Disclaimer:

Warhammer 40K is the property of Games workshop

Mass Effect is the property of Bioware

Authors Note

I've been reading Fanfics for a while now and always found the possibilities and permutations to story that a crossover could bring fascinating. Then I found some really great work by some really great authors who have put a lot of time effort and heart into their stories. So Kudos to them. And this is my first story (fingers crossed)

PS. I kind of got tired of the narrative where everyone jumps aboard the Shepard's story arc regardless of the effect that their crossover would produce. So I got rid of an entire species out of spite.

CHAPTER 01 - LOST

Location: Unkown

Timestamp: Unkown

In an unknown and empty corner of the galaxy reality was breached, thin tendrils of pure psychic energy were lashing out of a maddening multicolored oculus. The dark silhouettes of ships were violently chugged out of the warp tear. The tear finally collapsed back into reality leaving the crafts in the cold safety of space. The injured Imperial ships were drifting. There were great rents and tears on the ships skin, venting precious atmosphere and unfortunate crew into the void. On the bridge of the Lunar class cruiser the 'Aurem Ignis' the Rogue Trader Matthias Brusilov surveyed his bridge or what's left of it. Cogitators and consoles were sparking and arching with electrical arcs sometimes over the fused and burnt corpses of their operators. Servitors were similarly in dire straits with several of them on fire where their organic components were fired from machines within them. In the mayhem the captain spotted his XO Syrene Andros propping up an injured comms officer. And from behind the command throne came a burst of static. Matthias looked to see Magos Alexei Landus was releasing his arachnid mechadendrites from the bridges deck. "Magos Landus, are you all Hale?" Two balefire red artificial eyes turned at him and replied. "I'm alright captain Brusilov, though I might need to run diagnostics on my components "said the somewhat shaken mechanicus adept.

"Alright Damage report and get those fires suppressed" The captain bellowed over his ruined bridge. The surviving bridge crew rushing to the undestroyed consoles to check on the health of the ship. As for the rest of his ship he had no idea of her wounds.

"Sir, breaches on the ventral compartments, breached area were sealed off. Minor breaches on the gun decks but nothing major. Void Shields are down, Lord Captain" yelled one of the junior officers on the bridge.

"The engines and reactors?"

"Two of the plasma reactors had to be shut down due to an overload. The enginseers and tech-priest are trying to coax them back to life again and applying prayers of appeasement. " another junior officer said. Matthias had no reservation when it came to the sturdiness of his ship. He knew it in his soul that his ship can take a beating and bite back harder. The "Aurem Ignis" had a spirit to match her name in all five kilometers of her. As a Lunar class vessel, her design was uncomplicated but highly effective for an imperial cruiser. Its variety of weapons batteries, Lances, and torpedoes make it both a versatile combatant and a dangerous foe. Most Rogue Traders would be fortunate enough to acquire one of these potent vessels. And Matthias by the good graces of the god-emperor and very extensive familial connections had been very fortunate indeed.

With is mechadendrites fully retracted, Alexei moved towards the astrogation console. The mechanicum adept had only recently joined his band of merry privateers, offering his full expertise as a magos for a place on his ship as the Enginseer Prime. And Matthias was only happy to oblige. "Where are we Magos?" Matthias said following the magos with his gaze. "Surveyor systems are still cycling to remove interference from the translation captain. I will let you know as soon as the data is tabulated. Lord Captain" Alexei said as he drew in the noospheric data from the ships auguries. While the magos was busy Matthias turned around to the other side of the bridge and said "Syrene, Get the master at arms and I want you two to organize a sweep of the ship. I don't want any surprises from any warp fuckery inside my ship". The ever professional woman nodded with a curt nod and left to see if the rest of the ship had been spared the tender affections of the warp.

Matthias's fleet had been escorting a convoy of colony ships bound to the newest group of planets that his family had discovered and laid claim to. Located near the Hive world of Sistec Prime but uncomfortably near the Ghoul stars of on the rim ward edge of Segmentum Ultima. Matthias had been the Heir apparent for house Brusilov and had inherited his father's Warrant of trade almost fifty years ago. As per duty to his house, Imperium and his coffers he had been escorting the new colonization campaigns into the new systems. But on this particularly fated expedition they had been in the warp for all most a week when a massive bow wave of warp energy had slammed into their little flotilla and forced them to commit a fleet wide emergency warp translation when the Gellar fields of all the ships started to give away.

"Any word on where our escorts are?" No reply from the Auspex and the vox stations until one of the crew spotted one of the colony ships almost a hundred thousand kilometers away from the bow and two of the sword class frigates the Mortis Vox and Domina Iax were located at similar ranges to the starboard and below her keel respectively "Get the Astropaths to search for our escorts. If they can't find them we will have to assume that they were lost to the warp" Matthias finished his sentence by making the sign of the Aquila over his chest. . The other ships should have dropped out with them in similar distances. But it wasn't unheard of a fleet to loose ships in emergency egress from the warp only to be scattered across the stars or worse. Alas no other ships were detected by the auspex sweeps. It seems they have lost two of their four escort frigates and two colony ships during the translation. With twenty-six thousand souls each in each frigate and countless more on the colony ships, the Matthias prayed to the emperor that they were safe somewhere.

With the majority of the issues at hand been addressed Matthias looked towards the Alexei. "Magos any update on our location?" "The Ships auguries have scanned the local star constellations. Captain, Database doesn't recognize the star constellations." He turned towards Matthias with his twin red optics focusing on him. Matthias still connected to the command throne via his spinal plugs, he sent a request through the ships noosphere to Alexei to send him the data. When the data packet arrived he scanned through it. The magos wasn't jesting the constellations made no sense. He scanned the data on the constellations there were some that were familiar but even they were out of place. But the first set of revelations was that the Eye of Terror was missing on the auguries. Its warp fueled light should be visible from the farthest reaches of the galaxy. Second was that reports were flooding in from the ships systems that every sanctioned psyker on board from the navigators, Astropaths to battle psykers screaming that the Astronomicon was gone.

"What the Frak?"

Location: Unknown

Timestamp: + 6 hours since translation

The Aurem Ignis was still drifting through the void of space. The surviving colony ship and the two surviving escorts had rendezvoused with the Ignis and was sheltering under the guns of the cruiser and the two escorts were flanking her sides. All four ships were holding position as each ship effects repairs. Watching over the colony ship "Tacet Nox". The Lunar class was battered but still emits an aura of power and pride. She may not be a pompous Ambition class cruiser. But for a lunar class Cruiser the Aurem Ignis is a proud and venerable ship on her own. Her keel laid down seven hundred years ago in the orbital docks of Kar Durniash. Matthias contemplated as he rubbed an extinct hardwood frame from the destroyed world of Tanith. Which had been skillfully crafted to hold the armorglass casing that held his Warrant of Trade. He himself was not from an old blood nobility. His family hails from a minor noble house from the hive world of Scintilla, Matthias's family have only been traders for only a more than a millennia. Unlike the more ancient trading houses who have been carrying their Warrant of trade since the birth of the Imperium and the warrants themselves treated as holy relics. While his family had to do with three centuries of lobbying and bribing to get the Warrant of trade that is now proudly preserved in his Stateroom.

Matthias gently placed back the priceless artifact in its armorglass frame. It has been six hours since the warp transition and all the data from the surveyors and auspex painted the same troubling picture. They were lost and adrift in unknown space without any way to orient themselves in the galaxy. A galaxy where a solid benchmark of astronavigation had simply disappeared. Only some of the stellar references points are where they should be. Then there's the not so subtle declaration from the chief Astropath said before he fell into a coma, that the Astronomicon was missing and that the warp; that seething tempest of a nightmare that had battered his ships into oblivion not too long ago, had calmed to a still pond. A dreaded conclusion was forming in his mind and he was not going to entertain it unless he hadn't got any other explanations. As he stood there in silent meditation a tone on his comm bead brought him out of his moment of peace. It was the armsman at the door. Magos Alexie wants to meet with him. Matthias told the guard to let him in. The door to the stateroom slid open and the magos walk in with his Martian red robes fluttering as he briskly walk inside.

"Everything Alright magos?" He sheepishly asked.

"No" He said as he stopped midway as his train of thoughts had been unceremoniously stopped. A second passed before he said "I have a hypothesis on our current predicament. It seems that the most logical conclusion considering the evidence is that….."

…..we are in the past" finished Matthias.

Alexie made a discreet clicking sound. Probably his way of being surprised? Tech-priests can be extremely eccentric in Matthias's experience. Not surprising considering they routinely reshape their neural pathways to better suit their addiction to knowledge. Alexie on the other hand had somehow manage to keep his humanity under all those augmentations. The reason that he was aboard the Ignis was that his inability to adhere to the dogmatic indoctrination of the mechanicus had landed him in hot water with his superiors. He had been too curious, too rebellious in the eyes of his superiors. Most adepts would had run off to a mechanicus exploratory fleet in fear of being turned into servitor parts. But Alexie had decided that the protection offered by a rogue traders Warrant of trade was a far better deal. Matthias knew that he was no Heretek but a curious soul like himself. Unafraid to tread on a few toes to get what he wants.

"And how did you deduce that?" Alexie asked while mechanically cocking his head to a side.

"Like you said Alexie, Evidence and logic. You don't become a rogue trader just by being born into a house. You don't live long if don't use your Emperor blessed cranium".

"Well I have to disappoint your triumphal remark Captain but you are only partially correct." Alexie managed to add enough inflection into his voice to sound like a scholam tutor correcting a smart ass student.

"Define partially?" Matthias's eyes narrowed.

"Though your assessment that we are in the past is true, we might have to entertain the possibility that this galaxy we are in is not the one the imperium will be built upon" Alexie spoke if he was going to something he was finding unpleasant.

"What are you saying magos?"

"That we might be in another iteration of our universe. A parallel universe with a parallel milky way galaxy, if you may." Alexie explained how he and the astrogation officers had simulated the temporal drift of the galaxy. By taking the latest Imperial maps they had and reversing the paths of the stars and astronomical bodies until it matched what they were seeing now. The cogitators spew out that they might have traveled anything from thirty two thousand with a deviation of a millennia up or down. That itself was shocking. But there were many inconsistencies. Many new star systems absent in imperial records and many more were new, Gas clouds were there should be empty space, Black holes where there should be stellar nurseries etc. The galaxy was similar but still not the same. Alexie's conclusion had been that the warp had deposited them in a parallel universe. And that such scenarios were discussed in length by different magi back on Mars. Alexie had ordered the tech priest acolytes and officers involved into silence until Matthias had made a ship wide vox announcement.

Matthias sat down as if the rug under him had been pulled without a regard for him. He had built schemes for the worst case scenario. This throws everything out of the airlock. "At least maybe we won't have to meet the Eldar in their infuriating prime" Matthias chuckled, remembering how snobbish the few Eldar he was unfortunate to meet were on his adventures. But that also meant that his ideas of running off to meet the God-emperor and warn him of the heresy and save the Imperium was going to be sadly a dream forever.

"May I propose a solution? We are isolated in a possibly hostile space. We need to gather intelligence. I would suggest that we seek an isolated orbital station or ship and inquire or take whatever intelligence we need on this galaxy from whatever race runs this space."

"Mighty aggressive for a magos. I didn't know you were this assertive" Matthias smirked at his companion. The magos drew back his hood to reveal a face that was once handsome before it had been partially replaced by metal. "I can assure you Captain that I can be more than just assertive." "We have an opportunity here…."

Location: Wildspace near Unknown system

Timestamp: + 10 hours since translation

Matthias was not in good mood, he had convened a gathering of the captains of his other ships. For the last half an hour they had been arguing on the best course of action to take.

"We need to move the flotilla" said Matthias, the day's events pressing heavily on his mind. "Magos Alexie how long till the ships are worthy for warp travel?" He asked the magos expecting an uncertain answer. "All ships will be warp capable within six days" The magos replied.

"But we can't move through the warp without the Astronomicon can we?" Asked captain Nahum Tanda of the Domina. The man was of Scintilla himself, hailing from a lesser branch of a dynasty of admirals of the local sector fleet.

"It is true that the Astronomicon is gone. But the lack of it does not meant that we cannot travel. It means that we cannot travel accurately enough to be safe, Captain" Answered Captain Inmanis Nux of the Mortis Vox.

"What do the Navigators have to say? Surely they are the experts on this!" added Paolo Puga, the captain of the colony ship "Tacet Nox".

Everyone turned towards the sole representative of the navigators on the flotilla. Many of the surviving navigators were in comas since the translation and the prognosis from the medicae about most of them were dire. Somehow navigator Vita Cassini had managed to weather the translation and is now one of the few conscious navigators in the flotilla. And for the moment was placed as the acting Principal Navigator aboard the Ignis. She was tall, pale and spindly but there were dark circles under her normal eyes. She took a moment to compose herself and said "Captains I will assure you that what captain Inmanis said is true. You can travel the warp without the Astronomicon. It's what our Ancestors did before our beloved Emperor built the great lighthouse. But the conditions we face now are unprecedented. I will try to explain in layman's terms as possible. The warp right now is like the eye of an oceanic cyclone. The warp here is so calm that it's utterly featureless. There are absolutely no landmarks to navigate by and even if we do jump blindly I can't guarantee that whether we will arrive at a different system or in the heart of a gas giant." She said impassively.

Matthias knew that they were in a bind. Their options are limited as they can only move under sub-light impulse of their plasma drives. He noticed Alexie perking up as if he wanted to say something but was holding back. "I believe you have something to add magos?" he said it to force Alexie. Everyone turned to face the mechanicus adept. "I believe I do have a solution for our current predicament". He said elusively, Matthias could feel the stabbing glare form Alexie even under that Martian robe. He let out a garbled binary burst and said "During my research on Stygis VII, I found some interesting artifacts. And I believe one of them can help us navigate the warp."

Captain Nahum blustered "Quit stalling and tell us". Alexei turned to face Vita and once he had her attention he said plainly "I have a Void Abacus on board".

Everyone was stunned, to have such a prized archeo-tech tucked under their very own noses was stunning. No one was more stunned than Vita herself. It was an open secret among void captain about the disdain the Navis Nobilite have for the devices. Such were the only thing that can compete with their navigational skill. And considering that Navigators are mutants in the eyes of the imperium, they will go to any lengths to make themselves indispensable to the workings of the Imperium. Therefore their agents go to any lengths to buy, sabotage or destroy such potent relics to cement their niche and privileges in within the Imperium. And to say that the tension in the room between the magos and the navigator was thick enough that it could stop an Astarte's in mid run like an invisible wall would be an understatement.

Vita turned to face Matthias and asked "you knew?"

"No" Matthias said sternly. "I'm sure that the good magos here had a good reason to keep such a potent relic from us". Matthias was trying to play the peacemaker.

"They destroy the holy relics of the Omnissiah to preserve their heretical breed." Alexie Blustered while pointing one of his mechadenrites vaguely at Vita. "Of course I kept it hidden, what servant of the deus mechina wouldn't?" Alexie said with a tone that suggests that he was going to pop a circuit.

"Enough we are all in deep Grox shit here. We do not need this petty hostility. Magos can you integrate the Void Abacus into the ships machine spirit?" Matthias was trying rein in some order. The magos replied "It can be done, and I can slave its cogitation processes to the other ships as well. As long as we are in close proximity we will be safe in the warp." Satisfied Matthias turned to face the Navigator "And Mistress Cassini will you swear on the emperor and all that is holy that you won't try anything with it. We can reinstate your use once we are back in the light of the Astronomicon". Vita scowled but acquiesced. She made the sign of the Aquila and swore an oath not to interfere with the void abacus.

"But to where do we go to? There is no imperium here." Vita added to the conversation trying to change the topic.

"She's right we have no friendly ports to go to." Said Captain Paolo. "And the conditions on my ship are deteriorating. Some of the recycling systems were damaged, we're fine for a few months but after that things will get …messy. And the people in my holds were promised a new colony. There are already leaks of our situation and tensions are rising." He finished by running his hands through his receding hairline.

Matthias had measured there options. The obvious would be to find their way back to the imperium. But without the Astronomicon to guide them, they might as well travel farther away or into a worse situation. Second was that they could find a friendly civilization. Matthias was a rogue trader long enough to understand that not all xenos were out to get them. But the recent visitors haven't done anything friendly yet. And there is the problem of convincing a few million imperial citizens to suppress their zealous observations to the imperial cult for a while. Which leaves the third option, to continue with their original mission to create a new imperial foothold and colony.

"We find a planet to set the colonist down" Matthias said to the surprise of a few. He could feel a surge of protest coming his way but then Alexie saved his hide.

"Most logical course of action considering our circumstances" he said. "Navigating the warp back to the imperium would be dubious at best, we can't and we won't ask for help from a xenos race" Alexie turned his head look at Matthias "This way we fulfill our original purpose".

Location: Wildspace near Unknown system

Timestamp: + 5 days since translation

"Are we ready Alexie?" Matthias asked the enginseer prime to the right of the command throne. Alexie turned towards him and nodded and said. "All ships report acceptable levels of readiness Lord Captain." It's been almost ten hours since the conclusion of the meeting of the captains the magos had integrated the Void abacus into the Aurem Ignis's systems. He could feel the ships spirit still treating her newest component with skepticism. But she will get used to it when her first trial is completed. Alexie and the other tech-priests and navigation officers had found a suitable candidate for them to jump to. A system about 20 light years away.

Matthias turned toward the half mechanical man and said. "You know magos, I now wonder what else you have under those robes? A plasma cannon perhaps?" a few seconds went by before a fleeting image of the accidental innuendo he suggested formed in his mind and he immediately regretted it. "No! Don't answer that" Matthias yelled. Alexie looked at him if he had grown a second head. But the damage was done. Syrene was struggling to herself from laughing as well some of the junior officers as well. A murderous glare sent them back to work. They weren't going to forget for a while he thought. Crap!

"Sir the capacitors are charged and ready, Permission to activate the Gellar Fields?" one of the junior officers asked. Matthias still flushed red with his blunder gave the order with some resemblance of composure. "Have the flotilla form up behind us. And initiate warp jump in 3 minutes". He nodded his head at the Master of the watch in his station. With the Aurem Ignis's Void Abacus slaved to the other three ships, they would be jumping as one.

"Initiating warp translation now" the junior officer said as the oculus in front of him showed space-time being sundered. "Close all shutters" Matthias commanded. With that last command the Aurem Ignis and her battered flotilla jumped into the warp.

Location: Mandeville point near system unknown system

Timestamp: + 7 Days since translation

Reality sundered again, a portal opened into the maelstrom of the warp. But this time the ships that appeared weren't thrown out with violence but moved out with grace highlighting the calmness of the warp in this galaxy. The Aurem Ignis was moving at the head of the pack. With the two escort flanking her side and the sole colony ship falling suit. All four fired up their plasma drives and made their way into the planetary system.

Matthias observed the magnified image of the system they were approaching. The system wasn't that large by standards of the imperium. In the heart of the system sat an F class main sequence star. The system boasts three terrestrial worlds in the inner system. The first was a molten hellscape where the parent stars intense heat is liquefying the surface. The next two were barren and moonless but resource rich according to initial scans. The system also contains three large gas giants after the terrestrial worlds. The inner most was a giant of a planet. It verged on the border of a brown dwarf star with a baleful dark red light emitting from under clouds giving it the image of a titanic ember in space. Making the system into a near binary pair. The second was giant with pink and white banded clouds with twenty masses less that of the first and had a minor but visible ring perpendicular to the ecliptic. And the last giant was an Ice giant with cerulean blue banded clouds with steaks of white ice clouds.

Matthias was pleased they have arrived in a rich system. All three giants had extensive moon systems. Making them akin to smaller solar systems on their own right. All three had moons ranging from larger than Terra to small captured asteroids. With many celestial bodies rich in much needed resources, fuel and most important of all garden worlds. But not just one but two of them in a single system. The Two were located on the single gas giant in the systems habitable zone. The first was an arid world 1.2 times larger than terra and the second was lush temperate world roughly the size of terra with large forests of native tree analogues.

Matthias was smiling, he could see the symbolism. Tenuous but it was there to those who have faith. Twin worlds together. One Blue-green the other red. Terra and Mars in their primal states.

"Sir, we are hailed by the Mortis vox!" Yelled the comms officer.

"Patch him through". The pict screen fizzled to life to show the face of captain Inmanis in all its glory. "Lord Captain, I was doubtful of your choice before. But now looking at this system I'm certain that the hand of the god-emperor is with you."

"Thank you, captain. I'm just glad that he hasn't forsaken us. Don't worry again captain we will prosper! Keep watching our flanks captain". Inmanis performed a respectful bow and with that he cut the link.

"So which one?" Alexie came up to the dais. Matthias gave Alexie a skeptical look. "Quit beating around the bush magos, we both know you want the red one." Alexie for his part put up with the act "I don't know what you mean Lord captain, I just want to know your opinion" He said it with a burst of binary that may have been a laugh. ''which one would give us the best conditions for a successful colony, magos?" He deadpanned this time.

"Not enough data to confirm. Will have more concrete answer when ground teams have landed. Most likely possibility would be the temperate one though, Lord Captain." He finished. "My thoughts exactly, good. Syrene prep the ground teams for both moons. Later I want the Arvus lighters we have to be used to survey craft for the remaining moons."

"Yes, Lord captain." She hesitated for a moment. "Lord, aren't you forgetting something?"

"If you are asking about naming them, I haven't forgotten, commander" He gave a sly smile. He saw Alexie raising his hand to suggest a name. But he cut him off "No, it's not going to be Nova Terra and Nova Mars, No nova anything"

The star of the system was named Fatum by the captains. To signify that they were meant to come here. While the brown dwarf was named Dominus for its dominating presence in the mini system of its moons. As for the two jewels in its gravity well that's whole new matter. Matthias in a sign of camaraderie relinquished is right to name the virgin worlds and opted to have the command crew and captains of each vessel to propose a name. After hours of arguments, proposals and counter proposals. Matthias reserving the right to choose the best one chose, the temperate moon was named Sanctuary while the arid world was named Tribute.