Diplomaticorps Chambers, HNS Magnus Imperatri XII, en route to Arcturus Station, September 28, 2192.
Over the years, several minor races had been annexed or picked up by the Hierarchy, much to the anger of the Citadel Council. These races became the Dominions, smaller states within the Hierarchy, yet still recognized as equals among each other. Every Drell, Elcor, Raloi, or Vorcha who chose to leave their homeworld stood as much odf a chance to rise through the meritocracy as any Turian competing in it. This is how Ambassador Leok Rivos became the representative of the Drell people to the galaxy. A deeply spirited individual from his deeply divided homeworld of Rakhana, he does everything in his power to keep his race from splintering apart for the umpteenth time. His work was recognized by the Primarchs and other representatives around him, and he received commendations after commendations. As such, he now sits at one of the most prestigious seats a member of a Dominion Race could have.
Thus, it was now his duty to travel into Alliance space and represent the Drell in formal first contact. Leok wondered what the Humans would think of him and his people. While he hadn't been born when the Turians descended from space into Rakhana to restore order, his grandfather was, and Leok vividly recalled the stories the old Drell told him, thanks in no small part to his eidetic memory.
"They swept in from the skies, in ships we had not even begun to imagine. They saw merit in how vicious we were in combat and the ferocity in which we waged war. They awarded those who kneel before them with weapons, in the condition that we fought under their flags. The Warlords who defied them were made into examples. Drells that were loyal to the Hierarchy were armed to the teeth with Turian weapons, Turian vehicles, and were thought Turian strategies. We made short work of all that resisted the change. Then, when all that was over, they took us to the stars."
Though he was certain that the Humans aren't as backwards now as the Drell was back in the day, he can't help but draw comparisons to the Turian-Drell first contact. The Turians were gambling on giving the Humans advanced technology in the hopes that it would give them an edge in fighting their enemies. It hadn't changed much since the old days, as eventually the Drell battalions entered the field and proved their mettle against even other Turian armies. The Drell Dominion played no small part in ending the Last Unification wars.
The ship shuddered slightly, and the loud humming of the engines had begun to die down. Leok recognized this as them exiting Mass Relay transit. Just as he had expected, an alarm went out notifying those on board that they had finished transit, and that all members of the Diplomaticorps were expected to be in the hangar.
Upon exiting his room, Leok encountered the Elcor representative, Calyn.
"Excitedly: Are you ready, Leok?" the towering Elcor asked.
"I can't say that I am. Can you?" The Drell returned the question.
"Dishonestly: Yes, I can." The Elcor answered. The Drell laughed at that.
"I guess that makes two of us, friend." Leok said. "So, have you read the first contact package we were given? What do you think about them so far?"
"Intrigued: I find these people interesting. Their industrious nature allows them to solve issues using brute force, without having to rely on their inherent physical strength." Calyn explained his thoughts. "Worriedly: Riding quadrupeds seem to be deeply ingrained in their culture." He then added in.
"I doubt that they'd want to jump onto one your people, Calyn."
The pair entered the hangar where the Vorcha and Raloi representatives were already waiting.
"Greetings representative Calyn and representative Leok." The Raloi representative, Ari'ka said.
"Representative Ari, representative Molchak, how fared your trips?" Leok asked.
"Trip was enjoyable. Food in particular, very good." The Vorcha Representative, Molchak, answered.
Leok still wondered sometimes what the Turians were thinking when they brought in the Vorcha into the Hierarchy only a few years after the Drell were inducted. While Vorcha society had progressed immensely since their savage and tribal days, traces of their old barbaric ways still remained. For example, where the Turians had their face paints as cosmetics, the Vorcha scarred their own bodies and faces to appear aesthetically pleasing to each other. They were both equals in the eyes of the law however, so it doesn't matter what the Drell thought of Vorchas, he had to work with them either ways.
What perhaps intrigued Leok much more was the Raloi and Vorcha representative's quickly formed friendship. The avian Raloi was the youngest race to join the Hierarchy at only 60 years, just a decade before the Great War started. Culturally, the Vorcha and the Raloi were polar opposites. The Raloi were a very pacifistic and conservative species which favored diplomacy over confrontation. Contrasted with the Vorcha's history of violence and warfare, nobody really thought that a Vorcha and Raloi would ever get well together.
"While I do lack the Vorcha people's ability to consume both Levo and Dextro foods, what I did end up eating was not very bad. It's impressive what the cooks can do in such a short amount of time." Ari added.
"Inquisitively: Where is the High Primarch?" Calyn asked.
"Right here, representative Calyn." A flanging Turian voice said from behind the group. They turned around, and found Fedorian approaching their group, with his elite guard flanking him. "Are you all ready to make history? Well, regardless whether or not you're ready, history waits for no one."
Fedorian motioned for the group enter the shuttle they would take the Human's station. The fairly large shuttle managed to fit the group rather comfortably, even Calyn managed to find a place for him to sit without having to squeeze himself. The shuttle took off from and headed right into the unknown, alien station. All they could do now was hope for the best.
Hangar Bay 7, Arcturus Station, half an hour later.
The Turian's shuttle arrived in the hangar, where a mob of journalists, reporters, as well as hundreds of curious people who had come specifically to see the aliens who had come in peace. As Fedorian stepped out immediately the crowd exploded into a roar of amazement and questions. Seven members of the Alliance Civil Protection Services stepped forward.
"Are you High Primarch Tiberim Fedorian?" The man leading them said.
"Yes, I am." Fedorian confirmed.
"Well then, I'm Colonel Alec Wilson Ryder of the ACPS. On behalf of the Human race, we welcome you to Arcturus station." Ryder said, saluting the Primarch. The six other ACPS members saluted followed suit, which was then returned by the Primarch who gave them a Turian salute. Following this, Fedorian beckoned for the other members of the Diplomaticorps to disembark from the shuttle and join him.
"Colonel Ryder, these people are my associates from the Turian Hierarchy and it's Dominions." Fedorian now said, introducing the different members of his entourage. "This is Leok Rivos, Drell representative for the Dominion of Rakhana." The Primarch said as the Drell representative stepped forward. Ryder gave the Drell a salute, which was returned with a Human salute.
Now, with heavy footsteps came the Elcor representative. Followed by the Raloi and Vorcha representatives.
"This is Odant Calyn, Elcor representative of the Dominion of Dekuuna. Behind him is Kalkandr Molchak, Vorcha representative of the Dominion of Heshtok. Last but not least is Ari'ka, Raloi representative of the Dominion of Turvess."
Now, the crowd that had been watching was thoroughly surprised. They were told that it was only the Turians arriving. There was no word about 5 different races coming in.
"Well, this is a surprise." Ryder remarked.
"This does not create issues in your plan, I hope?" Fedorian replied.
"Oh no, we just don't have enough seats in The Silver Office for all of you." Alec mused. "We'll have it all sorted out, don't worry."
The Civil Protection officers lead the political procession towards the station's tramway, which would transport them to the Silver House, the president's living space and office for other executive staff. Beside the relatively small building was the Alliance Tower, which was the home of Alliance Congress.
"This is the center of your government?" The Drell representative asked. "I believe I speak for my colleagues when I say that I expected your capital to be in your people's homeworld."
"I figured one of you would ask that." Alec said. The Colonel pulled out his phone and activated its holographic projector. He projected a 3d image in the middle of the tram baggage of a battle. In this specifically was one where different Humans, wearing different uniforms were waging war against each other. "No less than a decade and a half ago, we fought a war over the premise of that question. Why should we have our capital on our homeworld? Why have everything centralized in a building, filled with people not looking after our interests?"
Fedorian stood up and examined the hologram. The battle it depicted, while no doubt a dramatization of actual events, showed lines of infantry, armored vehicles, aircraft, as well as orbital platforms and starships in the far background. They were all fighting in what seemed to be a lush landscape of plains and hills. Flowers on the ground as well as bushes were what little obstructions were available for the troops in combat. Explosions and other flashy details were prevalent all around.
"This is an artist's rendition of the 2nd Battle of Midway Valley, in Terra Nova. 2177" Ryder said, explaining. "While not exactly realistic in its presentation, it does capture the scale of the chaos that happened there. I should know… I was there personally after all."
"Intrigued: You took part in this battle?" Representative Calyn asked.
"That's right. 3rd Commonwealth Army Group, 9rd Army Corps, 212th Airborne Division. I was assigned to boarding Union spaceships in support of the Marines who were stretched too far thin during the battle." Ryder walked towards the hologram and searched for something in it, when he found it, he pointed at it. "There, the UNV Yangtze River. It's quite an Impressive cruiser for its time. My entire company was assigned to take it out. The Union Marines holding on to it gave us a run for our money."
"Fascinating. To see ships, aircraft, armor, as well as infantry to be operating in unison on such a scale. It must have been an operational nightmare." Ambassador Nyx commented. "I don't think anybody in the Galaxy has the capability to pull off a battle of this magnitude and not have it turn into such."
Ryder let out a small laugh.
"That's quite true. Wilson over there was in the Son of Man's AWACS center during that battle. He tells me that the battle was such a mess they had to micromanage platoons at times just to make sure everyone was operating according to directives." Ryder said, gesturing to one of the other ACPS officer escorting the group. "In fact, this battle was so massive that it would be what one called the deciding battle. The Battle that Broke the Union's Back historians these days called it. Some 5 million men fighting over 400 square kilometers of land. It was all or nothing: winner takes all."
"I take it you won that battle?" Leok asked to make confirm.
"Well, on the surface it was a massive victory for the Commonwealth. But for that massive victory we took massive losses. Out of the 3 million soldiers we had in the field, barely a million were in any shape or form to fight by the end of it. The Union didn't have it any better though. While they did a number on us during their offensive, we managed to score harder hits during the counterattack. If we only had a third of our forces left after that battle, they had a little over a sixth." Alec explained as he switched the image to a Wikipedia page of the battle.
"Kan'air blesses you, you are quite fortunate to survive that." The Raloi representative said.
"Thank you, ma'am." Ryder thanked the bird-like alien. "It is a ma'am, right?" Ryder then backtracked.
"Yes, it is." She replied, laughing heartily, followed by the Vorcha representative.
The tram arrived in Central Station, which sat in between the Silver House, and the Alliance Tower. Upon exiting the Tram, once again the political procession was mobbed by the press. Ryder and his officers barely could hold them back, even with the assistance of the local garrison. Questions were being thrown left and right, dozens at a time. So much so that it all blended into one continuous roar.
"Alright everyone let the good alien folks pass through." Ryder ordered as he pushed through the crowd.
The group slowly waded through the crowd until they were at the safety of the Silver House's walls. Following that whole debacle, Ryder led Fedorian and his entourage towards the Silver Office, where the President was waiting. Outside the office, by the door, the Vice-President stood. Fedorian was slightly surprised at his appearance, being radically different from the mostly light skinned people he's met so far. This one had a dark brown color to his skin.
"Thank you Colonel Ryder, your men are dismissed until needed again." The Vice-President said. Ryder and his officers saluted their second-in-command and went off. "Greetings, Primarch, I'm Vice-President Godfrey Nabwana." He then greeted.
"Vice-President, it is a pleasure to meet you. When are we meeting the President?" Fedorian replied.
"Soon, he's just finishing up his meeting with High Admiral Grissom. The good Admiral insisted on delivering his strategic briefings before you arrived." Nabwana answered.
Just as he spoke, the President's door opened, revealing a uniformed man, and another one in a three piece suit.
"Thank you, Jon. You should hurry though; I have bigger fish to fry now." The man in the suit, Fedorian presumed he was the President, said to the uniformed man.
"A'ight, take care Donnie, don't be getting any alien flu or somesh… Oh, good morning." The Admiral cut himself off as soon as he saw the aliens waiting outside. He straightened his cap and offered his hand, which Fedorian shook. "I'm High Admiral Jon Grissom. However the talks go, I just want to say that the Navy's glad your people arrived in Eden Prime when they did." He then said. The Admiral gave Fedorian a pat in the back before excusing himself and leaving.
"He's… friendly, isn't he?" the Raloi representative commented once she thought Grissom was out of earshot.
"It's how he is." The VP jokingly answered. "Come on." He then beckoned in.
Inside, the President was already waiting, still on his desk signing papers.
"Mr. President, the delegation has arrived." Nabwana announced as he entered.
He looked up and saw the Aliens now present in his office. He stood up, revealing himself to be a rather tall fellow, even by Turian standards.
"Ah yes, good morning. I'm Donald Harper, President of the System's Alliance." He introduced, putting his hand forward, which Fedorian then took in his. "I didn't realize you were bringing friends with you, Primarch."
"I apologize if this was unexpected. I had thought that the requirements which Captian Trevanian had sent your ambassador would have informed you of it." Ambassador Nyx answered. "I believe the fault is mine."
"Ah, words were lost in translation, I'm sure. It's no big issue." Harper said as he ushered the diplomats to their seats. "I'm eager to start talks now, Primarch. Though unfortunate as it is, Ambassador Goyle won't be joining us for now; she's busy with some other tasks at the moment."
"Understandable." Fedorians said. The Turian ambassador brought out a large datapad and set it on the meeting table. A rough map of the galaxy was displayed on it. "Right now, our claimed territory is highlighted in yellow. The Council's territory in red, and what territories you have that were revealed to us are highlighted in blue. Now, I assume you understand how the Relay network functions?"
Harper silently nodded as he looked through the datapad's map.
"Then that means I don't need to explain the strategic uses of the network, especially in trade. Now first and foremost, I have come to understand the industrial capabilities of the Alliance. From the history texts that were briefed to me and by making comparisons, it seems that your race has a history of using the economy as your weapon. Looking through the publically available records that Captain Quentius had access to, we have discovered one major flaw in your industry."
"And what is that flaw, Primarch?" the President asked, leaning back into his chair.
"You lack sources of Element Zero." The Primarch stated. "The lifeblood of the space age civilization. Your race only has 3 major Eezo mines, and their production isn't enough to keep up with your factories."
"So I suppose you're willing to trade Eezo with us. What do you want in return?" Harper cut to the chase.
"In return for a steady supply of Eezo, we're requesting you to produce armaments for us."
That stopped Harper's train of thoughts in its tracks.
"You want us to be involved in your war? We can't do that." The Vice-President answered while Harper gathered his thoughts.
"If it's a problem of security, the Hierarchy is willing to extend our umbrella of protection to cover your people too." Ambassador Nyx offered. "Our military is extensive, and more than a third of it is still in reserve. We can easily move in and help secure your territory in the event of a Council attack."
"It's not about our security; our nation was born of war and it has always been a cornerstone of our politics. You've said it yourself: our industry is our greatest weapon. I'm certain we'll have enough supplies to last another prolonged total-war." Harper countered. "I, and more importantly Congress, have chosen a policy of armed neutrality in this conflict. Unless attacked first, we won't be first to strike."
"So the Eezo deal is off then?" Nyx asked.
"Not entirely off the table. Geopolitics is a long term, complicated game. If things change in the near future, we could renegotiate this deal, but right now it's a no go."
While the Humans couldn't see it, Fedorian was clearly miffed.
"Then perhaps, non-military goods could be traded?" the Turian ambassador asked.
"Yes, of course. While we can't exactly send food and other consumables for trade, we do have something you may be interested in." the Vice-President then answered.
"Continue." Fedorian simply said.
"Right, we have a miracle medicine widely in use here in the Alliance. Medigel."
"Yes I've heard of it from our soldier's reports in Eden Prime. Do tell." The Primarch urged the Vice-President.
"Medigel right now is incompatible with Turian biology. The regular variant should work on your dominions without modification, but a Dextro variant might be needed for the Turians. As reported by the South China National Science Institute, Medigel is made from chemicals easily produced in labs with the addition of several medicinal agents mixed before the refining process. The researchers at the SCNSI believe if the medicine were replaced with ones that are more suited for your biology, it would work just on you just as it worked on ours." Nabwana explained.
"What would you want in return?" Fedorian then asked.
"Monetary compensation for the license is currently improbable, so we're talking material goods in bulk. Gold, Platinum, Tungsten, whatever you people can agree with that we can sell in our markets." Harper answered.
"I see, if your Congress can approve of the deal, I'm sure the Circle of Primarchs will too." Fedorian said.
-000-
Flyboat Near-Orbital Housing Station, High Seas, September 29, 2192.
Goyle stood near the one of the housing station's docks, looking out the windows. She had always found the slow and silent drifting of space ships soothing to her. It maybe because she was a Spacer, but this one pastime of hers had always brought her comfort, even when things are going rough.
A platoon of Marines walked up to her, escorting none other than their heir to the largest industrial manufacturing megacorporation.
"Ambassador Goyle, you seem concerned." Jarth commented.
"Going behind the Turians like this is going to bite us in the rear." She simply replied.
"If I can get a few friends to support the Free Batarian Movements from the Citadel itself, we can give the Alliance a better ground to stand on." The Batarian said. He pulled out a pack of cigarettes and lit one up, taking a long drag out of it. It was a habit that the Batarian had picked up from the Marines that was usually assigned to him. Apparently it tasted rather sweet for the Batarian tongue. Blowing off a puff of smoke, he continued. "If we pull a good impression to stand on, there's a larger chance that they'll take your race seriously. More seriously than mine, at least."
"Hey we'll knock some heads around over there… figuratively speaking." Goyle said, placing a hand on the taller alien's shoulder to reassure him.
The station's PA system called out.
"Ambassador Goyle, your ship is ready to depart."
"That's our call, Jarth." She said, walking away and towards the umbilical tunnel that connected to Jarth's Batarian ship. The Marines and Jarth followed suit and entered the ship where they were greeted by the all Batarian crew.
"Sir, provisions for our trip to the Citadel is already stocked, we're just waiting for the ship to finish refueling." The ship's captain said.
"Excellent, we leave the station as soon as everything is ready." The business heir ordered.
The Captain saluted his employer before returning to the post. The ship left the station several minutes later. Jarth sat on his bed and looked out the window. The Ship left and distanced itself from the Human colony High Seas, a planet with some 92 percent water covering its surface. It was a mining colony with not so many colonists living in it. High Seas was thoroughly eclipsed in population by Bekenstein, High Seas' sister colony. It had been a stroke of luck to find two habitable worlds in the same system, and the Alliance made sure to capitalize on this, settling in both planets.
The ship zoomed past the two colonies and straight towards the newly activated Mass Relay, the one that would lead them straight into Council Space.
-000-
Archive Update:
History of Cipritine: The capital and center of modern Turian society, Cipritine was the most ancient and most revered city of Turian civilization. Built on the foot of the Ciprix Mountain, the only way one could enter the city using conventional means of travel is to go through the Tinios Valley. Thus in the ancient Turian tongue, the city was named Cipratinion, which translates to "Child of Ciprix and Tinios. Cipratinion became the center of a massive Turian empire which during the height of its power stretched from the seas of Salonix to the deserts of Duwanos, a third of the known world at the time. At the end of the Empire's reign, a coalition of 7 Nation's Army brought it to its knees and finally striking it down. Unwilling to give up their empire, the Cipratinians turtled down in their city, forcing their enemies into a 5 year long siege and hoping to discourage their enemies from fighting the war. During this siege alone it was recorded that over seven hundred thousand Turians died from fighting. Had the records accounted for those who had died from the attrition and starvation caused by the siege, the death count could have risen to well over two million. After that, the Cipratinian Empire collapsed and the city was abandoned. The city was often used by bandits and warlords as hideouts, but they always left no more than a month afterwards, believing them to be haunted by the Ancient Turian spirits. The territories of the former empire were divided among the seven nations.
It wasn't until thousands of years later during what historians call The First Unification Wars when the First Primarch, Tiberin Thanix, was recognized as a Magnus Imperatri as he established the Nation of Cipritine. After defeating other larger nations with his fledgling army and solidifying his reign, he turned his attention to restoring the ancient city. It was a massive undertaking, taking years, even decades of work to finally bring the city back from the ruined state it had been left on. The city was modernized with all the necessities of the time: roads for pull-carriages, smelters, theatres, gunsmiths, and everything else. Historians today link the culture of Turian militarism to the establishment of Thanix's Nation of Cipritine which laid the groundwork for the city'sinfluence to grow even further than the it's ancient empire could ever dream of.
A popular quote from a historian about the Nation of Cipritine which can be attributed to the current Hierarchy is that "The Primarch leads not a state with an army, but an army with a state."
A/N:
Thought it'd be interesting to touch up on Turian history. Not much into detail, but just enough to spice things up and give context to a bunch of stuff. I'm going do it to the Asari and Krogans too, but we'll see when that will pop up.
So, the Batarian civil war should start next chapter, and the Humans make contact with the Council shortly after. What will happen in the immediate aftermath? Well, I guess you'll have to stick around and find out, don't you?
Leave a review of what you think I can do to improve my work, it'll only benefit the both of us. As always, thanks for reading, and enjoy the rest of your day.