A/N: I tried to get a little backstory out of the way in this chapter. Not too much, but some. Alexandria even has a short flashback about a past battle from when she was only a few decades old, and Nikias was still just a sentient computer program, before he was uploaded into a human body and then digitized in a highly experimental process, turning him into a physical-digital hybrid. It was a time long ago indeed, back before the Imperium was formed; before the Humans and Forerunners made contact (which was a good thing for the Humans because they could have been conquered by the Forerunners in a matter of days at the time). I have the entire battle scene written out, but I decided to stop the flashback right before all the fighting began because I felt it would have been way too off topic, and maybe even detrimental to the course of the chapter.
As one reviewer pointed out, Javik stated that Salarians were just animals 50,000 years ago. That's approximately 50,000 years after the firing of the Halo Array, and the resetting of many species' evolutionary timelines. The Salarians were animals around 50,000 years ago, but not over 100,000 years ago. As is revealed in Halo Origins, the Sangheili, Jiralhanae, Unggoy, and Kig-Yar were all primitive during the Flood crisis. In this story, all of the races from Mass Effect, both existing and extinct, were advanced during that time. Most species that were existing during the events of the Mass Effect Trilogy, with the exception of the Elcor and Raloi,were under the rule of the Forerunners. All of the species that were extinct, plus the Elcor and Raloi, were allies of the Humans. I don't have a real reason as to why I put those two species on Humanity's side, I just did. The Leviathan issue will be explained much later. I already have planned what part they're going to play.
Grunt's exact height is never stated in canon (no one's is in Mass Effect as far as I know), but the average krogan is stated to stand typically over seven feet tall. Being a semi-evolved supersoldier, I have interpreted Grunt to be nine feet tall, making him the same size as Alexandria.
I chose the term psychokinesis to refer to Alexandria's mental powers simply because I like the sound of it. By definition, psychokinesis is only moving objects with the mind, not control over the electromagnetic forces of nature, as Alexandria and other "kinetics" have. So, obviously, I have altered the actual definition a bit. I don't think it's that big of a deal. It works.
LOCATION: MILKY WAY / NORMANDY SR-2 / EN ROUTE TO HAESTROM
DATE: circa 162915 AR
2185 CE
Shepard steered the Hammerhead onto the rail system in the Normandy's cargo hold, locking it in place until it was needed again. All passengers managed to squeeze out of the tank without anyone getting squashed. Mordin removed his breather and stuck into a back pocket. Shepard and Garrus removed their helmets and pushed buttons on the inside, making them fold up until they fit in the palms of their hands and could be attached magnetically their thighs. Shepard looked to Alexandria right when her helmet retracted, letting her hair fall back down. The method in which her helmet was removed was almost as shocking as her beauty, giving Shepard and Mordin some pause.
Alexandria's incredibly smooth skin was a cream color so bright she almost seemed to be glowing. Her big, deep purple eyes shimmered slightly, like she had a literal twinkle in her eye. Her full lips put Miranda Lawson's to shame, and her long, wavy, pitch-black hair with impressive volume flowed down with shining, silver highlights streaking sparsely all the way through.
Alexandria put her hand to her chest and grabbed onto the battle-armor, pulling it off her like I was some kind of fabric as it separated in the back. It folded itself up nicely into her hands and disappeared into a blurry bubble, entering her subspace pocket. Her bodysuit molded into an all-black, casual-tactical outfit.
At the bottom were combat boots. When not in her battlesuit, Alexandria always wore a pair of combat boots. However, unlike the modern combat boots Systems Alliance soldiers would wear casually, Alexandria's Imperium boots did not have strings to tighten them up. They just contracted around the wearer's feet, conforming to the desired fit. Moving on up were the titan's loose-fit compression pants that would automatically contract to tight-fit when their master entered a dangerous situation, or just when she wanted them to for whatever reason. At the top was a loose-fit compression shirt with the same properties as the pants, flaunting a graceful, lavender design. What made the sight truly a spectacle to behold was how the design constantly changed in brightness, moving around Alexandria's body across every piece of clothing in a dance of symmetrical chaos, as if the entire outfit was a single, active illustration.
"Never seen dynamic clothing before?" Alexandria commented on Shepard and Mordin's stare.
Without the amplifications of her helmet, Alexandria's voice was so soft and serene. Without the obscurities of her suit, her body was excruciatingly tantalizing and enticing. The young human and salarian felt a certain aura in her presence neither could describe. There was just something about her that had them truly in awe. Garrus... not so much.
"Huh?" Shepard asked, shaken from the mesmerizing hold of the aura emanating from the superhuman.
"Fascinating indeed," Mordin added.
"Thanks. I think," Alexandria responded awkwardly at the salarian's comment. She was tempted to influence the situation with her powers to move it along as quickly and as smoothly as possible, but she promised she would do no such thing, and it was a genuine promise. She would just have to stick with her impressive verbal abilities and outstanding charisma, but that would take much more time. No matter. Such tedious situations were trivial to a being with a mind and will as strong as Alexandria's. She could put up with practically any stress and roll it off like it was nothing. Alexandria knew that in time, all the barriers would be stripped away through simple, continued interaction, and she was definitely not one short on patience; not with the long, eternal life she had lived.
The N7 and former STG operative shared a confused glance before moving along without a word.
The four occupants stepped into the elevator to get out of the cargo bay. Shepard pushed the button for the crew deck and the CIC on the holographic control panel, already aware those were the two locations the elevator's current occupants were headed. After the doors closed and the ride started, Shepard addressed the ship's AI.
"EDI, would you make a profile for Alexandria?"
"Yes, Commander."
Shepard thanked EDI before returning his attention to his newest colleague.
"EDI is the ship's AI. She'll assign you a locker for anything you might want to store, and work you into the sleep schedule. You'll also need an omni-tool."
"Absolutely none of that will be necessary."
Shepard was confused by her statement. As far as he knew, all organics needed to sleep, and Alexandria definitely appeared to be organic.
"Why not?" he asked, truly curious.
"First of all, I can eat and sleep if I want to, but I don't need to as long as I'm in good, healthy, uninjured condition. If I do eat, the nanites in my body will simply re-purpose any bodily waste I may produce. As for the locker, I don't have anything on me my subspace pocket doesn't have more than enough room for. Long story short, a subspace pocket allows me to store objects in another dimension. The pocket has an anchor which keeps the objects contained in the space around me, preventing them from floating away. The anchor can't hold an infinite amount of objects, but I have almost nothing on me right now except a few basic weapons. The pocket can be disrupted with electronic warfare, disabling the anchor, and causing one to lose their possessions. Pretty much everything I had was lost during all those years I spent fighting on Therum, including all my heavy weapons..."
Alexandria was speaking Shepard's language now, and he thought he heard her say Therum, the planet where he found Liara during his hunt for Saren in 2183. He was going to ask her about it, but she kept on going with her explanation of why she would not be needing any accommodation. Alexandria sensed Shepard's curiosity spike at the word Therum, and made a mental note to talk to him about it later.
"...And then there's the omni-tool, a multipurpose diagnostic and manufacturing tool, as well as a mobile personal computer. I'm not going to need one of yours because I already have one of my own. Just like in your civilization, the omni-tool was an intricate part of mine as well; a device that was almost impossible to live without in modern societies. I just communicated with EDI to learn about your civilization's omni-tool, and it seems the origins of it are unknown. Apparently, it's been around since before the conception of your Extranet, and there is no official record of it arising. I'm guessing the concept was somehow carried over from my galactic civilization to yours. And before you ask, no, I have no idea how that might have happened."
"Many possibilities. Intriguing. Though, not my area of study." Mordin commented.
"What kind of differences are there between our omni-tools?" Shepard inquired.
"Minor differences. Nothing substantial. The holographic display of your omni-tools form as an orange gauntlet around the user's arm, while Imperium omni-tools are highly customizable..."
Alexandria summoned her omni-tool, holding her arm up for everyone to see. Her display appeared as a bright purple swirl of data in the palm of her hand.
"... My omni-weapons are largely the same as well. The only real difference is in the omni-blade, forged from boson-photon fields, as opposed to silicon-carbide like yours..."
When Alexandria forged her omni-blade, the hardlight also extended over her forearm for parrying, which then gave it more of an Alliance omni-tool appearance.
"... It also performs tech powers. Just like yours, albeit much more powerful, obviously. However, I more often stick with my kinetics."
"Kinetics?" Garrus questioned, audibly acknowledging the massive superhuman who had shown him the darkness not long ago.
"Like biotics, but a whole lot better." Alexandria responded, giving the turian a quick glance as she answered.
"Are our omni-tools compatible?" Shepard asked.
"Yes."
The four commandos entered the elevator, Garrus and Mordin remaining silent as Shepard continued his briefing of their newest companion. Mordin was mentally compiling a questionnaire to bombard Alexandria with, and Garrus was still wary of the mysterious woman. His discomfort around her was something the titan was formulating a plan to alleviate with a small portion of her consciousness while she maintained the majority of her attention on the immediate situation.
"EDI can give you a tour of the ship."
EDI's voice came over the speakers in the elevator.
"I already did, Commander. Alexandria and I have been communicating since she came aboard."
Shepard's head snapped up to the ceiling, and then back down at Alexandria.
"What?"
The superhuman tapped her temple with her index finger.
"Direct data-transfer doesn't just work on organics."
Shepard let out a tiny puff of air that would have been a small chuckle had it been given more of a kick. Once again, he found himself feeling confounded by this strange woman.
"Right. I should have guessed that... Anyway, we're headed to Haestrom next to recruit another individual. Tali. An old friend and former squadmate from my previous mission. I assume you know her too."
"Yes."
"How? How exactly does all this direct data-transfer work? Can you explain?"
"All I did was exchange electrical impulses between me and you. Make sense?"
That did make perfect sense to Shepard, as it was exactly what Liara did with him during their melding process. Alexandria just did it faster.
"Actually, yes. That does make sense... Well, this has officially been the most awkward introduction ever. Even more awkward than Grunt's, and he almost killed me."
Alexandria agreed. Where she came from, she was very well known, even if not much was known about her. The people of her civilization were also a hell of a lot more advanced and evolved. This new civilization was just barely getting started, and there were so many things that were common to Alexandria which were completely ludicrous to Shepard. Alexandria knew the social barrier between them was going to be a bit of an issue, since she had no intention of going around and implanting everyone with information about her culture.
"The feeling is mutual. Perhaps it would help if I made myself useful? I am a skilled weapons engineer. If you would allow it, I'm sure I could drastically improve your field equipment."
Shepard and Mordin both seemed enthusiastic about that proposal, especially Mordin.
"Definitely. That sounds like a great idea. I'm sure Jacob would appreciate some company in the armory. EDI, inform Jacob he has a visitor coming his way."
"Yes, Commander."
Shepard did not notice Alexandria briefly raise a brow. She was a little taken aback at how easily she had just gained access to the armory. All she had to do was make a verbal claim of expertise in weapons technology, and the captain of the ship immediately granted her permission to go through their stockpile. She had been in this situation before. She had been lost in unknown territory; cut off from her superiors; picked up by strangers, but this was the first time she was picked up by strangers who allowed her free access to their ship after just a few words. She never had any malicious intentions towards those who rescued her in the past, nor towards those rescuing her now, but still, she was an unknown variable with no reason to be trusted. This was the kind of cooperation Alexandria expected from people she was controlling. She was not complaining. She was just surprised.
The elevator stopped and opened its doors to reveal the crew deck. Garrus – who had remained mostly silent, allowing Shepard to do his thing – had a bad feeling about Alexandria he just could not shake.
"Shepard, can I speak with you... in private?" the turian asked before stepping out of the elevator backwards, keeping himself facing the titan.
Shepard had a feeling about what it was Garrus wanted to discuss. The old renegade did not like Alexandria, and rightfully so. Garrus had always gone along with all of Shepard's new recruits just fine, but none of them had ever assaulted him seemingly without provocation before. Shepard hoped he could explain to Garrus why Alexandria did what she did, and get them to work together just as well as anyone else who joined their team.
"Of course. I'll be down in a bit."
Garrus took one last look at the menacing woman and left without another word. The doors closed and the elevator took its remaining three occupants up to the CIC. On the way up, a notification appeared in Alexandria's HUD, a little exclamation mark occupying the top right corner of her view like an immobilized eye-floater. She focused on it, revealing a message.
To: Alexandria
Your profile has been made. Please access it as soon as possible and create a password.
Attachment: instructions for accessing
From: EDI
"Armory is to the left," Shepard said to Alexandria, "I'll be by to talk more later, and EDI will notify you when it's time for you to deploy. For now, get to know the crew. Especially the ground team. We all need to trust each other if we're going to fight together, and talking is the only way to build that trust."
"I know. I've been in this situation before."
"Really?"
"Several times."
The questions kept mounting, and Shepard was becoming more and more envious of Alexandria's ability to just beam thoughts into another person's mind.
"If you say so. I've got business to take care of. Mordin, is there anything I can help you with?"
"Not at this time. Many questions for Alexandria however. Come by sometime, would you?"
Alexandria still felt a little uneasy about the idea of working with a salarian, let alone a turian. That uneasiness was literally programmed into her, and reinforced by an endless set of painful memories the titan refused to have erased – a practice she considered weak and cowardly. Both the Turians and the Salarians were slaves to the Forerunners in her civilization, with the Turians often fighting under the Ecumene's banner. She was conflicted. She saw enemies in them, and in her time, they would have seen an enemy in her as well. But this was not her time. This was another time; a time when no one had ever heard of the Human Imperium or the Forerunner Ecumene. A time where the Humans, Turians, and Salarians lived together in peace... for the most part.
"Sure. I guess."
"Excellent. Look forward to sharing knowledge with you. Possibly share insight on each other's abilities and technology."
Alexandria did not like where this was going. It was treason, and Alexandria was not about to betray her people, even if her people were no more. It was simply not something she was willing to do.
"Don't get your hopes up. Like I said earlier, in my civilization, your kind and mine were enemies. Unconditional enemies. We would attack each other on sight. In your case, involuntarily. Unprovoked violence towards humans was a part of many salarian's geas during those times. That may not be the case in this civilization, but I still don't feel comfortable with the idea."
A frown spread across Mordin's face that quickly faded.
"I see. Hope you change your mind."
With that, and with the concept of geas now plaguing his mind, the scientist retreated back to his lab, and Shepard nodded to Alexandria before stepping up to the galaxy map.
The titan stepped away from the elevator and leaned up against the wall on her right shoulder with her left foot planted on the floor and her right leg bent back, propping her right foot up against the wall so only her toes touched the ground. She had her right hand behind her back, grabbing onto her left forearm – a position she personally found quite comfortable. EDI had politely asked her to create a password for her profile as soon as possible, and that was exactly what she intended to do. Alexandria let her head fall back against the cool walls of the Normandy's interior as she closed her eyes. Her consciousness slipped into the small digital world contained within her physical body. She accessed her profile on the Normandy's network and set a password for the few little things that did not need to be broadcast amongst the entire crew, such as private messages. There was a section in the profile labeled "About Me (optional)." Alexandria saw that almost everyone else aboard the ship had filled out that part, although the depth of all the entries varied greatly, and not everyone seemed to take it seriously. Jeff Moreau's entry was by far the most comical, and all Grunt's entry contained was the context-deprived statement, "Leave me alone, you stupid machine!"
Not wanting to be an outcast, Alexandria decided to upload the public encyclopedia file that could have been viewed for by anyone on the Net over 100,000 years ago, provided the viewer was outside of Ecumene jurisdiction, and thus, beyond the influence of the Ecumene Censorship Bureau. It was very vague, and did not contain a lot of information that was actually about Alexandria because much of her life was highly classified.
Name: Alpha-055
Alias: Alexandria
Born: 46530 BR
- Undisclosed location
Affiliation: Human Imperium
Rank: Titan
Species: Human
- Hamanush
Sex: Female
Height: 2.8448 meters
Mass: 242 kilograms
Hair Color: Black
Eye Color: Purple
Skin Tone: Light
Biography:
Alpha-055 – a member of the Titan Corps (previously the Titan Program) calling herself Alexandria – is one of the few remaining original 10,000 Titan Commandos created by the Alliance to Restore Humanity, an organization that was not widely known during its time, and possessed no real influence in the Milky Way. She was given command of Divinity Squad at birth. The titans were originally shadow operatives of incredible power, who were instrumental in reuniting Humanity under one banner during their last dark age. When the Alliance succeeded in its goal and reformed into the Human Federation, Alpha-055, along with all the other titans, was integrated into the Federation Armed Forces.
There is virtually no public information regarding Alpha-055's past. Most of her career is highly classified, as is the nature of most Titan activities. When the Federation Armed Forces became so large and influential it split into a separate entity from the Human Federation, calling itself the Human Imperium, Alpha-055 and her squad were once again reintegrated when the Titan Program became a part of Imperium Special Forces. Alpha-055 would then took part in the eventual war between the Federation and the Imperium.
For the majority of her life, Alpha-055 held the rank of sergeant. Later, when the Titan Corps was formed as a new branch in response to the growing population of immortal titans, Alpha-055's rank as sergeant was abandoned because the Titan Corps does not use a traditional ranking system.
When exploratory stealth probes sent out by the Humans and their newest allies – the Elcor and Raloi – discovered the Forerunner Ecumene hunting the Protheans to extinction for unknown reasons, the Imperium stepped in, intent on upholding the Mantle of Responsibility, which many ancient Precursor artifacts lead the Humans to believe was exactly what they were created for, in direct contradiction to the Forerunners' beliefs. The Forerunners were millions of years ahead of the Humans, and despite their enthusiasm and courage, the Humans were unprepared for the following wars that resulted from their defiance of the Forerunners' dominance. Alpha-055 stated in an interview that she has taken part in every major human-forerunner conflict, including the First Human-Forerunner War, in which the two species met, and fought for the first time.
It was during the numerous human-forerunner wars that Alpha-055 rose to become the iconic figure she is today, when the humans known as Forthencho, the Lord of Admirals and Yprin Yprikushma revolutionized the Imperium; forming new strategies to combat forerunner tactics; initiating research programs to reverse engineer forerunner technology; and reforming the Titan Program from a sort of secret police into the Titan Corps, a notorious fighting force feared throughout the entire galactic community. Being the top-rated commando among the entire Titan Corps it was suggested that Forthencho adopt Alpha-055 as his daughter. Being tens of thousands of years older than Forthencho, this idea seemed rather strange to Alpha-055. However, after some discussion, Alpha-055 was convinced that the father-daughter relationship between Humanity's greatest leader and Humanity's greatest warrior could be used by the media to significantly bolster morale – something that was desperately needed during the endless on and off conflicts. As predicted, various successful propaganda campaigns utilizing the relationship were launched throughout the wars.
After forging an alliance with the intelligent San 'Shyuum, as well as many other major and minor races, the Humans and their allies were able to repel major Ecumene offensives after locating Ghibalb, the Forerunner homeworld, and causing several nearby stars to supernova, irradiating the heavily populated Forerunner home system and rendering Ghibalb uninhabitable. The Forerunners attribute this event to an accident in stellar engineering, while the Humans claim it as their greatest victory ever achieved. Despite whichever story is true, the event was instrumental in ending the First Human-Forerunner War, allowing the Humans to push the enemy out of their territory. The First Human-Forerunner War never officially ended, but never officially began either, and smaller conflicts along territorial lines continued to be waged between the two rivals up until the Second Human-Forerunner War. Alpha-055 has claimed she and her squad took part in many operations during the periods of relative peace, almost all of which are highly classified.
In recent times, the galactic community has not heard much from Humanity. All human media sources have been terminated; public transit to and from Human Space has been cut off; and refugees from various races affiliated with Humanity have been pouring into foreign territories. There are a great deal of rumors about what happened with the Humans, many of which revolve about a "great flood consuming everything in its path." The Forerunner military has begun massive deployment into Human Space for reasons unknown, and Ecumene representatives refused to comment. There is no verified information about what is happening in Human Space, and Alpha-055's current status is unknown.
"There. That's juicy enough," Alexandria thought to herself.
Closing the profile and reentering the physical world, the titan looked down at her hand, flexing the muscles as she clenched and unclenched her fist. She opened her hand and drew forth a purple ball of psychokinetic energy, contemplating her current predicament. The time she spent broken down in stasis had weakened her mind and body. Her equipment was also in need of some serious maintenance. She planned to keep this from everyone else. She was more powerful than anyone aboard this ship. That much she knew, and that was all they needed to know. Alexandria hoped her mind and body could regain their former strength through time and use, and that she could restore her equipment to its full potential herself, possibly through the use of this ship's armory. In the meantime, Shepard was right, Alexandria had to get close with the people she was going to be working with for an unknown amount of time. She wanted their willing cooperation, and for that, she needed to build trust.
"Let's get to work," Alexandria encouraged herself as she walked through the door to the armory in the hopes of gaining a new ally.
A dark-skinned man, who was identified in Alexandria's HUD as Jacob Taylor, was leaned over a work bench. He appeared to be doing something with an assault rifle. Exactly what he was doing, the titan did not know. She had promised Shepard she would not invade the minds of his crew, so she would just have to strike up a conversation. Alexandria expected she and Jacob would get along just fine. He was a human armorer. She was a human armorer. They could talk about weapons.
"Hello," Alexandria said to get the man's attention. She did not make any sound when she walked, but the door did. Apparently the man did not hear it open and close. He was too immersed in his work.
"Hi, I'm Jaco-... Jacob Taylor," Jacob had heard from EDI that a new squadmate was coming his way, but he did not expect her to be a massive and insanely attractive human woman towering a meter over him.
"I'm Alexandria. Or if you're short on time, Alexa."
With a smile Alexandria extended her hand. Jacob returned the gesture and they shook hands, one of the most common forms of greeting among warrior-races. In the days before invisible weapons, a handshake was a way for people to say, "I'm probably not going to kill you. At least not right now."
"Shepard said I should get to know the crew, and, like you, I'm an expert on weapons technology."
"And you thought I'd be the best place to start."
"Exactly," Alexandria stuck her right hand to her hip, setting her left foot out at an angle, "So, tell me about your weapons. Give me the rundown."
"Alright," Jacob leaned back on the nearest table with his arms crossed, "Our weapons are mass-reducing electromagnetic accelerators, more commonly known as mass accelerators. They're projectile weapons. They have a block of metal alloy inside used for ammo. With each shot, a small piece is shaved off and propelled to speeds faster than light using electromagnetic attraction and repulsion, enhanced by a mass effect field."
"Right, mass effect fields. Your civilization makes wide-scale use of element zero."
"My civilization?"
"EDI didn't tell you I'm from another?"
"No, she did not."
"Well, the civilization I'm from also made wide-scale use of eezo."
Element zero, commonly referred to as eezo, was what allowed the Imperium to turn around the First Human-Forerunner War. The eezo core in Alexandria's battlesuit increased the mass of her armor, making it incredibly resistant to forerunner weapons. Mass effect fields in her mass-alternating particle accelerator weapons decreased the mass of the particles during flight, giving them velocities that defied regular physics. Upon impact, the mass of the particles was increased, allowing the devastation of forerunner combat skins. Without element zero, the Imperium, and thus all of Humanity, would have been finished. Alexandria's personal shields however, provided adequate protection from forerunner weaponry because of the reverse-engineered forerunner technology integrated into them, not because of any element zero.
Alexandria only had three weapons on her. Her energy blade, extended from a black hilt with some clear portions that allowed the purple energy contained within to shine through when activated. Her multipurpose handgun that could alternate between a pistol and a submachine gun. The accelerated particles expelled from the sidearm were also modified purple. The last weapon she had was a multipurpose rifle that could alternate between an assault rifle, a battle rifle, and a designated marksmen rifle. As one would expect, it fired purple as well. Her two firearms could be combined to make a horrifyingly powerful particle-beam weapon. She drew her multipurpose handgun from her subspace pocket, the weapon assembling itself in a floating distortion. Jacob's eyes went wide at this marvel. He had never seen anything like it.
"This is a mass-alternating particle accelerator weapon, more commonly known as a particle accelerator. It uses a high-energy beam of atomic and subatomic particles with negligible mass to damage a target by simultaneously disrupting its atomic and molecular structure. Mass effect fields decrease the mass of the particles until they are next to nothing during flight. Upon impact, the mass of the particles is increased to the exact opposite, causing incomprehensible damage." Alexandria explained.
"Element zero is amazing isn't it."
"It sure is."
"Yeah. Too bad it's so rare." Jacob said with a small shake of his head.
"Well, the natural stuff is rare, but artificial eezo can be mass produced. You can also make artificial eezo much more potent. Natural eezo is terrible compared to the stuff you make yourself."
Jacob was genuinely surprised by Alexandria's last statement. He had never heard of any artificial element zero, nor had he heard of anyone even trying to make artificial element zero. Everything he knew told him such a feat was not even possible.
"You can make artificial element zero?"
Alexandria was a little confused by that question, coming to the conclusion that this young civilization must have just discovered eezo very recently. That of course, contradicted how she knew for a fact the element was deeply engrained in their society. Surely, they have possessed it for quite some time. Alexandria decided to put an end to all the possible explanations popping up and crashing down inside her head in less than a nanosecond, and instead just get the real answer from the native standing in front of her.
"I thought you use element zero all the time. You're production capabilities will be severely deterred if you can't make your own eezo."
Jacob sighed, dropping and shaking his head.
"I know. We were tricked by the Reapers into using element zero so soon, and now it takes an entire fleet of ours just to take one of those bastards down."
Alexandria didn't take a lot of information from Shepard's mind. She took what she needed to know to cooperate with him and his crew, and then searched for anything he knew about her people. She had not taken any information from him regarding these "Reapers."
"Reapers?" Alexandria asked.
"You don't know about the Reapers?"
"No."
"I'm not surprised. Most people don't. And most who do choose not to believe. But I assure you, they're real, and they're our greatest enemy, hellbent on destroying all life in the galaxy. They command the Collectors, the bad guys we're trying to take down right now. Here, let me show the one reaper we've seen. We called it Sovereign."
Jacob projected an image of Sovereign from his omni-tool, causing Alexandria to recall a memory from a long time ago, back when she was only thirty-two years old. Before the Imperium; before the Human-Forerunner Wars.
209,477 years ago...
LOCATION: MILKY WAY / UNCHARTED SPACE
DATE: circa 46562 BR
Alpha-055 stepped off the ramp of the dropship onto the desolate world, where a base was being set up on the edges of a ruined city. Alpha-059 was in her head and Alpha-056 by her side. The other members of Divinity Squad had landed on different parts of the planet. They were the only Titans in the system, and had to split up to cover more ground. Zero-five-five looked down at the helmet in her hands, the menacing faceplate not showing any reflection. She flipped it around and placed it over her head, locking it into place.
Humanity had suffered an apocalyptic dark age several thousand years ago, splitting their species apart, and scattering pockets of human civilization across space, cut off from one another. The Titans were created by the Alliance to Restore Humanity to be their enforcers of incredible power while they tried to put the pieces back together. The Alliance had reason to believe this world might hold some answers as to just what happened that caused such a catastrophic collapse, and decided to investigate. They did not know what to expect.
The two Titans checked their weapons one last time before heading to the command center. They reached over their shoulders and pulled their phased plasma rifles off their backs. They made sure the rifles were powered up before magnetically slinging them back in place, then doing the same for their pistols on their thighs. Plain superheated plasma weapons just lobbed a bunch of plasma at a target in a magnetic field that could dodged in medium to long range engagements. Phased plasma weapons had two barrels. The barrel on top discharged the plasma in bolts or streams, and the one on bottom emitted a laser used to create a channel through which the plasma traveled, making transmission faster, more accurate, and more deadly. Phased plasma weapons injected their targets with plasma rather than just splashing it over the surface.
After checking their firearms, the two grabbed their energy swords off their hips and turned them on and off, 055's burning purple, 056's burning red. Lastly, they made sure their omni-weapons were working by forging carborundum blades over their arms. They knew their kinetics were working because psychokinesis was a bodily function, not a piece of equipment. They could feel their psychokinetic power flowing throughout their bodies, and it was comforting. At this time, psychokinetic individuals were extremely rare among humans, and only the Titans were known to wield such power.
With their equipment functional and their weapons holstered, the two Titans followed 059's waypoint, leading them towards the command center for further orders. They had been briefed on the reason for the Alliance's presence on this planet before they arrived. A science team had discovered something big, and not just in size. They thought the secrets buried on this planet held the truth about the last dark age, and they were afraid of what exactly that truth might be. Their fears were justified by what was about to happen.
Alpha-055 and 056 were walking down a street buzzing with Alliance activity, several prefabricated structures set up on each side among the remaining ruined and abandoned homes. Off in the distance were the remnants of skyscrapers on a black horizon, the planet having been rendered uninhabitable thousands of years ago by weapons of mass destruction. Scans of the gray sand on the ground revealed it to be largely comprised of human ashes. It was a depressing scene, one that was about to get a lot worse.
A rumbling horn blared as loud as orbital bombardment, permeating the air with a deafening madness. The two Titans were grateful in that moment to have 059 with them, who quickly adjusted their battlesuits to dampen the noise before it threatened to pop their eardrums. A massive squid-like creature with four yellow eyes rose from the ground and into the sky, flying away faster than any of the defense cannons set up by the Alliance could get a beat on it. Zero-five-nine cross-referenced the squid with every image across the net. He found only a single match, a torn propaganda poster that was several thousand years old, which shown an image of an evil being similar to the one before them, looming over a burning planet. Across the top of the poster were the words in all caps, 'NEVER GIVE UP' and across the bottom, 'NEVER GIVE IN.' When the squid was gone, unnatural screams and howls were heard in the distance; growing louder; closing in.
The two Titans drew their rifles and formed up side-by-side. They could now see the source of the noise, a sea of glowing black and blue metallic monsters. How many there were was impossible to tell. At first, they looked like they were just repurposed humans. Then, some of them started merging together to form horribly disfigured beasts, incoming towards the outpost at frightening speeds. Some of the monsters sprouted wings, flying into the air as they gathered together more of the smaller ones. Some monsters were giant multilimbed brutes, charging with massive rams for heads. Most combined with only one other monster, either forming a fierce melee striker with claws or swords for arms, or ranged fighters with cannons for arms, spewing forth some kind of red death.
The monsters were upon the base in seconds, and the two Titans only shot down six of the smallest creatures before they were engaged in close-quarters-combat. They could not afford to use any offensive psychokinetic powers, as they needed to keep their sixth senses on full alert. In such close-quarters battles, even the most skilled combatant could be stabbed in the back, and the two Titans were not yet powerful enough kinetics to maintain both offensive and defensive powers simultaneously.
Back to the present...
LOCATION: MILKY WAY / NORMANDY SR-2 / EN ROUTE TO HAESTROM
DATE: circa 162915 AR
2185 CE
"I've seen one of those before," Alexandria whispered more to herself than Jacob.
"Really? When? Where?"
"When? A long time ago. Before anything that would mean anything to you. Where? I'm not sure. It was a desolate colony-world that used to be at these coordinates before we destroyed it."
Alexandria sent the coordinates of the planet's last known location in the Milky Way to Jacob's omni-tool.
"This is in a relay dead-zone. An area of space out of our reach."
"And why is that?" Alexandria asked plainly.
"Because of the drive charge. Eezo drive cores accumulate a static electrical charge when engaged in FTL. Eventually, the buildup has to be discharged before it accumulates to the point where it kills everyone on the ship."
"Yes, I know. And you discharge the buildup using a magnetic field."
"Yes, the magnetic field of a planet. The bigger the drive core, the bigger the buildup it can withstand. And even the biggest drive cores can't travel to these coordinates without having to discharge. And without a planet to discharge with, well, you simply can't travel that far."
"I'm guessing you don't build ships with discharging systems?"
"No. Space stations that are nowhere near planets have discharging facilities visiting ships can use, but no ship I know of has one of its own."
"Not yet."
"Yeah, not yet."
"Our ships do."
"Really?"
"Well, they did. I don't know if my people are still... around."
"Your people?"
"Long story."
"We've got time."
A/N: Did you know that Nazara was taken down during the Battle of the Citadel not because the organic fleet was actually doing any real damage, but rather because it was directly controlling Saren's corpse, and when Saren was defeated by Shepard's team, the shock of having the connection abruptly cut sent he/she/it into shock? In this story, Nazara was sent into shock by the ion cannon of the ISV Deadly Silence.
In case you didn't figure it out from the date of the flashback, Alexandria has been around for a while. She was not around for the war with the Reapers/Preservers/Old Machines. She was created several thousand years later by the Alliance to Restore Humanity (a throwback to the Alliance to Restore the Republic from Star Wars). She was one of Alliance's enforcers (even in desperate times, humans aren't always willing to just get along).
If I remember correctly, the Forerunner homeworld was irradiated before the Humans and Forerunners met in canon, but having it been sanitized by the Humans works well for this story.
I can't find any information on the origins of the omni-tool, so it works to have it be something that came out of nowhere. No, the Imperium did not sanction its insertion into the new galactic community.
Next chapter, I will be expanding upon the skirmish on Haestrom. And by expanding, I mean I plan on including the Geth's point of view.
As displayed throughout the Halo Series, 100,000 years without maintenance allows the UNSC to stand up to forerunner forces on numerous installations. With that being said, and since Alliance infantry weapons are a lot more advanced than those of the UNSC, Alexandria will need to watch her back.