NA: And here we are at chapter 11… hope you all enjoy and be sure to donate me some cookies!

~oOo~

Somewhere in DGTO Space

Within a room, a round table was at the center of it all, filled with numerous businessmen arguing over the current development that has created more problems they can imagine.

One of them gritted his teeth and clenched his fists, "This is a disaster, we shouldn't have trusted those Blue Suns, no they have brought on destruction upon us all!"

"You don't know that!" another raved while slamming his fist onto the table, "Lancastar is just a means to an end!"

"Then please explain why these aliens are marching towards our other colonies with a massive fleet, a fleet that is larger than anything we have ever seen!"

"We just need to placate them." the second man tried to reason with the first, "This is just a mere setback-"

"Do not tell me that is 'just' a mere 'setback!'" the first man exclaimed.

"Gentlemen, gentlemen!" another tried to defuse the situation, "Please! We are civilized and reasonable people! We are doing the best we can to try and turn this situation around, but rest assure that the DGTO will come out on top after this."

"I hope you are right." The first man said, "I really do… because if things go south everything that we have built here, everything that we have accomplished, will be nothing but ashes."

Valkyrie: Voice of the Stars

Home Sweet Home

Hotel in the Citadel

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine!" Naruto laughed at his girlfriend's fussing after the little incident of Grunt shoving him onto a wall. Thanks to his armor he didn't suffer any major injuries aside from a few bruises, but those of course were nothing to him. "It's not the first time a Krogan did that to me, babe, so don't worry about it. Honestly, you're such a worry wart."

"Well I can't help it!" Mimori exclaimed, "You're out there on missions, DANGEROUS missions I might add! Can't you like… I don't know… get a safer job."

"I can't." he sat up and cupped her cheek, caressing it with his thumb while smiling at her, "There's no other job I would be good at. I love my job, Mimori, I like what I do. I can't imagine myself doing some desk job or being a cash register or even a delivery boy. I like the action, I like the adrenaline. Through this I can protect you, big sis, and everyone."

The pink haired songstress sighed and curled up into a ball while resting his chest. "I just… you're the best thing that has ever happened to me."

"And you are to me." He replied while wrapping his arms around her in a semi-protective manner. "Look on the bright side, coming home won't be boring."

"I guess."

"You two…" Akira glared at the couple sitting on the couch, "you two are far too lovey-dovey!"

"Oh you're just jealous." Mimori retorted with a smug look while cuddling even closer to him. "I have a hot boyfriend and you don't."

Akira let out an annoyed scream while rubbing her head furiously. "Mimori… you… ARGH!"

The pinkette simply giggled at the sight while the other successors tried calming her down. Letting out a sigh she rested her head on her boyfriend's chest once more and closed her eyes for a moment. It was moments like these she came to enjoy.

Atsuko, who was trying her best to not pry the girl away from her brother, simply looked at Naruto. "Naruto… about… Grunt…"

"He'll be fine." Naruto assured her, "As long as he is I take him on a mission where there's fighting, he won't question me. As his battle master of sorts it is his duty to follow. I'll take him to Tuchanka later so Wrex can have a look at him, and then we'll see from there."

"What's Tuchanka like?" Hikari asked.

"It's a barren wasteland filled with ruins of the once proud Krogan people." He told them, getting surprised looks from the girls as the description of the planet was not what they were expecting. "1,475 years ago the Krogan people were uplifted by the Salarian race, given technology to venture the galaxy. Unfortunately prior to that they thought that nuclear war was fun. They nearly destroyed their world. Fast forward and we have the Krogan Rebellions. That war was the sole reason why the genophage was used on them. Now Wrex wants to lead his people down a different path, a more honorable path. While some clans do support him others do not and wish to continue on with their destructive ways. Valkyrie of course whole heartedly supports Wrex and his ambitions to make the Krogan one people once more. Although the council of course remains skeptical because well… he's a Krogan, and as far as everyone is concerned, Krogan are known to be violent in nature."

"But Wrex wants to change that." Chieri concluded, earning a nod from the newly minted Spectre.

"Precisely. For now we have the Gamma Quadrant to worry about, once we're done there I will head to Tuchanka with Grunt."

"Can I come?" Mimori asked.

Naruto frowned, "It's not exactly a welcome place, Mimori. Urdnot territory may be peaceful at the moment but fights do break out. And I can't risk your safety by coming down there with me."

"I want to see Wrex's world with my own eyes." Mimori asked him once more with a look that she knew he could not resist.

"I want to go too." Atsuko said along with a few of the successors, including Nagisa and the Center Nova Chieri.

The blonde who still has his girlfriend cuddling on his chest let out a sigh of defeat. "Fine, but you're all sticking close to me. I don't want any incidents happening."

Mimori smiled and gave him a kiss, "You're the best, Naruto."

"Yeah, yeah…"

~oOo~

Citadel Council Room

Another meeting was taking place and this time Naruto is present thanks to his Spectre status. Garrus was still in an extended mission in Omega so he wasn't present. They were all now discussing the upcoming joint offensive, Naruto of course was on edge, itching to get this over with and get his men who are still in Lancastar with other forces out of there. This will be the final meeting until they will finally execute the operation.

Anderson was there present along with Mordin who happens to be the overall commander of Valkyrie's special forces operations.

"Forces are ready and waiting to commence." The Salarian former STG operative informed them.

"I am as well." Naruto concurred. "Just say the word."

The Alliance officer nodded and overlooked the holographic display of Lancastar. "Batarian forces are mostly amassing over the planet but there have been reports of some of their ships making their way towards other DGTO worlds."

"Any word from Akibastar?" Councillor Valern asked.

"They are on standby and made the necessary repairs to whatever ships have been damaged." Naruto answered as he hovered his hand over the planet in question. "Akibastar is the gateway to the rest of AEPS space, the Batarians will need to take this planet if they are to advance any further. With the constant supply ships we have supporting them, they will hold. But we will need to strike quickly, it's only a matter of time until the Batarians get impatient."

"Concern will be DGTO colonies." Mordin spoke up. "No doubt several raids have already occurred. Admiral, how soon can we mobilize? Many of my men are 'itching' to move in."

"We will begin the attack tonight." Anderson responded. "The time for diplomacy is over. The Batarians refuse to be reasoned with despite all our efforts to ask them to stop."

Tevos nodded. "While the Alliance will move in to support the Gamma Quadrant, the rest of the Citadel and Valkyrie forces will move in through the Terminus systems and strike from behind."

"Let's just hope this will be brought to a swift end." Sparatus noted.

"Agreed." Naruto responded in agreement. Stepping forward he pointed to a possible location to where the Batarian controlled Starforge is located. "While we face the enemy in the Gamma Quadrant, your forces will move in to either capture the Starforge… or…"

"Destroy it." the Turian councillor finished, eliciting a gasp from the Asari.

"Sparatus, a Starforge is-"

"Technically a Prothean artifact, yes." Sparatus interrupted. "But the Batarians are practically abusing it, and it IS a military asset despite its age. Both the Citadel and Alliance have one in possession, we have already studied its secrets. We cannot allow such an abusive race to keep such military power."

"I agree with Councillor Sparatus." Admiral Anderson spoke up. "A Starforge is not a museum, it is a military station and has been since its creation. Thanks to the Starforge we can easily replace our lost ships. I am sorry to say that if we are not able to capture it, its destruction is required. Such power should never be in the hands of a race of people who enjoy enslaving other sentient beings. Councillor Valern, what are your thoughts?"

The Salarian councillor rubbed his chin before replying, "We have already learned the secrets of a Starforge. While the data of Prothean ships are no longer existent with the Protheans themselves deleting such data, a Starforge is farely straightforward, just give it data of the required ship you wish to construct and its automated systems will do it for you. The loss of a Starforge, while regrettable, is hardly a cause for great concern. Maybe sometime in the future the Starforges we have can grant us the secrets of constructing a new Starforge."

Tevos let out a sigh, "Very well… but I truly hope it does not come to that."

"My ship will finish stocking up on supplies within the hour." Naruto informed them. "We can leave tonight with the vanguard. It will take a day's travel from the Citadel to the Gamma Relay. Travelling directly to the relay the Batarians are using is too risky. We'll have to face them head on."

"Logical decision." Mordin nodded in agreement, "Direct confrontation is the only option. Though we can use flanking tactics during the battle."

"I will handle operations on the surface." Naruto told him. "I need to get my men our men out of there. Orbital bombardments will be permitted, Lancastar's dualium covered surfaces are harder than anything, not even a nuke can go through them. Batarian forward bases on the surface are out in the open, a well-placed orbital strike will place them in disarray. Councillor Sparatus, how soon can your forces make it through the Terminus?"

Normally the Turian would look at the blonde in contempt, but he is surprised at how much tactical knowledge he was displaying. "We can make it through a day if we move tonight, from there we can split our forces to hit Batarian worlds and hit them from behind in the Gamma Quadrant. We don't know how many dreadnoughts the Batarians will be fielding but that since they do have a Starforge, assume they will be plentiful. Even with the new Cyclone energy shielding our ships now have we still cannot afford to take any chances."

"Batarians will only have standard armaments as we have observed from our last battle a few days ago." Mordin said while going through his omni-tool. "We have the long range advantage with the Thanix cannons. Our new Variable Fighters will also provide the edge in aerospace battles."

Sparatus narrowed his metallic brows, "It is a bit unnerving to many that a PMC has this much access to resources."

"We are more paramilitary than PMC." Mordin responded. "Though we do provide military support to clients, those clients mostly happen to be either government or legitimate and reasonable organizations and less developed colonies."

"The Hierarchy has never hired PMCs?" Valern asked the Turian councillor, "Not even the Turian-based Elanus Risk Control Services?"

"The Hierarchy take pride in their military, Valern." Sparatus said with pride, "We would rather rely on our own strength."

"Understandable." Naruto shrugged. "Well if you will all excuse me, I have to tell my girlfriend and family that I'm leaving tonight. Lord knows I will be hounded by Mimori again."

"Your bondmate is quite the worry wart, commander." Tevos said in an amused tone.

The blonde groaned, "Tell me something I don't know."

~oOo~

Silent Cry's Shuttle Bay/Armory

"So how's Jessie coming along?" the blonde asked while cleaning his weapon.

Zaeed chuckled gleefully as he inserted the last piece into his old M-7's receiver. "Coming quite nicely, kiddo. Happy day for me!"

"I can see that." the Spectre looked at his mentor fondly.

"We'll be shooting up a lot of four-eyes when we head back to Lancastar. Lots, and lots of four-eyes!"

Naruto shook his head and placed the weapon back on the table. All mass effect based weapons had a mechanism when not in use, from pistols to assault rifles to sniper rifles, all weapons had an 'idle mode' when holstered, it was a technology that many soldiers had come to love as it meant it was easier for them to carry their weapons anywhere. While a standard feature, many soldier still like to comment on how convenient it is for them. The blonde reclines onto his seat and rests his feet on the table.

"We deploy tonight. The girls are coming with us to Akibastar to help bolster morale, not like I can stop them anyway."

Zaeed chuckles as he sights his crosshairs on the target a few metres to his right. Giving the trigger a squeeze the assault rifle fires off a few bursts. Pleased with the results, he rests the weapon on the table beside its sibling. "Well you're learning pretty quickly."

Naruto raises an eyebrow, "What do you mean?"

"I wasn't a merc all my life, you know?" the old mercenary said, "Was once a family man myself."

The blonde removes his feet from the table and leans closer. "Why are you telling me this?"

Zaeed smiles sadly and pulls out a drink of whiskey and two small glasses, pouring the drink into each of the glass cylinders. "I'm not proud of what I did kiddo, it's a reason why I am the man I am today. Lived in Eden Prime one time, had a wife and two daughters, both are probably around your age by now. The misses and I never saw eye to eye but God I loved her. All I cared about was putting food on the table, I did odd jobs as a merc, not too dangerous at the time but the pay was good. But because of that I saw my kids less and less, I would miss recitals, parent teacher interviews, hell I even missed my wedding anniversary. No matter how many times I would explain to her she would just get even angrier… so finally on my eldest girl's birthday she had enough, I came in the house with bullet holes on my arm. So that was it, she filed for divorce and got custody on both girls."

"And you never saw them since?"

The older man shook his head and drank his glass of whiskey. "When I saw you under that pile of rubble, I thought to myself that maybe through you I can make things right. I was probably fooling myself though."

"Maybe." Naruto muttered out, "But you became the father I never had. Nobody's perfect, Zaeed, it's impossible to be. Have you… have you tried seeing them or at least contacting them?"

"Once…"

"And?"

Zaeed let out a sigh and drank a little more, "Wife wouldn't even let me talk to the girls. Told me to never even bother, so I didn't. That was six years ago."

"Maybe you should try again, after Lancaster. I'll be there to back you up if you like."

"You'd do that?"

Naruto smiles at his father-figure and nods. "You've done a lot for me, Zaeed. It's time for me to return the favor."

Taking the bottle of whiskey, Naruto pours another onto the old man's glass and raises his. Zaeed smiles and the two clang their glasses into a toast before drinking them, after that they laughed.

~oOo~

1 Day Later

Akibastar

It was a sight to behold. Through the glass dome of the city, they could see more than a thousand ships of all sizes jumping into the planet's orbit. Black, white, and blue ships amassed around the joint fleet that had arrived a few days ago. It was clear that these were friendly ships as the designs were similar to that of the Alliance and Valkyrie ships. Many of the soldiers down in the hangar cheered at the sight of so much ships gathering in near orbit. The WOTA and AEPS soldiers could only look on in awe and wonder at the sight, not even DGTO had this many ships in their navy. It was a jaw dropping sight for all of them. Nothing like this has ever happened before.

One of the ships, the smaller of the bunch landed in the large hangar. The ship had sleek features similar to the Alliance and Valkyrie ships but was smaller than the others, it was only at 190 metres in length and narrower, despite it only being a frigate it was bristling with weaponry on the front. While it lacked the heavy weaponry that a cruiser has it still had the Thanix cannons that many ships carry as standard, only this was more potent than a regular one, mainly because it was using Salarian technology, meaning that the weapons are much more potent and heavy hitting. Salarians like to field bleeding-edge technology in all forms, ranging from simple scientific instruments to weapons, the amphibian race did it all. There were even rumours that they were adding stealth technology into their fleet.

The ramp of the frigate lowered and out revealed the girls of AKB0048, from there the people of WOTA and AEPS started cheering when they got down. Many of them approached the girls and shook their hands, happy that they are back. Just as soon as the smiles continued, out came Mimori Kishida herself, and beside her was a blonde Valkyrie, both of them holding their hands with fingers intertwined. It was from there that the glares were pointed at both of them. There were even looks of disgust directed at her.

Mimori's hold on her boyfriend's hand tightened and she became a little scared as the glares were now pointed at her.

"It's going to be okay." Naruto whispered, "I won't let them do anything. Just stick close to me and everything will be fine."

Looking at his men he gave them a nod, signaling them to form a perimeter around the ramp, forming a protective barrier. Gasps were then heard when the sight of a Krogan came out from behind the couple.

"You need any heads bashing, Naruto?"

"Not until we reach Lancastar, Grunt." The blonde ordered, "These people are our allies."

"They don't look so friendly to me." The Krogan super soldier muttered while clutching his M-300 Claymroe shotgun a little tighter. "I can smell their hate."

"Then be sure to just keep an eye, if they threaten Mimori give them a head-butt, nothing more."

Grunt let out a grin. "Good enough for me."

With Mimori by his side they approached one of the ONI officers who remained with the joint fleet. "Status on our forces?"

"We have been keeping in touch with Major Kirrahe in Lancastar, they have been holding out quite well but the attacks have been intensifying. He tells us that we lost a few men, but enough for their defences to crumble."

The blonde let out a quiet sigh, it was still hard on him that he lost men that were technically under his command. "And Kirrahe, how is he?"

"Other than a few scrapes, he's fine and leading the defenders. Tough son of a bitch."

The blonde smiles, it was so like Kirrahe to be that adamant at holding the line, it was his favorite line after all. "Hold the line…"

"Sir?"

"It's nothing, sergeant, just reminiscing my mission on Virmire two years ago."

The ONI sergeant nodded in understanding, "Ah… I heard about what happened. You fought alongside Major Kirrahe."

Naruto chuckled a bit. "And more… carry on sergeant, let me know if anything comes up, we mobilize in an hour."

"Yes sir!" the sergeant salutes and walks back to his unit where they were all preparing to board the ships that will take them up into the fleet.

"They're still looking at you, and not in a nice way." Grunt growled as he looked at all the people glaring at the couple. As a Krogan he has an obligation to serve his battle master, and he knows well that Naruto is a capable commander, if there was anyone who he thinks is a threat to his battle master, he will kill without hesitation. And there was also the concern of Naruto's mate as Krogans like to call it. Grunt of course fully understood that Mimori was no warrior, instead being a singer that calms the hearts of people. She is a frail person and Naruto likes to protect her, thus it is also his duty to protect her, such is the way of a Krogan serving under a battle master.

"Let them be Grunt, glares are nothing."

The Krogan super soldier growled, "I don't like them."

"You don't have to like them." Naruto stated. "Just tolerate them, and don't worry I will make sure that you will be far away from them when we go into battle."

Mimori felt powerless under all these glares, causing her to hug her boyfriend's arm, an action that unfortunately did not help her situation. "Naruto…"

"It's okay baby…" he whispered soothingly, "It's okay…"

Atsuko went up to his side, obviously worried with the glares he and Mimori were receiving. "Naruto… I don't think it's a good idea for Mimori to be here right now. I don't think she can even stay here anymore."

"That's what I'm thinking as well." Naruto whispered back. "I might have to send her back home to Elysium if things escalate. For now she'll be by my side. I'm more than capable of fending off a few rabid idiots. Grunt of course will be the muscle."

Atsuko lets out a sigh of defeat, that is probably the best she will be able to get out of him. "Just… try not to kill anyone, please."

"I make no promises."

The purple haired former idol palmed her face. 'This is going to end badly, I just know it. I'm beginning to miss the days of Naruto being that shy little boy who was afraid of fighting.' "I have to be with the girls, be careful out there, Naruto."

"I will."

The couple did not leave the hangar while the rest of AKB0048 made their way past the crowd. It's not like they could anyway, they no longer felt welcome here. This was no longer their home, Elysium is their home now. Mimori of course was saddened that this was the result, but she would never trade Naruto for anything, it was like he said, she may have lost many fans here but she gained much, MUCH more.

"I wanna go back inside." She whispered.

"Go ahead, I'll be right with-"

"NARUTO!"

The distinct familiar voice of a former schoolmate with the same group of lackeys he had back in that bar. Only difference was that they were in green WOTA fatigues, all of them carrying weapons.

"Ah shit." Zaeed muttered as he and the rest of the Valkyrie soldiers clutched their weapons a little tighter.

"Ryuto…" Naruto stared at the spiky haired brunette who was glaring at him with hate in his eyes. "Can I help you? I'm a bit busy right now."

"You got a lot of nerve showing your face here, you bastard!" Ryuto roared while clutching his pistol tightly. "You think you can just waltz in here and take an idol away from us!?"

The blonde narrows his eyes dangerously at the brunette. Said brunette's lackeys were all clutching their rifles, preparing for a fight. This was going downhill really fast. The girls of AKB0048 were looking on with worry evident on their faces, while some of the WOTA soldiers personally did not hate Naruto, they disliked him for being Mimori's boyfriend, and for them that was cause enough for them to be hostile.

"Sir." The Salarian ONI who was with him when they got Grunt the other day looked at him. "We need to go, now."

"Agreed." Naruto quietly spoke.

"Where the fuck do you think you're going!?" Ryuto roared and jumped over the line of Valkyries with his pistol in hand. "Don't you turn your back on me!"

The sound of weapons cocked and ready were hear all over as pistols, assault rifles, and sniper rifles were all pointed at the extremely angry brunette, it was then that WOTA soldiers then pointed their weapons at the allied soldiers, creating a standoff.

"Weapons down!" Zaeed ordered.

"If your people hadn't come here we wouldn't even be in this mess!"

"The Batarians would have come anyway!"

"You don't know that!"

By now even Naruto brandished his dual M-3 Predator heavy pistols. Much to Mimori's protest she was escorted inside the ship by one of the ONI. Grunt growled at the WOTA soldiers and pointed his massive shotgun at them.

"Step back, idiot!" Grunt growled at Ryuto, "Or you'll get a shotgun round to the face!"

"Don't tell me what to do, freak!" the brunette spat, making the Krogan's face even more redder. "You aliens are nothing but trouble!"

"Oh great…" the Salarian ONI muttered under his breath, "Xenophobes… sir, we really need to get out of here."

"All forces, slowly back away and get into your respective ships." Naruto ordered through the radio. "We can't afford to create an incident. Everyone back into your ships!"

Ryuto growled, "Don't you dare-"

"All soldiers, please, put your weapon down!" the voice of Tsubasa was heard as she walked in between the standoff. "We're supposed to be allies. Please, stand down!"

Both nephew and aunt stared at each other for a moment until she looked away in shame. He couldn't tell if she was ashamed of him or herself, but it didn't really matter anymore, this was no longer his home. Thanks to his aunt the WOTA soldiers slowly lowered their weapons, even Ryuto did so. It was at that moment that he swore he heard Tsubasa quietly say, "I'm sorry, Naruto."

~oOo~

Silent Cry Captain's Cabin

Mimori sat on the bed hugging her knees when Naruto came in. They looked at each other for a moment before he went to her side wrapped his arms around him. "I'm sorry baby…"

"Elysium is home." She muttered, "It always has been, it's where I was born after all."

"Mimori…"

"I knew this would happen eventually." The songstress said as tears welled in her eyes. "It still doesn't take away the fact that it hurts… so much. I've been writing so much thank you letters to them back then… but now…"

"Hey…" he whispered in a kind and soothing tone before leaning down for a soft kiss. "It's okay… I'm here…"

"I want to go home, OUR home."

"You will… but I'm putting you on a ship back home, you will-"

"NO." she declared, "I'm staying here in the ship."

"Mimori-"

"Don't argue with me!" she cried out, "I'm staying here, I want to be there with you. I want to see this through."

He looked at her and saw the fire in her eyes, he knew he wasn't going to win this. "I want you inside the ship, you're not allowed to exit it once we touch down on Lancastar."

"I won't." the pinkette rested her head at the crook of his neck and let out a tired sigh, "I never thought fans would be that bad. I mean… for them to be so fanatical."

"It confuses me as well."

"Commander…" the voice of the ship's lieutenant was heard through the comms.

"What is it lieutenant?"

"We'll be leaving shortly, estimated another few hours till we hit Lancastar."

"Understood, thank you Lieutenant." Pulling his lover closer they simply lay there in the bed in each other's embrace. He took a whiff of the beautiful scent of her hair and pulled her even closer.

"We can't go back to Akibastar anymore, huh?" she asked.

He shook his head, "No… we can't."

~oOo~

Hours Later

Lancastar Space

The entire joint allied fleet jumped in and immediately the ship began firing, catching the Batarian fleet by surprise as they never expected this many ships to counterattack. In the span of a few minutes nearly half the Batarian occupational fleet was decimated by the endless bombardment of missiles and Thanix particle cannon rounds. Within the allied fleet was the largest ship in existence, the Alpes-class super-dreadnought SSV Alpes, a 3.5km long ship with thousands of broadside batteries and missile launchers along with a compliment of a few fighter/bomber squadrons. Today would be the unveiling of the only ship of its kind.

"Astok!" Naruto called out to his pilot, "Move up with the rest of the vanguard, we need to get down to the surface and relieve our men! Don't bother using stealth, just get us down."

"Aye sir!" the Salarian pilot acknowledged the command and immediately went down with the other frigates.

The ship fired off a few Thanix shots at an oncoming cruiser, the first shot took out its shields and damaged its thrusters, the second sliced it in half, melting through its armor and incinerating anyone who was caught in the fire. The Silent Cry fired a volley of cluster missiles, taking out another cruiser that had become the victim of a frigate wolf pack attack. Hundreds of missiles had slammed onto its hull and warped the armor into small bubbles as explosions had gone off from the inside. No one survived the attack.

"Entering planet's atmosphere, we'll be touching down in a few!"

"I want our men on standby!" Naruto ordered, "And be sure to have medics prepared to take in any wounded we got down there! Someone patch me a connection to Major Kirrahe, let him know that we're coming!"

"Yes sir!" the ship's radio nodded and went to work.

Naruto went down towards the shuttle bay where the ramp was located, Zaeed was already down there holding his weapon Jessie. With him were a squad of ONI, two of them were the ones who were with Naruto on Korlus the other day, with them as well was Grunt who was now smiling in excitement that his first real battle is going to be a warzone.

"Grunt, once were on the ground, feel free to kill as many Batarians as you want."

The Krogan super soldier laughed heartily while clutching his shotgun. "I plan to!"

The blonde Spectre smiled, "We will be touching down in a fairly safe area, once there I want the medics taking in as many wounded as possible, the rest of us will bolster out troops on the defensive line. Spotters, I want you guys making orders for precision orbital strikes on enemy positions. You boys ready for this!?"

The men let out a roar of agreement and readied their weapons as the ship touched down on hard ground, the blood in their veins pumping with adrenaline. The ramp lowered and they all ran down towards the defensive line, to one's surprise it was Grunt leading the charge with the first thing he did was head-butt a Batarian soldier to death. Naruto then immediately went to cover but not before firing off a few shots from his M-7 Lancer.

Kirrahe who was there smiled and shook the hand of the commander. "Good to see you here once, commander!"

"Glad to be back!" the blonde responded.

"Anything new while we were here?"

"Aside from the counterattack we're doing? I made Spectre!"

Kirrahe's brows rose and smiled even brighter. "Well… congratulations! Once this battle is over, I believe a celebration is expected."

"What's the situation so far?"

"We lost a few men." Kirrahe's voice was slightly grim as he pointed to the numerous covered bodies behind them. Majority of them were carrying ONI dogtags. "But we held the line. And I see you got yourself a Krogan."

Naruto chuckled at the sight of Grunt having the time of his life, blasting his shotgun at the Batarian soldiers who dared get in his way. "New addition to the team, tank-bred Krogan by a warlord named Okeer. Old fool kept on proclaiming Krogan purity."

The former STG operative shook his head, "Surprising what many Krogan would do these days, let's just hope that Urdnot Wrex can keep them in line."

Both Valkyries then popped out of cover and fired another wave of bursts from their assault rifles, taking out a few more enemy soldiers. With renewed vigor the defenders kept on firing as many rounds as they can. Grunt, along with the other Krogans who remained to help defend the planet, let out battle cries before charging forward and smashing any Batarian in the way. Not even the tanks that were supposed to help bolster the Batarian offensive was immune to the pure carnage the Krogans were unleashing. Some soldiers swore they saw a few APCs flying into the air. Grunt joined in on the fun and got onto one of the APCs and yanked the vehicle's turret right off its hull. Grunt was having the time of his life as his laughter was heard from all over the battlefield.

"Well…" Kirrahe actually whistled at the sight, "I am actually glad we have Krogans on our side."

Naruto nodded, "Took the words right out of my mouth, Kirrahe."

~oOo~

Dreadnought SSV Irune

Captain Niftu Cal sat in the captain's chair as his ship lined up with the super dreadnought SSV Alpes. "Concentrate fire on the enemy dreadnought… and have the rest of our ships reach low orbit and begin orbital bombardment… on enemy positions."

"Yes sir!" the ship's lieutenant nodded, "2nd Cruiser squadron, begin low orbit bombardment!"

The Irune then turned a hard right, focusing its broadsides on the Batarian dreadnought that was trying its best to stay alive. But the massive amount of thanix cannons aboard the Irune was just too much for its kinetic barriers to handle, and soon its ablative armor was being stripped piece by piece by the endless barrage of streams of superheated molten metal. Piece by piece, the Batarian dreadnought was being stripped of its armor and weapons, piercing through the hull allied fighters flying nearby could see countless Batarians being sucked out into space, their screams being unheard. It was then the Alpes started firing its massive array of weapons, slicing the now crippled enemy dreadnought in half.

"Enemy dreadnought destroyed!" one of the weapons officers announced.

Niftu Cal nodded, pleased with the outcome. "Ensure security for our cruisers proceeding with… orbital bombardment. Drive these bastards… out of the system!"

~oOo~

Turian Dreadnought Indomitable

General Adrien Victus was completely floored at the sight of the Alliance super-dreadnought, never in his entire career had he ever thought that is possible to construct such a monster. Everyone in his fleet stared in awe at the sight of the ship, it was just massive. But he is an officer of the Turian Military, he cannot allow himself to look ridiculous despite the magnificent sight. "I want weapons firing on any retreating Batarian ships, circle around the planet and flank them, do not let them escape through the relay!"

"Yes sir!"

"Fire everything we got on those four-eyed bastards!"

The entire Turian squadron unleashed a wave of their own Thanix arrays, slicing through the Batarian ships that tried making a run for it.

'This is only just the beginning.' He mentally thought. 'We still have enemy flotillas in DGTO space to worry about. Why would the Batarians attack like this in such full force to begin with, what could they possible gain from this?'

"Batarian ships have been crippled, they're not going anywhere."

"Good." The general nodded.

~oOo~

Down on the ground the soldiers could see fighers flying by as well as the allied fleet in low orbit, bombarding enemy positions. By now the Batarians have been scattered, their organization crumbling as the combination of orbital strikes and the defenders now on the offensive had all but crippled their forces. They had lost all air and space power in the system.

Naruto threw a phase disruptor at an enemy soldier, literally blasting the legs clean off. They had finally won the day, Lancastar has been liberated of the enemy force. The numerous local soldiers and DES troopers cheered in joy that they won. The allied forces did so in a similar manner but many of them knew that this was just the beginning.

"Another day at the office as you humans say." Kirrahe said with a small smile.

"You did a great job here, Major."

"Thank you sir."

The blonde looked at him for a second before letting out a sigh. "I'm going to have to get used to you call me sir."

The Salarian Valkyrie chuckled, but then his smile turned upside down as he saw the numerous dead bodies of his comrades. "We lost good men today."

"We did."

"Naruto!" the voice of Mimori coming out of the ship was heard as she went up to him and gave him a hug. "Is it over?"

The blonde nodded. "Major, I would like you to meet my girlfriend, Mimori Kishida. Mimori, meet Major Kirrahe."

"The Voice of the Stars." Kirrahe shook the young woman's hand, "A pleasure to meet you, Miss Kishida, it is a rare opportunity to meet such an accomplished budding songstress. You've been as the humans say 'the talk of the town!'"

"Thank you, major." Mimori returned the gesture and smiled but then had a look of concern when she faced her boyfriend. "Naruto, what's wrong?"

The blonde Spectre let out a sigh as he looked at the numerous covered bodies of his deceased men. "We lost good men today, many of them young."

"Their deaths will not be in vain." Kirrahe silently declared, "We held the line."

"Indeed." Turning to the Salarian he speaks up. "Major, as a Council Spectre, I need trusted and exemplary soldiers to watch my back. I want you aboard my ship."

Kirrahe smiles and shakes the blonde's hand. "It would be my honor, commander."

Naruto smiles and nods while shaking the major's hand, "Welcome aboard."

"Commander!" One of the ONIs came in helping an injured boy with shaggy brown hair and brown eyes. He appeared to be wearing a military uniform, but what bothered Naruto was that he looked too young to be a soldier. "He needs help!"

"Get him up into the ship!"

"Yes sir!"

~oOo~

Akibastar

AKB0048 Home

"I just got word from Naruto!" Atsuko announced as she walked in with her phone. "They retook Lancastar!"

The girls cheered in joy while Nagisa, Yuka, and Orine cried tears of joy. The blonde girl of course stood up.

"He just told me that in his ship's medical bay is a boy around fourteen to fifteen years of age." Atusko continued. "His name is Mamoru."

"Mamoru!" Yuka gasped. "Is he okay!?"

The purple haired woman nodded. "The doctor says he suffered a shot to the side but he will recover."

"Thank goodness!" Yuka sat down with tears in her eyes. Of course her friends already knew that the two liked each other, but it was still a happy thing to know that Mamoru made it out alive.

"Atsuko-san." Hikari spoke up. "What's going to happen now? We all know that Naruto and Mimori are no longer welcome here. I know Naruto, he would rather avoid an incident, what happened earlier is evidence of that."

The purple haired woman sighed, "To be honest, Hikari… I don't know. What I do know is that the Gamma Quadrant will be annexed by the Alliance like Naruto told me earlier. Everyone here will abide by the rules, especially that one law Mordin all told us before."

"A lot of fans will not like that one bit." Shiori muttered. "That Ryuto guy earlier nearly caused an intergalactic incident. From what I hear provoking a Council Spectre is a crime punishable by death, and we all know Council Spectres are judges, juries, and executioners. Naruto has that kind of power, if he just outright killed someone in public and with good reason no one will even have the right to complain. Spectres hold the power over life and death, to an extent they are above the law."

A lingering silence hung over them as they absorbed all of that information. It was a scary thought, giving someone that kind of power. While they know that Naruto wouldn't abuse that kind of power it was still a scary thought that someone as powerful as him has that kind of authority. They really felt sorry for those who would provoke him and/or Mimori, they really did.

~oOo~

Lancastar

Loki-class Covert Assault Frigate VSV Silent Cry

Captain's Cabin

The couple were enjoying a nice dinner together, finally this fiasco is over. Mimori was certainly happy about it all and was glad that Yuka's crush Mamoru was doing well. After the doctor cleared him Mamoru was sent into a shuttle that was headed straight for Akibastar. Tonight's theme was country fried steak and eggs with hash browns, breakfast for dinner as they like to call it. Mimori of course like this, just the two of them enjoying some much needed quality time, and now because he is a Spectre he gets to choose when his missions will be.

"So…" the songstress began, "What's going to happen now?"

"Hm?"

"I mean what's going to happen to the Gamma Quadrant?"

"Well the Alliance plan on annexing the quadrant." He replies while slicing a piece of his steak. "You have to understand that there can't be splinter factions. It's much easier for an entire race to be unite under a single government, especially on a galactic scale. The planets here will retain their autonomy but they will have to abide by Alliance law. So you can probably imagine how WOTA and AKB0048 fans might feel when they hear about the entertainment law the Alliance enforces."

Mimori's face darkened a bit at the last part, it was bad enough that an incident nearly occurred back in Akibastar just because she and Naruto were romantically involved. To be honest she never thought fans could act in such a manner, a part of her was happy that she was no longer with AKB0048 while the other was sad that she won't be singing with them. But being with Naruto is something she will never regret.

~oOo~

1 Day Later

Elysium

Residential Sector of Arcology

Naruto and Mimori's Apartment

They had finally returned after a tedious and stressful week. They can finally relax and get the much needed vacation they had been so sorely wanting to spend. Mimori walked up to their apartment's balcony and took a whiff of the nice fresh air. All around she could see numerous other ecologies in the distance, down below was the beautiful 'alpine paradise' of the colony, filled with beautiful green forests and orchards, while not the breadbasket of the Alliance as everyone likes to call Eden Prime, Elysium was a gem like no other.

Here the young woman will find out more about the mother she never knew.

The songstress felt arms wrap around her from behind as her lover rested his head on her left shoulder. "Home sweet home."

"Yeah…" he silently replied and kissed her, "Home sweet home."

The End – For Now

NA: And there we have it! Thanks to all of those who stuck around for this, this wouldn't be possible without you guys. The reason for the sudden end was because of not getting the desired results, so I decided to end it here. So pretty much a cancelled TV show.

This will be replaced by a new Valkyrie that is currently in the works.

But once again thanks to those loyal fans of mine!

What a rush! \o/