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"We're coming up on the ship... Can't say I'm liking the shape it's in." Bringing up the diagnostics for the VERY tense crew and captain behind him, Joker spelled it out. "Lights out, no life signs. It's dark and dead."

"Mr. Moreau is correct, however, the damage to the ship is minimal." Their onboard AI took to correct. "Its engine core is undamaged, and there are little signs of attack other than the airlock being broken open by external means. The ship may not have any oxygen or artificial atmosphere."

As the team looked at the ship in front of them, it was clear that their lead was a dead end now. Miranda made a suggested observation. "Dr. Light's message mentioned he was being followed. They caught him before we could get here in time."

A few moments of thought passed before a blip was received. "There appears to be a functioning shuttle nearby."

"Where, EDI? Is it friendly?" Nothing else mattered to the blonde at the moment. "Is there anything you can find?"

"Says here it's a little ways towards the nearest planet. No IFF, and it's looking to be running cold." Starting up the thrusters, the pilot began maneuvers to get the ship closer.

Emily leaned back beside Garrus, "So you had no idea the Illusive Man attempted to revive Naruto's mother before striking for Naruto himself?"

"I knew nothing about another Lazarus Project involving Kushina Uzumaki" Miranda glanced over with frustration in her tone, "Hell, I didn't even know the Illusive Man had her damn body all this time."

Jacob spoke up beside the buxom brunette, "She's right. And Miranda is one of the few people who talk with the boss, not in holo."

"Still, one hell of a bloody thing to try and bring back Mercy." Zaeed chimed in beside Mordin.

The Salarian was pacing in thought, "The Illusive Man would have to have kept her body in peak condition and ensured there was no decomposition. Then, advanced cryogenics would be the solution."

Something about that last part had warning bells in the back of the Spectre woman's mind. However, she couldn't quite put her finger on why. Closing in on the shuttle with the signal catching their attention, the comms lit up. "Put them on, I want to know if this is Light."

Hitting the switch for cockpit speakers, the team listened as the words were spoken. It was not the good doctor, but his VI. "Normandy, this is Roll. Dr. Light's VI assistant. A powerful foe attacked us, and Dr. Light is in critical condition. Medical help will not be able to save him, but his pain can be eased as he delivers his final message. Send Uzumaki at once, he must hear what Dr. Light has to say."

"Can we confirm you are his VI, and he is there? Are there any cameras on board?"

As if to answer, the video showed up, showing Light in a pool of his blood against the pilot's chair. Standing beside the controls was the VI's interface model. It looked like a young teenage girl. "We are slowly running out of power, and he is slowly dying... Please, arrive promptly."

Already suited up, Naruto grabbed his helmet. "Joker, aim the airlock. I'm jumping for the shuttle. Roll, was it? Have the atmosphere barrier up when I get there."

Roll nodded as the feed faded. Then, putting on his helmet, the blond put into the airlock and closed it behind him. He barely paid attention to the airlock light as the pressure equalized. As the doors opened and the Shuttle was in jumping range. Taking a quick dash and deactivating his gravity boots, the blond leaped from the airlock.

His gaze stayed fixed on the Shuttle as its airlock doors opened, and Roll came out extending her hand. Naruto did the same; the two could grab each other, and the VI unit pulled the human Spectre in. She quickly shut the door, repressuring the room before they entered the shuttle main. Then, like the wind, the blond rushed in, took off his helmet, and went to Dr. Light's side.

"Dr. Light?!"

"He is unconscious, commander. He needs medical assistance."

The blond looked over to Roll, "Can this thing still fly?" getting a nod, Naruto went to the controls and his comm, "Normandy, I'm bringing in the shuttle to the hanger bay. Get Dr. Chakwas and Sakura now!"

Tried to flip the controls, but nothing lit up. Wondering why, the mech that assisted him plugged into the wall supply before sparking to life. "The engine core's power was siphoned for life support. The mech unit was my way of helping him into the shuttle, and has enough power for a single minute of thrust."

"It'll be more than enough." Thankfully, his friend was a very instinctive pilot and had already opened the bay, getting in close. "Just a quick jump back and hovering into place." A momentary light of the thrusters and they were into the hangar, hovering to an open part of the floor before landing. As the shuttle dropped, Normandy closed the doors. Gently getting the good doctor up, he helped the older man out of the doors. "Roll, can you follow?"

"No, Commander. My processing unit is a suitcase in the cargo hold, hooked up to the shuttle's main control unit." She smiled somberly in her projection, still on the console in the cockpit. "I will disconnect and wait for someone to pick me up. Hurry, Dr. Light has little time."

Nodding, the blond opened the shuttle doors being greeted Chakwas and Sakura with a hover gurney. Getting the older man gently on, the doctor and apprentice quickly took Light up to their medical bay. Then, with Garrus and the others, Emily rushed to Naruto, "Get the VI unit Roll out of that shuttle. I'll need to speak with her."

"We can put her in the medical bay," Mordin remarked, getting into the shuttle with Emily.

A look around found the suitcase, as Roll described it, and with a quick unhooking of the primary cord, Shepard closed it all up before bringing it along with her. "EDI, scrub the shuttle for any anomalies?"

"Standard protocols already engaged, and the shuttle is clear of any malware. I would like to report, the VI is enclosed inside a device that has protections against specifically me. It would seem Dr. Light also knew of my construction."

Garrus grunted, "If this guy went off the grid to even Cerebus, I'm not surprised he didn't want you poking around. No offense."

"None was taken, Officer Vakarian."

The Turian blinked before glancing at Emily, "Was that sarcasm?"

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Naruto stood outside the medical station to let Chakwas and Sakura do their work. "You ever heard of this, Dr. Light?" He questioned Jacob at his side.

"Only that the man is a literal savant in nearly half a dozen fields of medicine and science. Your bio cybernetics are because of him."

"And you only know that much because you asked about them." The Cerberus scientist explained as she joined them. "Sorry I was in my cabin, thought to let the Illusive Man know about the situation."

The leading authority on the ship was still in debate, it seemed. Or so Sakura thought as she made her thoughts known, getting the required fluids for the dying man on the table to keep him stable. "Isn't it a little early to be reporting anything? We still have to ask this guy about Naruto's mom."

"Think you can get him stable enough for a chat?" Naruto was wondering. "Or will we be waiting?"

Chakwas finished her diagnostics, and she had all the bad news. "Stable is about all we can do for him. Lacerated spine, one kidney failed, and his left lung seems to have a small puncture that's causing some blood to enter. Normally, this is treatable with field medicine like Medi-gel on the spot, but he's had no recovery from whatever attacked him. I'd be able to fix the damage, but his heart is in very bad shape. Nothing we can do here will save him from death..."

Naruto swore under his breath as Emily and Garrus joined them. "Got the VI." Without another word, they went inside the Medical station and placed the briefcase on a table, garnering Chakwas's attention.

"What is that?"

"Dr. Light's VI, he calls Roll. You mind if we turn her on?" As much as Naruto wanted to speak with Light, he doubted his condition would allow it. And felt better just to let the man die peacefully.

Chakwas waved it off and gave the nod, with Emily, Garrus, and Naruto getting Roll back online.

As she started booting up, the image came back online. With a much more clear view of her this time, they saw what looked, again, to be a teenage girl. Her interface was colorized in a way, unlike most other VI. She had human features and had her outward appearance colored like skin. W young lighter-skinned woman with a blonde ponytail. Her eyes opened, showing emerald orbs with circuitry flashing. the only thing that showed her VI nature. "Roll online. Last de-activation, two minutes ago..."

It seemed to be in the process of booting up. Naruto tried to get things started. "Roll, what was Dr. Light trying to do? Where is Kushina, my mother?"

After a second of boot-up, Roll looked at him. "I am sorry, Commander. My files are locked until the doctor passes away. His vitals chip suggests he is still alive. He fought to stay alive until he could deliver his message personally."

"And he is close to death and will suffer with every breath. He should go peacefully."

A moment passed, and Roll looked to where the Doctor lay. "Rock and Roll, Dr. Light. You master your destiny."

As if something inside him was switched on, he gasped a harsh breath and coughed, making nearly everyone jump. Calming down his coughing fit with a sigh, he opened his eyes. "Ahh... I'm on the Normandy, then? Looks like I made it with moments to spare." It was clear he was pushing past a lot of pain, but he turned to the group. "You have your mother's determination, young lad."

The blond came to his side, "...You don't have much time."

"...I figured," the older man coughed, "The Shadow Broker's goon was thorough in ensuring I died before you got me. Not through enough." Dr. Light's breathing was slowed and labored.

Garrus came close, "They give a name?"

"Kabuto... He figured I was going to die, least knew the name of my killer."

Sakura placed a hand on Light's shoulder, "My brother and sister will get him."

"Good..." He looked back to Naruto, "Outside of Roll, who I created personality. I also made a specialized security VI I call Rock. He is at the head of the mech details guarding your mother. Their location Roll can give you... Look after them for me... They are the closest thing I have to a daughter and son."

Naruto rested a hand on the man's, "I promise."

At that, Light smiled, "...For Kushina..." The last breath of the good doctor left his lips as his eyes closed.

Behind them, Roll looked sad and ready to cry. Though she corrected herself and spoke up. "Dr. Light's life signs are gone... My full catalog is ready for access."

"Where is my mother? There's no time to waste."

"There is little, as the agent sent to kill us knows as well." The VI blipped out to show the location on a map. "The planet itself is nearby, we were on our way to move her when we were attacked. This attack was several hours ago, he already has a headstart."

Naruto tapped the comms, "Hear that, Joker?"

"Got the coordinates. Heading there now."

Emily spoke up, "This Kabuto fellow likely has troops with him; I want everyone prepped and ready. We're going in hot!"

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Walking through a facility with a small hit-squad, a silver-haired man also in a mask trying to map the facility using signal pings. Soundwaves to collect data on the place. It was your standard cookie-cutter lab, but it was weird. They were walking through the same corridor for an hour now, and no sign of even a bathroom. "This guy build a facility this big? And we never knew about it?"

What was weird, was that the soundwaves were turning them all which ways, and sometimes it didn't make sense. He swore it was because the place was closing off some exits and they were running in circles. That is, until a little while ago he had taken to damaging one of the walls enough to be noticeable and kept going. And he just saw that damage, on the floor ahead.

Stopping, Kabuto laughed. "That's what's going on! HAHAHA! A self-readjusting maze. No wonder we kept hearing such creaking noises. MEN! Switch to radar, and ultraviolet, and get your explosives ready! We're blasting to the core of the facility the moment we find it!"

As the team of agents started getting ready, the one viewing them through the cameras in the walls booted up. As the Mech started, many others around him did as well. "Priority defense; executing protection detail." The mech forces walked to their positions, ready to defend the room behind them. The central Mech was colored in various places in blue, and his arm was a big arm that looked like a weapon of some sort. "Rock, ready to go. I will preserve the work of Dr. Light."

Fully modified LOKI and YMIR mechs stand at the ready. Rock's specialized pulse cannon is a creation of his maker after studying Geth's weaponry. But that was one of many unique traits of the special VI who stood ready for battle. "Defense protocols Activate. Defend cryo chamber priority one."

The eyes of the mecha around him glowed as they began moving.

It didn't take long for the walls of the chamber to be breached, not when Kabuto was able to find the real layout and broke through the mechanisms for the maze. Once the room was opened, all mechs aimed their weapons at the ready. And for good reason, as the smoke cleared and the opposing forces clashed. Throwing a biotic flare of energy, Kabuto burst into the room with full powers on display, the ball separating into three different entities that lifted some of the LOKIs in the air, where his forces proceeded to do similar to the rest.

With half the mechs in the air, the rest fired at will, YMIR's firing rockets instantly. Only seven men came into the room, but they were not going to fall for any more tricks, as two activated a burst that scrambled the rockets and had them fly into the walls around them instead of at them.

With a couple of Singularities, one via Kabuto's prowess with biotics, the team with him fired off biotic projectiles to implode the black holes and cause half the mechs to explode. Kabuto was all too eager to call their victory.

And that's where he was thrown off, as a large blast of energy shot out and not only ripped through the barriers of the man beside him, but blasted half the man's face off, and an arm. With one of their dead, Kabuto, who activated his tech shield, looked to the culprit. the only Mech with blue coloring. it was also vastly different. It looked much like a LOKI, but had advanced designs and implemented cybernetic muscles. It was like nothing they ever witnessed before. And it was firing from its arm cannon again at their ranks

Kabuto only had a second to ponder the unit as it blasted multiple plasma rounds at him and his men, "Scatter!"

A few of his men were not quick enough and took several shots that ripped through their shields, killing them instantly. But they ducked for cover, with more LOKI and YMIR mechs appearing and firing their arsenal at the invaders.

It was then Kabuto's ears picked up a loud humming noise. Then, glancing from his cover, he saw the modified blue LOKI's cannon plasma arm glowing brighter and brighter.

"Not on my watch!" Dropping his weapon at his feet, he summoned his biotic aura and fired two Warp energies, and sent them straight out at the mech, who fired its giant blast. Thankfully for the hit-squad leader, it did stop the blast from killing him. His miscalculation, however, was the energy was infused with a different frequency that bounced against dark energy, splitting it into several shots that ricocheted and killed half his remaining men. This led to them going into a slight panic, one that would not end well.

Using much of his effort to do so, Kabuto went with an anti-gravity lift field, attempting to rip the thing apart in the air. It didn't work, as the Mech anchored its feet before the field took effect. Seeing another blast coming up, Kabuto ducked under it this time, the energy ripping his shields even without hitting him from the EMP effect of the shot. This EMP effect also took the remaining troops' shields.

The other Mechs made short work of them soon after, even as the unshielded mechs, also hit by the EMP of the blast, were dying off from the impressive firepower of the hit-squad, one with a heavy explosive weapon that did in almost all of the left side of the room, including the collapsed wall and rock mountain no longer supported piling in.

Having enough, Kabuto buffed his biotic barriers and raced in, lifting a LOKI and bringing him in as a shield against the now rapid-fire blast of the blue mech. As the enemy shield was being ripped apart, Kabuto summoned up a Singularity that he tossed at the remaining Mechs in the defending barricade and caused its unstable nature to rip and tear at the LOKIs, before it blew up and knocked out the remaining YMIRs. He was hit by a large blast from the blue mech, sending him to the wall, all as it sped towards him and pointed its glowing blasted point blank into his chest.

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The Normandy shuttle arrived at an unknown habitual jungle planet in only thirty minutes. They landed on a large platform connected to a rather large, well-hidden lab built into a mountainside. As the shuttle doors opened, Naruto came out first with Emily, Garrus, Mordin, Zaeed, Jacob, and Grunt.

Emily shot a look at the old merc, "Know anything about the Shadow Broker's mercs?"

"Only that they highly trained, well equipped with top-tier weapons and armor, and a bitch to fight."

At that, Grunt chuckled, "This will be fun."

Mordin was typing furiously on his Omni-tool, "With the ID codes given to us by the VI Roll, the security mechs will see us as friendlies."

"Sorry to pull you away from your work," Naruto glanced back.

"This is Kushina Uzumaki you intended to retrieve. This is an honor and privilege to rescue such an important figure of our galaxy. And she is your mother."

Garrus let out a low grumble, "I looked through every database, and there is zero information on this Kabuto guy. He's a damn ghost."

With the team slipping into the front door, they could see that their friendly IFF IDs were not going to be any help. Every mech in the room was trashed. Though there were things that rose a lot of flags for some of the group, especially Shepard. "They aren't equipped with any serious weaponry, barely pistols."

"I doubt a small one-man operation would have funding. Why is that an issue?" The Cerberus soldier mentioned.

It was their Turian eye that corrected him. "All LOKI Mechs on wholesale? They come equipped with Carnifex pistols. These are junk Predators. Meaning, he intentionally downgraded their combat effectiveness. That's the issue."

"Anyone ballsy enough to get rid of good pistols for shitty ones on a mech like this has other plans." Zaeed took a look at one of the LOKIs. "I'm not exactly a mechanic, but even I can tell when there's surveillance on a drone."

It was a worthwhile conclusion, much so that Mordin barely called it out. "They weren't meant to push back an enemy, but learn. Interesting, but that suggests..." A gasp escaped him. "AI?"

And that grabbed even more attention. Except for Grunt, who... grunted, and was disinterested. "This means we don't get to fight, doesn't it?"

Then they all heard voices, "There was an unknown arrival at the facility. Not one of ours!" A man called out.

"Standard kill orders are given; we deal with them and let commander Yakushi complete his objective." A female voice came next with a dozen troops in white armor with red and black accents.

Grunt smiled.

"Form up! We reduce their numbers and then get going!" In full command, especially of Grunt, the metal-armed woman got her rifle ready. "Experimental rifle against top tier rifles. Let's see whose is better."

As the read guard of the squad came into view, it was a single shot to the first man's head by the double tap of Garrus and Naruto using their snipers. "Wanna draw there?"

"You're the one with the Mantis, slowpoke! I'll let you have that one!" With a second shot and a third, the second enemy was dead. "Evened it out!"

"Mind if I join this little game?" The Merc tossed in a grenade, letting it blow as a Krogan and Batarian ran through to bullrush them, only knocking down the Batarian. He didn't last when Shepard took his heart with a double tap.

After a reload, Garrus found the Krogan's shields gone, with Jacob blasting the helmet to dust and causing some damage to the plate-armored head. Giving him enough soft tissue to blast through the skull with a kill shot. "You'd lose instantly! We've been neck and neck since Saren!"

Seems the squad had enough, and two heavy weapons specialists sent a combination of rockets and cryo cannon blasts their way, causing a massive cold explosion that shilled them through their shields and barriers.

Another Krogan, bigger this time, ran in to face them, only to be blocked by Grunt, who kicked in his shin and grabbed the helmet, smashing the giant foe to the ground before stomping his hump and cracking the backplate. "RAH!"

Hearing another Rocket being fired, Naruto pulled Grunt back and gave Jacob the clear. "WARP!"

"ON IT!" With a warp blast, the rocket was blasted from the air before reaching them, but it gave their Krogan enemy time to get back up. Not for long, though, as Jacob pulled him to the group in a lift field.

Seeing his chance, Grunt launched himself back at the Krogan and punched him harshly, making him spin in the air before dropping onto his back. Given a better angle, Grunt took his shotgun and planted it to the face of the helmet, and blew the brains clear to the floor through the skull.

It didn't take long for more shots to pepper his shields and cause them to break. Thankfully his armor was plated with Collector tech, giving him enough defense to get behind the wall without getting hurt too badly.

The newborn Krogan chuckled, "This is fun."

"Least one of us is having some," Jacob quipped, peaking out and seeing a merc coming with a rocket launcher, "Heavy artillery coming!"

Even as Mordin shut down the one Rocket launcher finally, via an upgraded sabotage protocol, another came in and fired right for him, causing Naruto to promptly destroy the fired explosive with a Warp again. It was only delaying them, and they knew it.

As the final bits of the entry were blown clean through by Grunt rushing in and charging them with his shotgun, the team could hear another shuttle outside, the alls rumbling a bit from the propulsion systems.

Grunt, covered in the blood of his enemies, chuckled. "Heh, heh, Heh. I was hoping this wasn't it."

"Good, because you're holding the line... As Naruto goes in," The sister looked to her sibling, the two human Spectres exchanging looks. "You know we can't stay here fighting these guys all day long, who knows what the Broker has planned for your mom? Kabuto could be killing her as we speak, or setting her up to come back out here. Either way, we can't let them lay a finger on her. And our best chance of getting her back is someone going in."

"Agreed." Garrus continued for his partner. "If anyone should go save Mercy, it's her son. We'll keep here and watch your back."

Seeing the squad all in agreement, Naruto could only sigh and accept the plan. "Don't go too crazy, I'd rather not lose anyone in this entire clusterfuck. Keep the barricade holding."

"As an old captain once said, 'We will hold the line.' Will do him proud today." The old Salarian doctor mentioned with conviction.

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Naruto dashed down a long hallway with signs of weapon fire and destroyed mechs all around him. Out of the corner of his eye, he swore he saw the red Asari observing for a moment, but he kept his focus. Reach this Kabuto and his mother.

The idea itself felt so unreal. His mother, alive... And the Illusive Man tried to bring her back before him...

Why would he do that?

There were too many questions for him to process. He needed to keep his head in the game.

As he refocused, he met with a large wall blown into by explosives, much more than standard rockets. Heading through the tunnel, he was met with a large room of death. Around him were corpses and wreckage of both sides, much less one-sided than the first room. And at the center was a man, who just finished crushing the chest of the Mech under him in. "Damn thing almost made me use my more advanced biotics. Can't afford to lose it..."

The man turned to see the blonde and slowly started to chuckle wryly. "My entire force, beaten by just one man? I know you're good, but this isn't a video game."

"Team's cleaning up your reinforcements from the pad. Doesn't matter You are not taking my Mother from me, she isn't some lab experiment! You and the Shadow Broker are not going to TOUCH HER!" Flaring his biotic aura, his fox-like form coming to life, the angry revived sniper generated a singularity right on top of the network agent before him.

To his surprise, the opponent used his biotics to dash away from his attack. Kabuto smirked, "You'll have to do better than that, Uzumaki. And Taking you in with your mother to my boss will be a bonus for me."

"Take your best show then!"

Throwing a biotic pulse along the floor, Kabuto began his assault. With his Shockwave on the way, Naruto jumped over it. Both had balls of biotic energy ready to throw, and they did so, causing the two orbs to collide in a purple hue and explode, bursting from the instability.

Landing with a full biotic flare-up, Narutoslmmed his fists into the floor, pulling some bits of it out of the paneling before flinging three of the floor panels at the agent. Seeing the floor coming at him, the silver-haired man filled the center of the room with a wide Singularity, causing the metal to warp slightly and be pulled in.

Gaining the upper hand of the forming ball of metal, the agent grabbed a hold of it with his biotics and pulled it to him, canceling his Singularity. Before he had time to think, four balls of biotic energy were flung from random directions, causing him to fling the metal ball at the fox-aura in front of him and produce a barrier bubble around him. As all four spheres smacked into his defenses, he grunted, the bubble warping from the damage.

The captain of the Normandy stood his ground as the ball came crashing after him. With a single hand, he caught the thing and blasted it with a shockwave of biotics. Sending it right back to Kabuto.

This was getting tiresome to said enemy, and with his biotic powers at full force, he suddenly flung himself at the incoming ball of metal, smacking it so hard it burst with the biotic blow-back and caused him to skid back from the shockwave. His foe in red had to witness the metal finally cracking and breaking apart to fling at him along with another shockwave.

Not one to be deterred Naruto roared out and produced a wall of biotic power that stopped the floor bits from attacking him and threw them all back with such force and speed, at this range even his enemy had no chance to counter it, which was true as the metal was finally brittle and blew itself into bits. Being a fast projectile, the reinforced barriers of Kabuto were holding for most of the barrage, but when they finally were taken down, several bits cut into his body, two into his right arm and three scratched his legs and hips through his armor, with one nearly taking out his eye as it bounced off the rims of his goggles.

Activating his Medi-gel, the wounds cleared up, though the metal in his arms still stuck inside him. Seeing his vision skewed from the cracks, he took his entire mask and goggles combination off. His obsidian eyes were behind a pair of glasses that were protected by his goggles. "Raw power, unhinged...No wonder the Collectors are after you.

Naruto glared with a near-feral gaze, "Same way your boss wants my mom and me."

"Are you shocked? You and your mother are anomalies among our species—especially you, Naruto. Our race should have taken millennia or more, even remotely, to garner a natural-born biotic. At the same time, your mother is the only being ever to create biotics into a solid form. No one has ever done such a thing. Your outliers, the quantum evolutionary leap of our species."

"You love to hear yourself talk don't you," The blond snarled before running his enemy, who only smiled at the challenge.

The first punch Naruto threw was deftly dodged, and he was countered when his foe turned and stuck an elbow into his chest. Thankfully for his full-plated armor, it was softened as he was knocked back a step. Enough room for the four-eyed agent's maneuver to swing his body and kick wildly with a snapping heel kick.

The block came just in time, both times, as Naruto knew this kind of move, an old martial arts form he had seen many times when watching those movies with the Foxes back in the day. The second kick came rounding for his head again but he ducked under and backed off. With space, he breathed and then charged again when Kabuto got his footing back.

A swift and small sweeping kick to the ankles was his starting move, as his foot caught the ground, Naruto found his opponent attempting to get behind him. That was a mistake, as he swiftly struck with his back foot upward and behind, catching kabuto mid-swing for a palm strike, and knocking him back.

Kabuto charged forward after, knocking himself into the exposed chest of the fox-aura opponent he faced. The strike was powerful enough to send Naruto into the wall and on his side against the ground. Pushing his glasses up more securely, he chuckled aloud, not saying anything.

The silence was loud enough for them both, with Naruto getting up and shaking it off. Something was strange to the blonde Spectre. "He's just blinking around, suddenly using his biotics to jump from place to place. I've not seen that technique before. But it's familiar... Wait, is this what I've been doing by accident?"

It was clicking, but as his face made the look of realization, it was mistaken by his enemy for something else. "Surprised I can hold my own? I've been training for the last five years to take you on in case I ever had to. I know your moves. I'm surprised the Asari never taught you their Commando hand-to-hand. Or, do you just not grasp their basics?"

"Commando?... That's basic compared to some of the things I learned. No more holding back then, if you are so sure you can take me." He knew how to win. He had to use techniques he swore only to use against true evil. "Hope he counts…"

Racing forward again, red biotics flaring up violently, the red iris' of Naruto locked onto their target. Kabuto jumped back from the swinging kick to his side, but before he could land he was suddenly pulled by biotics, right into an even faster and harder kick into his legs, sending him spiraling until he hit the ground on his face.

Without a second to breathe, he was lifted into the air as Naruto, behind him, jumped up and sent a biotically infused palm strike into the silver-haired man's back, bouncing him off the floor violently, sending him banging his side into the wreckage of mechs in the corner.

Kabuto coughed up some blood from that and was wide-eyed seeing the full biotic force of his target on display. Getting up, he growled loudly into his charge, sending himself close enough o shove a point-blank shove of biotic energy into naruto's chest. Or would have, had Naruto not stopped him by doing it first, blasting kabuto to the walls again, and then pulling him in close, grabbing the man by the neck and choke-slamming him.

Standing up, Naruto walked a bit away from the man, taking a breath and getting ready for the final blow. "Any last words?"

Kabuto hissed before chuckling, "The Broker won't stop Uzumaki. And your Asari friend won't ever get close to getting her friend and revenge."

"Good to know," Gabbing his SMG, he pulled the trigger as his biotic crimson glow faded. Surveying the area, he spotted a half-destroyed but functioning mech lying against the wall.

It was beyond repair, but it ran its facial recognition through the haze of static its optics were giving. "Uzumaki. Mission, successful. Your mother's pod is i-i-i-in the other roo-o-om." Its chest bursts from the overload, causing the canon arm to burst to the side and its cavity opens further.

Having the information from Roll, he knew this was the other Advanced AI, Rock. "You're the combat droid. Rock, right? You're coming with us, we'll repair you."

"No." That was resounding and forceful. A moment of silence from that outburst before the mech spoke again. "If you arrived, Light is gone. The Normandy is equipped with an AI, one that Cerberus equipped with cyber warfare suites. I cannot be active onboard."

The blond could read between the lines, "You don't want Cerberus to get ahold of you and figure out what Light put in you."

"C-C-correct. Until ties with Cerberus are severed, I must remain here."

Naruto knelt to the mech, "But you'll die."

"Self-repair... Module, in next room... Undamaged... Can get inside and be restored." Rock's voice went static to fading out.

Without another word, the blond used his biotics to pick up the mech and bring it into the next room—an enormous lab with all sorts of operating tables and devices. The one required for Rock, he pointed to. Putting the mech inside and closing the module door, he typed on the connected console.

"VI Combat model Rock. It has sustained over the ninety-percent level of damage. Do you wish to repair?"

"Yes."

"Repair commencing... Thirty-six hours before full repair."

With that out of the way, the blond turned to his eyes set upon a cryogenic chamber resembling Grunts tanks. Not did his comrades soon join him, but he was unaware of their presence. So instead, he stared at the figure sleeping inside the tank. As reports he read, his mother died when she was twenty-four. And thus, that is how old she currently looks inside the tank. Her long red hair goes down to her waist.

Mordin was quick to activate his Omni-tool, "Amazing!"

Jumping a little from the sudden outburst, the team leader looked to see everyone. "Jeez, give a guy some warning? Guessing the broker agents are gone?"

"Mostly. We let one head back to give the Shadow Broker a message, to not fuck with us again." His sister looked at the tank as she explained. Humming, Shepard could only wonder. "There's barely a resemblance... Are we sure it's your mom?"

Giving the best explanation he had, the blonde went to the side of the pod as Mordin checked the console. "That's what I get a lot of the time from those who know her face by heart. The one thing they always see in me that's hers, besides my nose I guess, is the look in my eyes. I've been told how much of a mini-me I am compared to my old man, right down to the way my hair can't stay combed down."

Looking at the damaged combat bot, Zaeed was impressed. "This that other VI? Damn impressive hardware. You fight it?"

"No. Kabuto wrecked it before I got here. Speaking of...We need to get it to a safer location, away from Cerberus and any attempt they make on claiming this facility. We have comms in here?"

Emily got through with her Omni-tool. "Bunker doesn't have a dampening field. Guess it's using natural geological formations to hide it from radar and such."

Contacting the Normandy, Naruto knew what to do. "Naruto to Normandy. Pick up, I have a request."

"What do you need, Commander," Joker came on the comm.

"Transmits code alpha twenty-two sigma charlie tango."

A few brows rose, save Jacob, who recognizes the code.

"...We going old school?"

Naruto snorts, "Do it, Joker. We stay here till we receive a transmission."

Mordin gave a nod of agreement while inspecting Kushina's vitals, "That would be preferable till I can determine Kushina Uzumaki is safe to transport."

Stepping up towards the commanding officer, Jacob was curious. "You don't trust Cerberus to get this to the Alliance?"

"If they let this happen my way, I'm more inclined to later down the road. Between Dr. Light's countermeasures, protocols, and the fact he was hiding? I'm not spitting in the face of his distrust for Cerberus just because The Illusive Man is trying to earn mine."

Emily took to giving Grunt something to do. "Mind making sure the way stays clear for us?" As his namesake, he grunted and went to guard the door.

The rival marksman to her brother stared at the woman in the tank. "My father's not exactly against humanity, he has the more rounded opinion in the hierarchy that we just got through shooting each other and haven't caught up to being drinking buddies just yet. But if there was one human who he ever respected enough for that, it would be her. Wonder what he'd say if he knew she lived and we just saved her from being some assholes bargaining chip or lab experiment."

That drew Zaeed's curiosity, "How will the Turians react to this?"

"Don't get me started. The hierarchy will be in an uproar discovering Mercy is alive." Garrus snorted.

Emily drew close to Mordin, "How does she look?"

"Vitals are stable, her brain activity shows she is dreaming currently. Whether that is peaceful or not is up to debate."

Naruto and Jacob took to looking around and found a terminal that held at least several dated video logs. "Might tell how he worked his magic on your mom."

Saying nothing, the blond tapped to open the earliest audio log.

As it played, it was a decent bit of time earlier, Light had a less impressive beard even though he was still obviously getting on in years. The timestamp was for ten years ago. "Cerberus has proved even more incompetent than many might suggest. Project Lazarus was, technically, a failure. If the logs I found were any indication, Kushina Uzumaki was dead for about a year. Though they never found a cause of death, I can speculate. Though her body is alive, her mind was feral. Several attempts at rehabilitation caused more damage than the Illusive Man cared to fund. Her brain scans show that she had a massive amount of concussive force to the head, but what's strange is the damage also inflicted by the overuse of Biotics, and sensory overload common in patients that have burst eardrums from high-volume explosive forces. Her body shows no signs of such trauma, nor has Cerberus rebuilt her using our still limited cybernetic reconstruction prototypes. My theory, given her biotic potential, is that she protected herself using a biotic fie against an explosive force massive enough to still kill her with its pressure alone. This would coincide with her home being wiped off the corner of the street. As her body has been repaired, and any attempts at repairing the brain damage when she is conscious are out of the question, I will be using theoretical work from those top in their fields of biotic medical research and VI-assisted neural repair. The first project, Roll, begins tomorrow."

Mordin rubbed his chin, "The attack must have been sudden and extreme for the outcome to be as it was. The neural damage would be indeed severe."

"But repairable?" Emily inquired

"It would require hours upon hours of delicate surgery and rehabilitation. And the brain is a delicate machine. The fact Dr. Light went to these lengths goes beyond dedication."

"The question then becomes, why ten years? If it should have been done ages ago, what kept him hidden, besides Cerberus?" Naruto played the next entry. Thankfully, Dr. Light's organization caused the high-priority messages to be displayed for replay.

That said, the next one jumped three years. It began with Roll's voice. "Dr. Light. The procedure is complete. Every biometric scan of the subject's brain is completely normal. She is even dreaming if my scans are correct."

"Very good. Is she ready to wake up?"

"No. Her health is theoretically at its peak, this much is true, however, she seems to be in a self-induced coma." That got everyone's attention. "I do not know how, but it appears she has locked a part of her mind."

"How? She's not been conscious long enough to do such a thing, or within her faculties to think to do so."

"As I said, I do not know how. I can only speculate a concept, as my programming dictates to think as a human would so I can understand her behavior. My theory is, she is waiting for a more opportune time to awaken. She may fear if she awakens, she will turn feral once more."

Light's eyes rose in realization, "That would mean she was subconsciously aware upon the first attempt to revive her. Extrondary..." However, his face turned to a frown in thought. "Then we must provide an environment for Kushina to know she will longer be a danger to anyone or herself."

At that, the log ended.

Pregnant silence filled the room as most turned to Mordin who paced in thought, "Curious. We will have to get her back to the Normandy once those who contacted arrive."

Naruto nodded, "Yeah, see if we can wake mom up then. Somehow."

Being an observant one, Garrus checked the diagnostics. Something didn't seem right about the information... Then it hit him. It wasn't what was there, but what wasn't. "I don't think she's in a Coma anymore. Self-induced or otherwise."

"What's that mean? She knows she's safe right now?" Jacob came to look, along with Mordin.

neither knew what he was talking about, however. So he brought up the previous video and zoomed into the panel that Roll had up in her recording. "What's that human game you have? 'spot the change?' or something?"

"Spot the difference. Close enough." Jacob tried a moment, though he wasn't as fast as Mordin.

The Salarian doctor smiled as he turned to everyone. "She seems to think there is no danger, there is missing diagnostics. The one showing her brain activity. She's no longer in a Coma."

"So we can let her out now... Or get back to the ship with her..."

"I vote we let her out now. Not like she'd feel safe on a Cerberus ship, after all." The gruff merc chose to cast his thoughts in. "Besides, who knows how long we'll be waitin' on whoever you called in. Won't be so boring, anyway."

Without a word needed Mordin began the process of opening the cryo pod. The process only took a few minutes, "While she might be recovered. I want all to take precautions otherwise." Mordin spoke sternly.

"We get it, professor, we will watch ourselves." Garrus mused with a Turian wink to Emily who snorted.

Slowly the pod doors raised as frost faded on Kushina's sleeping body. Her mouth was faintly open with visible breath coming out. She let out a soft groan as her eyelids opened revealing rare violet eyes that blinked several times. The images around her were blurry as the sound itself was muffled.

She saw blurry figures standing about her. Within a minute or two, her eyesight became clear as she looked into the large eyes of a Salarian, "Kushina Uzumaki..."

Confusion glowed on her round face, "Hello..." Her voice was raspy as she was in a coughing fit. Relief came in the form of a glass of water brought to her by a tall blond-haired man whose face glowed with varying emotions.

"Drink it slowly," The Salarian spoke in a very doctorly manner. "You have not spoken a word in decades."

The redhead only followed the orders, bringing the glass to her mouth and drinking the miraculous liquid that flowed down her throat. While doing that she saw several other humans, a Turian, and finally the largest Krogan she had ever seen entering the room, "We killed all the weaklings Shepard." Grunt's blue slit eyes turned to Kushina, "Mercy is small like Jack."

At that, the grizzled-looking older human man laughed, "And she could still likely kick your ass six ways to Sunday kid!"

"She could try."

Jacob leaned in, "Vice-Admiral Uzumaki."

Those words made the woman do a double take lowering her glass of water, "I'm Rear-Admiral." Her voice came back to her but still with a cough.

"Yeah, you were awarded the rank of Vice-Admiral upon..." Jacob turned to Naruto who took over.

"Upon your death... Almost thirty years ago," Naruto said slowly.

Kushina stared at the blond who gazed back, "Naruto?"

No, that couldn't be right... Naruto was...

Thirty years ago.

Emotions swelled on the redhead's face, her mouth moved but with no words as tears formed. "I was... Dead, for thirty years..." Her hands soon slowly trembled as her breathing became erratic. However, before a panic attack could set in Mordin drew a sedative and injected the woman who soon felt drowsy once more. The Salarian gently laid her back onto the pod cushion.

"I was afraid of that. Too many stimuli at once caused a mild panic attack." The lone doctor in the room sighed, "We will need to place her under observation with myself, Chakwas, and Sakura." He glanced over to the blond leader of their group who was still and silent, "Naruto."

Calling his name stirred him before slowly nodding, "Yeah, do that. please." Without another word, he came forward taking his sleeping mother into his arm,s and picked her up. at the same time, his comms came to life.

"Uh, just got a message from this Mirage commander," Joker spoke up.

"Put it through," Emily spoke up.

"We're inbound. Be there in five minutes. We require escort out of the system, as a precaution."

"You got it. We'll be waiting. When you arrive, we're leaving the planet. We will wait for your signal to get you out of the system." Cutting comms, Shepard looked to her brother carrying his mother. "I'll stick back until they arrive. You guys take the shuttle back to get her to the medbay, and have it come back to pick us up after the cleanup is done."

Thankful for his sister's understanding, Naruto started walking out of the room. He was followed by MOrdin and Jacob, who left without needing any further instructions. Zaeed put his rifle away and stepped closer to her. "This cleanup crew, they an authority I need to worry about?"

With a shake of her head, the captain reassured him. "Not in the slightest, but you don't have to stay and find out unless you want to."

"Call it a hunch, but I think I'll stay for now" Going to the nearest wall, he leaned against it.

Seeing Garrus staying put as well, Sheard had to wonder. "Not interested in being the first Turian in thirty years to see the infamous 'Mercy'?"

"Oh, I still will be. And you've got it wrong. She's revered in a positive light, kind of why she has that nickname." Garrus couldn't help but smile back at the smirk given. "But you knew that. Alright, I'll admit that my mind is running through several scenarios. Believe it or not, my grandfather fought her once, which is why my father respects her more than even some Turian generals."

XXX xxx XXX

The door of the medbay was opened, with Chakwas and Sakura standing ready as Naruto came into the room carrying his sleeping mother. The body of Dr. Light was already placed in a cadaver pouch. Roll holographic form was brought over by Sakura as he brother places her mother gently down on a bed.

"It was smart to place her under, Professor Mordin," Chakwas remarked.

The Salarian nodded back, "What I gave her was a personal blend that will have her relaxed upon awakening. Will be easier for her and us so she can process the thirty-year time gap for herself."

"Thanks, Mordin." As the commanding officer on deck, Naruto was flying through several thoughts rapidly. Such as, how to deal with the Illusive Man over this, or about what he even says to his mother. "Why does my life have to be so full of things to sort out or accomplish? What I'd give for a few months' vacation time."

The new VI onboard ran scanning protocols, which were immediately blocked by EDI. "Apologies, your AI is limiting my ability to scan Kushina Uzumaki."

"Cerberus Protocols dictate that no other intelligence, Virtual or otherwise, be allowed to make invasive scans on the ship," EDI answered.

As much as Naruto wanted to tell EDI to let it happen, the look from Jacob told him that it wasn't exactly their choice this time. "Chakwas, Sakura. Can you get a scan in and show Roll? That way she doesn't have to scan anything and gets the required data."

The good doctor gave a soft chuckle as she began the scanning. "Was already set up to scan. We want to be ready when she comes to, after all."

A hefty sigh escaped the blonde's lips. As he thought of their next move, he realized they still needed the countermeasure for the Collectors. "Mordin, how is the countermeasure looking?"

"Let the test run as we freed Mercy, should check the results. Will return when needed." With that, he made his way to the elevator to continue his work.

Running his hand through his hair, the blond took note of Chakwas coming over, "We will handle this. I'll inform you the moment the Vice-Admiral wakes up."

"Thank you." Without another word, the blond left the room with Jacob as Miranda stood near the door.

Her azure blues glowed with emotion, "I was told directly by the Illusive Man that you were the only Lazarus Project."

Naruto didn't pick up a lie in her tone any more than Jacob did, "I have a lot of questions for him. Most specifically on why he had my mother's body all this time."

"The boss can be sketchy but even I am wondering about this shit," The blond's old partner grunted.

EDI soon chimed on the comms, "Captain Emily Shepard and company have returned on the shuttle. The captain wishes to speak to you about a gift from the VI unit Rock."

Not wasting time, the group goes down to the deck where Emily and the others were exiting the shuttle with Zaeed already out. The old merc walked passed the blond with a smirk, "Damn interesting friends you got Uzumaki." He spoke cryptically before exiting.

Naruto said nothing before stopping to his sister, "How is it?"

"Mirage already has cleaned up. But not before the Rock unit dispensed this from his repair chamber." She handed her brother a small chip that looked to fit into his Omni-tool component.

The strangest thing was, it wasn't standard Omni-tool hardware, and both of them knew it. Attempting to plug it in, they were given absolutely nothing from the chip itself, no software or data at all.

Emily nodded at that. "I tried it too. Nothing. Whatever it is, Dr. Light made it this way for a reason."

Handing it back to his sister, the ship commander hummed aloud. "If anyone can crack it, it's you. This whole side deal has been strange in more ways than one. A VI in a suitcase, a component of some kind that was inside an advanced combat mech, my mother being alive, and someone who was blinking around with his biotics in the same way I accidentally did before my biotics returned to normal?"

Before they could contemplate, Miranda showed up. "Saved you a scare from EDI. Just received word that the illusive man is wanting to talk to you about something important. He's classified it as a priority communication, which is usually reserved for urgent mission-critical information."

A hardened glare came from Naruto, Garrus, and Emily. "I speak with him now." Naruto marched forward before stopping at the buxom brunette, "Has he been told about my mother?"

"EDI already forwarded a report once the mission was complete."

No words needed to be said as the blond walked away.

XXX xxx XXX

Stepping onto the platform within the conference room, Naruto's holo image appeared before the Illusive Man who lit a cigarette from his seat. "Imagine you have a lot of questions."

"What the hell were you doing with my mother's body?" The blond kept his cool but anger laced in his voice.

"Before your untimely death, I had been funding a project for decades in reviving your mother. The original Lazarus project I called Pheonix. I had deemed it a failure considering upon Kushina's revival she was utterly feral. She killed at least seven people before we sedated her and put her back in the cryo pod." He leaned forward exhaling some smoke. "And I couldn't bring myself to dispose of her body, for which Dr. Light took."

Naruto's eyes narrowed as he leaned in, "And just why were you sentimental about my mother."

"Because she was one of my oldest friends back in the day. Before even all this. Before Cerberus."

There was no lie in his tone. But again he could be one of the few very good at it. But still, the candid revelation rocked the blond. "...What?"

A second of silence passed, but to each, in their way, it felt longer. Answering without revealing a thing, the strange-eyed man kept things business as usual. "If she is inclined to tell you about her past, that's her right. If she is even capable of being in her right mind. Something I do pray for being the case. My past stays with me, but I will say this; Kushina, Minato, and I, along with a select few others, were comrades during the First Contact War. What transpired between us at the end of the war is etched into the very fiber of Cerberus' goals."

"And you won't tell me what that is, will you?" The silence was his answer. Sighing, Naruto gripped his arms, crossed in front of his chest as they were. "Fine, my mother will tell me then. I can see how you can skirt the truth so well, calling the same project different names with different subjects. Guess that's a technicality. She wasn't the subject for Lazarus, I was."

Changing hands with his cigarette, breathing in the nicotine, the boss nodded. "Technicality, but you can believe what you wish. I would alleviate as much of your confusion and irritation about this situation as possible, but we are losing time. The Collectors just initiated their next attack, something we had trouble predicting for some time. This is the earliest we've managed to find their target, but they move quickly in their abductions."

That was some essential news alright. "Guess Miranda wasn't kidding, urgent and crucial information indeed. Alright, time to do what they brought me back for." Standing at attention, Naruto asked for the information he needed. "Where? How much time do we have to get there to stop this attack?"

"You have hours, enough time to get to the colony and stop them. Has Mordin delivered his countermeasure?"

"He's checking results as we speak."

Another stream of smoke left the Illusive Man's lips. "Let's hope they are good results because saving this colony will require it be done before you arrive. The colony is called Horizon, Iera system, Shadow Sea Cluster. You can be there within the hour." Naruto nodded and turned to leave the confines of the holographic communications bubble. But he was called back. "You should know something about this colony."

"What's that?"

Their eyes meet, as best they can be given the matter of communication, The boss man stood and walked closer to the blonde. "An old friend of yours is there. Operations Chief Williams, stationed there for a few days now. Thought you should know."

XXX xxx XXX xxx XXX xxx XXX xxx XXX xxx XXX

Godo: Kushina "Mercy" Uzumaki hath returned! See that comin', did ya? Bet not. MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Arch-Daishou00: Have a good Solstice, everyone!