50 Years Later

Kane hated wearing space suits. They were designed to not inhibit movement. Air tight, with the ability to provide up to five hours of oxygen, excelling at keeping humans alive. Though it was the principle behind it that he hated. You had to be in the worst conditions known to man to be wearing one. And if the suit somehow failed, he'd suffocate.

To be wearing the suit meant he was technically in danger of dying at any moment.

He grumbled as he put scanned some soil with computer built into the arms of the suit. He'd been scanning soil across the planets surface. One the scan finished, a stream of data on a holographic display on his wrist. He opened a communication channel to his ship.

"Sam, just finished another scan. The data should be coming through right now." He said and he uploaded the data to the ship.

"Copy that, Kane. We've now got plenty of data now, good job. Pack it up and come home." Said a female voice with a thick Russian accent.

He sighed, relieved that he'd finally be able to leave the planet. The planet was actually perfectly suited for life, and it was beautiful. A lush green world with large oceans, akin to Earth. But that didn't mean that it was safe. The air was breathable, and the soil was rich, but was it safe? His job was scan the air, the soil and water on the planet in order to ensure there wasn't any potential pathogen, bacteria or anything that could be considered dangerous to human life.

He returned to his shuttle, a small ship about twenty metres in length. Entering inside the small airlock, the shuttle began decontamination procedures. Decontamination was always an uncomfortable process, but it was a necessary one.

A vapour of hydrogen peroxide filled the airlock, aiming to kill anything that may be trying to hitch a ride on the ship. The vapour was fine, it was the second stage that unnerved him.

Gamma rays were emitted to finish off any bacteria or organism. The suit protected against gamma rays, but if there was even the slightest opening in the suit, the gamma rays could turn into a huge problem. But it was effective at sterilisation, results were results.

He let out a sigh of relief when decontamination finished. He fired up the shuttle and quickly ascended into orbit around the planet.

He plotted a course to the UNE Potential Prospects, a research vessel in orbit around a gas giant. Soon the five hundred metre long science ship came into visible range, along with the sight of an inactive Tuning Fork orbiting the planet nearby. It was a re-purposed Corvette, it still maintained long, grey bulky shape human ships were known for. He personally loved the armour plating that came out like wings on the sides of the back of the Corvette. The top of the Corvette was littered with devastating weaponry, however it couldn't hold its own in lengthy engagements, the interior was retrofitted with huge laboratories and science equipment. Ammo to fuel the kinetic artillery was limited, however the Corvette was armed with a single Gamma Laser, an extremely powerful weapon that could tear armour apart, though shields were a bit harder to get through. The laser pulled energy from the ship's Zero-Point Reactor, the best power reactor humanity ever developed. The reactor drew upon vacuum energy, a background energy that exists throughout the whole universe, providing an unlimited supply of power. The laser had an endless stream of 'ammo' so long as the reactor remained active and could power it.

The Corvette could certainly protect itself against most threats, providing enough time to retreat back to military controlled space.

He slowly brought the shuttle into the hanger bay of the Corvette. After he touched down, the ship underwent its own decontamination process. This particular hanger was always empty and only housed one shuttle, it was designed with being able to deal with contamination.

After it was completed, he stepped out in the hanger bay. Making his way out of the bay and towards the armoury. Space suits, armour, weapons, everything was stored there.

He made his way to his personal locker and changed out of his suit into his casual off duty clothes. He rather liked the classic style of clothing worn back in the 'Modern Era', the twenty first century was a time of technological revolution, the general style of clothing stuck around from that period.

He wore some black jeans, he wasn't a fan of the faded blue. And he wore a red and black flannelette button up shirt, his personal favourite article of clothing.

As he finished putting on some boots, he heard someone approach from behind. He glanced over his shoulder and saw it to be one of the science team's assistant robots, a humanoid construct with limited intelligence. It looked human, except the face, it had a single optic for an 'eye', no other feature, just smooth metal.

"Lieutenant Kane Moran, Dr Sam Chernov requires your assistance in her office." The eye glowed as it talked, its voice sounded exactly like a normal persons voice would. Robotic voices tended to cause issues in communication.

He gave a nod of acknowledgement and it went back to its duties.

He made his way through the ship towards the Sam's office which was located near the labs.

Knocking, the door slid open and he found the Russian scientist hard at work, pouring over data that flowed on a holographic screen in front of her desk, next to her was the lead scientist aboard the ship, Dr Wilson Grassman. The woman's blue eyes connected with his, and she smiled, ushering him to come in. She looked to be about thirty with lush long blonde hair, though looks lied. Humanity had long since extended their lifespan by centuries, a healthy human could live until they were three hundred and twenty on average. Immortality was the next step, though that was a slow and expensive process. He knew Sam was true age was one hundred and two, though Wilson was a different story. He was extremely young, he was twenty five years old, his appearance looked like someone just about to hit twenty. A genius in the field of science, specifically FTL science. Wilson rose up the ranks quickly. He had fine features, short, neatly trimmed hair, slight stubble and sharp brown eyes.

Kane approached, "Got what you needed from those scans?"

Sam smiled, "Indeed we did. The data indicates that the world is fantastic for colonisation. The ecosystem should easily adapt to us and vice versa. We'll just have to take it nice and slow."

Wilson pointed to a certain section of data, he was bouncing on his feet, barely able to contain his excitement.

"The planet is goldmine! According to your scans, the soil is positively saturated in the same substance that can be found in the centre of a Tuning Fork. From the scans you took across the planet alongside orbital scans, I'd wager that the planet holds thirty trillion tons of the stuff!"

His eyes widened, he was speechless.

Finding the element that powered the Tuning Forks was not uncommon, but there was barely anything in the five systems humanity had settled in so far and the dozens of outpost systems. Just bad luck of the dice. However, it seemed humanity rolled a six, and really early in their expansion too. This system not only contained a Tuning Fork to study at their heart's content, but a planet packed to the brim with the unique element that powers the FTL constructs!

"Earth had approximately forty trillion tons of uranium, enough to power civilisation for centuries before we took to the stars. With such a vast and comparable amount of this element, I can only begin to imagine the possibilities." Wilson grinned.

Wilson copied the data, "I shall contact the Council of Admirals and inform them of everything we've discovered in this system. I'm sure it will be of great interest."

And Wilson left the room.

He scanned the data that was still streaming down the holographic display. It was incredible, particularly the data behind the Tuning Fork. A fascinating device, extremely complex and advanced. How did it work? And more importantly, who built it?

"Fascinating, isn't it?" Sam said, as she also looked over the data. "Another method of faster than light travel. The most interesting method I've heard of too, simply just defies all known logic."

He raised a brow, "Why's that?"

"From what we've been able to uncover, we theorise that the device actually works in real space."

He was no scientist, but he know one thing for certain. A steadfast rule of the universe, nothing can travel faster than the speed of light in real space.

The Hyper Drive allowed humanity to travel at faster than light speeds, though it did so in a similar way to a wormhole.

Unlike Wormhole Gates, ancient alien constructs that transport ships instantly across space through a wormhole connecting to another gate, the Hyper Drive didn't fold space.

Humanity has tried many times to 'fold' space but doing so has been met with failure. Then it become unnecessary to do so once the Jump Drive was implemented across humanity's fleets, as instant travel became possible.

The Hyper Drive didn't fold space and create a portal between two different points in space, instead, it opened a tunnel in another dimension alongside the physical one and ships travelled through it. But the tunnel was just that, a tunnel, running the full distance of real space. It was like an invisible highway throughout the universe.

The Hyper Drive needed an anchor point for every tunnel it created. That exit point could only be within a gravity well, like a planet or star, etc. The Hyper Drive couldn't take someone to empty space where there was no significant gravity signature.

The Hyper Drive was one method of FTL, and the other various constructs that were located throughout their home galaxy used other, better ways, but they all followed the same rule, they didn't go faster than light in real space, it was impossible.

"That can't be right?" He said in disbelief.

Sam laughed, "I had that exact same thought when I first saw the data. But evidence suggests that real space faster than light travel is possible. I do love when physics breaks, makes things so much fun. Like the invention of the Hyper Drive, I can only imagine what that would've been like, the headaches it caused. It would've been amazing, and now I can possibly be apart of a new, groundbreaking discovery, re-writing our understanding of the universe as we know it!"

"Careful now, you're starting to sound like Wilson."

He enjoyed talking to Sam, he had been alive long enough to understand most science at the basic level. Hearing people get passionate about things and go into depth about the scientific discoveries, it was a nice change of pace. He'd been a military man all his life, joined when he was twenty years old, and so far had given one hundred and fifty years of service, and still counting.

He'd been passionate about giving his all to humanity, keen on being at the front lines, fighting every war and every battle for his people as a fighter pilot.

But after so many near death experiences that would scar him for the rest of his days, he was happy to be exploring new worlds, acting as an assistant and military guard to some scientists. He still dreamt of that nightmarish battle. It could hardly be described as such, it was a fight on a scale never seen before in galactic history. Battle of Hell's Gate, the name given to the fight where all species launched an assault on the Unbidden's portal.

He'd gone to therapy to help cope with that single battle alone, but it hardly helped. The nightmares persisted, the Unbidden from an extra-dimension destroying hundreds of thousands of vessels.

He'd been involved in a number of other skirmishes, all of them bloodbaths. Now humanity had a second chance at survival, he promptly joined the science division of the military. He'd seen enough death to last an entire species a millennium. PTSD was easy to deal with when he wasn't flying a fighter.

"I'll take that as a compliment." Sam smiled.

"So, when do you think this planet will be colonised?"

"Considering the importance of Shanxi and the rest of the system, as quickly as possible."

So the planet already had a name. Shanxi, he liked the sound of it.

Tevos double checked the data that'd been sent to her omni-tool. The holographic computer on her arm showed her something intriguing, signals and huge radiation spikes in the Axavia Cluster over the course of fifty years. A section of space that was nearly impossible to reach, a deactivated relay designated 314 was theorised to access that section of space. Ever since the Rachni Wars, every race making up the Council came together to create incredibly advanced sensors that could penetrate deep into space, looking for signs of life beyond non-active relays so the Council wouldn't be caught off guard by a hostile race. The STG assured the Council that the sensors could cover most of the galaxy when they were constructed over a hundred years ago.

Normally, she'd just assume that sensors had picked up the signals or a fledgling civilisation that had just made its way out into the stars. But the energy readings from that section of space were off the charts and signals were being thrown around at faster than lights speeds. It was obviously an established civilisation, and a potentially powerful one at that. Though that still wasn't what made it so concerning.

"Are we sure that data is right?" Tevos asked her fellow councillors. The Council was made up of the three biggest races in the galaxy. Tevos, who represented the Asari Republics, humanoid creatures. Sparatus, who represented the Turian Hierarchy, avian like creatures with mandibles and finally Valern, who represented the Salarian Union, bipedal amphibians.

Valern nodded in response.

"Indeed, we are positive. The Special Tasks Group has reported that these readings suddenly developed out of nowhere in the previously empty space." Valern said.

"We aren't picking up old signals?" Sparatus asked.

Valern shook his head, "No, these readings are most certainly within the last fifty years. No other signals or readings detected that would indicate a developing civilisation. It indicates an already established space-faring race."

She didn't like the sound of that, "So we could potentially be dealing with a powerfully advanced alien race that suddenly materialised out of nowhere in the Axavia Cluster?"

"Possibly."

She paled at that. That could mean a number of things, but the most prominent thought on her mind, galactic invaders. Though that'd mean that the alien race would powerful enough to move fleets across galaxies! Had they found some way to break free of the Relay Network? The thought of doing warfare with such a race wasn't an enticing idea. If anyone had told her that something like that could happen a few decades ago, she'd have scoffed at them. Such a silly fantasy, but not anymore. There was something out there, and it wasn't meant to be there.

Sparatus obviously had the same thoughts as her, she could see the gears turning inside that concerned Turian's head.

"We must assemble the fleets, prepare for anything." He said.

Both she and Valern nodded in agreement.

"This information has been kept from the public, but that can only work for so long." Valern said.

"We'll deal with that when the time comes. But right now we need to prepare as Sparatus suggested. I propose we assemble a large exploration force to venture forth into the Axavia Cluster, to determine what exactly is happening there. And possibly prepare for first contact or a battle." She suggested.

Sparatus looked at her like she was crazy, "That would mean activating the relays!"

"Then so be it, our military will control the activation of any relays." She replied.

"If what we are fearing is true, the activation of a relay would do nothing to stop any alien hostiles. Though we stand to gain resources and forward bases." Valern chipped in.

She was thankful for Valern appealing to the Turian's military side. She prayed Valern was wrong and this race was limited by the relays.

Sparatus eventually conceded.

"Alright, we are in agreement. An expeditionary task force will be the sent through the relay in order to scout out what exactly is happening in the Axavia Cluster." Tevos said.

The private meeting came to an end. Tevos returned to her office and began contacting the Matriarchs, the Asari needed to be prepared for anything. She hoped that whatever lay beyond the relays wasn't a hostile race, the galaxy couldn't handle another huge war.

'Please be peaceful.'

Thanks to KanisRussell for looking over the chapter.

Some details to specify, the Orion Arm is not named as such due to the ME races being in another galaxy and humans not being present, hence the new name in this AU. Just adds a little more to the different universes. I'll be giving a bit focus to the Stellaris side of the story, to provide explanations for their tech and so on.

Hope you enjoyed and I'll see you in the next chapter, 'till next time.