Disclaimer: I do not own Castle or Mass Effect. Both of them remain the property of the respective creative talents and companies behind them. I'm just having a bit of fun with them both.
In the not too distant future humans take their first tentative steps into exploring our solar system. During this exploration an alien archive belonging to a race called the Protheans is discovered on Mars. The scientific and technological knowledge found there, particularly the technology to harness dark energy to manipulate the mass of matter known as the Mass Effect, propels humans beyond their own system and into, what they now know, is a galaxy populated with many different alien species.
Now the human Systems Alliance has numerous colonies across the sector of space they have claimed for their own. Humans have spread throughout the galaxy and in a short time have become one of the more significant races in the wider galactic community. There is even a human councillor on the Citadel Council. The council of four races that govern the large swathe of the galaxy known as Council Space, of which the Systems Alliance is a part. It is in this universe that our story takes place.
Williamstown, Corlinus 4 – Terminus Systems
Richard Castle looks up from his booth as the gloom of the bar is broken as the front door slides open and the harsh, bright, yet dust filled light outside pierces the darkness inside. Just as quickly the door slides shut and his eyes adjust again to the dim light inside the drinking establishment. He watches as the two men in dirty, grey utility coveralls walk over to the bar.
Just another pair of miners who've come off shift and are looking for some liquid relaxation he reasons. He picks up the glass tumbler from the table in front of him and takes a sip of his own order of liquid relaxation. He immediately grimaces at the harsh, burning and unrefined taste of the drink as he forces himself to swallow it and not just spit it back into the glass. Single malt scotch from Earth my ass, he thinks. The closest this synthetic swill has been to Earth is the reused bottle the bartender served it from.
To reinforce his displeasure he puts the glass back on the table with a little more force than necessary. He looks up again and lets his gaze wander over the room and not for the first time starts to wonder if his idea to come here isn't just a huge mistake. His gaze wanders over the other occupants of the bar. Almost all are off duty miners from the Palladium mine that is the sole reason for Williamstown's existence. Oh, for variety that are a couple of women and a young man, their skin tight clothing and heavily made up faces making it obvious that they are professionals here to offer other forms of 'relaxation' to the bar's clientele.
None of them offer him the inspiration he is looking for. None of them open up new worlds and characters for him to create and weave together into exciting and intriguing stories to excite his readers. None of them make him want to write.
For he, Richard Castle, famous mystery writer on Earth, across Alliance space and on quite a few Council worlds too, is blocked. Ever since he became bored with his long running character of the Alliance Central Intelligence operative, Derrick Storm, and killed him off he's been struggling to write anything new.
For months he'd just lazed around his quiet, empty loft in New York on Earth, not even bothering to change out of his sleep clothes. He'd drink more than he should alone, watch movies from the Extranet and stare at the blank holo-screen that waited for him to recite his latest literary efforts. All the while dodging vid calls from his publisher and ex-wife, Gina, as she pestered him for an update or just any information on what character and story he'd come up with the replace the cash cow that was Derrick Storm.
He didn't even have his family to distract or inspire him either. His mother, actress Martha Rodgers, is currently with a touring theatre company that is showcasing some old Mamet plays throughout Asari space. The apple of his eye, his daughter Alexis, is off goodness knows where as part of her duties with the Alliance.
Castle grimaces again as he recalls the day the Alliance Military reps came to him after Alexis did that aptitude test in grade school. Who knew that his pride at the brilliance of his daughter would bite him on the ass so spectacularly?
He never should have agreed to let her go to the academy but at the time he'd just divorced Gina and was in such a depressed state that he didn't want to subject his bright and vibrant daughter to his darkness. That plus he'd fallen for the patter the reps had given him on what a great opportunity it was for her. Since then he's not seen his beloved daughter for more than a couple of weeks at a time when she gets leave from whatever duty assignment she's on. Other than that they do, at least, also have weekly vid calls, when either of their schedules or locations allow. The only consolation he has is that, when he does see her, she looks happy and is clearly challenged in a good way by what she is doing. He just wishes that it wasn't so dangerous like all work with the Alliance seems to be.
His heart had been in his throat two years ago when he'd heard that the Alliance fleet had been involved with the battle with the Geth at the Citadel and the number of Alliance ships lost as a result. To say he'd been relieved when his frantic vid call had eventually found Alexis, afterwards, was an understatement. He'd been further relieved when he'd learned that the frigate she served on at the time was nowhere near the battle and so she'd been in no danger. It still doesn't alleviate the dread he feels, however, whenever he hears of some engagement involving Alliance ships or troops.
That aside, eventually, alone except for the constant bombarding for information from Gina, he'd come to realise that he wasn't going to find a new story slobbing around his home. Therefore he'd decided to take a trip in search of inspiration. His trip has led him here to the Terminus Systems, that area of the galaxy outside Alliance and Citadel space where humans and others were setting up fledging agricultural, trading and mining colonies. What better place, he'd thought, than here on the new frontier to find the new characters and stories that he so desperately needs.
So he'd set out from Earth, initially flying first class on highly reputable passenger shuttles and then on no class, much less reputable freighters until he eventually arrived here, on Corlinus 4. He shakes his head and risks another sip of his supposed scotch as he wonders whether Agent Grey is playing some kind of trick on him for suggesting he come here.
The enigmatic and mysterious ACI agent that he 'worked' with while researching for Derrick Storm had said to him that he would find a very interesting story on this mining colony. So far he's yet to see anything worth a single paragraph in a dry travel magazine let alone an entire mystery novel. Maybe he'd annoyed the agent one too many times during the time he shadowed him and this was some payback from the man. Maybe he should have tried contacting Sophia instead?
A disconcerted shudder goes down his spine at that thought. No, the way he'd left things with ACI Agent Sophia Turner would have probably meant she would have suggested he visit Tuchanka disguised as a Salarian, just so a Krogan would rip him in half.
He hated how things ended with Sophia. He'd been young at the time and living up to the playboy image that Paula and Gina had set him on. That combined with his still lingering depression at his separation from Alexis and he was a different man then. A man that was much more prepared to love and leave someone then than he is now. Now, he just wishes he could find someone that could inspire him but also be his friend, his partner and his love. Even now he realises that Sophia, while inspiration for Clara Strike, was never going to be that someone.
In the end, besides him realising she wasn't the soulmate of his dreams, she'd become a little too insistent that he make his temporary arrangement with the ACI a bit more permanent. That had been the last straw. He'd found his time with the ACI interesting, exciting, dangerous and inspiring but he didn't want to spend the rest of his life with them. So after a rather heated argument where items of furniture may or may not had been tossed around the room they had parted ways.
Castle takes another resigned sip of his drink and ponders what might have been and what could be. Will this dust bowl of a colony give him what he seeks or should he just give up and move on?
In a nondescript accommodation pod a couple of kilometres away a woman watches the holographic image of Richard Caste slumped over his drink that is being projected from the Omi-tool on her left forearm with just a bit of consternation. "What the hell is he doing here?" she asks herself.
The last she heard he was back on Earth being the rich, womanising, author that the tabloid vid shows liked to talk about from time to time. Not as often as his ego would like, the woman was sure. No, he's supposed to be partying with some C-grade starlet back home and not currently sitting in the one of only a dozen bars in the entire Corlinus system. He's not supposed to be here, in the place where her current mission is about to go down.
His presence complicates matters…..or does it? She's just supposed to be here to observe and report. She's not supposed to interfere and the presence of Richard Castle shouldn't interfere with that. It mustn't. He's no different from the three thousand other humans or the small number of aliens that are on this colony and she won't let whatever personal regard she has for the man interfere with her mission.
He'll just have to take his chances like everyone else. Then again, from what she remembers, the man has a remarkable ability to look after himself even given his privileged lifestyle. She just has to make sure to keep away from him or not let him get in her way.
Anyway, nothing might happen. Her superiors have sent her here because of a vague report that something might happen. That some, so far unknown, aliens have an interest in the mining colony on Corlinus 4. For all she knows the reports are a lie or mistaken or whatever these aliens want it is entirely benign.
Then again her bosses and in particular the main boss are rarely wrong and the tasks they give her are never boring or safe. So, as she switches from the image of the author to the feed from the colony's rudimentary space traffic control system that she hacked into, she wonders what, exactly they have sent her here to see.
Her dark eyebrows raise at the large return that the colony's old and barely functioning sensors are picking up. Looks like whatever she is here for has arrived.
The large vessel passes out of the shadow of Corlinus 4's second moon and moves silently towards the planet. As it moves closer the surprised controller at the small Williamstown spaceport tries raising the unknown vessel repeatedly but with no response. Her calls become more and more urgent as the craft continues to close with the planet and then orientates itself with the obvious intention to land.
The colony has no ships beyond a couple small shuttles, no satellites or ground based defences and the ominous silence from the large unknown ship has the controller very concerned at their intent. That and the fact that their trajectory has them set to land not at the spaceport but smack dab in the middle of town.
The strange, craft, cylindrical in shape, seemingly constructed from rock but with just a few metallic spires, rings and other technological additions to show it to be a space faring vessel, descends into the atmosphere of Corlinus 4. As it does so the controller places urgent calls to the colony's Mayor and Marshal, informing them of their unannounced visitors. She then does the only other thing she can do. She sends out a planetary distress call.
As the dangerous looking ship comes into view through widow of the control tower she is sitting in and just visible through the dust clouds over the colony, the controller hopes that there is someone out there that can hear her call.
A/N: For those familiar with the Mass Effect games this takes place during Mass Effect 2 but will not follow the events in the game as such. None of the Castle characters are taking the place of Shepard or any other Mass Effect character. This is another story happening in the same universe, parallel to the events in the game. Therefore it won't be a stretch for those who have played the game to know whose ship is descending on Williamstown. As far as Castle is concerned, as the story summary indicates, this is a totally AU reimagining of the Castle characters in the Mass Effect universe. It is why I've not marked this as a crossover. Let me know if people think it should be considered a crossover.
The reason I chose to set this here and not during the events of the first Mass Effect game are personal. Having a PlayStation 3 rather than an Xbox Mass Effect 2 was the first of the Mass Effect games released for that console and that I played. As a big fan of the franchise that I now am that game will always hold a special place in my heart for me.
This AU may not be to the taste of everyone but is something I've had in mind for a long time. I'm alternating between writing chapters for this and chapters for my other ongoing Castle story, Unknown Empire. As with that story I will try to update this one weekly.
I hope you all enjoy this.
