A/N: After a super long hiatus, I'm back. I started this story in high school, and let it fall to the side while I was earning my bachelor's. But I never forgot about it.

I just reread all the work I already did, and oh my, it's absolute trash. I was tempted to go back and rewrite, but I don't have time for that right now since I'm working on getting into graduate school.

But don't worry. Going forward, I'll do much better. My writing skills absolutely skyrocketed during my undergrad years. Of that, I can assure you. I won't make you read that amateur garbage from here on out.

This chapter was mostly written, and I only tweaked it a bit. Just smoothed some things out my younger self wouldn't have noticed. Everything after this point though will be created entirely by my current-self. Given that, I don't know how often I can deliver updates, but fear not, I assure you I will finish what I started.

LOCATION: MILKY WAY / FAR RIM / DHOLEN SYSTEM / NORMANDY SR-2

DATE: circa 162915 AR

2185 CE

"So, now the question is: do you believe me, or do you think I'm insane?" Alexandria asked Jacob after finishing the long story.

Jacob was silent for a few moments, contemplating everything he just heard. "I believe you. The more you talked, the more you made sense, and it helped that EDI vouched for you."

"Great," Alexandria responded with a smile and a nod, "Then perhaps we can get down to business."

"And what business might that be, exactly?"

"I improve your equipment. In return, I use your ship's systems to restore my equipment."

"Sounds like a plan. You're part of the team now."

"Yes." Alexandria stepped over to the work bench Jacob was leaned over before she entered the room. "So, shall we get to work?"

"What exactly do you have in mind?" Jacob stood up from the table he was sitting on for Alexandria's long story.

"I'm going to turn your mass-reducing electromagnetic accelerators into mass-alternating electromagnetic accelerators." Alexandria lifted Jacob's Scimitar shotgun into the air with her kinetics. She scanned the weapon thoroughly; penetrating beams of energy passed through it up and down, back and forth, over and over. She made sure to map and analyze every little detail of its construction.

"You mean you want to make them like your guns?"

"More or less." Alexandria continued her scan. When concluded, she let the weapon float back down to the bench and turned to face Jacob. "As you know, one of the properties of mass effect fields is their ability to raise the speed of light. This allows your weapons to accelerate slugs to speeds beyond that. Technically speaking, that is."

"Since the speed of light has been raised, they're not actually exceeding it. Not technically."

"Exactly. Of course, after the slugs leave the weapon, and thus, the mass effect field-"

"-They abandon the laws of mass effect physics, conforming to standard physics and reducing their speed, since no solid object can move faster than light. But your weapons get around that, don't they?"

"By keeping the mass effect field with the projectile in-flight to the target," Alexandria said with a nod.

"How?"

"No different than projecting a magnetic field; something that, per your Extranet, you can already do."

Jacob crossed his arms in skepticism.

"If it's no different, then why haven't we been able to do it?"

"Okay, so it's a little different..." The Titan intentionally let a moment of silence hang in the air for dramatic effect. "... A lot different... But still quite similar. All we need to do is update the software on your weapons. Of course, to do that-"

"-We're going to have to update the hardware as well."

"Yes. The current hardware in your weapons is insufficient to house the code required for the internal computer to know how to sustain the mass effect field in flight AND," Alexandria threw her right index finger into the air at the word 'and,' pausing for yet more dramatic effect, "alternate the field from mass reducing to mass amplifying at the precise moment of impact. Fortunately, there's a very simple way to increase the amount of code that can be programmed into a system without increasing its physical size."

"What? You mean supercooling?"

"Exactly," Alexandria said enthusiastically. She loved science and technology, especially when it came to weapons.

"But how are we supposed to supercool small arms without increasing their physical size? That requires massive external cooling units and loads of power. Not to mention we'd be fighting an uphill battle, since mass accelerators build a ton of heat."

"Yes," Alexandria pointed excitedly at the eureka moment Jacob unknowingly just had.

"Yes what?"

"Mass accelerators; pretty much all weapons generate heat. That's how we supercool them."

"I don't follow," Jacob said, his curiosity uncrossing his arms as he leaned in closer.

"What do mass effect fields do?"

"A lot of things."

Alexandria chuckled. "More than you know."

Jacob's arms recrossed themselves.

"And just what can they do that I don't know?"

"Countless things. Last time I checked, my people were still discovering new uses for them, and our technology was eons ahead of yours."

"Granted."

"By definition, mass effect fields alter the content of spacetime. One such way they can do so is by making hot things cold, and cold things hot, thus, making the heating process turn into the cooling process."

Jacob mouth lay agape for a moment.

"That's impossible."

"Impossible? Ha. Yeah right. That's what they all say…" Alexandria turned back to Jacob's work bench and disassembled his Scimitar in an instant with her kinetics, "… just before the show starts. Watch and learn, young one. Watch and learn."

Jacob's head instinctively tilted to the side and a look a bewilderment covered his face as he saw his weapon stripped down to pieces he did not know it could be separated into.

"That was my shotgun."

"Don't worry. It won't function any differently. It'll just have a higher damage output and never overheat."

"You mean, no more thermal clips or heat sinks?"

"No, sir."

Jacob watched Alexandria intently as she worked on the weapon, performing modifications and additions with her omni-tool, while all the while pieces of the disassembled firearm floated around, suspended by her mind. She stepped back from her work for a moment, tapping her index finger to her lips as Jacob assumed she was deep in thought. After some time, her work was done, and the weapon back in its original shape.

"Here you go." Alexandria handed the weapon to Jacob. "Your new and improved Scimitar."

"It's heavier than I remember."

"Sorry about that. I actually wanted to make it lighter, but I don't have the necessary equipment for that sort of mod."

"It's not an issue. It isn't that much heavier. Just enough to notice." Jacob ran his own scans on the weapon, as did EDI. They were both impressed.

The AI's holoball appeared in the room. "The improvements are substantial. Would you be able to accomplish this on all the weapons in the Normandy's armory, Alexandria?"

"Yes, I can. With the Commander's permission, of course. I know some people can be sentimental about their weapons."

"One moment." EDI lay silent for a time. "I have spoken with the Commander. He has granted permission."

"Then I'll get to work right away." About an hour later, all the small arms on the Normandy had been modified. Alexandria stood back and admired her work. "All done."

Jacob was busy admiring his upgraded Predator. "This is amazing. I sure wish Cerberus had invested in a shooting range on this ship right about now."

"I am sure the Commander will be pleased with the team's new armament," EDI said.

"Where is the Commander?" Alexandria asked.

"He is speaking with Garrus. He has been for some time now."

"Right. Probably trying to convince him to work with me."

"What do you mean?" asked Jacob. Alexandria tried to summarize her story as much as possible, sparing many details for the sake of time.

"When I awoke, I thought Shepard, Garrus, and Mordin might be Ecumene soldiers. I was weak and uncertain. I didn't take any chances. I subdued them without provocation, and then interrogated Shepard. I had to be sure I was safe. I couldn't take any chances."

"Ah, damn. Well, I can't say I blame Garrus. I might not be so friendly with you either. But don't worry. Shepard will bring that old turian around. EDI, will you let the Commander know our newest crewmate just finished upgrading our arsenal? I think he'll want to come down here and take a look."

"Yes, Operative Taylor."

After Shepard concluded his conversation with Garrus and took a power nap, he was back in the armory admiring his new loadout. Being an N7, he packed enough firepower to wipe out a whole platoon, and possessed extensive biotic and tech powers on top of that. Not only did Alexandria upgrade his firearms, but she received confirmation from him before his nap that she could go ahead and upgrade his hardsuit as well. She also enhanced Jacob's nanoarmor, though the Titan still argued it was no substitute for a hardsuit like Shepard, Garrus, Grunt, and Zaeed wore.

Shepard concurred with Alexandria that the nanoarmor Jacob, Miranda, Mordin, Jack, and Kasumi strode into battle with was hardly appropriate for the Normandy's adventures. "One day, Jacob. One day, you're going to get caught with your shields down, and Dr. Chakwas will not be pleased."

"When that day comes, if it comes, I'll adjust, but in the meantime, I hate hardsuits," Jacob said.

"I can't imagine my life without them, but at least I can take comfort in knowing you'll be a little safer now." Shepard truly did care about his team.

"Hopefully the others will see the benefits of these upgrades." Alexandria was already mentally compiling a list of potential modifications she could make to the rest of the team's equipment as she spoke, but would not proceed without a green light from everyone. After all, she would not be so pleased herself if someone poked around her suit without her consent.

"I think they will, especially after they see me and Jacob in action."

"I can't wait to see what our new friend can do," Jacob said.

"All in good time. I'm not quite ready yet. At least, not as ready as I'd like to be. There are some restorations I still want to make before I step back into the field. Shouldn't take long."

"We're not in a hurry right now. Go ahead and do what you need to do. The rest of us will pick up the slack while you recover. I want everyone at their best. We have to be if we're going to take down the Collectors," Shepard said.

"What kind of restorations are you talking about?" Jacob asked.

"It's my battlesuit." Alexandria projected an image of her degenerated suit. "This is its current state, and this is its ideal state." A second image popped up next to the first, this one showing what was clearly the same model, though in much better condition, and with more pieces attached. The first image showed what looked like a metal casing molded around the muscles of a human female with its skin removed. The second image showed the same basic frame, but with more components on it, giving off a much more protective and intimidating appearance, something a truly fearsome warrior would wear into battle. "The missing components were gradually damaged more and more until they were beyond self-repair throughout the course of my time in Knossos." On the second image, pieces of the battlesuit slowly began to fade away it matched the first. "Without access to intact supply lines, and with what little resources we had going to those who needed them most, my battlesuit fell into neglect, and I would very much like to restore it, something that is now possible with the Normandy's minifactory, albeit to a limited degree. I can't revitalize my suit completely with your systems, but there is a lot of good I can do."

"By all means," Shepard said. "Use what we have. Like I said, I want everyone at their best," Shepard checked something on his omni-tool. "We're over Haestrom now. EDI, tell Garrus and Grunt to arm up. We drop in 10." Shepard nodded to Jacob and Alexandria before moving to prepare himself.

"I can't wait to see the performance data we get with these new upgrades," Jacob said.

"Hopefully, it will make their job a little easier. I have a feeling they're going to need all the help they can get." Alexandria had been sharing data streams with EDI, and was aware of the fierce resistance Shepard's team would soon face.

This was the Far Rim. This was Geth Space.