Chapter Five

Shepard watched Darth Revan warily from across a table that didn't feel anywhere near wide enough. The smaller woman – with the sheer presence she exuded, Shepard had been a little startled to realise the woman was, in fact, shorter than her by a few inches – eyed her with equal hair-trigger wariness. She had removed her hood, revealing features that were vaguely pretty, but tended toward the disconcerting thanks to a combination of black hair and pale green eyes.

She wasn't sure it had been a very good idea to put herself in a sealed room with these three strangers, particularly Revan, but considering how they had met, she decided that putting a locked door between them and the general public would be prudent. Just in case Revan changed her mind about wanting help.

Everything about the woman screamed threat: the laser swords, invisible biotics, black cloak, tunic and boots… and yet, Shepard's well-worn instincts for sensing danger were quiet. Those instincts had saved her countless times, and they had warned her when she had spotted bright, garish laser swords from a balcony on the Presidium. Now she was sitting directly in front of the wielder of those swords, but so far they had remained dormant.

She shifted in her seat. It was entirely possible that her instincts could have been screwed up in the rebuilding process. Really, she probably shouldn't be here at all. She had more important things to worry about than a group of strange people who didn't remember how they got to the Citadel. For all she knew, they had just been to a rager of a party the night before and taken too much Hallex.

With an effort she refocused. She was here now, and she wasn't going to renege on her offer to help, despite how uneasy Revan made her. Miranda and Jacob were here too, if she needed backup. Whatever else they were, they could handle themselves in a fight, and they had made it clear that Shepard had to survive. They would have her back.

"All right," she began. "No vague metaphors this time. Where are you three from?"

The mech… droid… whatever it was, spoke up from behind Revan. "Amused clarification: the hilarious quip my master made earlier stating that we are from a galaxy far, far away appears to be a close approximation of the truth."

"What?" Miranda muttered flatly.

Shepard tossed her an irritated look. Now wasn't the time for Miranda's particular brand of abruptness, even if she had voiced what Shepard had been thinking.

Carth seemed a bit more of a diplomat, however, and took it in his stride as he responded. "We had a chance to compare the visible star field to HK's databanks while you were arranging a place for us to talk," he explained. "None of the stars match anything we're familiar with. We may in fact… somehow… be in a different galaxy to where we started."

Shepard shook her head impatiently, forcing memories of Kaidan back into the far corners of her mind where they belonged. "A different galaxy?" she repeated skeptically. "Are you sure? No relay goes that far."

Carth frowned, glancing at Revan, who was wearing the ghost of a frown herself. "Well, we can't be sure, I guess, not without a bit more investigation. Uh… what's a relay?" he asked.

Shepard raised her eyebrows. Everyone knew what a relay was. Children learned about the relays in primary school. Perhaps these people were from another galaxy. "A mass relay is a device we use to transit from one star system to another." She made a face, then corrected herself. "No, device isn't the right word. The mass relays are huge mass effect-generating engines. They're about the size of small space stations."

"Not always," Jacob interjected. "The one you used to travel from Ilos to the Citadel was a lot smaller."

She glanced at him. He had a point. "True." She looked back over at Revan with a frown. "You were standing near the Citadel relay when I found you."

"That statue is a mass relay?" Carth asked. Again he looked at Revan, then to HK-47, who stood silently behind the two of them, metal hands clasped behind his back. "Did it look kind of similar, do you think…?"

"Analysis: the dimensions of the statue we awoke beside on this space station are exactly proportional to those of the base of the beam emitter we encountered in the Tomb of Naga Sadow," the droid responded. "Conclusion: it would be reasonable to assume that the two objects were created by the same entity, and may have the same purpose."

"Beam emitter?" Shepard repeated. "What exactly happened to you all?"

Finally, Revan spoke up. "We were attempting to retrieve a valuable artifact from the tomb of a Sith Master, but we found something else in its place," she explained. Her voice was even and low, but it had a multi-faceted edge to it that made Shepard uneasy. "It was a statue, or the remains of one, and it was emitting a solid beam of white light. I reached out to it with the Force, and it… grabbed me, and pulled me up into the beam. It knocked me out. The next thing I knew, I woke up here, on your Citadel."

The droid spoke up again. "Observation: while you were incapacitated, Master, the artifact generated a burst of energy that my sensors were insufficient to record. Captain Onasi and I attempted to reach you, but we were both pulled into the beam as well."

Revan's eyes darkened slightly at that, Shepard noticed. Did she blame herself for getting her friends into this mess? The micro-expression faded quickly, however, leaving Shepard wondering if she had been seeing things.

She sat back. Many of the terms Revan had used – 'Sith Master', the 'Force' – were unfamiliar, but they were beside the point right now. "That does sound like a relay," she confirmed. She exchanged a worried glance with Miranda. Whatever else she was, the Cerberus operative knew the stakes of their mission and what they were up against. If mass relays could suddenly transport people to and from other galaxies, that threw an unknown variable into the battlefield. It could be advantageous… or very, very disadvantageous. It made her – and clearly, Miranda as well – nervous.

Carth leaned forward. "Hold on, you need to use these mass relays to fly between star systems? You don't have hyperdrive here?"

Shepard returned her attention to him. "'Hyperdrive'? No."

"What exactly is hyperdrive?" Miranda asked quickly.

"It's how we travel between the stars back home," Carth explained. "It's a device that can be installed aboard a ship to allow it to enter hyperspace. In hyperspace ships can move exponentially faster than they can in real space. Without it," he tossed a worried glance at Revan, "we're going to have a hard time getting home."

"Maybe," Revan replied, "but if we got here using a mass relay, surely we can get back by using one too."

"Shepard," Miranda interjected abruptly, "I need to talk to you. Privately."

"Fine," Shepard agreed. As she got up, Carth turned to Revan and began murmuring quietly to her, obviously agitated. Revan, however, kept her eyes on Shepard until the door closed behind her.

It was almost a relief to step out of that room. Shepard covered it by leaning up against one of the empty desks in the small antechamber C-Sec had grudgingly cleared out for them. Her Spectre authority had come in handy for that. She folded her arms over her chest. "What is it, Miranda?"

The Cerberus operative stalked from one side of the room to the other, omnitool out and scanning. She had already scanned for listening and recording devices before they entered the room, but Miranda was nothing if not thorough. When she was done, she snapped her omnitool closed and turned to face Shepard. "That hyperdrive technology could be a huge advantage against the Reapers. We need to recruit these people."

Immediately, Shepard found herself bristling. "Is that you or the Illusive Man talking? I assume he was listening."

Miranda raised her eyebrows. "Listening? No, Shepard, he wasn't listening. I will, of course, include all the details in my report to him, but I don't provide him with a live feed of all our actions. That's a little paranoid, don't you think?"

"Says the woman scanning a C-Sec office for bugs," Shepard retorted. "This is supposed to be my team. It's my choice who we recruit, not Cerberus'. And not yours."

"I know that," Miranda responded in kind. "But you know just as well as I do that we need every advantage we can get against the Collectors… and the Reapers. Even taking the hyperdrive technology out of the equation, just look at Revan herself. She's powerful, and well-trained. She would be a valuable asset."

Shepard dropped her hands and gripped the edges of the desk to either side of her hips, feeling a sudden need to prop herself up. She grimaced. It wasn't entirely paranoia to suspect the Illusive Man had ways of monitoring her at all times, but blurting that out to Miranda made her sound crazy. She had to keep a lid on that. And as for Revan… it pained her to admit it, but Miranda was right. "I see your point, Miranda," she admitted grudgingly. "But I believe them when they say they're not from this galaxy. I don't want to drag them into a war that has nothing to do with them."

To her surprise, Miranda seemed to soften a little. "I see your point too, Shepard. But we're trying to save millions of lives here. Perhaps billions." Her eyes hardened again. "We need to use every tool we have at our disposal."

"People are not tools." Shepard glared at her, but it was a token protest and she knew it. The threat of the Reapers was just too great. She sighed reluctantly. "But you're right. All right. I'll ask if they'll join us."

When they returned to the room, Revan was staring at her intently. "What are Reapers?"

Shepard started in surprise. The interrogation room C-Sec had lent her was supposed to be soundproof and completely free of monitoring devices, and Miranda had been just as efficient at confirming this as she had been in the anteroom outside. "How did you…?" she demanded, trailing off.

"I am as powerful as you think I am," Revan informed her, not quite answering the question. Her eyes were clear and her assertion lacked any form of ego. She leaned forward and braced her arms on the table. "I would be an asset to your team, as would my companions. And we may be willing to share our technology with you. But first, I want to know what Reapers are, and I want to know that you will help us get home." Her eyes flickered across to Carth for a moment. "We were in the middle of something important."

Shepard saw something in that gaze when she mentioned Reapers, something deep and lurking and full of fear. It felt all too familiar.

"The Reapers are a race of ancient, sentient machines," she explained slowly, taking her seat again. "They emerge from dark space every fifty thousand years and destroy all organic life capable of spaceflight. We don't know why. Two years ago it took two fleets of ships to destroy their vanguard. A single Reaper. Thousands of people died, and all it did was slow them down. They'll find another way to get here, and they'll find it soon. I'm trying to stop them."

Revan sat very still, the lines of her face turning hard and brittle. It wasn't the reaction Shepard had expected – disbelief was usually a better bet. This was more like… recognition.

Her instincts had been correct. Somehow, this woman from another galaxy knew something about the Reapers.

"Revan?" Carth prompted her after a moment, reaching a hand out and almost laying it on her arm, but stopping short when she looked up.

"We will help you." The words were rough, but certain. The decision had been made.

Carth seemed to have other ideas. "What? Revan, we need to get back! Malak has Bastila, and—"

"No," Revan interrupted, locking eyes with him. "We will get back, but right now, we need to be here. Trust me, Carth. Please."

Shepard watched as what seemed like a thousand emotions passed through the man's eyes. Finally they coalesced, and he nodded stonily.

She wasn't sure what had just happened, but she had expected a little more caution from Revan. Certainly more questioning. "Are you sure? You don't know what I might ask you to do," she said bluntly. "And you don't know anything about our mission. Hell, you don't know anything about this galaxy."

"Then tell us about it. I know this is where we need to be," Revan replied firmly.

Shepard nodded slowly. "All right, then." She got to her feet. "Come with me. I have a quick stopover to make first, but then we'll head back to the Normandy and I'll explain everything."

Revan wasn't sure what she had expected, but the Normandy was a beautiful ship. It was small for a military vessel, but still far larger than the Ebon Hawk. It was vaguely reminiscent of some of the more expensive yachts she had seen, in fact, although the missile tubes mounted on its flanks near the engine nacelles marked it clearly as a warship. Its engines were proportionally large, and its hull sleek and well-armoured, but she couldn't see any shield generators. Did this galaxy have shielding technology? She followed Shepard, Miranda and Jacob inside and resolved to ask about it later.

The interior was clearly designed more for function than to be comfortable or aesthetically pleasing. That said, the clean, sloping lines and surprisingly open bridge were far from ugly. The cockpit was a little more cramped, but that didn't seem to bother its pilot – or Carth, whose face lit up with fascination as soon as they entered.

"Joker, meet our new crew members," Shepard introduced them as the pilot's couch swung around and a small, bearded man eyed them warily from what was clearly his domain. "Revan, Carth Onasi, HK-47 and Kasumi Goto. This is Flight Lieutenant Jeff Moreau, the Normandy's pilot."

Shepard had collected another new team member on their way to the docks, a woman who had introduced herself as the best thief in the galaxy. Revan had been surprised to detect no hint of exaggeration in that claim. The lithe, black-clad thief tossed a jaunty two-finger salute at the pilot. Revan contented herself with a brief nod.

Joker looked them all over, his gaze lingering on HK for an extra moment before moving on to Kasumi and Revan. He raised an eyebrow. "Are hoods the new fashion on the Citadel or something?"

Revan blinked, adjusting her hood self-consciously before she could stop herself, but Kasumi just grinned. She winked at Revan and set one hand on a hip. "Only for those of us who can pull it off," she replied.

Revan couldn't help a faint upwards quirk of the lips. After a brief second of hesitation she pulled the hood of her cloak back, allowing it to rest on her shoulders. She had grown used to it on Korriban, but when it came right down to it she had really only been wearing it for theatrical value. She didn't need to play the dark Jedi here, and she couldn't deny that was a relief.

Shepard herself smiled only briefly, and Revan sensed something behind the fleeting expression. As though she hadn't smiled in a long time, and wasn't quite sure she was ready to yet. "EDI," Shepard said, glancing over to the port side of the cockpit.

A small raised platform suddenly illuminated, and an icy blue holographic orb appeared. "Yes, Commander Shepard?" a pleasant female voice responded.

"Did you catch all of that?"

"I did. Welcome to the Normandy." When the voice spoke, the surface of the blue orb rippled.

"Of course you did." Revan got the impression Shepard didn't much like that idea. "This is EDI, the Normandy's AI. She monitors everything aboard the ship and reports back to Cerberus." Ah. That explained it. She had guessed from the conversation she had overheard between Shepard and Miranda that her relationship with this Cerberus entity wasn't entirely amicable. Shepard eyed HK for a moment. "Just how… advanced is your droid?" she asked Revan. "Could it do anything about that surveillance?"

"He'd be more than happy to blow up your EDI's central processor, if she has one. That should take care of it," Carth muttered before Revan could reply.

"I recommend against that course of action, Mr Onasi." EDI sounded unperturbed. "The explosive force required to destroy my core would also cripple this ship."

"Don't encourage him," Revan murmured, eyeing HK.

It took her a moment to realise she had just made a casual quip. Her defences weren't down, exactly… but they were slightly eroded. She wasn't sure if she wanted that. She quickly made a conscious effort to raise them again.

The droid seemed to pull himself up straighter. "Indignant clarification: I am an advanced hunter-killer droid, model forty-seven. I specialise in assassinations, the tracking and apprehension of organics, and the protection of my master. I am not a… droid mechanic."

Shepard raised her eyebrows. "Uh, all right. Fair enough."

"I could take a look, if you like," Carth offered conciliatorily. "I'm not that great with droids either but I'm a decent pilot and ship's mechanic."

Shepard nodded slowly. "Thank you. Joker can work with you." Interesting. Revan didn't think she would have made the same decision – to allow someone who was a complete unknown to work on her ship – had their positions been reversed, but she supposed Shepard did want access to their technology.

"Of course, Commander," Carth replied.

The taller woman spun away from Joker and EDI. "Come on, there's a lot more to see."

She strode out of the cockpit. Revan followed, content for the moment to remain silent and take it all in.

They made their way through the lab, the armoury, the crew deck and the engineering section, and as they walked, Revan felt it all start to hit her. Everything was different, from the small things like the cut of the crew's clothing and the haptic interfaces used for terminal access, to larger things like mass relays and the huge core of something called 'element zero' that powered the ship.

They were in another galaxy. And they were stuck here until they could find a way home.

She kept quiet, worrying to herself about what they were going to do. Meanwhile, Carth was firing off all the questions about the Normandy that he could possibly think of – and he could certainly think of a could tell he was genuinely fascinated by the ship. It was particularly difficult to drag him away from the engineering section after he got to talking with two of the engineers, Daniels and Donnelly. They seemed delighted to meet someone who was so interested in their work, and handled all his questions with excited enthusiasm.

Revan was glad he was distracted for now. Later, she knew his questions would be aimed at her instead, and rightfully so, she had to admit. Shepard had explained more about what they were up against after they had met Kasumi, and she had admitted that it could very likely turn into a suicide mission. He would want to know why she had signed them up for that.

Inwardly she sighed. She had no good answers for him. She just knew she had to be here. She had no real idea what Reapers were, but when Shepard and Miranda had talked about them, it felt like every bone in her body froze. The images she had seen while unconscious and being pulled through the relay from Naga Sadow's tomb came back to her… flickers of an ancient, powerful presence, something beyond her comprehension – and yet, something strangely familiar. It wasn't the first time she had felt that presence, she was certain, but the details were lost in the memories the Jedi had erased.

Was it the presence of the Reapers she had felt? Was the Force trying to warn her? And if it wasn't the first time she had felt them, what did they have to do with her time as Darth Revan?

She shook her head in frustration, returning her attention to the tour. She had no way to know, and right now she needed to be paying more attention to the layout and capabilities of this ship. Their hosts seemed genuine, and Revan was fairly certain Shepard in particular was not intending to renege on their deal, but that could change. Stopping Malak and rescuing Bastila was too important to allow themselves to be stuck in another galaxy. She needed to learn how everything worked here, and learn quickly.

Eventually they stopped outside a room with a large viewport labelled 'Starboard Observation'. "We're a little short on bunks, unfortunately," Shepard apologised, "but I'll have the crew set up temporary quarters in here for you, Revan. Miranda, Jacob, would you show Kasumi, Carth and HK where they can sleep?"

HK stirred. "Indignant correction: I will remain here, guarding my master's door."

Despite her anxiety, Revan found herself stifling a grin. At least HK hadn't suffered any ill effects from being flung across the universe. He was just as obnoxious as usual. "He's a little over-protective," she explained. "He'll be all right here. I'll make sure he doesn't get in anybody's way."

"All right," Shepard agreed reluctantly. "He's not going to… uh, misunderstand anyone's intentions and overreact, is he?"

Revan eyed HK. "No, he will not," she confirmed firmly. "Everyone aboard this ship is to be treated as though they are part of my team, HK."

"Grudging agreement: yes, master. As you command." The sarcasm was obvious.

Shepard's expression was a little bemused, but otherwise unreadable. "Revan, can I have a word with you? In private?" she asked.

"Sure," Revan replied cautiously, following her into Starboard Observation as Carth and Kasumi left with Miranda and Jacob. The cabin was large and filled with a split row of lounges facing the viewport, and another row against the wall on the left. Shelves filled with datacards – or whatever this galaxy's version of datacards was – lined the wall on the right. Revan guessed the cabin was a crew break room of sorts. It felt comfortable, almost homey.

The commander took a seat on one of the lounges facing the viewport, so Revan sat beside her, across the aisle. The viewport covered almost the entire inner hull on that side, from bulkhead to bulkhead, giving Revan a good view of the vaguely flower-shaped Citadel station receding into the distance as the Normandy cruised toward the mass relay. She was keen to take a closer look at that relay, if she could. Maybe it would help her to better understand exactly what they were.

"Your droid is a bit of a handful," Shepard commented drily.

Although the words and delivery were both relatively casual, Revan could feel that Shepard was far from relaxed in her presence. Revan didn't blame her; she wasn't exactly relaxed herself. She had lowered her guard somewhat as they had spoken more and more, and she felt no need to play the Sith Lord – Shepard had no idea what a Sith Lord was, after all – but that didn't mean she trusted the woman. As of right now, Shepard was still an unknown, and Revan didn't much like the unknown. The commander had gotten the drop on her back on the Citadel, and it had been a long time since anyone had been able to do that. She wasn't even Force-sensitive. Had she gotten lucky, or was she the sort of accomplished fighter Revan would do well to study very, very closely… just in case?

"He can be," Revan admitted, making an effort to keep her thoughts from her expression. "He is programmed to protect me, which makes him nervous in unfamiliar situations."

"He behaves differently to any mech or virtual intelligence I've ever heard of. More like… artificial intelligence."

Revan frowned, unsure what she was getting at. "I suppose you could say that."

Shepard turned to face her, crossing her legs and slinging an arm over the back of the chair. "Artificial intelligence is forbidden in this galaxy."

Revan raised an eyebrow and turned as well, interested despite herself. "Really? Didn't you introduce your ship's computer as an AI?"

"Yes. Cerberus doesn't always operate strictly within legal bounds." Revan sensed a lot of simmering anger behind that statement. Not just a healthy wariness of a shady organisation, but actual anger. Shepard had been personally affected by something Cerberus had done, she suspected.

"Why is AI illegal?" she asked carefully, unwilling to probe too much and risk any goodwill she had gained with their host.

Shepard made a face. "I'm no scientist, but it probably had something to do with the geth going rogue a couple of centuries ago. There was a lot of experimentation into AI before that," Shepard explained.

Revan frowned. "Geth? They're droids—uh, mechs?" Shepard nodded. "Oh. That's what the people on the Citadel called HK. That's why they were so afraid of him."

"Yeah. The geth were also allied with Sovereign, the Reaper vanguard I told you about earlier," Shepard added soberly.

Every mention of the word Reaper had Revan's danger sense humming quietly, but insistently, in the back of her mind. "I see. So we may find ourselves fighting these geth, as well as the Collectors you mentioned?"

"Maybe." Shepard shifted on the bench. "There's no proof the Collectors are connected to the Reapers… yet."

"They are," Revan replied quietly. "I can feel it." The Force was guiding her in this, she was sure of it, and she felt the same ominous rumblings in the back of her mind when the Collectors were mentioned that she did when they were talking about the Reapers.

Shepard eyed her warily, but seemed to decide against pressing her on how she knew that. For the moment, at least. "So you agree to join me, then? Help me fight them?"

"In return for helping us get home, yes. We'll help you."

She nodded. "Good. That brings me to the other reason I wanted to talk to you. Revan… I get the sense that you're accustomed to being in charge."

Revan smiled grimly. Although she still didn't have many of her memories from her time as Darth Revan, she knew that saying she was "accustomed to being in charge" was an understatement.

Shepard continued, voice hardening. "I've also noticed that you can be quite… ruthless in your methods. Let me make this clear: that is not how I do things. While you're here, you're on my ship, and on my crew. I need you to follow my orders."

Revan stared back, evaluating. The ruthlessness had been part of the role she was playing at the time, but Shepard didn't know that. She wasn't sure she wanted to explain why she had done it just yet. If Shepard knew who she had been…

And she still didn't really know the commander. Revan suspected she would be good in a fight, but she didn't know that for sure yet, and hesitated to trust her life, and Carth and HK's life, to a leader of unknown skill. "Do you think you're qualified to give me orders?" she asked mildly, toning down what could have been a very serious threat.

Shepard didn't even blink. "Yes. And I know that as much as I want your help, you need mine."

Revan couldn't help a faint smile at that response. She was beginning to like this woman. "True," she agreed. "All right. My crew and I will follow your orders." For now.

"Thank you," Shepard replied. She set her hands on her knees and got to her feet, and just like that, the issue was decided. "Do you want to see the mass relay up close?" Revan nodded. "Come on, then. You get the best view from the cockpit."

She spun and headed for the door, completely certain in the knowledge that Revan would follow her.

To Revan's surprise, she did.