Chapter 3 The 12 Sisters

"Commander why did we have to leave?" complained Joker as the SR2 Normandy flew out of the giant arms of the Citadel and toward the huge mass effect relay which was located nearby. "There were going to have three days worth of parties and the best part is I never had to pay for anything."

"This is a personal mission for Javik." said Sheppard as the relay loomed in the distance "Besides no human vessel as ever gone to this part of the Cronian nebula."

"For a good reason it's far away from any of the Relays we will be pushing our fuel supplies getting to the system and back." Said Joker

"Actually with the finished refit of the Normandy the planet we are going to is well within our range." explained EDI

"Ya…I guess I forgot to take that into consideration." said Joker "But in my defense we haven't gone anywhere far from a colonized world since the Reapers were defeated."

"Well we have only been delivering supplies and helping refugees." stated Sheppard

"Well you shouldn't even be here, didn't they offer you an Admiral post?" asked Joker

"They did." said Garrus as he walked up "But like me he turned it down."

"They tried to make you an admiral?" asked Joker

"More like commander of the entire armed forces of Pavaen only the Primarch would have more power than me." said Garrus

"Why turn that down?" asked Sheppard

"I am not a desk worker or what did you call it Sheppard?" asked Garrus

"A parade ground commander." said Sheppard

"Ya…I think being a specter would be more in line with my personality." Explained Garrus as the ship rocked a little bit as it always did as they entered the mass effect field of the Relay, as the ship got even closer to the giant mass effect generator a beam of blue energy shot out striking the Normandy. The ship jolted forward as faster than light travel was reached. Since the Relay in front of the citadel was a major relay which could travel all other relays.

"We should reach our destination in five hours." explained Joker "Too bad they don't have closer relay to this planet we are going to."

"It has to be done Joker." said Sheppard as he turned and started walking toward the galaxy map and the elevator. With the end of the Reaper war they finally finished the refit of the Normandy there was no longer missing computer screens or unfinished ceilings.

"Well I am going to the bar care to join me?" asked Garrus as he ran to caught Sheppard.

"No…I had more than my share of drinks at the party besides I am going to bed." said Sheppard

"And Ashley Williams is waiting for you." said Garrus as they stood in front of the elevator "When will Ashley Williams become Ashley Sheppard?"

"Soon I hope." whispered Sheppard so that the other Alliance members couldn't hear him. "I want to ask her in front of her mother and sisters. You know how important they are to her; she will want them to see."

"Ya, family is everything to her." said Garrus as the elevator finally reached them. The double metal doors opened to show the former Cerberus commander, now head of an Alliance Research and Development base Miranda Larson.

"Miranda what are you doing up here, I thought you would be in your quarters?" asked Sheppard

"Well Liara is in my Quarters." stated Miranda

"She took over the XO quarters didn't she?" asked Sheppard

"Yes." said Miranda as she stepped off the elevator.

"If I remember correctly Ashley is the true second in command of this ship." said Garrus with a laugh "But we know where she sleeps at night.'

"Well you know the saying first come first serve." stated Sheppard as he stepped onto the elevator closing it behind him. It took only a few seconds for the elevator to reach the Captian's cabin. The lights were already low since it was well past midnight Citadel time. The only light in the cabin came from lights from the fish tank which was filled with fish from multiple plants from across the galaxy. He could make out Ash sleeping on her side of the bed, instead of going to bed he sat down at his desk. For a moment he looked at the glass cases filled with models of the different ships before reaching for one of the draws. He pulled out a large bottle of golden liquid, he opened the bottle of whisky and poured himself a drink.

"You don't normally drink alone Sheppard." said Ashley as Sheppard smiled as looked up to see her getting out of bed, in her dark blue sports bra and a pair of shorts. "And you don't strike me as a whisky drinker…beer yes but not whisky."

"I am drinking to an old friend." said Sheppard

"Alone?" asked Ash "And a with cheep bottle of whisky? You know the good stuff is down stairs at the bar."

"I am toasting to Robert Lefeld." said Sheppard

"Who is he?" asked Ash

"He was a bar owner in downtown Chicago when I was growing up." explained Sheppard as he tried not to remember his time alone on the dirty streets of one of the cities with the highest murder rates in the world. "He all but saved my life when he gave me hot food and a place to sleep in the winter. I would have died without his help"

"Did the Reapers get him?" asked Ash

"Someone murdered him for the money in his wallet." said Sheppard "So I drink every year the same brand of whiskey he sold at his bar."

"Well pour me a drink." said Ash as Sheppard smiled before pouring another glass of whisky. "Here to Mr. Lefeld because without the kindness he did to some kid we would all be dead."

"To Mr. Lefeld." said Sheppard as they downed their drinks

"So your mom and sister are going to meet us on Earth?" asked Sheppard

"Yes and after the ceremony we are having a BBQ at my mom's new house in California." explained Ashley "They are looking forward to seeing you again."

"I shouldn't have skipped out on your last family get together." said Sheppard "I have been dating you for five years and I have only met your mom two times."

"You had a Krogan blood pack commander attacking a Salarians cargo ships." said Ash "And it has been around eight years since we fist kissed."

"Your counting when I was unconscious for two years while Cerberus rebuilt my body?" laughed John

"So what if I am." said Ash as she kissed him.

While most of the crew slept off their hangovers from the night of drinking before Joker returned from his quarters and retook his seat on the bridge. He turned to his right to see the physical android body that the AI which controlled the ship whenever he couldn't.

"Jeff you know you can rest, I can handle this." said EDI

"I know but I like to be on the bridge when we could out." said Joker as the Normandy exited faster than light travel and entered a small system at the head of the Cronian nebula. "Anything on sensors EDI?"

"Nothing out of the ordinary." stated EDI as her AI core processed every bit of information coming into the ship "All three planets are in their proper place and there is no sign of anything out of the ordinary."

"Alright then let's head to this planet." said Joker as a miniature Galaxy Map appeared in front of him. "So we have to take a course 7 degrees starboard and head out into the void."

"Crossing the void will take at least 10 hours." said EDI as the ship turned to and head into the massive void where there wasn't even a lone star. The nebula was divided into two with a giant void separating the mass were the most star systems was and the nearest mass Relay. This void was one of the major reasons why no Council ships came to the nebula.

"I wonder what caused this to happen?" asked Joker as they ship began to power its way through the nebula. "What is our fuel like."

"With the improvements we have 2000 unites of fuel onboard and to get to the system Sheppard wants to go to and back will take 1742 unites of fuels not counting the emergency reserve supply." stated EDI

"Well I like to keep at least 500 unites of fuel onboard not counting the reserve supply incase on emergencies but it has to be done." Said Joker

"Yes." said EDI as she stood up "Would you like something to eat?"

"Yes, but one of us has to stay up here." said Joker "I know that you could fly the ship while you help me down to the mess hall but the crew would…."

"Jeff." said EDI as she placed her mechanical hand on Jeff's shoulder "I was going to bring it to you."

"Thanks EDI." said Joker as he placed his hand on EDI's and smiled.

An hour later Ashley Williams stepped out off the lift only to come face to mask with her long time friend the Quarian Admiral Tali.

"Morning Ash." said Tali

"Morning Tali where is Garrus I thought he would be with you?" asked Ashley

"And I thought you would be with Sheppard?" asked Tali

"Well he is finally getting a full night's sleep." said Ashley as the two of them walked around toward the medical bay and the kitchen. Maybe because so many people were still hung over from the night of partying the dining area was mostly empty.

"It's good that we can talk." said Tali as she picked up some food which was safe for her to eat, unlike humans or Assari who were levo-protein races Quairans and Turians were dextro-protein races that meant they had to eat different food or risk their heath.

"I heard you're talking about adopting." said Ash as the two old friends sat down

"How did you know that I've only told Garrus?" asked Tali

"And who does Garrus talk to?" asked Ashley

"He told Sheppard and he told you." said Tali

"Yes." said Ash "I am surprised you didn't tell me."

"I was going to tell you when we had decided." explained Tali "We still haven't decided if we want to adopt a Quairan or Turian yet alone or if we want a boy or a girl."

"I understand Sheppard and I don't have to worry about that we can have kids naturally." said Ashley "But you and Garrus can't because your different races."

"Let's change the subject." said Tali

Almost a day later Sheppard stepped off the elevator and entered the command bridge, they had crossed the void only an hour ago but they still had another day until they reached their destination. Sheppard had spent most of the time talking with his old friends but now he had to check on joker before retiring for a peaceful evening with Ashley. As he walked toward the bridge he noticed Javik on the bridge.

"Joker how are things here?" asked Sheppard as Joker spun around in his chair to face his commander

"So far so good, we crossed the void and pasted two small systems." said Joker

"Anything interesting?" asked Sheppard

"Nothing out of the ordinary." explained EDI

"So why do we have to travel to this planet?" asked Joker "I know this isn't a vacation destination since now one crosses the void so there is no resorts out here. I still don't know how what made this void."

"We created the void." stated Javik as Joker, EDI and Sheppard looked at him "The center of the void had a mass Relay and when I was born it was one of the largest part of the empire that still remained free of Reapers. It contained most of our remaining fleet and population centers."

"I guess that didn't last long." said Sheppard

"Correct, right before I carried the final orders to seal one million of our best soldiers in statues pods we got word that the general in charge of the area had destroyed the Mass Relay along with ten Reaper main fleets."

"The explosion created the void." stated Edi

"Yes they were the distraction so that I could carry out the operation to save the empire." said Javik

"The Reapers sent most of their forces after them instead of you and your forces going into cryosleep?" asked Sheppard as Javik nodded his head.

"Ten populated systems each with a population similar to Earth were sacrificed." explained Javik "The plan was for them to fight to the last then destroy the three mass effect relays located around the systems. In the end they died for nothing my mission to rebuild the empire failed"

"Did you have family there?" asked Sheppard

"Doesn't matter" stated Javik which told the answer without saying it "Ghost are ghosts."

"So are we here to pay them tribute?" asked Joker

"No, the planet made it though the blast; it is where I killed my indoctrinated shipmates." explained Javik

"So you want to visit their graves?" asked Joker as Javik and Commander Sheppard looked at each other both knowing the true reasons.

"Something like that Joker." explained Sheppard as suddenly EDI turned her robot head and looked toward Sheppard.

"Sheppard I am detecting a high level of radiation coming from a local cluster off the port bow." stated EDI

"What sort of radiation?" asked Sheppard as he crossed his arms

"Judging from the radiation key and level it is equal to six hundred and seventy three nuclear weapons with a three and a half year decade." stated EDI

"Any idea on the system?" asked Sheppard

"Yes, it was called X-56891 or better known as the 12 sisters by the Asari mapping ship that mapped it 2,500 years ago." stated EDI

"The 12 sisters?" asked Joker

"Yes, it has 12 planets all in the habitual range of their stars and each star is extremely close." stated EDI as a map appeared showing one binary star system and two single star systems separated by the amount of space between the Sun and Pluto each, so close that by the standard mapping system developed by the Asari they were in the same system.

"That is rare." stated Sheppard

"You are correct, there is no other known system like it." stated EDI "However it lacked any of the rare elements for mining and it was seen as too far off from the Mass Relay."

"So they never returned." said Sheppard

"I know the system it was one of the strongholds of Zha'til." Said Javik "It had just been taken when the reapers attacked; with the lost of the Citadel we made this area the headquarters for our fleet."

"So that is why this area lasted till the end." said Sheppard as Javik nodded his head.

"The Zha'til those are your version of the Geth?" asked Joker

"Yes." stated Javik "Unlike Sheppard who freed the Geth from the Reapers, we simply destroyed them by sending their star into super nova."

"EDI could the radiation be natural?" asked Sheppard

"Unlikely the scanners show a pattern which matches of nuclear warfare not natural." explained EDI

"So we may have some new life form…this mission just got more interesting." stated Joker

"Jeff according to the records the planet had no intelligence life, it is unlikely that a race evolved, created nuclear weapons and settled on 12 planets in just 2500 years." stated EDI "The most likely answer is it could be an illegal Volus weapon platform, they have been known to use far out of the way systems for weapon testing."

"Well we have the entire team that took down Saren, the Collectors and the Reapers onboard." said Sheppard with a grin as Joker gripped the controls of the Normandy as it turned toward the system.

Well I hope you liked this chapter, I know that this story hasn't had any real battles yet but I am setting everything up and that takes time. Now I would like to thank everyone who reviewed and I ask that you keep reading. Thanks Wilkins75