Chapter 3: Peace?
January 14, 2154
Citadel, Presidium (Council Chambers)
Tevos gazed out to the stars of the Widow Nebula, some of the familiar specks of light obscured by the UNSC fleet that had escorted their diplomat to the Citadel. From what she had heard, this fleet was hardly large for them. She had no names to attach to these alien vessels, but there were only seven of them, and none of them were the massive super-dreadnoughts that had been so devastating in the short but bloody conflict between these "Humans" and the Council. From the miniscule information that the STG and Spectres had managed to uncover on these aliens, mostly from prisoners taken from the rare ground victory the Council saw during the war, these ships were frigates under Human classifications. She couldn't help but scoff, some of these frigates were as large as a cruiser by her standards, and their cruisers were larger than a dreadnought.
The small military escort that brought the Human diplomat with it had arrived at the Citadel just a few moments ago, emerging from the angry maw of those rifts she had heard so much about. It almost looked like time and space themselves spat these aliens out. Of the seven ships that had arrived, only six of them had ever been spotted in combat before. The six she was familiar with were very… blocky. They were just under 500 meters, according to the sensor readings that had filtered into the Council Chambers. The seventh vessel truly stood out among the others.
It was tiny by comparison to the other ships. It was less than 100 meters in length, according to the Citadel's vast sensor array. It had no known weapons, and had a very miniscule power output compared to the others. If she had to guess, this was the ship that brought the ambassadors. Most would overlook this tiny detail, but its significance was not lost on Tevos. She was a veteran diplomat, and she knew that this told wonders of their culture. They were not as militaristic as the Council had originally feared. They still seemed to have a concept of diplomacy if they had brought their diplomats in a civilian ship.
"Councilor Tevos…" Tevos was shaken out of her inner thoughts by her aide, a young Asari with a violet tint to her skin. "The smaller Human ship has sent a small transport to the Citadel, it will be here in a few moments."
Tevos gave a tense smile. "Good… thank you Kiala." Her eyes turned back to the fleet outside for a moment. The Citadel Defense Fleet was still on high-alert, but their weapons remained inert. They had assumed a defensive formation around the Citadel, and were fully prepared to open fire on the Human ships if necessary. She truly hoped that it wouldn't come to that.
After a short sigh to compose herself, Tevos turned and headed towards the Presidium Tower's central chambers, where the three Councilors stood to address the galactic community. Now, instead of granting Spectre status or mediating in trade disputes, they would be attempting to end a war before it engulfed the galaxy.
After traversing the halls of the Presidium, she found herself standing behind her podium. Sparatus to her right and Valern to her left. The Turian looked tense, almost fearful of what he would see walk up the staircase to the Council. The Salarian had a look of practiced indifference on his face, but Tevos could tell that he was just as tense as Sparatus. Not even a moment after her arrival at the podium, the small computer display built into it pinged, signaling the arrival of the Human ambassador in the Presidium Hangar.
Hundreds of people from all species lined the balconies on either end of the Council, kept a few feet away from the railing by C-SEC Guards. Drones floated over the Presidium, awaiting the arrival of the aliens that had stirred up so much in so little time.
After a few tense minutes, she heard the pneumatic hissing of a door on the left-hand side of the Presidium, and saw a pair of C-SEC guards walk towards the Council. Just a few feet behind them, was a group of three Humans. Tevos had seen pictures of these Humans, and she was still very much unnerved by their uncanny similarity to Asari. She knew that they were indeed sexually dimorphic, unlike her own race, but it was still quite interesting. The fact that two species could evolve to look so similar, despite hailing from different worlds, was truly awe-inspiring.
She took a moment to examine the three Humans that were being escorted by the C-SEC officers. One seemed to stand before the others, so she elected to focus her attention on him first. He was wearing a very well-tailored set of clothing, likely formalwear, and was an obvious male of the species. He had a pin on the lapel of his coat that Tevos couldn't quite make out, but she assumed him to be a politician of sorts.
Behind him and to his right was another man. He was, without a doubt, a military officer. His uniform was expertly maintained, but its simplicity was rather surprising to Tevos. It appeared to be little more than a grey-and-black tunic and pants with what appeared to be rank insignias on the shoulders and collar. This officer in particular had numerous medals on the left side of his chest. On the right side of his chest, he seemed to have a metallic plate pinned to his tunic, likely bearing his name if the intelligence regarding these aliens was at all correct. She couldn't quite make it out from this distance, but he must be a rather high-ranking officer if he was present here. She made a special note of the empty holster at his hip.
Behind the suited man and to his left was a female of the species. She was obviously a soldier of sorts, but her armor was nothing short of incredible. It almost looked like a Hardsuit, but it seemed to be made up of multiple layers. There was a form-fitting black undersuit, then the heavy armored plates and helmet that made up the actual armor part. Her face was hidden behind a gold visor, and there was no visible rank or name on her person. The only thing that could be seen as an indication of who she was would be a single letter and three numbers on her chest-plate: "A-130". She stood a full head-and-shoulders taller than the other Humans with her, and would probably stand at eye-level or taller than a Turian. She was carrying some sort of rifle on her back, and a pistol seemed to be locked to her thigh, likely though a magnetic strip like you could find on the more-advanced Hardsuits in Council Space.
The entire Presidium had fallen silent as the three Humans were led before the Council by the C-SEC officers, who then stepped away and stood at the top of the staircase. The soldier and the officer stood at rigid attention, while the politician clasped his hands behind his back. "Thank you for coming, mister…?" Tevos began, breaking the silence that had overtaken the Presidium.
"Alexander Yevgeny." The politician explained, bowing his head slightly. "Elected President of the Unified Earth Government." Tevos was slightly surprised to hear that these Humans were democratic, much less willing to send their elected leader to oversee these negotiations directly. "With me I have Vice-Admiral Preston Jeremiah Cole, commander of Battle Group X-Ray, and Senior Chief Petty Officer Alice: UNSC Special Forces operator."
Tevos truly had no idea why this soldier in particular was brought to the Citadel, but she settled on her being the President's surprisingly small security detail. "I am Councilor Tevos, representing the Asari Republics. This is Councilor Sparatus and Councilor Valern, representing the Turian Hierarchy and Salarian Union, respectively." Tevos was surprised by the courtesy the Human was showing to the Council. He gave all three of the Councilors a respectful nod as she identified them. "Now… let us begin. What will it take to end this conflict?"
"Simple…" The President began, looking to all three of the Councilors in kind. Tevos was half-expecting to hear something along the lines of an unconditional surrender, but what she found herself listening to shocked her. "The return of any Human prisoners of war, their equipment, and any of our technology you have seized in the fighting."
Tevos looked to the other Councilors, and all of them looked well and truly taken aback. The thought that such a simple request could end this war before it worsened was a pleasant surprise to all parties involved. "A fair enough request, so long as our prisoners and equipment are given the same courtesy."
"Of course." The President nodded. "And as a… gesture of good faith, any and all seized worlds, with the exception of Aephus, will be returned to the Council."
"Why Aephus in particular?" Sparatus asked, almost accusatorially.
"Matters of UNSC operational security." The President responded. "I understand that these Mass Relays are an important part of galactic travel, and your vessels will be free to pass through the Aephus Relay. The UEG Senate has begun voting on allowing Council races to settle on Aephus, should our request be permitted."
"You'd ask us to secede our territory to you?" Sparatus asked, almost offended.
"Hardly a high price to pay for peace, Councilor." The President turned to look to Sparatus. "Especially after your General's… unwarranted aggression against our people."
"General Arterius gave the general order to open fire after your artificial intelligence attacked our ship's firewalls." Sparatus accused, earning a hollow chuckle from the President.
Before Sparatus could truly start fuming, the President held a hand out towards Alice. "Alice… if you wouldn't mind?"
"Of course, sir." She nodded, reaching up to the back of her helmet and removing a small card-like chip from it. She handed the small chip over to the President, who held it in the palm of his right hand.
"Serina, if you'd be so kind as to explain what actually happened."
The Councilors all watched as a small hologram of a Human woman appeared in the President's hand. It was blue-tinted, and the small A.I. avatar seemed to stand with an air of confidence. "Of course, Mister President." The A.I. affirmed, nodding. A chill ran the length of Tevos' spine as the A.I. turned to look at her in particular for a moment. The sheer thought of keeping an A.I. in your head, terrified her. "After the initial engagement between Battle Group X-Ray and the Aephus Defense Fleet, I was personally tasked with understanding General Arterius' flagship. After recovering what data we could from the Trailblazer's black box, jettisoned into space following its destruction, I compared the data."
"The UNSC Trailblazer is a small vessel originally meant to be moth-balled, sold for parts." Serina continued. "The UNSC elected instead to use it for survey operations. As such, the vessel was lacking many of the communications suites that active warships carry. The vessel's attached artificial intelligence attempted every method of contact available to him… all failed but one."
Serina's avatar faded away, replaced by a technical readout. There were hundreds of lines of code, expanded to make the text visible to the Council. "These errors were taken from the exact moment the A.I. attempted contact with the defense fleet. All four hundred failure states show that all standard methods of communication that the Trailblazer was capable of failed to establish a working connection. Seeing only one option remaining, he took the chance to establish a one-way connection to your ship's communications systems that he would use to upload the UNSC's First Contact Packet."
"After comparing it with the black box aboard General Arterius' flagship, I came to understand that it was not the General who noticed this supposed breach of firewalls. It was instead the communications officer aboard the vessel. Due to the nature of the Trailblazer's short connection, only she would have noticed this discrepancy. It's quite likely that due to your… rather irrational fear of artificial intelligence, she viewed this as a threat and notified the General. In short… he jumped the gun, so to speak. Instead of checking to see if this was an attack on all ship systems, he simply gave the order to fire, leading to the death of one hundred thirty four UNSC servicemen and women."
"Yet it was your kind that escalated a botched first contact to a full-scale war." Sparatus declared.
"UNSC High Command was operating under the assumption that General Arterius received this First Contact Packet, yet gave the order to fire anyways." The President answered, turning to Sparatus. "By the time we found the Trailblazer's black box and realized the misunderstanding, it was too late. Admiral Cole's fleet was already engaged in Castellus and on the surface of the colony."
"Is this meant to excuse your detonation of a nuclear weapon on Digeris' surface?" Sparatus asked, venom dripping from his words. That earned a few murmurs from the crowd.
"No, that's a separate matter entirely." The President answered. "This is meant to explain that there were mistakes on both sides of this, and neither of us shoulder this blame alone. I've already begun making the… necessary adjustments to the structure of High Command with the approval of the Senate."
"And the nuclear warhead?" Sparatus asked, gritting his mandibles.
"Admiral Cole carried out his orders from HIGHCOM to destroy the facility dedicated to researching our survey probe." The President explained. "His mission was to destroy the probe, as well as all research materials related to it. This has been standard UNSC operational procedure for decades, and High Command gave the order due to the very real threat of this probe containing navigational data on our colonies."
"Did it?" Tevos asked. "Contain navigational data, I mean."
"Yes…" The President nodded. "The location of one of our colonies: Harvest. It was dispatched from this colony." After a short sigh, the President continued. "I truly regret that first contact led to conflict, and you have my sincerest apologies for the failings of diplomacy. As a gesture of good faith, the UEG is happy to assist in reparations, as well as terraforming should it be necessary."
"Thank you, Mister President… we will take your offer into consideration." Tevos gave a surprised smile.
"Are there any further… stipulations for peace that you'd like to discuss?" The President asked.
Tevos glanced over to Sparatus and Valern, who both seemed to relent with a sigh. "There is one…" Tevos began. "The Council would like to extend the offer of membership to the Unified Earth Government as an Associate Species."
"I assume that this would include the UEG signing into the Treaty of Farixen and abide by Council law?" The President asked, already knowing the answer.
"Yes." Tevos nodded.
"I'm afraid that will not be possible, then." The President shook his head. "Under the Treaty of Farixen, a vast majority of the UNSC Navy's cruiser and carrier fleet would have to be mothballed and scrapped, limiting our defenses. Similarly, in regards to A.I., the UEG would be obligated under your laws to forego any research into artificial intelligence, which has become an integral part of our society. Cities all across Human Space would be left without the A.I. that keep their infrastructure running properly, and the UNSC Navy would lose the electronic warfare defenses that Smart A.I. provide. Not to mention that your laws regarding genetic and biomechanical engineering would make me, as well as every member of the UNSC Military outlaws, as all UNSC servicemen receive genetic and cybernetic augmentation to a certain degree."
"You genetically modify your soldiers?" Sparatus asked, sounding disgusted.
"Our FTL travel mandates that our soldiers are kept in cryostasis for long-distance jumps between systems." The President explained. "In order to make this process easier, military personnel are given limited genetic augmentation. All commissioned officers of the UNSC also receive neural implants, allowing us to directly interface with computer systems. By joining the Council as an associate race, mankind would have to declare well-over half of its population illegal, and what would you have me do then? Round up veterans with genetic modifications and shoot them? Imprison them? Extradite billions to the Citadel to face trial for something they had no say in? All augmentation in the UNSC military and outside the military is strictly voluntary under the Mortal Dictata Act, and Humanity is determined by behavior, outward appearance, or form."
After a moment of consideration, Tevos turned to Sparatus. "Perhaps an… exception could be made? It is certainly far too much to ask of a species to completely forego their culture for ours, and it is not our place to ask this. We could create a new form of connection to the Council. An Observant Power of sorts."
"Tevos, you cannot be serious…" Sparatus sighed.
"Our laws were drafted under the assumption that Mass Effect technology was the only logical progression of technology." Tevos explained. "As you can see, this is not the case. What right do we have to ask these Humans to abide by laws that would cause them to regress, technologically and socially?" Before Sparatus could answer, she continued. "We don't have that right."
"I agree, Tevos." Valern nodded.
Sparatus sighed. "Will you be sharing your technology, President Yevgeny?"
"No. Not in regards to our military technology, at the very least." The President admitted.
"Why not?" Sparatus asked, mandible flared.
"I would think the Turians would understand the dangers of giving a species technology before they are culturally and socially ready for it." The President retorted.
"This is hardly a concern for us to be addressing now." Tevos intervened before this spiraled into an argument between Sparatus and the President. "Mister President, the Council has come to an agreement. We will make an exception and allow Humanity to remain exempt from the Treaty of Farixen, as well as our laws regarding biological, genetic, and cybernetic augmentation. The only stipulations Humanity would be required to abide by would be our Sentient Rights Charter, the diplomatic proceedings of the Citadel, and allow Council fleets to periodically patrol regions of your space containing Mass Relays."
The President sighed. He truthfully was not expecting the Council to make an offer like this. "This is outside the scope of my power. It will have to be left up to a Senate vote."
"I understand." Tevos nodded. "With that out of the way, I am interested in your species. How many colonies have you founded? Where is your homeworld? What is it like?"
The President took a breath, knowing full well that the Council would be stunned by his next few sentences. "The UEG has established over eight hundred colonies, which are divided up into Inner and Outer Colonies." He saw Sparatus' mandibles widen at that. "The Human population has just reached forty billion last year."
Continuing, he began to elaborate on Earth. "Our species comes from Earth, a garden world in the Orion Arm of the galaxy. The UEG Senate and Colonial Administration Authority are housed there, while the UNSC's High Command is housed on Reach, our second-largest colony world."
"You've found eight hundred garden worlds?" Tevos asked, amazed
"Not exactly…" The President explained. "Many of our colonies are on small moons for mining operations, or on worlds still undergoing terraforming procedures."
"Spirits…" Sparatus muttered. "How long has your species been spacefaring?"
"The first Humans set foot on our moon just under six hundred years ago." The President explained.
"Impressive…" Tevos admitted. "Now, I understand that you've already agreed to the Ceasefire, but would you be willing to sign a preliminary peace treaty without joining the Council as an Observant Power, Simply for the sake of lessening the tensions?"
"Of course." The President nodded.
XXXXX
January 28, 2532
Presidium Tower, Citadel
The President stepped up to address the Council. He was preparing to unveil the Senate's decision on joining the Council as an Observer, and the crowd of reporters and civilians was even larger as a result. "Mister President…" Tevos began. "Has your Senate come to a decision?"
"They have…" He nodded, keying the small datapad he held in his hand, bringing up the vote. "With a vote of 1137 to 1083, the Senate of the Unified Earth Government has agreed to join the Council as an Observer." Saddened that he was forced to cut off the murmurs and soft applause that had washed over the crowd, he continued. "So long as two prerequisites are met by the Council."
"This being?" Tevos asked, surprised to see that Humanity had agreed to join the Council.
"The Senate requests that matters of UEG Colonial Security be left to the UNSC. Meaning, the UNSC retains its ability to answer to threats to Human space as they see fit, and the Council respect our sovereignty in that regard."
After looking to Valern and Sparatus, both nodding in response, she responded. "That seems a fair enough request. And the second?"
"The UEG be notified of any archeological discoveries regarding the civilizations that came before us, and be allowed to send our own research teams to assist in their understanding. Of course, the UEG will offer the same courtesy so long as the sharing of this discovery does not directly put the safety of the UEG and its citizens at risk."
Glancing to Sparatus and Valern again, both nodded. "Agreeable." Tevos smiled. "Is that all?"
"Indeed, Councilor." The President nodded.
"Then, I am happy to welcome Humanity to the galactic community." Tevos' smile broadened. "We've already set aside space on the Presidium for an embassy, and your people will be free to travel to the Citadel, and all corners of Council Space pending further negotiations."
XXXXX
February 9, 2532
CASTLE Base, Reach
Admiral Cole stepped out of the Pelican that had ferried him planetside, finding himself standing in the center of a massive research complex under the control of ONI. With his promotion to Fleet Admiral, and the news that the Senate Armed Services Committee was considering him for the position of Chief of Naval Operations, the Office had requested his presence here. For what, he truly had no idea.
After arriving, a pair of scientists wearing the ONI emblem on their shoulders led him deep into the facility, where he found himself standing in a conference room with a group of people that he never expected to be in the same room together. There was Admiral Parangosky at the head of the conference table, Colonel Ackerson off to her right and staring down at a datapad, and Doctor Catherine Halsey standing to her left, reading over a veritable stream of data on her own datapad. On the end of the table opposite Parangosky, there was Admiral Rich, watching the almost palpable tension in the conference room.
"Thank you for coming, Admiral Cole." Parangosky said, looking up from the table. "With your recent promotion, it's time to bring you up to speed."
"Of course, Admiral." Cole nodded, stepping over and standing beside Admiral Rich.
"Now…" Parangosky sighed, swiping a hand across the holographic interface on her side of the conference table, causing a projection to appear in the center of the table. It showed a world that Cole was unfamiliar with, labeled as 'Onyx'. "This is Onyx, a world that officially does not exist. Beneath its surface is, arguably, the most important discovery in all of Human history."
Cole watched as the hologram seemed to peel the crust layer away from the planet, showing a metallic shell several thousand kilometers in diameter. Frankly, he couldn't believe it. "You are familiar with the Forerunners, yes?" Parangosky asked, looking to Cole, who simply nodded. "The crust of Onyx experiences no tectonic shifting, due to the planet's nature. It is not a natural stellar formation… rather, it is a latticework of Forerunner drones that ONI has designated 'Sentinels'. Trillions of them."
Cole continued to listen as Parangosky ran through her explanation. "These drones appear dormant, awaiting an activation signal of some kind. A recent expedition into the core of this world has unearthed a rather important find: a map room." Parangosky's hand swiped over the interface again, peeling away another layer of the planet's projection. This showed a massive antechamber with a single red point in the center. "This is a Slipspace rift, precisely twenty three centimeters in diameter. From what we've gathered from Forerunner databanks on Onyx's surface, this rift leads to what they referred to as a 'shield world', a massive micro-dyson sphere contained in the Slipstream. We believe that we might very well be able to open this rift with our technology, ushering in an unthinkable leap in Human technological achievement."
"You said we accessed these databanks?" Cole asked, slightly confused. "How?"
"Forerunner relics seem to respond to Human interaction incredibly well. It seems that with a simple touch, we can unlock almost all of their systems." Parangosky explained. "Almost as if this technology was left for us to discover. In large part, we have you to thank for this discovery, Admiral Cole." That certainly got his attention. "ONI uncovered Forerunner relics on Aephus, leading us directly to Onyx's true nature. You may have just propelled mankind to the next stage in our technological evolution."
Cole let out a sigh. Frankly, this was all almost too much to take in at once. As a Vice-Admiral, he had access to some information regarding the Forerunners, but this was beyond the scope of anything he had ever seen. The sheer thought that this technology had laid dormant in UNSC space for the better part of the past forty years was… terrifying. "What do you need from me?" Cole asked, composing himself.
"Simply put?" Parangosky began, sighing. "ONI will be requisitioning your Battle Group's Punic-Class Supercarrier, the UNSC Thermopylae, and will be using its Slipspace drive to force this rift open. This is not, however, the only reason you were requested here." Parangosky turned to Halsey. "Doctor?"
Halsey turned to Admiral Cole, a look of indifference on her face. "Admiral, ONI has green-lit a new generation of SPARTANs. I would like to personally screen any servicemen in your Battle Group that show… potential, aged between eighteen and twenty."
"Consider permission granted, Doctor." Cole nodded.
XXXXX
March 15, 2532
Reach, FLEETCOM Complex
"Was the integration successful?" Ackerson asked, stepping through the door of the MJOLNIR laboratories. Various suits of the advanced powered armor were suspended by mechanical arms, various tools and equipment littering rolling carts throughout the lab.
"Yes, Colonel." Doctor Bethany Ayden affirmed with a quick nod. "We've managed to create a stopgap measure to provide the MJOLNIR armor with kinetic barriers equal in strength to standard Turian Military Pattern barriers. It should hold the Program over until we manage to replicate the more… advanced shielding methods Doctor Halsey described."
"Excellent." Ackerson allowed himself a small smirk. The UNSC had access to a very miniscule amount of Element Zero that was recovered from Aephus, and he was glad to see that it was being put to good use. Of course, with potential materials trade with the Council, it would not be long before Humanity had access to a larger pool of this new resource. It would likely be years before the standard ground forces or even ships of the UNSC found themselves equipped with these barriers, but his primary concern was the SPARTAN program. "And the manufacturing process?"
"MJOLNIR is still, by far, one of the largest investments we could make for an individual soldier, but the costs have been reduced by this new element. The metamaterial engineering capabilities of this 'Element Zero' are immense, and we've only just scratched the surface." Ayden answered. "In short, we've managed to reduce costs and production times by a significant margin. We've already begun manufacturing on the twenty five suits you requested for the Program's trial run."
"Good… keep up the good work, Doctor." Ackerson smiled, allowing her to return to her work. As he turned his attention to his datapad, writing up an update for Admiral Parangosky, he saw a message from Halsey blink a notification on his screen. Curious, he tapped the notification and opened the message.
Contained within, he saw the list of names that he had been waiting for. There were fifty prospects that Halsey had found, each of them far exceeding their comrades in both physical test scores and their cognitive and psychological testing. Unsurprisingly, a vast majority of the prospects were pulled from the ranks of the ODSTs. At the very bottom of the list was the notably shorter roster of the SPARTAN-IIs that had been selected to train the next generation.
The list was short and simple, made up of some of the best that Halsey's original program had produced: Alice-130, Douglas-042, Jerome-092, Kurt-051, and Adrianna-111. He had is reservations about working with SPARTAN-IIs, but he was directly ordered by Parangosky to submit to Halsey's suggestions in this matter. The last thing he would ever consider would be to go against the wishes of CINCONI… that was tantamount to both figurative and literal suicide.
March 16, 2154
Sur'Kesh, STG Headquarters
Professor Kin Sikesh pored over the data again and again. His research and development division with the Special Tasks Group had specifically been assigned this position by the Dalatrass, and they had made virtually no headway. They were tasked with better-understanding the method by which the Humans traversed the stars, and were given access to sensor data taken from ships of the line, as well as the Citadel, in order to do so. Simply put, the STG had hit a dead end.
The sheer amount of power that it would take to seemingly tear a hole in space and time itself was immense, and these Human vessels seemed to have a power output several times that of even the largest Council vessels. From where he was standing, it would take a complete technological reset for the Council to ever truly understand the Humans' method of FTL travel. Sure, it was slower, but they didn't seem to rely on constant refueling for long-distance jumps. Their ships could seemingly just point themselves in the general direction of their destination, tear a hole in the very fabric of the universe, and arrive there some time later. To the untrained eye, it would seem to be little more than magic, but Sikesh knew better.
He knew damn well that in order to understand even the most basic aspects of this method of travel, they would not only need access to functional models of this technology, but the infrastructure to power those models. At best, they might be able to power a weak Human FTL drive… might. Element Zero Cores simply did not have the power output to meet the basic requirements for this method of FTL, and likely never would even if they had somehow managed to avoid the issue of entropy. To achieve what the Humans had, it would require a near-complete technological reset and possibly centuries of research. By that point, the Humans would likely advance to the point of near-godhood.
Hell, even if by some miracle STG managed to recover a working model of this FTL drive, it would likely not end well. The Humans had demonstrated rather clearly that they were willing to go to any length to keep their technology a closely-guarded secret. They were willing to vaporize a Turian research facility to keep navigational data out of their hands. He could only imagine the lengths the Humans would go to if something like an FTL drive was stolen.
Truthfully, from his perspective, the best chance the Council had at getting their hands on this technology was to keep the Humans close, and convince them to help develop it. It was wishful thinking, given the botched first contact, but it was the closest thing they had to a fighting chance of ever matching the UNSC's capabilities.
He had been following the news ever since the First Contact War had broken out, and it had certainly shaken things up in the Council. There were rumblings from the Turians that they would be summarily ignoring the Treaty of Farixen, and there were confirmed reports that the Hierarchy had been shaken up quite vigorously. The small sect of Turian society that wished to bring about a shift in doctrine away from the regimented, predictable patterns they had set themselves in were now finding themselves heard. The Salarian Union had already begun investing more into their shipbuilding capabilities, as well as bolstering STG's funding. The Asari had even begun ramping up the training of Asari Commandos, as well as their own shipyards and dreadnought fleet. He had no doubt that these Humans, now in the presence of a greater galactic community, would be doing the same. They were still a rogue element, much of their potential was an unknown. If there was one thing that the STG had learned to be very cautious around, it was the unknown.
And there was one unknown that stood out among all of the others when it came to these Humans: Just why they had, even by the loosest sense of the word, "joined" the Council. They could have easily negotiated complete independence, and possibly even forced a complete surrender from the Council if they continued the war. Yet, instead, they chose to settle on a compromise, joining the Council as an Observer so long as they could continue AI research, genetic and cybernetic augmentation, and maintain a navy independent of the Treaty of Farixen. None of it made sense.
Sighing, Sikesh turned his attention back to the data on his terminal, mentally steeling himself to beat his head against the figurative wall as he tried to unravel the mysteries of these newcomers.
A/N:
Alright, it's 3 A.M. and I've been binge-writing for this lately. This is probably the most fun I've had writing a fic in quite some time. Halo really is a goldmine for potential stories and characters. Really makes you wonder why nobody's made a movie in the Halo universe (We almost had a Neil Blomkamp Halo film, and that would have been fantastic).
And yeah, I made a bit of a chronological error in the Prologue. It should be fixed now. (When you Slipspace so hard that your fleet accidentally goes back in time).
Review time (I'm focusing on the questions for this one. Sweet Jesus, the amount of reviews on these chapters is getting hard to keep up with):
Jmaster9999- There will be many secret projects, my dude. There's a reason ONI plays such a massive role in this story.
Everyone who didn't want the UNSC to become an Associate to the Council- I understand that many of you do not wish for the UNSC to become a member of the Council, which is precisely why I did not do this. As an Observer Power, the UNSC is only obligated to follow the most basic of Council law. Things like basic Sentient rights, respecting the Council's diplomatic process, all that good stuff. The only real concession that the UNSC made was allowing the Council to patrol a single system within their space, due to it containing a Mass Relay. The UNSC will retain all of its sovereignty and independence from the Council in practice. This would be an awfully short story if all I did was have the UNSC vaporize the Citadel and blitz through the rest of the galaxy, reducing every colony they found to rubble from orbit.
Lord Halcyon- I'll say this much: I greatly prefer Bungie's original vision for the Halo universe to 343's.
Helyanweh- I did consider removing the Forerunners from the story, but there's a small issue with that in my opinion. The Forerunners and their influence over Humanity are an integral part of the Halo universe. Hell, it was the driving force behind almost all of the games to a certain degree. From Guilty Spark recognizing Chief as Bornstellar, all the way to the terminal entries showing Humanity's true origins. In short, it's not Halo without the things that built the Halos.
Nipplegunz- The Krogan and Quarians will both play a rather large role for the Humans in this story, don't worry. As for the funding a rebellion bit… I do love me some proxy wars.
EzraSmanlovesHalo- The UNSC already has something very comparable to Medi-Gel in its function, being Biofoam. In some ways, it'd actually be superior. I mean, for God's sake, Romeo had his chest cavity smashed in by the sharpened end of a Gravity Hammer from a Brute Chieftain. Buck just shoots some Biofoam in there, and next thing you know Romeo's on a plasma turret gunning down Covenant left and right.
CReaper210- I'm not going to give anything away regarding the Covenant other than this: The galaxy is nearly identical to that which can be found in the Halo universe.
Alex9996- Don't worry, I'll be expanding on politics and technology much more in the future. I've started to cut back on the technological and political exposition early on in my stories because I have this nasty habit of infodumping, so I'm trying out a new strategy with this one.
Talon2007- From my understanding, in order for a First Contact situation to happen, a vessel would have to approach a planet uninvited. It's not like the Humans in ME Canon invited the Turians to Shanxi, or the Humans in Star Trek invited the Vulcans to Earth. Hopefully this chapter cleared up some of the reasoning behind the UNSC's mobilization and response to the destruction of the Trailblazer.
Similarly, the accidental destruction of a single, small colony is not equivalent to genocide. Would you consider the U.S. Marines dropping mortars on a Vietnamese village in the 60s genocide? Probably not. The UNSC also never set foot on Palaven, they invaded a colony in the same Cluster as Palaven, yes, but they were there to destroy ONI's probe and blockade the planet. Not to kill off the local population.
Esplode- I'm afraid I don't understand what this review is trying to say. I can't tell if this is a list of FTL speeds, a list of FTL ranges, or what.
Everyone else (Sorry, it's hard to keep up with all of the reviews and write responses to them when you get like 30 per chapter)- I really appreciate all of the criticisms, correction of my own idiotic errors (a la Cole's time traveling adventure), and praise you guys have been giving this story. Seriously, it's awesome.
And for everyone who reads my other fics, I promise I'm working on updates for the others. It takes some time, and my new job has been kicking me in the balls lately.
As Always,
-TallYapflip, the obscenely tall Unggoy
