Since I'm taking my time trying to get this majorly hyped battle just right, I want to give you a preview of the chapter. So, here you go.

Reaper Threat v2

Chapter 26: Priority – Rannoch! Kurama vs Reaper!

SSV Normandy – Captain's Cabin

It had been a few hours since the Normandy had loosed itself from the docking cradle at the Council's starbase, after dropping off Sasuke, Gaara and Shukaku, the latter of which was being prepped for transport to Admiral Hackett's base of operations. Mordin had chosen to leave the ship as well, choosing to work on a Salarian medical frigate, while Sakura decided to remain on the ship, to assist Dr. Chakwas. The fight for Tuchanka had taken a toll on the crew, so at the moment, people were trying to get some much needed rest.

Alexa Shepard and Naruto Uzumaki had gotten a quick dinner from the ship's mess and retired to their cabin. At first, they went through all the work that needed done to keep the ship running smoothly. That took all of an hour and a half. After the last of the datapads had been set aside as finished, Shepard leaned back into Naruto's shoulder, and the blonde shinobi instinctively wrapped his arm around her, bringing her in closer to him. This allowed the auburn-tressed soldier to finally relax, and before too long, both were asleep on the sectional sofa.

Bridge

"EDI," Specialist Samantha Traynor said, walking up to the AI's post on the ship's bridge, "Can you take a look at a signal that's being beamed straight to us?"

"Accessing," EDI responded, then a puzzled look came to her face, "Puzzling. It's a geth command and control signal, but there's more to it."

"What is it?" Joker wondered.

"After working with Legion, I'm familiar with geth signals," the AI explained, "Each geth signal uses a primary, secondary and tertiary level of encryption. This one added a fourth, and that level is Alliance encryption protocols."

"But how would the Geth know about Alliance encryption protocols?" came the obvious question from Traynor.

"Legion," Joker noted, "he must have gotten them before the assault on Cerberus."

"You think Legion may be trying to contact us, Jeff?" EDI inquired.

"If Rannoch is in trouble, it would make sense," the helmsman stated, "EDI, you and Traynor get cracking on that signal. We'll let Shepard know when we have it decrypted."

Armory

Lieutenant James Vega had come back to his station immediately following the end of his mission on Tuchanka. After putting his armor and weapons back in his locker, he started doing pull ups behind his head. It's this scene that Ashley Williams walks in on. "I think you're buff enough," she told the man.

"Can't let up, Bonita," the beefy latino responded, "Can't let the ninjas make us all obsolete. You were on the Collector base."

"And I've been serving with Shinobi since I rejoined the Normandy crew," Ash reminded Vega, "They're our allies and friends, not our replacements. When the time comes to retake Earth, it'll be Alliance forces leading the charge." She then steps up and places a hand on Vega's large shoulder. Vega dropped down and turned to face Ashley, who had a look of concern on her face, which soon turned into a smirk. "By the way," she smiled, "Bonita?"

"I tend to give people nicknames," the muscular marine explained, "It seemed to suit you. It means…" He didn't have time to finish before Ashley quickly pressed her lips to his. She slid her tongue in between his lips, and soon it became a battle between his tongue and hers for dominance. It took a few minutes, but soon they had to break apart, or suffocate.

"I know what it means," she whispered in his ear.

Crew Deck – Main Battery

Garrus Vakarian was in the middle of some calibrations on the ship's main gun, the Thanix Cannon, when he heard the door open, revealing Liara T'Soni. "You look like you have something on your mind?" the Asari shadow broker noted to her long-time friend.

"We're going to Rannoch," Vakarian replied, "I tried to keep in touch with Tali after we all left the ship, not long after the assault on Cerberus. She was able to help the council broker a peace between the Quarians and the Geth. They even returned the Quarians to their home world. When contact was lost with Rannoch, I started to fear the worst."

"Tali is resourceful, Garrus," Liara said, trying to comfort the Turian, "Remember when you first met her on the Citadel? How she had the evidence that proved Saren's treason? She's smart enough to find a way to survive." She then handed a flat, mid-sized box to Garrus. "Here," she continued, "I happen to remember hearing that…"

Garrus gave the Turian equivalent of a smile. "Tali likes Turian chocolates," he finished her statement, "Are you sure you're not reading my mind?"

"Not at all," Liara answered, "Your messages, are another case entirely." Both had a laugh at the remark.

Captain's Cabin

"Shepard," came EDI's voice, "We need to update you on a situation."

Shepard blinked herself awake. "What's going on?"

"We've received a message from Rannoch," Traynor added, through the ship's intercom system, "EDI and I just finished decrypting it. It's from Legion."

"The Geth," Naruto added, having woke up when Shepard did, "This could be important."

"Come on up, Traynor, EDI. I want to know everything," Shepard ordered. It took about 10 minutes for Traynor and EDI to make their way up to the cabin. Once they stepped from the lift, EDI handed Shepard an OSD.

"The message was an audio signal encoded into a geth command and control signal," the AI reported, "We didn't want to alert you until we had it decrypted, since as you know…"

"Multiple levels of encryption," Shepard finished EDI's statement, "Usually 3 levels, if I'm not mistaken."

"This one had 4," Traynor advised the captain, "Apparently, Legion got ahold of Alliance encryption protocols, and used them for a 4th encryption level in sending this to us."

"Shrewd," Naruto noted, "He added Alliance protocols so it would be picked up by the Normandy, an alliance ship."

Alexa took the OSD to her private terminal, and inserted the disc. Soon, Legion's mechanical voice filled the room. "Shepard-Commander," the AI spoke, "Rannoch is in grave danger from the Old Machines. They have set up a presence, and are attempting to hack into the geth collective, by taking over one of Geth's own data storage bases on the planet. Choumei-Biiju is keeping the old machines at bay and away from the Creator's colony, but they are jamming almost all communication channels, which is the reason for the use of Geth command and control signals to send this message. We need help. Creator Tali'Zorah has rallied her people against the Old Machine's ground forces, but they cannot hold out long, not more than another 36 hours. We have included all available intelligence on the Old Machines base, and will have a possible strategy for dealing with the hacking threat when you arrive. Hurry, Shepard-Commander. Geth and the Creators cannot hold out much longer."

"EDI, how far out are we from the Perseus Veil?" Shepard inquired.

"Still another 10 hours, but there is time," EDI stated, "Initial timestamp on the geth message was 3 hours ago. I am still processing the data that Legion included. This data storage base houses billions of zetabytes of Geth data. The loss could be disastrous for the Geth."

"Tell Ash, Liara and Garrus I want to see them in the conference room, ASAP," Alexa ordered the AI, "and EDI, you're on the ground team for this mission, too, with me and Naruto."

"Understood, Shepard."

SSV Normandy SR-2: Conference Room - 15 minutes later

Shepard stood with Naruto and EDI, along with Ashley Williams, Garrus Vakarian and Liara T'Soni. Hovering in the middle of the room was a layout of the Geth data storage base, as well as information on the Quarian colony.

"Here's what we know," Shepard told her crewmates, "The Reapers have a presence on Rannoch, but it's only been recently, as in the last few hours. While their ground forces are trying to wear down the Quarians, they're also trying to hack into the Geth collective. Garrus, you'll lead Ash and Liara down to the Quarian colony, make contact with Tali, and the Quarian forces, and help them drive back the Reaper forces threatening the colony."

"You shouldn't have to worry about the big, starship sized reapers, as Choumei is apparently keeping them away from the colony," Naruto added.

"We will need to have Choumei transferred to Hackett's starbase as soon as the Reapers are driven off of Rannoch," Shepard continued, "While you three help the Quarians, EDI, Naruto and I will be going to assist the Geth. Legion has some strategy for stopping the Reapers' hacking attack. We'll handle that."

"We may need more forces to drive off the Reapers from the Quarian colony," Ash noted, looking over the schematics, "That's a lot of ground to cover."

"Take Vega and Javik with you, too," Shepard ordered, "We're still almost 10 hours out from Rannoch, so rest up, and be ready when we get there." All nodded, and everyone went their own way.

Skies over Rannoch – 11 hours later.

Both Normandy shuttles separated in the skies over Rannoch. "Good luck, Garrus," Shepard said to her Turian friend as she closed the communication link between the different teams. She looked over to EDI, who looked like she was lost in thought. "Something wrong, EDI?" she inquired of the unshackled AI, who was piloting the shuttle.

"Just received another message from Legion, Shepard," EDI answered, "He's given me coordinates to meet him at. We'll be on the ground in fifteen minutes."

"Any new developments on the Reapers' hacking attack?" came Shepard's next question.

"Legion will brief us when we're on the ground," EDI responded, "He's got a strategy that will help break the Reaper's hacking attack, and free the geth programs from the data storage base." Shepard nodded and stood over EDI's shoulder. Naruto checked his weapons, and then moved up beside Shepard. Fifteen minutes later, the shuttle was on the ground, and the team disembarked, met by their Geth friend, Legion.

"Shepard-Commander," the Geth platform said in his mechanical voice, "it is good to see you again. Rannoch is in serious trouble. Choumei-biiju is holding her own against the old machines, but we need to act soon."

"Then show us your plan, Legion," Naruto told the machine, "EDI said you've already got an idea on how to move."

"True, Naruto-shinobi, we do have a plan." Legion showed the three from the Normandy to a vehicle, and soon, they were moving toward the base. "We will move in through a back entrance," He continued to explain, "There is a chamber where we have set up a means for a human to interface with the Geth collective. There, we can break the Old Machine's link to Geth, by destroying the corrupted code fragments that are being used to break Geth down to serving the Old Machines."

"And the Geth programs still on the drives?" "EDI inquired.

"This base also produces mobile platforms," Legion noted, "We will transfer those geth runtimes into the mobile platforms in the base, and then once the Geth are out, we will destroy the base, breaking the Old Machine's link to the collective completely." Legion stopped the vehicle not far from the base, and the team soon was out of the vehicle, and headed into the base.

Quarian Colony

"Garrus," Tali'Zorah Vas Normandy said, cheerfully greeting the Turian, and his allies. She rushed over and embraced Garrus in a friendly, heart-felt hug before turning to the others. "Ashley, Liara," She continued, "Where is Shepard?"

"We're fighting this battle on two fronts, Tali," Garrus explained, "She wants us to help you break the Reapers' offensive on your colony, while she, EDI, and Naruto stop their attempts to hack into the Geth collective."

"Then I'm glad you're all here," Tali stated, "Right now, we're preparing for our pushback. Quarian spec-ops teams are readying for battle, under squad leader, Kal'Reegar."

"I remember him from Haestrom," Garrus smirked, "So he's still kicking. Good. He a damn fine soldier."

"What about the Biiju?" Liara asked of her Quarian friend.

"Choumei's been a big help," Tali continued her briefing, "She's kept the Reapers bigger forces out of the colony by hitting them while still in the upper atmosphere."

"And the fleet?" Ash asked.

"Will be made available to the Alliance, once the Reapers are driven off of Rannoch," came the voice of Admiral, now councilor, Shala'Raan vas Tonbay, "The council has made the decision that, since the Alliance is helping us, we should give our aid, as well, once you are ready to retake Earth." One thing that became apparent, to the Normandy crew, was that the Quarians immune system problems were no longer a problem, since Shala'Raan, like Tali'Zorah, no longer needed her environment suit. Sure, they still wore most of the suit, but the helmets were gone.

"Thank you, Councilor," Ashely Williams nodded, shaking the councilor's hand, "We'll appreciate all the help we can get."

"I seem to remember you liked these," Garrus said to Tali, handing her the box of Turian chocolates. Tali'Zorah gave a smile to the Turian.

"We'll catch up later, Garrus," she told him, "First, we've got to drive the Reapers away from the colony."