A/N: A quick thank you to my friend Meow37 for suggesting this idea. Originally this was supposed to be Shepard as the main character, but he suggested Sara from ME:A because they are in a new galaxy. To my surprise the premise of the Engineers or Space Jockeys actually works in ME:A. Both the Jaardan and the Engineers created beings (Angara and Humans) and both created a weapon that wiped them out. The Jaardan created the Scourge and the Engineers created the black goop (according to Prometheus and Alien Covenant)
So I changed some things in the ME:A universe.
The Remnant tech is no longer flashy but is now the organic looking tech that the Engineers are known for.
That's about it I believe, so without further ado here is the story.
(Mass Effect belongs to Bioware and EA, while Alien belongs to Ridley Scott)
I
Six months have passed since Meridian. During those months the relationship between the Angaran and the Initiative improved much that a joint Angaran/Initiative colony was established in the Skeldah system and is considered to be the largest and most successful colony to be established in Andromeda. The name of the colony is Endurance.
Jack sat in the driving seat of the Nomad listening to music as he drove to check on the nearby sensors that bordered the colony.
"Jack, you there?" the comms came to life with the voice of Stella, the governor of Endurance.
"Go ahead," Jack replied, never taking his eyes of the road and making sure to turn down the music.
"We have a problem with sensor twelve. It's not responding."
"That's near the mountains right?" Jack asked, stopping the rover to listen.
"That's correct. Can you check it out and see what the problem is?"
Jack sighed, "sure. I'll head there right now."
"Thanks, Jack."
Jack brought up the holo map to see how far he was from sensor twelve. Luck is with him it seems as he is about two hours from sensor twelve. Turning the music back to its previous volume before turning the rover around and started heading toward the mountains.
Two hours later Jack arrived at the location of sensor twelve. Putting the rover in park Jack exited and went to the storage compartment to grab his pack that contained his gear and weapon. After grabbing his pack and rifle, he strapped an extra sensor on his pack just in case, Jack locked the rover and began the long hike to reach the sensor. Jack wondered who had the genius idea of placing a sensor halfway up a mountain where the nomad couldn't reach, he silently cursed the person when he almost lost his footing on some loose rocks.
Finally, Jack reached the sensor and set his pack and weapon on the ground next to it and began the process of checking over the sensor. When he didn't see any external damage on the sensor he figured that the problem might be on the inside. So he opened his pack and grabbed the portable terminal, opening up the data port on the side of the sensor and established a link with the terminal.
After doing a diagnostic test on the sensor Jack saw that everything was fine, he just couldn't figure out why it wasn't working. He decided to replace the sensor and proceeded to remove the sensor from the ground. Grabbing the side handles he struggled to lift the sensor out of the ground, finally he managed to pull it out of the ground after putting a little too much force in removing the sensor and fell backwards onto his back.
Jack rubbed the back of his head, leaning on his elbows he heard the sound of rumbling around him. The hole that the sensor was in expanded as the ground gave away, Jack quickly got to his feet and ran from the expanding hole but he wasn't fast enough. Jack fell into the hole and hit the ground hard and immediately covered his head with his arms to protect himself from the falling rocks.
Finally, the sounds of falling rocks stopped.
Jack slowly put his arms down once he was certain that everything was safe. Jack tried to get up but couldn't due to the sudden intense pain that shot up his left side, wrapping his arm to his side in an attempt to ease the pain he activated his omni-tool to apply the medi-gel to his injury. The medi-gel did its job of easing the pain allowing Jack to get to his feet and examine his situation.
From what he could tell he was in a cave, the only light seemed to be from the hole he fell through. Spotting his pack among the rocks he grabbed the pack and began checking his supplies, notting that his rifle is now useless due to it being crushed by the falling rocks. Jack was thankful that most of his supplies were still intact, 'god bless Initiative engineering' he thought to himself.
After making sure all of his supplies were intact he quickly opened his omni-tool to contact the colony. Instead of making contact with the colony his omni-tool displayed a message.
Unknown signal detected
Jack didn't know what to expect when he opened the comms on his omni-tool but picking an unknown signal underground definitely wasn't it. Ever curious Jack began analyzing the signal and found that the signal is an audio message. Jack played the message but had to close as the message is just a hi-pitched screech that nearly rendered him deaf.
"What the hell?" he mumbled to himself rubbing his ears.
Jack once again began analyzing the signal and found that the signal is coming from further in the cave. Deciding to investigate he quickly sent a call for help to the colony and activated the built in light on his jacket and went further in the cave.
After thirty minutes of maneuvering through the cave passages he soon found himself in an open area, at least he assumed it is an open area as he couldn't really tell, his light could only do so much. Glancing at his omni-tool showed that the signal is just in front of him. Jack flash forged a flare on his omni-tool and launched it. The flare exploded midair illuminating the area.
Jack saw that he was in a large open area, that was not the only thing he saw. In the far end of the room Jack saw a ship.
The ship appeared to be crescent shaped and clearly bears some resemblance to the ships that the remnant used.
"Oh my god," Jack said in disbelief. This ship is the find of the century in Andromeda.
Aya
Sara was tired of the meetings that she now had to attend. Apparently finding a home for the Initiative doesn't allow for a reprieve as she now had to attend different meetings from Tann and the Angara. She had just come from a meeting with the angaran governor about possibly establishing an outpost on Aya under Tann's orders. She had tried to be diplomatic but in the end it was for naught as the governor said no.
After thanking the governor for taking the time to listen to her she left his office and went to find Jaal. When she didn't find him in his usual spot on the lookout she asked some of the bystanders, they told her that he was summoned to the resistance HQ. Deciding not to intrude she made her way to the Repository of History. After saying a quick hello to Avela, Sarah began to examine the various artifacts on display and went from display to display until she came across on that caught her interest.
It was a statue, the figure looked humanoid as it had five digits on both hands. The statue held a spear in its right hand and had a something mounted on its left shoulder, but what interested her was the face which appeared to be mask if she had to guess. The statue reminded her of a soldier standing at attention.
"Excuse me," Sarah called Avela who was talking to some asari. Avela quickly apologized to the asari for leaving before she made her way to Sarah.
"Yes?" Avela asked.
"Do you know anything about this?" Sarah gestured to the statue. Avela looked at the statue before speaking.
"A little," she said. "The statue is a representation of Ha'ranok." Avela answered, Sarah looked confused even though she had a basic understanding of the Angaran language thanks to the lessons from Jaal but she didn't know the word. Avela noticed the confused look, "it means 'the hunter'."
Sarah looked back at the statue then to Avela. "The hunter?"
"It's an Angaran legend. The story is about an invincible hunter that was both feared and respected by the Angaran. Supposedly brave Angaran warriors would be given the honor of fighting the hunter but none emerged victorious except for one, who returned with the hunter's mask."
"Wow…" was all Sarah said after hearing the legend of the Ha'ranok.
"As I said its mostly a legend, but its apart of our history that we have forgotten and are only just relearning it." Avela said softly, Sarah felt bad for the angaran woman. Placing a hand on Avela shoulder providing comfort. "Thank you, Jaal is lucky to have a friend like you."
Sarah smiled at the statement and went back to admiring the statue, allowing Avela to return to her duties.
Her omni-tool pinged alerting Sarah of an incoming message. Opening up her inbox Sarah saw a priority message from Tann saying to come back to the Nexus. Sighing after closing her inbox she quickly sent a message to all of the crew members telling them to meet back at the Tempest. Leaving the Repository of History Sarah ran into Cora as she was heading back to the docks apparently Tann sent the same message to all of the crew, so Sarah didn't need to message the crew. Together the two made it to the docks just as the others arrived.
Once everyone was back onboard Kallo piloted the Tempest back into space. After telling Kallo to head back the Nexus Sarah went to her quarters to go over some reports she has yet to read. Sitting at her desk for an hour Sarah began to develop a headache and began rubbing her temples in an effort to ease the headache. When that didn't work she moved on to her next option when it came to easing a headache, running.
Changing into her workout clothes Sarah walked over to the treadmill. Turning it on and setting it to her usual setting Sarah began her workout. After working up a sweat from running she turned the treadmill off and did some cool down techniques before reaching for the water bottle that she kept on the night stand next to her bed. After taking a sip of water Sarah was thankful that her headache disappeared, however she now desperately needed a shower.
When Sarah exited the shower and begun drying herself off with the towel Kallo announced over the intercom that they are approaching the Nexus. Shortly after his announcement a small jolt could be felt throughout ship signaling the exit from FTL.
Sarah dried herself and got dressed as quickly as she could before leaving the shower room. After dropping her sweaty clothes with the rest of the dirty laundry Sarah went to the bridge. Arriving on the bridge Sarah is greeted by the sight of the Nexus, Kallo guides the Tempest to the Nexus and to its usual landing pad.
Sarah leaves the bridge and heads to the cargo bay. Arriving in the cargo bay Sarah is greeted by the crew of the Tempest who are getting ready to leave and spend some time on the Nexus. After telling her crew not to get into too much trouble Sarah left the Tempest just in time too as dock workers could be seen making their way to the Tempest to provide maintenance.
Getting on the tram Sarah left the docks and went straight to Nexus command. Upon arriving Sarah is greeted by Kandros, the turian in charge of security and APEX assault teams.
"Kandros?" Sarah said confused. Whatever Tann called her for must be serious if it warranted an escort from Kandros.
"Ryder follow me please," Kandros told her as she exited the tram and began walking up the stairs with Sarah following close behind. When they reached the top of the stairs Kandros led Sarah to the Pathfinders HQ which also doubled as Tann's office which is on the second floor. Upon entering the Pathfinders HQ Sarah is met by Director Tann and Foster Addison along with the Moshae and Evfra. The four people were standing around the large holographic display console that usually displayed planets.
"Ryder, thank you for coming so quickly." Tann said while gesturing for Sarah to join them.
"You said that it was urgent in your message," Sarah said as she approached the group.
"Yes, it concerns the colony Endurance." Addison spoke as she brought up a topography image of the colony on the holo display console.
"What the problem?" Sara asked the group.
"Four days ago the colony sent a message that they made a major discovery." Tann spoke, "We sent a science team comprised of Initiative and Angaran personal."
"Shortly after their arrival at the colony. We lost all contact." Addison added, "All attempts to reestablish contact have been unsuccessful."
"Could just be a faulty comms relay," Sarah said hoping that is the case for the colony's radio blackout.
"We thought so too. So we sent an APEX engineering team to investigate and report on the status of the colony." Kandros told Sarah who turned around to face the turian.
"And?"
"Like the science team we lost contact with the engineering team shortly after arriving at the colony." Kandros informed Sarah, "They missed their check in twenty-four hours ago."
At this point in the conversation Evfra joined in, "We are concerned that there may be a problem at the colony." Sarah once again turned around to face the group more specifically Evfra.
"It's a little soon to be hitting the panic button don't you think?" Sarah directed her question not only at Evfra but to the group.
"Ryder, Endurance is the first colony that we established with the Angara." Addison explained placing her hands on the holo console, "It's a beacon and if something is wrong at the colony. This is could have ramifications with the Angara."
"The people in the colony are important also," the Moshae spoke up immediately after Addison finished speaking drawing the attention of the group with the exception of Evfra." The colony can be rebuilt but the people can't." she said causing Addison to slightly flinch.
"I didn't mean to imply that the colonists aren't important," Addison quickly replied to the Moshae.
"That's good to know," the Moshae spoke softly that only Evfra could hear her which caused him to smile slightly before going back to his usual expression.
"So why am I here?" Sarah asked bringing everyone back on topic.
"Before we lost contact with the engineering team. They sent us this," Kandros spoke while he walked to the holo console and entered some commands changing the image from the topography map of the colony to a picture that showed an Initiative shuttle. The shuttle however wasn't painted in the usual colors of the Initiative instead the shuttle is painted black and red with a drawing of a Kett skull on the side of the hull painted in blood red. "We've identified the shuttle as the same one that lead the attack on the outpost on Elaaden."
Sarah slowly exhaled at the news, the attack on the outpost was the exiles response to her eliminating the Flophouse on Elaaden which the exiles used as a base of operations for raids. The exiles banded together and attacked the Initiative outpost along with the Krogan colony New Tuchanka, the assault was pushed back but not before heavy casualties were taken. The person behind the assault is a man named Sam Mead.
"You think Mead is behind the comms blackout?" Sarah asked hoping that she's wrong but the feeling of dread told her that is not the case. Kandros answered yes conforming the feeling of the dread that had settled in Sarah. "What's the plan?"
"We need you to lead an APEX fire team to the colony"
Colony Endurance
Storage building - B
Sam Mead sat in the dimly lit back room of the storage area trying to pay attention to his surroundings but is having a hard time. Being awake for two days without sleep and being hopped up on stims is starting to take their toll on Sam's psyche, he keeps seeing things that aren't really there.
'fuck… why did I come here?' Sam thinks to himself as he injects himself with an awake stim, tossing the empty syringe with the others in the far corner of the room. 'Oh right because the colony was ripe for the picking.'
As Sam sits on the floor with his back towards the wall holding his rifle with a death grip he assess his current situation. He doesn't have much ammo as he spent most of it trying to make it to his little safe area, his food ran out a day ago and his water supply is just about out. Most of his men are either dead or underground. Right now he only has three options.
Option One: Blow his brains out to prevent himself from being dragged underground.
Option Two: Make a run for his shuttle and quickly get off planet, but who knows how many of those things are between him and the shuttle.
Option Three: Stay where he is and die a slow and painful death.
Sam isn't too fond of options one and three so that leaves two, try and make it to the shuttle and hope he doesn't get grabbed. Making his decision Sam picks himself off the floor and slowly makes his way to the door that he barred with a pipe. Removing the pipe and slowly opening the door just wide enough for him to fit the barrel of his rifle through, once he's certain that the coast is clear he fully opens the door and steps out leaving his safe area behind.
Various boxes of different sizes fill the storage building making it hard for Sam to spot any of them, thankfully the lights are still on allowing him to fully see his surroundings. Never lowering his rifle, he slowly makes his way through the boxes and supplies to the building entrance.
Suddenly some pipes come loose from their holdings and fall to the ground making a loud clanging sound that echoes throughout the building. Surprised by the sound Sam quickly turns around to the direction of the falling pips, his finger on the trigger ready to fire when he sees a small creature that resembles a rat come climbing out of the mess of pipes and run away.
Sam looks at the pipe holding and sees three more of the rat creatures before they run away and disappear. Chuckling as he lowers his rifle to rub his eyes when the lights suddenly go out plunging him into darkness. Quickly activating the flashlight on his rifle he waves the rifle left to right examining his immediate area for any of them.
When he doesn't see any he resumes his route to the building entrance at a much faster pace that qualifies as a fast walk instead of running. The light provided by his light gives the room a much darker atmosphere as the shadows from the light create images on the walls that doesn't help Sam as he continuously moves his rifle from left to right, up and down, behind him. Suddenly the sound of something wet hitting the floor can be heard behind him.
'splat…splat…splat' the sound continues. Breathing rapidly Sam knows the sound all too well, quickly turning around he sees nothing but the sound persists. Taking a risk by glancing at his feet Sam sees the splatters as they hit the ground from above him, once again he quickly raises his rifle to the ceiling and once again sees nothing. However, Sam does see the source of the dripping. a broken pipe that is being held together by a patch. Water can be seen trickling out of the patch.
Releasing a breath that Sam wasn't even aware that he was holding in, he lowers his rifle so that the barrel is pointing downwards and once again rubs his eyes. Paranoia has been his constant companion ever since he and his men arrived two days ago. Holding the rifle with both hands again Sam takes a breath and turns around.
Only to be tackled by a black creature that leapt out of the darkness in front of Sam. The force of the tackle caused Sam to drop his rifle the moment he lands on the floor. The black creature wastes no time and quickly grabs Sam by his foot and begins dragging him.
All throughout the colony Sam can be heard screaming until his scream is silenced. The colony is once again silent
A/N: This will probably be the only chapter for now until I can fully focus on it. Right now I'm working on two other stories and don't want to stretch myself thin mentally trying to write three stories at the same time.
For the 'Hunter' I don't know if the Angara have a word for hunter and if they do then I'll go back and fix it. For now, it will have to do.
This might actually be the only fic that will have Sarah as the main character in an Alien/Mass Effect crossover as everyone seems intent on having Shepard face the Alien threat and I respect that. This would have had Shepard as the main character if it wasn't for my friend Meow37 (Thanks Meow37), everyone deserves a time to shine and right now it's Sarah's time.
Thanks to all who took the time to read this story. You readers are awesome and stay classy.
(I'm planning on doing a Predator story with Sarah in case the hint wasn't too obvious)