//------------------------------// // Briefing Time // Story: Priority: Equestria (Mass Effect Crossover) // by Dead_Account_0 //------------------------------// [A/N: Once again, let's have a round of applause for proofreader Biohazard. Biohazard really knows his science, so major props to him for ironing out my biology and physics mistakes in this chapter.] Major Kaidan Alenko steeled his nerves. Okay, Kaidan. You know how this works. You're the stoic, dependable one. Nothing fazes you as long as Shepard is here. No matter what is out there, you have to to maintain that professionalism. He let out a quiet sigh, and turned to Shepard. To the untrained observer, Shepard looked ready for anything, but Kaidan knew better. Kaidan had served with Shepard on board the original SSV Normandy SR-1 back when he was a Lieutenant, and he could tell that Shepard was troubled. Kaidan could only guess what was going through his mind, but whatever it was; it had to be important. Vega cleared his throat loudly causing both Shepard and Kaidan to jump. "Commander? I think that, uh, blue horse is, uh, waving us over," Vega said slowly and awkwardly. Shepard looked down to see that the ramp had fully deployed, and right at the bottom was the same winged unicorn that had ambushed him in the elevator. "So she is. Let's move out," Shepard replied with a nod as he began to stride down the ramp. Tali set off alongside the Commander. Kaidan took a deep breath and stepped after the two of them with Vega dragging his heels behind him. "We bid you welcome to this station, Shepard." the blue alicorn shouted to the approaching crewmen. And so the games begin. "We are grateful for your hospitality, Princess," Shepard replied with a low bow. Luna motioned as if to say something then stopped herself. Remember what Celestia said: "Treat them like foreign dignitaries." That meant show no weaknesses. Luna toned down her ecstatic smile. "Commander Shepard." She acknowledged him with a curt nod. "And I presume that these are three of your squad mates?" Kaidan stepped forwards and bowed too. "It is an honour to meet you, Princess. My name is Kaidan Alenko, and I am a Major with the Systems Alliance Military." Seeing her cue, Tali stepped forwards next. "I am Admiral Tali'Zorah nar Rayya vas Normandy with the Quarian Migrant Fleet." Vega scratched the back of his neck as he felt four pairs of eyes turn to him. "I, uh, guess I'm next," he said with a nervous laugh. "I'm Lieutenant James Vega, also with the Systems Alliance Military. Uhh, very pleased to make your acquaintance, Ma'am." Vega held out his hand. Luna stared at it expectantly for a few seconds before realisation suddenly dawned on her, and she hesitantly lifted up a hoof. Vega then realised how ridiculous he now looked. Both participants now understood that they'd passed the point of no return, so Vega scrunched up his fist and put it forwards. Luna touched his fist tentatively with her hoof and put on a smile. "Whoa... you feel so real," Vega whispered. Shepard stepped forwards and put a hand on Vega's shoulder. "If you don't mind me interrupting, Princess." Vega turned around to see the burning expression in Shepard's eyes, and took a few steps back. Shepard turned to face the Princess eye-to-eye. "We have landed at the station as agreed; now if you'd provide us with the scans." Luna tore her blue orbs away from Vega's face, and met Shepherd's azure gaze. "If you would follow me," she said with a nod of her head. Shepard shot Vega a rather dark look which Vega replied to with a shrug. Shepard then nudged his head towards Luna, and the four of them started to follow the alicorn. Shepard and Tali picked up the pace and took positions on either side of Luna. Kaidan and Vega hung back a bit. Kaidan gave Vega a light push. "What were you thinking, James! You could have blown the whole damn mission!" Kaidan berated the marine as quietly as he could. Vega replied with another shrug. "I'm sorry, Stiff, I just freaked." "You had no idea how she would of reacted! And stop calling me Stiff!" "Look, Stiff, I've never met a Princess before! How am I supposed to know what the damn protocol is!" "You think any of us have either? You wouldn't shake hands with the Turian Primarch!" Vega snorted a brief laugh. "Actually, me and Primarch Victus are pretty tight. I'm telling you, that guy is the kinda leader that the galaxy needs right now." Kaidan let out a loud sigh as he put his hand to his face. "You know what I meant, Lieutenant!" "Yeah, yeah. I'm sorry about that, Stiff. This ain't exactly what I'm used to putting up with. I don't normally get dragged on diplomatic assignments. I mean, I've never even seen the Council first-hand. Add to that the fact that she's a freakin' horse..." Kaidan instantly hushed Vega with a hand to his mouth. "If you don't stop badmouthing one of the leaders of an galactic power, then Shepard won't hesitate to send you stomping back to the ship. Just follow Shepard's lead, and we have the best chance of striking a deal." Kaidan removed his hand allowing Vega to take a big gulp of air. "You got me?" Vega had to stop for a second to catch his breath. "I got you, Stiff," he eventually sputtered. "And stop calling me Stiff!" Kaidan spun around and barked at Vega. "Is everything okay, Major?" Shepard's voice froze the blood in Kaidan's veins. "Everything's fine, Commander. Kaidan was just telling me about Ilos," Vega said smoothly. "Carry on then, Major." Shepard turned back to Luna and Tali who seemed to be in deep conversation. "This is a very interesting installation that you have here," Tali said. Her helmet made her face unreadable, but the tone in her voice seemed genuine. "This station is one of the last relics of the Alicornian empire," Luna said with a mixed sense of pride and loss. "What happened?" "The Reapers happened," Luna said quietly, but also with a strong sense of finality. "If you don't mind me asking, Princess: Why are the Alicornians not extinct? I mean, we discovered a similar set-up to this on Ilos. The Protheans had hidden a research facility, far from prying eyes, but they had all died long before we got there." Shepard rejoined the conversation at the front of the group. "The Protheans fear of artificial intelligence is what led to their inevitable downfall. A virtual intelligence can only go so far. Millions of Alicornians may have died, but their memories and their experiences live on." Shepard actually did a double take. "What?" Luna's eyes went wide as she realised what she had just divulged. Oh no, Celestia is going to kill me! Quick! Change topic! Change topic! "So you believe that Cerberus is on Equus?" Luna asked quickly. Shepard noticed a topic change when he heard one. He took a mental note of the conversation topic that had put Luna on edge, and tried to employ a switch-back. "Yes," Shepard said tersely. "Is this organisation dangerous?" Luna stabbed out verbally again as she tried to deprive Shepard of an opening. "Yes." "So this organisation works for the Reapers?" Luna pushed again. Damn. There's no way to respond to this vaguely... wait. "In a manner of speaking." Now don't press it, don't press it. "What manner?" Luna asked innocently. Argh! So close. Shepard held back a sigh as he replied. "They believe they can control the Reapers. However, their leader is probably one of their thralls. "So it's already too late for them?" Luna asked. "They incorporate Reaper technology into their bodies to make themselves stronger. They're a lost cause." "Reaper technology? Surely that would just turn them into blind followers." "They convert humans into a half-way state through careful implantation of cybernetics. It makes them stronger and faster than the average human, but also makes them much more pliable. They never question orders and show no mercy. However, different levels of operatives have different levels of cybernetics, but even the grunts are a force to be reckoned with." "They sound it," Luna concluded. "But you think that we are harbouring them?" she then added in a slightly insulted manner. "It may not be intentional, but we have short-range sensors on board our ship that are attuned to Cerberus signals. If you would allow us a brief window in which to scan your planet, then we can leave you alone." "You must understand our hesitance to grant you assistance in this matter. Our planet is a well-guarded secret. We have maintained this veil of secrecy for the past fifty thousand years through diligence and careful management." "So this planet is the last refuge of the Alicornians?" Tali piped up. Luna turned away from Shepard to face the Quarian. "In a manner of speaking." "What manner?" Vega interrupted from the back with a childish smile on his face. "In the manner that..." Luna began before suddenly biting her tongue. "In a manner that is up to Celestia to discuss with you," she finished. The group of five finally reached the end of the empty hangar bay, and Luna coated the door in blue light before pulling it open. "You see that, Shepard, biotics," Kaidan whispered from right behind Shepard. "I saw her use the same energy to make herself appear and disappear in the elevator," Shepard whispered back. "I've never heard of biotic teleportation. The closest I've seen is the biotic charge." Luna walked through the door first and stopped for a few seconds before shaking herself and striding forwards. Shepard followed her through and watched as two unicorns kneeled before their leader. One of the unicorns was clover green and the other a bright red. He noted that both of them had the same symbol emblazoned on their rear, a picture of some kind of sword-like weapons crossed with a unicorn's horn and that neither of them had wings. Both were as naked as their princess, but had a pair of small shoulder mounted cannons that instantly trained on the Normandy crew members as they entered. "At ease, guardsponies!" Luna shouted in a deafeningly loud, but definitely authoritative, tone. "Yes, Ma'am," the guards said in unison as they relaxed their legs and retracted their cannons. Shepard gave Luna an appreciative nod of his head, and moved to follow the Princess. The white corridors from that point forward were filled with ponies rushing this way and that. A pair of guards stood at attention next to every door the group passed. Between the doors was filled with ponies of all colours and combinations. Shepard noted that some of them had horns, some had wings, and some had neither; but none of them had both wings and a horn besides Luna. On their rears were distinct markings that Shepard realised corresponded with their jobs. All the unicorn guards had the same marks as the first two guards, winged guards had a wing crossed with a sword, and normal guards had two crossed swords. A lot of the ones ferrying papers had a square sheet of A4 with a picture of their specialisation: scientists had a conical flask, technicians had a wrench, and administrators had a pencil; whether or not they had horns or wings didn't seem to matter. Having garnered as much information as he could from looking, he decided to press the Princess for some additional information. "If you don't mind me asking, Princess. What is with the marks that you wear on your rears?" Shepard asked. "On our flanks we all bear the mark of duty. All Alicornians discover their true calling at a young age, and are trained by the way their marks materialise. I'm sure you've noticed patterns in the ponies present," Luna replied without turning around. "So this is decided by birth?" "No, this is developed when an Alicornian discovers their true calling. The normally materialise at a young age of between eight and twelve, but extreme cases have seen ponies up to eighteen with blank flanks." "Is the mark organic?" "We are here," Luna said as she suddenly stopped. The door looked slightly larger than the others and was flanked by four guards of varying colours and features. One of them appeared to have a trim moustache which raised a few more questions in Shepard's head. "Princess Celestia is waiting for you inside," the moustachioed guardspony said politely as he pulled open the door with a hoof. Luna strutted in, stretching out her neck to make herself seem taller. Shepard and the other three followed her in. The room was filled with the thrum of activity as ponies ran to and fro with piles of documents. Computerised stations had unicorns plugged into them, their hooves occasionally scribbling a note down to be passed down the line. Shepard couldn't help but notice that a particular part of the room was brighter than the rest. Sat at the head of a table that seemed to double as a computer was another alicorn, but this one was twice the height of Luna. Her long, slender neck reminded him of a swan, especially when coupled with her mascaraed purple eyes. Her mane was somehow flowing despite the lack of a breeze, and managing to stay as ordered rows of soft, pastel colours. Atop her head sat a tiara of gold with a large purple gem sat in the centre. Her face was graced with a smile that felt as warm as the sun. "Welcome, Commander Shepard, to the command centre," Celestia announced loudly. "Princess, I am here to..." Shepard began. "...Ask for permission to scan my planet," Celestia finished with a knowing smirk. Shepard began to sweat under his collar. "And so you shall." Shepard sighed with relief. "However, Cadence has informed me that you are in need of something called the "Catalyst." Shepard coudn't help but jump at that. "You have information referring to the Catalyst?" he managed to blurt before his brain caught up with his mouth. Celestia smiled. All the cards were in her hooves now. Shepard just had to hope that he liked his hand. "Has Luna told you much about the Alicornian empire?" "I have not, sister. I assumed that if you wanted them to know, then you would tell them." "I wouldn't have minded if you'd told them, dear sister, but I'm glad you respected my wishes." Celestia returned with a smile to her sister. "If all of you would gather around the holographic display, then the computer can recount a brief timeline." Vega groaned. "A history lesson! Really?" he voiced his disappointment and earned himself a swift elbow to the gut from Kaidan. Celestia's eye's narrowed briefly at the petulant marine, but switched back again as she turned to the table. The table was simply a flat rectangular glass table, but the glass was actually lots of small projectors. They lit up as they created small motes of light that formed into alicorns. More lights moulded into tall metal spires as a small city formed beneath them. "It all started when a race of equine beings discovered an old facility orbiting their sun. The station had an ancient computer system that contained enough information for us to take to the stars. The cycle was still relatively young at the time, the only real contact we had was with the Protheans who had discovered the Citadel." The buildings merged together to form a massive centre of learning. Alicorns stood around outside along with Protheans and a few aliens that Shepard didn't recognise. "Now, even the Protheans respected Alicornian scientists. Our studies of physics, biology and chemistry quickly brought us to the forefront of the galactic world. All kinds of private companies would approach Alicornians fresh out of school and whisk them across the galaxy. The lights rearranged again into a large image of a male alicorn that rotated around in front of them. "Alicornians are not naturally sensitive to magic, or "biotics" as you call them. One of our greatest discoveries was how to use the then defunct horn on our heads to act as conduits for element zero." The image rotated again and zoomed in on the head that now changed to an X-ray image. "Attempted exposure to pure element zero, even in trace amounts, proved devastating to our immune systems. It was then that Faust came to the fore. She had been on several scientific teams before, but she discovered that element zero could be safely encased in a protein shell, shielding the body from the cellular degradation that pure eezo caused. She discovered that the new protein, which she dubbed EzHAT, only needed two modified genes as it could use preexisting regulators. In order to demonstrate this, she tested on herself and was the first alicorn to ever perform magic." The display was now showing complicated chemical formulae and three dimensional protein structures. "As fascinating as this is, Princess. We don't have time to comb through your famous figures. Perhaps once the Reapers have been defeated, we can return and you can tell us all about your history," Shepard interrupted. "I was getting to that," Celestia snapped back irately. The display changed to a large picture of a light cream alicorn with a long auburn mane. Her horn seemed especially long and sharp, and she looked to be as tall, if not taller, than Celestia. "Faust's experiments had an unintentional side effect, immortality. Constant regeneration meant that when an alicorn got the treatment, they stopped ageing. The research could have made us the strongest race in the galaxy, but then our top archaeologists uncovered a warning about the Reapers." The screen went black and then replaced itself with the city from the start, but now everything was on fire. Reapers ships descended upon the small city of light, felling buildings as they released wave upon wave of twisted beasts that Shepard assumed must have once been sentient lifeforms. Explosions and gunfire shot from the speakers. "Fast forward fifty years and the Reapers arrived. Faust and the best of our surviving scientists were employed by the Protheans to help them destroy the Reapers. This Crucible project took the best of our best." The table image blinked again to something that Shepard instantly recognised. "The Crucible project; these blueprints are the same as the ones we found in the Prothean archives," Shepard muttered absent-mindedly. Celestia continued unabated. "The remaining Alicornians set about securing our future. Many enlisted to serve with the navy and were shipped out to hold back the Reaper scourge. Others scattered throughout the galaxy to try and establish a contingency plan. This station was where Luna and I headed. This station here was part of the contingency plan." The table changed image again as it switched to an image of the station, which then panned in and switched to the command room. "One thing we underestimated was the extent of the indoctrination. The Crucible project was crushed from within. Many of the researchers were killed, but Faust managed to escape. This station was her pet project, so she headed here to take command of the contingency plan. When she arrived, she found that the station had been vented. Indoctrinated individuals had opened the station to the cold of space and killed everypony on board. Everypony but Luna and I who had been fortunate enough to have been collecting samples from the planet below." Three figures of light flickered into being in the command centre. "Three immortals, all female, we had no choice but to try our hoof at cloning. Fast forwards a few millennia, and we finally managed to create an actual, living, breathing pony. Over this time we also set about taming the planet. The planet Equus would have been a perfect garden world, if it wasn't for its unusual rotation. We rectified that. We constructed a facility on the largest volcano on the planet and set to correcting it's spin. It took a lot of energy and time, but we eventually managed it. The best part is that we can now change the rotational speed at our leisure. We brought some samples of fauna from our homeworld out of cold storage, and slowly set up the ecosystem. We guided them into the formation of a Monarchy, where Faust took the throne. We helped as her Princesses. Due to the extensive genetic manipulation that we had gone through, we no longer had a pure Alicornian DNA strand. These ponies aren't true Alicornians as a result. Equestrians either have wings, a horn or neither, although all have ezero in their bodies." The table image changed to a picture of a very sleek looking white ship. "After a thousand years of peace, Faust realised that we weren't needed any more, and set off to see if any other station had had success. She took the ship that brought her here, the large Alicornian frigate shown here, and left us in charge of the planet. This was three thousand years ago, and we haven't seen her since." Shepard waited a few seconds to see if Celestia would continue. "So, you know of the Catalyst?" "Not personally, no. But Faust worked on the original Crucible project. If anypony will know what the Catalyst is, it's her." Celestia replied. Shepard puzzled over this for a few seconds, but then all the pieces fell into place. "You want us to find this Faust." "Exactly. If you can bring her back here, then Equestria will regain the leader it richly deserves, and she can tell you where the catalyst is." "Hold on, Commander. She just said three thousand years! There's every chance that she's dead by now!" Vega shouted angrily. "She is not dead!" Celestia screamed angrily. "She was sending us yearly updates until five years ago," Luna piped up, seeing her sister seething with anger. "Her last report pegged her as being in the Attican Traverse. We have all the available information and will send it to your AI. Her ship was created with the same technology as the defence network for this station. You should detect it emanating the same signal as the planet is." "This war is approaching crunch time. I'm sure you can recognise how important time is. The Attican Traverse is a huge area, and its not even properly defined. I'm not sure we'll be able to find her. We're just one ship." "You will not be going alone," Celestia spoke up again. Shepard shook his head, "You still don't trust us, do you?" "I have six ponies that are prime examples of what Equestria has to offer. They should be a great asset to you in this brief mission. It will also allow you to ascertain how effective they are as a military unit. If you do this task for us, then we will help against the Reapers with every resource we have." "Sister, you can't be serious. Equestria isn't ready for war!" "We can't let six members of a pre-space flight species join on an intergalactic journey," Shepard argued. "Shepard, a race of biotics would be a massive boon to the war effort, even in support roles," Kaidan weighed in. "Please, Shepard. My ponies will ascertain that you tried your best. Even if you fail, so long as the ponies can confirm you tried everything in your power, we will still help with the war effort. We still have some military equipment, but not much." Celestia begged. "We secured a large number of Volus fabrication units, Shepard. As long as we have one working model, I'm sure we can replicate it," Tali added. What the hell. Even if I fail, I'll have gained a new fleet. "I accept. Send all the relevant files to EDI. We're heading back to the ship." "Cadence will fetch you when I've prepared the six specialists," Celestia said with a wave of her hoof. "Thank you, Shepard," Luna said softly as the four crew members headed back to the Normandy.