The Infinite Universe

by Zone-Meister

Once a mighty empire in the Milky Way with a population numbering in the hundreds of billions, now reduced to a paltry few by a terrible enemy,they have won the war, but at a terrible price, now with nothing more than their heritage with them, they travel to a new Galaxy, to Andromeda. Mainly a Destiny and Mass Effect crossover, with other, minor x-overs. My first fic!

2. Chapter 1 : Initiation

Hye there!...I just want to let you all know that I am sorry for updating late, I haven't and still am not well. being bed ridden for the past week, another reason for the delay was my inexperience in writing conversations and stories. So please forgive me.

At any rate hope you guys enjoy this, don't forget to leave reviews now!

And a I wish you all a very late Merry Christmas and HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Chapter 2 : Initiation

Date :Unknown

Year :Unknown

Location : Unknown

All around him, there was death and fire, flames blazed around him and smoke covered the sky, he and his squad were engaged with the enemy…their weapons blazing as they slaughtered their foes before them, defending their world to the last breath. They were attacked by an unknown race that they had to encounter, intent on enslaving their children and pillaging this moon they were inhabiting. Not in the defenders watch they weren't. As soon as the alarms sounded all of the children and the elderly were efficiently evacuated towards the shelters in the safe zones, all around the planet pirates were descending down to the surface via dropships, most of the cities and towns were safe, their anti-air defences tearing down the invaders from the sky in droves, however this was a newly colonised planet, as such most of it's defences were focused on major zones of importance, leaving some of the smaller settlements with only adequate defences.

Still though, the situation was under control, the relief fleet was 4 minutes away, tearing apart the hopelessly primitive alien vessels in orbit, their species had only just consolidated their position in this system, which was why they didn't have much in the way of space based orbital defence platforms and no drone fleet, what few orbital defence platforms had easily weathered the initial attacks and attempted boarding actions by the aliens and were destroying the alien fleet, which had been caught in between the relief force and defence platforms, the once numerous alien fleet, numbering at around 700 ships, was now reduced to a paltry 27, losing most of their number in 5 minutes, still though, their tenacity and attempted suicide attacks on the relief force had forced them to slow their advance slightly. Nevertheless, a lot can change in 5 minutes, for better…or for worse…..

All around him, explosions could be heard and intense combat, both from gunfights and hand-to-hand combat was reaching it's climax, it wasn't their skill and courage that was in question, nor was it their technology, strategies, tactics or competence. It was their numberless foes and their fatigue that would kill them, being a small, recently acquired colony, this small moon they were on had little in the way of military forces, but it didn't matter, their citizens were being evacuated and if they were to die here?...well it will be worth it.

A young man woke up, he remembers what had happened in the past, his grey eyes focused and alert despite just being awakened from his slumber by that dream, not out of fear or desperation, but out of habit and the feeling of adrenaline as he remembered the call of war, the blades dancing as they cut his enemies to pieces, his guns screaming as they tore through them, but in the end of the day, it doesn't matter, for there is only duty, courage and honour, and with that he shall fear no enemy.

Date : November 16th, Monday

Year : 4219, 950 years after "The Great Migration", 3 years before "Unknown Incident"

Time: 0600 Hours

Location: Planet Shanxi, Scipio Academy of Military Science

The bell from an alarm clock was blaring loudly across the room, a particularly small dorm that had enough to accommodate four students, who together formed Fireteam Principes, three of whom had been sound asleep after studying their asses of for their end of the year exams, to be held three days from now, which consisted of a paper test and field exam which was meant to push each squad to the edge of their endurance and skills, if not more. Pass this exam with flying colours, and their career options would be vastly increased, from being accepted into the Marine Recon Programme to being granted membership based on merit to join the Holy Grail of soldiering, the N7 Initiative, where the finest soldiers of the Federation are trained. Every child in the Terran Federation is trained for war, it's fitting, their race has always been beset by war, and their position in Andromeda is no different, surrounded by enemies, as such they were always prepared for war, every child received combat training at an early age starting at six years old, once they reach 9 years of age they would choose either to go a military academy or a civilian school, those who choose to become civilians are still involved in the protection of their homes and their nation, receiving training to become Federal Guards(FG) at the age of 14, with boot camp lasting for one year, despite being considered militia or citizen soldiers and not full time professionals and are instead citizen soldiers called up during times of war or crisis, due to military indoctrination since childhood, The FG's morale and capabilities are more than a match for the full time soldiers of the other races The Marines are the professional soldiers of the Federation, the children that do choose the military line enter a military academy to properly embrace the Warrior's Path, after their five year tenure in the military academy learning about the arts of war and how best to utilise their Psionic gifts in warfare, most become fully fledged Marines, training an extra year in bootcamp, with some joining the Marine Raiders, an elite commando unit that is highly respected and feared in the galactic community for the tenacity, adaptability and courage. These units are masters of asymmetrical warfare and unconventional missions. In a direct fight these men can tip the scale in their favour.

And then, there is the N7 Initiative, an elite club of some of the finest soldiers the Federation has to offer and some of the most feared men and women in the galaxy, the ultimate example of the "sword saint". There are two ways of being selected to join N7, either you are chosen from the ranks of the Marines after becoming a veteran soldier with the right "qualifications and mindset", or you are picked just after you graduated from any of the military academies for your talents or character. The N7 program came to be after reviewing reports from the old human empire during their time spent on the Arks heading to Andromeda, back then, there was no unified program, the Empire's elite soldiers were called collectively as Guardians, each with three specific classes based on their preference, Titan, Hunter and Warlock. While these three classes themselves weren't overspecialized, being able to adapt and react to any threat, there was insufficient cooperation between them, Titans, Hunters and Warlocks typically worked alone. Fireteams and squads were ad-hoc at best, and standardization was non-existent. While undoubtedly effective, the Guardians lack of team work and over emphasis on individuality had lead to staggering losses in situations where their enemies had been able to exploit their weaknesses and destroy them piecemeal. During their time in the Arks that had yet to arrive in Andromeda, the military leadership decided to reform the Guardians into a more organized and disciplined force without sacrificing that distinctive individuality and flexibility that made Guardians so feared. Thus the N7 Initiative was born.

Right now though, none of this mattered, three of these guys had more important things to do and had no time whatsoever to be dreaming about becoming N7 "Guardians" or even become Marines yet, instead they are more focused on waking up, trying to resist breaking their team leader's alarm clock and get ready in 5 minutes for their early morning warm up session.

"What the fucking hell?" said one of them groggily, he is the tallest of the four, brown skinned with exotic golden eyes, wearing nothing more than a pair of boxers, with morning hair that made him look like a bum, in truth however he was exceptionally accurate with firearms, especially with a sniper rifle, and was particularly talented in tracking and being the team's point man, the tribal tattoo on his face was coloured blue, with several eagle motives on the side. His name is Fabian "Hawk Eye" Havelock, Fireteam Principes, Rifleman,Scout and sniper artist.

His bunk mate, having taken the top spot since the start of their academy years, was also grumbling, albeit in a subtle manner, he's also as tall as his bunk mate Fabian and had jet black hair, coupled with mismatched eyes, one blue and one green, and his facial tattoos had dragon motives to them and were coloured red, and where Fabian had roguish charm, this young man was quite handsome, he is Nicholas "Nick Pyro" Rainier , much like their appearances, their attitude's couldn't be further from each other, where Fabian was extremely quiet and introverted, Nicolas was talkative and boisterous, thankfully, 5 years in the military academy had cooled him of a lot, and where Fabian was a precise instrument of death, Nicolas, being the Grenadier, wasn't subtle, as explosives tend to splatter enemies throughout the area.

"Great….what time is it?, and I was having such a good dream about us being N7 Guardians and getting all the girls and having a good time in Elysium." whined Nick. He would have continued his rant but the Fireteam's second- in- command stopped him.

"Shut it Nick, I don't need to hear your nonsense this morning!"

Michael "Warmachine" Irons is the Fireteam's second-in-command and the teams Designated Automatic Rifleman, in other words, a machine gunner , together with Nick, they both are tasked with laying down heavy firepower towards their enemies, he had a serious, taciturn aura around him and rough but overall good looking face, his facial tattoos were grey in colour and incorporated sword designs on it. Michael, like their leader, came from a military family, the Iron's family is known for producing excellent soldiers as well as next-gen weapons systems, and it shows with "Mikey", as his squad mates liked to call him, much to his ire.

"Come on Mikey!, you HAVE to admit that being an N7 Huskarl is not only cool, but we did all the girls, the guns, the gadgets, the guns, the prestige, the girls and the GUNS!" argued Nick.

"Nick, you said girls twice and guns three times, what the fuck, and besides, that sort of thing Is best left for later, I for one have no intention of getting into a ONE NIGHT STAND, and getting the tar kicked out of me by vengeful females" Mikey deadpanned.

"Sheesh Mikey, stop being such an uptight bastard and please, PLEASE cut the poetic English!" Nick whined.

"Fuck it!, and besides my superior language infuriates you, which serves it's purpose." stated Mikey smugly.

Meanwhile Fabian was watching the pointless banter go on between the two of them, he was about to step in when someone else did it for him.

"You guys never change do you?." a calm, almost monotone voice cut through their argument.

Standing before them was their Team Leader, Cadet Sergeant William" Ice Man" Shepard, he was quite handsome, the left side of his face had a grisly scar the stretched from his forehead all the way to his cheek over his eye, his eyes were gray in colour, cold and calculating. Like Irons, he to came from a military family, albeit one that traces it's origins back to the Milky Way and the old human empire. Unlike the others his facial tattoos lacked many of the artistic curves, instead having straight lines and right angles, his tattoos were grey in colour and had wolf motives. Where the others had earned their callsigns through hard work and unbelievable acts of skill on the course of their harsh training regime and simulations , Nick was credited with blowing up five training tanks and a VTOL during an exercise with nothing more than grenades , with the last kill involving him turning said weapon through random pieces of scrap, into a makeshift anti-aircraft mine that was detonated when it hovered over it, Fabian and Mikey earned their in a similar fashion to Nick, with Fabian being a damn good marksman, sniper and scout while Mikey was a walking arsenal that rained death with everything he had, from his trusted machine gun to his grenades. William was nothing of these, but then again, when you had ice water for blood and nerves of steel , and had razor sharp intellect on the level of a prodigy, it's more than good enough. That, and he was tried and tested soldier. He had earned his callsign in the anvil of war.

As soon as he said that all three members of the squad stopped what they were doing and rushed to stand at attention at the front of their beds. William watched them all with a calculative gaze, while he considered all of them his brothers-in-arms, having studied with them since the age of 9 in the academy, it would be terrible practice for him as a leader to be soft on them.

"I seem to recall, that I SPECFICALLY stated that all of you are to wake up at EXACTLY 0600 hours, now the time is 0610 hours, we are ten minutes late gentlemen," William said, as he looked at all of them before continuing, "so because of that our light workout will be extended by another two hours, so hit the showers, I want to see you out on the field by 0630 hours." he finished, the squad didn't complain, but instead snapped a salute and rushed to the showers.

"Well it's time for me to get ready" thought William as started to dress up, wearing a pair of grey shorts and a combat shirt, before quickly wearing his combat boots and exiting the squad's dorm and heading towards the training field. As he walked he felt a pang of nostalgia, it had been 950 years since humanity left the ruins of the Milky Way to come to Andromeda, and a part of him still felt a deep sense of connection to Earth, he had also been having dreams about the battles of the old human empire against the Tyranids, little snippets of the past that he dreams about, it was a recent phenomenon that had started to affect humanity, but not in a terrible way, scientists and Archons have both concluded that these visions of the past are proof that psionics also allow the user, in this case the entire human race, to see the events of the past, because it's recorded in their genetic memory, they still hadn't come up with a proper term for it though, and settled for calling the phenomenon "ancestoral flashbacks".

Whatever the reason though, William had to admit, he admired those soldiers, those warriors that fought the alien apocalypse to the last breath, in his dreams he could see lone squads, sometimes even lone men or women hold back vast alien hordes before succumbing to their wounds despite the fact that back then, they lacked some of the advantages in weapons and psi-abilities they had now. William knew he was a prodigy, while it was true that nine year old children these days had the intellectual capacity of 15 year old teenagers from a pre-space capable Earth and even then at that age he was unnaturally gifted in the arts of war, he always wondered privately whether he would ever live up to that legacy, being on the top and going beyond even that in test scores and training would only take you so far, sure being the best in "H2H" or hand-to-hand combat or coming up with new tactics and strategies in class and exercises was fine and well, but in the end of the day as a soldier, your choices and action on the battlefield speak louder than any test score, and while all fourth and fifth year students in the academy were allowed to go on small scale combat missions against raiders and pirates, it was nothing compared to total war, though it did give them valuable insight on it. It is because of this, that he will strive to become the very best he can, to serve humanity to theend, to the bitter end.

"Excuse me, sir?."

William was pulled out of his musings by his three team mates, he mentally kicked himself for reminiscing to long. "Sorry about that, just thinking about some things, anyway let's start with our warm up, then we will begin our jog and lastly wrap this morning up with some light sparring." said William.

"Yes sir!" his team mates chorused.

William smiled as he and his team began doing their warm ups before going to their usual routine, namely 700 reps of jumping jacks, sit ups, deep squats, knee bends, leg lifts and push ups, In between these sets were 30 second breaks. After finishing their first course, they began their short "jog" all around the academy, in reality the short jog was 7 mile parkour session with the four of them using the obstacles in the academy and the surrounding areas as their playground.

As they continued their exercise William felt a telepathic connection between him and Mikey, which was also connected to the others.

"William, can't believe it's so soon huh, wide-eyed nine year olds coming to the academy for the first time, now we are on the brink of graduating and heading towards the future as soldiers, it's like we've grown old somehow" Mikey commented with a nostalgic look on his face.

The others looked at him with blank faces.

"Huh, did you grow grey hair while we weren't looking?"

"Great, Mikey has become an old bastard!"

"Where is your walking stick Mikey? Hhahahhahahhahahha!"

"All of my hate, ALL OF IT" Mikey grumbled.

William checked his watch, it was 0845 hours now, classes were at 0930 hours, thankfully, today was Monday, both Monday and Tuesday were mostly relegated to Military Science studies, paperwork theory and Psionics class which lasted till late evening. Wednesday to Sunday was full on combat training and simulations in multiple environments. He decided to end their run now even though he wanted to finish at 0900 hours. Best to finish now so that his squad can shower quickly grab a bite of grub and head of to class.

" All right boys let's head back to our room, take a bath, grab some food and head to class" said William. "Oh and Mikey don't forget to cut the telepathic connection with all of us, we don't need to see your secrets for the opposite gender" he continued, smirking at Mikey choking on his spit.

" I just can't get a break can't I sir…" muttered Mikey as he cut the connection.

The others just smirked as they headed back to their dorms to shower up. Seven minutes later all of them, with their uniforms crisp and clean, had rushed to the cafeteria, munched on some hash browns and sandwiches and were now heading to their first class, Psi-Theory.

As they were walking to their class room they were unaware they were being watched, in the Superintendent's Office, an old man was watching the four, a tough veteran of many low-key but ultimately deadly conflicts since the Terran Federation was introduced to the Andromedans . He is Lord Shaxx, hero of the First Contact War against the Asari. At 300 years old he had chosen to retire from active military service to support and teach the new generation, hence his current posting at Scipio Academy of Military Science. To his right and left were Brigadier Generals Petrovsky and Holland, the former is the Dean of the Academic Board while the latter is the Commandant of Cadets, right now these three were in Shaxx's office for two things, the first was to evaluate their students, the second was that they were waiting for their guests, namely, the current heads of the N7 Initiative and the S.H.I.E.L.D.

Shaxx couldn't help but feel pride as he looked at the dossiers and reports of his students, all of them would be excellent soldiers, unflinching followers of the Warriors Path that would stand tall against their enemies, and truth be told, they needed their warriors, their bastions, now more than ever. He was there during the First Contact War against the Asari 200 hundred years ago, stationed on the recently colonised border world Shanxi, a scout fleet had been dispatched from Shanxi to explore an in-system recently discovered device that appeared to be gateway or FTL system that launched ships to their destination much like a slingshot. Whatever the reason, their investigation was cut short when an Asari fleet had appeared on the scanners, the captain in charge of the scout fleet immediately followed First Contact procedures, namely hailing the oncoming fleet to ascertain their intentions. The Asari responded by firing primitive nuclear missiles en mass at the scout fleet. Long story short, despite the scout fleet consisting primarily of dedicated exploration of vessels and two frigate squadrons for a total of eight frigates, the Asari fleet was annihilated, but before the last of their vessels was vaporized under a hailstorm of Railgun and Pulsar battery fire among other things that tore through their unshielded hulls, the Asari commander arrogantly proclaimed " that the Asari Republic with the help of their Promethean Gods will annihilate your barbaric race".

Needless to say, the Terran Federation was more than ready, when the first wave Asari fleet, containing over 700 vessels, arrived at the edge of the system, they were in for a rude awakening, instead of encountering small ships, the encountered an entire fleet of warships, containing Warbird Battlecruisers, cruisers, destroyers and Raptor Squadrons augmented by Assault Carriers and Command Warbirds. The Asari didn't stand a chance, the moment they entered weapons range of the Terran Fleet, 250 cloaked ships of all types opened fire, their Lance weapons and plasma/laser batteries augmented by railgun and missile fire tore the Asari Fleet to pieces, the Asari weren't even able to lock on, the Terran ships were firing while cloaked, each ship was using advanced jamming arrays and holo-field systems, which scrambled their targeting arrays, to make matters worse was the fact that it wasn't just the enemy ships that were being attacked, it was their crew as well, high level Adepts and Templars on the Terran ships were assaulting the very minds of the Asari themselves, does that were not driven mad or had their minds extinguished were mind controlled and began to fire upon their own comrades. The entire battle was one giant turkey shoot.

The First Contact War didn't end there however, the Asari launched multiple attacks along the Federation border worlds, the entirety of the Asari sector fleets, numbering in the tens of thousands fell upon the Terran Federation, the Federation for its part, having remotely hacked Asari computer networks and gaining information from captured from Asari prisoners, who were quite confusing anatomically to say the least, found out that the Asari "Republic" was in actuality a vast, barbaric backwater of an empire that ruthlessly destroyed any race that didn't bow to their Promethean Gods and them. At any rate, fighting was incessant throughout the border worlds, with Shanxi being in the thick of it, it was there that Shaxx saw the full cruelty of the Asari, any civilian or soldier they did capture was ruthlessly tortured and executed, their "fun" didn't last however, Shaxx personally made sure that any Asari that participated in those vile acts were slaughtered without mercy in the most gruesome way possible. An act mirrored by countless other Terran soldiers throughout the theatre.

All of this however, paled in comparison to what the Archons unleashed in the battlefield against the Asari. Entire armies worth of Asari had their minds extinguished in agony as massive Psionic storms blanketed the battlefield, and in some cases entire worlds. Their arcane and supernatural abilities that went far beyond normal Psionics users.

And yet,

There were still other Archons who were above all others.

He was there on an Asari planet whose name he couldn't be bothered to remember, exterminating them pitilessly, when he felt massive waves of psionic energy coming from a nearby location, deciding to aid his comrade who may have been in trouble, an assumption Shaxx made because he couldn't get in touch with their ally in that area, so he and his unit decided to head to that zone and see what they could do to help.

It turns out they didn't need to do anything, all they found was hundreds, if not thousands of dead Asari, they could feel through their Psionic gifts that their minds had been extinguished as one would snuff a candle, others had been reduced to charred husks by lightning and quite a few were cleaved in half. At a distance he saw the hulks of three Asari frigates, one of them looked as though a giant hand had crushed it and thrown it towards the planet's surface with great force, the other two ships were barely recognisable as ships in the first place, looking as though someone or something had shredded them with a maelstrom of blades.

That was when Shaxx saw her.

She looked like a Warlock Guardian. Her armour and coat glinting in the sun of that world.

She looked to be at peace. Her facial expressions and emotions a mask of calm.

But that was a lie. Through the use of his gifts and his eye of the mind. She was something…else.

She was storm of energy unlike anything he had ever seen, then now and forever. The energy she exuded overwhelmed him. He could hear the faint sounds of the men and women under his command toppling to the ground.

He didn't….couldn't care about that. He himself was feeling awe and fear.

Awe, at the amount of power she radiated, power that should be in the realm of God. Awe, because she represented the very pinnacle of human prowess, a bar that was constantly growing.

Fear, because she…. for the simple reason, can't be considered human anymore.

Holland looked at Shaxx and spoke to him. " Shaxx , are you okay?, you spaced out for a moment."

"I'm fine" Shaxx responded. Holland nodded while Shaxx went back to his musings.

In the end the First Contact War lasted a year, Terran casualties amounted to a minimal 1755 dead, most of them were Federal Guards and Marines who were outnumbered with a few non-combatants such as the elderly and even a few children. Asari casualties were in the billions, at least 7.5 billion dead, with even more loss in material, that's without including the casualties incurred when seven Asari solar systems were annihilated, their planets bombarded from orbit and their planets reduced to nothing more than glass, including three Asari fortress worlds which were important in housing and constructing their ships and housing and training their soldiers.

They had won the war, but because of that humanity was feared even more, and they, as a species were an island in a sea of hostiles. The Asari, alongside their stooges the Turians and the Salarians, collectively known as the Council Races, despised and feared humanity for upsetting the bWilliamce. Shaxx scoffed at that, the Council, as a whole were nothing more than braggarts and cowards, spreading their Promethean cults and annihilating those that did not believe them.

"A penny for your thoughts?". Shaxx looked up and saw Petrovsky looking at him with an enquiring glance.

"Shaxx is something troubling you?, you have been distracted for a while now." added Holland as she stopped reading her reports on the holo-pad she held in her hand to look at him.

"Nothing to worry about Vlad, Holland," Shaxx said, waving aside their concern." To be honest I was just thinking about my time as a Guardian Titan. During that extermination I saw many things, and what I will never forget is how she annihilated them. To this very day it is one of the most awe inducing and frightful sights I have ever seen."

Petrovsky gave him a look. "You trained under Lord Saladin, an Archon as well, what's different about her?"

"Lord Saladin is a calm, collected man, who views death as a friend. Even when he was killing his enemies, he does not display any emotion, positive or otherwise. There is a reason he is called the "Storm of Silence" after all. She on the other hand is the wrath of mankind made manifest, which fall without warning and without mercy. She is the polar opposite of my master." Shaxx concluded.

"She really must have been something." Holland said. Those Asari must have been pissing themselves in fear when they died."

Shaxx nodded in response as he pulled himself out of his thoughts to focus on the dossiers in front of him, all in all he was impressed with the current batch, they will go far. And of course, then there this is one particular fireteam, Fireteam Principes.

On another note, I'm pleased with our potential recruits this, especially our resident aces and trouble makers" Shaxx replied with a gruff tone that was tinged with amusement and pride.

"Ahh our resident aces and misfits, you know, I am still wondering how their Grenadier took out five tanks and a VTOL in one of those simulations, how in the hell can their sniper NOT miss under extreme conditons, and just how their heavy weapons expert is so destructive compared to his peers, the squad as a whole show great aptitude in their Psi-abilities, and don't get me started on Cadet Sergeant Shepard himself, that young man is uncannily gifted in all areas, but what really sets him apart is his attitude, no matter how tough the situation he is in, he simply refuses to give up and remains calm and collected throughout those trials. He has also performed in an exemplary fashion on Mindoir." said Holland as she peered into Shepard's first engagement.

"The Mindoir Incident?" Petrovsy stated, before continuing," What else is there to be said, Shepard has done the Federation a great service and fought with great distinction, his actions there saved countless lives." he concluded with a tone of finality.

Shaxx just looked at him with an amused expression. " You were quite adamant that the young man would become someone great after all, it's rare that you of all people would be willing to vouch for a raw recruit, talents aside."

"Call it gut instinct, and besides you also took an interest in him didn't you?"

"I can't deny that." Shaxx mused," I'm not very good at Precognition but from what little I have been able to see from his fate and what he demonstrated to me was enough to convince me that he become great in the future that and I do admit that in some way I always thought of him as a little brother I never had."

"At any rate," Holland interjected, " we all can agree that Fireteam Principes as a whole are an upcoming group of talented soldiers who have embraced the Warriors Path wholeheartedly."

"I concur with the both of you, and I believe that our two guest will be more than satisfied with their performance as well, but enough of that, are there any other squads that have or are equal in potential to Fireteam Principes?" asked Shaxx.

Petrovsky handed him another batch of files. " We have three other squads of potential hopefuls including Fireteam Principes's own squad, Squad Corbulo. The other two squads are Squad Scipio and Squad Valens. So we have a grand total of twelve potential Guardians or " Marshals".

"Well those "plebes" are in for a rough ride that's for sure" stated Holland, "At least half of them will be washed out and that's including fatalities."

Before Shaxx could respond his communicator beeped, accepting the call, he heard his secretary's voice through the speakers.

"Lord Shaxx, the visitors are here, the three of them are waiting at the lobby." said his Secretary.

Shaxx was confused, as was Petrovsky and Holland, there was only supposed to be two guests arriving today. "Please inform our guests that we are ready to receive them."

"Affirmative Lord Shaxx."

The comm line was disconnected on his secretary's side. Holland looked at both Petrovsky and Shaxx.

"So do any of you know of our mysterious third guest?" she enquired.

"We'll just have to find out." Shaxx responded as he heard the elevator that lead to his office arrive. The doors opened up, and he had to resist gasping in surprise, Holland and Petrovsky were likewise stunned at their mystery third person guest.

It was the same person the same Archon that devastated the battlefield that Shaxx was on all those years ago. Her power had not dimmed in the slightest. Her dark multi-coloured eyes and dark skin gave an exotic but dangerous look. She is Ikora Zey, an Archon, Warlock Guardian and one of the deadliest fighters in the galaxy.

To her right is Lord Saladin clad in his colourful and golden armor, now head of the N7 Initiative. Shaxx wasn't surprised, the former Director of N7, Tigurius had always favoured Saladin and had personally vouched for his promotion to Director, a decision which had proven to be a wise one. His N7 Guardians have been responsible for conducting raids and sabotage operations in the Citadel as well as providing reinforcements for S.H.I.E.L.D's assassins.

To her left is the current head S.H.I.E.L.D, Roger Anderson, the man is a serpent, he, alongside Saladin were responsible for causing unrest in Council space. Not to mention the numerous wet works operations and spy networks he had scattered throughout the galaxy.

"Ikora Zey, Lord Saladin and Director Roger." Shaz said, as he and his colleagues stood up from their seats and saluted them, which they returned. "I was expecting Roger and Saladin but not you Ikora, what is your purpose here?"

"I've seen much of that young boy called Shepard, his fate uncertain but his actions in each thread magnificent. In an age surrounded by enemies, talented soldiers are to be cultivated so that our race may rise again, I wish to see that young man." said Ikora.

"As for the both of us, myself and Roger are here to do what I told you in our last correspondence, namely to recruit potential talents into our respective agencies." said Roger with Saladin nodding before looking at Roger and said." Don't even think about scooping up all the talent in this academy."

"What makes you think I'll do that?"

"You keep telling yourself that Roger."

"Anyway, let's get down to business." Ikora interjected. " Let's start with the dossiers of your regular joes before viewing the best."

So the six of them settled down for the long haul, viewing and reviewing all the dossiers and even recordings from each simulations as well as the missions each squad has completed.

Time : 1830 hours

Location : Scipio Academy firing range

Class had finished an hour ago, but William was restless. He couldn't stop thinking about his exams which will happen soon, he wasn't worried about the paper portion of his exams, he was worried about the field portion. While he had no idea what the examiners had in store for him and his team he knew to expect the unexpected, and no matter what comes, he will have to face it anyway.

Sighing, he got into his stance, as he readied himself to fire his assault rifle, the Khvostov 7G-02T, with the "T" indicating it's status as a training weapon. The rifle is manufactured by Hakke Firearms, a company known for creating weapons that resemble those from old Earth. The Khvostov itself is a popular weapon amongst the Federal Guard and as home protection weapon. All firearms of the Federation utilise miniature mass accelerators and mass replicators to fabricate a micro dart from a tiny shaving of a block of metal contained in the magazine, the mass replicators work by replicating and fabricating a complete dart out of that tiny bit of metal, after which the round is chambered and the miniature mass accelerator hurls the dart at Mach 26, to date there isn't anyone or anything that can withstand that sort of firepower. Furthermore, like all Terran technology, the Khvostov comes with a bio scanners and Psi-receptors, ensure that piece of technology can only be used by the human who wields it.

As he started to gun down the targets with alarming accuracy, the difficulty is slowly ramping up, now the targets were flying all over the place, still he could target them with little difficulty, and instead of being flustered or panicked, he was cool and calm, each target he destroyed with efficiency, the song of war filled his head, but yet at the same time he did not lose his discipline and will. Still there were more targets to kill, and he had the right skill to do so.

As he fired upon the ever increasing number of targets, time slowed to a crawl, his already sharp perception and senses were enhanced sevenfold and now he could see the paths the targets were travelling. This particular skill is called "Divine Targeting", a simple low level skill that allows outnumbered soldiers to casually mow down a numerically superior enemy. It has no limitations save for one, it requires line of sight against an enemy or enemies, as such this skill is useless in ambush situation or situations where there is no line of sight.

After several minutes of incessant firing, he stopped, there were no more targets, all around the firing zone were targets that were perforated with holes. As he stood and admired his handiwork, William smiled, having relaxed himself.

"The exams are upon us," he thought, he touched his watch he wore on the left hand, it's face battered and scarred before continuing. "For the sake our people, and for my friend, I shall be a bastion that keeps our enemies at bay." Smiling grimly, he decided to call it a day, and went back to his room to rest.

Codex : Humanity Part 2

Military

The human way of war is radical to the races of Andromeda in that they have no shape or form, at one moment human Marines are launching devastating, unpredictable hit and run attacks and in the next, they are tearing their way through the battlefield with unmatched coordination, speed and discipline, supported by advanced armoured vehicles, ranging from hover tanks to tried and true wheeled vehicles mass effect cores and war mechs.

The human martial ideal is to utterly annihilate their foes with as little loss to their own as possible, deceit, deception and manipulation are a critical part of human warfare as much as discipline, adaptability, initiative and courage, known as a whole as the "Seven virtues of War". This has caused the some of their more violent enemies, such as the Citadel Council, to label them as "cowards". Needless to say, the humans laugh at these naïve notions. Despite having a stable population and a solid industrial base, humans are vastly outnumbered and thus choose to make the most of their resources and manpower.

Contrary to popular belief amongst the lesser races, the humans have more than enough fire power, courage and skill to fight an enemy in a head to head engagement and possess in their arsenal many varieties of super heavy walkers and tanks.

Additionally human technology is vastly ahead of many of the alien races in Andromeda from powerful, rapid fire railguns to plasma and warp based weaponry, there is no limit to human diversity and destructive potential.

Militarism permeates human culture, everyone, from the age of six is trained to fight and harness their Psionic abilities to the maximum, though it should be noted that their early training tends to be more "spiritualistic" in nature, to help build their focus and to balance and control their own emotions. In keeping with their doctrine, the Seven Virtues of War are taught to the children as well. Training focuses heavily on overall physical capabilities as well as team work and other skills necessary to wage war and students of the Warrior's Path are expected to not only complete their training, but to embrace it as well. By the time training is completed at the age of 15, the average Marine has a vastly superior physique to normal humans, physical reports indicate that the Marines physical parameters are enhanced by a factor of three to four i.e Marines are now capable of lifting three to four tons. This is due in part to their training as well as special food types that allow their physique to adapt better to the harsh regime.

Human firearms are some of the most advanced ever created, capable of hurling micro darts at Mach 26 and having advanced mass effect technology and miniature replicators that allow the magazines in each weapon to be utilized to the maximum, there is no shortage of ammunition and firepower for the humans. Additionally, plasma, laser and warp based weaponry for infantry also exists giving human infantry a great amount of versatility in dealing various targets.

Close combat weapons such as power swords and pycho-reactive spears are also available for human infantry to augment their fighting prowess.

The usage of drones mitigates the numerical disadvantage the humans face. From miniature hover tanks to flying drone gunships to stealthy recon drones, these useful machines with their advanced VI programming are very much the second fist of any human army.

Aside from various hover vehicles and war mechs, there is also plenty of artillery and heavy weapon support is available, from the powerful and ubiquitous Battle Base to highly mobile and deadly Subjugator Artillery System to the extremely accurate Athena Cannon, all of which give the humans ground forces planetside unparalleled fire power. Teleportation technology is also extensively used by the human military. Devastating tactical weapons such as the Rift Generator and Nova bomb give humans the ability to wipe out entire armies en-mass.

The humans also have at their disposal 50 fleets, dedicated to protecting the interests of the Federation. The 49th and 50th fleet's purpose is exploration and scouting. The ships of the Federation have at their disposal some of the most exotic and advanced weapons and system available, from wormhole generators allowing for instant travel to distant systems to powerful Brightstar Lance weapons capable punching through shields and ripping apart even the most heavily armoured hulls. Against the primitive ships fielded by their enemy, such weapons are practically overkill.

Psionics plays an essential part in the human way of war, on the individual level human soldiers can strike their foes down with arcs of lightning, incinerate and slash them in half with fire and air manipulation, form blades of telekinetic energy, hurl projectiles ranging from 5kg rocks to massive armoured vehicles that weigh in the tons and even use their gifts to enhance their physical capabilities. Templar and Archon level psionics users are capable of effecting the outcome of an entire battle, whether it is a local battle or even a world. Entire armies and fleets can find themselves driven to madness or death, be controlled against their will and find themselves turning against their own allies. Aside from the methods listed above, the masters of these arcane arts are capable of seeing the future, however precognition is also an "inaccurate art" as the future constantly shifts and changes based on the decisions of individuals.

Author's Notes

As you can see I've based the Terran Federation on the Eldar from Warhammer 40k very powerful, with awesome technology but low population count, as mentioned above the reason why this chapter was so delayed was because of Christmas shoppings, dating my girlfriend and New Years celebrations galore.

Anyway this is my first fic and it serves as a benchmark for what I need to improve, do leave some reviews so that I can find out what to improve. Anyway the next few chapters will be about Shepard's training as an N7 Guardian, his first mission and the introduction of the Hive and Vex.