This is my idea on what might happen sometime before the beginning of ME : Andromeda. Reviews will be greatly appreciated. Enjoy!
xxxx
It was 6 o'clock, or should have been 6 o'clock in the morning on Earth. But aboard the Hyperion Ark, it always felt the same; monotony.
Scott rolled on his bed. Even though he, like everyone else, was awakened from the cryostasis pods by the Ark's VI some seven days ago, he found it hard to wake up on time. Not that it mattered, as the colonization program had yet to be initiated. Scott glanced to a bed next to his. His sister Sarah was already awake, most likely in front of the Andromeda galaxy hologram again.
With a sense of irritation, Scott swung his legs off the bed and threw in some dress before joining Sarah in the study room. He stared out of the room's windows for a minute, looking at the numerous walkways outside the room he was in. it was surprising to see the Turian crews walking around. Back then, only Asari crewmates would bother passing through this area, but with the Turians here, something must be off.
Sarah walked out of the study, her red hair was messy. It was obvious that she woke up way before Scott did.
"Hey, sis. I didn't know you stayed up all night." Scott's voice sounded hoarse. Sarah poured a glass of water for him as she joined her brother on the table. "Well, aside from news about a livable garden world, I barely found anything useful." Sarah said in apparent tiredness.
This gained Scott's attention. "What garden world?" "I don't know, brother. All that was said is that the planet is similar to Earth and Thessia... You know, the Asari's homeplanet." Sarah put her thumb on her forehead. Scott knew that Sarah is holding off a certain information, so he remained on his chair.
"And?" Scott pressed on. It's been five days since he heard any invigorating news. "Scans revealed that the planet is in 'spring' season, I forgot how they described it. But it seemed that the plane does have four seasons, like Earth. The survey team should have reported what they find by now." Sarah continued.
"What's wrong?"
"They..." Sarah couldn't find a good phrase to define what she dug up previously. Normally she would be excited to see what the Pathfinders had found during their observations and investigations, but this time... Something seemed to have fazed her.
"They detected some kind of ruin on the planet's surface. A massive ruin of some lost civilization, they said." Sarah finished her words in conspiring tone.
Scott leaned closer, "Ruins? Like those of Protheans back in the Milky Way?" Sarah nodded, glancing briefly at the door before continuing "The Directors are intrigued by this revelation. Come to think about it; if Protheans built the Mass Relays in Milky Way, what could this 'lost civilization' might be capable of? Intergalactic travel?".
Scott sighed, looking at the ceiling while being lost in his thoughts. Perhaps this is why the Turians were up and about so early. An immense ruined complex located on a garden planet... The Andromeda Initiative couldn't be just some 'exploration' fleet, could it? Well, the official source DID say plenty of things related to colony establishment, and creating travel routes between the two galaxies. Drack might want to share his views. But as smart as he is, Drack surely wouldn't care much about 'excavation' related stuff. Then it hit him.
Dad.
"Sis, any word from dad about this?" Scott immediately asked. To his surprise, Sarah shook her head.
"No. Sorry, Scott, but most of the details are classified. I wouldn't want to be caught snooping around in the Directors' databanks." Sarah explained with disappointment.
Of course, Scott thought to himself. His dad, Alec Ryder, is one of those Pathfinders. He could have tipped his children with some interesting news as he traveled. But maybe He was sworn into secrecy by the Directors. Maybe he knew something suspicious about this?
Sarah's voice brought him back to reality. "Commander Shepard. "Sarah said clearly.
"Who?" Scott asked her. She handed over a PDA showing a person named Lieutenant Commander Shepard, N7 graduate, Savior of the Citadel, and apparently the System Alliance's poster kid. Wasn't Shepard, whoever this person is, declared MIA several months after the legendary Battle of the Citadel?
Sarah gestured him to read further. From what it showed him, this Shepard gave warning to to the Citadel Council about something called 'Reapers', allegedly some immortal cybernetic lifeform that resided in Dark Space and wiped out the Protheans. The Council declared Shepard's warning as groundless fears and delusions manifested from his encounters with a Turian traitor named Saren and an artificial construct called Sovereign.
"So? What's the point?" Scott asked. Sarah didn't answer his question. "If they didn't put much faith in this guy, they could've stuff Shepard in with us and leave to Andromeda. No need to cause a fuss about this 'Reaper' crap." Again, Sarah gave a not-answering gesture.
Scott snorted at his sister's response. Putting down the PDA, Scott headed back into his bed, wishing that his dull life could be replaced by a life-thrilling adventure at least once.