Million chapter 4
Hello again. Hope everyone is alright and going well. Am still looking for an artist if anyone is keen.
Things are speeding up with study over here so chapters might be fewer and further between sorry.
Please please please, if any of you either want to Beta read or know someone who would want to beta read, please just ping me a message, I really need someone to talk to about this because things are going to get big in the story, and I have no one to discuss it with.
The year 2172 was a major year in the history of the galaxy.
Ever since the Great Martian War of 1890, the governments of Earth had been united in not permitting alien life on earth. Even after first contact and the Batarian Crisis, the C.A.F. had remained steadfast in its laws of no aliens being allowed to set foot on earth or within the Sol system.
At the same time, the Galactic Council made it clear, that while humans were permitted on the Citadel, in the face of their actions during the Batarian Crisis, an official embassy was out of the question, and no Human military vessels were to be permitted within the Veil.
This changed with the signing of the Turian-Human Alliance at Articus station. The official start of cooperation between the Turian and Human races.
The treaty was of vital importance to both species for different reasons.
Thousands of years of militaristic culture among the Turians meant that there were few Turians who considered such tasks as farming as honourable work meaning the Turians had been forced to trade weaponry and vessels for food stocks. As a result, the Turian economy was sinking steadily further and further into difficulties as the demand for military products dropped.
The C.A.F. on the other-hand, was also finding itself in difficulties. With thousands of colonies to protect the C.A.F. was faced with two main problems, the first was the conducting of anti-piracy patrols, there simply were not enough men or ships even with the aid of the colony defence fleets. The other issue was trade. The Galactic Trading Company (a private trading corporation suspiciously similar to the British East India Company of the 17/1800s complete with its own fleets and defence forces) was maintaining trade, but even they were struggling to break into the Galactic market. Humans were still limited on the citadel and were not permitted an embassy.
The Treaty of Articus decreed that a large portion of human space bordering with Hierarchy territory would convert from growing and exporting levo crops to dextro, and in return, the Turians fleets would assist in patrolling selected regions of human space. The Turians would also provide for a human embassy on the citadel and military cooperation between the two solidified. At the announcement of the treaty signing, two declarations were made that astounded Citadel media. The first, was the construction a joint Human/Turian Cruiser, the "Union". The first ship with combined Turian/Human crew and design.
The second thing was the C.A.F. formally inviting the Turian treaty negotiation team, along with their families, various members of the hierarchy and press to come for a formal ten day visit to earth.
Seilla Harranus sighed as she flopped onto her bed.
School was boring, it wasn't her fault that Fastus was talking during class yet she still got the blame because he was trying to talk to her.
She shuddered, he was such a creep of a Turian, and his penchant for bullying the younger students absolutely incensed her.
She stood and made her way to her desk, her talons tapping over her datapad of homework. No sense in leaving it, "best to get it done", as her father like to say.
Her omni-tool pinged and she opened it to see the excited face of her best friend Lania, her blue delicate face positively agleam (how did Asari manage to be so expressive without mandibles?) with excitement.
"Have you heard the news?!" she squealed.
Seilla winced and lowered the volume to compensate for her friends excited tone. "Heard what?" she asked, wracking her brain for what new crush her friend must have developed.
"Humans are being allowed to live on the Citadel!" came the excited reply, "Oh some of those humans can be so damn cute!"
Seilla sighed, her mandibles fluttering in long suffering patience.
"Lania, come on, just because you saw one male on the presidium that one time!"
"Seilla, you're so unromantic!" came the indignant reply.
Seilla was about to reply when another message came in, notifying her of an incoming call.
Her eyes widened as she saw the sender.
"Sorry Lania, got to go!" she called before severing the connection and opening the incoming call.
Her father looked up at her from the screen on her omni-tool.
"Hello Seil." He smiled.
"hello father," Seilla responded respectfully.
Her father chuckled. "I'll be home soon," his mandibles flared happily, "I couldn't reach your mother so made sure to contact you in case the locks were mysteriously hacked again."
He arched a brow plate and Seilla let out an embarrassed trill, "Dad! I said I was sorry, I just wanted to try a new program!"
Her father merely laughed, and severed the connection.
Seilla stood for a few moments, her father was finally coming home, he'd been gone for almost two years, only coming home occasionally for a few days at a time.
She knew he'd been involved with the humans because of the funny stories he told her and her mother over vidcoms. But he was coming home. Hopefully for more than a few days this time.
She tried to contact her mother's omni-tool but as she started to call the apartments front door hissed open and the familiar sounds of her mother's talons on the floor drifted down the hall.
Her mother poked her head through the door, "everything alright Seil?" she smiled. Seilla grinned, her mandibles flaring wide in excitement. "Dad's coming home!" she (almost) squeaked.
Her mother's eyes lit up! "When did he say he'd be back!?" she stared at her omni-tool, grimacing as she heard a call come in. "Tarc," she hissed, "I'm sorry Seil. I have to go in, there was a crisis on Zachera Ward, some stupid gang fight, so of course we all have to stay late."
Seil sighed, sometimes having a mother who worked in C-Sec wasn't as fun as it sounded.
"What about Dad?" she asked,
Her mother's face fell, "Tell him I'll be back as soon as I can. You can order out and we'll all talk as soon as I get back ok?"
"Sure mum."
"Ok, back soon ok?"
"Sure."
The door hissed closed and Seilla sighed. If only she could get both her parents under one roof together for more than a few hours.
She turned back to her desk and began to work through her homework. It wasn't as hard as she had thought and she was finished and playing with the mods on her assault rifle when she heard the door hiss open again, a tumult of voices shouting questions then silence as the doors hissed closed again, followed by the deep tired rumble that could only be her father.
Tossing her rifle (safely) on her bed she ran down the hall to the door where her father stood, his bag resting by his feet as he leant against the door.
She could see he was shattered, his plates dull and colony marks in need of a good touch up.
"Dad? Is everything alright?"
Her father looked up and smiled tiredly, "Hello Seil, yes I'm fine. Just reporters outside."
"Reporters? Why?"
"We signed the treaty Seil. Is your mother home?"
"No, there was an emergency at work."
Her father huffed and chuckled quietly, "Of course there is." He looked up, his mandibles slack with lack of sleep. "Care to help me with my bag?"
Seilla pulled up her father's pack and took it through to the living room.
Her father sighed as slid down onto the couch.
Seilla grabbed a glass and filled it with his favourite brandy as she sat down opposite him. She had never seen her father this tired. It wasn't right, what had he been doing?
The silence filled the room, billowing with weariness, stress and curiosity all together, the air was thick with it, seeming to drip down Seilla's throat as she wondered how to ask what had happened, her keen green eyes (as green as her fathers) exploring every line of her father's face for a hint, a subtle clue as to where he had been and what he had been doing with the humans.
The minutes stretched into an hour, and finally another half hour before the door once again slide open and her mother hurried in.
Her father had fallen asleep, but the moment the door had moved his eyes had snapped open and now he stood facing her mother, his mate.
Seilla sat, unnoticed for the moment as the two most important people in her life ran at each other, all sense of formality and protocol vanished in the moment of reunion. Theirs was one of those special forms of love that one only encounters very rarely in life, even in a galaxy as full as ours. The sacred breed of love that time doesn't alter, or arguments damage. The kind of love born and not recognised, the kind that grows slowly, but blossoms in one moment of burning, terrifying honesty brought about by circumstance out of our feeble control and tempered and solidified into something stronger than any material known to the galaxy in the cool quietness and mild confusion that often follows such events. Yes, they fought, yes, they bickered, but now in that one moment, Seilla could see their love shine so bright not even the Primarch and all the hierarchy could not have stopped them holding each other close, their foreheads touching, their purrs filling the room, sweeping all the stress and curiosity that had previously filled it before them, filling the apartment, their home with the sense of deep familial love that only those whose hearts truly belong to one another have ever felt. Seilla, though young, was painfully aware of that love, and knew she was part of it as her parents pulled her into their embrace.
They could have held that embrace for days, or minutes, no one cared, but finally her father coughed and eased the embrace apart.
"Seilla, Varuna my love," he led them both back to the couch, "We need to talk."
Seilla sat forward, her curiosity flooding back in full force, with some of its friends for back up in case she should get ideas again.
Her father cleared his throat and got straight to the point.
"We have signed a treaty with the humans. But not just any treaty, I can't tell you all the details until the Primarch and the Human Prime Minister make their announcements but I can tell you one thing. The three of us will be heading to Earth."
Silence was the only answer as Seilla and her mother struggled to comprehend what they had heard.
"What are you saying Quintus?" breathed her mother, "The humans are opening up? Or are we to be basically hostages?"
Her father shook his head, "You never will forgive them for knocking you out at 314, will you?" he chuckled, "No we will not be hostages, the whole negotiation team and our families have been invited to come for a ten-day tour of the planet before a Consul is sent."
"So, we'll be guests on the human's home planet?" asked Seilla, almost on the edge of her seat with excitement.
"That's right, it's an official visit."
"So, when do we go?"
"Tomorrow, we'll be leaving from docking D23."
"What are we supposed to bring?"
"Anything we wish, and no that does not include your assault rifle Seilla! Pack your best wear, no armour, you don't belong to a regiment yet and the humans are our allies, no need to be rude by gearing for a planetary assault!"
"Yes dad"
Seilla stared at the strange vessel in front of her, it was huge, the size of a decent cruiser, but instead of the standard angular winged shape of a normal Turian Cruiser, this vessel was all smooth lines and fins, making it look like a particularly vicious kind of fish, the name "Union" written upon its bow in both the human and the Turian alphabet.
The docking bay was surrounded by swarms of Citadel press, held at bay by ranks of C-Sec officers. Groups of curious or furious civilians joined the press, their shouts muffled by the security fields.
Her parents, dressed in their formal uniforms turned and smiled, "Come on Seil," her father murmured, "we have to get aboard."
Seilla tore her eyes from the ships smooth dark lines and entered the vessel. Where normally there would be a decontamination cycle, it was determined that decontaminating the VIPs might not be the best idea.
A few hours later, once they were all settled in a cabin (there weren't many with it being a warship) Seilla and her family were invited to make their way to the observation lounge as the Union left the citadel.
Seilla hadn't had many opportunities to leave the citadel, other than the occasional visits to family back on Palaven, as result, while her parents mingled with the rest of the delegation (none of whom had child of her age much to her relief) on the run up to the first Mass Relay, Seilla subtlety braced herself against the wall (Spirits it'd be so embarrassing to fall over in front of everyone!"
However, there was more than just one relay between the Citadel and Earth. Over the course of the trip, Seilla rapidly became bored of the political conversations her parents her having. She understood the importance of politics full well. She merely struggled with the idea of talking about it all day every day.
The end result was the Seilla knew every inch of the "Union" from bridge to stern. When the joint Human/Turian crew twigged that she wasn't just some spoilt brat, and was genuinely interested in how the ship ran, and particularly in the armoury, they were more than willing to talk to her during their times off watch. Seilla was even allowed to watch while the Turian crew were trained with the Human heatrays in one of the hangers. The eerie green flashes of light slicing through the armour on the targets filling her dreams for several days. She also learnt a lot more about humans (both crews were still learning about each other as well, so it was mutual). The fact that that there seemed to be completely different cultures all on the same planet. The fact that they had different gods (or none), the fact that while all spoke Galactic standard and the human language English, some spoke more languages like Kurt, the ships human cook. The tall, brown-crested human whose stomach seemed to enter the room long before he did, and whose waist was non-existent. Seilla liked talking with him, his accent for galactic standard was strange but oddly soothing and his willingness to laugh at even the most awful jokes was infectious. The two rapidly became inseparable, Kurt even going as far as to commandeer a chair from the mess and placing it next to his stove in the galley so they could talk more without Seilla finding herself in the way.
One morning Seilla was sitting on her throne in the galley, watching as Kurt made yet another strange human dish called "Pancakes" in a huge saucepan while being closely (yet surreptitiously) watched by the curious Turian cooks. "Kurt?" Seilla suddenly asked,
"Yes Seilla?"
"I don't mean to be rude, but who is that man in the uniform in that holoframe on the wall?"
"Ah, tsat ist se Kaiser, Kaiser Fredrick se Eleventh"
"An Emperor?"
"Yes, tso to be honest, it's not so much an Empire nowadays."
"Why not?"
"Ve haf not so much need for Empire's now a days. Se Kaiser is tsere to make sure tsat tse government dost not get out of control."
"Is he similar to the King of Britain?"
"He ist exactly the same, the King of Britain, the Kaiser of Germany and the Tsar of Russia, all have the same job."
"So why the holoframe?"
"Because I serve him, as I serve my country. He ist a symbol for Germany, he ist a gut man. He has fought in conflict and served in politics. He knows vat he ist doing."
Seilla was about to ask another question when piercing whistle that preceded all ship wide announcements echoed through the deck.
"Attention all crew and passengers," came the gruff voice of Captain Lucias Prudentanum, "the "Union" will be exiting the Sol Relay in 30 Earth minutes or 27 Palaven sontums."
Kurt smiled at Seilla, "Vell now, it looks like your adventure ist about to get started eh?"
As the "Union" emerged from the Sol relay, Seilla couldn't help her eyes widening. Before her lay the Sol Home Fleet. The Churchill and Bastion class battle stations spaced evenly around the relay, ready to take all threats, the Home Fleet drawn up in Parade formation, headed by the Galaxy renowned "Thunderchild II" (the same that had led the fleet during the Batarian Crisis) the ships gleamed dully like a polished collection of beloved blades (her father's friend Titus Vakarian had a huge collection back on Palaven).
Beside her, her father stood rigidly while her mother supressed a shudder.
Seilla on the other hand, stood in stunned silence. The sheer number and size of the ships. The formations of Spiteful class fighters moving gracefully into escort position around the "Union" alongside the Artimus class frigates amazed the young Turian. Even the Turian 1st fleet did not have vessels this big.
A few of the other members of the delegation murmured quietly amongst themselves but Seilla noticed her father silently taking her mother's hand in his, unnoticed by those around them.
Seilla knew both her both her parents had strong feelings about the humans, but while her father was keen to learn as much as he could and ensure the Hierarchy benefitted from its relationship with the new race, her mother maintained a strong dislike for humanity, not that she'd ever admit to one.
Seilla couldn't understand her mother's dislike, yes humans could be loud from what little she knew of them (few had made to the Citadel due to the Councils open distrust of humanity since the Batarian Crisis), but that still didn't explain her dislike. The only clue she had was when her father joked about the Humans knocking her mother out. Seilla was old enough to not take him literally but even so she couldn't picture humans ever getting the drop on her mother, spirits sake she couldn't even get out of bed without her mother hearing it. Her mother worked in C-Sec anyway as long as Seilla could remember. But her father was of a navy background and now worked in the diplomatic division, that didn't explain how he met her mother. But when she asked, her parents brushed her off or just outright told her it was a story for another time. Maybe this trip to the human's home world might clear the air.
The "Union" began its decent through earth's atmosphere, heading down in a fiery arc towards the cool green and blue planet below. Looking through the window, Seilla could make out the strange green islands the Humans called Great Britain. They looked so small, just two green shapes on a huge planet, in an even larger galaxy, and yet its people and their descendants populated huge swathes of the galaxy.
Their arrival in London was highly publicised, the streets around the Crystal Palace Space and aero-port thronged with the press and public. A column of official Government Rolls Royce Sky cars, specially modified for Turians collected the delegation from the "Union's sealed docking bay and flew high above the city. The city stretched like a glittering chest of quartine with the dark blue of the Thames winding amidst the city. The city's countless parks and tree lined avenues filled with humans enjoying their day with their families.
As the sky cars came lower as they approached Kensington Palace (where they would be staying), the guide in their car, a nervous looking human in a pinstriped suit who had been introduced as William, began to point out the various sites they would be visiting, the Tower of London, the Martian memorial on Primrose hill, Buckingham Palace and Westminster. As he pointed out Westminster, Big Ben struck ten and the great bell rang forth the hour across the city.
Seilla had been keeping her curiosity in check, determined to be a good Turian and not blurt out questions like a fledgling, but as the car slowed and stopped just inside the front gate of palace, she couldn't help her eyes growing wide at the sight of so many humans.
The humans in question held themselves completely still, their red and black uniforms with their black furry hats looking so out of place in this modern city. As the Turians gathered together in front of the palace, a loud bellow arose from the nearest human, this one was different from the others only in his lack of weapon (he held a stick!) and the gold pattern on his upper sleeve. Seilla's translator struggled to track his voice and all she wound up hearing was "'OOOONNNNNAAAARRRRRGUAAARRR! PRRRREEEEEEESSSSSEEENN…UMS!"
The Delegation watched as the humans (at least two hundred of them) in perfect unison to rival even the famed 1st Legion snapped their weapons from their shoulders, holding them out in front of themselves, the barrels pointing upwards, the blades on the end of the heatrays shining like polished chromous.
Seilla was the first to notice the handful of humans waiting on the steps of the palace. The one in the middle was the most noticeable, he was tall (for a human) and stood in a bright red and black uniform like the soldiers in front of her. Unlike the soldiers however, his head was bare and his red jacket had a dark blue sash cutting diagonally across it. He also had a number of medals. The young female beside him was in a formal blood-blue long cut dress in an obvious human take on the current Turian formal style. After racking her brain for a second, Seilla recognised both as being the King and Queen of Britain, (Wait, it's only the King, what's his bond mate's title? Duchess of Edunbor?).
As the Turian Delegation stood stoically in front of the Human Honour guard, the King and his bond mate made their way down to great their guests. Seilla was amazed when the King stepped forward and shook her father's hand firmly, and even more astonished when he father shook his hand back firmly and with the pleased chirrup he reserved for when greeting old friends from his navy days.
As the Human King lead the delegation inside the Palace, Seilla could only stare at her father, how on Palaven did her father know the ruler of half the Human race? This visit was going to be even more interesting than she had thought!
OK, first off, I'd like to apologise for taking so long. University is not fun, and writer's block is even worse.
Now then, THIS IS A VERY IMPORTANT QUESTION! You, the readers can choose whether the next chapter tells more about Seilla's visit to earth and does a bit of character development and describing earth in the future, or, we can skip a few years and carry on with the story. In order to vote just type what you want into the comments and send it through, which ever course gets the most votes gets done! The cut off point for the suggestions in the 30th of September!
"SPOILER!" Seilla is going to be the main character for the rest of the story so I hope she made a good first impression.