Darkest Before The Dawn

by: Nomad-117, Vergil1989 the Crossover King, and Archer 83

Vergil1989; We might have to consider coming up with a group name guys lol.

Disclaimer: Sadly none of us own anything related to Mass Effect or Star Wars. But we're happy to share our thoughts for free on how epic it would be if they made an awesome little blue baby. - Archer83

Chapter 1: Collision

2186 CE

Sol System above Earth

Crucible

Shepard raised her pistol, just about to pull the trigger as a tremendous crash shook the platform, making her stumble forward with the sound of screeching metal ringing in her ears. Getting slowly back to her feet, Jessica stared at the beaten looking shuttle skidding to a halt mere meters from her. Great, I'm hallucinating. Must have lost more blood than I thought. A wry grin pulled at her lips, even as Shepard coughed up a sticky globule of blood. Either that, or Steve picked a really bad parking space. Hell, I'll run with it, but I have unfinished business to attend to first. Once more, she raised her pistol at the activation conduit before her, but just as she again tried to squeeze the trigger, she was stopped when a hand fell on her arm.

Much to her surprise, Steve didn't disappear no matter how many times she blinked her eyes and tried to clear her vision. Nor did the grip on her arm as she tried to yank herself free of his grasp, but she was far too weak to put up any real resistance. "Whoa, bad idea Commander! Let's at least get you back to the shuttle. I'll handle this. You're sure wrecking that red glowing conduit is a good thing, right?" Shepard gave the man a withering glare as he quickly dragged her back to the shuttle. "Just checking." Gently setting the injured woman down, Cortez pulled a grenade out of a nearby arms locker. "Be right back. Don't move Shepard."

It was Shepard's turn to hold the shuttle pilot back as she grabbed for the back of his uniform before he could clamber out of the shuttle again. "Wait….get Anderson….deserves a proper burial."

As much as Steve agreed with her, they didn't have time. He had to save his commanding officer and send the Reapers back to whatever Hell they crawled out of, even if that meant leaving her mentor, and one of the Alliance's greatest heroes, behind. "Alright Commander, but I need my arm back."

Shepard's mirthless grin said it all. "Steve….you really gotta learn how to lie better." Twisting Cortez's arm behind his back with jarring force, Shepard retrieved the fallen grenade and shoved the surprised pilot towards the cockpit. "If I'm not back in sixty seconds, clear the hell out Lieutenant!"

She only made it three steps before she noticed that the previously forgotten elevator came back up. She readied herself for the inevitable and primed the grenade in case it transported husks or other kinds of threats. She almost burst into tears when she saw that it was a heavily breathing Anderson who was having trouble just trying to remain on his feet, a battle he lost as he fell on his knees and began to cough up fresh blood.

"Steve! Get him some medi-gel! NOW!" She ordered sharply, how could she have been so sloppy? She asked herself, she almost left her friend and mentor for death. An unforgivable sin in her eyes.

"Get to the... shuttle, dammit!" Anderson growled, his eyes narrowing as Shepard limped over to the barely conscious marine.

"Not… without you, Anderson. We leave no...one behind." Shepard said disturbingly weak, the blood loss finally taking its toll.

Cortez wasted no time running towards the grievously wounded pair, helping Shepard drag Anderson between them to the hatch. Ripping the armed grenade out of Shepard grip, somehow giving her a expression of simultaneous betrayal, annoyance, and admiration. He threw it towards the red glowing machinery in disgust after activating the timer, giving them sixty precious seconds to get out of the blast zone and back onto the Normandy. Without even wasting a split second to glance at them, Steve tossed two doses of medi-gel at Shepard, one for her and one for Anderson, before he made his way to the cockpit.

"Here goes nothing." Steve muttered as he dropped into the pilot's seat and jammed the thruster control to full. His former flight instructor would have had a heart attack if he had seen his reckless take off, but there was no time for easing into it. Ten seconds later, they were away from the platform, ten seconds after that, he was headed straight towards the Normandy's open cargo bay ramp. The sound of metal on metal was horrendous as Cortez 'landed' the shuttle against the far wall before it came to a sudden stop after nearly taking out Garrus, who had had to duck at the last moment as the shuttle passed right over the top of his bowed head before slamming into the back of the elevator shaft.

"Are we hit?! What the Hell is going on down there?! I'm getting structural damage warnings left and right!" Joker's voice roared over the PA system.

"We're fine here Joker, just get us outta here!" Garrus shouted back as he slammed the control console for the ramp, sealing it shut before they made the jump to FTL. Once he was sure everyone was alright, only then did Garrus look to the shuttle and Cortez, who had Shepard cradled in his arms. That was all the incentive he needed before he activated his omni-tool and before he put a call in to the medical bay. "Chakwas! Shepard's in bad shape, get a team down here now!"

"You forget about me?" Anderson asked, a weak smile on his face while his hand was pressed firmly against his chest.

"By the Spirits..." Garrus raced over to the wounded man and helped him to a nearby crate. "Never Admiral."

"We just saved the goddamn Galaxy, feel free to call me David, Garrus."

"Yes sir. Er, I mean, David. " Garrus quickly corrected himself, relieved the Admiral only chuckled at his slip up. "...I think I'll stick with sir for now, that just feels odd." Both men turned to look at a distraught Liara.

"How are we supposed to get them up to Chakwas? The elevator is damaged beyond repair." Liara said as she pointed to what remained of the elevator shaft and where the shuttle's nose was currently residing.

"Lift her with your biotics if you have to! You can start by moving the shuttle out of the way!" Garrus shouted back as he grabbed the front of the biotic's skintight suit before turning to Cortez. "Set her down, get whatever medical supplies we have, and we'll try to stabilize her here."

"Prepare for FTL jump!" Joker shouted over the intercom, whatever the crucible was doing had already reached them as red lighting seemed to flicker at the hangars walls. With an unnatural jerk, they jumped into FTL, which apparently only caused more problems. "EDI! We might want to reconsider this idea! The ship's tearing itself to pieces!"

"The drive core is goin' bloody crazy!" Shouted Ken over the PA, only confirming how screwed they were about to be. "She goes up, we all go up!"

When EDI looked over at Joker a moment later, he knew they were in trouble as he read unmistakable worry in her synthetic gaze. "The Crucible has fired. The energy output is following us through FTL. If we don't leave soon, it'll short out every system, leaving us stranded until and if help arrives."

"Exciting FTL! I repeat we are exiting FTL!" Shouted Joker with uncharacteristic panic in his voice. "Oh SHIT! Big ass planet in front us! Where the hell did it come from?! Prepare for uncontrolled atmospheric entry in thirty seconds folks! It was nice knowing you guys." A barely conscious Shepard blinked in surprise at the raw emotion in the eternally snarky pilot's voice. "I love you EDI. ... Shit, is my mic still on?"

"It was, but I doubt anyone cares." EDI replied, her hand finding Joker's shortly before everything went dark.

24 BBY

Mid Rim Chommel sector

Sector Capital Naboo

"What happened?" Captain Panaka demanded to know from the various technicians via comlink, everything had been quiet until warning klaxons started to blare. If not for the single blip on their radar screens, he would have assumed that the Trade Federation had returned for a second blockade.

"We're not sure, sir. A ship of unknown design suddenly appeared in lower orbit, we don't know how our scanners could have missed it." The technician on the other end said, confused, before adding. "By our estimations it will crash a few clicks outside of Theed. The few images we captured of the ship revealed that the hull was damaged in various places. If the crew is still alive, then they will be severely injured after the crash, if they survive at all."

Panaka frowned, the safety of the queen and her court was his main priority, but he already knew that she would want to help any survivors. With that in mind, he began to issue orders. "I want two of our starfighters following the ship in and circling the crash site. I'll lead the rescue team myself, prepare the infirmary for wounded ASAP." All of this he issued on the move as he made for the nearby hangar bay.

Panaka looked at his nephew Gregar Typho before issuing his final order before his departure. "Captain Typho, inform the Queen of this situation immediately, I will contact her as soon as I know more."

Typho saluted and ran off towards the throne room, Panaka himself ran towards one of the readied speeders. If they wanted to arrive at the estimated crash site shortly after the impact, then they had to act fast. But he couldn't suppress the surge of pride he felt when the men and women of his security force moved with discipline and skill. He had trained many of them personally, not an easy task for normally pacifistic people. The failed blockade by the Trade Federation had changed things, some would argue for the worse, but the attack by the Federation had made them him realize how vulnerable they were.

On his command, three of the patrol speeders accelerated towards the provided coordinates. It wasn't long before they could see the ship pass over them, even with the naked eye they could see multiple hull breaches. Whoever was navigating the ship was apparently still alive as they could see that the ship tried to slow down before impact. The ship sailed over a nearby hilltop, before disappearing from sight. They could still hear and feel the impact though. It seemed that despite the pilot's best efforts, the ship still had hit the earth with tremendous force.

Panaka grimaced, if there were any survivors then they would surely be in a very bad shape, to say the least. After such an impact, it was far more likely they would find broken bodies and scrap metal than survivors.

Still, he had seen many unbelievable things in his career, the time when a nine year old boy had destroyed a Trade Federation flagship came to mind. He shook himself out of his memories, he was on a mission, he didn't have time to reminisce about the past. At that moment, his speeder cleared the hilltop and enabled him to clearly see the ship for the first time.

Their particle shields must have been activated, otherwise we wouldn't find much more than scrap metal. Panaka thought while he surveyed the ship, it showed no resemblance to any known ship type he knew of. From the obvious cannons at the bow, it was clear that it was a warship of some kind. But before he proceeded, he would have to contact the Queen. Although he was still certain that she would want him to proceed with the rescue mission, he wanted to be sure. "Your Highness? I'm at the crash site. The ship looks relatively intact despite the damage she's suffered from a previous engagement. Do you want us to proceed and look for survivors?"

"Yes Captain. Please, be careful. Don't take any unnecessary chances. But, if they pose no threat to you or your forces, avoid antagonizing them. I want to know how they came to be here as soon as you can find the answers."

"Of course your Majesty. Be gentle unless provoked is my motto." Captain Panaka replied, a slight hint of humor in his voice which disappeared when one of his men cracked a smirk at the easy banter between the queen and himself. Jamillia was a good woman, and while he had been close to Padme Amidala, her successor was just as able as Naboo's current ruler, and just as compassionate. Even so, it took men like Panaka to keep the peace, and keep the peace he intended to do as he lead his team to the beached ship before them.

"Severe damage to the hull sir, looks pretty bad up close." That was an understatement. From a distance the vessel had looked banged up, but it hadn't looked as if a pack of rancors had clawed and torn at the hull. There were burn marks which criss crossed the mostly black and grey hull, impact craters, and a number of exposed wires and power conduits that looked as if a massive power surge had shorted them out. Whatever had happened to this once proud vessel, it was clear that if there was any hope of salvaging the rest, all of the circuits and wiring would have to be ripped out and replaced with all new parts. The problem with that though was that he hadn't seen anything like this vessel before, and wasn't sure they'd be able to save it.

All that ceased to matter as the airlock door opened the moment one of Panaka's men got close. The first thing he saw was a damaged droid, but it only took him a second to realize the silver bot was unlike any droid he had ever seen. For one, while some droids were designed to look humanoid in appearance, this particular one was far closer to the human female form than any he had ever seen. For another, when she saw him, she tried to stand to her feet and let out a small grunt of pain as her right leg buckled and shot out sparks. "I require your assistance. Please. Jeff appears to be wounded." She pleaded, actually pleaded, something he had never thought a machine was capable of as she tried to stand once more, only for her leg to fail her again.

Panaka didn't ponder that particular puzzle for long, as he took one look at the pilot, breathing a sigh of relief when he saw the even rise and fall of the man's chest. He nodded his head to the droid, waving a medic towards the unconscious pilot before turning his attention elsewhere. If he had paid another second of notice to the machine, he would have seen the sheer relief in her synthetic silvery eyes. "Move! Check for other survivors." Panaka shouted to his people, a quick glance down the hallway revealing that most of the crew was dazed or unconscious, slumped over railings or sprawled out on the deck.

BOOM! Panaka and his team turned, and froze as the biggest alien most of them had ever seen came thundering up the damaged walkway, an equally large and fearsome looking weapon in his massive arms. It roared something in its own guttural language, eyeing them all as potential enemies to be crushed under his boot.

Panka yanked a stunned private behind the bulkhead next to him just before another thunderous boom sounded in the confined space and the edge of their temporary cover exploded outward. "Cease fire! We are here to help you!" He yelled, in the hopes that it would understand him. In return, the strange alien shouted again, this time sounding even more agitated.

"Why don't you play nice and tell your men to lower their weapons. Or I can let the pubescent krogan with the big gun do it for them. That might be more fun." How she got there, Panaka never knew. What he did know was that he had never heard the woman's footsteps, or realize she was there until a glowing orange blade appeared at his neck right before a blue shimmer outlined a black robe and a pale face underneath before she disappeared again. The point of her blade was still pressed against his throat, even if he couldn't see it. He could still feel it as the tip poked at his bobbing adam's apple.

"Do it. Lower your weapons." This is all too familiar. He was here to help these people, not to pick a fight, even though these new arrivals didn't make it easy. For the time being, he kept silent about the pair of starfighters that circled above them, who could reduce this ship to molten slag if necessary. As their weapons clattered to the deck, Panaka tried to reason with the woman holding him at knife point. "Just relax, we're a rescue party. We're here under Queen Jamillia of Naboo's orders to search for and assist any survivors among your crew. We're here in peace."

"Never heard of Naboo before, but let's say you're telling the truth." The Captain noticed a hint of desperation in the otherwise confident woman's voice. "How do I know you won't kill my friends the second I let you go?"

"Kasumi, we don't have time for this! If these guys are willin' to help, I say we let 'em!" Another of the crew shouted as he pushed past the giant lizard. Panaka was again surprised by the sheer size the man had on his own men, but he didn't get a chance to wonder on it as the human started speaking. "Normally this is the part I'd introduce myself, but we've got wounded, some in real bad shape. If you're really here to help us, fine, otherwise I'd clear out before Lola gets up here."

Panaka waved his men forward, giving the large human a nod before quickly relaying orders for additional medical supplies and support staff. "Looks like you people got yourselves out of one nasty karking mess, if you don't mind me saying so."

"Oh good. My knight in shining armor arrives not a moment too soon. Remind me to tear your clothes off later James." The woman who had held him at knifepoint, having ignored her captive's comment completely, said before Panaka heard her fall to the deck, her strange cloaking device deactivating about the same time. It was only then that the foot long piece of railing that was sticking out of her right side was revealed, as well as the large amount of blood that had accumulated on her skintight black bodysuit.

"We need a medic over here! NOW!" If Quarsh felt any hesitation, kneeling next to a woman who had nearly slit his throat moments earlier, it didn't show on Panaka's face.

"Not so loud." 'Kasumi' grumbled as she lowered her head against the wall. "Can't you see I'm trying to get some shut eye here?"

"Not on my watch you aren't." Panaka said with steel in his voice, he knew that if she closed her bright almond eyes now, there was a chance that she would never open them again. He was not about to let that happen as he dug in his uniform for the emergency vial of bacta he kept on hand. "Hey! No napping on the job." Grinning at the half conscious woman when he noticed her holding a blue vial of viscous fluid in her right hand. "Sticky fingers huh?"

"Yep. I'm a kleptomaniac, what can I say? It goes with the territory of being a master thief." Panaka could only shake his head in amusement as he took back what was his, preparing to administer the bacta before he was rudely pushed aside by one of her companions.

"I'll stay with her until your men get here. Just worry about helping the rest of our people." The one they called Vega said as he put pressure on the wound in an effort to stem the flow of blood around Kasumi's wound while he dug in his armor for something. When he found what he was looking for, Panaka raised an eyebrow when the big man slammed a injector into the girl's side and pushed the plunger down. The bleeding slowed down almost immediately, while a white foam like substance hardened around the wound, further sealing the point of entry.

Panaka stared in astonishment for all of two seconds he allowed himself, trying to give the wounded woman in front of them his best reassuring grin before working his way further into the damage deck. All the while he felt the gaze of the giant lizard on his back, the massive creature seemed to be itching for one of his people to give him any excuse to kill them. "Perhaps you wouldn't mind not shooting at our medics when they arrive?" Panaka asked, in the hopes that the alien would move on.

The creature, that looked like a small rancor to him, only growled in response before pushing Panaka forward with his massive shotgun.

Knowing when to muzzle his pride and hold his tongue, Panaka kept his mouth shut and kept moving as he saw more of the same in the command area. People were sprawled out on the deck, but still alive. While a few were in serious condition, the few men he had brought with him were working with the crew that were already conscious in stabilizing them. "Grunt, get out of our way and help carry wounded outside! There's a fuel leak in the lower decks, we need to evac ASAP!" Another human shouted as she and an older woman ran past, a stretcher held between them. She barely took the time to glance at Panaka before barking orders at him as well, pointing towards the simple stretcher. "Get moving and help me with this, the Doc can do more good below decks."

Panaka took an immediate liking to the ravened haired woman as he took up the arms on the stretcher just as the older woman ran back the way they had come. "Who are you? What happened to your ship? Were you attacked by pirates? Trade Federation maybe?" He asked as he looked down at the wounded crewmember on the stretcher, and had to blink when he saw it was another alien species he had never seen before. She was blue, dressed in a red, skintight bodysuit that was cut low in the front. Even with several burn marks and lacerations marring her otherwise beautiful skin, he got the impression that she was just as battle hardened as most of the crew he had seen already.

"I don't have time for twenty questions. Now shut up and move your ass." The woman snapped at him, her glare promising something highly unpleasant if he questioned her orders. Considering that she had just survived a crash he could understand her bad mood.

Something in the woman's intimidating brown gaze and equally fierce tone reminded the veteran officer of his days in basic training. "Yes ma'am."

"Smart man." The woman quipped as they disembarked the vessel, having to take a moment to adjust to the sudden change of light as they left the ship. With the noonday sun overhead on the beautiful and serene plains of Naboo, even the battle hardened woman had to take a second to pause and stare. "Real trees. Never thought I'd see them again."

Panaka ignored her for the moment and activated his comlink. "I need some engineers here, tell them to bring as much equipment as they can to fix a fuel leak, and a few astromech units, ASAP." That taken care of, he turned towards the woman and attempted to make a little small talk, which never had been one of his strong suits. "They don't have trees where you're from?"

"Get moving." She didn't bother to wait for him to respond before she led the way to where the rest of the vessel's crew were being laid out. By then, more men from the nearby city had shown up, and were doing their best to tend to the survivors with the ship's CMO barking orders. "Fair warning." The woman gave Panaka a grateful nod before gesturing towards the older woman. "Don't piss off Doctor Chakwas right now, or well, ever, not if you want to stay conscious."

"Thanks for the tip. Captain Quarsh Panaka, Royal Naboo Security Forces. " Panaka held out his hand to the formidable woman, who was clearly military.

"Lieutenant Commander Ashley Williams. Systems Alliance Marine and Council Spectre." Ashley replied as she grasped Panaka's hand and all but squeezed his fingers into dust. "Thanks for the assist Captain, but we aren't done yet. We still have good people trapped in there."

"Then lead the way Commander." Panaka said as Williams led the way to another hull breach, which allowed them access to the crew deck and hopefully, the lower areas.

If the hull and upper decks of the strange ship looked to be in disrepair, the lower decks barely resembled anything like an active combat vessel. If anything, Panaka immediately thought of one of the many scrap yard planets he had heard about, crammed into the lower decks of the ship before him. The thought of anyone having survived down in the depths was hard to fathom, yet just like in the upper decks, there were no dead to contend with. The moans and cries of the wounded were thick in the air, but at a glance, Panaka gave them good chances of getting out of this mess in one piece, which was by all accounts, a miracle in its own right.

"You fuckers touch me and I'll rip your balls off and sell them to Grunt!" Panaka had to fight the strong urge to duck behind something when a crate slammed into the ceiling, surrounded by a blue iridescent glow as a half naked young woman kept his men at bay. Her entire body glowed with the same blue light, and from the murderous rage in her eyes, he believed she'd carry out her threat. Just as he was about to turn to Commander Williams, she had already run ahead, shoving her way past the rescue crew. To his utter amazement, the violent woman calmed almost immediately. "Bout time you showed up Williams! Tell these pussies to back off so I can clear a path to Engineering, unless they want to wind up as smears on the deck! It's all the same to me."

Glancing at the deep cut in the enraged woman's leg, Panaka was surprised she could still stand, let alone do a very good impression of death incarnate, as Williams spoke to her in a surprisingly soft voice. "Jack, the only thing you're doing is getting that leg looked at. Now shut up, sit down, and let Panaka's boys take care of it while we get that debris out of the way. I promise, we're not leaving anyone behind."

"You better not Commander Tightass. We came too far to lose anyone now." Jack growled, but any hostility that had been in her voice was gone as she spoke to the commander.

"Be nice Jack." With that lighthearted admonishment, Williams gestured for the terrified medics to approach their less than cooperative patient.

"Don't worry boys. I don't bite. Much." Jack's brown eyes lit up when she saw a small injector in one of the men's shaking hands and quickly snatched it from his grasp before stabbing it into her injured leg. "Well ssshhhiiittt. That's the stuff...you guys got any red sand? I need a damn chaser." When she saw Williams' disapproving glare, Jack quickly changed her tune. "I'm kidding Williams. Haven't touched that shit since I got out of prison." When the officer's glare only intensified, Jack amended that. "Fine, since I started teaching those little whiny bastards at Grissom, okay? Didn't want to set a bad example."

"You're a teacher?" One of the medic's asked with a disbelieving gasp.

"Yeah, what's it too you pal? Think I don't look the part, covered in art? Well fuck you and your mommy, princess." Jack growled at the medic with a murderous glare.

"Come on, she should be harmless now that she knows they have decent painkillers." Ashley said amused, although her eyes and posture still betrayed how tense she really was.

"Fuck you too Ashley." Jack snapped back, completely ignoring the hard, almost cold stone glare Williams shot back for the use of her full first name.

"I'm gonna let that one go since you're drugged to the gills." Ashley replied, her voice dead calm while her eyes promised a very slow death if Jack continued to press her luck.

"Um, Commander? Little help?" Panaka asked, having kept one amused eye on the women while he assisted his people with clearing a path to the lower decks. With the elevator shaft mangled, they had to rely on access hatches, of which only two were still in relatively good shape.

"Hey Aasshhhllleeeyyy, watch yer ass, haha!" With an over exaggerated wave of her glowing arm and a slight grunt of effort, Jack literally swept aside the last of the debris covering the hatch. If anything, she flattened it against the sides of the hatch, and made the passageway wider at the same time. "That's right bitches, I am a motherfunkin' biotic goddess!" With that proud, slurred declaration, Jack fell to the deck as two medics dared to catch her, the drugs in her system having finally kicked in.

Panaka could only shake his head as he followed Commander Williams into the access hatch. "Well, that was...different." And I thought fighting beside Jedi was strange. At least they didn't light up like some kind of human torch.

"That was her holding back, way back." Ashley said with a shrug as she kicked at the grate in front of her before it finally popped free.

"Good to know. You're just chock full of helpful advice, aren't you?" He said while following her down the hallway.

"I can also shoot you between the eyes from one hundred meters. Just sayin'." She shot back, he noted the thinly veiled threat with a shrug. Why did these people feel that it was necessary to threaten him and his people the whole time, he wondered.

"Ah will nay leave you to have Chakwas snap my arm back into place. Now shut your haggish hole and hold still. This bloody seam will tear again if ya don't quit yer fidgeting!" Someone could be heard shouting around the next corner.

It was when Ashley and Panaka rounded said corner, that he met his third unknown species that day. The female alien shouted something at the man in her native language before turning towards them.

His companion kneeled down next to the wounded woman and checked her over, she was obviously relieved to see that her friend only had a few broken ribs and a suit tear. "Good to see you're okay, Tali, Ken. Where are Adams and Gabby?"

"Further in lass. They're fine, if a bit shaken up from our rough landin'. Should be used to that by now though, after flying with Joker all this time." The man identified as Ken said, and grimaced when a fresh wave of pain hit him.

"Tell me about it." Ashley said with a small smile, but he could see that she was just putting on a brave face for the rest of the crew.

The newly identified 'Tali' yanked Ken by his good arm towards the newly cleared hatch, he deduced from her body language and her her tone of voice that she ordered the man to follow her, and not for the first time.

"Nay without Gabby Ah'm not!" The man protested vehemently, and tried to pry his arm free.

Ashley chose that moment to chop Ken in the back of his neck, knocking the worried engineer out cold while Tali caught him with Panaka's assistance. "Chakwas is outside Tali. I imagine the medbay's pretty trashed. You, help her get Ken out."

"You do realize that I can't understand her?" He felt compelled to ask, the looks he got in return were a clear 'No'.

"Don`t you have a translator transplant?" The female Commander asked bewildered, but before he got the chance to answer the alien woman spoke up again, and this time in Basic.

"I'd modified my suit's external speakers so that they translate into Standard, and by the looks I am getting from you I would say it working." Tali said wryly.

"Good, now get moving!" Ashley ordered with renewed vigor, before marching off to help other crew members.

Only after they were out of earshot did Panaka ask the obvious question. "Is she always so hands on?"

"You have no idea. Thank you for the help by the way. Tali'Zorah Vas Normandy." Panaka shared his name as they half dragged, half carried Kenneth up the shaft between them. "I know Ash can seem a little...blunt, but she means well."

"I got that impression already ma'am." He said honestly, while helping her to drag the unconscious man to a stretcher.

"Bloody gutless... thinks she can sucker punch... get away with it." Ken muttered incoherently as they gently placed him on the closest empty stretcher. "Gabby... gotta go back... get Gabby."

Before Tali could get ten feet from the makeshift infirmary, she froze mid step when she felt a hand fall on her shoulder. Panaka immediately recognized the gray haired woman he'd seen earlier, even as the ship's CMO gave him an appreciative nod before turning her gaze back on her newest patient. "Tali, while I appreciate how eager you are to help the others, you are in no shape to be doing anything strenuous, not with that suit patch threatening to come undone at the slightest misstep."

Tali reached into one of the many well hidden pockets in her suit and pulled out a small silvery roll of something. Without a word, she proceeded, with Panaka's quick assistance, to wrap the sticky material around her waist several times, sealing over the damaged section of her suit. "Satisfied?"

"No, but I suppose it'll have to do for now. If she so much as sneezes young man, you are to subdue her immediately and bring her back here. Do I make myself clear?" The CMO said with blazing eyes that promised retribution if he didn't do exactly what she said.

"Yes ma'am. Am I safe to assume you're the shipboard doctor, Chakwas right?" He asked with a respectful nod.

"Doctor Karin Chakwas, yes. And you must be the good captain that has come to our rescue. Let me be the first in thanking you in advance for your speedy arrival. Now if you'll excuse me, I have far more critical patients to worry about at the moment. One sneeze." Karin pointed to Tali for emphasis before heading back to her patients.

"Well then, I have my orders. And, no offense, I plan to follow them to the letter. Something about your CMO scares me more than that young rude glowing woman covered in tattoos." Panaka told the young alien woman next to him.

"Only a fool angers their shipboard doctor." Tali agreed as she led the way back into the scrap maze that remained of their ship.

"Very true. Perhaps we should check on this 'Gabby' your friend was so concerned about next?" He suggested her, without her help he would have no idea where to go.

"I had already planned on it. If there's one thing our Commander taught us, it's not to leave anyone behind." She answered with a certain amount of pride.

"Commander Williams does indeed seem very loyal to her crewmates." He answered honestly, everything he had seen of that woman so far literally screamed military, loyal, and honorable.

It was as they left the access hatch for the second time that Tali gave Panaka a strange look, her silvery eyes narrowing for a moment in annoyance before she remembered her manners. "Not Williams, although she is quite loyal to her friends. I was talking about someone else, someone that brought us all together."

It took some creative hacking of the door controls, but Tali was able to open the sealed hatch in front of them just long enough for her and Panaka to slip through before it slammed shut behind them. The first thing Panaka saw was a tall, mandibled, and spike covered alien in blue and white battle armor, trying to restrain a beaten and battered looking human woman. If he read its body language correctly he would say that it was very worried and at the same exasperated. Once again he was unable to understand its words. It seemed to be half heartedly threatening to bind her wrists.

"Wouldn't do that... if I were you... Garrus. Might make Liara... jealous. You wouldn't like her... when she's... jealous." The battered woman, who in his opinion looked like a horde of wookies decided to use her as a punching bag, answered weakly.

"Shepard! You stupid, idiotic bosh'tet! Listen to Garrus before I help him!" Tali pointed to the human man next to her as she glanced toward another alien woman behind the two. "He doesn't have a subdermal translator, but he speaks Standard."

"I see, you have my thanks for assisting us, and Tali's right Jessica. You need to rest." The woman, who looked to be of the same species as the beautiful blue skinned woman Panaka had helped carry out of the ship, glanced down at the length of electrical cord in her hands before shoving it behind her back. Inwardly he thanked the Force that at least one of these aliens could speak Basic, or as they apparently called it, Standard.

"I appreciate your enthusiasm Liara, but now's not the time." The injured woman, Commander Jessica Shepard, Panaka correctly guessed, said with a smirk instantly causing Liara to blush a deep indigo.

Panaka decided to interfere before things got out of hand. "Ma'am I am Captain Quarsh Panaka, head of the Royal Naboo Security Forces. I have orders to evacuate all survivors and to guarantee their medical treatment. Most of your crew are already outside, they will be brought to Theed for further treatment, we don't have the means to treat them adequately here. I ask you to trust us, your own medical facility was heavily damaged and if I understood some of your crew correctly you have a fuel leak." Panaka said in an effort to get them to trust him, he had seen how they all tensed when he told them that most of their crew was already in his custody.

"A leak? Damn, things are worse than I thought." Shepard muttered more to herself than anyone else, she snapped her attention back to the others. "We have to get the wounded out of here first."

"I already requested an Engineering team to close the leak." Panaka informed them calmly. "But if the heavily wounded are to have any chance than we must transport them now. That includes you ma'am." He said the last part while pointing at the wounded woman.

The three non-human crewmembers shared a quick glance, which he translated into "Should we really trust him?" He sighed, getting increasingly annoyed, did these people have to be so damn stubborn? They accepted their help for the most part, so the person they were trying to protect must have been very important to them to cause such a reaction.

"Listen, I can't help you if you won't trust me." Panaka said to them, he chose the direct approach in hopes of them opening up.

"I apologize… um Captain Panaka." The blue female said in an uncertain tone. "We meant no disrespect, we just don't know if we can really trust you. We had unpleasant experiences with such situations before." A pained groan caught her attention as Liara held up a hand. "Please excuse me for one moment. Counc- Admiral, stop trying to get up or I will sedate you. Agian. Your choice."

"Not gonna sit... on my ass... when the ship's being boarded Liara! Shepard's girlfriend or not... I will knock you on your- " It was painfully clear to Panaka that whatever the alien woman had given the man, it hadn't quite worn off yet.

"That's bondmate, Admiral, or will be soon enough. As for who's boarding, they're friends, not enemies. Now please, relax David, unless you want to tear your bandages." Liara said as she pushed a groggy, yet somehow still imposing, older looking human back down to the deck as gently as she could.

Panaka raised a curious eyebrow and decided to switch from the direct to the painfully blunt approach. "Alright then... Listen, if I wanted you dead then we wouldn't be talking. I could have ordered you to be shot down, or told my Starfighters to bombard the crash site with enough firepower to kill everything bigger than bacteria. So could you please justtell me the best way to help your people?" He regretted that he had to be that blunt but it seemed that this was the only way to get them to talk, but before either of them had a chance to speak he decided to lessen the impact somewhat. "We are pacifists for the most part, but we too have had some bad experiences, so can we just agree to help each other now and figure out the rest later?"

"Sounds like a pl-" Shepard paused to clear her throat and spat out what Panaka thought looked suspiciously like fresh blood.

"Alright then, first, I respectfully request that you hand temporary command of your crew to your XO."

"You giving me orders already Captain?" Shepard asked as her left eyebrow raised in mild amusement.

"Just respectfully requesting, Commander." He clarified politely but firmly.

The spiky alien in blue armor, Garrus, Panaka reminded himself, puffed out his mandibles in what looked to be amusement before muttering something in his dual flanged voice.

"Done." Tali helpfully translated for Panaka.

"It's mutiny then..." Shepard muttered with a groan while noticeably slumping against Liara. "Shoulda known not to trust you guys."

"Everything is proceeding as I... oops, you weren't supposed to hear that." Panaka could only grin at Liara's cheerful laugh as she wrapped her arms around a smirking Shepard.

"Good, we'll continue to assist with evacuating all of your wounded to the mobile triage unit my people are setting up as we speak. After their stabilized, we'll transport them to a safe medical facility in Theed as soon as we can. I promise." Panaka guaranteed them in an even tone. Just as he was about to lead the way, one of his men ran up to him and whispered in his ear. The grave look that passed between the captain and his man told those behind him all that they needed to know. "I'll be right there." Was all he said before having two of his people help those in the hangar bay as an engineering team arrived. Wielding plasma torches, they rapidly cut through the damaged launch door to give the incoming medical and additional engineering crews easier access to the stricken vessel

The path to what he assumed was their CIC on the mid deck had been cleared at last, and while he questioned the need for some kind of security scanner along their route, that wasn't what his gaze was drawn towards when he shoved his way past the partially forced hatch into the small checkpoint. It was the two human guards that were sprawled on the deck that had his full attention. One of them was dead, the unnatural angle of her head clearly the result of a massive blunt force trauma. The other woman hadn't been so fortunate, having been caught in a localized explosion that had badly burned the right half of her face. She was gasping for air, most of her upper chest having sustained the same level of injuries. Panaka knew she wouldn't make it, but that didn't stop him from kneeling by her side.

Before he could say anything she weakly lifted her left arm and tried to grasp his arm. She drew another shaky breath before she spoke. "Commander? Is that you? I can't see..."

Panaka gently grasped onto the woman's outstretched hand. "Shh, don't speak, save your strength." The veteran officer frowned as the woman flinched at the sound of his voice. "Don't be afraid. Your commander is alive and well. Along with many of your crewmates. Everything is going to be alright. I promise."

"Thank you. Whoever you ar-" The woman convulsed in his arms briefly and then was still.

"A friend." Panaka quietly whispered as he gently laid her on the deck. The sound of footsteps jolted the heavy hearted officer's brown gaze to the woman standing behind him.

"It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest I go to than I have ever known. Rest well Bethany, Sarah. You've more than earned it." Panaka wasn't all that surprised when Commander Williams knelt next to the two and gently pulled their eyelids shut before she turned her gaze on him. "Thank you for being here….for Bethany. No one should die alone, afraid."

Theed Royal Hospital

Observation Deck

Pulling himself back to the present, Captain Panaka saw that the blue holographic forms before him were just as astonished as he'd expected them to be. Apparently even Jedi were known to be taken by surprise every now and again, but it was something he hadn't expected with someone as respected as Jedi Knight Obi-wan Kenobi. "Did I really hear that right your Highness? You have a first contact situation right in your own backyard?"

Jamilla nodded her head before she spoke, having linked the call to the hospital so Panaka was kept in the loop. "Their ship is of a unknown design. The crew onboard consist of races never seen before in our galaxy, and underlying principles of their technology is beyond our current scientific understanding. From what our engineers have been able to figure out, it is based on some kind of mass altering fields the likes of which we've never seen."

Kenobi rubbed at his chin, lowering his head in thought. "Interesting... I will personally see to it that Senator Amidala will be informed. We will make arrangements to meet these fascinating guests of yours as soon as possible. Maybe they'll prove friendlier than some people I could name?"

"Any assistance you and the Senator could provide us will be greatly appreciated Master Kenobi." Panaka said as the Jedi nodded and deactivated the hololink. Now he just had to keep the conscious members of the crew from tearing the place apart until Obi-wan and his apprentice arrived.

He walked back towards the windows which allowed him a clear view at the various bacta tanks before entering the medical bay with a heavy sigh. Most of them were being used by the very same people he had just spoken of. His gaze lingered on the two higher ranking officers a little longer than the rest, before his gaze fell on the strange droid. She was being fixed up by one of their astromech droids, her leg open and the inner workings, which were again of a technology unlike any he had ever seen. It was with her help that the gold painted domed mech was able to repair the damage done to her during the crash, but that wasn't the thing he noticed. It was the downright human look of gratitude in the strange, utterly unique droid's eyes that caught the man's attention.

During the entire procedure her gaze never left the one she had called "Jeff", and her hand remained on the transparisteel of his tank the whole time. "Thank you for seeing to the well being of our crew, Captain Panaka." The droid said at last when she turned to face him. "You have my eternal gratitude."

"No need to thank me ma'am, just doing my job." Again, Panaka wondered if he wasn't talking to another human being rather than a simple droid.

"No, if you had simply been doing your job, I have little doubt we'd be locked in holding cells until we were deemed safe to interact with the people of your world. You, as Jeff would say, gave a damn about us. People you didn't understand, people who might have posed a threat."

"Well, I like to think I'm a bit more open minded than your average officer." Panaka was distracted by a rhythmic pounding and looked up to see Commander Jessica Shepard once again glaring at him over her breather and thumping her right fist against the inside of her tank. "Not again... I don't suppose it would help if you explained to her that the bacta treatment should only take a few more hours?" Panaka was using that rapidly dwindling time to think of the gentlest way to tell the Commander of her lost crewmembers. No captain ever wants to hear that they failed any of their crew. Whether it was their fault or not never seems to matter. The losses they had suffered during the attack against the Trade Federation droid command ship and the victory over them had required Panaka to make more than a few house calls. He knew loss better than most.

"She hates being confined for any medical reason." The ship's CMO stated after setting Kenneth's arm, a small, amused smile on her face as she turned to the Naboo officer. "You can tell her all you like, that doesn't mean she'll listen to you. She rarely listens to me as it is. I've always had to sedate her, to ensure that she recovers properly."

"Somehow, that doesn't surprise me if her superior officer is any indication." Panaka said as he looked to the other tank, where one Admiral David Anderson was floating in his own vat of bacta, his arms crossed over his chest in what was unmistakably impatience.

"I'll handle informing the Commander of our...recent losses. The last thing I need right now is another patient, Captain." The haunted look in the veteran physician's eyes said it all.

"No, it was my responsibility to get everyone out of there alive. I should be the one to tell her, since I was also present when Private Westmoreland- when Bethany died." He argued back stubbornly, seeing it as his responsibility and he wouldn't take the easy way out.

"You're a good man Captain, but some things are better left among the crew." Karin countered solemnly, and Panaka had to reluctantly agree that maybe the good doctor was right.

"Of course, you're right Doctor, my apologies. She should hear it from one of her friends, not a stranger." Panaka slowly replied, nodding his head in deference to the older woman as she turned to tend to their quarian friend. Tali he remembered.

"You saved her crew Captain, I wouldn't worry about the Commander considering you a stranger for long." She said and looked towards her less than pleased quarian patient. Said patient was warily eying the droids now repairing her suit after Chakwas herself injected Tali with a inoculation cocktail that would have been strong enough to wipe out any known pathogens ten times over.

"How are you feeling? Are you experiencing any discomfort at this time?" One droid asked in a decidedly feminine, calming voice. At least to almost any other patient anyway.

Tali wasn't most patients as she pushed the droid's arm away and turned to EDI. "Do me a favor EDI, if any of these rust buckets touch me again, delete their core processors from the inside out." The droid that had been tending to her took a step back.

"I'm sorry Tali, I can't do that." When Tali took a step back and then crossed her arms, all but glaring at her old synthetic friend, EDI was quick to add, "That was a joke."

"Joker certainly thinks so." Tali muttered, even as her silvery eyes widened in delight as a relieved EDI turned to see Jeff giving her an over exaggerated 'thumbs up'. Turning to Panaka at last, Tali waved off the pilot, who was no doubt grinning under his breather, before addressing the officer from Naboo. "What do you plan to do with us Captain?"

"That depends on how cooperative you are. But if you want my personal opinion, then you will be most likely allowed to live on Naboo as one of its citizens, if you want to of course."

Turning away from Kasumi's bacta tank, Vega shot the man a grin before he turned back to the thief who looked just as eager to be out as Lola. "From what we saw outside, I wouldn't mind taking a much needed vacation on this rock. Only problem is we left our home in a bit of a mess. If there's a way to reach the Alliance, I know Lola would appreciate the chance to see how things went.

"I am unfamiliar with this "Alliance". Panaka confessed, that was the second time that their visitors had mentioned it.

"Why do I get the feeling we're far more off the beaten path than we realize?" Liara asked, meeting the confused officer's gaze.

Grunt loudly grumbled as he looked up from the tray he had been given by another of the droids. And made his displeasure known by many sharp growls and well, grunts. The so called krogan reminded Panaka more and more of a rancor wearing body armor.

"He thinks the food is crap. Next he'll demand to go hunting, or fishing, apparently. Don't ask what his definition of either is. It usually involves blowing things up." Ashley's eyes narrowed as the young krogan leapt off the medical crate he was using for a seat and started for the exit. "Sit down Grunt, that wasn't an invitation." Grunt took one look at Williams, muttered a what had to be a curse, and sat back down. "Smart boy. I wouldn't have to tell Shepard you pissed off the natives."

DINK. DINK. DINK. Grunt's huge blue reptilian eyes widened at the sight of Shepard pointing at the crate behind him, as a smirking Garrus walked over and patted him on his massive hump. "Too late. Your Battlemaster doesn't look very happy does she? It was nice knowing you Grunt." Panaka almost jumped at the odd dual flanged artificial voice that was emitted from a glowing device on Garrus' arm. "Yeah, it can do that too." Garrus gestured to said device with what Panaka quickly recognized as a sarcastic smirk.

"I would work on better means of translation, but someone won't let me do that!" Tali grumbled with a glare towards the elder human doctor. Who, in response, only raised a single eyebrow, clearly unimpressed.

"Complain all you want Tali, it isn't going to get me to release you any sooner. And since you decidedly aren't resting, I may keep you in my company quite a while longer than I had originally planned." Chakwas managed a half hearted grin as the silvery orbs under Tali's visor instantly vanished a moment later. Chakwas leaned closer the to young quarian as if waiting for something, and was rewarded when Tali cautiously opened one eye, her hand moving towards her omni-tool. "Don't even think about hitting that neural shock program Tali. Mordin might have given it to you as a present, but he gave me the means to lock your suit down. How did he put it again? Most effective means of treating less than patient patient." Chakwas emphasized that point as she tapped at her own wrist mounted omni-tool, earning her an annoyed grumble from the quarian. The fact that Mordin had neither done nor said any such thing didn't stop Karin from giving Tali her best wolfish smile.

"Now that that is cleared up, maybe you could tell the Commander and the Admiral that they can stop with their 'secret' hand signals? We have no intention of hurting any of you, as I mentioned before I believe." Panaka said with a little annoyance in his voice.

"Forgive me for saying so Captain, but would you believe someone at their word if the situation was reversed?" Liara asked, earning her an annoyed grunt from the Naboo officer. Before he could speak though, she held up a hand and put a soothing note in her voice. "But I believe you are trustworthy Captain Panaka. Your people have tended to our wounded, have given us safety and security, and have promised us a place among your people. That is more than we could have hoped for. However, I feel I have to be the first to ask the obvious question. What do you want in return?"

"That's not my place to say. I won't lie to you though, I imagine some of our less...generous senators that claim to work for the good of the Galactic Republic will want to examine your technology at the very least. As for Naboo itself, we want nothing that we don't earn ourselves. Trade and tourism keeps us going, but that's the limit of outside interference we allow on a regular basis."

"I'm guessin' some people might take crashing into one of your forests as more than a little interference." Vega muttered, not taking his eyes off a still unconscious Kasumi.

"We're pacifist by nature, but I wouldn't be surprised if you get a few verbal complaints. A few very loud complaints." Panaka could name a few people in the Queen's council that would no doubt be at the head of those particular people. He considered praying for their survival if they angered the wrong member of the strange crew.

"Um, Captain?" Garrus gestured towards Anderson and Shepard, who were still under the impression they were having a secret conversation. "Should I tell them to stop worrying about your obvious, but inevitable betrayal now?"

"If you would be so kind." Panaka grumbled, having a feeling the following days were going to be the end of him.

Walking up to their bacta tanks, Garrus loudly tapped on Shepard's tank gave his captive audience his best taloned imitation of a human 'OK' hand gesture. When Shepard and Anderson both gave the turian their best death glares, he nodded in satisfaction. "They believe me, about as far as they could throw me, but they believe me." Shepard's glare only deepened when Garrus completed a complex series of combat hand gestures. "Apparently I shouldn't have told her to, 'Keep floating in there, Commander.' I don't think she found it as funny as I did." Garrus's words were confirmed when Shepard shot him a rude one fingered gesture. "Don't need any translation there."

"Indeed." Panaka didn't know what it meant, but he knew a rude gesture when he saw one.

End Notes; Vergil1989; Begun, the epicness has. This is another idea from our wonderful friend, Nomad-117, so you can thank him for this one.

Nomad-117: And once again I have to thank my two friends for their willingness to bring it to life. It is going to be a long journey, but it will be worth it. Hope you enjoy, and may the Force be with you all.

Archer83: Honestly I'm shocked that we never got around to this idea sooner lol. Palpatine won't know what hit him. Send in those reviews so we know whether you want to see Shepard