Chapter 6: First Revelations

"Is everything ready? Are all operatives and assets in position?"

"All that we need, yes."

"They are prepared for what's to come right? The Caesar Initiative isn't remotely at risk?"

"Correct."

"What about the targets? They're in position, right?"

"One is currently sidetracked with something on the edge of occupied space. He won't be gone long and will be in position shortly."

/

Location: Undesignated system. March 8, 2596

'Where am I? How did I get here?' Kal'Teblain didn't want to open his eyes for fear of what he'd see. 'The hull melted. Free fall, floating, black, the ship... it's on fire.' It was a nightmare, it had to be a nightmare. What happened? Thrusters, built in, just in case. Escape pod... why is it empty? No time, O2 tank, rubber hose, filtration scrubbers, auxiliary ports, fresh air. All black.

Kal'Teblain realized he was lying on a cold metal surface, He thought he knew where he was. 'The Shellen, I'm home. It was a nightmare.' Confident he'd find himself on the floor of his room aboard the ancient Quarian liveship he opened his eyes. Instantly he was blinded by a harsh white light. His room didn't have a light like that. Where was he?

Opening his eyes more slowly so they could adjust properly. Kal'Teblain discovered that he was sitting at a table in a very plain white room. He didn't recognize the architecture which was blocky with hard lines and surfaces. He most certainly didn't recognize the steel grey and black uniform worn by a human woman sitting in front of him.

"Who are you? What are you? Where did you come from?" she asked.

English, one of humanity's native languages, and a language Kal was only vaguely familiar with. Kal was at a loss for words as a flood of memories rushed by him. If he was in another dimension how were humans here?

The woman repeated what she said earlier in English. Then in a garbled language Kal completely didn't recognize, and again in a chirpy almost croaking speech that was even more alien.

Alien? Kal froze, the Palaven's Pride had been attacked by an alien ship. Could this human be one of those responsible?

In response to Kal's sudden suspicious glare the human's own expression hardened. At that moment Kal realized his exosuit was gone, exposing his purple hued skin, silvery eyes, and jet black hair. In previous years a Quarian in his situation would've panicked. However, the alliance the Quarians had with Geth had allowed them to repair their species shot immune systems. So Kal was not in any danger, but he still had to fight off a feeling of nakedness. Thankfully he was dressed in what appeared to be a medical gown.

The human pulled out what looked like a datapad and typed something on it. A door on the far side of the room open, letting in a creature that Kal almost thought was a Hanar. Yet there were several obvious differences, this thing had a larger body then a Hanar, shorter tentacles, and a more pronounced head. It definitely wasn't a Hanar.

The creature startled Kal when it spoke with a series of high pitched whistles and a perfect translation in English emanated from the human's datapad. "Your plan didn't work, didn't it captain?"

The human sighed, and as if in defeat slid the datapad towards Kal. She then made pinching motions with her entire hand. Kal knew this was a basic human gesture for speaking. Still suspicious of the two, Kal spoke a simple sentence in basic. He watched as text scrolled rapidly up and down the datapad then cease moving.

The Hanar like creature whistled some more and another translation came through the datapad this time in basic. "Now that languages are out of the way, would you be so kind as to identify your species, your name, and where you're from?"

Kal felt a blinding rage build up within him. "Why should I? You attacked and destroyed two ships for no reason, and now you're asking questions!" he snarled.

Kal's words were translated into English, and the human woman's expression seemed to soften. Whether or not the creature was fazed by Kal's outburst he couldn't tell. However it did try calm Kal down. "We did not attack you. You were found drifting amongst the debris two days ago. We have estimated that the battle that destroyed your ships occurred three days before you were found. Had you not had your environmental suit and the rough modifications made to it, you would've died."

Five days? He'd been out cold for five days. Kal's mind went into overdrive. What had happened in that time? Was rescue coming? How was Mara doing? He didn't get any answers.

"Could you please answer the questions?" The human asked and the datapad translated.

Kal's technical curiosity spiked as he focused on the datapad. It was as about the length and width of a standard piece of paper, and a few millimeters thick. Picking it up, Kal was shocked to find that it was as heavy as a piece of paper. A cursory examination revealed the datapad was actually holographic and housed in a thin metal case. Kal also found out that the hologram was solid, a feat of technical engineering that boggled him. On the back of the device was an emblem depicting a predatory bird with upraised wings seemingly gripping a planet with the letters UNSC across the middle, a banner wrapped around the planet that said "United Nations Space Command" .

Although Kal's amazed expression wasn't lost on the others, the human officer was getting annoyed while her companion's expression remained unreadable, as was usual with his race. Finally, the human had had enough of seemingly being ignored by her 'guest.' "Answer the questions now!"

Kal picked up the hostility in her voice and simply slid the datapad back towards her. "You first," he said, letting the datapad translate.

The glare the human gave Kal could've melted iron, but she conceded. "Captain Ariana Igrison of the human race, commanding officer of the UNSC Polaris." She again pushed the datapad towards Kal, "now you," she said.

Kal waited a moment before answering, "My name is Kal'Teblain. I'm a Quarian, and chief engineer of the SSV Palaven's Pride."

"Where are you from?" Igrison asked. "A neighboring star system or farther."

"That's extremely complicated to explain."

Igrison merely nodded, "You're the only one of your kind we've found, all the others we've recovered are different. Mind explaining who they are?"

"They're called Turians, "Kal could feel his heart start to hammer, "how many did you recover?"

"We found twenty dead, no survivors."

But our ship's had a total crew of 80, there must have been someone." Kal thought of something, "if you're not the attackers then who are?"

"What evidence we have points to the Jiralhanae." Igrison watched the Quarian for any hint of recognition, and wasn't surprised to find none.

"Are these Jiralhanae known to take captives?"

"Sometimes," Igrison said. "Now, I'd like to talk about the artifact orbiting this system's planet. Do you have any information about it?"

"It's called a mass relay and it's how we got here." Kal took a quick breath, "this is going to sound odd, but I'm not from this version of the galaxy. I'm from another dimension." He expected total disbelief, but Igrison didn't show it. "You're not surprised?"

"The artifact in question is of Forerunner design. Anything could be true with those ghosts involved," she said matter of factly. Can we expect more of you to come through this relay?"

"It's very likely you could," Kal stated. "There's a lot about where I come from you probably should know."

"I'm all ears."

/

December 14, 2187. In mass relay transit.

The Normandy's crew deck was never empty. Thankfully, even in the ship's crowded state there were still a few areas someone could have a conversation in peace, like the starboard observation room.

"So, what do you think we'll find?"

"Tail, you forgot the Garrus part of that 'where's Garrus' question."

"And I'm certain you're just as worried about him as I, Vega."

"Yes I am, but hearing his name a hundred times does nothing good for my nerves,"

"Fine," Tali sulked, "but seriously what do you think we'll find?"

"We'll probably find the idiota sampling local delicacies on an exotic extra-dimension tropical planet with a speech full of excuses for the lack of communication," the spanish descended Vega responded. "At least I hope so."

"It's good to be optimistic," the meditating Samara monotoned, "but naive to believe something so extravagant."

"Better then the other alternative," Vega muttered to which Tail silently nodded in agreement. "So," Vega began a new topic, "that scientist we picked up from the planet, one of the ones who encountered the A.I. I heard her mention something called a dimensional barricade amongst a lot of technobabble and jargon. She made it sound like something we may or may not have to deal with on this trip. Any idea when we're supposed to encounter it?" he finished.

"We already passed it," Tail said catching the surprise of both Vega and Samara.

"No joke right?" Vega asked, "by the name I the name I would've expected a little more...wham."

"It's very hard not to overhear things in engineering right now," Tail explained. "Apparently the theory came from some data the science teams decrypted from what they found on the planet. The idea is that dimensional barricades are attempts by the different dimensions to fix holes like one we're in. They're also fragile and it's thought that Garrus's ships destroyed it when they came through. The whole thing really tosses the accepted laws and of nature and physics for a loop."

"Try a double knot, "Vega said incredulously. "You picked up and memorized all that in engineering. How?"

"As I said it's not hard," Tali smirked. "There's Geth analysts in one cargo hold, a science team in the other, and a dozen biotics plus Jack bunking in her usual spot. The entire engineering team is on alert for mischief,"

Samara wasn't listening to the recent dialogue. Her mind was still pondering the idea that dimensions could repair themselves. "Fascinating," she mused out loud catching the attention of the other two.

"What?" they asked.

"That something as vast as a dimension can react to supposed injury could indicate that it is alive in some way," Samara explained.

"Let's not get overly preachy here, okay," a new female voice chimed in. The others in the room turned to find Ashley Williams in the doorway. "It's for our own good."

"Well," Tali said in an almost sarcastic tone," we are dealing with concepts so theoretical they might as well be mythical."

"True that," Vega piped up, slipping into his soldier persona. "What do you need Ash?"

"You three, ready for anything," Ashley explained. "We're exiting the relay soon." With that she walked out.

"No nonsense as ever," Tail observed while feeling sorry for Ashley. "I'd best get back to engineering."

"Okay, I'll be in the hanger if I'm needed," Vega responded as Tali left. Approaching the door himself he turned around, "later Sam," he said hoping to at least be courteous.

Samara remained silent even as Vega left. She was deep in meditation preparing herself for all conceivable situations.

/

SSV Shanghai

Chief Engineer Mara'Teblain had locked herself into her quarters and cried for what seemed like the dozenth time in as many days. In one year's time she'd lost her entire family. Her mother and father had been killed by the Geth in the Reclamation of Rannoch. Now, her brother was missing, possibly killed by who knew what and who knew where. Both twins had been there to comfort each other when their parents died. Now, one of them was alone and no amount of counselors or friends could fill the hole Mara was in.

"All crew prepare to exit the relay," the voice of Captain Bradshaw intoned on the intercom.

Mara looked up at the speaker for a minute. If her brother was dead she'd hunt down whoever had done it, and if Kal was still alive she'd make him wish he was dead. At least that's what she told herself.

/

"How long, Lieutenant Morrow?" Captain Bradshaw asked.

"30 seconds sir."

"Captain?"

Captain Bradshaw turned to face the new voice and found Mara at the entrance to the bridge.

"Sir, permission to remain on the bridge?" she asked meekly.

"Permission granted," he said with sympathy.

"Exiting the relay in 5," Lieutenant Morrow called out.

The two human officers and the Quarian watched the viewport as stars exploded into view and the Shanghai slightly rumbled under their feet.

"Status?" Captain Bradshaw barked. He was answered with a series of resounding weapons green, all systems normal, and all crew at their stations. Captain Bradshaw ordered the comms officer to monitor all frequencies, ops to maintain sensor sweeps, and the ship to yellow alert. He knew similar orders were being dispatched throughout the fleet. They'd come here partially expecting trouble.

Ops, got anything?" Bradshaw asked.

"Sir the star charts are showing an exact match. I think we're in the same system as one we left."

"Is there anything different? Any indication that we're... somewhere else?"

The ops officer manipulated the controls on his console, multitasking between a dozen different active scans. "Sir I've got something."

The holotable behind the captain lit up. He turned to it as it projected an image of a planet. If they were where they'd started this planet would've been a garden world. The planet Captain Bradshaw stared at was a barren rock with occasional volcanic activity. He ordered the entire system shown and saw what he expected, a nondescript star orbited by a nondescript planet. A red triangle marked the location of the mass relay and a cluster of yellow dots represented the fleet.

"Have we received orders from the Normandy?" Captain Bradshaw directed the question to the comms officer.

"Nothing new sir. All ships are to remain in tight defensive formation and continue scan sweeps."

Captain Bradshaw returned his gaze to the holotable and studied it. It was connected to the sensors so anything they found was displayed on the holotable. At the moment there was nothing of real note. The frigates the had come here before we're gone.

Although Captain Bradshaw couldn't hear it, he figured Mara was crying under her visor as her trembling posture indicated. He understood, everyone had lost someone recently. Just then the holotable caught his attention. Five dots had appeared at the edge of sensor range. They were colored white for unknowns. If the sensors saw them, then the officer in charge of them did as well. Captain Bradshaw positioned himself behind the ops station.

"What have you found?" he inquired.

"Captain," the officer began, "these objects are not in visual range. However, they do appear to be accelerating. They could be ships sir.

'Indeed,' Captain Bradshaw thought to himself, 'they more than likely are.

/

March 15, 2596. UNSC Polaris

Captain Ariana Igrison watched the fleet of strange vessels on her personal viewscreen on the bridge. They were holding a tight formation over the planet. It was obviously defensive.

On another hand, there was now more evidence in support of the story she'd been told by the guest aboard her ship. It was a confirmed fact that with the advent of slipspace drives that surpassed their Forerunner counterparts, from which they were derived, nearly 85% of the galaxy had been accurately mapped. In the entirety of that vast region no other space faring civilization bearing the level of advancement displayed here had ever been found. Igrison highly doubted such a civilization could exist in Brute space.

These ships also had a fascinating aesthetic design. Although a majority of them didn't surpass the tonnage of a frigate, they radiated a sense power while maintaining the look of private yachts. In essence beautiful but dangerous.

Igrison wasn't intimidated though. Not with what was backing up her ship. HIGHCOM initially was only mildly intrigued by the Polaris's discovery. However, the addition of the recorded questioning of the Quarian Kal'Teblain sparked high interest. Especially when he revealed the existence of humans in this alternate dimension of his. Soon after, command deployed additional units to secure the system and observe the artifact.

Said additional units consisted of three Vindication-class battleships, and a single Magnum-class heavy carrier. One of the many products of the intense modernization experienced by the UNSC in the 2570's, the Magnum was a perfect blend of old and new. These ships utilized the same hull design as their predecessors the venerable Epoch-class, but came with many improvements. Most of these improvements utilized heavily reverse engineered Forerunner technology, including heavy shielding, hyper accurate slipspace drives, reinforced armor, and vastly improved maneuverability. These carriers were one of a handful of ship classes known as the 3rd generation. Vessels produced immediately after the Covenant War were known as the 2nd generation, and more often than not simply repurposed recovered Forerunner systems. Ship's of the 3rd generation were the first to use technology that was a true combination of human and Forerunner engineering.

Although the Vindication Battleship was a member of the 2nd generation it was still a formidable ship. At 1.7 kilometers they were barely half the length of a Magnum Carrier. However, being armed with a single Series 8 super-heavy MAC gun as well as dozens of broadside mini-MACs meant the Vindication could dish out a limited but decent amount of punishment. They could also withstand a ridiculous amount of punishment with their super heavy armor and shields. Thus the battleship designation.

Both vessels and many others like them were perfectly suited for a galaxy where the balance of power was dictated by whoever had the largest and most powerful warships and weapons.

Gazing out of the massive window that dominated the Polaris's observation deck Kal'Teblain marveled at these behemoths. They were easy to see against the backdrop of space due to their white paint scheme, which was apparently standard among this dimension's human navy.

The technical capabilities of these vessels was a Quarian's dream. They didn't operate on mass effect technology and they weren't reliant on element zero, a fact that caught him off guard at first. Their mobility for ships of such size was impressive and it was mainly due to their use of AI. Granted Kal had been skeptical and at times hostile towards these human's liberal use of AI. In time however he'd accepted their usefulness and capability to operate these ships more efficiently then any organic crew. Not to say the human crew was unimportant, quite the opposite they were very much integral to each ship. Kal was glad his initial apprehension was unfounded. Even with recent developments for the better, old fears die hard.

As if to punch his train of thought home the avatar of the Polaris's shipboard AI Everest appeared on a nearby pedestal. It was a perfect representation of his namesake mountain

"Kal, Captain Igrison needs you on the bridge." As if reading the Quarian's mind it cryptically added, "they've arrived."

Kal restrained himself from sprinting to the bridge. It was the length of a cruiser from his own dimension away and he'd be exhausted by the time he got there. Plus causing such a scene wouldn't be appreciated by a good chunk of the crew. Kal hadn't been able to learn much of this dimension's history, but he knew xenophobia when he saw it. The only place he was readily accepted was engineering. There he'd quickly proven his ability with technology and made a few friendly acquaintances. He was especially intrigued by the Hanar like Huragok who seemed built for engineering roles. Able to disassemble anything and reassemble it in seconds, there wasn't much they couldn't do. There was a lot of tech in this dimension that would of great value back home if these humans could be convinced to share.

Kal stopped just outside the bridge to adjust his suit, which had been repaired by a Huragok. This action earned him quizzical glances from a handful of marine guards. Kal found the way these soldier's helmets appeared to frame their faces odd, but he didn't comment and merely passed them into the bridge proper.

The interior of the bridge was a scene of absolute calm. Officers manned their stations and did their respective jobs. Kal remained towards the back as the captain busied herself with fleet updates from Everest.

"Has the admiral made his decision?" Igrison asked.

The AI calmly responded with its oddly gender neutral voice, "Yes captain, the file has been forwarded to your device."

Captain Igrison scanned the document containing her orders. Her ship was to keep pace with the rest fleet as they did a flyby of the unknown fleet. In the meantime they'd broadcast handshake signals on all frequencies. If the unknowns fail to initiate contact or open fire, deadly force was authorized. Captain Igrison had a few extra orders. If things didn't go well her "passenger" was to be detained for further questioning. If things went to plan however, the Polaris was to be the location of any meeting between them and these people.

Igrison didn't fully agree. She thought the admiral's carrier, the Rhododendron, would be the best place for any such meeting. But it wasn't her job to argue.

Igrison then noticed the fleet was already moving in system. Reacting quickly Igrison issued a set of orders.

"Ensign Grissom, match speed and vector with the fleet. Keep us in formation," she told the navigator. "Ensign Rand, begin broadcasting handshake signals on every channel." Igrison hardly took a breath as she continued, "Ensign Hen keep all sensors running high."

Both Grissom and Hen answered with a simple "yes ma'am." Ensign Rand however added a flamboyant flare to his voice that seemed designed to promote himself.

Captain Igrison elected to ignore the upstart officer and focus her attention on the Quarian who'd remained silent the entire time.

"Kal," she waved him over while tapping away on her console. When he showed up an image of the unknown fleet appeared on the captain's console. "See anything familiar?" Igrison asked. She was annoyed the Quarian's helmet covered his face, preventing her from gauging his reactions.

Kal was more than familiar with what he saw. Every one of these ships was from his dimension and he even could identify which species made which ship. A good chunk of this fleet was human, including a dreadnought, there was a few Asari cruisers as well as a handful of Salarian and Turian frigates. He easily recognized the Normandy at the forefront of the fleet, excitement building up as he did. Kal then quickly noticed the fleet from this dimension was steadily advancing on the fleet from his dimension.

"How do you intend to contact them?" a slight tinge of fear was evident in his voice.

Captain Igrison only partially alleviated Kal's anxiety. "We're gonna fly over and say "hi", and hope your friends do the same."

Kal forced himself to take a deep breath and observe as the two fleets converged.

/

"Admiral! Do you know we have giants stomping our way?" The pilot of the Normandy joked nervously.

"I'm well aware of what's coming, Joker," Admiral Hackett rebuffed. "Just hold your position." As Joker continued to grumble over the intercom Hackett switched his attention to another person. "EDI, have you gotten any updated information concerning these ships?"

"None that isn't already displayed, Admiral," the Normandy's AI replied through her physical robotic body standing nearby.

Admiral Hackett refocused on the holographic projection located just below the elevated command platform towards the rear of the Normandy's CIC. Used to display maps and data and commonly referred to as the galaxy map, the Normandy's massive holotable currently displayed images of the five objects that were speeding towards his fleet. They had only recently entered extreme sensor range making the images blurry and more or less useless.

"When can I expect an update?" Hackett asked.

"About...now," EDI replied.

The galaxy map flickered briefly and a slightly crisper image of the strange ships appeared. Hackett could now discern more details about what was heading towards him on top of what he already knew. Four of the five ships were identical. They sported a flat rectangular profile with outward sloping sides. The ship's prow also sloped up and out and had what appeared to huge gun barrels or massive antenna protruding from it. The last ship wasn't as easy to describe. It was much bigger and so bizarre yet vaguely familiar that all Hackett could think of was a flying log with stubby downward sloped wings all along its length.

The hologram flickered yet again as the unknown ships continued to advance. Hackett froze in light of the new data being displayed. Jokers quip about giants was based on an approximation made the sensors when these ship had been at extreme range. It was obvious then that these ship were large but only now was full scale of what they faced displayed. The smaller ones clocked in at a lengthy 1,700 meters, surpassing the Destiny Ascension by 200 meters. The larger vessel however was a whopping 4,000 meters in length. These ships could not have been powered with mass effect technology because at such lengths it became impractical and difficult to manage the intense heat build up.

Admiral Hackett had to remind himself that he wasn't even in his own dimension, and that many things he took for granted were probably absent here.

Thankfully EDI soon stepped in to fill in the gaps. "The unknowns have crossed the one million kilometer mark at 8.5 thousand meters a second. They will be within visual range in under two minutes. I can now perform in depth scans. One moment please."

"Hey, don't worry admiral," Joker resumed speaking over the intercom. "EDI will have these nuts cracked in a jiff."

Admiral Hackett simply remained silent as Joker's "jiff" turned into 20 seconds, an eternity in his opinion. EDI's automaton body remained motionless as the AI busied herself with her work.

Once those seconds passed EDI wasted no time relaying what information she'd found to the admiral. "Admiral, I've identified heat output and radiation characteristic of fusion propulsion in the smaller four of the five ships. However, I cannot detect anything resembling known propulsion signatures from the fifth ship." EDI said.

Fusion propulsion was a good explanation for these ship's massive size. Before the discovery of mass effect technology human scientists had claimed it to be the best option for space travel. The proposed designs however were massive, very costly, and couldn't produce enough thrust to move a vessel of significant size on their own. They were quickly cast aside with the discovery of Protheans ruins on Mars as a means of main propulsion.

Now in another dimension where mass effect technology didn't apparently exist, Admiral Hackett had the opportunity to observe a perceived inferior mode of propulsion and measure it. He was impressed, although the fifth ship remained a total mystery the fact that the other four were 1,700 meters in length and could achieve acceleration and speeds that rivaled one of his cruisers was invigorating. On top of that, their use of fusion propulsion removed the limitations of mass effect technology, specifically the size limits.

If he could acquire this technology somehow. Either through diplomatic relations or, God forbid, conflict with these aliens and return it to his own dimension, it would be a step towards stabilizing the situation back home.

"EDI, have they attempted to communicate with us, or have they shown a response to any of our hails?" Admiral Hackett asked.

"No admiral," EDI replied, "at least not on any frequency utilized by us." EDI's robotic facial features morphed into an expression of concentration then embarrassment. "My apologies admiral. The Geth Analysts have proposed I monitor frequencies not in use by our systems." Again EDI's body froze as she completed her assigned tasks. "Sir, I've found something."

"What is it?"

"Several high intensity broadcasts resembling our friend or foe signals. It's highly probable the aliens are asking if we are friendly." EDI explained. "The Geth concur with my conclusion. Should I respond?"

The answer was a no brainer, "Yes."

"Responding to hails. Done," EDI said.

The entirety of the Normandy seemed to freeze as the crew waited for something to happen. Other ships weren't as calm, as EDI was repeatedly barraged with questions by nervous commanders. She simply told them to remain calm and hold position. Meanwhile, the unknown alien ships continued to close the distance.

It didn't take them long. Soon after crossing into visual range Joker's use of magnification spotted a serious shocker painted on the sides of the unknown ships.

"Uh, admiral," Joker began, "I can read what's painted on this things."

"What?" Admiral Hackett couldn't quite believe what he'd just heard.

"Jeff is correct admiral," EDI interjected, "visual examination has revealed symbols consistent with the English alphabet. Also there are numeric symbols identical to the human numbering system."

Admiral Hackett still could barely believe it. The chances of such similarities existing over such immense distances were to extreme. "EDI, keep the fleet updated. Joker, can you read off what you can see?"

"Yes, sir," Joker said, "let's see...we've got Rhododendron, Procyon, Yed Prior, Polaris, and good God, Vega."

It took Joker a moment to realize just what he'd just read. "Admiral, these are human names-"

"-for stars and a flower bush," Admiral Hackett finished for him. He quickly arrived at a conclusion. "EDI, inform the fleet, these ships maybe piloted by humans."

"Admiral, that is unlikely. The statistics of such a thing are-" the AI paused, "we're being hailed."

Hackett had to act fast and he knew what to do. "EDI, patch the signal throughout the fleet, let them know it's real."

"Yes, Admiral, connecting now. The fleet is patched in. I'm now connecting you and the Normandy to the alien transmission." EDI glanced towards Hackett with one last question, "Should I enact translation software?"

Hackett's decision was based on a gut feeling. "No EDI. Leave them off."

"Yes admiral. Finalizing connection, done. Whatever's over there, they're listening."

Before this Admiral Hackett had never thought that he'd have to engage in a first contact scenario. He had fought in the First-Contact War against the Turians many years ago, giving Hackett first hand experience with what could happen if he failed here.

"Hello," he said, "is anyone there?" These were the first words Hackett could think of.

Barely five seconds later every officer in the Normandy's CIC visibly recoiled when a gravelly yet firm voice answered Hackett.

"This is Fleet Admiral Thomas Lasky commander of the Magnum-class heavy carrier UNSC Rhododendron. To whom am I speaking and what is your purpose here?"

Visibly shaken, Admiral Hackett reoriented himself enough to reply. "I'm Admiral Steven Hackett, commander of the SSV Normandy and the Species Alliance First Fleet. We are are here to prevent the fall of our civilization."

"That's commendable admiral," Lasky said, "you'll be pleased to hear that my government is willing to be supportive in your endeavor. For the moment at least."

Confusion suddenly took hold of Hackett. This Admiral Lasky was acting as if he expected them. How the Hell could be, unless..."Admiral, do you by chance know the condition of the scout force we sent before us?"

"Unfortunately, I do," Lasky's voice turned somber, "they had the misfortune to encounter a race we call Jiralhanae or Brutes. We recovered one survivor. Any others are presumed captured or dead. My condolences."

"Thank you, admiral," Hackett fought to hold back a choke. "Who did you find alive?" he asked.

"A Quarian engineer, as he refers to himself, named Kal...'Teblain."

Unknown to both admirals, onboard a nearby human cruiser, the wails of despair from another Quarian engineer turned to cries of joy.

"To tell you the truth Admiral Hackett," Lasky resumed, "had Kal not been aboard my fleet this event could have gone differently. That aside, he's clearly outlined the problems you're facing, and we're willing to negotiate aid. However, before anything can be set in stone you'll have have to represent yourself in our parliament and before that you need to go through the security council."

"Will that be hard?" Hackett asked.

"Doesn't have to be."

It seemed like a fine deal, but their was still something else. "What about our missing people? What's going to be done about them." Hackett's voice turned grim.

"Admiral Hackett, that situation is delicate and will be handled with care, in the appropriate time."

"Appropriate time?" Hackett said befuddled, "a big reason why we came here was to find them."

"They will be," Lasky said attempting to diffuse any imminent friction, "but it will not happen quickly. As circumstances have it, Brute space is a no fly zone, strictly off limits."

"What circumstances?" Hackett asked more than a little curious.

"The classified kind," was Lasky's quick answer. "Now, can we return to matters that can be reasonably solved?"

It was obvious that Hackett wouldn't be able to argue the subject any further, so he relented for the time being. "Fine, what do you have in mind?"

"I'm prepared to transport an entourage of two ships to HIGHCOM Facility Iota. Other then that there's not much we can do right now," Lasky explained.

"Very well, give me a few hours and I'll contact you." Hackett then feigned recalling something, "Oh, admiral, our conversation from earlier isn't finished."

"I'd hoped so."

With the transmission cut off, leaving the Normandy totally silent.

EDI was the first to break the silence. "The crew will not like this, admiral. It's bound to cause friction?"

"I know," Hackett however didn't permit himself to dwell on that fact long. "What ship would you recommend we take with us?" He asked, changing the subject.

"The SSV Shanghai has already volunteered, admiral,"

"Let them know they've been selected then."

/

"Garrus, Garrus, Garrus, come on buddy wake up, you've got a job to do.

Shepard?!

Wake up! Commander Vakarian! Wake up!

His eyes snapped open and was blinded by a harsh purple light. Muscling through the pain Garrus moved into a sitting position and waited for his throbbing eyes to adjust. Then he did a quick examination of his surroundings.

He was in a hangar, that much was obvious due to an entire wall being open to space. Thankfully, there was an energy field of some sort holding the vacuum back. The rest of the hanger was just bizarre. It was large and separated by an upraise platform. There were multiple balconies circumnavigating the walls permitting access to the rest of the ship. In addition the whole room had the strangest purple and orange coloration Garrus had ever seen.

"Sir, are you okay. We thought you'd never wake up."

Garrus turned and found what remained of his crews staring at him with anticipation. He estimated that about 50 were present from both the Palaven's Pride and the Menae's Might. Garrus also noticed that none of them nor himself was tied down in any way. As if their captors were confident their prisoners couldn't escape.

"Commander, are you okay?"

It was the same crewman who'd asked earlier. He was wearing a jumpsuit with the markings of the Menae's Might.

"I'm fine crewman," Garrus answered, "Where is your commanding officer?"

"Dead, sir," the answered crestfallen, "they gathered up him and five others, chopped them up, then tossed them into space."

Garrus worked to control his anger as he got his first good look at "they."

They were gigantic hairy creatures with thick claws and dozens of protruding fangs. The muscles on their bodies looked strong enough to easily tear a Turian apart. There were many of these things up on the balconies just observing the Turian captives. A handful were down on the hanger floor doing the same, just watching.

One creature however, seemed more then mildly interested in the Turians, if its repeated deep sniffs and close proximity were any indication.

Garrus never removed his eyes from that one as he attempted to calm the crewman. "We're gonna be fine, alright. Rescue is coming, we just need to remain calm."

Without warning the alien who appeared really interested, snatched a Turian out from the group and held him by the arm off the deck. Just as Garrus recognized the Turian as Prolov, the Palaven's Pride's navigation officer, the alien that had a hold of him opened its maw and bit down hard on the Turian's outstretched arm. Garrus, aware that he wasn't tied down, leapt to his feet and tried to sprint to Prolov's aid. The beast attacking Prolov then managed to bit through the Turian's natural plate armor and into the flesh beneath cause Prolov's screaming to become frantic. Garrus only made it two-thirds of way before a second alien closed the distance and back handed Garrus to the ground amongst the captives. He could only listen as the first alien succeed is ripping a huge chunk out of Prolov's arm before casually tossing the injured Turian to the floor.

Grimly, Garrus picked himself up and beelined it to Prolov's prone form. A quick examination of the gushing wound confirmed Garrus's fears. The bite had severed an artery, if Prolov didn't get medical attention soon he'd bleed to death.

On the other side of the hanger a Jiralhanae covered in Turian blood spat out a hunk of bloody meat to the floor. In a language no Turian had ever heard or understood, the beast said, "Too much bone."