The core worlds, the centre of government for the Republic. An array of worlds that each had their own beauty and elegance, ships came and went and cities reached into the sky and were visible from space. However, a little ways from the core lay a large space station, the station was surrounded with hundreds, if not thousands of Republic ships awaiting repair or restock only to be fired back into the battlefield. This was the first line of defence against any threat to the Republic. Suddenly a fleet of ships jumped in, the Normandy among them. They approached the station and docked, the Sleeper Fleet followed suit.

Aboard the station there was a lot of confusion, new and foreign ships had been sighted. Many claimed they were working for the Sith, others claimed that they could help defeat the Sith. The only thing the common soldier knew was that the top brass must have a good reason for it, they would find out soon enough.

As soon as they had docked with the station, Dodonna assembled the crew of the Normandy and told them that they must stay on the ship until she said so, it would be far too jarring for the Republic if they were introduced immediately. She was, however about to meet with the other commanding officers of the Republic Navy, Marines and Infantry in order to reach a summit with them about what would be done, after that Dodonna needed a diplomat from each of the milky way races in order to further diplomatic relations and welcome them to the Republic.

"Well this sucks." Joker remarked as Dodonna left the ship, they had been given access to the whole ship except the Normandy until repairs had been made.

"Really?" Garrus replied sarcastically, "This is a pretty bad situation now that you mention it." Garrus added, holding his sarcastic tone.

"Woah, Garrus. A bit touchy are we?" Joker sneered while shooting a look at Garrus who frowned back at him.

"She gave us free reign of her ship, maybe we should have a look around?" James spoke up from behind them, "Maybe we can find some things out."

"That could work." Liara said standing up straight, "There may be something we can find out about this galaxy, and information would be useful right about now.

Just then, the airlock nearby opened and out came Shala'Raan, Primark Victus and Samara. They walked to the Normandy crew and regarded them with nods, they stood in front of the crew, their heads bowed.

Joker looked up at them, they seemed troubled. "Hey, what's going on?" He asked while sitting up straighter.

"We've talked to their admiral." Raan said, "She told us that you have volunteered to help in their fight against these 'Sith'." She added sincerely.

"And...?" Garrus questioned impatiently.

"Well, they wanted us to help, but we can't enter another war against an enemy that could be worse than the Reapers." Victus spoke up, finishing for Raan.

"Understandable." EDI said coldly,

"But, the admiral wants to set up a temporary gathering from the races we brought so they can learn more about us and where we came from." Victus continued. "She wants an ambassador from each race." Victus finished, putting his arms behind his back.

"We've volunteered to join this 'gathering', however we need a diplomat for humanity and the Salarians." Raan replied, moving closer to the group.

"Well, we can find someone for humanity, but I'm not sure about the Salarians." Liara replied getting the attention of the group. "Any volunteers?"

Ashley stood up, she had been a little vocal against entering another war. "Look, I don't want this galaxy to be conquered, but I'm not sure if I can take going to war. I might be better off giving tactical advice from safety." She said while turning to the aliens.

Joker frowned, he wanted to go into this fight with all of the crew if need be, but he saw the logic in her words. It would be useful to have a source working with the governing body and providing them with information. "Ashley." He said, she turned. "That could work for us, you may be able to give us information while we fight for them."

Ashley nodded, she didn't wanr to leave, not really but she simply couldn't go into another war. She still wanted to help and this seemed the best way. "Don't worry, I'll do my best." She joined the others.

"Now all we need is a diplomat from the Salarians, we'll have to find one." Samara spoke up, having kept her silence for most of the meeting.

However, the door behind them opened and in came the Admiral accompanied by two Republic soldiers. She stood sternly behind the aliens who all turned around to greet her.

"Was I interrupting anything?" She slowly said, backing up slightly. The soldiers beside her exchanged looks.

"No, we were just finishing up here." Raan quickly said, lifting a hand to greet her.

"Ah, I see you have set up your 'gathering'." She remarked, looking around the ones in front of her to check on the Normandy crew. "I've spoken with the other military commanders, and the senate. They have authorised me to allow you to enter service under the Republic."

There were positive murmurs about the crew as they stood up to meet the admiral face to face. "So... when can we get the Normandy back?" Joker asked eagerly, like a child who had been promised toys.

"Our technicians are just making the final touches to your ship, we have upgraded the hull and weapons systems as well as integrating a hyperdrive into your 'drive core'." Dodonna said while dismissing the troops beside her. "Your power core is something we have never seen before, but it is far in advance of anything we use. Our technicians have managed to copy some of your technology and use it in place of our power." She handed a datapad to Joker who started to study it thoroughly.

"When can we start the fight?" Garrus asked, a cocky smile on his face.

"Well, first we need to explain exactly what kind of enemy you will be facing." She grabbed another datapad that had entries on the Sith forces, weapons and tactics. "When you launch we will provide you with some of our engineers to maintain all of the new equipment, a few squads of our own troops and-" As she said this the door behind her opened and 4 robed figures entered the room, they didn't seem to be wearing any kind of armour and their robes seemed bulky. Dodonna turned around to acknowledge the Jedi as they entered. "You will also be accompanied by a squad of Jedi Knights."

The crew of the Normandy looked on at the newcomers, they had been told about these 'Jedi' but so far they hadn't seen anything about them.

"What kind of missions do you want us to do?" Liara asked as she looked over each of the Jedi.

"Your missions will mainly be scouting Sith worlds ahead of time so we can formulate counter-attacks against them." Dodonna said as a few troopers entered the room carrying crates of supplies, they dropped them in front of the crew before leaving, "You will also carry out sabotage and support for capital ships. Your missions will be extremely dangerous and take place deep behind enemy lines. We have also managed to secure some new personal weapons for each of you."

"Heh, sounds like just the kind of missions we are used to." Joker smirked while looking around at the crew members beside him, they then opened up the crates in front of them and started looking over the new weapons.