unMass Effect

Chapter 2

Quarians, Elcor and The Citadel

A/N

First off! I hope you all enjoyed the first Chapter! But enough about that lets move on to Chapter 2. As you may have noticed with the title, there are going to be more dealings with the Quarians, and a surprise meeting with the Elcor. And a trip to the Citadel for Cpt. Hannah Shepard. How do you think the Turian Council member will react when he sees her ship? Anyways enjoy!

Sol System: Quarian Embassy: 2159

It had been just over a year since the initial treaty and trade agreement had been established between the Humans and the Quarians and relations were blossoming on both fronts. In fact, the Asari Embassy were even extending tentative hands of friendship to the newly founded Quarian nation, which at present had settled roughly ten percent of their population on the newfound colony New Rannoch.

Rael'Zorah was up for a promotion to Admiral before they met the Humans, but now he was leading the Quarian Embassy on Earth. He admitted to himself that life planet-side was much more beneficial for his wife and new born daughter.

Today he was going to be playing host to Matriarch Aethyta and Admiral Hackett to discuss mutual trade between all three races. He was rather excited to say the least.

'If my father could see me trading amicably with an Asari! On a planet I can call home no less!'

Attican Traverse: Sun Tzu Dreadnaught: 2159

Hannah Shepard was once again finding herself bored. She had been assigned to explore the region in the hopes of finding anything new, be it resources, planets or species. It was a broad mission in her opinion.

The Sun Tzu jad already catalogued several systems worth of data and resources, which had been forwarded back to a nearby science vessel for further investigation. The ship and crew were currently performing routine scans of the system ahead when they picked up a distress call.

"Captain! Unidentified vessel is sending out a distress call on all frequencies! Unknown species and ship configuration. I am also detecting weapons fire". Loki said looking worried.

"Can you locate their position?"

"Yes Captain, putting it on screen now" was the quick reply.

Hannah analysed the information shown on the view screen. It showed what looked like a cargo ship, surrounded by three faster moving vessels. Which were firing upon it.

"Loki, set course to intercept. I want our shields raised before we arrive!"

The AI nodded in acknowledgement. "Yes Captain".

"Lieutenant! Coordinate with Loki, I want pulse cannons online. When we arrive I want warning shots fired at the lead aggressor. Do not hit them until my say so".

The atmosphere on the bridge had turned overly serious as the final preparations were made.

Two minutes later the Sun Tzu decelerated to a stop before a battle.

The three aggressive ships were firing mercilessly on the larger ship, slowly weakening its kinetic barriers. While the victim was futilely attempting to fire back.

"Loki! What is the status of the larger vessels shields?"

"They are currently and 30% and falling rapidly Captain. I am detecting the beginnings of hull fractures along the prow". Hannah cursed to herself. "Fire three warning shots, one for each vessel".

"Yes Captain".

On the view screen they saw three pulses of energy narrowly miss each other the attacking vessels, causing each of them to halt there assault on the larger ship.

'This is where it gets interesting' Hannah steeled herself. "What are they doing Loki?"

The hologram turned to her before speaking. "They are locking on to our position Captain, shall I fire the cannons to intercept there weapons fire?"

Hannah thought quickly for a moment. "No. I want to see how our shields cope with Mass Effect weapons fire, let them hit us. It might deter them when they see no damage has been done".

"Acknowledged".

Suddenly, all three ships opened fire at once sending multiple salvos hurtling towards the Sun Tzu.

"All hands brace for impact". Came Loki's calm voice over the ship wide Comm system, several seconds before the shields deflected the mass effected salvos effortlessly.

'Huh'

"Is that the best they can do? What's the damage Loki?" Hannah was smiling despite the situation.

"None Captain, their weapons bounced off our shields. Shall I return fire?"

"Yeah, but I only want to incapacitate them, reduce power to the plasma cannons and target their weapons and engines". The Captain was looking forward to seeing how their ships stood against here auxiliary weapons.

She watched eagerly as this time the energy pulses fired at the enemy ships all made contact, obliterating their kinetic barriers and disabling their weapons and engines. Luckily they avoided causing cascade failures, she didn't want to destroy them. At least not yet.

"All three ships have been safely disabled Captain. How shall we proceed?"

Hannah pondered her options for a few minutes before she made a decision. "Send a message to Hackett informing him of the attack and our intervention. Then hail the vessel we've just rescued. Loki! Download all of the ships languages, I want to be able to to speak in real time".

After a few minutes Loki notified her of the complete download and integration of two separate languages into the translation software.

"Hail the friendly vessel, audio and visual. Keep our cannons trained on the attackers, I'm not taking any chances with them".

"Yes Captain!" Rang thought the bridge.

A moment later an image of what Hannah could only describe as an alien elephant appeared on the view screen. Trusting that the translation software was running she greeted the alien.

"Greetings! I am Captain Hannah Shepard of the Systems Alliance ship, Sun Tzu. Are any of your crew in need of medical attention?".

"Astonished: Hello Captain, I am Xeltan of the Elcor trade vessel Thunawuru. Gratefully: Thank you for disabling those Batarian ships".

Hannah was amused. His speech was slow and monotonous. "Think nothing of it Xeltan, it takes a special kind of scum to attack trade vessels. How are your engines? Can you make it to your destination safely?"

"Relieved: Yes Captain, my engines are working nominally. Gratefully: Thank you again Captain, it was pleasant meeting you".

The connection was severed and the view screen reverted back just in time to see the Thunawuru jump into FTL. Hannah narrowed her eyes at the Batarian ships. 'I have no idea where there Homeworld is, and I have no intention of trespassing into there space or letting them go free... It looks like a trip to the Citadel is in order'.

"Lieutenant, set a course for the Citadel after we have scooped those ships into our shuttle bay".

"Yes Ma'am" replied Jones.

"Loki! I want a hundred marines guarding those vessels, if anyone tries to exit said ships have them stunned".

Loki smiled evilly. "Of course Captain. The Marines are assembling now".

"Excellent! Jones, take us to the Citadel. We have some pirates to hand over".

Serpent Nebula: Citadel Council Chambers: 2159

Councillor Tevos was getting a headache, once again she had to endure Sparatus' raging over the Batarian Hegemony and another one of the dastardly plots to overthrow the Galaxy.

'This man is beyond paranoid. And loud'

Thankfully she was saved by the stations proximity alarm. 'Wait... Proximity alarm!'

"Sparatus silence! Check your console, we have an unidentified vessel approaching".

The Turian quickly activated his console, after a few moments of frantic analysing his mandibles gaped open. "Will you look at the size of that monster! I'm assembling the Citadel fleet into defensive positions".

Tevos was reminded here and now why even though sometimes the Turian enraged her. He was good in a tight spot, so he was useful.

"Councillors, the unidentified vessel has requested to speak with you. Shall I patch them through?" Said a Comms Officer, sounding very worried. "The Captain of the vessel sounds very impatient, and refuses to elaborate on the topic she wishes to discuss with you".

Tevos blinked a few times. 'A female, in charge of a ship so large?' She gathered her wits and stood by the Holographic podiums. "Patch her through, audio and visual".

"Yes Councillor".

A few moments later an image of a woman sitting down in what was obviously the command centre for her ship materialised. Tevos gasped involuntarily.

"Welcome to the Citadel Captain, what business to you have with us today?" She started neutrally.

"And why have you brought such a massive ship! You're vessel is disrupting the shipping lanes!" Growled Sparatus, his sub harmonics flaring slightly.

The female glared at Sparatus before turning back to Tevos.

"My name is Captain Hannah Shepard of the Systems Alliance ship, the Sun Tzu. Thank you for not firing upon my vessel, I would loathe to have to incapacitate more then I already have today. As for my business here let me explain... Around 30 minutes ago I was exploring the Attican Traverse as per my mission parameters when we detected three Batarian ships firing on a lone Elcor Trade Vessel, the Thunawuru. I intercepted the three aggressing ships and disabled their engines and weapons. As I do not know the location of the Batarian Homeworld, I thought it would be prudent to bring them here in my shuttle bay to be tried.. By the.. Proper authorities". She glared at Sparatus again before continuing. "As I speak I am depositing said ships into space, they have full functioning life support and none of the respective crews have attempted to leave their individual vessels. Please could one of your... Dreadnaughts come and collect this filth".

Tevos was speechless, not only had this human played vigilante against Batarian pirates, but she had also arrived unannounced in front of the Citadel, demanding we take the scum she was carrying of her hands. 'Never in my 600 years have a been spoken to in such a way!'

Sparatus was quivering with rage by the end of the Captains speech. "Captain, what gives you the right to play vigilante and arrive on our preverbal doorstep without forewarning? I should have you arrested!"

The Captain turned to face the Turian Councillor and smiled. Something in Tevos' mind screamed danger.

Serpent Nebula: Sun Tzu Dreadnaught: 2159

Hannah was disgusted.

These Councillors were as arrogant as they come, she knew as soon as the Turian opened his mouth that they wouldn't thank her for doing their job.

"Councillors, I must say I am rather disappointed. Here I am, at the centre for Galactic Civilisation and I get threatened with an arrest. For doing the job that the Turian fleet should be doing?" She felt a childish urge to rub salt in the wound. "I guess the Quarians were right about the Council after all, luckily for them we provided them with a Planet to settle and an Embassy on our Homeworld."

She studied both of the faces present, judging their reactions. 'The Asari is calculating the risk of making matters worse... And the Turian... Oh sweet Jesus he's quivering with rage! This is just to beautiful!'

"You impudent little wretch! You are hereby under arrest for obstruction of justice, aiding a fugitive race and the slander of the Turian people".

And before she could even laugh off his words, the connection was severed.

"Captain! All four of the Turian Dreadnaughts are moving into weapons range. They're powering weapons" came Loki's voice over the Comm.

"Move away from the Batarian ships and raise shields. Do not fire until I say so!" Shouted Captain Shepard. 'Im getting to old for this shit'

"Acknowledged Captain, shields have been raised".

On the view screen Hannah could see the Dreadnaughts moving in to surround her ship, she smiled. 'Time to see how strong the Turians really are'.

Serpent Nebula: Turian Hierarchy Dreadnaught: 2159

As a General of a Turian Dreadnaught, the job role comes with a certain level of confidence in the abilities of the ship you are in charge of. For General Vakarian, the upcoming confrontation was just another occasion to prove those capabilities.

"Weapons! I want co-ordinated strikes with our sister ships on my mark". His Weapons officer and Comms officer notified him that his instructions had been seen to, and all was ready for his command.

General Vakarian smiled slightly to himself, as much as a Turian could smile at least. "Target their engines, I want them stranded once they try to escape".

"Understood General" came the immediate response. The General shifted in his seat slightly before speaking again. "Fire the main gun!"

Serpent Nebula: Sun Tzu Dreadnaught: 2159

If Hannah Shepard was asked if she felt nervous as she waited for the Turians to fire upon her vessel she would deny it vehemently. But as it stood, she was in fact feeling extremely nervous. She was after all staring down the barrel of four very big guns.

'I just hope our shields are a good as the techs say they are. Or we might be coming him with a few more port holes'. She was interrupted in her musings by the blaring alarms of her ship.

"All four vessels are opening fire Captain!" Came the ever helpful voice of Loki. Hannah cringed slightly. "Understood. All hands brace for impact!".

Exactly 3.8 seconds later, according to Loki. Four mass effected slugs slammed into her ships shields, with a considerably harsher amount of force than the three Batarian ships currently adrift amidst the battle. Hannah had in fact closed her eyes while waiting for impact, as she felt the shudder run through the walls and floor of her ship, she opened her eyes and glanced at Loki.

"How did the shields fare? I notice we haven't died yet". She let out a nervous sounding chuckle at her own cavalier attitude. Loki smiled benignly back at her.

"They fared quite well Captain, they are down to 94% and are currently recharging. Shall I return fire?"

'Only six percent? But I suppose they do have the power to deplete our shields... Eventually' she nodded silently to her AI crew member, to busy thinking of the ramifications of her shields performance to reply verbally.

She watched distractedly as Loki let loose eight bolts from the plasma cannons, two for each ship. It took another two volleys to disable the opposing vessels, all four were now drifting with minimal power reserved for life support. Hannah was worried that it took as many volleys as it did, even if they were only using their auxiliary weapons systems.

'It looks like we may need to consider using our main weapons off the bat with these guys'.

"Captain, we are being hailed by the Council". Hannah jerked out of her own thoughts and sat up straight in her chair. Waiting for the connection to come through.

Serpent Nebula: Citadel Council Chambers: 2159

Councillor Valern was like most of his species, a scientist at heart, and in this particular moment he was able to observe something that normally shouldn't be happening.

Councillors Tevos and Sparatus seemed to have swapped personalities.

The normally loud and obnoxious Turian was at present silent, with what he noted was a pensive expression on his angular face. On the other side of the credit chit, Councillor Tevos. The 600 year old Asari matron was practically foaming at the mouth, she was enlightening the rest on what she was so enraged about. She was clearly past verbal communication at this point.

'Fascinating...'

"Councillors..." Both his counterparts snapped their attention onto him. "We must proceed with caution, it is not everyday that we come across a new species. One that can disable four of our Dreadnaughts with apparent ease". He glared at them both, "we cannot afford to antagonise the situation further. I shall speak with this 'Captain Shepard', you may offer your input only if you can control yourselves. Clear?"

Both Councillors nodded. Tevos seemed to be calming already.

Valern accessed his HUD and hailed the behemoth Sun Tzu and excitedly waited for a response.

Hannah signalled to open communications and schooled her expression into one of neutral interest. At least she hoped she looked neutrally interested. After a few seconds the three Councillors appeared on the main view screen and Hannah jumped in before they could start shouting accusations.

"Councillors. I hope there aren't any more ships heading my way in the hopes of detaining me, because as you can see, we can take care of ourselves".

She watched with a hidden satisfaction as the Turian Councillor flinched. The Salarian Councillor responded, in an exicted voice.

"Yes Captain, we did indeed witness your ships defensive and offensive capabilities quite proficiently. Rest assured there are no more ships with orders to engage you, on behalf of the Council I would like to apologise for the rash decisions made against you. Understand, we have never been faced with such an intimidating vessel before. Hence our rather... childish act to fire upon your vessel"

Hannah smirked inwardly. 'He is clearly the more sensible of the three'.

"Councillor, let me make one thing clear. As a race, humanity strives for peace, but that does not mean we shall bend to the petty whims of self-important people with big guns. However, I recognise that this situation calls for blame to be shared equally. I suggest we part ways for now, we may cross pass in the future. And on much better terms".

"Of course Captain, we hope for the same thing also. Valern out."

Sol System: Quarian Embassy: 2159

Rael was feeling the nerves as the time for the trade negotiations and first official meeting between an Asari and a Quarian to take place in 350 years was about to begin. 'I cannot believe I am about to be thrown to the Varrens as it were. Whichever Asari I am about to meet is going to have the surprise of her life!'

As he was musing on the particular facial expressions the as of yet unseen Asari would show at seeing a Quarian sitting at a meeting in an official capacity, the door chimed and hissed open to his right. Rael stood from his seat and walk as calmly as he could manage over to Admiral Hackett; who was leading a very shocked looking Asari into the room. The Admiral handled the introductions.

"Ambassador Zorah, allow me to introduce the Asari Ambassador to Earth. Matriarch Aethyta".

Rael cursed the Gods. 'It just had to be a Matriarch! Keelah I feel ill'. He quickly schooled his posture and spoke in what he hoped was a neutral tone.

He addressed Aethyta as an Ambassador, subtly emphasising that this meeting was not a Council issue, but a Systems Alliance meeting. She gave him a stiff nod in response.

'This is going to be hell'.

Sol System: Admiral Hacketts Office: 2159

"Captain, how did the impromptu meeting with the Council fare?" Admiral Hackett had received word just after the trade meeting between the Asari and the Quarians had taken place. He was intrigued to say the least.

Captain Hannah Shepard smiled micheviously, making the Admiral shudder involuntarily. 'I don't like the look of that smile. She better not have blown a hole in the side of the Citadel'.

'Nothing to dramatic sir. They didn't take to kindly having a giant ship and its Captain doing its job for them. After a few… interesting reactions from each Councillor the Turian… Councillor Sparatus I think he was called severed the connection and ordered four Dreadnaught class ships to surround my ship. Needless to say we disabled them easily enough, without any casualties. They then re-established a connection and proceeded to apologise for their rash and childish actions and allowed us to leave".

The Admiral didn't know how to react to the information he'd just received from his most decorated Captain. He ended up settling for a hysterical chuckle.

"OK Captain I'll take your word for it. Make sure to send the report, for now I want you to head back to the Citadel" at the Captains questioning stare he elaborated, "this is a recon mission. Earth as a whole has shown an interest in how the Citadel serves as the centre for Galactic civilisation. A cruiser will rendezvous with you and take you and a small contingency to meet with the Council members in an official capacity, as well as scouting out for other races and technology that you think would be of use to us. Understood?"

"Yes Admiral"

"Good, Hackett out."

Serpent Nebula: Timbuktu Cruiser: 2159

Hannah was a wrack of nerves; the reason for this was glaring out at her in a holographic display. The Citadel.

She was aboard the Alliance cruiser Timbuktu on her way to a docking ring to meet with the Councillors that she had shown up dramatically not 24 hours before. 'And I have to meet with them in person. They'll probably try to scare the crap out of me!'

Once the ship docked Hannah gathered her retinue and calmly exited through the airlock, where a task force in blue armour awaited her arrival.

"Ma'am if you and your guards follow us, we will escort you directly to the council meeting room". And without as much as a by-your-leave the predominantly Turian task force led them on a winding, yet suspiciously quiet route towards a large tower.

'They mustn't want everyone to see the shiny new humans. I'll have to make a point of visiting a few stores'.

After a good five minutes of brisk walking, they came to the entrance of the sleek looking tower that supposedly housed the Citadel, they were quickly and efficiently led inside an elevator where Hannah quickly discovered that the Asari and the Quarians weren't exaggerating when it came to the speed of them.

'Oh my God these things are practically archaic in terms of speed. Maybe we could provide schematics for inertial dampeners for these glorified tin boxes'.

After what seemed like an eternity the elevator doors opened to reveal an indoor garden. Hannah gasped involuntarily. 'Ok, I didn't think they had the climate control capabilities to achieve such precision. This garden looks fantastic!'

Having raised her expectations slightly higher, Hannah followed the task force towards the back of the room, where three very familiar faces.

She approached the end of a suspended catwalk, which gave her a view of the Council members, who were currently looking down at her like a trio of Lords. 'They must consider themselves the height of power on this station. Well theres nothing like throwing a spanner in the works, I must say'.

"Councillors, how wonderful to see you again! And thank you for permitting my escort ship to dock so quickly. Allow me to say that Humanity bids you hello with a hope of peace and friendship with all the Council Races in the near future".

'I hope they caught my hint about being friends with the races. Not the Council, otherwise these talks are going to take a long time'.

The Salarian was the one to respond. "Welcome Captain, the Council too hopes for a lasting friendship with Humanity. I hope the journey from your homeworld wasn't to arduous?"

Hannah laughed jovially. "Not at all Councillor Valern, it was a relatively short jump through hyperspace to reach here".

At her words the Salarian Councillor visibly quivered with excitement. "Ah yes! Your magnificent form of FTL travel. I must say you've got the scientists back on Sur'Kesh salivating at the idea of an engine that does not require element zero. How ever did your species come across such a method?"

The Captain smiled, deciding to indulge the over excitable amphibian. "Well Councillor, it was just over a century ago that my people were looking for new ways to provide our planet with cleaner energy. A group a scientists were performing experiments with Anti-matter reactors" she ignored the gasps elicited from the three people, "they discovered, that not only could they power the planet easily, but that if they shaped the reaction it would provide massive amounts of thrust. Once that was established they soon learned that even though FTL spaceflight was now attainable, they needed a way to breach the light barrier to such an extent that galactic travel was viable, without liquefying our bodies in the process. By this point we had already learnt about subspace and we theorised that it would be possible to travel through it in a vessel.

We already had the power requirements, it was just a relatively simple process of inventing an engine capable of creating a hyperspace field to manipulate subspace to allow us passage".

"Fascinating…" was the Asari Councillors response.

"Captain, it has come to our knowledge that you have allied yourself with the Asari" spoke the Turian Councillor, "while the act in itself is perfectly acceptable, the Council has begun to wonder why you haven't approached us with an offer of alliance with the Council as a whole. Could you perhaps enlighten us?"

'Ok, time to let them down gently Hannah, just like a college boy'.

"To be blunt Councillor, while the people of Earth are curious about the Council, they have absolutely no desire to join it. Either as a member or as a client race, we are quite happy as an independent entity at this time".

A few seconds of silence passed before the shouting started.

"Your people would deny themselves the honour of joining the Council… in any capacity?! This is outrageous!" was Sparatus' immediate outcry. Tevos quickly silenced him.

"Silence Sparatus! I will not have your mouth ruining these talks." She turned back towards Hannah. "Apologies, it's just that no race has ever declined a position within the Council, much less before it was even offered to them. If I may be so bold as to ask the reason for your visit if not to petition to be invited into our fold?"

"Its simple Councillors, even though was have no desire to be 'invited into your fold'. We would like to open up an Embassy on this station, in the capacity of a sovereign nation if you will. We have much to offer in terms of technology and cultural exchange, but we don't want to tie ourselves down and be subjected to some of your more… tedious laws".

This silenced all three Councillors rather effectively. 'This is going to take forever'.

"Can you clarify by what you mean why you say 'tedious'" was the Salarian Councillors neutral reply.

Hannah smiled warmly at him. 'At least on of them is willing to listen without jumping the gun'

"Certainly, as the Asari already know, we have a rather large fleet. We have taken the liberty in looking into Council law regarding fleet size and we were surprised and dismayed to find that no race is allowed over a certain number of Dreadnaughts. Humanity as a people finds this unacceptable.

We live by the mantra 'Prepare for any and all eventualities', and to have to dismantle over half of our Dreadnaughts to give the Turians numerical superiority doesn't sit right with us. I mean no offense Councillor" she directed those words at Sparatus, "but if Humanity were to come under attack from an as yet unkwown alien species, we would have to rely on the Turians if our numbers conformed to yours laws.

We don't see a reason to put ourselves in that position".

Dead silence followed her words. She decided to appease them slightly with one of her pre-approved trade options.

"We are however open to trade. It is my understanding that all your races rely on element zero for their hand held weapons technologies" she received absent nods from all three Councillors, "I have been given permission to offer you a small cache of energy based firearms, not only do you not need ammo, but they also take an extremely long time to overheat. But know this, all of our weapons that we use do not kill. They are for stunning purposes only, one shot will incapacitate your target for several hours, regardless of size".

"And what would you ask for in return?"

Hannah thought for a moment on her choices. "We would accept schematics for your most up to date Omni-Tool".

The three Councillors conferred for a few minutes before replying. "That is an acceptable deal to us. We will send the co-ordinates for an exchange to your ship momentarily. Is there anything else that we can agree on at present?"

"Many businesses expressed an interest on opening up stores all over the Citadel. Would that be possible?"

Tevos smiled slightly. "Of course Captain, be aware that any business must abide by our trading laws and each store would be charged rent for their usage. Is that acceptable?"

Hannah smiled. 'Now that was easy enough', "That would be excellent Councillor. Now if that is all I would love to have a look at some of your stores, possibly buy some items?"

All three Councillors nodded. Valern spoke. "That would be fine Captain, I shall have your escorts pay for anything you decide to buy". He quickly activated his Omni-tool and sent the required account details to the leader of the escort. "Have a pleasant stay on the Citadel Captain, we hope to hear from you soon".

Hyperspace- en route to Kajhe: Sun Tzu Dreanaught: 2160

It had been 6 months since Hannah had met with the Council on the Citadel, and while she was exploring storefronts and restaurants she stumbled across one of the Hospitals. After a quick discussion with the Head Doctor, she received permission for a quick tour of the facilities.

She was being shown around different wards including intensive care and rooms for long term patients when she encountered was she soon found out was called a Drell. She asked what was wrong with him to be in the long-term ward, the Doctors reply and subsequent conversation was rather enlightening.

He is suffering from what we call Kepral's Syndrome; it is a disease that affects the lungs, preventing oxygen from entering the blood through the capillaries. Ultimately suffocating the body one cell at a time. It is a very slow process'.

"It sounds like a condition we have back on Earth, its called Cystic Fibrosis, its main symptom among many others is the over production of mucus which results in near constant chest infections and lack of oxygen entering the bloodstream. I take it his condition is incurable?"

The Salarian Doctor simply nodded.

"Would it be possible to have a chat with him? We managed to cure CF about twenty years ago, with any luck we might be able to apply that knowledge to what is affecting him".

What followed was a rather emotional conversation with a man who had thought his life was about to end.

So for the last six months the Drell known as Amolyet was studied treated and cured. In the process, he told the Alliance the story of how the Drell were uplifted and rescued by their host species the Hanar, a very polite race that never speak of themselves in the first person, deeming it rude and prideful.

So this is how Hannah found herself traversing to the other end of the Galaxy on a three-day journey to take Amolyet home and the initiate first contact with the Hanar and Drell officially, as well as gifting them with a cure to Kepral's Syndrome.

'I cant wait to see an Hanar in person! Amolyet showed me the vids but I'm having trouble envisaging what is essentially a floating jellyfish'.

"Captain we're approaching coordinates, dropping out of hyperspace in ten seconds".

"Acknowledged Lieutenant, prep the comms as soon as we exit". Her response was followed by a sharp. "Aye Ma'am".

"Loki, how is it looking down on the planet?" Loki flashed into existence in front of the Captain.

"It is quite remarkable Captain, 99% of the Hanar live in the Ocean, while the Drell live in climate-controlled domed cities, which are scattered all over the planets surface". He fell silent for a moment, "Captain we have just exited hyperspace and we are being hailed from the surface. Shall I open a channel?"

"Yes audio only for the moment Loki".

"Yes Ma'am".

She waited for the signal fro the AI addressing the locals. "My name is Hannah Shepard of the Systems Alliance ship Sun Tzu, I have with me a Drell by the name of Amolyet who we have cured of Kepral's Syndrome. It was his wish to be brought home to his family. I also bring a message of peace from Humanity with the hopes of friendship and trade with the Hanar and Drell peoples".

A few tense minutes of silence followed before a response rang through.

"This one is shocked to learn of Amolyet's curing! This one bids you welcome to Kahje, may the Enkindlers smile upon you".

Hannah smirked to herself. 'He we go again'…

A/N

Well that's chapter 2 done with. My fingers hurt! Sorry it isn't as long as the first chapter but I want to break things down and make it last longer.

Next chapter is obviously going to kick of with the hanar and drell meeting. Then I might go into the alliance side of things a bit more… perhaps have a mixed crew of quarians, humans and asari? Let me know what you think and leave many many reviews!