Disclaimer: I do not own any licensed products used in the creation of this story, they are owned by their respective creators and license holders.
Nexus, Zheng He System, Heleus Cluster, Andromeda
It had been 24hr's since the arrival of the Hyperion at the Nexus and the buzz of their arrival showed no signs of slowing down, everyone aboard the both the station and the ship were moving with renewed vigour that they could turn this disaster around and actually make the Andromeda Initiative work. Each work station previously massively understaffed and some not staffed at all, were now supporting three full shifts with round the clock coverage.
It was due to this new coverage that a new arrival into the Zheng He system was almost immediately discovered upon arrival by the now ever alert staff. "Director's, this is traffic control, we are picking up an unknown signature on scanners. It doesn't match anything we have on file." Reported traffic control. "Could it be from the Kett?" questioned Tann, "Negative Director Tann, ship does not match any known Kett designs, Hold on we are picking up a transmission. Patching it through." Replied traffic control.
"This is AIS (Andromeda Initiative Ship) Creators Forge, requesting flight vector for Nexus approach, Please stand by while Hawkins, Captain is awoken from cryo sleep" came the somewhat synthetic voice over the comm. While this was happening the ship seemed to disgorge a small swarm of 3 different types of strike craft and some larger unknown ship types, the small fleet now numbering 76 vessels moved lazily towards the Nexus while awaiting actual confirmation from the traffic control centre.
Director Tann was now having a mild panic attack upon seeing the now moderate sized fleet of fighters and heavier combat ships. "C-c-c creators Forge P-p-p please identify origin species and assignment." Requested Tann while trying to hold in his fearful shaking.
"Current assignment: provide military fleet support and construction for Initiative interests. Origin species: … Geth." Came the somewhat reluctant reply.
Fear now gripped the station upon the utterance of that final word, horror stories flashed through the minds of those who knew what the Geth were and What they had (supposedly) done but a new source of fear came to mind as they realised and remembered some VERY pertinent facts about the current situation, the now identified Geth fleet had weapons, they did not, the Geth had the ability to take over the entire station without landing a single trooper, simply by having one of the fighter craft hover over an area and lay down suppressive fire, the initiative only had access to conventional weapons like pistols, rifles, shotguns and sniper rifles. The only 'heavy' weapon being the cobra RPG, which could be avoided if given enough warning. Any aggressive response by the militia would be devastating for all organics.
It was then that Nakmor Kesh spoke up "wait, what species is your captain, you said that they were in cryo?"
"Hawkins, Captain is Human, Hawkins, Captain approached the Geth, wishing to add us as potential travellers to the Andromeda galaxy, Hawkins, Captain approached the remaining board members with the plan of having the Geth act as engineers, support and pilots for fighter craft. The board members agreed that the original plan to send an entire Ark attempt with no form of protection was short sighted and wishful thinking that an entirely new galaxy would not have any native species that would attack initiative assets unprovoked. "The Geth's reply was surprising to everyone listening.
While everyone was thinking over the implications of the Geth's words, I woke up from my cryo pod. "Ugh, Geth can you fix me a tea please, I need a drink after that nap." I asked the air. "Of course Hawkins, Captain" came the reply from the walls. Walking though the exit and entering a long corridor I moved towards the bridge, knowing that if I have been awoken then we are either in trouble and my input is needed or we have arrived at the nexus and I can start my assignment. Looking out the window I could see the half-constructed Nexus along with one of the Arks floating in orbit of a currently un-named planet.
"Geth please contact the Nexus and bring the factory online to begin construction of resource collectors and construction ship to get the Nexus construction finished, because it appears we've arrived earlier than the majority of the Arks and while the Nexus is still under construction." I ordered while relaxing in the Captain's chair and accepting a freshly made cup of tea for a nearby Geth platform. "We are already in contact with the Nexus Hawkins, Captain." The platform who just handed me the tea replied.
I froze at that thinking about everything that I said while walking towards the bridge and not thinking of anything that could hurt my case I started to speak aloud addressing the Nexus this time with the knowledge that they are listening in.
"Greeting Nexus this is Captain Connor Hawkins of the AIS Creators Forge, with orders to provide the Initiative with a defensive fleet for the Nexus and any claimed golden worlds, as you may have noticed my vessel does not match any known species, this is because both the Board and myself agreed that while it would be nice if we could all have our own fleets for each species, we should have a uniform fleet." I paused to have a drink of my tea before continuing
"As such we spent a week to build designs for a new fleet specifically for the initiative. In the end we discovered an old Human game by the name of Homeworld that held several interesting designs and upon further inspection the designs of the Taiidan ships, to see what could be produced and some of the designs were actually better at their jobs than some ships currently in production. With the new fleet designs in hand we discussed which ship would be best to send across, the decision came down to the flagship or the carrier, after some deliberation the carrier was chosen to be sent over to Andromeda with all the resources and supplies needed to construct and maintain a small shipyard and its own defence fleet for 12 months." Again I paused to finish off my tea before it went cold
"With some persuading the Geth allowed me to refit the crew quarters on the ship and convert them into storage, containing enough dried, long life and de-hydrated foodstuff to feed 5000 individuals for 3 years with enough dextro food to feed a few hundred for the same length of time." With that final subtle bribe of supplies I finished speaking to the Nexus and concentrated on directing my fleet into a claw formation with the Scout on the outer edges, interceptors inward of the scouts and then the defenders closest to the carrier, the light and heavy corvettes were in position to cover the flanks of the carrier with a pair of repair corvettes hiding in the shadow of the carrier ready to act should any of the rest of the fleet be damaged in any way.
"Captain, please dock at the following co-ordinates, an escort will be waiting for you to bring you to the Directors" informed Nexus traffic control. "Understood, proceeding to co-ordinates" I replied issuing the order to move out.
Nexus docking bay
I decided to have some fun with the Nexus team and dressed myself up as a Warhammer 40k commissar, I even had a bolt pistol and working chainsword to go with the outfit, courtesy of the Geth.
You see my arrival into the ME verse was rather abrupt, literally waking up on a half dead Kodiak shuttle following a pre-programmed course for the Rannoch system. When I was picked up by the Geth I used my pre-existing knowledge of them to persuade them that I could act as their liaison to the other species without them coming under immediate fire due to the acts of the Heretics and from the Quarians tales of the mourning war.
While suspicious, the mixture of my knowledge and some promises that they calculated as achievable they gave me the benefit of the doubt and allow me to set foot on Rannoch.
For three months I learned everything I could from the Geth about the technology of the ME verse, while in turn I provided new Ideas and concepts to the Geth that would help them either repel or just survive the coming reaper war. The largest one being a vault for the Geth to store everything that they had, only accepting physical downloads of information and only accessible via two stage protect, that scans for reaper coding.
Now I'm stood in front of the airlock on the Creator's Forge with a squad of Legion grade Geth troopers while looking like a Bad ass Commissar from an entirely different universe.
I hide my smirk as I see the Nexus militia squad stiffen visible at the sight of myself and the Geth squad behind me. One of the Militia came forward, a Turian, "Captain, Follow me the Directors are waiting for you, please leave your squad here" he informed me. Acknowledging the instruction I ordered the Geth to protect the Ship and deny access to anyone who attempts access. If they press the issue they are to incapacitate them and then inform me about the situation. With the squads acknowledgement of my orders I return my attention to the Militia squad and gesture for them to lead the way.
Nexus Operations, Control deck
As I was lead up the stairs to wards the viewing deck of the operations for the Nexus, I saw all of the Directors waiting for me. Tann was nervous, shifting from one foot to the other, constantly wringing his hands.
Addison kept glancing out to the fleet that hung around parts of the Nexus and the now newly created swarm of construction corvettes, a cross between the salvage and repair corvette, as they flitted between the carrier and the unfinished sections of the Nexus, rapidly constructing new sections and areas at an amazing pace, with new habitable blocks being built at the current rate of roughly one an hour. With a block being a square kilometre of habitable space.
Kesh was the most unaffected, though there was a gleam in her eyes as the station was being built and repaired around her, seemingly springing from nowhere. I swear I saw a predatory look in her eyes as she looked at me, a look that promised me she would be talking with me later.
The leader of the Militia Kandros, had a look of hope in his eyes, the hope that with the potential new ships they could protect themselves from Kett attacks and actually have a viable presence in the Andromeda galaxy.
And so I'm now stood before the combined leadership of the Nexus and the Andromeda Initiative, getting ready to help these people fight off an aggressive alien species who have shown no signs of peaceful recourse. I can't help thinking about what will happen in the times to come, but I know one thing with the addition of my current and future fleet, We can stop the Kett in their track and maybe, just maybe, we can beat them back to their own galaxy with fewer losses than were originally felt by the people of Andromeda.
For now though it's time to concentrate on the directors in the here and now, and prepare for meeting Ryder, which ever one it is. Because none of this will be the same from now on…