Citadel Tower, The Citadel, June 18, 2192 AD, 09:22 AM Local Time
"Our losses have been staggering, the Tor Offensive has turned the war into a meat-grinder for our forces. All occupied territories has reverted back to its status after the first Turian offensive operation."
The Council's weekly war briefing was valuable insight to the war effort for the councilors. It was from there that they can make critical decisions or directly intervene.
Councilor Toraph of the Salarian Union was as shocked as all his co-councilors. The Joint Council Fleet was supposed to be the most powerful collective fighting force in the galaxy. The fact that they were being pushed back by technologically and numerically inferior foe was appalling to him.
At the moment, the representative from the JCF, one Matriarch Jaiga T'maris, was giving the report of the latest Turian offensive.
Honestly though, they were all caught off guard. They had been pushing the Turians back, albeit slowly, for the last half of the war, retaking several occupied colonies and breaching their borders. Neither the JCF nor the Council realized that the Turians had been holding back the bulk of their troops, and had been taking their time to equip them with the latest weapons and technology. All this was kept hidden by multiple false flag operations, bulking up strength in 13 different relay systems, and moving impressively advanced stealth frigates on systems to perform reconnaissance and surgical strikes against critical points.
The JCF's Intelligence Department representative, a Salarian by the name Milos Batta, stepped up and took his turn to talk.
"We estimate the Turians have up to 27 new fleets fully operational with their latest technology. Multiple fleets have been spotted near Nevos and Targora Thoraga. Januis, Anhur, Sarabhai, and Ghabaul have all fallen under siege. At the rate that these attacks are going, we conclude at best that the Turians may occupy 13 new systems by the end of the year."
The Krogan councilor, former Fleet-Master Gatatog Yorgal, looked furious. No doubt the imposing Krogan was blaming Toraph's own people for their current predicament.
"*Wheez* How did they manage to build 27 fleets without us noticing?"
Toraph couldn't read his face, but he was certain that the Volus Councilor was more than just a little bit mad.
"While our stealth probes has managed to infiltrate their outer territories, security in their core territories has increased by tenfold. Breaking into their new communications system has been… challenging to say the least, but their new codes has been the real problem. The multiple false-flag operations mentioned before, one of them included feeding us three different ciphers, which would give us semi-coherent answers, turned out to give us the false information. The false info had led us to reinforce our earlier misconceptions that they didn't have the numbers to properly stage an offensive."
Toraph had listened carefully. The change of events had left the JCF in disarray. Morale had taken a nosedive and support for people calling for peace had risen by over 18 percent in all of Citadel territories, most of which was coming from the Asari territories.
What really worried him about this is that Tevos, the Asari Councilor, has extremely close ties to the leading matriarch of the peace movement, Matriarch Benezia. He detested the idea that Tevos could turn against her fellow councilors and start calling for peace openly. The gods themselves knew that she's been listening to them a lot more than she did before. If more Asari city states join the peace movement, they might cripple the Republics' war effort contribution.
"If the war keeps going in its current state, support against the war will no doubt rise." The aforementioned councilor said. "Has a plan been formulated to counter such an offensive?"
The Matriarch didn't seem to like being questioned by a younger Asari. Tevos may have been over 600 years old, but no respectable Matriarch would like being told around by a Matron. Matriarch Jaiga knew better than to insult the Councilor however, the Matron had deep connections to some of the most powerful city states in the Republics, and flipping her off would essentially be political suicide. Instead, she carried on with her duty, as a soldier does.
"We do have a plan actually…"
-000-
Shuttle 47, En Route to SSV Jerusalem
After several days of tense waiting, the Humans has finally agreed to diplomatic talks. Their Admiral Drescher had given them extremely specific instructions on the how, when, and where to proceed on their upcoming 'diplomatic talks' as well as who to bring. As it is, the only ones allowed to board the Human ship is the Blackwatch squad that had assisted them on the planet, and whoever was representing the Hierarchy.
Quentius didn't like leaving his ship, he hated it in fact. Though perhaps the fact that he was boarding an alien ship that was likely to be loaded with hundreds of thousands of said aliens, with a compliment of heavy support, may have been a factor on why he was so hesitant to go.
"We're arriving shortly." The pilot said from his seat. "I hope the talks go well sir."
The shuttle entered the designated hanger and hovered its way into an empty spot with a yellow marker on it. As the craft landed, Quentius heard a soft thud that told him they had landed safely. The orange light that bathed the inside of the shuttle turned blue. Hissing noises came from the shuttle adjusted the air pressure inside the shuttle to match the one outside of it. The hatch opened and revealed at least a platoon's worth of Human marines waiting for them outside. The Commander found it rather disconcerting that the Humans would deem it necessary to deploy 50 or so soldiers just for the 7 of them.
"How paranoid these people are!" he thought to himself. "There are STG Bases with less security than this."
A trio of humans, followed by half a dozen more Marines, came forward to the shuttle and greeted him. He recognized them as Captain Hackett and Admiral Drescher though the third one, a female, he had not met before.
"Welcome to the Jerusalem Commander Trevanian. You are the first Alien to step foot in this ship peacefully, so let's keep it that way." The Admiral said. "You already know who I am, and who Captain Hackett is, but let me introduce you to Ambassador Goyle, she will be the ones leading the talks."
Goyle extended her hand, a gesture which Quentius recognized as a greeting from the first contact package. He took her hand and shook it firmly. After all, he didn't want to give off the impression that Turians are uncivilized.
"It is a pleasure to meet you, Commander. Please, let us continue in a more suitable place." The Ambassador said as she led the group through the hanger and down a hallway to a sizeable room marked 'Conference Room'.
Before they entered however, she stopped and turned around.
"I'm afraid that you will have to leave your escorts outside. It is a matter of security, none of our Marines will be joining us either." The Ambassador said calmly. The Blackwatch squad didn't exactly respond to it, but those who understood Turian body languages would notice that they were now on high alert.
After a few moments of contemplation, Quentius turned to his fellow Turians and reluctantly told them to wait outside. He, as well as the Admiral and Ambassador entered the room, leaving Hackett and the Marines outside with the Blackwatch squad.
-000-
Torfan, Ek'Zaro System, June 24, 2192 AD, 12:11 PM Local Time.
"So Dov'tok is dead?" The Admiral said. Dorik returning with less than a third of the original force that was sent to Eden Prime was considered a great surprise, considering that the Hegemony was ready to send two more fleets to reinforce the position once a foothold had been secured. So it wasn't much of a surprise when Admiral Jor'kah brought him in for questioning.
"That is true sir, his ship was critically hit in the drive core. They we're already dead by the time we decided to retreat." Dorik answered. "As soon as the Admiral had died, I decided that holding on to the planet was not going to end well, and decided that a tactical withdrawal was the wisest course of action."
The Admiral let out a deep sigh and removed his hat. He rubbed his forehead as he tied to sooth the headache he had.
"Dov'tok might have been a Krayt-Head sometimes, but he was a good Batarian inside. Since our offensive has been broken, we will need some time to recoup our losses. The Chairmen are adamant in taking over that colony of theirs, but the fact that they had a fleet so close ready to attack means that the Humans are preparing for an offensive against us." Jor'kah explained. Dorik wasn't sure he liked the direction in which this conversation was going however.
"What does that have to do with me, sir?" Dorik asked.
"With the loss of Admiral Dorik, it will be up to myself lead the defense of the captured Human colony. You will be transferred to my command until decided otherwise." Jor'kah said matter-of-factly. "Is that understood?"
Dorik knew that wasn't a question, but more of a confirmation. It didn't look like he could wriggle his way out these situations anytime soon. Reluctantly he answered.
"Understood, sir."
-000-
Elysium Shipyards, Vetus System, June 29, 09:18 AM Local Time.
"So the plan is set?"The President asked through the holographic communicator.
The circle of Alliance admirals around the projector nodded to their elected leader, confirming to him that the long overdue counteroffensive, Operation Freedom Shanxi, was finally ready to proceed.
"Good, that's good. Shanxi is among my greatest failures. To know that I could at the very least make up for it before ending my final term."
Fleet Admiral Jon Grissom stood up straight facing the president and saluted.
"Don't worry about us President Harper, we'll have the planet back in Alliance hands before Terran Spring."
"Good to know Fleet Admiral." The President said as he took a deep breath. "Donald Harper, out."
-000-
A/N
That pretty much wraps ups the mid-arc intermezzo. So expect the first part of 'Freedom Shanxi' up sometime soon, hopefully before the end of the month. I actually got an interesting idea with Sokolov and the rest of Zoya flight, though they won't be back until Humanity meets the Council officially. X-ray Squadron will be coming back sometime later. Zaeed and the rest will also be back on the next arc.
As always, thanks for reading and being patient. Write down your thoughts or suggestions in a review if you feel like it, or PM them to me.
Thank you again for reading, and enjoy the rest of your day.