PLNSV Long March, Undisclosed System, Three weeks after First Contact

Hu Jie, Foreign Minister of China, waited at the cargo bay of the ballistic battlecruiser Long March. Besides him, an unmarked casket lay in waiting, a full military guard guarding the dead. A Turian shuttles approaches and settles down, meters away from Hu. The door opens, and three turian marines disembark and form a security cordon to the next guest: the Primarch himself

Hu bows slightly, and Fedorian nods, not used to all the intricacies of human customs. "I take you had a good trip, Primarch?".

"Very uneventful Minister"

The Chinese man gives a small smile. "Then, it was the best possible"

Fedorian's eyes dart from the man to the coffin, and he asks. "It's General Desolas?"

Hu Jie looks ashamed, Fedorian thinks, but the man steels himself and answers the question

"Yes, that's him, he committed suicide in his cell some days ago. We have not yet made the announcement, thought it would be best to see how your people wants to deal with him. We gave him a full military guard though, a show of respect if you will"

Fedorian stops by the coffin, puts his hand on top of it and sighs

"The gesture is appreciated Minister Jie, and now that he's unfortunately dead, our negotiations can finally be over. The question of what to do with such a high-ranking prisoner is never an easy one to settle. My people wanted him back, alive, but I think this will do, suicide in face of a great dishonor is an acceptable way to go for us Turians. And your people won't have to claim for his execution"

"Indeed, his passing ended up being a great blessing for our peoples"

With that, both men bid their farewells, the Chinese honor guard helping the turians load the coffin of their slain general in their shuttle.

BREAKING NEWS: Disgraced Turian general Desolas Arterius has committed suicide

By the People's Daily, Disgraced Turian General Desolas Arterius has been found dead in his cell earlier this morning by prison staff. The General has been accused by the Chinese of crimes against humanity and conspiracy to provoke war of aggression. The Hierarchy, the national government of the turian people, had disavowed Arterius's actions as "outside the chain of command" and "an overzealous interpretation of his orders".

The spokesperson for the Chinese president said that "We're deeply saddened by General Arterius's death, and we'd like to extend our condolences to his family and species. Tough we believe he was a criminal, we also believed that he had the right to defend himself. We will be working in tandem with the Hierarchy to send his remains home. May the Spirits guide him"

Some analysts say that the timing of Arterius's suicide is highly suspicious, the question of his future: trialed by crimes in China or returned to Palaven as a POW was the last major roadblock on the negotiations being mediated by European Leaders and Matriarch Benezia.

Buenos Aires, Argentina, October 7th, 2066: 4 weeks after first contact

"This is Emily Wong, live from the La Casa Rosada, the official seat of the Argentinian president where today, in a few minutes, the signing of the Treaty of Buenos Aires will take place. After weeks of discussions, representatives of the Turian Hierarchy and the Chinese People's Republic, mediated by the European Foreign Minister and Matriarch Benezia have come to an understanding regarding the cessation of hostilities, an official apologize and reparations for the so-called "First Contact War" by the Chinese and the "Relay 314" by the Turians.

Earlier press releases had indicated that the Turian side will accept the blame for causing the incident, or, more specifically, will accept the blame for the incident caused by two rogue officers, who have since passed away. Admiral Nixem, commander of the space component that engaged the Chineses over Shanxi died during the closing stages of the Chinese counterattack. General Arterius, arrested on the planet after the conclusion of hostilities, committed suicide in his cell just a couple of days ago.

As for reparations, both sides agreed that the only reparations in need are to the families of civilians killed during the short conflict. The militaries have rejected the offer of reparation by their counterparts.

The conflict lasted for less than six days, casualties on the Chinese side included several science vessels, two small orbital stations and almost the whole fleet guarding the activation of Relay 314, one cruiser and five destroyers. The Chinese relief force suffered 1 cruiser and 1 destroyer destroyed, and many others suffered some damage. The total death count is believed to be 1700 death and missing in the space action.

The turian naval forces has suffered significant damage: their pioneer force suffered the loss of 8 frigates, and a badly damaged cruiser. The invasion force lost 2 cruisers and 7 frigates. Another dreadnought, cruiser and 5 frigates suffered heavy damage during the battle. The total loss of life in space was approximately 2400 deaths and missing.

On the ground, losses were lighter for both sides. The Chinese reported that only some 300 soldiers died, and the Turians lost less than 800 soldiers in total. There were considerable civilian casualties: at least 200 dead, and another 1300 wounded. The Chinese have committed to repatriate the prisoners of war and the remains of the fallen once negotiations are over here in Buenos Aires.

I'll come back later with more information, this is Emily Wong, from CNN"

BREAKING NEWS: NATIONS OF EARTH RECONGNIZED AS A NEW SPECIES BY GALATIC COUNCIL

BY EBC INTERNATIONAL

NEW YORK In a spectacular session at the United Nations Headquarters, the Galactic Council bestowed upon humanity its recognition. It means the current borders of the various nations who have extrasolar territories are now considered to be territories of sovereign nations. Nations can also start direct trade and diplomatic relations with the various existing governments in the galaxy. As for the introduction of Earth's nations on the Galactic Council, due to the unique situation humanity is, more work needs to be done, according to both parts. But it is confirmed that the so called "big three", Europe, China and the United States will open embassies on the Citadel, along with a United Nations embassy representing the other countries. Russia, who had the opportunity to open its own embassy as a member of the UN Security Council, has denied it for now, says that it will need time to decide on the matter. Some experts say that the Russians are planning on creating a coalition of "neutral powers", just like what existed during the first Cold War (1945-1991) and use its embassy to represent them.

The ceremony counted with the presence of all three galactic councilors: Thenala Tevos, from the Asari Republics, Solik Sarlul from the Salarian Union and Tergus Sparatus from the Turian Hierarchy. Several other representatives of various other races also attended, like Ambassador Korlarck of the Vol Protectorate and Ambassador Dabkhara of the Batarian Hegemony.

As for the humans, every state leader has attended, but the true stars of the day were the two women at the heart of the "official" First Contact: Matriarch Benezia T'Soni of the Asari Republics and Commodore Clara Asfield-Salah, from the European Federation.

"It is a tremendous day" said Matriarch Benezia "I wish nothing more than cooperation and peace among the Asari and all of our new human friends"

But some guests were more wary of promises of peace and cooperation, ambassador Dabkhara said that "The current expansion of some human nations has put them in the direct path of Batarian interests, we will try to solve these problems diplomatically, but for me, it speaks volumes that the Council has decided to just accept American borders without consultations with us Batarians"

CITADEL TRAVEL AND TOURISM BOARD

ADVICE TO HUMAN INTERACTIONS

1-As the Galaxy grows larger with the inclusion of a new race, we have prepared a guide to ensure peaceful interaction with humanity.

2-Humans are physically very similar to Asari, but with the sexual dimorphism present in most other races. Their DNA structure is based on levo amino acids, as such, consumption of all human foodstuff is safe to everyone, except turians and quarians.

3-As a show of friendship, travel trough human system is open to all Council registered vessels, but for transit only. This opens a new corridor between Core Council Space and the eastern reaches of the Verge.

4-Humanity is divided in nation states, and each one has its own rules and laws. Please be aware of which nation you'll be visiting, as each has its own set of migratory rules. This also applies to local language, currency, customs, and such

5-No human country has decided to adopt the Galactic Credit as their standard currency. Volus specialist teams have been dispatched to calculate the official exchange rate with each human currency. As of now, we only have estimates for the United States' Dollar, the European Federation's Sterling Euro and China's Yuan. As they are all widely used currencies on Earth, one should not have any problem conducting business with humans.

6-Trade and tariffs are not the subject of any comprehensive treaty yet, so each country applies their own rules.

7-Extranet and the human equivalent, Internet, are still in the process of integration. It's currently not possible to access the internet on Council territories, but coverage of extranet is already viable on some human territories.

8-Comm buoys are still being deployed, bandwidth is therefore limited for the time being

A/N: A shorter chapter for now, I'm working on a longer one, should be online today! Also, to the reviewer saying there's duplicate chapters, it's ok for me? But I did messed up with duplicates, so maybe FF didn't updated things on your end? I'm sorry anyway, I can't get the hang of this site for the life of me