Chapter 1: Contact

Shepard, Wrex and Ashley moved towards the entrance to Chora's Den. They had to find out what Fist knew about the quarian, who had evidence against Saren.

As they reached the door, a stench came through.

"Smells like burnt flesh", Wrex laughed. "Like someone's having a barbecue."

"Can it, Wrex", Shepard replied and proceeded to open the door.

They all froze.

All the guards Fist had at the club were already lying dead or unconscious on the floor.

Most guards had one or both of their hands severed and some had stab wounds on their chests as well. The krogan bouncer particularly had seen better days. Despite the gruesome look, there was no blood anywhere, as each wound was completely cauterized. The cauterization was also the source of the stench they smelled.

Ashley spoke up first, with a hint of fear in her voice: "what happened to these people?"

"Someone got here before us", Shepard said. "Let's hope Fist isn't in same condition."

They examined few of the bodies more closely and Shepard noticed something.

"The unconscious ones weren't armed and their hands haven't been severed", She started. "Whoever did this isn't blindly killing everyone. We didn't see anyone coming out, maybe they are still here."

They moved to a warehouse area, where they saw several warehouse workers, unconscious but otherwise unharmed. As they approached Fist's office, they heard no commotion inside.

Shepard hoped they weren't too late and opened the door.

They saw Fist on the floor covering before a dark figure. The figure was completely clad in black. Boots, trousers, trench coat, gloves and even a hood that completely hid it's face apart from a pair of glowing eyes.

What was more unusual, was that while the clothing was indeed black, it also appeared to drain light around its immediate vicinity.

Shepard and others readied their weapons and she yelled "wait!". The figure turned to face them, but made no move attack or anything that signified aggression. As the figure turned, Shepard noticed two slightly curved objects, that looked like sword hilts, holstered on the figure's belt. After a brief moment, the figure said: "Fist is popular tonight, apparently". The voice was clearly a male voice, but it also sounded like it was... Shepard couldn't describe it in any other way. It was as if his voice was burning.

Wrex stepped in "Shadow Broker wants him dead", he pointed towards Fist. "and no one takes my contract from me".

"Why would the Shadow Broker care about him, simply a thug", the figure asked.

"He was an agent for the Broker, but he betrayed him", Wrex replied although he sounded slightly annoyed that he would need to explain himself.

The figure clearly wasn't expecting that. He stood quiet for a while until he turned towards Fist and bluntly said "idiot". He then turned back to face Shepard and continued "You're the famous Shepard; how does someone like you get mixed with a Krogan mercenary?"

"Have you heard about the geth attack on Eden Prime?", she asked.

"Of course", the dark figure replied. "A geth attack on one of the oldest and largest human colonies isn't exactly small news."

"The attack was organised by a Spectre, Saren. But the Council won't believe it. We heard about a quarian who has hard proof against Saren, but she's on the run from Saren's men. She was going to give the proof to the Shadow Broker in exchange for protection."

"So she came to Fist, who at the time was an agent for Broker, but got a better offer from Saren and betrayed the Broker. Now you're here to find out where the quarian is", the figure finished.

Shepard replied with a slight nod. The figure turned back to Fist and continued:

"I recommend you tell her. Now."

"She's not here, I don't know where she is, that's the truth", Fist said quickly.

"He's lying", Ashley stated.

"Yes, he is" the figure agreed.

"The quarian isn't here, she said she'll only deal with the Shadow Broker himself", Fist said.

"Face to face? Impossible, even I was hired through an agent", Wrex said and moved in closer.

Fist slowly stood up and continued "No one meets the Shadow Broker. Ever. But she didn't know that. I said I'll set up a meeting, but it won't be him, it will be Saren's men."

"Give me the location. Now", Shepard said with a threatening tone.

"Here on the Wards, back alley behind the markets. If you're fast you can make it there in time."

"I know the place. Let's go." The figure said and moved towards the door. "All yours, Wrex", he added.

Fist yelled "Nooo...!", which was cut short by the sound of shotgun fire.

Shepard's team moved towards the door as well and she asked from the figure "Are you coming as well?"

"You think I'm going to stand still and let innocent blood flow? Think again", came the reply.

Shepard, Wrex, Ashley and the figure arrived at the alleged location, where the quarian's deal was supposed to take place. The figure whispered quietly, but audibly "we need someone on the other side", he pointed to the other end of the alley.

Shepard replied "There's no way we are getting someone there without being seen."

"I beg to differ."

"How exactly...", she turned to face him, but the figure had vanished.

"Damn it!", she cursed to herself. She proceeded to look towards the alley, where she saw the quarian being approached by a group of turians and salarians.

"Where's the Shadow Broker? Where's Fist?", the quarian asked.

"They'll be here. Don't worry", one of the turians replied.

Sensing a trap, the quarian quickly said "no way, the deal's off."

The salarians drew their weapons, but they didn't notice the concussive grenade that the quarian had thrown on their feet. The explosion sent them flying. Shepard, Wrex and Ashley took care of the turians before they could draw their weapons.

What Shepard, her team or the quarian didn't notice was a lone turian assassin standing in the shadows.

The assassin moved in and quietly said with malicious tone: "suit rat. You're de.. "

-a dark red sword blade emerged from his chest, accompanied with a hissing sound similar to when hot metal is submerged into water. Simultaneously, there was another flash of red, and the turian's weapon fell on to the floor, with his now-severed hand still gripping into it.

Shepard looked and saw the same dark figure behind the turian. The figure then said quietly, but audibly "she'll stay alive, thank you."

The turian tried to answer, but all that came out was barely audible whining.

The figure finally pulled his sword back and the turian collapsed onto the floor without another sound; the wound on his back was still smoking.

Now Shepard got a good look at the figure's sword for the first time. The shape of the blade reminded her a little bit of the old sickle swords, where the blade first bent slightly downwards, then back upwards. At first she thought the red colour was simply turian blood, but she quickly remembered that turian blood wasn't red and the blade had an odd shimmering effect.

She deduced that blade had to plasma or some other form of energy. Her suspicion was confirmed the dark red blade vanished in a shower of sparks and the figure holstered the hilt back to his belt.

With angry tone, the quarian yelled: "Fist set me up! I knew he couldn't be trusted!"

"Are you alright, young one?", the figure asked. "I can take care of myself!", the quarian replied with an angry tone. She calmed down and added "but thank you for saving me. w-who are you people?"

"you have something the commander needs", Ashley said with a demanding tone.

"you have proof about Saren, we need it", Shepard added.

"then I can repay you for saving me", the quarian replied. "my name is Tali. Tali'Zorah nar Rayya. On my travels i heard chatter about geth movement and i got curious. I found a group of geth, managed to isolate one of them and disabled it. Before it's data core erased itself i managed to get this audio file."

She brought up her omni-tool and played the file:

"Eden Prime was a major victory! The beacon has brought us one step closer to finding the conduit!", Saren's voice said in the recording.

"And one step closer to the return of the Reapers.", an unknown female voice said.

"the first voice was Saren's", Shepard said. "But I don't recognise the second voice. And what are the Reapers?"

Tali said: "according to the recording, they are an advanced machine race, that existed 50 thousand years ago and played a part in Prothean extiction. The geth believe them to be gods."

"If that is true...", Shepard started "We need to bring Tali to a safe place."

"Human embassy", Ashley suggested. "Udina will want to hear this anyway"

All five began moving towards the elevator that would take them to the Presidium. Once in the elevator, Shepard asked from the figure: "how about you?".

"You're going to go after Saren. If you'll allow it, I'd like to join your team on your hunt."

"But why, to me you seem like a vigilante, who works alone."

"And you're right, deep down I am a vigilante, someone who sees himself on the 'good' side, despite having often very excessive measures. Saren has attacked Eden Prime. He has already betrayed the Council. Regardless if you truly needed me or not, if I did nothing, would regret that much more. And if the Reapers are real and they are coming back to destroy us, you would need every single one who is capable of fighting."

"You have a point in that..", Shepard started.

"Shepard", Ashley said quickly. "Can we trust him? I mean we just met him and now he is offering to join us. What if.."

Shepard raised her hand to interrupt Ashley "So did Garrus and Wrex. And you saw how Chora's Den looked. If he wanted to harm us he could have done that hundred times over by now."

"Being cautious is healthy. To an extent.", the figure started. "but your commander is right. If I truly wanted to harm you, I wouldn't bother to go through any elaborate plan to pretend to be on your side and strike at an opportune moment."

"You would just do it", Wrex said.

"Indeed."

They arrived at the corridor that led to Udina's office. Garrus and Kaidan were already waiting by the door.

"Then, welcome to the team", Shepard said to the figure.

"I appreciate it. And in that case, my name is Jaden", came the reply.

"Good to have you Jaden", said Shepard and shook hands with him. "these are Kaidan. Garrus. Wrex. Ashley."

Jaden turned to face each of them and gave a slight nod as they were introduced to him.

They stepped inside Udina's office, where Udina and Anderson were already waiting. Udina was angry.

"You're not making my life easy, Shepard. Fire fights in the Wards?

An all out assault on Chora's Den? Do you know how many...".

Udina looked at the group.

"Who is this?", Udina asked and looked directly at Jaden.

"And a quarian? What are you up to, Shepard?"

"Just someone providing assistance", Jaden said.

"I hope you know what you're doing, Shepard", Udina said; Jaden's presence seemed to make him slightly nervous. "and the quarian?"

"This quarian can prove Saren is guilty; I would have told you that, if you hadn't jumped my throat", Shepard said sounding annoyed. She didn't like Udina. At all.

"I-I apologise. Maybe we should start from the beginning, miss..?"

"My name is Tali. Tali'Zorah nar Rayya"

"We don't see many quarians here. Why did you leave the flotilla?"

"I was on my Pilgrimage, my rite of adulthood. I began to hear chatter about geth. I was curious. I managed to locate a group of geth, isolated one, disabled it and downloaded this recording".

Tali played the same recording she played in the alley.

"That's Saren's voice." Anderson said.

"The Council can't ignore this!" Udina said "although I'm not so sure about these Reapers."

"They're real" Shepard said with certainty. "the vision, I understand it now."

"We must present this to the Council right away" Udina continued "meet me at the Council chambers." He left the office.

"What about her, the quarian?" Wrex asked.

Tali seemed annoyed "My name is Tali! You saw me in the alley, you know what I can do. Let me come with you."

"What about your Pilgrimage?" Shepard asked.

"The Pilgrimage shows we are willing to give ourselves for the greater good. What would I be if I turned my back on this?"

"all right, you proved your point, welcome to the team. We should go to the Council chambers as well. Before Udina embarrasses us again."

They made their way to the Council chambers, where Udina was already presenting the proof.

The Council saw the proof as irrefutable and stripped Saren of his Spectre -status. After a lengthy debate, the Council named Shepard as the first "true" human Spectre and gave her the assignment to apprehend or eliminate Saren by any means necessary. It was also revealed that the unknown female voice in the recording was Matriarch Benezia. As Shepard joined her team, who were waiting at the bottom of the stairs, she received congratulations from all of them. Udina told Shepard to meet him in his office after he and Anderson had obtained a ship and supplies for her.

"Okay, Udina wants to meet me in his office. First, here's our comm channel" Shepard said and brought up her omni-tool. Others did the same. Shepard couldn't but notice, that Jaden's omni-tool was dark red and had two black stripes across it, rather than the usual orange. She was going to ask but decided, she would do so later.

"Jaden, Garrus, Wrex, Tali, if you have some personal belongings you want to bring with you, now is the time to go get them. Then meet with us at C-sec academy."

Sometime later Shepard, Kaidan, Ashley and Tali were leaning against a wall at C-sec, waiting for the remaining three to arrive.

Garrus was the first to arrive. He had nothing new on him, except a fine-looking turian sniper rifle.

"Sniper, huh", Shepard commented.

"My favourite weapon type", Garrus replied with a smirk.

"We'll have to see who's better", Shepard remarked and tapped her own rifle that she had on her back.

Jaden was the second to appear from one of the elevators. He had a small bag of his personal items and his energy swords were still holstered on his belt, on both sides of the buckle.

He also had three additional weapons: two identical SMGs that were holstered on his sides and a larger weapon on his back.

What was unusual about these SMGs, was that they had magazines, rather than internal ammo blocks. The magazines were loaded with small red crystalline shards that had a faint glow to them.

The weapon on his back looked completely alien. Shepard assumed to be a type of sniper rifle.

Jaden greeted them as he reached them and Shepard said "Just Wrex to go."

"Should be here shortly" Jaden replied. "Said he needed to see Barla Von about something."

A moment later: "ah, there he is."

Finally, Wrex joined the group. He had nothing new with him, just his trusty shotgun.

"Okay, we're all here" Shepard started. "Anderson gave the command of the Normandy to me. It's an experimental stealth-frigate. Fast and quiet, a perfect ship for a Spectre. Udina also told me that Benezia has a daughter by the name of Liara T'Soni, a Prothean expert. He and Anderson believe that she has no part in Saren's and Benezia's plan, but they still recommended we find her, if she knows anything. She is currently in a dig site somewhere in Artemis Tau cluster."

They stepped into the elevator that would take them to Normandy's docking bay.

After the lift began to move, Ashley asked "So Jaden, how did you disappear at the alley behind the marketplace? Like you were behind us at one point and suddenly you appear behind that turian as you killed him."

Jaden seemed slightly annoyed, as if he didn't want to show them, but went with it anyway.

"Like this" he said with his ever-burning voice and for a very brief moment it looked as if his black clothing turned into liquid glass and then he was no more. After a while, the liquid glass form appeared again and quickly turned back into the black clothing and Jaden stood exactly on the same spot as before.

"What about your weapons? I've never seen anything like them" Shepard asked. Garrus, Wrex and Ashley raised their heads a little when Shepard asked her question. They were interested to hear it as well. Tali and Kaidan were interested too, although not to the same extent as the others.

"You really are curious aren't you? All right then. You already know my energy swords. The blades are made of contained, concentrated plasma so energetic they can slice through practically anything, almost instantly. The SMGs are known as 'Detonator' -type SMGs, which despite their small size, have quite a lot of power in them. And the weapon on my back is known as 'Thunderbolt' -Sniper. You would call it a sniper rifle, although technically it's not a rifle."

"Can't wait to see them in action."

"You will, eventually, although my swords are my primary weapon, believe it or not."

Afterwards the topic switched to the upcoming mission until they reached their destination.

Apart from Shepard, Ashley and Kaidan, the others saw the Normandy for the first time.

"Hmm, human-turian design" Jaden remarked "likely developed cooperatively as an attempt to warm up relations between your species."

"It looks incredible" Tali said in amazement.

Together, as a team, they walked inside the Normandy.

My first story, please be gentle. ^^

Hopefully there aren't too many mistakes, English isn't my primary language.

I tried to make him look mysterious, so I referred to him as "figure" so many times, bear with me.

Despite the "hood and glowing pair of eyes", he is NOT a quarian.

Assumption is that readers already have some knowledge about the ME universe