Prologue
A lone, blue object rushed through the black emptiness of space, trailing the heat of plasma thrusters as it honed in on its destination. The coordinates that were programmed in its guidance lead to a massive swirling cloud of cosmic dust, laden with radiation that ranged from the average background that made up the space between stars, and leftover radiation from what one would assume to be a Supernova.
Inside the blue box were six soldiers. Soldiers that each came from a different species, and represented some of the greatest fighters that could be found in the Galactic community.
Vallon contemplated the true scale of the mission and his fellow soldiers as he stared out of the holo-projection in the Kodiak's cockpit. The Turian had taken a liking to thinking like this before every mission he went on, thinking about how the Spirits had brought everyone and everything together the way only they could. That throughout the entirety of the massive expanse of stars and planets he had come to call his home, him and the five others with him were chosen with such an important task.
Looking down to his Omni-tool, Vallon brought up the holographic display that read out the orders given to him and his team.
Date sent: August 28th, 2188
Date received: September 31st, 2188
Origin: Palaven CommandVallon Traxen, it has come to our attention that a Cerberus Cruiser has been rumored to have been seen in the Viper Cluster near a surge of a Cosmic Storm. The source of the storm has been disclosed as simply a Supernova, but Alliance Intelligence suggests otherwise. It is with great faith that I entrust your team with the task of either proving these findings false, or eliminating the Cerberus Cruiser to avoid further panic. If the ladder happens to be the result, mark the location on your ship's map or have the Geth unit on your squad relay the information to the Geth Consensus.
Spirits guide you, Fire-team Millennium.
-Primarch Adrien Victus
Vallon tucked away his Omni-tool as he took in a deep breath.
The Primarch rarely sent direct orders to squads outside of their own battlefields during a time of Reconstruction, but this was not any regular time period, he supposed.
To think that the entire Galaxy, every species and all the fleets that were around had to fight as one to even stand a chance in the previous war was not something anyone would forget. No one in this generation, nor the generations to come would ever forget those horrible months. For many, it was a time of great tragedy and despair. For Vallon, it was still a terrible event, but he clung on to the few good things that had come out of it.
For one, it had united everyone under a single cause: to live. He doubted that any of the grudges or rivalries that existed before the war carried any weight nowadays. The Turians and Humans moved on from the Relay 314 Incident, as well as the Krogans beginning to ease off of their hatred towards Turians and Salarians for the Genophage. Even the Geth and Quarians were building their new worlds together already.
Speaking of the Synthetic race, Vallon turned to the cockpit's pilot seat and watched the holographic controls being typed away at by the squad's resident Geth.
The Geth unit in question was an Engineering specialist, and referred to itself as, "Patches". The reason being that the Geth had been constructed near the Battle of Rannoch, and was constantly upgrading bits and pieces of it with different parts, either from the shops they came along on shore leave, or from parts on the battlefield. The main neck and flashlight-esque visor were grey plates of metal with purple lights, and contrasted greatly with the white armor that made up its torso. Its right arm, shoulder to fingers, was plated with red armor and black wires, while its left arm matched the grey of its neck.
Patches gave a series of mechanical sounds before speaking to Vallon.
"Vallon, Lieutenant," it spoke in a metallic voice, "We are approximately 3,197 kilometers away from our destination, and will reach the coordinates within 14 minutes, and 57 seconds. I suggest that we start readying our weapons and run diagnostics on our gear. I am currently scanning all frequencies and radiation signatures in the system, and will alert the team when I have found something."
The Turian nodded to the Geth.
"Alright. I'll see how everyone's doing. If you find the Cruiser, activate the Stealth Drives and keep us out of firing range."
"Acknowledged."
Vallon turned and walked into the troop bay to see the rest of Fire-team Millennium.
"Alright everyone," he spoke with authority, "we're coming up to the supposed location of a Cerberus Cruiser. Check your gear and guns, and make sure your suits are pressurized."
The other operatives nodded in response and began to check their respective gear.
Vallon looked over to the Krogan, the squad's Sentinel, as he put together his weapons. The Krogan, Urdnot Ruaq, was barely able to fit inside the modified Kodiak with his massive stature, and was leaning on the back bench in multiple seats. Currently, the red-armored Krogan was fiddling around with his shotgun, the N7 Crusader. Right off the bat, most would assume that the Krogan was carrying around a Claymore, the main weapon that one assumed grew on the Krogan's back like a second tail. They would be wrong, however, as Ruaq had said that he preferred the N7 weapon over the Claymore due to its smooth sides and how easily it fit in his hand. On his hip was his Blood Pack Punisher SMG. Ruaq had kept it from his old days as a Blood Pack member before fighting the Reapers. It was still as reliable as it was powerful, and was a decent weapon overall.
The Turian looked to the left side of the shuttle to see the Asari Justicar Adept, Meledia Yhatra, and the Quarian Infiltrator, Horae'Tuin vas Qwib Qwib. The Justicar cradled an M-12 Locust SMG, adjusting the heavy caliber barrel. She had a dark blue tint to her skin, and dark purple eyes that complimented her pure purple armor. On the seat next to her was a Scorpion Heavy Pistol, designed to shoot plasma-based explosives that stuck to most any surface. Horae was scanning her Widow Sniper Rifle, calibrating the scope with her mask's sensors, her Disciple shotgun resting in her lap. The Quarian had a white hood that matched most of her outfit, save for the more heavy parts that were pale orange, like her mask.
Vallon looked down to check his own sidearm, a simple Predator Heavy Pistol he modded with a heavy barrel and lightweight materials to balance it out. The Turian personally respected the weapon, the small device having seen more collective action than most other weapons that were manufactured. It was as reliable as any other, and was fast to the trigger, just to his taste. On his back was a modified Vindicator Assault Rifle, with his own custom heat-sink magazine upgrade and armor-piercing mod. With a motion of his hand, Vallon had began a routine diagnostic of his Havoc armor's many jets. He needed them all to function if he was to keep his movements as sharp as his wit.
After checking his own armor and weapons, he looked over to the last member of Fire-team Millennium, and the only Human he had really worked with in the war. Although, the more Vallon thought of it, this Vanguard was almost as far from being Human as Ruaq was.
The Vanguard in question, known as Crusher, was currently scraping his Omni-tool's blade against the outer surface of his dome-like helmet, trying to carve out a wraith or similar wrathful daemon. So far, it had three eyes, and had a set of teeth that came from several dozen slashes near the chin-area of the helmet. The scratched up helmet's scarring was similar to its owner's head, with several scars running down his temples and the base of his neck under the armor. Vallon remembered where those scars lead, and tried to think of something else.
Crusher's armor was black and blue, much like the Alliance Marine Corps, but was scratched up in several places, such as the shoulders and the center of the chest. It was obvious to everyone in the squad what they were previously, and no one dared to speak of it. Vallon watched as Crusher reached over his shoulder and pulled out his own weapon. The Vanguard preferred sheer power over form, and held his principles true with his modified Revenant Assault Rifle. The Krogan rifle was known for its brutal firepower, but was considered too wild for anyone besides its makers to use. Crusher proved them wrong when he added a recoil dampener to this rifle, and started toting it around as if it were an old Avenger.
The Human pulled out a Carnifex Heavy Pistol and nodded at the weapon before holstering it and the Revenant.
Vallon shook his head, saddened by the state of the Vanguard.
"Alert," Patches stated, drawing everyone's attention, "I have located the Cerberus Cruiser, but have come across new data."
"Explain," Vallon ordered.
"By my calculations, we are currently entering the space where the Bahak system used to reside."
"The Bahak system?" Ruaq asked.
"That sounds familiar," Horae noted.
"It was a Batarian controlled system with roughly 305,000 colonists, military and civilian, before an asteroid slammed into the system's Mass Relay and wiped out the colony, and all worlds around it. I'm detecting faint signatures of eezo within the current area, as well as a large mass effect field where the Relay was. Addendum: Cerberus signature detected near the fluctuation."
"What?" Vallon asked.
Crusher stood up from his seat and donned his carved up helmet as he approached the cockpit. Vallon also went in to look out the holographic display and watched as a white spec began to grow and take the shape of a Cerberus Cruiser. Before the Cruiser was a large distortion in space, appearing as a Singularity-esque sphere with a field of changing colors surrounding it. The Cruiser pulsated a blue field around itself as it approached the distortion.
"Warning: the Cruiser is attempting to manipulate the fluctuation where the Relay detonated with its own mass effect fields. Recommend immediate course correction to avoid-"
"Negative, bring us in," Vallon ordered.
"Vallon, Lieutenant, there has never been a recorded presence of what remains after a Mass Relay's detonation, nor does any data exist on what the distortion may be. There is no gravitational pull, meaning that it is not a Black Hole, nor is there any source of energy. It simply... exists there. Tempering with the mass effect distortion may result in-"
The Geth never finished its explanation as a tear seemed to rip open in the fabric of the universe itself. The Cruiser began to push through the mass effect distortion, widening it as the light of a star shone past it. Beyond the light of a star was the image of a small blue and green sphere.
"Looks like they've found a way through," Vallon stated. "Get us in there!"
"Acknowledged," the Geth responded.
A series of lights began to flash about the cabin before the Kodiak shot forward through the void of space. Several warning lights began to signal around the interior, warning the crew of mass effect field displacements as well as eezo radiation. The Kodiak began to close in on the Cruiser as the Cerberus vessel began to speed through the distortion. Just as the massive distortion was about to close, the Kodiak slipped by the ship's Kinetic Barriers, and found itself on the other side.
Unbeknownst to the crew of the Kodiak, however, the gateway to the system had began to fade away entirely from the shadow that was once the Bahak system, and soon the distortion in space and time dissipated into nothing but radiation and a memory.
\\\\\\//////
Fluttershy stared up at the stars above her cottage with a small smile on her face. She had always enjoyed quiet, peaceful nights like this. A majority of her nights were spent caring for her waking nocturnal animal friends. During the winter, however, she enjoyed staying out on the flushed out roof of her cottage, laying back, and enjoying the night sky.
The pegasus examined the stars in the sky and began to connect the lights from distant stars to make images in her own mind. She raised a butter-yellow hand to the sky and closed her right eye as she traced a path in her mental images. Fluttershy started with one particularly bright star, took a few turns, and managed to make out an exotic fish with an elongated fin. She repeated the process three more times and giggled as she traced out a bear cub, a mouse, and a moth.
Fluttershy was about to start another series of connect-the-stars before she saw something odd. Where she had been pointing, a bright star seemingly vanished. She stared up at the night sky perplexed, and widened her eyes when she noticed that the stars around that one began to fade away as well.
"Is Princess Luna rearranging them?" she asked aloud, sitting up to view the disappearing stars.
Almost as quickly as they vanished, however, they seemed to pop back into existence. Fluttershy thought it to be no more than Luna's handiwork with her power over the night sky, and simply stared up at the stars once again. This time, however, she could make out a few more, albeit smaller and farther lights, that seemed to be moving ever so slowly. The pegasus thought little of it, however, and brought a hand up to her face to conceal her yawn as she stretched her wings.
"I guess I'd better get to bed," she said to nopony.
\\\\\\//////
Crusher watched as the universe seemed to mold itself around the Kodiak and Cerberus Cruiser as they traveled through the hole in space and time. He honestly didn't care if Cerberus wanted to doom itself to something like that, but grew worried as Vallon instructed Patches to follow through. Thankfully, they ended up somewhere in one piece, but that unfortunately meant the Cerberus Cruiser was also intact.
"Looks like they manipulated their mass effect fields and the disturbance to simulate an FTL jump," Horae observed.
"That sounds very risky," Meledia noted. "How, or why, rather, would Cerberus try to do something like this?"
"Patches, any theories?" Vallon asked.
"Several. Cerberus would have likely come across the Bahak system's remains prior to the Cruiser's sightings, and have scouted it out. I find it probable that the field in question was left behind when the Mass Relay detonated and collapsed its Element Zero core. The singularity presents too many unknowns to speculate any further without connection to the Geth Consensus. Addendum: I am unable to connect to any Extranet connections or any trace of communications within the sector. I also lack any connection to the Geth Consensus at this time. Will analyze at a later date."
"Alright. Keep us close to the Cruiser's thrusters so we can fade in to the background of the ship's thermals."
"Acknowledged."
The Kodiak shifted as the blue box maneuvered to hide underneath the Cruiser's starboard thrusters. Crusher remembered this strategy. Use the enemy's thermals to mask their own. He had seen it dozens of times before with the squad.
"Alright, Horae, get up here and scan the area. Try and find out where this thing's headed."
"Sure," the Quarian replied.
The white-clothed Quarian took her seat opposite of Patches in the cockpit and began to tap away at the holographic controls. The two tech experts were comparing data, scanning frequencies and were probably doing a dozen other things the Vanguard didn't know was possible. He breathed deeply as a familiar pain burst through his skull, and sat down.
As he relaxed his pained mind, the Quarian found something interesting.
"I've picked up several VI signals being traded between the Cruiser and a location in the system. It's on a world right next to a relatively small yellow star. They seem to be trading access codes and transport manifests. What are they- oh, Keelah."
"What?" Ruaq asked. "Are they carrying in weapons?"
"Yes."
This drew Crusher's attention, prompting the Vanguard to raise his head and listen in closely.
"Creator Horae is correct. The ship manifests lists hundreds of Cerberus firearms and modified vehicles that will be delivered to a forward-operations facility on the planet. Additionally, they are sending tactical strike coordinates for the Cruiser to bombard from orbit."
"That doesn't make any sense," Meledia commented. "Why would they just randomly bombard an uninhabited planet?"
"It's not uninhabited," Horae continued. "Cerberus have apparently been studying this world for years, and have found that the civilizations on it are, to quote, "disgustingly close to Human evolution,". Stupid bastards are going to wipe out an entire pre-spaceflight civilization and integrate them to make a new army."
"Not while I'm breathing, they're fucking not," Crusher spoke as he cracked his neck.
"Damn right they're not," Vallon responded. "Horae, Patches, hack into the Cruiser's systems and find us a way in. We're infiltrating it and destroying everything inside. Then, when we make planetfall, we're tracking down whatever facility is on that planet and wiping it off the planet's surface."
"Now we're talking," Ruaq said with a smile that was hidden behind his massive mask.
"Crusher, the moment they've found an entrance, you get in and secure the starboard hangar. Get a connection back to Horae with your Omni-tool and hold position while we make our way inside."
Crusher responded with a salute before he drew his Carnifex and put in a fresh Thermal clip.
"Alright then. We know the score and the payoff. We do this right, we'll have saved an entire species. Do this wrong, we'll end up dragging in Spirits knows how many innocents into the fire. Let's get this done fast and hard."
"Creator Horae and I have found a weak spot within the Cruiser's security systems. Hacking into their starboard boarding controls. Warning: a secondary alarm system has been triggered, and security is preparing all sections for imminent combat. Recommend you proceed with haste, Vanguard, Crusher."
Crusher nodded to the Geth as he stood before the port door to the Kodiak. As it slid apart, a mass effect field separated the interior from the vacuum of space. The Kodiak was moving past the thrusters and was closing in on a starboard maintenance hatch. Patches brought the small ship in closer as the hatch opened to reveal two Cerberus troopers. They fired off their SMGs in hopes of hitting something vital on the side of the Kodiak.
The Vanguard's blood boiled at the sight of the white and yellow armors of the Cerberus troopers, and felt his form igniting with Biotic power. With a single push of his legs, Crusher formed a mass effect field around him that brought his mass down to nearly zero, seemingly teleporting from the Kodiak to the maintenance hatch. When he landed, his mass returned to normal, and waves of force erupted from his form and sent the troopers sailing into the walls of the Cruiser. Upon impact, their insides were reduced to pulp.
Around Crusher, six more troopers and a Centurion were waiting for him, and began to open fire. As they did, he charged his barriers into the modified implants in his right arm and charged the Cerberus soldiers, intent on making them suffer as he let out a war cry.