(A/N): Jesus, this is a long one. Once again, I greatly appreciate any pointers showing that I messed up on the canon at some point. I'm aware that I'm taking some liberties as is granted by fanfic writing (for example trying to put Saren in a more favorable spotlight), but I still want to remain as faithful to the canon while trimming some bits to make way for the Augs' story and cut out bits of the canon I feel are illogical. Furthermore, if I do jump too much around during this chapter, and chapters afterward (though I was already jumping around with Fredrick and Saren), do understand I still want to catch up to the core of the ME franchise: the starting trilogy.

Chapter 1: Family Reunion

The First Contact War, or the 314 Relay Incident depending on how you look at it, was a big unnecessary clusterfuck that could've been easily avoided. It was ultimately surprising to me when I first set foot onto ShanXi the people I had encountered there. At first, we were confused as to who they were, why they didn't follow telecommunication protocol, or why the Turians were keeping them suppressed. When the wormhole over Khonsu closed, the First Generation presumed those left on Earth quickly died out due to factors caused by overpopulation and globalization, or were in a different Galaxy all together. Little did we realize how close they still were after so long.

April 9, 2157

11 hrs/40 min/02 sec Local Time

Space Surrounding Relay 314

"Spirits, I wish I could be sleeping in right now," a Serviceman Pribus Galius thought to himself. It was his second year in the service, and he was currently positioned on patrol, keeping an eye out for smugglers. He stared sleepily at the long-range scanner, watching it repeatedly show the same blips representing their ships, just like he had for the last few hours.

"Hey Galius, you alright?" Senior Serviceman Puter Orientis asked, walking up behind him.

Galius quickly straightened up in his seat and snapped back awake. "Yes Senior Serviceman Orientis, systems are running and not a single unidentified ship in the area."

Orientis put a rations bar on the desk next to Galius. "You look like hell. Did you even sleep last shift?"

"Barely, thanks for lunch," Galius answered as he picked up the ration bar. "Anything new?" he asked back as he began to unwrap the bar.

"That's what I'm here to ask. Is there anything on the scanners? We've been up and down the sector for weeks on end, and all the shipmaster says is, 'we have to be vigilant!'" Orientis answered, lightly flailing his own arms to put emphasis on his own frustration.

Galius turned back to his station. "Well, the Terrans have been putting extra pressure on pirates for the last dozen cycles or so…" Galius' tone died out when he noticed new signals picking up near the inactive Relay 314. These ships didn't have any IFFs, the eezo signal was strangely unique, and did have any known ship model. "What in- Shipmaster Achatus! I've found something!"

Achatus quickly strode over to the serviceman's side to look at the monitor. "What is it? Has it been confirmed as a pirate group?"

"Unknown, sir. The ship is completely lacking in any mandatory telecommunication requirements. Even pirates would have their own to prevent friendly fire," Galius said skeptically. "They're incredibly close to the inactive Relay, sir. Should we open fire?"

"Not yet, open coms, see if they respond."

Galius quickly reached for the other side of the panel, making a few quick motions to open coms, then began to speak. "Unidentified vessel, this is the Tranquility. You are violating the Citadel Mandate-6116, requiring all groups to receive official permission before activating a Relay. Repeat, you are violating Mandate-6116. Please respond, or we will open fire."

The Tranquility swiftly made its approach to the unidentified ships surrounding the relay. Some had even deployed landing parties on the structure, and were making procedures to initiate the structure. After attempting to contact the unidentified ships on all normal frequencies, one hundred and twenty seconds had passed, and no attempt from the receiver was made to respond. "They've had their chance, open fire. We can't risk having whatever is on the other side come through. Not while we're still unprepared."

"Unidentified vessels, you have officially violated Mandate-6116 and have failed to respond to our call. We have been granted permission to attack your ships," Galius said as he switched the coms over to the onboard intercom. "The intercom is yours, shipmaster."

Achatus leaned over and spoke. "All units, this is Shipmaster Achatus. By Citadel Law, I have granted permission to attack unidentified vessels that are attempting to activate a Relay without official permission. Report to your stations."

The unsuspecting interlopers were sent scrambling to their ships either to be quickly blown up, or crippled as they made their way to the other active Relay within the system. The ships did have some barrier capabilities, but their strength seemed to be more capable of withstanding space debris rather than high-explosive projectiles. Of the original seven spotted, only one made it through the Relay, and heavily damaged. "Sir, we've been unable to disable three of the foreign vessels before they've left the system. Orders?" Galius asked.

The elder Turian scratched at the side of his mandible in annoyance. "Check the disabled ships, and open communications back to Palaven. This encounter mustn't go unnoticed."

June 17, 2157

09 hrs/12 min/44 sec

Specter Training Center, Citadel Station

"Any idea what' this is all about?" Fredrick asked. He'd just gotten word that morning that Saren was being called into action to be reinstated as a commander.

"I don't know. All they've told me so far is that it's a bunch of tribal invaders from outside of the Galaxy, or something of similar description. Their technological capabilities are rather advanced, but nothing we haven't seen before. Other than that, I have no idea what we are facing. Supposedly, they aren't as advanced as we are, but then I don't understand why they would need me for this job." Saren was packing all the equipment he'd been using for the duration of his training under Fredrick, including the Terran SMG. As far as Fred was concerned, Saren had learned much under his oversight.

"So, will you be continuing under my training once this is done, or will you be directly granted Specter status?" Fredrick asked again.

"I'm not sure. The council seems to be happy with our handywork. But like my superiors and what we are opposing, they're leaving me much in the dark about what their future plans for me are. At least it'll be nice to see Desolas again. I hear he's been promoted to general by now," Saren said as he threw his small supply sack over his shoulder and the two exited the room and began to make their way to the front lobby.

"So, they'll be essentially delaying your graduation till the issue is dealt with? And what if the issue proves to be a greater galactic threat than anticipated?" Fredrick asked as they walked down the stairwell.

"You know how it is, the council always has their dirty secrets, and who knows why they decide the things they do," Saren answered as the two entered the main lobby. Outside was a small squad of Turian soldiers waiting to retrieve Commander Arterius and ship out to the fight. "Well, it's been an honor fighting along side you, Fredrick. I really hope this will end quickly," Saren said, shaking Fredrick's hand and bidding farewell.

"Godspeed, Saren Aretrius. May fortune smile brightly upon you," Fredrick saluted in return. Fredrick watched as the young Turian disappear towards the docks.

June 18, 2157

02 hrs/36 min/56 sec Local Time

Orbit over ShanXi, Turian Vessel Honorbound

Saren got off the shuttle, stepping right back into his shoes as a commander. It felt so strange having been independent with Fredrick for so long, only to step right back into the mechanical routine of being in the Turian military. He'd heard rumors at first that the forces out on the offensive were fighting off some lost detachment of Protheans, but now word came that they were fighting something much more sinister.

After exiting the ship he arrived in, he made his way to the back of the hange and entered the elevator, going up by several decks. He quickly made his way to the bridge, where he expected his brother Desolace to be. He exited the elevator and made his way into the bridge, still bustling with life. He scanned the room twice, only to find no trace of his brother.

Because his status as a barefaced-Turian, he could relate to Fredrick, feeling how others would instinctively distrust him, regardless of how he established himself. Out of the whole bridge, he couldn't find a single Turian without a facial clan marking, making him feel increasingly uneasy. Eventually, he approached one of the deck officers. "Sergeant, I'm looking for General Desolas, perhaps you could tell me where he is?"

The sergeant saluted. "Commander Arterius, the general is currently looking over an autopsy of one of the invaders," he's currently in the morgue giving a personal description.

"Thank you, soldier. I'll be on my way," he thanked. He exited the same way he came and went to the far back of the deck where the medbay and morgue was. As he entered the morgue, he saw his brother Desolas talking with a female medical officer.

"-from both accounts of DNA tracing from Prothean ruins, neither these things nor the Terrans could possibly be-," he began to hear from the medical officer.

"Then what are they?" Desolas interrupted.

"I already told you, General. I'm unsure. Perhaps we should bring this up with the Te-."

"Once again, no. We've already started plenty of ongoing conflict with these things, and bringing in the Terrans to this will only piss them off in return," Desolas interrupted again.

"And keeping whatever this is hidden from the Terrans, they'll be even more furious, Desolas," Saren injected.

"Oh, Saren! It's a relief to finally see you here. These savages are putting up a serious fight, and I'm glad to have a tactical mind on the field finally," Desolas finally greeted warmly. "Well, since you've been with Major Müller for the longest out of any of us, perhaps you could tell me just what I'm looking at here," Desolas transitioned, gesturing to the body in front of him.

Saren walked towards the dissected body, only for his eyes to widen in surprise. It was a Terran, eyes rolled into the back of its head, and arms spread out, as both the chest cavity and the skin on the arms had been cut open to reveal the various internal organs and muscle strands. However, one distinct trait set this Terran apart from all others he had seen. "Where are his implants? Why does his body tissue look so…?"

"Organic? Well, as I've been told, once upon a time, the Terrans had a whole generation of their kind that were completely organic, and lacked any implants. Of course, they quickly died out a few decades after contact, so I've been told. After several generations of inclusion of synthetic tissue in their gene pools, there hasn't been a single Terran who wasn't an organic-synthetic hybrid," the doctor explained.

"So the real question is, where do they come from?" Saren asked.

"Exactly. These Terrans don't even have the rudimentary translator, so though we may understand most of them, they don't understand a thing we're saying," Desolas answered.

"Are you implying that we may have begun this conflict based purely upon misunderstanding? If so, we should inform the Terran Re-."

"No! We've already got these organic Terrans on our hands, and we don't need another front with the Terrans!" Desolas yelled.

"It'll only anger them more if we continue to keep this hidden. Just what is your plan, brother?" Saren argued.

"For now, we'll just pacify them and then get them into a presentable state for the rest of the Galactic community. We've already dealt with the main naval force, and they've been stranded on the planet below they now call 'Shan-Shee' according to some of the intercepted transmissions. We've got them blockaded for now and nothing is getting in or out. A few months time, and we'll bring them out of the shadows," Desolas answered.

"What exactly do you mean, 'presentable state'? As slaves? Sooner or later, the Terrans will find out and they will have your ass in a sling. It's just best if we tell them now while we have the chance," Saren argued.

Desolas flicked his mandibles with anger. "You've spent too much time with your friend Müller, it's already taken a toll on your behavior. Anyways, suit up and get ready for deployment, you'll be heading down to the surface and directing another assault on one of their main strongholds, they've still got strong AA guns that keep shooting our pilots out of the sky. In the mean time, I'll be investigating an abandoned raider settlement. A research vessel was gunned down there and I've been tasked to retrieve it. And not a word back to your friend," he ordered.

Saren angrily saluted. "Yes, brother."

July 2, 2157

08 hrs/11 min/22 sec

TMSD Persistence Bridge, idle in the Ra System, Delta Nebula

Fredrick entered the bridge to see Max, and a few other deck officers huddled around a monitor. Fredrick approached the group from behind, and tapped Max on the shoulder. "What's going on, Max?"

The captain had done a good job making sure the unit stayed active and in line while he trained Saren for a little over two years. "Well, where do I start? It's clearly a friendly distress signal, but it's severely lacking in all the normal signs that make up a normal distress call."

"Such as?" Fredrick asked.

"No ID number, no one we recognize, all on frequencies no one uses, on a rudimentary distress beacon that was shipped out rather recently from 'raider' territory that was just picked up by patrols, and it's all in translated English. Sent by a 'General Willy' if you're curious, and by the sound of things, the Turians are giving him a hard time. Have a look," Max gestured to the monitor as a few officers backed away. Fredrick played the message to listen to the fragments of what had been recovered.

"This is Gen… Willi… ontinuosly blocka… reptilian cre…keep com… o way off… anXi…fleet dest…supplies… power low and too many inj… For now, I… temporary surr… don't know wh… need help ASA…." The dialogue was heavily fragmented and staticy, but everyone could tell the language was definitely English.

"After that, the message cuts out before repeating. What's our next course of action Fred?" Max asked, turning to Fredrick with concern.

Fredrick scratched the back of his head, thinking deeply. Why were the Turians keeping everyone in the dark about their operations against the 'raiders'? What would the implications be if they went out and paid the blockaded colony a visit, especially if it was classified by all accounts to the Turian public as well? The Persistence was a stealth/destroyer-class, but could it provide them with the cover they needed to get on and off of the planet without being spotted, or for long enough to arrange a true cease-fire?

"Gentlemen, suit up and prepare to enter the Relay, we're helping those people. If what little educated guesses we could make are true, this could have some big implications here," Fredrick ordered, causing officers to begin rushing around the deck once more.

Max followed behind Fredrick to the lockers. "You couldn't possibly believe these guys could be from Earth, right?" he asked.

"Well here we are, gradually preparing to fight an ancient race of synthetics with an essentially bottomless pit of assets, so who's to say Earth didn't finally make their way to us?" Fredrick responded as the door to the bridge closed behind them.

July 3, 2157

23 hrs/01 min/22 sec

ShanXi, approaching the outer boarder of the colony capital

It was the dead of night when Fredrick took his unit to the surface and began to roll out three personnel carriers. While gunships and dropships were the preferred form of transportation, they did produce plenty of noise in a half-kilometer radius, while personnel carriers could perform such troop drops in a much quieter fashion at the same level of protection, but half the speed. Like most of their equipment, design was based largely upon designs of ancient Earth weapons and equipment. As such, the personnel carriers were a mix of space rovers and the Stryker ICVs to provide both mobility and protection for exploration and combat.

It was about three kilometers from their destination; three times what Fredrick would normally drop off at. However, if they had been spotted, Fredrick wanted to appear as inconspicuous as possible. A slow, painfully nervous thirty minutes passed before they finally caught a glimpse of the wall in the distance. From where they were, they could tell that what was left of the defenses had been scrapped, and the buildings large char marks and fractures where the city had been bombarded. The walls themselves were a good eight meters tall.

"There it is, Fredrick. That's some strange architecture. Are you sure guys from Earth made architecture like that?" Max asked.

Fredrick could see wisps of what was considered "Earth architecture" by first gens from his earliest days on Delta Station. Like the hexagonal design of modern Khonsu, it had begun to move away from the ancient designs for more suitable structures in the current environments. "Most definitely see the resemblance. I'm seeing small patrols along the outside of the wall, and I can't see anyone from inside from here."

Major, unidentified ships spotted in orbit. They've engaged the Turian fleets, a deck officer called from the Persistence. Rules of engagement, sir?

The two looked at the images from the Persistence sent to their omnitools to see sleek, yet boxy ships engaging the Turian destroyers. "Okay, maybe I'm a bit skeptical. There is no way in hell those directly from Earth would design space-faring ships that ineffective in terms of aerodynamicity and combat function," Fredrick answered, taking note of the boxy designs.

"They're sending dropships, Fred. Does that change anything?" Max asked, taking note of the smaller blips showing up, and entering the atmosphere.

"Our objective still remains, get into the city, see what the hell is going on, and see if we can work a peace treaty between both parties before this blows over into Galactic war." Everyone returned to the transports and continued towards the city walls, hoping the guards would have their attention drawn by the incoming attackers. The armored vehicles were almost a quarter of a kilometer to the city walls when mines started exploding off the vehicle barriers.

"Mines! Keep your eyes and move around as many as you can!" Max yelled over the coms. Now with the full attention of what was left of the wall guards, gunfire began to riddle the vehicles with more damage from the weapon placements.

"Keep moving! Get to the wall!" Fredrick barked as his vehicle began to shake from the tremendous fire. Eventually, all three personnel carriers made it to the wall with all the troops on board more or less unscathed. "Alright, find a weak spot and we'll blow our way in. Stick to cover!" Fredrick yelled as the troops hid in blind spots to the guards above. Eventually, a soldier found a thin segment of wall that led into a small workshop. Quickly making his way over to the wall segment, Fredrick brought his fist back, lunged forward with his biotics, and broke a hole in the wall.

"Everyone, inside, let's go people! Heavies first!" Max began to beckon to the other soldiers. A pair of heavily armored troops, both armed with MG-14s, entered through the hole as Fredrick took point, holding up the biotic barrier. Fredrick tossed a couple grenades onto several spots behind the wall gunners were held out behind, flushing them out with bright flashes, and sudden screams of pain. A few of the Turian guards were gunned down on sight, riddled with holes and limbs shot off as they tried to get from cover to cover during their initial entrance.

The Turian commander spoke on the intercoms surrounding the colony. "All units, keep the inhabitants in doors during the raid. We've got additional unidentified intruders at the East edge of the colony, fend them off!"

"Well, I suppose kicking the hornet's nest isn't the worst thing in the world. What's the plan, Fredrick?" Max asked.

"Get confirmation that these are people from Earth. Either way, try and open coms to all parties and demand a ceasefire. If these foreigners at least understand English, we can still stop this madness," Fredrick ordered as he crossed a bombed out courtyard towards a locked down building with two engineers, while Max stood behind to open coms on hopefully the retaliating invaders. Off in the distance, the group could already hear the overwhelming invaders engaging the posted Turian forces.

Fredrick and one of the engineers took positions by the doors while the second engineer began to hack his way through the door lock. As soon as the door opened, the engineer was bioticly yanked to cover by Fredrick, narrowly dodging the hail of thermal rounds exiting. In response, Fredrick cooked and threw in a stun grenade, before he and the two others charged in, gunning down a trio of Turian soldiers. At the other end of the apartment block, they could hear the Turians fighting off the unidentified assailants. Fredrick wove through some of the empty apartments, apprehending a few other Turians with blows to the head rather than tearing them apart till he and another engineer encountered a large group of Terran refugees, all huddled up.

"Just stay where you are! Are any of you hurt?" he ordered. He began to scan the whole crowd, to find what he suspected the moment he saw the city: no implants, no synthetic tissue, all normal Human beings like the First-Gens.

"No, but the children are hungry and ill. Do you have medical aid?" an older man asked.

"Hold on, I'll get you everything you need in several minutes," Fredrick answered. Suddenly, a bright light came from behind him. He turned suddenly to see a large group of armored Humans, also lacking implants or synthetic tissue.

"Freeze! Weapon on the ground!" one of the men shouted.

"Don't shoot! Friendlies and civies!" Fredrick said putting up his right hand.

"Wait, what the hell?" the leading soldier of the squad came forward. Through his open helmet, he could tell the soldier looked African-American, had brown eyes, thin black eyebrows, and a thin sleek face. "Are you, human?" the man asked.

"Are you from Earth?" Fredrick asked before reaching for his telecom implants. "Max! You better hurry up! Do you have coms open?"

"What do you mean? Of course we are!" the soldier responded with confused shock.

Just got communications open, and I've got Commander Arterius on the line. What should I tell him? Max finally answered.

The sudden rush of events was causing Fredrick to become dizzy. "Tell them to cease fire, these are friendlies! Soldier, can you get your troops to initiate a cease fire?"

"We just got here!" the soldier argued. "You can't just-"

"Cease fire, dammit!" Fredrick barked.

July 4, 2157

05 hrs/13 min/44 sec

ShanXi medical facility

The First Contact War: that's what the Humans of the "Alliance Systems" called the conflict, counter to the Turians' "Relay 314 Incident." A war born from the fact the Alliance had no way of knowing they were violating Galactic law, and the Turians in turn had no idea of the Alliance's limited knowledge on exploration guidelines. In the span of three months, the conflict almost grew from small firefights on both planets and in space to full-scale interplanetary war. Had the Terran Republic not stepped in, the conflict could easily have dragged on for years before either side would properly listen.

The next few hours had been a grueling process of Fredrick making sure the refugees and troops on all sides had the aid they needed, and taking account of the Human dead. He continued to stare at a set of dog tags he'd just picked up from a young soldier among the Alliance Systems.

"Cprl. Adrian Shepard."

A solid name for a man who could no longer see his family or be proud of his actions. The young man had been part of the Alliance's effort to retake the colony, and had fought his way into the city before being taken down by sniper fire.

Fredrick sighed somberly as he put the tags back on the covered body before Saren and Max approached him from behind. "It's good to know you're still the negotiable type, Commander Arterius."

"Likewise, Captain Max. Good to see you again, Fredrick," Saren said, saluting him.

"It's good to know you're still alive, Saren. I wish I could say the same for so many here. Have you gotten word back to Palaven and the council?" Fredrick asked.

"I have. It's an uneasy peace, but at least this stopped before it all boiled over," Saren sighed with defeat.

Just then, the soldier from hours earlier and a previously captive officer, followed General Desolas Arterius strolled into the hospital. "Ah, I thought I'd find you here Saren. Saying hello to your friend I see?"

"Desolas, I don't know what Fredrick has done to earn your ire, but he has earned my respect. Not just as a student, but as a witness of his combat finesse," Saren defended Fredrick. "Anyways, I hope you've gotten the new translators, General Williams?"

The officer let out a defeatist tone. "Yes, Commander Arterius. I'm sorry matters had gotten out of hand so quickly."

"General, you did what you could to preserve as many lives on ShanXi as is," Fredrick started. "Besides, the Alliance as a whole had no idea they had been violating Galactic law, as they hadn't even encountered the rest of Galactic civilization."

"I never got to properly meet you, Sergeant…" Saren started gesturing towards the soldier next to Williams.

"Anderson, Sergeant D. Anderson. Pleasure to meet you Saren," the sergeant said reluctantly.

"Likewise," Saren growled. "I'm grateful when we can begin negotiations." Both sides of the conflict were still bitter, regardless of being convinced to broker a thin treaty.

"Speaking of negotiations, Saren, come with me, there's something I'd like to discuss with you in private," Desolas said, prompting both to leave the hospital.

"Anyways, I'm grateful for your intervention and assistance. I had to surrender just to make sure the populace didn't die out from fighting or starvation, Andrew Müller. For that, you forever have my gratittude" General Williams said, reaching for Fredrick's hand.

"Actually, it's Fredrick, General Williams. I'm the late-Andrew's descendent," Fredrick explained.

"Well then, you really are from Delta Station?" Anderson asked.

"We've developed on our own quite a bit since the wormhole collapsed, though we're still trying to find our place in the galactic community. What's Earth like in the modern era?" Fredrick asked.

The two sighed uneasily. "I don't know where to start, Müller," Anderson started. "Everyone just barely unified for the expansion to space, with the Prothean tech we found on Mars, we're just starting to scrub our heavily polluted atmosphere, and technological advancements are still being made. Large pockets of Russia were reduced to craters when hackers got ahold of their multi-warhead missiles back in the late twenty-first. As for poverty, life is just starting to improve a bit now people can colonize other planets and reduce the population surplus on Earth. As for out here, we've thinly spread our resources from expansion alone and were barely in any position to be fighting a war. So, what's your side of the story, major?"

Fredrick heaved a sigh, and walked over to a bench in the hospital, took a seat, and put down his helmet. "I'll try to cover as much of a hundred and thirty year gap as I can, so get comfortable gentlemen."