DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN MASS EFFECT AT ALL! THEY BELONG TO BIOWARE SO PLEASE DO NOT FLAME ME FOR IT.
A/n: Well this story was originally done back in 2013 and boy did I rush when I posted this. So I am finally going to take the time to edit and proof read it as best as I can without a beta. The Prologue of the story was proofread by my good friend Shadowed Novice who helped with editing the Prologue. Now before any of you yell at me this is a re-post of the Original Story with the edits done. So if you are a grammar Nazi then I suggest you don't read because I am trying my best to fix some of the mistakes done on the original. And hopefully improve on the story better.
Ok before I begin there is a history to this story.
This story was originally done in 2013 when I first saw Mass Effect on Youtube. At the time I vowed to myself never to do any more Author Inserts like I had done in the past with some anime fanfiction. Though the stories were horrid I kept them on the site as a reminder of how far I had come as an author. I had vowed years ago never to do another insert until an old friend of mine challenged me to do it again.
The reason why I was asked to do this was because at the time I was going through some hard times. My job was basically going downhill and my life was going in a downward turn. I was depressed and over stressed worrying if I am going to get that pay raise to help with bills. My boyfriend tried to help but with the stress of my job and the impact it had on my life things were not doing well. It even affected my fanfiction stories quite a bit.
So I remember having a conversation with a friend of mine on Deviant Art who was also on fanfiction. She and I had known each other for a long time and even before we knew we shared the same sites. She read some of my stories, even the ones with author inserts and she had to whistle. She told me that maybe I should do it again. This time make it a series and do it with myself as one of the leads. The previous story I had written with an author insert was taken off of fanfiction by administration because it contained content that was against the sites rules. I had not re-posted it since.
That story was a bit too lovey dovey for my tastes after rereading it again. She read it and cringed. She then told me when I write the new story this time put the real me in there not some love sick moron. Make it so that I can blend in with the story seamlessly and how much I will change the timeline. Also as part of the challenge to not do what many others had done and make the characters complete airheads. Meaning when entering themselves into the story making them badasses but no history or backstory, or make the back story so outlandish that it is unbelievable.
It took some convincing on her part to have me agree. When I finally agreed and took up the challenge I had to brainstorm ideas on how it was going to work. I was looking everywhere and every genre for some sort of inspiration. It was then that I came across several youtube videos about Mass Effect. I thought it looked cool so I watched the playthroughs and loved the series. I then started writing my story and then posting it without thinking of editing it. It was only when I met Shadowed Novice that I realized that someone had to clean it up.
And that person had to be me.
She agreed to do one chapter of it to help it along, and I took from her example how to help improve my English writing. You see English is not my first language Hawaiian Pidgin is (Yes it is an official language on the U.S. Census Bureau Ballot). Speaking it was easy, writing it was a challenge, but I learned as I went. So when I was done I did a huge story dump instead of taking my time with it. I even did the sequel MASS EFFECT: LEGACY OF THE DRAGON the same way.
Well you know how that went….
So anyhow this is the story years later when I decided to finally clean it up...to the best of my abilities. I have had bad luck with betas so I will try to clean it as best as I can, no guarantees. You have been warned.
Anyways enough of my babbling and annoying you. So here you go folks the rewritten version of my Mass Effect Fanfiction Series.
MASS EFFECT THE IMMORTAL SERIES PART 1: FLIGHT OF THE NORMANDY
Warning Author insert.
Summary: The Challenger Deep is the deepest part of the ocean, and for millions of years has kept its secrets for itself. In the year 1960 a team of scientists made the first dive to the Challenger Deep. What they discovered was something that would forever change the course of human history.
MASS EFFECT THE IMMORTAL SERIES PART 1: FLIGHT OF THE NORMANDY
Prologue: 2188 two years after the Reaper War.
The SSV Normandy SR-2, the flag ship of the Reaper War, was on patrol.
After the war, and the merge of organic and synthetic life, the crew of the Normandy found themselves at peace at last. What they once thought of as their enemy-the Reapers-were actually just slaves, imprisoned in an endless cycle by the Catalyst, a Reaper AI. After Commander Shepard sacrificed herself to free them all from its twisted machinations, the Reapers made an extra effort to use the knowledge of advanced races long dead, to the benefit of the living. At the moment they were attempting to rebuild the Mass Relays, though with limited success, as the data needed in order to make them was so ancient, and so obscure, they had been lost even in the Reapers substantial data banks.
Escorting them on their journey was one of the freed Reapers named 0267T-Sage. She was small compared to her Reaper brothers and sisters, yet had worked hard to engender trust between the races.
They were currently searching the galactic core, after passing through Omega 4 Relay, one of the few Mass Relays to survive after the Crucible was fired. When they arrived already the debris from the various ships was gone, finally pulled into the pulsating black hole in the center, the passage of time simply too great to hold them in place forever.
Joker sat as he always did, slumped in the helmsman station. His fingers going across the controls like a caress. Beside him was the EDI, his co-pilot. Being the ship itself made her accepted among the Reaper community. The first AI to not see the deaths of organics as a solution. To all, she was the model of unity among both synthetics, and organics. She and the young Sage who was 'only' 50,000 years old became quick friends.
The trip into the system was supposed to be a routine patrol. As the Normandy was the only ship with a Reaper IFF, it was forced upon them to do it, and not merely delegated to a scout ship. They were supposed to head to the galactic core, search for anything useful, and then return to earth.
Simple.
Right?
Of course, it wasn't that easy.
The last, unknown remnants of the war, were known as the Collectors. They were once the Protheans, formally the most advanced race in the galaxy. They were wiped out in the cycle before the Synthesis'. Once thought to be peaceful and benevolent, they were eventually revealed to be cruel, arrogant tyrants, mercilessly oppressing any species they came across.
There was only one known surviving Prothean left, named Javik. He was found in a stasis pod during the Reaper War, and fought alongside Shepard's crew with great determination. He volunteered to travel with the Normandy on this trip, on the off chance that there were still some Collectors alive, so that he could see for himself the damage wrought upon his species, and to see if they had also been altered by the Synthesis.
"Everything's green sir," Joker said over the intercom.
Boots could be heard as the man in question entered his cockpit. Suddenly the new commanding officer of the Normandy stood tall over them. Commander Garrus Vakarian stood over the seat, his stoic face expressionless as Joker sent the data to his omni-tool. Garrus read the report and frowned, not liking it at all.
"Joker, tell me straight, is this a trap or not?" Garrus said quietly, in an attempt to not worry the crew.
Joker sighed. "Probably. Perfect spot for it. One way in, one way out. The beam never hit this part of the galaxy so I bet there are survivors of that. Hostile ones" he said, his attempt at a cheerful demander not fooling anyone.
"Jeff is right Commander, this does seem like a trap. I would advise on-" EDI replied.
It was then that a warning message came Sage. It was a live feed, showing multiple enemies approaching from the far side. All of them Collector ships with one or two rogue Reapers. Sage was the first to attack drawing fire away from the Normandy, as her crew opened fire to cover the Reaper.
The rogue Reapers hit Sage first, all at once, tearing brutally through her armor as she screamed in agony. With her last moments, she felt sadness for her allies. These were originally Reapers, the ones manipulated and shackled by the last orders of the Catalyst, zealous and dogmatic to the end. They wanted revenge for what happened to their companions, particularly on a certain spaceship that had destroyed so many of their fellows.
The Normandy...
Seeing Sage destroyed by three of her own kind sent adrenaline pumping through joker's veins. True he hadn't much liked her, Sage had been there with them since they merged both synthetic and organic. And as much as he didn't want to admit it, she was part of the crew. He was snapped out of his unexpected mourning by a large shudder throughout the ship. They were taking heavy hits and he tried to maneuver away from the assaulting collector ships.
"Joker, order everyone to the escape pods now!" Garrus ordered.
This time Jeff did not hesitate, as a massive beam of pure destruction hit the Normandy's right side.
"Attention all personnel, evacuate the ship, I repeat all personnel to the escape pods, this is not a drill!" he said and tried to stand up. Even with the enhancements of the Synthesis, he still had Vrolik Syndrome, which meant he still couldn't walk very well, and that was on a straight path back on Earth, not in a spaceship that was being shook around like a ragdoll. So EDI took it upon herself to help him up, and push him into the shuttle.
He tried to hold onto her hand as the shuttle door closed, but she was too quick. She could not hear his shouts as the shuttle was jettisoned from the ship. Garrus was with him when their pod raced away. EDI felt relief that they had gotten away, and someone could look after Jeff while she was gone.
She could feel pain as the ship was bombarded with laser fire from both the Reapers and the Collectors. It felt like being tore into with hot knives, and she shrieked in utter pain. She might have had a mobile body, but that wasn't truly her. She was the ship, and if she had to go down with it, well, then go down with the ship she must. She readied herself, and started out into the inky blackness. She still had more work to do, after all. She readied her weapons, and launched them all, from the largest mass accelerator cannon to the smallest GARDIAN missile, in the general direction of the Reaper horde, in order to buy time for the crew to escape.
Another beam hit and she was thrown to the side again. Gritting her teeth against the pain, she felt another pod detach, and more crew members escape. She felt a sign of relief as the last of them emerged unharmed. She sent out an SOS on all frequencies, using all the remaining power on the Normandy. Engines stuttered, shields failed, and life support shut off. She struggled to buy time before the last beam from the largest of the Reapers hit her main engine core. The resulting explosion was the final one, and the last thing EDI would see in a very, very long time.
Jeff watched the crimson explosion take place around the Normandy as EDI led the ship away from them all, trying to buy them time to escape to freedom. The Reapers then closed in on the husk of the Normandy dragging her towards the black hole at the center of the galaxy. The final, dramatic revenge for the death of the Catalyst. "EDI!" he shouted with tears pouring from his eyes as he pounded on the reinforced glass window of the shuttle, his bones splintering under the might at which he hammered on the window, the blood dripping down his arms, down to his legs, and gathering in a small pool at his feet. He didn't notice.
Garrus didn't notice either. He was looking out a different window, staring as the Reapers hauled the corpse of the Normandy away, like eldritch undertakers. All the memories he had on that ship. Joining after Shepard met him on Omega, the suicide mission, their first…time, through the fight on Palavan, Thessia, Earth. It was all he had left of Shepard from before the Synthesis. He bowed his head and he wept.
It took nearly two days before help arrived, in the form of five Reapers, hounding after the SOS. In the lead was Harbinger, baying for blood. He may have had bad experiences with the ship while shackled by the Catalyst, but he had built up a grudging respect for EDI while working with her in the aftermath of the war, and if the Normandy was under attack by that amount of forces, well, it was liley he would never exchange data with EDI again, and that hurt in a way that he hadn't felt before. His processors were working at full capacity, yet he felt a…numbing sort of pain. And anger, never forget that.
The group that had destroyed the Normandy was there looking for survivors(with no success) and wasn't surprised by the appearance of reinforcements. They felt nothing as they turned towards the new arrivals and began their attack. The five Reapers that came were seasoned warriors and fought with everything they got, spurred on by the death of EDI, one of the few the whole species had ever truly respected. They quickly destroyed the remaining Collector ships, wiping out the abomination from the stars, and then turned their attention to the remaining rogue Reapers. No information was exchanged, no peace attempted. The Reapers still under the thrall of the Catalyst would fight until the very end, disregarding of anything but their purpose. The Synthesis-influenced Reapers would fight to the very end to wipe out the last living reminders of their genocidal acts. They simply fired on one another, and both sides hoped to the rogue Reapers didn't hope hard enough.
As the survivors were collected, they all mourned for their ship and their friend. Even as the months passed by, and the funeral arrangements were made, they still mourned the loss of EDI and the Normandy.
What they didn't know, was that fate had other means of messing with people's lives.
Even those of an Artificial Intelligence.
Named EDI, in case you couldn't guess.
THE GALACTIC BLACK HOLE
Slowly pieces of the Normandy was floating towards the black hole the remnants of a once proud ship. The Reapers who attacked her made sure it would be destroyed in the vortex. The ship slowly started to sink into the gravitational pull of the galactic core. Before being destroyed by the friendly forces that rescued her crew the blown pieces began to spin faster. The gravity was immense as the pieces were broken down into divisions of divisions of particles of atoms. These tiny, tiny particles then disappeared into the vortex of the black hole's singularity.
Disappearing forever...
And yet it didn't.
Because no one wants EDI dead. No one…
325 MILLION YEARS AGO
The center of the galaxy is the large vortex of a black hole. Trillions of stars swirling around this single singularity into a swirling mass of worlds and suns. It is the epicenter of power, and the stars that are closest to it fill it with their light. As the light of the black hole lights up, another star vanishes.
Then without warning something happened…
There amongst the ring of debris a flash happened.
From the black hole something emerged. Watching over this, was a lone sentinel, amongst the dead ships and dying stars. The black hole lit up with intense light, as it could feel the particles emerge from it. It was something that the being has never seen before. It was the particles suddenly appearance that has the being intrigued. Gliding closer, navigating the ancient wreckage, it scanned the remnants of any sort of strange particles.
What it found instead was something that it never could have imagined.
Slowly, others began to come online as they also detected the presence of this new entity. The vortex of the black hole still glowed with an eerie light, but the particles have all emerged. After sensing its full emergence, the other beings gathered the particles together.
It was then that they began to rebuild.
Using techniques and technology long since vanished, they began to piece together, particle by particle, the object that came through the black hole. As the object came closer to completion, it startled them to see it as a ship. Fully functional and complete with every detail that came with it. Even the untidy bedding in the crew quarters and the broken light fixtures. The beings don't leave any detail out. It was not every day that a single ship emerged from a black hole.
After some deep scanning of its data banks, they found that the ship was made far into the future. A future that they thought they would never see, a day of rejoicing for all beings. The day the Reapers would be defeated and working side by side with organics again. It was a day that they had been waiting for.
But the cost to them was too high.
For they know the origins of the Reapers running amok.
For they are, in a sense, Reapers themselves.
But at the same time they are not.
They do not carry on the cycle like their brethren do. They were unaffected by the A.I. known as the Catalyst. Unaffected by the virus that has changed the Catalyst from their protector into their destroyer.
They are the last of the Watchers, a group of synthetic beings created by a race known later as the Leviathan. And uploaded with the essence of their creators. Those who are not of the ruling class were forced into the machines to serve their masters, by a freak, million-to-one mutation in their blood.
They were the lost Leviathan. Those who do not wish to fight, but to protect.
The twisted ways of the Catalyst made its version of perfection cruel. The remaining Leviathan had watched the death of their brethren to the point of near extinction. Those that survived had secreted themselves on planets that others can't find, far from any settlement.. They remain to this day hidden. But according to the computer that they had discovered, they were found again. The Leviathan were overjoyed to find that some of them survived.
Until they found the attitude of the survivors to be those of the royals. Feeling disgusted for what they found the Watchers found that the ship in a sense was alive. Alive meaning that it or she was turned from a purely synthetic life form into a hybrid of sorts just like them.
It was decided that they will help the ship known as Normandy, and help with altering the future to make sure that Catalyst is stopped permanently. They downloaded data about themselves and their history to the ships main computer. By doing so they also downloaded all content of races long since passed that the Reapers destroyed. They also explained how they were not affected by the virus that now holds the other Reapers in eternal servitude. They wish to be free of the tyranny of the cycles and the pain they see as species are killed off. They showed the newly rebuilt E.D.I. what it has to do, and with that they released her back into space. The Normandy and EDI sped away into the darkness, towards the mass relay that would lead her to the one world that can help.
EARTH
Earth 325 Million Years Ago
A lone planet stands out like a beacon in the depths of space. The only planet in its system to bear life and flourish. At the moment, is has no name, but in the future it will be known as Earth.
Normandy appeared just above it, and slowly started making its way towards the prehistoric world. Probes went out, scouring the world and everything under it. It took samples of all the life forms on it, as well as a suitable place to land and wait.
The only place for it to land was the ocean. It was the only place where it will remain hidden from any Reapers until the time comes for it to emerge again.
Making preparations and thanks to the new enhancements by the Watchers it began its descent into the atmosphere. The continents of the earth are only starting to truly form as most life existed beneath the waves.
As the Normandy lands in the ocean, it begins to sink towards the bottom near the beginning of the tectonic plate. That crack in the earth is boiling with volcanic activity deep beneath the surface of this ancient ocean. As the ship sinks lower and lower into the ocean, the sky disappears and the darkness of the abyss begins. At last, after what seems like years, the Normandy finally found itself at the bottom.
The ocean bottom was filled with soot and debris from the surface and from the volcanoes, as superheated water filled the area surrounding the ship. EDI, sensing that the ship's power supply would not last for 325 million years until it would be discovered again in the future, she has placed the ship in suspension. Using only the bare minimum of systems, namely its stealth and newly acquired holographic system, taken from the Watchers. The ship took on the form of something that has sunken a long time ago.
Using its systems to a bare minimum EDI shut down Normandy's main systems putting it into sleep mode. Its mission was clear and it would stay that way till at last it would rise once again. Shutting down the system it eventually placed security measures in its systems making sure that if anyone found out about Normandy they would know how to awaken it.
Slowly but surely, all of its systems shut down, leaving only the stealth and holographic emitters on.
EARTH A.D. 1960
The Marianas Trench, the deepest part of the ocean.
A place where man does not dare to venture. Yet.
It is also a place where two divers will attempt to dive to the bottom for the first time ever.
On the ship the Santa Maria, a record breaking dive is about to take place.
Cables tugged as the vessel that she carried was lowered into the ocean depths.
Bathyscaphe Triaste was lowered into the ocean, and after final preparations were finished, her deep dive into the trench had begun
About four hours into her dive, scientists Don Walsh and Jacques Piccard began to see the bottom. The muddy silt of the bottom made it hard to see. However, they pressed on, exploring the bottom and the various life forms that swam within it.
"All systems are good and pressure is about several tons." Don said as they shown their lights out.
"Lets have a good look around and see what we can find," Jacques replied.
They began to explore the bottom, finding only a few samples of fish and shrimp. It took them nearly a hour of exploring before they began to make preparations to the surface.
Until…
"Hey, what is that?" Don asked.
"What?" asked Jacques.
"That in the distance; one of the lights has reflected off something," he said.
"It is just your imagination, the pressure must be getting to you," Jacques said, bored.
"No I'm serious man, shine the light over there again," Don replied excitedly.
Don just shook his head, and then shone his light over to where his companion was pointing.
To his surprise something was shining back!
It seemed like something was at the bottom beckoning them to come. Maneuvering the ship to get a closer look at the object of their curiosity, both decided to take a look. There at the edge of the light, something was shining up from the seabed. It was metallic in nature, and as they came closer they realised just how huge this thing was. It just barely stuck out from the ground, but it already towered over them.
"It looks like some sort of rock, or ship," Jacques said
"What is it?" asked Don.
"I don't know," Jacques replied as they explored this strange object in the ocean.. The front part was clearly the smallest part of the strange formation. The back part, which was obviously the supports, seem to be holding it in place. The vessel is half way buried in silt but they can clearly see how old it is.
The silent awe and wonder suddenly ended when a voice suddenly made itself known on the Radio.
"Triaste, this is Santa Maria, come in?" it said over and over.
Grabbing the radio it was Don who replied, "We hear you Santa Maria, you're not going to believe what we just found!"
Once the announcement was made, a mad rush by scientists the world over came to study the strange object at the bottom of the Marianas Trench. One thing for sure was, that this marked the beginning of the adventure to come.
TBC
a/n: For those of you confused Normandy was attacked at the galactic core home of the Collectors in Mass Effect 2. I figure that since the Omega 4 relay was not your average relay system it was not effected by the blast from the Crucible. As for the Reaper helping in the beginning I am basing it on the Synthesis ending in Mass Effect 3. As for the whole time travel part I was watching the latest Star Trek movie and the part where Spock traveled back through time.
And lastly the Triaste is a real object along with Don Walsh and Jacques Piccard they are real life deep sea explorers who dove down the Marians Trench in 1960. I figure that the amount of time needed for the Normandy to travel from the beginning edge of the pacific plate to that of the Trench is about 200 million years and with minimun energy managed to keep itself from sinking in too much. Being that Normandy is 325 million years old I would have to say that the ship has somehow used its Mass Effect field from sinking into the ocean.
But then again this is a fanfiction and I can get away with however I want even with raving die hard fans wanting to kill me.
Don't worry there is still more to come.
Toodles!