Halo: Paradigm Shifts

Chapter One: The Point of Divergence

What's up, everyone? This is my first ever HaloXMass Effect crossover! For those of you who are eagerly awaiting my other story, Eternal Legends, I assure you this story will NOT take priority over it. This is an idea that I've been toying with for a damn long time and I've decided to say fuck it and write it before anyone else on the site got to the idea before I did.

Full Warning: This is EXTREMELY AU! A lot of characters are going to have slightly altered personalities, due to…you know, different circumstances. So don't go bitching at me about stupid shit, when everything can be answered with: It's fan fiction, not canon, get over it.

I also want to recognize that this is NOT human centered AT ALL. Period. If I do decide to introduce the UNSC/Systems Alliance they will not appear until MUCH later. So until then, you won't even get so much as a peep at what's happening in UNSC space.

Full Summary: In a twist of fate, a slipspace malfunction on the Covenant vessel Minor Transgression goes haywire and lead the Jiralhanae led vessel into Citadel space to an outer rim turian colony. As a result, the Covenant never encounters the UNSC and subsequently, declares the Citadel races as Heretics. The Citadel races now face a foe that far surpasses the threat of the Rachni and Krogan combined, as they fight for one thing all of their species have in common: survival.

(-x.0.0.x-)

(Somewhere in the Orion Arm, Age of Doubt, onboard Jiralhanae vessel Minor Transgression)

Tartarus trotted aimlessly towards the bridge of his uncle's ship, the Minor Transgression. The young Jiralhanae, in all honestly, wasn't too happy about the arrangement. It wasn't that the ship wasn't nice, or hell, outdated, the exact opposite. More it was the fact that the Hierarchs only gave him a ship that could be barely classified as one of the Covenant's SDV-class heavy corvettes. Now, granted, this wasn't a warship and was technically only a missionary vessel designed for finding relics of the gods, but even still! Maccabeus, his uncle, was the Chieftain for Forerunner's sake!

"The gods know that if one of those Sangheili had asked for a bigger vessel, they would've gotten it without so much as lifting a finger," he mumbled to himself in disgust. While he didn't exactly hate the Hierarch's protectors, the fact that his race always playing second fiddle to them always rubbed him the wrong way. His uncle, outwardly at least, seemed to take the relationship in stride, seemingly not caring one way or the other.

Tartarus sighed and ran a frustrated paw through his distinctive silver-colored Mohawk. Complaining wasn't going to improve the situation, not by a long shot. He may have been young, but even he knew that he had to pick his battles wisely.

He came up to the bridge doors, guarded by a pair of Jiralhanae minors. They recognized him instantly and let him through, the doors making a distinctive and faint beeping as they slid open. Tartarus had to admit, for being only a missionary vessel; the Minor Transgression was damn impressive. The slick and distinctive purple architecture blended in perfectly with the bridge of the ship, along with the latest and greatest of upgrades where it was needed: armor, light-plasma weapons, shielding, propulsion etc. Although the slipspace drive wasn't the most glamorous engine in the empire, it still got the job done, even if it did act up every blue moon.

Maccabaeus was standing center mass, tranquilly watching the stars as the missionary-class starship smoothly sailed the ocean that was outer space. Standing twelve feet tall, he was a giant, even by Jiralhanae standards and while firm and a sometimes an overbearing hardass, he was always fair, earning the genuine respect of those under him, even the Unggoy and Kig-Yar. The brute chieftain woke up from his daze, noticing his nephew.

"Ah! Tartarus! I was wondering when you'd stop by," he spoke to him, seemingly in a great mood.

"Well, I had nothing else better to do, uncle," Tartarus dryly replied, giving a sidelong look.

His uncle gave an amused chuckle. "Perhaps, so. That being said, I'm glad you're here. I've just received new orders from the Hierarchs…."

"Oh?" Tatarus replied, although inwardly his BS meters were going haywire. Since when did the Hierarchs give orders to a lowly missionary vessel? Something wasn't adding up.

"Yes…we've been given the honor to explore and search for new artifacts from gods…outside of the veil," he revealed. Tartarus' eyes widened to their greatest extent. The 'veil' was a colloquial term that referred to the outermost borders of the Covenant Empire. For unknown reasons, the Prophets had forbidden most ships from going outside of it, unless it was for very specific circumstances…until now apparently.

"Ar-Are you serious?" he gapped, still stunned by that revelation.

"Deadly serious, Tartarus," Maccabaeus replied with a feral grin worthy of his species. "Imagine it…this lone vessel potentially finding hundreds, no thousands, of the relics our lords left behind!"

"This whole crew would be famous amongst the Empire," Tartarus noted. 'Plus, it would put a leg up on those Sangheili. The opportunity is just to good to pass up.' He added inwardly with an evil glee. Oh, yes. The Jiralhanae would be well on their way to becoming the will of the Prophets and their escort in the Great Journey.

"Yes, we would. Most importantly however, we'd be instrumental in the start of the Great Journey!" He was a true believer and just the idea that he would be part of something bigger than himself; it both humbled and fascinated the Brute Chieftain.

His XO, a Brute Captain encased in purple-red armor, came up to him and beat his chest once, the Jiralhanae equivalent of a salute. "Sir, we'll be approaching the end of the veil in less than five minutes. All personnel, vehicles, weapons, and equipment are all accounted for in full," he reported.

Maccabeus nodded in thanks. "Thank you, Vorenus. I take it the deacon has found his living arrangements…" a pause, "…acceptable?"

Vorenus snorted lightly. "Of course, Chieftain. Though I still don't see why he's so special…he's Unggoy and like most of them…I find them nuisances."

The Chieftain's eyes narrowed. "I'd watch your tongue, Vorenus. An Unggoy, he is, yes, but he is still a deacon and subsequently a member of the Ministry of Tranquility. What you say borders on heresy. Keep such personal feelings to yourself. The wrong person hears you and its your head, not mine. Am I clear?" Vorenus begrudgingly nodded in complete understanding.

"Good. Dismissed," he permitted him to leave. Giving a quick beat of his chest, the XO of the Minor Transgression excited the bridge to go to his own devices.

"Problems with him?" Tartarus inquired, curious at that recent interaction.

"No…I trust him with my own life," he assured him as he pressed some icons on the table in front of him. "However…he has some...issues to work out. Let's just leave it at that." His tone broke no room for argument, which his nephew wisely picked up on and let the matter drop. Well, at least for now.

An engineer turned in his seat. "Chieftain! Approaching the veil in less than sixty seconds!"

Maccabaeus gave the young minor a feral grin and turned on the intercom so the entire ship could hear him. "My brothers and sisters in the path to the Great Journey! Today is a most glorious day for us all! For we have been given the blessing by the High Prophets to explore this seemingly endless galaxy outside of the veil! Honor and opportunities such as this come only once in a lifetime! Today, we make history as we bring our mighty Covenant to glorious salvation!"

Even Tartarus had to admit that the short speech had gotten him hyped up as the repressed feelings of excitement had taken over his normally stoic and snarky personality. The rest of the crew cheered, apparently hyped up as well to do their jobs to the best of their abilities.

"Sir, we've finally crossed the veil!" another Jiralhanae engineer reported.

"Good. Take us into Slipspace!" the Chieftain ordered. This was it. There moment of glory. For the next three months, they would be searching outside of the veil for any relics and artifacts the Forerunners had left behind. A white portal at the bow of the Minor Transgression appeared as the Covenant missionary ship was transported to the eleven-dimensional void of slipspace. Everything seemed to go well until…

The bridge suddenly violently rocked, almost enough to make both Jiralhanae on their knees. "What's going on!?" Maccabeus bellowed in anger. Their journey had just started and already they were having some issues?!

"Chieftain!" a panicked voice yelled over the COM channel. It was from the engineers that primarily kept the slipspace drive up and running. "Something's wrong with the drive!"

"What?! EXPLAIN NOW!" Maccabeus roared slamming his fist on the table. Tartarus had to recoil in shock. He had never seen his uncle raise his voice unless absolutely necessary. He must've been absolutely furious.

"The drive was working perfectly as we checked and rechecked several times before and during our journey to the veil…as soon as we crossed it, the drive started going haywire!"

"Can you fix it?" His voice was calm. Too calm. Tartarus realized it then: his uncle was now in a state of tranquil fury and even he had to be cautious around the chieftain.

"We've been trying, sir! We've had no luck in-"

The engineer's reply was cut short as the ship violently rocked again, cutting off the communications line. Tartarus was thrown, quite literally, off his feet. "Sir! The Slipspace stream is accelerating us!"

"What?!" That shouldn't be possible. The speed a ship traveled in slipspace depended entirely on the ship and drive it used in question.

"I can't explain it, sir! The Minor Transgression is moving at speeds that shouldn't be theoretically possible with a ship this small! The coordinates are all over the place! We could be anywhere in the galaxy after we exit."

'IF we exit!' Maccabeus growled in frustration. He was about to give out new orders before all he saw was a flash of light that rocked the ship and sent him to the ground as well as the bridge crew. The last thing he heard was his nephew repeatedly calling him and then…everything went completely black.

(-x.0.0.x-)

(Mactare System, Turian colony "Taetrus")

Captain Desolas Arterius peacefully stridden through the Turians' newest settled colony of Taetrus. The garden world was discovered completely by accident as a Turian frigate was searching for the four most precious elements in the galaxy: Iridium, Platinum, Palladium, and most of all, Element Zero…or as it was colloquially referred to: eezo. They found the planet that was perfect for the turians' amino-based diet. The colony was only ten years old, but it was already thriving with a plethora of economic activity and would soon become another military hub for the Turian Hierarchy given enough time and progress for the colony.

So far, the colony was only protected by two carriers that stowed dozens upon dozens of fighter craft, half-a-dozen cruisers, and a plethora of frigates of all types and classes. Eventually the Hierarchy wanted to quadruple the size of Taetrus' defense fleet protected by dreadnoughts and dozens of cruisers. However, this would take a considerable amount of time considering that the colony was on the very edge of Citadel space and around fifteen thousand light-years away from both Palaven and the monstrous Citadel itself. Not exactly close neighbors…but the Hierarchy felt the planet had enormous potential, so they felt the investment was well worth it.

Desolas had moved here, along with his younger brother, Saren, some four years ago, as a brand new lieutenant. Through hard work and dedication, as expected of any Turian, he had rose to the rank of captain and was trusted enough to be put in charge of the defense of the capital city of Vallum, the colony's only major city so far. His brother was only fourteen and in a years time, he's go through military training, likely here on Taetrus, the first class to do so. Although he was young, Saren had certain…traits that he hoped would mellow out when he started his training.

"Well, I guess I should let him have his fun, while it lasts," Desolas said to himself as he walked in his house after the door biometrically scanned his hand and eyes. "Saren! I'm home!" he called out, although he wasn't really expecting an answer. Predictably, there was none. However, there was a notepad on the table. Setting his sidearm down, the Turian captain picked it up and read its contents.

Desolas,

Won't be back until way after dinner. Playing war games. Don't worry about me eating anything….will probably pick up something on the way back.

Don't know why you refuse to play with us. It's all in good fun. Ah, well. Your loss.

Regards,

Saren.

Desolas shook his head. Spirits, that boy would be the end of him. Although at certain times it felt like he was giving his younger brother way too much leeway, considering his position in the Turian military, all in all, he was a good kid. Never got in any serious trouble and, as far as he knew, wasn't affiliated with any crime syndicates or gangs. As far as Desolas was concerned, until Saren gave him a reason not to, he'd always trust him and give him the benefit of the doubt.

Knowing that his brother wouldn't be home for another four hours give or take, he stripped himself of his uniform and allowed himself to relax with a glass of alcohol that tasted just right on his mandibles. He grinned. These four hours were going to be absolutely glorious.

(-x.0.0.x-)

Fourteen-year-old Saren Arterius kept a sharp eye out as his Omnitool scanned the area for any signs of contacts. The young Turian was only five feet tall, common amongst the younger members of his race. Hell, even his mandibles weren't fully grown yet, another tall tale sign of Turian youth. He was high in a tree in one of many of the plethora of forests and jungles scattered all over Taetrus. His breathing was calm, concise, and completely in control…one of the techniques his brother had taught him. In his hand was a single pistol. Not with any real rounds of course, just stunners, but otherwise, it was the real deal.

"Garrus…got anything on your scope?" He asked his best friend over their private COM channel. For as long as he could remember, he and Garrus Vakarian had been best friends, practically brothers. The two were the exact same age and had similar personalities of tactfully subverting authority that it just meshed well. One was rarely seen without the other and when they weren't together, that was when heads started turning. Their antics were known to good many of the colonists on Vallum.

"Unfortunately, no. Did see this fiiine Turian female though…I'd love to test my reach and her-"

"Too much, information!" Saren practically yelled in irritation. "Can you for once just focus entirely on the mission?"

"Hey! A Turian has his needs, you know!" Garrus shot back, seemingly offended.

Saren deadpanned and rolled his eyes. "Says the guy who hasn't gotten laid…ever."

"…Touché," Garrus finally replied after an awkward silence. "But it could happen!"

Saren continued to scope out the area with his naked eye while replying, "Yeah, sure, Garrus. You'll lose your virginity about the same time as Desolas will."

Even Garrus felt that one as he recoiled a bit from his sniper rifle. "Damn, Saren. That's ice-cold. What a guy do to deserve a comment that harsh?" he mock pouted in their daily banter.

Saren grinned. "Exist," he retorted.

The other teenaged Turian was about to reply before he saw a shadowy figure in his scope. "I got movement!" he reported over their COM. Both Saren and Garrus turned serious.

"Where?" Saren asked as he looked even harder, now.

"North, about five hundred meters. I got you on my scope, I'll give you covering fire. Get your ass over there!"

Saren didn't need to be told twice as he jumped down from the tree and softened his blow by going into a roll before landing. He checked the ammo of his pistol. Satisfied he practically sprinted through the forest, hopping over obstacles and heading towards the NavPoint that Garrus had scoped out for him. It was at times like these where he was glad he didn't have to wear the bulky armor worn by Turian infantry units. It slowed him down, considerably so, and he was incredibly agile, Garrus too, and the armor negated one of the few advantages he had.

"How close am I?" Saren inquired as stun round whizzed right passed his head. He immediately dived into cover with expert precision behind a boulder. "Okay…nevermind that…"

"I can't see anything, Saren. They just had to shoot back in one of the densest part of the jungles…clever bastards…"

Saren grunted. "Garrus, gonna need your help here. I'll try to hold them off as long as I can, but Spirits get here before then!" he cried out he ran out of cover firing some blind shots and taking cover by a nearby tree.

"On the way!" The line was cut off right then.

"All right…think Saren…you got hold these guys off till Garrus arrives…" another round whizzed passed his head forcing him to duck and cover. His mind was going haywire trying to come up with a solution. He gazed around before…wait! A grin formed on his face as he had gotten an idea. He fired several rounds some branches, causing some of them to fall to the ground. As expected, the OpFor had scattered not wanting to be injured.

It honestly wasn't the most extravagant, ballsy or hell even the coolest of tactical moves, but as they say, simplicity almost always gets the job done.

The younger Arterius moved as fast as he could to new cover, diving behind another tree, his breathing harder than normal. "Damn…guess that sprint took more out of me," he lamented.

Deciding to make himself as low of a target as possible, Saren laid flat on his stomach and used the breathing technique his brother taught him. He saw various members of the OpFor go right past him, their Phaeston Assault Rifles frantically searching for the prodigious soldier.

Saren smirked and backed up slowly and aimed his pistol through any of openings small enough to where they'd go through and he'd not be detected. "Come on…" he practically begged, until they finally turned around away from him. Big mistake. Saren didn't waste anytime as he pulled the trigger twice, dropping them both. "Bullseye!" he praised himself, without thinking. His eyes widened, as immediately stun rounds were whizzing pass his head, only his incredible luck sparing him.

'Shit! How could I be so stupid? I should've kept my mouth shut!' he berated himself, returning some fire, blindly. They were closing in fast and the fourteen year old was running out of ideas.

Three distinct shots rung out and dropped the OpFor instantly to the ground. Saren blinked and looked up towards the trees to see a grinning Garrus with a smoking sniper rifle. "So…did I make it in time?"

"How long have you been there?!" Saren inquired irritably.

Garrus shrugged. "Awhile," he dully replied.

"And you didn't think to help me earlier…why?"

Garrus grinned even wider. "Because…it was cooler this way."

"…."

"Sheesh, Saren, lighten up," Garrus rolled his eyes and hopped down from the branch. Saren's omnitool lit up and there were a dozen contacts heading towards their location. He picked up one of the Assault Rifles from the unconscious OpFor Turian and gave his best friend a grin.

"Ready to hold the line?" he asked.

Garrus replied cocking the bolt of his rifle back and returning the expression. "You know it! There's no Vakarian…" he began

"…without Arterius!" he finished, reloading the rifle to max rounds. "Let's kick some ass!"

The two brothers-in-arms charged ahead using the teamwork and synchronized skills they had developed over their decade long friendship.

(-x.0.0.x-)

Desolas groaned and rubbed his temples, not liking this one bit. "Commander Septimus, I know my brother and Garrus are good, but enough for that?! Come on now, they're both so young!" he protested. Currently, he was speaking via hologram to Commander Septimus, who commanded a legion of an elite infantry unit in the Turian Hierarchy. The subject they were speaking on was classified above Top Secret, and as such he needed to speak with him on a secure line, all the way from Palaven.

"I know…but as you know…the situation in the Terminus Systems is getting out of hand and it's getting to the breaking point. We cannot allow that to happen,. The Council has decided that they're not willing to risk the stability of Citadel space. Trillions of lives are at stake here, Desolas," the commander replied, sympathizing with the young officers skepticism, but they were running out of time.

"Tell me one thing, sir…why do these…Spectres…have to be so young?"

"Well, truthfully, we wanted to go younger, to around six or seven, but Councilor Tevos put an end to that, so they compromised for the recruits to be young teenagers…thirteen to fifteen."

"I see…" Desolas replied as he read over the notepad with details of the Top Secret program. "Still… intense training of child soldiers of different races, bio-augmentations, synthetic biotics, armor, possible help from the Quarians with use of integrated Artificial Intelligence, super soldiers…" he gave the commander a hard stare. "You realize if this leaks out, we could have social breakdown and galactic instability due to all the protesting of the council's hypocrisy, no?"

"Yes, we're well aware of that. But desperate times call for desperate measures, Captain. The Salarian STG have made it their top priority to make sure absolutely no one who doesn't need to know finds out and if they somehow do find out…silence them," he coldly intoned.

A cold chill went up Desolas' spine, as he knew just how serious this was. "Fine…I'll…talk to him about it. But can you at least give me some time?" he pleaded with the superior officer.

"I'll allow it. You have until the end of the week." Without even so much as a goodbye, the commander cut off the secure connection. Gritting his mandibles, Desolas slammed his fist on the desk in frustration.

"Why him? The only family I have left dammit!" he cursed. The meritocracy of the Hierarchy was both a blessing and a curse as it meant that sometimes you had to put the good of the species above everything, including your own family. He sighed again. No use in crying over spilled milk. He had a job to do and he was going to do the best he could…even if he didn't like it, personally.

He was about to exit his office when the emergency transmission came through. Desolas snapped to attention immediately, momentarily forgetting about Commander Septimus, as he nearly tripped over himself to answer the call. "Captain Arterius, here! What's the emergency?!"

"Captain! Sir, it's bad. Potentially, really bad!" a frantic voice over the ECOM shouted.

"What's going on, Ensign?!"

"Sir, we just lost contact with two of our cruisers and four of our frigates, high-probability of K.I.A!"

"WHAT!?" Desolas recoiled in shock. "The hell is happening up there!?"

"The flotilla had detected an anomaly, some several million kilometers outside of the system, and we sent two cruisers and four frigates to investigate. We checked in on them and we heard shouts over the COM, like they were in battle. We could hear them, they couldn't hear us, after awhile the line went dead. Sir…if this is what I think it is…the entire colony is in danger! And we have absolutely no idea what it was! We don't know if we're walking into a trap"

Desolas just stood there…flummoxed at what he had just heard. Six ships potentially destroyed…that was thousands of Turian lives that were gone in a matter of seconds. The Turian Captain immediately got deadly serious. "Contact the Hiearchy, tell them to send us reinforcements and for them to get their asses here ASAP! Put the entire colony on lockdown, now! I want all able bodied men to take up defensive positions."

"On it, sir. What will you do?"

"I'm going to find my brother," he said simply. "You have your orders. Go dammit! We don't have much time." He cut the emergency line and went to his room to find his armor, which he put on with haste. Grabbing his assault rifle and pistol, Desolas shot out of the house like a bat out of hell, keen on finding his brother and defending Taetrus with every fiber of his being.

Desolas didn't know it…but he and the rest of the Turian colonists were about to fight for their lives as they faced an enemy far more powerful than the Krogan and Rachni combined.

(END)

And that's that! I hope you all enjoyed this introductory chapter. So, with that being said, here's some Q&A!

Q: Will the UNSC appear at all in this story?

A: Yes, eventually. But until such time has come, you won't even get an aside to them. At ALL. Period. This story is strictly about the Covenant and Citadel races.

Q: Quarian A.I? Aren't the Council afraid of them?

A: In this story, the Geth haven't rebelled, yet and the Quarians still have their homeworld and various other colonies.

Q: What happened to the Minor Transgression? And why did they attack?

A: That will be answered next chapter.

Q: Saren doesn't act like he does in canon.

A: No fucking shit. For one, he's a teenager. Secondly, he hasn't been indoctrinated nor is he even aware of the myth of the Reapers, let alone their actual existence.

Q: Primarily character driven story?

A: Yup. Tis my specialty after all. This story will HEAVILY focus on Desolas, Garrus, and Saren as the main protagonists.

Q: What's the deal with the Spectre program?

A: All to be revealed in due time. :D

So, that being said, I hoped you all enjoyed it. By the way, if you're a fan of Naruto I implore you to read my other story Eternal Legends: Konoha's Transcendent Ninja. Give it about five chapters before you decide if you like it or not. I promise you won't regret it.

So, until next time!

Arashi.