Godo: Hello everyone, and welcome to Book 2! ~ So, here's the rundown. What you will be seeing is a different start to what the games gave us. We all know what's going to happen here; someone dies falling to the ice world and gets revived by Cerberus. This is going into Mass Effect 2 after all, the most beloved of the series by moderate standards, changing stuff recklessly will make you all very angry at us. But we have surprises galore in store, including… the surviving Commander to go off and be their own solo act for the 2-year gap from the time one dies to the time they get revived. We will not say who died yet, just know that it's gonna be a bit before we actually hit the main story of ME2 due to the 2-year mini-story, in the beginning, that we will be writing beginning today…. OH and Merry Christmas!

Arch: Welcome, welcome, welcome back! Of course, we're doing ME2. Naturally. Hope you all like it!

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

The bright glow of a star illuminated from a window to a massive dark room. At the center of the room, a dozen or so monitors were ablaze with countless activities going on throughout Citadel space and the Terminus. A lone man sat on a chair as his sapphire cybernetic eyes took in every detail from what he watched.

He was steely, determined, a human man in his mid-years with grayish black hair. He wore a dark blue and white suit. A cigarette lazily rested between his fingers as he took a slow drag, his eyes rested upon a rare interview with Asari councilwoman Tevos; "Naturally they covered up all aspect of Sovereign. Stating it was a Geth invasion is more plausible than a sentient dreadnought bent on our extinction."

"Of course." A melodic feminine English voice quipped in the darkness before a figure came to the man's side. A stunningly beautiful long brunette haired, fair-skinned woman in a tight white leather outfit rested a hand on her shapely hip. "The council, despite all their faults, are not fools. If they had to fully acknowledge the Reapers and tell the populace there would be widespread panic." Her ocean-blue eyes gazed at her boss. "But are you certain we should do this?"

"Absolutely, if I am sure of anything the Council and the other governments will do everything to sweep the Reapers mere existence under the carpet. Make it as it never happened. We will not." The man took a drag from his cigarette as an image appeared of the two human Spectres. "So we will extend a hand to the two individuals I know who can stop the Reapers."

The woman was no so certain; "Given our history Uzumaki and Shepard will likely decline. Especially Uzumaki if he ever learned the truth."

The man's eyes soon peered over to her; "Then we ensure the truth remains hidden. But in a way this will be as close to an apology I can give to him. Kushina was a dear friend once."

"Till she learned what you were doing."

"Which was regrettable, but the past is just that. The past." The man rose from his seat; "There is a lot of work to be done. Let's not waste any more time."

The woman saluted; "Yes sir." Spinning on her heels she walked away as the man moved to the window.

He stared quietly at the glowing red and blue star. "You and sister have a large role to play in the coming future Naruto. And I will ensure humanity will be at the forefront."

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

A loud rumble was silently sucked from existence in the vacuum of space as the Normandy in all its splendor came out of FTL and started patrolling a nearby Terminus system. This late into the crew's cycle had half of them asleep or on break. In the cargo bay, there was a mostly salvaged and put back together Hammerhead vehicle, with Garrus working on the outer shielding systems. "And how's that?"

Sitting on top of the thing, drinking her third cup of coffee, a disheveled Shepard bounced a rubber ball hard on the ceiling of the lower deck and watched it rapidly fall and hit the metal shell again, bouncing back up. "Nope, you sure the thing can be saved? It's been months and you only got the main systems online." She said as she caught the ball again.

"As much work as half the crew and I put on this heap, we're getting this thing operational one way or another." The former C-SEC officer remarked in a determined tone.

A snort came from the redhead with an eye roll; "About as stubborn as Naruto."

Leaning against the wall Wrex observed with an amused gaze; "Given how crazy both of you are, he has to be to keep up."

"Ha, ha..." Emily dryly quipped as she resumed throwing the ball. Coming back to her hands once more she groaned as she popped her next; "I hate late shifts."

"Yeah, they can get trying." Garrus huffed as he did all he could for the shields right now, understanding they needed some parts for shorted wires and maybe even replacements for many other electronic systems. "If you're ready to take your break, you can just get your brother out of his pod."

Tali was running diagnostics on the engine core, having been quiet as she rolled the eezo core gently to get the jumpstart. "He worked double shifts recently; he should get some more sleep." The young Quarian sighed as she remembered how he meticulously helped fix the additional armor segments for her suit, even hunting down replacement seals and making sure everyone had their extra amenities.

On the bridge, Jenkins was currently getting a quick diagnostics from Chakwas, who was also running medical stims for the crew who were running more than their normal shares. "You'll be fine, Corporal. Next time don't arm wrestle a Krogan whilst drunk."

"Yeah, sorry doc. It's not just me though, Adams almost wanted to do it himself, but I beat him to the table." He chuckled nervously. "Next thing I know he's got an apology and more drink ready and I can't think straight enough to say no."

Rolling her eyes, the senior medical officer could only watch the hopelessness of the crew's tensions. "Naruto told us this was the last one, but I fear the Council will try to throw us out into the next mission right after we report. If we don't let up, the crew will suffer." Though her thoughts were interrupted as the alarms started blaring. "What's going on?"

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Joker tapped on his console as he looked out of the window at his side. Coming into view was what looked like an enormous floating rock. But the pilot's sharp eyes saw more as he saw machinery built into it. Never mind it was not floating but rather adjusting to Normandy's speed. "What the hell is that?"

Pressly ran up to the cockpit; "Everything is going off the charts, the energy output of whatever that is, it's immense!"

And Joker took note of how this 'ship' was at least ten times larger than the Normandy. "But is it friendly?" A woman questioned at one of the worksites.

"Does that thing look friendly to you?" Jeff quipped

Checking the combat console, one of the crew started listing some statistics. "Medium cruiser, maybe larger, the energy output is rising, it has a reflective surface as well as external armor in whatever that rock looking stuff is. And it's got an intercept- oh no, it's going to fire!"

"Engaging evasive maneuvers hold on!" Joker picked it up into high gear, engaging engines and running hot, and just as the Normandy started jolting to get out of the way, Joker saw the light of a laser weapon spark from the ship. "Not good! BRACE!"

Without any ability to do so, the crew was rocked by the shockwave as the unidentified ship landed a critical blow on the back of the Normandy, the bright light of its laser cannon cutting off a single engine entirely, and gouging an entire side of the Normandy, the blast causing internal systems to break. As the Normandy recoiled from the first blast, the second came without warning and took out the tail end and one of the stabilizer wings on the other side. The shields and armor didn't stand a chance against this unknown, and vastly well-armed ship.

Inside the Normandy, everything was going wrong, the blasts causing several systems to short and even blow from overload from the power of the cannon, one even blasting the crewman beside Joker, as she was blasted from her seat, Pressly caught her only for the ship to jolt and land him onto the other console, which blew up in his face and killed both him and the woman in his arms, Joker grunting in pain as the force of those explosive overloads cracked a rib. "Hull breaches! Seal any holes on the bridge, and someone put the fires out!" Hissing, he stopped trying to outmaneuver and start trying to divert power from all systems to any shields he could access to protect the populated areas of the ship, and even got the pods opened for anyone now waking up from sleep. "Wakey, wakey guys, it's time to go!"

The moment the alarms blared Naruto was on his feet and suiting up in his armor. The blond ran out from the private cabin just as the first attack hit. He grunted as he was flung to the side hitting the wall. "What the hell could cut through our shields so damn easily?!" He questioned aloud before a crew member helped him up; "Who the hell is attacking!?"

"No idea sir!"

A growl came the blond; "Get everyone the escape pods!"

"Yes, sir!" The crew member ran off as Naruto went to check on the sleep pods. Anyone who was sleeping was forced awake by the attack.

Liara grunted as she fell off and hit the ground; "What in the goddesses name is happening." She murmured before being picked up by surprise by Naruto.

"We're under attack, get to an escape pod!" Naruto helped her to her feet and on the guard rail. "I'm sending out the distress beacon; just make sure you get as many as possible out of here!"

He jumped to the communications station and started the protocol. As he did, Liara, whilst shielding herself from the flames of another overloaded system blowing nearby, looked on at him worried. "I'm not leaving here without you!"

"Yes you are, I have to get Joker's crippled butt out of here, he's not gonna make it with all these blasts!" He hit the ship's personnel files and gasped seeing most of the upper bridge was either in their pods waiting to launch, or dead. Mostly ready to launch thankfully.

The ship rocked heavily, making Liara slip down the railing, but Naruto clung strongly to the station he was on. "Naruto!"

Quickly, he grabbed her biotically and got her towards the pods. "Just go! I'll be right behind you guys with joker!" He launched himself from the station to the elevator, only to see it was busted. Getting on his comms he tried his sister, who he knew wasn't in her quarters. "Hey, everything alright down there?!" He watched Liara as she looked worried but nodded and went to go help whoever she could to the pods. He started his way to the upper command deck as Emily answered.

"Engineer crew is being rushed to escape pods!" Shepard's voice coming in a rushed tone. "But everything is breaking apart!"

Naruto let out a curse; "Get everyone down there out." Quickly he moved up the stairs as he put on his helmet. His eyes grew wide as he saw most of the hull destroyed. Through one opening he saw enormousness and strange-looking cruiser. He shook it off as he ran towards the cockpit. There he saw a shield bubble over where Joker was working. Chairs and some dead crew floated, frozen by space.

Knowing now was not the time to mourn the crew, he quickly made his way through the deck, his mag boots active to keep him planted so he did not float off without warning. As he got into the bubble he grabbed the chair. "Joker! Come on, we have to get out of here!"

Deep in his mind, the pilot knew it was lost, the controls were unresponsive, he could see the planet they were heading towards and going to crash on. But in his heart he wanted to keep fighting to pull it back, maybe get it into an orbit. "I can still save the Normandy; I just need enough juice to do it!"

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

Emily, Garrus, and Wrex directed the crew to escape pods as fast their bodies were able. Tali being the last engineer who leaped in as the ship shook. "Oh shit." The ancient Krogan muttered as turned and saw the hull cracking. "Come on!"

The ship cracked open, causing a destabilizing pressure pulling one of the crew still trying to get to the pods out, but everyone else managed to get in, Wrex pulling himself into his pod. Shepard was hanging onto her own pod but was unable to get a proper hold, but thankfully Garrus was in her pod as well and grabbed her hand, pulling her in before the pods shut. Groaning, the commander got in her seat and clicked in. "Are we clear to jettison? How's the rest of the deck up above?"

Coming over the comms, Kaidan confirmed. "Command deck's been waiting, we're good to go."

"We also have everyone we could help into pods, but Naruto and Joker are not picking up." Liara sounded very worried now.

Cursing, Shepard tried pulling the Normandy's systems up, but found the entire computer gone, unable to connect. "Not good... We either launch now or risk waiting..."

She paused before going to her comm; "Naruto!" All she received was static before growling and hitting the launch button. The female commander grunted as the pod took off. Through the window, Wrex and Garrus watched as the Normandy was hit again by an energy beam from the enemy ship.

"Who is that?" Vakarian questioned.

Wrex, however, said nothing as he stared hard at the ship.

Nearly losing his footing as the blast ripped through more of the ship's command deck, Naruto narrowed his eyes. "Sorry, Joker, but the Normandy is doomed! And I am NOT losing you over your pride!" He grabbed the brittle pilot by the arm and using his Biotics lifted the man from his seat and pulled him to the pod as carefully as he could to not hurt Joker.

As he got Joker in, the Normandy was hit by another blast, causing Naruto to dislodge and slam into the back of the wall as far from Joker and the pod as possible without leaving the ship. Joker watched in horror as the beam got closer to the pod, and Naruto was against the wall. "Naruto! Come on!"

Seeing the beam cut him off, and knowing where the panel to launch was, the blonde closed his eyes. He knew what he had to do. "See you around, buddy." Grunting as he pushed off the wall, the biotic sniper punched the controls and activated the launch, sending Joker's pod out to join the rest.

With the beam cutting the rest of the Normandy in pieces, the ship blew, every part of the hull sent flying from the explosion, including Naruto. A minute passed as he drifted down to the planet, but he managed to come back from a short blackout. Seeing the pods out and safe, and the ship choosing to leave them be to fly off as its work was done, the blonde sighed, relaxing. "Sucky way to go, but at least everyone I care about is safe."

He glared up at the enormous cruiser; "May the goddess take you." The blond closed his eyes as he felt the gravity of the planet catch him. "Look after them."

The hum of the atmosphere started to come to his ears, the burning sensation of reentry scorching his body, death approaching fast.

…

"...Your work is far from done..." A feminine voice whispered in his mind as his eyes shot open, and then light blinded him before darkness took him.

XxX ~ Days later ~ XxX

Emily felt numb; her body seemed to move on autopilot as she sat with members of the black foxes, the grand matriarch and surviving Normandy crew barely listening to an Asari priestess hymn a eulogy.

Was this real?

A part of her mind question in both anger and grief. While the rational, soldier side knew the truth. Naruto was dead... Taken from them by an unknown enemy who destroyed the Normandy in minutes.

A tearful Ino held crying Sakura who literally shook in grief. Not that the others were faring better as from Kiba to Neji, all of the former gang wept. At Emily's side, Garrus stared at empty coffin while Wrex glared in no direction.

Joker, though his left leg was in a cast, walked up with crutches to Emily, putting a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry... I shouldn't have tried so hard to get the Normandy to survive that thing."

"It's not your fault, it's that damn ship's fault. Whoever attacked us found us, saw us through our stealth systems, and was able to cut through us like nothing I've seen before." Taking his hand and sighing with a shaky breathe, Commander Shepard looked towards the coffin. "It's still not sunk in yet. And when it does, I don't even know what I'll do."

"None of us do..." Joker looked to the coffin and kept steady.

Light sniffles came from Tali next a mournful Liara and Ashley; "Who attacked us?" The chief asked in a whisper.

"I know who they are." Wrex addressed as eyes fell on him; "Will tell you after this is done. The dead are always shown respect, even from Krogan."

The gunnery chief leaned forward and rubbed her eyes clean of tears. "Whoever they were, I want some payback."

"Please, let us not think about such things yet. This is supposed to be his Siara send-off, it's meant to be remembered fondly." Liara held her hands together in prayer.

Their Turian crew member gave a small scoff, mandible twitching. "Never even got to settle the score. It was close, but he still had a couple of headshots more than I did. Guess he won that bet."

Out of them all, Tali was just silent, listening as everyone cried and mourned, in her heart she felt emptiness, someone she cared for deeper than anyone else she had met, and he was gone

While everyone had been always polite and kind to her on the Normandy. Naruto made sure she was cared for and tended to. Even got her a new Envirosuit... She could never truly show how much that meant to her.

And now she couldn't. Her hand clenched into a fist.

XxX ~ xx ~ XxX

As most of the crew gathered to eat and talk, most of the Foxes went back to their work or their own ways of mourning, some even taking time off to do so, such as Sakura and Ino. Wrex sighed as he drank some hard liquor. "The ship that attacked us... I can't be more certain after my time traveling the Terminus. That ship belongs to a very secret race of aliens. Collectors. Only they have the technology that can waste a frigate in a single attack like that."

"Collectors..." Garrus muttered beside him and Emily. "Thought they were a myth."

"Nope. As for anything else, don't have a clue. Besides, you saw how dangerous they are." Wrex stated.

Ash tapped the table; "Least we got a name."

"Yeah, not much else, and technically speaking we're not allowed any deeper into the terminus system, so we're unable to go after them in both capacity and in legal standing." Downing her drink, the dark-haired commander groaned. "So now all we can do is wait until I can get clearance to go deeper. Till then... We need to find another ship."

Putting down a credit chit and the last empty glass he drank from, the Krogan battlemaster grunted. "As much as I hate to do this, I have to decline." Everyone looked at him as he packed his bag. "I thought about this, and I was planning on leaving within the week anyway. After what you and the blonde did for me, after telling you all about my father, how I left my home planet, and the encouragement from you... It's time I returned to make a difference. I need to make a stand, and start getting the Krogan back on track."

Everyone around the ancient Krogan was stunned by his declaration. "But the reapers," Emily questioned.

"A united army of Krogan would help to fight them better than a broken race can." Wrex lamented

Garrus's mandibles twitched; "That will be one hell of an uphill battle given how stubborn your people are. Never mind will any of them even follow you?"

"Besides my own clan, we can rally the others. Won't say it will be easy, but if I can get the more... like-minded among them on my side, it will get things going. At what pace who knows. And if we can get at least one generation of new Krogan born that will help keep my species alive."

The logic was sound and blunt, the way Wrex usually was. Emily gave a nod; "Will you keep me posted on the progress?"

"Best I can, our communications is not the best."

The gunnery officer stood and gave a punch to the big reptile's shoulder, though it barely budged him and gave her a stinging couple of knuckles. "Better keep in touch, I still have to make sure your shotgun doesn't blow up in your face giving you any more scars." Though she still didn't exactly trust many that were not human, Wrex was a great friend after the months of them working together. "Gonna miss you big red."

Though the announcements weren't done as of yet, as Tali stood. "I was almost ready to say this before we were attacked, but I have learned a great deal, and thanks to the help I received from you all, especially Naruto giving me a great gift to return to my people with, I hope you will not be upset if I also return to my people. And I will do everything in my power to keep in contact with everyone. Even if it's delayed messages."

Alenko, who had been quiet mostly finally spoke as he gave a nod; "You're still on your pilgrimage after all. Everything you got should help you and your people out."

"Indeed," The Quarian murmured before giving a quick hug to Emily; "Thank you." Her voice was sincere and full of emotion.

"We're here if you need us Tali." Emily grinned. The young Quarian had grown to be a little sister to everyone on the Normandy. Her leaving hurt a bit, however, it was not a goodbye forever.

XxX xx XxX

A few weeks past and everything started to get much worse. Emily had finally gotten another ship to command, but Joker, being mainly Alliance, was not allowed to pilot it, and Garrus, though he was mostly always available for the crew, was starting to get an attitude. For good reason, as the Council was starting to do some hard lockdown of Reaper threat information. Shepard, alongside Garrus who had informed her of this development and Joker who was here about the piloting for a Spectre debacle, stormed the embassy to figure out what the hell was going on.

Thankfully the Human Embassy was occupied by the new seat on the Council, Anderson. "Shepard. I was expecting you... I am going to assume you've heard about the Councils decision on the Reapers?"

"Putting it mildly councilor;" The Turian C-Sec officer remarked hotly.

Emily shared his anger; "What the hell is going on?"

Anderson waved a placating hand; "Let me make it clear while I was against this, I agree to it on understanding the near-universal panic that would ensue upon hearing of the Reapers."

As much as both wanted rebuke that statement it wasn't wrong. Having told the people about the existence of an ancient sentient machine race built for genocide would send the whole universe into chaos. On that, they agree on, but not outright ignoring the threat and go on like business as usual.

Garrus growled lightly; "I had a feeling the Council would do this."

Emily took a seat on a chair near Anderson's desk. "All those months of work... Feels like a slap to the face."

"Not completely." Anderson garnered their attention. "After some vocal encouragement from Admiral Hackett the Alliance is fully boosting the defenses of all the colony planets. As well as gain backing to supply more ships out here."

Small reward for such hard work.

Anderson, though his news was not the best, did give Shepard an OSD. "This is a request from Hackett. Shepard, I know how you must be feeling, and whilst I cannot move on the Council's choice, I can do everything in my power to help you."

"Thank you, sir... I still feel like they put the word of me and my brother in the dump with all this, a slap in the face to everyone from the Normandy, and a disgrace to Naruto." She was fuming a bit, but she would never aim her anger at her mentor. Emily sighed. "So, Hackett wants to see me. I'll head where he is as soon as I get a ship."

"One I can fly, optimally." Joker huffed as he was still on his crutches for the time being. "The Salarian's won't let me near a cockpit of their frigates." The concerns were there, but it wasn't going to get any better, the strain of being stuck on the Citadel dealing with the changing cultural climate as the station was still being repaired.

"I'll see what I can Joker," Anderson promised as Emily's Omni-tool glowed.

Tapping a voice spoke up; "Commander Shepard, this fellow Spectre Jondum Bau." The Salarian spoke up in their typical monotone speech.

A brow rose from the dark-haired woman along with the others; "What can I help you with Jondum?"

"First I wish to offer condolences to you about Uzumaki. He was a rare individual. Second I'd like to speak with you at Spectre HQ when you have time."

"Understood, on my way now. Not like I've been able to find a ship to command so far..." She knew that she could always book transport with ease, but it was not the same without her own crew. She blipped the comms and started on her way.

Seeing as Spectre HQ was only accessible to Spectre's, and of course the Council too, Garrus sighed. "I should probably go see what I can do on the streets, let me know when you're ready to go, alright Shepard?"

Turning to him the Spectre nodded. "Will do. See you seen guys."

It took a long elevator ride but she managed to make it to HQ in good time. Entering where Jondum was, she crossed her arms. "What is it, Bau?

"Straight to the point, you think like a Salarian." Jondum nodded; "I requested your presence to offer you additional Spectre class training."

The offer was more than little surprising as the woman's eyes rose. "That's... But I've been through full N7 training."

"I know, I looked through yours and your brother's files. And I can agree N7 could rival Asari commandos, Spectre training is more unique. It offers a wide range of combat, stealth, weapons, and tech training. Naruto had been trained in both Alliance and Asari commando practices. With a touch of Justicar basics."

Emily gave the Salarian a look; "Not many know that part." And as she recalled her brother's opinion on that it was the most brutal training sessions he had ever endured. And he does not know how he had survived it honestly.

At that Jondum grinned; "I have many sources. So what do you say? Expand your skills like that of your brother?"

The offer was very tempting, but right now she had a lot on her mind, and on her path forward. *Between losing my brother, my responsibilities as a Spectre, and tensions running high on a good ship that we can use, and of course some of the team leaving...* Sighing heavily, she knew she had to decline, but looked up at the Salarian. "Mind if I take some time to think about it? I have to go see Admiral Hackett, and find a ship for Joker to fly us in."

"Of course, take your time. When you're ready just give me a call."

XxX Two Days Later XxX

Nearing a ship outside Arcturus' boundary, Shepard was confused even more. When she was called to Hackett, she was called alone, meaning leaving Garrus behind to continue C-Sec work for the time being. Joker was flying their shuttle, thankfully Anderson got that much for now, and he was not happy. "Council seat and they can't even get us anything from anyone, not even our own Alliance forces? I'd take a decade old cruiser at this point!"

"I know how you feel, but being part of the Council doesn't give Anderson power over the entire human race. The Council is only for joint galactic affairs dealing with political problems to events within the boundaries of their control." Shepard was looking at a small station, barely visible in the black of space, but it was still visible enough for Joker to make the landing. There was nothing about the station they could see until they got close, it was using a very unique stealth field and the only reason they even got there was because Hackett gave them coordinates on a slip of paper delivered by Lock of all people.

"Why do I get the feeling he doesn't trust us?"

Rolling her eyes and looking to the crippled man, Shepard frowned. "Black ops to the extreme right here... The only reason we are here is that he trusts us. It's just that he doesn't trust anyone else finding this place."

Entering the base was easy enough, and though the facility was small, it was still spacious enough for several severs and even two whole rooms of hard copy file cabinets filled to the brim. Mirage was leading them through when he stopped. "Hackett will see Shepard alone for this meeting. Joker is welcome to sit and enjoy rest in the faculty lounge."

The two looked to each other, and Joker shrugged. "Just let me know what's up, Shepard. Don't take too long."

Mirage opened the doors into the office Hackett made his own, and the lights on the floor lit up the darkroom to the desk. Stepping in, Emily was uneasy for the moment before the darkened room buzzed into life to show everything in dull but bright lighting. "Sorry for the theatrics, Shepard, but it's how we work here."

"And just what is 'here', sir?"

Standing up and grabbing a file, the Admiral offered it forward. "The answer to that will be clear by the time we're done with your mission briefing." Seeing her step up and take the file, Shepard was confused why it was a paper copy and he could see that clear as day. "Remember when you and Naruto found that Cerberus facility? Kahoku found out its coordinates and sent them to you?"

"Yes sir, what of it?" Reading into the file, she saw the thickness of the file and began seeing a connection, from most recent to the least. She saw the file talking about a potential AI program, two sources providing Intel on biotic potential, others into genetics, and several into Prothean artifacts, mission statements on the Cerberus facility. The facility ran much deeper, where Cerberus tried reanimating corpses for study but always failed.

As she reached more, about people being found with mental issues with their biotics and wounds from torture, and more reports of Maw attacks on human victims, Hackett answered her. "You're reading every single thread we have on Cerberus activity, everything we have found out about, or shut down ourselves. And it only gets worse. Because I think I know exactly what they have been trying to do."

Finding the report from the former teammate of Naruto, Emily narrowed her eyes on the report. "And what is that sir? Pissing me off is one of the effects of this already. They pre-meditated killing Alliance personnel since Akuze?"

"Since months after the First Contact War, actually. Cerberus was once starting up as an answer to the STG, Asari Commandos, even Turian SpecOps. They got funding at first, but as soon as there were reports of abuse of power, another program was proposed in secret, to keep watch over them. Seems Cerberus didn't like this idea, and went straight into independence of the Alliance, and started becoming a private corporation. The oversight group, under my command, was given its mission. Stopping Cerberus."

Emily gazed at the files then back to the admiral; "So this was what you wanted Naruto for?"

"Yes." Hackett leaned against his chair. "While being a Spectre offered more, Cerberus is an Alliance problem. We wanted to deal with them in-house."

"Sir, with all due respect..." Glancing back to the files before closing them, she put them back on the desk. "I don't know why you'd personally want Naruto for this. And even if he wanted to join, why leave me out of it? If I had known they were this horrible, I'd have asked to join too."

"Because everyone in my Corsairs has a personal reason to bring Cerberus down." That got her attention. With a deep breath, Hackett took out a small box and placed it on the desk, opening it up to show a solid glowing blue link of a chain. "And Naruto does too; he just never got the chance to know it..."

It was no secret, even if Naruto was well known for his Biotics being a rampant crimson and potent beyond everything Humans could do with such a power, there was one other with a unique biotic skill no one, even Asari could not pull off. "That's... Solid biotics! The rumors of Kushina being capable of solid dark matter manipulation was true?"

"Yes, and it saved more lives than you can imagine. Including mine. In fact, this link connected to a bulkhead when my squad was being sucked into space, without this and Kushina's determination to save us then I wouldn't be standing here." The Admiral looked to the dark-haired Spectre. "Shepard. This division is after Cerberus because they are an extremist group determined to do horrible things for, what they say, and the betterment of humanity. I'm after them personally, for killing my greatest friend."

It was then something clicked in her head; "They killed Naruto's mother."

"Yes, her last mission months after she had Naruto sent her to a known place where Cerberus set up traps. We never found her body. But there were signs of a firefight" He spoke grimly. "Cerberus agents' corpses were found, but not her." The admiral gazed at the link; "That is why I've been hunting these bastards down for years."

After a few moments, Emily frowned. "I see... That's why you've been trying to get Naruto more involved in the training for the Corsairs." Something came up though. "What happened to his dad? If reports of her death during a mission was changed like this, then what about his? After all, reports say he was dishonorably discharged."

"For good reason." Lowering his head a bit, Hackett could only sound somber telling this story. "When Cerberus was first started, Minato, Naruto's father, started working for them. Though as soon as things started looking sideways he turned into our mole in the organization. He was the one who told us about the base, and what traps were there. Before we knew what was going on, he had hidden Naruto somewhere, and then we found his corpse with the Cerberus ones. Evidence points to his betrayal of us all. He told us Cerberus wanted Kushina for their own goals, and he was going to fight back against them for his family, but the aftermath of that firefight suggests he was on their side of the battle."

"So his dishonorable discharge was warranted..." Shaking her head, Emily suddenly had a thought. "Wait, if Cerberus wanted Kushina for their goals, then if they knew about Naruto they might have wanted him too. But you're telling me that her body wasn't found, and Naruto vanished?"

"We have reason to believe they are keeping her body on ice, my Corsairs have been following a trail of bases, but the trail has turned cold. And Naruto did vanish, it wasn't for years until an old friend of Minato and Kushina who called me that I found him with you and the Foxes. An old hermit of a man, you guys called him a scoundrel sage I believe?"

Knowing the man, and frowning, Emily crossed her arms. "You mean Jiraiya?"

Former Alliance officer turned mercenary. The man had been eccentric since the day they met him during a mission in the outer rim.

Saying he left an impression was a mild understatement.

"The Major has been working for me for years. He has been roaming the seeder side in the Terminus to observe what goes on. As well as search for any info on Cerberus. Currently, he is living on Omega." Hackett remarked.

Emily's brow rose; "Did he find anything?"

"Nothing we can follow." Hackett sighed. "Mostly we only have normal Omega criminal activity we can't do anything about, nothing suggesting Cerberus is trying anything. But he did say that there have been some interesting developments of late regarding talk about a strange alien race, and other reports about the Shadow broker running some unusual business practices than normal. We've not been able to get much about either scenario, but he is currently on task to do so and then report back."

Even after hearing of almost several operations going on here, there was no suggestion to what he wanted from her. "I see. Then what does this mean for me? You said you know what Cerberus is trying to do, and you said the trail has gone cold. So now the question is what do you want me to do?"

Standing up and circling the desk, the Admiral offered an OSD. "This was taken from the last base we uncovered, and not even Lock can break the code. So we need some other methods to get into this thing. It's the information we managed to grab from the base's servers before it shut completely down. And it will lead us to where they are keeping Kushina's body. It is also going to tell us much of their current work as of late. With Spectre resources, we were hoping you could find out how to crack it yourself. Besides Lock, you're the best technical prodigy in the Alliance. If you can't crack it, then find someone who can help you get an idea of how. Though you're not a part of the Corsairs, Naruto trusted you as his family. So will I, so I trust you will help us finally put an end to Cerberus."

Shepard stared at the OSD for a minute; "Lay her to rest and get payback for Naruto. Guess I made my decision for Jondum."

That got a nod from Hackett; "I'll give you access to Naruto's network. There you can reach me, Mirage, or Lock whenever you have something. Also knowledge of the classified information he was privy to."

Emily saluted; "Thank you, sir."

She left him to his thoughts as he looked at the picture of him with everyone, Kushina, and Minato as well as others like Jiraiya. "My friends..."

XxX xx XxX

Coming back to the Citadel took no longer than expected, but sadly, Emily had some news to everyone else. "I'm sorry... I have to do this one alone."

Garrus cocked his head; "Going to take Jondum's offer?"

"Yeah," Emily gave a nod; "Settle some old debts."

"We'll be here if you need us, commander," Alenko remarked beside Ashley who gave the thumbs up.

Taking one of the elevators Shepard returned to Spectre HQ. She noticed one or two others inside the room before eyeing Jondum who worked on a console. The Salarian noticed her once she strolled his way; "Ah welcome back Commander Shepard."

"I have a decision on your offer."

Seeing she has chosen to accept, he nodded. "Then we leave in 2 hours. Bring what essentials you can, and be ready. Whatever training I give you, you will have to pass by the years end."

Smirking, Emily Shepard crossed her arms. "As long as I get hacking and engineering skills on par with your best Salarians, I'll gladly take on anything else."

Jondum gave a brief smirk; "I look forward to your progress."

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

Arch: And here we…..Go.

Godo: That was the first chapter! Short, but then again this is just prologue, later comes some NEW stuff, and world-building with the Shepard Chronicles!