Disclaimer: I do not own Halo or Mass Effect.

Prologue

August 17th, 2597 (Military Calendar)

UAC Exploratory Vessel Bam!

Uncharted Star System

Captain Chinh Phan contemplated the alien device displayed on the main view screen; a device which his Chief Science Officer Adrianna Costanzo, and her subordinates, had been studying for the last two weeks. The device was massive, easily dwarfing his small ship at fifteen kilometres; just looking at it made him feel small, like an ant beholding the workmanship of superior lifeforms. It was shaped like a fork, with two curving arms surrounding a set of rings in the centre. Unlike the rugged, practical design of Human structures and spacecraft, the device was rather pleasing to look at. Clearly, its creators must have preferred form over function.

Aliens.

This device, right before his ship, is absolute, undeniable, physical proof of an alien civilization. Over the generations of exploring and colonizing the galaxy, there had been rumours of people discovering alien ruins and recovering artefacts all across Human Space, but mostly in the Outer Colonies; unfortunately, there has never been any proof. Some conspiracy theorists point fingers at the UNSC and accuse them of hoarding alien artefacts and covering up the discoveries. Chinh isn't one of them, but if it were proved to be true, then he wouldn't be completely shocked, as the blasted UNSC pricks just have to control everything, the greedy bastards. The UNSC won't be getting their grubby hands on this device if Chinh has anything to say about it. This giant, floating tuning fork is now property of the Union Aerospace Corporation, and if the UNSC don't like it, they can go suck on it!

Still, as much as Chinh is happy that he and his crew discovered evidence of an alien civilization, he would have much preferred to turn back to Known Space and report his findings to his superiors, and let them send someone else to study it, but his shipboard A.I, Mia, advised his superiors would be much happier (and more likely to give him and his crew a substantial bonus) if they simply did all the legwork now, and get it over and done with; this way, the UAC won't have to waste time sending another expedition to the star system, and the Bam! can continue exploring the local star systems beyond Human Space.

Chinh sighed longingly, as he thought on his mission, the very reason they're out here in the first place: exploring new regions of the galaxy for Humans to one day inhabit. With a greater understanding of the physics behind slipstream travel, and improvements to the slipspace drives themselves, starships can now travel at 31.5 light years per-day, significantly faster than pre-Insurrection era starships and so, the UAC wants to "stretch its legs" a bit, and discover just what's on the horizon. And although the UNSC isn't now interested in colonizing new regions of space, as they're more concerned with repairing the damage to colonial infrastructure caused during the Insurrection, the UACs Board of Directors figure that their attitudes will change in the decades to come, and when that happens, the UAC wants a head start against their many competitors, mainly Liang-Dortmund.

This star system was the first that the Bam! had travelled to, and already, they had made an extraordinary discovery with the alien device. The system, located 4.7 light years away from Harvest, the furthest colony from Earth, was an ordinary system; Yellow Dwarf star, nine planets, and one large asteroid belt between the sixth and seventh planets. The fifth planet from the star was a natural garden world, but its ecosystem is poisonous to Human physiology, so the UAC would most likely discard it as a future colonization prospect. A pity, really; natural garden worlds are few and far between, and terra-forming planets and moons takes time and costs a fortune.

Theirs is a deep-space mission; the Bam! is loaded up with enough food and water to sustain the crew of forty people for six-months. Three months to explore and survey every star system within reach beyond Human Space, and three months for the return journey. Of course, they are but one ship in an exploration fleet that numbers in the dozens, and the amount of space they can cover in three months, is quite staggering. According to projections from UAC Smart , the number of outposts that the exploratory fleet can establish will greatly dwarf the number of colonies settled by the UNSC in two hundred years of space travel, a veritable gold mine for the UAC, should their investment pay off whenever the UNSC decide to begin colonization again.

Personally, Chinh thinks it's a waste of time and money for the UAC to invest in establishing new outposts, but he would never say that to his employers. And while he would never like, nor approve of the UNSC, Chinh does think that they are wise to halt settling new colonies. If there's one thing to be learned from the Insurrection, it's that Humanity pushed too far and too fast, with their frontier colonies months away from Earth's central authority. This made the Outer Colonies the perfect place for insurgents and pirates to set up shop and cause trouble.

Chinh shuddered. Just thinking about pirates makes his skin crawl, as it brings up too many bad memories of the "Age of Piracy" back in the 2560s. With their resources and manpower dwindling, the UNSC had no choice but to withdraw from the Outer Colonies. This left many UNSC-loyal Outer Colonies to the mercy of pirates; desperate to escape to the Inner Colonies, Chinh, then fourteen years old, his seventeen year old sister, Ai', and their parents acquired passage on an old freighter along with two-hundred other refugees, and fled from their home-colony, New Saigon.

Chinh remembered huddling with his family in the cramped cargo hold, masses of people pressing in around him, the stink of their unwashed bodies, after days confined inside the freighter, cloying his senses, thinking they'd be safe soon enough. They were wrong, of course. The pirates found them, chased down the freighter the way a wolf pounces on a rabbit, sent boarding parties and took everyone hostage. And that's when the "fun" began, and on that terrible day, Chinh understood that evil truly existed in the Universe. When all was over and done with, with many of the refugees traumatized by their captors' predations, the pirates left the freighter behind, still fully functional and capable of completing the journey to the Inner Colonies, and abducted Ai' and a dozen other young girls, never to be seen again.

Bastards, thought Chinh, gritting his teeth. No doubt the blasted swine sold Ai' to the sex trade which became ever more so prevalent throughout the Outer Colonies during the Age of Piracy. Ai's abduction left a hole in his heart, and even now, thirty-seven years later, the wound still feels fresh, still aches.

Chinh unclenched his fists, closed his eyes and took a deep breath, calming himself; it does not do to dwell on unpleasant memories, especially of Ai'. It's best to simply focus on the here and now.

"Captain?"

Chinh opened his eyes, and looked to his right, where Costanzo stood, shifting on her feet, too excited to keep still. "Yes, Costanzo, what do you have for me?"

"Well, the device is made from a seemingly invincible, unknown alloy," her voice crisp and cool, concealing the excitement within her. "It doesn't emit heat or radiation, it seems to be tens of thousands of years old, and amazingly, it's still functional." Now Costanzo's voice became ever more animated. "In fact, I think Mia and I can activate it."

Chinh raised his eyebrows. "Is that wise? I doubt that whatever species built this device would have wanted us or anyone else to go about playing around with their toys."

"You needn't worry about that, Captain," chimed in Mia, her disembodied voice reassuring. "Science Officer Costanzo's estimate concerning the age of the device is rather conservative; I'd say the device is millions of years old. So, whoever, or whatever, built this device must surely be extinct, there can be no other explanation for their absence."

Still Chinh hesitated. "Do we even know what that thing does? Hell, is it even safe to use? For all we know, it could be some giant, interstellar space-gun capable of destroying stars thousands of light years away."

Costanzo frowned. "While it's true that we don't know what it does, we don't think it's dangerous. Mia suspects that it might be some kind of Interstellar Communication device, which is supported by the existence of sensor nodes on the device, but we can't really be sure unless we activate it."

Chinh breathed in deeply. "Very well, you've convinced me", he said resolutely, nodding to Costanzo. "After two weeks of being stuck in this system, I'd like nothing more than to be well shot of the device, but I'm just as curious as you and everyone else about it. Do what you need to do." Nodding, Costanzo sat down at her duty station and began working on her terminal. "Romanov," Chinh directed his attention to his Communications Officer, Alexandra Romanov. "Patch me through the ship, I need to inform every one of the situation."

'Patching you through now, Captain," reported Romanov, her voice cold and emotionless. "Speak when ready."

Chinh cleared his throat. "Attention crew, this is the Captain speaking. After two weeks of boredom for everyone who isn't a member of Costanzo's science team, we are ready to activate the alien device and discover just what the hell it is and what it does. We are, all of us, about to make history as we activate this device. There's no telling what will happen, so strap yourselves in and stay alert. That is all." Short and to the point; Chinh was never one for inspirational, flowery speeches.

"Sir, we'll need to get closer to the device," informed Mia. "At a distance of approximately five kilometres."

Chinh nodded. "Understood. Mr Bello? Steady as she goes."

"Right," acknowledged his Navigation Officer, Jabari Bello, who promptly began to manipulate the Nav terminal, causing the ship to cruise steadily to the device.

"So, what do we do, exactly?" Chinh asked Costanzo, who was still fixated on her terminal.

"Simple, really," Costanzo stated confidently. "We just need to send an activation signal, the sensor nodes will pick it up, and the device will activate."

"Yes, very simple," agreed Chinh sarcastically. "So simple, it only took you two weeks to figure it out." Costanzo blushed as the bridge crew snickered at her humiliation.

"In her defence, sir, it is alien technology," chipped in Mia, her tone annoyed, as though she herself was insulted. Most likely she was justified feeling so, as she was involved in studying the device as well. "The device is unlike anything ever made by Man; it's unreasonable to expect our scientists to understand it after ten minutes of tinkering."

Chinh shrugged. "Whatever, just get on with it."

"All right, sending signal now," announced Costanzo, her prior embarrassment forgotten in favour of anticipation. Upon receiving the signal, the device immediately sprung to life, its two rings beginning to spin, picking up speed until the core began to pulsate with light. Chinh simply gaped in awe as the great, monolithic device came to life for the first time in eons.

"Captain, I'm receiving a transmission from the device," stated Mia, sounding surprised. "It seems to want data on the mass of our ship."

Chinh cocked his left eyebrow. "Oh, why would it want to know such a thing? And, do we now, at least, know what the device does; has its, er, 'computer', informed us?"

Costanzo shook her head. "That's still unknown, Captain. But, maybe if we give it the data it wants, we'll find out."

Chinh narrowed his eyes at the device on-screen. Even after activating the blasted thing, they're still ignorant to its primary function. Chinh now had a choice to make: he could simply return to UAC headquarters and report his findings to them and let sleeping dragons lie, or recklessly venture further, leaping into the unknown.

Chinh sighed. They've already come this far, might as well go all the way. "Do it."

Complying, Mia sent the data to the device and the effects were immediate; blue light from the device's core reached out and enveloped the Bam! , causing it to shudder violently as it is pulled towards the device.

Strapping himself into his command chair, Chinh opened up a ship-wide comm and shouted: "All hands brace!" The star-filled blackness of the void of disappeared amidst the blinding blue light from the device, and Chinh was pulled back to his seat as the ship was flung forward. And then, just as suddenly, he was thrown forward, the straps of his seat stopping him from falling flat on his face, as the light faded and the ship was left drifting in space.

Chinh groaned. "Is everyone still in one piece?" he called out to the bridge crew. When everyone responded in the affirmative, he then addressed Mia: "So, what's up? What did that device do?"

"I have my suspicions, but I need Sensors Operator Dubois to scan the system," answered Mia, and Chinh turned to Astrid Dubois, a woman from the Outer Colony Meridian, and said: "Do it."

"Er, right away," she answered, straightening her hair, which was in disarray from the disturbance caused by the device, and began operating on her terminal. After several minutes (scanning an entire star system, billions of kilometres from one end to the other, is not instantaneous), she gasped and turned her wide eyes to Chinh: "Sir, we're in a completely different star system!"

"Are you sure!?"

"Absolutely," she affirmed confidently. "This system has a Red Giant star, three planets and two asteroid belts. In addition, the device behind us is inside a Lagrange Point between the third planet, and its moon, whereas the device we activated was located on the edge of the system."

Her announcement was met with stunned silence, which was broken by Mia's smug voice: "As I suspected, the device we activated seems to be a part of an interstellar transit system, transporting us, instantaneously, from one region of the galaxy, to another. Truly, this is a great discovery, which will benefit Humanity for generations to come."

Chinh had to agree with that. A device which can provide instantaneous transport for starships throughout the vastness of the galaxy. If it could be reverse-engineered, it could revolutionize the UNSCs colonial policies; as Human Space will inevitably grow larger, stretching across hundreds, even thousands, of light years, an interstellar transit system would make it easier for the UNSC to police and protect frontier colonies, as it would shorten travel times by a significant margin. Chinh now felt fully justified in using the device; he and his crew will surely go down in history for this discovery.

"Captain!"

Interrupted from his thoughts, Chinh looked towards Dubois, who appeared to be agitated. "What is it?"

"Sir, I'm detecting five unknown starships sixty-seven thousand and five-hundred kilometres away, and approaching us at three-hundred and seventy-five kilometres per second. Estimated Time of Arrival at three minutes."

Stunned silence permeated the bridge.

Could it be? Thought Chinh, nervously. First contact?

"That's close enough for a visual," Chinh said to Mia. "On screen."

The view screen switched to an image of a small group of ships, with thousands of kilometres of open space between their formations. The ships were unlike anything he'd seen before, sleek and shiny, shaped like white, metallic birds of prey, gliding gracefully through the void.

Gliding towards the Bam!

Chinh was alarmed and dismayed by the ships closing in, as he understood that he and his crew were trespassing.

"Mr Bello!" he barked, startling everyone on the bridge. "Turn this ship around and head towards the device." Not waiting to see if Bello was obeying his order, Chinh immediately turned to Costanzo: "I want you to signal the device to send us back to Human Space!"

"But, sir-"

"Do it now," he insisted urgently, his unnaturally aggressive tone whipping the bridge crew into a frenzy of compliance. Soon enough, Bello had turned the ship around and was already on the way to the device, when Dubois called out again: "Sir, the unknown ships have increased acceleration to fifteen-hundred kilometres per second, and will overtake us in thirty seconds!"

Their flight was hopeless: as soon as the ships were in range, they fired their bizarre weapons at the Bam!s thrusters, leaving the ship to drift in the void while the great, monstrous sharks circled around the little, helpless fish, waiting to be devoured.

"Captain," alerted Mia tonelessly. "Unknown ships are sending boarding craft. ETA: sixty-seconds." At this announcement, Chinh felt a rising wave of despair build up inside him; it's just like the pirate hijacking all-over again! Only this time, they are at the mercy of aliens. How would they treat him and his crew? Would they observe some form of ethical treatment? Unlikely; they're a completely different species, they'll probably see Chinh and his crew as animals, and treat them as such. Would they be angry at them tampering with their transit device? Chinh had no doubt whatsoever that these unknowns created the device: after all, it led to a star system under their control.

"Twenty seconds."

Chinh looked over at his bridge crew, observed their subdued, despondent appearances. Costanzo. Dubois. Bello. Romanov. All of them, good people, trying to get by in these dangerous times as best they can, undeserving of whatever terrible retribution these creatures will visit upon them for daring to touch their technology. Chinh wished he could do something to help them; after all, the decision to activate the device was his to make, and the responsibility for the consequences, his to bear.

"Five seconds."

And finally, Chinh thought of his poor sister Ai', thought of her through the highways of distant memories decades past. Remembered her being bound and gagged, dragged away by the pirates, her cheeks tear-stained, her eyes wide with helplessness and desperation as she looked back at him. And suddenly, with perfect clarity, Chinh understood what he could do to help his crew; as Captain, it is well within his authority and abilities to achieve, but to do so would mean death, for himself and his crew. Could he really do it?

"Sir, boarders have reached the airlock and have begun breaching procedures."

I'm sorry everyone, thought Chinh resolutely. But this is the only way I can think to help you.

August 19th, 2657 G.S.T (Galactic Standard Time)

Serpent Nebula

Widow System

Citadel

Captain Tonn Actuss felt nervous, due to the circumstances behind his presence in the room, as well as being surrounded by such important people as these; High Admiral Quane Xannix, supreme commander of the Turian Hierarchy Navy, Director Paen, commander of the Salarian Special Tasks Group, and Matriarch Aethyta, Republican military consultant, and finally, all three Citadel Councillors, the most politically powerful people in the Known Galaxy.

Councillor Tevos, the Asari representative, is a Matriarch eight-hundred and sixty-three years old. Wise and proud, she will publically speak of the need for interspecies cooperation and preserving peace and stability for all member Races of Citadel Space, but will always look after the welfare of the Asari people, and the interests of the Republics, first and foremost.

Councillor Bellonia, the Turian representative, is the junior member of the Council, having joined only two years ago. At the age of thirty-nine, she is a military-woman, through and through, and will always look for a military solution to problems.

Councillor Anotus, the Salarian representative, is forty-one years old and nearing the end of his life. Like most Salarians, he prefers his wars won before they begin.

The three Councillors, High Admiral Xannix, Director Paen, Matriarch Aethyta, and Captain Tonn Actuss were all hidden away in a private chamber, deep within the Citadel, the very heart of the civilized galaxy.

"So, Admiral Xannix, what's the big emergency?" queried Councillor Bellonia, eyeing her old mentor curiously. While the High Admiral appeared to be calm and collected, Bellonia knew him well enough to see that he was agitated and uneasy. "From the sound of your message, you seemed to insinuate that the security of the galaxy is at stake. Is it the Yahg? Have they begun a full-scale invasion of the Attican Traverse?"

At his words, a dark cloud of anxiety swept over everyone in the chamber. The Yahg are, without a doubt, the single greatest threat to Citadel Space since the Krogan Rebellions; they are an innovative, cunning, tenacious, ruthless, and aggressive alien empire whose territories within the Dead Zones (the space between the systems connected to the Mass Relays) are continuously expanding and growing stronger. After First Contact five-hundred years ago, there have been a number of raids, skirmishes, and border clashes with the Yahg all throughout the Attican Traverse and Skyllian Verge, with the Batarian Hegemony's colonies and outposts suffering the brunt of the Yahg's belligerence.

But over the past several decades, Yahg incursions have grown steadily worse, with their raiders deploying species-specific bio-weapons, wiping out entire colonial populations and leaving the infrastructure intact for the Yahg to capture. Of course, conquered colonies are always reclaimed eventually by the Citadel Defence Force and the Hegemony Navy, but the Yahg's strategy of racial genocide has caused morale to plummet.

In addition, the Yahg have also conquered two unknown races from within their region of space, the Raloi and the Zholan, and have assimilated them into their armed forces. The Raloi are a race of avians, similar to the Turians, and their natural speed, agility and keen senses makes them perfect as scouts and as a counter to the Salarians' similar physical attributes. The Zholan are a race of mammals that are physically on par with the Turians and the Batarians, and they possess extraordinary genetic and physiological similarities to the Asari; the only differences is that the Zholan are carnivorous, lack head crests, and their bodies are covered in thick, white fur. They are used primarily as front-line troops, to minimize Yahg casualties in battle.

Another advantage the Yahg Empire has is that they have all the attributes that each of the Council Races possesses; their intelligence agency is on par with the STG, their economy is almost as large as the Asari's, and is still growing, they have advanced technology, and raw military power. This makes the Yahg a peer competitor, something which the Citadel Council has never encountered before; the Rachni were too single-minded and inflexible, lacking imagination and were thus vulnerable to unconventional tactics. The Krogan could never sustain an economy for an extended period of time without causing irreparable damage due to infighting. And the Terminus Systems are too disunited to pose a serious threat to the combined forces of the Citadel Council.

However, despite their advantages, the Yahg have never pushed beyond the Attican Traverse or Skyllian Verge, and have never managed to launch an assault into Inner Council Space. And despite centuries of peace and complacency, the Citadel Council were quick to adapt to counter the new threat; they've adopted the Yahg's Star-Hopping method of exploration, enabling them to establish outposts in the Dead Zones. The Asari Republics, as of 2284 G.S.T, ratified the Republic Militarization Act, conscripting Asari Maidens and increasing the number of Asari Commandoes ten-fold. The Krogan, after being taken in by the Turian Hierarchy as a Client Race, have stationed thousands of their troops on worlds bordering the Attican Traverse, to defend against the Yahg.

It has become common opinion among the people that a Council-Yahg War is inevitable, and when it does happen, it will be the most devastating war in Galactic History, with no chance of victory. Even the most optimistic projections indicate that a Council-Yahg War would result in a bloody stalemate, but with their military power crippled for decades to come, leaving them vulnerable to the predations of pirates and slaver from the Terminus Systems.

It's simply too terrible to contemplate.

"Fortunately not, Councillor Bellonia," assured High Admiral Xannix, holding his palms up in a calming gesture. "There is, however, a new threat to our authority throughout the galaxy." He then gestured to Tonn Actuss. "The Captain here encountered a new space-faring race-one which activated a dormant Mass Relay."

All eyes turned to Tonn, who gulped and relayed his experience to the Council: Just two days ago, I was in command of a scouting flotilla, patrolling a number of fringe systems throughout Inner Council Space. My patrol group was in system RG2079, when the Mass Relay in-system, Relay 314, activated. After several minutes, an unknown starship exited, and held position several hundred kilometres from the Relay."

Councillor Anotus eyed him curiously. "What was this ship like? Describe it for us."

Tonn complied. "It was rather small, at around ninety-eight metres in length. Its hull was made of some molecularly-enhanced titanium unlike any fabricated in Citadel Space. There wasn't any sign of ship-mounted weapons, which leads me to believe it was a civilian vessel, most likely used for exploration. But the interesting thing about the ship was that our sensors didn't detect any trace of Element Zero."

Stunned silence reigned in the chamber. A starship which doesn't utilize Eezo? Unthinkable. Preposterous! Without Eezo, starships can't travel faster-than-light, they can't have artificial gravity, kinetic barriers of Mass Accelerator Cannons. It is a crutch, which all the space-faring races of the Galaxy lean on, not just the Citadel Council and Terminus Systems, but even the Yahg Empire as well.

"This ship," began Councillor Tevos hesitantly. "Did it display FTL capabilities?"

"No, Madam Councillor," replied Tonn respectfully. "We only observed it using sub-light propulsion."

"Well, then," sighed Councillor Bellonia in relief. "Most likely, that ship was from a species recently arisen from their homeworld, and taking their first, tentative steps out into the galaxy." Her relief was understandable; a species confined to their home system would be easier to intimidate and control, not too much of a threat. She then turned back to Tonn. "Please, Captain. Continue with your account."

Tonn took a deep breath. Most likely, what he has to say next will be ill-received; the High Admiral had already chewed him out on the matter. "I ordered my flotilla to intercept and disable the spacecraft, as they had violated Citadel Council law in activating the dormant Mass Relay. The unknown ship detected our approach and turned to flee back through the Relay, and one of my frigates opened fire at the ship's thrusters, disabling it. I then ordered several teams of Hierarchy Marines to board the vessel and round up the crew for interrogation." And here, Tonn's voice took on a bitter edge. "Unfortunately, the crew of the unknown ship responded to our boarding attempts by activating their ships self-destruct sequence, destroying themselves, and the boarding parties."

Councillor Bellonia cursed vehemently, shaking her head. "There was no need for such an extreme response; what were those creatures thinking, that they'd be tortured to death?"

"It's likely that they were thinking that," Councillor Tevos was addressing Bellonia, but her eyes were on Tonn, her tone cold and accusing. "After all, Captain Actuss had attacked them, without any attempts to contact them. Such an aggressive act would speak clearly of ill-intent; they'd be perfectly justified in thinking they'd be treated harshly."

"This isn't the time for recriminations, but for action," asserted Councillor Anotus. "What we need is information on this species-homeworld's location, number of colonies, sphere of influence, tech level, military capabilities; even the name of their race would be helpful." He then turned his beady eyes to Tonn. "Was there nothing to be salvaged from the ship's remains?"

"We salvaged pieces of the ship's hull, but nothing else," replied Tonn dejectedly. "Nothing was left intact; we haven't even recovered the bodies of the boarding parties."

"A pity," stated Director Paen, his voice devoid of emotion. "The best course of action would be to send an STG team to travel through the Relay and explore the neighbouring star systems, to try and locate either their homeworld, or a colony, and gather intelligence on them before we do anything else."

Councillor Bellonia narrowed her eyes at Paen. "While I agree that we need to gather intel on this race, it could be months before the STG discover anything of value, and by then it might be too late. These creatures activated a dormant Mass Relay, and for all we know, such practices could be standard procedure for them. They could be activating Mass Relays all over the galaxy even as we speak. We are the Citadel Council, and we must make it clear to all the space-faring races of the galaxy that our laws and conventions must be followed. It's bad enough that we have the Yahg defying our authority; to have another race come into our space and do as they please, without consequences, will damage our reputation throughout the galaxy even further. These aliens must be brought to heel, for their own good, and that of the galaxy."

Councillor Tevos rubbed her temples, as though she was suffering from a migraine. "So, you want a war, is that it?"

"No, not a war," assured Xannix, his tone conciliatory. "Merely, a Pacification Campaign, a slap on the wrist. By activating Mass Relays, these aliens could unleash a Galactic-scale catastrophe and we must stop them from threatening our existence. We've already have enough enemies in the galaxy; we don't need these ignorant aliens to create more for us."

Tevos sighed in aggravation. "It is true that these unknowns are breaking our laws, laws which were put into place for good reason, but the fact of the matter, is that these aliens are not associated with the Citadel Council, or the Terminus Systems, and until they are, we have no authority over them, and they have no obligation to obey our laws. Now, the destruction of their spacecraft can easily be brushed aside as a simple misunderstanding (they were trespassing in our space, an inevitability during first contact situations), but if we were to send military assets into their space with the intention of giving them a 'slap on the wrist,' then such an aggressive act can be seen as an act of war, and could very well result in precisely the kind of 'Galactic-scale' catastrophe you seek to prevent."

Matriarch Aethyta now added her two credits: "And if we provoke these aliens into a full-scale war, then we'll need to devote the majority of our fleets to combat them in their space." Her voice now took on a cold, abrasive tone. "Now what do you suppose would happen if the Terminus Systems and the Yahg Empire were to discover that the CDF, the largest and most powerful Navy in the known galaxy, is busy fighting a war of conquest, elsewhere, on the other end of the galaxy? The Yahg would invade the Attican Traverse en masse and overwhelm the Batarians, as they won't last long without Council support; meanwhile, every pirate and slaver from the Terminus Systems will run rampant throughout Council Space, invading every world and enslaving their populations, while bringing interstellar commerce to a complete standstill, eventually causing the galactic economy to collapse and bringing an end to the Citadel Council, which has ruled the known galaxy for two-and-a-half-thousand years!"

Silence followed her declaration, as they all contemplated her words of wisdom-the wisdom of an Asari Matriarch who, for centuries, has endured all the trials and tribulations that the galaxy has to offer, in all its cosmic indifference.

Councillor Tevos then picked up from where she left off: "The simplest solution to this problem is to make contact with this new race and impress upon them the dangers of activating Mass Relays, and hopefully convince them to halt their reckless actions, while gaining a new ally. It's the path of least bloodshed, and it will have little negative, long-term consequences in whatever relations we'll have with this race in the future."

"But that is not to say, however," interjected Matriarch Aethyta, her face hard. "That we shouldn't arm one hand, while offering the other. If this new race proves to be hostile and rejects our overtures, then a military expedition aimed at pacifying them may well be necessary, but only as a last resort."

With Councillor Tevos in favour of diplomacy, and Councillor Bellonia in favour of military intervention, it falls to Councillor Anotus to decide the vote's outcome. "Councillor Tevos," he began hesitantly, trying to find the right words to placate her. "While I understand your perspective, I must agree with Councillor Bellonia. These aliens represent a clear and present threat to the galactic community, and so, I believe it is in our best interests to initiate a police action against this race, so that we might provide guidance and discipline to them."

Councillor Tevos gave a disappointed sigh in response, while Matriarch Tevos simply smirked ruefully at her and said, with a great deal of sarcasm: "Isn't democracy a lovely thing?"

August 22nd, 2657 G.S.T

Tryxus Cluster

System RG2079

Citadel Council Pacification Fleet

It was a punitive force heading towards Relay 314, less than two per cent of the total number of warships at the disposal of the Asari, Salarians and Turians. The Asari Republics had provided a mere thirteen warships; three cruisers, and ten frigates, along with over seven-thousand Asari Commandoes. The Salarian Union provided slightly more warships, numbering at twenty-five; five cruisers, eighteen frigates and two corvettes, carrying twelve-and-a-half-thousand STG Operatives. But, as always, it was the Turian Hierarchy that went above and beyond the call of duty, and provided the most warships to the operation. Fifty-two warships; one dreadnought, three heavy cruisers, seven light cruisers, thirteen heavy frigates, and twenty-eight light frigates, all-together carrying a complement of thirty-thousand Turian Hierarchy Marines. And it wasn't just warships; there are four troop transports, carrying twenty-thousand Turian Hierarchy Marines, and eighty-thousand Krogan Shock Troopers. In addition, there are also six resupply ships, with enough fuel, food and water to sustain the fleet, crew and soldiers for a month in deep space, far away from any supply lines.

This Pacification Fleet, called as such by the Citadel Council, is commanded by Vice Admiral Viktor Cassius, sitting calmly in his private quarters, on the dreadnought Palavan's Fist, reviewing his orders from the Citadel Council; if Relay 314 leads to the newcomers' home system, then a show of force on their homeworld should be sufficient to cow their leaders into submission. The world, and its inhabitants, can then be annexed into the Turian Hierarchy as a Client Race. But if they merely discover a colony, then they'll just destroy all orbital threats, invade and occupy the colony, and pacify the population. With the colony under control, the Citadel Council would be able to negotiate from a position of strength, hopefully making the aliens more amenable to their demands. When all is said and done, another ace will have bent the knee to the Citadel.

Which is how things ought to be, thought Viktor contemptuously. And it would serve these creatures right, to be slapped down like this just as they were reaching for the stars. There is no doubt that the newcomers are just now beginning to explore the boundaries of their home system; the lack of Element Zero on their spacecraft is proof that they haven't breached the interstellar threshold. It's just galling, to have these creatures sailing around in their ramshackle, unsightly ships, activating Mass Relays without even considering the dangers involved. What if that Relay had led into Yahg Space? These creatures would have been quickly conquered and forced into servitude, just like the Raloi and the Zholan.

Viktor sighed. There I go again, thinking about the Yahg.

Thinking about the Yahg makes Viktor think about his daughter, Sjornya, dead for eleven years, killed on the Batarian frontier colony, Khandia. It was her first combat mission after graduating from boot camp, and she didn't even get to fight; she and her entire platoon were wiped out when the Yahg deployed their bioweapons. The bastards couldn't even give her a proper death!

Enough!

Viktor cleared his head of thoughts about Sjornya and her undignified death, and thought about the mission at hand: in just two hours, his fleet will pass through Relay 314, and enter the newcomers' home system. And then, the newcomer's will be subjugated and assimilated into the Turian Hierarchy, with or without their consent.

Idly, Viktor wondered if the newcomer's were any good at fighting; even though the Krogan are useful against the Yahg, Turians can never have too much cannon fodder to throw into the meat grinder.

Author's Note.

Well, here's the first chapter. Be sure to tell me what you think: Like it? Hate it?

Just in case none of you know, Bam! was the codename for Halo, before Bungie came up with it's awesome title. For all newcomers who have discovered this fic before the Codex, then be sure to read that if you come across anything you don't understand. "Star-Hopping is described in detail in the codex. My character, Chinh Phan, is a reference to all the vietnamese refugees who fled from the vietnam war, and were victimized by pirates. I don't go into detail about what the pirates did on the freighter in my story, because as a generalist storyteller, I like to leave some things to the reader's imaginations. And Captain Phan's off-hand comment about an interstellar gun capable of blowing up stars is in no way, whatsoever, foreshadowing for a Forerunner super-weapon that will be discovered some time in the very distant future. Seriously.

I hope that I've portrayed the Council as reasonable; even though they're going to launch a war of conquest against an unknown race, I wanted them to have valid reasons for doing so. The presence of an aggressive, outside enemy (the Yahg) has made them so much more defensive, and less complacent; so if you spot any kind of technology that the Citadel Forces shouldn't have, then I can simply say that it was developed to fight against the Yahg, or salvaged from them. Also, for those who've read my Codex and know about the other "Human" races which I will introduce in later stories, the Zholan are one of them, and they are furry because they evolved on an ice planet. But I won't go into more detail about them until my third story, which will be about the Council-Yahg War.

So long, and thanks for all the fish!