Chapter Three: First Contact

Hope fled with the suns

Seven rings survived, cast from

The dreams of all life

SSV Kilimanjaro

Earth

"Hel*** this *** Admir *** sky *** behalf *** United Nat *** mand *** co ***"

"Isolate that signal!" barked Admiral Hackett as the static-filled transmission washed through the bridge speakers of the Kilimanjaro. "Can we clean that up?"

"I'm trying sir," breathed Captain Jilian in exasperation as her fingers flew over her console. "These communications algorithms are unlike anything I have ever seen! I've got half the bridge crew and both our VI's working on decoding them."

Hackett frowned. The Kilimanjaro was outfitted with some of the best communications equipment the Alliance had at its disposal, only fitting for one of Humanity's newest and most powerful dreadnoughts.

There was, however, one thing that was very clear: they were speaking English. A thousand questions flooded into Hackett's mind at once. Cerberus? No, they would have been much more aggressive, and that sleek silver-white ship didn't look anything like something they would build. Or could build. Not even Cerberus could have dredged up the amount of Eezo that would have been needed to construct a ship of that size, let alone two. Unless they had discovered a way the operate a ship that didn't require Element Zero... but if that was the case why the hell hadn't Alliance Intelligence heard anything about it?

He dismissed Cerberus as a viable option, they just didn't have the resources to build something like this without bankrupting themselves. So then who were they? Some rogue faction of Humanity, possibly one that had slipped off of the Alliance's radar? Or perhaps from a long lost colony from the many dozens of Sleeper ships humanity had sent out before the invention of Mass Effect drives? They hadn't accounted for them all….

And that still didn't explain the nearly non-existent Eezo readings! Maybe they were some new spacefaring alien race that happened to speak English? They did have instantaneous translators after all, but the programs were limited to the known alien races and languages...

His mind went to the Council races. Turians? No, if the Hierarchy could build ships of that size they sure as hell would have been bragging about it. Asari? Also no, they didn't have that kind of military capital, at least according the Alliance. Prior to this encounter over Earth the Destiny Ascension reigned supreme as the largest, most powerful ship in known space. Now? It was barely a third the size of the two monsters out there. The construction of either ship didn't exactly fit Asari Aesthetics. No, definitely not them. Salarians? Of all the three Council races, that was the only one Hackett could see as a possibility. They always were sneaky bastards, but this?

But the composition, the look, the style of the two super-dreadnoughts were just too different that somehow Hackett knew they weren't made any Council species.

"Did we have to use any translator programs on that transmission?" asked Hackett.

Captain Jilian shook her head. "No sir."

That ruled out the alien option, these unknowns spoke pure English. Hackett wanted answers. He thought he had heard the words "Admiral," and what sounded like "United Nations," perhaps they were dealing with some sort of military organization. He hoped so, Hackett could work with that, but somehow he was left with the uncomfortable feeling that he was dealing with Humans. Humans whose allegiance was in question and who had almost unheard of engineering capabilities

Hackett looked back at Tactical analysis of unknown one and suppressed a wince. Hundreds of guns of seemingly all different sizes covered all surfaces. Despite its apparent lack of Eezo Hackett didn't think the ship was less advanced; Everything he had seen, all of his instincts screamed that this was a ship that could deliver as much punishment, if not more, than she advertised.

The Second behemoth was more of a mystery, yet in its own way, it seemed more sinister. There were no easily identifiable weapon emplacements that they could discern, buy its design also spoke of being a more advanced ship with the way form and function so seamlessly blended together.

"Sir, Admiral Lindholm's fleet has made it back to our position and is falling into formation." said Jilian.

"Good, tell her I expect her on the QEC when this is all sorted out." Hackett said, a tinge of brief anger seeping through his voice. Why the hell she had chosen to drop out not a few thousand kilometers away from those Unknowns when she had clear orders to stay as far away as possible baffled him, and had almost resulted in disaster. He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. "Any luck with that transmission?"

Jilian inhaled through her teeth. "No sir, nothing."

Hackett needed answers, and the only way to get them was to find some way to communicate. "Send a message on all frequencies, use radio if you have too, maybe they'll be able to pick it up."

Jilian gave him a thumbs up, indicating that the signal was transmitting. "Attention unidentified vessels, this is Admiral Steven Hackett of the Systems Alliance. We are receiving you, but your transmission is severely garbled. Can you read us?"

UNSC Infinity

"Hello, this is Admiral Thomas Lasky, I greet you on behalf of the United Nations Space Command."

The bridge was silent. Lasky glanced over to the comms officer Jeffrey's, and saw that he was buried in his console readings.

They waited a little longer, no response. Lasky decided to try again.

"Hello, this is Admiral Thomas Lasky of the United Nations Space Command. We mean no harm. I repeat, we come in peace."

More waiting, but still no response.

"Anything Jeffreys?" asked Lasky.

"No sir. Honestly, I have no idea if they are receiving or not. Their comm systems could be completely incompatible with ours, the chance that they're receiving us is very small. I'm not detecting any sort of transmission from them either." he said.

"Sir, the newly arrived unknown fleet has joined formation with the one already above the planet." relayed Lewis from her sensor station.

"Acknowledged Lewis." Lasky ran his left hand through his short brown hair. "Roland, has the Shadow of Intent responded to any of our hails?"

"No Admiral."

Lasky sighed. He had a word or two he wanted to say to the Arbiter after the Intent's aggressive actions almost ignited a shoot-out. He had to remember though, even though they were allies, Lasky technically didn't have command over the Assault Carrier like he had over the Infinity and her ten frigates.

"Very well, keep trying. Roland, what's the status with our slipspace generat - "

"Whoa whoa whoa, Admiral! I think I've got something!" yelled Jeffrey's excitedly. "I'm picking up a faint signal on the lowband, I'm trying to isolate it now."

Lasky strode over to the comms officer and clapped him on both shoulders. "What do you got, Lieutenant? How'd you find it?"

"I ran a program to check through what we classify as background interference, but this signal just seemed too organized. And when I ran a point-of-origin program, it pointed towards the unknown fleet." Jeffrey's furrowed his dark eyebrows. "The code, it's... its familiar, but at the same time it's like nothing I've ever seen before. I'm working on it." said Jeffrey's.

"As am I." added Roland. After a slight pause, the AI continued. "This is fascinating Admiral, I am detecting some surprising similarities to centuries old human communications codes and algorithms, yet every time I think I have something, a new variable pops up, the likes of which are unfamiliar to anything we have in our databanks."

"Wait - " said Jeffrey's. "I've got it!" With that, the comms officer slapped a key on his console, and the sound of a voice, what seemed to be a human voice, filtered through the bridge speakers. It wasn't very loud, and bits of static came through here and there, but the transmission was clear enough.

"Attention unident**ied vessels, this is Admiral Steven Hackett of the Systems A**iance. We are receiving you, but **ur transmission is se**rely garbled. Can you read us?"

"Sir we're mirroring their signal, you should be transmitting." Jeffrey's said quietly.

"Admiral Hackett?" began Lasky loudly, "This is Admiral Thomas Lasky of the UNSC Infinity, we read you."

There were a few seconds of silence. Not a single person moved, and even the consoles seemed to have quieted their beeping.

"Admiral Lasky, you *nd you vesssles are intru*ing on the so**reign space of the Systems Alliance. Expla** yourse*ves."

Lasky's mind went back to the disaster that had been so narrowly avoided earlier with the Shadow of Intent. He knew he had to clear the air. "We do not come with any ill-intent. I repeat, we do not come with any hostile intentions."

More silence, punctuated by more bursts of static.

"We w*** be the jud*e of that. How *** you arrive here?"

Lasky gave a sideways glance to Roland. The AI put a finger to his holographic lips, echoing his own state of mind. He wasn't about to tell these unknowns everything surrounding the circumstances of their unexpected appearance. "We... where investigating an artifact. The artifact reacted upon our investigation, shut down most of our systems, and now we're 'here'." Lasky sure as hell wasn't going to tell them anything more than he knew himself, which was precious little.

Suddenly, there was a piercing shriek of interference, followed by a crashing wave of white static. Lasky cringed as the sounds assaulted his ears, along with the rest of the bridge crew. Jeffrey's face was a mask of determination, and he was furiously typing away at his console.

"Jeffreys!" Lasky yelled over the noise. "What's going on!"

"I don't know sir, I don't know! I'm trying to fix it..." He finished typing a string of commands, and the noise began to subside. Not completely, but enough so that Lasky could take his hands off of his ears.

Through the static, the voice continued, more garbled than before, but still understandable. Barely.

"**tifact? Pr**hean? **** need more informat** than that."

"Admiral? We are losing your signal!" urgently said Lasky.

"Come in *** repeat, are *** there?"

"Dammit..." muttered Lasky under his breath. This wasn't working, and he needed to figure out where the hell he was and what the hell was going on. Then he thought of something. It was a longshot, he wondered if this Admiral Hackett would even hear it, much less agree to it, but it was probably the only way they were going to be able to communicate.

"Admiral Hackett, our comm connection is cutting out. I suggest a face to face meeting, preferably aboard an unarmed ship, in which we can further discuss our situation."

They waited a few seconds, then there was a broken response.

"Acknowle**ed. We w**l send an un**med frigate to a point equid***** from both ** our loca**ons to act as **** matic vess**. *** frigate *** **nal you when read*. Hack*** o**."

"Anyone catch that?" asked Lasky.

"It sounded like they said they would send an unarmed frigate to a point in between both our forces to act as a meeting location." clarified Roland.

"Sir, we're just getting back long-range scans of the solar system. Everything is the same as Sol. Same sun, same planets, same moons... except for Mars, there are some strange readings coming from Mars, as well as some unusual gravitation readings seemingly originating from behind Pluto," relayed Lewis. She shared a look with Hernandez, then both looked at Lasky.

"Admiral, what's going on, sir?" asked Hernandez, again.

Lasky sighed, leaning back in his chair. Hernandez was partly correct, the crew did need an update on their current situation, and now was as good a time as ever.

"Roland, open a ship-wide channel, include Dare's frigates as well." he ordered.

"What about the Shadow of Intent?" asked the AI.

"No, not right now. I'll discuss this with the Arbiter later. Do tell him that a meeting has been arranged and I would like him on a Phantom to the Infinity as soon as possible. As much as I don't want to admit it, him as his ship are just as much a part of this whole fiasco as we are."

"Got it Admiral. You're live in three." replied the AI.

"Attention UNSC personnel, this is your commanding officer Admiral Thomas Lasky speaking. I know that many of you are wondering just what is going on and I apologize for keeping you in the dark, only up until now was my full attention needed in the bridge. I am going to be honest with all of you: I don't exactly know what happened."

Lasky rubbed his forehead. He wanted to tell his crew what he knew, about the Forerunner AI and the vision he had, but he just couldn't. He couldn't take the risk of his crew second-guessing him because he decided to start rambling about some vision he had that may or may not have been real. If Lasky's abilty to command was questioned this early, this entire situation could quickly deteriorate, and that was something that he wouldn't allow. So he lied, for the good of everybody.

"What I do know is there's not a lot we can do right now other than deal with the facts in front of us. We are twelve ships against one hundred and twenty of unknown capabilities, with damaged slipspace drives that prevent us from retreating. This could potentially become a very dangerous situation, but thankfully these unknowns are interested in keeping things peaceful. Regular comms communication has proven to be difficult, so a face-to-face meeting has been arranged in the neutral space between our groups aboard an unarmed vessel not long from now. I will send back an update as soon as the meeting is over. Until then, keep up the good work. Lasky out."

The link closed, and out of the corners of his vision he saw Lewis and Hernandez eyeing him suspiciously.

Roland broke the silence. "Admiral, the Arbiter is on the way in a Phantom."

"Thank you Roland." Lasky got up and walked over to a small compartment that contained bottled water. He took one out, felt the condensed coolness against the claminess of his palms, and unscrewed the cap, taking a deep drink.

Lasky turned to Roland. "Tell Lieutenant Commander Dare to take a Pelican over to my private hangar bay, and direct the Arbiter that way too. They'll be accompanying me on the face-to-face. Alert Captain Micheals in the secondary bridge that he's in charge until I get back."

The Admiral began to walk towards the bridge doors. "We'll need Security. Palmer, have Blue Team meet us at the hangar."

UNSC Infinity

S-Deck

John-117 stepped out of the rotating gyroscopic machine that had just attached his MJOLNIR, his heavy boots making a resounding clang on the deck. He nodded a thanks to the technicians that had helped him, and began walking to his weapons locker.

The familiar rising sound of his shield charging bounced around in his helmet, and he was momentarily enveloped in a field of pulsating yellow. With the bar at the top of his HUD completely filled, John was then surrounded by a second field of solid blue, resulting in a second bar right below his main shield bar being filled as well.

After thirty plus years of fighting enemies whose mainline shock troops were shielded, the UNSC had finally begun to take steps in the same direction. This was made possible by several breakthroughs in downscaling rechargeable energy sources and reverse engineering Promethean hard light barrier equipment. In 2559 UNSC R&D had come out with the Individual Hard Light Barrier System to finally give all UNSC troops a form of protection other than just their training, wits, and armor. Shaped like a hexagon and as large as a fist, the barrier emitter was designed to be compatible with already existing UNSC battle dress, able to snap into already existing midsection compartments.

The device worked by emitting an extremely slight magnetic field that enveloped the wearer, and if that field was broken by a projectile of significant force, the hard light barrier sprung up to deflect the round. While not as powerful as standard MJOLNIR or Sangheili shielding, in tests these new barriers had been able to withstand a couple seconds of fire until the wearer was able to get to cover, and 98% of the time could withstand a standard ballistic round to the head, previously an instantly lethal shot. UNSC Marines and non-Spartan Special Forces had dubbed the new invention a godsend, while Spartan's had welcomed another layer of energy protection.

John, who had always believed in gaining every advantage possible, had attached a Barrier System to the back of his armor, but in reality he knew that the added layer was only a drop in the bucket compared to the proteciton offered to him by his suit, MJOLNIR Mk. VIII.

After stumbling upon a Forerunner armor suit in near perfect condition on ONI Research Facility Trevelyan, scientists had rushed to work on reverse engineering anything they could. Though they had only been given a few weeks, scientists had managed to imitate the molecular makeup of the armor plating used by the Forerunner suit. However, recreating the armor was extremely expensive, and it had been deemed only practical to be used in small-scale projects. Coincidentally, the schematics for the newest set of MJONIR, Mk. VIII were just being drawn up, and UNSC techs wanted to but the first batch of Forerunner plate, designated Prefect plate, to use.

Gone was the Ultra-dense, ultra heavy titanium alloy outer shell, instead replaced by the much lighter, stronger and versatile Forunnner composite armor, which in tests was nearly six times as durable as the strongest piece of UNSC armor of comparable make, and this was just the first generation retrograde. The scientists at Trevelyan promised that in time they could build even stronger versions of the armor plating, perhaps even recreate the Forerunner 'Combat Skin', but for now this was the best they could do. The Forerunner plate showed its unique influence on the suit; the Mk. VIII was more angled and linear than previous versions. Sections of Prefect plate were also grafted into the already existing titanium nano-composite bodysuit, adding further reinforcing and protection.

But with the Mk. VIII being the latest piece of MJOLNIR, some major improvements were made to other areas. The hydrostatic gel layer has been beefed up due to the Prefect plate being less bulky and heavy, allowing more space for under layers. Delves into refining the reactive metal liquid crystal layer that was sandwiched between the external armor and internal padding had been positive, increasing the average Spartan reaction times by a minimal twelve percent. The immensely complex molecular memory structure woven into the metal crystal layer has been upgraded to accommodate Fifth Generation smart AI's, and now provides an option for AI's to actively transfer in and out of the suit without the need for a removal of the data chip from the helmet. Also embedded all over the armor were nanobots that would perform minor repairs to the superstructure and passively upgrade software whenever the suit was put into stasis. Lastly, a new hybrid cold fusion-plasma reactor powered the whole suit, giving the Mk. VIII a notable increase in available power.

With the addition of Prefect plates, the Mk. VIII had proven more expensive and complicated to manufacture that any armor system in UNSC history, which was why there was only one in existence. When the question arose on who exactly to give the suit to, the answer was unanimous.

With the new Mk. VIII, John was stronger, quicker, and more durable than he had ever been before. When compared to the Mk. VII's that the rest of the Spartan-II's of Blue Team used, John had just barely lost to Kelly, the fasted human alive. He usually lost by a second or two, but this time it was only by a few tenths of a second. When put alongside the GEN2 MJOLNIR variations that the Spartan- IIIs and VI's utilized, there wasn't even a contest.

As the Spartan reached his weapons locker, he typed in the code to unlock it and the door popped open. He reached his hand in and withdrew the weapon inside.

Another product R&D had spun out was the weapon he was now holding in his hands. The X-ACS, or Expiremental Adaptive Combat System, was the absolute cutting-edge when it came to Forerunner-influenced UNSC weapons systems. With a bullpup design that placed the trigger and main hand grip near the stock of the rifle, it was a lot like other UNSC rifles. However, that is where the similarities ended. The X-ACS had a sharply angular, yet slightly bulky frame that looked robust and deadly. In a way, it was strongly reminiscent of the Promethean light rifle. It wasn't as long as said rifle though, with roughly the same dimensions of a standard Assault Rifle.

Other than its aesthetically different design, what really set the X-ACS apart was the ammunition it fired, and the way that it did so. This new weapon was one of the few in the UNSC arsenal to have abandoned the tried and true chemical propellant ammunition system. After months of thorough reverse-engineering, UNSC scientists had managed to figure out how to recreate the process in which hardlight projectiles were formed. They had figured out that the "magazines" that had to be inserted into Promethean weapons didn't contain any sort of ammunition. In fact, they were mini-energy sources that powered an internal manufacturing plant, which then produced the hard light rounds. While scientists had not been able to recreate the method at which the rounds were fired in Promethan weapons, they were able to reconstruct a version of the internal manufacturing plant. In a brilliant series of ideas, scientists had done away with the mini-energy magazines that powered the plant, instead seeking a more constant source of energy. They had found this in the form of the fusion reactors that powered Spartan MJOLNIR armor, and the energy was transferred from the suits to the rifle through micro-conduits in both the gloves and the rifle grip. While this insured an almost unlimited source of ammunition, it also restricted the use of the rifle to Spartans only, at least for now.

Also, the X-ACS was the first UNSC infantry rifle to utilize magnetic rail technology. The 'barrel' of the rifle was actually a pair of magnetic metallic rails that used two sliding contacts to permit a large electric current to pass through the projectile. This current interacted with the strong magnetic fields generated by the rails to accelerate the projectile to hypersonic velocities. While this technology had already been utilized, the heavy Asymmetric Recoilless Carbine-920 being the first example, the X-ACS was the first to reduce it to a level small enough to be adapted for infantry combat rifles. Like the hard light round manufacturing plant, the magnetic coils in the barrel drew their power from the Spartan's suit as well.

What really made the X-ACS remarkable though, was its adaptability. A small computer controlled both the hard light manufacturing plant and the charge of the magnetic coils, and commands could be inputted to change both the caliber of the round and the amount of charge in the coils. This feature is what gave the X-ACS its adaptability, as the user could tailor the size of the round they wanted to fire, and the rate at which they wanted to do so. However, this system was not without its limitations. The larger the round, the more energy needed to propel it through the coil, and vice versa. In this way it functioned much like a normal rifle, in that the heavier the round, the lower rate of fire, and the lighter the round, the higher rate of fire. For example, the X-ACS could fire what was equivalent to a 14.5x114mm caliber bullet every three seconds, while it could fire 9mm equivalent rounds at a blistering 1600 rpm.

Initial tests were phenomenal. At every possible caliber, the unique properties of the hard light rounds and the incredible velocities provided by the magnetic coils resulted in an outperformance of every single UNSC rifle in terms of effective range, armor penetration, and accuracy and sheer stopping power. By all who had seen it in action, the X-ACS had been deemed 'revolutionary.' The tactical implications of having a weapon that could perform almost any role, form rapid suppressive fire, three-round bursts, hard-hitting semi-automatic sniper fire, and everything in between, were enormous. It also would cut down exponentially on the logistical side of things. Gone was the need for millions of rounds of different chemical ammunition, replaced by self-manufacturing hard light rounds. Troops would also no longer have to carry different weapons for different roles, they had one platform that could perform in all situations. While the X-ACS were currently limited to Spartan use, adaptions were being made for mainline troops who didn't have MJOLNIR by instead using mini-energy sources, much like the Promethean weapons 'magazines.'

For a solider like John, who was extremely good at everything but not perfect at one thing, the rifle was a dream come true. After attaching the X-ACS to the magnetic clamps on his back, he reached in and grabbed a venerable Magnum sidearm, snapping it and a few magazines onto magnets on his right hip.

Now fully armed to the specifications Lasky had requested, he made his way to an elevator that would take him to the deck that the Admiral's personal hangar was on.

As he was about to step into the elevator, he saw two other Spartans coming his way, clad in light blue Mk. VII MJOLNIR. His HUD automatically tagged them as Frederic-104, and Linda-058. his friends and fellow team members. He tilted his head slightly in acknowledgement, and received the same gesture in return. A warm greetings by Spartan standards.

"Kelly," John said with quiet amusement. From behind Fred and Linda, Kelly-087 materialized out of seemingly thin-air.

"Told you he would see you," Fred quipped.

None of them needed to try and look past Kelly's opaque visor to tell that she was pouting behind it. John had in fact seen Kelly, catching an extremely subtle glimpse of an unnatural shimmer in the air. To a decades-long combat veteran, especially one who had had several run-ins and close encounters with Covenant active camouflage systems, once he had gotten a hint of her presence a bulls-eye might as well have been painted on Kelly's chest plate

The active camouflage systems had come in their Mjolnir's most recent hardware upgrade package, and the four Spartans were still getting used to their new toy. Included in that same package were four experimental Adaptive Combat Systems; John wasn't the only Spartan who had received one. The butts of the silver rifles peeked above the shoulder plating of each one of them.

They all filed into the elevator, with Kelly giving John a quick two-finger visor swipe - a Spartan smile. A corner of John's mouth smirked as he pressed the appropriate floor button.

Blue Team spent the rest of the ride in comfortable silence, but the audio amplifiers in John's helmet picked up the argument in the hangar before the elevator doors even opened.

"...hell did you think you were doing! Charging up your plasma lines!"

"I was taking the actions I deemed necessary to protect my crew! You saw how close those reinforcements arrived to our ship!"

"If you had fired, you would have ignited a shooting war that could have killed all of us! Not even the Shadow of Intent can stand up to a hundred ships at once."

"You don't command me Admiral, the Intent is my ship, and I will do with it as I please."

Blue Team walked out into the hangar bay to witness a full-fledged argument between Admiral Lasky and the Arbiter. Lasky was glaring up at the Arbiter, who had his neck bend down and his mandibles spread.

"Are you that blind that you don't understand what's going on? We're stranded! Cut off from both the UNSC and your Separatists, we need to handle this situation with care."

"Was you putting the Infinity in my direct line of fire handling the situation with care?"

From the back of the hangar boomed a surprisingly quiet yet firm voice interceded. "With respect Admiral, Arbiter, this isn't helping. We are moments away from meeting this Systems Alliance's delegation. We need to work out our own game plan before we proceed."

Lasky and the Arbiter ceased their bickering momentarily and turned to the source of the noise, only to find Lieutenant Commander Dare striding up to them in her all-black ONI dress uniform. She looked immaculate, blonde hair tied up in a loose bun, uniform crisply pressed, and black dress shoes polished to a gleam. Beautiful, yet at the same time subtly dangerous. She stepped in between Lasky and the Arbiter and gently eased them away from each other.

"If we're going to establish any type of positive image, we need to present a strong, unified front to this 'Systems Alliance'. You two going at each other's throats like hungry Kig-yar only serves to make us look broken, divided, and weak. It makes us vulnerable, something we can't afford. If we look united in our efforts, we can and will survive. Divided they could isolate us and destroy us piecemeal. Now I know that it's not true, but the more we all look like perfect allies, the better." Dare spoke firmly and with a quiet conviction that commanded respect and held the attention of the men around her. Realizing the sense in her words, both the Arbiter and Lasky backed down.

Just now noticing the foiur Spartans standing idly to the side, Lasky said, "Good, you're all here. Roland has just informed me that a corvette has arrived in the designated meeting space. They're flashing their running lights, so I guess that's our signal. Chief, grab Cortana and let's get this show on the road."

Lasky, Dare, the Arbiter, and Carter made their way to a waiting Pelican, while the Chief strode towards a holopedestal near the corner of the hangar.

"Cortana?"

On the pedestal, the small figure of a woman materialized into view. Lines of code ran down her purple-blue figure, and a large smile played across her lips. The AI tilted her head, chin length hair bobbing in response. "I'm here Chief."

"Ready to get back to work?" From the back of his helmet, John withdrew an empty data chip and held it near the pedestal. Cortana reached out and 'touched' it, disappearing form the pedestal while the chips empty core turned an electrical purple. Chief inserted the chip back into his helmet, and felt the now uniquely soothing sensation of a momentary chill running through his body.

Inside his internal helmet speakers, a playful voice answered him.

"Are you kidding? I've been ready since this whole thing began. Bickering with Roland over system resources is not fun, let me tell you. He's a snarky little thing, and he thinks he's almost as smart as I am. At least it keeps our dialogue lively."

The Other AI's avatar popped up on the pedastol with his arms crossed and a smirk on his face, just as Cortana 'jumped' into the Chiefs armor. "I'm flattered that you think so highly of me. Try not to start a war while you're out there."

Cortana replied through the Chief's loudspeakers. "Well, no promises. But it's good to have goals."

Systems Alliance Headquarters, London

March 1st, 2186

"What you are suggesting us to do is quiet extreme Admiral Anderson."

"What I'm suggesting, is to listen to the facts, and you'll see that I'm just as extreme as I need to be," Anderson said, a slight hint of annoyance in his voice. "One. There are twelve ships the like we have never seen before in orbit above Earth. Two are over five kilometers, and none have any trace of Element Zero."

"We've all read the report from Admiral Hackett, we are well informed of the situat - " began one of the Admirals before Anderson cut him off.

"Two. We've lost contact with two of our most outermost colonies, and the four ships sent to investigate haven't reported back in three days."

The same Admiral began to speak again, sighing in exasperation. "Those colonies chose to isolate themselves from the protection of the Alliance, they knew the risks."

"What about the crews aboard those four warships? Are we just going to ignore them too?" shot a female Admiral from across the room. She then motioned to Anderson to continue.

"Three. You have one of Humanity's greatest heroes locked up not two hundred yards away!" he exclaimed.

"Our imprisonment of Shepard is fully justified. The Hegemony still wants his head on a plate for what he did at the Alpha Relay."

Anderson scowled. "If Shepard hadn't had done what he did the Reapers would have been on our front door step a long time ago."

"Alleged Reapers." Jorgensen bared his teeth at Anderson. "That's not all of what it's about. Shepard willingly worked with Cerberus, a sworn enemy of the Alliance, acting against both our orders and those of the Council. He's a rebel, Anderson, a rogue. The Alliance can't trust him!."

Anderson's mouth dropped. "You can't trust him? You can't trust the hero of the Skyllian Blitz, the savior of Elysium who singlehandedly held off hundreds of terrorists to allow hundreds more Alliance civilians to escape? You can't trust one of the highest scoring N7 graduates in the history of the program? You can't trust the first human Specter, the only one who recognized the threat of Saren and Sovereign, and the savior of the Council?"

"Shepard broke a dozen different regulations just taking the SR-1! He committed treason, and you were an accomplice!" Jorgensen shouted.

"Dammit Jorgensen, this isn't about the regulations!" growled Anderson, pointing a finger as the bald human high Admiral. "The Reapers are coming back! You're telling me it's not coincidental that these unknown ships appeared at the exact time the task force sent to ascertain the situation of the two dark colonies was declared MIA. And what's more, you're telling me you don't trust the only human who has put his life on the line again and again to fight the Reapers?"

Jorgensen rolled his eyes. "It always comes back to the Reapers with you Anderson. You're obsession with mythological death machines is not welcome in this chamber."

"They're the real threat here, whether you refuse to believe it or not." said Anderson as convictingly as he could.

"Enough about the Reaper's Anderson, get to the point. Why should we release Shepard? So he can go out on another goose chase for some evil AI's hell bent on 'harvesting the galaxy'?" questioned Jorgensen.

"No." said Anderson. The Alliance Admiral stood a little straighter and placed his hands behind his back. "I want Shepard representing Humanity during the meeting, alongside Admiral Hackett and myself."

Jorgensen rubbed his eyes. "And why do you say that?"

"As much as you may not want to admit it, Shepard represents the best of Humanity. He's tough, charismatic, and well-liked. The man is a bloody hero for God's sake, the kid with the troubled past who managed to do incredible good. Shepard's a people person, he has an ability to make people willing to talk unlike anything I've ever seen. He's a superb negotiator in his own way, and a natural leader. You know as well as I do how he managed to get the loyalty of almost a dozen completely different individuals, enough so that they followed him into hell through the Omega Four. He's a perfect fit for a First Contact coordinator. Besides, it's his ship we're taking to the rendezvous."

"The SR-2 is an Alliance vessel now, and we can use her however we please." said Jorgensen.

"The Normandy is as much a part of Shepard as his shooting arm, and he knows the ship better than anyone in the galaxy."

Jorgensen looked around the room of councilors, met by angry eyes from some, determined eyes from others, and apathetic eyes from a few. He rubbed his temples and said, "Fine. We will hold a vote." Jorgensen typed a few commands onto a datapad.

"All in favor of granting Commander John Shepard temporary reinstatement, type your vote in your datapads."

Throughout the room, councilors typed in their vote, and Jorgensen's datapad dinged when the results were in. He looked up to Anderson, back to his datapad, than at Anderson again. He frowned, saying with the least amount of emotion he could, "Congratulations Admiral, your request has been approved. An MP will show you to Shepard's cell. Get the Normandy to the meeting location as soon as possible Admiral, the sooner this is over the sooner we will now what the hell is going on. Dismissed."

"Thank you Councilor." Anderson said before spinning on his heels and striding out the door. As he crossed the threshold into the bustling lobby, he spotted a dark-haired woman man in standard Alliance fatigues walking towards him.

"Admiral Anderson." he greeted, falling into step besides Anderson.

"Major Alenko." replied Anderson. "What brings you to Alliance command today? I thought you were still on shore leave?"

Alenko rolled his eyed. "Emergency Budget Meeting." he said sarcastically. "You know Admiral, I appreciate you promoting me and all, but if I had known the amount of meetings and paperwork I would have to go through I would have respectively declined."

Anderson gave a slight chuckle, which Alenko returned. "Get used to it Major." he playfully said.

Alenko turned his shoulder and deftly dodged a hurrying intern who wasn't looking where she was going, then he asked "So where are you headed Admiral? I notice you've got some purpose in your steps."

"The brig." he answered.

"The brig? But the only person there is... wait a second, I'm not about to be involved in another jailbreak, am I?"

Anderson snorted. "No Major, Udina's off world, so who would I punch in the face if I was? Shepard's been temporarily reinstated by the Admiralty Board."

The two stopped by a locker, and Anderson pressed a few keys, withdrawing a large bag. They continued walking.

"Reinstated? Lemme guess, it's because of those mystery ships isn't it?" Alenko asked.

Anderson nodded. "Commander Shepard will be accompanying Admiral Hackett and I as the delegates for the Systems Alliance." They got to a door guarded by a burly looking Hispanic man in black fatigue pants and a grey Alliance Special Forces shirt.

As they approached, Anderson turned to Alenko. "And you're coming with us Major."

Alenko looked confused. "Me sir?"

"Yes, we're going into this relatively blind, so I want people I trust guarding our backs. That means you. Report to the Normandy at dry dock as soon as possible. We'll be departing for the meeting location as soon as we can."

"Can do Admiral. See you at the Normandy," he confirmed, leaving to fulfill his new orders.

"The Commander's ready to see you," said the guard at the door. He pressed a button and the door slid open with a hiss. Anderson stepped in and saw the Commander sitting at a chair reading a data tablet.

Alerted by the opening door and Anderson in his peripheral vision, Shepard stood out of his chair and gave a warm smile to the Admiral.

"Anderson!" he exclaimed warmly, stepping forwards and firmly shaking hands with Anderson. "It's good to see you sir. What brings you by?"

He tossed Shepard a bag, which Shepard caught in both hands. He opened the bag and found that inside were Alliance Dress Blues. His Dress Blues. Shepard looked up to Anderson, eyebrows raised.

"Get dressed, and make it quick." Anderson simply said.

Shepard nodded, and began the process of changing.

"I'll give you the short version." began Anderson. "Approximately an hour ago, twelve ships of unknown origin and capability just appeared a couple hundred thousand kilometers. We don't know how they got here, or why they're here, but we do know that two of the ships are massive."

"How massive?" asked Shepard, just finishing buttoning up his pants.

"Five and a half kilometers."

Shepard whistled in appreciation and paused, a black sock halfway on his left foot. "Five and a half kilometers?"

"Yeah. And get this. All twelve of the ships are showing almost non-existent eezo readings."

Shepard was now in the process of shrugging on his tunic. "So who are they?"

"We don't know. After barely avoiding a full-on battle, Hackett and the Kilimanjaro managed to briefly establish contact, but it was pretty spotty. Two things they did manage to learn was that these unknowns spoke English. Not translated English, but real, honest-to-god English. Secondly, they seem to be as interested in avoiding a conflict as we are. Whether that's because we outnumber them by almost a hundred ships, or the fact that they appeared dead in the water when they first arrived, we don't know. We do know that we appear to be dealing with some sort of military organization, evidenced by someone calling himself 'Admiral Lasky' on the other side of the comm."

The Commander nodded his head slowly. He finished buttoning up his shirt, then looked up to Anderson, gesturing to his uniform. "So what's this about?"

"Shepard, you're accompanying Admiral Hackett and I as the delegated for the Systems Alliance. We are using the Normandy as the meeting grounds. I want you there Commander. It's your ship after all."

Shepard stood a little bit straighter upon hearing that. "I would be honored to represent the Alliance sir. But last time I checked, I was still in Alliance custody."

Anderson smiled and withdrew something from his pocket, then tossed it at Shepard.

He caught it with one hand, feeling the familiar cold metal of dogtags. Lieutenant Commander Shepard, John. His dogtags.

"Consider yourself reinstated."

Special thanks to my beta JonHarper