Would ya look at that? 2 chapters in 3 days! how fun.

If you recognize it, I probably don't own it. Mass effect belongs to BioWare and Microsoft.

Here are some important stuff.

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

~"AI"~

*Sound Effects*

POV/Location/Time Change.

The Point of Divergence

1412 hours, July 28, 2300 ES
Eden Prime, Eden Sector, Frontier Region

A convoy of a few dozen cars and trucks was tearing through the landscape, their advanced hover systems ignoring the rugged terrain. The man in the front seat of the first car asks the driver. "Ogologo oge ole ka ọ ga-ewe iji ruo ebe ahụ?"
"10 more minutes sir." The driver replies.
"I love these new universal translators they gave us. I wonder why they released these on the market so late." The man comments.
"Probably because English was working just fine as our common language. And most people didn't have a need for them." The older-looking man with mismatched yellow and neon blue irises sitting in the back of the car answered.

"Did you have to go with that look, Jamie? People will think I'm your assistant instead of the other way around. And what's with those glowing neon eyes?" The man in the front asks.
The now named Jamie replies. "Sorry Sir, but you wouldn't have that problem if you looked your age and not like a College Freshman. As for the eyes, My daughter likes them."
"Bah! Look my age? Men my age either look dead or soon to be dead. I'm just 108! I have my whole life ahead!" The man in the front says.

"Could you two morons shut up and act your age for once? Jamie your daughter just got married and Forsythe, your granddaughter is in college!" The woman who was browsing her Datapad at the very back of the car chimed in.
"Yes, Ma'am." Both of them grumbled together.
"Not a single word more now. This is probably one of the most important dig sites of this century." The woman says with finality.

After a few minutes of quiet. Jamie speaks up. "What is special about this dig site anyway? It's just another prothean ruin."
The woman didn't answer and instead was focused deeply on her Datapad.

After a few more minutes of silence, and the convoy going over a small hill, the white lights of the research site can be seen gleaming against the black and gray walls.
Soon the convoy enters the base and they get down from the car. The woman is then greeted by a short, stout man.
"Dr Storm, we've been waiting for your arrival. I am Dr Zakir Williamson, I was in charge while we waited for you. And I must say, It's an honor to meet you, ma'am. Your work on archaeology is an inspiration to all of us"
"It's nice to meet you too Dr Williamson." Dr Storm says."Now, where is it?"

"Yes yes. Right away. If you would kindly follow me, ma'am." Dr Zakir begins walking towards one of the larger tents.
"Jamie. Forsythe. With me." Dr Storm says as she begins following.

Dr Zakir takes them into the tent and in front is an opening into the ground. They step on a hover lift which descends into the shaft. A few moments later they descend into a brightly lit hallway with metallic walls and glowing orbs of light stuck to the ceiling.
"Let me be the first to welcome you into the most intact Prothean ruin ever discovered." Dr Zakir says as he begins leading them down the hallway. "Spread over almost half a Kilometer, it is full of different rooms and labs. And also…" he Snickers as they turn a corner, to reveal a hallway with many missing panels. "Booby-trapped to hell and back. All those missing panels were hidden turrets and other defenses. We have however disabled all of them. The captain and his men were quite thorough, I have been told. they even managed to disable quite a lot of them without destroying them, allowing us to get a look at their mechanisms." They continue walking for a few more moments.

"We found a lot of things, from weapons to lab equipment, to daily use objects, even what appears to be bed frames! But most importantly, we found this." The door in front of them opens. "An intact Prothean Beacon. Perfectly preserved. and still active." Dr Zakir finishes. In front of them is a towering monolith, humming with energy, glowing slightly green.

"This will change the understanding of Galactic history as we know it…" Dr. Storm mutters…

~~~~~~~~XXXXX~~~~~~~~XXXXX~~~~~~~

Same time,
The other side of the Planet

A team of soldiers was exploring another Prothean ruin. The group of four was moving through the hallways and corridors, checking every room, nook and cranny for traps. "Can you believe it? 2 large Prothean bases on the same planet." One guy comments.
"And we have to clear them of hidden traps. At least we get the first look at whatever treasures they have. Even before the white coats get to them." Another says.
"Treasures? More like trash. I doubt this one can top the last one, heard that our boys found an actual intact beacon inside it." the one in much bulkier armor says.
"Turrets at 2 and 12." The first one says before quickly destroying the turrets in short bursts.

They continue moving through the dark hallways, chatting while disabling the traps one by one. Soon they emerge into a large tall corridor, with a large door at the end. "Fred… your prediction of treasure might have just come true…" the tall figure in the most amount of armor and carrying the largest gun, who had been silent up till now spoke.
"Yea cap… it might just be…" Fred Mutters.
The captain takes the lead, and the team of soldiers slowly advances through the large corridor, checking everything. After a few minutes, they reach the massive doors.

"Control panel's still working. It has power." Fred says.
"I really want to know how these prothean guys keep the power running even after so long. Architecture is one thing, but power? that's an entirely different thing." The second guy says.
"Open the door. And stay focused." The captain grumbles.

The three soldiers aim at the door while Fred hacks into the console. Soon the doors start shaking. And with a rumble and the screeching of mechanisms millenia out of repair, the doors start opening. They open about halfway before the ancient servos and mechanisms fail, helpless under the weight of the doors and of time itself. The team slowly enters the large room on the other side. As soon as they step in, the room, or rather the Hall lights up, showing hundreds maybe thousands of pods lined in neat rows, their glassy covers gleaming in the blue lights.

"Good Lord…"
"Unbelievable…"
"Screw you, Fred…"
"Shut up George."

~~~~~~~~XXXXX~~~~~~~~XXXXX~~~~~~~

Same time

Somewhere in the Terminus systems

A large fleet of close to a thousand ships hangs in the void of Interstellar space. It is a hive of activity, communications running back and forth, small craft running patrol in premeditated formations. At the helm is a Large 5 km long Titan, with the words "Wrath of Scathach" emblazoned across its side. Deep in its bowels, inside its massive command deck, people are scurrying about scanning data and exchanging reports. In the center of it all stands a man, his hand loosely drumming over the sides of his control Station. "All objectives scanned and ready?" He asks in a calm voice.

"Sir yes sir."
"Team Gamma and Foxtrot are still spooling engines sir!"
"Then tell them to finish up quickly. We need to start this as soon as possible." he says with a hint of irritation before continuing in a neutral tone "All Squadrons ready for FTL Jump!"

A multitude of "Aye"s and "Yes Sir"s are heard over the comms.
"You have your targets and objectives. Success is paramount and failure is not an option. You have permission to use any method necessary to achieve the given objectives. Godspeed!" He finishes.

With those words, the Massive fleet divides itself into dozens of smaller squadrons of ships that jump into FTL towards their different objectives. After all the ships are gone, only the Titan and some 23 ships are left. These then also soon jump into FTL.

~~~~~~~~XXXXX~~~~~~~~XXXXX~~~~~~~

The Titan with its complement emerges from its reality-bending bubble in a seemingly placid star system.
~'System HJ-U3671. Observed first from Earth in 2003. Class G main sequence star. 1.06 solar masses. 5 planets, 2 terrestrial 3 Gas Giants. 3 major asteroid fields. One planet in Goldilocks zone, barren. 2 moons. Basic algal life is present on the larger moon. Nearest Relay 129 LY'~ The ship ai announces.
"Perfect. Begin construction of the forward base. I want this system secured for HighComm within the week. The sooner we finish Project High Charity, The better." The captain orders.

~~~~~~~~XXXXX~~~~~~~~XXXXX~~~~~~~

A few hours later.
Sahrabarik System, Omega Nebula, Terminus regions.

In the void of space, Omega station hangs in its terrible glory. The premiere hub of scum, villainy, and every other illegal, illicit trade imaginable. And in its bowels, on the top floor of the famous Afterlife club, sits its so-called Queen, Aria T'Loak. Suddenly the doors to her chambers are slammed open and a Salarian with an eyepatch rushes in, panting. "Ma'am, you need to see this." he pants out between coughs.

"How many times have I told you to knock first?! Who the hell gave you permission to burst through my door like that?! What the hell are Gavus and Strak doing?! I don't pay them to stare at my dancers all day!" Aria says in a very irritated tone, clearly not amused by the Salarian's antics.
"This is important ma'am! A fleet of unknown ships just appeared outside!"
"What do you mean appeared?" Aria asks with a raised eyebrow.

"One moment everything was normal, then suddenly a fleet of more than 50 ships just appeared out of the void! The relay wasn't Activated!" the Salarian rambles.
"that's suspicious… You sure you checked the relay?" Aria mutters.

"Ye-yes I di ma'am! And-... The-The ships have started broadcasting on all open frequencies now. Here." The Salarian fiddles with his omnitool and a message starts playing.
"This is Commodore Hans Frederik Andersen of Recon Squadron Cnidarian to whoever is in charge of this station. We come in peace and just want to talk. Please respond." This keeps repeating over and over.

"Interesting… So it's the humans." Aria says. "Connect me to the channel."
"This is Aria T'Loak, the Queen of Omega. You can come aboard to talk. Don't try anything stupid." she cuts off the connection and orders one of her aides.
"Bring the humans here." 'let's see if they are as… delectable as I've heard.' she mused to herself.

Commodore Hans Frederik Andersen was not at all surprised with what he was seeing. Open slave markets, drug dealers, gang members and robbers, and other numerous shady/illegal things. Honestly, it was a bit less terrible and intimidating than he initially expected from the briefings. Then again, most things fail to be intimidating when you're an eight-foot-tall nigh immortal Supersoldier, but still, he expected some chaotic anarcho-state with people killing each other on the streets this, almost seemed like an unpoliced redlight area in 1990s earth. So not all that bad. Most of the resident scum of Omega were automatically giving the human entourage a wide berth. Because only a Krogan would dare threaten/challenge the group of 8-foot-tall giants who looked like they could tear you in half with their bare hands while wearing enough armor to make an APC blush.

Vaellne was not a happy Asari. She loved her mistress Aria, she truly did, but the type of jobs her mistress handed her, especially her current one, was making her reconsider her profession. She had the job to 'escort' (read intimidate) these humans through Omega so that they would defer to her mistress' demands. But all she was accomplishing at the moment was letting the populous know that there was a bigger predator in town, one that, she had no doubt, could take over the station by themselves any moment they wanted to. So she hurried towards the club to lessen the exposure of these humans to the Omega population.

After many minutes of walking, they finally reached the Afterlife Club. They walked past the lengthy line of aliens seeking entry into the club, all of whom looked at the humans with great interest. This was after all the first time most had seen a human outside of vids and pictures. The human entourage walked through the doors and entered a long hallway with screens showing flames. When the doors at the end of the hallway opened, the sound of music could be heard. Less of a song and more of a beat to dance to. They emerge into a large room with many tables, a large central holo-column/screen surrounded by a hanging ring platform on which many Asari were dancing with what appeared to be stripper poles. There was also a large round bar, and many other aliens milling around. Many of these Asari dancers were also dancing on tables.

Hans heard someone from his entourage comment over their private comm channels "Looks like we just found our first alien strip club, Sir." Hans smirked a bit at that. "Don't get distracted. You'll get time for R&R after we're done with our jobs," he says in Swahili, picking a random language that their translators can translate but the alien ones can't.

Finally, they found themselves in front of a large private booth overlooking the dance ring and the large bar. The booth was guarded by a turian and a Krogan. Inside was the famous Aria T'Loak herself, in tight black pants and a white jacket with a symbol on its back. And Hans had to admit that she cut a nice intimidating figure, for ordinary people that is.

"You must be Commodore Hans then? Must say you're… quite a bit bigger than I imagined." Aria enquired, looking the humans up and down. "You wanted to talk?"
"Yes, miss T'Loak. We're here to talk." Hans replies in high Thessian.
"Hmm. Classy. Take a seat." She motions to the other side of the sofa.

Hans sits down with a fluidity that his armor shouldn't allow and begins speaking. "Miss T'Loak, We have heard quite a few things about you. How you are the queen of this station. How you hold an iron grip over everything that goes on here. And how nice your… establishment is…"
"Quite the charmer you are commodore. But Yes. All true. I am the leader, boss, CEO, and QUEEN of This station. I am Omega. And there's only one rule here. Don't fuck with Aria." She injects with a smile.

"Yes, as such, after reading about your… exploits, we think you're a woman of focus, strength and most importantly you know what you want, and how to get it. Qualities which we, and I quite admire." Hans says with a smile.
"My my commodore, are you trying to court me? Sorry to disappoint but I'm not interested at the moment" She asks with a teasing laugh.

"Nothing of that sort I assure you. What I was getting to was that being so impressed with your… talents and qualities, the Sol Confederation would like to make you an offer." Hans pauses.
"Now Don't keep a lady waiting Commodore," Aria says now leaning back on the sofa.
Hans smiles and leans in a bit, then says in a whisper "How would you like to rule all of the Terminus."
Aria's eyes widen as she leans in too. "My my commodore, are you trying to steal my heart?"

Cliffhanger Kun is Back baby!

~~~~~~~~XXXXX~~~~~~~~XXXXX~~~~~~~

Lore Time!

Hover vehicles: Since the 2100s hover vehicles have proven to be the most smooth form of transport available to most people. These vehicles hover a few centimeters above the surface of the ground and ensure that no bumps affect the rise. Advanced sensors all over the body of the vehicle automatically adjust the elevation to ensure the best and most comfortable ride imaginable. vehicles with wheels and treads are still used and are also common.

Translators: recently the SoCon government has released their military-level translators into the public market. These translation systems can convert any language into any other language seamlessly directly inside the neural implants of the person. Unlike other translation systems which require at least one person to know the language they're speaking in, these translators can allow for people to converse while using different languages for every sentence without even knowing anything about those languages. These have been claimed to be the first step towards perfect universal translators.

Appearance modification: advancements in medicine and genetics have allowed people to customize their appearance and features to a great extent. From minor things like increasing their height to changing their entire physical structure are now possible. many people do not make changes beyond minor things like eye color, height, or face shape. Many people also opt for exotic appearances like animal features including cat ears, tails, fur, and even scales. However, these exotic body modifications are very very expensive and require extra income sources other than the basic standardized income.

Lumenorbs: Lumenorbs are the new and latest in the line of temporary compact lighting. Highly energy efficient, with great light output, capable of finding the optimal lighting location automatically, and a battery life that can last for years, they are the cheapest, best, and most efficient way to light up dark places.

Ship Naming Scheme: Human Military ships are usually named depending on their classifications. Titans, Supercarriers, and Dreadnoughts are named after mythological things/gods/phrases. Battleships are named after Historical Figures. Cruisers are named after Mountains and large places (state names, country names, etc). Destroyers and frigates are named after cities and important locations. Corvettes have no fixed naming conventions.

~~~~~~~~XXXXX~~~~~~~~XXXXX~~~~~~~

A/N Now the story has truly diverged from cannon and the shadow war has begun. The humans have started making their moves. Their motivations and plans shall be revealed in the next chapter. So sit tight, and leave a review on what direction you want this to go. As for Project High Charity. That's a secret for now, but you're free to try guessing in the reviews. It is pretty obvious though.

Note:

I think I didn't elaborate properly on the stars thing. So here's an explanation. Let us say that the Milky Way had 150 billion stars.
70-80% of those are red dwarfs. Taking 80%. That's 120 billion immediately out of the picture because the Citadel Council is incapable of building stellar structures that would be useful in such star systems. They can make a few mining platforms at best. Also, we know that the relays don't even connect to red dwarfs, Except in very very rare cases.

That leaves us with 30 billion.

2% of that is 600 million.

10% of that is 60 million.

Half of the galaxy is the terminus region. So 30 million star systems at best.

It's still a very large number. And yes, the citadel should in theory have vastly more population and ships. It has always bugged me about the mass effect cannon. The citadel species have from a few dozen to a few hundred planets, IN TOTAL. For some unexplained reason. It seemingly does the common sci-fi trope of reducing everything to understandable numbers for the plot.

So I'll try to reduce these numbers even more.

10 billion white dwarfs.

4 billion Giants and Supergiants and neutron stars.

The new number is 16 billion.

2% is 320 million

10% is 32 million

Half is Terminus, so 16 million.

75% with planets. So 12 million planets.

Colonised 80% so... that still leaves us with 9.6 million.

Are you seeing the problem here? There are still too many dang star-systems. So I tried to overlay the mass effect map on the galaxy map. It was not to scale. It's as if the mass relays are just a plot point meant to explain away a galaxy-spanning civilization. Hell, the Attican traverse wraps around half the galaxy and is like a wall between the citadel and the terminus. So in effect, the citadel gave a chunk of the galaxy bigger than their own territory to the humans? Why?

So I was sitting there scratching my hair off, thinking how I should go about making sense of all this conflicting data. Then I went "screw this," The description says human, last I checked, the Citadel isn't human. I'll just go and use a high ball of the cannon numbers.

That brings us here. I used the 2% 10% explanation to magic away the madness of drawing up population growth charts for multiple alien civilizations with different starting points.

While the Citadel should realistically have trillions of people and millions-billions of ships. They don't have that in Cannon so they won't in my story. Instead, they are going to have a high ball number buffed to my choice. The exact numbers will be appearing soon enough.

IMPORTANT: Should I make a place to post all the maps and graphs and stuff related to the fanfic? Answer in the reviews

MORE IMPORTANT: Hope you are enjoying the story Have a Great Day/night!