This story is written because I took inspiration from other stories like this. This is a Mass Effect fanfiction, if you hadn't figured it out by the title. I play Mass Effect because I see it as another Star Wars, if you get me. Anyway, I saw many fanfictions for Mass Effect and I found a particular story that really wasn't often written. The Turians, I find them very interesting and their story sounds like something worth writing about and closely human. So I decided to write a Turian Romance with a Human.

I take inspiration from two authors who have done a great job at writing well written stories of this kind. They are Xeno-Sapian: A Matter of Race and Character; and Sol-Vikar: Mass Effect Survival Part 1. Both are really good stories and I suggest reading them.

Some ideas, I took from them (if that's okay… hopefully) and I combined them with mine to create my own unique story. This story is based off of an Interspecies Exchange Program where both species, well, basically hand over one of their own from a specific field and so does the other side. However, there is a twist to it.

Anyway, I'll shut up so you can get reading and find out for yourself. Enjoy

Mass Effect is owned by Bio ware and the technical division of EA.

Chapter 1

Tasale System, Turian vessel PFS Trianis, Planetary Orbit; Illium – 07:00 P.M. -22nd February 2183 CE

Annali had never talked to a Human before and neither had she wanted to in her lifetime.

Her only orders were to wait at the airlock for the Human vessel to rendezvous with the small flotilla of two Cruisers. As soon as they entered the system, the ship would dock with the Trianis and then the Victrition, which was the other Turian Cruiser, to exchange their engineers with hers. She wasn't fond of the idea of handing over one their best engineers to some fur balls who just recently figured out the science of Mass Effect technology. After the Relay 314 Incident, both Humanity and Turians were very cautious of each other and didn't really speak much about or to each other. The Council had to broker a peace treaty between the two sides before things got more intense. If there was one thing Turians hated besides dealing with a drunk Vorcha, it was getting nailed to the wall just like that and not getting pulled down from it. I don't get why we're even working with them if we hate each other so much she thought to herself. The Turian blockade at Shanxi was easily wiped out by the Human fleet, in just a few hours they had retaken their planet and kicked the Turians out the door. Her mother was part of the occupational force on the Human colony. She had only heard that the occupied planet was under attack but she never expected her mother to be part of the piles of Turian bodies left on the planet.

She received the news while she was playing with her sister at home on Palaven. Her mother had been executed by the Alien forces, her body remained on the planet until the Hierarchy retook the planet. She still remembered the tearful sobs from her father and older sister as they wept for her mother. When she became old enough she enlisted into the Turian Special Forces to become one the most elite soldiers in the Meritocracy. Which she did.

Little to her disappointment, the Council had already established a peace treaty with the Systems Alliance and now the two governments want to make amends by working together by helping better understand each other more. Their place in the galactic society was growing more and more so she had taken her time to get to know more about Human psychology little by little understood them more and more. However, she was still wary of them and didn't really approached any of the humans.

It's not that I don't want to talk to them, it's just… I'm not really entirely sure as to how I should even approach them without my thoughts getting in the way. Well, now I'm going to talk to one of them. All Humans either speak professionally or casually; I could try casual- no no no, maybe I could act professionally? Represent Turian sophistication and competence, yeah let's roll with that.

"Hey Annie, you're not thinking of some human pick-up lines are ya?" Ma' Rice asks. His dumb, yet ironic, question bringing out an irritated grunt from Annali.

"Can you not call me that, I'm having a hard enough time trying to block you out," Annali mumbles, half hoping he didn't hear that last part.

"You in one of your moods… again? Usually when we're doing these Interspecies Exchange Programmes you're always unbiased when you meet newbies. Is it with the Humans?" he asks sitting down next to her. She's facing the window out the airlock, looking at the planet above and trying to admire it's beauty, "Hello?" he shakes Annali snapping her out of her trance.

"Huh, Oh yeah, yeah, I totally agree" Annali says hoping she answered whatever Ma' Rice was asking. His brow plates lower down for an annoyed look. Guess she didn't.

"Annali why are you so… on edge right now? Is it with who we're exchanging with?" he asks lifting a brow plate. She looks away from him, not wanting to answer the question.

"*sigh* Yes it's them. Out of all the other ships to exchange with, out of the entire Turian fleet, why did it have to be this ship?" she asks looking over to Ma 'Rice, "Tell me why?" she asks reflecting the question back to him.

"Hey, on the bright side it's not just us. The Victrition is also exchanging their engineers for the Human Vessel's engineers. Besides, I hear their vessel isn't even as big as ours," Ma 'Rice assures her. She relaxes a little until the Captain's voice sounds over the speakers.

"Alliance vessel entering the system, docking crews ready for docking procedure!" Ma 'Rice gets up and walks over to the comms to respond.

"Yes Captain, docking crew ready for procedure. Liaison Officer Veren is here for introduction!" Ma 'Rice responds.

"Good, Stand by for further instructions!" The Captain advises then cuts out. Ma 'Rice walks back to Annali and grabs his Vindicator rifle from the wall. Annali sighs and walks away from the airlock entrance then sealing it shut. Moving over to the right of the door she looks out the window, expecting the Human vessel to appear at any minute.

"Don't worry Annali, it's probably a frigate coming…"

*BOOM*

A large vessel appears in the distance, three times the size of the Turian cruisers, flying in between the two cruisers and aligning with the Trianis. The large Systems Alliance Symbol glows on the side of the ship, it's guns pointing away from the cruiser but still looking weapons ready. The Captains voice sounds again over the speakers.

"Alliance Dreadnought is ready for docking procedure! Docking Team you know what to do," Annali looks over to Ma 'Rice, his face expressionless and his mouth open.

"A frigate huh?" Annali asks. Ma 'Rice trying to come up with an answer.

"Hey it was just a guess," he reputes and takes walks over to the terminal. The 'Umbilical', Ma 'Rice liked to call it, extends from the ship and connects with the Dreadnought's side port. A small beep goes off signaling the successful connection with the ship, "The light is green, opening airlock hatch," Annali states and hits the button initiating the lock pressurization procedure. She looks inside the window from the hatch door but can't see anything due to the air pressurizing on the other side and blocking the view. Finally, the hissing stops and the lights dim red for a few seconds then switch green.

Alright, let's see who we have now Annali thinks to herself and overrides the lock. The door opens and before she can say something, she is face to face with their new engineer. She has to look up slightly to meet his brown eyes, the tallest Human she has ever seen. His Thorax was wide and bigger than a Turian's, his arms well-built and everything else showing he works out. His bags not making much of a difference to his ability to handle the weight of them; a result of staying in peek physical shape. His body fills up the Alliance shirt and his Grey Cargo pants giving him a very, appealing look, despite her races more militaristic uniform. Making eye contact the human flashes a friendly smile and takes Annali's hand without her consent.

"Hey, how are you, how you doin? The names Max, Max Tereshkova; Combat Engineer Private 1st class with the SSV Kilimanjaro," Max says while shaking her hand then letting go and saluting. Annali doesn't say anything for a while, looking at her hand before she nods and regains her composure.

"Ahem, I'm good thank you. Annali Veren; Liaison Officer of the Trianis. I will be working with you as part of the Interspecies Exchange Programme. We are excited to have you working with us for the next few months," Annali says. Max starts to look around the ship, already his eagerness is showing.

"Man, I never thought I would see the inside of an alien ship- I mean I'm not saying you guys are, I'm not entirely familiar with the ship," Max says trying to be as polite as possible.

"Don't worry you'll get to know the ship as our engineers will yours. And for the record, we're not the aliens; this is a mainly Turian vessel so it's kind of flipped on how you see it," Annali clarifies the situation. Max gives an odd look of confusion but nods at her meaning.

"Oh I see, I'm the Alien. I totally get it, a lot of people have been giving me the look of 'what the hell is that?' back on the Citadel. And I can't say I haven't given the same look at them either," Max says in a cheerful mood. His statement making Annali smile, but in her mind she's mentally kicking herself for falling for one of the Humans jokes. Tossing the thought away she continues the introduction.

"Well, we all have our impressions of somebody. If you will, you will follo-"

"WAIT HOLD UP" Someone shouts in the Umbilical, cutting her off. She looks behind the massive Human to see a smaller nimbler human run to them with a large Backpack and two duffel bags. His choice of clothing giving the impression he is of lower rank and different profession, "*Huff* A-Adam *Huff* Montero, Oh god, *Huff* Medic E-5 Sergeant of *Huff* SSV-"

"-Kilimanjaro, he's with me," Max finishes his sentence.

"Thanks, I don't think I would've finished that sentence, Jesus Christ that was a long haul," the medic says, his fatigue coming way too early.

"Adam, you just ran from the Med Bay and you're already tired? Come on, those bags aren't that heavy," Max says and goes to pick up one of his bags but struggles to pick it up, "Or maybe they are, what's in there?" he asks.

"Just some stuff I needed to take with me; Medi-Gel canisters, Immuno Boosters, Neutron scanner, etc." he says listing the supplies.

"The Essentials!" Max says.

"Yup," the Medic says and walks past him and salutes Annali.

"You do know we have all those things in our Med Bay, right?" Annali explains.

"I know, but It doesn't hurt to bring a few extra stuff ,you know? I also brought some Documents on Human treatment in case I'm not in the Med Bay but down somewhere with the Combat Engineer," The Medic explains elbowing the Engineers side.

"You always were a hoarder Adam, bringing some unnecessary stuff with you when we might not even need it," Max says giving a wry smile.

"Am not!" The Medic reputes and tries to size up the tall Engineer. Annali not wanting a fight between the two decides to quickly change the subject to the ship.

"Enough, both of you, you are here to represent Humanity and it's capabilities to the Galaxy and the Council. Try to be the professional's your superiors say you are, ok? Now follow me to your stations on the ship starting with the Med Bay," Annali motions for them to follow her. The two Humans look at each other and follow her through the hallway.

They pile into the elevator along with Ma'Rice operating it, their luggage taking up most of the space for everyone. Max and Adam hold their biggest bags over everyone leaving everything else on the floor. Annali and Ma'Rice hesitantly step in trying to make room for themselves. Annali tries to take her place next to the control panel but he is already there so her only choice is to squeeze in between the Humans. Oh Spirits why she thinks to herself and gets in between the Humans. There isn't much room still so she has to get even closer to them. She back herself up some more hoping not to touch one of them but she feels something breathing behind her neck. She turns to see the Tall Humans face leaned back not trying to get as close to her as well. He smiles and tries to scooch over as much as he can but all he can do is move a centimeter back, "Sorry Officer, I guess we brought too much stuff with us. Here let me take this bag from the floor," he says starting to reach down. His face getting awfully close to her posterior.

"Uh it's okay, don't worry it's fine just leave it on the floor, I don't mind. I doubt you can carry the bags the entire tri-" she says but his chest just pushes her forward as he picks up the bag from the ground and holds it over everyone, creating a spot for her.

"There we go *grunt* made some space for ya, ta-dah!," Max says motioning for her to move in the spot. Annali hesitantly moves over and glances at his flexed biceps, no strain at all from carrying the large amount of weight. Maybe I underestimated their abilities. We'll see what he can do once he's under pressure, she thought to herself. Ma'Rice logs the level onto the monitor and the doors close immediately, the elevator starts to ascend giving everyone a slight stumble. Annali looks up again to the Human and sees he's not breathing heavily at all, those bags must be heavy, their so big. And yet, he's not having trouble at all… except for his friend there whose struggling to not try to black out of exhaustion. Max notices his friend struggling and lightly taps Adam's arm with his elbow getting his attention, "Yo, you need some help with that?" he asks. Adam nods and nearly collapses with the bag over his head before Max catches it and supports both his bags and Adam's, "Got it. You relax there buddy," Max says, his breathing still not erratic.

"*Huff* Thanks man, I'm not used to carrying things over my head for too long," Adam says getting up an rubbing his arms.

"Not trying to be rude or anything, but, do you exercise at all?" Ma'Rice asks looking away from the monitor.

"Not much, I usually study excericse than actually doing it sadly," Adam repsonds not taking offence.

"I always try to get him to do something but he always ends up either observing the girls in the Gym or doing something else besides working out his muscles. That is, if he has any," Max says jokingly.

"I try, but there are so many distractions I can't help but not ignore them," Adam says trying to come up with an excuse.

"Sure, Sure. Um, Officer Veren, where are our stations on the cruiser?" Max asks.

"You will be in Engineering which is where we will be heading after Ma'Rice here escorts the Medic to our Med Bay which is right here," As if right on cue, the elevator stops and the doors open up to a hallway leading to the Med Bay. So says the sign up in the middle of the hallway. The Turian soldier walks out from the elevator and collapses his Vindicator down and clips it to his back. Reaching down to pick up one of Adam's huge duffel bags.

"Alright Adam, follow me to the Med Bay so I can introduce you our Medic. He'll fill you in on your duties," Ma'Rice states. Adam picks up his bag and Max hands him the one he was holding. He walks out from the elevator and stops just after exiting and turns to Max.

"I'll see you later Max, duty calls," Adam says and follows the Soldier through the Hallway. The doors close and Annali quickly walks over to the Terminal to put in the next floor. Max lets the bag fall down to the floor and breathes out a sigh of relief.

"God, are all your elevators that slow?" Max asks rolling his shoulders back and forth, rolling his neck in angles Annali knew a Turian could never do.

"Not really, he must have just set the elevator to minimal speed, hold on… there fixed," Annali says and quickly pushes the button before Max realizes what she means.

"Wait… Minim-"suddenly the elevator rumbles and shoots up, the inertia too much and sudden for Max, making him fall flat on the floor, "Oh God," he mumbles trying to recover from the pain. Annali smiles deviously and keeps her eyes on him, watching him get up, "A prankster huh? Didn't think you guys had sense of humor," Max says rubbing the right side of his face.

"Who said we didn't, huh?" Annali says still grinning. Max just shakes his head in disbelief, he had been outwitted by a Turian, a female at that. The rest of the way is ridden in silence when finally the elevator dings and stops at the floor. The doors open to a busy hallway, Turian's walking in and out of their quarters. They all stop to see the Human walking out of the Elevator, a very tall one indeed. Annali walks out first creating a path in between the crew members. Max quickly grabs his bags and follows suit, everyone either looking up or straight at him. Most Turians were taller than Humans so it was a rare sight to see another Human just as tall as they were. Annali, noticing them staring at the new Human Crew member, decides to settle everything down, "You guys are going to just stare at him, or are you going to prep the ship for the jump to the next system, huh?" Annali shouts. Everyone snaps out of their trance, salute, and scurry to get to their stations. As soon as the order was given, the hallway was empty and silent.

"Nice, normally if this happened on the Kilimanjaro the Captain would threaten to sound the ship-wide alarm for battle stations as a wake up alarm in the morning," Max explains. Annali manages to stifle a giggle, the idea of such a threat would surely be a great wake up call.

"This way to the Engineering deck, Engineer Tereshkova is it?" Annali asks.

"Yup, Tereshkova, that's it," Max confirms.

"What is your main duty on the Kilimanjaro exactly?" Annali explains. Her curiosity on the Alliance Dreadnought coming to her mind.

"Well I mostly just manage the ships Eezo Core and calibrate the ships guns. Of course I don't get to fire them anyway ever since I accidentally triggered the firing mechanism for the broadside cannons and nearly destroyed a station orbiting over Benning," Max explains. Annali can barely hold herself from laughing out loud at his clumsiness but only gets out a giggle.

"I guess that's the reason they wanted you on our ship instead of theirs," Annali says taking a left on the hallway to some doors leading into the engine room.

"I guess," Max states as he follows her through the doors. He hears the hum of the Eezo core in the room, the sound echoing through the hall giving the effect that the core is somewhere around him.

"Here it is, the Engine Room. You'll be working with Artificer's Epididas, Albucius, and Wenthesi. They're right over there I think," Annali points out walking around the core. The Three Turians turn to see her approaching and wave at her presence.

"Hey Annali, you up for some-" Epididas stops when he sees a Human walk out from the corner of the walkway, staring at the large Core, "I see you brought our replacement in Semaj's place," he says walking over to Max. From a distance he seemed shorter than he thought but as he got closer he saw the size difference start to show, but that didn't bother him, "Hey, the names Dray Epididas, the ships Core Artificer here. I manage the ships Eezo Core power conductors. Welcome to the Trianis," Dray says shaking Max's hand.

"Max Tereshkova, Alliance Combat Engineer Private 1st Class. I guess we're both core engineers," Max says releasing Dray's hand. The other two Turians walk over to him and extend their hands to him in Welcome.

"The names Caylio Albucius, just call me Cay for short. I handle the ships power mainframe and infrastructure. I repair everything to lights, faulty wiring, to ship waste removal," Cay explains.

"Oh so you're like the ships Janitor?" Max says. The other Turians laugh at his assumption, slapping his back.

"HAHA even he translated that to Janitor Cay, Spirits no matter how you describe it, it will always be Janitor," the unnamed Turian says and shakes his head still chuckling and extends his hand, Max takes it graciously, "I can tell we're going to get along well here. The names Ranan Wenthesi, I lead the Engineering team here on the Trianis, however you're new so I won't be harsh on you. Not that I will be of course, the Liaison Officer is primarily your commanding officer but you're still under my command as well. These two don't listen to me so just be casual around me and everything will be fine," Ranan explains letting go of Max's hand.

"Nice to meet all of you, where do I sleep? Sorry, I don't mean to be forward I just woke up early in the morning to get to the Kilimanjaro and then fly here," Max explains scratching his head.

"It's alright, your bunk will-" Ranan starts to say until Annali cuts him off.

"Your bunk will be in that room over there, conveniently next to your station so you don't have to walk a long distance to get to it. Sorry 'bout that Ranan, the Captain want's everyone at their stations quick as we're going to make the jump to the Matano System in a bit," Annali explains. The Engineers already knowing what to do head back to their stations.

"Yes, sir. Understood, sir." They all say in Unison, saluting then about face and walk. Ranan stops before his console and turns to Max, "It's great to have you aboard Engineer Tereshkova," Ranan says and turns back to his console. Max nods and looks at Annali who is giving him an expectant face.

"What?" he asks. Annali roll her eyes and points to his room.

"Well? Get going! We need everyone at their stations NOW," Annali shouts. Max is taken off by her sudden mood change but doesn't mind it as he runs to his new quarters. He runs into the room and sees the bed just a few feet from the console. Throwing his bags onto the bed he pulls out the chair and gets working on the managing the core's Mass Effect generator, prepping it for the jump to the next system.

Annali watches him as he disappeared into the room and flips her Omni-tool on and establishes a link, "This is Officer Veren, the Exchange medic and Engineer have been accommodated and are ready for next set of orders," Annali speaks into her Omni-tool.

"Very well Veren, all personnel are at their stations. Alliance vessel is forming up on us… Approaching the Mass Relay… prepare to jump," The Captain states. The Core hums louder at the extra power being outputted into the ships FTL Drive. Annali switches off her Omni-tool to the Core glowing brighter and places a hand in front of her to block the light, "FTL Drive active… Hit it," The Core hums louder then levels down to a steady hum, meaning the ship has entered hyperspace, "Jump successful, well done everyone," The Captain's voice sounds then cut out. Annali turns back to the others already high fiving each other on another successful jump.

"Good job boys, we don't get to die in space today. Round of drinks are on me," Ranan states and Cay and Dray high five each other. Ranan chuckles at their reaction and the three start to walk out before Ranan stops and turns to Annali who is staring at the Human walk out from his quarters.

"Come on Tereshkova, I still need to show you around the ship. I don't want you to get lost on the first day of your new job on the Trianis," Annali explains. Max smiles and nods.

"That's a good idea, I don't think I want to accidentally walk into the ships Main Gun by accident," Max says. Annali chuckles at the thought of him walking into Main gun and- wait how did he know they even have a Main gun? Her smile dissipates and she looks at him suspiciously, "How did you know we have a Main gun on the ship? We haven't shared anything with the Alliance on our ship armaments!" she states. Max opens his mouth to say something but nothing comes out. She takes this opportunity to embarrass him, "Ha-ha, I'm playing with you Tereshkova. You should have seen the look on your face, come on we're getting drinks, right Ranan?" Annali says turning to Ranan who just nods and walks off. Max chuckles a little and fixes his hair, his nerves starting to calm down. He thought they were on to him.

"Yeah, I'm coming just let me get my Omni-tool from my- oh wait never mind it's in my pocket, heh. *click* there we go, where to?" Max says and walks over to Annali.