Hello Mass Effect fans! This next Tuesday is the day I have awaited for YEARS! I quite literally only purchased a next gen console after having played the original trilogy and found out that the next Mass Effect would be on the new console!

This is just a quick one-shot, introducing who will be my Ryder and whom I hope will be a romance option. Listening to all the things that have already come out about the game, I see no reason why T'Perro wouldn't be an option, but without knowing for sure, I stick with hope. I have read that she has a crush on Drack, but…too bad Drack. Take your quads elsewhere.

Enjoy!

Her first thought as consciousness returned to her was how…empty she felt. Apparently, cryo did very little in making sure that you feel the same when you wake up, but that would be taken care of soon. Her mind, hazy at first, started to make sense of the reality of what was happening. As she lay there, her brain slowly restarting, her memories came back of her final days in the Milky Way. Of the Initiative. Of her brother. Her Father. Her lover. Being awake could only mean a single thing.

Hello Andromeda.

They had made it to Andromeda. That had to be the only explanation of it. If they had never made it, she would have either never woken up, or woken up to find the ship disabled and hanging in the dark spaces between galaxies. If she was waking up slowly, gently, with the ship being quiet and calm, then they had made it to the neighboring galaxy without issue.

A slow whir sounded in her ears, and suddenly, her capsule lurched, making her eyes snap open in surprise. Out of the small viewing port, she was given a view of hundreds, thousands of identical capsules, all with a member of the Milky Way slumbering within in a comfortable cryo-sleep, making the hundreds of years they've been asleep feel like a single night.

The circular apparatus that had retrieved her capsule silently rotated, bringing her vessel to the floor, where she immediately saw the smiling faces of some of the scientists that had obviously been awoken earlier than her to get the Hyperion ready for arrival in Andromeda. She gave them a groggy smile as her capsule was set down and an electronic voice began making notes about her body temperature, organ status, heart rate and other important statistics to her overall health.

Then, suddenly, the seals on the capsule unlocked with a hiss, and the lid slowly released. The first rush of air, although recycled and smelling slightly stale, filled her lungs and she let out a wide laugh. The techs standing over her smiled themselves, not willing to disparage her for the expression of emotion. They had made it to another galaxy! Completely new beginnings, a fresh start, no rumors about a race of death machines coming to wipe them out, no Cerberus terrorists, and no hanar.

She wasn't xenophobic or racist, but she had always been uncomfortable around the floating race of telepathic creatures. She'd spent a long time wondering just why the beings made her so uncomfortable, but to this point, she'd reached no conclusions. At only 22, she didn'…well, technically speaking she was over six hundred years old now, but at 22 when she entered cryo, she hadn't had enough experience to figure out what it was about hanar that made her uncomfortable.

She went to execute the nearly unconscious reflex of sitting up, but as soon as her back rose from the cushioned bed she'd been in for the past 600 years, her stomach locked up and flared with pain. She flopped back down, grunting and wincing at the sudden feeling.

"Calm down there, Ryder. You haven't used those muscles in 600 years; let us help you," The tech said, a gentle smile on her face as she extended a hand downwards towards Ryder. On her other side, a male tech did the same, and she reached up tenderly, a part of her brain waiting for her forearms and biceps to immediately cramp as well.

Lucky her though, as neither thing happened, and she was pulled to a sitting position smoothly within the capsule. "Are we there?" She breathed, looking up at the tech. The women smiled and offered a slight nod.

"Within the week, we'll be gliding amongst the stars of the Heleus Cluster and hopefully settling in to some beautiful new homes."

Lindsey allowed a smile to grace her features, wider and more serene than her grin from a few minutes ago. Their future, at least in the near weeks, was going to be exciting. New worlds, new challenges, new opportunities. Who wouldn't want this?

"Okay, can you get up?" Lindsey took a deep breath, readying herself for the pain she was expecting when she tried to stand.

With a sharp inhale, and helping hands, she rose to her wobbly feet for the first time in six centuries. She laughed as she swayed, finally finding support around the shoulders of the male tech whom had helped her up. "Sorry…" She mumbled to him.

"Trust me, you aren't the worst one," He offered with a smile, his arm curled around her waist. "We woke up one who uh…couldn't control their bladder." As soon as he said it, the woman smacked his shoulder, though as large as he was, it seemed more like a harmless tap than a smack.

"Hey! They've been sleeping for 600 years. Leave them alone. Besides, we won't be ferrying Ryder to the infirmary."

Lindsey looked up in surprise. "What? Am I walking there myself?" She wasn't really…opposed to that, but she wasn't entirely confident in her body right at this moment. She had fallen nearly twice now, and she hadn't even taken a full step.

The tech shook her head. "Nope. Someone is coming to get you, but I'm not sure who. They should be here soon though…"

As soon as the words left the techs mouth, another voice came out, and it was one that had Lindsey's eyes flicking around. "I will be taking her."

Lindsey finally found the source of the voice, and even after six hundred years, it sent shivers down her spine. Dr. Lexi T'Perro was the ranking medical officer aboard the Hyperion, and as such had been among the first to be scheduled out of cryo. She strode up wearing the form fitting uniform of the medical team, a calm smile on her face.

"Dr. T'Perro, Ryder has checked out all of the prelim tests. If she isn't too tired, then she's ready to go to the infirmary for official clearance." The female tech said, handing the pad she'd been using to the asari.

"She's been asleep for six hundred years; she better not be tired." The doctor muttered, no change in her expression or even the tone of her voice.

The two techs laughed, and Ryder smirked. Dr. T'Perro was known in the Initiative, at least those who she had met, as having a notoriously dry sense of humor.

Ryder watched the doctor run through her results with a slightly gaping look. It had been six centuries, but it felt like just yesterday since the last time they saw each other. She wasn't sure if what she was feeling was a sense of childish obsession or if it was real, but when she and Dr. T'Perro met in the final clearances for the Andromeda Initiative, they began a passionate partnership together. She wasn't even sure if she could say that this was normal in any way; she had been straight up until meeting the asari.

As far as she knew, nobody was aware of their relationship, or whatever it was they were doing together. Still though, they had spent more than a few steamy nights together. When they got a chance to, of course, which during mobilization of the initiative was really difficult. Lindsey had never had a serious relationship beyond a boyfriend in the all to brief few months between dropping out of engineering school and enlisting with the navy. All told, her total relationship experience was maybe six months.

After a few more minutes spent making sure she could walk correctly without help, Lindsey left the cryo chamber with T'Perro, the two walking in silence and at a professional distance between them. If she wasn't so busy feeling out her body again after sleeping for six hundred years, Lindsey would have been staring foolishly at the beautiful asari. As it was though, every step revealed something new, old feelings just coming back to her and feeling like new sensations.

Suddenly, she realized that she was alone in walking. She spun around, finding that Dr. T'Perro had stopped and was standing at a colossal window, displaying the blackness of space, her hands clasped in front of her. Lindsey swallowed and walked up to the asari, her head tilted to try and look into the doctor's face. "Lexi?"

"Look out, Lindsey," The doctor nodded her head at the window as she spoke. Ryder stood next to the asari and followed her gaze. The Hyperion slid silently through space, passing relatively close to a large nebula, bright purples and blues created by gas shining through the sheer emptiness of the universe. "We are among the first of the Milky Way to ever see that nebula. Can you imagine it? Everything we see from now on will be brand new. Our old home was at least mostly explored, and many things were nearly old hat there. Now..."

Lindsey smiled as she picked up on the doctor's thoughts. "We are the pioneers. Our exploration will pave the road. Everything from now is unknown."

She reached, her heart pounding in her chest, for the doctors hand and took it in her own, the soft skin feeling amazing against her palm. To her delight, Dr. T'Perro squeezed gently on her hand, bring her exotic face around to look Lindsey in the eyes. "I'm glad that you and I ended up on the same Ark, Lindsey. I know you're young, even by human standards, but it makes me feel better to have you here beside me as we go into the unknown."

Emboldened by the asari's words, Lindsey stepped closer and wrapped her free hand around her waist, pulling the beautiful blue being against her. She leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss against Lexi's lips. "I don't know what to expect, Lexi. I have no idea what is waiting for us, and I don't know how our responsibilities are going to affect us," She leaned in and kissed the doctor again. "But I am going to try my best to make sure that we can be together."

In a way, she didn't even believe herself when she said that. Who knew what would happen? As far as she knew, they would arrive and instantly get mixed up in some catastrophe that would put them all in danger. They were heading for golden worlds. What happens if those golden worlds are wastelands? She had no idea if she and Lexi could remain together in any sense at all but…it made her feel better to say it. They said that if you say something enough, you start to believe it. She would say that she and Lexi will be together all day if she needs to. She wanted to believe that even in a new galaxy, love was something she could have.

Lexi allowed a brief smile and a short laugh. "I can see your age, Lindsey. That sentiment is…adorable, but we both know that things cannot possibly go that smoothly…" Ryder's face fell at the idea, the words easily driving a hole in her stomach. The asari's hands rose to Lindsey's cheeks, cupping them and bringing Ryder's forehead to rest against her own. "That does not mean that I am not willing to risk it. The risks are not shared by you or I alone, Lindsey. We do not carry the entire burden of the Andromeda Initiative. There are others who bear it with us. I have no doubt that many will be doing their best to be happy. We are not alone."

Lindsey took a deep breathe, calming herself. Lexi was right. It wasn't all on her shoulders to be the future of the Milky Way races. In a way, she had always taken it as her responsibility to be the one with the even head and good decisions. Her brother and father had often fought with each other; they were both very proud, and Scott had often found issue with their father. Being an N7 operative, he had been out and about most of their childhood. The rare times that he was home, he and Scott butted heads over things. She did her best to play peacemaker in those situations, and it had given her a mindset of needing to be the cool head among hot minds.

Her lips were claimed by Lexi again, and the kiss lasted a bit longer this time. "I want us to work, Lindsey. We have such freedom in this new galaxy to forge our own destiny. I want to forge mine with you."

Lindsey nodded, taking a deep breathe. "Me too, Lexi. Let's just hope that these Golden Worlds pan out like they're supposed to." The two of them took a few more private moments with each other before heading for the infirmary to finish Lindsey's checkups.

I know everyone is as excited as I am for this next week to come! I hope you enjoyed this, and I will see you in the future!

AN: I have to admit that when I edited this, I used the name Shepard instead of Ryder on no less than three separate occasions. Old habits die hard I guess!