A/N: Before the story starts I would like to make clear that this fiction actually may count as a crossover between Mass Effect and Life is Strange (No shit, Sherlock!). But although there will be lots of references towards both games, it is definetly no requirement to know anything about Mass Effect and I also won't spoil anything about the sci-fi game.
I can't help if some joke or reference is lost on you if you don't know ME, but at least I will shortly explain some names or devices from the ME-universe when they make an appearance (marked with '*'; explanation at the end) and if they aren't self-explanatory in the first place.

LiS however is a requirement to know for this fiction. That's why I put this into the LiS fanfic-section. Duh!

I'm absolutely grateful for the picture 'Meanwhile In An Alternate Universe' by Para from Steam. Although technically it doesn't fit into this fic, it still perfectly reflects the same idea as this story does. Check out the original on Steam to get a better resolution than here. :)

Parts of featured content belong to Bioware/EA and Dontnod/Square Enix

published: 3/5/16; 1. edited: 3/10/16; 2. edited: 5/4/16

Mass Effect is Strange
Act 1

"Hope can drown, lost in thunderous sound"
- Reignite by Malukah

Returning Home, Returning Nightmares

"Approaching Shambhala. Disengaging FTL drive core in 10, 9, 8, 7, ..." Flight Lieutenant Dana Ward reported through the ships intercom and loudspeakers as they advanced on their destination.

Commander Caulfield stood directly besides her, though, so she would have heard her even without the ship-wide call. Her arms were crossed, and she looked outside one of the front windows ahead of the ships bow, watching these last seconds of faster-than-light interstellar travel. Usually she loved to watch the outside while FTL, and to simply imagine the incredible speeds they just were moving at.
But regardless of her outer appearance in this moment, in fact she wasn't exactly looking forward to what they had to expect once they would arrive. She rather dreaded it and she barely could keep her body from trembling and gritting her teeth.

"3, 2, 1, ... and we're at sub-light speeds." The helmswoman continued, and the world outside beautifully shifted its colors in the instant as her countdown had finished. Once they moved slower than the light everything outside once more appeared in a way that seemed more logical to the Einsteinian universe.

Max could watch all the high-frequency energy waves such as gamma radiation become invisible and all the stars outside light up again and shine in colors that seemed more natural once again. Stars, which together formed constellations, she hadn't been seeing since eternities.
She wasn't able to make out any planet yet, they where still much too far away. But what she could recognize was one certain spot in the far distance ahead of them. A spot, the Commander knew very well the planet they were targeting was revolving around in its endless cosmic ballet. And that specific bright spot immediately catched her eye: It was the star Shambhala. Her Sun*.
She could identify it with ease by its warm and bright color; although its difference to Earth's Sun was merely nuances, and they still were in outer space.
She couldn't remember how many hours and days, she had lain in green meadows gazing above her in the blue sky and watching the clouds pass by. All the while this very sun in front of her had kept her warm in those early days of her childhood. But what she still could remember was who had accompanied her in doing so...
Her heart ached at the thought, but made her forget her nervousness for the glimpse of a second.

"At last!" The sudden voice of her first officer, who had approached from behind her, snapped her back into the present.

Staff Lieutenant Chase placed herself on the opposite side of the pilot's seat. "I can't wait to finally get off of this tin can!" She added, looking stunning as usual: She already wore her light armor that pronounced her form in all the right places and let her look fierce and respectable all at the same time. She had decorated her suit only slightly with tiny red stripes here and there, but still maintained the generic dark gray of the typical Alliance armory.
With her helmet clamped underneath her arm Victoria's attention wandered away from the bow windows over to her Commander and catched Max's gaze. "Maybe you should prepare yourself, too, Commander. We don't know what expects us, when we arrive, but I'm pretty sure you don't want to get greeted in this outfit." She looked down at Max, who was still in the same attire as most time of their trip.

She wore a dark hoodie above her usual uniform. It wasn't as fitting for a Commander's or Captain's rank, but it sure had been comfy during the last week in space; The only thing she wouldn't get used to was the broad and distinctive red and white stripe, that was printed all over the total length of her right sleeve to mark her as the unit's commander.
And although she had to agree with her -the Blackwell* indeed had become uncomfortably small during the last ten days or so- she wasn't by far as eager as her XO to leave the ship. At least not for the kind of shore leave, that could be awaiting them.

But before Max could form any response, Lieutenant Ward said: "We will arrive in approximately 20 minutes. There's still plenty of time for you to put on your equipment until then, Commander. I will report, if any new intel on our target comes in." She gave Max a comforting smile before her attention returned to the Blackwell's instrumentation.

The gesture -and especially the specified time period- made Max relax a little again. A little more time of blissful ignorance. She nodded slightly, although probably nobody even saw it, turned around and headed towards the armory to switch her attire.

She felt like before her very first mission once again. Although she could have put on her medium weight armor even in her sleep, as often as she had done it by now, it was still harder than usual. The queasy feeling in her stomach wouldn't seize and she realized her hands were trembling as she put her gloves on. She tried to ball them into fists in order to regain control over her muscles, but all she realized instead was how weak her fingers felt in doing so.

She sat down on a bench in the middle of the otherwise empty armory, propping herself up with her elbows on her knees, and tried to calm her and her thoughts again.

What could she possibly expect once they finally arrived? It wouldn't be the same as in the past of course. She had dispersed that wish a long time ago already. Actually she rather feared exactly that: That everything would be the exact same as it had been when she had left. Ever since she first had learned about the distress signal from her former home planet her nightmares had returned. She didn't know if she could stand the pain of hearing the screams and seeing the burning ruins once again; relive the catastrophe after such long time. The catastrophe that had ended her childhood and destroyed the one place she once had called her home.

Only that now she would have to live through it from a different perspective: Now she was the one, who would come days and possibly weeks to late and let the citizens and families, parents and children of her home undergo the exact same horrors. She wouldn't be able to live through this. Not again. So it was all the more terrible that she had to sit aboard this dreadfully slow vessel, all the while Arcadia would be ravaged and pillaged again!

What made it even worse was the unbearable uncertainty of what really was going on in Arcadia. The mysterious cry for help from two weeks ago had suddenly stopped after only a few hours of transmitting. The silence afterwards and until now was terrifying. Max's greatest fear was, that maybe there wasn't an Arcadia left to save.

Her mind started spinning so she took a deep breath and tried to calm her and her breathing just as she had learned it in her training. Slowly breathe in... and out. And just imagine it is simply another mission. You had lots of them by now anywhere around the galaxy. Only that this particular mission wasn't 'anywhere' in the galaxy.

Once she could think straight again, she realized that her gearing up still wasn't finished yet: She picked up her Mantis sniper rifle, unfolded it and took a peek through her scope in order to check it. The weight in her hands together with the magnifying glass made her calm down immediately. As strange as it may sound, but the whole world seemed to be much more at a distance while aiming through her scope. She felt an itch in her index and she would have pulled the trigger and taken the shot just for fun, if it wouldn't endanger the entire ship and its crew in doing so.

If it had been for her, she would only take the rifle with her. Her backup was only a safety measure, anyways, and Max hated it, when she had to use it. She would only make use of her pistol in extremely dangerous situations and close combat occasions, when the worst case scenario happened and she lost the overview of battle - literally as well as figuratively. But if everything would be going as planned, she wouldn't even get into one of those circumstances in the first place.
But with a sigh she also grabbed her Carnifex hand canon and clipped it fix at the proper place on her hip, leaving her with only one item left to complete her equipment.

She took her helmet in both palms and studied it for a few seconds. The small Alliance* emblem on it always had filled her with pride. She was grateful to be given a chance to serve and protect humanity in its entirety against any threat; aliens or otherwise.
But when her gaze wandered off to the red stripe that also covered the sleeve of her armor, her pride and determination once again trembled. Overshadowed by fear and self-doubt. My very first commando. No backup, no double bottom this time, and it already counts everything. I didn't deserve this. I'm not ready for it.

The idea about just quitting right then and there crossed her mind. Victoria, her second-in-command, would be eager to take over the lead, and Max was also sure that her first officer would do a splendid job. Much better than herself.
But she couldn't do that to her other comrades. What would they think? Gunnery Chief Graham would be disappointed. Doctor Marsh would be worried about her and her sudden anxiety: Their leading Commander backing off at the mere possibility of a battle? Maybe there was nothing to worry about after all? Just another routine mission and maybe even without a single bullet being shot.

Suddenly the speakers blurted with Dana's voice, startling Max in her inner fight against her insecurities: "Approaching the destination." The Commanders heart skipped for a second as she expected the worst in what Miss Ward would report right about now. "We have green light for landing, no hostile activity on LZ. I repeat: No hostile activity. All crew, remain on your positions and brace yourself for atmospheric entry and standard landing maneuver. Touchdown in T minus 6 minutes." Her voice showed obvious signs of relief, or at least it was what Max felt by hearing this news.

But then confusion entered her mind. Wait, no hostiles? No fighting? Could it be that they indeed already were too late? That the fighting already had seized and everything was lost? But then, why were they given permission to land? Maybe the situation on Arcadia wasn't that bad after all?

There was only one way to find out. Max shouldered her rifle, which had obviously, but thankfully, become useless for now, and headed back towards the CIC once again.

"What's our new status?" Max asked concerned as she came within hearing range of the cockpit again, after passing through the corridors and the CIC, that were filled with people, who still prepared for descend and landing. Curiosity about the obviously changed situation had replaced her previous anxiety and now she wanted to know what's going on. Her comrades Dana and Victoria had both remained in their same places during the last few minutes. Only Navigator Watson had joined them in the meantime of the Commander's absence, in order to assist the helmswoman in the landing process.

And the latter also answered to the request: "Honestly? We don't know more than you, Commander." She looked up from her instruments for a few seconds to take a glance at Max with a little worried and rather unhelpful expression. "We only know that everything seems to be in order. Just as if nothing was wrong."

"We'll know more once we have landed." Was Victoria's remark from the other side of the room. "These Arcadians seriously owe us some answers". She gritted her teeth in anger at the second phrase.

"Indeed." Dana added with a sigh while focusing on her controls. "This landing could get a little shaky, though. We've got some turbulences here. Better hold fast on something, 'cause here we go." She adjusted the cap on her head and shifted its brim peak backwards as the others followed her advice and searched for something to get a handle on. They all knew this procedure and landing the Blackwell was always a tough ride.

Just as Juliet had noted there wasn't really anything more to say until they knew more, so Max had to settle with this little info and instead of trying to investigate any further she once again tried to focus on the scenery before her:

In the meanwhile the planet they were targeting had grown so large she couldn't grasp it in its entirety anymore. They were already so close she wasn't even able to recognize it as a globe any longer while first details, like the cloud formations below them, became visible.

As the Blackwell descended down towards the planet all the stars, that where previously staring down on them faded away one after the other and the blackness of the endless void, that is space, slowly gave away to an initially dark blue. A literal sky blue that grew brighter and stronger every second as they came closer to the surface and the atmosphere got thicker.

The color let Max's heart jump in her chest and filled her with a confidence she had not felt in a long time. It was a beautiful color and always reminded her of her childhood. Of happier times.
It was sunny outside. A peaceful midday in Arcadia City as it seemed and Shambala stood high up in the sky. She enjoyed these rays of sunlight that shone through the windows, made her relax and filled her with warmth and reassurance once more as she savored every second of this moment.

But then the spaceship dove through the first and uppermost layers of clouds, which covered the planet tightly. The warmth of the sunlight was gone immediately and the bright and crystal-clear blue was replaced by an even darkening and thick gray - it was raining cats and dogs down on Arcadia.
Max could almost have vomited at the sudden change of mood as she was uncomfortably pulled back into reality again.
Her anxiety returned while the heavy fog outside grew ever so dimmer the lower they got. She didn't know if she was actually trembling or if it was only the rumble and the previously announced turbulences of the thunderstorm outside that shook the entire ship. She was glad, though, that nobody else could have noticed her shivering this way.
It was too late to back out now.

First raindrops started to splash against the ships hull and the windows and there even was a lightning bolt in the far distance behind the more and more thickening clouds, which had become deeply dark by now. Max could almost even hear the thunder, which followed the lightning. But she also could have imagined it in the rumble that went through the Blackwell's bow from her engines, which were going full throttle now, to keep the ship steady and slow it down at the same time. The ship had to counteract Arcadia's gravity now, which pulled it downward, threatening to crash it into the surface. Altogether with its crew.

The ship made another, even heavier jolt this time and Max could barely keep herself from throwing up at the sensation. She could imagine the paleness on her face and took a side glance at Victoria, who -of course- kept perfect posture, although she as well had to hold fast on a grip at the ceiling of the cockpit.

Max knew she could trust Dana as her pilot. The whole crew had accomplished multiple missions together, even though Max got assigned to them only recently, but Dana surely could handle the Blackwell. The ship itself never had been a disappointment either. It may have been old, but the vessel had held together so far. Not only itself. It also united its crew and comrades aboard. And Max was proud to be commissioned upon such a veteran ship, even though it had been unexpected. And it could become a long and dreadful process if she wanted to gain its crew's loyalty, especially since Max would never be able to understand why anybody would follow her lead at all.

But there was no time for such thought now and Max hastily tried to dismiss it from her mind. The Blackwell finally had broken through the mist revealing the rainy and grey landscape ahead of them:

The clouds hung deep and heavy above the surface so they could already distinguish the vast coniferous forests of Arcadia at this point. Although the peaks of some of the trees got bended back and forth painfully or actually already had gotten cut half by the raging storm and the ownpour below and above them. As they came closer and closer to their destination the undisturbed expanses of forest were at first only interrupted by smaller patches of lakes and a clearing here and there.
After a few seconds, however, first signs of the presence of humans and civilization came in sight as the Blackwell flew across the dozens of mines, which had left their scars in nature and the today muddy soil at the outskirts of Arcadia City over the years.
They had been the foundation of the colony's economy and small wealth, but today they seemed mostly abandoned. Max couldn't spot any heavy machine, drill or enormous bucket-wheel excavator actually working or digging up any of the precious platinum in the short seconds they stayed within eyesight.

But ultimately Dana piloted the ship in low flight over the last knoll of forested hills when the skyline of Arcadia City and its multible refinery towers and factories finally emerged from the rainy gray background in front of them. Max heart skipped once more at the sight as she expected black smoke columns rising from the city towards the sky at any moment now.
But nothing happened. Except of the rainstorm the town seemed rather peaceful. She could even spot some of the city's lights shine through shower between them and the closing ship.

When Max took a first glance at her former home after almost fifteen years all of the sudden a bright white flash emblazed the outside and encased the ship's entire hull. Accompanied by an ear-deafening sound of an explosion, that rumbled through the Blackwell and her cockpit.

"Woah!" Dana gave voice to the shock every one of them, especially Max in her condition, experienced at the noise. But other than the others the helmswoman kept her trademark coolness and lightheartedness and could explain what just had happened. "Appears we just got struck by another lightning. Guess I forgot to warn you about that could happen before I deployed our landing gear." she chuckled amusedly before she added hastily: "No worries, though. Everything's alright."

In secret Max's heart had stopped there for a second again, but she could pull herself together. In fact she could have thought about this fact by herself. Of course the Blackwell would be full with static energy after days of FTL travel. But usually the electric discharge only happened once the ship actually made close contact with the surface. But in this downpour altogether with the lightning-storm out there things appeared to be a little more tense than usual.

"I have visual on the LZ" Dana reported again more serious now. "Closing in now."

Indeed, Max could spot the guiding lights of Arcadia City's spaceport, which became clearly visible below them now. But right now there weren't any other spaceship landed in this harbor. Although, Arcadia never had been known for its busy traffic, anyways, so this wasn't too concerning for this small spaceport.

The pilot commented the process again with her countdown: "And 3, 2, 1, ..."

They experienced one final, but this time much weaker bump when the Blackwell ultimately made ground contact. Electric sparks appeared once more releasing the rest of the energy within the ships hull as the internal systems shut down and they could feel the switch from artificial to Arcadia's actual gravity.

"... Touchdown." Dana confirmed almost with a wisper as the engines slowly silenced out.

Although technically this had been a routine landing everyone in the cockpit quietly breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed a little after this rollercoaster of a ride.

Dana brought her cap in its initial position so its brim threw a slight shadow on her eyes once again. She took an upwards glance to her right in order to face her Commander. And with an encouraging, but at the same time somehow worried and bitter, little smile she said:
"Welcome home, Max."

References + explanations:

*Shambhala/Arcadia: I describe the whole setting plus a short background info about this location, where this fic takes place, in my 'codex entries' story. Check it out, if you wanna know more about this place. The entire Story of MEiS will take place here, so it is kinda important throughout this story. (This is no ME reference)

*SSV Blackwell: Same as with Arcadia. There's a rather detailed description and background story for the Blackwell spaceship in the 'Codex entries'. (Also no real ME reference)

*Alliance: "The 'Systems Alliance' is the representative body of Earth and all human colonies...[bla]" (ME-wiki); long story short: The united humanity. *insert wishful thinking here

Note that the following story is heavily intertwined with with my other stories 'Codex entries' and 'Common Memories'. They effectively together tell the whole, greater story, but still can be read separately and even without one another. But I can't recomend any specific order in which they should be read.

I also want to say that actually the story of MEiS is in fact already complete. But only in my head. One might think this would make it easier to write it down, but, no sir! It really doesn't. It rather makes it more difficult, since I don't want to forget any important part that would cause plotwholes and I also have difficulties to decide which scenes could be left out, because they aren't important. All the while I keep coming up with additional ideas which would take even more time to write.
What I want to say is that sometimes because of this and aome other personal issues I take a lot of time to update. But I definetly want to finish this fiction at some point.

Anyway, I hope you liked this scenario so far.