Thanks again for the reviews, I'll say again in this chapter that Star Trek Online and the Mass Effect series belong to their respective owners.

Some of the following chapters may have some storyline based on STF missions etc.

TEMPORAL EFFECT- CHAPTER 3 - Prelude to the horizon.


RRW Arcturus A- Serpent Nebula


"Wait this room's massive, you could fit at least 2 apartments in here." Ashley Williams said, astonished at the size of her new quarters.

"Let me guess you're used to something smaller, we've only got guest quarters available which are all around this size, on the upside you can pretty much do what you like in here unless it involves endangering the ship or the crew." Demala explained.

"Suppose I can get use to it. By the way, what's that over there." Ashley replied, noticing a lit up alcove in the wall.

"That's the replicator, it's voice activated and it turns energy generated by the ship into an object like food, drinks, pretty much most things you can think of, they're also preset to alert security if someone uses it to make a weapon. Go on give it a go."

"Black Coffee," Ashley ordered before a cup of coffee appeared in the alcove. "yep, it's coffee." she commented after trying the drink.

"Also I'd recommend going to the mess hall if you want decent alcohol, the replicated stuff tastes like rubbish. If you want any large items like additional furniture then you can put in an order with engineering, they'll get whatever made up. If you need me I'll be on the bridge."


"Tovan can we get a message through to command?"

"Too much interference, we'll have to get some subspace radio boosters from New Romulus." Tovan replied.

"Send a message through to the Hubble and the D'k Tahg, we're heading back through the wormhole."

"Setting course for the wormhole at transwarp 14, ETA 1 hour 10 minutes." Rokall said before maneuvering the dreadnought for it's FTL jump.

The nacelles on the three ships glowed bright before the ships visually stretched and shot forth into FTL speeds.


Citadel Station - Shepard's meeting with the Council


"Anderson, I got your email." Shepard said as she walked into the embassy.

"Yes, we where hearing some disturbing reports that you are working for Cerberus." Anderson informed Shepard, looking highly disappointed.

"You do know that the charge of treason is a capital offence, but since you saved us in the Battle of the Citadel 2 years ago we'll hear you out. We owe you that much." Councillor Tevos stated, feeling betrayed by Shepard.

"I've spent the last two years dead after a race from beyond the Omega 4 relay known as the Collectors destroyed the original Normandy and recently started abducting human colonists in the Terminus systems. I woke up in some Cerberus lab after they had rebuilt and revived me to fight the Reapers, which I think may be masters of these Collectors...I also need to inform you that Cerberus is spying on Citadel traffic, I had The Illusive Man contact me earlier to get me to steal tech off those ships that were here before." Shepard reported, getting sceptical looks from the Asari, Turian and Salarian councillors.

"Ah the Reapers, sentient starships that are waiting in dark space...There is still a lot of doubt with that claim." Councillor Sparatus remarked sarcastically.

"Since you saved our lives however, we are willing to reinstate your Spectre status, however we can't publicly acknowledge it as you are working with Cerberus, and you must keep your actions in the Terminus systems." Councillor Tevos stated.

"That's all I can ask." Shepard acknowledged the councillors decision, a private reinstatement was better than nothing.

"Then this meeting is over," the Asari councillor cut the channel.

"Shepard what are you doing here." An enraged Ambassador Udina walked into the embassy.

"Oh, great you top the list for the people I least want to see," Shepard retorted.

"Believe me, the feelings mutual." Udina was still at Shepard's throat.

"Ok, enough you two, we've just finished the meeting with the council." Anderson defused the tension between Shepard and Udina.

"Does the words 'political shitstorm' mean anything to you." To say Udina was 'pissed' would be an understatement.

"Relax Udina the meeting went fine, Shepard is now reinstated as a spectre, as long as she keeps to the Terminus systems."

"Yes, that would be beneficial to both parties, if you need me I'll be in my office." Udina turned and walked out the door.

"Why do I get the feeling you're not telling me something?" Sheppard asked Councillor Anderson, knowing the massive dreadnought she saw before was not a known design.

"I'm not supposed to tell you this but we made first contact with three new political powers which seem to have advanced technologies, they may be able to help with the Reapers, but I can't guarantee anything." Anderson explained to Shepard.

"Who are they and where did they go?"

"All I can say is that they're called the United Federation of Planets, Romulan Republic and Klingon Empire .you are still working with Cerberus." Anderson started stonewalling Shepard, he couldn't risk Cerberus trying anything.


RRW Arcturus A- approaching wormhole


"Computer, locate Operations Chief Ashley Williams." Demala requested to the ship computer.

"Ashley Williams is in her assigned quarters." The computers synthesised voice came over the bridge speakers.

"Ashley Williams, please report to the bridge" Demala called over the ships comms to Chief Williams quarter's.

It barely took Chief Williams 2 minutes to make her way up to the bridge, just as she arrived on the bridge the warbird dropped out of warp in front of the taskforce.

"You needed to see me Admiral," She gave Demala a swift salute.

"At ease, first it's not necessary to salute me, that went out of fashion in the 22nd century for human naval officers. Also you don't have to call me Admiral, that's mainly a personal preference...makes me feel old." Demala got up out of the captain's chair, smiling as she finished talking.

"We are about to crossover to our universe, thought you might like to be on the bridge to view it." Demala stated, also wanting to get to know Chief Williams better.

"Thanks Ad...sorry, Demala I wanted to catch up anyway." Ashley answered rather awkwardly, she wasn't used to addressing a superior officer by their name instead of rank even if they where non Systems Alliance.

The Arcturus led the taskforce into the wormhole at full impulse, "We'll be through the wormhole in 5 minutes." Rokall said reading the ETA off of the helm console.

"Ashley if you would like to follow me to the ready room, we can have that chat," Demala moved off to the ready room followed by Chief Williams.

"Why are you so willing to help us, as far as I know you hardly know us at all." Ashley stated in a straight forward manner.

"I am one of the rare Romulans that have some telepathic ability, when the Reapers where mentioned I noticed a significant increase in the level of fear from you and all of the councillors, the Turian was attempting to mask it with sarcasm. Also with the wormhole linking our universes everyone where I come from will likely be a target for these Reapers, I don't want to be caught off guard if they arrive." Demala explained as her emotions built.

"You left you're first homeworld?" Ashley was curious to learn more after reading a bit on the ships computer.

"Yes, our ancestors inhabited the planet of Vulcan which was ravaged with war, eventually one Vulcan called Surak proposed that as their emotions had been the major contributor to the wars that had swept over the planet, they should supress their emotions and embrace pure logic. There where people divided on the topic eventually those who wanted to embrace logic stayed on Vulcan while those who wanted to keep experiencing the full potential of their emotions left the planet in search for a new homeworld, which ended up getting called Romulus." Demala summarised the founding of the Romulan race.

"What's wrong with feeling emotion?" Ashley was completely lost at this point.

"Vulcanoid species like the Vulcans and Romulans feel emotion of a far deeper level than humans, before the Romulans split from the Vulcans constant wars we're fought. Plus a Romulan or a Vulcan without their mental discipline has about two times the strength of the average Human, so when we got in a fight it generally didn't end well. The Romulans under the Empire would often try to provoke a race enough to get that race to declare war on them, I would like to think that under the Republic we have improved beyond that." Demala was definitely not proud of the Romulans past.

"What do you know about the Reapers?" Demala asked, she wanted to know as many details as she could before reporting back to the Romulan Republic, Klingon Empire and Federation.

"Two years ago I was part of the 212 stationed on a Systems Alliance colony called Eden Prime, it was a quiet assignment until Saren showed up with the Geth and a reaper dreadnought called Sovereign attacked the colony. It turned out that Saren was using the beacon to find a conduit that linked the planet Ilos and the Citadel so he could activate the mass relay inside the Citadel, which led to dark space. Commander Shepard and I followed Saren through the conduit and stopped Saren and Sovereign from activating the Citadel relay." Ashley explained some of the details about the hunt for Saren.

"What do you know about the Reaper's abilities?"

"It took the Citadel fleet and the Systems Alliance Arcturus fleet to destroy one Reaper, but we mainly use kinetic weapons. The Reapers can also indoctrinate anyone in their presence of them, we know that's what happened to Saren before he attacked the Citadel." Ashley recounted what she knew of Sovereign's capabilities, she also noticed that Demala's interest peaked at the mention of indoctrination.

"And who was this Saren?" Demala was curious that this name was mentioned often.

"He was a Turian who had a grudge against Humans since the First Contact War, he was also a Council Spectre until evidence was found that he was betraying the Council's wishes. The Spectres are the Special Tactics and Reconnaissance branch of the Citadel Council and only answer to the Councillors themselves." Ashley was expecting to get a look of distrust from Demala, but she didn't.

"I could see where that would come in useful," Demala briefly commented.

"I did a bit of reading on the Federation and couldn't help but to notice that they have banned most genetic engineering, what happened in your side?" Ashley asked,

"Back in the late 20th century, Humans created a bunch of genetically enhanced people including an individual called Khan Noonien Singh. Singh ended up ruling over more than a quarter of the planet, his followers seized over 40 countries until the remaining free countries decided enough was enough, and the Eugenics wars started, killing between 30-37 million people, also having a secondary effect of destabilising Earth enough for World War 3 to start in 2026."

"Wait, Earth had a third world war on your side?" Ashley was shocked to say the least.

"Yes, it lasted from 2026 to 2053 and killed an estimated 600 million people, by what I know it was started over the topic of genetic enhancement. Humans however had taken their first FTL flight 10 years later in 2063 which got the attention of the Vulcan's and hence Earth's first contact with an 'alien' race occurred, in the 2100's nearly all poverty, disease, war and famine where banished." Demala explained what she knew of World War 3.

"We'll be leaving the wormhole in 5 seconds" Rokall informed Demala over the intercom.

"Before you leave I'll give you a PADD so you may file regular logs, these things are foolproof so I don't really need to explain how to operate it, also I'll give you a communicator so I don't have to use the ships intercom to contact you." Demala stated handing Ashley one of her spare Personal Access Display Devices.


Normandy SR-2


"EDI, did sensors pickup anything from the dreadnought before it jumped to FTL?" Shepard asked the Enhanced Defence Intelligence, who the crew just nicknamed EDI.

"Sensors picked up a significant increase in power focused around the four nacelles before the dreadnought jumped to FTL. There was no signs of mass effect fields." EDI informed from her station in the cockpit.

"Any idea of weapons?" Shepard enquired, earning a very uneasy look from Joker.

"You are not seriously considering taking on a dreadnought, because I am not in favour of dying." Joker retorted, Jeff "Joker" Moreau was always known to be a smart-ass.

"I detected what is most likely 27 torpedo tubes and 52 points on the hull which could be directed energy weapons, I would advise not engaging the dreadnought." EDI informed.

"Who needs that kind of firepower?" Miranda asked rhetorically.

"That is not my plan EDI, dying once is bad enough, twice...not on my plans and Miranda you will not report this back to the Illusive Man, do I make myself clear." Shepard knew that when the Reaper's arrive she'd need all the help she could get.

"Joker, set a course for Omega." Shepard ordered to the helmsman.


Citadel Station - Human Embassies


Anderson was looking over the balcony of the human embassy watching as the various races wet along with their daily business, he decided it was time to discuss the days events with Admiral Hackett over a secure comm channel.

"Anderson, you needed to contact me?" Admiral Steven Hackett asked, since the Battle of the Citadel he'd been promoted to being the head of the Systems Alliance military.

"I assume you've received the message I sent." Anderson stated, just minutes before he had sent the message regarding the first contact and Shepard's return.

"You made first contact with an alien race that calls themselves the Romulan Republic, they don't use mass effect based FTL, and apparently came through a wormhole from an alternate universe." Hackett had heard about some theories on wormholes, but he never expected one to actually appear.

"Yes, that's correct and I have results from scans conducted, their ship the RRW Arcturus A seems to have 27 torpedo launchers and 52 directed energy weapons mounted on their hull. According to reports from the ships commanding officer they use artificial singularities and matter/antimatter annihilation to power their ships and apparently they use an antimatter tipped projectile weapon called a photon torpedo, each has an explosive yield of up to 64 megatons." Anderson summarised what he knew of the new race that had arrived and their dreadnought.

"Damn, I hope they're friendly." Admiral Hackett stated with a hint a fear in his voice.

"Admiral Demala, the commanding officer of their ship seems to be willing to help fight the Reaper's when they show up, and there is another power in their universe called the United Federation of Planets that may want to initiate diplomatic relations." Anderson reassured Hackett.

"What do we know of the United Federation of Planets?" Hackett was curious at the mention of another power being mentioned.

"It was apparently founded in the year 2161 of their timeline which is now in the year 2410, the Federation as they call it was created after a war that Earth had with the Romulan Empire, the Federation now consists of over 150 races, more than a thousand colonies and spans over 8,000 light-years with Earth as it's capital." Anderson explained what he knew about the Federation.


RRW Arcturus A - en route to New Romulus


"Are sensors picking up anything unusual?" Demala requested, the last thing she wanted was to be stuck in the wrong timeline.

"Sensors aren't picking up anything unusual, I can confirm we are in our universe." Satra informed the bridge crew and Demala.

"Plot a course for New Romulus, use the Quantum Slipstream Drive," Demala ordered to Rokall as she maneuverer the dreadnought to face towards their destination, before activating the QSD.

"ETA to New Romulus, 6 minutes. Estimated speed transwarp 29" Rokall called after the ship jumped to FTL.

"Tovan, send a message through to New Romulus Command, tell them we have made first contact with multiple FTL capable races, they may be open to diplomatic relations, recommend reassigning USS Enterprise to handle the Federation's official diplomatic business. Also we have been informed of a potential threat to security from through the wormhole, request a meeting with Admiral Kerenek and Admiral Quinn." Demala requested, speaking in shorthand to inform Tovan of what to send.

"We've received a message from both Captain Daniels and Kitara. They're being diverted to other assignments." Tovan informed.


"Computer begin log, Ashley Williams... I've only been on this assignment for a short amount of time, the crew on this ship the RRW Arcturus makes an Alliance vessel seem quiet, I guess that comes with having a crew of 3,000. Admiral Demala has been very friendly. I still don't trust anyone here, it's not because they're aliens, they're non-Alliance. This New Romulus we are going to is nearly in the same position as Eden Prime...That planet really likes following me around it seems. It'll be interesting to see what it's like on the other side of the wormhole."

"Commanding officers log, Admiral Demala reporting...We're heading back to New Romulus to report on the potential threat of these 'Reapers', in particular their apparent ability to indoctrinate organic species scares me the most and the fact that there are still Tal Shiar forces out there somewhere, they'd be foolish enough to think that they'd get power over the Romulan people through the Reapers. It remains to be seen what command says on the matter, but prudence dictates reporting to command nonetheless."


Omega Station


As Shepard, Miranda and, Jacob proceeded up the dark corridor, a Batarian wearing Blue Suns armour approached, "Aria, wants to see you in Afterlife...Now!"

"Yeah, I'll see her when I'm ready." Shepard remarked unholstering her heavy pistol.

"I wouldn't want to keep Aria waiting," the Batarian replied, he didn't seem to be too phased about the weapon pointing at him, by the reports he heard Shepard did that with almost everyone, after he'd finished he simply walked away.

"I hate coming to Omega, I end up feeling I need to take two showers in addition to standard decontamination." Miranda commented, she'd been on Omega on multiple occasions and afterwards she always felt filthy.

"Let's just get Archangel, Zaeed and Mordin Solus, before that we'll need to speak with Aria, although I think we may have already found Zaeed," Shepard stated as she noticed a man in orange and white armour with one tattooed arm exposed.

"Zaeed Massani?" Shepard questioned, before the man dropped the Batarian he had choking against a wall.

"Commander Shepard, 'bout guddamn time you showed up, do you know of the arrangement that I have with Cerberus?" Zaeed asked.

"No, I just heard you wanted to join my crew and kick some Collector ass." Shepard replied, she was unaware of the conditions of Zaeed's employment.

"You'll have the file on it when I settle in on your ship." Zaeed said, the Batarian he had before tried to flee, but not before Zaeed shot him in one of his legs.

As they approached Afterlife, first thing they noticed was the large crowd waiting to get in, the only thing blocking them was a disgruntled Elcor, or at least he was constantly stating that.

When Shepard made her way up to see Aria, the bodyguards swarmed around before one started scanning her, "You know if you're searching for weapons you're doing a lousy job." Shepard remarked impatiently, before the bodyguards gave her the all clear.

"Shepard, what brings you to Omega?" Aria T'Loak asked coldly.

"I'm looking for Archangel and Mordin Solus." Shepard replied, sitting down on one of the seats.

"Half of Omega is looking for Archangel, he has become a rather large nuisance, you'll be able to find him by asking the Merc Recruiter downstairs. Mordin Solus on the other hand I've always liked, he's just as likely to help you as he is likely to shoot you, he's down in the quarantine zone in the slums." Aria informed Shepard, never once changing her expression.


RRW Arcturus A - In orbit of New Romulus


"We're in standard orbit, Demala." Rokall reported from the helmsman's console.

All around the Arcturus where numerous ships from the Romulan Republic, United Federation of Planets and the Klingon Empire. Since it's founding, New Romulus had become a major waypoint for most of the races in the Alpha and Beta quadrants to enter the Iconian gateway linking to the Solanae and Jenolan dyson spheres.

"Veril, have the transporters been fixed yet?" Demala asked the Chief Engineer.

"Transporters are now operational and they shouldn't overload going through the wormhole again." Veril reported, checking diagnostic reports from the Transporter room.

"Tovan, Satra you're with me, Veril you have the bridge." Demala ordered, handing command of the warbird over to the third officer.

"Ashley, will you meet up with us in the Transporter room," she requested speaking into the standard issue wrist mounted communicator.

"Which way is the Transporter room again?" Ashley asked over the communicator, she was still unfamiliar about the layout of the ship.

"Main turbolift to Engineering then the first left when you exit, oh and I hope you don't get sick easy." Demala commented, the first time anyone used a transporter was always the worst.

The most noticeable part of the transporter room was the two large transporter pads set into alcoves in the far wall. Ashley was the first into the room followed by Demala, Tovan and Satra who promptly moved to the transporter pad earning a confused look from Ashley.

"Wait why are you standing around?" Ashley asked, looking very sceptical.

"Matter transporters are much safer than shuttle transport in this universe and we probably won't find a park where we're going." Demala said offering a hand out to Ashley.

"And they work all the time?" Ashley asked, still uneasy.

"They work most of the time. Plus it's more comfortable than hitting turbulence in a shuttle." Demala explained cheerfully.

"Wait...what," Ashley exclaimed before the getting transport.

"Beam us down to New Romulus Command...Energize." Demala called before the team of four disappeared in a beam of light.


New Romulus Command- June 5th 2410 1600hrs (4:00pm)


Ashley felt dizzy and disorientated when she rematerialized in the rotunda, she almost stumbled but Demala quickly supported her.

"What's the human term, would you like a bucket?" Demala had heard some of the Starfleet officers say the quote to someone who looked like they where going to gag.

"No I'm fine, I've survived hangovers worse than this. Let's not try that again anytime soon. Where are we?" Ashley said regaining her bearings, as she looked around she saw what looked like ivy growing up the long slender columns that wrapped around the rotunda, then she focused on the view in front of her to see a large stone balcony with a view of the beautiful vista of the river wedged between the steep cliffs.

"This is the headquarters of the Romulan Republic as well as fleet command. We'll need to see Fleet Admiral Kerenek soon." Demala stated, breaking Ashley's focus on her surrounds and moving off to the Admiral's office.


"Admiral Demala, you wanted to see me?" Admiral Kerenek enquired after they shared the mutual salute of bringing their right hands up to their chest in a fist.

"Yes, but first I'd like to introduce Operations Chief Ashley Williams, she is from the other side." Demala signalled for Ashley to step forward.

"The other side?" Kerenek requested more information.

"The wormhole that we entered leads to an alternate universe, which we believe is independent from our timeline, we have made contact with four races from the other side, including humans. All four have FTL capabilities and are members of a larger government, the details have been sent to you." Demala replied, summarising what she learnt from the other universe.

"Yes I received the report just before you entered, what concerns me are these Reaper's you mentioned, apparently they are responsible for the mass extinction of FTL capable races every 50,000 years, and the last race to be killed off was the Protheans. Do you have any proof?" Admiral Kerenek said as he skimmed through the report on his terminal.

"Ashley Williams here has seen one of these Reaper's two years ago, during what the other universe calls the Battle of the Citadel, she can give you the full details." Demala replied and turned to face Ashley, who proceeded to tell Admiral Kerenek what she knew of the Reapers, which she had told Demala when they where back on the Arcturus, including the fact that the only person to any part of the Protheans extinction was Commander Shepard who was now dead.

After several minutes Admiral Kerenek turned back to face Demala. "I'm sorry but we can't divert ships to this threat without some solid evidence, especially in the aftermath of the Iconian War, but with the increased strategic significance of the wormhole it will need to be reinforced. Should these Reaper's become an immediate threat we will be ready, at least we have warning, I'll forward the reports to Starfleet and the Klingon Empire. Is there anything else you need?"

"One more thing, we'll need subspace radio boosters on each side of the wormhole, the wormhole is emitting some interference that we can't counter, also the four races we found on the other side seem to be open to diplomatic talks with the Romulan Republic and the Federation, might be best for Starfleet to send an experienced diplomatic crew, Captain Daniels is a soldier not a diplomat and also he's been put on another assignment." Demala replied.

"Very well, I'll have the subspace boosters sent to your ship immediately and I'll see if the Enterprise is available to take a few diplomats...And Demala I am giving you authorisation to investigate the threat of these Reapers." Kerenek replied, if there was one thing they needed most now was manpower, the Dominion war 35 years ago has taken their toll on the Federation, Romulans and the Klingon Empire.

Demala gestured that she had finished by giving the standard Romulan salute, bringing her fist up to her chest and saying, "Jolan Tru" which Admiral Kerenek returned.

As they walked out of the office Ashley turned to Demala, "Wasn't unexpected that we wouldn't get assistance, by the way who are these Iconians?" she enquired, unsurprised at Admiral Kerenek's response to their request.

"Actually it's likely that the flagship of the entire Federation fleet will be making it's way to your universe soon and if the Reapers show up we are only a few hours away. About the Iconians, that'll need to wait until we're back on the Arcturus." Demala replied reassuring Ashley that they'd have help with the Reapers.


USS Enterprise NCC 1701-F Solanae Dyson Sphere- 5 minutes after meeting with Admiral Kerenek


"Commanding officers log, stardate 85629.26, Captain Va'kel Shon reporting. The USS Enterprise has been ordered by Starfleet Command to pick up a contingent of diplomats from the New Romulus embassies and report to the universe which Admiral Demala of the RRW Arcturus investigated, apparently the races on the other side are open to diplomatic relations, I suppose after the last few years and the Dominion war we are in dire need of more manpower since the end of the Iconian War, and I owe Demala for saving my life when the Belfast was destroyed in service. It will be interesting to see what is on the other side of the wormhole as this is the first instance that the Federation has sent official diplomatic staff to an alternate universe."

"Helm, set a course for New Romulus, then for the wormhole...Engage," the Andorian captain ordered from the Captain's chair on the bridge of the Odyssey class dreadnought, the 7th Federation starship to bear the honoured name of USS Enterprise.


RRW Arcturus A- 45 minutes after meeting with Admiral Kerenek finished.


After the brief tour of New Romulus, the away team beamed back to the Arcturus in a beam of brilliant green light, to the away team's relief Ashley fared better with her second transport.

"Tovan, Satra you can report back to your usual stations, Ashley if you'll follow me I'll tell you what we know about the Iconians." Demala said ordering her crew back to stations, when she entered the turbolift she gave the order for the lift to stop at the bridge.

The turbolift ride only lasted a few moments until the doors glided open, Demala swiftly moving toward the ready room with Ashley lagging behind.

"The Iconian Empire had a galaxy-spanning empire around 200,000 years ago and they created an immense gateway network to allow them to transport ships and troops instantly across their empire. Their homeworld was rendered uninhabitable by the means of an orbital bombardment by several races that were disgruntled with the Iconian's policy of not sharing technology with those deemed incapable of using it responsibly. Six months ago the Iconian Empire declared galactic war which cut the combined fleets of the Romulan Republic, Klingon Empire and the United Federation of Planets in half, it ended with the Battle of Sol three weeks ago."

"Wait, what are these 'gateways' you mentioned?" Ashley was again lost when Demala skipped information.

"Portals created by the Iconians which allow instant point to point transport of anything from a person to a ship, depending on the size of the gateway. After the discovery of an Iconian Gateway on New Romulus we have used several gateways to access far reaches of the galaxy which where previously inaccessible, we also know that a servitor race of the Iconians, the Solanae where responsible for the construction of the Dyson Spheres on our side, each one spanning 4 AU in size." Demala clarified the information for Ashley, earning a surprised look at the mention of the Dyson Spheres.

"And here I am thinking the Citadel is big." Ashley exclaimed, after letting out a whistle.

"Demala, the Enterprise just dropped out of warp, we're also detecting elevated tachyons and antiprotons at a bearing of 0-4-5 mark 0." Tovan reported over the intercom.

"Prepare a tachyon sweep and notify New Romulus Command." Demala ordered as she stepped out of the ready room.

As the tachyon sweep finished the iconic shimmer of a ship decloaking filled the viewscreen, "Admiral, it's a Tal Shiar D'deridex class," Commander James Taylor, one of the higher ranking Starfleet officers on exchange and also the Chief Tactical Officer reported.

"Red Alert all hands, battle stations" Demala ordered over a ship wide comm channel, just prior to the dreadnought banking to the right bringing the forward phaser cannons and torpedo tubes to bear on the battle cruiser.

"All phaser cannons are armed" Commander Taylor noted from his console behind and to the right of the 'Captain's chair', Demala simply gave a nod to confirm the firing order as the phaser cannons pulsed with a rapid barrage of destruction, knocking the battle cruisers shields down to 30% in the first volley. The Tal Shiar battle cruiser wasn't going down with out a fight however and released a torrent of heavy plasma torpedoes only for most of them to be stopped by a spread of plasma weapons from the Republic fleet, the one remaining torpedo struck a Miranda class frigate and destroyed it in a fireball. The Enterprise finished the fight with one of it's tricobalt torpedoes, slamming into the battle cruiser which promptly started crumpling like a tin can as it was swallowed by own singularity core and exploded.

"All stations, stand down from red alert," Demala ordered through the ship wide comms, cancelling her previous order.

"Remind me to never piss you guys off." Ashley quipped, standing by the ready room door looking wide eyed in shock.

"Tovan, send a message to Admiral Kerenek informing him we found where the Tal Shiar troops on the surface where coming from, then hail the Enterprise," Demala requested turning towards her first officer to her left.

"Message sent, hailing the Enterprise now." Tovan replied as he finished working on his console.

"Admiral Demala, we've got the diplomats on board and we're ready to head off whenever you're ready, Starfleet has also officially sanctioned this mission," Captain Va'kel Shon, the Andorian commanding officer of the USS Enterprise-F answered the hail.

"We're ready...And really, a tricobalt torpedo." Demala quipped with a bit of friendly banter.

"Not all of us have 52 cannons hanging off our ships, Shon out." The Andorian quipped back, he was well used to the amount of banter Demala gave everyone.

"Rokall, set a course for the wormhole...Engage." Demala ordered, letting the helmsman pick the best speed.


"Computer begin log, Ashley Williams...We are heading back to the wormhole linking this universe to the universe where I come from along with the Enterprise. As there seems to be a lack of 'mass effect' technology on this side the crew have started referring to the other universe as the 'mass effect' universe. I've seen some of this ships combat capabilities, according to the tactical sensors on the Arcturus, the first volley of some energy weapons they call 'phasers' managed to reduce the shields of a D'deridex class battle cruiser down to 30% before the flagship of the Federation, the USS Enterprise fired something called a tricobalt torpedo into the battle cruiser causing a singularity to form near it, as a result it's engine apparently imploded which destroyed the ship, the singularity collapsed and also sent out a substantial shockwave. The Reaper's have gotten the powers on this side concerned enough to put Demala in charge of investigating the threat and they're considering placing a station on their side of the wormhole."

The two dreadnoughts entered the wormhole's mouth with the Scimitar class taking the lead, the trip was relatively smooth apart from a couple of bumps as they sped through the wormhole at 25% of light speed, leaving the other side of the wormhole in 7 minutes.

"Set course for the Citadel, transwarp 14." Demala ordered to the helm before both dreadnoughts shot into FTL.

About an hour later both ships dropped out of warp 1200km away from the Citadel, pushing the nebula gas and debris out of the way as they slowed down eventually coming to a full stop.

"We're being hailed by the Destiny Ascension," Tovan noted as his console started beeping.

"Very well, open a channel." Demala replied brushing a few strands of her hair away from her face.

"Admiral Demala, we welcome you back to the Citadel. We do need to ask what the USS Enterprise is here for." Matriarch Lidanya enquired, referring to the black and gleaming white dreadnought that was off to the starboard side of the Arcturus.

"The USS Enterprise is transporting a team of diplomatic personnel, they are requesting to make official contact for the United Federation of Planets." Demala explained to the Asari matriarch.

"I'll need to contact the council to verify that, please hold you position." Matriarch Lidanya practically ordered.

The crew of the Arcturus and the Enterprise waited briefly for no more than 5 minutes until they got their reply from Matriarch Lidanya, "You have permission from the council to land in the Citadel, I also have Councillor Anderson wanting to speak with both you and Operations Chief Williams."

"Very well, we'll contact Councillor Anderson in a couple of minutes." Demala replied before ending the conversation.

"Ashley Williams, please report to my ready room." Demala requested over the comm channel.

It was only 2 minutes before Chief Williams entered the ready room to find Demala sitting behind her desk filling out reports.

"You needed to see me?" Ashley asked getting Demala's attention.

"Yes, Councillor Anderson requested to speak with us specifically, we can contact him securely from here." Demala replied pressing a few buttons on her desk making one of the 'paintings' disappear to reveal a screen, it wasn't long until Councillor Anderson appeared on the screen.

"Admiral Demala. Chief Williams, we've just had contact with Shepard, according to her she was rebuilt by Cerberus to fight the Reapers." Anderson explained, looking pissed off at the same time.

"Wait, there's something here I'm missing." Demala commented observantly.

"Commander Fiona Shepard died when she got spaced out of the SSV Normandy when it was destroyed, and Cerberus is a human supremacist group who's only goal according to them is advancing the human race" Ashley clarified what Demala was missing.

"Great, another 'Tal Shiar' wannabe group" Demala retorted, rolling her eyes.

"Tal Shiar, who are they?" Councillor Anderson had never heard the name before.

"The Tal Shiar was the elite intelligence agency of the Romulan Star Empire, they also had the role of keeping their boot on the Romulan people until after the Hobus supernova that destroyed Romulus." Demala explained further.

"Anyway, we have reports coming in that the colony, Horizon may be a target for some type of attack, and we need someone to get their anti-air defences online, we also have reports that Shepard will be there too." Anderson said sifting through the intelligence reports that he had received, including one from an anonymous source.

"Demala, that Normandy type ship is back." Tovan called over the comm.

"Very well councillor, we can set course for Horizon tomorrow." Demala replied to Anderson, before closing the channel and proceeding to the bridge.

"Demala, I'm not entirely sure we should be working with Cerberus." Ashley protested pre-emptively.

"We won't be working with Cerberus, I have had far too many bad experiences with groups like them." Demala answered, almost snapping at Ashley.


Normandy SR-2 in the vicinity of the Citadel


"Leaving mass relay in 5 seconds" Joker noted while working on the helmsman's console, before the Normandy dropped out of FTL, "Ah Commander, looks like that overpowered dreadnought is back and they've brought a friend with them, name on their hull is USS Enterprise-F...We're being hailed by the dreadnought calling itself the RRW Arcturus-A, they're calling for you by name."

"Put in onscreen," Shepard replied prior to the image of Admiral Demala appearing on a console in the bridge, "This is Commander Shepard of the Normandy, I haven't seen any ship like yours. How do you know who I am?"

"Commander Shepard, you're reputation proceeds you, I am Admiral Demala of the Romulan Republic. I have been given authority to investigate the potential Reaper threat, specifically to the before mentioned Republic. I would prefer however to speak face-to-face for security reasons." Demala replied.

Shepard was sceptical, nobody apart from the original Normandy crew including Captain Anderson was willing to accept that the Reapers where a threat, "On two conditions, first I will need to assign my own security team, secondly I'm still removing Cerberus bugs from the Normandy so it'd be more secure to meet on your ship."

"Alright, I have a condition of my own, don't bring any personnel affiliated with Cerberus. You may proceed to the Arcturus, I'm sending coordinates now. Demala out." Demala said assertively, she had virtually zero patience when it came to supremacist groups whether it was the Tal Shiar or Cerberus.


RRW Arcturus-A Hangar


Shepard, Garrus and Mordin jumped as the tractor beam locked on to the shuttle and started towing it towards the hangar.

"We have locked a tractor beam on to your shuttle, please disengage all engines to prevent damage," the flight control officer again had to request, before the shuttle engines where shut off and the shuttle glided towards the landing point.

"What's Ash doing here?" Garrus noted, looking out of the front viewer as they approached the landing point he noticed four individuals, two seemed to have some form of firearms.

As Shepard's team left their shuttle, Mordin was the first to comment as he looked around, "Interesting. Atmosphere seems to be held in with energy shields."

"Commander Shepard, I'm Admiral Demala, behind me is Subcommander Tovan Khev, my first officer, to his left is Subcommander Hivan, the ships Chief Medical Officer, and by what I've been told you already know Chief Williams.

Shepard then decided to introduce her team, "To my left is Garrus Vakarian, Gunnery Officer and Mordin Solus, Science Officer of the Normandy SR-2."

"Mordin, there's no need to use subterfuge." Demala noticed the Salarian attempting to discreetly scan the Romulan crew.

"Fascinating, I'm detecting partial human DNA in you. Also how did you know I was scanning you?" Mordin replied rapidly.

"I'm a Human-Romulan hybrid, I am also one of the few rare Romulans that have telepathic powers." Demala explained how she noticed Mordin.

At this moment Ash decided she needed answers from Shepard, "What the hell are you doing flying around in a Cerberus ship, and we all thought you where dead, we saw you get spaced."

"I was dead, until Cerberus rebuilt me. So far I've been investigating the disappearance of human colonies. Also I'm not working for Cerberus, I'm only using their equipment and intel." Shepard explained, still not easing Ashley's concerns. Ash was always loyal to the Alliance and she felt betrayed by Shepard seemingly joining a known supremacist group.

"If you would like to follow me to the conference room, we may proceed." Demala said as she moved off to one of the turbolifts.


"So, Commander Shepard what exactly do you know about the Reapers?" Demala started questioning Shepard.

"I'm guessing that Ash told you most of it, but I also received visions from a couple of Prothean beacons as well as the means to interpret them from an Asari that we freed from what was called a Thorian. I also believe that they may be behind some recent colony abductions." Shepard explained.

At that moment Tovan commented to Demala, "Sounds a lot like what the Tal Shiar and Elachi did to Virinat and other colonies."

"What exactly is this Tal Shiar and Elachi?" Shepard asked, confused.

"As I told Ash here, they are a Intelligence agency of the Romulan Empire or what's left of it, about the only thing they're interested in is power. The Elachi however we don't know much about, they live in a realm that we call subspace and they convert abductee's into more Elachi, until I went and blew up their base of operations." Demala explained.

"I'm going to guess that you're not from around here." Shepard noted, she'd never heard of any colony called Virinat and didn't know what the hell subspace was.

"No, we come from what would be called an alternate universe, we've been able to travel through a stable wormhole linking both universes, as far as we know permanently. Also I think it may be best if we team up, if the Tal Shiar" Demala replied, getting a protest from her first officer until she started giving him the death stare.

"Yeah, you can tag along, just don't get in my way. Also we have our first lead, a colony called Horizon." Shepard replied, when it came time to go through the Omega 4 relay she'd need all the help she could get.

At that moment Demala's combadge started beeping, signalling a message was coming through, she quickly moved out of the conference room signalling everyone to stay, "Demala speaking, what is it?"

"We've been taking detailed scans, and we keep picking up traces of tachyon particles in addition to the antiprotons." Satra reported over the comm channel.

"Can you give any more details?" Demala asked.

"With these readings, I'd estimate that they are more than 24 hours old, I only managed to find them with a detailed short range scan, they seem to be in a distinct pattern heading for one of the Mass Relays and we both know only a cloaked ship would be responsible for these readings" Satra said with more detail.

"Ok, send a message to command advising them to deploy additional forces to the Archer System. Keep me posted." Demala said before proceeding back to the conference room.

"If there is nothing else to discuss then this meeting is over. Commander Shepard I'll escort you and your team back to the shuttle." Demala said, signalling everyone out of the room.


That is the end of Chapter 3, next will be the Horizon mission, over the next few chapters I'll be working on perfecting the plot as much as I can and I am open to constructive feedback.