A/N Hey everyone, I'm Lindsay. This is my first story ever posted on any site and I wouldn't have posted it if I didn't have people telling me to. (Thanks Skeeve) I've been writing fanfics for a while now but haven't posted until now. This is the first chapter but it might as well be a prologue because there is no Mass Effect in it yet, This is just to set the scene. I know the names at this point are weird, there is a reason behind that and it will be explained later. Also I did add a new race so if that bothers anyone they might as well not read. I hope that answers all questions but if anyone has any more, just ask in a review or PM me.

Disclaimer: I do not own Mass Effect or really anything in this story except Diamond, the world she comes from, her race and any other characters of her race.

I stared at the monstrous spaceship in front of me. This was supposed to carry me all the way to the planet sighted way out in dark space?

"Is everything alright miss?" Someone asked. I turned around.

"Yes I'm okay, thanks Elm." I said. Elm carried on with his role in preparation for launch. One of the senior council members walked up; Rock, the most stubborn person I have ever met.

"Are you sure you want to do this Diamond? You could be very useful back here." He said, his expression sour.

"That is exactly why I'm leaving. I don't wish to be your tool any longer." I said before turning back to the ship. "Ready for launch." I announced.

"Alright miss. If you would just climb in and fasten your seat belt we will close the hatch and begin." Said someone named Leaf. I had a good memory and these names stuck even though I'd only met some of them once.

I looked around the hanger for the last time as I would never return here, no matter what happened, I would not have enough fuel to get back either.

The walls of the hangar were a bleached white, rising up way above my head and stretching out wide. There was a window on one wall farther up so the engineers could see the spaceship launch. On the opposite wall there was a door. The door took up almost the entire wall and, when opened, folded like a massive garage door.

The spaceship itself was monstrous. It took up three-quarters of the space in the hanger. It had enormous wings that were half of the size but also giant fuel tanks inside the ship took up a staggering amount of space. After all that there was still a small space for me including a control room, a bed and a transmitter to send messages back home if I found anything.

I suddenly felt small and lost, like a child without a parent. In spite of that feeling, or maybe because of it, a grin slowly spread across my face. I really wanted to do this, with all my heart and soul.

A ladder led to the cockpit from the ground. I took a deep breath, ascended the ladder and sat down. I quickly strapped myself in and gave the thumbs up to show that I was ready. The clear hatch slowly came down and clamped shut. I don't know when Rock had left but he was definitely gone now. I flipped on a glowing red switch and checked a few monitors before pressing a few controls. I put on some sound mufflers, pushed up on a lever and felt the engine roar to life but I couldn't hear a thing.

I knew I wouldn't have to do anything else for a while as the ship was in the engineers hands now.

The garage-like door opened slowly and blinding daylight shone in, the huge yellow sun glared down brightly while the smaller red sun hid behind.

I felt the ship start to move forward, suddenly the real boosts kicked in and I was off. I blasted into the sky and out of the atmosphere in under a minute. I felt exhilarated and free, I was made to do this. I was silenced by the pure serene beauty of space.

I looked around at the inky blackness with swirls of stars and planets dotted here and there. None of which were life supporting, we had checked them all thoroughly for signs.

My ship, named Kta'atick after a city, maintained its speed as it raced towards its destination but out in space it seemed as if it had slowed down or that everything around it had slowed down. I sat still for a long time just gazing around in awe.

I had been in Kta'atick for a week now. It had been moving at slightly less than light speed so I could see all the stars but those got tiresome after a bit.

I had lost contact with home two days ago because I was out of range so I had to manually control the ship.

I stared at some screens for a bit before deciding I needed to eat as it had been a full day since I had last eaten anything. I got up to grab something when a loud beeping filled the room.

I looked over at the controls. A screen was flashing bright green letters that read "TARGET IN RANGE".

I was about to walk over when another loud beep sounded and another message appeared in bright red letters "SYSTEMS OVERHEATED. CRASH IMMINENT." I looked out the window and dead ahead was a planet.

I wasn't stopping.

Somehow I had overheated and now I was going to crash. As my brain scrambled to process that information I rushed to stop the inevitable. I knew this ship well and it didn't take long before I was able to cool down the engines enough to start the reverse but by then it was too late.

I was thrown forward on impact. I hit the ground hard and everything went black.

I appreciate reviews. Constructive criticism is welcome. I will continue to post chapters, I'd like to know thoughts though.

~Lindsay