If the past four years had taught Captain Benjamin Sisko anything, it was to be flexible.
A large man with dark skin, a shaved head, and eyes that usually carried a hint of humor, he usually came across as a powerful figure, a man of drive and strength, with a fire in his eyes. A fire that was just a bit faded now as he went back over the events of the last few hours.
From the moment he had taken command of Deep Space Nine, a lot of weird things had taken place. Wormholes aliens beyond time, baby universes, Q, Morn turning down Jadzia for a date. It was like a long line of weirdness built to keep him constantly on his toes.
Some days, that thought amused him. This was not one of those days.
He found himself sitting in the captain's chair of the USS Defiant, watching silently through the viewscreen as they flew at warp through the peace of space. The other crewmembers around moved with a certain slowness, the kind that came when you found yourself grieving. Today, many people had died for thanks to a man who loved a woman. Major Kira Nerys took it especially hard, clearly grieving as Julian Bashir, his medical officer, looked her over.
No matter how many people died under his command, it never got easier for him. There were days…
Regardless. Time to go back home, get a good night's rest, and get ready for the next disaste-
"Sir!" Miles O'Brien turned around, the Irish engineer giving Sisko a look that meant nothing but bad news. "I'm tracking three Jem'Hadar warships heading towards us."
Sisko forced back the small sigh he felt like letting out, focusing himself back on the moment. "Commander Worf, ready weapons."
The Klingon officer nodded, his heavy brow furrowed as his hands fly across his consoles. The other officers' work with blistering speed as Sisko shared a looks with Jadzia Dax, his best friend. The young woman gave him an understanding look that he returned with a barely noticeable shrug.
"Been that kind of day." O'Brien sighs.
"Bring to red alert and prepare to engage." Sisko said calmly, his voice echoing along with the loud alarm ringing through the ship. For a moment, as the enemies appear on-screen, Sisko noted that this will be one of those bad days he'll remember for the rest of his life.
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There are some good days that you'll remember for the rest of your life, Commander Shepard thought to himself as he rose up from the railing he'd been leaning on. He and his friends, past and present members of the crew he'd created over the past few years had just left his apartment after a party he'd set up.
They'd needed it. With the constant battles, politics, and general Cerberus bitchiness (As Jack charmingly put it) they deserved a break or two. The fact that it had followed a clone of himself attacking them in some insane plot to take his place had just been one in a long line of insane plots.
Which said something about the sad path his life was taking.
Commander Mikeal Shepard brushed a hand through his short black hair, than scratched his stubble of a beard with a yawn. While he chose to avoid drinking, since he had more than enough mind altering things thrown at him as it was, it had still been a long fun night.
His blue eyes suddenly focused on quite a beautiful sight as he followed his friends towards the Normandy. The owner of the sight swung her hips widely as she walked, a proud strut perfectly showing off what had to be one of his favorite views. Shepard grinned, sidling up to join the group as he gives her a look that she returns with a shameless grin, barely noticeble if you weren't looking for it.
"What do you all say to one last ride? For old time's sake." He suggested. As he said it, the idea felt good. One more trip with his family and friends before the end. He hadn't planned on it, but what the heck?
"And I guess I'll be providing this ride?" Joker, the snarky pilot of the Normandy grinned as he walked into the ship. "Sure Commander. Let's put my baby through her paces. For fun this time."
"Do you mean the Normandy, or EDI?" James Vega said with a wide grin as his large size follows after.
"Isn't that the same thing?" Samantha Traynor asked, her eyes turning to look at EDI, the robotic beauty giving her a light smile.
"It has been argued."
"What the fuck ever Sexbot," Jack said, though the last was said somewhat fondly. She grinned at Shepard. "Let rock and roll."
"Not me." Shepard and Miranda Lawson turn as Jacob Taylor hung back. The new father-to-be smiled a bit sheepishly. "Sorry Shepard. Its just that-"
"The birthing class." The two men turn to look at Miranda, who smiled that perfect smile. "First one is today isn't it? You shouldn't miss it."
"You're tracking me." Jacob smiled with a deep sigh. "Same old Miranda."
"I think she calls it, what was it Miranda?" Shepard said with a wide grin.
"Protecting my assets." She replied with a grin of her own, resting a hand on one cocked hip.
"Right." Jacob chuckled, then turnd to Shepard. "I'm sorry Shepard. Another time maybe?"
"Of course." Shepard shook his hand with a soft smile. "Just remember what I said about naming the baby after me."
"Never." Jacob shook his hand back, Laughing as he turned to walk away. Miranda shared a look with Shepard as her first truly loyal friend walks away before entering the Normandy alongside Javik, the Prothean stoic as ever as he walks in.
The last five to get on wait for Shepard. He walked up to them, smiling just a bit. "One last thing before we go."
Ashley Williams, Garrus Vakarian, Tali Zorah Vas' Normandy, Liara T'soni, and Wrex. The original away team for the first Normandy smile at him, each holding a glass bottle in their hands.. Garrus hands Shepard a bottle of (non-alchoholic) beer, giving Tali a dextro-based one. The six warriors clink their glasses together.
"To Kaidan. May he stay safe." Ashley said.
"Have a good beer." Wrex added.
"And forever be in our hearts." Liara continued.
"This one's for you Kaidan." Garrus lifted his glass up high.
"We miss you." The last to speak, Tali, smiled under her mask.
The six took one last drink before Shepard sighed. "Come on. Lets see what kind of trouble we can get into."
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Of course, Shepard eventually found himself regretting those words. Things had actually been going pretty well before that. With the current lull in the Reaper War, they were free to simply coast past the beautiful nebulas and systems to be found in the depths of known space. The crew found themselves gravitating to their old hidey-holes.
It got a bit awkward for Ashley, Liara and Javik, who occupied Samara, Miranda and Grunt's old rooms. The Asari broker and Human sentinel managed to get along very quickly when it was discovered they shared interests in the arts of knowing way too much about people. Last Shepard had seen them they were chatting over the liasons of certain political powers like teenagers taking about the latest fad.
Ashley had meanwhile chosen to allow Samara to have reign of the Observation Deck. Samara, graciously accepted, and Ashley eventually brought up the topic of poetry. Things went along smoothly, if a bit over-politely, from there.
Grunt meanwhile, had introduced Javik to the joys of dinosaurs, which the old Prothean immediately proclaimed as formidable creatures. Shepard decided to drop in on later, if only to speak of the awesomeness of Deinonychus.
Still, the only thing he was looking forward at the moment was a bit lower in engineering. Shepard entered the lower levels, his eyes trying to adjust to the darkness as he walked in. Suddenly his shirt was grabbed by a quick arm.
With the lightning quick reflexes born from training and fighting against constantly powerful opponents, he grabbed his assailant by the wrist, spinning them into a crate. A grunt escapes a pair of lips as he finally sighted the face of his attacker.
Shepard grinned. Jack's eyes seemed to glow as his hands moved from her wrists to hold her waist. She laughed as they came closer to each other. "That hurt you fucker." The slim woman lifted a hand up to his back, splaying her fingers over his shoulder. The same shoulder she'd placed a tattoo on. Her own little mark of ownership, a fact Shepard kind of liked. Her head was shaved on the sides, allowing a single long tail of hair to trail down the back of her neck. Shepard traced a finger along one of the dozens of tattoos on her body.
"You going to punish me for it?" Shepard growled, his voice thrumming in his chest and vibrating against her skin before he kisses her neck.
"I'm thinking about it." She said throatily.
Their lips meet. Jack released a sigh against him as they pull close. For a moment Shepard thought about his room. About how close it was, and how Jack felt as she pressed and grinded against him, and how long it had been since the two of them had been together.
"Shepard?" And EDI's voice came in through the intercom.
The two lovers groaned simultaneously. They look each other in the eyes, sharing a laugh at the timing of it all. Jack grabs his head, kissing him furiously for a moment before pulling away. She grined at the dazed look in his eyes, enjoying the effect she has on him. "Rain check soldier boy."
She slipped away from him, going upstairs with that swing in her step she knows he loves to watch. Shepard sighed sadly.
"What is it EDI?"
The AI replied simply, her tone professional as always. "We've received a distress call. A ship carrying special forces is being targeted by the reapers."
"Special forces?" Shepard asked. His mood took a one-eighty, his steps quick as he goes upstairs after Jack.
"The N7 Specials Ops groups." Shepard immediately noted the slight worry in her voice, something only someone close to her would have noticed. He had the same worries in him.
And with good reason. The group had proven incredibly effective, taking apart the Reapers and their operation with impressive ability. Made up of many races, and containing everything from Justicars and Alliance soldiers to Mercs, Batarians, and Ex-Cerberus members, it was a true melting pot of talents.
Which meant they should have never been on one ship in the first place. Fifty-nine men and woman, specializing in small group tactics, all put on one ship, despite the many hot zones across the galaxy that needed them?
If they died, all at once, it would be a huge blow to the war effort.
"Tell Joker to rendezvous, and put everyone on combat alert."
"Yes Shepard. Logging you out."
Shepard had enough time to take a deep breath when a voice sounded from behind him. "Trouble huh?" A woman came into view at the top of the stairs. Literally, as she seemed to appear from thin air. Shepard gave her a small smile as he joined her.
"Enjoy the view Kasumi?"
The petite Japanese thief gave a perfectly shocked look, only the mirth in her eyes giving her away as she responds in a southern accent. "Moi? Why I do declare Mr. Shepard, are you implying I would be anything but ladylike?"
"You have hours of footage containing nothing but Jacob working out." He noted as the pair slipped into the elevator. Kasumi's smile was positively radiant.
"I maintain that those are good for morale."
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"What have we got?" Shepard asked as soon as he entered the bridge Stephanie Traynor following after him. Joker and EDI sat in their usual places, monitoring the ship as Garrus stands just behind him. Garrus turned and smiled at Shepard.
"Same as usual. A whole lot of trouble and only us to stop it."
"Well that could be anything honestly." Shepard replied with a wide grin at his best and most loyal friend.
"More specifically Commander, we got a message from someone named Bray about an attack on the ship we're flying towards, the Charon." Traynor said in her accented voice.
"Bray?" Shepard shared a look with Garrus. After years of gaining random missions from random people based around the most strange things one could think of, the Normandy crew had attained great skill in remembering every detail needed for as long as it might be necessary. "Aria's."
"That doesn't bode well." Garrus said a bit uneasily. True, the Pirate Queen wouldn't send a man like Bray without cause. He'd proven to be extremely competent in the war against the Reapers, both as a pure fighter, and a logistics expert.
"How long Joker?" Shepard asked.
"Not too long, barely a minute. Maybe when we get there it'll be a big party as opposed to random death and mayhem." Joker jokes.*
"Is that an option?" Traynor asked with a grin.
"Sure. Then we'll make the thresher maw gun Joker's always wanted and end the Reaper War in moments." Garrus replied.
"And Harbinger will sing Kumbaya with Shepard." The group stare, stunned, at EDI, who smiled pleasantly at them. "How was that? I have been working on integrating cultural curiosities into my jokes."
"Pretty good babe." Joker said proudly. The smile she gives him makes Shepard feel like a proud parent. It faded when the couple suddenly focus on their screens. "Bogeys approaching!"
"Evasive maneuvers!" Shepard barked out. The ship careens out of the way as two round objects fly towards them, firing red beams at them. The ships shields held, and Garrus growled at the sight of the objects. "Oculi."
Giant silver balls with a wide red lens in the center, the Oculi had worked as the Reapers counter to fighters. Fast, maneuverable, and a lot more powerful than they should have been, if a bit fragile.
"Take them out Joker." Shepard ordered.
"EDI?" Joker asked, fingers tense over the controls.
"Targeting solution active. You're clear."
"Lets do this!"
For a moment the space between the combatants is lit up with red beams, bullets, and torpedoes. The Oculi manage to do some damage, but are soon torn apart thanks to Joker and EDI's experience dealing with the small fighters. Still, they knew it was too late.
"They had more than enough time to broadcast message. Speed it up Joker, the Reapers know where we are now." Garrus said grimly.
"Already on it." Joker growled. "We're almost there. Look."
Up ahead, a sleek ship can be seen struggling, scorch marks traced all along its surface. Dozens of Oculus eyes dive and twist around it, firing at it over and over. The ship shoots back with it side and forward guns, but its clearly being overwhelmed.
"Help them out Joker. Garrus, get Tali and James, I want you to make sure we get everything we can out of those guns. EDI, Traynor, I want a line to Bray or whoever's in command of that ship. We need to coordinate evacuations." Shepard watched grimly as everyone sets about to their tasks. "Lets get this done."
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It hadn't taken long. With Garrus and Joker working together, their weapons took apart the Eyes. A bit of the Thanix Cannon firing as well made the actual fighting a breeze, and the ships next-gen defenses kept it from being hurt too bad. A bit of omni-gel and they were good to go.
The other ship hadn't fared as well, with the crew having to sacrifice enormous sections of the ship just to stay alive. It was a miracle it had gotten as far as it had actually. It came as no surprise that Bray had been extremely pleased to see them, and evacuations got under way as soon as the battle was over.
In a few flights, the cargo bay of the Normandy was feeling pretty crowded. Shepard left the elevator to find himself in a sea of faces from nearly every race in the galaxy. He had to hold back his surprise at the sight of EID, relising that it was the new Alliance Infiltration Unit. The Unit seemed to be talking to a Vorcha, responding in ways extremely similar to EDI. That could get awkward fast.
Liara, Jack, and Garrus followed after Shepard. The last two came for moral support, while Liara, though still supporting, had someone to meet.
Bray, to his great credit, came on the last ship, along with, surprisingly, a Talon Merc and an N7 Slayer. Shepard nodded to his fellow N7 vanguard, who nodded back before pressing two fingers to his helmet, just where his mouth would be. The N7 signal for a smile. He and the Merc walked to join the others as Bray came up to Shepard.
"Thanks for saving our asses Shepard." Bray said as he shook hands.
"I couldn't let the first Batarian whoever liked me die, could I?" Shepard joked easily.
"Ha! I'm sure you could find someone else to save." Bray looked at Jack and Garrus respectfully. "Your crew is pretty good."
"His fiancee actually. And fuck yeah I am." Jack said with a wide smile.
"Actually, you technically aren't crew these days. So he probably meant the handsome devil next to you." Garrus reminding her. Jack punched his shoulder good-naturedly.
"Whoever I have to thank, you guys did good." Bray said, yawning just a bit.
"Shepard, have you seen him?" Liara asked as she walked up. The Shadow Broker seemed anxious as she came towards them.
"Bray, is Barla Von with you?" Shepard asked. Before the Batarian can answer, someone walked towards them.
Short, and round, few would see Volus as anything but pudgy round balls. Not a single person in this room could see the man waddling towards them as that anymore. More like a force to be reckoned with.
"Dr. T'soni. Its good to see you again." Barla Von said.
"And you Barla." Liara said, relief filling her. "What is going on here? Why were you all on one ship, out in the middle of nowhere."
"The Shadow Broker." If Barla noticed the shock on the four Normandy members faces, he doesn't show it. "I was told to gather everyone together for a secret mission. Use my contacts to make sure no one knew we were gone."
"That's not possible!" Liara said, worry coming back to her. Shepard placed a hand on her shoulder as she calmed herself. "You were tricked. The whole thing was a trap."
"Yeah. It seems that way now." Bray said thoughtfully.
A flash insight and horror filled Shepard then. He turned, running towards the elevator. Everyone stared as he rushed past. "Mikeal?" Jack asked in confusion, using his first name for once.
"The Reapers wouldn't send a bunch of Oculus Eyes, they'd bring in two or three Reapers!" Shepard called back. "We're still in trouble!"
He slapped the elevator button, slipping in. In moments he was running to the bridge. Ignoring the surprised yell from Traynor as he blazes by, dodging crew members. "Joker, get us out of here!"
The bearded pilot jumped, spinning around. "Shepard? What the-"
"Just head to the relay no-"
A sudden boom of noise filled the air, carried through the vacuum of space on a wave of biotic energy. A Reaper appeared before them as if it had always been there, horrific in its size and power. There's a moment of fear as the enormous dreadnoughts arms lifted high, exposing its main cannon.
"Oh shi-" Joker was interrupted when a blue beam hit the ship. The Normandy lurched to the side as the beam seemed to grab it, sending Shepard to the floor as EDI and Joker held onto their seats.
"YOU WILL LEAVE THIS PLANE SHEPARD." A voice said, echoing through their minds as well as the ships intercoms. The Normandy seemed to scream as its left pylons were ripped away."AND DESPAIR KNOWING WE WILL REPEAT THE CYCLE."
"FUCK!" Joker yelled, before the ship disappeared, leaving only the pylons ripped from its body as a reminder. Until the reaper fired, vaporizing them.
Seconds later, the Reaper turned, ready to leave as if nothing had ever happened, only to see a new ship before it. "What?"
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Blue. Lots and lots of blue outside the windows as the ships alarms screamed and the spins through a vortex. "What the hell is this!?" Joker yelled, the instruments in front of him going insane.
"Unknown! All systems critical, shields dropping!" EDI cried out.
"Hold on everyone!" Shepard yelled.
KRADAKOOM!
The ship suddenly stoped. The blue vortex they'd been going through turns into blessed stars. Shepard groaned, his back cracking as he got up. He noted how dark it is, only red emergency light illuminating the area. Several crew members sat dazed at their post, shocked and surprised. "Status report!"
EDI blinked, information pouring through her various memory banks. "All systems except life support had to be sacrificed to maintain shields. We are drifting, and the left pylons were left behind. Four ships are in our location."
Shepard blinked at the last. "What are they? More Reapers?"
"Negative. Three unknown, one ship with human markings."
"Alliance maybe?" Joker asked hopefully.
"…I doubt it." EDI said with her best impression of a grimace.
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Sisko stared at the new ship that appeared from a wormhole. Despite the fact the actual wormhole was still miles off. One shaped entirely unlike any ship he'd ever seen, with human letters printed on the side. "One of those days."
0000000000000000000000000000AuthorsNote000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
Theres the first chapter. This stories idea was born from a Star Trek vs Mass Effect thread I made, as well as the huge amount of Mass Effect 3 and Deep Space Nine I got into recently. The idea being exploring the similarities and differences between the universes. So, expect to see a lot of tactics and tech exchange, as well as a Normandy combined with Trek Tech, and a group of Klingon and a group of Krogan tearing apart opponents.
As for why I included the Multiplayer characters, I wanted to give Shepard enough of an army to stand up in the Trek universe, and I just really like them. I won't bring focus to every single one, but there will be some chapters focused on them and the Trek Universe in general.
And lastly, please respect that I do not know every weapon, radiation, and macguffin in the Trek universe. So if something happens and you bring up some random machine that would have saved the day, remember that the Macguffin you're mentioning probably showed up in about two episodes, which makes it hard to nail down in a story. That said, some very cool weapons will be making it in.
So, I hope you enjoyed this first taste. Next chapter we'll see the Defiant in flight, and the Normandy crew vs Jem'Hadar. Should be fun.