Disclaimer: I do not own Mass Effect or Halo, or any technology from other franchises, only this story and anything OC. If I did own Bioware, I would have change the ending into the classic "they won the war and then years later epilogue that shows what everyone is doing after the war".
A/N: I will start by saying that the ME universe in my story is AU in a lot of ways. I would like to say that if you read my introduction, I decided to ignore it, and decreased some of the upgrades powers. I will explain the difference in A/N at different chapters depending if in said chapter the upgrade is included. I also decided to post this as a new story, to see if the people who already left reviews might like this first chapter, and listen if I should change anything.
Title- Two Galaxies, One Fate (title might change)
Setting- ME3 after the fall of the Asari Homeworld and a few days before the start of Halo: Reach, Relay Mission.
Summary- Following the fall of the Asari Homeworld, the Normandy Crew stumbles upon a hidden Prothean Base where its technology gives the Normandy a huge advantage over the Reaper forces. However, upon testing the new engine while crossing the system's relay, the Normandy instead gets catapulted way beyond their galaxy and into a new one. In this one, humanity is fighting a losing war against a group of religious aliens. Now, Shepard and the Normandy must help the humans in this galaxy, but also return back to their own galaxy in time to win the war against the Reapers.
Shepard- Female, Paragon, War Hero, Earthborn, Vanguard with Reave. And for plot twist in this story, she looks like Miranda Keyes.
Chapter 1: To a New War
Location- SR2 Normandy, six hours after the fall of Thessia
After everything that had gone right during this war, curing the genophage from the krogan and securing their help and securing the peace between the quarian people and the geth, who are now full A.I. beings, just as when we finally had the final piece of the puzzle when we found the Prothean V.I. in the Asari Homeworld, who was going to revealed the knowledge of the Catalyst, the final piece of the Crucible, that accursed lap dog of the Illusive Man, Kai Leng, come in an steals the V.I. but to make matters worse, the Asari Homeworld also fell. Right now the mood on the ship is bleak; Liara is glued to her terminal, looking for anything to get her mind of seeing her home planet being destroyed. As for me, even the words of my husband, Joker, are not enough to turn me around. Right now I am in my room thinking of what to do.
Just then, the door to my cabin opens and comes running Liara, who appears to be shocked.
"Shepard!" Liara said.
"What is it? Is something wrong?" Shepard asked.
"Wrong? Of course not. If anything, I may just found the break we need." She answered.
"What did you find?"
"While searching thought the Prothean Mars' database, I came across a weird message, which I have been trying to decode from the beginning. I just finished decoding it, and it turns out it the coordinates for what appears to be a hidden Prothean base, located in one of the moons of Dumah in the Vallhallan Threshold, in the Micah System." Liara said with excitement.
Shepard stared at her with wide eyes. 'Finally some good news.' She went up to her comms terminal.
"Joker."
"Yes?" Joker answered.
"Set a course for the Micah System in the Vallhallan Threshold on the double." She ordered.
"Yes Ma'am". Joker replied.
"Well Liara, we may just find something that can turn this war around." Shepard said to her.
"Let's hope Shepard. Let's just hope so." Liara said.
Location- Micah System in the Vallhallan Threshold, landing in one of Dumah's moons, entering hidden Prothean Base, four hours later
"Alright then, we will split in two teams and cover more ground. Garrus, you will take Tali and EDI and explore one side of the base, while Javik, Liara and me will explore another one side of it. If you find something, radio in. We will meet back in the Normandy in three hours. Move out." Shepard ordered.
"Yes Ma'am." The group answered and started moving their respective ways.
The base looked brand new, still in operational status from the looks of it and matches the buildings in Illos. But what appeared most distinct about it was that fact that it looked like a shipyard for a single ship, where the Normandy was currently docked. After a while of exploring the facility, which according to Javik it looks like a military facility, they come across what appears to be command center. Upon entering, in the middle of the room, a pedestal begins lighting up, showing a Prothean V.I., which then introduces himself in translated language for the visitors.
"Greetings, welcome to Krusto Shipyard. My name is Valor, A.I. overseer of this facility." The A.I. said.
"You're an A.I.? But we thought your people only used V.I.s, especially since your people were being killed by A.I.s" Shepard said.
"That is true; however I was created years before the cycle started as an experiment to test A.I. reliability. I was design with the purpose of overseeing this base and its experiments. By the time the Reapers came, I had already developed my own personality and was accepted by the people in the base. You Prothean, who are you?" The A.I. asked.
"My name is Javik, Avatar of Vengeance, the last of my unit. I am curious, how was this shipyard able to survive the cycle while everything fell to the Reapers." Javik said.
"Scanning subject…. Scan complete, welcome Avatar of Vengeance. Yes, this shipyard was able to survive the Reaper Invasion by going off the grid. However, all personal in the shipyard went to war, leaving me in charge of the facility. Since you are here, then it means that our species did not survive the cycle and we are right now in a new one."
"Yes, we are right now fighting them throughout the galaxy." Shepard said.
"Do you by any chance have any information on the Crucible, especially what exactly the Catalyst is?" Liara asked.
"Unfortunately no, while I am aware of the Crucible, this base did not receive all the data from the project, I do not know what the Catalyst is." The A.I. said.
"Damn, that's a shame. Well, either way, we came here hoping that this facility has any technology to help us." Shepard said.
"Indeed, you are correct. This shipyard also served as research facility that experimented in various technologies that did not rely on Mass Effect technology. Currently we have enough prototype components to upgrade a single ship, making it more powerful than a reaper itself. If you wish, I could upgrade your ship." The A.I. said.
Shepard's group, including her, was surprised by the fact in this facility they could get the sufficient technology to upgrade the Normandy to go head to head with a reaper. This could definitely help.
"How long will it take to upgrade the Normandy?" Shepard asked.
"Current estimate it would take 6 months to install all upgrades on your ship." The A.I. answered.
"SIX MONTHS! We don't six months, in one or two months the galaxy will fall to the reapers." Shepard yelled, her group agreeing with her.
"Calm down, human. Normally that would be a problem. However, in this facility we were able to create a prototype time dilation field device."
"A what?" Shepard asked.
"A time dilation field device is a device that manipulates the passage of time inside a designated area, making it go slower or faster inside the area. The device in this facility however is a defective one; it only has a onetime use and will work a maximum amount of six hours in real time, while inside it will be six months. The device cannot be replicated because the original plans were never put in data; the scientist in charge of this kept it all in his head. So in other words, in six hours real time, your ship can receive the upgrades it requires, also allow your people to check any other research in the facility for you to use in the war." The A.I. responded. (A/N- The time dilation device is from Stargate SG-1)
Shepard was shocked at what was being offered. After thinking about it for a moment, she turns to Valor.
"We accept what you're offering." Shepard said.
"Very well, this galaxy may have a chance of surviving this cycle. Activating field now." And with that the device activated and a blue dome started to expand around the base, completely covering it. Just then several calls were coming in.
"Commander, what was that?" Joker asked.
"Shepard, what just happened?" Garrus asked.
"Hum, weird energy dome appeared from inside base and expanded around it, this could be affecting our bodies in some sort of way, must examine this." Mordin said.
Shepard addressed everyone on the comm. "Everyone calm down. That was just the overseer in the base activating a device that will allow us to work with what lies in this base. I'll explain everything back on the Normandy, and everyone get ready, we have six months to prepare." Shepard said.
Time skip- six hours (real time) = six months (dilation time) later
One moment, the blue dome is still standing, the next, it completely disappears. Inside the bridge of the Normandy, standing behind her husband, Commander Shepard gives her order.
"Alright Joker, take us out of here, it's time to get back in this fight." Shepard ordered.
"Yes, ma'am. Launching now." Joker said. And with that the Normandy took off the shipyard and headed toward the stars.
Shepard keep watching as the Normandy speed toward the Mass Relay, thinking on how six months were now only six hours and that in those six months a lot changed.
The Normandy was the first of many changes. Among the upgrades it received was that now it had four Thanix Cannons, who were now more powerful than a reaper's (Tali had to knock out her husband just to stop him from doing his bloody calibrations). The Javelin Torpedoes were now more powerful than before. But what really took the cake was that now the Normandy could not only be invisible to radar but to the naked eye as well, this function can only last for about 30 minutes, after that it would require an hour for the system to lose the accumulated heat. The kinetic barriers were also upgrade, alongside the ship's armor with a new artificially created metal that had the ability to repair itself from small attacks during a battle (the metal can repair itself from large attacks, but that takes time). The power supply of the Normandy was replaced with a small contained miniature black hole that provided infinite power to everything on the ship. The FTL engine also got a huge upgrade; the engine now is able to make the Normandy travel 2,500 light-years per twenty-four hours, the engine also now did not need fuel anymore, as it got its power from the black hole also. (A/N- The black hole power supply comes from the anime Nadia: Secret of the Blue Water)
Meanwhile, the base also provided new technology in a lot of things. The first thing that was immediately upgraded were weapons, shields and armors (made out of the same metal as the Normandy, but lower resistance and could not repair large damages on its own). Also in the base was new medical technology that thought the combined efforts of Mordin and Doctor Chakwas, they were able to cure Joker's Vrolik syndrome, and after months of recovery and physical therapy, he can now move as any normal person without any problems. But really shocked everyone was that Tali's immune system was made strong, strong to the point that she no longer needed her suit.
Unfortunately, not everything went well inside the base. Valor, the A.I. who was helping them, started to break down due to being active for thousands of years, declaring that his time was near. While everyone was sad that he was going to cease to exist, he surprised them with one final gift. While his persona would cease to exist, his data could be transferred to another A.I., giving said A.I. a huge upgrade. Valor offered EDI this chance, who accepted. With her new upgrade, EDI is now a powerhouse in cyber warfare and is able to process data faster than before. She also receive a new body similar to her old one, the difference with this one being made of the new type of metal, thus making her stronger and more resistant, and she also received a hologram device that changes her entire body, she decided to take on the human form of Eva Core (except unlike the robot form, this one looks like the original Eva).
Shepard was thinking of this when Joker called her up. "Yes, Joker?" She asked.
"We are approaching the relay. Let's hope we can get to our allies in time to show them our new toys." He said.
The Normandy approached the relay, but just after the ship was launched, the unknown happened. Instead of dropping off the corridor in the seconds it takes, the ship keep going for more than an hour, during which the ship started to shake from the pressure. The ship finally dropped off the corridor, ending in unknown space.
"What the hell happened? Why did we spend an hour in the corridor when it only takes seconds to get to one place using the relay?" Shepard asked.
"Commander it appears that due to the upgrades we made to the engine and the presence of the black hole in the ship, it might have caused the relay to catapult us farther than it should have, resulting in landing us in an unknown place where there is no mass relay. I am currently scanning the area to check were we are." EDI answered her.
"It's a miracle the ship managed to hold on. If it wasn't for the new metal we acquired, the Normandy would have not survived no more than 10 minutes in the corridor." Joker told his wife.
"Commander I have finished calculating the amount of distance we covered." EDI said.
"What was the distance?" Shepard asked.
"We have travelled a general distance of 900 million light years and from what I have gathered we are in a different galaxy." EDI answered.
Shepard and Joker could only stare at EDI, following her answer. A different galaxy?
"Well Shepard I can only say that while we are in definite new unknown territory, there is one thing we can take pleasure in." Joker said.
"Like what?" Shepard said.
"That in this galaxy we don't have to worry about ship size A.I. trying to kill us." Joker responded.
"Well Joker, I would really like to say that would be a good thing, but knowing our luck, we will definitely run into something worse." Shepard said.
"Oh come on, what can be worse than genocidal A.I.s?" Joker said.
He had no idea on how the Normandy crew would definitely come into contact with something worse and that this event would not only change the fate of one galaxy, but two.
Next time in chapter 2- First Contact or Reunion? (Tentative title)
Endnotes:
A/N- I would like to say that I decide to power down some of the tech in my story. First, the Normandy is able to destroy a Covenant Super Carrier, but that it would take several shots of the Thanix Cannon to do it, and that includes the ship without shields around it (EDI could hack them and take them out) and shooting specific places (the engine or the bridge). It will be a close battle.
Also, EDI will be stronger then Cortana by a little, can easily overpower any Covenant AIs, and cannot go up against Forerunner AI (yet). The shields are slightly stronger the Covenant's and the new metal (both ship and armors) will be resistant to several plasma shots, but can still fail. Ammo is still like in ME1, weapons can overheat. I am looking for a name for the metal.
I will also like to point out that the inspiration for this story comes from "When there was a Tomorrow" by General Rage. He is by far a better writer then me and his story is more realistic and way better.