Turian Military Outpost 4627

May 2, 2089

Talerra rubbed the bridge of her nose, one of many expressions asari seemed to share with humans. "Commander, this is a diplomatic mission from a previously uncontacted alien race, not a raiding party."

The Turian patrol officer was unpreturbed. "The ship you are on doesn't match any known database. Regs are clear, I'm to assume hostility."

Talerra's rubbing grew more intense. "Except, seeing as how we've powered down our weapons and are openly having a dialogue with you, we're clearly not in any way hostile."

"Even so, regs are regs." was the officer's reply. Talerra wanted to smash her head against the screen. It figured they'd make first contact with the most inflexible (even by Turian standards) officer in citadel space. This was going to take a minute...

Tim watched the conversation between Talerra (who was acting as translator for the human diplomatic team) and the officer with equal parts amusement and apprehension. On the one hand, it was kind of funny. On the other, if things went wrong on this mission, humanity's introduction to the galactic stage could be permanently damaged. Tim sighed.

"Let's hope this is what goes wrong." he said to his first officer Lisa.

The woman raised an eyebrow at him. "Huh?"

Tim smiled. "The trip has gone smoother than we could've hoped for. Not a single sighting of batarian ships, no complications whatsoever. We're overdue for something to go wrong. So, I'm hoping this is it. I'd rather deal with a diplomatic insult from an idiot officer than have something worse happen later."

Lisa smiled back. "'Overdue'? You believe in luck, then?"

"I believe in probability. On a mission with this many moving parts, something's got to go wrong at some point."

"I don't think that's how it works."

"Yeah, well, I'm the CO, so that means that it works how I say it works until you get off this ship." Tim's smile turned into an amused grin. Lisa was about to fire the next salvo in their verbal battle when Talerra waved for them to come over. The two officers approached the diplomatic team and Talerra. Talerra spoke first. "I've managed to convince our friend that this whole situation is way above his pay grade. He wants to escort us to the nearest Turian colony, where we can make contact with the Turian government, and by extension the Council." Jessica Okoro, the leader of the diplomatic team, spoke next. "I don't see any reason for us to refuse, Major. It may not be exactly as we imagined it, but it will allow us to complete our mission."

"I suspect we don't have much choice in the matter anyway. Our turian friend seems the type to start shooting if we were to attempt to leave." Tom replied. He called out to the pilot. "Set us on a parallel course to our friend from the Council." As the ship moved in compliance with the pilot's directions, Tim and Lisa exchanged a half amused, half nervous glance, both of them thinking the same thing.

They were even more overdue now.

Citadel Council Chambers

April 28, 2089

Altymir Uthbar, chief ambassador of the Batarian Hegemony, approached the private meeting room where the Citadel Council awaited him. The Hegemony government had been spending the past several weeks trying to find their feet and figure out a course of action in the face of this newly encountered species. They had finally decided, and had tasked Uthbar with conveying their intentions to the Council.

Altymir stood before the three aliens and waited for them to speak.

"Ambassador Uthbar, it's so good to see you again." Yinari T'Noiro, the Asari councillor said. Altymir fought the urge to snort. It most certainly was not. Yinari had been on the council when the Batarians had dramatically left the Citadel fifteen years ago, and it had taken every ounce of political capital she had to not get thrown out of office for her failure like the other two councilors. Altymir strongly suspected that the alien loathed him, a feeling which was mutual. Still, she would be the easiest to deal with, as she could be relied upon to act in her own self interest before anything else. Ironically, that meant she might be his strongest ally, depending on how things went.

Altymir responded to the Asari. "Likewise, Councilor." He exchanged nods with the other two councilors, and then the Turian councilor, Galathor Anlian, spoke.

"You requested this meeting, so speak."

"The Hegemony has encountered a new sapient species, and, regrettably, we find ourselves to be at war with them." Altymir said.

There was an awkward silence for a moment at that. The Salarian councilor, Yuzwin Praelot, spoke next. "Assume there is further explanation?"

Altymir spoke gravely. "Yes, councilor. My government will be sending a more detailed report a few hours from now, but it is my duty to inform you now that this new race was encountered travelling through a relay, which had been opened by them in violation of interstellar law. When the private Batarian citizens that encountered them attempted to open a dialogue and make first contact, the unknown species opened fire on them. In the attack, many Batarians were killed, and an unarmed transport vessel was seized. This senseless violence is an act of war against the Hegemony, and we are mobilizing a punitive military expedition."

The three councilors stood in stunned silence as they absorbed the information. Then, Yinari spoke again. "The council must convene privately for discussion. If you would be so kind as to wait outside, ambassador?"

Altymir suppressed an elated smile. They didn't know about it, which meant that the Hegemony's security measures had worked, for once. Even the Salarian seemed surprised. Or at least, he thought that was surprise...hard to tell with Salarians.

"Of course councilors." Altymir turned and left the room.

As the batarian left the room, the three councilors looked at eachother for an awkwardly long moment. Finally, Galathor broke the silence. "Let's make sure we're on the same page here. This is obviously rathar shit, correct?"

Yuzwin gave Galathor the same blank stare he always did, and then spoke. "Metaphor crude, but accurate. Obvious fabrication. Will advise my government to apply intelligence assets in Hegemony space to discover the real story. Until then, advise we take no action."

Galathor was incredulous at that. "No action? Are you serious? What's the point of the Council if we just sit on our hands while a rogue belligerent species attacks an uncontacted one? We should investigate the matter, and then bring them both to the table. The Batarians aren't strong enough to refuse us."

Yuzwin spoke again at that. "May have been true at earlier time, inaccurate now. Intelligence assets report Batarians fleet approaching 65% of combined Council species size. Dramatic increase from when Hegemony broke diplomatic ties. Quality of new ships...questionable due to rushed manufacturing, but quanity is undeniable"

Galthor faltered at that, but he still tried to power on regardless. "That's...more than we might have hoped, but it's still not enough to challenge us."

"Inaccurate. Probability of victory for Batarians in defensive war with the council now approaching twenty-nine percent. Was less than five percent when they broke with council." Yuzwin said.

Galathor changed tactics. "This new species might be able to tip the scales in our favor. We can use that as leverage to force the Batarians to negotiate."

"Unlikely. Batarians aware of risk in two front war. New species is likely of negligible strength." Yuzwin said.

Galathor was gettin annoyed. "That's pure speculation!"

"Gentlemen." Yinari interrupted, "we needn't make a decision this very moment. Let's wait until we have all of the facts before we debate in earnest. Let's declare our intent to investigate." The other two councilors nodded their begrudging agreement. Yinari called the batarian ambassador back in.

Altymir entered the room, expertly hiding his nerves from the Councilors. He approached the trio and waited for them to speak. It was Yinari who spoke first. "Ambassador, we have deliberated, and have ultimately decided that we have little choice but to conduct a full investigation, in which we would request the cooperation of the Batarian Hegemony."

Altymir nodded sagely. "Of course. It's only logical to want to investigate the matter for yourselves. You will naturally have the full cooperation of the Hegemony in this endeavor." He bowed slightly, and the three councilors returned the gesture. Inwardly, Altymir did the Batarian equivalent of an eye-roll. The Council had acted more or less exactly according to his leadership's expectations. It was quite a challenge to convince the Council to do something. Convincing them to do nothing, on the other hand, was very easy indeed. They had tilled the field themselves, now he need only plant the seed.

Citadel Council Space

April 30, 2089

As the Samar sat waiting in line for docking clearance, Tim couldn't help but feel that the awe he felt at seeing this symbol of wondrous alien civilization before him was beginning to wear thin. That something as mundane as the concept of "waiting in line" and "docking clearance" even existed within the minds of beings from a completely separate strain of organic life than him was rather disappointing. He still gave the order to dock at the appropriate clamp when the clearance came.

As the diplomatic team gathered at the Samar's entrance hatch to disembark, along with Tim and an honor guard of rangers, Jessica turned to the people assembled before her and spoke. "We are about to encounter representatives of an alien civilization. I must remind you to please leave the talking to myself and my team, as we have the training for it. As for you, Major, I would ask that you follow the same rule, though of course if you're asked a direct question, answer it. Now, without further ado...let's make history."

The hatch opened, and from it came a trio of rangers. Behind them were the diplomats, the aliens, and Tim. The humans had already gone through the litany of tests and decontamination procedures that naturally came with any (conventional) first contact scenario, so now all that was left was the introductions. The rangers assumed honor guard positions, and diplomatic team descended from the ship. They approached the trio that they now knew to be the council. The two groups stood there for a few heartbeats, taking each other in. Then, the asari councilor spoke.

"Welcome to the Citadel. While the circumstances are...tense...I still must say that it is a great pleasure to be among the first individuals to finally meet you. I am Yinari T'Noiro, I represent the Asari on the Citadel Council."

Jessica gave her best diplomat's smile in response, though Tim was certain she was just as troubled by the Asari's choice of words as he was. "I must agree with your sentiment. It is a pleasure to be a part of such a historic event. I am Jessica Okoro, chosen representative for the human species by our United Nations." The pleasantries continued, with each councilor introducing themselves, and Jessica introducing each of the humans present. The conversation took an abrupt turn when Yinari spoke again. "I must say that we have been anticipating contact with your people for a few days now, and I believe you and your three 'witnesses' will be the final pieces we need to solve the puzzle. We still need your side of the story."

Jessica's diplomatic smile didn't falter. "And why might that be?" The Asari smiled as well. "I can explain everything if you and your people would meet with us privately. I will have to ask you to limit your number of guards to two." Jessica glanced at him politely. Tim was mildly amused at her attempt to pretend she was giving him a choice as her head of security. Not that it would have mattered: if the council wanted them dead at this stage, there was little Tim could do about it, anyway. He spoke. "That would be acceptable."

The asari smiled again. "Excellent. Please, if you would all follow me." The asari and the two other councilors walked off. Tim motion to two of his rangers, and they followed behind the human group. As they entered the private room, Tim was shocked to find himself face to face with a Batarian for the first time since he'd boarded their ship what felt like a decade ago. The implications of the Batarian's presence didn't click with him immediately, but they did with Jessica. She spoke. "Councilors, why is this individual present for our private talks?" The asari made a placating gesture. "This is ambassador Altymir, representative of the Batarian Hegemony, the species with which you unfortunately find yourself...at odds with. He is present so that we can get to the bottom of this unfortunate incident. We ask that the both of you give your version of events."

Jessica's expression was unchanging. "I see."

Yinari turned to the batarian. "Altymir, we've already read your government's statement, but for our friend here's benefit, would you please give us your people's version of events?"

The batarian's expression was just as neutral as Jessica's. "Certainly. Some weeks ago, a small flotilla of private batarian ships was performing a freelance survey of the largely unsettled space between near our territory. They came upon a relay that there records told them was dormant, and yet was clearly open. As opening relays is of course a breach of galactic law, the private group elected to wait and see if the individuals responsible for opening the relay would show themselves, so that they could report them to the proper authorities. The culprit did return to the relay, but to their surprise it was a ship from a as of then undiscovered species. When the captain in charge of the flotilla attempted to make contact with the ship, it opened fire. Caught by surprise, the two smaller ships in the flotilla were damaged and forced to retreat, and the larger ship they were escorting was helpless to resist as it was illegally boarded and seized by the hostile species. The two surviving ships then limped their way back to a batarian port, where they immediately reported the incident to Hegemony authorities. This is where our account of the even ends, as obviously we do not know what transpired on the illegally seized vessel."

The humans and their alien compatriots all stared at the batarian, dumbfounded by the blatant lie. Yinari simply turned to the human delegation and asked "May we here your version of events, please?"

Jessica spoke carefully. "I'm afraid that almost everything in the ambassador's statement is an abject falsehood. Our version of events is thus: The UNS Yuri Gagarin was a military craft on a mission of exploration through the recently opened relay. And, yes, we do freely admit to having opened a relay. Obviously it would have been impossible for us to know we were breaking the rules of an organization whose existence we were not even aware of. Regardless, the Yuri was on a return trip from its mission when it came upon three unidentified contacts. The Yuri was almost immediately fired upon, much to the bewilderment of its commanding officer. Nevertheless, he still transmitted his first contact protocol communication package, even as he ordered the crew to charge weapons to defend themselves. The Yuri was able to drive off the two escorting ships and commence a boarding operation. Which we, again, freely admit to, as any galactic law against such would obviously be something we were not aware of. Our very own Major Li here led the operation, seizing control of the ship and rescuing the captives aboard, three of which stand before you here." Jessica gestured to the alien trio.

Altymir laughed. "I assume you have some proof of these baseless accusations?" Jessica smiled humorlessly. "Of course." She gestured to one of her compatriots, who tapped at his tablet briefly before presenting it to the council. Jessica narrated. "This is the infrared footage from one of the Yuri's telescopes. These three shapes are the three batarian ships. We chose this particular angle because it offers a good view of the Yuri's spinal mount, which as you can see is not heated in any way, which would obviously not be the case if the Yuri had opened fire before this moment. You can see the flash from the lead ship as it opens fire. The batarians fired first, I'm afraid."

Ambassador Altymir looked amused. "Ah, and let me guess, this is the best footage your technology can offer us? Some grainy infrared footage? It would be laughably easy to doctor such an image. How long must this farce continue? They obviously have no intention of telling the truth, and I am not willing to waste my time or the Hegemony's time pursuing peace when their side cannot even admit the most basic facts. Not to mention what I suspect their other 'evidence' will be. The word of a Quarian pilgrim, a failed Salarian doctor, and an Asari reject?" at the stares being sent his way he laughed. "Oh yes, I've read the files. While I concede it's possible they were at some point enslaved by rogue elements, they were after all a private entity separate from the Hegemony, there's no way the crew of this 'Yuri' could have possibly have known they were oboard, so don't try to use that as some sort of fabricated justification either."

It was Jessica's turn to laugh. "Is this how the law works in this part of the galaxy? I present evidence, and he can simply say 'it's not real evidence' without being laughed out of court?"

Yinari hastily butt in. "This is not a legal proceeding."

Jessica raised an eyebrow. "Then what, may I ask, is the purpose of this meeting?"

"We are simply trying to get all of the information. This is merely a preliminary hearing. We can discuss these matters in greater detail over the coming days."

"We may be under attack by then." Jessica was legitimately astonished. "Are you not even going to demand a cessation of hostilities? We can't achieve anything diplomatically if our people's are actively at war with each other."

Yinari gave a fake smile. "This is an external matter between two species who are entirely outside of our jurisdiction. While we will happily mediate a peace agreement between yourselves, we will not be intervening at this time." Altymir nodded sagely. "We will, of course, be happy to negotiate a deal once the human's fleet stands down and withdraws from its current position."

Jessica was getting heated. "Those are defensive positions. You can't seriously expect us to leave ourselves wide open for attack in the name of a hypothetical peace you haven't even committed to in writing, can you?"

Altymir gave a condescending smile. "The only thing I expect is that you will continue your impulsive and belligerent activity, heedless of the advice of your elder races, like all youthful species."

Jessica laughed once again, without humor. She turned to the council. "And now we're being patronized. Was there any real purpose to our coming here, or have you already decided it would be too much trouble to prevent the subjugation of my entire species?" The council's faces had a completely blank expression, which Tim had learned was a tell for diplomats that meant they were concealing an emotional reaction. Not a good sign.

Yinari spoke calmly. "We would of course like to establish infrastructure for communication with your species, and would like to establish diplomatic contact with your people, among other things. Things which we can discuss in greater detail tomorrow. It is technically night time at the moment, and I'm sure you are all very tired from your journey. As I said, this was merely a preliminary hearing, which we decided to do immediately upon your arrival due to the urgency of the issue. We can show you to quarters if-"

"Our ship will suit us fine for tonight, thank you." Jessica interrupted. Yinari looked annoyed for a moment but masked it an instant later. "Of course, whatever makes you feel comfortable. You can get acclimated to your new quarters tomorrow."

Jessica smiled another diplomat's smile. "Of course. Now, if you'll excuse us..." She got up to leave, not waiting for permission. The other humans followed her.

Neph walked with the humans, happy to have her helmet for once, so no one could see her decidedly undiplomatic facial expressions. As they distanced themselves from the council on the way back to their ship, Tim spoke first.

"So, that went...poorly."

Talerra snorted. "I'll say. This was an astonishing level of stupidity and inaction, even by Council standards."

Jessica spoke, anger growing in her voice. "They were fishing for reasons not to intervene. That's why they kept that idiot in the room, so he could spout surface-level justifications for them not to intervene. This was a complete waste of time. They never had any intention of helping us."

Hung out to dry by the council. I think there are some people I know who can relate to that. Neph thought with a mix of amusement and despair.

Jessica went on. "I think I'm going to dispatch you back to Earth, Tim. They'll want to know just how completely on our own we really are.

A thought struck Neph. She almost didn't say anything, for fear of them laughing in her face. Then she mentally slapped herself. These are good people. They saved my life. If I can do something to help them, I have to .

Neph spoke. "Umm...I have a suggestion." Everyone stopped and turned to face her, making Neph want to shrink into her boots. Good people good people. Goooood people. Neph cleared her throat. "Um...well, my people aren't part of the council anymore, and...well...you were talking about us earlier Henry, and I just thought...oh, nevermind, it was a stupid idea anyway." Henry caught on first. "Hold on, Neph. Are you saying we should try and contact your people?"

"Um, well, y'know, uh...yes?"

Jessica held her hand up to her chin. "That's...not a bad idea. In fact, I think it's the best thing we could do right now."

Neph blinked. "It is?"

Jessica nodded. "Yes. I strongly suspect we'll be short of friends with the council turning its nose up at us. Courting the Quarians, one of the most powerful non-citadel races, is the logical move."

Neph blinked again, and grew instantly nervous. "Oh, no! I..uh, I didn't mean to get your hopes up! I can't promise that we'll become your allies or something. I don't have that kind of influence..."

Henry's typical enthusiasm came up. "It's fine, we'll need technology and qualified personnel just as much as we'd need ships and soldiers. If anything, we'll need them more now, as I doubt we'll find many sellers in Council space now. Well, not many legitimate ones, anyway."

Tim interrupted. "What about returning to Earth and informing the UN? Wasn't that kind of important?"

Jessica shrugged. "If I'm being honest...not really. For one, the batarian is obviously here to stall for time. I don't think the Hegemony is ready to start the war yet. And, truth be told, I don't think it will make much difference if the UN knows what's going on here or not. Nothing we tell them will enable them to prepare anymore than they already have. The only new information we'd have for them is confirmation of what they already suspect: we're on our own. I think securing some new friends-and their technology-will be a lot more helpful in the long run."

She turned to Henry. "I will stay here with Saito, a few rangers guards, and our alien friends, barring Neph of course. Her absence might have harmed our case before, but seeing as how they clearly never had any intention of giving us a chance in the first place, I doubt it matters much now. Henry will go with Neph and the others to wherever the migrant fleet is and attempt to make contact. Saito and I will try to salvage whatever we can from this disaster, or at the very least buy us some more time."

Henry raised an eyebrow. "What if the council won't let us leave?"

Jessica raised an eyebrow back. "Then you don't get to leave. We don't have any power here, if they want to prevent us from leaving, they can. I doubt they will though, especially since I won't be telling them about the little Quarian vacation you'll be taking on your way back to Earth."

Henry grinned at that. "I like this plan."

Jessica smiled back. "I'm glad. Sorry to throw you into the deep end like this, kid."

Neph didn't know what a "deep end" was, but she could guess the metaphor's meaning. She looked at the young man. She hoped Henry's youth and inexperience wouldn't torpedo human-quarian relations before they even started.

Hey there, sorry my homework is overdue.

In hindsight, giving myself a due date during the busiest time of my life was probably not my brightest idea. Speaking of which, I think I'm going to put a lid on the whole "once a month" thing until said busy time is over for me.

As always, thank you very much for reading, and if you have any thoughts please share them in the reviews.