Author's note: In an attempt to give you all some type of Mass effect/Halo cross over, I have taken upon myself to give you this story. This is an MT (merged timeline) following the Mass effect story with Halo elements. This story is also rated 'Mature' for violence and suggestive themes in later chapters. Like chapter three, to just name one.

Disclaimer: Mass effect and the Halo franchise are property of Bioware and Bungie respectively.

Chapter 1

Pirates in the Verge

"Commander, there is a new message at your private terminal."

Commander Shepard turned to her yeoman with a tired looked. Kelly just smiled at her superior and went back to her own work, typing away at her own terminal.

When they had first been introduced, in a conversation she had had with the other, the Commander had jokingly said that she would shoot her Yeoman out one of the airlocks if she did not notify her of any new messages regularly. Now, Shepard wondered whether the woman just liked getting on her nerves.

The Commander reflected for a moment on how many people she had known in her life who held such persistence. Back on the original Normandy, back when she had her original crew, the Commander could name a few crewmembers that held the same type of charisma as her Yeoman. One being Joker the pilot of the original Normandy, who still held his position in the new ship. His persistence had motivated the crew to strive forward, and it almost had him killed.

A soft ping of sadness swept across the Commander's mind, making her think back to that fateful day where everything she had known ended. A day where she had lost everything: Her ship, crew, and her life. It took two long years to put her back together, and when she had finally awoke after being stuck in a coma-like state, she knew she was not herself. Her body had long since died within the vacuum of space; Her new skin was riddled with cybernetics that somehow felt like they were contaminating the organs inside her. But beyond the cybernetic implants, Shepard knew that at least her mind was her own, that she was sure of.

Now Commander Shepard had a new mission: finding and defeating the alien Collectors from abducting Human colonies along with stopping the synthetic life known as the Reapers from wiping out all sentient life in the galaxy. But to achieve this new task and ultimately destroy the Reapers, she needed to build a squad that was ready for the task. That was her current objective in which she had already obtained three important individuals to her cause, the first being a Salarian geneticist, a psychotic biotic convict, and a Turian vigilante and dear friend. The Commander knew it would take some time collecting all of the individuals on her list, but the fate of the whole galaxy rested on her shoulders, and she would fail.

Walking up to her terminal next to the holographic galaxy map, Shepard flicked her hand over the console. The holographic controls buzzed, and in moments a screen was shown displaying a message inbox. Skimming over the abundant emails, Shepard noted the one message marked 'Urgent'.

'Shepard,

We have had trouble with a band of unidentified pirates in the Verge for the past few months. Intelligence suggests that this group may be apart of a mercenary company. They have recently destroyed one of our research stations, and have taken some valuable data caches. I know you have the collectors to deal with, but this data is especially sensitive. If it were to fall into the wrong hands, even worst to the Collectors, I'm sure I don't have to tell you the severity of the situation. I have already sent you the coordinates of the pirates' last known position. Get the job done.

-The Illusive Man'

The Commander immediately closed the message, a scowl etched into her face. She was now thoroughly frustrated, thinking of what course of action to take. On one hand, she did not want to be an errand-girl for Cerberus. But on the other hand, if the information was this important and it did get in the Collectors hands, she was sure it would definably endanger the mission. Walking up to the pedestal in front of the galaxy map, Shepard entered the coordinates that were given to her.

"Joker, Get ready for some combat," she grinned, "I think its time we put the Normandy through her paces."

The pilots voice range over the ships speakers, "You got it!"

A large holographic sphere popped up on a nearby terminal.

"EDI, tell miss Lawson and Taylor to get prepped and ready for some boarding action."

"Yes Commander." The A.I. acknowledged and blinked out.

The Commander hoped that this information was worth the trouble.

The marines casually sat around the hangar, some smoking cigarettes and chatting with their peers. The Room was filled with laughter and the usual military banter.

"You see the look on that Cerberus op.'s face when I got the jump on him?" One marine remarked.

"Yeah. Bastard didn't know what hit him." Another applauded.

"We even got some valuable data. Though, no thanks to Chips over there!" One teased.

The marine named Chips laughed, his Australian accent evident in his voice.

"Like you have anything to say, I did most of the work." He said.

All the marines laughed, but were interrupted when the speakers in the hangar screamed,

"Red alert! All crew report to stations! Fire teams, get prepped for possible boarding action!"

The marines looked to each other in confusion before the ship shook viscously. Scrambling to their feet, they quickly rushed to their stations.

The Normandy-SR2 raced past the enemy ships' fire, easily evading the aimed Energy projectiles. The Pirates' ship fire continuously at their speeding target, smoldering energy projectiles ripping through space with blinding speed, only to miss the enemy frigate. The Normandy planted three hits with its artillery, before moving out of harms way as more futile shots passed by.

Joker grinned as another round hit the enemy's kinetic barriers. A whistle passing through his lips every so often, when artillery fire zoomed past the ship.

"Enemy artillery fire will break within 25 seconds, a counter attack is advisable within this time frame." The artificial intelligence stated.

Joker rolled his eyes, "I know EDI, Jeez. I thought my mother was a back seat driver."

Shepard shook her head, looking at the raging battle from behind the pilot's chair. In truth, he had not expected the coordinates to be spot on. When the Normandy had entered the Yakawa system, the Normandy's main sensors had picked up the Pirate's radiation trail, and in minutes found where they were hiding.

"Keep her steady Joker." Shepard warned as multiple energy shots zoomed pass them.

Joker grinned and whirled the Normandy over the Pirate ship, landing three more hits on the Pirates barriers.

"Relax Commander, I got this," Joker coaxed, "Nothing can hit my baby!"

Suddenly the Normandy jolted and shook violently, artillery fire hitting the ships port side. Joker took initiative, quickly flying the Ship upward out of harms way. Turning his head to look over his shoulder, Joker noted the menacing glare of the Commander and the rest of the crew in the CIC.

"Uh, yeah. I'll just get back to work." Joker shrunk behind his chair.

Shepard hurriedly walked out down the bridge to the elevator,

"As soon as their barriers drop, move us in for boarding."

"Our shields are down to twenty percent," the pilot warned, franticly typing over the terminal in front of him.

Behind the pilot stood a rugged old man, face stern and absolute with his ice blue eyes and gray hair. From where his elbow ended there was nothing but a stub, a grim reminder of battle.

Captain Wallace scowled, where had this ship come from? The destruction of the Cerberus base and the capture of Cerberus data had gone as according to plan. The ship had come under attack only an hour before, and their shields were on the brink of collapse.

The Captain's blue eyes scanned the enemy ship; it's form darting swiftly in and out of their artillery fire. Even though many of the weapons on the ship had been dismantled for this mission, the Commonwealth still had enough firepower to take out a cruiser load of fighters. But ever with that firepower, hitting the ship was like trying to shoot a fly down with a pin.

"Where did Cerberus get a ship like that?" He wondered aloud.

The Commonwealth shuttered making the captain stumble forward.

"Shields have reached zero!" The pilot announced.

The Captain quickly composed himself and looked to the enemy frigate as it raced toward the ship. He knew what the enemy was planning, he gritted his teeth in anger.

"Pilot, use the slip-space drive and haul out!" The Captain barked.

There was no way they were going to get this data.

A single shot from the pirate ship made Normandy relent its advance, jerking upward as the molten projectile skimmed the vessel's belly. The sudden stop made the ship shutter. Joker watched as the pirates turned to make a retreat. The pilot was not going to allow the pirates to escape. He took the controls, making the ship push forward at full speed. As the Normandy accelerated, Joker noticed a dark sphere form at the bow of the pirates' ship. His eyes widened in astonishment as the sphere grew larger, forming a dark blue circle.

"EDI, what is that?" Joker gawked.

"I am unsure, Mr. Moreau. It appears to be some type of space anomaly." The A.I. relayed.

Joker was not sure if this 'anomaly' was good or bad, but apparently, the pirates were going to go through the thing. As the pirates' vessel disappeared into the dark blue void, Joker made his decision. Placing his hands over the controls, He made the Normandy accelerate toward the sphere.

"Mr. Moreau, I recommend we take a different course of action," EDI warned, " we cannot be sure if the this anomaly is safe."

Joker just continued to push the Normandy into full gear; the steady beat of his heart rung in his ear.

"Mr. Moreau—"

"Look EDI, we can't let that ship get away!" Joker interjected.

The hologram stared at the pilot in silence, "Understood." The A.I. confirmed and blipped off.

As the Pirate ship fully disappeared in the rift, so too did the Normandy.

Author's note:

I hope you all enjoyed this story, and continue to read as more chapters are posted. This starving writer would just like to ask if you would please leave a review. Your reviews to me are like bananas to a monkey… yeah I don't know where I'm going with this.

The unappetizing pastry,

Bleachedcookie