Edited: 8/3/20

All rights belong to MGM for the Stargate universe, Marvel (for the names I borrowed) and EA/Bioware for the Mass Effect universe. My OC is mine along with this AU of the ME story. Enjoy!

SHIELD of the Systems Alliance

Briefings and Planning

The next day Sheppard came into a large room with a long conference table with chairs around it. He was still on the starbase where he'd been healed and resurrected and it seemed that, for now, it was the temporary HQ for his soon-to-be-team. He was here for his briefing on the mission and on this SHIELD agency. Taking a seat at the head of the table he waited all the while wondering if he was dong the right thing. They weren't the Alliance but he was considered dead by them. Also Shield wanted to help fight the Reapers and whoever was targeting human colonies. He guessed he could see how things went or leave if it fails to come to anything. Assuming they let him. At that moment the doors opened and in came Miranda Lawson and Phil Coulson. Miranda was wearing her usual Shield formfitting catsuit while Coulson seemed to be wearing another suit and tie as per. They saw where he was seated, glanced at each other before Coulson indicated Miranda to go first. Taking a seat on either side of Sheppard they pulled out a few tablets and documents before getting comfortable.

"We thought it would be better to do two separate briefings. This one about SHIELD and another about the mission itself where we will bring in more of the crew so they can be briefed as well." Coulson explained.

"Sounds good. It's nice to see you Phil. OK so lay it out for me. Who are you guys?" Shepard asked.

"Very well then. OK so it basically begins with a dig in Giza, Egypt in 1928 by a Professor Paul Langford. A device of unknown origin and that was clearly not Egyptian was found there. It was circular, with nine chevrons and 39 glyphs of star constellations evenly spread around the ring." Here Coulson displayed a holographic image of said ring. "It would take till 1994 when the gate was first purposely activated and sent a team through. They found a human population on the planet that had been taken by aliens to be slaves. The team eventually helped those slaves gain freedom by killing the alien in charge of that planet and it was later determined that the stargate, as the device was called, could go to other locations. Over the following few decades the US air force, and later the air force and the International Oversight Advisory, oversaw a number of teams and operations that carried out surveys of planets and first contact with a number of peoples, many of who originated from humans taken as slaves from earth."

"Wait your saying that there are countless humans outside of the Alliance and known human colonies? All taken by some aliens who wanted slaves? How have we not found them? Why haven't the Alliance or anyone heard of this stargate thing?"

"Yes a great number of humans exist on many worlds having been taken there by a race called the Goa'uld. They wanted slaves and hosts due to their parasitic nature and snake-like appearance. And we haven't told anyone because it was felt that humanity wasn't ready to know due to what information could come out from the stargate programme. It also got delayed due to Earth focusing on the mass effect technologies and the Council. As well the relays and the council races are in remote areas of the galaxy which the relays link. Think of it as a private community that can only go within a certain area and no one outside knows of it or interacts with it. Anyway the Goa'uld and other enemies had been defeated or curtailed greatly by the time the 2040s came around. Earth was a power in the galaxy defending people from empires, slavery and drugs while also enforcing The Protected Planets Treaty. To do this Stargate Command, the organisation that had been created by the US air force to run the stargate, had a number of highly advanced ships at its disposal which were more powerful and faster than any others in the Milky Way or even Pegasus. We lacked numbers but our ships were great. However like I said in the 2040s Earth itself was destabilising and war was feared to be the outcome. A war that could end everything and risk the use of the advanced technologies. And so it was decided that to prevent any of that occurring all alien technology would be moved off world and the SGC and its ship building operations would be shutdown and removed from Earth. The crews and people involved in the 'gate or shipbuilding and their families were moved to this off world site that became a colony called Clypeus. Over a few thousand, possibly more, were moved there while another couple of hundred or so went to Atlantis in the Pegasus Galaxy. Today the population of Clypeus is over 5 million while Atlantis is almost 1 million, just a bit under. Shield was the renamed SGC and after faking Earths destruction to prevent people coming to Earth we hid as well while maintaining an Earth presence with ships or agents. We found the Mars Archive and told NASA to go there for example. We also improved your kinetic barriers with a mix of Prothean and Asgard knowledge. The Asgard were an ancient race of scientist mostly. They were peaceful but incredibly powerful, even the Goa'uld feared them. The Protected Planets Treaty was actually made by the Asgard to protect what human societies they could but it only numbered around 20-30 planets. Any way, SHIELD maintains an intelligence network across the galaxy monitoring or former allies and enemies as well as the various Council races etc. We also have strike teams, scientists researching many things and many more ships that are far more powerful than what the SGC possessed" Coulson finished.

"How many ships do you have now then? Can they fight the reapers? We could use you when it comes to the invasion. Where are the Asgard now could they help or know anything of the reapers?" Sheppard asked after a moments pause.

This time Miranda answered. "We have hundreds of ships Commander and most can comfortably handle a reaper or two like Sovereign. Indeed we have two fleets here in the Milky Way; the standard fleet which is made up of cruisers and stealth ships and our heavy fleet which is made up of battle cruisers and dreadnoughts and was designed to deal with any and all threats. Here I'll put up on the display our ships." Following a few key strokes a series of vessels appeared on the holo display on the table. "As you can see we have the smaller vessels which are the stealth ships, frigates and cruisers. They all follow a design going back to our first ships, Daedalus-class frigates and Excalibur- class light battlecruisers. The stealth ships are smaller versions of the first ship we built called the Prometheus. Though smaller they are better built than their predecessor and better equipped. Our largest ships are these two." Again Miranda adjusted the controls to highlight two ship designs.

"Hang on, isn't that a star destroyer from that old sci-fi film series?" asked Sheppard in surprise.

Miranda and Coulson both grimaced. "Yes it is, the other is taken from another science fiction show called Andromeda. Hence the Andromeda class heavy cruiser and the star destroyer. We wouldn't have chosen them but the Director wanted them. What was it he said? 'Why waste a perfectly good design, just tweak it a bit'. So we did. Both are vastly superior to their fictional counter parts and we've grown accustom to them over time, besides the two designs make up the heavy fleet which rarely deploys, in fact I doubt anyone has seen them outside those near HQ. Plus I think the director plans to use them separately so you'd only see a whole fleet of one type and not both together. We paid off the rights holders in case you wondered" Miranda added with a smirk.

"Now in regards to Earth yes we also plan to help if there is an invasion as it is our duty and mandate to protect Earth. As for the Asgard, they died well over a hundred years ago, sort of. The main branch died back in the early 21st century around the year 2007. A small faction of rogue Asgard were found a year or two later in the Pegasus galaxy and we eventually helped cure them of the disease that was killing them. We aren't on good terms with them and they keep to themselves as they experimented on humans to survive as well as becoming incredibly callous to those who got in their way of a cure. We do however have access to their vast knowledge since the main branch donated all that they knew to us and we have searched their databases for references to the reapers and found nothing so far. We did the same on Atlantis which has access to the Ancient database and they were the most advanced race in a few galaxies. The Ancients built Atlantis as well as the stargate network here in this galaxy and in Pegasus" Coulson informed him.

"Atlantis exists?! Like the city from myth which sank under the sea? What's it like? Was it really underwater?" Sheppard exclaimed having heard the tale like most people.

"Indeed it does, here have a look" Coulson replied smiling as he changed the image of the starships to a 3D representation of Atlantis with is snowflake like layout and ultra modern buildings and it's central spire which rose up above it all.

"Wow that looks just so...wow" Shepard said after an appreciative whistle.

"Indeed it is an amazing city, which is even more amazing considering its 30 million years old."

"Bloody hell, 30 million? That's impressive engineering considering I doubt the human race is that old."

"Indeed humanity is not. It was created or at least influenced by the Ancients so as to be the second evolution of their form around a few million years ago. We eventually became our current form after evolving as we know but the genetic predisposition to become this form was implanted by the Ancients using a devise we call the Dakara super-weapon when they seeded life in this galaxy. The Goa'uld arrived and used us as hosts and slave from around 9,000BC give or take a few hundred years. They ruled Earth until around 3,000BC when Earth rebelled and threw off Goa'uld control." He stopped when he saw Shepard's face had paled.

"Are you alright Commander?" Miranda asked reaching for a scanner she kept on her waist.

"Humans were created? Slaves for so long. This sounds like a bad sci-fi novel or something" Sheppard said has he rested his head in his hands.

"Yes it was not pretty out there when we first started. You can see why we have debated disclosure since when told that religion and our history is majorly wrong in such a way it could cause chaos." For the next hour they covered a few of the early missions of the SGC against the Goa'uld and the Ori crusade before then moving onto dealing with the Wraith in Pegasus and the problems there. "Maybe now is a good time to break, we can discuss the mission in 15/20 minutes or so. We pretty much covered SHIELD, it predecessor and what you needed to know" Coulson said before gathering up his things to leave. Then Sheppard asks "So what does SHIELD do now then? You gave me its history which is impressive and mind blowing I guess, but you didn't say what you do now."

"We protect Earth Commander. We spy on the various alien governments of citadel space and the relay network, we monitor the Alliance and even keep an eye on the various independent human colonies. We have conducted raids or strikes against those that threaten Earth's safety or tipped off those that can deal with whatever a particular problem is. For example, is there pirates near Turian space that plan a strike against a human world? Tip of the Turians and leave it to them. If its human piracy within Alliance space or near human worlds we'll mostly inform the Alliance or arrange an incident to befall that pirate base. We do the same for the rest of the galaxy with our old enemies and allies helping to keep the peace. We also research new technologies and explore the galaxy or galaxies to be precise. Much like the Alliance right?" Coulson replied with a smile. At that he got up and left Sheppard to think on what he'd been told about humanity, aliens and SHIELD. Miranda went slowly to the door before turning to speak to him. "You know commander my reactions were quite similar when I leaned this. This, what you were just told, is common knowledge on Clypeus. How they told you is similar to me. In fact they test out what to say and how on people like us, new recruits who are brought in and never knew this so they can work out what to say when disclosure comes" she said kindly.

"You were gonna tell me how you got shanghaied into this, so what happened?" John asked facing Miranda. She in turn took her seat next to him again and told him about running from home with her sister and that she had been going to Cerberus but got caught by SHIELD who offered her a better job and care for her sister. "I even get to visit or talk to Ori regularly since I don't have to be a spy just research things and oversee projects. She's cared for by a family with a child of their own who was willing to raise her. They're nice people and I'm glad Ori got them and not my father. And he will never find her on Clypeus. Even got to hurt his finances with raids and computer hacks since he bankrolls Cerberus or at least gives a fair bit to them so SHIELD is intent on ruining them." She checked her tablet before glancing at the door. "Our new briefing should be soon. I suggest we get ready as people will arrive in a moment or two."

No sooner had she finished speaking than Coulson walked in followed by Alenko, two other men and three women. One of the men was shorter than the other and wore a more civilian garb rather than uniform which was similar to one of the women. The other man was taller, well built with short dark hair and seemed like a soldier or operative both in posture but also body, he was also wearing a standard Shield uniform with eagle patch. The civilian woman was medium height with long brown hair, pale skin and wearing civilian style clothes. The other women seemed more like fighters though one seemed calm and collected whereas the other seemed agitated or high in energy. The calm woman was of Asian heritage and black medium length hair while the other had short hair and a number of tattoos on her white but tanned skin. Both wore Shield uniform though the tatted woman wore hers more casually. "Sheppard I'd like to introduce you to your team This is-" The doors opened again and in came Joker "Hi guys sorry I'm late got a bit lost on deck 3 or was it level 5 section 2? This place is a maze, how do you find your way around here? Sheppard! Am I glad to see you, it was weird having Kaidain back from the dead at first but with you its like seeing a ghost, these people really know their stuff right? So I heard you need a pilot, guess that's me then."

"Mr Moreau would you kindly take a seat please we were just about to start." Couslon said calmly, clearly trying not to sigh in exasperation.

"Sure sure just taking a seat."

"Now as I was saying this is your team, you know Mr Moreau of course. This is Grant Ward, a tactical officer and sensors operator as well as a ground combat specialist." Coulson indicate the man with short hair and a military posture who nodded to Sheppard with a slight smile on his face. "Next to him is Leo Fitz one of our scientists specialising in Astrophysics and various other technologies" he indicated the other man this time. "And next to him is Jemma Simmons a biochemist and medical specialist" Coulson again indicated to the civilian woman. "The two opposite them are Melinda May, a pilot and combat expert, and to her right is Jack, a biotic of great strength though with some temper as well. She is good in a fight, which we are likely to have plenty of. Also around, on the base somewhere, is Jacob Taylor, a former Alliance soldier who aided us with a Batarian terror plot and eventually joined us. He will deal with the armoury while Ward will deal with the ship's weapons. The ship in question, unofficially called the Normandy SR-2, is identical to your old ship except for being twice the mass, better armed with more railguns and MA guns and an enhanced stealth drive and a bigger drive core. We were tempted to add many SHIELD technologies but felt that it wouldn't help you fit in very well in Council space so we merely tweaked existing technologies to improve the performance of shields, weapons and sensors. As the Director told you, I will be your XO while Miss Lawson heads up the science department. Mr Moreau will be the main pilot while May will take over for his rest breaks as well as fly the shuttle. Lieutenant Alenko will be a ground operative along with Mr Taylor, Jack and Ward. Now Miss Lawson will conduct the main briefing since I'm sure you've heard enough from me. Miranda if you would." Coulson finished before taking a seat next to Sheppard. Miranda rose and activated the holo projector in the centre of the tale.

"Thank you Agent Coulson. As you will all now know a small number of human colonies out in the Terminus systems have disappeared. All the inhabitants were gone while the buildings were left intact with no sign of a fight. We as yet have no suspects though one analyst did ponder aloud if it was a race known as the Collectors. Having heard that I asked the analyst to explain and he said that he'd come across records of them asking for samples of various species over the last decades and centuries. Mostly rare aspects of each species say a triplet of asari rather than twins or normal siblings, or a rare blood type turian or a quarian with a good immune system or a left handed batarian. From that he speculated they might have taken the human colonists as humans are genetically very diverse so a larger sample would be needed and are relatively new to the interstellar scene from their perspective. Why they'd want them in the first place is unknown but given their previous interest they could be a possible suspect."

"Er Operative Lawson, assuming for a moment it is these Collectors, what do we know about their capabilities either on the ground or space?" Asked Ward, clearly wanting some tactical information on a possible threat.

"Regrettably very little like most people. What we know is they appear at random and rarely though usually in the Terminus systems and offering some advanced technology. They have previously offered advanced mass effect technology or biotech as well as other items of interest in return for their samples. We can assume they are more advanced than the council races but not at the level of the Jaffa or the Hebridians. Indeed the ship that destroyed the Normandy might have been one of theirs, so assuming it to be the case we can actually tell a bit. For example the SHIELD vessel that was in the system at the same time could have easily destroyed that ship while taking very limited damage from their primitive particle beam weapon. So to recap; the mission is find out who is taking the colonies and why and then stop them. It is recommended by the Director we pick up a number of people that could provide useful field or on ship expertise. First is a salarian scientist known as Mordin Solus, he is currently operating a clinic on Omega and has a vast knowledge or biochemistry, various technologies and was once in the STG. Secondly is an asari justicar called Samara that SHIELD has worked with before and she has helped train a number of our biotics. Third is a krogan called Okeer, we want him due to his recent transaction with the Collectors so we wish to know what he knows of them. Finally a thief we know as Kasumi Goto. We have hired her for her knowledge of computer systems but also her stealth abilities which has intrigued us. An additional item is that Sheppard has requested to try to recruit some of his old team so we will see about locating them and possibly bringing them aboard as well. I believe that is all. Agent Coulson?"

"No I think the covers everything nicely Miranda thank you. Well you know the score. Head to your posts and I'm sure Sheppard will visit you at some point. Meeting adjourned". With that the group quickly left back to their own devices leaving Sheppard alone to think on the situation he was now in as well as the threat these Collectors, if it was them, and how they relate to the Reapers. This was going to be a tough mission, possibly worse than his Saren hunt, at least the crew and SHIELD seemed competent if lacking experience with the Citadel races though that might be why they're bring in an Asari, a Salarian and a krogan. 'Huh, sounds like the start to bad joke only that I'm not laughing. Just hope Ash is OK. We'd planned to do more together after Saren' Sheppard sighed. It was gonna be a long day.

AN: Hope you enjoyed the chapter. It went a bit heavy on the SG1/SGA theory but I hope it gives an idea to the back story for those that don't know as well as clarifies some things for those who do know. Also it acts as an introduction and overview for Sheppard who's going to have to work with them from now on. And yes I took the SHIELD agent names from the show but they're good characters to build on rather than starting from scratch. Got some reviews of the past month or so so I wanted to address some things. Thanks to one who pointed out the asgard had both died and lived so I have corrected that to say the asgard are only in pegasus. Please review as well, many thanks. J signing off