The biggest crossover story yet! The # signs are designed to change the perspective from universe to universe. Expect slow updates due to my having two other stories in progress and the fact that I'm doing this in some of my freetime in college. Star Wars, Halo, Mass Effect, Predator, Aliens.
Prologue
Imagine the vast reaches of space. Inky blackness surrounds all, pierced by the light of a thousand stars. Nothingness. Everything around is invisible, for this is the place where there is no sound, no light, no air, nothing that could sustain life. It is merely the barren void between worlds. But regardless of what it is, it is still something that attracts men. Like the sea it has the power to do so, to draw men's spirits and to urge them to get aboard a ship, not a ship of the sea, but a ship of the void. Now draw out your mind's eye as far as it can go. You will see that this is a Taurus galaxy, it has its arms open and it's reach is vast. Now let your mind carry you down to a huge spherical ball hanging in space. This is a battle station, the Death Star. Onboard, two figures wielding swords made of light battle each other fiercely. Explosions of light shoot everywhere as the two duel in a most complex manner. Direct your gaze elsewhere, just to the edge of the system that it is in and watch as a portal activates and a strange ship comes through. Large, powerful and bearing a remarkable resemblance to a squid like creature the ship begins to open fire on the station. Its powerful lasers, fixed in the tentacles that extend from its hull crash into the shields of the battle station and they cut through in seconds! Explosions rock the hull as the blasts extend themselves throughout the Death Star. In the midst of the fury of battle, the smaller of the two figures escapes the blast, as do many other ships. In but a moment, they disappear.
#
Now let your mind rise up over all of this and let it move at a speed that goes far beyond the speed of light, beyond the speed of monarchy, because imagination can move that fast. Now our eyes focus instead on another galaxy. This one is similar to the first, but it lacks the size of the first one. We narrow our focus down. This small, backwater planet that is before us has nothing that would mark it as out of the ordinary. But always remember, things aren't always what they seem. No for if our gaze closes in a bit more we are able to see that there is a building on this planet. A building that is in fact guarded by a pair of tall armoured figures. Tall they are indeed, huge, hulking, clad in armour that covers most of their torso, all their legs, their forearms, finished off with a large blank mask which covers the face. In their hands they bear spears, at their sides they bear pistols and knives, a bandolier comes across their shoulders, covered with various other weapons. Last, but not least, is the cannon on their shoulders. These are good guards, they watch the shadows with their unseen gaze, noting every single movement that there is, be it a leaf in the breeze, a moth on the wind, or merely the movement of the moonshine.
Suddenly, there are two hissing noises and the two guards collapse! Closer inspection would reveal a pair of small shooting spears lodged in their throats. Out of the shadows comes a large group of figures. Each of them is similarly dressed to the guards, but these particular creatures have one distinguishing mark, a red marking in the middle of their chests. At a signal they begin to attack the building. Nothing is as it seems, this building is merely the entrance to a much larger complex underground. The first group of the attackers descends down through the elevator towards the lower floors, they know exactly where they are going. Disembarkation is quick and rapid, these hunters move with a fluidity rarely seen in the wider galaxy, they head straight for their target. Another pair of guards attempt to tackle them, spears and close quarters blades that extend from their wrists at the ready, they leap! The attackers strike! A ferocious duel begins between them. However it is all for naught. Others from the group surround them and deal out their own vicious blows. Bravely the guards spit defiance at their attackers, cursing them in their own tongue, before they are driven into the ground. Dying without a sound the defenders go into their afterlife.
The attackers move with a speed unknown to men towards their ultimate objective, a warehouse. But a warehouse like no other. Here are stored more than items, here are stored nations! A thousand nations, all of them contained inside eggs. The leader of the group walks up to one of the nearest eggs and reaches up to his face. With a hiss of escaping atmosphere the being takes off his mask, revealing a face with a high forehead, a pair of yellow eyes set under thick ridges, and a large maw, edged by four mandibles which have large tusks on the ends of them. He stares at the egg for a while before he reaches out and places one hand against the cryogenically frozen egg. Ignoring the cold he speaks one word in his own language.
"Queen."
In a moment, he and his troops are gone. With them go five eggs.
Lightyears distant, a single solitary figure sits in a throne like chair and watches as the last of the images fades. He growls.
#
Lightyears away from that a fleet of ships moves through the void. There are more than were on the last vision that we had. Here instead are almost one hundred ships, all of varying size and shape, but none so mighty as the flagship. It is gargantuan, blotting out the comforting light of the stars with its massive bulk, and dwarfing even the largest of the ships that accompany it. But massive as the ship is, it still needs a command centre. Into the very bowels of the ship we go, in a movement as swift as the light of morning. Standing in the centre of the ship, on the command platform is a tall figure. Clad in armour the tall alien stands with his hands clasped behind his back. There are more aliens in this room than we at first guessed, but there are also humans. The aliens were a selection of armour colours, blue, red, white, gold, one silver and the last a dark gold. However there is no break in the style of armours however, they all bear the same type. All but the one who stands on the platform. He is dressed in armour that bears a remarkable difference to the armour worn by his fellows. He converses with a human dressed in a white uniform. This human is unlike the other humans in the room. They all wear a navy uniform, whilst other members of the crew, for that is what they are, wear a dark green uniform with helmets and sidearm weapons. They and their golden counterparts patrol the bridge area constantly. No this particular human is dressed all in white, with a cap on his head and strips of golden braid over his torso. He is an officer, a high ranking officer who deserves his acclaim.
What is conversed between the two groups is not up for our understanding. What is clear is that they have discovered something of great value to both races. With all haste the combined fleet begins to race towards their destination. A huge planet, a planet called Marathon. Here is where they will find what they are seeking. It is a large planet, one of many in its system, but by and large the most important. It is here that they start their search. While they search let us watch the rest of the crew as they go about their duties. The second in command on board the ship sends out the message. Before long has passed many hundreds more ships fall out of the many portals that form around the large fleet. Soon the fleet has more than tripled in size. Three hundred and seventy five ships cluster around the planet and watch as from their flagships fly dozens of smaller transport ships. Let us follow them.
These ships close in on the rest of their teams, the ships themselves vary widely some of them have four visible engines with surplus exhausts aiding lift and thrust. The others were not shaped the same way, being of smoother lines, and curved rather than straight. They were powered mainly by a single large engine set in the rear of the craft. This particular type of engineering relied on anti gravity tools to levitate itself above the ground. They swept from side to side over the dense terrain. With so many ships it was not long before someone found what they were looking for. With a sharp cry, the distress beacon which had sent out its signal to the fleet focused. Ahead of them was a hulk of a ship. The rear of a ship at least. It was mangled, which was to be expected o a ship that had careened through an atmosphere and flattened itself on the ground. They dug with speed and a hunger that was based in necessity, and in despair. Eventually, they were able to uncover an opening. The alien in the golden amour and the man in white entered first with several diggers who could clear debris. After a long struggle they came to what they were looking for.
It was a coffin, or at least it bore a startling resemblance to a coffin, before it was a computer console. This console was running on its lowest power, but the A.I. that was in the system was sharp enough to note their presence. With a word of warning she popped up out of the console and held up a hand forbidding any further movement. For a moment there was a tense standoff until eventually she recognised one of the figures, then the second. She gave a little cry of joy at the sight of them and beckoned them over to the coffin. As the giant alien came closer he wiped off the ice that had formed on the top of the coffin. Inside was a figure, indistinct, but still there. A figure dressed in green armour with a golden visor.
#
Now let our attention come to a different planet. There is nothing here, despite its atmosphere and pleasant scenery. But there is a bare patch, a place where nothing has grown for many, many years. This part here is a barren wasteland, where nothing has lived for centuries. Now watch as our minds take us back in time, back almost four hundred years to a time when on the hill overlooking the same place stood a man. He was a tall man, slightly pale, with close cut dark brown hair on the top of his head and a small beard that curled around his mouth and onto his chin. His blue eyes were regularly spaced on either side of his roman nose, and one would feel, if one looked him in the eye, that this was a man who could lead an army into hell itself and bring them back again! He was most obviously a soldier, the scar above his lip gave evidence to that, but he had a small smile on his face that belied a kind nature. He was looking down at a marker, a marker which was set into the ground and fashioned out of good stone that would last forever. In one movement he knelt down beside it and looked out over the scene in front of him. He knew what had made this thing, he had been there when it happened, and that was why he knew the significance of the marker, unadorned as it was.
"Well LT we did it." He said using the familiar term that all onboard his ship had known the man by. "We stopped them, maybe not for good, but definitely they won't be coming through there in one piece anyway. Saren came back to the good would you believe, at the last second he did the right thing and fought the indoctrination. He killed himself though, which was, I guess, unavoidable. It was a far more merciful death than he would have gotten if Wrex had gotten him." He gave a short laugh or remembrance of the big alien. Then he sighed to himself and looked down at the marker. "I know the others have already been here to pay their last respects, but I wanted to come down here and talk to you myself. It seems like only yesterday you and I were on the Normandy and you were giving out about that stupid vid screen. It still flickers would you believe." He snorted with the memory. "I hope Captain Kirrahe didn't mess with you too much, he wouldn't want to injure any of my crew so quickly. Apparently it's starting to get around that I treat my crew as they should be treated. You wouldn't believe the amount of calls I'm getting. Them and the journalists."
He was silent for a moment before continuing. "Most of the journalists are trying to tap into my private life LT, and you know yourself how I feel about that. Ash hates it, but I do my best to keep her out of it as much as I possibly can. It's not right, you know. Poor Garrus gets some real stick over the Citadel Battle at C-Sec, I just hope the poor guy can handle it. He's gone back to C-Sec now, for the moment at least, I'm leaving a space open for him. For them all really. It was quite saddening to see the entire crew break up after the fight was over, but I suppose it had to happen. Things needed to be done, but I don't want to bore you with my troubles anymore. You did a good job back when we worked together LT and I still remember that." The man lay back in the grass and looked straight up. The sky overhead was a deep cerulean blue with wisps of cloud drifting lazily across it. In spite of all that had happened here, it was still a paradise. The man whispered, "I know I don't have Ash's faith Kaidan, but I really do hope that you have reached the afterlife, wherever it is. You did sacrifice yourself for all of us, and no one will ever forget you. As for the Salarian infiltration regiment," this was another touchy point for him, "the council still won't acknowledge their sacrifice. So for now Kaidan, it's just you here."
"Normandy to Shepard!"
Commander Daniel John Shepard rose from where he had been sitting, saluted the marker for the lives of Kaidan Alenko, and the Salarian Infiltration Regiment and answered,
"What news Joker?"
"We're ready to go Commander, just say the word."
"I'm coming back, then we'll rendezvous with the rest of the fleet."
"Copy that!"
He turned and began to walk towards the landing site of the SSV Normandy, as overhead a squadron of fighters passed by, moving underneath the massive bulk of the carrier Virmire. He had a war to win!
Beyond the Horizon, Beyond the Stars
Dramatis Personae:
Primary Characters;
Luke Skywalker, human male, Jedi, Rebellion
Leia Organa, human female, Princess, Rebellion
Han Solo, human male, Captain, Rebellion
Mara Jade, human female, Emperors Hand, Galactic Empire
Darth Vader, human male, Sith Lord, Galactic Empire
Mitt'hraw'nurudo, chiss male, Grand Admiral, Galactic Empire
Galen Marek, human male, Jedi Knight
Juno Eclipse, human female, pilot
Master Chief John 117, human male, Spartan II, New Covenant
The Arbiter, Sangheili male, Elite, New Covenant
Kelly 087, human female, Spartan II, New Covenant
Fred 104, human male, Spartan II, New Covenant
Linda 058, human female, Spartan II, New Covenant
Dan Shepard, human male, Commander, Alliance Navy, Spectre
Ashley Williams, human female, Gunnery Chief, Alliance Navy
Garrus Vakarian, turian male, C-Sec Executor
Urdnot Wrex, krogan male, Battlemaster, Citadel Army
Liara T'Soni, asari female, Prothean Expert, C-Sec
Tali'Zorah nar Rayya, quarian female, Machinist, Quarian Migrant Fleet
Jeff "Joker" Moreau, human male, Pilot, Alliance Navy
Lord Admiral Anderson, human male, Citadel Navy
Rogues and 181st
Rtas' Vadum, Sangheili male, Ship Master, New Covenant
Hunter, Predator Elder
Barrage, Predator warrior
Judge, Predator warrior
Beast, Predator warrior
Blitz, Predator warrior
Ninja, Predator warrior
Palpatine, Sith Lord, Galactic Emperor
Royal Guards, human males, Galactic Empire
Tom B292, human male, Spartan III, New Covenant
Lucy B091, human female, Spartan III, New Covenant
Ash G099, human male, Spartan III, New Covenant
Mark G154, human male, Spartan III, New Covenant
Olivia G 219, human female, Spartan III, New Covenant
Nick 012, human cyborg, Spartan Immortal, New Covenant
Associates of Galen Marek
Associates of Rebellion
Hand of Judgement
Crew of the Normandy
Please review. And don't kill me for spoilers. If you have any queries let me know. By the way, if you think Shepard is stupidly paragon don't kill me. It's how I actually act in real life (Minus the not having the faith. I do have faith.)