EDIT 18/7/11 : Fixed the Rannoch distance and fixed up some of the paragraphing.
This story has been something that I've been thinking about for several months. I believe that ME/BSG could actually work. I think it would be very interesting to work with the ME universe's far superior technology and throw it in to the BSG universe. Space is a big place, there's no telling what you may find out there. I'll start weaving the universes together in the next chapter.
Down Time
Tylium Refinery
Colonial Fleet
209 days since the destruction of the Twelve Colonies
Unknown Location
17:34
Gus Wright sighed loudly as he put his feet up in his control room. Every day, he told himself that he was one of the lucky ones, he didn't have to risk life to filter the Tylium on the refinery floor, it was his job to monitor the pressure of the Tylium storage compartments. While the job was relatively easy, it was by no means unimportant. It was also his job to alert the refinery to any problems that occurred inside the storage compartments.
It was approaching the end of Gus' 12 hour shift and he was getting tired. He sipped his drink, recoiling when he felt its heat on his tongue. Alert levels fleet-wide had been slightly relaxed because no Cylons had been sighted, much less engaged, in over a week, which may have been due to their recently successful operation to destroy their Resurrection Ship. As a result, daily life became slightly easier to bear with. However, there was always the threat of the Cylons returning, and everyone was ready to act if they every did show up again.
Suddenly, a loud alarm swept through the control room. Gus' head suddenly snapped to look at the monitor. The pressure in all four storage compartments was rising at an alarming rate. He threw his drink aside, punched the station's alarm and settled his hands on the main keyboard, where he ordered the main tanks to shut down, so that the pressure could decrease on its own. It did not work, the pressure kept rising, quickly approaching critical levels. In this event, Wright was authorized to make use of the emergency failsafe, which shut down the entire facility. This had never been attempted before. He quickly entered his code, and the protective cover encasing the button and its key was unlocked. Gus took the key and turned it clockwise.
Again, nothing happened.
He cursed loudly and quickly reached for his radio to contact his shift supervisor on the ship.
"Dan, it's Gus, I have a pretty fracking big situation over here"
"Gus? What the frack is going on? I'm on the other side of the ship."
"The pressure in all four of the storage compartments are approaching critical levels. I've tried everything, none of the failsafes are working. There isn't anything more that I can do, you're gonna have to alert Galactica and Pegasus to our situation. Those tanks are going to rupture, and 95% of the fleet's fuel will go."
"Roger that" Dan acknowledged several seconds later. Suddenly, there was a massive crash, then three more in quick succession. That was the sound of the rupture of the storage tanks and a explosive decompression. What was left of the fleet's fuel was now spewing into the dark, cold vacuum of space.
Rannoch
Perseus Veil
60,000 light years away
56 days since the destruction of the Reapers
18:75 GST (Galactic Standard Time)
The large, orange sun started to set on the horizon. Rannoch's sun was older than Sol, and thus gave off a deeper orange colour. The result was an absolutely breathtaking spectacle, as the sun's deep orange light reflected off of the few lakes on this otherwise arid planet. In comparison, the Earth's surface is made up of approximately 70% water, creating it's vast oceans. Rannoch, on the other hand, was slightly larger than Earth, but water only made up 35% of its surface.
Commander John Shepard had seen this spectacle many times, but it didn't make it any less impressive. He was putting the finishing touches to a house that was situated by the lake. The house would belong to Tali'Zorah Vas Normandy, a Quarian crew member from Shepard's ship. She had been with Shepard since the very start of his first mission to hunt down Saren, he felt that he should repay her for the staggering loyalty and friendship that she had given him since he first met her on the Citadel during her Pilgrimage three years earlier. A year earlier, during a raid on a Geth occupied Quarian ship in the middle of the Migrant Fleet, the Alerai, Shepard promised Tali that he would build her a house on her homeworld, a promise made to her by her now deceased father, who was found dead shortly after on the ship. She accepted this promise, but obviously expected it be as empty as the promise her father had made her. Shepard couldn't blame her.
However, she did not expect that Shepard and the SSV Normandy, just over a year later, would liberate Rannoch from both rebellious Geth forces and the Reapers. Not only was he a hero to humanity and the Quarian people, he was a hero to the entire galaxy, much like how USMC Captain Jon Grissom became the role model of the Alliance in the years after his first exploration of the Charon Relay. While Shepard was not the official commander of the combined inter-species strike force which destroyed the Reapers, while suffering heavy losses. He was the figurehead, the main source of morale. Along with his team, he united the major species of the galaxy, dodging skirmishes by both the Reapers and the indoctrinated Cerberus, and led the counter-attack to retake Earth with the combined force of the fleets from the remnants of the Systems Alliance, Turian Hierarchy, Salarian Union, Asari Republics, the Quarian Migrant Fleet and the orthodox Geth. On the ground, they had help from the united Krogan clans, Geth mobile platforms and, much to the surprise and discomfort of most, the Rachni.
Currently, the SSV Normandy was docked at Ramala, one of Rannoch's largest cities. The majority of the crew was on shore leave, leaving a skeleton crew and EDI, the Normandy's AI, to manage the ship's systems in their absence. Once their homeworld was liberated and the Reapers were eliminated, partly thanks to the help of both the Quarians and the Geth, who came to Earth's aid, the Quarians quickly abandoned their ships in orbit and spread out across the planet to occupy their ancestral home. This process was surprisingly quick, which was due to the care and attention that the Geth gave it in the Quarian's absence. The Geth even restored most the records of the Quarian ancestors, these included the vast databanks that were considered to be the combined work of the Quarian race spanning centuries, these works were feared destoryed in The Morning War, but when the Quarians returned they found that the Geth had restored them.
Arrangements were also being made to give the Quarians their embassy on the Citadel back, which was lost in punishment for creating the Geth over three hundred years before. This was done thanks to the request of Commander Shepard and was echoed by the Human delegation to the Citadel Council, especially Councillor Udina. Frankly, the rest of the Council saw no reason to reject their request.
While Shepard originally picked his friend and mentor Captain David Anderson for the job, he resigned several years later after abandoning trade agreements and authorizing joint military operations with the Turian Hierarchy in an effort to squeeze Cerberus assets in both Alliance space and the volatile Terminus Systems. He thus left the position of Human Councillor to Donnel Udina, the lifelong politician. Anderson had simply become bored and fustrated with his life in politics, harbouring a strong distaste for the waves of bureaucratic red tape that held him from doing what needed to be done.
When Shepard turned himself in on Earth after the Alpha Relay Incident, Anderson committed himself to defending his protege and friend from the political wolves. Once the Reapers attacked Earth during Shepard's hearing, Anderson helped him escape the planet on the Normandy. However, much to the dismay of Shepard, Anderson stayed behind to lead the Resistance, and was instrumental in their victory on the ground. Now an Admiral, Anderson took up the position of Head of the Alliance Navy.
"Shepard? You almost done?" a male voice called out to him. While Shepard did do most of the work, he didn't do it single-handily. He had help from Quiarian architects, who advised him on Quarian architecture and what old Quarian houses looked like. He also had help from Garrus Vakarian, whom Shepard considered to be one of his closest friends, along with Tali, and he was also with Shepard from the very start in his quest to take down Saren. Garrus implemented some Turian features into the house, while Shepard also gave it a Human touch. The result was almost supposed to remind Tali of her friends.
"Yeah, just about." Shepard replied. He walked down stairs and found Garrus standing there, still dressed in his chrome Turian body armor. Shepard walked over to him and turned around to survey his-their-work. After a minute of silence, Shepard turned towards the lake and the sunset, he then got an idea.
"Garrus, where's Tali now?" Shepard asked
"She's may be in Ramala, but I imagine she's on the Normandy by now." Garrus replied.
"The sun doesn't set completely for another half hour or so." Shepard stated "Why don't we show it to her now?
Garrus thought for a moment "That's a pretty good idea Shepard, the sunset is great." Garrus agreed. Shepard quickly changed into his casual Alliance military fatigues and he and Garrus boarded the nearby parked air-car, which took them back to Ramala and its spaceport. 10 minutes later, they made their way back, with Tali in the main passenger seat and Garrus in the back. While there was a prototype permanent immuno-booster which Tali volunteered to test, she was still wearing her standard issue Quarian enviro-suit, which was a shade of blue with some purple.
The immuno-booster was being developed by on the Normandy by Professor Mordin Solus, the hyper Salarian scientist that Shepard picked up from Omega a year before. The Quarian immuno-booster was his next big project after curing the Krogan Genophage, which prevented a war right in the middle of the Reaper invasion, when species should have been united, not fighting each other. Development of the booster was going well, according to Mordin, and Quarian test subjects should only leave their suit enviornments in moderation and for suitable periods of time to prevent illness and to build up their immune system. It was, however, by no means finished. Mordin estimated that since he didn't have very many distractions, the booster would be complete by the end of the galactic standard year. The booster was designed to restore the Quarian immune system to that before their exodus three hundred years earlier, and in some cases it may even go further and strengthen a Quarian's immune systems even more.
"Come on Tali" Shepard laughed from the drivers seat "Close your eyes."
"I already know what you two are going to show me, John" Tali said, giggling slightly
"Look, I can see your eyes through that mask of yours. I've also seen your face, so I know when you are trying to fake it." Shepard pointed out."Don't make me order you as your Captain" he said jokingly. Tali sighed
"Fine Shepard" Tali said, the glowing eyes from behind her visor disappeared from Shepard's view. The house came into view, and they landed.
"Keep 'em closed" Shepard ordered her, Tali simply nodded. He and Garrus disembarked and led Tali towards the water in front of the house, they then turned her around so that she faced the house that was bathed in orange sunlight.
"Okay, you can open them now." Shepard said, with both he and Garrus standing behind her. For the first time, Tali laid eyes on the three story house, she immediately recognized the Quarian architecture, however, she also began to notice aspects of Human and Turian design, which she recognised from her time on both Earth and Palaven facing the Reapers alongside Shepard and Garrus. It was absolutely beautiful. She began to understand how much work both of them, her friends, put into this house.
"It's..." Tali stammered slightly from the shock "...beautiful." She felt a tear rolling down her cheek. Tali reached behind her head and found the seals for her mask, which she pulled off, once again breathing in the unfiltered Rannoch air deeply. She turned around to face them. They also picked the perfect spot. Right in front of the lake with a perfect view of the sunset. While there wasn't any more houses around, it didn't take a genius to know that this area will become very popular, very soon.
"Thank you, both of you." Tali said sincerly. She then grabbed both of them into a hug, which both of them returned, and then gave them both a kiss on the cheek.
"You deserve it, Tali" the Commander said with a broad grin on his face.
"Yeah, it's been our pleasure Tali." Garrus said. His mandibles then twitched with humour.
"Now, can you tell me about your immune system?" he asked. Tali narrowed her eyes, and she was about to give the customary reply of her having her shotgun. However, her shotgun was in her locker on the Normandy. Instead, she gave Garrus a soft punch to the chest.
"Not until you finish your calibrations." Tali countered. Everyone then burst out laughing.
Sadly, several minutes later, Shepard's omni-tool started to beep, killing the mood. He looked at it, it was a live communications request from Lieutenant Ashley Williams, who was supposed to be on shore leave with the crew.
"It's Ash" Shepard accepted her request and a holographic projection of her face materialized from the tool.
"Yeah Ash, what is it? Shouldn't you be on shore leave with the rest of the crew?" Shepard asked
"Sorry Commander." Ashley replied "EDI just received the latest burst from the recently constructed comm buoy. There's a priority message from Alliance command at Arcturus, Anderson wants to see you ASAP, he didn't say what it was about." Ashley said. Shepard sighed loudly, he was going to show Tali around her new home. But, while he wasn't technically under Alliance command thanks to his Spectre status, he still commanded an Alliance ship with a (mostly) Alliance crew and Alliance Marines on board. Besides, David Anderson was his friend, he couldn't just ignore his requests.
"Okay, I'll be there soon. Recall the crew, have them report to their stations and prepare for departure." Shepard ordered
"Roger that Commander." Ashley acknowleged "Williams out." He face then faded from view. Shepard gave a nod to Garrus and then turned to Tali.
"Tali, you can stay here, if you want." Shepard offered.
"No." Tali said instantly "While you and Garrus built me a beautiful house on my beloved homeworld, my home will always be on the Normandy with my friends, my family." she said sternly as she gave them last one look and refitted her mask. Shepard smiled again, he knew that she wouldn't stay behind. She was, by far, his best engineer anyway.
"Come on then, mount up." he ordered. All three of them boarded the aircar and made the journey back to the space port. 10 minutes later, the trio approached the docked Normandy, the Quarian guard of honor immediatley stood at attention when they approached. Shepard gave them the Alliance salute as he passed and entered the Normandy's airlock. It took several moments for the pressure to equalise, and then they were finally on board. While the exterior of the Normandy SR-2 hadn't changed much, apart from the paintjob the Alliance gave her, the interior layout was a slight hybrid of the Cerberus SR-2 and the original SR-1. Most notably, the lighting was altered slighty so that it was more similar to the SR-1.
When Shepard escaped Earth during the initial Reaper assault, the interior was a complete mess. It was a miracle she could even fly let alone dodge the Reaper's fire, which was a shining testamont to Joker's flying. After he turned himself in to the Alliance courts with regard to the Alpha Relay incident, the Alliance reclaimed the Cerberus vessel and tore it apart to study the new technology, especially EDI. They ripped out the Thanix Cannon and replaced it with two medium sized mass accelerator cannons that were fitted to it's underside. During the mission to stop the Reapers, he broke into Arcturus Station, where the cannon was transported for research, and 'reacquired' it so it could be refitted alongside the mass accelerator cannons. The Normandy then became as powerful as a heavy cruiser, but was faster than any frigate in the Alliance fleet, even her Normandy-class SR-1 sisters; Stalingrad and Ain Jalut
"ATTENTION ON DECK!" a Marine shouted. Suddenly, the crew that was assigned to the Combat Information Centre lept from their seats and stood at attention.
"At ease" Shepard told them. They then sat down again and continued their duties.
"Joker." Shepard stated. Flight Lieutenant Jeff "Joker" Moreau, the crippled helmsman, swiveled his chair around to face Shepard
"Yes, Commander?" he asked
"Set a course for Arcturus, we have to go and see Anderson."
"Aye-Aye" Joker replied as he turned around. "Hey, Tali." Joker said before she turned away.
"Yes, Joker?" Tali answered
"How was the house?" Joker asked with a smile on his face.
"It was...beautiful" Tali replied
"That's great, I'm actually surprised that you didn't stay." Joker stated
"Why would I? The Normandy is my home. My family is here." Tali replied.
"Aww, love you too, Tali" Joker said in a joking tone. Tali laughed as she turned around towards the elevator to Engineering, Garrus left with her to go down to the gun bays. Shepard, however, stayed on the bridge with Joker. While he could have stayed in the CIC and coordinated everything from there, he prefered to see the target he was shooting at with his own eyes and judge his tactics accordingly. However, in this case, he enjoyed Joker's company.
Joker's hands sped over the holographic display in front of him. The noise of the engines powering up filled the ship.
"Engines are now powering up, Jeff." EDI confirmed.
"I know that EDI" Joker replied with some annoyance in voice, his hands then started flying across the screen as he opened a comm link.
"Ramala Tower, this is the SSV Normandy. Requesting permission to depart." Joker said
"Normandy, this is Ramala control. Permission granted. Keelah-Se'lai." The Quarain operator replied
"Keelah-Se'lai." Joker replied, trying to pronounce it as best he could. The Normandy undocked and reversed out from the spaceport. A minute later, they were in space and heading towards the local Mass Relay.
"Commander, seven minutes until first relay jump, it should take us a few hours to get to Arcturus." Joker stated to Shepard, who was standing behind him.
"Good, keep me posted." Shepard replied as he turned and walked towards the CIC.
"Transmitting approximate mass, transmitting destination." Joker said to himself. In the distance, he could see the blue light of the Relay shifting it's position so that it was pointing towards it's destination. As the frigate approached the Relay, it was enveloped by the Element Zero. A corridor of mass-less space was created between the Normandy and it's destination and the Frigate was instanteounsly transported to its destination.
The first of many jumps to get from one side of the damn galaxy to the other Joker mused to himself.
With regard to Mass Effect, I've tried to combine info that we already know about ME3, details from the novels, and I made some things up. I don't want to mention how exactly Shepard defeated the Reapers, so I'll leave it to you to imagine yourselves.
Galactic Standard Time - If you haven't read the Revelation novel, I'll try to explain the concept behind GST. Basically, there is 100 seconds in a minute, 100 minutes in an hour and 20 hours in each standard day. To add to the confusion, each second is about as half as long as a human second. Yeah, it takes a bit to get your head around. Humanity operates in Terran Coordinated Universal Time, which is a reworked version of our modern Greenwich Mean Time.
The Ain Jalut is a real Normandy class frigate in the ME universe, however, the Stalingrad is not. I thought they would have commissioned another one by now, and Stalingrad would have been a logical name for it as it was one of, if not the, bloodiest battles in human history.
