This is a plot bunny that cropped up when I was working on Gateways and Relays.
I think it goes without saying that this is AU.
I own neither Halo nor Mass Effect.
Many thanks to Dusel for being patient enough to be my beta and sounding board.
Somewhere deep within space there was a ship. This ship was unique because it was born from an attempt to foster goodwill between three peoples that had once been on the brink of war: The humans, the turians, and the members of the New Covenant.
Currently the only occupant on this ship was a dark-skinned human by the name of David Anderson - the captain of the vessel. He stepped into a curved room and pressed a button on a nearby console, bringing up the images of three other figures. One was a human in a dress uniform, the five stars on his shoulders signifying that he was a fleet admiral. The other was a human who wore a white business suit. The third was not human, but a towering reptilian alien wearing polished silver armor.
"Gentlemen," Anderson greeted the three figures before him who greeted him in return. "The crew roster of the CSV Normandy is nearly full, but there is one position left to fill - I need someone to be the executive officer," he continued. "We've kept the discovery of the Prothean beacon on Eden Prime quiet so far but if word gets out then we'll have every unsavory being in the galaxy bearing down on us. We'll also need someone who can stand up to the turian Spectre that will be accompanying us in case things take a turn for the worse." Anderson repressed a chuckle; here he was, captaining a ship built with the turians and with a turian on board. Looking at the Covenant representative he wondered if this mixture of fear and distrust was what his ancestors felt when they first worked alongside the Covenant, who had been their sworn enemies over two hundred years ago.
"Well, that narrows down our list of candidates," said the first man, Fleet Admiral Steven Hackett. "Spectres are the Citadel's elite forces, so we're going to need either a Spec-Ops or Zealot Elite…or a Spartan, neither of which are exactly in abundance."
"All Sangheili of sufficient rank and skill are currently serving elsewhere," said Gara 'Tarum, the Covenant representative. "Perhaps a Mgalekgolo team would be sufficient to take down a Spectre, but they cannot fit within the cramped corridors of the Normandy."
"Understood, Ambassador 'Tarum, thank you," Anderson said respectfully. The third human, Ambassador Donnel Udina was looking at something displayed on the data pad in his hand. It was a military profile for a female soldier: A Caucasian woman with deep green eyes and auburn hair that reached just past her ears.
"What about Shepard?" he suggested. "Her performance scores for all classes of weapons are exceptionally high and her combat record is excellent." Admiral Hackett had someone from beyond his projection hand him a data pad and looked up Shepard's profile himself.
"It says here that she was born on Mindoir; her parents were killed during the attack," he said as he read through the data. "A few years later she got her revenge by slaughtering every Batarian that she came across during the assault on Torfan, even those who surrendered. Are we sure we want someone like this on this mission?"
"Citadel Spectres are not bound by any law save their own moral code," Ambassador 'Tarum pointed out. "We would need someone similarly uninhibited to take the Spectre out should he turn on us."
"I agree," Udina said. "The turians may have helped us build this ship but I don't trust them, not yet."
"Very well then," Anderson said after a moment's consideration. "I'll make the call."
SPARTAN-IVs were a new breed of super-soldier that was ranked between the expendable SPARTAN-IIIs and the legendary SPARTAN-IIs of the Human-Covenant War in skill, power and expense. First implemented in 2592, the SPARTAN-IV program was created as a peacekeeping division in response to growing dissent amongst the UNSC's outer colonies, mirroring the emergence of the Insurrectionists just prior to the Human-Covenant War. Their secondary purpose was to act as elite forces in the event that the UNSC should encounter another hostile alien force. Brought in from the best soldiers that the UNSC armed forces had to offer, SPARTAN-IVs were physically and mentally augmented as far as their already-developed bodies could possible withstand. Over two hundred years of improving medical technology had reduced the mortality rate of the augmentation process to less than one percent; however, the stringent criteria to be eligible for SPARTAN training ensured that there were only a few hundred of these individuals. Jane Shepard-149 is one such Spartan.
Shepard was short for a Spartan, standing at only sixty-six inches tall. However, her small figure proved deceiving when she once beat several men nearly a foot taller than her in a sparring match. Currently she was beating on a punching bag with the local artificial gravity set at 150 percent when she heard someone clearing their throat. She stopped her assault to see a Navy Ensign standing before her, an earpiece in his hand.
"Ma'am, Captain Anderson wishes to speak to you," he said, offering the small device. Though he hid it well, Shepard could tell through his strained speech and sweaty brow that even this simple act was an exertion in the artificially heavy room.
"Thank you, Ensign," Shepard said as she took the earpiece from the poor man's hand. "Dismissed." The Ensign saluted and left the gym, breathing a sigh of relief as he felt the extra weight being lifted off of his shoulders. Chuckling, Shepard placed the communication device in her ear and activated it. "Shepard speaking."
"Commander Shepard, this is Captain Anderson," a deep male voice said on the other end of the line. "I have your next assignment: You are to report at Dock Nine at the Alaris Shipyard at oh-eight-hundred hours zulu tomorrow. The details of your assignment will be given to you there. Understood?"
"Aye sir: Dock Nine at the Alaris Shipyard at oh-eight-hundred zulu. I'll be there," Shepard said before deactivating the earpiece. Alaris? Shepard thought in confusion. That's on the edge of turian space. Shrugging, Shepard gave the bag one final kick before she left to bathe and pack. Guess I'll find out tomorrow.
The Alaris Shipyard is a small UNSC space station dedicated to repairing and resupplying both UNSC and Covenant ships traveled through the area. The station itself had twelve docking stations, with a few smaller repair stations orbiting it. The fact that it sat near the border between turian and UNSC space ensured that there was always a heavy military presence around the station during the First Contact War.
Shepard stepped off her transport and into the long line queued to enter the station itself. With majority of the people in line humans in either standard soldier uniforms or dress uniforms, along with a few Covenant aliens, Shepard was quite a sight with her wearing the iconic green armor of the Spartans with a duffel bag slung over her shoulder. When Shepard had finally reached the front desk the receptionist was momentarily in awe of her before composing herself.
"What is your name and business here?" she asked professionally.
"Commander Jane Shepard One-Four-Nine, reporting to Captain Anderson at Dock Nine," Shepard answered with equal calm and professionalism.
"Please place your hand on the palm scanner," the receptionist said, pointing to the piece of equipment in question. Setting her duffel bag down, Shepard removed her right glove and placed her hand on the scanner. The device glowed red as it read her handprint and beeped in confirmation. "You're cleared, Shepard. Godspeed." Shepard reattached her glove and grabbed her bag before entering the station and making her way towards Dock Nine. When she arrived Shepard saw Anderson standing around waiting for her. She set her bag down and snapped into a salute.
"Commander Shepard One-Four-Nine, reporting for duty, sir!" she said.
"At ease, Commander," Anderson replied crisply, returning the salute. "Come with me, and I'll fill you in on your assignment." Shepard grabbed her bag and followed Anderson into the Normandy airlock. The door slid closed behind her and the room was filled with the cleansing spray.
"Decontamination in progress," a synthetic female voice chimed as a laser began to sweep through the room, scanning the two occupants.
"Huh, didn't think the Citadel Council would allow an AI onto a ship that they helped build," Shepard quipped.
"It's not an AI," Anderson said with a sour face. "It's a Virtual Intelligence: Like a dumb AI, only dumber. All it does basically is tell people what's happening when. I don't care much for it, but we must make sacrifices for the sake of inter-species cooperation," Anderson said with a sigh, only to start coughing when he inhaled too much of the misty decontamination fluid.
"Decontamination sequence complete," the VI said. "Welcome aboard, Captain Anderson." The interior door opened with a hiss to allow Anderson and Shepard entry into the main deck of the ship where the Captain led his guest to the conference room before turning to the Spartan.
"Alright, here's the information you need," Anderson began. "One week ago, some workers on Eden Prime uncovered a Prothean relic, apparently intact. As I'm sure you know a working piece of Prothean technology is valuable both to us and to the Citadel. The Council's agreed to keep this quiet while we transport it, but in return they want one of their agents to supervise the collection and then escort it to a neutral location where both our sides can study it."
"You mean send someone to make sure we don't take it all for ourselves," Shepard inferred. "Who are they sending?"
"A turian Spectre named Nihlus Kryik," Anderson said, bringing up and image of the turian in question on one of the holo-projectors. "The Council's not exactly forthcoming with information on the guy, but from what we can gather he's one of their best." Anderson pressed a button and the image of Nihlus disappeared. "Officially, you're the executive officer of this ship. Unofficially, you're here to make sure that nothing bad happens to the Prothean relic during transport. Also, you're to keep an eye on Nihlus Kryik in case he tries to do anything."
"You really think that the Citadel would try to steal a Prothean relic from under our noses?" Shepard asked.
"I don't know," Anderson said, shaking his head. "I'm hoping that it's just the brass being paranoid, but no one can say for certain." Anderson pulled out a small PDA from his pocket and handed it to Shepard. "Here's a crew roster to acquaint yourself with. We depart in two hours." After exchanging salutes, Anderson left the room. Pulling up a chair Shepard began to read through the dossiers.
Five minutes before departure, the turian Spectre Nihlus Kryik finally appeared. His skin was almost as dark as his armor, and his face was covered with white markings painted in elaborate patterns. After going through the decontamination process he entered the Normandy where he saw humans bustling around in performance of their duties. He was approached by a human wearing bulky green armor.
"Welcome aboard the Normandy," she greeted with an extended hand. "Captain Anderson is currently in a meeting. I'm Commander Shepard, XO. You must be the Spectre we're expecting."
"I am," Nihlus said, taking the offered handshake. "Nihlus Kryik at your service. I hope that this ship and this mission will help to dispel the distrust between our two species."
"One can hope," Shepard said "Of course, that's only if we can get the relic from Eden Prime to the drop-off point without incident. We can only hope that nothing bad happens along the way."
"One can hope," Nihlus echoed her earlier statement. Bowing his head slightly, Nihlus headed towards the helm. He seems amicable enough, Shepard thought. Still, orders are orders. As she followed the turian she tried not to hope that nothing would go wrong. If she did, she figured that something inevitably would.
Her effort would be in vain.
CODEX ENTRY 3.65 – THE SYSTEMS ALLIANCE AND THE CITADEL COUNCIL
The United Nations Space Command formally allied with a group of aliens collectively known as the New Covenant in the year 2553 to form a new Systems Alliance. While a previous conflict had lead the two sides to be initially untrusting of each other, over two hundred years of alliance have washed away any overt hostilities between the two entities.
They first encountered the Citadel races when the turians discovered humans tampering with a Mass Relay. Such an act is considered illegal under Citadel law, but a particularly zealous turian commander ordered the fleet to open fire on the human vessels before negotiations could be made. Despite the turians outnumbering the human ships 3 to 1, the humans managed to deal significant damage to the fleet due to their surprisingly powerful kinetic weapons. In a surprising display, the humans eventually fled the battlefield using a method that did not use the Mass Relay or any other apparent use of Element Zero.
After repairing the damaged ships, the Turian Hierarchy approved a fleet to investigate the Mass Relay that the humans were tampering with. This eventually led to the discovery of the human colony Shanxi.
After the attack on Shanxi led to heavy casualties on both sides, the Council stepped in to cease further hostilities. An offer of induction into the Citadel was extended to both members of the Systems Alliance. In a move that shocked all citizens of the Citadel races, both parties rejected the offers, citing that the conditions of the alliance were too restrictive. The two alliances are currently undergoing negotiations to create a satisfying treaty.
Although not members of the Citadel, both the UNSC and the New Covenant have an embassy in the Presidium. As of this writing, approximately 3,000 humans and 2900 Covenant members are currently occupying the Citadel, mostly within the Wards. Popular opinion among the Citadel races concerning their presence range from mildly fascinated to indifferent.
See also: Battle of Shanxi; UNSC; New Covenant
I just want to nip this issue in the bud right now. For those of you who are about to write a review complaining that Halo ships should be able to rip Mass Effect ships a new one, I would like to point out that in this fic, the Citadel has had nearly six hundred years to improve their tech.
Don't forget to review.