May 27th

16:44

2227

Lorek, Batarian Space.

"So much for Negotiations", muttered Miranda.

"Don't be so down on yourself. I think things are going fine", screamed Shepard over the gunfire.

"Their aim is terrible", helpfully added Tali as she unloaded a thermal clip worth of fire power down the hall way.

Blood splattered every which way while the sound of steel giving way rang out with perfect clarity. They might be in batarian space but what awaited them at the end of of the hall way definitely not from Khar'shan. It was nearly 3 meters tall and lacked a kinetic barrier. The beings form was vaguely humanoid. Its limbs seemed to be synthetic in origin. Its torso however was pouring out a red liquid Shepard assumed must be blood.

"Hey Miranda, want to know something funny"

"What is it Shepard"

"I'm all out of thermal clips"

"Why is that funny?"

The seasoned N7 commander cracked a smile and activated her Omni blade.

"Leeroy . . ."

"Shepard, please don't-"

"Jenkins!"

Before Tali, or Miranda, or that . . . thing could respond Shepard fired off like like Salarian Sprinter hopped up on caffeine. She slammed into the steel construct with the force of charging Krogan and ran it through with her blade.

"Shepard, Watch out!", Cried Tali.

Unfortunately for Shepard her brilliant attack failed to finish it off. This left her target nearly dead, extremely pissed of, and within arms distance of her. Before she could say, Saren Arterius her body was hoisted up into the air. This thing was trying to choke her to death. She didn't like that.

"F-Fuck you!"

Shepard swung her right arms Omni blade. Its face was just out of reach. She tried to swing again when its other arm closed around her wrist and shattered it. Naturally Shepard responded by drooling blood while giving it another go with her other arm. This time it worked and she dropped to floor.

The Monster moved towards her. She just chuckled while walking back wards.

"Looks like we're even. Good, I was afraid this was going to be another boring fight"

Shepard let out a scream and rammed into it with her Omni blade again. This time she kept her feet moving on contact and charged with it further down hall way. She didn't stop until they both slammed into a wall. Without skipping a beat she drew her blade out, cut off one of its legs, and then forced herself on top of it to deliver the final blow. She slammed her blade into its head. She got up and took a moment to admire her handy work. Her target was most definitely dead. She smiled then turned around to face her allies.

Covered in sweat, blood, and other fluids the ever victories Shepard limped her way back down the hall way.

"Shepard, please don't ever do that again", begged Miranda.

"No promises"

"If you die then what am I supposed to tell the rest of the council?"

"That they missed out on one hell of a fight"

"Garrus would never forgive me"

"And neither would the Wrex", added Tali.

"Oh yeah", said Shepard, " I still do owe him a rematch. I'll give him a call once we get back aboard the ship"

"No Shepard, you will rest once we get back aboard this ship. When we get back to the Citadel I'll need help explaining what happened to every one their. Your presence would lend the story credibility"

"Aren't you credible enough?"

"Normally, yes, yet even I wouldn't believe whats happened over the last 4 hours if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes"

"Couldn't you just use the footage from your suit?"

"You are coming with me Shepard. That is final"

"What if I say no?"

"I'll lock you out from the ships bathrooms, all of them"

"There is a sink"

"Shepard"

"Fine, fine, I'll help you explain things to the council. But just for the record I am only doing this so I can see Bakara again. She never did tell me how she got Wrex to wear that Tux"

"Shepard, you are unbelievable sometimes"

"I know, and don't you love me all the more for it"

Miranda rolled her eyes.

"If you really are so curious Shepard I will give you a hint. The Taming of the mighty Urdnot Wrex involved a wooden spoon"

"A wooden spoon?"

"Lets just get back to the ship already"

May 6

17:00

3927

Crystal Tokyo

Queen Serenty, the Queen of Crystal Tokyo and leader of humanity sat within her chambers as she contemplated the course of the days events. Her friend and trusted advisor Mercury was trying to get the knots out of her hair. Usually this was a task left to Princess Venus, however she was currently recovering from a tragic Of-Course-I-Can-Leap-Off-The-Tallest-Building-In-Crystal-Tokyo-and-Hit-the-ground-running Accident.

"My Queen, there's been an incident past the reaches of your domain. An auxiliary task force suffered a navigation error. They sustained critical damage to their ship above an unknown world. A combat form survived the crash only to be exterminated by indigenous forces. Its combat data was irretrievable"

"I see"

The Queen was always so hard to read at times like this. Her expression was stiff, Mercury could tell that this was unwelcome news to her majesty, beyond that though she could gleam nothing.

Her Majesty. She used to use that word out of respect. Now it tasted like ashes. Over the last 900 hundred years Mercury witnessed some terrible things. Today she would observe normal things. Like her friends bone white skin, and their shallow breaths, and the brittle way they moved.

"We suspect, my Queen, that the locals may have caught a glimpse of our stealth ships when our rescue elements were observing the aftermath from orbit. They may now know that they are not alone"

Mercury paused. Serenities eye had twitched. She could see that from the Mirror in the room. Yet Mirrors work both ways. Did the Queen realize how intently she was observing her?

"Mercury, as my trusted advisor what course of action do you suggest?"

"It would appear these Xeno's are very advanced. It's only a matter of time before they discover us. I believe we should take the initiative. If we introduce ourselves to them at the right place and the right time from a position of strength then perhaps we could make peace with them"

"If diplomacy fails?"

"That is up to you my Queen. There are so many options."

"Indeed. Would you mind leaving me alone in my chambers for a while Mercury. I can get the rest of the knots out myself"

"Yes, my Queen"

The Blue haired Princess put down the hairbrush, gave a curt bow, and departed with all due haste. The doors to the Queens chambered swung open to allow her leave. Once she was nine paces out of the room they closed behind her.

'Thats two steps early', she thought to herself. Such a thing hadn't happened in a hundred years. This could only mean one thing. The Silver crystal was faltering. Something was terribly, terribly wrong. Mercury silently made her way to a nearby portal. The other Sol Scouts would want to hear of this. Lest their precious Usagi fall into peril once more. Despite her Queenly bearing she was still a total ditz.

Crystal Tokyo was a place built on hope. Yet prophecies had been circling of horribly calamities destined to manifest themselves by the end of this Century. A new age was coming. An age of war.

June 1st

13:00

2227

New Citadel, Krogan DMZ

"Commander Shepard, please repeat what you just said"

Sparatus made that request. He was a Turain. Which meant he was part of the most militaristic Race in council space. He flexed his talons lightly as he eyed the Commander.

"We were in the midst of celebrations on the Normandy when out of the blue we received an strange signal coming from Batarian space. I took control of the ship and went in to investigate."

"What happened then?", prodded Sparatus.

His Asari counterpart Tevos cut in, "Shepard already told us what happened. We musn't forget the real issue here. Our first contact with an unknown species ended in blood shed."

"It attacked us", yelled Tali.

Tevos pursed her lips, "And humanity was in violation of council law when they activated a mass relay. But look where we are now. This is serious"

"This is serious", repeated Sparatus, "we must begin mobilizing our forces immediately. It's the only way we can ensure a favorable causality ratio"

Tevos glared at her Turian counterpart.

Bakara huffed, "Look at us. Squabbling like Varren. Why don't we just skip the drama and listen to Shepard."

Miranda, the human councilor, smirked as each and every member of the council turned towards Shepard yet again. "So, what is your recommendation commander?"

"We should send a diplomatic mission to clear up any misunderstandings", said Shepard flatly.

Tevos was stunned, Sparatus was despondent, and the other Councilors were any where in between. And then Shepard continued, "With a few dreadnaughts nearby. Just in case."

"Shall we put it to a vote?", asked Miranda.

"Lets not waste any ones time", responded Tevos, "I'll contact Thessia and make the necessary arrangements."

"Does that mean I can go?"

"Yes, That should be all. Thank you for your time commander Shepard", said Tevos.

The Commander left the room. She walked through security and found herself walking through crowd after crowd. She knew that there were only 5.5 million residents in the New Citadel. But when she pushed her way through the most crowded sections she could forget that, at least for a little while.

The station was hardly a recreation of the old site. A Vorcha civil engineer had designed it after the war. It was nearly energy independent. Every step a pedestrian took created electricity needed to power the station thanks to pressure pads built in all of the flooring and the lower sections of every wall. This, paired with heavy insulation, state of the art energy control systems, UV absorbent glass, and countless recycling centers close to the New Citadels core made it a defenders wet dream. It also housed enough Dextro and Levo based emergency rations to last several hundred years. And its shielding was originally derided by a rival Asari architect as grossly over powered.

This criticism was later dropped after tests revealed the long-term conservation used by Klevt would make up for any short-term energy losses after the first decade that the shield array was in service.

For many the new stations success was a sign of hope. For Shepard it was proof that things never really changed. According to Miranda, Klevt died before the council could formally recognize them for their achievements. And thanks to some prodding by Tevos, and the newly confirmed Idras, the civic award instead went to-

"Shepard!"

The commander turned, and they came face to face with some one they never expected to see again.

"Eruba, I thought you were on Tuchanka"

"I was", responded the Asari, "but one of my Clan sisters gave me a job here. I figured a more diverse environment might be good for my daughters. "

"Daughters?"

"Triplets. I never thought it would happen. I guess sometimes things just work out that way."

"If you don't mind me asking, what did you name them?"

"Oh well, Wrex, Char, and . . . Shepard"

"I'm honored", responded the Commander, "But weren't you a little scared that they'd get labeled as a trouble maker with a name like that"

"Why would they? Shepard is the second most popular name on Tuchanka."

Shepard smiled.

Suddenly an Alarm went off, and Eruba glanced down at her Omni tool. "I'd better get going. My sister is putting in some art work I designed and she wants me to be there."

"Well, I don't want to keep you waiting. Maybe we'll run into each other again. At my favorite shop in the citadel"

"I hope so", Eruba said Quickly, "It was a pleasure seeing you again commander"

Another alarm went off. This time it came from the Commanders Omni tool

" I should go "

The Commander went into a nearby shop and checked her tool to figure out why on earth there was an alarm set on it.

"Fuck", muttered the Commander, "I'd better get back to Palavan"

May 5th

23:59

3927

Nunatak, The edge.

Blue light filled up the room. It tinted the white text of the computer screen Professor Kino was working on. The thick bold text was a tad too large for her tastes. She liked it smaller, more condensed, a little more subdued. She sighed and pushed her glasses up a bit.

"Professor Kino! Professor Kino!"

Without skipping a beat she scooted back her chair, spun it around 90 degrees, and waited. Her lab tech Skult sprinted into the room. Just like she always did. She tripped over a table. Which she always did. Even though they'd moved the blasted thing around half a dozen times. And she went careening forcefully towards the well-trained Crystalmancer.

This time her face hit the bosses lap. Which was a little softer then the floor, and a great deal colder.

"I-I", she stammered as she tried to push herself up. Frey said nothing and didn't move a muscle until her assistant was up.

"What is it?"

"Professer Kino, I mean Frey, I mean Mam- I mean, new report from orbit. Your Uncles defense satellite is picking up data again. From its crystal based sensors!"

"Those haven't worked in more then a century."

"I know! I know! And it gets better", Skult more or less screamed, "Nishimura was able to isolate the source of interference. Its dark energy!"

The professor's heart dropped.

"Dark energy. For it to interfere with a VII iteration defense satellite it would have to saturate the whole universe"

"I know. Isn't it amazing? It explains so much. Why the sailors that run on dark energy are so strong, and why our systems have been malfunctioning, and why the birth rates been so low for the central worlds", now Skult was jumping up and down like a small terran dog, "its a good thing that there was a sudden gap in it so we could get these measurements. Thank the Queen! This is amazing"

"Frey got out of her chair. This made the overly jubilant assistant freeze. The professor towered over her. She was from the Sol system. She was of Jupiter blood. And she never, ever, left her swivel chair unless she absolutely had to.

"A gap?"

"Y-yes. The whole quadrants gone back to pre reform levels, Momohara thinks it could have traveled to another universe. At least that's what she said at the conference"

"Conference. Explain."

"You were sleeping. Every one showed up this morning out of the blue. I took notes."

"You didn't wake me"

"I was scared to."

"Duly noted assistant Skult.", intoned the Professor as her lips quivered, "We have much to discuss."

"Really!"

"Yes, and . . . do remind the locals to stay out of our freezer. Good specimens are hard to find. Especially in peacetime"

May 6

19:00

3927

Miranda Castle, Sol system

After traveling in excess of 75 million kilometers via Portal to an ultra fortified castle orbiting the third most militarized object in the solar system Mercury found herself facing a new barrier. A gate, a really really big gate, Uranus had apparently decided to built a really big gate. Now Mercury had to figure out how to get in.

Mercury flipped open her mercury computer to just hack it. Alas that did not work out quite how she planned. Instead of finding lines of malleable code she found the very irate face of Uranus's Power Guardian glowering at her through the Mercury computers screen. It looked just like its owner, only in sprite format, with killing intent clearly visible on its features.

"Mercury, you weren't planning on hacking into my systems were you?"

"Does that sound like something I would do?"

"It sounds like something Guardian Neptune told me you did last week"

"Those were under extenuating circumstances. I was only taking a look at your systems. To make sure you didn't have any viruses. I've heard rumors that your run times have been sub optimal"

"Di-Did the Guardian Mars tell you that?"

"No, mine did. Now, Would You Kindly . . ."

The avatar for the Guardian Uranus flickered. Its color pitched and it finally reset to its default expression.

"I'd like to go in and visit Uranus now. Please lower the force fields and open the gate."

"Yes, Lady Mercury"

With that the force fields fell and the gate swung inwards. Within lay a cavernous room filled to the brim with all sorts of advanced equipment. Centermost among all this was Sailor Uranus sitting on the floor with a small child in her lap and what appeared to be an ancient book of some kind in front of them.

"And this is a Mercedes 450 SL. I was driving one in Canada when some one challenged me to a drag race in the pouring rain. They had a Aston Marti. I won."

She flipped the page with a smile. Uranus didn't bother looking up as her Blue haired colleague approached. She was far to busy pointing at yet another illustration. The child in the Guardians lap had her eyes locked on the pages. She was eating up every word from Uranus like it was the most important thing she'd ever heard. Despite her self Mercury couldn't help but smile too. The girl reminded her of some one else. Some one whose attitude could illuminate a darkened room, like a firefly in the darkness.

The Plight of Crystal Tokyo could last a little longer. This moment and that little girls smile weren't worth shattering. Mercury decided to sit down so that she too could listen in. At least for a little while

June 4th

03:00

2227

Jarrahe Station, Eagle Nebula

"Are you sure that you weren't followed?"

Miranda Nodded. The Salarian Scientist next to her walked over to a Modem so they could put in the access code. After a lengthy wait the stations doors to the inner sanctum opened with a piercing hiss.

"Those doors are awfully thick for research on Gamma radiation"

"Yes, yes they are Councilor Lawson."

Miranda's guide would pause every few step to peer back at her. They'd look at her head and then her limbs before moving on. The deeper they went into the station the more astonished they seemed that she was still present.

"Is something the matter?"

"No, nothing. I'm just glad that you decided to pay our facility a visit. Its such a pleasure to have a councilor visit us. A living councilor. We'll do our best to keep you that way"

The corridor took an unexpected turn. Blood stains, flickering lights, and unexplained gashes rigged the scene. The further on they went the deeper the cuts became.

"You wouldn't believe how close call of a call the previous research team had two weeks ago. They made a few minor miscalculations, lost a few personal, and were able to observe their Janitors slow decent into madness"

"How many survivors were there?"

"Enough"

At long last they came to one final set of doors. It took nearly thirty minutes for Miranda's guide to get them open. When everything was said and done the scientist looked back at Miranda. Now they weren't looking at her head, or her limbs, the scientist was looking straight through her with those familiar empty eyes. The eyes of some one who'd seen what cant be described. The kind of eyes that belong to some one who hopes beyond hope they never have to even try to explain. Lest what they buried within the mind crawl its way out again. If they can't forget, they don't want to remember.

"Welcome to the Lab Councilor Lawson"

Charts lined the walls. Panicked staff shuffled to and fro. Something had these Salarians incensed. Something Miranda had come all this way to see.

"The Subject that the Batarians sent caused quite a stir. We were expecting to perform another ground-breaking dissection. This dissection was ground breaking for all the wrong reasons. Human, female, 8 years old. It was embedded within a container that restricted its growth, that shackled its movement, and we suspect ultimately drove it insane"

"She's human?"

"That is correct Councilor Lawson. The noncoding region of its DNA differed some what from the norm yet we can't deny what it was."

"Did you find any information that could lead us to whoever did this?"

"Its mind was shackled to some kind of inorganic being. The secrets to who, or what, is behind this might be buried within its memory banks."

"Thank you"

"Is there anything else you'd like to know?"

"How young was she when they put her into that suit"

"We can't be sure. A conservative estimate would be during its fourth year. Neurological readings suggest that it must have been younger. The damage to its brain is severe. Extensive Trauma on a cell by cell basis, it shouldn't have been alive, the suit kept it alive. The levels of Serotonin in its brain were abnormally high as well. It must have been straddling the line between life and death for most of its existence, straddling the line between dream and reality, straddling the line between sanity and madness."

"That's all I needed to hear", stated Miranda Lawson.

Miranda kept her head high, her expression blank, and her neck stiff when she turned to leave. She'd seen enough, she'd heard enough, and she'd felt enough for today. Miss Lawson escaped the station before it happened. Before she lost control.

She rushed into the shuttle. Quick shallow breathes, something warm running down her face, and whole body shaking as she forced herself forwards. Somehow she managed to reach the pilots seat. She needed to get out of there. She needed to disconnect, to think clearly, and be in control.