There's a hypothesis in the scientific community that our universe isn't as unique as we might think but part of a multiverse. A finite or infinite number of possible universes that contains distant worlds that could support life like our own. It has remained a hypothesis for centuries because there was just no way to prove it, we have barely mapped out our own galaxy. Even with the mass relays, the technology just wasn't there yet. That was until now.
"Disengaging FTL drives, emission syncs active." Joker's voice was crisp over the comms. "Board is green, we are running silent." After Sovereign's attack on the citadel, the Normandy had been sent to route out all the remaining geth by the council.
"This is a waste of time, four days searching up and down this sector and there's been no sign of geth activity." Pressly was walking around with the datapad that was ever stuck to his hand whenever the commander was off duty.
"Three ships went missing here in the last month, something happened to them." Joker looked over the Normandy's internal emission sink. Her stealth system is her most notable feature. For centuries, it was assumed that starship stealth was impossible. The heat generated by routine shipboard operations is easily detectable against the near absolute zero background temperature of space. The Normandy, however, is able to temporarily store this heat in lithium heat sinks deep within the hull. Unless she's in FTL drive.
"My money's on slavers, the system is crawling with them," Pressly said as he went over the constant stream of data that cumulated in making sure the ship ran smoothly.
"Picking up something on the long range scanner. Unidentified vessel. Looks like a cruiser." Officer Addison Chase said as her fingers worked quickly over the screens.
"It doesn't match any known signatures," Joker sat up, looking over the data Chase was sending his way.
"Cruiser is changing course, now on... intercept trajectory." Chase turned to Joker her brows furrowed. This isn't right, no one should be able to pick them up on any scanner, a knot twisted in Joker's stomach.
"Can't be, stealth systems are engaged." Pressly was doing his own diagnostics, frantically going through the data. "There's no way a geth ship cou-"
"It's not the geth," Joker's hands flew to the console, "Brace for evasive maneuvers!"
"Kinetic barriers down, multiple hull breaches, weapons offline. Someone put that fire out!" Shepard heard Joker over the comm as she desperately tried to suit up. Explosions were happening all over the ship. The ground beneath her feet shook. She needed to get to the bridge.
Shepard punched some commands into her console before leaving "Distress beacon is ready for launch."
"Shepard, will the alliance get here in time," Liara appeared behind her, jamming a helmet onto her head.
"The alliance won't abandon us, we just need to hold on. Get everyone to the escape shuttles," Shepard grabbed the nearest fire extinguisher and began putting as much out as she could on her way to the bridge even though she knew it was futile.
"Joker's still in the cockpit, he won't evacuate." The Asari caught the extinguisher that the Commander threw at her. "I'm not leaving either."
Shepard was silent for a moment before turning back to Liara, she mustered up the most formal tone she could find, " I need you to get the crew onto the evac shuttles, I'll deal with Joker."
The Asari hesitated a moment then nodded, moving to get as many people as she could to safety. Shepard headed for the cockpit, dodging explosions and dead members of her crew. The blood in her veins boiled as she reached the cockpit. It was a slow process, they had blown a hole nearly the whole length of the ship. The commander dodged floating pieces of debris as she went, one wrong move, one more explosion and she'd be on a one way trip into deep space.
"Joker!" She shouted into the comm. There was a barrier keeping the cockpit pressurised. "Joker, the Normandy's gone, we have to go!"
"I can save her, I can-"
"Joker! She's gone! It's time to go. Now!" The pilot slumped in his chair before nodding, he put his helmet on and lowered the barrier. The commander got his arm and threw it over her shoulder so she could support him, she was as careful as she could be as they moved to the shuttles. With his vrolik syndrome, he's likely broken something.
Shepard could hear the pilot grunting all the way to the shuttle.
He's definitely broken something.
They barely made it as another explosion ripped through the hull, a flash of brilliant light blinded her as the vibrations came up through her feet, and traveled up her spine. They had been hit again, and because the Normandy was now open to the vacuum of space she couldn't hear it. She managed to mash the button to set the shuttle off before she was blown backward.
Shepard was tumbling, her ears ringing and spots dancing in her vision. The oxygen was leaking from her suit. Frantically she tried to stop it but it was no use, she would be dead within minutes.
A hand gripped her ankle and she began to slow down. Liara. Shepard should have known she wouldn't leave without her, had it been the other way around she would have done the same.
"Niamh!" The Commander heard through the comm.
The Asari had a grip on a pipe that was sticking out the broken hull, she had slowed Shepard down and was tugging her back until she could regain her feet.
"There's still a shuttle, this way."
Liara grabbed her hand and they headed off as quickly as they could, it was a lot slower than she would have liked. Short sharp breaths were all she could manage as they reached the shuttle just as Shepard's oxygen flashed up on her omni-tool telling her she had two percent left.
Niamh's chest constricted as she struggled to breathe and collapsed to the floor. Liara closed the doors and pressurised the cabin. Shepard pulled her helmet off and gulped in lungfuls of air. The Asari was at the console as the shuttle began to set off. Thrusters engaged as they started to pull away from the wreck that was the Normandy at speed.
"We might actually make it out of this alive" Shepard thought to herself as she began to drag herself up only to be knocked on her arse again as the shuttle vibrated furiously then silence.
"Shepard! Nothing's working-" Liara turned to face her, her helmet now abandoned, "-I don't have control anymore."
She got to her feet and staggered over to the console. The Commander punched in a few commands. Nothing. She slammed her fists on the board before drawing her pistol.
"Move back." She said and the Asari complied quickly. She shot the lock on the door to the inside of the console and slid underneath it.
Everything was fried, there was no power going through any of the wires. They're was nothing they could do.
"They've used an EMP," Shepard said sitting up.
"An EMP?" Liara asked, her blue eyes darting from Shepards to the console.
"An electromagnetic pulse, it's killed all the electronic's in the shuttle, we can't fix it," The Commander sat next to the Asari and took her hand, locking their fingers together.
"W..What does that mean?" Cerulean blue eyes sought Shepard's green, looking for a reassurance that the human just couldn't give.
There's no gravity in space which means moving objects have inertia, they'll keep going at the same pace until they hit something but more likely their oxygen will run out long before that happens and they'll suffocate.
"It means," Shepard began before Liara's head flew to her shoulder and she began sobbing. She shook violently for a long time, the Commander slowly stroking her cheek.
"Goddess, I thought... I thought after we survived Sovereign we'd have more time together." She lifted her head slightly and tear filled eyes met hers once more.
"So did I," The Commander lifted the Asari's head, their lips touching briefly before the kiss deepened. When lack of air caused them to pull apart, she rested her forehead against her lover's.
"At least we'll be together," Liara whispered.
"What's that?" Shepard woke with a start. They had fallen asleep in each other's arms after exhaustion had taken a rough hold on them both. Liara was pointing to something out in space.
Niamh got up and went over to the window. This thing was huge, a sphere easily the size of a moon but it didn't look solid. It was see through with the light from distant stars reflecting off it, causing it to ripple slightly.
What the hell
"Is... Is that a wormhole?" Shepard glanced back at Liara, eyes wide.
"It can't be, wormholes aren't naturally occurring, they are just theoretical." The Asari ripped her eyes away from Niamh's to stare at the object they were hurtling towards. "Aren't they?"
That was true, which means someone or something had to have put it there. But who? And where did it lead?
Space time can be curved by the gravitational fields of mass, some scientists claim that if the curvature is severe enough there could be an intersection where curved space meets, this would cause a pathway to permit easy travel to another part of the universe or even another universe altogether.
If this was a wormhole then they could literally end up anywhere.
"We need to strap in, make sure your belt is as tight as it can be." Niamh barked, jamming her helmet back on. Liara following her example, they would be upon it soon with no way to avoid it. Shepard took Liara's hand as they sat side by side.
"Once we're inside, I don't know for certain what will happen but I'm guessing we will speed up. We might hit six or seven g's, probably higher, so it's ok to pass out." Shepard squeezed the Asari's hand, trying to give a small amount of comfort.
"We'll be ok," The Asari nodded her jaw set, as they approached the entrance.
They slipped inside and almost immediately, their speed increased dramatically. They were pressed hard into their seats, Shepard barely managing to keep hold of Liara's hand.
Images of distant galaxies and nebulae were painted on the walls, it is beautiful in its astronomical majesty.
Faster still and Niamh's hand slipped from the Asari's. As the galaxies just whizzed passed as balls of different colours now.
"Shepard... I... Love you" Liara's voice was strained over the comm, she was struggling to breathe.
The Commander managed to turn her head to see her lover's limp limbs being pushed back with no resistance. She had passed out.
"Love you too." She thought before her own world turned black.
The fireball from the sky had landed nearby if it was star metal then her boss wanted it before anyone else could get their hands on it. She wouldn't be pleased if she came back empty handed.
It would be no more than an hour's ride but they would need to move quick if the templars or mages found it first it would be a disaster.
She had been given three of the best riders and best horses with a wagon to retrieve the metal.
"Let's get this done."
"Oxygen depleted."
Beep. Beep. Beep.
Pain seared through her shoulder, she tried to move her arm but couldn't. It was broken.
"Oxygen depleted."
Beep. Beep. Beep.
Shepard opened her eyes slightly, the shuttle had crash landed somewhere and was now filling with smoke. Raising her head slightly she could see that the window was smashed and the engine was on fire. They had to get out of here now.
"Liara! Liara can you hear me?"
No response.
Using her good arm she wrestled with her seatbelt, eventually getting it off after several minutes and shouting profanities at it. Her knees buckled as she stood up, falling back into the seat she grunted as more pain raced down her arm.
The fire was getting higher and hotter, sweat ran down her forehead as she struggled over to her lover, who was still unconscious but breathing. More profanity as she tried to free Liara from her constraints.
Screaming as she bent down putting her good shoulder into the Asari's torso, slipping her hand under her thighs. Her arm now flashing white hot with every move as she managed to stand up with her lover flung over her shoulder and made her way over to the door.
Spots flashed in front of her eyes as she tried desperately not to pass out from the pain. Grinding her teeth together as she kicked the release button on the door, which flew open instantly.
The fire roaring behind her began to engulf the whole cabin, she would need to get a safe distance away. Because the electronics were knocked out they had barely used any fuel, the shuttle would explode at any second.
She walked for a few minutes before collapsing biting back the scream that wanted to escape and rolled onto her back.
Her vision blurred as she took in her surroundings. Snow. Lot's of it. Some trees in the distance. This planet was cold but the air was breathable. Her omni-tool had stopped beeping. "This kind of looks like Earth, Liara would love to analyse this place," she thought as her breathing became shallow.
She heard the bang from the engine exploding, just as she pass out once more.
She had to fight to regain control of her horse as the sound vibrated all around them. A plume of smoke erupted just behind the trees.
"Looks like we might me too late," She said to the others, "sounds like people are fighting over it already. You three wait here, I'll go see what we are dealing with."
She hopped down from the horse gracefully which was no mean feat for someone of her stature and quickly but silently moved through the trees. She'd need to assess the situation quickly and find out if fighting was necessary. She hadn't brought many men.
When she came to the clearing, there was no one there. Just a large carriage on fire. She waited a few minutes to see if anyone showed themselves. Nothing.
She carefully stepped out, making her way to the carriage but the closer she got the more she saw it wasn't a carriage at all. It was massive, could hold at least fifteen people. It was in a shape she had never seen before. Debris was scattered all around it.
She pondered it a moment before a slight movement just to her side caught her eye.
There were two people, two women lying in the snow, she tiptoed closer not making any noise underfoot.
They were both still alive, their chests were moving up and down, barely.
The armour they had on was like nothing she had ever seen before, made from something she knew not. The woman on the right's helmet was elongated at the back. Glancing back to the carriage then up to the sky.
"Scout Harding? Did you find the star metal?" The three men that had accompanied her had grown restless of waiting when she hadn't returned.
"No, but I've found something else, bring the wagon over here and quickly. Sister Nightingale will want to see them post haste." They obeyed, no one wanted to displease the Spymaster.
The dwarf looked at the two women in front of her once more, "Where did you come from?"
A.N As you can probably tell this is set at the beginning of Mass effect 2. Instead of Shepard dying she get's lost in space, I've tried to make it as realistically plausible as possible and explained things on the way. This story is in the same universe as my other DA story which I haven't finished yet and maybe a future Mass effect story and have them all link in together.
This story will be getting updated sparsely as I'm trying to finish my other story so I hope you are patient.
I need to thank my amazing partner NattyWright and my good friend SilentStormSocitey for being so supportive of me with this when I thought I couldn't make it work and helping me through it.
I hope you enjoy it.
P.S Niamh is an Irish name, if anyone is struggling with the pronunciation it's N-eve :)