Notes:

Welcome to this crazy adventure I'm on to continue where krogan left off. All I would ask is you avoid looking at the tags for Hope for the Galaxy if you're new. He put a lot of spoiler character appearances in his tags that I feel detract from his good twists and like I said this book isn't going to be a radical departure plot wise from that work. Having said that, I've made a new prologue that fits better. I wouldn't expect too many entirely new chapters but there may be one or two more if I feel something needs it. What you can expect is better grammar and more dialogue peppered throughout to make this the definitive Mass Effect fanfiction.

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The room was dimly lit except for the fiery dying star seen out of the primary viewport of Cronos Station. The black tile reflecting the stars rays all around made any other light unnecessary. It was a lonely place other than the constant marching of LOKI security mechs and the whir of Mass Effect fields protecting the station from radioactive materials. Marlborough liked it this way, he was a revolutionary leader who had a lot of enemies that wanted him dead. Some would call his work terrorism; he would argue that he was an idealist doing whatever it took to help preserve humanity. The galaxy was a dangerous place and recent events were shaping up to have large implications for his secret organization. If these events played out correctly, humanity could have a leg up on the gruesome Batarians if another war broke out. However, if anything went badly humanity could end up in the garbage bin of history. He wasn't about to let anyone in the misguided Systems Alliance mess this up which is why his agents were already on the move. They were his eyes and ears on the ground to shape affairs based on his guidance.

His omni tool buzzed to life and he regarded the name of the caller for a few moments. He had known Operative Outback since she was a child on the desolate streets of Lexington, Kentucky. She had been on the run from an abusive father with her toddler of a sister and Marlborough had been quick to take her under his wing. From the moment he saw her he had realized she was resourceful, cunning, and street smart, the perfect spy for his growing network throughout the galaxy. Marlborough took it upon himself to raise her through her remaining teenage years in order to hone her skills. Having said that, this was the first operation Outback had led by herself and he was doubting himself. The stakes on Eden Prime couldn't possibly be higher and a part of him doubted she was really ready for this. It was most likely his paranoia eating away at him yet, he did take a long sip from his shot glass to prepare himself for whatever potential bad news she had to share. Jack Daniels on ice always calmed his nerves in intense situations.

"Operative Outback to base, ready to report sir." She declared snapping both of her arms to her sides.

Marlborough crossed one leg over the other doing his best to project a relaxed demeanor over the small vid screen, "Go ahead Outback. What's the news from the paradise world?"

She didn't relax upholding her military stance, "I can confirm that The Ark of the Covenant has been located by ExoGeni. We were moving in to secure the device until we found out that the discovery of the artifact has been leaked."

Her statement was a rollercoaster of emotions that he took his time to work through. For starters, confirmation that the 'Ark,' or in this case a Prothean beacon had been found was an immediate confidence boost. The Protheans were a hyper advanced civilization that while mysteriously vanished from the galaxy fifty thousand years ago, they served as the basis for all current technological innovations that the galaxy depended on today. Another beacon having been found could have any number of advancements for humanity. In an ideal world the beacon would have weapon designs that could give them a leg up in their ongoing feuds with the Batarian Hegemony. Unfortunately, Outback's announcement that the information had been leaked almost immediately eroded his excitement. The galaxy at large would want to get their hands on whatever ancient designs resided in such a device. If an alien race like the Batarians somehow managed to obtain this technology, they could wreak havoc on humanity in a way that would make the Skyllian Blitz look like a normal afternoon.

"What's your plan to contain the leak?" Marlborough asked assuming she wouldn't call him only to share bad news without a potential solution.

She glanced from side to side to make sure no one was listening in, "I've already replaced the ExoGeni miners with our own agents. My plan is to remove the beacon before any Alliance team arrives. We'll show them a dummy device and say we were mistaken that it was Prothean."

He was surprised when a voice echoed around the room from behind him, "Replaced? What do you mean exactly by replaced the ExoGeni miners Outback?"

That cool professional yet still youthful voice belonged to Operative Ice. She was one of the only individuals Marlborough trusted to visit him on Cronos Station in the flesh, these days mostly just to deliver Kentucky tobacco. Ice had been a trainee far longer than Outback; however, she was clearly jealous of the other woman's position within the organization. Although she attempted to hide it from him, he knew for a fact Ice believed Outback received special treatment that she thought she deserved. Against what conventional wisdom told him regarding team cohesion, Marlborough didn't interfere when the two of them had disagreements. He believed achieving the best possible outcome in any situation required conflict and a clash of ideas. All he had to do now was sit back and watch the fireworks.

Outback cleared her throat taking the interruption in stride, "The ExoGeni personnel weren't just going to let us have access to what they found once they figured out what it was. I took steps to eliminate them after I discovered they sent a transmission offworld regarding the beacon."

"So, what are you doing now? Playing dress up as ExoGeni employees?" Ice mocked and not for the first time Marlborough was disappointed she couldn't see more than one step ahead.

Outback was growing impatient and for the first time her tone showed it, "No, I'm making sure that the Alliance won't be suspicious when they arrive to Eden Prime. Instead of an abandoned colony worth investigating all they'll find is a bunch of miners who made a mistake for a quick credit chip. Not the first time something like that has happened."

Ice folded her arms over her chest clearly skeptical of the other woman's appraisal of the situation, "Like the Alliance would even risk going to Eden Prime to retrieve it. Or have you forgotten the Treaty of Torfan is the only thing keeping us out of a war with the Terminus Systems?"

Marlborough replied for Outback, "Despite the Alliance being full of fools who don't realize the traits that makes humanity truly special, they aren't ignorant enough to not take this chance. Good thinking on containment Outback, is there anything else?"

"No sir, we're making the final preparations to move the artifact now. As long as no one else jumps us first we'll have the beacon to you in no time." Outback finished casually as though she had everything already in hand.

Marlborough knew no one should ever be so confident in making an assumption like that so he spoke up, "Before you do anything I want you to copy that data to an OSD. We couldn't have predicted the leak so who knows what else might be at play here."

Outback nodded before giving him a slight bow, "Understood Marlborough, you'll have the copy transmitted to you as soon as I leave the planet. Outback signing off."

Once the image of her disappeared from his omni tool the room was filled with an eerie silence once again. Ice was angry with him for effectively cutting her out of the conversation, sometimes he had forgotten her maturity level. It would be tempting to blame her behavior on her now deceased mother but, that wouldn't be fair to Corre. Ice's spoiled attitude was his fault having promised her the galaxy from a very young age and now he was paying the price for it. No matter how much she disagreed with Outback and her methods, it was important he kept the varying cells activities separate. It was for her benefit just as much as it was his, yet the girl just didn't see that. He doubted any other operative would approve of what she was doing on Noveria for instance, but the nature of their organization shielded her from criticism. The best thing he could do for her now was let the moment blow over and move on.

"Do you have a status report for me as well Ice?" Marlborough asked her patiently as he reached into his pocket to grab his lighter.

She automatically placed one of the new packages of cigarettes on the arm rest of his chair before taking a few steps towards the viewport, "Subject Zero is showing progress on Noveria if that's what you're asking?"

"Last report you gave me seemed to suggest otherwise." He stated in a matter-of-fact tone as he delicately tugged a single cigarette from the package.

She still refused to look at him staring out at the many solar flares occurring in front of them outside the viewport, "I hired someone who has experience dealing with rebellious youth, everything worrisome has been dealt with."

He took a long satisfying drag of the cigarette before saying anything, "You didn't come all this way just to tell me everything is fine. You arrived two standard weeks before your scheduled time to be here, so I have to assume there's a reason for it. What's on your mind Ice?"

Ice finally turned around to face him giving him a serious expression, "I think we should be taking the next steps for Operation New Frontier."

He should've anticipated she was going to ask something of him, yet Marlborough had to admit he hadn't been expecting that. Operation New Frontier was her dream child as a way to achieve the long-term goals of the organization. It was as bold and imaginative as he was when he first set out to shape the future of humanity forever. The problem was the operation required tremendous resources to properly implement and even then, he sometimes doubted the technology required to make it a reality existed. Ice was determined however to see her pet project succeed with the same passion of her mother. Although she sometimes disappointed him, Marlborough was proud of Ice for having the same level of devotion to humanity as a species that he had. He wasn't necessarily sure what next step she had in mind seeing as they were waiting on a few things. Nevertheless, he was happy to hear whatever her plans were and inevitably how many of his own credits were required to see the plan come to fruition.

"What more do you think we could be doing to accelerate the process?" Marlborough asked politely as if he believed she could genuinely enlighten him on the subject.

She took a deep breath preparing herself to make the ask, "We need a Human on the Citadel Council, someone that we control completely. Imagine the resources at our fingertips if we had a seat in the halls of galactic power."

He shifted in his seat at the audacity of the ask she dropped on his plate. Most things Ice requested only required a pile of credits and a handful of dedicated scientists to achieve her goals. Today she was asking him to move political mountains at the drop of a hat to shift the entire dynamics of galactic power structures. Not that he hadn't thought about the possibility himself over the past few years. Ice was right to say that a Citadel Councilor secretly in their corner would be a game changer in terms of the advancement of humanity. He even had a candidate in mind who already embodied the ideals of their organization perfectly. It wouldn't take much convincing on his part to get this individual to join their cause, Marlborough even envisioned how they would approach this person. The immediate roadblock was getting anyone nominated to join the Council wasn't as easy as throwing credits at it. Under current law if a species wanted to join the governing body that was the Citadel Council, they would first have to have a member of their species join the Special Tactics and Reconnaissance branch of their military. SPECTRE for short. The only way to join the SPECTREs was if a current member of their prestigious military force nominated and then trained a new member. How did Ice expect him to pull that off? The majority of SPECTREs were the racist Turians who would never want a Human to join their ranks. Ice might've asked for a unicorn for her birthday if she wanted something so unrealistic.

Marlborough shifted yet again in his seat taking another puff of the cigarette, "How do you purpose we accomplish this? That's not as easy as designing cryo stasis chambers."

Ice stared down at him having put more thought into this than he gave her credit for, "We make a hero of someone. A soldier that the Alliance and the Council could get behind. Give me a few dozen men and I can make it happen."

He raised a single eyebrow listening to her intently, "I need specifics Ice before I'm willing to grant you any more resources."

She stuck her hands in her pockets as though she was a schoolgirl again, "Me and my men will commit terrorist atrocities in the Traverse, maybe even attack the fat slobs that are the Elcor for instance. We'll leave enough breadcrumbs for a Human of our choosing to 'defeat' us. He'll be a hero and our agents in the halls of Citadel Tower can push for their SPECTRE nomination status."

"And here I thought you were legitimately outraged that Outback killed ExoGeni employees. Now you're suggesting the murder of thousands to get the attention of the Citadel." He took any opportunity he had to show her that she and Outback weren't all that different after all.

Ice looked back out the viewport doing her best to bite her tongue, "Sometimes you have to do what's necessary in the service of humanity, you taught me that."

"Color me surprised to learn you actually listened to anything I had to say for once." He put his cigarette out in the ash tray attached to his chair before continuing, "I'll think about it...after Outback gives us the data on the Prothean beacon."

Ice frowned clearly impatient to see her vision to become more than a fantasy, "I don't see how Eden Prime could possibly relate to what I want to do."

He stood up and placed a hand gently on her shoulder, "It relates in that a hero might be forged in the next few days without our intervention. Why reveal ourselves before we're ready?"

In the year 2148, explorers searching the surface of Mars discovered the remains of an ancient spacefaring civilization they labeled the Protheans. In the decades that followed, the artifacts recovered revealed startling technologies unveiling the secrets of faster than light travel. The basis of which catapulted human civilization to a major galactic power in a mere forty years. The explorers called the discovery one of the best moments in human history. The real of the galactic society called it...Mass Effect.