Chapter 69

"The one who comes... approach!"

Without a sense of urgency involved, Naruto would have let go of a hearty groan. Until that precise moment he alongside Hinata and Shikamaru decided to join Tenten on a visit to Thane who till then in his days of ending only had his son for company, a visit that soon became an entertaining one as they together ate, drank, and told stories that excited or amused. Thane was his usual calm self, not even the inevitable seemed to disturb him from his composed poise, though his expression with a thin smile told volumes how much he enjoyed the rather raucous event.

"Ah, if only Shepard was here." Thane said once somberly.

"Would have, but you know him..." Shikamaru groaned in reply as he leaned on his chosen chair, "Just absolutely positively must help make this galaxy a brighter place no matter how minor it is."

A dim laugh. "Does sound like him."

"Last I heard he's on Omega." Hinata fidgeted, she had tried to convince Thane to allow her to try and save him from what plagued him, but the drell had politely declined – and the hospital would have none of it, less than trusty of healing methods that aren't tested and true within their realm of experience.

Naruto did not doubt her skill in the least, but found himself agreeing some with the logic used by personnel here, a logic that his love came around to belatedly agree with. Being of an entirely different species she could possibly end up harming him more than the advanced sickness already did. If it looks like a drell, walks like a drell, and is sick like a drell, best he be treated by someone trained on how to treat drell – even though it was evident they could not save him.

"He is on Omega." Tenten said idly, "News broadcast and everything. Somewhere in the last few days he alongside Nagato and Konan were whisked away to fight there. Don't worry, Thane. He'll drop by for a visit when he returns I'm sure of it... so make sure not to fade away just yet."

"Noted." Thane agreed.

But now, Naruto found himself back in the darkened space within his mind. As usual the gates of the nine-tails towered before him yet for all its simplistic magnificence he focused morosely on the shrouded figure at its base as it turned to focus on him in turn, and as always it was damned cryptic. "What are you talking about?" was his knee-jerk reaction to the usual vagueness but was in truth thoughtful about what it said for once. He still remembered the nightmare of a debacle he and Hinata were put through, and remembered that the Maker spirits within them would one day be collected. Could that be it? "Kabuto is coming for us, isn't he?"

It did not confirm nor deny with as much as a shrug. "The one who hold the third of our number."

"Kabuto... yeah."

"Yes. He comes and we welcome the will." the alien finally nodded, sagely, "No. Not what will happen, but what must happen. We will ensure your glory whether you like it or not. Still, you should be interested to know..."

"And what is it we should find interesting?" Naruto asked insistingly, "Can you never speak to us straight?!"

"No." it bluntly rejected.

Naruto almost jumped, "You're doing that on purpose!?"

"Maybe." the alien continued and shrugged, "Yet talk we shall," as it looked up at the beast that growled from within the cage, "of the essence within."

"Déjà vu." Tenten whispered, her expression one of worry as she waved a hand in front of Hinata's face without as much as a reaction. This was not the first time she and Naruto grew distant. Not as bad as during the moments the galactic eye was active, but still an object of worry.

Thane looked onto the couple with similar though with comprehension slightly less in worry as he leaned forward, "What is wrong?"

"Only that something inside them are acting up." Shikamaru commented dryly, "They'll probably wake up in a moment or so."

"A moment or so will far suffice." a sleazy voice interrupted their conversation. One that made the Nara abruptly stand to look back at the elevator where now a hooded trio who faced them solemnly. First to introduce himself through removal of his hood was Kabuto who went on to smirk, "Stand aside and we will be done and gone before you know it."

"As if!" Tenten burst up alongside Shikamaru in the knowledge that they are outnumbered three to two by a S-Class criminal and his goons who are obviously fellow kalinin. The sensation they got from the two was far too distinct to be from anything but a natural chakra circulatory system. Either of the guys' identity unclear until a bad feeling came up, "If you think we are just going to let you close to them you are sorely mistaken!"

Shikamaru thought on how to deal with this, only idly noting that Thane just told his son to move away and fast – the assassin knew what was about to happen more than any other alien here, and wanted Koliat to have the receptionist alerted and the lobby evacuated post haste – which simplified matters. He gave Thane a grateful nod before he focused fully and completely on their opponent.

And tried to plot a course of action.

"Camaraderie long live." Kabuto tilted his head and smiled, "Too bad it can be so inconvenient." then snapped his fingers that prompted the two others to pull down their hoods. First to complete the motion was a guy whose face Shikamaru remembered in passing as Darui, the right hand of the Raikage, a man who possess a bloodline limit called the Storm Release that combines lightning and water-based Chakra. A troublesome guy, but nothing on the emotional scale compared to the other.

"S-Shino!" Tenten exclaimed at Kabuto's second pawn.

Ever since we found he's in Kabuto's hand I suspected this day would eventually come... Shikamaru mentally sighed, less than thrilled with the prospect of fighting a comrade. And fortunately or not he did not have his destruction bugs anymore, instead he carried Seeker Swarms of unknown strength – most likely altered from their original specification. Tenten was likewise cautious as she despite her frustration had moved not an inch other than to retrieve a scroll from her pocket.

Without the means to communicate a plan, he hoped his teammate had something well in hand, and waited for what seemed like minutes of abject silence. A quiet that turned all the deeper and more murderous as the tensions that rose between them compelled even those who thought little of Koliat's warnings to hurry off.

A stillness broken when finally someone acted. Thane had stood up and in a fluid motion plucked up his glass of water and with a whip-like motion threw it at the three, its speed only surpassed by the sharp instrument that followed and shattered the glass, showering the three in a few dozen small shards that forced them for that instant to cover their faces.

Grinning, Shikamaru slammed his hands together and his shadow shot forward and branched into three separate tendrils to bind their opponents. Only a second passed and he very nearly caught them, only to watch as from Darui's consequently clutched hands a violent array of finely released thunder bolts was released in return. An attack that forced him to abandon his own to duck just in time for pandemonium to break out.

Darui's Laser Circus technique was more powerful than any previous rumor conveyed as it ripped through the hospital's superstructure and collapsed a dangerously sizable portion of it to plummet into the wide river that ran throughout the presidium and sent tidal waves to cascade against each side of it to the citizenry's inconvenience. Shikamaru just barely managed to not fall down the chasms created in the bridge-like building, just in time to watch as Shino's Seeker Swarms charged through the smoke to attack him. A swarm that came apart as a knife with an exploding tag attached passed into it and blew the insects to hell.

"We need to get them out of here!" Tenten declared as she came close.

Shikamaru looked back on the undamaged parts of the hospital, and to where Naruto and Hinata still sat... still unresponsive to everything that went on. "Agreed."

Immediately the brunette pulled from her scroll what amount of the gun-array of hers brought along, what amounted as thirteen Mattocks and two Revenants that spread and peppered the enemy position at a monstrous rate that left the boy hopeful that no people are currently traveling with the elevator. Aside from that, Shikamaru ran forward well underneath his teammate's barrage of gunfire.

Kabuto felt he had to give the drell some credit, same with those kids. The jutsu used by the girl for massed gunfire was simplistic but he could not argue with the results as a withering continuous wall of bullets was sent his way. No doubt it could do damage, but only if he let it. So to block he clasped his hands and deployed his Inorganic Reincarnation technique derived from the time he spent training on Sage Arts and flexed the environment to his whim that brought both floor and ceiling to stretch into the space before him and form a wall.

A smirk graced him as the bullets dug into or bounced off the newly made cover. "The Nara boy is coming. Flank him."

"Aye." both replied.

Like clockwork, Shikamaru emerged from the smoke and already shot his shadows forward to try and ensnare them again, though he came to stare at the curiously stretched landscape. Unable to perceive Kabuto himself, the boy settled for Shino and Darui – the latter of whom let loose another Laser Circus to demolish the area where the Nara boy ran, and in the resulting firework display disintegrated every last ounce of territory he could find to place his feet on and fell.

"Only the girl left..." Kabuto idly informed, before Shino abruptly was thrown forward. It would seem Shikamaru had not used the Shadow Imitation, but instead the Shadow Sewing technique. The tendril had separated itself from the ground and swiftly tied up the Aburame so when he fell... Shino dropped with him. "Well played." he had to admit.

It was followed by the near-complete demolition of his cover as the gunfire was joined by several knives with exploding tags wrapped around the handles, followed by yet another hundred more to make sure. Simplistic jutsu all the while, the scale she deployed hers in was noteworthy. He dodged and let them continue on their individual paths, then neutralized the rest as he in a brief second deeply inhaled that saw a small portion of his Chakra molded and spewed out his mouth as a high-pressure stream of water that, judging by the feminine cry also threw the girl off her feet.

The other tags exploded and shook the ravaged structure enough to collapse a sizable section of floor that sent Darui into free fall. "... It would seem I'll have to program some more sense of self-preservation into you." he observed evenly and stalked onward to do what he came here for when a grate fell onto the floor adjacent to him, followed by the drell's immediate presence next to him.

While the kalinin battled it out, Thane had withdrawn then inserted himself into what is left of the hospital's ventilation system to make his way into a position of advantage. An advantage gained now as he opened the vent and launched himself down and at Kabuto with every ounce of speed he could muster in his current state, and bodily shoved him off one of the many edges newly made.

"Not bad." the bespectacled kalinin praised him with passing annoyance as he fell toward the river below. "But unfortunately for you... I can not let you go just like that..."

Thane had no idea of what the man below meant and instead of wondering shoved the thought aside as Koliat approached, his face strangely contorted into sudden panic as from the corner of his eyes a fanged tentacle flew up and coiled around his foot. Thane felt it and fell the same instant as the weight and momentum of Kabuto far below pulled him off and away from the hospital.

"Father!" he dimly heard his son past the wind howling past his ears as he fell, "Noooooooo!"

For all the inconvenience of it, Thane decided in a wave of calm that he might as well embark on yet another little adventure. So while he battled for the moment against gravity itself, some distance away far the presidium rippled with the wild staccato of firearms unleashed.

Everyone with their heads on right vacated the area in a panic once it became all too clear this area would become a battlefield. Only ones who didn't had intervention in their job description. C-Sec Officers. More than a dozen flooded into the commercial section to break up a battle they could not afford to simply ignore... only to become another asset of Shino's.

Shikamaru fought with the desperation of a craven animal as he shot his shadows at all kinds of objects from garbage bins to whole air-cars and threw them at his opposition while he steadily withdrew. He thought those Seeker Swarms could only stun their targets, but their range of functions had apparently been improved and added to. Now they could also land and bury down into peoples' necks to control them.

"No matter who or what you are..." Shino declared with a creepy smirk that was so not like him, "I will go all out! All the way!"

He would have argued, but so long as Shino got an implant in his head he was not to be reasoned with. A slave to Kabuto's commands. So he wasted not a breath and focused instead on how to stay alive, and how to potentially turn the tide. While that garnered most of his attention, a part of it was diverted to the side as another figure fell into the river, followed by an unnervingly long tendril with a recognizable person at the end of it. "Thane!" he blurted out.

"Oi," Darui's voice whispered from behind him, "don't be distracted now."

"Shi—" was all he replied with before a blue glow of lightning got him to leap away by pure reflex, every inch pursued by the bullets sent by Shino's small horde while their 'leader' watched calmly. He gritted his teeth as he flipped through the air until he landed and rolled across the tier below. A couple of seconds bought to look to Thane who he regretfully couldn't possibly save in time.

Thankfully it was taken out of his hands.

When she heard Koliat suddenly yell out his father's name, Tenten had the most dire of premonition as she got back up from that prone position that water blast from before had put her into and saw the young drell continue to cry out as he stared at the river below. It told her more about the present situation than a quick exchange of words and with absolutely no time to waste pulled from one of her scroll's seals a long rope and put the loop at its end onto an exposed metal beam as she leaped past Koliat and sent herself into a sharp dive.

Her eyes welled up with tears as the plunge in pursuit of the free-falling drell quickened, and tried not to think of how much rope vanished from her hand every second as she let gravity pull her toward the more awkwardly positioned drell.

Precious seconds passed and she prayed to get to him before the water did. And somehow she did. Thane acknowledged her presence, miraculously composed for being in position to land in a river that would only make things all the worse for him, before she flipped round and wrapped an arm around his chest, bracing herself as she finally tightened her grip on the rope that with all the weight she had to stop meant that torturous pain flared through her arm and especially in the palm that burned and turned moist with blood, cooked with all the friction caused.

Tenten cried in agony but let go of neither rope nor charge, an effort helped as Thane grabbed onto her and the rope that threatened to end any second now. That Kabuto's tendril slipped off of the drell during this process was a small mercy, but a mercy still.

And just barely at the very last moment... they stopped, just a bare dozen feet short of the surface, at the very end of the rope – suspended only by her bloodied left hand at this point. "Oww..." she could not help but whimper.

"My thanks." Thane said simply, "Not that I have lack of concern, but we are not quite in the clear yet."

"I know... bear with me." Tenten hissed and let go of the rope, the greatly reduced distance made what came next easy. Careful not to drop the sick drell she touched down on the surface and ran across it to the shore and just as effortlessly ascended the wall to enter the first presidium tier where she could finally let go of him. Just in time to see Shikamaru, who breathed heavily from great effort.

"Good save." the boy told her in obvious relief, "Have the others woken up yet?"

Tenten shook her head, "If they did, we'd already have them here."

Shikamaru swore, "Thane, can you go call for backup while we hold them back?"

"More than able to." the drell answered dryly, eyes instantly on a nearby store as the shadows of Darui and Shino came into view on the floor above them along with numerous aliens carrying guns on their way down the stairs, about to renew their assault. "Buy me a few minutes."

Both of them resolutely replied in unison, "Will do!"

"Where's Ashley?" Garrus half-demanded as he looked out across the briefing room that aside from himself held only Javik and James. With Shepard absent for the moment and the urgency great he had chosen to assume strictly temporary emergency command over the Normandy. There was little choice.

James frowned and folded his arms, "Not here. I think she's meeting with the Council in the Citadel Tower to accept her new Spectre status."

"Perfect." he sighed.

"What's our situation?"

"A fight's going on in the presidium close to Huerta Hospital and due to a particular aspect of the battle C-Sec no longer attempts to participate and focus instead on evacuation. So it'll be up to us and what help we can pile up along the way."

"Who's fighting?" James questioned.

Almost all he had to do was turn on the news for them to watch as part of the hospital disintegrated, followed by long-distance shots of kalinin fighting. "Our allies are currently confronting Kabuto who are trying to get to Hinata and Naruto – who are unable to take action due to what is suspected to be the Makers in them. And in there Thane has gotten himself involved, he's the one who alerted us."

Understandably neither James nor Javik knew of the guy, "Who?"

"Drell Assassin who joined us in the fight against the Collectors." Garrus stated, "Good friend of ours."

"What kind of backup can we expect?" Javik inquired seriously.

"Onoki told us A and Kisame are in the presidium, and more than willing to assist. We will rendezvous with them at Purgatory Bar..."

"I heard Kisame got banned from visiting that place again." James chuckled on the side, "Something about flooding the place."

"Nevertheless that's where we're going, and to Huerta Hospital from there." Garrus said firmly, "EDI, do we still have Seeker Swarm countermeasures available?"

"Seeker Swarms?" Javik frowned, "Were the weapons of my kin cursed by the reapers not all destroyed?"

"Apparently there's a kalinin at the mission area that uses and can command Seeker Swarms in combat. Uses them to take control of people. Would rather not be caught by those... so yeah, countermeasure."

"We still have them, but in storage below the engineering deck." EDI informed succinctly.

"Thank you." Garrus, relieved, nodded at the information. "Any questions?"

"None." Javik replied.

"Not at all, boss." James followed up solemnly.

"Good, now prep up and meet at the shuttle. Double-time!"

One might say they made the fight unnecessarily difficult for them with the clear desire not to harm the enemy that was composed of two enslaved kalinin and a whole bunch of innocents who were involved in this for no other reason than the desire to end this struggle with a healthy application of the law, only to end up pawns with insects self-inserted into their necks. Tenten felt the inevitable storm of regret as she had to collapse the legs of two officers who now lay and whimpered on the ground, unable to comprehend what just happened between their use as puppets and subsequent injury.

When Thane was done it almost became a running battle as they tried to avoid being overrun and stay in the proximity of Huerta Hospital. That Kabuto was nowhere to be seen only added to a sensation of paranoia, that he could pop up anywhere near or enter the hospital if they end up too far away.

The first few times Tenten managed to force the enemy into cover, a practice that soon ended as she only attempted to slow them down and buy time. After that was realized they barely even thought to hid anymore and harassed them mercilessly. "Panther!" she cried out as Darui loosened yet another of those nasty lightning-based black panthers on them. With no desire to be electrocuted she loosened another knife from her scroll, a tag attached and threw it the moment his beast got too close to dodge – the ensuing explosion enough to somewhat dissipate the technique and allow them to build distance.

Shikamaru continued to lob objects with his Shadow Sewing, and used Shadow Imitation to have Shino's army stumble amongst themselves by knocking others over, which bought even more time.

"On our left!" Shikamaru cursed as his shadow latched onto the leg of a controlled turian that had been sent around to flank them, and threw it wide enough to break the limp and made the alien collapse in a shrill hiss of pain that faded as the three of them withdrew once again lest the insect made him try to shoot them again, exposed like this only to find a human in their path, who was succinctly punched in the gut by Thane with just enough force to drop him. Just as swiftly he disarmed the officer and used the newly acquired firearm to put a round through the hip of another controlled mind.

"If you got any traps, now would be a good time to use it."

"I didn't bring any." Tenten stated angrily.

"No use to dwell on that." Thane said as he followed their retreat step by step, "Survival first."

Tenten pulled out a new tag and dropped it, "This should suffice. Get back!" before they further withdrew at great speed.

"And what should suffice now?" they could hear Darui call before the bomb went off and demolished the most immediate location and threw ample dust and smoke into the air. Of the dark-skinned man they faintly saw him be pushed away by the pressure wave. "Whoa..." he groaned from the wall he hit, "now that's just dull."

"Get up." Shino pressed as he pressed on, the diminished but still quite functional horde beside him shooting without stop, "We just need to buy a little more time."

Darui shrugged as he hoist himself back up, "Yeah yeah."

As for the three, they were just close enough to catch on to the tail end of the conversation. "Shit." Shikamaru cursed as he looked toward the hospital, "So Kabuto's not going to bother with us now."

"We should withdraw." Tenten recommended succinctly, "Now!"

"You two should." he agreed but insisted as he settled himself down on a knee, "I'll try to hold them off."

Fortunately, before the female could protest it would seem any such plan was rendered unnecessary as a pale shuttle screamed in past the Citadel's meager horizon at such speed that was hard to believe it could put out. It shot past the hospital and nearly flipped backwards as it fought to slow itself and unlocked its side-hatch. Just a heartbeat later the mountainous visage of two adults. A tall and lean man with a bizarre sword and a muscular man armed with nothing save his own bare hands. "Kisame, A!" Tenten called.

"Gotten yourselves in quite the pickle here." Kisame sneered as he looked on ahead, "And I spy with my little eye an Aburame, lest my senses fail me."

"Doesn't matter who it is." A growled as he threw a glare at the teens, "You should never hold back, not even if it's a former comrade."

"Now now, eyes up front." the other tersely brought up an issue about to fill the Raikage's attention, a dark-skinned man had just closed in and brandished a sword a few were sure had been stolen from a Cerberus agent at some point if the faded emblem on its hilt was anything to go by. A mono-molecular blade from the looks of it. Whether or not it is, even if he was astonished by its wielder he stopped what was about to impale him with a grab at the user's wrist and stopped it that way.

A stared agape, "Darui!" he shouted in surprise before he stook up on his own recommendation from before and hurled the man away. "Darui!" he repeated, now in a rage. And with the aplomb of berserkers, the men engaged the slaved ones in combat as the teens and drell assassin watched.

Soon as the two had been dropped off and a little apocalypse in a can broke out below, Cortez made a sharp turn and brought their shuttle up to the wrecked hospital, its confused and terrified crew and patients and visitors milling about as far from the destruction as they could. "Looks clear." Javik commented on the lobby's state. It was in a horrible state. "And I can see them."

"Likewise." Garrus nodded as they were brought alongside so they could finally jump into the structure and head to the table where the kalinin couple still sat like nothing had happened. Only as he drew close did he see how bad it was from how their eyes failed to blink even once – which is probably loathe to become a point of irritation once they wake up. "Watch the elevator!" he demanded as he grabbed Hinata by her shoulder and shook her in attempt to provoke a reaction. But if what demolished this place did not wake her, how could his gesture do anything at all?

Powerless but to wait, Garrus's mandibles parted in abject frustration that soon gained a target as someone else entered the lobby. A quick glare confirmed it to be Kabuto, who held a stunned Koliat in front of him by his neck. Without hesitation he hefted his phaeston to take aim alongside his comrades who spread to either side. "Don't stray too close to the edges and keep your guard up!" he whispered.

"Don't need to tell me twice." James murmured in response, his selected weapon for this mission an M-37 trained firmly on the hostage-taker. Not ideal considering its a grenade-launcher.

"One after another the rats come out of the woodwork." Kabuto complained mildly at the trio facing him. "Truly I say your fears are unfounded. Once I claim the Maker spirits within them I'll be on my way, not a single drop of blood spilled. Wouldn't want to hurt precious breeding stock after all."

"Spare it, Kabuto." Garrus bounced the reassurance off and retaliated, "We're not going to let you take another inch."

The bespectacled alien cocked his head wryly and shook his hostage side to side, the hold too tight for Thane's son to speak, "You don't care for this boy?"

"On my part? No." Javik stated with no indication of a joke, completely serious. "If you want to live, drop him and leave."

"Not going to happen until I get what I want." Kabuto smirked, "Last chance!"

Garrus thought furiously on how to save Koliat without endangering him. All that came to mind was a risk at which he only had one chance. "James, three rounds rapid. Put them just close enough to make him duck." he whispered tersely, careful not to be read.

James nodded faintly before he raised the barrel by a couple of degrees and let loose three grenades as requested. All flew true and put it really close as they barely shaved some strands of hair off Kabuto's head as he ducked to avoid the shots that struck the wall beyond with a trio of harsh cracks. It worked though and the turian used every ounce of his skill as a sniper into the task of putting Kabuto down before he could do any more. Time stood still as he lined up his phaeston for a moment of perfect inner tranquility before he finally pulled the trigger and ejected a single round.

It struck Kabuto's head dead-center and Garrus waited in hope for the kalinin to drop dead, only to watch as the body spread away from the bullet wound and scattered into a large pile of limbless reptiles. Koliat himself without the hand to hold him up fell, unconscious.

A clone!

Suddenly aware now that it was just to keep their attention away, Garrus and both his teammates whipped to face the other away only to feel the world tip as his hip gave out. A quick look was enough to see that Javik and James had suffered likewise and tumbled to the floor. "W-what?" he grabbed his hip in lack of comprehension as he assessed the wound with his omni-tool, and found out in astonishment that the injury was strictly internal, some of his tendons had somehow been cut without breaking the armor nor the scales underneath it. Medi-gel wouldn't help here any.

"Even in such a position you took the situation calmly." Kabuto complimented as he whilst the three were down went on to collect and throw away their weapons before he approached the borderline comatose couple, "Shepard really did choose well." he continued and in a wide gesture took to placce his palms – lit with green light – on either teen's head.

"Stop it!" James tried to rush forward, but with the hip damaged he could do little but crawl clumsily, and not with any speed that the kalinin would imagine a threat.

Kabuto tutted, "Don't bother. I'll be done in a... there!" he grinned widely as the extended palms glowed all the brighter before he withdrew them, and left Hinata to sag as though exhausted while Naruto raised a hand to rub his forehead groggily. "Now I got all the Maker spirits!" the bespectacled alien laughed triumphantly, "With them in hand, I'll be able to bring the Tengoku no Sochi to its fullest potential!"

Tengoku no Sochi? Garrus mentally asked, and was about to demand an answer – would have if not for a sudden movement from beside the man.

Before he knew it, the Maker from within his mind had made him delve so deeply that he was no longer able to tell what went on outside. He was effectively trapped within his mind as the spirit did something inexplicable while it explained something that flew over his head, another vague exposition that turned into raving chants about the discovery it had made while locked away here.

Naruto felt like he was back in school, and listened to some teacher who loved his own voice way too damned much. Increasingly the chatter grew more unintelligible, and the only conclusion he could draw from it was that somehow the essence of the species rendered extinct by the reapers somehow managed to survive the bloody harvest and it was this that was sought to be preserved through the processing of billions.

Each a nation!

It was pure madness and he wanted nothing to do with it.

Eventually as the words grew downright undecipherable, Naruto realized that the Maker started to fade and chortled in fulfillment while that went on until the creature was completely gone from his mind, upon which he finally woke more tired than he ever remembered. And finally awake, he took in the surrounding devastation. The sound of distant battle. Garrus along with James and Javik on the ground in abject pain. And a near-gloating Kabuto who loomed over him and his beloved.

Exhaustion turned to disbelief, then anger and intense fury. Chakra pooled and twisted rapidly onto his right hand as he burst from his seat and flew at the bespectacled villain in a blood rage. "Rasengan!" he cried and made an effort to bring the bright blue orb of energy spiraling with intense chaos and rapidity at his enemy.

"Oh please." Kabuto chortled as he became aware of the imminent assault upon his person, "You can barely even stand." before he simply dodged the clumsily dealt attack and launched himself out the window, "While I would have liked an altercation I find there's no reason to stay!" he laughed and waved farewell, "Till next time, farewell."

Naruto whirled around to find the man and howled furiously to see him already gone, "Damn it!" he yelled, "Goddamn it!"

"N-Naruto!" Hinata pressed as she shakily stood from her chair to tend to the three not so far from them, "Leave him for the moment... right now our friends need help."

"Sorry about that." Garrus groaned as he rolled onto his back, "We blew it."

With supreme effort, Naruto reined his rage back in and looked beyond the squad to where Koliat lay. "No." he bit as he traveled to retrieve the drell while Hinata tended to them more directly, her palms lit with gentle lights as she tried to heal their damaged hips, but not before she asked for directions, activated her byakugan, and went to work. "If we did not let ourselves be roped in by those bastards this would not have turned into such a disaster."

Javik exhaled harshly, despite the injury he acted like it was barely worthy of being a mere distraction, "Waste no time complaining on what you could have done. Instead focus on what you can do now."

"You're right..." the boy sighed, and stopped halfway on his way back with Koliat held firm... distracted as it suddenly started to rain. Rain on a space station, and not in any small amount – more like a whole ocean is being dropped on the local area. Garrus muttered something about a countermeasure meant to make combatants who make too much of a mess in the presidium cool off. Something instituted after Sovereign's attack against the Citadel.

It did not have the desired effect. Or at least not at once.

Arguably the chillingly cold and dense rain that now richly drizzled across this region of the presidium added extra emphasis on the remaining battle waged, especially as Kisame freely manipulated the water provided for his techniques as a dozen sharks sawed and snaked their way across the area, detonating with seeming randomness. By now Shino's minions were little but whimpering wrecks who did not understand anything of what was currently going on while their controller did all he could just to dodge the shark bombs and the vast currents of water the oddly-skinned swordsman sent out.

Darui was likewise pressed as the bronze giant that is A wailed at him with blows powerful enough to scatter the rain for split seconds and create a long moisture free tunnel in this artificial weather in doing so. Lightning likewise cracked and lashed out in every direction as the plentiful supplies of water led it on, brought out as Darui's laser circus and A's lightning chakra armor clashed with extreme brutality, each meeting of which cooked off everything unfortunate to get hit by a stray bolt.

A did not bother with words to punish the subordinate that today even though against his own will struck out. Instead he let his fists do the talking, and what a statement each one made. One that hit dead on target sent the wayward shinobi against a wall twenty feet distant, followed by a second after a rapid dash that was avoided but turned the wall into so much a mess of scrap and sparkling circuits that each one put their own weight to the atmosphere.

He watched absently as a black panther was released and set out, a creature formed from black lightning that sent out bursts of electricity with each drop of water. "Did you forget, Darui?" he growled harshly and brandished his second fist while the other was pulled free from the wall he just demolished and put it through the black panther before it could properly ram him, and scattered the technique in that same motion as his armor counteracted it. "I taught you that Jutsu!"

Not a single word was given back, only another jutsu as Darui deeply inhaled let flow a vast wave of water that shaped into a crashing wall.

A snorted and launched himself high into the air, just high enough that the wall could do no good and used an adjacent advertisement board to alter his subsequent trajectory and kicked off at high speed that sent him past the wall and at his target. This time Darui did react, "I can already tell this is going to hurt."

"Don't flap your mouth!" A hissed and grabbed hold of the man's face in an Iron Claw, such a hard-dealt squeeze that Darui could not help but cry out and grab at the Raikage's wrist in an attempt to push it off. Not a single second was spent in wait before he delivered a Lightning Straight with his other hand to Darui's gut and exploded every last bit of air out of him, and repeated it thrice for good measure.

Undeniably winded from the blows, Darui could do nothing but spin lamely as A finally released him, and ended his combo with a Lightning Lariat that impacted perfectly with the man's face and sent him spinning head over heels for seven perfect rotations before he finally struck the ground like a sack of dirt. "S-sorry... guess I'm out..."

"Not to worry." Shino replied as he dropped down to them, all drenched from a bomb too much as he raced for Darui and fished him off the ground with a grab to his collar. "We have done our job. Time to retreat!"

"Wait!" A demanded as he raced for them, only for a smoke bomb to go go off between them. Soon as it dissipated, the two combatants were long gone. "Tch, quick at running away." he cursed.

"I'd say." Kisame laughed as he appeared beside him, "So what do we do?"

He swore, "Nothing, get that girl and have her patch these people up!" he indicated the wounded people across the area without as much as a gesture, "Minimize the damage."

The other shrugged as the rain continued. With the battle over their adrenaline thinned out and the cold of it seeped in, "Oh well. I guess Nagato will not be pleased."

"No, he won't." A took a long look at the destruction wrought, "And I don't care the least of it."

"We do not appreciate what you stirred up in the presidium!" Councilor Tevos sternly stated in disapproval of that abrupt battle that took a decent chunk out of the ring that made up the station's foundation. They only barely finished with the ceremony that saw Ashley Williams' new Spectre status made official when that battle started, who now watched with a frown as she and her colleagues addressed the hologram of Kabuto that hovered in front of them, his aggrandizing smile the same as ever. "We do not appreciate it at all!"

He bowed reverently, "My profound apology. In a fit of eccentric pique I made the choice to pay them a visit. An ill-placed choice. They have no love for me at all."

Councilor Sparatus growled, "I am hardly surprised, considering certain past actions."

"It will most certainly not be repeated again. I will foot the bill if that is what it takes."

"Only right it is." Councilor Valern crossed his eyes at him, "And we cannot ignore what your compatriots did..." None of them really knew of what happened after Kabuto fell into that river. All the surveillance within the hospital had been ruined in that first part of their confrontation.

"I admit, they were rather overzealous in my defense." Kabuto shrugged, "Would have preferred to not have gone to such a length. Again I apologize."

He begrudgingly nodded. Sparatus spoke up next, addressing his fellow Councilors, "And what to do about the other kalinin. They are partly the blame of much destruction."

"If I may interject." the bespectacled kalinin raised a hand to interrupt, "On a personal level I would rule out any accusation of wanton destruction. Our groups hold great animosity toward one another, and with the innate capability of each individual member to hold back would have been... very dangerous. In the end it was entirely my fault for going to them even though an altercation was the only possible outcome."

The turian Councilor set his jaws as he glared. Tevos intervened at last, "We accept the apology, and I am most certain all will accept reparations paid by the Oroc Corporation."

"My thanks, Councilor." Kabuto bowed again.

Her colleagues including Councilor Udina gave her a belated nod and she in response provided her own. "Then we agree. You may go now Kabuto, further notification of costs will be provided at a later time."

The bespectacled man tilted his head, "I'll be waiting for it. Good day Councilors." before the hologram faded and left them alone.

"What else on our agenda?" Udina folded his arms, and gave a look to the turian, "You said there was something."

"Yes." Sparatus replied in relief that he no longer had to wait, "I got a message from Primarch Victus. He requested Council support in a matter."

"And what matter would that be?" Valern questioned.

"He requires manpower."

"Why, he has already received it. The krogan have bloated the available ground forces, Kabuto's bio-ships are aiding your fleets to great effect, and the Salarian Union is about to take action..."

It was still strange to think about. For a while too long the dalatrass had been rigidly against engaging the reapers in fear that incomplete intelligence would lead to complete destruction of their military and the subsequent drawing of reaper attention to their colonized systems. Then suddenly very recently she turned completely around and advocated for immediate action after an incident that involved indoctrinated servants of the reapers according to Union officials. Suffice it to say the reluctant Salarians are now in a state of complete mobilization of all assets that included the instituting of a draft.

Valern continued, "What do you need more for?"

"To bring a mothballed armada into action." Sparatus replied with a sneer.

"Mothballed?"

Udina scratched his temples, "You have warships still in storage?"

"Yes. What is that you humans say? 'Why buy one when you can have two for twice the price?'. We turians have something similar. So for every ship we build, we secretly build one or two more and put them into storage. Just in case."

Sparatus continued, "The secrecy of it run so high not even I was privy to it. Only the Primarch and a bureau under him knows."

"And why was it not brought out before?" Udina sounded annoyed.

He shrugged, "Would have, but the reapers managed to throw the bureau into chaos without knowing, and then Primarch Fedorian died. Only just yesterday was Primarch Victus informed, and he ordered all mothballed ships to be pulled out of storage. Currently the Hierarchy is trying to pull all the crew needed, everyone who knows how to operate a ship, off our worlds. But the numbers we can have in a hurry without the reapers noticing are nowhere enough."

"So you want us to provide the additional crew." Tevos guessed what every other mind currently thought and needed to be said.

"Absolutely."

Udina hummed, in thought, "And what are the number of ships you have in storage?"

"We have three full facilities in deep space. No Dreadnoughts as we still are subject to the Treaty of Farixen, so all in storage are frigates and cruisers..."

"How many?" he narrowed his eyes.

Sparatus echoed the motion, "Put together? Forty thousand."

All present gaped in utter shock at the sheer enormity of it. If the Hierarchy had brought this armada out before the war started in earnest the turian navy would have been doubled in terms of effective combat strength. It was regrettable that they didn't.

"So..." he coughed, "can you provide?"

Udina growled for a second, but conceded. "I will relay this to Admiral Hackett. No doubt he have many crews, including among the reserves they are pulling from every colony, who need a ship."

"I'll confer with the Matriarchs and see what I can do." Tevos agreed. As much as she'd like to provide there are many in the asari government reluctant about engaging the reapers, though more than a few are doing some shaking up to get the rest to commit.

Valern nodded, "With the current stance it should not be a problem. Will you make similar offers to the krogan and others?"

"At this point," Sparatus put up a grin at the support, "why not? I must stress though that secrecy must be upheld as much as possible. Until the armada's mustered it's just target practice."

"Of course. Given the haste of it I suggest we adjourn and get it done."

"Agreed." Tevos replied in affirmation, and as they dispersed directed her attention to Spectre Ashley who had been witness to the exchange, "Spectre. I trust you understand the need for confidentiality."

"Er... I understand, ma'am." the human awkwardly scratched her head in a half-salute, "What about Shepard?"

"As he has been instrumental to ongoing efforts you may relay what has been discussed, but again I must stress that no information be slipped besides."

Ashley nodded firmly, "Roger that." and turned on her heel to leave in almost a hurry. No doubt what she learned here lifted her spirits somewhat. It was too bad they could not make it public as of yet, for everyone need all the morale boost they can be granted.

Author notes: A rather quick addition as the contents of this chapter was so vivid in my mind. And I had to fight to not throw in a shout-out to LotR when Kabuto pulled Thane down with him, and had to struggle not to have the latter shout "rally you fool!".

Also about the number of ships discussed in the last section. Lately I've found that the number of ships in battle throughout the game was nowhere representative of the fighting strength possessed by the Council forces. I've come to merely see them as illustration and nowhere near the indication of how effectively they fight nor of true numbers as there are for example only so many ships they can put on screen with any trace of coherency. So I came to three factors that tell more of their actual combat strength. First, their population base while unknown must be pretty huge. Second, 10% of each species' population except for humans serve in the military. Third, all ships in the series only require from 20-200 crew members. Hence my thought that the Council species must have tens of thousands of warships at least.

A counter to that would be saying that the Quarians have the biggest fleet according to sources, and that's correct. They have the largest single fleet, while for other species their total number are divided across dozens of fleets, which would be true for the Geth as well.

This, at least, is just my interpretation of it.

While it might seem like this would turn the tide against the reapers by itself, their current dominance against most opposition indicate that they too have far greater numbers than shown together with the vast advantage their overall far more advanced technologies grant.

On a side-note, if or when we eventually arrive at the final confrontation this can make things far more epic.