A/N: Delete.

Chapter 23:

Date: January 31st, 2095, one week after my consultation with Sirius.

Two days ago, I had received confirmation from the United Rannoch Government exploration fleets that we would be stopping today. I felt uneasy, as I only had one day to talk with the Geth and Quarians about our plans for 'meeting' with the Inusannon, if they were even there.

Lyna was by my side, but had a stoic expression on her face. As the time of our exit from FTL grew near, I felt much more nervous than I had when I originally met with the Quarians.

Sure, I was dealing with a species that I had seen on video before, and I was pretty sure on how they acted, but meeting with the Inusannon? Arriving at their solar system without warning? I trusted what Sirius told me, that 'everything was going to be fine,' that 'I had no need to worry about anything, as long as we didn't come with hostile intentions.'

Nonetheless, I was on-edge and it was showing through my nervous demeanor. Lyna took notice of this and put a hand on my shoulder, squeezing it with her strong grip.

Before Lyna could utter a word of reassurance, Sirius disengaged the Inusannon Vonya FTL drive that we were using in sync with the URG exploration fleet. The Bermuda dropped out of FTL moments before the others, giving Lyna and I a perfect view of the Quarian and Geth ships arriving just outside of Lidera Kop'ye.

I watched on as ship-by-ship they dropped out of FTL, each popping into existence after the other. Soon enough, the URG flagship appeared in the middle of every ship that was arriving. It was engineered by the Quarians, Geth, and Protheans, which made it one of the biggest and most powerful vessels in the galaxy.

As soon as every single ship of the sizable URG fleet arrived, Lyna turned away from the bridge while patting me on the back. "Sirius and I will start preparing the links for a ship-to-fleet broadcast."

"Got it. I'll contact Daro'Xen in the meantime," I replied, activating my omni-tool and moving to my contact list. When I found Xen, Lyna was already walking towards the communications room. I pressed my index finger down onto Daro'Xen's name in my contact list and waited for her to accept the vid-call. While waiting, I sat myself down in the pilot's seat, making myself comfortable for the time being.

As soon as Xen answered, I was greeted with a blank mask. "I'm glad that you called, Kyle. Apparently my father has decided to bring Teval'Rithari, the Inuquarian, along with us."

I raised my eyebrows at Daro's display on my omni-tool. "Why? Is that something that we should be worried about?"

"No, not exactly. However, she is only fourteen years old. That's not exactly what my people would consider mature. As for why, apparently Delaki and Korlib are concerned that she will die in a few years. Something to do with proper cybernetic treatment and uncontrollable genetic code. If you ask me, that's the consequence of creating a hybrid." Xen replied. She stood up from the position that she was sitting in, and moved alongside a Geth platform. It made a few clicking sounds at her, while gesturing to what I could only assume was an airlock. She turned her gaze to the Geth platform and simply nodded. "I got it, Nomanye. I'm simply talking to Kyle Terrah right now."

I stifled a laugh at the fact that Xen was cooperating so well with the Geth platform. "Alright, we can probably discuss the age of this Inuquarian later on. For now, I wanted to ask you something."

Xen nodded her head almost happily. "Go on, Terrah."

Leaning back into the pilot's seat, I adjusted myself to a comfortable spot once again. "How many of your people are going to be attending our little meeting?"

"From what I know, eight of our people will be meeting with you. One of the Protheans, Korlib, will also be joining us," Xen stated while walking through an airlock, still side by side with the Geth platform.

She turned left into a smaller corridor, and for a second, I could have sworn that I saw a shimmer of light move behind of Daro'Xen. I paused for a few moments, waiting to see if the shimmer of light would make itself apparent again. Xen looked down at her omni-tool, waiting for me to respond. Once I was sure that the shimmer of light was just a light glare of sorts, I continued my conversation with Daro. "Eight people? Isn't that a bit much for a small meeting discussing our plans to go into Lidera Kop'ye?"

"I, along with everyone else, was under the impression that we were boarding the Bermuda to enter Lidera Kop'ye, and that our fleets would stay back until we established a safe connection with the Inusannon. I was not aware that you intended to do otherwise," Daro blankly said.

'I approved their plan. This was the meaning of our stop. If we entered my people's getaway system with a fleet of 50 warships, they would have taken it as a hostile gesture and promptly would have vaporized each and every one of us until we were solar dust.'

That would have been nice to know a few days ago.

'It will not cause problems if we arrive with one ship. Don't fret, I know what I'm doing.'

Why keep it a secret? Why not just tell me what you are doing? If we're going to continue to work together, I need to trust you.

'You know now, don't you? Besides, you were a bit busy melding with Lyna in that time, discussing memories and that ancient rifle that she has up on her wall.'

Erg. Fine, this time can be your only pass, but in the future, I want to know everything. Your plans, what you're doing, and everything else on the spectrum, okay?

'Understood. This will be the last time I keep stuff from you, Kyle Jonathan Terrah. You have my word.'

Thanks, Sirius.

"Oh, very well. Should I tell Sirius to guide the Bermuda over to your ships?" I inquired.

Xen shook her head in obvious disapproval. "No, we're coming to you via an envoy ship. I'm leaving the Moreh right now. We'll be with you in about fifteen minutes."

"Sounds good. I'll talk to you in a bit."

Without another word from Xen, she closed our video-call. She was moodier than usual, and in fact, she was acting more like her 2185 self. I wasn't about to question it, since this whole expedition had us all on edge.

I had to admit, it certainly was a relief that I hadn't screwed up the timeline too much, at least not yet.

Eventually, I stood myself up from the pilot's seat and closed down my omni-tool. Before I left the bridge, I leaned down to one of the holographic displays and glided my hand over it. Nothing happened, as Sirius had blocked all organic access to the Bermuda's control systems for the voyage to the Inusannon system. Of course, Lyna had protested against it, but Sirius assured her that the systems would be returned to our control as soon as we started our return back to Rannoch.

'You don't need to touch that. I've already disabled the weaponry systems.'

I was just wondering what the damn thing did. No need to get so touchy. Besides, at some point, I'd like to learn how to fly this thing.

'I think it would be better if you stuck to your current weapons training with Lyna, rather than going to another subject and deciding that you wish to be a pilot. Besides, you've had just under twenty years to investigate these buttons, right now is not the time to start.'

Okay, you know what? Let's not bicker when we're less than a day away from meeting with your people. I'd rather go in with a calm mindset, instead of a nervous one.

'Very well.'

I sighed as soon as Sirius cut the connection, but I didn't have the time to dwell on that subject. I had a job to do, whether I liked it or not.

I made my way down to the communications room. As I entered it, I noticed that Lyna was setting up a few things alongside Sirius' hologram, which was currently bent over a table. Datapads were scattered across the length of the table, and an interactive omni-display, which could also be known as a hologram was displaying our location along with the supposed Inusannon location. Lyna glanced up at me, then beaconed me to walk over to her. "Kyle, I need to show you something if we have enough time."

"To my knowledge, we, have a few minutes, what's up?" I asked while walking over to the Asari. Gliding my hand over the table, I came to a stop right beside Lyna.

"Take a look at this," she ordered with a fair amount of sternness in her voice. Lyna handed me a datapad and gestured to the bottom right of the screen, where a picture of a large ship was located. Above the picture read out, 'Inusannon Federation: Zevokalon Class Cruiser - Revvokas II. Manufacture year: 30,495.'

I noted that the ship sported a powerful and imposing design, since forward-swept 'wings' were located near the middle of the cruiser. Its engines seemed to have somewhat of a purple coloration when they were activated. The hull of the Revvokas II had a dark grey hue, which was certainly made out of a metal of some sorts, but with a much more glossy appearance to it. While various 'fins' were jutting out of the rear sections of the vessel, they differed in color and material from the main body. They seemed to be made out of purple, electricity-conducting crystals. At the bow of the Zevokalon cruiser, there were three of the same crystals pointing out, all of which were located at the undersides of the vessel.

Various cannons were located along the cruiser's sides, but one of them rested directly on the bow, making up the tip of the ship. It was much bigger than the other cannons. Beside it was a paragraph that described the larger cannon, which read out as: "ISF-Kozlov: A superheated slug-thrower that is currently being used by many cruisers during our battles with the Reapers. While not as powerful as our current technology, it still packs quite a punch. At this time, the Kozlov is known for its 30 kiloton slugs, shot out of its barrel while burning at 5000C. These slugs can go up to a quarter of the speed of light. From our tests, it can melt through Reaper kinetic barriers and Reaper armor after four slugs have been fired at it. This was right before our best operative, Rigel Tavekanal-1931O was corrupted, as he helped us reverse-engineer Reaper magnetohydrodynamic cannons. These newer cannons could help us with defeating the Reapers in the wider aspect of our war, but I believe The Trivon Operation will be a much more effective way for our species to survive the harvest."

I absorbed all of the information that I could before handing the datapad back to Lyna. "Alright, so this is one of their ships?" I asked, raising one of my eyebrows at her.

She nodded her head at me, softly setting the datapad down onto the table. "It's one of the ships that was made during the Inusannon's war with… Harbinger?" Lyna raised her brow at me for a few seconds. She glanced back up to Sirius for confirmation, who gave her a curt nod through his holographic appearance. She continued on, "According to the info that Sirius gave me, this thing is over a kilometer long, and it's just a cruiser. Now think about this, the data here dates back 100,000 years."

"First off, size isn't everything," I monotoned, tapping my fingers on the table in a slow, steady rhythm.

Lyna interrupted me before I could continue, "No no. That Zevokalon Cruiser, the Revvokas II, it's ancient, but from what I've been shown... The technology outclasses the Protheans in more ways than one. The Kozlov cannon was a fairly, it may have been the base for mass accelerator rounds. I know that the Protheans used some sort of Particle weaponry, which could have been derived from the magnetohydrodynamic cannons that saw widespread use within the Inusannon fleet-"

I interrupted Lyna, mostly to stop her rambling on about the technology. "Okay, okay. That's great and all, but we can wait to discuss this with the Geth and Quarians. Their admirals and diplomatic platforms will be arriving in just a few minutes, plus a Prothean and the Inuquarian hybrid known as Teval'Rithari."

"So, the URG is bringing a kid. A child onto our ship… For what, exactly?" Lyna inquired, glancing up from the datapad.

"From what Xen told me, the Protheans are concerned about her impending death. Apparently she needs immediate attention in order to save her life. In my opinion, I think it's just an excuse for Delaki to experiment with much more advanced 'toys' on her specimen."

"Pssh. If you told me that a few years ago, I would have said that you were full of varren-shit, but now? Now I'm not sure if that's an excuse or not." Lyna paused for a few seconds. She then pointed towards the airlock, that was just barely seen out of the comms room. "If time is truly of the essence, go on and wait by the airlock while Sirius and I finalize our preparations."

Backing away from the Asari, I quickly made my way out of the open door. Today would be hard for me, Lyna, and everyone else. No one would be an exception to the stress of meeting with a new, potentially hostile species. Over the last few weeks, she had been much more expressive with her emotions than usual. It was amusing seeing her like this; outside of her normally stoic personality.

Nonetheless, I arrived at the airlock that was positioned right at the middle of the Bermuda. From what I knew, an older Quarian vessel was currently breaking away from the URG's Anriis Flagship and it was cruising over to the Bermuda.

It took a good five minutes or so for the vessel to bring itself alongside the Bermuda. Moments later, a small bump reverberated throughout the corridors, and a hissing sound echoed through the walls of the corvette. This noise confirmed that I was seconds away from meeting everyone that would be traveling into Lidera Kop'ye.

When Sirius opened the airlock, I was met with the gaze of Daro'Xen vas Moreh. Right as our eyes met, I was taken aback. I was speechless. Xen was without her mask, without anything protecting her immune system. She was still in her environmental suit, but her head-wear was missing.

Xen's face was fairly beautiful. Daro's skin was a pale grey. Her nose was small, and didn't have a lot of depth. Her lips were thin, sporting a lightish purple hue. Xen's eyes were slitted, yet slightly angled; her irises had a golden hue to them. Unlike the stock photo of Tali that I was able to see in Mass Effect 3, three separate forms of flesh went up onto her skull, each forming a small triangular shape. Hair, or a hair-like substance emerged from beneath the triangular flesh, covering much of her skull. This hair reached down to her shoulders, some even hitting her back. A storm of thoughts clouded my mind as I tried to make sense of the situation.

Oh fuck. Fuck. Is the ship clean? What the hell? Why would she do this? Wh-

'Kyle, relax. While you and Lyna were resting, I took it upon myself to run decontamination protocols throughout the ship. I've been doing it to every room as you've been walking around. The Bermuda is completely sterile at the moment. She'll be fine, unless you sneeze on her.'

Do you- She'll be fine in a few generations with the Geth's help, not after twenty years of peace.

'Well, just relax. I'm sure you can tell her to put it on.'

Daro eventually broke me out of my trance after chuckling a bit. "Come on, Kyle. Don't pretend that you haven't seen a Quarian face-to-face before."

"Well, I saw Ferryn'Artrem's, but it was all bloody and she had just attacked me. Now I'm joyful to see one that isn't scarred beyond recognition," I blankly commented. I was still recovering from my mild panic attack.

"Oh really? Hmph. Perhaps after we meet the Inusannon, we'll have some time to catch up…" Xen trailed off with a small blush on her face. I heard footsteps in the airlock, and she turned her head around. In a moment, she looked back at me with a stoic expression. "We want to make a good impression for the Inusannon."

I shook my head while putting a hand onto Xen's shoulder. "Daro, put your mask on. A good impression isn't going to mean anything if you're sicker than a Varren."

Daro'Xen sighed for a few moments, then turned away from me. She took her mask off of her belt, and attached it to her main suit. "Fine, but I'm coming back with you on the return trip… If we even survive that."

I raised my eyebrow in confusion. Before I could reply, Kapo'Xen and Shala'Raan walked through the airlock. Thankfully, they were masked, unlike Xen who had already exposed herself to the open air. They were soon followed by three Geth platforms, two Protheans, and another Quarian-looking girl. The Geth platforms were made up of what looked like a Shock Trooper, a Hunter, and a Trooper, all of which were diplomatic platforms, as signified by their olive green and indigo colorations. I was thankful that many of the guests were armed, either with handguns, or rifles. As for the two Protheans, I could identify one as Delaki, but I couldn't quite identify the other one.

I blinked at the sudden appearance of the group and moved past Daro'Xen. "Hello everyone, it's a pleasure to have you all here for the final phase of our journey."

"Let's skip the pleasantries, what exactly has your AI- Sirius scrounged up on the Inusannon? I sincerely hope that we're not going in there blind," Delaki hummed in a soft tone.

I glanced towards the Prothean before moving closer to her. As I approached the taller woman, I started to speak. "We'll get into that once we're in the comms room."

Shala'Raan made a small snorting sound while walking towards me. "So, why not provide us with the information now? I believe we would avoid a lot of unanswered questions that way."

"I would, but my omni-tool doesn't exactly have the power to hold all of the information on the Inusannon. Besides, we're going to be using the EMDrive to enter the system as the Vonya cools down; we'll definitely have enough time to converse before arrive at Trivon," I flatly answered. "Just follow me, and we'll give you all the information you need."

I turned around, and started walking away from the group. Seconds later, I heard the sound of many footsteps behind me. Leading the group of representatives over to the communications room, I noticed that Xen was walking by my side. I wondered why she decided to stay beside me rather than join the group of her own people, but I didn't mind it.

The walk to the communications room was silent and relatively short. As I approached it, the door to the communications room opened and I found Lyna leaning over the table, where about a dozen of datapads were scattered out before her with many more were strewn across the rest of the table. She looked up to me as I entered the room alongside Daro'Xen and motioned for me to come up next to her.

I strode over to Lyna while Xen took her position on another side of the table. Just as I assumed the same stance as Lyna, everyone else flooded into the room. The Protheans and the smaller Quarian girl took their spots in the left portion of the room. Meanwhile, the Geth platforms stepped over to be right across from the Protheans. Finally, the Quarian admirals stood across from Lyna and me.

The smaller Quarian girl, who I assumed was Teval'Rithari, was only five feet tall (1.5m). Her digits weren't like that of any other Quarian, as they seemed to be about an inch (2.5cm) longer than anyone else. Not only did they extend farther, but there were also four digits on each hand. Her skin was light grey, and she looked quite sad whenever our eyes met. I took it as if she didn't want to be here; what kid would want to be on a diplomatic mission anyway?

As everyone settled in, my omni-tool was activated by Sirius and his projection formed right between Lyna and myself. He was standing at his full height of eight feet/four inches, and towered over everyone by at least two feet. To my understanding, he was projecting himself in this way so the others would be mildly acquainted with the appearance of the Inusannon. As the only one of Inusannon origin, he was the first to speak up. "First off, it's nice to have you all here today. We'll have up to two hours to converse before we reach the Novayazemira system. I've already warmed up the EMDrive, and we'll be transitioning to FTL in fifteen seconds. Your boarding vessel has already disconnected from the Bermuda and is making its way back to the fleet as we speak."

Lyna nodded her head and deeply inhaled. "Sirius and I have compiled various files extracted from an Inusannon facility on Aite. We've extracted various codexes on the Inusannon, while they may be 100,000 years old, we know enough about-" Lyna paused as the EMDrive started to rev up, and then the entire ship jolted into in-system flight. The Asari recoiled a bit from the jump, then tilted her head from side to side. "Erg, that feeling never gets any easier..."

"What Lyna is trying to say is that the documents that I extracted from Latem-Tarik hold much of the intel that we could wish for in finding my creators," Sirius interrupted Lyna, and hovered his projected hands above the table. "Now, we know for sure that the Inusannon are hiding in Novayazemira."

"So the only question is if we'll be perceived as a threat," Kapo'Xen spoke up.

Sirius shook his head at the Admiral. "No, the Bermuda is a single ship and it's definitely not outputting a Reaper signal. My creators will not fire on this vessel unless given a reason to do so, though that could transition onto the first subject- Technology."

The Geth Shock Trooper platform turned its head towards Sirius' hologram. "We are already aware of the technological capabilities of your creators. We have seen examples of this through the Vonya drives, the weaponry, and results of genetic engineering," the Geth motioned its arm over towards the smaller Quarian girl, who was surprisingly quiet. Her facial features displayed a depressed, solemn soul. "Unlike every other creator on this vessel, Teval'Rithari does not require an environmental suit to survive. Since she carries the strong genetic traits of Warrior-Tenojika Ve'Skardi, this is completely possible. The topic of their technological prowess is superfluous."

"Nomanye, know that our consensus has already conversed with Sirius. This is a misuse of our already limited time. Allow the creators to be debriefed." the Geth Hunter flatly stated.

Sirius held a cold stare with Nomanye, the Geth Shock Trooper. Eventually, he snapped his gaze away from the Shock Trooper, and hovered his hand over a datapad. A projection of a solar system appeared in the middle of the table. I noticed that the system sported binary stars, and seven planets orbited those stars.

"This is Novayazemira, the system that my creators scanned in the final days of our war with the Reapers… No indoctrinated individuals witnessed us doing this, as their taint hadn't extended to our few remaining fleets. It contained two habitable planets, Trivon and Prasodetol," Sirius explained, and extended one of his holographic arms out to one of the planets. He twisted his arm to the right, causing the projection to zoom in on the world. Cities took up much of the surface, and various stations orbited the planet. Each station sported an various sharp curves and edges, and . "What you see before you is the Inusannon escape world. The homeworld has been reduced to ruin; its name was Mertvyykamen. From an in-system scan we just recently did before spinning up our in-system drives, I detected various heat signatures radiating from around Trivon-"

"Are you seriously saying that you scanned them? They're probably mobilizing their fleets by now, thanks to your need to do a scan," the Prothean beside Delaki butted in, curling his lips in an angry fashion.

Delaki delivered a jab to the Prothean's shoulder, who winced when it made contact with his shoulder. "Korlib, don't be so brash. Sirius may be a machine, but he deserves our attention."

Korlib made eye-contact with Delaki and lowly growled. "Have you forgotten our encounters with the Zha'til, or the 'corrupted Inusynthetics?' This one could just be leading us to the Reapers to complete the genocide of the Prothean race."

"If I was corrupted, your race would already be extinct. I can assure you that I hate the Reapers just as much as you do, if not more. Now, if you would allow me to continue, that would be greatly appreciated," Sirius paused and looked directly at Korlib. The Prothean turned his head away and made a motion with one of his hands for Sirius to go on. "These heat signatures indicate that our journey hasn't been fruitless… We have found where the Inusannon live; we know that they are alive. However, be aware that the Inusannon most likely know that we're coming."

"Can you contact them? Let them know that we're not a threat?" Daro'Xen worriedly asked.

Sirius shook his head, "Unfortunately, no. I'm unable to establish a connection outside of your fleet, since the technology of my creators and this vessel are drastically different. As long as the Inusannon are not fired upon, we will be okay."

"You scanned them, you can't contact them, and now we're heading into their star system blind! In the names of the ancestors, we're all going to die," Shala'Raan cried out.

Daro'Xen strode over to Raan and patted her on the shoulder. "Calm down, Shala. Everyone will be okay. In fact, we'll be more than okay after we meet them. Just think about it, if the Inusannon share their tech with us, we'll become more powerful than all of the Council races combined, even more so if we bring the Inusannon out of hiding."

Raan turned her head to Xen, letting out a soft, worried sigh. "It's not about power, it's about survival. What if-"

"Don't dwell on what-ifs, Admiral. There's a high chance that the Inusannon will not fire upon us if we do not do the same to them," I assured her. "As Sirius has told me, the Inusannon and the Inusynthetics are both neutral species."

Sirius nodded, but without warning, his face contorted into one of absolute surprise. "An anomaly is blocking the Bermuda's path, standby while I attempt to divert our course." Sirius commanded in an assertive tone.

I was almost thrown to my feet as the Bermuda exited its in-system flight abruptly. I looked from my left to my right, noticing that many of the datapads were strewn about the floor now. "Sirius, what the hell just happened?" I yelled at the Inusynthetic while rubbing my forehead. The room was dark with the only light source in the room coming from my omni-tool.

"Something disabled our engines, deactivating most of the Bermuda's systems in the process. We're floating, but the same 'something' is slowing us down. The Bermuda is on emergency power and I'm working to regain control. I recommend that we head to the bridge," Sirius suggested with a slightly nervous tone trailing his usually monotone voice. His holographic projection was gone, and his voice was coming out of my flickering omni-tool.

I looked between Lyna and Daro'Xen and pointed at both of them. "Both of you, come with me. Everyone else, stay here until our power is restored," I ordered.

Without any hesitation, Lyna and Xen nodded. Both of them looked rather concerned. "Sirius, do you know what hit us, or rather what we hit?" Daro inquired.

"We're currently on emergency power. My sensors are scrambled; we'll know much more as soon as we're on the bridge."

I stormed out of the communications quarters with Xen and Lyna right behind me. A small creaking sound made its way throughout the Bermuda's halls, as if something was scraping up against the hull. Without Sirius' sensors, I didn't know if the sounds were a rock or another ship. Passing by the rack where my ISYLR and Phaeston were located, I entered the bridge. Instantly, I was greeted with the sight of a massive ship with various other vessels crowded around it, all of which were slowly approaching the Bermuda. It wasn't nose-to-nose with the Corvette, in fact, we were facing the hull of the large vessel. The Bermuda couldn't have been more than a few kilometers away. "Goddess… That," Lyna stopped herself, as she was unable to comprehend what was before her. The largest ship of the fleet in front of us had massive cannons sticking out along what looked like wings. The vessel emitted a dark purple glow, and I noted that it had a silver, metalic hull.

'They're hailing us, I'm rerouting the signal to one of the holographic displays before you.'

Hold u-

A surge of power echoed throughout the Bermuda as the power slowly came back to life. The dim glow of the omni-displays in front of me flickered on first, then the ship's lights activated shortly afterwards. To top it all off, one of the consoles before me began to ping. I reached out and hovered my hand over the display, which transformed into some kind of screen. A figure appeared on the screen. Lyna, Xen, and I froze in fear at the sighting of the thing on the display. I hastily noted that various tendril-like objects were attached to the middle of the creature's face, before connecting back down into the thing's chest. "Asari Republics Dystopia Class Corvette, Bermuda, you are intruding on the territory of the Inusannon Federation, as well as using an out-of-date IFF system that dates back for hundreds of millennia. Explain your intentions, and why you had the gall to trespass in Lidera. If you fail to answer, a boarding party will breach your vessel."

Really, Sirius?

A/N: Mass Effect Andromeda may or may not have interfered with the production of this chapter.