Author's Notes: I've been very happy with the positive feedback I've been receiving. Thank you all for your support.

I'm not quite happy with this chapter. Something keeps bugging me about it, but after spending several hours rewriting parts of this over and over again, and being far too picky for my own good, I'm putting it up here. Time will tell if this is a mistake.

Enjoy!

Also, warning for some exposition in this chapter. I know its not everyones cup of tea


In the depths of the Normandy's cargo bay, Tali'Zorah vas Normandy, known better as Tali by the crew of the Normandy, was drowning. Not in the literal sense of a liquid filling the precious lungs of one's respiratory system; one would find it hard to do so given her environmental suit. No, rather it was the piles upon piles of materials packed into crates that had been delivered to the ex-Cerberus vessel that threatened to overwhelm the engineer. Why was there a mountain of finely processed metals and other materials in the hold? The Commonwealth would be the answer, and the name gracing most of the Quarian engineer's curses.

As a gesture of goodwill, the aliens had given Shepard all the needed resources to repair and even retrofit the Normandy back to near perfect condition. Tali's Commander and friend, not one to look a gift horse in the mouth given that the Normandy was a slowly dying ship without any help, had accepted the offer. Hence Tali's predicament of being slowly boxed in an ever-growing maze of supplies gathering in the hold.

The events leading up to this current situation could be considered rather bizarre, at least from the perspective of those on board the Normandy. When a massive fleet suddenly appeared in the system, whose numbers reached at least into the low hundreds, Tali had been on the CIC deck talking with Joker about recent events, taking a well-deserved break from doing what she could to prevent the Normandy from turning into an irradiated metal husk. Though one couldn't tell due to her visor hiding her face, both Tali and Joker's jaws dropped at the sheer size of not just the incoming Alien Armada, but just the colossal size of the ships themselves! There were ships that were larger than even the liveships from the Quarian fleet! And one that had to be, mind-bogglingly so, over twice that size! Tali nearly fainted where she stood from the shock of it all while Joker began to panic and try to bring the Normandy around to an escape vector. Only to be stopped by EDI.

"I apologize Joker for taking control, but the approaching fleet is not Hostile," EDI was quick to assure them both. Tali wanted to take the biggest wrench she had to the AI right then and there. EDI made to continue, unaware of the murderous thoughts of the quarian, "The Beselador's shipboard AI, an entity known as Ulfric, has relayed that this fleet is here escorting the Commonwealth's leader, and is meant to deter any perceived threat to their safety."

"Perceived threat my ass," grumbled the pilot in protest. "Their totally trying to intimidate us! And it's working!"

EDI ignored the pilot's dramatics. "Commander Shepard has been informed of the fleet's arrival, and is returning to the Normandy as we speak."

A tense twenty minutes passed until Shepard was once more on board. The Commonwealth navy had held its position during that time at a respectable range from the Normandy. The task Force Utaris and the Beselador had gone off the join them, no doubt to give their reports in person. From what the away team had told them, the King, along with the most important heads of state in the Commonwealth were on board the largest ship in the fleet.

It made Tali's head spin just to think about that monster-ship, without even the faintest hint of eezo! Element Zero, or eezo, was the fuel that powered just about everything in the galaxy. From the tiniest comm-beads to the largest ships known before now, everything had used eezo. The more mass an object has, the more eezo it required; on top of that, the requirements didn't increase linearly, but exponentially. While a Frigate, only a hundred meters long on average, required about two hundred units of eezo, Dreadnaughts, which were about a thousand meters long, required upwards of two thousand units of eezo. The Commonwealth vessel would have required thousands of units of Eezo to function, yet according to EDI, not a trace of it was found anywhere near the vessel. It and the rest of the vessels of the alien fleet's very existence flew in the face of thousands of years of scientific research that said that FTL was impossible without Eezo!

Despite not being about to blow up into stardust, Shepard was hardly in a good mood. Tali had heard from Miranda that while they had answered most of the questions posed to them by those on board the Beselador, including a good amount of their histories and recent events, the Collectors and the approaching death by the Reapers included, they had barely been able to ask their own questions in turn before the new fleet had arrived and they had been dismissed back to the Normandy. It was an uneven exchange of information that had happened, and Shepard was not pleased by it, nor was she impressed by being dismissed as she had.

Still, Shepard would not turn down their previous and still standing offer to help. So when a large ship detached itself from the fleet, taking up position outside the battle group and sent an invitation for the Normandy to land, Shepard accepted. The ship was long and rectangular, Tali had noticed, built more like a brick than the rather practical looking ships it had left behind. The Anetham, a construction vessel of sorts. And it was the size of a quarian liveship. Perhaps not as 'tall' as a liveship, but long enough and very broad in size.

"What sort of construction projects would require a ship of that vast size to be needed," the quarian had wondered. Then she shuddered at some of the possibilities. Perhaps it was better that she didn't know.

The Normandy had approached the Anetham with cautious speed, following directions given to them by the traffic controller on board. On the side of the great brick-shaped vessel, two massive doors parted, illuminating the void beyond and revealing what appeared to be a dockyard not too unlike that of the Citadel's, though it was clearly all enclosed rather than exposed to the void. All on board the Normandy were surprised when the traffic controller went to politely inquire whether they would prefer a manual or automated docking procedure. Joker of course, quickly replied with the grace he had, being little to none, that he would not be handing control of his ship over to a computer, which he quickly amended with 'present company excluded' with regards to EDI's presence.

The TC officer had actually been amused at Joker's reply, as humour could be sensed in the voice as it informed them that it was perfectly fine, and that many captains and pilots considered it a point of pride to land and dock their own vessels rather than relying on the automated procedures available, before sending the Normandy's pilot instructions of where their berth was inside. The ship's docking procedure that followed went smoothly, with the Quarian, still taking everything she had seen in, staring at all the alien ships that were already docked inside. She could see the alien crews scattered across their hulls, torches lit and sparks flying off as repair work was done. It had filled Tali with a sense of nostalgia, reminding her of the always crowded, always bustling crews of the Quarian Flotilla going about their days. Most work halted though, at least for a moment, as the Normandy passed by each of their ships before the damaged vessel came to rest in a rather isolated berth away from most of the other vessels. Which was something the inner engineer and starship-fangirl of Tali mourned. She wanted to see those vessels up close dangit!

An entourage of several differing aliens approached as the Normandy's cargo ramp dropped down to meet the alien metal floor with a loud clank. Shepard and the majority of the squad, sans Jack and Grunt, walked down the ramp to meet them. The two parties met at the base where ramp and floor met.

The alien at the head of the foreign group spoke first. Tali noted that this alien was a hinu, recognizing the appearance from the image she had seen hours ago, with blue squishy looking skin and facial fins being quite recognizable. She also recognized the other aliens present, the furred avani, the scaly talrani, more hinu, and, at the sight of these she shivered, a trio of mechanized robots that stood just shorter than the talrani, the AI's called the Tobor. All were wearing officer's uniforms by the looks of them, the tobor merely wearing decorated cloaks over their one shoulder.

"Commander Shepard," she, or at least the voice leaned towards being feminine in tone, began, looking straight at the red-haired human. The hinu had no doubt been briefed as to who was in charge of the Normandy. She gave a short half bow before straightening. "Welcome on board the Anetham. You and your crew are our honoured guests, your presence most appreciated. I am Captain Nedve Yulili."

"Thank you, Captain, for having us," was Shepards polite, if clipped reply. "We are indebted to you for your assistance."

The hinu waved a four-fingered, webbed hand, as if dismissing the notion. "You owe no debts Commander. If anything we are indebted to you."

Confusion had bubbled inside the quarian. What did that mean?

Shepard herself raised a brow in puzzlement. "How do you mean Captain?"

Yulili smiled at the group. "Knowledge gained is power. And you have given us great knowledge of the galaxy outside our borders Commander. The threat posed by the Reapers is too great for the Commonwealth to ignore. It would be calamitous to do so," she exclaimed.

Every one of the Normandy's squad seemed surprised that the news of the Reapers had already gotten out. Moreso when some came to understand what was implied, Shepard included. "You mean.." began the Commander, astonishment in her voice, before it soon trailed off into silence.

The Captain nodded, her voice kind. "I can assure you, Commander Shepard, that while nothing official has been decided, those among the Commonwealth aware of the situation do believe your claims about the Reapers existence and their threat against all life."

Tali, and indeed the rest of the squad, had been floored by this declaration. They had tried for years to get the council's and other important figures in the galaxy's heads out of the sand with no success, and here, an entirely new star-nation believed them right off the bat? The quarian thought she should've pinched herself to make sure that she wasn't dreaming.

Giving the group a few moments to recover from her previous statement, Yulili continued on. Changing topics, her disposition became much more official in stance. "Anyways, right now we have some pressing needs that must be resolved before anything else can be done," Reaching over to her subordinate, the hinu took hold of a datapad in their hands. It was of a different design than that used in council space, looking more sleeker and the display not of the colour orange as it was elsewhere. Yulili handed the device over to Shepard, who took it carefully into her hands.

Glancing it over, Shepard asked, "What is this exactly?"

The captains fellows began handing out several other similar data pads to the squad members. The hinu herself gave each of them a sympathetic look.

"The bane of every nation," she said solemnly. "Bureaucracy."

All of this had been over three weeks ago now. The forms to be signed had been agreements to follow the Commonwealth's laws while on board the Anetham, namely not to bring harm, damage etc, to anyone or anything during their stay and vice-versa. The Normandy was to be treated as extra-territorial ground, somewhat like an embassy in terms of function, and no Commonwealth citizen could enter without permission from the Commander or the ranking officers of the Normandy. There were also authorization forms for the delivery of goods and materials for needed repairs, as well as permission forms for Avani work crews to assist in them. It was quite generous terms to be offered really, and everyone, even meticulous Miranda, signed the papers with little issue.

As well, each member of the Normandy had been issued a passport, directly linked to each crewmember's distinct biochemistry, allowing them access to all public areas of the Anetham. Something that in three weeks Tali had yet to utilize, having been far too busy patching up the drive core to her tip-top standards. Hence her presence in the hold trying to get some semblance of order in the chaos, before a voice came to Tali's attention.

"Permission to come aboard ma'am," came a young, masculine voice from over a crate stack made up entirely of electrical wiring. It was foreign to Tali's ears, so not one of the crews' then as Tali had become, perhaps not good friends with everyone on board the Normandy, but acquainted well enough to recognize their voices. Given Tali's status of Chief Engineer, the quarian had the authority to allow aliens on board the ship, which she enacted then.

"Come aboard," she called out, squeezing past several crate stacks to come out in the more maneuverable section of the hold. At the base of the Normandy's ramp stood an avani, with thick russet-coloured fur covering his body, a colour that seemed very rare among what avani Tali had come across, with white fur on his cheeks and muzzle. He was wearing a set of what Tali assumed to be standard work apparel, given how she had seen the other work crews wearing similar garb. Apparently, the apparel of the workers and indeed most of the clothing found in the Commonwealth were made from a synthetic material made to fit each wearer's body, and even had 'dumb ais' wired into them to regulate their wearer's temperature. The avani standing before Tali was also carrying a smaller version of the plasma blades Shepard had told them about. Tali had noticed most if not all the work crews carried such a blade. The quarian had wanted to study them dearly.

Next to the Avani stood a Tobor carrying a large crate. Now those had been difficult to get used to. Despite gaining a good, if cool, friendly relationship with Legion, Tali couldn't say she was entirely past her disposition towards AIs. Whenever one passed her by, the quarian had to resist the urge to go for her shotgun resting at the small of her back.

The avani gave a friendly smile and saluted the quarian. It was rather strange, the quarian mused, the way she was being treated. The Quarians reputation in the galaxy hovered just above the opinions held by the vorcha. They were thought of as vagrants, thieves and undesirables, getting their just desserts at the hands of the Geth due to their experiments with AI. But here? Here, everyone she came across treated her with genuine respect and regular kindness. It was as though she was considered an equal among all of them, despite having just made contact with one another, and their different, highly-advanced society which normally should be a cause for some friction between them. She was never questioned about her authority, only asked for clarification of the orders she handed out, or for additional instructions as the workers did their jobs around the Normandy. Tali felt like she had the 'rug ripped out from under her' as the human saying went.

"Greetings Ma'am," the avani called out from his spot at the bottom of the ramp. "Corporal Lancyse den Adasga, this is my Tobor partner, designated 'Cody', with a delivery for the Chief Engineer of the Normandy."

"I am the Chief engineer," Tali replied, gesturing for them to come into the hold, to which they swiftly ascended. "Tali'Zorah vas Normandy. A pleasure to meet you Corporal Lancyse."

The avani gave a polite bow of greeting. "Please, call me Lance," he said kindly. "Where would you like this?"

The quarian gestured to the hold in general. "Wherever you can find room Lance. And please, call me Tali."

"As you wish ma'am," the avani replied with a small smile. Turning to the tobor next to him, he said, "You heard the lady Cody. Put it where you can find room for it."

"Yes sir," the digital being said before the machine walked deeper into the hold with its cargo.

Tali watched the AI walk off before returning her attention to the avani, only to find him looking her over, brows furrowed as if puzzled about something.

"Can I help you with anything else Corporal," she asked, letting a bit of annoyance leak into her voice.

The avani either didn't notice or didn't care. "So you're a quarian, correct?"

"Yes," Tali answered, feeling a bit puzzled by the question.

"How come you're the only one on board the Normandy," he asked, looking at the quarian. Even with her tinted visor, Tali could see that Lance's eyes were of a deep, bold, golden colouring. "Given what we can ascertain, Commander Shepard is not of a xenophobic disposition, instead welcoming members of alien species to her crew and putting them in rather high officer positions. Based off that, I find it confusing that you are the only quarian on board." The entire time, the avani kept his voice polite, if a bit nervous, as if he was concerned he might say something to offend the quarian.

Tali shrugged. "It has to do with Shepard's previous connections with Cerberus. Are you aware of who they are," she enquired.

Lance seemed to frown. 'Yes, I have read up on them. Nasty pieces of societal garbage."

Tali nodded. "Cerberus committed various terrorist actions against the Quarian fleet, which did nothing to endear the quarian people to them. As well, most quarians do not believe that the collectors even existed, let alone the Reapers. I worked with Shepard almost three years ago now. I know Shepard, and I trust her. I knew about the Reapers, Keelah I helped kill one of them. So while I didn't like that Shepard was working with Cerberus, I joined her because she needed me," she finished, her voice firm with resolve in her loyalty to Shepard. Though she left out the part about not joining Shepard right away, but Lance didn't need to know that.

Lance smiled. "You sound very passionate about Commander Shepard. It is good to see such loyalty from a ship's crew to their leader," he said approvingly. After a moment, he continued. "I had another question Miss Tali." At her acknowledgement to continue, he asked, "Is it true that your people have no immune system, and can only live in your environmental suits?"

At this the quarian sighed, nodding. "Our immune systems were never really strong to begin with on our homeworld. After centuries in exile, what little of it remained became basically non-existent. A single suit rupture can be deadly if not treated."

The avani looked truly appalled at this information. "By the stars, that sounds like a horrible existence, to be trapped in a suit all one's life. It may mean little coming from me, but I am so very sorry your people have been reduced to such a state," he stated with deep sincerity.

"Do not worry about it too badly," the quarian assured the furred alien, her voice sadly resigned to what had happened to her race. "We've adapted as much as we can, and have protocols and repair tools and whatnot to survive. The quarian fleet has been our home for centuries, as we've been banned from colonizing new worlds, and it will likely stay that way for longer, should we survive the Reapers."

When she next looked to Lance, the avani appeared to be thinking deeply about something, probably what she had said, before suddenly looked very resolute, as if he had decided on a course of action and wouldn't stop until he finished it. "I promise you Miss Tali, that the Commonwealth will not ignore the quarian people's situation. Your people will no longer be left to fend for themselves, sentenced to slowly perish by an uncaring intergalactic government. It would be a crime against the entire Commonwealth if we did not render some sort of aid to your people," he said with the most absolute and sincerest conviction to the quarian.

Tali merely nodded. It was doubtful anything could, let alone would be done, but she appreciated the sentiment regardless. "Thank you, Corporal Lance."

"Of Course Ma'am." The tobor, Cody, returned, having completed its task. "Well, it seems we have completed what we came here to do, and will leave you to your work. If you need anything at all Miss Tali, from workers to more materials, please do let us know.."

"I'll keep that in mind," the quarian replied with a chuckle.

The avani turned to leave, but before he did, he looked back and smiled. "If you don't mind Ma'am, the logs show you haven't been off the Normandy for the entire time you've been here. Once you are finished for the day, I'd be most honoured to give you a tour of the Anetham."

Tali thought about the offer. She did have so much to do, but honestly, she could delegate the neediest parts to Ken and Gabby. The quarian was terrified of running into a tobor and mistaking it for a geth and shooting it by mistake, but if she was to be accompanied by Lance, perhaps she wouldn't have to worry too much about that happening. And did she really want to spend another night by herself in Engineering with nothing but a tube of sterilized nutrient paste for company?

The quarian made up her mind. "You know what, I'd like that very much," she told Lance.

The avani beamed.


It wasn't until later that Tali received the unfortunate news that she'd have to cancel her exploratory plans for the evening.

"The King has requested our presence at a meeting between him and his councillors," Shepard had told them all. At some of their protests, Shepard silenced them all with her infamous stern Commander look. "The King asked for you all by name to attend," she continued on, putting emphasis on the fact that the ruler of a sovereign star nation had asked them to come by name, something that they would be hard pressed to turn down.

Tali found herself becoming quite annoyed at that; after having finally decided to get out of the Normandy and explore with Lance as her guide, she was now unable to. Yes, it was an invitation by an important ruler, but she had already made plans dangit! She sent off a message to Lance, the two having exchanged contact details before they had parted earlier, letting him know that she'd be unable to go due to external circumstances.

He replied that he had just gotten orders and that he would have to cancel as well. Apologies and promises of trying out another time were exchanged.

With her environmental suit cleaned to almost utter sterility and a pack of nutrient paste stash away in her suit's many pockets to snack on during the no doubt long and boring meeting, Tali was as prepared as she felt she could be, and went to go and wait in the cargo bay for the others. According to Shepard, the meeting was to be held on-board the Anetham, in a section of a ship that most of the work crews were not allowed access to. They were to meet an escort who would take them to the hall where they would have their audience with the avani ruler.

Garrus arrived, wearing a set of turian formal wear, which looked very out of place on the usually armour wearing turian. The turian had been busy, calibrating not only the gun systems of the Normandy, but also every other system he could get his talons on. According to the turian, everything he had so precisely calibrated had been knocked out of whack by the battle in the Galactic core, and every time a new piece of equipment was installed on the Normandy, Garrus had to re-calibrate everything all over again as it reset the system. Despite all this trouble though, Garrus managed to find the time to go around and explore the vessel they were docked on. He had been relating what he had found to the crew when he had returned.

"There is a park here on board this ship. Not a large one, but big enough that it's almost a small forest, and it has a small pond. Its got some sort of barrier around it. When you're inside, you barely hear the bustling sounds of the ship around you," he told the skeptical quarian.

Thane, who had borrowed a suit, forgoing the suit jacket, from the newly christened 'Costume locker' of Miranda's, had confirmed it.

"It truly is a peaceful place. I learned that it was built for the construction crews who live on board during long projects, to remind them of their homes," the reptilian male explained

Which brought up the topic of just what was so big that it needed what was basically a small space station in all but name.

The Asari Justicar Samara, who forwent any formal wear, instead opting to remain in her normal attire, offered what she had heard. "I was told during my time among the workers here, that they used it to build a massive cultural complex of sorts, a place entirely devoted to the works of culture, art and letters." One could almost say the Justicar approved.

"No, no, It was a giant science station they had built," Mordin said, sounding quite sure. Or excited. Probably both. "Massive Complex. Thousands of Scientific Minds! Limitless resources! Physics. Genetics. Engineering. AI. All sorts of Research. Can't even begin to imagine the possibilities such a place enables!"

Tali was certain that the salarian scientist would have sold his soul to be in such a place.

"You're both wrong," said Kasumi, popping into existence as she dropped her cloak, wearing her normal thief's gear. "They used it to build a device that could harvest materials from black holes!"

Tali blinked, everyone else who heard the master thief was struck silent.

"Impossible," Mordin cried out in shock. "Absolutely Impossible!"

"I thought so too," was Kasumi's jovial reply. "But that's what I was told! They even showed me pictures of the thing and its massive!"

As Mordin went off into a tirade about how such a construct around a black hole was impossible, Tali grew more thoughtful. She thought about the massive ships present in the fleet outside, bigger than anything she had ever seen, the ones who didn't need eezo to function. The materials delivered to the Normandy were advanced, of a quality far beyond even what she had seen on any ship from the Citadel. She thought about the ship she was on right now, a vessel so large to be a small compact city, completed devoted to the supposed building of these 'megastructures'. Was it really too much to believe that the Commonwealth could build such grand wonders? And if they were so adept at building such colossal structures, what else could they do. She remembered Lance's promise from earlier that day. Tali had thought it to be only a mere good-natured thought. Now though, she began to have a little belief in the avani's words.

"Good evening to you all!" The group turned their attention down the ramp to Captain Yulili, dressed in a spotless uniform, with some officers and some guards standing with her. "I couldn't help but overhear some of your conversation. While I don't know the specifics of how it works, Miss Goto is correct about the existence of the matter decompressor. The same with the mega-art installation that lady Samara mentioned, and the science nexus brought up by Doctor Solus. They, and other structures like them, are a solid part of the pride and joy of the Commonwealth. And more are being planned and built even as we speak."

Mordin spluttered inarticulate gibberish at the hinu's words, while Shepard, who had just stepped off the elevator and had not heard the previous conversation, passed the salarian, giving him a puzzled look before heading down the ramp to meet the hinu. "Good evening Captain," she greeted warmly, the progress made on the Normandy having softened her mood from their last interaction. "I take it you're our escort."

"Yes, I have that honour. Is your group ready," she asked, gesturing to the crew descending the ramp.

"Yes, everyone is here." No one mentioned that Jack was not present. The biotic had refused the invite, replying with too many swear words and an obscene gesture that had cancelled her invite faster than a krogan chugged ryncol. And speaking of Krogan, Grunt, who they thought would stay behind, instead would come along, wearing his armor proudly. Tali was not a very religious quarian, but still, she silently begged her ancestors that the tempestuous Krogan would behave himself for the next few hours.

Yulili nodded and gestured for the vehicle behind them. It was a series of open-air cars, seating twelve each, all connected together in a train several long, more than enough room for the Normandy crew and the Commonwealth officers. Once all were aboard, the train lifted up, levitating a few feet off the ground before taking off, slowly at first, but then accelerating to a brisk speed. They left the docks, entering a long corridor that led away from the shipboard industrial facilities and into the crew section. Tali ooed and awed at the sights of shops and buildings. It reminded her of a much smaller, more compact citadel in a way, with all the various species going about their evening business. The quarian sighed. Everything passed by in a blur, while Tali wanted to explore each spot slowly and methodically.

Their ride was soon over as they passed into a section of the Anetham that looked more like administration, the train pulling into a rather fine building, which it then parked, landing on the ground. Before the group stood more guards, wearing heavier armour than the guards that had travelled with them. One of them, talrani judging by his size and the horns coming out from his helm, approached.

"Commander Shepard and party," he asked, his voice in a low rumble from the speakers of his helmet.

"Yes, that's us," Jane replied.

The guard took out a datapad. "Please put your hand on this scanner."

Shepard smiled and did so, the device scanning her hand and confirming her identity. The guard did this to each member of the group. When he came to Tali, he said, "Please state your full name." To which the quarian did so in a clear voice. The scanner approved her and the guard continued down the line till everyone was registered. Tali found it very nice that they had thought ahead for her, given that she couldn't give a hand scan due to her suit. "Thank you for your cooperation." He said to them all. "We take security very seriously, especially when the King is involved."

"We completely understand," Shepard replied.

They were all brought deeper into the building and up into a large lift. In what seemed to be a blink of an eye they reached their destination, with the doors opening into a large, well-furnished room. Several long rectangular tables were set up with comfortable chairs by them, though few of the occupants in the room were seated. Various well dressed aliens milled about, including a few tobor, who had on those cloaks that they seemed so fond of wearing, though these were clearly of a fancier make. All turned to see the newcomer's arrival, and the low rumble of conversation grew into a more noticeable buzz of excitement as Shepard and her group entered the room.

Some were gesturing to Garrus, perhaps curious about the turian. Tali rolled her eyes when she saw Garrus' mandibles flutter, no doubt preening under all the attention. Others were staring at Grunt, as since the krogan hadn't gone to the first meeting aboard the Beselador, nor had left his spot in the storage bay on the engineering deck, none of the species of the Commonwealth had really known of his existence and his large hulking form caused many of the talrani to gaze at the young krogan with interest. The same could be said for Samara, the asari drawing onlookers who had never seen her before, though most seemed to blush once they caught sight of her outfit rather than stare. Tali received her fair share of whispers and looks as well, though when most saw her and caught her eyes, they gave her encouraging smiles. It was strange for the quarian to have such kind looks shown her way.

They were left to mingle on their own a bit, some of the crew going and braving it alone, but most went around in groups two or more strong. None of the aliens present from what Tali could tell were pushing the newcomers for conversation, seemingly content to wait and let them make the first move. Tali found herself leaning on one of the several columns that sat around the edges of the room, trying to not be too noticeable before someone tapped on her shoulder.

"Feeling nervous," asked a voice from behind Tali.

The quarian whirled around, hand going to where her shotgun would be only to mentally curse when she remembered she didn't have it. Her annoyance lessened when she caught sight of who had spoken.

"Lance," she exclaimed. The avani gave the quarian smile and a small bow.

"Miss Zorah," he replied in greeting. The avani Corporal was wearing a very fine looking officer's uniform, the deep blues contrasting nicely with his russet fur. "I hope you're not finding the wait too boring. All these important people watching you, trying to understand someone from a foreign land. One could drown in the apprehension that might cause," he added with a chuckle.

The quarian shrugged. "I'm used to having people stare at me. Quarians tend to not have a good reputation in our part of the galaxy, so people tend to view us under an unkind and distrustful eye. Though, these people don't seem to be watching me with the same gaze, as if they're just waiting for me to do something wrong. They seem to just be genuinely curious about me. Its something I'm not really used to."

Lance nodded, giving the quarian a small grin. "A few bad fruits spoiled the bunch eh?"

The quarian gave a small sigh. "Pretty much. Since we can't land on a planet or set up colonies, we've had to scavenge for most of our ships and materials for repairs, and objects to sell or trade. A common insult is to call quarians 'suit rats'. No doubt a few less scrupulous quarians did a few less than legal practices and got caught. With our reputation in the galaxy already rock bottom due to our creating the geth, it didn't take much for it to sink deeper into the mud."

"Sad how just a few can ruin the image of so many," Lance mused aloud. He took a sip of a drink he had in hand, thinking about what was said. "Yet I've seen you working with your Ais, the Geth, as you called them."

"Legion? Well, he's more or less a special case. Believe me, I wanted to cut him up into little pieces when I first found out Shepard brought him on board. We had a few run-ins and instances that could've gotten ugly, but after a while, we got used to each other. I'd probably consider him a friend really. He helped us destroy the Collectors, and helped save all our lives."

"Perhaps one day peace could be made between the Quarians and the Geth," voiced Lance, glancing over to where said geth could be found standing among a group of Tobor, the machine races seemingly talking to each other in the way that machines do.

"A pipe dream," stated Tali, crossing her arms. She followed the avani's gaze and sighed, "But a good dream. It'd probably take decades to get us talking. At least on the Quarian side. Legion says that most of the other Geth would like peace."

"Sometimes all it takes is at least one willing side to make peace," Lance said. Tali mulled that over in her mind, thinking about that word. Peace. She could see it if she imagined enough. The quarian people were tired of being exiles, and they wanted to go home. Tali knew some of the fleet hated the geth, for good reason, and would want only war till the last geth was destroyed. But she also knew that some quarians would be happy and willing to make peace with the geth, if only to remove that threat from the board at least. Could they really make a lasting peace with the geth though? Would the geth even let them go back home to Rannoch? Perhaps Tali needed to talk with Legion about this topic more.

There was a small commotion from the back of the room and a group of heavily armoured and armed soldiers entered. All of them were avani, their strange armour a clean white colour with green stripes running down their arms and legs, carrying a type of gun she had never seen before. Each one was also armed with what appeared to be a sword at their hips, no doubt more of those plasma bladed weapons she'd seen around, and each one's chest plate had an elaborate star sigil embossed on them. What really caught Tali's eye though was their size; all of them were just as big as a Krogan in terms of height!

"Ah, it seems the meeting will be starting soon," Lance said with a grin, standing straight. "You best find your Commander, Tali'Zorah. The King has arrived." He gave Tali a small bow in goodbye before vanishing into the crowd of politicians, who had started to quiet down and face the incoming group.

Tali could just barely see someone in the middle of the group before she hurried through the crowd to find Shepard. It didn't take her long, only to find to her surprise that the armed men who had entered the room were making their way towards the commander. For a moment, she believed that they had been betrayed and that these guards were here to arrest everyone from the Normandy, but common sense soon prevailed and she calmed herself. The Commonwealth wouldn't have gone through so much effort to help them out, only to suddenly turn on them. When the group stood in front of Shepard, who by now had also been joined by Miranda, Garrus and a few others Tali knew from the crew, they parted, revealing an avani that had been the person Tali had spotted earlier.

The quarian quickly became puzzled. 'Wasn't this person supposed to be a king', she asked herself as she took in the alien before her, "Because I'm fairly certain that this king is a female."

The auburn-fur-coloured avani standing before them was definitely not male in gender, Tali was certain of it as she had seen female Avani before. In the galaxy, it was fairly easy to tell the gender of most of the races. The avani seemed to be little different in this regard, though while this female avani standing before them was not as tall as her armed protectors, she was the same height as any of the other male avani Tali had seen. In fact, Tali may have mistaken the avani for a male, had it not been for the long braided head-fur, slim figure and more female assets that were visible. Her muzzle was also slightly shorter. The female avani's outfit was ornate, but not gaudily so, appearing to be a military uniform of sorts, though much more elaborate than any Tali had seen. It was form fitting, but not to the point of being obscene, rather it was practical in design. The main outfit seemed to be made of white fabric, while a rich deep green vest covered her torso. A silver-grey sash hung over her shoulder, and ran across her chest before looping around her back. And her eyes were of a beautiful magenta that seemed to shine with amusement as the avani looked over her guests. Any guesses about the avani's identity were silenced when she spoke, the room dead quiet to allow her voice to be heard.

"Commander Jane Shepard, I am pleased to meet you," a kind, melodious voice spoke, the avani smiling warmly at the group. Those eyes seemed to drink in the appearance of each of the Normandy's crew that were present before her.. When those eyes landed on Tali, the quarian couldn't help but squirm and want to wring her hands nervously. But the lady avani merely gave Tali a gentle smile and finished her inspection of her guests. "I am Valkyrah den Adasga, fourth of the name, King of the Commonwealth, of Avani, Talrani and Hinu, Guardian of the Tobor and Protector of the Realm. I bid you the most heartfelt of welcomes and deepest thanks for joining us all here this evening"

Shepard gave a polite bow to the alien monarch. "We are most grateful for your nation's help your Grace. Without it, we would've been stranded in space with little hope of rescue. With the assistance of your engineers and crews, the Normandy will no doubt be in better shape than ever before," she replied. She straightened up and look of embarrassed apprehension leaked into her expression. "Forgive me your grace, but when we were told we were meeting a King, we expected... Well.."

Valkyrah did not seem offended by this line of enquiry. "Someone more masculine no doubt," she tittered. At the commanders blush, the monarch smiled brightly. "You're not the first alien to make that error Commander. In the old avani language, there is no word to distinguish between male and female original title, simply known as 'ruler', is gender-neutral when taken literally. When translated outside the Avani tongue however, it is rendered as 'King', mostly due to the gender assumptions on the part of the translator. I do accept 'milady', 'your grace' or 'ma'am' as suitable words to address me by as well, so feel free to do so."

"I see. I appreciate the explanation ma'am," Shepard said when the monarch was done.

The avani clapped her hands together, seemingly pleased to have gotten that out of the way. "Now then. With introductions out of the way, we should quickly get started on our meeting. The people around you now Commander Shepard are all important officials, ministers, governors, scientists, admirals and generals of my government, and all are interested in what you have to say. What say you? Shall we begin?"

Shepard nodded, her serious Commander face coming into play. "Yes. Let's"


Valkyrah, though she preferred the name Val by her close friends, continued to display her diplomatic smile as Shepard and her officers took their seats at the main table, across from her and her own closest council. The lesser members of the Commander's crew had been sat at their own table towards the back of the room. Above each table, a display came up, broadcasting sound and video of the monarch's and commander's conversation, so that everyone could hear. The avani ruler's eyes took another look at each of the aliens across from her. The humans who seemed to make up the Majority of Shepard's crew, the Turian Gunnery officer, the drell assassin, asari justicar (now didn't that sound quite like one of the ancient knightly orders!), salarian doctor, the large, hulking krogan down at the end of the table, the artificial life form, a geth if she recalled correctly, watching them all, no doubt recording everything. And lastly, the quarian girl. Valkyrah had seen how nervous the quarian had been when she had first approached the group. Seated between the Turian and the Geth platform, she looked less apprehensive.

"I believe that congratulations of sorts are in order Commander," the monarch began, her voice jovial yet firm. "You and your crew went up against an overwhelming and cruel opponent and won, silencing an evil alien race for good. We have never met these collectors. Our FTL technology is not reliant on the Keys, so perhaps that's why we never met." Her tone grew serious, firm like stone to get the serious nature of her words across. "Else we'd have blown them to space-dust long ago! A race such as the Collectors has no place in a civilized galaxy."

"It was a hard fight ma'am, but we pulled through. I only wish we had gotten there sooner to save the colonists," Shepard said morosely.

Valkyrah nodded. "Your grief does you credit commander. But the ones who have committed atrocities against your race are now gone, snuffed out by your hand. Take comfort in knowing that Justice has been done," she said, trying to encourage the human.

Various sounds of approval and encouragement came from her officials and some of the aliens as well.

"Now though, tell us about the enemy we face Commander. These Reapers." the alien ruler said, wanting to get to business.

Shepard nodded, gesturing to her raven-haired colleague, Miranda was her name, to take over. She did so, tapping on her wrist-tool's orange interface. An image appeared, a giant monstrosity of a being, causing more than a few gasps from the crowd of dignitaries. Val frowned, already sensing that this was a true monster made real. Already her mind began to think of how she could protect her people from this threat.

"This is a Reaper," Miranda explained, "Specifically one known as Sovereign. It was two kilometres long, capable of taking out just about any of our ship's barriers with a single shot. It uses some sort of energy-based weapon that we had little defence against. From what we understand, every fifty thousand years the Reapers come to wipe out and harvest all advanced species in the galaxy. A little under three years ago, Sovereign tried to use the Citadel as a doorway for the rest of the Reapers, but we were able to destroy it at a heavy cost." The image changed to a grotesque construct of rock and metal. "A while after that, the Collectors began to operate. At first, it was small scale abductions, but it soon grew into entire human colonies vanishing without a trace. Nearly two years passed with no action taken, until Cerberus stepped in, giving Commander Shepard needed resources to strike back against the collectors, until we managed to find our way into the Galactic core, where their base was located, and destroyed it."

"Pardon the interruption Officer Lawson," an older avani male with greying fur spoke up suddenly. "I am Aldrig den Qen, Minister of War for the Commonwealth. Where was your government in all this? Why did they not intervene? According to what you have shared with us, this Cerberus is a terrorist organization, guilty of several crimes against sapient life itself."

The operative appeared a bit irked at the blunt words of the minister, but soon recovered. Typing out on her wrist-tool once more, the image changed to that of the entire galaxy, with various sections coloured in, denoting different political entities. Val was amused to find that the system they were in currently was coloured green, a small speck of green in an area surrounded by yellow. If only they knew.

"The colonists and humans abducted were all located in these areas, marked as the Terminus Systems," The red areas was highlighted. "A rather lawless section of the galaxy, and the Attican Traverse," The yellow area was lit up. "A somewhat disputed part of the galaxy. Neither the Systems Alliance, the political entity representing humanity in the galaxy, or the Citadel Council, the largest known government in the Galaxy, have much of a presence in those parts. The settlers of the colonies came out to the Terminus and the Traverse to get away from the Alliance's regulations, and as such, when the colonies went missing, little to nothing was done."

Various grumbles of outrage echoed around the room. Val's Minister of Laws, a Talrani named Vaxoma Raxeg, slammed her fist on the table. "Outrageous," she bellowed, clearly angry, "They were your people, and yet they did nothing? What about this Council of yours?"

"They also refused to help, citing that any action on their part could provoke the Terminus into a long and costly war," explained the black-haired human.

"A convenient excuse," grumbled Raxeg, finding that reasoning to be quite inexcusable.

"They knew the risks when they went out and settled in the Terminus, was the council's words," said Shepard, clearly bitter about it. "The dismissed the Collectors as a myth."

Valkyrah was also upset about this information, though she outwardly portrayed a neutral appearance. Still, she grasped a clear truth in the information given.

"If they disregarded the threat of the Collectors," the monarch said slowly, "Then the Reapers.."

Shepard nodded. "They refused to believe that they existed as well. Sovereign, the Reaper that attacked the Citadel? Despite evidence to the contrary, they covered everything up, saying that it wasn't a Reaper, but a giant Geth ship. They refused to believe that the Reapers exist, and that they are coming."

"It is a government's duty to protect their citizens from any threat, perceived or otherwise," Val said, quite sternly. "If this Council refused to move against a possible threat, then they are irresponsible at best and neglectful to their people's security and survival at worst."

"Which is why we find it so startling that you do believe us your grace," Miranda said, sitting up straight in her chair. "So very few believe us about the Reapers, those who are in a position to do something about it even less."

The monarch nodded. "It does seem strange, doesn't it. The ruler of an entire nation listening to the warnings of a stranger, warnings that would seem like the ravings of a madman or a doomsayer to any sane person," she replied with a small amount of mirth.

The aliens across from her nodded slightly in agreement, showing that they had had those very same thoughts or experiences before. "How infuriating it must be, to know the truth of danger that comes, yet be only ignored," Val thought.

"Well, yes," Shepard replied bluntly.

"We are not like most nations here though," Val replied, her voice ringing out strongly. "The Commonwealth has seen many things in its lifetime. Things that we never thought could ever possibly exist yet did indeed not only exist, but thrived! Galactic Horrors and Wonders. Ancient Societies long forgotten to the mists of time. And dangers that are ever present to this day. Our minds are not closed to the possibility that death awaits its chance with every star discovered, every new race discovered or technology brought to existence."

"The Commonwealth has fought off Ether Drakes." The image displayed changed to that of a massive creature, one that made the alien guests' eyes widen in shock at the giant space dragon. "Giant Scavenger robots." A new image was added, of a colossal machine that looked like a giant metal eyeball in a massive field of space debris. "Stellarite Devourers" A spider-like creature was shown, seemingly drawing parts of a star into itself. "Spectral Wraiths." A shimmering jelly-fish like beast was displayed in front of a pulsar star. "And even Dimensional Horrors." An image of a gigantic, bizarre eel-like creature with many legs, seemingly half in-space with its other half gone in a swirling maelstrom in space, was shown alongside the others. Each one brought looks of amazement, shock and even fear to the faces of the aliens across from Valkyrah

"We are no strangers to the monsters that lurk in the dark Commander," the alien monarch stated. "The Reapers are just another one of many."

"Impossible," declared the salarian, sounding close to hysterics as he looked over the displayed space monsters and the details that had been displayed next to each on, eyes bulging., "No evidence has ever been found of such creatures ever existing! Such gigantic lifeforms couldn't possibly survive in deep space! No records of any sort!"

"Maybe that is true here in this galaxy," Val's Prime Minister of Parliament, an avani by the name of Coldrates den Gath, stated cooly. "The Reapers would have seen to their extinction long before your people's time Doctor Solus, if the information of your Galaxy's past is to be believed."

"Indeed. The Reapers could arguably be the reason why this galaxy seems to be so empty of ancient alien life and so many worlds empty. We've only found scarce ruins in our space, while before we couldn't go a system without finding something of interest," mused Valkyrah aloud.

"Don't mean to be rude," said Shepard, interrupting the musings of the avani ruler. "But you've said 'this galaxy' twice now. I'm not certain if this is a translation error or a cultural thing, but it's really puzzling me."

Val blinked. "It is no translation error Commander. We have nothing to gain by misleading you. What we've said is correct."

"Oh," the commander stated simply, followed by a much quieter 'oh' as her face and those of her group seemed to Express disbelief and shock. The salarian, in particular, looked fairly pale, his mouth quite slack-jawed.

The monarch smiled. She loved seeing those sort of looks on peoples faces. It was quite amusing.

"We are the Commonwealth," Val said, standing up. The images displayed all went away, only to be replaced by a picture of the Milky Way galaxy side by side another picture of a much different galaxy, one with eight arms that spun out from its galactic core. The avani gave a fox-like grin from the aliens. "And we are far from home."


Authors Note; And BAM! Yes, part of the Commonwealth's secrets have been revealed. They are not native to the galaxy that we all know and love, (note, they are not from Andromeda either. I refuse to touch that place even with a ten-foot pole), but are from an entirely new and different galaxy already. I thought it would be a clever way to show how they are so advanced and clearly do not use Mass Effect tech, despite being in a galaxy littered with the stuff, and why they would believe in the threat by the Reapers. Stellaris is full of stuff that wants to kill you, things that if real would be ultimate nightmare fuel. Why not add giant space robots that want to exterminate everything to the already full bag. Oh wait, those exist in Stellaris too. Hah.

But that brings up some questions. What is the Commonwealth doing in the ME galaxy? How long have they been there? How have they remained hidden for so long? All these and more will be answered soon in upcoming chapters.

As always, thanks for reading. Your reviews give me strength, so please leave one if you feel like it. I also appreciate any help with improving my writing skills, and I look forward to the suggestions and ideas you readers may have. If extra clarification or glaring errors that I've somehow missed are needed, drop me a line, and I'll try to get to them quickly. Have a good one y'all.

Notes 2.0: Just thought I should put this here in case some people were confused about some of the appearances of the Races and ships and whatnot.

1. If you're curious about the Species appearances, I'd recommend you go to the Stellaris Paradox Wiki, look under Species and look for the following; A) Avani - Mammalian, Slender #3 B) Talrani - Reptilian, Normal #10 C) Hinu - Molluscoid, Massive #13 D) The Tobor - Machine, designated Humanoid. (Note, I use the fox dimorphism mod for Stellaris, which adds slightly changed appearances for male and female characters)

2. Ship Design uses the Mammalian Style for all spacecraft and stations.

3. The Anetham's design is based on the UTOPIA DLC cover art, which displays several large construction platforms in front of a Dyson Sphere. I've taken some creative liberties with them and have turned them into giant work ships. (bonus for making it this far. Those ships are the only ones equipped to drag the Mass Relays off into the nearest stars for disposal, hence why the Anetham was already enroute to the system Shepard and Co had arrived in)

I hope that helps some people visualize the races and ships and whatnot better. Thank you