Mass Effect 1. Chapter 1

5/1/2154 Earth, Geosynchronous orbit over London

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><p>The entire 1st alliance fleet had formed up around a sphere of energy that had appeared out of nowhere and had been steadily growing for the last 6 months.<p>

Scientists around the world and from all over the systems alliance territory had been scrambling to come up with answers for the weary population. The energy levels that this ball was giving off were truly staggering to say the least and still rising, it had passed the energy being given off by the sun several weeks ago.

Though many theories had been given by the scientific minds of humanity, the best answer given from the readings that had been painstakingly retrieved from the energy sphere was that it was a dimensional rift as bazar as it sounded. This answer was given based on the fact that any probe sent had its chronometers go haywire whenever it approached the sphere's event horizon, while all other data streams remain intact, until the probe itself was destroyed.

'So, explain it to me again, how exactly do you think this rift thingy was formed?" Lt Steven Hackett asked one of the many scientists that were aboard the ship he was serving on. They were sitting in the mess off duty; their shifts wouldn't start for another few minutes, so they had time to chat.

The scientist looked up to see who had asked, and promptly rolled his eyes 'for the fifth time now lieutenant, it's like this, there are two massive yet opposite ends of the spectrum sets of energy colliding with one another. The energy released is creating millions of micro singularities which then collide with one another, the massive amount of gravitational friction which is caused has torn time space itself leaving us with this.'

Lieutenant Hackett was by no means slow or an idiot, it was something about that last sentence that bothered him, 'you keep saying that "time space", what do you mean, that whatever is coming through, if anything is coming through, it could be from anywhere or is it _anywhen_?'

The scientist gave Hackett a devilish grin 'exciting isn't it, we are dealing with an entity that if capable of creating this _chronoshpere_ whether deliberately or not, they would be the single most advanced form of life that we have ever encountered, even more than the Protheans.'

'Personally I'm just glad that all that energy is contained by its own self sustained mass effect field, hell it would have burned earth to a cinder if that weren't the case.' Hackett said as he rose from the table, 'well it's time for me to get to my post, shouldn't you be doing the same?'

The scientist leaned back in his chair and smiled 'aw come on Lt it's been months, so what if I'm a few seconds late to my desk, what's the worst that could hap-'

A loud and panicked voice sounded over the ships intercom cutting him off;

"_Hey! Somebody! The energy levels from the sphere have just spiked off the charts if anything's going to happen it's gonna happen now!"_

Hackett glared at the scientist, 'there should be a death penalty for people who tempt fate like that, damn it man, and I thought scientists were supposed to be smart!'

The scientist paled and raced off to the nearest terminal presumably to try to make sense of the readings, or in an attempt to save face.

Hackett instead headed for the bridge, and a short walk later arrived as the captain did and after a brief salute they both walked onto the bridge.

Captain Liam Ford was a tall, no nonsense kind of guy, he knew the work and took his job as captain and a protector of earth very seriously. Despite being a little rough around the edges his men loved him, he always took the time to listen to their opinions and rarely acted without premeditating his next move.

'Alright bring the ship up to full combat readiness, if this is the moment we've all been waiting for I'd rather not get caught with our pants down' the captain said as he peered through the forward view port to where the sphere, rift, dimensional portal whatever, he'd heard so many different terms for whatever it was it didn't matter because whatever it was, was rapidly changing colour, flickering from red to blue and back again.

Suddenly it turned to the most intensive bright white they had ever seen before collapsing into itself, the ships radar officer glanced back to the captain for a moment and reported 'sir the energy levels are dropping rappid- detecting an EMP!'

The captain pressed the intercom 'Brace for EM blast!'

While the ships of the alliance fleets were shielded from electromagnetic pulses, the sheer power that was being blasted at them from this sphere would overwhelm the ships meagre defences and at least temporarily leave them dead in the water. While in the free fall of space, a ship without its mass effect generators, its drive cores or any other means of managing the internal gravity and external inertia, it can be at best rather disorientating, at worst a disaster.

As the entire 1st fleet went dark to the EM blast and Captain Ford found himself floating above his flight officer, he thought back to the briefs he'd received from the strategists in the alliance military intelligence committee, the use of this device to broker an invasion from the sphere seems unlikely, they had said, taking months to create a beachhead while giving us plenty of time to secure it would be a colossal waste of energy and any invading force would be like fish in a barrel with our fleet standing by waiting for them to attack, no an invasion from this rift is unlikely.

Well score one for military intelligence, looking out the view port Captain Ford noted the entire 1st fleet floating in free fall, all those defences that the alliance had set up gone dark, taken out in a single moment and the likely hood of a successful invasion from the rift increasing by the second.

'Get me backups online this instant I want this ship operational Lieutenant, earth is sitting there defenceless' Captain Ford barked down to the officer in charge of the CIC.

Precious moments later power was restored to the vessel and as the sensors slowly came to life it became clear that they had drifted closest in the fleet to the rift, or rather where the rift had been.

Gone was the massive energy sphere and in its place was what looked to be a battle scared ship.

'Wes are you seeing what I'm seeing?' Captain Ford asked the radar officer, who turned to the captain, 'yeah the rifts gone, rather anticlimactic if you ask me' and then turned back to his screen.

'I meant that ship out there in its place' Captain Ford clarified, and Wes looked up at the captain again with a beguiled look on his face, 'what ship?' he asked before following the captains pointed finger out the view port to the ship he was referring to.

'Oh that ship' Wes stated rather stupidly before looking back at his blank screen, before realising that the screen was showing the rest of the fleet, just not the newcomer. He then looked out the view port again and then back to his screen, after repeating this several times with rapidly increasing intervals he leapt to his feet exclaiming 'WHAT THE HELL!'

'I'll take that as a no' the captain said, 'alright we'll have to rely on visual scanning, we're the closest ship in the fleet to that vessel so I want us on broadcast, let the rest of the fleet get the Intel at the same pace as us.'

As the ships observation suit came online several officers and members of the science crew who were able to get feeds started speaking over each other making observations on the new vessel.

Things like unknown design, and completely invisible to all other scanning methods started to fill the coms above earth while several satellites where beaming all news down planet side, there was no way this was going to remain a secret. The whole world was already aware of the sphere, hard to keep the brightest object in the sky quite, but the fact that a ship had come through was going to set conspiracy theorists off like nobody's business.

'Well it's a warship, that's for certain, bit bigger than one of our standard frigates, though not as big as a cruiser' Lt Hackett said making note of its size. Captain Ford turned to him 'Call it a destroyer then, but what makes you so certain that it's a warship?' he asked.

'There look' he indicated several points along the vessels wing 'those resemble our guardian laser systems, but more advanced and look here, those are missile tubes and there are several hatches that could conceal even more weapons.' The ship was dead in the water same as the fleet was only moments before, but it was turning on its axis and more of the ship was coming into view.

There was a long melted and still glowing line along the starboard side of the ship, wherever it came from it did not leave on friendly terms that was for sure. The vessel turned some more, and now had its entire side illuminated.

Lt Hackett's eyes widened in shock 'wait is that…' he trailed off as the others in the bridge peered past him, 'yep' was all the flight officer could reply. 'Well I'll be God damned, she's flying under alliance colours!'

The whole world went silent at that. The Captain thought for a moment before saying 'ok so ruling out the possibility that this is all some form of very elaborate hoax what does that leave us?' He looked around before continuing, 'the science crews aboard this ship say that the rift was breaching time and space itself, and that ship is clearly more advanced than our current understanding and of a make that we've never seen before, so I'm gonna say what we're all thinking and get it out the way so we can move on to what is important.'

The captain took a breath before acknowledging the theory that would without a doubt be one of the most significant events in history had in fact happened. 'The vessel before us has come through the rift from the future, now that that's out of the way, there is a wealth of information over there, and hell even if I'm wrong about time travel, I still want to know why we can't get any sensor readings on that ship now let's get to it, helmsman bring us alongside that ship.' With that the ship came to life and began to slide closer.

The coms officer's startled cry gave pause to the sudden sense of purpose. 'Sir, bogy is hailing us! It's coming in on every alliance channel!'

'Put it on screen' Captain Ford spoke immediately, it was time to see who he was dealing with.

'_Ah hello? This is Flight Lieutenant Jeffry __Moreau_ _of the Normandy, We took a hit from a Reaper Dreadnaught which forced us into the crucible right as it was powering up to fire, the Normandy is dead in the water, sensor suit is offline and backup power systems are failing to respond, both the CO and the XO are on board and critically wounded, repeat Commander Shepard and Lt Commander Williams are on board and Critically wounded, we need immediate medivac.'_

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><p>'AN' This is my first published work any feedback on ways to improve my work would be much appreciated<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Captain Ford was now faced with a problem, one that while simple in nature, could have far reaching consequences, should he help them? While he had originally planned to dock with it to gather Intel he had assumed that the ship's remaining dead in the water was indicative of the crew either not being present or unable to function, which translated as safe to approach.

Now he was not so certain.

The call for help sounded real enough and the look of near panic on the bearded young man on the screen before him looked real enough.

The problem was whether or not he could trust his ship and the lives of his crew on the honesty of this newcomer.

Going in for medivac meant pulling up alongside that vessel, bringing his ship well into range of the advanced guardian laser system that Lt Hackett pointed out.

A weapon system that at that range would be able to pick off key systems at will and more importantly, his ship had absolutely no defence against that kind of weapons system, the kinetic barriers might as well not even exist for all the good they would do against and energy weapons assault.

On the other hand, if he stood by and did nothing and this Flight Lieutenant Moreau was on the level, it was possible that he would lose both the commanding officer and the executive officer of this vessel and the wealth of information that they possessed. Not to mention that his conscience would suffer the deaths of two fellow officers.

Captain Ford gave his XO Lieutenant Hackett a quick glance only to receive an encouraging nod in return, alright then, let's find out where this goes.

'This is Captain Ford of the Alliance Cruiser SRV Midway standing ready to assist, expect to be docked with and boarded in 2 minutes and have your wounded ready for transfer.'

The relief on the flight lieutenants face was clearly evident as he slumped back into his chair, 'Thank God for you captain, er listen 2 points of interest; first the ships reactors are offline and manual restart has failed, there are some critical elements aboard this ship that need to remain powered at all times, don't suppose your engineering crew could rig up a restart option 6 do you?'

Restart Option 6 was a ship restart protocol that was standard doctrine for all alliance vessels, it was to be implemented at the request of a disabled ship that while unable to manually restart the ships core it could get a jump start from a friendly vessel. Option 6 requires the engineering crews to rig up power transfer cables from one ship to the other via the airlocks, the additional power into the ships system was supposed to cause an auto restart of all the ships systems if they were running dormant.

'Very well,' Captain Ford said before hitting the intercom, 'engineering to the airlock, prep for option 6 restart protocols.'

It would be easier to get that ship to a secure location if it was capable of moving under its own power anyway.

'What was the other point of interest?' Ford asked

Interestingly an uncomfortable look crossed the flight lieutenants face, 'well the intelligence officer currently stationed aboard this ship, Liara, will likely be with commander Shepard, she's her intended spouse, but that's not the issue, the problem is that she's an Asari, and while I know xenophobia is rare in the alliance these days, just thought I'd give you a heads up.'

Captain Ford froze, an alien, a real living alien.

This was huge, the Prothean ruins on mars were nothing compared to this that merely proved that life not from earth once existed, this proved that life that did not originate on earth does exist, and humanity was not alone in the universe.

Lt Hackett's mind was reeling from what he'd just learned, but the keen military focus that he'd spent the last several years developing started to piece together what it had learned, _ok, key words, Asari, she's her intended, ok so both are female (Cool!) ok moving on, spouse, so in a deep relationship with the CO, that could be problematic, ok think, anything else, yes that and Xenophobia, they have had troubles with alien haters before, hmmm is that a good thing or bad, I will reserve judgment until I've met them, obviously their flight lieutenant cares enough about them to warn us._

Hackett wouldn't have to wait long before seeing the Asari, '30 seconds til dock' the Midways flight officer called out over intercom. Captain Ford made his way to the airlock where he found his ships engineering crew along with the ships medics, firing ideas back and forth about what this Asari could look like.

Seeing a potential problem growing, the Captain decided to end it here and now before it got out of hand.

'I don't care if she looks like all the angels of heaven combined or perhaps a tentacle monster from hell… or Japanese anime' Ford threw in for them to remain in good spirits, 'you are all professionals with a job to do, engineers there is a ship out there without power, every second we tarry it could be that much closer to becoming a tomb.' He turned to the medics 'there are two critically wounded officers coming on this vessel for treatment, under the watchful eyes of one of their spouses, alien or not you will treat them with care and respect am I clear?'

'Docked' the flight lieutenant called over the intercom.

The door hissed as the airlock pressurised and then snapped open.

Expecting to finally see what this Asari looked like, the captain was mildly put out when we was presented with an aging woman in doctors garb.

The doctor walked into the airlock and upon spotting the captain she snapped off a quick salute before speaking, 'Dr Chakwas requesting permission for myself and my patient's to come aboard.'

Captain Ford returned the salute 'Captain Ford, permission granted, I have my medical crew standing by, do you need any assistance transferring them?' he asked, noticing that the patients were not in sight.

Dr Chakwas gave a weary smile before replying, 'no that won't be necessary, Liara is holding them in stasis fields and should have them here shortly. Also while I am happy to accept the aid of your medical staff, I am their attending physician and there are several components in their general physiology that will require my personal touch, especially the commander.'

As if on cue, by their mention a pair of humans floated horizontally through the airlock, suspended by shimmering blue fields, they were followed by one of the most awe inspiring things that the people of earth had ever seen.

Walking behind her charges, with even, perfectly balanced strides, her arms extended forward apparently holding her charges aloft, a young Asari woman walked through the airlock all the while wreathed in brilliantly glowing blue energy, the fact that her armour was blackened and still smouldering in some places only added to the effect.

A security camera caught the whole scene and as the ship was still on broadcast the image of the Asari's appearance was beamed across every screen in the world and the people of earth got their first incredible look at a living breathing alien.

Looking at the two patients held in the glowing fields the chief of the Midways medical staff Dr Menlauw noticed just how injured they were, it was enough to break him out of his trance and into action, 'Come on people we all have tasks to get to, Dr Chakwas the medical facilities are this way.' He said, gesturing for them to follow, which he was thankful that they did.

On their way through mid-ship one of the crew members noticed the pair being held aloft seemingly by nothing gasped out in surprise, 'wow! How far into the future do you think they've come from to have that kind of tech?'

That pulled Dr Chakwas up short, turning to the speaker 'I beg your pardon young man but what-'

She was cut off by another gasp, this one from the Asari as she looked out the view port, there caught in the days sunlight was the shining blue pearl that was the home of humanity.

'Earth' she spoke for the first time, 'medre Chakwas, ikran delekia Earth, nerwo mi brisingre'

Turning back to the Asari her words struck Dr Chakwas like a cannon ball, 'what do you mean it hasn't been burnt yet' racing over to the observation port she became still for a moment when she looked upon the pristine and unharmed earth. Frantically she turned back to the crewman who first stopped her, 'young man you said we were from the future, explain it again for me please.'

The crewman looked like a rabbit caught in the headlights, so Dr Menlauw took pity on him and explained 'that light you came through appeared 6 months ago and had been getting bigger ever since, our scientist called it a rift in time space. There was a big flash a few minutes ago and then your ship appeared in its place, that's the general story, why did earth look different when you last sore it?'

Dr Chakwas turned to him a grim smile on her face, 'Dr the last time I sore earth it reminded me of a lump of coal that had been taken out of a hot fire, black with a few specks of fire glowing in the wind.' Turning back to her patients she took the Asari's arm and led her to the medical bay where she set the patients down on the beds.

'If I am to operate I cannot have these questions bouncing around in my mind, Liara can you ask the questions that I am sure are on both our minds to speed things along?' she said before turning to here patients, gesturing for Liara to release the red haired one from stasis. As the blue field of energy disappeared she went to work immediately, removing burnt and torn armour and applying medi-gel to various parts of the broken woman's body.

The newly named Liara nodded to Dr Chakwas before turning to Dr Menlauw 'Menaloi ne dak taka chingde na suke deco hamus scrom-'

'Woh, woh, woh! I can't understand a word you are saying' Dr Menlauw interrupted backing up hands held before him in surrender.

'Well that answers that question' Dr Chakwas chimed in from the surgery table, where it looked like she had just removed a fist size piece of rock from the abdomen of her patient.

'From that fact and the ship we are on, I'd say that we are somewhere in the mid-22nd century am I right Dr?'

Looking back and forth between the two of them, Dr Menlauw nodded '5th of January 2154 to be exact.'

'Amusing I find myself treating a 32 year old woman who won't be born for another 3 months, if that's not enough to make your head spin I don't know what is.' Turning back to her work 'Liara he should have an Omni-Tool' she cast over her shoulder before becoming completely engrossed in repairing her patient.

Bringing her left arm before her, lighting it up in holographic orange, she pressed a few buttons before Dr Menlauw's own lit up to show he was being asked to receive a package. _What the heck_ he thought, _we've gone this far_ he hit accept.

Liara smiled at him, 'can you understand me now Dr?'

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><p>'AN' those of you who got the reference to 'the Fith Element' in Liara's Asari speek have my permission to gorge themselves on their favourite treat.<p> 


End file.
