New chapter woo! I've already got the next 3 written out, will be releasing them periodically over the next few days and weeks.

From the depths of space, the Sleeper Fleets arrived. Appearing out of nowhere in an unknown area of space, near to a star and a few systems. EDI began the process of awaking the crew, Joker was the first to wake up and he was in his seat almost as quick.

"EDI what's our status." Joker asked in a very stern tone.

"The ship has arrived, I have begun awaking the crew." EDI's voice rang out through the ship.

So this was it, another galaxy with new races they would never have seen before. Quickly his attention was brought to the matter at hand "Any word from the other ships in the fleet?"

"We have not received any confirmation from them, Jeff. It is likely that they were propelled into other parts of this galaxy or into completely different ones." the female voice of the ship's AI was cold but slightly reassuring.

Joker sighed, no word from the other ships and their galaxy was probably completely consumed by now. He wanted to keep things light through and he didn't want to bring unnecessary pressure on the crew or his AI companion. "Hey, uhh... EDI where's your body?"

"It is currently on the crew deck, it was costing too much power to run and could have harmed a pods efficiency if I had left it functional." EDI replied. "I am however activating it now and bringing it up to you." Joker felt better, at least his friend was unharmed. He couldn't say anything about the crew though. It was hard enough on the crew just to leave the Commander, leaving the galaxy outright just made it even harder on the crew. Especially on Shepard's closest friends. Liara and Garrus tried to keep quiet about it and keep focussed on the mission, but it was easy to tell that they were affected badly. He worried the most about Tali though, she had been extremely reclusive since the retreat. She kept to herself and hardly conversed with anyone save for Garrus. She had requested a pod be built for her in Shepard's cabin, Joker held his face in his palm.

"Jeff, what is wrong? I can tell something is on your mind, you only have your hand against your face like that if you are upset or thinking about something." EDI said, walking up just behind him and sitting in her usual chair.

Joker felt surprised by the question, he wasn't sure he could open up to her. "I'm worried about the crew. Losing Shepard was hard, but I can't imagine what some people feel about completely leaving the galaxy behind."

"How do you feel Jeff?" EDI asked very quickly after Joker had finished.

"I feel... bad for leaving the Commander. But as long as I have you I feel fine." Joker replied honestly. "I'm most worried about Tali, though." He turned to EDI

"She is currently leaving her pod, should I speak to her?" EDI asked, it was best if no one had any problems, but with Tali it could not be helped.

"I doubt she holds much love for synthetics after they destroyed the galaxy, maybe Garrus or Liara would be better." Joker said, he knew her well enough, but he didn't have that kind of connection. "To be honest, I would wait until she gets down here before trying to talk to her."

"If you think that's right then I won't interfere. Most of the crew are still in their pods, and most of the passengers were just getting up." EDI accelerated the process so that they would wake up faster. "We should stay where we are until we are ready to move so that if there are any ships that haven't yet arrived we can greet them.

"Yeah that's a good idea."

Several hours later, the crew had gotten to their respective stations and the Normandy was busy again, the CIC was alive with activity and crewman were constantly moving about. Joker had engaged the stealth drive in order to remain undetected. In the time that the crew had been awake, two more Sleeper ships had entered the system – the Asari and Turian. No sign of the Quarian or Salarian Sleeper ships, the Krogan did not run, they stayed to fight the Reapers right to the end they were probably destroyed by now. The Turian and Asari ships were much larger than the Normandy and had much bigger capacities, all in all just under one thousand people were spread between the three vessels.

"Now all we need to do is find somewhere to settle down!" Joker said over the noise of the CIC. As he said this, two Alliance patrol cruisers jumped in, they were a part of the fleet and were here mainly to protect them against any potential hostile encounters. They linked up with the rest of the fleet and things were starting to look better for them

Nobody talked about the Reapers, it was a subject that the less said about would be better, but everyone was thinking the same thing: what actually happened and why did they run?

At this point everyone was at their respective stations and everyone was working hard, except Tali who had not moved from Shepard's cabin for hours. It was getting to the point that people were worrying about her well-being. EDI asked her down a few times but she didn't respond or come down, some of the Quarian passengers tried to talk to her and bring her down but she either ignored them or told them to leave her alone.

Joker was starting to worry he called for Garrus and Liara to help out. "Garrus, Liara. Could you come up to the cockpit, we need to talk." Joker said over the intercom. A few seconds later they both appeared behind him and startled him.

"What is it, Joker, I was in the middle of some calibrations." Garrus said, slightly annoyed but sympathetic considering the situation.

"I likewise was in the middle of a critical experiment." Liara replied, trying to smile but failing.

"It's Tali." As soon as he said her name they both lost any hint of annoyance and they seemed more caring. "She hasn't left Shepard's cabin and we're worrying about her. You two know her better, so I was thinking you could at least get her to come down."

"Well my calibrations can wait, I'll be right up." Garrus turned and headed for the elevator at the back of the CIC.

"My experiments can be taken later, I'll see what I can do to help." Liara replied, trying to smile at Joker.

"Thanks guys, I would do it myself but I don't want to break my legs." Joker replied, spinning the chair back to the controls. "EDI, we should start thinking about moving the fleet. What have your scans picked up?"

"My long range scanners have picked up a system not too far from here that seems to have what is necessary for the species here. I can't pick up any kind of technology or life signs from this far away." EDI brought up her analysis onto the holographic readout in front of Joker.

"I'll take us to the edge of the system so you can make more scans of what we're dealing with." Joker was on edge, as was most of the crew. They would be exploring uncharted territory, for them at least. "Attention all vessels, this is the Normandy, we're making an FTL jump to these co-ordinates in order to make scans on a nearby system. Once we reach the co-ordinates, await further instructions." He sent the co-ordinates to each of the five vessels surrounding the Normandy.

Just as they were making the preparations, two more ships jumped in. One was heavily damaged while the other was mostly fine. The damaged ship identified as a Quarian sleeper ship, while the other identified as a Turian cruiser sent to protect the fleet. The Quarian ship had sustained extensive exterior damage, with hull breaches in some sections. The captain explained that they had lost many sleeper pods from the damage. They left with about five hundred pods, but only 247 pods remained and a few of them were damaged which meant some of the passengers had died. A few minutes later a third ship jumped in, identifying as the Salarian sleeper ship.

As the elevator door opened both Liara and Garrus exited, they stood outside the cabin for a few moments thinking about what they would say to the saddened Quarian. She had locked the door, but left the intercom open so she could hear who was speaking. "Tali." Garrus said into the microphone. "It's Garrus, are you all right? Joker said you have been in here since we arrived." Garrus said coolly, trying to maintain a cheery voice which was difficult considering how his voice was.

Tali was lying on the bed, trying desperately not to think about Shepard or her home world and how she would never see them again. She could feel tears running down her face, it wouldn't be visible to anyone but she had been crying almost non stop since she woke from the pod. Upon hearing Garrus, she stopped sobbing for a moment and sat up contemplating whether or not to let him in.

"Tali. It's Liara. We want to talk to you." Liara said in a shy way, she really had no idea what sate Tali was in.

Tali felt loved, two of her best friends obviously wanted to see how she was doing. She didn't feel like talking about Shepard, but she knew she couldn't stay locked in there forever. She would have to leave at some point and now seemed as good a time as any. She stood up and unlocked the door, soon after she opened it to see them both standing quite stiffly in front of her. Without thinking she embraced Liara sobbing into her mask. Liara had no idea what to do and looked to Garrus for support who just looked on.

"Tali, it's okay. It's okay." Liara said, Tali continued to hold her but backed off slowly. She looked at Garrus who regarded her with a smile.

"I- I'm sorry Liara." She was still sobbing slightly. "I don- I don't know what came over me." She bowed her head and motioned for them both to come into the cabin.

Garrus spoke first, "Tali, we know what's wrong. We're here to help."

"I'm not sure you do know what is wrong." Tali answered quickly, she had stopped crying and was sitting on the bed.

"You weren't the only one to... lose him." Liara said.

Tali looked up, she flared with a little bit of anger. "Yes, but he didn't mean as much to as he did to me!" Soon after she apologized for getting angry. "I don't want to talk about him."

"It's fine Tali, but remember that we're here for you during this." Garrus spoke up.

"Thank you." Tali replied. "I'll come down to see everyone in a minute, please leave." The two obliged and left her their among her thoughts. She was extremely saddened by previous events, but her fire had been lit inside of her and she had received new energy. After a few minutes she headed down to the CIC to join her fellow crewmembers.