July 14th, 2399 CE, CSS Emerald, Shanxi System

Admiral Dominic Gunderson was a hardened veteran. Despite his last name, his father had never helped him in his career - not that he wanted him to. And while he would not lie and say that people didn't treat him diferently due to his name, that goodwill was balanced by the fact that he was gay. Being a homosexual in the Commonwealth was frowned upon. It wasn't explicitly illegal, nor was there any sort of official impediments to his sexual orientation... But people didn't take kindly to it. The Commonwealth had a very intensive repopulation program. Having many children was not only desirable due to the many subsidies afforded per child, but it was also propagated as a "patriotic" thing to do. When people found out he was one of those few who wouldn't procreate, their view of him immediately diminished. It didn't stop him from getting where he was now. After graduating on the top of his class, facing multiple combat actions against dissenters and rebel terrorists and putting in the hard work to get his promotions, Gunderson was proud to say that his rank had been earned. It still did not make him any more confident in the action he was about to take. Command had ordered him to keep going and invade the other side of the alien relay. While he now had command of over one hundred and fifty ships, making his the second largest fleet in the entire Commonwealth Navy, short only of the Exclusion Zone/Home Fleet back in Sol, he was very aware of the fact they had absolutely no intel on the enemy's numbers. Sure, they had gotten some information from the terminals in the alien HQ on Shanxi, but they had yet to fully translate the language, and what little they had didn't paint a complete picture. They only knew that there may be other species that these Turians were possibly allied with, and that they had a very large military. He didn't like it. There were too many unknowns for his taste. But he would do his duty. As he sat in his office on the Emerald, he reviewed what information he did have. Their first fight with the Turians proved that the aliens did not have any kind of teleportation tech, as they had been completely unprepared for Garvey's Prydwen Maneuver. However, the enemy had quickly caught up to that, showing an incredible ability to adapt. After that, Dukov's report demonstrated how their Gauss Cannons were useless, with even a ship smaller than her own shrugging off a direct hit. Things were dire. He supposed he could keep doing Prydwens, as the enemy had barely been able to defeat them even while outnumbering them, but that was not a viable strategy. He didn't know how many ships he would be facing, and his orders were to take the nearest enemy colony, however he saw fit. Far too vague for his liking. He HAD been given an unusual amount of autonomy for something like this, so he was hoping he could simply take the Turians to a standstill, and force a diplomatic resolution. He could not see how the Commonwealth could profit from this war. But before he could prevent this madness from continuing, he had to partake in it for a while. They had to first make a show of force, so they could have favorable terms on the negotiating table. And he knew just the person for that job. Right on time, he heard the disgraced officer knock on his door. He stopped drinking his glass of Ol' Flakey and pressed a button on his desk to open it.

"Admiral." Christina Garvey simply said as she entered.

"Rear admiral. How's the head?" He cordially responded.

"Better. I should be combat effective." The woman was still cold as usual.

"Are you sure, Christina? That was a nasty thing you suffered. You were barely conscious when I arrived. If you'd like I ca-"

"I'm fine, Admiral. I'm not dead and I am awake. I will do my job." The rear admiral cut him off.

"Very well. Please, sit down. I've read your report already. But I want to hear it from you. What do you make of these Turians?"

"Hmm… They have good kinetic barriers. Our Gauss Cannons were ineffective. They also adapted quickly to the Prydwen, but they wouldn't survive an attack with equal numbers on both sides. Our lasers are superior to theirs, and they do not have plasma batteries. The fusion mines also proved devastating. If we keep using tactics based on the TP Drive, we can beat them." She answered formally.

"Well, that's the same thing I heard from my other advisors. But you're better than that, Garvey. I've known you long enough to know it. Despite our differences, I'm not proud enough to not recognize your talents. I know you have an eye for these things, so tell me again. What do you make of these Turians?"

The rear admiral froze at that. Her expression showed distrust, like she was expecting this to be some form of trap.

"Please, Christina. Give me your honest opi-"

"They attacked with no warning... Their actions were deliberate. They knew we were there, and had been sent with the express purpose of destroying us. But from the interrogation of the prisoners, I'd say that them adapting to our tactics so fast was more the merit of that specific captain, Protenis or whatever, than that of their leadership in general. The actions of that general and the attitude of their surviving officers shows us that they are proud. Obscenely so. They called us primitives multiple times, despite me kicking their asses while outnumbered AND with West kicking them off Shanxi with no fleet in orbit. Other than that, their formations were stiff, with almost no room to adapt to new situations. Their tactics on the ground also show a stubborn view on warfare. They solved their problems by throwing more men at it. I believe we can use their proud attitude to outsmart them. I don't think they're fools, and that captain will no doubt be expecting our worst… That is, IF they didn't remove him from command. He did abandon an entire invasion force behind, almost four thousand soldiers, and judging from the POW's reactions, this is the first time they have suffered a defeat like this... At least for a long time. But even IF he is still in charge on the other side, they will still suffer from both their pride and that twisted sense of honor of theirs. While I have no doubts that they'll be mobilizing their forces after Shanxi, if we keep using unorthodox tactics, combine that with the size of your fleet and keep them on the defensive, I don't think they'll be able to stop us. Sir." Garvey finished her analysis.

The admiral stayed in silence after that. As he tapped his fingers on the desk, he analyzed the descendant of Preston Garvey sitting in front of him. 'Seems like the genius for warfare runs in the blood', he thought to himself.

"Did you know that the Central Command did not want you in charge of the 5th, Garvey?" He asked her.

"Wh-... What? What are you talking about?"

"They thought you were too unstable. Too defiant in the face of authority. That despite your name, you were not the right person for the job. I thought better of you. I told them to give you a chance. That you had put a lot of hard work into it and that you should be out there on the front. I'm glad you proved me wrong. I have no doubts that any other officer would have frozen when the Turians opened fire. Among your crew, you were the first to react. Not even Captain Hornwood was able to do that."

"Don't belittle him! James was the very definition of a hero. He was the one who gave the command to jump back to the relay, saving my life, and most of the Gorgon's crew. On top of that, he valiantly sacrificed himself to buy Shanxi more tim-"

"I know, Garvey. I'm not criticizing him. He was a hero, and he died a hero. I, and the Commonwealth as a whole, acknowledge that. My point is, your only mistake was not retreating when he suggested you do so. You had no orders to stay and fight. But… If you had done that, the enemy might have followed you and attacked Shanxi prematurely. Look, I'm not gonna play a 'What if' game. What happened, happened. The 5th Fleet was ill-fated the moment the Turians found out about it... And while Command might disagree, the present is what matters now. Despite protest from my other subordinates, I have decided to give you command of the forward detachment of the Arcturus' Garrison Fleet. You will have a chance to redeem yourself in the eyes of the Commonwealth. I want you to use every dirty trick you can think of to stick it to those birds… Can you do that, Christina?"

A mix of emotions passed through the rear admiral's face. Anger, confusion, melancholy… Before finally a look of determination was set in place.

"Alright, Dominic... I'll give them a good beating. You can count on that."

July 14th, 2399 CE, Army POW Camp, Yao Guai City's Outskirts, Shanxi System

Holt was flexing his new leg. He didn't like it. It felt foreign in his body. He supposed it was better than nothing and, after what felt like years in that sickbay, it was good to be back on his feet... But they could have at least given him one that wasn't a different color than the rest of his body. The doc had said that it was normal, and that the color would equalize with the rest of his body's in time, but it was still very off putting. To make it worse, the rest of his squad had lost no time making fun of him, earning him the nickname "White Leg". He hated it. Almost as much as he hated patrolling the cages they had put those birds in. Why did they assign the marines to this, again? Just send the Synths to do it… Jesus, what a waste of time. And to top it off, those things were seriously annoying. Even when he brought them their disgusting food, they still sneered and cussed at him. So what if they had nuked like… What was it? Fifteen? Sixteen thousand of their buddies? It was war. One that the birds themselves had started. Get over it... As he walked back to his post, he got a call on his Power Armour's radio.

"Holt here. What's up?" He answered.

"Corporal, the last batch has already been shipped off. Yours is the next in line. The guys in the Jamaica's cargo hold are tired of receiving a bunch of screaming aliens, so tell yours beforehand that they're gonna be teleported, would you?"

"And how do you expect me to do that? This translator barely works."

"That's your problem, marine. You have ten minutes before we start teleporting them out. Over."

"Sheesh, fucking great." He walked back to the Turians's cells and made sure to set his armor's speakers to max. "Alright, listen up you birds! I'm not gonna repeat myself, so you better pay attention! We. Teleport. You. Ten minutes and you're gonna be relocated to one of our ships. I don't wanna hear any screaming or so help me Atom, I'm gonna start hitting you? Got it?"

As he looked around the cells, he could see the hundreds of eyes staring back at him. Some filled with hate, others with fear. Most of them absolutely confused about what he had said.

"Lovely. Stuck with a bunch of morons. Whatever… I'm due for my lunch break anyway."

July 14th, 2399 CE, CSS Emerald, Shanxi System

Making her way to the Emerald's bridge, Garvey reflected on this entire mess. The weeks she had spent on the Fromer's sickbay had given her a lot of time to think. Her career should've been over. Losing almost her entire fleet like that… Even if it had been a surprise attack, she couldn't bullshit her way out of it this time. To think that Gunderson of all people would give her a second chance… Not that she believed all that brahmin crap he had told her in his office. He was the one that got her her command? Yeah, right. She knew who her grandfather was. Central Command couldn't ignore her after all she had done prior to this clusterfuck, not with her last name. Even if she had been a bit of a rebel, the propaganda they had made with her face spoke for itself. Still, he had given her a fighting chance. Even if he had done it in a disgusting and manipulative way. No matter. She was used to the cutthroat backroom politics of the Commonwealth. She would do her job, and then she would figure out what she wanted after all this. She should have been making her way back to the teleporter room, to relay to her new command, but she had heard that Adams had been reassigned to the Emerald's bridge, and she wanted to speak with the Lieutenant again. As the door opened, she stepped into the capital ship's command center. The first thing that crossed her mind was how large it was. Twice as big as the Gorgon's. On reflex, she waited for a couple of seconds by the door. When it didn't come, she looked around in confusion. Ah. Right. She was disgraced now. No 'Admiral on the bridge' for her. She stepped in without ceremony and made her way to the Lt.'s post.

"Oh… Rear admiral. It's been a while." He greeted her as usual.

"Indeed it has Adams. I see you got a new position. Sad to think I won't have you on my bridge again."

"Ah… Uh, well... You see..." He stammered with a wince.

"Don't worry, Adams... I understand. I'm happy for you, really. I even heard that James recommended you for a promotion."

"Y-yes! He did. The Gorgon burning around him and captain Hornwood still had time to submit his report."

"Ha… Yeah, that's Hornwood for you… Yeah…"

The two officers looked away at that. An awkward silence set among them as they reflected on the old captain. Before too long, a chime on Adam's console broke the silence.

"Uhh…"

"Something wrong?" Christina asked.

"Yeah, actually. I'm getting a signal of activity on the mass relay. I think… I think the Turians are coming back."

"What..? Now?! Already? Shit. You!" She exclaimed to a nearby officer. "Get Gunderson here, now! Set the fleet on yellow alert. We might have company."

"Rear Admiral Garvey, ma'am. You don't-" Some other officer tried to step in.

"Do you see a higher ranking officer? No? Then zip it! Until Gunderson gets here, do as you're told!" She snapped.

"A-aye ma'am."

"Rear admiral, I'm getting visuals. Turians ships confirmed. Twenty and counting." Adams told her.

"Shit! Red alert. Get the fleet in formation Zeta. What's the status of the cargo ships?"

"They haven't finished teleporting the POWs. We still have a thousand or so on site." Some other officer answered.

"They can finish it later. Tell them to get the Marines off the planet and to jump away. Has anyone called Gunderson yet?"

"He's on his way, ma'am."

"Good. Adams. Keep me informed, how many so far? Adams? Adams. Adams!" As the officer refused to answer she made her way back to his console. "Goddammit Adams, when I ask you something, yo-'' She was interrupted as the Lieutenant voided his lunch on the bridge's floor.

"Jesus, Adams! What the hell?" She exclaimed.

"T-t-the… The r-relay. I-it, it..."

"Spit it out, Adams. How many?"

"I… I… It…"

"Get out of my way. If you can't do your jo-" She froze as well.

"Rear admiral? What is it?" Another crew member asked.

"It… Uh… It… F-fuck… Fuck! How is this possible? Can anyone else confirm this?" Garvey asked out loud. "NOW! Get me a confirmed report of this. Adams, snap out of it! Is this a joke? Answer me!"

"Y-y-yes… Yes! I… I t-triple checked it… O-one thousand and s-six hundred ships… A-and rising…"

A solemn silence fell upon the bridge and all its occupants. Over a thousand and a half ships had jumped into the system in under a minute. That's almost more ships than the entire Commonwealth Navy. How?! Just who were these Turians? Jesus, and they were supposed to go and conquer them?

"R-rear admiral! The fleet is on standby. What are your orders?"

"I… Get me a-" She was again interrupted as another officer got up and called out.

"Rear admiral! We… We are being hailed."

CODEX - Humans and subspecies

Humans have a fairly robust physiology. Their internal makeup and reproductive processes are typical of most bipedal mammals, and their size and proportions give the appearance of being strong, fast and agile. In comparison to the Council races, Humans are roughly physically on par with Turians (as a human in or around peak physical condition can overwhelm a similarly fit turian, making them near equals in a hand-to-hand combat situation), and less agile than Asari (whom they closely resemble). Humans would appear on average to be stronger than Salarians but not as fast, due to the extremely elevated metabolisms of the latter. Unlike most organic races, humans are incapable of producing biotic individuals. This is theorized to be due to the heavy mutation caused to the baseline Human DNA following the fallout of the nuclear war waged on Earth.

Humans can live to about 100 years and recent medical advances, including various life prolonging implants, are theorized to have pushed that number up to 250 years. Humans reach physical maturity at approximately eighteen years of age, at which point they have usually finished their academic education and either directly enter the workforce or begin training for a profession.

It has been noted that humans are unusual in the galactic community because they have far greater genetic diversity, most likely due to various mutations, compared to other species. Most of the Human DNA strands have been affected by the vast radiation affecting their homeworld, with very few "pure" strands left, most belonging to those living within very isolated communities, like the "Vault Dwellers". Strands that were exposed to the nuclear fallout resulted in individuals with a large capacity to adapt to hostile environments. Unlike most other species, Humans in general have very little difficulty living in planets previously limited to the Krogan and Vorcha.

Also, because of these mutations, most Humans possess different "abilities", varying from small changes like increased resistance to gamma radiation to the far more rare and vast physiological changes, allowing feats like breathing underwater. On the other hand, the unmutated strands of Human DNA are extremely valued. Their extreme adaptation and mutation potential, essential for certain researches, coupled with their rarity, makes them worth millions of credits in certain markets.

Humanity also possesses various subspecies, most common of which are the Gen 3 Synthetics, Ghouls and Super-Mutants. Ghouls are Humans whose DNA has been corrupted by horrendous amounts of radiation. This has caused various radical changes, most common of which are the prolonged lifespan, theorized to be at least over a thousand years, to the fact they no longer need sustenance, being able to subsist on radiation alone. The cons, however, are heavy. Most Ghouls have completely lost their skin, which is the cause for derogatory terms like "corpses" or "zombies". In addition, all Ghouls are sterile and, because of the heavy radiation corrupting their brain, all of them have the potential to go "feral", causing them to become mindless and hostile. However, various medical advances have allowed Ghouls to ease their condition. Synthetic skin allows them to regain their appearance, and certain medications can prevent "feralization". Many Ghouls still suffer from bigotry within Human society, but their discrimination has steadily been reduced.

The Super-Mutants, however, are vastly different. Their condition is caused by exposure to the so-called "Forced Evolutionary Virus'', or FEV, a Pre-War secret weapon designed to create super soldiers. The Super-Mutants, like Ghouls, are potentially immortal, they are roughly larger than a Krogan, are extremely strong, immune to radiation and possess an ability to increase in size with age and aggression, with some specimens called "Behemoths" measuring over 20 ft in height. Like Ghouls, their condition also has side effects. Biggest of them is that most possess limited intelligence - which usually leads to uncontrolled aggressiveness - and all of them are sterile. Unlike Ghouls, however, the Super-Mutants' condition is curable, although a few issues, like the inability to reproduce, are still irreversible.

Finally, the Generation 3 Synthetics, despite their name, are still considered Humans. Although they were artificially created, their physiology, both external and internal, mirrors the one from regular Humans. Other than a few mechanical pieces installed in their brains that have been removed ever since the Synth Accord, all of the Gen 3 components are biological in nature, created using a pure strand of Human DNA, making them something more akin to a manufactured clone than a robot. As such, it is impossible to distinguish a Human from a Synth with conventional tests short of a biopsy. However, there are some differences which are not immediately obvious that show that Synths are not perfect duplicates of Humans. Despite having the same mental and physical capacity, Synths do not age nor change weight and, while capable of doing so, they do not need to consume food or to sleep to function.

Other than these, it is theorized that there are possibly hundreds of other Human subspecies living on Earth. Until the Human Commonwealth rescinds their information blockade on the Sol System, however, it will be impossible to truly tell.

Author's Note:

What? Did you really think that this was going to be a "Humanity Fuck Yeah" story? I thought I had made it perfectly clear beforehand. Humanity has advanced in a lot of things... But they are 200 years late to the party. And the party didn't wait for them... Alrighty then, with that out of the way, let's get on with business. Sceonn: I get what you mean. But the way I see it, since Turians are based on the Romans, "primitive" is their equivalent term for barbarians. Meaning that regardless of how advanced you are, if you're not part of the Citadel, you're still a primitive. Also, the Shanxi Arc has a purpose. After that, I'm throwing canon out of the window, don't you worry. That's it for now. Probably won't update for quite a while again. Busy with other things. See y'all later.

RM