Author- MikeX713
Disclaimer, I don't own anything Mass Effect-Bioware or Warhammer 40k-GamesWorkshop.
This is one of my favorite pairings, when an author throws people from 40k in to the ME galaxy. I hope people like my take on it and review generously. YOUR EMPEROR COMMANDS IT!
/thinking/
/Reaper/Emperor/
-Changes to the canon-
There won't be much difference from the canon of the games other than a few things that I have my reasons for. First of the Normandy SR2 is slightly bigger than in the game, about by 30%, it now has broadside gun batteries and a fifth deck between crew and engineering that is the sleeping quarters for the larger crew, everything else the same.
Okay enough set up let's get to the good stuff.
Looking out in to the stars, this was something Karet Beskis enjoyed. Out there was possibilities and hope for the new and old. It was far from his days in the Guard where every day there was a known certainty of what was going to happen. You were going to die. And to not was a blessed surprise. But right now Beskis was sitting in the command deck of his ship the Traveler's Luck. Not the most Imperial name for a ship but no the less it was his. And he thought it fit the Rogue Trader that he was. After a lifetime of service in the guard he was happy to receive his Warrant of Trade, he knew full well that it was just the Administratum way of getting him to shut up but it was better than the alternative.
"Navigator! How is our course looking?" Beskis ordered through the Vox comm.
"His light is shining through; I predict a timely arrival." The Navigator replied, there was a shadow of bitterness under the report though. Beskis smiled at this, another thing he loved about his ship was that the Navigator chambers were not on the Command deck. The Rogue Trader had despised any kind of mutant ever since his tour through the Hive World of Gorth, the entire planet was infested with them and it was Beskis and his regiment at the time job to cleanse the planet.
"Like one Regiment could purge that much filth." Beskis thought as thee memory of that tour came back. He rubbed his left arm, the stub of his human body still arched at the thought. The cybernetic arm he had now was a far better than the bare built one he had been given by the Guard. This one was built by the Tech Priest that had signed on with him Explorator, Tesc Rogon. At the sound of the door to the Command deck open Beskis turned back to see the his Xeno guest enter.
"What do you need Aull'el?" Beskis said as the Tau Ethereal walked in to the Command deck. He had always had an interest in Xenos, he would never trust one but he was far from killing them all like most of the Imperium. The reason for this particular Xeno was that the Imperium was trying out something new, diplomacy. Oh sure they would kill all of them after the Imperium had what it wanted every human on the ship knew this. But what the Xenos had warranted such abnormal behavior. The Tau had found an interact STC, once they found out that the technology was human in origin they had what humans they had contact the Imperium most likely to try to improve relations with them. Beskis was in the area and had done business with the Tau, he acted an intermediary and with the help of Rogon he made one of the greatest discoveries in the history of the Imperium. The STC held the blueprints to a new set of interstellar propulsion that didn't use the warp. The shockwaves sent through the Imperium by this would change the course of history. At first the masters of the Imperium wished to simple send the full military might of Mankind to acquire this colossal find. But Beskis pleaded to do this through him to prevent the loss of untold numbers of men and woman. When this failed he made the point that if the Imperium commits such forces than the Tau would no doubt wonder why and start looking in to the STC fragment. They could destroy the information or worse be able to use it. This got their attention and agreed to do this quietly.
"Greetings to you captain." Aull'el said as he approached the Captain's platform earning him the watchful eye and barrel of Beskis' bodyguard.
"I would stay back, Koith is very protective." Beskis said, the Tau nodded in understanding and back away. The Ethereal looked over the captain's bodyguard surprised to see it an alien, he knew of the bodyguard's kind, it was a Tarellian. A race of humanoid reptilians most often used by the Tau and other alien nations as mercenaries.
"I wished to know if we will be making way to our destination?" The way that the Ethereal spoke was nothing short of commanding, it was not hard to understand why the other Tau felt such loyalty. But Beskis was no weak minded Xeno.
"Quite soon, my Navigator has informed that our course is well and shows little signs of danger." Their destination was a small world far from the Tau's borders. In exchange for the STC the Tau wanted the Imperium's help in setting up a small colony. The colony was supposed to act as a fail-safe in case the wider Tau empire fell. The idea was not that bad, the only problem was that the Imperium would know the location of said colony, Beskis guessed that the Tau thought that this joint operation was the beginning of peaceful relations and didn't think that the Imperium would be the cause of that fall of their empire. The distance from the wider Tau empire was why the Imperium was needed, they would pull a new class of Tau colony ship like a tug boat through the Warp. The colony ship was a new design from the Earth Caste, holding over ten million Tau from each of the Five Castes held in cryostasis and a viable population of Kroot and Vispid. As well as all the resources to build a self-sufficient colony.
"Good, I will inform the Air caste." The Tau said as it left the Command deck.
"They sure are eager to get this mission moving." Koith grumbled.
"Yes… the blueberries are nothing if not enthusiastic xenos." Beskis said as he swiveled around in his chair out of boredom.
"Blueberries sir?"
"Oh, a Terran fruit, small round berries." Beskis ran a hand through his blond hair, he kept it nice and tightly combed back like his father had taught him. "The heads of the Tau remind me of them. They are very rare, only found in the markets of Holy Terra or in the hands of nobility… I have not journeyed to holy Terra in many years, perhaps after this mission makes me an Imperial Saint I might as well." Beskis smiled at the thought of being made a living Saint for braking the shackles of Warp travel. "Dubul! How is our supply stocks looking?" Beskis asked one of his crew.
"Stocks are a little under your preferred minimum but not near a danger sir."
"It's fine, we'll refill our stocks from the Tau once we are free to leave their service. Koith come, we're going to check on our other guest. Gesgina, you have the bridge." Beskis said as he climbed down the stair to the Captain's Platform to the lower floor of the Command Deck with his Xeno bodyguard right behind him. When Beskis opened the door out of the Command Deck he found two human men standing in front of him.
"Well we just coming to get you." The man on the right said, his voice completely monotone and flat. This was expected, the man was a Vindicare Assassin, his black body suit wrapped around his entire body covering every sign of flesh, his spy mask half black half white and two red eyes that were always completely intimidating in a cold uncaring way. The other man next to the assassin was a Astropath. Thankfully the Psyker held some human decency and kept his empty eyes covered.
"Yes I was about to tell the Inquisitor that that we were about to make the jump through the Warp." There was a slight groan that came from the Astropath. "Something wrong mutant?"
"You can't even begin to understand my dislike of Warp Travel. I and other Psykers look forward to the day it will no longer be needed more than any."
"Well even I could understand why, is the Inquisitor still in his room?" Inquisitor Cal Faren, he was the Inquisitor from the Ordo Xenos to watch over Beskis and his crew during this mission. Although Beskis knew that reasons behind this were understandable he thought it unnecessary, what awaited each and every member of his crew should they succeed would be riches and fame throughout the Imperium. Why would anyone turn traitor to the Xenos when they had that to look forward to?
"Yes, he is with Curbal, they are praying to the God-Emperor for purity on victory on this mission." The assassin answered.
"Very well, Koith you will need to stay here." Beskis bodyguard made a disapproving sound that only a reptile could make. "I know how you feel but the Inquisitor already is rather displeased with me for having you around, and he's even more whipped up by Curbal." Koith backed down then bowed to his master and returned to the Command deck. "You two prepare for the jump while I talk to the Inquisitor." The two nodded and moved on their way down the hall. After a quick sigh and a small prayer to the Emperor for patience Beskis made his way to the Inquisitor's chambers. He braced himself just before opening the door.
"… walk upon this path and give us the strength to shun the false paths given to us by the Xenos. We follow yours and we follow it with pride and zeal. We know that yours is a path of pain and despair but we know it is the only one of salvation and hope of order in this galaxy!" The priest of the Imperial Creed preached over the kneeing Inquisitor. The Inquisitor stood up and turned to Beskis. The man stood well over six feet tall and his imposing figure was only added by his armor, it was sleek and well made, no doubt made by a master craftsmen of a Forge World.
"Trader…" The way he always said Trader had made Beskis feel like he wanted to actually say Traitor. This was a man with but one and only goal for his life, to kill each and every Xenos he came across. And since Beskis was a bit on the lenient side of Xenos or as lenient as an Imperial could be, this made the two's relationship quite hard indeed. "… What news have you for me?"
"We are about to make the jump to warp space, the Navigator tells of good conditions. We should arrive on the time line we planned out."
"Good, the sooner we complete this mission and retrieve the STC the better."
"Inquisitor Faren? Why don't we simply launch a crusade against this filth that hold what belongs to humanity." The priest Curbal demanded. Beskis had expected the Inquisitor to give back a stare that would cause the priest to soil his robes, but nothing he just looked backed at Beskis like he was waiting for the answer. It was a painfully clear that this Inquisitor was a pious man and not one to question a priest even though Beskis thought that was part of the Inquisition's jobs.
"Not only would a crusade be a costly endeavor but it would also give the Xenos reason to look closer at the STC fragment, doing so they could ruin the information or at the very worse copy it and use it as their own. That information as you said belongs to humanity and so we must make sure that the Xenos think it is nothing more than a cultural artifact as they think now. We are not bending to the Xenos' will but tricking them." Beskis could see the priest calm slightly at this, he must like the idea of deceiving Xenos. "You two best prepare for the jump." Beskis said before bowing to the Inquisitor and then leaving. Beskis sighed, he did not like that man and even worse the other.
"I see you have finished your meeting with the Inquisitor?" A unmistakable artificial yet still somewhat feminine voice came from beside Beskis almost scaring him if he wasn't so used to it.
"Tesc, it is not polite to do what you just did." The Tech Priest made something akin to a laugh but that was not the right word for it. Tesc Rogon was a very different Tech Priest, even among the outcast and oddballs that made up the Explorators. The most obvious difference in Tesc was that much of her body was still organic. Both legs up to the knee, her right arm, and several internal augments were the only replacements, she still and the classic mechanical tendrils known as Mechadendrites. Other than those her body remained true to the human form, he was told this was because of the implants called Electoo, circuit like tattoos that can produce massive amounts of Bio-electrical energy. She had received these implants before she had reach the rank of Magos. Though all of this was made irrelevant by the heavy red robes of the Cult Mechanicus that concealed her body.
"I take it the meeting went that well?" That was the other thing, she somehow retained some form of human humor. It was dry and not always there but it was still a the very least there. This was also the surface of a much more open mind than other Tech Priests, very much like his own.
"It went better than I had thought it would. How is the ship's sprit, anything I need to do before we make our jump?"
"The machine spirt understands its role as a guide for the Xeno ship, it is not pleased but it looks to the day when it can travel the stars in truth rather than use the warp."
"Glad it feels the same as I do, I have to say Rogon, it has been a true pleasure traveling with you all these years, but I think we both know that once we give the STC to the Imperium our days here on this ship will be numbered. I will most likely be given a whole star system as payment while you might be the next Fabricator-General."
"Unlikely, I have better odds to be made Fabricator Locum of Mars so that I may be groomed to be the next Fabricator-General."
"That's not the point, anyways… I do hope that in the years to come even though we will be far apart our relationship will not falter and will remain as strong as the Emperor's will." Beskis said holding out his hand.
"Agreed." The Magos said simply as she clasped the Rouge Trader's hand.
"Attention all personnel, jump to Warp Space will be made in five minutes, report to your stations at once." The announcement came over the ships Vox comm.
"I should return to the engine chamber." Tesc said pulling away once she noticed that her hand was still touching the captain's.
"No, come with me to the bridge, this is after going to be one of our last missions."
"Very well, I shall accompany you."
Shepard looked out on to the vastness of space. It always seemed so cold and uncaring but perhaps that was because she knew what was out there, waiting for its time to come and destroy all the happiness that was in this galaxy. She had stopped this before and she would do it again.
"Commander, the Illusive Man will see you now." Miranda said informing Shepard that the connection had been made. She had just finished her mission for Cerberus on Freedom's Progress and was now sitting on a Cerberus station waiting for what the Illusive Man had to say, not that she cared much about his opinion.
"Alright let's get this over with." Shepard said as she got up and began walking to the holopad. The normal light overflowed her and she soon saw the Illusive man in his chair. Right now she was wondering if this was all staged to give this man more mystery to him or if he really did work like this.
"Shepard, Good work on Freedom's Progress." The Illusive Man said before taking a drag from his cigarette. Shepard still had get used to those eyes, everything else said causal business guy you could either have a chat about classic literature or just have beer with but those eyes said something else. "The Quarians forwarded their findings from Veetor's debriefing. No new data, but it's a surprising olive branch, given our history. You and I have different methods, but I can't argue with your results."
"Try playing nice, it really pays off." Shepard said showing a little smugness that she thought might help her point.
"Diplomacy is great when it works, but difficult when everyone already perceives you as a threat."
"And how did that happen I wonder,"
"Jokes aside, what's important here is that you confirmed the Collectors are behind the abductions…" a message pop in front of the Illusive Man after quickly reading it over he closed it out.
"Something wrong?"
"Something has come up that requires your attention but it can wait for the moment. Now I had my suspicions about the Collectors but I needed proof. The Collector are enigmatic at best. They periodically travel to the Terminus Systems, looking to gather seemingly unimportant items or specimens. Usually in exchange for their technology. When their transactions are complete, they disappear as quickly as they arrived, back beyond the unmapped Omega 4 relay."
"What do the Collectors get from these deals, it has to be important or why bother?"
"The Collectors aren't very forthcoming about their motives. Generally they seek out specis with rare genetic mutations or abnormalities. They slavers and merc groups exorbitant sums to obtain these specimens. And then they leave. But they never targeted a single species before. And the previous sample size were in the dozens, not the tens of thousands."
"Your holding something back. How do you know for sure the Reapers are involved?"
"The patterns are there, buried in the data. The Council and the Alliance want to believe the Reaper threat died with Sovereign. You and I know better. I won't wait until the Reapers are on the march. We need to take the fight to them." This at least Shepard agreed with, the Reapers needed to be taken down a notch and then after that they needed to be taken down period.
"This is sounding like a war; in that case I need an army or a rally badass team."
"I've already compiled a list of soldiers, scientists, and mercenaries. You'll get dossiers on the best of them. Finding them and convincing them to work with you could be challenging, but you're a natural leader."
"Keep your list. I want people I trust… the ones who helped me stop that jackass Saren and the Geth."
"That was two years ago, Commander. Most of them have moved on… or their allegiances have changed."
"That doesn't matter they are still my friends and my team… but I see your point. Then at least tell me where they are."
"Very well."
"Where is…" Shepard stopped herself, she didn't want him to know her relationship with Liara just in case he didn't already know, they had kept it a secret from everyone but the Normandy crew. "… Where is Garrus Vakarian?"
"The turain disappeared a few months after you were declared dead. Even we haven't been able to locate him."
"Shit… that leaves out my best friend for this next adventure."
"Wrex?"
"He returned to Tuchanka and hasn't gone off-world in over a year. he's trying to unite the Krogan clans."
"I guess my words finally made it into that thick skull of his."
"Where's Liara T'Soni?" Shepard said trying to sound as formal as she could.
"She's on Illium. My sources say that she's working for the Shadow Broker. If so, she can't be trusted."
"Bullshit, if I can't trust her then… then there's no one I can trust."
"What happened to Kaidan Alenko?"
"He's still with the Alliance. Promoted I believe. His file is surprisingly well-classified."
"Good job golden boy, you do your uniform proud. Tali I already met and it went good, not going to see her soon but that's okay."
"Okay, I get it. They're not available."
'I'll continue to track the Collectors, when they make their next appearance, I'll notify you and your team. But remember Shepard, you're a leader. You'll get who you need."
"I'm still a Spectre. Maybe I can get the Council to help us out." Shepard said more to make the man a little mad more than anything.
"If you think you can convince them, by all means. Just remember… you've been gone a long time. Things have changed."
"You worry about the Collectors I'll make sure my team is ready for the fight." The Illusive Man nodded and took a long drag from his smoke. "Yup, he really does that for real."
"Good. Three things before you go. That message I received alerted me to a massive energy spike in the Collens system. The size of it could only be created by someone like the Collectors or the Reapers. Go there and investigate but be cautious. Second, head to Omega and find Mordin Solus. He's a brilliant Salarian scientist. Our intelligence suggest he may know how to counteract the Collectors' paralyzing seeker swarms."
"That sound like actually good ideas. And what else?"
"I found a pilot I think you might like. I hear he's one of the best. Someone you can trust." At this the hologram disappeared.
"Hey, Commander just like old times, huh." A familiar voice said from behind that almost brought Shepard to tears.
Beskis struggled to get to his feet. Something had gone wrong, very wrong. One moment they were traveling through the Warp and the next the ship was engulfed by a shining light, a light so bright that he could swear that he was staring at the holy beacon of the Emperor. Then the next thing Beskis knew they were back in realspace. The Traveler's Luck was now completely in ruins, if he had to go by the damage the Command Deck then the rest of the ship was almost beyond repairs. It was only by the Emperor's grace that the air remained in the ship and had not been sucked out in to the void. "Dubul! Status report!" there was no answer. "Damn, must be dead or hopefully hasn't awoken yet. If you can hear me then respond!" There was a growl behind the Captain's chair. "Koith, good to see you made it through." Beskis said as he helped the Xeno up.
"Didn't die on Rorok 4 won't die now."
"One of these day you're going to tell me what happened in that tavern. Rogon! I know you survived!" there was a blast of ruble and the Tech Priest was able to pull herself out from there.
"Good to know you don't underestimate me." Tesc said as she climbed over the ruins of the ship.
"I need you to talk to the ship and she what kind of damage we have. I won't let my ship suffer like this for too long and I need to start going over what kind of repairs I need to make." Rogon quickly connected to the nearest import plug that was working.
"First the ship thanks you for your concern but… it is no longer going to be able to a worth craft. Its engines are inoperable and at the current drift we are on the ship will be caught in the system's sun in four days' time."
"Emperor damn it!" Beskis calmed himself down, he knew that a clouded mind was no good. "What about the crew?"
"First officer Elena Gesgina is the only one of the command crew currently alive." Rogon pointed over to the woman in the cockpit under the Captain's platform.
"Koith, attend to the First officer." The Xeno nodded and quickly moved to carry out his orders. "What about the rest of the crew."
"The ship is telling me that we have suffered a ninety three percent crew drop."
"Ninety Three…" Beskis fell to his knees. "My crew… my crew. They trusted me with their lives and I failed them." Beskis knew that many leaders of the Imperium could never understand the feeling of loss that he felt right now. Either they simply didn't not care for one reason or another or they just saw them as another number. But Beskis was different, he had taken the time to learn most of his crew, he made regular rounds through the crew's quarters and had been to every part of the ship at least once.
"Karet… they have died. You losing your nerve will not help them or us." Tesc said trying to sound empathetic despite having lost most of that feeling, but not all of it. These word rang true, if their sacrifice could bring the Imperium closer to victory then it made it made their death not seem so pointless.
"Alright… thank you. What of the Inquisitor?"
"The Inquisitor and the man he was with have died."
"Damn, without him the Imperium might call us traitors for being in contact with Xeno's for too long, my Warrant of Trade only goes so far. What of his team?"
"The remaining members are still alive, the Vindicare Assassin, the Astropath, and his Apprentice."
"Good… if the Astropath is alive we can send out a message, and if the apprentice is alive then he might be able to speak on our behalf. With his team's help the Imperium might look past his death and our Xeno contact. But first we need to get to them."
"I must remind you that we have four days, eight hours and thirty two minutes until we are caught in the gravity of the system's star."
"Yes, thank you. Are any of the hangers still operable?"
"Hanger four and two are still in working order."
"Good plot a course through the ship that will take us to the Inquisitor's team and then to Hanger four. Is the Vox comm still working?"
"It speaks to some but not all." At that moment First officer Gesgina awoke and screamed at the sight of Koith standing over her. "It would seem your Xeno has frightened the girl."
"First Officer! Control yourself!" Beskis backed like a commissar.
"Yes sir!" Gesgina finally noticed the state of the ship. "Sir? What happened?"
"That is not important right now, Koith you heard everything correct?"
"Yes sir."
"Tell the First Officer everything and have her relay the information through the Vox comm, Rogon, how did the Xeno ship far?"
"As much as I despise it but the Traveler's Luck appears to have taken the brunt of the damage. The Xeno ship only has surface damage." The look on Beskis' face turned to one of pure hate.
"Are you telling me that the Xeno ship is unharmed while mine is a burnt wrack! I have always lived giving Xenos the benefit of doubt but this! My crew lay died and they sleep like nothing happen!"
"Sir." Koith said carefully. "We should rejoice, now we have a means of escape." Beskis face still held anger but the words of his bodyguard soothed his mind.
"Very well… Rogon. Now is the time you show that Axe you carry is not just for show. We have digging to doing."
Shepard was awe struck. What was before her was unimaginable. She was right behind the cockpit of the Normandy SR2, a ship that dwarfed the last Normandy, it still had the stealth drive but now the ship was far larger and more powerful. Six broadside GUARDIAN lasers for close combat and Javelin Disruptor Torpedoes for long range was the firepower. And the two whole decks dedicated to crew, Shepard was already planning on big crew dinners in that mess hall. But other than that it was like a bigger version of the original. But what was in front of the Normandy made it look like a ant.
"Umm commander?"
"Yeah Joker?"
"You're seeing this too right?"
"Yeah."
"Good then we're both having the same hallucination."
"Neither you nor Commander Shepard are currently having a hallucination." The ship's new AI or EDI as the crew had started call it said as it's avatar appeared next to Joker.
"Well how else you…"
"Sorry Joker, we have to come back to reality." Shepard said as EDI's words grounded her back in to said reality. "EDI, just what are we looking at?" they had traveled two days from the Cerberus station to the Collens system to find the biggest ship in history. It was easily twice the size of Sovereign.
"It appears to be a spacecraft, though from my scans I can tell it has sustained massive amounts of damage, it is currently nonfunctioning."
"How could that! Get that damaged, you can't expect me to believe that it lost in a fight." Joker said still in shock while Shepard had calmed down a bit.
"I do not have the information on the reason for the damage but I can detect a destress signal coming from what appears to be the command bridge."
"You mean there might be people in there?!"
"No more than likely it was activated long ago and has been drifting through space for years only to be noticed now. The creation of a ship that size could never be kept secret."
"In any case we should investigate. Anything we could learn from it would help in our mission. EDI tell Mirada and Jacob to suit up and meet me in the Hanger." Shepard said as she began walking to the elevator.
"Wait Commander." The AI said. Shepard turned back. "I should tell you that there is a message coming in with the signal. And might be able to translate it."
"How is that possible? You said that the ship can't have been built in this time. How could we translate a single message from a language from who know how long ago."
"I am unsure but the message appears to be made up of a language built from various human dialects. I detect part of English, French, Chinese, Arabic, and many more."
"That is just… I can't come up with a response."
"I should be able to decipher the message by the time you reach the ship."
"You do that EDI, I… I need to stop thinking about this before my head explodes." Shepard walked back to the armory and got in to her gear, her mind filled with jumbled thoughts and confusion. Once she was in the elevator and as the floor moved to lower her all she could think was wow. A ship that size and the people who built it had a similar language. It should be impossible, and yet she died and her she was. When she first awoke she had pulled on her bright red hair a bit to see if she was dreaming or something. As the door opened she saw Miranda and Jacob getting ready. Jacob she was cool with, the dark skinned man was a former Alliance soldier and only left because of all the red tape. She understood that completely. The other, Miranda. She was unsure of, the woman had at first distracted Shepard with that absolutely perfect body and face, and her hair was just as perfect. Before Shepard met Liara she always had a thing for brunettes and hated blonds ever since she had been cheated on by two different blond women. After Freedom's Progress and Shepard had gotten her libido in check she was able to make a much clearer judgment. The woman was strong, she was someone that would not back down from something she knew was right. The problem was that she thought Cerberus was right, and to do that you need to grow a little cold.
"Commander!" Jacob said as he walked over to Shepard. "Is the ship really as big as EDI said it was?"
"Yes, I could barely believe it and I saw it with my own eyes."
"Is the ship in working order?" Miranda asked not even showing the slightest bit of shock.
"No, EDI said it was nonfunctioning, it too bad too it would have made the coming war a hell of a lot shorter."
"I hear that; those guns look like they could destroy the Citadel with just a few shots." Jacob said as he climbed in the shuttle.
"Not that we would right?" Shepard said as she and Miranda followed Jacob in.
"Oh of course commander I was just…"
"It's fine Jacob, I'm just messing with you." The door to the shuttle closed and the hanger doors opened to let them leave the safety of the Normandy.
"So Commander, what is our mission?" Jacob asked as the shuttle flew through the void of space.
"We go in and find any information we can while we make our way to the command bridge were a distress beacon is. Hopefully we'll find some lost technology or… well anything."
"Commander." EDI said over their comms.
"Yes EDI?"
"I must warn you that the ship currently is on a collision course with the system's star, I recommend you retrieve what you can before the ship gets caught in its gravity."
"Thank you EDI, have finished translating the message?"
"No I have not… Correction I have now."
"Well what does it say?" Jacob asked.
"Too all men and women under the God-Emperor grace, this is a destress call for immediate assistance. The faithful and the pure shall find us under his glorious guidance."
"Well that certainly is… spiritual." Jacob said clearly not expecting that.
"What kind of space fairing race would believe their leader is some kind of God-Emperor."
"Shepard, there is more to the message." EDI stated.
"And to all Heretics and unholy Xenos that would dare to receive our message, we challenge you to come as well and through fire and steel we shall defeat the threats to Mankind without mercy and fear." There was a silence in the room that was only broken once Shepard spoke.
"Did it just say… Mankind?"
"EDI could you have translated the name of the race to Mankind by mistake?" Jacob asked out of fear of the message.
"I do not make mistakes Operative Taylor." The rest of the ride was in complete silence. The shuttle made it's way to the only open hanger that on was on the same side as the Normandy as a trip around to the other side might have taken an hour. As the shuttle landed the doors opened to let Shepard and the Cerberus operatives on to the metal floor. "Shepard I am detecting life signs nearing your position."
"Are they human?" Shepard had to ask.
"They appear to be yes." EDI said with a small tone of empathy. Just then one of the side doors blew open from an explosion.
"Shepard I think you have company." Joker said over the comms. What came out of the door shocked the humans, a humanoid figure came through and as the dust settled it was clear that it was human or almost clear. They couldn't tell if it was a man or woman from the heavy red robe it wore, its face was also covered but what shocked Shepard and the other tow the most was the metal tentacles coming from the figure's back and massive battle axe it carried.
Tesc Rogon looked over the new humans, she had not seen their faces on the ship. She then noticed their shuttle craft and hypothesized that they must have come from the outside. They were wearing armor and holding weapons that were completely foreign to her.
"Could this be tech heresy or a new STC." Tesc thought but then noticed that the human female with red hair had said something. The language she used raised an alert in Rogon's translator implant, this was the ancient Imperial dialect of English. Rogon changed her speech patterns and hearing to accommodate the humans.
"I asked who are you?" Tesc heard come from the same human.
"I apologize, I was setting my translator so I could understand you and you me." Tesc responded.
"That is… a good reason I guess. But same question who… or what are you?"
"I am Magos Tesc Rogon, I am a Explorator under the command of the Rouge Trader Karet Beskis." Tesc answered.
"So you work for a criminal?" the darker skinned human asked. Most other people would have killed the man on principle for an accusation like that but from the sound of the question and the look on the man's face he was coming from a place of ignorance. So after analyzing what she ahd said she understood the misunderstanding.
"Rouge Traders are not criminals, they are men and woman given the right to travel the stars and work as independent traders among other roles." Tesc explained.
"But given the right by who?" The red haired human asked, Tesc was impressed with the woman's sharp intelligence to pick that out.
"Rogon! You were right, we did need those explosives." Beskis said as he came through the door with a few crewmen behind him. "So now that we got to the hanger we can… who are they?"
"They speak an old Imperial dialect called English, it should be in your translator implant." Beskis nodded and after a bit of hard thinking to get the implant to work he too could understand the new humans.
"Now that we can understand each other, allow me to introduce my self. My name is Karet Giotha Beskis, formerly General Beskis but that was before I was given the Warrant of Trade by the High Lords of Terra." The man bowed but it was clear that it was greeting and not a sign of respect. As he bowed something hit him, a feeling of someone looking over him, as if to guide him from on high. He pushed this away as nothing more than stress.
"I am Commander Shepard of the System's Alliance and a Council Spectre." The red haired woman answered, she was the in charge of the others, Beskis picked up on that easy.
"Never heard of this System's Alliance, Rogon do you have a record of a human empire by that name?"
"No I don't."
"How could not have heard of the System's Alliance, your human." The man in the group said.
"I could say the same to you, but as a Rogue Trader I know that there are human nations that have yet hear of the majesty that is the galaxy spanning Imperium."
"I'm sorry di you just say Galaxy spanning?" the other dark haired woman asked surprised at this information.
"Yes…" it was at this that Beskis began to worry.
"There is no human nation call the Imperium anywhere in the galaxy let alone what you're talking about." Beskis looked the humans over, they weren't lying that was true, he could tell. Something was very wrong. At that moment he felt something, at the back of his mind. It wasn't the corrupting powers of the warp; he had felt that many times in his travels through the blasted realm. This felt like he was in the presence of the Emperor himself. It was now an angelic voice of great command and silky comfort. New information flowed into him but for proof it gave three questions to his mind to ask the new humans.
"What year is it?" Beskis asked earning him a look from Rogon, she was wondering why hadn't she asked that.
"2185."
"You are stating this is the second millennium?" Tesc asked with amazement.
"Have you ever heard of the alien race known as the Eldar?" Beskis asked without missing a beat. Tesc looked back with confusion, they both had dealings with the Eldar and through those dealing knew that their race had lived during this time more than that their empire was the one on top.
"No." Tesc looked back at the human, how was this possible. The Eldar had lived long before humans had even invented flight.
"Last question. Has there ever been any worship of beings that were referred to as the Chaos Gods?" Now Tesc was getting worried, Beskis question at its core was asking was did the Warp itself exist.
"No."
"Karet… what does this mean?" Tesc asked, for the first time in a long time she didn't understand what was happening. Beskis sat down on a nearby crate. His Holy presence in Beskis' mind left him with the answer to that question.
"We have traveled beyond Realspace or the Warp. We have traveled to an entire new reality!" Now Beskis began laughing. "And we brought the Tau!"
Shepard didn't know what to make of this. These people were either very far from home or just crazy. But it all made some form of sense, the Ship, the way they were acting, but mostly the ship.
"Can someone tell me what is going on?" Shepard all but demanded.
"I too require clarification.' The one call Tesc said.
"It is as I said, we are in a another reality, the shining light we saw before we arrived here was the power of the God-Emperor. This is his gift and his final mission for us. In thanks for freeing humanity with the discovery of the STC fragment we have been given a galaxy that knows nothing of Chaos and hold the possibility of peace." The man called Beskis said still smiling and laughing.
"What is he talking about?"
"We had discovered a database holding the blueprints to a new form a propulsion that didn't rely on the Warp."
"And that is a good thing?" Shepard asked knowing to these people she must sound like a moron.
"Yes, Warp travel is inconsistent but more importantly it is very dangerous. The mare idea that there is another and safer way is something that is galaxy changing." Tesc explained. "You said the Omnissiah told you this, how?"
"When his light shinned over us he left all that I would need to know, all I needed was to meet her." Beskis pointed to Shepard. "His holiness also gave me a mission." Beskis walked over to Shepard and saluted her. "Commander Shepard I hereby pelage myself and my men to your cause. It would be an honor to help you in your mission to protect humanity from the vile Reapers." Shepard was dumbfounded, that was the only word she could come up with to explain how she felt.
"Umm… I accept?"
"Karet? Is this true, has the Omnissiah truly sent us here?"
"Yes, that voice could only be his, I know it to be true."
"But what happened to the Traveler's Luck?"
"That was unavoidable, his power was only so strong to protect only the ones he thought capable. That is why he did not save the Inquisitor and his priest, they could never have lived in this reality, they were not men of peace."
"But what of the Tau? Why bring them?"
"They are to share in the gift as well, they found the STC and they wished to give it back to Humanity, he has given them what they wanted, a fail-safe. Now they may colonize a whole new reality, even if our reality is destroyed by the many horrors there they will live here."
"Umm sorry, what's this about colonizing?" Shepard asked.
"Along with us came a colony ship of the race called Tau, it is right behind ours. It should still be functional. It will move out of the way and colonize the nearest habitable planet." Shepard was about to protest but she stopped, the space they were in was unclaimed, they could in fact set up here and no one would know until it was too late to tell them to stop.
"I'm having a hard time believing all this." Shepard said skeptically. All of this was so unbelievable. An entire other reality, and a shitty one at that, she could handle death robot squids from dark space but this was taking things just an inch over the line. And Shepard's line was lightyears farther than everyone else's.
"The Emperor said you would feel this way… here. He imbued his power in this for you." Beskis held out a golden double headed eagle on a small chain. Shepard held out her hand reluctantly. Beskis dropped the medallion in Shepard's hand and instantly Shepard found herself on the balcony of a golden skyscraper overlooking a sprawling city that stretch on far beyond the horizon. Shepard looked down and found her armor replaced with a luxurious gown, something she could only dream of as an orphan on earth.
"Welcome home" Shepard turned to the most gorgeous man she could imagine complete with flowing black hair.
"What did you say?" Shepard asked.
"I said welcome home, this technically is your home world as is mine." The man's voice was something only in really steamy dreams that you never tell your lover.
"This is earth?"
"This is Terra, my reality's earth. I have watch from here humanity grown and prosper. But also fall and suffer. I sent my children so your Terra will never become like mine."
"Why, this a paradise."
"It is a memory, what has become of our shared home is far from this, I dare not show it to you. All you must know that you must not fail as I did. You have the power to bring peace to all of Humanity. All you have to is never lose hope. Oh… also make sure to have Tesc Rogon be a part of the Crucible project, she will bring something to it that will ensure that one day in the future the right choice will be made and the galaxy will be able experience the joy that is the sound of your children's first step." The man smiled at this, it was a smile that could melt any cold heart.
"Wait, you know about…"
"Never give up child, never give up." At this the world fell away and Shepard found herself back in her body.
"Shepard are you okay?" Jacob said as he helped steady her.
"Yeah… they're telling the truth alright."
Author's Notes
Okay, first thoughts? Constructive criticism is appreciated but trolls will be deleted.