Disclaimer: Yep. Nothing to see here, move along.

BAMS: Ya think? XP

Hopelessly Blue: Them being cryptic almost always makes it more exciting (and annoying). It's supposed to be the point. Not that I'm a huge fan of it either, so I do agree with you. Let's hope any more answers will come directly, eh? ;) I also agree with the rest of your review- sorry for not getting all detailed in this reply, I just really want to get to updating the story right now so I can read your review that much faster. ^.- (I love you!)

Kachie Takahashi: The Shadow Broker, huh? That could have been plausible too, but I wanted to go above and beyond your expectations! Well really I just wanted to surprise you, but… Nevermind! You know what I mean! XP

Liege Lord: … -_- Do you ever get excited about ANYTHING? Intriguing? Really? That's what I say when I'm trying to sound awesome and wise to people who don't actually know who I am! *sighs* sorry, I'm really hungry right now so I'm ragging on everything I see (including myself so don't worry). ANyway, I do agree with you on the account of this being really interesting. ^.^

A/N: All of the lesbian choices on my poll won… … Should I go ahead and do it anyway or drop one (as in make one straight anyway)?

"Joker. Citadel. Now." Shepard stated, just as Raegas' father shut off the hologram thing.

"What's up at the Citadel, you seem excited." Joker replied over the comm, an image of his confused expression popping into Shepard's mind.

"You'll know soon enough." She answered simply, heading out of her cabin and into the elevator.

"Course changed, Commander." EDI stated, her calm voice only serving to excite her more. She wanted to see what was going down at the Citadel immediately, and so, pressed for deck two.

…

"Oh my…" Kasumi muttered, voicing the halting thoughts of everyone present. They were all looking through the cockpit window at a gigantic dreadnought lounging around the Presidium ring. It was at least twice as large as the Destiny Ascension itself; all sleek and packed full of elegant danger- it had to be the largest ship any of them had ever seen. (A/N: the link to see it is at the bottom)

"What the hell is that thing?" Garrus' question hung in the air as the Normandy drew closer to the docks- closer to the immense ship that looked like it could take down a fleet.

"Transmission from the Council; patching it through." EDI stated, shaking Shepard out of it slightly. Even still, her gaze remained on the ship. Where had it come from? A thing like that would've taken years and a lot of resources to even think of building.

"Commander, this is Anderson. I assume you noticed the ship by now?" he asked, almost rhetorically.

"What is that thing sir?" Shepard asked, desperate for answers.

"Apparently, we're dealing with a new species now- several even. That ship is just a carrier to them- you'd be shocked to see what's on board." He said, only bringing up more questions.

"New species?" Shepard inquired.

"Yes, they call themselves the Vertoak. Before you say anything, yes, I know that's what Raegas called herself. It looks like more than just her survived whatever supposedly killed them. I don't know how yet, but we're waiting to meet the leader of these people." He answered.

"What?" Miranda burst, looking as madly confused as Shepard felt.

"It's tense down here, Commander. There are crowds of people hanging around, waiting to see these new aliens. Reporters are on the verge of having heart attacks, the fleets and C-Sec are getting agitated, and the other council members are with me on the carrier- we don't know whether to be happy or damn confused." Anderson explained, sounding uprooted.

"How did they even get close to the Citadel?" Shepard asked, brows furrowed and palms sweaty. She could swear her heart was going to jump out of her chest.

"They came through the relay without detection somehow and had the decency to send us warning they were on their way. Not a half hour later, they were right on our doorstep- shields down and weapons cold. I convinced the others to at least wait to see what these people were." His voice paused, causing Shepard to get on the edge of her proverbial seat.

"And?" she urged.

"Well I don't know… Everything on this carrier is so advanced- it reminds me of Sovereign's level of technology. Come and meet me when the Normandy docks, I'll be waiting there for you." he said, before the transmission cut off.

"I don't know about you all, but I'm coming too." Kasumi smiled her smile, crossing her arms. "Who knows? Maybe they're all as hot as Shepard's girlfriend was. If so, I want to see them up close and personal." Shepard forced herself to ignore the comment even when her heart clenched painfully.

"Oh yeah? And what if they're as scary as she was? They could eat you!" Joker said, spreading his arms out.

"That is highly unlikely Mr. Moreau; if they were like that then I doubt they would have sent prior warning of their coming." EDI said.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Can't you ever get a joke?" the pilot asked rhetorically, shaking his head in annoyance.

"I want to see what's waiting before anyone else leaves the Normandy." Shepard stated, not wanting to risk unrest caused by a team of armed soldiers.

"What if you need backup down there?" Miranda demanded, almost sounding worried.

"I'll be fine. Like EDI already said: they won't attack unless we provoke them." Shepard replied, trying to sound as calm as she could, even so, she still felt her stomach fill with butterflies.

Would Raegas be down there?

…

"Good to see you, Shepard. I never thought it would be in such circumstances though." Anderson greeted, nodding to Shepard. She joined his side as he turned to head for a shuttle at the end of the walkway.

"I never thought this would happen either. We all thought Raegas and her siblings were the last- including Raegas." She said, almost to herself. Anderson glanced at her before opening the shuttle doors and climbing in. she followed suit, sighing to herself on the sharp turn her life had just taken.

"The leader we're talking to is her father. Apparently, they occupy a whole other galaxy; close to our own but too far away to get there alone. It seems to me they survived in mass- and that's an understatement." Anderson continued, shaking his head in disbelief.

"How? Why didn't the Reapers get them?" Shepard asked. It had been bothering her ever since she found Raegas on that planet so long ago, but she had never come up with the nerve to ask what it was that ended her people. Or was thought to, anyway.

"He hasn't explained much yet but from what we can tell, they used to live in this galaxy. When the Reapers came-if they even did-they stopped them somehow and moved to the other galaxy. I want to know how." The old soldier said, deeply thinking.

"Think they could be our answer? Convince the council the Reapers exist?" Shepard asked.

"They could be our only chance to be ready when they come." He replied. Shepard paused, looking down. "Shepard?" Anderson asked, noticing her deep expression.

"Sir…" she took a breath, trying not to get her hopes up. "Is Raegas here?" she finally asked, looking to her old friend and former Captain. He paused and looked down, telling her all she needed to know. Shepard's stomach dropped and her heart literally cooled, the fire of her excitement half gone.

"No." he answered, even though it was unnecessary. She'd just have to ask Raegas' father directly then.

…

"Shepard. It is nice to finally meet you." the Commander paused, looking the woman in front of her up and down. She had green hair and what looked like an almost convincingly human body. It was her barely covered body and obviously robotic joints that were a giveaway.

"Are you…" Shepard thought back to stories Raegas told her, grateful that she gave descriptions as well. It was the green hair that tipped her off to who she was. "Vetrali?" she asked. The woman smiled and nodded, taking Shepard's hand in bother of her own.

"Yes. Raega asked me to accompany her father here in her place." She bowed her head in greeting then, before releasing her hand, giving Shepard the impression the gesture was like a handshake to Vertoak.

"Why couldn't she be here? Doesn't she know I hate waiting?" Shepard tried humor, but the smirk dropped from her face as fast as it appeared. She was hurt that Raegas didn't come but she was even more hurt over the whole situation. Shepard didn't even know if they were together anymore- everything was just so confusing that her mind was jumbled.

"Yes, she mentioned that. You have a message from her if you would like to view it while you wait for the meeting to begin." Vetrali replied, gesturing for Shepard to follow her. They were in the carrier she saw back on the Normandy, still in the hangar- which was huge, by the way. Shepard figured the Normandy itself could fit inside with lots of room to spare.

"I'd like that." She answered.

As they walked through the ship, Shepard found herself staring in awe at almost everything she set her eyes on. There were just so many things she wanted to see that she kept getting distracted and full of even more questions. Various species roamed the ship as well, shocking Shepard.
There were some that were tall with leathery purple or light red skin and, instead of hair, hard plates of bone covered by thick skin. Their eyes were dark and Shepard had doubts they even knew how to smile. Vetrali said they were called the Brogul (bro-gool). She recalled various times Raegas explained the Brogul and was grateful for it; that way, she was at least a little ready to meet them. Not that she expected them to be so tall and made of nothing but muscles.
There was another species that seemed to be all female, from what Shepard saw, called the Viera. They had large bunny ears stretching from the tops of their heads and barely any clothes at all. There weren't many of them but all had chocolate skin, cute noses, stiletto-like heels and permanent frowns.
It also turned out that Vertoak were as varied as humans. Their skin tone ranged from white to dark purple; some had different ears, like some stuck out or some stuck up- there were even some who had horns, which also varied in orientation and shape. All of them were fair and all of them had strange eyes. The average hair color was white and it seemed a lot of eyes were either gold or other deep, strange colors. There were also plenty of Ulaeviel milling about next to their partners- all of them had their own distinctive looks themselves.

There were more, but Shepard's attention was caught once more when Vetrali lead her into a good-sized room, similar to her cabin.

"This will be your room until departure. Feel free to use its facilities as you see fit." A floating spherical robot thing came over to Shepard.

"Greetings!" it chimed happily.

"Ko will be your message keeper and guide. Ask him anything you like and he will do his best to help." Vetrali explained, smiling lightly. "Raega built him specifically for you, so I suggest you keep him close at all times. He also holds your message from her. Good day." She finished, before striding out before Shepard could say anything.

"Thanks…" Shepard muttered, lost. She wanted to see what the message was, but before that, she wanted to get settled into the room, knowing she would be waiting for the official conference/meeting between the Council and Vertoak for a while.

…

Once she found the bathroom and a set of extra clothing (for what, she had no idea), Shepard let out a heaving sigh. Ko came over to her, his body whirring quietly. There was a moment of silence as the Commander sat down at the desk, looking for something interesting.

"My sensors indicate you are experiencing depression. Are you alright?" he asked. Shepard only waved the little droid off, disregarding the question entirely.

"So… Ko, huh?" she asked. He paused once more before mimicking Shepard's earlier sigh.

"I am a Secretarial Unit created by Raega Braceros; IDT SLH-01. Also known as 'Ko'- a symbolic term used to describe physical things acting with guidance from spirits." He answered, speaking half gibberish. Shepard only shook her head, understanding why Raegas called it as such.

"So about that message…" she trailed off, hearing a humming sound come from Ko. His one eye lit up and he turned around, facing the middle of the room. Not one second later, the room fell away as it had before, showing a life-size image of Raegas. But she looked different… She was slightly slumped with dark circles under her eyes and a faint smile.

"Hey Shepard…"

A/N: I don't even know where to begin with this! What's going on! XP Bet you weren't expecting that though, right? More surprises on the way! (I'll put the links to the pictures in my profile)