Disclaimer: I do not own Mass Effect. It's unique universe belongs to Bioware and EA respectively. This isn't written for the goal of financial gain, just to express my thoughts and views on a different version of Mass Effect.

Authors Note: Hello again.

CobaltAC: Yeah I noticed this trend of first contact being conducted by the Turians mostly, followed by Batarians with little side notes of Asari and Elcor first contact. Surprised I haven't come across a Salarian scenario. But the reasons Salarians are in this portion of the galaxy will become clear later.

Ordo Rolanberry: Your guess is an interesting one. How close you are however is up for debate until you read it in here.

Ravereli: I'm proud my prologue piqued your interest. The prologue has been replaced now with an actual chapter, give that a read through and let me know what you think.

Thank you for those who bothered to review my preview a while back and those who have reviewed the replacement chapter I put up on the 4th April. If you read this chapter and are confused by the sudden turn of events, please go back to chapter one and see that it is no longer a preview.

Sorry if I didn't respond to your review, I don't mean to single people out. It's just I'll be picking a couple to reply to instead of spending ages on replies in an authors note. If I didn't reply to your review then let me know in a pm and I'll be sure to get back to you.

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Advent of Humanity

Chapter Two – Is It True?

2162 – Two Days Later

Admiral Kastanie Drescher

Two days ago a comms burst came from beyond the Gamma Relay in uncharted space. Usually such a thing wasn't unheard of, there were a total of sixty five ships from the exploration class in service and all of them are the first generation of such ships. These are always operating in unknown space beyond the eyes of civilisation, they are the people who expand the grasp of the Systems Alliance. Each vessel when not out in the great beyond were usually on shore leave or being repaired for minor, or on the rare occasion major damage. Still they would routinely send a comms burst when they have reached a significant milestone in exploring an unknown system, such as scanning a terrestrial planet or marking significant deposits of raw material as a priority for extraction.

The most unnerving and perhaps unnatural comms burst she had seen to date had come back with an encrypted message so that nobody without the proper clearance would be able to read it. But there it was.

- First Contact Initiated -

She didn't have more than sixty seconds before the other three Admirals were calling her for confirmation. Herself and the other Admirals made up the senior leadership of the Systems Alliance, not a single mission went ahead without their approval and all within the Alliance deferred to their judgement. While being at the head of the Systems Alliance they were not a military dictatorship as the Alliance couldn't even be considered a government, that wasn't projected to occur for another few decades or so. The only people the Admirals were answerable to were the governments that fund the organisation and Humanity itself. Of course they had several committee's dedicated to handling some matters for them such as allocation of resources, recruitment for both military and civilian roles they had yet to gain any political clout for the formation of an actual government.

For the entire first day herself and Vice Admiral Meng-Tan Teng, the representative of Chinese interests in the Alliance, were mulling over what little data they had. The SSV Novus had entered the G-07 system just over a week ago, taking it's time to safely explore the system. They sent their first comms burst as they begun the procedure, working from outside the system and step by step explore and scan any and all discovered objects. This method's intended effect is to reduce the chance of missing a planet off the charts, to which it has worked greatly so far. The second burst came in once they had discovered a gas giant roughly the same size as Jupiter, but according to scans contained a significantly higher mass.

After initial scans they begun to investigate the large moon system trapped in it's gravity well. Recording significant deposits of titanium across dozens of moons large enough to be considered dwarf planets were it not for their current entrapment. A total of six large titanium deposits had been marked on one moon alone, enough material wealth to boost the mining economy by a great margin. A couple of days later they moved further in-system, detecting a few terrestrial planets. Three of which were roughly the same size if you gave or took several hundred kilometres. These planets all held little to no atmosphere and also contained even larger deposits of titanium than the gas giants moons but were in a safer environment to extract. It was upon monitoring the fourth planet when a meteor shower struck the planet did the crew trace it's approach vector, retrace it and discovered a significant asteroid field between the gas giant and the inner system.

The planet which held special significance is the second planet from the main sequence yellow-dwarf, which sat firmly deep inside the habitable zone. This planet had a tier two rating for both colonization and terraforming. This meant that the planet was almost ready to support a human population but a few factors prohibit it from garden world status. Turns out the planet is a barren wasteland and that it requires a good amount of work to give it an Earth like environment but a lower effort than a world like Mars or Venus. It holds a strong magnetic field to shield against the solar winds and a dense enough atmosphere of oxygen and nitrogen but they weren't the only gases present.

During the last day of the first week in-system, one of their eight probes scanning the asteroid field begun to pick up up a faint signal, which grew stronger as time progressed until it traced the source. Which so happened to be a vessel of unknown design and purpose, quickly deduced to be of extra-terrestrial origin. The crew were correct in their assessment as the vessel made itself known by approaching the SSV Novus but kept itself at a significant distance.

The Captain of the SSV Novus, Maria Stanton, initiated first contact protocols and subsequently ceased communications with the rest of the Alliance, missing several communication windows. Under normal circumstances missing such windows without due cause would be punishable by court martial but given the circumstances such charges would not be right or just. After the alien vessel, which we can only deduce due to it's similar function and design must also be a type of exploration craft, sent a comms burst to an unknown recipient in the designated star system G-27, only the did Captain Stanton send an encrypted burst detailing their current situation.

They proceeded with the standard first contact procedure set up at the formation of the Systems Alliance which was to always offer the hand of peace but to assume hostile intent. Admiral Jonathan Richards, the representative of European Union interests in the Alliance, proposed this method which was then subsequently supported by the rest of the prospective Admirals at the time.

After an entire day of decrypting the information sent over by the alien vessel they had arranged an exchange on the potential garden world below. The Captain agreed to terms set in long and difficult communication attempts but managed to convey the need for an escort of up to four individuals. The entire night before the exchange was filled with constant communication with the aliens as both sides tried to ensure that they understood each others proposals.

The next morning at 0655 hours Lieutenant Jason Moore and his team were sent down to the neutral meeting ground ahead of schedule. Not only does this convey that they hold punctuality high but also for them to know their surroundings. It wouldn't have been excusable if the team had arrived after the unknowns, didn't know the area and were caught off guard by a hostile move.

Still from what the report tells me and from the video documentation from all of the teams helmet cameras, they performed extremely well. The Lieutenant had greeted them properly in their fashion and then proceeded with a hand shake. The alien had seemed to not understand our greeting but we didn't understand their either. This is first contact after all. Analyst Kyle Grayson suggested that when they sent a diagram of the handshake, the aliens may have thought it was an illustration of the two sides exchanging goods. So I suppose the handshake was a little out of their plans.

After they bid the aliens farewell and vice versa, the team returned to the Novus with the package and watched as the alien vessel departed for system G-27 utilising an almost exact same method that we use for faster-than-light travel. Scans and readings of the vessel heavily indicated that they use mass effect technology, but not nearly as advanced as the Relay system. That revelation suggests that these beings are not the creators and therefore are perhaps a species observed as we were by the Protheans. All speculation though at the moment. They could very well be beings from another galaxy as we don't know how far the relay system extends.

The Novus departed the system and headed straight here with all haste to deliver the information in person. The package's contents turned out to be rather similar to ours. Food samples, a couple of healing agents and what we are assuming is a codex of their languages. It's a comforting thought to know that mathematics can be used for communication with an alien race. Without it, well they may have well just stared at each other for hours and guessed.

I just couldn't stop pinching my arm to ensure this was real, that I wasn't dreaming.

Is this real? Is it really true?

As I tap away at my haptic interface on my desk, a call comes through and I'm not surprised. Intrigued I accept the call.

Admiral Richards took over the holographic screen in front of me, sitting at his own desk with his hands clasped together in front of him and his elbows resting on the desk.

"Admiral Drescher, you're needed at a conference between the Admirals immediately" Richards informs.

The impact of the statement not lost on me, only in serious matters that are of serious concern to the Systems Alliance does the Admiralty gather in one place to discuss in person.

"What is the nature of our meeting?" I ask, trying to gauge a more informative response.

"I'm sure you've heard the news by now?" he asks with a raised eyebrow "The governments of Earth have been informed about first contact early this morning. They are already arguing over who gets to head the diplomacy efforts"

The anger present in his voice as he informs me mirrors my own. In the decade since the discovery of the Prothean ruins we as a species have come into a phase of increased cooperation, economically, politically and even militarily. The Systems Alliance is the embodiment of this progress and it promises us a future we cannot even imagine. The lengths we have gone already by working together for such a brief time are proof of this.

"I'll be there shortly" I reply and cut the feed, standing up and pacing quickly to exit my office.

As I leave the door the two marine guards stand at attention.

"You two with me" I order abruptly as I continue striding down the hallway.

The two marines fall in at either side of me quickly after locking my office door. I only had one thought in mind.

Our progress will not be wasted

5 minutes later

I turned the corner to be met by a series of guards. Upon recognising me they immediately stepped aside and performed a crisp salute. One of them stepped out, a Lieutenant by the looks of it.

"Admiral Drescher ma'am, the Admirals are awaiting your arrival" she stated as she released her salute "Please follow me ma'am"

I gesture to move and follow her making sure to signal my guards to hold their position here with the others. Following the Lieutenant we reach the conference room door momentarily and she swipes her omni-tool over the door's lock, releasing it for me. The red light switches to blue and immediately slides to my left and right and I step through for the door to close behind me.

I'm greeted by the sight of my fellow Admirals all in their respective seats in the circular room. The holographic and haptic displays in the centre of the room displaying a debate between what I assume are different nations on Earth. I quickly pace over to my seat as the other Admirals notice me and stand up to salute . . . to welcome their friend and ally. Once I reach my seat I return the gesture and sit, clasping my hands together on the desk in front of me.

"Admiral Drescher, good of you to join us" I trace the voice back to it's owner to see Rear Admiral Jon Grissom standing at the holographic interface's controls. His little smile greeting me alongside a curt nod.

"Okay, so what's on the agenda?" I ask a little jokingly

"Seeing as how the governments of our parent nations are bickering amongst themselves on how to react to the situation, I decided we must ourselves discuss it too" replies Grissom a matter of factly as he looks back in my direction, taking his eyes off the debate raging elsewhere.

If Jon Grissom is known for anything besides his famous expedition beyond the Sol relay, it is his influence in trying to gain the Alliance some political clout. His methods were admirable and so were his ideas. That is why he managed to pull us together like this, because we actually listened to his advice and counsel.

"So what is our next course of action?" asks Richards as he leans forward, his heavy British accent filling the room.

"Isn't it obvious?" quizzes Vice Admiral Dmitri Petrovsky "We await our instructions from our leaders then we follow them" he gestured to no one in particular as he waved his hand as he finishes his statement.

Dmitri Petrovsky is perhaps the most loyal man I have ever met to his country. It doesn't surprise me that he would reply in this manner. In fact as we are all military, we should be deferring to our individual nations for orders. Such is the weight of Grissoms influence it would seem.

"What and let this opportunity slip by us?" asks Grissom as he faces Petrovsky.

Intrigued is step in.

"What opportunity do you speak of Admiral?" I ask, changing the focus of the conversation.

Grissom sighs heavily, as if some large weight were on his shoulders.

"Our analysts made lightning speed progress on the alien language earlier. Thanks to their device handed over to us at this exchange two days ago" his informative response not wasted on me I motion for him to continue "It also contained a message"

The Admirals looked almost stunned at the answer.

"What does the message contain Admiral?" asks Vice Admiral Teng as he leans forward, obviously interested.

"They would return to the system of first contact in exactly five days to officially greet us and open diplomatic relations with us" stated Grissom as he looks around the room for individual responses to the information.

I remain steadfast in my stone expression.

"Considering that we also transferred them a means to communicate effectively with us in the package we should be taking this very seriously, hell they are back on Earth" he continues

"What are you suggesting Admiral?" asks Richards, encouraging Grissom ahead.

"I'm suggesting that we put forward our own diplomatic team-" he was cut off however

"And turn our backs on our superiors!?" asks Petrovsky a little too venomously.

"No!" His response was quick and effective, silencing Petrovsky from any further remarks.

If this were any other Rear Admiral, Grissom would have been frowned upon for such behaviour.

"If it is left up to them then our progress here" Grissom pointed at the floor, signifying Arcturus station and indeed the Systems Alliance itself "Is wasted, this organisation was formed to provide our united front against any and all alien interactions"

"No one is questioning your point Admiral" states Teng "But who would we send? How do we explain this to our people?"

The question is not a pointless one, it in fact provided a very real problem.

Who do we send?

Grissom sighed again.

"We send Anita Goyle, she has been training for possible first contact diplomacy for years and I'm sure as hell not letting that go to waste" he responds, letting his feelings on wasteful effort known "We can finalise the details later but we must work together on this"

We all sat in quiet contemplation for a brief moment. Someone had to speak up I suppose.

"I agree with Rear Admiral Grissom" I quickly drew their attention "What does it say to these beings if we do not work together. . . . united?"

Petrovsky let out a huff of air in contempt at my statement.

"We should be following our chain of command" he spat

"Your loyalty is admirable Petrovsky but I agree with Drescher and Grissom" pipes up Richards as he cuts in.

He also garners the attention of Petrovsky and Teng now. Those two visibly unsure with our idea.

"We swore oaths to our respective countries" states Teng "What does it say if pursue Grissoms plan and become oath breakers?"

A valid point. If we did this we would be ignoring the chain of command. In each of our home nations this act would be punished severely if not done for a good enough reason. By death in some cases too.

"We swore oaths to our countries aye" stated Grissom solemnly "But we also swore oats to Humanity, to all of our peoples" his eyes meeting Petrovsky's and Teng's.

His question which would either make or break this Alliance was simple.

"You tell me which oath you believe deserves greater loyalty"

Minutes passed as we let our allies think it through. The intensity of the air seemed to increase exponentially as I hope that they see reason here.

.

.

.

"I agree with Admiral Grissom" stated Teng with a stone cold expression, his decision clearly weighing on him heavily.

All eyes slowly drift over to Petrovsky who by all means is clearly outnumbered in this unofficial vote.

"We need absolute unity for this to work Admiral" hounds Grissom, intent on keeping this decision under wraps for the moment.

Petrovsky releases a large sigh, one of defeat.

"You're right Admiral, my loyalty is to my people but now also to yours" he faces Grissom's stare equally, not faltering for a brief moment. "Our people will answer their call"

It wasn't set in stone. . . .yet.

But our Alliance is secured for the moment. All we need is to carve this into a political victory and perhaps I may be hoping too greatly. Perhaps we can finally create a true united front in all fields for Humanity to succeed.

We'll find out soon enough

- /\/\/\ -

Author's Note: Hopefully this will shed some light on the inner workings of the Alliance in it's early stage and the turmoil created by first contact. Do let me know how well this was received, or how badly. This is now in the first contact war community so hopefully I can convey my point across.

That first contact doesn't always have to be about war, the Turians, general stupidity and the evil council. But perhaps we will have to wait and see for what's in store eh?

Operative Ghost