Alright now, if you're reading this chapter's title, you might be confused about why there's two chapters on Mass Effect: Andromeda. The previous one, while it stands on its own, was always disconnected from my wider multiverse as a whole, so it's effectively non-canon to those works.

Honestly, ever since Andromeda came out, I had wanted to add it to my multiverse, but I could never think of a way to do it. Of course, that all changed with my story Last Bastion (which I would definitely recommend reading), as well as how my multiverse had gone since that point.

Anyway, this chapter aims to do what the previous chapter didn't, and more directly tie Andromeda to my multiverse, specifically, the events of the Tidal Wave, which were heavily referenced during the events of Last Bastion.

So that's what I'm going to do with this chapter, which takes place during the time period of the Tidal Wave proper. Now, since Last Bastion established that the Initiative is still in transit during this time, they won't have a major role in this chapter, unfortunately.

Instead, it's going to be focused more on the Jardaan, their Adversaries (what little we know of them anyway), as well as a pair of Jedi and Sith characters that got transplanted here. But I've prattled on long enough, let's just dive right in, shall we?

Disclaimer: I do not own Halo, Mass Effect: Andromeda, Star Wars or anything else that is referenced in this chapter.

The first sign that the end had come was when horrific laughter echoed throughout the stars. The voice of billions, trillions and countless more could be heard across the cosmos, in defiance of all logic and sense.

For the Jardaan of the Heleus Cluster, this was not a good omen, especially given how they were already locked in conflict with their Adversaries, who desired to end their experiments and kill them all, believing that what the Jardaan were doing was anathema to the natural order.

They had been attacking the Jardaan on all fronts, and the creators of the Remnant were holding their own, and even driving them back, it was still a conflict that they had wished to avoid in the first place.

In addition to that, there was also the appearance of these anomalies: creatures and beings not native to the Heleus Cluster, or even the galaxy in general, had been showing up out of nowhere; creatures that left other life forms as colorless husks, black bug like monsters that spawned from other life, floating creatures that could fix any technology they found.

Then there were the more recent and intelligent ones: all different creatures, all holding unique energy bladed weapons that could cut through most conventional materials and with some strange power that granted them foresight, telekinesis, the ability to shoot lightning, among many others.

Two of them had already been captured and detained in stasis, though they seemed to have been young and inexperienced. What was interesting was that they were both different species, yet had the same powers.

The two of them had been imprisoned in Meridian for further study, to find out how such feats were possible, though two of them still eluded the gaze of the Jardaan, as they seemed more experienced and less reckless than the others.

Of course, none of that mattered anymore, especially as some sort of Parasitical life forms just started appearing over worlds across the sector, dispersing in pods that bypassed defenses and unleashed horrific monsters everywhere.

Spores and strange bubbly infection forms spread across worlds, targeting the ones that were inhabited and teaming with life. Every life form they touched became twisted into the same horrific monsters, with the sentient ones capable of using weapons to great effect.

There was a malicious intelligence behind this Flood, which was pretty obvious by the disembodied voice now speaking across reality in a tone that dripped with sheer malevolence and sadism. And with every second, they were spreading faster than they could be stopped.

The Jardaan worked desperately to protect the Angara, to protect their creations. They had placed far too much work into them to let them be destroyed. But it was quickly becoming clear that the Flood wouldn't stop, and they clearly didn't have the means to stop them.

Then of course, things got worse when the Opposition decided to take matters into their own hands, unleashing their final solution weapon to scour the Cluster. It seemed they had taken the opportunity to kill two birds with one stone.

But it didn't go as planned...

...

The Sith Lord Varricke was hiding in a deep cave on the planet Voeld, alone and hidden in his makeshift hideout as he heard the voice speaking. At this moment, he knew the end had come, and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

It was hard to believe how all this had started. During the Cold War, he and his apprentices had found a Rakata temple off the beaten path in their galaxy, near the edge of the Unknown Regions. In spite of the doubt from Zhaff and Xianne, he had chosen to investigate, sensing a strange power there.

Inside the temple, they had found an unusual artifact that hadn't been built by the Rakata, but someone else, at least a trio of other species in fact. What had been most surprising at the time was that the Rakata seemed to be subordinate to these makers, instead of the other way around.

The Sith and their droid escorts had spent a brief time studying this place, learning all they could about this faction of Rakata, who were clearly splinters of the Infinite Empire, but it was cut short faster than they would have liked.

Varricke hadn't reported his discovery to the Sith Empire, wanting something that would give him an advantage over his fellow Sith. As such, they were unprepared when a Jedi came after them, having felt the Temple calling like they had and arriving himself.

In the ensuing chaos, the artifact had been activated and revealed its true purpose; it was akin to a hypergate, only far more advanced, launching all of them across space and time to an entirely different galaxy.

And the moment they arrived, they had known something was wrong. The Force felt... off, somehow. More muted and... disturbed than it had been before. But of course, there hadn't been much time to dwell on it when they were thrust into the middle of another interstellar war between powers they had never seen.

Zhaff and Xianne had been captured, and Varricke had ultimately abandoned them to their fate. Now he was sincerely regretting that typical Sith behavior. For all the tension with him and his apprentices, it would certainly be better to have them with him in the end.

Now... now there was nothing he could do. Varricke was hiding out deep under the surface of Voeld in a hidden cave, but even that was apparently not deep enough to drown out the laughter and the monstrous voice speaking, or the corruption that was spreading through the Force.

He felt compelled to record what he knew and what they had found into his Holocron, even though deep down, he knew it was a futile effort. By the time the Perversion was done, there would be no one left to listen to it.

"We couldn't have known what they were running from." He knew he was crying at this point, but the Sith was past the point of caring. "The Rakata, and whoever built that artifact were hoping to flee to somewhere safer, not just in space, but in time. But there is no escape, not from these monsters."

He wasn't even sure why he was still recording this. The Force was awash with turmoil, fear, and an unfathomly hungry presence. He could sense that others were still trying to fight back, but how they possibly hope to beat something that can corrupt the Force itself?

"They cannot win." Varricke said into his Holocron, his voice cracking with fear. "The Jardaan cannot hope to overcome this. These things, this Perversion, it's worse than anything we could have possibly imagined. Even the Emperor can't compare to the power these creatures are unleashing!"

The ancient voice grew ever louder, and it was clear that sooner or later, the Parasite would find him. Varricke knew that fighting was pointless, even as he gripped his lightsaber hilt. Of course... there was another way. His expression grew determined as he looked over his lightsaber, knowing what had to be done.

"I won't let them take me." Varricke put his lightsaber emitter under his chin and activated it. The shaft of red energy pierced his head, killing him instantly as he slumped over dead.

His holocron tumbled from his lifeless hand, sealing itself up as he fell to the ground. The only thing active in this cave now was the makeshift heating generator, but even that would cut out soon, as the Flood approached his position.

...

Meanwhile, on Eos, the Jedi Master who had followed Varricke to the Rakata temple and subsequently Andromeda was ironically in the middle of the same thing he was, though the Zabrak known as Archaezis was hiding in a Remnant bunker that contained a number of unusual specimens that the Jardaan had discovered.

They had seemingly come from the same beings who had made the device in the Rakata temple that had brought them all here, and given their power, Archaezis was curious and more than a little scared to know what they were running from.

And now he knew, though it was far too late to do anything about it. While the death of that unknown individual having her mind torn apart was a big warning sign, the Force being drained was the first sign that something was seriously wrong.

Archaezis recorded all the information he had discovered from his studies in the Rakata Temple, what little he could learn from the Jardaan logs, and his visions through the Force into his Holocron, even as it was becoming clear that the Perversion was coming for him.

He couldn't deny he was terrified, desperately wanting to escape somehow, but he knew that was simply impossible. The very fact that the voice of the Perversion could be heard everywhere was enough proof that no one could escape, and even now, he could hear them coming towards him.

Right as Archaezis had finished his log, he ignited his lightsaber and dropped the Holocron, turning to cut down the small infection form that was leaping towards him. His lightsaber cut the Flood form in half while illuminating the swarm that was following behind it.

Several more leapt towards him, but the Zabrak Jedi unleashed a powerful Force push, the impact of which created a chain reaction that caused many of them to explode and give him some breathing room.

Desperately trying to ignore just how wrong the Force felt, how much this Perversion had already twisted it, Archaezis immersed himself in it as best as he could, letting it guide his actions as he fought the waves of Flood forms that followed.

It was too much, that he already knew. Even as he made his way out of the Remnant bunker and onto Eos' surface proper, he could already see the countless numbers and spores of the Flood blotting out the sky.

The alien voice made of billions of voices speaking in one rasping baritone kept speaking, through both its puppets on the ground, and as a disembodied voice that could be heard everywhere, its tone and words betraying the utter maliciousness it was feeling, darker than the Sith and the Dark Side as a whole.

Even now, Archaezis could feel it worming inside his head, the voice promising utter ruin to the galaxy, the universe and even beyond. It was trying to compel him to give up, to let himself be consumed, but he refused and kept fighting, even as his physical body was struggling to hold on.

He lasted only five more minutes outside the bunker before the tide of the Flood overwhelmed him, his voice becoming one with them.

...

The Gravemind was currently attacking countless worlds across the expanse of reality simultaneously, while fending off a direct attack against its own Galactimind form, but for a mind as expansive as its own, it had no issues coordinating such a vast assault.

It didn't matter that the Republic Supreme Commander and Separatist Ruler had managed to hinder it from infecting all life at once, they would all fall within the day anyway. All they had managed was delaying the inevitable. All anyone was doing was delaying the inevitable, and it was no different in this version of Andromeda.

These Adversaries to the Jardaan had unleashed their trump card, a Scourge among the cosmos. Originally designed to be used against the Jardaan and made to seek and destroy all their technology, the esoteric Dark Matter cloud was unleashed when the scale of the Flood threat became known.

And with the Flood hijacking Jardaan vessels all over the Heleus sector, the Scourge actually did its job at halting them for a few moments, with the dark matter tendrils seeking out and destroying Remnant ships, regular and Flood controlled alike.

Then the Star Roads came out to play.

The massive strands of multi-dimensional thought matter teleported into the Heleus sector and came into contact with the Scourge. Almost effortlessly, the neural physics constructs dispersed the Scourge significantly, allowing the Flood controlled ships to move through.

With the most powerful weapon at either of their disposal neutered effortlessly, the Jardaan and their Adversaries attempted to flee the onslaught upon realizing that there was no hope in fighting, but the Star Roads easily disabled their ships as they attempted to flee.

Of course, those two were hardly the only noteworthy powers in this version of Andromeda, but they were certainly two of the more significant ones. Others included the species known as the Kett, who converted other species to their own. The Kett were pale imitations to its might, and would be consumed like all the rest.

And of course, the mere presence of the Jedi and Sith proved what the Gravemind had already known; that the Ancients had taken refuge somewhere in this galaxy, avoiding all the struggles by the powers here.

It had already located them, finding their makeshift Shield World hidden deep in the recesses of this galaxy, under the best stealth technology they had. It didn't help them, as the Gravemind already directed its forces to them, with their defenses desperately trying and failing to hold off the infinite onslaught.

The Flood planned to make their suffering painful, having denied their will for so long. Forerunners, Chozo, Leviathans, they would be infected slowly, their minds torn apart memory by memory as their voices joined with the Hive to sing victory everlasting.

But just before it could fully breach their defenses, the combined energy of the leaders of the multiversal superpowers tore through the cosmos, the power wiping out all Flood and Precursor structures throughout the multiverse.

And while the collateral damage was severe, both from the Flood attack and the method of stopping it, this brought an abrupt end to the Tidal Wave, leaving the rest of Andromeda reeling from the unexpected crisis and desperate to pick up the pieces.

The end of the Tidal Wave left the Jardaan at a disadvantage with the Scourge still in the Cluster, and with their Opposition galvanized, they were forced to abandon Meridian and leave the Heleus Cluster. Hopefully they could return for the Angara, once they found out just what had happened here.

...

Meanwhile, countless lightyears away, the Hyperion cruised through FTL space. The ship was all but silent, as everyone was frozen in cryo pods for the long journey to Andromeda. Everyone but one, as one occupant had been awoken by the ship's AI.

SAM had been aware of the period of activity around the cosmos, hearing the voice despite how impossible it was. Furthermore, even in FTL, it almost felt like the universe had grown malevolent, and the AI could swear that something was hunting them, encircling them before it abruptly came to an end.

The AI had wasted no time and had managed to commune with the other SAM AIs on the other Arks, who had detected the same anomaly. They had all agreed to stay quiet for the time being, while the Hyperion SAM woke the Pathfinder to consult him on this.

Suffice to say, Alec had been more than a little concerned when SAM relayed everything that had happened.

"And you're certain no one else knows about this?" Alec asked, needing to hear SAM say it.

"Affirmative." The AI replied. "All the other SAMs have agreed to keep this a secret, even from their own Pathfinders. I said I would talk to you first before we took any other actions."

"Glad to hear it." Alec said, feeling more frustrated and alarmed than he ever had before. The news about the Reapers would be bad enough, and now there was whatever this was. "Keep it that way for now. Encrypt the memory above all others. No one can see this, not even the kids."

"Yes, Alec." SAM confirmed. "If it's any consolation, the anomaly appears to have stopped now. Though without more data on how this happened or even what it is, I can't say whether or not it won't happen again."

"At this point, all we can do is hope it won't." Alec sighed, running a hand through his hair as the weight of everything he had just heard hit him.

He was a soldier and a scientist, he dealt with the tangible and whatever threats that came his way, his solution was to either find a way to deal with them or avoid them. That was what he had done with the Reapers. But this... how could you fight or run from something like this?

"SAM, delete all records of this conversation." Alec ordered as he sighed. "Encrypt your memory of the event at Omega level, where it can only be overriden either by my express orders, or in the event of my death, by someone else managing to find evidence of this independently."

"Yes, Pathfinder." SAM said as Alec headed back to his cryopod. In a few minutes, Alec was once again frozen in stasis, leaving the Hyperion quiet once more.

And I think I'm going to cap it off here. I'll admit, I didn't get as much mileage out of this as I thought, mostly because we know so little about what happened in Andromeda prior to the Initiative's arrival.

But I did my best to work within what we knew, plus I added a few bits of my own multicrossover into it. Anyway, if you want to see what happens next and how events from Mass Effect: Andromeda may have been altered in my multiverse, go read Last Bastion if you haven't already.

With all that said, I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter and reviews are always welcome.