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Location: The planet Haestrom, in the Dholen System

Captain Kor'Miga vas Braven was apprehensive about their incursion into Geth space. He was a man who valued safety in numbers and did not prefer stealth maneuvers in the hopes to avoid Geth ships in the Dholen Star System. However, as he was on a three-year mission to relay data from the Quarian unmanned spy drones back to the Migrant Fleet, he drew the short straw when the Conclave ordered him to investigate the occurrence. It was something of a mishap; a possible equipment failure on a virtual-intelligence controlled spy drone that detected the anomaly forcing Miga and his crew to risk their lives in Geth-controlled space. The Flotilla's long range reconnaissance drones that routinely keep an eye on Rannoch and other Geth-controlled systems had detected two curiosities: There were no Geth ships in Dholen and there was a massive disturbance near the planet Haestrom.

Haestrom was the third out of three planets in the Dholen system. The Dholen star was a curiosity in and of itself. There was once a Quarian colony on Haestrom who's only purpose was to observe the strange phenomena. The star was in the final stages of its life, threatening to turn into a red giant. When this type of star collapses in its death throes, it expands greatly after its core contracts and the number of nuclear reactions increase while the overall temperature lowers which gives it a reddish-to-orange color. Dholen was not supposed to go through this phase for billions of years, according to studies made by Quarian astronomers, however it was suspected that dark energy was involved in the destabilization of the star, causing increased nuclear reactions in the core despite the plentiful supply of hydrogen fueling it.

The magnetic and gravitational disturbances within the Dholen system have caused major communication & sensor interference which have prevented pin-point accurate readings of the activities on Haestrom. However, there was enough clarity to know that the Geth had patrol ships around Haestrom. The Geth established a suborbital mining station and cargo facilities on or around the planet as well as space stations nearby. It was not known to the Quarians how the Geth managed to maintain their communications, yet their scans revealed an organized, efficient, operation on and above the planet.

When the Braven decelerated from FTL, Captain Miga had to maneuver the ship into the system's asteroid belt. Unlike other star systems, he did not have to worry about his ship's mass effect fields being detected. There was enough magnetic interference and his ship was small enough to enter the system undetected. He remained careful enough to hide in the asteroid belt just to be extra safe; his cautionary tactics were legendary in the Migrant Fleet. They can be seen as cowardice by outsiders, to the point of paranoia, but nothing was more important to a Quarian captain than the safety and security of his ship.

"Keep the FTL drive online and fully charged," Miga ordered. "I want to leave here the moment we are detected by the Geth."

"Understood," his helmsman replied.

Miga stood up from his seat and cursed. "Bosh'tet," he barked. His leg itched but his environmental suit prevented him from being able to scratch it. He considered risking opening a side panel to scratch it, but he did not want to be confined to quarters for a week with anti-biotics to fight the resulting infection. He never understood how the other Quarians resolved such issues and he was much too embarrassed to ask. Spending his entire life in his suit, he thought he would be used to the various urges and itches his body would encounter.

Completely aware that he cursed out loud for no apparent reason, Miga made his way over to the communications/sensor console and nodded to the officer, Ani'Mila nar Quib Quib, stationed there. "What are the passive scan results?" he asked.

"I-I am not sure if this is accurate," the woman replied. "According to this, there is a fourth planet in proximity to Haestrom!"

Ani'Mila nar Quib Quib was young, very young. She has not been sent on her Pilgrimage yet, she was so young. Yet she volunteered to serve as a communications technician for this mission because she wanted "real world experience". Miga knew her father, who had requested that she joined this mission which Miga reluctantly approved. The patrons of the Quib Quib, despite its comical name, were the more influential members of the Migrant Fleet. Miga curried some favor taking Ani on board. Yet, her youth and inexperience could be the cause of this ridiculous report.

"Magnetic and gravitational disturbances are riddled throughout this system," Miga tried to reassure her. "There cannot be a fourth planet. Please re-run the scan."

"I have three times, Captain," Ani replied. "The results are the same and I have done my best to compensate for the interference."

Miga knew that if he took over the console himself, relieving her, he would show the crew that he had no faith in her. Her pride would be wounded and her family name would be damaged. This would get back to her father on the Quib Quib, which in turn would have repercussions to himself. He cursed himself for allowing such inexperience in an important position on his ship. It would have been less messy to refuse Ani's father's request for her to join this mission. But it was too late, she was here now and he would have to carefully guide her without making her look incompetent.

"Run a diagnostic," Miga ordered. "It must be an equipment failure on our scanners."

That was not likely the case. On one hand, it can be considered an insult to tell a Quarian that the equipment of her station was not functioning properly. However, she did report that there was a fourth planet in a star system with three planets so it was not that unreasonable of a request. Hopefully, she would understand that. Miga was pretty certain that was an understandable request.

"The diagnostic is complete," Ani replied without questioning the order. She displayed the results on the primary monitor.

The ship's main viewscreen was a 50-inch Panasonic Viera that Miga procured from a human colony. It was not the biggest screen, but it suited his needs well and everyone on the cramped bridge of the Braven can see it clearly. Most human displays have become holographic by now so the need for ancient liquid crystal display technology was almost non-existent. Quarians recycled everything; when the human trader sold him some plasma converters for his ship, they threw in the screen as a gift.

Miga reviewed the results and frowned. The sensors were working perfectly and was detecting a whole fourth planet very close to Dholben's third planet. Magnetic and gravitational disturbances aside, an entire planet cannot be made undetectable. Especially this close to another planet. He could not believe his eyes, but he did trust his ship's sensors. Miga did not look forward to the possibility that they would have to go in for a closer look.

Luckily, Ani'Mila had an alternative suggestion.

"Captain," she said. "We are close enough to one of our unmanned drones that I can create an encrypted remote control of the ship. I can pilot it close to this renegade planet to get a better look and take some pictures."

Miga felt guilty about his thoughts about her inexperience. What she lacked in experience she made up for in expertise and he had failed to trust her. He was certain that distrust translated to the tone of his voice and she sensed it. What he wanted now, more than anything, was to show her that he does trust her. It was just a plus that she had a good idea about how to further investigate this…occurrence. Quarian protocols state that they get a closer look using maximum safety precautions and return the data back to the Migrant Fleet, where further action would be considered.

"That is an excellant suggestion, Ani'Mila vas Braven," Miga replied proudly. "Make it so."

It was a point of pride for her when Miga referred to her as vas Braven; even without going on her pilgrimage, Miga offered her a home on his ship. That made up for all the mistrustful thoughts and intones and suggestions he ever made of her when she joined his crew. And Miga knew that she would perform at her very best, which he expected no less.

The 2048 Gbit encryption that Ani setup when connecting to the unmanned drone would take the Geth's entire collective consciousness twenty years to crack. The connection was somewhat unstable, which was expected in the environment they were in. Once Ani had control, she plotted a careful and slow course towards Haestrom, piloting the ship manually the entire time. She did her best to make the ship's pattern as erratic as possible, to make it look like debris that had a thruster that kept misfiring. A trip that should have taken an hour took nearly twelve before it reached Haestrom.

On the main viewscreen, telemetry date from the unmanned drone was replaced by real-time video. The image was full of static but it was clear enough to expose what was left of the Geth presence on Dholen. There was wreckage of multiple Geth cruisers and debris from the Geth space stations that were orbiting Haestrom. The signs were that they were all destroyed by some kind of natural occurrence it did not look like combat took place here at all.

"Keelah," he whispered as the drone maneuvered past the Geth debris. He had seen battle damage to ships before; mostly human and Turian ships from the First Contact War. But he had also witnessed a ship who had the misfortune of straying too close to a black hole. The heavy gravity slowly crushed the ship until it completely imploded before it disappeared into the depths of the singularity. The destroyed Geth ships looked like they all ventured too close to a black hole…but there was no black hole to be found.

But that was not what astounded Miga the most. It was when the drone was in visual range of Haestrom. The mysterious fourth planet, what Ani referred to as the "renegade planet", was behind Haestrom and completely dwarfed it. The planet was orange, though it could have been the reflection of the increasingly orange light from the Dholen sun, and nearly twice the size of Haestrom. It made Haestrom look like it was this fourth planet's moon – not the other way around.

"The drone's scanners are detecting a breathable atmosphere," Ani reported. "The planet's protective magnetosphere is intact and its surface is not affected by Dholen's extreme radiation. There are lifesigns on the planet as well, but the drone's scanners were modified to detect Geth and will not register individual life. There can be a million life forms on that planet or a billion. Or a hundred billion. But that is not what intrigues me."

Miga's jaw dropped. He barely heard what Ani reported as he stared at the visual readout on the orange planet. In hundreds of years of spaceflight, there was never a fourth planet in Dholen. Yet, as if out of nowhere, the planet was there and full of life and strength that overwhelmed this dying system. The itch in his leg was gone, yet he felt a foreboding sense of gloom surrounding him. He did not know why he was feeling this way; perhaps it was the idea of an alien civilization so advanced that they can hide an entire planet for millennia or more.

"What intrigues you, Ani'Mila?" Miga asked.

"There is an enormous mass effect field," she replied, analyzing the results.

Miga turned around to face Ani. He went up to her and gave her a reassuring look. "This mass effect field," he said. "How enormous is the field? As large as a Mass Relay?"

She gave him a look of disbelief. "No captain," she replied. There was a tone in her voice that told Miga she felt that she was out of her league. To be fair, they were all out of their league and need a special operations group with advanced sensors to explore this phenomena. "The mass effect field is two hundred million times the size of a Mass Relay's field density."

'Two hundred million times the size and density of an average Mass Relay,' Miga thought to himself wildly. The element zero and dark energy requirements alone must be as large as the planet. Another thought occurred to him. Was this planet the cause of the destabilization of the Haestrom sun? The influx of dark energy causing the core destabilization of the sun and the increased nuclear reaction had to be of massive proportions. Yet, he was not a scientist, he did not know enough of these things to come to a accurate conclusion.

"Shall we investigate further?" Ani'Mila vas Braven asked. "Or should we return to the Migrant Fleet for further instructions?"

Captain Kor'Miga vas Braven frowned as he turned back to the viewscreen. Despite the foreboding sense of terror he was feeling right at this moment, there remained a stronger sense of curiosity that urged him to press forward. To order his helmsman to move the ship toward the planet and begin active scanning, despite the fact that they were unable to relay the results to the Flotilla or that the Braven was only a scout vessel with limited scanning and data storage capabilities. He also had to consider the dangers to the one hundred forty officers and crew of the Braven. Lastly, he had an obligation to Fleet protocol and had to report his findings to the Admiralty board. Should he stay and investigate or turn around and run home?

Miga smiled. "Keelah se'lai, Ani'Mila vas Braven," he said. (By the homeworld I hope to see one day)

The Braven emerged from its hiding place and began to move toward the planet.

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