Hello, and thank you for deciding to read my story. I just finished the Mass Effect Trilogy and got inspired to write an AU fanfiction for it! That said, it's been about two years since I've written anything so I apologize in advance for being a little rusty. Please enjoy and tell me what you think! :)
Disclaimer: I don't own Mass Effect or its characters.
"I see skies of blue and clouds of white,
The bright blessed day, the dark sacred night,
And I think to myself what a wonderful world."
"Very nice."
"Thanks. I thought it oddly appropriate."
"Jeff," a computerized voice broke between Shepard and Joker's little back-and-forth quip. "We are approaching Pluto, which is a dwarf planetoid with little-to-no atmosphere to speak of."
Joker sighed. "Thanks for killing the joke, EDI."
"I see. That was irony. I will adjust my sensors to better pick up when sarcasm and irony are being applied." The blue sphere blipped out of view and a comfortable silence fell over the Normandy's cockpit once more.
Shepard crossed her arms and leaned back against a corner of the room, staring outside the shutters and watching the stars twinkle in and out of view as they traveled closer to the edge of their solar system. Space travel, real artificial intelligence, aliens; even after a few weeks on the Normandy, it's hard to grasp that this is really happening.
Shepard was the Commander of the Normandy, a joint project between the Alliance Military, a group of thirty or so countries pooling their resources into one group; Illusive Industries, the group responsible for building the Normandy and constructing the first real artificial intelligence "EDI" in France; and the Lawson Corporation, the group that first discovered the alien archives on Mars and brought technology literally light years ahead of its time.
It was under her command that the crew of the Normandy was to find and activate this "Mass Relay" that supposedly sat at the edge of the Sol System.
"Commander? Thirty minutes until we reach the target. Bringing up a visual." Joker punched in a few keys and a screen appeared.
Shepard could feel her heart rate pick up as she gazed at their new means of transportation into uncharted systems. Trying (and failing) to calm herself, she took in the large object before her with forest green eyes. "It kind of looks like a magnifying glass."
"Sure, if you squint your eyes and tilt your head a little," Joker added.
Shepard couldn't fight the smile forming on her face. It was because of Jeff's constant joking that the trip from Mars to Pluto wasn't as tense as it could have been. Being the first people to jump across space and time seemed to weigh heavily on the crew, so the jests were very much welcome.
Speaking of the crew… "Time for a last minute check in before we do this." Shepard reached over Joker and pushed the intercom button, "Engineer Adams, how's our status?"
Adam's voice came back from the other side, "My board is all green, Commander. The Normandy is ready to jump on your command."
"Keep up the good work, Adams." Shepard switched to another group. "Doctor Taylor? How are you holding up?"
"I can't believe we're actually doing this!" Mrs. Taylor almost squee'd with barely contained excitement. Not exactly an answer, but this is probably the best we'll get out of her for a while. Brynn was by far the most ecstatic and vocal about their voyage, so much so that Shepard almost felt sorry for Jacob. Almost.
"We're good, Commander," Jacob's voice was barely audible above his wife's in the background.
Shepard resisted the urge to tease. "Just make sure she's okay after the jump. We're going to need both of you in good health."
"You leave that to me, Commander. You have a ship to run," Doctor Chakwas cut in from the med-bay. Even though Brynn was a month pregnant, she insisted on being part of the first crew to travel through the Mass Relay. Of course this was met with disagreement on every side due to her status, but Shepard had to admit that Mrs. Taylor was nothing if not tenacious, threatening to stow away in the hull if not given a proper position. Finally, she was given a spot as chief scientist as everyone begrudgingly agreed that having someone of her expertise would help the mission. Jacob wasn't happy with the results, but he admitted to Shepard in private that he would rather be with his family than risk making his unborn child father-less.
"Carry on." Shepard comm'd the armory, "Alenko? Williams? What's the status down there?"
"Bored as usual, ma'am," Ashley replied. Being the weapons specialist of the group, there was little for her to do other than check up on equipment every now and then. Shepard understood her restlessness, but they were about to warp into unknown space and had to be prepared for anything.
"What Williams means is that everything is primed and accounted for, Commander," Kaiden quickly cut in.
Shepard smirked at her Lieutenant's attempt to smooth things over before anything even started. "Thanks for the translation, Kaiden."
"Anytime, ma'am."
Ashley groaned somewhere in the background.
"Shepard," a voice came from right behind the commander. "I figured you were going to ask me to get things started, so I came here in person instead."
"Right as always, Miranda," the redhead addressed the newcomer. Being the first daughter of Henry Lawson, Miranda volunteered to personally oversee the mission on behalf of the Lawson Corporation. "Have you gotten hold of Jack back on Mars?"
A frown threatened to cross Miranda's features. "No. She keeps ending the calls before answering. I swear she's doing it just to get on my nerves. I was hoping you could hail her from the bridge instead."
Joker whined from the pilot's seat. "Do we have to?"
"Joker…"
"Fine. Opening a channel to Mars."
A few button presses later and a screen showing a tattooed woman sitting in an office opened up. The woman smirked when she saw who was on the other side, "Hey, Shep! Was beginning to worry you had forgotten all about me."
Shepard grinned. "You, Jack? Never."
"Good. If I had to deal with the cheerleader any longer I was going to cut off my ears and be done with it."
Said "cheerleader" coughed in annoyance, signaling her presence in the room.
"Oh, hey princess." Jack's smirk just grew as Miranda scowled.
"If you weren't needed for this project…" Miranda's threat trailed off. Jack was originally in jail for hacking into some of the world's top-secret organizations for "fun". She agreed to be put on probation in exchange for helping jump start the Mass Relay. So there she was, one of the best computer hackers of this generation, sitting pretty in a large office in Lawson Corporation's Mars branch facility.
"What? You'd throw your pom-poms at me?"
"That's enough you two." Shepard easily slipped into her Commander-mode. "Jack, we called to report we're about fifteen minutes out from the Mass Relay. Please inform Mr. Lawson that we're ready for you and his team to start it up."
"That's it? No catching up? No dirt on team Normandy to report in?"
"'Dirt on team Normandy'?" Shepard echoed with a confused frown.
"Please. You spend seven weeks floating in space and you're telling me nothing has happened? I figured you and Sam would be banging like dogs in heat up in your fancy captain's cabin."
"No." Shepard deadpanned.
"Really? 'Cuz the way Sam's gawking at my breasts through the vid-com tells me otherwise."
Samantha Traynor's voice buzzed through the intercom, "That's because you refuse to wear anything other than a belt over your chest! And in case you've forgotten, it's my job to monitor the airwaves."
"Uh-huh. Whatever helps you masturbate at night, Sam."
"Jack. Please." Shepard attempted to bring the conversation back to its original purpose.
Jack rolled her eyes. "Fine, fine. I'll send the message through. Jack out." She gave a mock salute before the screen faded.
"She's always so pleasant to talk with," Joker quipped as he continued to fly the Normandy.
The blue sphere, a visual representation of EDI, appeared next to Joker. "Commander, we are approaching the launch point stated in the Prothean's guide on Mass Relays. All that is left is to wait on Jack to start it up. If you wish to address the crew, now would be an opportune time."
Shepard nodded. "Open the intercom to every room."
"At once, Commander."
Shepard stood at attention, her hands clasped behind her, her back facing Joke and Miranda as she addressed her crew on the bridge. "This is how history is made," she started. "Men and women of all different backgrounds coming together and challenging the unknown. The Normandy is the first ship the pass through the relay and as such, we don't know what we will encounter on the other side. I know some of you may be anxious, even scared of what may happen, but remember this, we're in this together. Together we take humanity's next step forward into the future. Together history will be made." In the corner of her eye, she noticed the mass relay flash a bright blue, then dim down until only a sphere energy churned in the eye of the relay. "Everyone buckle up as we approach the jump."
She watched as the crew found the nearest seat they could find. Steeling herself, she strode towards the cockpit and took a seat there, Joker and Miranda already buckled in.
"Commander, Jack has just informed me that the Mass Relay is up and fully functional. All of the crew is fastened for the launch. We are ready to jump at any moment," EDI informed.
"Just give the word and watch the best pilot do his thing," Joker added.
This is it. Shepard gripped the buckles crossing over her torso. She could feel her heart wanting to burst through her ribcage; the sheer excitement in the air of the ship was enough to send her reeling. What were they going to find? A new solar system? Maybe even end up in a new galaxy. We're really doing this.
She took a deep breath and slowly let it out before turning to Joker. "Let's do this."
"Aye aye, Commander."
And just like that, the excitement was gone, replaced by the weight of the world. It was suffocating; the future of billions of people rode on the success of this mission, on the crew of a little more than twenty people. What would happen if they failed? What if only death was on the other side of this jump? Shepard knew these thoughts and more crossed the mind of her crew, and she couldn't blame them. It took Thomas Edison over ten thousand tries to finally create the light bulb; what if they were to become just a statistic in history of humanity?
The Commander lightly shook her head, he red hair brushing across her face as she tried to rid the negative thoughts from her mind. Just focus on what to do once we get to the other side. She could hear the Normandy's engine core revving up as they approached the large structure. She glared ahead, green eyes hardening along with her grip.
Come on, universe. Hit me with your best shot.
There was a split second of lightlessness, followed by her ears popping and the air painfully being sucked out of her. In the next moment, everything was back to normal. She looked around, almost in a daze, and noticed the rest of her crew doing the same. Did… did we do it?
"Commander." Everyone on the bridge jumped in their seats as EDI's voice cut through the thick silence. "All systems are normal with no damage to report. We have successfully traveled through the Mass Relay."
A few beats passed before the bridge was drowned in cheers of celebration. Everything from 'We did it!' to 'We're still alive!' bounced around the metal room; there was laughter, hugging and tears of joy. Shepard herself felt a wave of tension flow out of her, suddenly feeling exhausted but a small smile still forming on her face.
One voice, however, didn't sound as happy as the others as it addressed the Commander. Miranda was still buckled in. "Shepard, I can't get hold of Jack or my father, and this time it's not because they aren't answering."
"Out of range?" Shepard mused out loud. "EDI, get Traynor on it. See if you two and Miranda can boost the signal and reach Earth or Mars."
"Yes, Commander."
"Uh, Commander?" Joker called out. "You're going to want to see this."
Shepard paused at those words, weighing the implication. "We just traveled who-knows-how-far from our solar system, Joker. There's probably a lot of things I'm going to want to see." She unbuckled from her seat and walked the few steps to Joker's (leather) chair.
"From what I'm seeing, I'm not so sure." Joke pulled up a screen showing a sphere of blue and green. "That's the nearest planet to here."
Shepard frowned at the familiar sight of blue and green. "Earth?" Please don't let this turn out to be humanity's greatest and most expensive fuck-up. How would she explain to the world that the Mass Relay was simply a glorified return-to-sender? While it proved that it did essentially work, this would make the Mass Relay virtually useless.
"Negative, Commander," Joker piped up. "I just checked and I can tell you without a doubt that we are nowhere near our solar system. EDI tells me it has oceans and land, breathable air and is in a habitual sweet spot around this system's star."
"Wait. So that means…"
"That means we can tell Miranda's father we hit the jackpot five minutes into the mission and can go home now." Joker quickly backpedaled, "Once we find a way home, that is…"
"I… that…" The commander was utterly speechless. This had to be too good to be true! Did the Protheans plan it this way? Did they know that humanity would expand, looking for a new place to settle, and pre-programmed an exit point to a new, habitual world to explore? "… This…"
"You're fumbling, Commander." Miranda looked amused.
"Can you blame me?" Shepard shot back, gesturing to the screen in front of her. "We just found the perfect planet right out of the gate! Once we get through to Jack, we're going to have to prepare a ground team and explore. Tell Cortez, Williams and Vega to get ready." Shepard had to admit that she probably sounded almost like Mrs. Taylor at this point, but she couldn't help herself. Their mission was quickly turning into a success!
"Um, Commander. Before that, there's something wrong that needs addressing," Traynor reported over the intercom from her station.
"Samantha? What is it? Still can't get in contact with Jack?"
"Well, yes that too, but… um… we're… we're being… hailed…"
"Hailed?"
"Yes, by another sh-ship. Patch…" a hard swallow, "patching it through." Samantha sounded shaken up, and soon her voice was replaced by… sounds so foreign Shepard couldn't even begin to make sense of it. What are those? Certainly not words, right?
Shepard's mind began to race. Another ship? But theirs was the only one sent through; and these sounds, way too exotic to be coming from a human. Her thoughts had immediately reached a conclusion, but it was too bizarre, too surreal to be real. The planet, the ship, the sounds all of it was far too… alien. The voice's pitch changed to a strong, commanding voice, almost impatient. Right, a hail, she was supposed to answer back. But how could she answer back? She couldn't understand what they were saying; hell, now that she thought about it, she was barely able to stand. The world was spinning—aliens?
She could hear her blood rushing past her ears, her breath heavy and her clammy grip on Joker's chair told her she had broken out into a cold sweat. Aliens? She had to be the commander of her group, had to lead them in any situation. One quick glance to her side showed the others in the cockpit were just as paralyzed as she was. She had to respond.
She swallowed, trying to whet her throat and speak past the large knot that settled there. "Ah…" Not a word was uttered. Barely a sound passed through her, silenced and standing stock-still.
The rest was a blur. EDI was urgently informing her and Joker of something before she suddenly blipped out mid-sentence. Joker snapped out of it and sounded an alarm, typing away desperately while yelling at the Commander. The ship shook and the bridge door opened. Shepard turned around; seconds stretched into hours. Guns, yelling, alarms, shooting. It all happened so fast; no one had enough time to react.
Shepard was knocked across the back of the head, her last thought before slipping into the darkness: blue…