Chapter 3

"Sir, we've detected an odd disturbance in the heart of geth space. It appears that a ship just randomly appeared."

"Thank you, you are dismissed." His assistant bowed slightly before turning and leaving the room. The Illusive Man took a quick drink while reviewing the data before him. Tapping his communicator he contacted his assistant, "Jonas, send a probe into the system to investigate, and send the Dallas to wait outside the system. If they don't report anything of worth, recall them."

"Yes Illusive Man," and they connection was cut. This was certainly odd. Possibly a new tool. The Reapers will be mine. Humanity must take its rightful place in this galaxy. And no one, not even Shepard, will take that away. He took another drag of his cigarette and looked over the data once more. Yes Shepard. You will fall.

"Do you guys have any equipment to bring on board," Shepard said to John.

"We have a fully stocked armory, if we could take some of the guns, and the ammo crates, we should be good. The other equipment for armor or weapon repair, we can get ourselves."

Shepard nodded in understanding and turned towards James, "Go get Cortez and help them get the weapons and ammo to move them down to the shuttle bay, then meet the rest of us in the War Room."

"Yes Commander," James said with a salute, and left the room to get Cortez. Garrus approached next. "Shepard if I didn't know any better, I'd say Cerberus already knows about this ship so we should make this quick."

"Cerberus? That's the rogue human group, yes?" Arbiter asked

"Yes. Their leader is indoctrinated by the Reapers and he is certainly not an ally. He claims to be working for humanities best interest but everything he touches becomes corrupted." Shepard said before opening his coms to call James. "James if you guys could double time it that would be great. We will help move stuff."

Facing the rest of the group, "Guess we should get to work huh? EDI, get back to the ship and keep reviewing the data. Tali if you want to get back to Engineering feel free too, just meet us back in the War Room when the call comes."

"Of course Shepard," she said before going back to the ship with EDI. James and Cortez arrived and they all moved into the armory, to see it fully stocked with odd weapons. James let out a short whistle as he saw them all. "Nice guns" he said to no one in particular. In ten minutes time, one of each weapon, UNSC and Covenant, was moved onto the Normandy along with the ammo crates and repair kits. The group had just finished the decon cycle when the airlock door opened and Joker started to talk without turning his chair. "So Commander, mission success? I didn't realize you had to take an hour and a half save some sorry assessss… Oh." Joker finally turned his chair around to see Shepard standing with his arms crossed and a raised eye brow, with John, Kelly, and Thel standing behind him. Neither party said anything, just stared back at each other until EDI leaned over to Joker and tried to whisper, "I will explain Later Jeff."

"Yeah Joker, don't you have a ship to fly?" Shepard said with grin. Joker turned back around defeated and Shepard just chuckled. Motioning for the new comers to follow him, he starts explaining, "Don't mind him. His jokes are worse than they seem," and he laughed even more when an 'I heard that!' came from the bridge, "This is the CIC the main operating center of the ship." When entering the side passage, he told the two guards to let them pass and put them in the Normandy's systems.

"This is the conference room and through that door," indicating the door on the right, "is the War Room. EDI tell the team to meet in the War Room." Entering the room and walking past the holotable with the hologram of the Crucible on it, Shepard and company enter the com room. "Traynor, can you get me Admiral Hackett?"

"Yes Commander," was her only response. He turned and faced the other three. "Admiral Hackett is currently the highest ranking military leader left in the Alliance, and is in control of the Crucible project, the hologram you saw in there. The only other Admiral with the same authority as him is Admiral Anderson, who is leading the resistance on Earth. After the initial invasion, our government was all but wiped out and we lost almost 2/3rds of our fleet. He already has the same info that we recovered from your ship, so he'll probably just ask questions." At that moment Hackett came over the QEC. "Commander Shepard, I assume these are the three you mentioned." He said with his normal all business tone, and his scared face all serious.

"Yes sir."

"Yes well let's get started"

Tali had only been in Engineering for about 20 minutes when the call from EDI came in. She was just about to run some trials with Ken on the power systems and their draw on the Tantalus core. Adams chuckled at her frustration.

"Duty calls again ay Tali. Don't worry, I can run those trials with Ken." He said turning back to his console.

"Aye lass, we're good down here, go see what the Commander wants." He said with his partially thick Scottish accent. She could only sigh. She still wasn't used to them being so willing to do more just for her. Yes they knew about her relationship with Shepard, and she was obviously part of the ground team, but she didn't like leave all the work to them. At least Adams hasn't changed from the time on the SR-1, so it only felt right to have him stay Chief Engineer.

"Ok, hopefully it won't take too long." With that she left her console and headed to the elevator, finding it surprisingly empty. The elevator opened up to the CIC and it was only a short walk to The War Room. Inside everyone was already there, standing around, talking, or both while waiting for Shepard to come out of the com room. Not a moment later, he walked out of the com room with John, Kelly, and Thel. He walked down to the holotable to address the team.

"Hello everyone. I just finished speaking with Admiral Hackett. I think it's time to go into detail about our mission and situation with our new friends here. Garrus." He motioned for his friend to start. Garrus stepped forward and pressed a button on the table, and the image of the Crucible changed to one of the galaxy.

"It's been about a month and a half since the war started. The red areas represent systems controlled by the Reapers, though with our stealth systems we can go virtually anywhere. Our mission so far has been to secure alliances between the races and in doing so Shepard has pretty much done the impossible."

"Garrus please." Shepard said, not wanting any praise.

"He's right loco. I mean you've already got the turians and krogan working together by curing the genophage. And more recently the quarians and geth. And plenty more than that before this whole war started." James said chipping in.

"Ok guys we get it. Garrus please continue." Shepard said holding up his hand.

"As James said we already have the turians, krogan, quarians, and geth committed, and after the recent attack on the Citidel, the main station for galactic government, the asari and salarians have also aided, mostly with the Crucible, but they have also committed a few fleets as well. Other resources and help have been found along the way. And that's pretty much the jist of it."

"Thank you Garrus. Now in regards to being on the ship," he turned to face the new team members, "there are a few rules, but overall it's pretty much free roam and do what you want within reason. The crew and I, minus a few on the ground team, are Alliance but I'm still a SPECTRE and this is my ship, so we do things my way. Overall it is pretty lax, and if I stop by, it's likely I'm just there to talk. We can only do this if we work together, so it's good to get to know each other. Any questions?"

They all shook their heads no, but before they could continue on Garrus chimed in again. "Yeah that's how it is, though a certain engineer might get a little special treatment." He said with another grin and a small chuckle from everyone else. John stepped up this time, "I don't get it." Everyone started to laugh again, this time EDI spoke, "Commander Shepard and Tali became physically intimate in their fight against the Collectors and their relationship has continued since." Now everyone was in a full blown belly laugh as Tali wrung her wrists and looked down while Shepard just face palmed and said with as much sarcasm as possible, "Thank you EDI. Uh how about we just start the tour."

"This is Deck 3, the Crew Deck…," Shepard was still talking, but what caught Johns eye was the memorial wall. It reminded him of the memorial on Earth. He had only seen pics but the effect was still the same. These 'feelings' were still new to him, so he never paid them much attention, but Kelly could see right through his guise. Her eyes stared right through his visor and straight into his.

"Something wrong John?" Kelly asked

"No, nothing. Just… remembering." He said

Shepard walked up next with the rest of the group, "Everything ok Chief?

"Yes sir. If you don't mind me asking, who were these people?"

"First, at ease Chief. You don't absolutely have to call me sir when on the ship. And to answer your question I suppose we would have to start from the beginning," looking at the wall he saw his mark, "Jenkins died on the first mission of this whole ordeal three years ago on Eden Prime. Ashley was a marine that had joined up with us on Eden Prime, and she died on Virmire, protecting the makeshift nuke we had set to destroy Sarens base of operations. Pressley and most of the other crewman on here were killed in the attack on the first Normandy over Alcheara, six months after stopping Saren. Mordin Solus was a salarian scientist, and one of the first recruits on this Normandy to fight against the Collectors. He was insane, brilliant but insane and talked a mile a minute. He died making sure the genophage cure was dispersed on Tuchancka. Thane Krios was a drell assassin also recruited to fight the Collectors. He was surprisingly spiritual for an assassin. He was killed helping to protect the Council during the attack a few weeks ago. Legion was the latest. He was the geth on board the ship and was the last person we recruited for the Collector mission. He sacrificed himself just two days ago, to give all geth individuality. Before he only referred to himself as 'we' because of the multiple programs in him, but in his final moments, he referred to himself as 'I'."

"I see. Thank you Commander, I will definitely look into all the info you gave us to help understand more. We can continue now." John said

Nodding to him, Shepard continued on, "These are the crew quarters and the women's bathroom. And this here is the Starboard Observation Deck." The doors opened to the open room with a few chairs couches and bookshelves. An overall peaceful room. Arbiter approached next, "Commander if I may, I would like to request this room."

"Uh I'm sorry Arbiter, but Kaidan already has this room" Shepard stated, but before the Arbiter could say anything, Kaidan spoke up.

"That's ok Commander, I was already in the process of moving out."

"Where to Kaidan?" Shepard asked confused.

"Oh you know loco, only with his favorite asari." James said with a grin and an emphasis on 'favorite'. Shepard looked at Liara and Kaidan. She was blushing and he was rubbing the back of his next, each with a smile on their face. A grin of his own formed on his face as he looked and then pointed at the two. "You two know this is going to be discussed at dinner so be prepared to talk." Turning back to face the Arbiter, he said, "Well I guess you could move in as soon as he's finished moving out."

Heading back the other way Shepard showed the men's bathroom, life support, and the Port Observation Deck. Moving into the main area, they were shown the mess, Liara's room, the Medbay and Garrus even showed of his guns in the Main Battery. While entering the elevator, Shepard suggested, "You guys might want to check in with Dr. Chackwas when we're done or else she'll hunt you down and drag you up there herself. Both Garrus and I have learned that the hard way."

"No matter how tough you are, that woman will strike fear into you enough to make you want to sleep with one eye open," was all Garrus had to say on that fact.

The doors opened to the Engineering deck and Shepard once again took lead, with Tali in tow. Shepard pointed to the left, but before he spoke, Javik decided that he was done with these primitives and went back to his quarters. "Aaand where Javik is walking is Port Cargo and to the right is Starboard Cargo. It is currently unoccupied, so Chief, Kelly, if you're ok with sharing a room you can have it."

"Thank you Commander, it won't be an issue. What about duties around the ship?" John said.

"For you I would recommend working in the armory. That way you can help maintain the weapons you guys use," Shepard said. Turning to Kelly and Arbiter he said, "For you Kelly I would just say to go where you are needed. For you Arbiter I truly have no idea. I may come speak with you to get to know you better and learn what you are good at." Thel acknowledged what Shepard had said and understood.

"Tali here can show you guys the Engineering compartment if you guys want and down there is the shuttle bay and armory," Shepard said starting to bring the tour to a close. "I'll let you guys get settled and if you have any more questions feel free to ask EDI from anywhere on the ship. I'll be in the CIC for now," with that Shepard entered the elevator and went back up to the CIC.

Seeing how no one asked about the rest of Engineering, Tali said goodbye and went back to work. Garrus, Kaidan and Liara acknowledged the rest and went back to deck 3. "Well I guess I could help you guys get your stuff if you want." James said

"Thank you but we can handle it," Kelly said back

James just shrugged and went back down a level. Now the three were standing around looking at each other. Arbiter was the first to speak. "As I am still waiting for my room, I shall go see the doctor now."

"Ok, we'll see you later Arbiter." John said before entering their new room. It wasn't much bigger than his old quarters. There were two cots and a couple crates, along with the windows to the left, and what looked like a garbage compactor in the back. Finally he took off his helmet. His grey eyes looking tired and he ran a hand through his short brown hair. After about 35 years since he was abducted, his hair was growing back into a standard military like cut. He turned around and saw Kelly staring him down.

"What?" What happened next actually surprised him. She threw her helmet at him and shoved him against the wall.

"THEL' VADAM! Are you INSANE! Have you even read the reports! Do you know what he's done?" She screamed in his face.

"Yes I have Kelly, and I do know what he's done," he said calmly, "But he and the rest of the Elites are one of the main reasons humanity still exists. And he has done nothing but willingly work with me and humanity so that we are less hostile and can work with each other. Think about it. His race was manipulated for thousands of years with the promise of false salvation. Then those he served orders his branding of shame, and the death of his race afterwards. Then he learns the truth of their so called salvation and finds the only other race with a common enemy. It was more than just the Flood, more than just honor and revenge; it was about the continuation of all life in the galaxy."

"I know but he is still responsible for the death of almost one BILLION humans!"

"Listen Kelly, you can trust me. If not him for now then trust me. How do you think Tali felt at first about that geth that was once aboard their ship?" She finally started to back down and let out a loud sigh.

"Ok John I trust you. Just don't expect me to get all buddy buddy with him."

"Fair enough."

Dr. Chakwas was sitting at her desk when the door opened and the new alien walked through. The four fingers were new but the mandibles, legs and overall height of the creature were somewhat familiar. He stopped and looked at her then spoke with a voice like Andersons.

"Dr. Chakwas?"

"Yes and who would you be?"

"Thel' Vadam, the Arbiter of my people. I came for a 'checkup' as you humans call it."

"Ah yes of course," she then stood up and activated her omni-tool, "I'm just going to run some scans and tests so that I can learn more about your physiology and then I'll take a blood sample." He let out a low grumble and stood in place as she waved the device over him. She looked back at it and kept saying to herself about it being 'interesting'. She looked back up at him, "Ok now could you please remove part of you armor on the arm."

He relented a bit, but saw the fire in the older human's eyes. "Oh come on, a fierce warrior like you can't be afraid of a needle. Unless you're like Wrex." He let another grumble slip out and removed part of his armor and held out his arm. The procedure took all of 5 seconds and she scanned the sample. She let out a small gasp as she reviewed the data.

"What is it?" he asked.

"It seems that your DNA is a combination of dextro and levo. Don't worry it just means that you don't have to worry about what kind of drink or food to eat to put it simply. I'll let the Commander know. You may leave now."

What a day. Shepard thought to himself as he leaned over the galaxy map. "Joker any sign of Cerberus?"

"Just a probe Commander and EDI took care of it. All quarian and geth forces that have come to investigate have been alerted that we have it under control."

"Ok. Well we've got all that we could out of the ship so we should destroy it. I don't want to chance Cerberus getting the upper hand. Bring us around on an attack run and aim for the sweet spot. Once that's done, head for Cyoane. Hackett has a mission for me and I think this would be a good time to see how our new friends do in action."

"Yes Commander."

The ship rocked a few minutes later from the main gun and then the explosion. Any trace of that ship should be gone.

A/N: Yes I have the Elites be dextro and levo DNA, but how are we supposed to know. So I altered it a little as this is an AU.