Several tense minutes passed on the bridge of the Talons, the Captain still staring at the spot where the Terran's face had been, waiting for it to reappear. At stations with windows, a few turians saw their escort ships begin to advance on the Terran ship, only to be shot from somewhere behind, their kinetic barriers being destroyed before they were adrift, lifeless and seemingly dead. The bridge of the Talons, was unfortunately cut in two by the loss of power, and the command deck on which the Captain, Commander, and a dozen other officers sat, saw nothing of this, only able to wait.

Finally, after what seemed to be an eternity, the ship began to hum again, and projectors flared to life. Turians at stations instantly tried to gain control of their ship, only to find said control impossible. Each display showed static information, and not a single control seemed to be present. Worse, the doors, locked due to the controls being gone, and sealed as an emergency precaution against breaches, remained shut, without anyone in anything but the launch bays having any way to cut through the thick alloy of the protective seals.

"Hello, can you hear me?" asked the voice of the Terran again, and her image reappeared before Desolas, floating in the open air, and causing the turian to ball up his right hand into a three fingered fist, ready to punch it, but staying the infantile gesture, and just staring at her in contempt.

"I can hear you, Archer," he told her.

"Excellent, I apologize for the delay, my AI found herself unable to hold off disabling all displays on the ship. She has since corrected the issue, as I'm sure you've noticed," she commented to him, smirking in that infuriating way.

"You will release my vessel, now!" demanded Desolas, pounding his fist into the rail in front of him, leaning forward so that he was almost face to face with the alien. An AI too?! These Terrans flaunted every Council Law! He wouldn't stand for this.

"I'm afraid that is impossible. Your attitude during this has been less than accommodating of a First Contact situation. As such, I am going to be taking control of your vessel. I must now ask if you have any way of transferring personnel between ships in space, as we have been forced to disable your frigates, and they will not be able to fly with us," said the image of the Terran, and Desolas growled in frustration.

"You will release us now! I will not be captured by a primitive scum who doesn't even know what a Prothean is!" he said again, his voice nearly rabid in its intonations.

"That is not going to happen, Captain Arterius. Now do you have a way of transferring personnel or must I-" she was cut off as the turian struck the holo, his fist passing through the image.

"I will not stand for this! I would rather die here than let this stand! All stations, blow out the bulkheads in your section!" he ordered, drawing his own pistol, and then aiming for a spot he knew was a structural weak point on the command deck, a spot thin enough that one well placed mass effect round would expose them to vacuum.

Everything happened at once then, the turians around the bridge seemed to slow down, their brains unable to process a command that was literally suicide. Luckily, those closer to their captain were faster, and Commander Kryik responded to an order of that sort in the only sane way, he punched his commanding officer. Desolas, dropping his aim, stared at his first officer who hit him, and then held his pistol right at him, the officer diving aside just as the captain pulled the trigger, sending fire into the half a dozen stations behind him, and forcing the bridge crew to start going for cover.

Either wanting to punish a disobedient officer first, or forgetting about his own order, Desolas rounded the command display on Nihlus, walking past several huddled officers, mostly cadets, who had no idea what was going on, or what to do. They all just stared as their captain took aim at their commander, and pulled the trigger again, and this time Nihlus was just a slight second too slow, the round burying itself in the flesh of his leg, just above the foot, and causing him to fall down to the deck with a heavy thud, blood already pouring from the wound.

Desolas walked up to his commander, a gleam in his eye telling everyone on the bridge his intentions, as he took aim at Nihlus' head. Before he could pull the trigger, he was struck from behind, hard, and his vision went black, unconscious before he hit the deck, as behind him stood Lieutenant Vakarian, breathing hard, with a pipe held in his hands. Looking down at the knocked out captain, he just stared for a few moments, then walked over, and offered a hand up to his commander, helping him up, and intending on taking him to the medbay, but Kryik waved him towards the face of the Terran instead, and nodding, Vakarian took him to stand before the alien.

"My name is Command Nihlus Kryik. Captain Arterius has been...relieved of his command. That puts me in charge, and I would ask what your terms of our surrender are, before I accept them," said the turian, hopping on one foot, the flesh of his leg torn, but not truly sundered. It could be healed, if they got him to medical, but for now, as Vakarian helped him stand, others on the bridge rushed around, one grabbing the emergency kit to help her commander, while three others aimed their weapons at the unmoving form of their captain, ready to fire if he made a wrong move.

"We hope that this is temporary, as such, terms of surrender are merely that you accompany us to a colony we have in this system. We'll see about getting some diplomats to meet us there, and then we'll accompany you back to your center of government to establish formal relations," said the Terran simply, and Nihlus nodded at the rather open minded demands. If he had been in Archer's position, he doubted he would have been as fair with his terms.

"We accept those terms, though I must admit, even if you release the door controls, none of the ships in our battle group is equipped for personnel transfer in space," he admitted, and it was the Terran's turn to nod.

"Alright, we thought that might be the case but wanted to make sure," she said this, before turning her head to face something behind her.

"T'Pol, do you have the atmospheric mixture for them?" he asked, no answer could be heard, but the Terran soon turned her head back towards Kryik.

"Alright, we'll generate an artificial atmosphere envelope. When that's done, you should be able to get your crews between the ships, remind them to bring as much supplies as they can, as I don't think we'll be able to feed you with our rations," said the Terran, causing the turians in the bridge to wonder just what he was on about, before he vanished.

The instant he was gone, everyone was startled to find doors all over the ship flying open, including those that lead out into space, and allowing them free movement again. Intraship communications were still down, but Vakarian quickly adapted, ordering the various bridge personnel to spread out and give word to everyone of the altered command structure, while he escorted Commander Kryik to the medbay, and a few of the cadets were ordered to take Captain Arterius to holding, to await a decision.

OoOoO

"Well, that should take them a while. How long can you keep the envelope up?" asked Archer as he turned to T'Pol's monitor.

"As long as we need. Better question, who's going over to their ship? It's gonna be a bit cramped," said the AI, looking through her monitor at the crew of the Phoenix, all seven of which had jammed themselves into the bridge. All eyes instantly turned to the woman at the rear of the group, still wearing the base of her powered armor.

"Like you have to ask?" she said with a smirk. This was, after all, part of her job. She was trained as a First Contact specialist. At least one person on the Sling Shot...she supposed Mass Relay, repair crews was. As such, she would try and make a good first impression, but the captain, nodding solemnly, seemed to have something else in mind for her.

"Alright, you'll transfer there while we've got the envelope up," he told her, and she saluted, about to leave, when he held up his hand.

"And I want you micronized before you go over," he added, and her expression drooped quite a lot, as the gunners began to snicker a little, until Tulley whacked the one closest to her on the back of the head.

"I don't think that's necessary, sir," said Shepard, and Archer shook his head at her.

"I do. You're going over there to establish some connections, not squash anyone, and besides, if the schematics T'Pol got of the ship are right, the only places you'd fit are their loading bays, and I'm certain they'll be storing supplies there. In order to be friendly, I want you to see eye to eye with these turians, so get down to their level, and then make some friends," said Jonathan in that voice that seemed to cut off any argument.

"Aye, sir," said Shepard. The command had been given, and she was going to follow it, even if she didn't like it. Micornizing was a bit disconcerting, both due to the reduction in size and mass, but also because of what it involved. Still, it was common enough. Engineering staff sometimes needed to do it to reach very tight spaces on ships, and so anything the size of the frigate had a tube to allow it, one she walked right up to, and then shuddered a little as she began to strip.

Outside, she heard the footsteps of her comrades as they prepared for their own tasks. The ship would need to turn around now, and head to Shanxi, the local colony in the area that had discovered the mass relay that was the cause of this whole thing. The colony was an agricultural world, light on metals and other resources, but heavy on arable land, which Terran crops took well to. Of course, at best speed it was over two weeks away.

Finishing stripping, Shepard placed the armor base suit in a nearby locker, before stepping up to the tube. It was, in basic terms, just a glass booth with a smaller version of itself at about ankle level. The only break in it were various openings in the floor and ceiling, all of which were closed at the moment, but would open the instant she was inside and shut the door. Gathering her courage, Shepard did just that, hearing the click of the door as if it was a coffin nail.

The instant that door closed, liquid began to pour from overhead. Not slowly, like a nice shower, but all at once, like a hose. The stuff, unlike water, tingled too, causing her to get goosebumps over her skin, as the stuff began to rise, quickly filling the chamber. When it reached her neck Shepard, involuntarily, took a deep breath, and let the stuff cover her completely, as she tightly closed her eyes, wishing she had something to listen to other than the whir of machinary.

Then it happened. The liquid entered a charged state, and arcs of lightning played over her skin from small electrodes set in the walls of the tube. Her skin felt like it was on fire, and she gasped, opening her eyes, her muscles twitching as she tried to stay still. Around her, the water was filled with tiny drops of light, coming off of her skin, and she felt, though she had been told it was psycho-semantic, that she was losing energy, being drained like a battery.

Slowly, the world around her grew, the walls of the tube pulling away from her as she collapsed in on herself. This process, of getting the protoculture literally torn from her body, was painful, but she endured, her training requiring it of her. Soon, the final drop emerged, and the liquid was draining out of the tube, leaving a nude, glimmering wet Shepard coughing on the floor, her body falling it its knees as her legs had to again support her weight.

"Hate that," she said to herself as she rose. Her skin looked red in places, but otherwise fine. The process was, after all, used regularly enough that it was safe, even if it was painful. Still, she did a quick physical check of herself, ending in a series of stretches, pulling on muscles that, without the backing of protoculture, felt stiff and weak, but she figured she'd get used to that soon enough. Walking forward, she shook herself a bit, the last drops of the liquid falling to the floor of the tube before she walked to the slightly distant tube door, and let herself out.

Outside, the world was now huge. She could recognize things only by the fact that she had set them up. Beside the tube was locker where she had just stored the clothes she'd been wearing, her boots that had seemed so light, now larger and heavier than her. She tried her best to ignore that though, or the shuddering impacts of the others still moving around outside as she walked to the nearby smaller locker, and soon picked out a set of clothing, something a little more casual than the engineers' work suits, and finally made her way to a small door in the wall.

Inside the wall were the corridors an engineer would use to avoid running into a full sized Terran while at micro size. Around her she could see the tubes and pumps of protoculture that powered the ship, each with a green glow that she found comforting as she walked forward, being greeted by a hissing sound as a small lift came to rest in front of her.

"Would you like a ride to the nearest airlock?" asked T'Pol's voice.

"How long would it take me to get there on my own?" she asked, genuinely curious as she stepped onto the lift, and grabbed onto the pole in the center, before the thing rose off the floor and started down towards the destination.

"About twenty minutes, but I can get us there in one. Oh, and Katana's got a supply kit waiting for you there, since I don't think you'll be able to eat what the turians do," aid the AI as the lift flew on. Nodding at this, Shepard just stared out of the holes in the wall, small vents, and watched as her friends, still full sized, could move at a walk faster than she could do at a run now. Being micronized sucked, but she did understand, and besides, it would be nice to get to learn about these strange aliens.

OoOoO

Commander Corinthus looked out the view port of his bridge, and felt utterly floored. The instant contact with the command cruiser had been lost, the formation went into action, ready to burn their way out of what was obviously some kind of trap, and bring a larger fleet back with them. Then something had shot at two of the six frigates. What it was, he still had no idea, as none of the radar, ladar, or even thermograph showed anything.

Worse, it fired again almost right after, disabling his own precious, Claw Four. The shot had been odd to say the least though. It impacted the barrier, and it blew it outward. The view of it from inside was so radically different than anything he had ever seen before that he was certain it was some kind of geth weapon. Those synthetics had been hiding behind the Veil for generations now, and they must be making their move, a fact that nearly had him bouncing off the walls.

Then, it looked like his suspicions were confirmed, as a bipedal synthetic form as large as his frigate came by, and he grabbed a side arm, ready to repel boarders, or die whenever the geth decided to blow his ship away. It didn't come to that though. Instead, he felt his ship move, the mass effect field still high enough to give them some gravity, as the mech pulled them, dragging them physically into sight of the rest of the formation, before flying off.

When finally, every ship was in sight, a larger craft came into view. He recognized it instantly, the mothership of the formation that had been reactivating a dormant mass relay. Seeing it with his own eyes, without the holos coloring it orange, he hand to wonder about it. It was green in coloration, a dark, forest green that was counterpointed by two bulges on either side of the hull which were light blue instead. More importantly, it had rounded edges and curves, where he knew warships to be more angular and from behind he could see two great engines pushing the thing forward, their glow almost blinding as he looked at them.

Then another flash, this one seemingly filling the whole of space around the ship, and Corinthus thought he was dead, only for the light to fade a moment later, and he could see something out there, a distortion just beyond the large vessel, which oddly distorted the light of the stars beyond. Worried, wondering what this strange vessel would do to him and his crew, the Commander did his best to reassure his pilot, looking out at the strange alien vessel, praying to the ancestors for salvation.

And now the strangest thing of all happened. Out of the view port he saw a shape coming from the cruiser Talons in the distance. At first, he thought they were just ejecting some trash out of an airlock, wasteful, but with them stopped the way they were, maybe the best way to do it. Then it came closer, and he noticed some odd shapes to it, until finally, it came right up to the view port of his bridge, and knocked. Just casual as you please, a turian, without a space suit just a small thruster pack, was knocking on the window.

Quickly, he got the message, and let the turian in, a cadet from the cruiser. It seemed that the formation had surrendered to the aliens, and would be accompanying them to their homeworld in the system. His ship dead in the water, the alien cruiser hanging overhead, and somehow making a field of breathable air in space, he didn't argue the surrendering part, and quickly got his crew to start making preparations to leave, prioritizing food and supplies due to the aliens apparently doubtful they could feed them.

Luckily, the formation had been on a long patrol, weeks worth of stores were on every vessel, enough to last every turian at least a month or two. Packing it all up, he had the men and women of his command get to the airlock, and with some trepidation, he opened himself to space, holding his breath for as long as he could, before taking in the strange air outside. It tasted odd, too much nitrogen he thought, but was otherwise breathable, and so he motioned for his crew to follow him, feeling odd as he leapt into the weightless void of space.

All around him, he saw other crews doing the same as he was, the commanders directing lines of turians to their waiting vessel. The sight of suitless beings literally jumping from ship to ship, some assisted by thrusters, but most just using their legs, was a little disconcerting, but Corinthus put on the best face he could for his troops. Then all motion stopped, as suddenly a sound echoed through the air, a whirring loudness of motors, and a huge section of the alien ship opened up.

Oddly, out of the opening came only a single form, before it closed up. This thing, looking like your average sentient, grabbed a spot on the hull of its vessel and pushed off, joining the line of turians in their entrance, and causing many an eye to turn towards the alien. Soon, she grew closer, and details began to stand out. She was the common form for most sentient life. Two arms, two legs, and a head, in the typical proportions. That was good at least, as if they'd been like the hanar or the elcor there might have ben some problems getting her on board.

He was sure it was a she too, as she grew closer. Her skin was smooth, like an asari's, though where that race had blue skin, like a sapphire, this one had white or pinkish white skin. The fur on top of her head was blue though, though shaded far darker than most asaris skin. She wore an odd garment as well, with a backpack that appeared as green as she ship she had launched from, but a single piece suit of weirdly dark blue material. It appeared as smooth as her skin as she grew closer, and though seemed to be made of some odd padded material. The thing also seemed to have a single zipper in the front, and the shoulders were separated from the rest by a line of golden yellow that circled around them.

Slowly she came onward, the distance she traveled greater than those of the turians from the frigates. Most stopped at the airlocks though, and watched her come down, her flight sure and true, even without thruster assistance. She landed like a dancer, her hand reaching out to the hull of the cruiser, and then flipping her end over end, before her feet smashed down heavily into the air lock, landing in a mass effect field. She didn't falter though, or fall to her knees, and instead snapped what was obviously a salute at Corinthus.

"Permission to join you in coming aboard the Talons?" she asked in a rather polite tone, her accent a bit odd as it came out of his omnitool and into his ear, but otherwise, she seemed the model of a military officer.

"I give you my permission to join my group," he said, returning the salute to her, in the turian fashion of hand over heart, and she nodded, waiting at the rear of the line, as everyone came on board and then the air locks shut behind them. Every pair of eyes was on the female alien, who stood slightly shorter than the average turian male, topping out at about five and a half feet tall. Almost everyone seemed to be trying to give her space though, like she was some massive giant they were afraid to get near.

"Can one of you escort me to Commander Kryik?" she asked as the airlock finished cycling, and everyone was allowed into the ship proper.

"The Commander was taken to the medbay to deal with an injury he received. That's two decks down from here. Commander Corinthus, you know where the quarters are?" asked the turian who had come from the main ship to get him. Corinthus nodded at the question.

"You and your crew will be sharing block D. You may stow your gear in then report to Petty Officer Kree on the command deck for duty assignments," said the cadet, before motioning for the alien to follow him, guiding her to one of the lifts on the level, and then slowly lowering into the ground. Wishing her luck, as he always hated riding the slow things, he ordered his group to form up, and start walking to their new quarters.

OoOoO

"Sir, reporting with our emissary from the Terrans," said the cadet as he stopped in front of a bed. On it was a turian, like the others she'd been seeing since she'd joined that group coming aboard, he was stone like face. She could see now though, that it was more like scales than rough stone. Oddly, it had taken her some time to notice, but every one of them wore makeup. At first, she thought that might mean they were a crew of females, but after spying a few with smoother features, she decided they were the females of the species, and the face paint was probably just some cultural thing.

"Ah, hello. How was the trip over?" asked the one lying in the bed. His leg was bandaged up, with long strips of cloth wrapped around it, as he kept it over a bucket of some kind of glowing stuff. What it was she didn't know, but Shepard guessed it was some kind of healing gel.

"The trip was uneventful, luckily. Commander Hannah Shepard, First Officer, and First Contact Specialist of the Phoenix," she identified herself, saluting in the way she'd seen the turian do in the airlock. This gesture seemed to impress the one in front of her, his white face nodding, before he returned the gesture.

"Excellent. I am Commander Nihlus Kryik, current Captain of the Talons, until a full inquiry can be held," he responded, wincing a little as he tried to move a little, only to bump his foot against the side of the bucket it was in, causing a turian in white robes, either a priest or a medic, though she assumed the later, clicking her mandibles together in annoyance.

"I am to inform you that we are to make our way to the second planet of this system, which we've designated Shanxi. From there, we'll see what the politicians want, but we've already contacted them, and they're getting accommodations ready for five hundred of your people," she told him, and Commander Kyrik nodded thoughtfully, before motioning for her to sit down.

"You say that like it will take us some time to get to this world. Seeing how your weapons are different, I'm going to go out on a limb and say your drive is not quite as fast as ours," he told her, and seemed to nod thoughtfully herself.

"For us, the trip is two weeks. It took us as long to make it here to the Sling-er, Mass Relay. We hope this will give us time to talk, and more importantly, time for the politicians to make up their minds," she told him, and that seemed to get a chuckle from the officer in front of her, showing that political red tape was probably a universal concept.

"Still faster than the Hierarchy. In the meantime, do you have the supplies you'll need?" asked the turian.

"I have enough to last the trip, and if I need more, I can ask the Phoenix to send some over," she told him.

"Good, good. Is there anything we can do for you then? Your people have been very accommodating of us, considering the captain's actions, and I would hate to seem like a bad host," this was said with a smirk, and Shepard, despite herself, grinned in return.

"All I need is a bunk, and some history tapes. I want to learn everything I can about your people, before we land on Shanxi," she said this in a serious tone, the grin vanishing, and Kryik nodded again. That sounded like a good idea, maybe a way to avoid the misunderstandings that had led to his formation save the command ship being disabled. He seemed to be deep in thought for a few minutes, before suddenly sitting up, and pointing at a turian standing by the medbay entrance.

"Vakarian, you're applying for a position in C-Sec, right?" asked the commander, and the turian seemed to be a bit caught off guard, but responded after only a moment's thought.

"As soon as this tour was complete, sir," answered the turian, and the commander pointed at him.

"Alright, Lieutenant Vakarian, I appoint you Commander Shepard's personal history envoy. C-Sec Citadel Security. It's the center of galactic society, and so they're run through a crash course on history. If anyone in the crew can answer your questions, it'll be him," explained Kryik, and if she didn't know any better, Shepard would have sworn she saw Vakarian blush, but he recovered so quickly, she might have imagined it, as he stepped forward, and gave his commander a salute.

"I won't let you down, sir. Should I take her back to my bunk then?" he asked, and Kryik just snorted out a laugh at him.

"No, no, this is an emissary of a foreign government. You'll be taking the state quarters on level 2," he informed Vakarian, who's eyes bulged out a little.

"Sir, those are the Captain's quarters," he protested, and that only seemed to make Kryik smirk again.

"And he won't be needing them for this trip. Now, go get your gear and put it in your new quarters. Cadet?" this last was directed at the one who'd brought Shepard to the medbay in the first place.

"Sir?" he asked.

"Please escort Command Shepard to her bunk for the trip," the order given, the cadet saluted again, and motioned for Shepard to follow. Giving a Terran salute, with the hand just above the eyes, Shepard turned on a heel and followed, trying not to mentally gripe as she got in the left again, and it slowly made its way to another deck.

OoOoO

A few minutes later, Shepard was settling into her new quarters. Normally, all she'd find in such a thing was just a couch or chair, and a monitor or two. Here, there was a large bed in one corner, though it took her a minute to recognize it as such. Her body seemed to realize what it was right away of course, but she resisted the urge to lay down in it, setting her pack in one corner, and slipping out a small can from it.

Pushing a button, the can dispensed a small, glowing purple stick, that she quickly set into her mouth, making a face at the bitter taste before swallowing it down. Patting her stomach, which gurgled at her in protest of the odd food stuff, she set the can back into her pack, and then made her way to the couch, sitting down and waiting. Luckily, Vakarian didn't take long to arrive, a pack over his own arm which he set in the corner opposite hers, before taking a seat in a desk chair.

"So, Hannah Shepard is your name?" asked the turian, and she nodded.

"My name's Vakarian, Arus Vakarian. I'm a lieutenant in the Hierarchy military and...uh, is there anything you want to now?" he asked, his hand going up to scratch the back of his head in an almost universal sign that showed he didn't know what to say. The blue haired Terran actually found the action endearing, as she chuckled at him, and then leaned forward in her seat.

"As I said, I want to know history, so why don't we start at the earliest event you know, and then work our way forward," she offered, and he nodded, clicking his mandibles together, before starting.

"Alright. Almost three thousand years ago, the asari, a race of blue aliens that look like you, found a place called the Citadel..."

OoOoO

(Author's Notes:

If you want a better description of the Terran Frigate, just do a google search for Zentraedi Scout Ship the first image is an image of the ship. Also, yes, for those who recognize it, Shepard is wearing the uniform of a command officer from Star Trek: Enterprise. I decided to run with that theme. No, this is not a star trek cross over as well, I just liked the reference.)