsewhere, man." He tossed the stim to the merc.
Quickly using it to stop the bleeding, the man sighed, "Join the Blues, get paid, and get recognized as a badass." He grumbled as he slowly got to his feet, "Maybe C-Sec is hiring." He grunted and groaned as he walked away.
Their thieving friend hummed. "We're going to have our hands full, whoever this Jedore is, she's smart enough to put their main operations in heavily defended hard-to-reach innards of scrapped ships."
"Paranoid to perfect fucking T's. I told you all we'd need as many guns on our side as possible."
"For which I agreed. We should keep moving, and we don't know anything about what the gunfire is about around here. We didn't exactly ask the guy." Naruto checked his pistol. "Forwards lead."
The team came around and under the first makeshift bridge and noticed the Krogan dead on the ground. The mandibles on their Turian twitched in confusion. "No gang markings of any kind, Suns or otherwise. Not Blood Pack, either. Standard assault gear, too. No way these are a rogue faction with crap weapons and armor. Even Tuchunka's worst has better gear than this."
"Whatever is going on, this mission just got more dangerous," Naruto quipped with a glare; "Does Jedore employ Krogan Zaeed?"
The old merc shook his head; "Some Batarians, one or two Salarians, a few Turians, and a couple of Asari. The rest is human. Maybe this Okeer has some Krogan working for him?"
Emily quickly spoke, "We will find out as we keep going."
With everyone in agreement, they navigated the maze of the place, all while hearing more of the sounds of fighting ahead. Finally, picking up a communications hack, they heard one of the patrols. "Team six, round the back! This one's tougher than the rest! We need you to hit his back!"
They reared into an area where the sound was getting louder, and they saw the catwalk above and forward filled with mercs. All who saw the heavily armed squad coming from the far side. "Team two, we've got guests in the rear! Hold out, and we'll take them on, then get that Krogan bast-!"
Garrus took the leader's head out with a single shot with no hesitation from the team. He and Naruto got behind the far doorway as Jacob launched a Warp at one of the two Suns jumping down to greet them with shotguns. As he got behind cover, with Mordin behind him, the Engineer of the team leaped the barricade over them and grabbed her Katana shotgun, sending out a blast from the weapon that tore through the biotically affected enemy merc, which caused him to be a bloody smear on the wall he jumped from.
Emily knelt and ejected her clip with the fire with her Omni shield up. Seeing them, Naruto called to the squad. "Mordin! Strip some shields! Miranda, give me a shot on that sniper!" Said sniper took his shields down as the shot knicked his shoulder a little, tearing through the shoulder guard.
The second of the Sun's patrol team that jumped down was trying to flank the seasoned Spectre with his Shotgun, bu. Still, his shields zapped away instantly from the Salarian's Overload signal, giving the former Sun's member a shot, and with a rapid-fire burst, the rifle cleared the chest and neck to take him down.
The Sniper in the back popped their head up to take his shot at the Turian, but even this Salarian sniper of the patrol was no match for the biotic field that caused him to float out of cover. "Shit!"
Last words being said, the sniper that pinned down Naruto was killed by a single hit to the head from his target.
The last patrol was hiding in fear but tried to make a run for it. "I'm out of here!" But, sadly, Garrus didn't let him go so skillfully and, with pinpoint accuracy, took him out with ease.
"Let's keep moving!" Naruto stressed as the group pressed forward
Having cloaked to get a head start, their master thief appeared at the doorway. "They weren't kidding, and this one's got them pinned to the wall."
"See if you can't get around them; bring them to our level if you can. Emily, be the shield. Everyone else, take some cover and fight!" With a nod, Kasumi vanished and started around, with Garrus choosing to go closer to give the forward charge some extra manpower.
"Keep up, doc!" The dark-skinned soldier told Mordin as the two started up into the fight. The two leading ladies of the group sprinted in, with Miranda hitting cover and tossing out her Warp field.
It missed as the dozen or so Mercs were trying not to die from the Krogan's fantastic accuracy, even with a shotgun. He was keeping every enemy combatant at bay with well-placed shots. He looked to his side to see Shepard, racing up with her shield and rifle to give him some cover. He did not speak, just prompted to continue defending his position.
Keeping back, Naruto fired a shot against a Salarian on the balcony, who had strong shields.
Seeing the shielded enemy taking cover, the moment he saw the enemy Salarian's head pop up, he quickly Overloaded the shield to death, giving Naruto another shot to deal the finishing blow. However, the Asari Vanguard didn't take kindly to her partner's death, as she lifted Mordin into the air and threw him into the back wall.
The blonde's view gave him perfect sightlines, and as he rapid-fire overheated his Sniper's thermal clip, all to finish that Asari's barriers, he immediately ran for Mordin. One of the Soldiers above had gone to grab their heavy artillery units, he saw, and as the rocket fired, the Commander threw up a Stasis field around the projectile.
With immediate danger out of the way, he helped his new crewmate up and back into cover away from the impending explosion, with more than enough time as the rocket continued shortly and took out some of the back walls. "Status!"
"Scratch the Vanguard!" The Turian yelled, Garrus finishing her off with penetrating shots through the cover she hid behind. Naruto had wounded her but did not finish the job in an attempt to save their team.
Thankfully, they held off enough for Kasumi to get behind them. One of the Mercs with hardened light Omni-armor was thrown to the ground, and the girl beside him was suddenly missing her left ear and some of her brain when the reappearing thief fired her SMG from point-blank behind her head. Overloading a third's shields, she jumped and backflipped to the ground floor. "One more off the board!"
"Make it three!" Finally, the one-eyed ex-merc sent the fallen armored enemy to the grave with several shots through the back and skull.
With the shields of the Sniper gone, Miranda grabbed him with her biotics and lifted him. Then, with enough force to rend metal, the body slammed into the cover, bending the metal cover and also slicing the merc roughly in half.
As the last Blue Sun fell, all eyes turned to the fully armored seven-foot Krogan, who turned his helmet gaze at them. While preparing for a fight, it cocked his head before, to their surprise, lowering his shotgun. Shocked even further, he soon placed it on a pile of scrap. Finally, he raised an arm and pointed at Naruto, "I've seen you. Images within glass mother. Naruto Uzumaki." He spoke in a surprisingly calm deep tone.
Silent for a moment, as he felt no hostility from the Krogan, he lowered his weapon; "Glass mother?"
"My brethren and I were born fIt meander. It meant to be an army for one called Jedore. But we saw her as weak, her mind clouded by old hatreds."
Confusion glowed on the Blond's face before Mordin spoke up, "You are tank bred cloned, Krogan." The towering reptile nodded, "Interesting."
"Jedore wants a fucking goddamn army of Krogan," Zaeed muttered, shaking his head, "Didn't think that woman could get more crazy."
Miranda turned her blues at the older man; "Why the hell she'd want an army of Krogan?"
Zaeed shrugged back; "With her? It could be any reason. Logical thought is not her strong suit."
"Question becomes, why Okeer? Is this a mutually beneficial side project gone wrong, or is he a prisoner forced to work on something? Saren had a cured clone army brewing, but he had Sovereign's help in that." So Shepard mentioned, all as she tried to think. Wrex himself said there were no scientists interested in, or skilled enough for, curing the sterility plague.
"Cure was never mentioned." That got their attention. The towering clone spoke clearly. "Glass mother taught us much, including our burden. But it did not mention curing it, only ignoring it. To insult it, survive, thrive. But, I failed."
"Failed?" Jacob questioned.
The Krogan shook his head; "I was not what father wanted. I was not perfect. However, I was given purpose. Thus why I remain here until released."
A million questions bloomed in Naruto's mind. But he doubted this Krogan had the answers he sought. He strolled close to the Krogan; "I need to speak with your father. Where is Okeer?"
"He is with glass mother further ahead. Jedore's group and my brethren will be fighting each other. But they will come for you once they see you."
Emily came close to her brother, "We will handle that. Can you show us the way to get there?"
The Krogan turned around and walked towards a large metal wall without another word. Grunting, he grabbed the sides and ripped it off with ease. Then, growling as he lifted the massive hunk of metal, he soon threw it to the side.
"Tough as any Krogan speaks volumes about our chances, I wager." So the yellow armored merc suggested.
Staring at the corridor ahead, Naruto knew this would be a close-quarters fight now. "Switching it up. I'll take point with Zaeed; Miranda and Kasumi will keep each other safe as Garrus and Emily look for flanking opportunities. Jacob, you and Mordin crowd control."
"And the Krogan on our side?" Kasumi asked with hope.
"Staying." It answered for them all. "I am to stay here until released. I have not been released. Farewell." He turned to go for his weapon to continue his fight when it resumed.
XxX ~ xx ~ XxX
Leaving the lone Krogan be, the group went down a long slope with scraps of metal everywhere. Naruto and Zaeed kept their ears and triggered fingers sharp alongside their companions as they could hear gunfire and yell close by. "Sounds like a damn firefight ahead," The veteran merc whispered to the blond.
"Get ready for enemies everywhere then."
"Gotcha, kid."
The corner rounded, the team found the firefight, as it was being led right towards them with Suns fleeing from the Krogan. One saw the group, but before he could utter a sentence, the double shot to the head from both snipers killed his voice. Not his body was thudding and tripping his friends, ich with active Omni-armor. "BEHIND!"
Three more sprang from around their corner to help as their patrol leader's rocket launcher fired, their rifles spraying feverishly in desperation to get out of their new hell. Finally, the team hit the cover and dropped behind whatever they could as that rocket blasted against the metal surroundings, taking out some of the fronts of the cover for Miranda and Kasumi. "We're in trouble!"
"Not for long! Sis, can you stop those rockets?!" Naruto switched to his SMG and pistol, one in each hand.
"Better!" Her Omni-tool lit up and changed into a crossbow again, and with a flaming tipped hard light bolt, she sent it flying, right down the warhead of the new ROcket about to be launched. As the eruption sent one dude flying off, the other two, plus the wielder, were either roasting from the flaming bits of the molten metal fragment or in pieces being burnt to ash.
Seeing his opportunity, Garrus raced forward to the next cover and found the Blue Suns merc who was spared a death try to jump for it into oblivion in fear of death by firing squad. Instead, looking down the maze of ramps and hallways, the Turian saw the Krogan advancing, ripping apart the other Mercs in the area. But, at least from his ability to see, it wasn't much. "We got trouble!"
The team moved forward to support Garrus, who started firing at the rushing tank-bred Krogan. Getting beside the Dextro, Jacob checked his shotgun. "How many?"
In her cover, Miranda saw as even Garrus' rifle was having trouble taking down the brute. "Many, and tough!" Throwing out a Warp field, the biotic infusion started eroding the armor of the Krogan, enough so that her helping spray of SMG rounds gave the added support to fill the brute with enough deadly trauma to drop, skidding along the ground.
Seeing an opening, Zaeed peeked from cover to unload from his rifle, "Reminds me of a mission on a mining planet!"
"Can we get the history lesson when not being shot at," Kasumi quipped, hacking the more technical armors among the Suns.
Speaking of, they failed to notice the other hallway from the one they entered, and one of the stray Krogan found them. "RAHHHH!'
Turning, the entire team were pinned now as he ran for them with earnest, shortening the distance. In an attempt to slow the mindless beast down, Mordin tried to hack into any neural pathways but was stunned when his hack sensed nothing from the Krogan. "Problematic, no implants!"
"Jacob, get him out of there!" Thankfully, his order was quickly executed as the former Corsair in training snapped around and grabbed onto Mordin biotically, pulling him away from the raging Krogan just in time as the giant armored head dented into the wall of the cover. The Salarian dropped to his feet shortly and ducked behind with Zaeed.
Though now out of cover himself, he was being pelted by bullets from all sides, which was easily deflected as Shepard got in the way with her Shield again, popping off rounds from her rifle. But, unfortunately, the Suns who were firing at them to get away from the Krogan couldn't escape enough, as two had cornered them and started blasting their skulls with shotguns and rifles.
Garrus, not one to be idle in the face of overwhelming odds, grabbed the stunned Krogan by the back and kicked the legs from under him, tossing him to the ground before jamming the barrel into the tank-bred's head and firing, ejecting the heat sink the moment the gun clicked.
Knowing their chances now that the other route was not safe, Naruto came and gave a slap to the Turian's back. "Sis, you take Jacob, Miranda, and Mordin! The rest, follow me down the other path! Flank them for a change!"
"Roger that!" The ranking Spectre turned to Garrus and gave him a nod to get going for a brief moment. Miranda, Mordin, take their armor out! Jacob, provide them with a lift!"
As Naruto got Zaeed and Kasumi around the corner with his sniping rival, he saw three more Krogan, one carrying a Suns merc by the head who was flailing. "Front and center, behind me!" Testing his Biotics, the blonde powerhouse produced a biotic shield. And the strain was not so severe. Though as the continued use of the field was sustained, he did start to feel a hot sensation in his heat.
Behind him, Garrus and Zaeed started firing into the Krogan ahead, their armor not letting up for much. The screaming Suns merc was tossed at them, causing Naruto to brace for impact and let the man fall in front of him. Not letting this man get the better of them, Naruto stepped on his back, and Kasumi finished him off before disappearing. "Kasumi, overload their weapons!"
"Yes, Senchou!" With her appearance gone, she was able to hide as the Krogan brute-forced the rain of bullets to get closer with their SHotguns, one of them running in for the charge. As the weapons fire died down, the other two followed.
"And here I thought the crap we did two years ago was crazy!" Garrus remarked on the comms taking aim and firing at a Krogan.
"You get the feeling Wrex would be pissed at missing all this?"
The Turian chuckled at Emily's response.
A blue Suns cried out as his armor was engulfed by fire courtesy of the former STG, "We are thinking their ranks!"
"Then let's finish this up!" Jacob yelled out before punching a Sun in the face who got too close before unloading his shotgun.
As the Krogan charged the trio of fighters, Kasumi went around to get behind them cloaked. When the first Krogan got close, Naruto had dropped the barrier and went for his signature move, a rolling ball of biotics in his palm. Though it was unfocused, flaring, and causing a wild mess around it as he punched it into the chest of the Krogan. Thankfully, it could carve into the chest cavity, but it was so unstable that the added mass of flesh erupted and burst the chest open and coating him in blood. "Damn, this is getting frustrating!"
"I bet!" Garrus grunted as he had to holster his rifle behind him and grab his sidearm, meeting the Krogan with a kick slide to drop him on the ground. "Once back, let's figure it out, but right now, try not to fall over!" Then, getting up to shoot the back of the head of the tank-bred, he was about to finish this one when the other changed from going toe to toe with Zaeed and Naruto, and threw its shotgun, causing the Turian to brace before pointing his weapon.
As the Krogan grabbed him and turned him sideways, the wrong choice slammed into the side of the metal walling. "GAH!"
Seeing her opportunity Kasumi uncloaked with her SMG pressed to the chest of the Krogan and kept that trigger down. "Do all of you talk so much during combat?" As her SMG overheated, the Krogan, whose chest was bleeding profusely, still had a heart not hit, and it smacked Kasumi back harshly on her back.
"Keeps it from being a boring firefight!" The Commander enveloped himself in his red aura, being covered by Zaeed's shots to more Krogan coming around. This time, he was hoping to accomplish the sudden burst of power he'd done by accident. His luck held, as suddenly his body slammed instantly into the Krogan and caused the beast to fly off even past Kasumi, knocking back the two Krogan coming around their direction.
Garrus took his friend's help and got back on his feet from falling to the ground from his release with a hand in front of him. "Thanks." They and their mercenary recruit came up to grab Kasumi. "How's your end?" He asked the others.
As if to answer, Jacob was suddenly seen launched into the air behind the Krogan, and as he landed on one, knocking him over, he pumped two shots from his shotgun into the Krogan. One grabbed him and tossed him to the side, though, as it got up.
"We're done from the Suns, no more mercs in this place!" The Krogan who got up on his feet found another hard light bolt through its skull, scorching its brain to nothing. "Let's hope none further in either!"
The final Krogan roared. Its armor glowed red as he started racing for the nearest opponent. He had no chance, as he was lifted into the air, where a burst of fire tech blasted it, causing the Krogan to burn from head to toe. To finish him, the raised field suddenly reverted, and the body slammed into the ground with intense force, cratering the large-bodied enemy and ending them, their body cindering to a crisp.
"Area clear!" Garrus called out, and others remarked the same.
"Everyone catch your breath," Naruto declared, "We keep going in a few minutes."
The one-eyed merc stepped up to speak to Shepard. "Hey, question. What kind of gear is that crossbow? Never seen anything like it. That shield came about a year ago if I remember correctly."
Producing the thing on her mechanical arm, she smiled. "Best Engineer in the Alliance for a reason. Technically I'm beat on hardware scores by only two others, but no one beats me in software. So coded this Omni-tool for manipulation on gel and making hard light constructs. I had an idea for producing a ranged armor-piercing weapon with it. So even if I run out of thermal clips in a sustained firefight, as long as I have Omni-gel, I can still fight at mid-range."
"Huh, not bad, girlie."
Naruto turned his gaze to his squad, "Everyone ready?" He was given a round of nods and a playful salute from Kasumi, "Back into the fire." They quickly raised their weapons once more as they continued through the graveyard of wrecked ships.
Miranda came close to the tall blond, "Any reaction to your biotics?"
"Nothing like last time."
"And your feedback?" Asked his old friend.
"None." Rubbing the back of his neck, though, he tried to feel the temperature. "Hot though, that's new."
Knowing what was happening now, the lead of the resurrection nodded. "We'll get it sorted back on the ship."
Finding a way up, they heard the comms pick up the chatter. "Finished off the Krogan in the back; we're going into the tunnels next. Haven't heard from the squads that were patrolling there."
With a scoff, the former C-sec agent knew they were in for more. "Why can't they ever be walking away from our route for one time?"
Emily soon quipped back, "That would be boring?"
"That sounds like Wrex," Her brother countered.
Finding their way up to an old control center that was gutted as a medical bay, which was littered with the corpses of the Suns from the Krogan ambush they had, it seemed, they opened the door to the next area. Having an idea, Naruto turned to the team. "We wait right here, and they come into the open. When they do, I want Miranda to toss out a Singularity. Jacob, you and Emily run in for close range as Garrus, and I waste anyone not caught in the blast."
"Blast? It takes a few moments from an unstable Singularity to give even a small outward force by its degradation." So the Cerberus scientist mentioned knowing her use of SIngularity well.
Seeing her brother's thoughts, Shepard got near the door. "He'll make it explode with a warp field, critical mass nova. It gives us time to get in, and when we hit some cover, the sniping begins."
"Anything for us, blondie?" Zaeed asked.
Seeing as their options for movement were limited at the moment, there was not much for the others to do. "When forward stations sound the clear, you three move in. Kasumi, I need you to give us tabs on forwarding positions. If you see an opportunity to take down a few and not get in trouble for it, take it. Mordin keeps back as support, disrupt their shields, their tech tools, their weapons."
With the plan set, it was time, as the Blue Suns patrol moving forward arrived. With a nod, the plan started as Miranda conjured a large Singularity in the middle of the patrol. Unfortunately, it had only gotten half the patrol sucked in. Still, it was enough for the Shotgun wielders to run forward and get to the nearest cover as the biotic ball sent past them hit the mass and generated a sizeable erupting nova of dark energy, sending the ones trapped in it to their deaths from the concussive force.
The rival sharpshooters began picking off the unshielded Suns as the others were staggered, quickly making work of some of the remaining forces. The one they couldn't take out, Jacob pulled into the line of fire for Emily, the shotgun blasting through the armor and ripping into the chest of the merc.
The last two who were safe from the slaughter ran in panic. "We have that bloody hit squad here! We need backup!"
Those were his final words as he and his fellow Sun were shot perfectly by Garrus and Naruto. But soon after came the backup, as mentioned earlier, with an Asari at the head. "I want these bastards dead!" She ordered out as her crew showed they weren't idiots and took to cover quickly.
Zaeed recognized that voice; "Isiasa T'veius," He swore under his breath. "Jedore's number two."
Getting into opposite sides of each other, both groups were taking cover and not about to snap out of cover unless they had a shot. Looking over to Zaeed nearby, Shepard took her shotgun and adjusted some settings. "Is she that good?"
"Commando bitch. Worse, she was the leader of the T'sazo veterans until her attitude got her kicked out."
Said Asari heard the talk. "Zaeed? I thought Vido said he finished you off. I always thought he was a lying bastard, but it seems he had the right idea to end your life."
The Normandy team heard a biotic field go off. Being the one seeing it from her vantage point, their cloaked thief screamed out. "Watch out! Biotic wave!"
Poking their heads out, the team saw the Asari's biotics at work; a blue shockwave of biotic energy was coming fast towards them. Instinct took over as Emily shoved Jacob to the side, jumped onto the metal box she was hiding behind and jumped up into the air. "BRO!"
The shockwave passed the cover she was behind under her, all as the Mercs started to fire in her direction. Then, just as a red biotic force cloaked over her, she fired a large blast, her shotgun overheating as the giant slug launched and was sent flying into the wall of cover one of the Mercs were hiding behind, causing them to be blasted back. Pulling his sister from fire, Naruto caught her behind his cover, thankfully before her shielding was taken out.
The firefight was in full force; the entire Sun's force suppressed their ability to get from cover, as this was even heavier rifle fire. Chucking his grenade out, Zaeed tried to give them a bit of a hiatus, though the Asari did not have it, grabbing it biotically and throwing it right back. Then, seeing the grenade landing near him, Zaeed hissed. "Fucking hell!"
Thankfully it didn't go off. Instead, it was sparking and short-circuiting at his feet. "Thank me later!" He turned to the one who mentioned it, Kasumi, as she appeared again behind him and her cover, trying not to get into the line of fire. "What now?!"
"How strong is your shield?!" The blonde asked his sister. But then had an idea to give them some room to breathe.
Activating her tool, she checked her stores. "It'll be enough!"
"Get in front of me, and everyone better get ready to fire back!" The cover was being wasted by sustained fire, and they had little choice besides running back and trying to get into more cover. There was no turning back, however. With a pat on the shoulder, he signaled Emily.
Putting her shield up and giving him the extended coverage beyond the wall, she was glad it was her mechanical arm right now, as some of the space was enough for the seemingly random fire to hit the metal arm a bit. But as Naruto stepped out, he charged his Biotics, flaring his red aura and throwing out a Singularity orb, one that was large enough to cause the entire enemy force to keep distance. Even the Asari, Isiasa, got back and grabbed the railing behind her. "That all you got?! We're not stupid here!"
As the effect of the wide biotic field died rapidly and almost immediately, the Mercs came back up after reloading their thermal clips to keep firing. Only for one of the snipers to suddenly have their head missing. T'Veius looked shocked.
It even shocked most of the others, all but Shepard, who knew all her brother's skills. He had formed a sizeable biotic spear of some sort in his palm and threw it, and as soon as it released, it flew with such speed you could blink and miss it. Then, feeling his neck getting very hot, he ducked back behind cover as his sister took over to fire her rifle.
The more used to the group, Jacob and Garrus, joined in their endeavors, with Garrus taking the shields of another merc down, the other Spectre finishing them with her rifle. Then, seeing one merc who had that hard light armor, Jacob blasted into it with a warping field, eating away at it to make it easier to break.
Being attacked tore the enemy Commando from her shock to flare her biotics and throw out yet another tidal wave of biotic force towards the group, hoping to hit any of the ones behind the walls at the same time she fired off an arced orb that soon generated a SIngularity of her own.
Isiasa took notice of the red biotics used against her unit; "Naruto Uzumaki! I knew you weren't dead!"
"Nice to meet you! Now kindly surrender!"
"Go fuck yourself!"
Garrus gave a slight glance; "Still a lady charmer, I see."
Getting their act together from the shock, Mordin flung out a cryogenic attack to try and freeze up the Asari, even as the last sniper on the Sun's side bit through the Salarian's shields, causing him to duck down. It was ineffective, though, as the blast of ice shattered on the metal walling the Commando hid behind for a moment.
Pitching out her biotic field, a ball of dark energy blasting and cracking the cover on the enemy side, Miranda fired her Shuriken with rapid burst fire to suppress the sniper from tearing through their shields again. Then, utilizing her biotics to increase her barriers, she kept under some sustained fire to give the rest some openings.
Much to the appreciation of Garrus, sniping off another grunt of the group, though they were slowly dwindling to just the more elite fighters. One of which was having enough attempts to break his Tech Armor, and he strengthened its attempt to run into the fray. The plan was unspoken not to tip off the Normandy crew, but things were about to get dangerous.
More so for Jacob, who tried to tear through the armor again with another Warp and cracking it further with his shotgun alongside Zaeed's rifle, spitting rapidly at the guy running in. Seeing this, Shepard could only run backward away from the vicinity, troubling her brother a moment as she popped her rifle's clip and reloaded a fresh thermal. She turned just in time as the enemy runner's armor burst, causing an EMP burst that overloaded everyone's shields and dampened the barriers, simultaneously overheating the weapons for the group.
The Asari leader of this patrol took full advantage, enveloping Jacob, pulling him from cover, and giving their sniper the shot to end it for the former Corsair. "One down!" Though it didn't happen. Instead, she found her far sniper was nowhere to be seen. "What?!"
Turning back, yet another failure of the unspoken plan happened as the runner tried to stomp the downed dark armored soldier, only for his head to have another hole in it. At the back, Shepard had gotten far enough away from the EMP to keep herself from getting disabled from the fight, and with no shields on the runner, it was easy to take him out.
It made no sense to Isiasa, her biotics flaring in anger. "Where's Gax!?" She sprinted to where he was last, only to see him dead, neck broken. Then, as her barriers got hit, she ducked behind and grabbed the rifle. "I need some cover, damn it!"
The cover she was behind stopped getting hit, and she peeked out to see the reason for their defeat. The lithe human woman in the hood had tossed one of her men over the edge of the railing to fall to his death. Then, she vanished. Quickly, she threw out a Singularity nearby and managed to catch the clever one. "You're mine, bitch!"
"And you're MINE!" Turning, the blue-skinned Merc found a flying heel slam into her face. They were kicking her into the back wall. Thanks to the dwindled numbers, Garrus and Zaeed had used Jacob's frontal position to produce a barrier shield for them to advance for full force, as they knew Kasumi had taken to getting behind enemy lines.
This gave them the chance to get close enough to take down in hand to hand the heavier armored rifle user. Since the sustained fire was getting weaker, it let the entire crew advance, including the rapidly sprinting one-armed human to come and drop-kick the group leader.
With no weapons, the right hand of Jedore growled as she looked at the tapered barrel of a rifle pointed right at her from a former comrade. "Screw you, Zaeed..."
"Traitors aren't my type," The veteran merc spoke cryptically as he pulled the trigger ending the Asari's life. "Rot in hell bitch."
Coming beside him after getting Kasumi on her feet again, Naruto cocked a brow; "Vido?" Instantly the older man's face darkened immensely. "Touchy subject?"
"For right now, it's not important. So let's leave it at that Uzumaki."
Conceding with a nod, he turns his gaze to others, "Let's get moving."
XxX ~ xx ~ XxX
The slit eyes of a Krogan gazed into a surveillance monitor. He was watching the events going on throughout the planet. His focus goes from the monitor to a massive tank that housed what had to be the largest Krogan ever to exist. "Hmm, so the son of mercy lives after all. And his skills are not of show. Impressive." The old Krogan muttered in a deep aged tone. "Show me more, boy. And perhaps rid me of this damn pest."
XxX ~ xx ~ XxX
Naruto rubbed the back of his neck as the warmth he felt had faded. That was something new, but he kept focus as his squad moved through the area further in.
Their resistance ended for the time being as they carefully went through some stairs to find the labs. "Knowing Jedore, she's probably holding the remaining forces near a fortified location. Last stand ambush. I bet a hundred fucking credits it's the lab she's guarding."
"Losing bet, no one here stupid enough to make that gamble." But, as the good doctor was keeping his pistol handy, he was curious about the group leader.
Giving a playful scoff, Naruto turned to the Salarian. "No, but it's still something to think about. New bet, how heavily armed will they be?"
"Knowing our luck, very. Missing Wrex right about now. He'd love this." The harmonics of the Dextro rang out.
It didn't take long to find the ambush area. It was almost screaming at them as they stopped to see the several makeshift ramps and balconies, the rounding pathways and hills of steps. Then, turning to her brother, it was clear. "Got a plan?"
"Do you?" He could see that forming a smirk. Giving one back, he gestured for her to take the reins.
Taking forward position, Shepard laid it out. "Barrier guard gets us forward; Jacob and Naruto are on that point. Anyone with combat grade tools takes out systems; Miranda, Kasumi, and Mordin. I want shields gone and guns glitched out. Rifles in the back, that's Garrus and Zaeed with me. The moment shields are popped, aim for the head."
"Once we get through here, Jedore will be close by. Be ready for anything. And your Krogan Warlord is in the same area," Zaeed remarked quietly.
Naruto nodded; "Then let's get to work."
Side by side, the Corsairs in former training brought up the barrier shields to defend as they entered the area, which was nicely timed as they were bombarded with a hell of a lot of fire. Jacob's shield was starting to wan from it already.
Thankfully, the tech group cut out guns, sending a wave of signals to cause the enemy firearms to take a short intermission of sorts. As the team got further in, Miranda and Kasumi managed to pop off a single shield together because Mordin's attempt failed to break the shielding of the much higher geared opponents before them, even past one's Tech Armor. He saw that electrical discharge gave Zaeed his shot to plug a hole in one of the several enemies ahead. One down, more to go.
As the weapons came back online, even as Jacob's biotic field returned to strength, his neural feedback was too much, and he groaned under pressure. "Not gonna last!" Finally, one sniper found a weak spot in the double field and managed to scrape the hip of Kasumi, but only just through her shields.
His neck felt like an inferno; the red aura from Naruto expanded as he took the front, giving his friend time to recover from the intense, prolonged use of the shield against such impact of enemy fire. "Move!"
"Don't try so hard! Miranda, cover with him!" Even with his aching head, the dark-skinned soldier had to keep things from falling apart just because his friend had a track record of putting himself in danger for others. "Akuze fucked with him; he ain't letting another squad lose a man if he can help it."
Not as proficient with sustained biotic fields, due to her usual powerful crushing and distortion fields, the Lazarus director chose to give it her best shot as she got in front with her resurrected project and brought her biotic barrier shielding with him. That gave everyone some room to maneuver, as the two years trained Spectre had an idea, all as they got further into the fray. Thankfully, Mordin and Kasumi were still trying to keep weapons and shields from being problems.
Not to be outdone by the tech support, Garrus and Zaeed kept firing even if it wasn't a killing blow like planned, though that doesn't mean they didn't take out another head or two. As they got closer to the rapidly on and off gunfire, the Suns got very pissed off and started running in. Bad idea, as Shepard finished her project and sent a drone into the sky, and it flew fast to the group of Mercs before exploding and causing a wide wipeout, a concentrated tech burst that shorted all six of the Mercs shields. All but Miranda and Naruto fired heavily from their biotic cover, and the SUns immediately in front were toast.
The Suns on the far balcony, however, had runoff. "Push inward! Don't let them get back up!"
It was too late, as they gave chase into the fire of heavy weapons, rockets, and grenades being launched at them the moment they came into view on the higher platform. Screaming in pain from the heat from his neck, Naruto shoved his shield out and threw the field to distort and catch every explosive, though he dropped to a knee shortly after, holding his smoking neck.
Recovering, Jacob came in front to replace, his field strong and wide to cover in front of his friend. "We're in trouble here!"
"Not for long!" Having an idea, Miranda shortened her field to manipulate it and tossed the ball of dark energy into the explosive warp made by their squad leader. The eruption blasted towards the Mercs, who all went into cover.
FInding cover a little further in, Jacob grabbed Naruto behind the far end to keep him safe as Garrus and Shepard nodded to one another and went running into the fray. "HEY! Get out of the open!"
Shield up, Emily Shepard covered as she rammed into one Suns merc, who was kicked in the head and knocked out by the taloned foot of the Turian, who took aim and burst fired his rifle at the next guy. "Left side!"
Shutting her shield off and putting a shock treatment to the dude on her right, she rose her rifle to fire into the Merc; getting up, thankfully Mordin was seeing this and had weakened his shields enough that sustained fire from her Mattock was enough to take him down, all as the Merc she shocked the shields from dropped from Garrus' shots. The final two Mercs looked in horror at the two coming their way and the squad behind them moving in to finish it. "Who the fuck are you guys?!"
Zaeed only gave them a predatory smile, "Your executioners." He finished both in quick succession, "Clear!"
Others began to sound off as Naruto rubbed the back of his neck painfully. Emily was quick to his side, "What is it?"
"No idea. Can have doc look at me when we get back to the Normandy." He noticed Miranda was soon beside him, "Or do you know why my neck feels like it is burning like mad every time I use my biotics?"
The tight-suited woman ran a few diagnostics, checking him over with her Omni-tool. Finally, they came back, and she quickly answered. "Everything is going according to plan. Maybe not timely, but it was inevitable. Suffice it to say, we had to give you a neural implant for biotics, and it's being overheated with your power usage. So keep it cooled down, and we'll get it out of you later; Chakwas will be ready for the removal."
"He's a naturally born biotic, able to use his powers without one. But, unfortunately, all he ever had for his biotics were amps, which are common use even amongst Asari." Shepard called out. "That's probably what's been causing him such severe pain from the beginning."
Turning to the Captain, Miranda scoffed. "Don't assume that I made a mistake. When your brother died, the only thing in one piece was his head, everything else was ripped apart by entering atmo, and the consequential slammed into the ground at terminal velocity. Even Naruto's biotics are still human, and without our nervous system intact, we cannot use the nodes we grow in the first place, not any more than lifting a pencil anyway. He had none to speak of, and his body was so mangled we had trouble just putting bone splinters in their proper places, let alone a fully functioning nervous system. So for the first few months of his heart beating again, we used a heavily modified L1 implant, capable of easy removal, mind you, so his nervous system and biotic potential could return to full capacity as his body was being rebuilt. It's only there to give him the ability to use his biotics and adapt the cybernetic systems to return him to the way he was before his death. The spasms that nearly killed him, in the beginning, could have been from his nervous system still repairing itself; we got attacked before they could be fully repaired. The burning sensations now are because the implant is inert but still connected to his system. This means it's effectively useless and now must be removed. Chakwas was given instructions for this, so when we finish here, he can get that thing out of him, and that's that."
Naruto put a hand on his sister's shoulder before looking to Miranda, "It was the only way to bring me back?"
"Yes. There was no other way."
Jacob quickly spoke up, "Believe me, and she tried everything else."
At that, the blond nodded before looking to Emily, "Once the mission is done, we can have Chakwas get this thing out."
"But also mean not using your biotics," Garrus countered.
"Thankfully, I'm good with guns then," The blond jested before waving to everyone, "Let's move out."
Without another word, they kept moving towards their destination as still functioning ship doors opened to a large makeshift lab. Mordin narrowed his gaze at the bodies on several beds; "Brute force science. Disgraceful." Anger glowed in his voice.
Going through the room and through another pair of doors, they came into an even larger lab with several large empty tanks. Only one housed the biggest Krogan Naruto and the others ever seen. Beside it stood another large Krogan typing on a console, "You took your time getting here, Uzumaki. Impressive show of skills and leadership. You would have made a superb Krogan."
"Warlord Okeer, I presume."
Turning to meet the squad, the scarred and wrinkled scientist met with a still strong demeanor. "You presume correctly. Considering you have your weapons on standby, you are here for me specifically. I would consider it advantageous, but I would know why. The return of a once-dead Son of Mercy, caution is understandable."
"Cerberus got word of you dealing with the Collectors, and you're a source of information. And, if you still have a quad to kick around in combat, a Krogan Battlemaster would be a formidable ally."
The old Krogan grinned. "It's unfortunate for you that my combat days are past; nearing the end of one's life can take the fight out of anyone. Even us Krogan. However, I have such a combatant ready to prove useful." Turning to the tank beside him, Okeer played his hand. "If you'd accept him, considering past events like Virmire where you killed many clones like him and destroyed a facility much like this one."
All eyes turn to the pod; floating within its water was a Krogan, even bigger than Wrex in Naruto's opinion. "Just one?"
"As humans put it, Uzumaki, one is all you need." Okeer glowed with pride at his creation. "A true and pure apex predator of my species."
"We ran into the other Krogan you created," Garrus spoke up; "They weren't what you wanted?"
A grunt can from the ancient Krogan, "They were exactly what that human Jedore wanted. But for my research, they were useless to me. After endless trial and error, I created one pure Krogan, unlike ever to be seen. Within him flows the blood of legends among my people. Shiagur, Kredak, Moro, Terg, Wrend, and Veeoll."
Mordin rubbed his chin in thought, "Interesting you had the genetic material from all those Krogan."
"Hardly. Some of them I knew personally. It was just the matter of getting what I needed upon their untimely demise. The Collectors gave me the rest that I needed after giving them a hundred or so useless Krogan. As for my rejects here, Jedore is an incompetent leader. Thus it's why they refuse to follow her. She is too focused upon old grudges."
"One of your reject Krogan said you weren't trying to find a cure," Miranda made her voice heard."
"Unlike the rest of my people, I believe we should bear the Genophage. It does not weed out the weak, but my people have grown complacent and soft. As for my creation, it will bring the greatest insult for all enemies, including the Genophage. To be ignored..."
"Not exactly the way to insult someone outside Krogan culture; it's mostly just the other Krogan who believe that. Salarian's would be thrilled to hear you say you ignored the Genophage and kept it." Naruto mentioned, wondering what his mindset was.
That grin was almost predatory and aimed at Mordin. "Quite, but hear this. The Genophage was the answer to the horde, which the galaxy still bears the scars of." Then, turning to the humans of the group, he chuckled. "I suppose I should give credit; the battle of the Spartans against the Persians of old in your history was inspiring to me. The horde may have driven through, but the horde feared the lance of a select few who were thousands more worthy of being fighters. My success is that difference. Not a few thousand pups, but a few hundred true fighters."
As interesting as that was, Emily kept focus, "What exactly do you know about the Collectors?"
"They are a strange species." He glanced over to the female human spectre, "I will tell you all I know once we are off this rock of a planet. But first, there is one final pest to remove." Okeer strolled to a window gazing down with disdain. "Jedore must be removed from the galaxy. Madness like hers is a blight that must be purged."
"About the sanest words that you've said thus far," Zaeed quipped.
In agreement, the blond biotic knew they were still on borrowed time. "No doubt she's pissed we took out nearly all her forces. Point us to her, and we remove all threats; we get you and your 'son' out of here. Have everything ready to move so we can get off this rock."
Sadly, their borrowed time ran out. The commanding voice of Jedore rang out. "I found the source of the problem, Okeer. He's been double-timing us and causing much more Krogan to come out to attack us on sight. So I'm shutting the facility down and taking him down with it. Get to your stations!" Looking out the window, Jedore walked into view and gave the finger. "I'm flushing the tanks!"
"Charming." The Turian sniper mentioned. Though none of them knew Jedore was the only Suns left, they had the advantage.
As soon as he said that, the piped started to bubble and gurgle, some joints popping with a leak. A growling angry Okeer went to the computer. "Weak-willed whore! She'd spite her meager leadership skills on my work!" Okeer glanced to the blond, "Kill that bitch. I'll try to stop her foolishness up here."
"You can not replicate your creation?" Mordin questioned.
"Impossible. He is a one in a million type of being that cannot be duplicated from scratch again. I will not have my legacy die before he could make his mark upon the galaxy." The Warlord glared, "Go!"
Without another word, the group ran to the other side of the room to another door that opened. They soon ran down a flight of stairs. "Jedore knows how to use her environment to her advantage. Plus, she has a hard-on for rocket launchers."
"Tip noted, let's go!" Bursting into the room, they found that Jedore was not alone. The truth was the Suns were gone, but they were met with a Mech, Ymir, and it was about to stomp them coming out of the door.
Reflexes took over the group, with some heading back to the stairs to dodge into cover, Garrus and Zaeed flanking around to weave more into the room. Naruto, however, reflexively heated his neck a little just to form his uniquely made biotic energy orb and smash it into the mech's chest, causing the entire core to warp as the chest plate was chewed away in no time. As a result, the whole back of the mech blew out. Causing the thing to fly back from the forceful explosion and drop into a heap of scrap.
Seeing this, Jedore cursed and had two launchers in hand. "Take this bastard!" Firing both, the rockets came flying. Then, unknown to any of them, some of the tanks were opened up, letting lose the final Krogan rejects.
As the explosive warheads got closer, the team scattered to any cover they could find, Garrus behind some crates and Miranda taking Naruto behind some of the tubes as Zaeed started running down the entire side of the room. As the former Sun's merc looked at the exploding wall, he saw Naruto gesture to round the way to flank her.
Crossbow bolt ready, Shepard turned her cover to Jedore and sent it. Jumping out of the way, the crazed leader reloaded both launchers and activated everything in her systems, double shields, and reinforced hard light Tech Armor. She turned to see the Krogan rejects coming after her suddenly and fired, exploding one in a haze of red and the other managing to dodge the shot. Unfortunately, it flew out to where Miranda was setting up her barrier, and the concussive force nearby broke it and almost sent her flying. "Shit! Someone take her out!"
"Maybe we should give it a moment!" Garrus noted. "We're dealing with Berserkers!" He said as he fired his rifle into the charging Krogan, one of three more running around. Though he barely got through some of the armor before it was too close for comfort. Thankfully, Naruto took its head with a shot from his rifle. "Appreciated!" He ran to cover with his partner the last two years. "Status?"
An explosive blast was heard, and they all looked to see Jedore on the ground covered in blood. Looking as Jedore was out of sight for most of them, the female Spectre huffed out a focused breath. "One Krogan, and Jedore."
Jedore tried to get back up but was stomped on by a yellow boot. Looking up, she saw Zaeed. "You..." She grinned, though, as she saw a Krogan about to smash his head.
Said mindless fighter was taken out with a quick hit by Naruto, who saved the Merc. With his wicked smirk, Zaeed tsk'ed. "See where Vido gets ya? You'll find his leadership for the Suns quite lacking when it matters. There's a reason all he took care of were the books..."
The alarms blared, the team had started to see how Jedore was with Zaeed when the sound hit, and they all turned to see what was happening. So for a few seconds, it went before they heard a hissing and then silence. "The hell was that?"
Jedore chuckled, "That bastard Okeer thought he could fuck with me. Nobody fucks with-"
She was silenced by a bullet from Zaeed, who glared, "The cloning labs are being flooded with deadly gas." EDI chimed in their comms.
"Move!" Naruto declared as they dashed back up the labs, "EDI can you turn off the gas!?"
A second went by for silence as they got to the door. "System stable, gas dispersed safely." Entering the door, they moved to Okeer. The old Krogan was dead against the wall.
Checking him over, Mordin concluded what happened. "Only one lung, gas ruptured it. Couldn't breathe. Horrible way to go..."
Just then, a message on the computer activated. "Son of Mercy, you and your sister were here to get information on the Collectors." He was coughing. "All I asked was for the technology and resources for my legacy. KHUHHH! I know nothing of them... But I know of you." He started hunching over, barely able to get a breath. "My... Soldier. Perfect. Grant him... Life..."
Naruto groaned with a small curse, "Damn it."
"I might count this as a loss," Jacob thumbed to the tank. Beside him, Miranda was hacking the vitals on the tank-bred Krogan in the pod.
Mordin was also doing the same; "Vitals are stable."
Standing beside the blond, Kasumi stared wide-eyed at the Krogan in the pod, "You sure it is safe bringing him?"
Coming close to the pod, Naruto stared at the pod and to Okeer, "We take him. Figure out what to do onboard, Normandy."
"Fucker's at least seven foot seven," Zaeed whistles.
"Eight even." Sighing, Miranda shook her head. "Now we have less than what we wanted out of this." She called in for Normandy pickup, seeing as it seemed the place was now cleaned of all hostile forces. Save for a few runners who didn't want anything to do with Jedore's power trip.
Eyeing the Krogan, Emily was not so sure. "A heavy hitter, if we can get his cooperation. But, considering what we are up against, that's more than we had before getting here."
Xxx On the Normandy XxX
After the heavy lifting of the pod, the elevator stopped at the crew deck. Miranda stepped out. "Let's get that implant removed. Won't take more than an hour."
Still technically in his armor, as the armory was on the command deck for some reason, Naruto sighed and followed. "This is going to be a pain to get used to."
Sakura and Chakwas turned their gazes from lab reports as Naruto and Miranda strolled into the medical room; "Did something happen?" The older woman questioned, rising from her seat.
"We need to remove the implant we used during the Lazarus project. It has started to bring on complications." Miranda addressed.
Helping her big brother to the table, Sakura went to get the procedure ready. They had been informed of this eventuality, after all. As head doc on board, Chakwas started checking the implants. "After the news that you gave me about his recovery status, you told me it was likely going to be another week before it was finally ready for removal."
"Seems I should have considered his recovery speed into account from the beginning. Adding a week due to unseen troubles made sense at the time." Then, heading out, the buxom scientist had to make her report.
The emerald eyes of the medical trainee looked to the system and then to Naruto. "Learned as kids how stubborn your body could be when hurt or tired. Want under, or made numb?"
Taking off the upper portions of his armor, the blond grunted, "Just numb me."
Coming to her brother's side, she puts an auto-injector to his neck. There was only a twinge of discomfort as he felt the medicine moving through his body.
"Lie down on your stomach, Commander," Chakwas spoke, getting her tools.
After finishing the suiting of everyone who wanted out of their heavy gear, the team returned to their stations. They hoped they did not have to worry about this type of thing for too many missions. "At least the elevator's quick about moving the decks."
A chuckle came from the hardened mercenary at Garrus' note. "Oh, it could be MUCH worse. We could be on a Turian Cruiser from a hundred years ago. Blasted things had the armory on the crew deck, which was usually a league in the back and through two elevators that didn't have inertia dampeners, and most of the crew puked their fucking lunch up by the time; they got to the shuttles."
"Want to hear about the Salarian's first warships?" The quick wit came back and hard. "They almost had the same misguiding maze of numbers and letters as your old sea vessels, with narrower corridors where even single file was crowded when alone, not even counting the hundreds who poured into them when on high alert."
Garrus and Zaeed eyed Mordin, "That would have been a bitch."
"Indeed." The former STG commented.
All done, Shepard locked her arm and checked in with Joker. However, she was stopped by the Yoeman of the ship. "Captain Shepard, how was the mission? I heard we picked up a Korgan, but not at all Okeer. So while I would ask what the plan is for them, I would more like to ask how your brother is doing?"
"The Krogan's in a pod; what we do with it will happen shortly." However, that last part was curious to her. "Why ask about Naruto? He's being run ragged, but neither of us gets much time to rest when under orders directly."
At that, the younger woman had gotten a touch flustered, "Well, I was just concerned about his well-being."
Emily cocked a brow, curiously in wonder about that.
Collecting herself, Kelly explained as best she could. "One of my jobs here is to keep an eye on the mental state of the entire crew. Double goes for our officers, seeing as the strain of command can be taxing. Hearing he's in the medbay, I was curious."
"As I mentioned, the only thing currently is the push he's getting to keep going. Mentally he's the same as ever." Shepard tried to word it better, though. "You wake up in the middle of an attack and get put to work as commanding a warship after the boogeymen of the galaxy, and the only downtime is between relay jumps. During the hunt for Saren, we took turns in pods and kept ourselves from being run into the ground for a reason."
With a nod, the yeoman understood. "Thanks for talking with me, Captain. As I said, I was just curious. But, of course, his well-being is important to all of us."
Watching the woman head off, Shepard hummed aloud for a brief moment before heading to see Joker. "Everything alright up here?"
"So I thought we were getting a mad Krogan scientist? Not a giant super Krogan. Please tell me you're going to wait before you, you know, birth him," Joker commented with wit and some fear.
"Naruto gave authority to wake him while he is getting worked on. Right EDI?"
The holographic blue orb of Normandy's AI came to life, "Cereberus has strict rules on dealing with potential dangers like this current scenario. However, Commander Uzumaki has expressed to deal with potential ally instead of waiting."
Joker deadpanned; "If we're even assuming he is as friendly as Wrex."
"And if he isn't, he's out the airlock as a corpse. We don't have the space or resources just to keep him tied to the power grid until we run several weeks of analytics, so we need to decide based on current information. If he is an extra gun on our side, we point at the enemy and say let loose." She smiled a bit, though. "Besides, two years with a Salarian who respects Krogan more than most Krogan do to each other makes for understanding what we are dealing with."
Looking her way, the disabled pilot was unsure how that all added up. "And here I thought you spent your life with some sort of mutant Krogan with Naruto onboard." Then, getting a chuckle, he went back to his panel. "Otherwise, we're on standby until the order comes in. Trimming some output, making sure my adjustments aren't kicking our engineers in the ass. I miss Adams and Tali working on the thing, even Brian, I could send the update, and they have it worked out instantly."
Knowing his tell, she nudged him. "But, Daniels and Donnelly are good too?" Getting a smirk in response, it was clear he respected the new crew. "Get some coffee, and if Miranda has her way, we'll be heading to the next Cerberus pointed objective soon. I'll go see to our new visitor."
XxX ~ xx ~ XxX
The elevator doors chimed as they opened to engineering; Shepard walked out of the threshold into a hall. On the right was the scrap dispenser, where Zaeed decided to take up as his own. To the left was a cargo room, where Okeer's legacy resided. And the female N7 made her direction towards the said sleeping Krogan.
Entering the room, the redhead stopped at the large pod. Then, lifting her arm, she activated her Omni-tool to go over what Mordin and EDI were able to figure out from their scans of him. The Salarian doc had to omit that the late ancient Krogan Warlord had done a phenomenal job creating such a robust Krogan specimen. Its primary, secondary, and tertiary organs were in exceptional condition.
Looking through the glass tube, she could see the big guy was dressed in custom-made armor that EDI explained was thicker than most standard Krogan gear with numerous unique modifications.
Staring at the eight-foot reptile, she begins to type the code to awaken the Krogan. "Crossing fingers."
The water drained, and the pod opened, letting the half-awakening being drop from it like a sack as he hit the metal flooring enough to dent the grates a tad. The Krogan coughed up whatever form of liquid-filled and surrounded him and looked around. Its surroundings were unknown, and it had no idea where it was—standing, clearing its throat with a growling that made it seem much more menacing, the being found the much smaller and squishy human dressed in nothing but an off-duty uniform.
Staring at the towering being and wondering what would happen, it did not take much to figure out the tightening muscles were ready for combat. Which meant- "HAHHH!" Quick, Shepard caught the arm, grabbing her neck and braced as she was tackled into the wall. The hand let go to shove the forearm into her neck instead, only to be caught by her arm, which stung like hell seeing an armored Krogan blow mid-swing. "Thank fuck he had no momentum, damn!"
"Human, Female..." The Krogan spoke. His eyes flashed at hers, and the pupils slit and dilated. "Before I kill you, I need a name."
Grunting past the pressing of arms to her neck, her glare challenged him. "My name is Captain Emily Shepard, but I'm sure you knew that." She was so happy she had thought to unlock her arm for this instance. "Trusting that EDI and Cerberus don't try anything funny here... They sabotage my arm, and it'll be hell to pay if I get out of this without a concussion."
His blue eyes narrowed, "Not your name. Mine..." He sounded lost for a moment, "Okeer's implant connection was flawed. I see events of the past. People and places; But nothing to explain me." He passed, "Warlord, legacy, Grunt... He spoke that word often." He grunted; "Meaningless, but it will suffice. My name is Grunt." He leaned into the tiny human, "And yes, I know of you, Shepard. Prove yourself a competent warrior and try to kill me."
"As much as I'd love to prove how easy it might be, I have a better idea." Bluffing to someone who had no idea what it meant would be challenging, given the confidence 'Grunt' had. "I've proven to many, including Krogan warlords, how tough I am. You are a worm. Prove yourself worthy as a warrior before you try me on for size."
Pressing harder into her arm, Grunt felt the resistance. She wasn't as weak as his imprints made Humans out to be. "With no fight to call my own, no enemy before me except you, my worth as the ultimate Krogan will have to be settled with your blood. There are no enemies stronger than you."
"Few are..." It was taking everything to keep herself from choking on her arm. "But if you want to prove you are who you say you are, then how about learning from the best and finding something worth killing. So join us in our fight."
"Hmm, you speak like those who earned their command."
"Let my actions speak for me. And I'll show you why many fear me."
Grunt and Emily glared hard at each other before the giant Krogan chuckled, "We shall see Shepard. I'll fight for you." He lowered her back to the metal floor. "I will look forward to the coming battles."
He noticed her mechanical arm glowing with a weapon as he stepped back. She smirked at him as she let it vanish. "Good. Settle what gear you bring on missions with our weapon's expert Jacob Taylor, our armory officer, and be ready when we need you."
Grunt gave a respectful nod; doing the same, Emily turned to leave. As the door opened, she saw Garrus and Zaeed standing close with a weapon in hand. "Well, that turned out better than expected," The former C-Sec officer lamented.
"You like to play with fire, don't you, Shepard?" The grizzled merc mused.
Emily only smirked back as she walked past both men, "Would be boring if I didn't."
Both observed as she left for the elevator. Then, finally, a low grunt came from Zaeed, "Christ, if I was thirty years younger. Now that is an alpha female."
"Doubt you could handle Shepard even then," Garrus jested, earning a chuckle from the old human.
"Be hella fun either way." Zaeed laughed while returning to his room down the hall.
"Last call for the elevator, anyone going up?" She said as she poked her head from the elevator.
A shrug from both men to each other was enough for them. Zaeed passed by with a wave. "I'll keep an eye down here."
Her Turian friend chose to join her as they went up to the crew deck again. He noticed her rubbing her arm. "You alright?"
"Should have blocked with my metal arm; I've gotten too good using my only original one left that it was instinct to keep an armored Krogan at bay hand to hand. A BAD instinct." This, of course, comes from a technically inclined N7.
"At least your alright," Garrus digressed. "How strong is he?"
"He picked me up like I was a paperweight. And way faster than he looks."
"Glad he's on your side."
Emily cocked a brow, "You mean ours?"
Her friend shook his head, "No, you. I get the feeling he will follow only you."
As the doors opened, they were met with Sakura, smiling to see they were alright. "Just who I wanted to see. Naruto's under a little longer, so the incisions we made heal properly, but that won't take much longer. Asked me to tell you to see him when you were done." Looking to Garrus, she nodded. "Welcome to join in, Vakarian."
XxX ~ xx ~ XxX
Naruto grunted as Miranda gave him his Battle dress uniform sat up from the medical bed. Doctor Chakwas scanned him over with her Omni-tool, "A least a full day's rest before jumping into the fire."
The blond gave the nod while Miranda looked over his facial scarring, "Maybe another week or more before these fully heal. You can get dressed now, commander."
The blond was quick to change into his uniform entirely without a word. He could tell the Cerberus agent's eyes lingered but remained professional as she went over Chakwas's scans.
Not a second after did the door of the medical bay open with Sakura, Emily, and Garrus coming in. "So what's the verdict?" Garrus said, bemused.
"Well, your still ugly."
"Ooh, nice one, blondie."
"I still think it was reckless to let that Krogan out without further information available. Let's just hope he doesn't try anything when we aren't looking." Though she disapproved, Miranda gave them the update. "The Illusive Man, however, has approved of the action."
"Knowing him so far, it's got to be a way of getting into my good graces, or something worse." Giving her as much respect he could muster, he nodded. "Reckless or not, it had to be dealt with. Even you can agree to that. So I'll be reading into the last recruit file, make my choice, and we'll head to the next step. Which is what, exactly?"
"The next recruit is only known as Jack. A career Criminal with a list of acts followed; piracy, kidnapping, vandalism, and murder. She is also a Biotic who rivals you in raw power." Miranda spoke while gazing at her Omni-tool. "She is currently held on the prison ship the Purgatory at Osun, the hourglass nebula."
Among them, the lone Turian narrowed his eyes, "Heard stories about it on Omega. Some folks on Omega dub it 'the place where people go when the hell itself is scared of them.'"
"Not ominous at all," Sakura dryly commented, masking a tinge of fear.
"A Blue Suns unit operates it under the command of a fellow Turian named Warden Kuril. He is a former military and C-Sec but left as he considered the judicial system of the Council was too soft and corrupt."
Miranda looked to Vakarian, "He talks about corruption but is with a notoriously corrupt mercenary gang."
"Never said he was perfect. He's a little shifty but remarkably very no-nonsense and takes his work seriously. But keep one eye on him at all times. Show strength, and he will respect you."
"Like I said." Standing up, the blue-eyed stared at them all. "I'll make my decision later. Unless we have some sort of time restriction, I'd like to read up on every possible reason why this kind of situation can screw up."
In agreement, the Lazarus director started to leave. The look on the pink-haired apprentice was staggeringly flat. "She needs to ease up. You just got through hell five times over, and if you go into a combat situation now, that neck incision will open up, and emergency retrieval will be required before you die again."
"Noted, agreed." Groaning loudly, the revived sniper could only imagine the hell they were continuing to walk into. "Garrus. Speaking out of respect for the guy? Will he be any trouble?"
Crossing his arms, the Turian thought for a long moment, "I've only heard some stories about Kuril from his C-Sec days. Back then, he was harsh but fair; in these days, I'm not sure."
A grumble came from Emily, "So watch our asses."
"Yup."
That said, Shepard chose it was finally time to get the details of things. They were in a holding pattern; no better time to start figuring out where the crew stood and what issues the future held. "Speaking of watching our asses. You mentioned not watching yours well enough... What exactly happened to you as Archangel?"
Trilling and reverberating rumbles were heard. "This might take a while..."