Welcome to Sol

Tali stood nervously next to her father as they approached the exit point. Tali tapped the table as she watched the blue swirl around the bridge windows.

"Approaching exit vector…" Tali heard one of the pilots say.

"Exit precisely we don't want collisions, we have lost too much already." Tali''s father Rael said softly.

"Aye captain." the pilot responded.

"Correcting drift…" another navigator said.

Exit in 5..

4…

"Please ancestors, preserve us…" Tali prayed silently.

3

2

1

Exiting…

Then blue changed to black and to Tali's surprise they didn't see the glow of a star blinding her eyes. Instead they saw a small orange ball in the distance.

"Why is the relay…" Tali began as she looked at the surrounding space.

Usually Mass Relays were inside the solar system. Not out here in dark space at the fringes of a solar system…

The humans moved it? How?

This wasn't like those Relays that were on the outer planets, they were out in dark space, there was just probably barely enough gravity from the star to keep it in place…

"We are detecting a space station…" a pilot said.

"On screen." Rael ordered.

Immediately the screen showed what looked to be a space station that was bristling with weapons. But it was so small… the migrant fleet could easily destroy it…

"Where's the rest of it? The Turians lost contact the moment the fleet exited the relay." Tali muttered.

"Captain, we are picking up a transmission from the space station." one of the bridge crew said.

"Patch it through and patch in Admiral Koris and Xen as well." Rael said as the faces of Xen and Koris appeared on screen.

"Quarian Migrant Fleet declare your intentions." a gruff human voice echoed out from the comms.

How did they know about the Quarians? They never had any contact with humans. The Humans have only ever interacted with Turians…

"Our fleet is damaged, we just need a place to rest and repair our ships. We mean no ill will. With your permission may we stay here while we repair our ships?" Koris said amicably.

"Power down your weapons." the voice replied.

This gave the admirals pause, considering they were just being shot at the day before. To ask them to power down their weapons would be a significant show of trust.

"We have no choice, they moved a Mass Relay, something we didn't think possible. The Turians died here, but where are the defenses? Something isn't right here…" Tali whispered in Rael's ear.

"Very well… we will power down our weapons." Rael said into the comms. Xen and Koris gave Rael a look but they nodded silently.

"Proceed to the designated NAV coordinates." the voice said.

"Could we purchase some materials? We have credits and other resources like Eezo and other technology, we can pay." Koris offered. At the current state of the ships, they would have to cannibalize some ships in order to repair what they could.

"No, your credits aren't good here, your resources and technology are of no interest to us. Do your repairs and leave." the voice replied coldly.

"I… I understand, thank you." Koris said with a weak nod.

With that the communications cut and Tali watched her father let out a small sigh.

"Well that went better than I thought…" Rael admitted.

"It's better than being sent to the ancestors." Xen said with a nod.

"With any luck Gerrel and Raan made it. We should do a full assessment, see what ships to cannibalize." Koris said wearily.

"Yes… the people will be crammed and food will be in short supply but at least we will live another day." Rael replied with a weary nod of his own.

Tali didn't move from her spot on the bridge and she watched the Mass Relay to see what would emerge from the Relay. So she stood there and waited. Finally almost two hours later the remains of the Heavy and Scout fleet began exiting the Mass Relay.

"Ancestors…" Rael said softly as the crew gazed at what's left of the two once proud fleets.

Half of the ships were on fire and the rest were heavily damaged. It looks like half the Heavy fleet was missing and a third of Patrol fleet was gone as well

"Send out the repair teams. NOW!" Rael shouted and the crew rushed to send the orders down.

Then on screen appeared the faces of Admiral Gerrel and Admiral Raan.

"Aunty Raan!" Tali said in relief but her excitement faded when she realized there was a crack on Raan's faceplate.

"We barely made it, we lost so many trying to make the jump. The ships that couldn't make the jump stayed behind to buy us time." Gerrel said, his voice heavy.

"Seeing as we didn't arrive at a pile of scrap, I assume the humans don't want to kill us all?" Raan asked.

"Yes, they said we could stay to repair our ships. Power down your weapons." Rael said.

"Power down our weapons?" Gerrel sputtered in response, his mind probably still on the life or death battle he just fought.

"Look around you, Gerrel." Xen said calmly.

"What? There is nothing here… there's nothing… why is there nothing?" Gerrel said as his head moved, taking in his surroundings.

"The Mass Relay, why is it here?" Raan asked as she looked upwards past the window.

"We don't know, there is something else going on." Koris said grimly.

"I see… so we can stay? To repair our ships?" Raan asked.

"Yes, hopefully the Batarians don't follow us." Rael said softly.

With that Tali looked at the burning wreck that was her people's fleet. In her mind she wondered what the future would hold...

{]===(PB)===[}

John Shepard looked grimly at the burning fleet before him. This was supposed to be a vacation, an excuse to get away from the endless duty facing him back home on New Earth. Border Duty, basically just an excuse to sit on his flagship the ISV Normandy, a heavy Titan armed with a powerful spinal weapon.

He was supposed to just sit here, eat food, chat with his friends for two weeks before heading back to Pandora's Box and continue his training…

But then the Sentry Array started picking up the Quarians heading for the Sol Relay. Humanity knew about the Quarians, John pitied them. Half of him wanted to go out and help them, their little conflict with the Geth was so easily resolved but his other half knew his duty. Humanity has been preparing to resolve that conflict for a long time, they were just waiting for the right moment for them to enter the galactic stage.

They were ready to enter now but they just needed an excuse. They have picked up some concerning news about this rogue Turian specter who had been indoctrinated by the great enemy. The entrance of the Imperium of Man was planned to take place in a year's time but with the Quarians here it looks like the schedule has just been moved up...

His father needed an excuse, now here it was…

How pitiful these Quarians were, forced to live in suits, no home to call their own…

Honestly John wanted to just send out his ships to help them but he knew that would be foolish. The Batarians were coming, and the humans needed a Casus Belli…

So John was stuck here grinding his teeth watching the Quarians struggle on the other side of the illusion array. He cast his gaze to his armada sitting on his side of the illusion array, weapons ready for the Batarians to arrive. Those four eyes brutes would be the first to die when the great enemy arrives, and they were a lost cause culturally. Slavers led by a bandit king…

His armada alone had enough strength and manpower to take on the entire Turian Hierarchy and his fleet was the diplomatic one. His fleet, named Battlefleet Herald, was designed to be fast and was filled with engineering and science vessels to help the races out there in the wider galaxy.

The humans had their own ship classes, and their ships were also larger and heavier as compared to the other races. They didn't have that many people to crew ships seeing as they decided to seal themselves away, you could only take go so far when you had three stellar systems to work with. So they opted for quality over quantity, their current ship strength put them just over migrant fleet at full strength. If they could only crew a limited amount of ships then they would make those ships damn good at their jobs.

Their ships were much stronger of course, they were all combat capable to some degree. The other races ship classes in ascending weight class were the destroyer, frigate, cruiser, battlecruiser and dreadnoughts. They were all smaller than the human equivalents. A class or two lower actually.

The human ships classes were corvettes, destroyers, frigates, cruisers, strike cruisers, battlecruisers, carriers, battleships, heavy carriers, dreadnoughts, super carriers and titans. So a Turian Dreadnought was actually of the weight class of a Human battleship. Their fleets were all stunted because of their treaties, the humans had destroyed that Turian fleet in the hopes they would rearm so that they would be ready for the great enemy.

It had worked to an extent… the Turians and the Asari were stronger than ever but the price was the Batarians going mad with power and the Quarians being in the firing line. The Quarians were good at void combat and engineering so the humans were torn on whether to intervene on the Quarian side. Well now they didn't have to choose, with the Batarians traveling through the Mass Relay they could save the Quarians for free.

"My Lord Shepard…" John heard a familiar say from behind him.

John turned to see his old friend and captain of his own personal guard kneeling before him. He was a tanned muscular man, with short dark hair and grey eyes. James Vega was a loyal man, a brave man, there was no one else he would rather trust with his personal safety.

"James, on your feet. What did I tell you about formality?" John said with a smirk as he extended a hand. John saw his old friend smile as he took John's friend and allowed himself to be pulled up.

"Kaiden sends word, your sister is on the way. She was dealing with something in the New Mars manufactorum." James said.

"For the Batarians sake I hope they reach us before Jane does. If Battlefleet Defiance joins the fray, there won't be that many survivors to question." John replied as he crossed his arms.

"Doesn't sound like much of a loss, the Batarians are as good as dead regardless." James said.

"A fleeting time in the sun is still time James…" John replied softly.

Then John noticed a message being sent through. He tapped the holographic interface and another familiar face appeared on screen.

"Ashley, did Jane send you ahead of Battlefleet Defiance?" John asked.

"Yes my lord, Strikefleet Silverdawn reporting. Lady Shepard had a message to pass on if you will forgive my impertinence." Ashley said with a small bow of her head. Ashley was John's sister's subordinate, a woman from a decorated military family with long years of service. She had black hair and black eyes, a tough no nonsense woman that worked very well with his rather… willful sister...

"Go on Ash, what little quip did my dear sister send my way." John said with a small chuckle.

"She told me to tell you not to go soft and she told me to make sure her little brother stays safe… she told me to tell you that she told me that as well… my lord." Ash said uncomfortably.

"Hahaha, nice to see she's worried about my safety. Fall in on the left flank Ash, you will be the main interception force, you will screen the Quarians if shots start flying." John said with a small smile.

"Yes my lord." Ashley said with a bow as the transmission cut.

"Lord Shepard." John heard another voice say from behind him.

"Yes Kaiden?" John asked as he turned around to see his old friend, kneeling his dark curly hair facing him.

"The preparations are complete, my lord. We stand ready for offensive operations." Kaiden said.

"Good, on your feet old friend." John said as he helped Kaidan to his feet. Kaiden was a biotic, an individual who could generate mass effect fields to manipulate the world around in a manner similar to telekinesis. Biotics were rare, even with gene splicing done to most of the population, true biotics were still few and far between. Kaiden was a particularly powerful biotic and as such was also attached to John's retinue.

"Tell me you two, what's with all the formality all of a sudden?" John mused as he gazed at the display showing his ships that were primed and ready for combat.

"I suppose it's the circumstances…" James said.

"This is the first real fight against alien species since the Turian invasion." Kaiden said.

"Ah so it's the circumstances, then relax yourself. A calm mind is essential for victory." John replied calmly.

"Then John, does this sit right with you? Letting the Batarians jump the Quarians? Doesn't this seem cruel?" Kaiden asked.

John sighed as he shut his eyes. Kaiden was always an empathetic man, a good man, a just man…

That was part of the reason Captain Kaidan Alenko was his second in command, John knows he will always respect the sanctity of life. In truth… No, John was not ok with this plan. Admiral Hacket coined this plan and it was accepted by the Admiralty although technically John was above the admiramility in terms of rank he was still rather young, only 22 years old and quite inexperienced. Yes he has commanded wars since he was a teenager within the confines of Pandora's Box but he still lacked the decades of experience that the Admirals held.

Still… if their predictions are right, John and Jane will have to lead the galaxy against the great enemy. The great enemy will not wait for him to get experience, he will need to take command at some point.

So what does he do? Perhaps… this restriction could be an opportunity. His disobeying orders could be seen as diplomatic ruse, he could sell the Quarians a favor, they were on the list afterall…

"No it doesn't… EDI." Shepard said and a blue ball appeared on the interface in front of him.

"Yes Lord Shepard?" EDI asked with a robotic female voice. EDI was a fully sapient AI, who was completely self aware, a dangerous technology but at the core of the issue EDI was a friend as was her male counterpart HORUS that lay within Jane's flagship. John trusted EDI and HORUS and that was enough for him. Afterall the great enemy will not discriminate...

"Patch me in with the Quarian admiralty." John said.

"My lord, that goes against the designated orders." EDI said.

"I know, patch me in EDI, trust me." John said with a small smile.

"As you wish." EDI said and John watched as the connection was established.

Time for some theater…