It didn't take long for the team to gear up and embark the shuttle. Unfortunately in that time the Conestoga had launched a pair of fighter escorts. This new development had all hands on the Normandy a bit on edge. The fighters were of two distinct different types, though EDI's scans could not ascertain their combat capabilities.

"Normandy shuttle," said a voice over the radio, "this is Green leader we will escort you to launch bay 6."

Shepard felt no need for the shuttle pilot to respond and ordered that the shuttle maintain formation with the unknown fighters. Normandy maintained a safe distance from the vessel, at least enough distance that she could close the gap before weapons could be brought to bear. As the shuttle approached their designated landing bay, the fighters broke formation and maintained a perimeter around the massive ship.

The launch bay was empty, nothing more than black tiled floor and white walls to greet the trio as they exited the shuttle. It felt a bit unusual, being in such an empty room. All Shepard could do is trust his instincts that those aboard had come in peace.

"I would have expected a larger welcoming committee," said Tali, "They have an unusual way of greeting visitors to their ship."

"Agreed," said Legion, "they have us in a vulnerable tactical position Shepard Commander."

No sooner had Legion spoken those words that the only door visible in the bay opened and a large cadre of hard-suited men stormed in with amazing precision. All wore helmets and all had their weapons drawn. They were followed by a similar suited man whose armor bore scars of battle and an obvious rank insignia. Shepard and his party immediately drew weapons.

"We did not expect your team to bring weapons." Said the scarred individual, "Not the best way of saying you're here to help."

"I could say the same thing," replied Shepard as he aimed his sub-machine gun, "you have a very odd way of showing gratitude."

Before the exchange continued a woman, who appeared to be human entered the room. "Stand down, chief." She said.

A moment passed before all the soldiers in the room had lowered their weapons. Shepard did not notice the 'chief' give an order.

The woman turned towards Shepard, "I apologize, but the Chief here is a bit over-protective. I am Shana, leader of this expedition, thank you for your assistance."

Shepard saw sincerity in the woman and lowered his weapon along with his team, he extended his hand in greeting, "I am Commander Shepard, and these are Tali and Legion. I am surprised to see a human face; your ship does not match any known Alliance configurations."

Shana smiled in return, "We share in that surprise Commander, though I am not human." Shana made a nod towards the still waiting soldiers for them to leave, as they filed out, she continued. "I am certain you have some questions. Please come with me."

Shepard's team followed Shana out of the bay and into a corridor where dozens of workers, some who appeared human, and others from species he had never seen, busily repaired the significant damage to the ship. Pages overhead were nearly constant as crew members were ordered to various sections of the ship. Shana eventually led Shepard's team to a Spartan conference room with a metal table and several chairs. She stood at the far end of the table near a display.

"Once again," began Shana, "I thank you Commander for coming to our aid. Even though you were not what we expected, we appreciate the assistance nonetheless."

"Your distress signal we picked up was in a language used by a race we know as the Protheans." Shepard said.

"We had hoped our signal would have been received by them, from your tone I take it that they were not able to come to our aid."

"Where exactly do your people originate? It is common knowledge in the galaxy that the Protheans disappeared over fifty thousand years ago."

Shana's expression changed to one of disappointment and sadness, "That is… unfortunate. Though allow me to explain, over one hundred fifty of our years ago, one of our race's observation posts on the outer rim of our galaxy intercepted a probe. This probe utilized a propulsion system that was completely foreign to us. This 'Mass Effect' as I believe you call it was not a force unknown to us; however we had never considered the possibility of its use as a method of interstellar travel."

Shana Continued, "Contained within the probe was a quantum data archive which took us almost a decade to decipher, another five years after that to gain enough understanding of the language to figure out who sent the probe and why. We had learned that the probe was in transit for over fifty millennia and was built by these Protheans. We uncovered an archive full of their history and culture, as well as their technologies. We also learned that they were all alone, that no other space-faring species existed in their galaxy."

Shana was about to go on further, but Shepard interrupted, "The fact that the probe was fifty thousand years old didn't dissuade you from coming all this way?"

Shana replied, "No Commander, we had assumed that a space-faring species with no rivals was almost guaranteed to thrive. Our race has been capable of faster than light travel for over four times as long."

"Unfortunately," said Shepard solemnly, "our galaxy has been plagued by a cycle of mass extinction."

Shana gave an empathic look, "Our galaxy had never really experienced such an event, at least not on that scale, and not until recently." Shana picked up where she had left off, "Three hundred years ago our Galaxy was invaded by a race whose sole objective was to conquer and enslave every sentient race inhabiting it. The ensuing conflict claimed lives in numbers once thought unfathomable in a fantastically short amount of time. The biggest loss for my people was that of our leader, my father."

A pitch black tear seeped from the corners of Shana's eyes, and she wiped it away as she composed herself. "Once the war had ended, we severed all ties with the younger races of our galaxy that had started it all. Attempts to communicate were met with mere silence, and ships encroaching into our space were either towed out or destroyed. Our race thrives on the acquisition of knowledge and culture from other species, but we could not continue under those conditions of extreme hostility. As such we began researching and developing technologies to go beyond the rim, to find peoples of other galaxies that had risen above their petty squabbles. The Conestoga is the first ship, and your galaxy was targeted because of the probe sent by the Protheans."

"Why take this long to travel beyond your Galaxy?" Tali asked.

Shana was quick to answer, "Our galaxy has unusual electromagnetic properties at the rim that disrupt any FTL technologies we had at our disposal. The invaders had utilized the manipulation of gravity wells to overcome this barrier, which unfortunately we were unable to adapt to suit our needs. When the Prothean probe arrived, they gave us all the information we needed to reverse engineer Mass Relay technology, but not only that, improve upon it. Once we had acquired sufficient quantities of Element Zero we constructed our own Mass relay. One of the modifications we made had the Mass relay supplement its power with energy generated from a pulsar. This allowed our relay to project a mass free corridor long enough to make an intergalactic journey possible without a mated pair at the other end."

"Such a jump would have been highly inaccurate; the link between two primary relays can be off by several million kilometers. Not to mention the problem of slowing down from FTL speeds once you got to your destination." Tali mentioned in earnest.

"Yes, we anticipated the accuracy problem. In fact when we finished decelerating using our retrofitted Mass Effect drive we were several thousand light-years outside of your galaxy. Fortunately when we refitted this ship for this expedition we retained its conventional propulsion systems and kept the vessel fueled in anticipation of missing the mark."

Shepard leaned forward in his chair before Shana could continue, "This explains how your ship had been damaged by the Reapers."

Shana's curiosity was piqued, and she was puzzled by what Shepard was referring to, "I'm sorry Commander, Reapers?"

"A race of synthetic life forms of immense size and age. They have systematically wiped out all galactic civilization every fifty thousand years."

"Yes Commander, I do believe this is what we had encountered once we had decelerated. Apparently these Reapers, as you call them, are what made our deceleration much more rapid than our calculations predicted. We detected them almost immediately, our sensors classified at least a hundred fifty contacts before they were knocked offline. Fortunately, I gave into the demands of our military contingent and kept this ship's armaments completely intact. They did not respond to our communications and opened fire almost immediately. Fortunately our weapons were able to cripple two of them which bought enough time for us to jump back into FTL. A blind jump I might add."

"Please explain this blind jump." Legion asked.

Shana started up the display showing a diagram of their ship, "Our FTL technology works off of folding the fabric of space. Unfortunately objects of significant mass cause their own distortions, this means that before we can jump to FTL we have to plot a safe route that stays relatively clear of large gravity wells. By the time our drive had spooled up, our navigational array had been knocked offline in the attack and we had no other choice but to pick a bearing and go. The Protheans provided us with a map of this galaxy and the Mass Relays; we pointed to the closest one." Shana changed the graphic to a damage report, "We encountered all the hazards of a blind jump, when we finally dropped to sub-light speed, the FTL drive developed a catastrophic feedback and we were forced to jettison its core. Our Mass Effect drive and sub-light propulsion were knocked out in the attack."

Tali activated her Omni-tool and checked an inventory of spare parts and materials aboard the Normandy. "If I could examine your drive core, I could possibly repair it with what we have aboard our ship."

"If you feel up to the task I will send for my chief engineer, Commander Tupalo, he will also get you access to the ship's systems." Shana said as she pressed some buttons on the display behind her.

"Do you mind if I ask a few more questions?" Shepard said.

Shana smiled politely, "By all means, Commander."

"Our ship's computer said that your vessel also is equipped with an AI. Is this a common technology for your race?"

"It is common for military vessels to have such sophisticated AI's on board; the Conestoga is a repurposed warship. The organic computer system was left intact as we felt it would be invaluable for this expedition."

"So your ship's computer isn't synthetic?"

"It depends on what you mean by synthetic. The main computer aboard our ship was created from engineered tissue. While it is alive, it is programmed like any other computer system. However, the integration with the ship's systems is extensive enough where the entire vessel could be classed as a cybernetic life form."

Legion interrupted before Shana could continue, "Your machines serve you freely?"

"Simply put, yes, when we bring a new core online, we treat it the same as the birth of one of our offspring. Not all cores wind up on combat ships." Shana did notice Legion's appearance when she first saw him in the shuttle bay. "I take it that you, Legion, are fully sentient."

Shepard interrupted before Tali and Legion could have words. "Tali's race, the Quarians, created artificial intelligence as a military and labor force. Legion is a collective of that creation, the Geth."

"Fascinating," said Shana, "I presume that the Quarians did not intend for their creation to attain sentiency?"

"No," said Tali, "as we programmed the Geth for increasingly complex tasks and allowed them to network with each other, they evolved."

"Our people have an expression for that sort of phenomena," replied Shana, "ghost in the machine."

Before anyone else could speak another member of the Conestoga's crew, presumably Tupalo, entered. Shepard at first saw him as a bit strange in how he held himself, his appearance resembled that of a human, but the brow line was much more squared, and his hair was long, unkempt, and as white as it could possibly be. It also moved while he stood motionless, strange since there was no wind inside a starship. His eyes were stark white with no pupil or iris yet he seemed to have perfect vision.

Shana quickly greeted the new entrant, "Commander Tupalo, this is Commander Shepard of the Normandy. Commander Shepard has been gracious enough to lend you a few extra hands."

Shepard got up to speak and take Tupalo's hand, but the engineer completely ignored him and approached Tali rather closely. "Commander Tupalo, these are my two best engineers, Tali'Zorah vas Normandy and Legion."

Tupalo yet again was unmoved by Shepard's introduction. He stared directly into Tali's face and sized her up. "Ah, humanoid, female, presence of isolation suit," he said disjointedly, "Alternative atmospheric requirements? No, suit is not substantial enough to hold significant pressure or gas volume. Lack of stored gas would also mean pulmonary system capable of processing Nitrogen and oxygen atmospheres. Ah, isolation suit due to immuno-supression?"

Tali was a bit apprehensive having someone she'd just met getting so close to her, but the man seemed harmless enough. She politely responded to his inquiry, "Yes, my race's immune system has become suppressed after three hundred years of being confined to starships."

"Fascinating." Tupalo said as he turned his attentions towards Legion. "What's this? A Synthetic automaton, and quite sophisticated. Extensive damage to superstructure, evidence of carbon scoring from weapons fire as well as large pieces missing. Are you a combat unit?"

"We are a collective," Said Legion, "we have run-times for construction, defense, and manual labor."

Tupalo turned back towards Shana, "I would have been there with you at the shuttle bay had you told me this specimen was on board." Tupalo then turned back to Legion and looked it square in the eye, "Are you one or many in there?"

"This mobile platform contains one thousand one hundred and eighty three individual run times."

"Oh, I'm certain our ship would love to get to know you better, she's a bit fond of conversing with other AI's."

"Commander," said Shana, "would you escort Tali and Legion down to the engine core and get them up to speed on our repair efforts?"

Tupalo said nothing in response but motioned for both Tali and Legion to follow him out of the room. Shepard's companions looked at him with inquiry to which Shepard merely nodded. The three left the room.

"Is your engineer okay?" asked Shepard, "he seems a bit different."

"Apologies Commander; Tupalo is one of my people's best engineers. As a result he has a bit of trouble with his interpersonal skills. Some say it's his age, others say he's spent too much time with engine cores. I assure you though your crew are in the best hands." Shana motioned towards the Commander to exit, "If you would care to join me I can show you a bit more of our vessel, at least what isn't exposed to vacuum."

Shepard stepped out into the corridor with Shana and he was led to an elevator at the far end, the lift was incredibly fast, even with AG plating he could feel the sudden acceleration. "You mentioned this ship had been refitted, was the Conestoga always a science vessel?"

"No Commander, originally this ship was a heavy carrier that had been decommissioned at the end of our war with the invaders. This is the largest vessel our people have built, but there are larger colony ships in the works."

"Not a great way to make friends with strangers, showing up with a warship."

"I had raised that objection myself, at first. Then I realized that a larger vessel could contain more supplies and more crew. We have seven thousand souls on board, which is roughly a fourth the ship's original military complement. We process all our own food on board, thankfully most of that consists of photo-synthetic plants. Normally these ships operate with five years of consumables, though I'd venture that our provisions could last us at least ten times that."

Shana finished as the elevator came to a stop. The door softly swished open to reveal a large open space flanked with several levels of balcony. The sight resembled some more upscale luxury liners. The floors resembled dark inlaid marble, staircases had ornate wood carvings. The walls, which presumably were the outer hull, appeared to be windows looking out into space.

"Shana," said Shepard, "are all your ships like this?"

"Only all of the ships in this particular class Commander. These ships primarily serve as carriers and are usually well outside any direct ship to ship combat. They serve more as fleet hubs for command and resupply. We also offer many options for recreation for everyone in a fleet. Rather than shore leave we often give spacers respites aboard these ships."

"These bulkheads, they're not windows."

"Indeed they are not; you're looking at a display affixed to the inside of the exterior pressure hull. The ship's sensors are sophisticated enough to generate an image of what it would look like were the outer hull transparent. This is the port side promenade. There is a similar feature on the other side of the ship. During combat this area is evacuated and de-pressurized. The doors on the balconies are secondary doors to crew quarters, conference rooms, and guest suites. These are all sealed in combat, occupants are either on duty or evacuated deeper into the ship. Right now things seem rather dead due to our repair efforts and our reduced crew."

"What about command and control?"

"If you continue with me Shepard, we will be at the CIC shortly."