A/N. Now finally we can begin with the story! Chapters will be irregular, as I have classes and stuff, but you can expect one chapter a week on Average.

Again, if you recognise it, I probably don't own it. Mass effect belongs to BioWare and Microsoft.

Also before I begin, here are some important stuff.

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

~"AI"~

*Sound Effects*

POV/Location/Time Change.

.°

Chapter 3: The Board is Set

I

15:27 hours, June 11, 2300 Earth Standard.

Sector S8, Shanxi Theta System

3 worn down ships can be seen near the mass relay. I Destroyer and 2 Frigate weight classes. "All ships standby for Relay Displacement. I repeat, all ships standby for Relay Displacement. Over." Damian Marley, the captain of the largest ship, the Sojurn, spoke into the microphone as he looked out into the vastness of space from his command deck. This was just another day of displacing a new relay for Planium Extraction, not a fun job, but necessary all the same. 'Sometimes I do wonder why the government insists on dismantling every relay for Planium, when we can just make it artificially, or just mine it from the vicinity of Class B stars. Not that I should complain as it means more money for my company.'

Returning from his musings, he focuses back on directing his 2 ships into position. "Bumblebee, move 2.4 klicks at 34° North, Cassian is to hold position. Begin thruster implantation procedure. Over." As the two smaller ships position themselves, and begin attaching the thrusters on the relay in a systematic pattern, the largest ship begins the process of launching a probe, to assertain what's on the other side of the relay.

"Hold positions, I repeat, hold positions. Preparing for probe Launch. Over."

"Cassian holding position. Over."

"Bumblebee holding position. Over."

~"Activating Relay in 10…9…8…"~ The AI of the Sojurn spoke up.

'Let's see what treasures you're hiding beautiful. Then maybe I'll be able to leave this dead end job and retire somewhere…' Damian thinks to himself while looking intently at the probe approaching the Relay.

~"5…4…3… Relay Activation Failure."~

"What? This has never happened before. Software glitch already? I just bought this new AI last year! Damn Rosco, can't even make an AI without glitches and bugs! I should have stuck with General Extremes!" Damian muttering curses orders one of the deckhands to run troubleshooting on the AI. After grumbling for a few minutes, "What happened? Found anything yet? What seems to be the issue?"

"No sir, the AI seems to be perfectly fine and running smoothly sir."

"Then why is it not working?" He barks at the deckhand.

"Sir… it seems the activation failed because the relay was already in the process of being activated sir." the deckhand says a bit timidly.

"What? Already being activated? Check the system again, were the only ships in system, other than the Colony Defence Fleet. So unless you're suggesting someone activated it from the other side…"

But before her could finish his sentence, claxons and alarms begin blaring.

"What the hell is happening?"

"Sir… it seems the relay is activating and… and…something is coming through!"

"Coming through? Oh My God! First Contact! I am not paid for this! Contact the defense fleet, let them deal with it. And someone get these alarms to shut off!"

They all stare wide eyed as the relay activates and a few moments later, a ship with flowing curves comes out of the relay immediately followed by 2 sharp-angled Avian looking ships.

X

X

19:00 hours, 2736 GST(Galactic Standard)

Somewhere in the Attican Traverse

Commander Kaeon Kylanius had served as the ideal soldier in the Turian Army, for all his career, with a perfect record. This dedication was what allowed him to be made Captain of the dreadnought Fist of Palaven, and also incharge of the security for the exploration team tasked with opening a new relay. The Fist of Palaven may have been old, but she still had a few more tricks up its sleeve. And to be allowed to captain such a ship, was truely an honour. And he was determined to keep his record clean, by preventing a repetation of the Yahg incident.

"All ships, this is Commander Kylanius, of The Fist of Palaven. Today is a historic day for the Citadel council. Today, we once again dive and unravel the unknown, as after 32 years, we shall once again open a new relay into regions unknown!"

"Shall we proceed then Commander?" Matriarch Polinia, incharge of the Exploration vessel asks over the comms.

"Yes Matriarch. But I insist we send in scout ships alongside you to allow you to escape in case we encounter hostiles." Commander Kylanius replies.

"Alright Commander, if you insist."

Recieving confirmation, two frigates move in towards the inactive relay alongside the exploration vessel and activate it.

Soon they're engulfed in the familiar massless tunnel of the relays. As they exit with a bright flash, they notice a fleet of odd unknown ships…

X

X

2736 GST

Quarian Exploration ship, somewhere in the Attican Traverse.

Captain Rael'Zorah Vas Rayya, looked out of the viewport of his ship, an old Asari cruiser that belonged to some matriarch from Cyone before being ditched and subsequently repaired by the Migrant Fleet. Now it was called Juyoka, and serves as a deep exploration vessel.

"System scan complete, sir, Nothing of value except some asteroids and a minor deposit of Eezo on one of the moons of the gas giant." One of his aides informs.

"Alright, let's move on to the next system. Let's hope we find something useful for the fleet and make this mission worth the fuel." Captain Zorah tells his aide.

"Ok sir. Though I have a question I would like to ask if you don't mind sir." The aid asks.

"Oh, No problem, ask away."

"Sir, I was just wondering why we're wasting precious eezo combing through desolate systems, when we could use it for other things in the fleet?" the aide asks.

"As hard as it is to admit, the migrant fleet is dying. We're woefully short on resources as more and more of our ships are pushed to double even triple their planned service lifespan. And if the situation doesn't improve, we the Quarians will go extinct in the next century or so. We need resources, a lot of them, and we need them fast. Thats why we're combing through desolate systems. We're trying to find resources the council may have overlooked." Captain Zorah says in a grim tone.

The next few hours are spent in silence as no one on the deck wants to speak up. A few hours later they emerge into a new system.

"Exiting transit FTL."

"The system has a standard Yellow star, and only 3 planets, only one of which is a rocky planet. Both the gas giants seem to have rings, which could have potential eezo deposits. The system also seems to have an inactive mass relay on the opposite side." The pilot declares.

"Take us closer to the gas giants. Let's see if we can find something useful." Captain Zorah orders.

As the ship begins to swerve towards the gas giants, the aide calls out. "Sir we've got incoming FTL signatures! I detect 6 ships. All batarian IFFs sir!"

"Take us as far away from them as possible, and let's hope they don't detect us." Captain Zorah says.

The pilot immediately obeys and starts taking the ship to the other side of the system. Meanwhile, the batarian ships drop out of FTL. They are a random collection of scavenged old ships mostly of Turian design with a batarian cruiser at the helm. Despite the best efforts of the Quarians, somehow the batarian ship directly hails them.

"Ah, looks like the tip about suit rats was true after all" The batarian captain says with disgusting glee.

"Surrender yourself and your ship, and I promise to be lenient."

Captain Zorah was furious. Though the Juyoka was a pile of rust held together by hopes and prayers, it was his pile of rust, and woe be if he ever allowed a batarian pirate to take it from him, especially without a fight. "Take us towards the mass relay. Now!" he orders.

"But sir…" one aide tries to object.

"I said Now! We can't allow our survey data to fall into the hands of the batarians, if they do, then there won't even be scraps left for the Migrant fleet! The citadel has already exiled us, pushed us to near extinction, damn them and damn their rules!" Captain Zorah shouts.

The ship quickly accelerates towards the Relay and activates it. As they emerge on the other side, Captain Zorah is speechless by what he sees "By the ancestors…."

"Follow the suit rats" The batarian captain orders."looks like the suit rats have gone mad, they opened up a new relay. Someone contact the…..

Whoa! Cliffhanger kun?!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~xxxxxxxx~~~~~~~~~~~~~~xxxxxx~~~~

Lore Time!

Earth Standard Time: this is the date/time system used all across SoCon. Based off the 24hr Gregorian Calendar from earth. Most places usually have two or three different time sets, A local time, A planetary standard time, and the Earth Standard time. ES is very important in keeping track of dates and times in off planet situations like space stations and starships.

Relay Displacement: These days the SoCon government gives out contracts for the displacement of Relays as it is a pretty low risk job. It involves strapping thrusters to two sides of the relay and then simply activating the thrusters. These then automatically navigate the relay to a predetermined location for Planium Extraction to begin. This extraction is carried out by experts and scientists.

Relay probes: it is standard SoCon procedure, that before a relay is displaced, a probe be sent through to check what's on the other side for later action.

Rosco: Founded in 2132 by Mr Robert Edwin Vegas, Rosco quickly became popular due to their cheap and affordable offerings. While theyr specialize in home appliances and security systems, they also have a stake in the AI and robotics industry.

General Extremes: General Extremes is a split off company formed from what used to be Google. They are famous for their advances in AI, robotics, energy infrastructure and other software.

Colony defence Fleet: Every system with a Colony is provided a fleet to defend it. The size of a colony fleet depends on the population of the system. Fleet sizes rande from a few dozen ships, to a few hundred in case of large, densely packed systems.

Dates: I have Calibrated the dates such that the citadel council is on the same date as 2157 ie the cannon first contact of mass effect.

A/N

Well, that's it for today folks! See you next time!