This is my second fanfiction. I love both Frozen and Mass Effect, so I decided to write this. I'm new to writing, so it may not be the best, but please bear with me.

I'd like to dedicate this work to my wonderful friend TalkElsannaToMe. A truly amazing person whose support has been fantastic, without her there's no way you'd be reading it now.

You're the best, and truly one of a kind. So this is for you :)

Cover art is by the aforementioned awesome person! Thank you, so so so much!

Act One

The Shrike Abyssal

The shuttlecraft shook violently as it passed through the turbulent atmosphere. Elsa had always despised suborbital flight. The buffeting, the turbulence, the motion sickness, it was often too much to bear. Recently she found herself wondering exactly why she had joined the Systems Alliance Navy.

Of course. Her father. The legendary Admiral Shepard, vanquisher of the Reapers. Thirty-one years ago, the Old Machines, as the geth referred to them, returned for the first time in fifty thousand years. Her father had rallied the forces of the galaxy to be the unlikeliest of allies, and together they obliterated the scourge that plagued their homeworlds.

And of course there was her mother, Tali'Zorah. Her father always enjoyed telling the tale of their meeting, how they became fast friends in the confusion of the battles and destruction.

Elsa never knew her real parents. An orphan of the Reaper invasion, she was taken in by the Commander and his new wife, and raised as their own on Tali's homeworld of Rannoch. They were wonderful parents, of course, teaching their child in the ways of the world; their history, the fate of Rannoch, her original homeworld, Earth, to this day she had never visited. There was only one issue, however. Elsa had never seen her mother's face.

As a quarian, Tali was confined to a sealed environmental suit, as a result of her, and all quarians, weakened immune systems. Long ago, upon her return to Rannoch, she removed her mask to gaze upon the sunrise with her eyes for the first time. It was beautiful, and almost worth it. She fell ill, a sickness that almost claimed her life. Afterwards, she never removed her mask again. It would take many generations for the quarians to be able to live without their protection.

Elsa sighed softly.

"Ma'am?"

Elsa turned her head. "Hmm?"

"Are you alright?" asked Lieutenant Lattimore.

"Oh! Yes, fine. Get ready."

The shuttlecraft swept to the surface, kicking up dust and old bones, and landed in the outskirts of the ruined city of Hatash. Formerly the pride of the Vorcha, their volcanic world had been reduced to ashes in the Reaper incursion, yet oddly none had been harvested. Perhaps the Reapers had thought them unworthy. Either way, the Vorcha were all but obliterated.

The shuttle's heavy door swung open, and Elsa stepped out onto the blasted surface, followed by Rachel Lattimore, her second in command and best friend, and Corporal Desolas Victus and Midshipman Hailey Beck. The temperature was scorching, bordering on unbearable. Elsa had never been fond of the heat. She gazed around at the ruined buildings, the sunlight glaring unpleasantly off the brazen stones. Glancing at her map, she turned to her team.

"Alright. We've got a long walk ahead of us. At least ten kilometres, in unpleasant temperatures no less. Stay sharp. Wild animals are abundant here, not to mention any Vorcha that remain will be less than happy to see you."

Lattimore looked nervous. "What do you think we'll find here, Els?"

"I'm not sure, Rachel," Elsa smiled weakly. "The report mentioned a signal not unlike that found in functional Reaper the dangers of even a small piece of equipment, this needs to be investigated."

Victus and Beck exchanged nervous glances.

"All set?" Elsa continued. "Let's move."

They set off into the distance, towards the centre of the large city, weapons at the ready.

Elsa had been in the Alliance Navy since she was nineteen years old. Now at thirty, she had risen through the ranks rapidly, partly due to her father's esteemed position, but mostly due to the fact that she had proven herself worthy countless times in the various skirmishes that had occurred in the past few years. During a brief conflict with the newly-reformed Blue Suns, Elsa saved the lives of not only her entire team, but those of an entire city, including her best friend.

Rachel Lattimore had very unexpectedly entered Elsa's life, only half a year ago. Elsa had known people far, far longer, yet she didn't feel as close to them as she does to the young lieutenant. The two immediately bonded, sharing a fondness for the same kinds of music and entertainment, they found themselves becoming fast friends.

Hailey Beck was a hotheaded Interplanetary Combatives Academy graduate, an N6 by the time she was twenty-three, she was well on the way to full progression to N7. Admittedly, Elsa did not care for the young woman. She was rash, vulgar, and stubborn as a varren, though she had proven herself well in the line of duty.

Corporal Desolas Victus, younger brother of the famed Tarquin Victus, was evidently not suited for this particular line of work. The life of military service had been thrust upon him by the Victus dynasty. The young man was visibly trembling, and sweating profusely. Elsa wondered why he was even here at all. Being a Victus was not enough.

The team trudged through the baking sand-blasted ruins of Hatash. Not a soul disturbed them, no Vorcha, varren, or any other galactic pest that usually dwelled in such places, a fact which Elsa was immensely grateful for.

"Far too hot," Victus mumbled.

"You don't say?" Hailey shot back

Desolas looked offended. "I was just making an observation."

"Yeah, well, keep your observations to yourself."

"Excuse me, but I-"

"Problem, you two?" Lattimore piped up.

"Nothing, lieutenant," Beck sneered.

Victus glared. "There's no need to take that tone with her!"

"Shut up, Vicky!"

"I told you not to call me that! My name is Victus!"

"Whatever you say, Vicky."

Elsa snapped. "Both of you, shut up! Victus, quit whining. Beck, for the love of god, check your attitude!"

Hailey huffed.

The team continued on through the ruins for the next two hours in complete silence. Tension often ran high between them, and Elsa hated to say but most of it stemmed from Beck. The girl was an excellent soldier, yes, but often she was simply...unpleasant.

Victus had been on edge ever since they landed, and was frequently eyeing his surroundings nervously.

"What is it, Desolas?" Lattimore inquired.

"I'm not sure. Something's odd about this place. Where are the Vorcha? We know some survived the Reaper invasion."

"They're not here, idiot." Hailey said scathingly.

"Well, obviously. But what about varren? This place should be overrun!"

"You're complaining about the lack of varren?"

"It's not just the varren. There's no birds. No reptilian life either. I haven't even seen a bug!"

"Maybe they saw your face."

Lattimore frowned.

"What is it, Rachel?" Elsa inquired.

"He's right. It's too...dead. There should be at least some life here."

Elsa frowned, a shiver traveling up her spine. "Let's move. We're nearly there."

An hour later, according to their instruments, they had arrived at the signal. Or, where the signal should be. Instead, they found nothing except the ruins of the city.

"Where is it?" Victus asked, looking around.

"Beats me." Beck replied, seemingly forgetting to add one of her trademark insults.

"Spread out." Elsa ordered. "Something's got to be around here somewhere."

The team split, each member moving off on paths at right angles to one another. Elsa had not gone ten paces when she heard a scream behind her.

"Rachel?"

There was no sign of her.

"Rachel!" Elsa sprinted over to where her friend had been moments before. Instead of the younger blonde girl, instead there was a perfectly circular hole in the ground. Elsa shot to the edge and collapsed on her knees.

"Rachel!"

There was no reply.

God, no…

"Rachel!" Elsa screamed.

"Elsa?" Her best friend's voice drifted up from the depths.

"Oh my god! Rachel, are you all right?"

"Yes, I'm fine! I think I've found from where the signal may be originating. It looks like a bunker or something."

"Fascinating! We're coming down. Hold on. Victus, pass the ropes."

"No need, Elsa. Jump! It looks like a long drop, but it's not. It's only about two metres deep."

"Rachel, I can't even see the bottom!"

"I think it's a hologram of some sort. Looked like the desert suface before I fell in. Trust me, it's fine."

"But I can barely hear you!"

"Sound dampening, maybe? I don't know, but it seems to me that whoever built this thing wanted to keep it private."

"They could've used an ordinary door." Victus muttered.

Elsa rose to her feet and turned to her remaining squadmates. "I'm going in. Wait until I give the all-clear, then follow me through."

Beck and Victus nodded.

Releasing a sigh, Elsa turned once more to face the hole. It looked to be a thousand feet deep. Her heart was hammering, and she was tempted to ask Victus for the rope so she could make a proper descent. But she trusted her friend. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

And jumped.

So there you have it! My wonderfully derivative piece of work, yes, no doubt it's verbose and poorly structured and overall badly written, but hey. It's all fun :)

Stay tuned for Chapter 2!