A/N: So, I just had this crazy idea for a crossover story and decided to quickly hammer out a first chapter. If there is interest, I'll gladly continue it.

"I hate to rain on your parade, sweetie, but I'm not sure the Alliance is anxious to know more about Prothean tech." Mara leaned over Li's head, looking down at the desk, "I mean, maybe eventually, but not right now."

Liara sighed, looking up a Mara and smiling gently, "I know. This is more for me than anyone else." She looked at the screen, "Not knowing if Thessia survived, and knowing I'll probably never see it again if it did, everything and everyone we lost... I find myself taking comfort in any piece of the past I can, even if it's something as trivial as digging through uninteresting prothean archives that survived."

Mara kissed Li's forehead, "Whatever works, I suppose. I would rather you passed the time with me, if you catch my drift."

"Drift caught." Liara laughed, "Actually, I'm finding some interesting records of prothean experiments and research into humanity. Turns out they were quite fascinated with your species, they found your genetic diversity quite intriguing. It's quite interesting."

"Yeah. Two-legged lab rats, whoopie!" Mara rolled her eyes, "Wait, what kind of experiments are you talking about? Any cheese and mazes involved?"

"What kind of data could you possibly get from that?"

Mara shrugged, "No clue. But seriously, what did they do?"

Liara scrolled through her datapad, "Mostly observational; they'd implant trackers and data gathering devices into humans and track their daily development, comparing the data to determine genetic differences. Protheans share the same amino-acid and carbon base humans and asari do, but the variation within your species lends itself to medical experimentation and breakthroughs."

"Seriously?" Mara looked out the window, "I think... I think I encountered one of those data containers."

"By the goddess, of course! The sphere we encountered on Eletania! A shame we can't return there to analyze the sphere again with the proper context." She looked at her pad again, "There is one curious entry. Here, records of a recolonization involving one thousand females and males to another planet similar to earth. I think they were going to investigate your species' ability to adapt to new conditions."

"Did the experiment not finish?"

Liara nodded, "This experiment only has the specimen transfer and first yearly report logged. The second report, if my calculations are correct, would have been just after the Reaper attack on their civilization."

"Wouldn't we have discovered a planet full of non-earth humans?" Mara sat on the desk, dangling her legs off the edge, "Seems like kind of a big deal."

"I've never heard of the relay they reference in the research notes. Could be the relay was somehow destroyed during the Prothean war, or otherwise became unserviceable." She shrugged, "A shame we can't investigate this further, the lack of any relay at all puts a hamper on any exploration missions."

"Where do you think it is?"

"Not terribly far from Sol, I think. I can't pinpoint an exact location from these notes, but the in-depth analysis of the star they performed matches Beta Thyllus, which is roughly 5 light years from here." Liara smiled, "If you want a long vacation, it would only take 5 or 6 months for a ship at FTL to arrive there."

Mara tilted her head, "Actually, the possibility of a human population that developed completely independent of our own, plus stands an extremely good chance of being untouched by the Reapers, might be of interest to the new Brass. They're pushing the whole "upward and onward" schtick pretty hard. I'll drop a line to Hackett, couldn't hurt."

"I must admit Captain, your visits are never dull." Hackett descended the staircase from the chamber, "The Parliament is actually considering giving you the resources to investigate this prothean experiment."

"Captain?" Liara gave Mara a curious glance, "You were promoted and you didn't tell me?"

Mara shrugged, "Didn't seem that important at the time. Besides, I've been performing all the duties of a Captain for the past year, all they did was let me wear the stripes associated with said duties."

Liara giggled, "And all you had to do was stop the Reapers. I shudder to think what it'll take for you to become an admiral."

"I know, right?"

"Your Spectre status and brief association with Cerberus, plus the whole Batarian fiasco, kind of complicated your promotion schedule." Hackett took a seat across from her, "If I had it my way you'd be wearing admiral stripes and commanding a fleet, not taking an old cruiser on some long-shot first contact mission with humans." He held up his hand and smiled at Liara, "Not that I don't see the importance of investigating this discovery. But there are more important things that we could be utilizing our resources on."

Mara pulled Liara close, "I appreciate your confidence in me, but I'm not the admiral type. Besides, a year or so away from the hectic politics and shifting political minefield couldn't hurt. And I'd get to make up two lost years to someone rather important."

"Well, you've done nothing if not earn the right to take the assignment you want." Hackett stood, brushing the wrinkles out of his shirt, "I'll tell them you'd be willing to take the command position if they approve this mission."

"Here's hoping." Mara held up her crossed fingers.

"So... do we push the ship there, or..." Liara looked around the old Turian dreadnought, "Glad they spared no expense on this mission." She crossed her arms, "I suppose my laboratory is a re purposed storage closet, hmm?"

Mara sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose, "Li, we kind of lost 80% of our fleet in a massive war with sythetic super-ships a year ago, the fact that we're getting anything other than a Kodiak shuttle with a salvaged hyperdrive stapled to the roof is something to be happy about."

"Yippie." Liara shouldered her bag, "I'll count my blessings that we have a stateroom to ourselves, I thought Turian commanders shared the same quarters as the regular men."

"They do, but since we half less than half of a normal crew, we can set one room aside for just you and me." Mara kissed Liara's forehead, "But it's not all bad news: I had a queen-sized bed put in there, the ship is fully stocked for a two-year journey and every surviving vid I could track down is loaded on the entertainment systems. Oh, and your utility closet has as close to a full lab as we could make."

"You do know how to spoil a girl." Liara kissed Mara gently, "I'll put my things away and meet you on the bridge."

Mara made her way up to the command deck, stepping over the not-so-elegantly connected bulkheads. Turian ships were made for combat, with aesthetics a distant fourteenth in the design criteria. The result was a ship that, brand new probably looked outdated, had the appearance of a ship who had been out of commission for a few decades. But what they lacked in amenities and looks, they made up for in reliability, efficiency and speed, the latter two being why this ship was chosen for this mission.

The mission's launch ceremony barely warranted the name, with only a handful of people attending and the only operating news-media outlet broadcasting the launch. A year ago, such a mission would've garnered weeks of fanfare and media attention, culminating in a massive ceremony with all the trim and trappings you could imagine.

"So how is the old girl?" Mara leaned against the pilot's seat, looking down at Cortez, "Think you can handle her?"

"Well, she's not a UT-47." Cortez shifted in his seat, "But I'll get the hang of her. I'll give the Turians credit, they can make a nice ship. She may not look like much, but she'd out-fly most of our ships any day."

"Good thing Joker isn't here, he'd take that personally." Mara laughed, "Glad you came along, Steve. The more friends around, the better."

"And you still brought me along?" Vega leaned against the bulkhead, "Or am I just here for the eyecandy?"

Mara grinned and shrugged, "Eyecandy. Honestly, I can't stand you as a person."

"You and Esteban both, Lola." Vega smirked, "I'm guessing the real reason I'm here is if these... separated humans of ours aren't so thrilled with being discovered."

"Maybe." Mara shrugged, "It's more of an uncanny intuition that humans, regardless of where we are, tend to piss people off or each other off. I give it a 40% chance we come across a planet with some kind of war being fought."

Cortez laughed, "Your faith in your fellow man is inspiring, Captain."

"I had that faith once, when I was seven." Mara looked wistful, "Then I met my first politician. Suddenly all those global wars from earth's past we learned about made sense."

"So... something I'm a little fuzzy on: if the Crucible vaporized all Reaper tech, how is it that we still have eezo cores?" Vega scratched his head, "Because, wasn't that eezo tech Reaper based?"

Mara shook her head, "Actually no. Originally, it was Reaper based, but after who-knows how many cycles the actual technology that was utilized became something different. The reason the relays, Reapers and Citadel went belly up was because they hadn't changed at all. The virus that overloaded all of the Reaper technology was tailored for Reapers only, our technology changed enough to be mostly immune."

"So the bug was so old it only infected the old machinery?" Vega summarized, "So, why do none of our weapons work?"

"Yeah, see, that I don't understand. There are quite a few instances where one thing works, but the other similar thing doesn't. All of the Quarian and Asari eezo cores went dormant, and the Daedelus-class Alliance cruisers lost theirs, yet the rest of the fleet's were fine. Our heavy weapons like the Cain, the Avalanche, work but our pistols and rifles don't."

"Which is why we're sporting 2140-era rifles." Vega laughed, "I've maybe seen one of those in the museum, you expect me to fight with them?"

Cortez laughed, "What's wrong, Vega? Can't handle a different kind of point-and-click interface?"

"Hey, there is more to a weapon than pointing and clicking." Vega took a stance, pretending to hold a rifle, "You gotta know her, mano. She's like a beautiful mujer; you gotta caress her, figure out her quirks, the tricks to making her work... can't just manhandle her like a putana and expect her to save your ass when you need it most."

Mara nodded her head towards the cargo bay; "We have five months to get acquantied with our new dates, I set up a firing range in the shuttlebay. Care for a double-date?"

"Lola, I would be honored." He bowed and gestured for Mara to lead, "This way I can check you out the whole way there..." he muttered.

"Careful, soldier. My fiancee could kick your ass." Mara laughed.

"I might just let her." He ducked Mara's swipe, holding his hands up defensively, "Easy there Lola! I'm kidding, chicka!"

"Watch yourself Vega."

"Captain." Mara's head came up off the pillow slightly, causing Liara to stur softly next to her. "Captain." She now made the connection between the voice and the ship's comm unit on the wall, which she leaned over to hit, "Go ahead Cortez."

"Been waiting to say this for awhile, but land ho Captain. We're about twenty minutes out from our mystery planet."

Mara gently shook Liara awake and swung her feet out of the bed, stretching and yawning, "Out-freaking-standing. I'll be in the CIC in ten. Shepard out." She smiled as Liara hugged her from behind, "The moment of truth... now we get to see if your breadcrumbs lead us to a pot of gold."

Liara rested her chin on Mara's shoulder, "Y'know, now that I think of it, I think I got one of the numbers wrong. We actually need to be on the other side of the arm." She giggled as Mara lightly smacked her cheek, "What do you think we'll find?"

"We can make a logical guess." Mara stood, grabbing the shirt tossed over the bedpost, "A civilization not far from where we were in 2140, differences in architecture and design obviously... maybe differences in fuel sources depending on the planet's natural resources. But by and large, I don't see them being very 'alien' at all."

"I see someone has picked up a few archaeological deduction skills." Liara selected one of Mara's old uniforms from the closet, finding the human casual outfits far more comfortable than her laboratory scrubs or armor.

Mara kissed Liara's cheek as she buttoned up her shirt, "We've shared so many memories, I could probably get a bachelor's degree in the subject overnight. See you in the CIC dear."

Outside, the hallways were busier than normal as everyone ran back and forth, preparing for arrival. In the CIC, a holographic projection of the planet was slowly being rendered as their scanners revealed more detail. Mara leaned against the podium on her command station, tenting her fingers and analyzing the image in front of her.

"Well, that looks promising." Liara finished fixing her collar as she walked up, "I see continents, island chains, oceans. Looks very similar to Earth, seems to be in a 26 hour day, 370 days per year cycle." She walked up next to Mara, lightly hip-bumping her out of the way and typing at the console, "Oxygen/Nitrogen atmosphere similar to earth. Hmmm, slightly less gravity. Strange considering the physical size, could indicate extensive subterranean caverns." She brought up a more detailed scan, "Shepard! I'm detecting objects in space! Non-natural objects, they seem to be satellites of sorts."

Mara leaned forward, "Weapons platforms? Should we be worried?"

"No. These are weapon platforms, but they appear to be pointing at the surface. There are also a plethora of communication's platforms, I'll try to tap into one and get a better idea of what kind of civilization we can expect to find down there."

"So much for my Utopia." Mara zoomed in on the satellites, "Any way to know if these are for a current war, or leftovers from one that's already ended?"

"I don't recognize this energy signature, but judging by the levels present around each platform I'd say they were fired about 14 years ago." She scrolled through the list, "Goddess... they were all fired in at that time, a handful since then. The level of destruction must've been massive."

Mara leaned against the railing, "So we discovered a human race that has already destroyed itself." She shook her head, "The sad thing is I'm not entirely surprised."

"Not destroyed yet, Mara." Liara zoomed in on the planet, showing a city, "I'm picking up a good bit of radio chatter from this city, seeing evidence of large vehicle movement too. There is still a population down there, and in the possession of technology."

"Maybe the ones that set off the satellites, the victors." Mara gnawed her lower lip, "I doubt we'll get any more information from up here. See any place we can set down and do some old-fashioned intelligence gathering?"

"Here. There appears to be a village not too far from the main city that has been abandoned for some time. I'm picking up some movement, but it's probably wild animals that moved in after the humans left." Liara turned to Mara, "I'll keep an eye on things from up here. Might be better if the team that makes first contact is all human."

"Good idea." Mara keyed her radio, "Vega, Williams, meet me in the shuttlebay. We're going for a walk." She kissed Liara's cheek, "I'll be back before you know it. I'll try to bring back some local desserts for ya."

"Any new developments with our LZ, Liara?" Mara idly flipped the cover on her scope open and closed as she bounced slightly in the descending shuttle.

"I'm picking up activity just east of your position, they appear to be heading your direction. I'll keep an eye on things, but I'd recommend you land outside the town and sneak in."

Mara gave Ash a curious glance, "So... I picked the only abandonded town on the planet that is in the process of being reclaimed? Wonderful. What can you tell me about the approaching army?"

"About a hundred or so vehicles; smaller tanks and aircraft forming a defensive perimeter around large trucks. Don't ask about the trucks, because I have no idea. It seems like whoever the force is mobilizing against doesn't want them to get there, I'm picking up massive battle signatures."

"We'll stay out of sight as best we can." Mara stood and walked over to the door, looking out of the opening door, "We're about a click north of the town, we'll keep radio silence as much as possible. Shepard out."

They stepped out of the shuttle into the light snowfall that blanketed the town. Mara checked her rifle, surveying the terrain, "Alright, listen up. Stay in the shadows as much as possible, only fire if fired upon. If this is an invasion force, we might want to avoid contact until we determine their willingness to have a civilized conversation."

Moving in a single-file formation, they slowly made their way down the small hill to the town below. They could faintly hear the distant sound of combat echoing across the terrain, smoke wafting up from destroyed vehicles in the distance. They stacked up at the entrance of an old abandoned building, Mara slowly leading them into the old wooden structure.

"Looks like no one has been here in ages, Captain." Ashley carefully picked her way through the old glass and debris to the front window, trying unsuccessfully to wipe the dirt off the old glass, "Clear out front... I think."

Mara looked around the room, a bar from the looks of it, and gently ran her fingers around the edges of a hole in the plaster, "Looks like a bullet hole. A bunch of them, something tells me this town wasn't abandoned willingly."

A loud explosion shook the building, the three of them dropping to their knees. "What was that?" Mara crouch-walked over to the window, trying to catch a glimpse of what made the explosion. "Smoke at the edge of town, I guess that force Liara was talking about made it."

They slowly made their way out of the bar, inching down a side-street. Mara dropped to her knee and signaled a stop, gesturing to the cross-street ahead of them. A few small, four legged creatures scuttled by, heading for a tunnel through the mountain.

"What the hell were those things?" Vega whispered.

"I get the feeling we don't want to know." Mara began moving forward again, carefully scanning the rooftops and windows for enemies, moving in the direction of the tunnel where small explosions and sounds of gunfire could be heard echoing off the walls.

She stopped suddenly, pushing Vega backwards into the shadows as tfour humans walked out of the tunnel. "Damn, they make you look positively skinny, Vega."

"Size ain't nothin' if you don't have tone, chicka."

Mara's ear twitched and a loud whistling sound slowly grew closer, "Unless their muscles can repel mortars, they're in trouble." The first impacts caused the four men from the tunnel to scatter to the edges of the road. Two of them entered a building on the right, while the other two made their way to the rooftops.

"Lets see how this plays out." Mara led her team behind the buildings, the sounds of combat from the rooftop giving the other humans positions away. Mara rounded an alleyway in time to see one of the humans struggling with an alien of some sort, nearly twice his size. Without thinking, she brought her rifle up and fired a burst into the creature, distracting it enough for the human to spin him around and snap his neck with a sickening crack.

He tossed the body aside, picking up his rifle and striding over to Mara, "I hate sound ungrateful, but who the hell are you?"

Mara waited for a massive truck to drive past to answer, extending her hand, "Captain Damara Shepard, System's Alliance."

The man crossed his arms, "A captain, huh? Hate to break it to ya, but rank don't mean for shit out here, so why don't we skip the formalities. You're human and considering we lost half of our force, that's enough for me. C'mon, I'll fill you in as we walk."

Another human, this one wearing a full mask, sprinted over, "Sarge! The trucks are almost in position, but we have enemies closing in fast."

"Looks like that long explanation is going to have to wait, we have some ass to kick."

Mara signaled for Ash and James to follow, jogging to catch up, "I never did get that name."

"Sergeant Marcus Fenix. I'll shake your hand when we don't have grubs to kill."

A/N: Yeah, so much for that utopia Mara had hoped for, but after the Reapers the Locust should be easy, right?