I don't own Mass Effect, Call of Duty (uses only in the intro), or Titanfall. Or Command & Conquer series (KANE LIVES) or other series's

They are owned by their own Company's

Bold-My Own Words

Bold & Italic-Locations, Time & Calendar

Normal-Narrative

"Normal"-Person Speaking

'Normal'-Thoughts

"Italic"-Foreign Language

'Italic'-Radio Chatter

/Italic\-AI/Computer typing

(Generation of Technology tree or Gen-tech is the term of Technology use for all Weapons, Armor, Gear, Titans or Ships for Factions for these stories)

"Two possibilities exist: either we are alone in the Universe, or we are not. Both are equally terrifying."

Arthur C. Clarke

(Note I may need help with the quotes to help me a lot if you send in quotes for me to use, just DM then.)


September 11, 2290

Rosz Nebula

Theta System

Near Mass Relay

282,600,000 Km From Planet Shanxi

Battlegroup Shanxi-3

SSV-Bastogne (Victory Class Heavy Destroyer)

Shanxi. One of Humanity's farthest Garden World Colonies. Having only been colonized back in 2270, Shanxi was still a very young colony, though rather well developed. With bustling cities that were home to some 16 million people, the planet was developing at a slow but steady and stable pace. However, being so far from Earth and the core worlds meant that the colony, and in tatem the entire colonized sector of the relay, had its own dedicated defense fleets. 91 warships divided into 5 Battlegroups, consisting of 1 Carrier, 1 of the new Light Battleship 2 Battlecruisers 4 Heavy Cruisers, 4 Light Cruisers, 1 new Heavy Destroyer, 10 Destroyers, 50 Frigates, 8 Corvettes, 4 stealth Corvettes and 6 Supply/Repair Ships.

The SSV Bastogne, the lead ship of Battlegroup Shanxi-3, was a Kursk-Class Heavy Destroyer. Designed to act as a midground for Frigates and Cruisers, Destroyers are built to be fast, armored, and well enough armed to take on a Cruiser if needed. Equipped with nearly 2 feet of smooth, angled armor designed to cause incoming rounds to have a potential bounce off and 3 Mass Accelerators firing a 1-ton slug at approximately 1000 Km a Second (KPS), along with numerous other armaments, the Bastogne was well enough armored and armed that she could slug it out with a Cruiser and potentially win. Her class also served as lead ships for patrol units, searching for pirates or other criminal bands hiding from the Alliance Authorities.

Today, however, was going to be different for the Battlegroup.


"Fitzgibbon, what's the Relay currently doing? Is it turning on or not?" Captain Joanna Ward asked her ship's AI. The 31-year-old Scotland native was getting more and more anxious by the minute after learning that the Shanxi Relay, which was supposed to be inactive, was now showing signs of turning on. The BattleGroup's Flagship, the Carrier SSV-Yemen, had ordered her Battlegroup to investigate, with Battlegroup Shanxi-5 on standby for support if needed. All around her, various Bridge Crew members were running about or sitting at their stations going about their various tasks.

A couple of seconds later, the AI appeared on the pedestal to the left of her chair, taking on a Colonial Era British Officer's appearance. "The Relay appears to be communicating with something, likely the other Relay connected to it, Captain Ward." the AI replied.

"Are you certain about that?" Ward questioned.

"No, Captain. While that is the most likely conclusion, unless we can access the Relay's inner communications modules, which to my knowledge no one ever has, then we cannot conclude with certainty what exactly is communicating with the Relay from the other end." the AI responded nonchalantly as if this was an everyday occurrence.

Ward sighed, "Great. Just fucking great." She leaned back into her chair, closing her eyes in frustration.

"If I may, Captain, I would recommend having the fleet put on full alert and defensive positioning."

"Way ahead of you on that, Fitz." Ward chuckled.

"You misunderstand, mam. I mean, we should go ahead and have Battlegroup Shanxi-5 move into position as well."

Opening her eyes, Ward raised her head and looked at the AI, "What do you mean? Why?"

"Captain, the only time these Relays turn on, going off of our own past experiences with them, is when an outside force interacts with them and activates them. The only logical conclusion coming to my mind, going off that thesis of being the only means to activate them, is that if it wasn't us who interacted with the Relay-"

"Someone else is." She immediately understood what Fitz was implying. A possible First Contact scenario. Someone was interacting with the Relay's partner on the other end and trying to turn it on. Thousands of different thoughts immediately ran through their head, but she quickly cast them aside to focus on the task at hand.

"Comms, have the Battlegroup warm-up guns and shields. Get a message out to Shanxi-5, tell them to get over here and form up." The Comms Officer immediately went to work. Captain Ward looked over to 'Battlemap' in front of her, a massive holo table that showed her ship, the battlegroup, and various other celestial bodies' locations, including the Shanxi Relay.

"Fitz, how much longer until the Relay is fully active?" From past experiences, Humanity had come to learn that it takes roughly 8 Earth hours for a Relay to fully 'turn on.' 2 hours to start up its massive core, another 5 communicating with its 'partner' Relay, and the last hour or so finalizing everything before becoming fully functional for FTL travel. She already knew roughly how much longer the Relay had until it was fully active. Still, She wanted to hear another's a confirmation before setting out to do anything, even if it was an AI she didn't fully trust.

"I estimate roughly another 30 minutes, Captain."

That was all she needed to hear. Standing up, she looked around the room, "Okay, listen up! You heard the news. We may have a possible First Contact Scenario, so everyone keeps your mental wits about! Send a message to the rest of the group to do the same but be on the alert." Ward knew the last thing Humanity needed was a war with their first Alien Contact if that's what this truly was. She wasn't sure if the supposed 'Aliens' would feel the same way, but she was going to be damned if she was remembered as the one who started an interstellar war.

"Mam, I have confirmation from Shanxi-5. They're initiating the jump and should be in a position in 4 minutes." Her Comms Officer announced.

"Good." Ward nodded, taking a seat back in her chair. "Fitz."

"Yes, Captain?" The AI questioned.

"Do you really believe it's Aliens?"

"I cannot say for certain, Captain. However, it does seem like the most logical conclusion." Fitzgibbon paused for a moment before continuing in a rather cheerful tone, even going so far as to smile, "In truth, all of these possibilities are very exciting, despite the numerous outcomes that could occur."

"You? Excited?" Ward couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at that statement.

"I understand your confusion and reluctance at such a claim by a synthetic, but AIs do feel emotions just like you or any other humans do; we just different in our ways of expressing them. We were, after all, created in your image. Regardless, the possibilities that could take place with contact with a new civilization are all exciting and intriguing in their own ways, even the ones that... well, aren't so pleasant for the like of organics, such as War." Fitzgibbon explained, his hologram looking straight at the Captain, "Even in the event of war, there's still so much one can learn from others. I guess you could say it's an AI's way of looking into the 'soul' of an individual or a group of individuals to see what they're made of."

"I didn't think AIs believed in souls."

"Humans, for as long as they can remember, have wondered about the existence and possibility of souls and an afterlife. Is it honestly that odd that a Synthetic would do the same?"

Before Ward could reply, someone interrupted, "Captain, a message from Shanxi-1. Straight from Commodore Fulmer."

Opening up her Omni-tool, she looked up at the message displayed.

/To Captain Joanna Ward\

/Am currently recalling Shanxi-2 from a patrol over Yunnan and gathering up Shanxi-1. Shanxi-4 too far away from dealing with Pirates in the asteroid belt of the Triax System. ETA is 4 hours before we can move into reinforcing your location. Hold the position and maintain a presence at Relay with Battlegroup and Shanxi-5. If the First Contact occurs, attempt to reach a peaceful conclusion, but if proven hostile, do whatever is necessary to repel and destroy.

/Commodore Jeremiah Fulmer\

Well, at least she knew that she would have some backup, even if they would be some 3 and a half hours late.


September 11, 2290

Serpent Nebula

Widow System

Citadel

Presidium Wards

The Citadel. The center of Galactic Civilization. At 48.5 kilometers long, the station is the largest known artificial object in Space and home to some 13 million inhabitants of various species. Having stayed steadfast in the face of numerous obstacles and crises, today, a new and odd subject was bringing the three figures representing the most powerful races in the Galaxy to convene.


Council Chambers

"This is rather troubling to hear. Are you certain no one knows of their current location?" Asari Councilor Limyr Tevos spoke up as she leaned in towards her peers at the table. Across from her to her left and right were Turian Councilor Septimus Palidus and Salarian Councilor Betip Ulsa. The three most powerful people in the Galaxy representing the three most powerful races in the Galaxy.

"I'm afraid so. The Hierarchy's Patrol Fleets have deployed several to search for them, but nothing's turned up. It's like the Quarians just up and vanished." Palidus replied, obviously not amused by that fact. "What I'm curious about is how did the STG not notice the largest collective Fleet in the known Galaxy just disappears? Especially now that they haven't been sighted for over 2 months now. I was under the assumption that the STG was aware of everything that's going on."

"Not everything, Palidus. While we pride ourselves on knowing more than the rest of the galaxy in advance, the STG doesn't have the numbers to cover every single speck of the Galaxy. Sometimes, we have to prioritize some concerns over others." Councilor Betip answered, opening up her Omni-tool to respond to several updates and messages from both the Dalatrasses and STG Directors. "I would like to assure both of you, however, that I've diverted some of my best to locate the Quarians. Finding where they have gone should now be only a matter of when."

"Be that as it may, I certainly hope the Quarians haven't run off to try and do something foolish in some mundane or desperate attempt to retake their homeworld," Tevos spoke as she poured herself a drink from one of the bottles stored in the Council's private collection. Palidus glanced over to his Asari counterpart in slight discontent.

While it wasn't a secret that most of the Galaxy didn't like the Quarians due to them being responsible for the Geth, despite that one incident, what else had they honestly done to warrant such racial profiling or hatred altogether, for Palidus, he had never had any problems with the Quarians. In truth, if it hadn't been for one Quarian Doctor, he wouldn't be alive today. Was the Geth their fault? Yes, but to him, they didn't deserve to go extinct over it.

And now, they were missing. The largest collective fleet, numbering over 50,000, was missing.

"Alright, I'll have my assigned Patrol Fleets work in tandem with the STG, starting with where they were last sighted. We'll continue from there and see if we can locate them." Palidus spoke as he stood up and opened up his Omni-tool, typing in commands and orders to be sent out to the assigned Patrol Fleets. As he did so, however, he had another window opened for a separate and private purpose.

Finishing what he needed to write down, he closed the Omni-tool and turned back to his fellow Councilors, "Now that we have that out of the way, what is on the agenda for us today?"

"Someone's attempting to create a cure for the Genophage on Omega. However, we've already sent STG teams to eliminate the lab and its staff. Should be resolved by the end of the week." Councilor Betip replied, typing on his own Omni-tool as he did. "We've also been seeing an increase in slave raids within the Attican Traverse."

"Oh, for the love of- are you serious?! Who did they hit this time?" Palidus groaned, already knowing who's behind it, no matter how much they'll deny any involvement.

The Batarian Hegemony.

"Septimus-" Tevos started but was cut off.

"No, Limyr. No. I'm not going to sit here and listen to another damn discussion about how it's a part of their damn cultural heritage or whatever bullshit they spew out to justify it. The Batarians have broken the laws of the Citadel numerous times and have to be punished accordingly."

"By what? Starting a war with the Batarians? Starting a war with the Hegemony will only cause unnecessary bloodshed and destruction. If Diplomacy is an available option, then we always try so first." Tevos countered. Palidus growled, typical Asari Diplomacy Speak.

"Tevos, Violence, and Force are the only two things the Hegemony understands. They've been allowed to practice slavery for centuries despite it being illegal by our laws. They clearly don't respect nor care for Asari Diplomacy or the threat of economic sanctions. Especially when they have the whole of the Terminus to plunder from?"

"Those regions are not under our jurisdiction. We have no say in what they do in the Terminus."

"Despite the fact they hit our colonies in the Attican Traverse all the time, and we do nothing about it. For the sake of the spirits, how many of your own people have taken over the centuries, Limyr? Millions? Tens of Millions?! I'm done sitting by and watching them laugh at us as they run off with our friends and family. Either they cease the practice for good, or we force them to." Palidus slammed his talons on the table as if to add emphasis to his point.

"If the Hierarchy goes to war with the Hegemony, then you will have no support from the Asari Republics, Militarily nor Financially."Tevos, her voice never wavering or changing tone despite her companion's outburst.

Palidus narrowed his eyes. While he could care less if he had the Asari's support or not, the Primarch and the rest of the Hierarchy might want to maintain their good relations with the Republics as much as possible. That being said, he wasn't going to back down so easily on this after one measly threat. Even if he were to lose this argument, he would make damn sure that Tevos was going to fight for it.


September 11, 2290

Rosz Nebula

Theta System

Near Mass Relay

282,600,000 Km From Planet Shanxi

Battlegroup Shanxi-3

SSV-Bastogne (Victory Class Heavy Destroyer)

"Captain, sensors are picking up something coming through the Relay," Fitzgibbon spoke to Captain Ward. Ward took a deep breath, mentally preparing for what was about to happen. "Ok, folks. It's showtime. I want Shields charged up and weapons on standby. Group-wide orders." A low hum could be heard as the engines charged up the shields of the mighty warship. The Battlegroup proceeded to do the same as the Relay started to glow far more brightly, indicating something was, in fact, coming through.

"Objects arriving through Relay in 3, 2, 1..." The crews of every Alliance Warship held their collective breath.

Nearly 30 ships suddenly appeared through the Relay, ranging from 1 kilometer to 140 meters in length. Nearly all of the ships, however, had a very similar design. The back of each of the ships had a circular design similar to that of the Mass Relays. Their hulls were maroon and yellow in color, a long and moderately thin design that seemed to emphasize speed and maneuverability above all.

The Alien ships quickly spread out their ranks as they moved about into formation, with a majority of the smaller ships in front acting as a screen, while the larger ships were in the center. The smallest of the ships, however, three ships that measured 140 meters in length each, were moved behind the entire fleet, as if hiding or taking cover. Ward mused that they were possibly civilian ships.

"Fitz, can you interact with their systems?"

"I'm unsure, Captain. However, I am willing to wager that I could be given time. I must also advise, however, that we shouldn't resort to that as it may be seen as an attempt to hack their systems." Fitzgibbon had made a good point. The last thing they want is to antagonize their new neighbors.

"Well, shit. Communicating with them is going to be a pain until we can get each other's language translated. Regardless, go ahead and send a First Contact Package." Ward ordered. The Communications Officer typed in the commands and sent the package to the Alien Fleet.

Several minutes passed as they waited for a response from the Aliens, as neither fleet moved. All could feel the tension as the seconds ticked on, neither side moving as if to dare the other to move first.

"Captain, I'm receiving a stream of data from one of their ships. It appears to be a data packet like the one we just sent." Fitzgibbon suddenly spoke.

"Can you make any of it out?"

"Not at the moment, Captain. It's surprisingly complex and will take some time to translate, so in the meantime, I think we should continue to hold the position until we can decipher their language." Fitz replied, his hologram shrugging in modesty as he explained the problem.

"Mam, I think I have a suggestion on how we could communicate, at least for the moment." A crewman spoke up.

"Go ahead, Ensign Salman," Ward replied. The Pakistani turned towards her from his post at the navigations.

"I think we could try to use Binary to communicate with their ships. It's a little more simplistic, but for what we need at the moment could work." The Ensign offered.

"I like Ensign's suggestion. I can't guarantee it will work, but it's worth a shot, Captain." Fitz joined in, voicing his opinion on the idea.

Ward pondered it for several moments before nodding, "Okay, do it. Keep it short and simple. We need to see if it will work first." A chorus of 'Yes, mam.' rang out through the bridge as the crew went back to their various tasks. Fitzgibbon created a short message, then sent it over to the Alien Ships.

/Can you understand this?\

A couple of minutes passed, as the AI was getting ready to inform the Captain on the status of its translation of the data packet sent by the Aliens when he suddenly received a message. From the Aliens.

"Captain Ward, we've received a reply from the Aliens!"

"Son of a bitch, that worked." Ward muttered, before motioning the AI, "Put the reply on display."

The holo-pad changed to show the reply message from the Alien Fleet. Like their message, it was short and simple.

/Yes.\

"My god, we can actually communicate!" Ward immediately began typing in a new message to send to the Aliens before sending it.

/Do you come in peace?\

A couple of moments passed, then a reply.

/We do.\

/Greetings. We are called Humans.\

/Greetings. We are called Quarians.\ A short pause before another message appeared. /How do you know of Binary?\

/It is an older form of mathematics for us.\

/How odd. It is for us as well.\

/That aside, I would like to establish an official meeting between our two people. Perhaps meet aboard one of our ships?\

/We'll have to wait for orders from our superiors if you're willing to wait. So in the meantime, that won't be possible.\

/Understood. Maintain your position for now as more of my people will be showing up.\

With that, the connection ended. Ward let out a breath she didn't realize she had been holding as she leaned back in her chair. Her mind was overwhelmed by what had just transpired. She had just talked to an Alien. Something that would go down in the history books. Whether it was good or bad would be up to the participants involved. All Ward prayed for was that this wouldn't go down as the moment humanity went to war.


Unnamed Nebula

Relay 314

Unnamed System

Near Mass Relay

18th Quarian Scout Flotilla

MFS-Jeram (Quarian Heavy Cruiser)

Flotilla Captain Nen'Farah vas Jeram didn't know what to think of the situation before him. The 45-year-old Quarian had known that opening Relays was a major risk. The Rachni were proof enough of that. But not only have they violated numerous Council Laws to try and find a new world to colonize and rebuild their endangered species, but now they've conducted the first contact with an alien civilization. Humans, they had called themselves.

The entire situation was precarious. The Migrant Fleet couldn't go back to Council Space, especially if the Council finds out they've been activating Relays. But they couldn't go through here either, not without negotiating with this new-found civilization. He wasn't honestly sure if the Admiralty Board would even attempt to negotiate with the Humans. Ever since the Quarians were expelled from their homeworld, they had been wary and paranoid of other Aliens, fearing that they would trust the wrong people one day and it would end up destroying what little remained of their people.

The Quarians were stuck between a rock and a hard place.

"Shall I send a report to the Migrant Fleet about our discovery, Captain?" One of his crew members asked.

"Of course, send a report! We just made the first contact with an unknown race!" Nen'Farah replied, bewildered that such a question needs to be asked. Of course, the Migrant Fleet needed to know about this development, especially since they were on the other side of this Relay they just came through.


Ever since they'd been forced from their homeworld by the Geth, it's been nothing but one setback after another for the Quarian People. The Council abandoning them, pirate raids and mercenary attacks from independent powers throughout the terminus over the years, supply and resources shortages, all had reduced the Quarians to a shadow of their former selves. And the Migrant Fleet, a way of life that they have endured for over 300 years, was even now one that they couldn't follow for much longer.

The Terminus now no longer welcomed them, in some cases opening fire on them the moment they enter the system. Nowadays, the Council would sweep in and claim any discovered resource deposits before the Quarians could harvest any. The message was clear as day. And the Galactic Community as a whole were turning their backs on the plight of the Quarian People, content to let them slowly die off over a mistake their ancestors made regarding the Geth.

The Migrant Fleet was running out of resources. Experts within the Fleet estimated that they could maintain the Migrant Fleet for maybe another 10 years before the older ships started to fall apart, possibly 30 before the Fleet's resources were expended altogether and the Fleet would start to collapse. This left them two options. Either they leave known space, which would require them to open up Mass Relays to travel to new parts of the galaxy, and find a place where they can either colonize or harvest resources to prolong their people's lives. Or, they launch an all-out war on the Geth to try and retake their homeworld.

War wasn't an option. While they did have a large fleet, not even a fraction of them could be considered warships, and a majority of those were several hundred years old. The Migrant Fleet was in no condition for war. So the only option left was to try and find somewhere to rebuild before any attempt at reclamation of Rannoch could occur.

But now they had to deal with a new civilization. Would they be peaceful? So far, they had. Or would they take advantage of the Quarians' vulnerability and either destroy or enslave them? Nen'Farah didn't know, but for now, they had been friendly enough, as far as first contacts went, so he should try to keep it that way until he hears back from the Admiralty Board.


September 11, 2290

Hyades Cluster ('The Frontier')

Desolata System

Eremus

48,000 Feet in Orbit

SSV-Omaha (Shadow Class Stealth Frigate)

'SSV-Eisenhower, this is SSV-Omaha. We are in orbit above the target, and insertion teams are ready to deploy.'

'Affirmative, Omaha. Eisenhower confirms. You are green-lit to deploy.'

'Captain, this is Shadow-1. The squad is ready for insertion.'

'Lima-1. The squad is ready.'

'Vector-1. The squad is ready.'

'Copy that, Omaha reads all. Standby for deployment. T-minus 1 minute till over dropzone.'

'Affirmative, Omaha. Okay Sentinels, let's show these Innies how Specops does things.'

'Oorah!'

'T-minus 20 seconds till drop. Remember, Sentinels. Innies don't know we're coming, nor do they know we know about their little outpost here. Maintain stealth operations for as long as possible.'

'Understood, Omaha.'

'Standby for drop-in T-minus 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. HEVs Launched. Good Luck, Sentinels.'

'And stand by for TitanFall if need be Omaha out.'

September 11, 2290

Hyades Cluster ('The Frontier')

Desolata System

Eremus

21,000 Feet in Orbit and Descending

S******* Elements- 'S*****'

Individual Call Sign- 'S*****-*'

S******-* Loadout:

1 Hemlock-A2 BF-R

(450 Rounds)

1 Smart Pistol MK5

(129 Rounds)

5 Grenades

3 C-10 Plastic Explosives

The small lizard scurried across the black, ashy volcanic sand, its six legs scrambling as fast as they could. Normally, its tan-colored skin would give it away to any flying predators, but most of them had died out or restricted themselves to the coast, where food was slightly more plentiful. It was now day 3 since it had eaten, and there didn't seem to be any sign of anything edible. The wind picked up, blasting sand against its skin as it continued to scurry about, coming to a stop and resting under the skeleton of a massive creature, having died long ago.


Eremus was a desert world and a very barren one at that. Significant volcanic activity dotted the southern and western hemispheres, and a massive crater could be seen from orbit in the planet's southern hemisphere. The surface was dominated mostly by a vast, expansive desert, with little plant life whatsoever, the largest being no larger than an Earth shrub. Less than 18% of the planet was covered with water, losing more water every year. It's believed that Eremus is currently going through an extinction event caused by a celestial impact that happened in the last 0.5-1.2 million years.

Normally, Eremus would be a candidate for colonization and terraforming, but two things kept people from trying. The first was that Eremus simply wasn't profitable enough to make money spent into it worth it. Its lands weren't suitable, at all, for farming of any kind, nor did it have any significant amounts of precious/heavy metals that the Alliance typically sought. The only thing it seemed to have in even modest quantities was plutonium.

The second was a certain lifeform that called Eremus home. A species so vicious and whose appetite was so voracious that they have caused 7 other worlds to black-listed from any attempts of colonization due to their ability to eat through any metals or materials used for construction, as well as a knack for devouring anything they can capture.


The ground beneath it suddenly rumbles, causing the lizard to freeze in place. In its primitive mind, its instinct screamed danger, and its limited memory remembered what it was. A half a kilometer away, the ground erupted as two colossal worm-like creatures, each one nearly 100 meters in length, battled, coiling, slashing, and biting one another in an attempt to quell their voracious hunger. Both creatures bellowed their war cries as they thrashed against one another, biting and slamming into one another. Finally, one dealt the fatal blow, biting into the side of the other one's head and tearing off a chunk of flesh, spraying blue blood and acidic saliva everywhere. The creature wailed in its death throes as the victorious worm struck again, latching on to its foe and proceeding to tear into it and devour it while it's still alive.

In the distant heavens, the lizard heard a thunderous sound. Looking up, it saw several fiery streaks falling towards the planet's surface. But they wouldn't land anywhere near them, so it continued its food search, scampering across the desert plains towards the two massive worms, knowing that the massive carcass, though it couldn't eat the meat, would attract scavengers that could for miles around.

Then it would have a chance at food.


September 11, 2290

Rosz Nebula

Theta System

Near Mass Relay

282,600,000 Km From Planet Shanxi

Battlegroup Shanxi-3

SSV-Bastogne (Heavy Destroyer)

Joanna Ward looked at the alien fleet before they displayed on the holo-pad before her. All 31 ships displayed information against her own Battlegroup 4 Destroyers, 10 Frigates, and 1 Stealth Corvette, with Shanxi-5 not too far behind them.

They outnumbered her slightly, but the size isn't everything. So far, things had been peaceful, but that didn't mean it couldn't change in a heartbeat. The... Quarians had told her that they would have to contact their superiors before engaging in any further talks or even considering a direct contact. Commodore Fulmer and Shanxi-1 are still roughly an hour out, but luckily Captain Fulmer and Shanxi-5 had arrived and taken up position next to her Battlegroup. If things did go bad, she was certain that she could at the very least fight off the Quarians, but hopefully, it wouldn't come to that.

She groaned. This wasn't what she signed up for. Joanna was a soldier, not a diplomat.

"Captain, I am receiving a message from the Lead Quarian Ship." Fitzgibbon suddenly spoke up, his hologram appearing on the pedestal beside her. "Show me."

/Our superiors have contacted us, they are sending an Admiral to conduct proper negotiations between our people.\

An Admiral? She was expecting a diplomat or something. Either way, she ensured that all the information was being sent to Commodore Fulmer, who was currently informing HIGHCOM of what was happening. "Fitz, send them a confirmation of the message, then send this new info to the Commodore."

"Yes, 'ma'am."

Tense didn't even describe her right now, but she knew that she needed to keep her wits about her. One wrong move, and they could be looking at war with their first alien contact ever in man's history. (If only they knew.)

And that is for the second chapter; it's short, but that most of what my Friend Azores Had (note I will be going back and adding more to the chapter at later times, so check back often when I'm done edits this chapter.) for his original story idea witch I'm making it apart of the opening of this and the only that that will be his will be the opening lines that he didn't far because of his time in the Army so for chapter 2 and onwards will be my works for if you want to check his profile and his stories to see what Azores has to offer. So until then, Thank you all for coming, and I'll see you all in the next chapter…. Whenever that is, SO until then, see you all later.