"The Humans? Oh they certainly were an interesting addition to the Galaxy, for sure. If only they weren't such a pain in the ass."
-Urdnot Wrex, in an interview for the Citadel Broadcasting Center.
-000-
Count Lazlow Airbase, Christmas, Elyisum, March 2, 2193.
The Aliens exited the briefing room in a neat and orderly way. The base commander had finished assigning them to various tasks around the base. Tala and Mareon was assigned to engineering, as they had listed experiences in said field. As Natalya lead them to the hangar they were assigned to, they passed upon the flight simulator room.
"Hey, excuse me Lieutenant." Tala called out.
"What is it?"
"Will we be allowed to use the simulators sometime down the line?" She asked.
"Hmm... To be honest, General Matsuo hasn't been quite clear on that one either. Tell you what, I'll look into it. Also, if you do good work on your assignments, I might be able to put in some good word. It should affect their decision." The Lieutenant told the Asari.
Tala nodded and the continued towards the hangar.
"So, you're looking to get back to flying?" Mareon asked her.
"I hope they'll let me. It's been centuries since I've flown anything." She said. "I don't even care if it's a fighter or a freighter, flying's all I've ever been good at."
"Didn't you get shot down?" Mareon asked again.
"Yes, but that's just half the story. I was piloting a two century old freighter, how was I supposed to outmaneuver a corvette?"
They entered the hangar, and was greeted by a massive, wing shaped craft.
"Greetings, fellow... service members." Someone on top of the craft called out. "Lieutenant Yoslav, are these to be my apprentices?"
The man's heavy Scottish accent echoed around the structure. Natalya nodded and answered.
"Yes, Major. These are recruits Tala T'mai and Mareon Damar. They'll be assigned to you for the foreseeable future." She answered.
"Aye, then let me introduce myself to you two." He said, climbing down from the craft to face the Aliens at eye level. "I'm Major Hank MacGilligan. Due to a deficit in proper officers, I'm the head of 308th 'Sledgehammer' Squadron."
MacGilligan inspected the two for a moment before continuing.
"I don't know what your kind is capable of. I don't know if you're invincible, if you're capable of X-Ray vision, or if you can shoot lasers out of your rear end, but expect to be pushed to your limits as long as you're assigned to me."
"I suppose I should leave you to it then. Good luck, Major." Natalya bid farewell.
Left now with Major MacGilligan and his bomber crew, Tala and Mareon were unsure of what to do. With the Lieutenant out of the hangar, the Major continued.
"Alright then, let's start off with the basics. This marvelous machine standing before you is the B-30 'Whirlwind' Bomber. Officially, it's an Ordinance Deployment Craft, but who really cares about semantics?" He asked rhetorically. "Unlike the Navy, we didn't have a massive deficit of combat aircraft after the failure of Operation Chain Breaker -mostly because we weren't involved in it- which meant that we didn't need to use stopgap measures like the XB-29 Phantom."
Tala and Mareon nodded along, following the Major as he showed them around the hangar.
"You'll be worked to the bone, you'll be worked 'till you bleed. The Aviation Force isn't giving away it's food and resources willy nilly, especially for aliens like you." MacGilligan added. "We will bring you up to speed on what to do."
MacGilligan introduced the two aliens to an engineer and went on to deal with other issues.
Hours pass by quickly, and the Major wasn't kidding when he said they were going to be worked to the bone. By the end of the day they were thoroughly exhausted, though they did learn plenty about the planes they were working on. Eventually, their shifts were over and Lieutenant Yoslav came to collect the two.
As the two were herded back towards their barrack, they passed by the flight simulators once more. Looking wistfully at the simulators, Tala could only say to herself:
'Soon...'
-000-
The Citadel, March 2, 2193.
By now, Goyle had familiarized herself with the massive space station known as the Citadel. She has not set foot there herself, mind you, but she has read extensively about the station, and the people that reside in it. She was confident enough to say that she could hold her own against the Councilors in negotiations.
"Ma'am, we're ready to initiate contact." The ship's captain told her.
"Excellent, transmit the signal now. We'll take our time and let them come to us instead." Goyle answered.
The captain nodded and returned to his post. The Alliance corvette had sneaked in hidden between several Free Republican cruisers. It allowed them to mask their signature during relay travel, and they have since kept a low profile.
Ambassador Goyle waited patiently as the ship continuously sent out it's contact signal.
-000-
Meanwhile in the Citadel itself, the operators in the traffic control center were panicking over what to do exactly in this situation. Their sensors had detected an unknown Alien ship and had identified it as a ship model that wasn't registered in the Citadel's database. Analyzing the signal, they discovered that it was text, written clearly in the Asari language:
"We wish to make contact."
Along with that, several files of translations, information on this new Alien race, and other such stuff have also been transmitted. In short, they were overwhelmed with confusion as of the moment.
The operators had placed multiple calls to the Council, but all were put on hold as the Councilors were currently in session. It wasn't until another ten minutes that they received an answer.
"We answered as soon as we could." Tevos said as soon as the call connected. "What's this about first contact I hear?"
"Councilors, an Alien ship has contacted us recently. They have sent us a first contact package, most of it is written in Sericii, with the rest written in what we asume is their language." The head operator informed the Councilors.
"This is troubling." The Salarian councilor said. "Clearly they have been watching us for a long time, long enough to understand our languages, and long enough to sneak in a vessel here."
"*wheeze* what do we know of them so far?" The Volus councilor asked.
"So far? Well, we know they're a bipedal, levo based organism. As for what they look like... I think it's best you see for yourself."
Images of the Alien newcomers appeared on screen, eliciting shock, followed immediately by suspicion from the Councilors.
"Are we... Are we certain these aren't faked?" Tevos asked them. "They look far too similar to us Asari to actually be Alien. Add the fact that much of the data is written in Sericii, I'm inclined to believe this is all an elaborate hoax."
"We ran through the data three times over now, Councilors. While the language is Asari, the code used to write these programs are most definitely not. In fact, the remaining non-Sericii text bears more resemblance to Turian Palavish than anything else."
"Could it be a Turian ploy then?" The Krogan Councilor asked.
"Doubtful. We compared the text and code to all Turian works, and this is something else entirely." The head operator answered.
The four Councilors muted the communication for a moment as they deliberated on what to do. All existing first contact protocol was written around encounters far away from civilization, out in the frontiers of space. Meeting up in the center of galactic civilization like this makes things exponentially more complicated. For all intents and purposes, the newcomers knows the Council's hand, and the same can't be said the other way around.
Finally, the Councilors unmuted the call.
"Operator, you have permission to contact the Aliens directly. Take caution and try to avoid doing things that may seem insulting. Stall them for the time being while we set up a secure connection to the Presidium Tower." The Salarian Councilor informed them.
"Athame be with you." Tevos told them before muting the call once more.
The head operator took a deep breath and looked to her colleagues of reassurance. Once she had gathered the courage to do so, she pressed the transmit button on her console.
"Greetings, this is Operator M'Sari, speaking on behalf of the Citadel Allied Races... to whom am I speaking?" She asked.
"Hello." an eerily Asari sounding voice answered. "I am Ambassador Anita Goyle speaking on behalf of the Systems Alliance. I apologize in advance for the nature of this contact; we understand you are in the middle of a Galactic scale conflict, and we did not wish to cause too much undue stress by making a spectacle from our first appearance."
They also know that the Council races are in the middle of a massive war. Their knowledge of galactic politics was becoming concerning.
"Thank you, Ambassador. We appreciate the gesture." M'sari replied.
"When may we begin talks with the Councilors?" The Ambassador asked.
"Well... due to the state of war, we can't allow you to contact the Councilors directly at the moment. We are securing a communications channel to be used by both parties here. I hope you understand our apprehensiveness." The operator explained.
"It is understandable." Goyle answered. "Perhaps we may speak further then? I'm certain you have plenty of questions."
"Yes, that would be nice... where do we begin?"
Goyle laughed lightly.
"Well, perhaps I can introduce my people. No doubt that the files we transmitted have given you a brief explanation of who we are. Is there anything you wish to have clarified?"
"Let's start with some of the more immediate concerns." M'sari said. "How long have you been watching us?"
"You as a whole? Months. One or two specific races? Years." Goyle said. "We became aware of your people's existence after an... unfortunate series of events."
Now M'sari was worried. They've known some of them to exist for years now. Which of them was it? The Hanar? The Batarians? She didn't know. In addition to that, the Ambassador mentioned something about an unfortunate series of events. What did she mean by that? M'sari figured that the only real way to find out now is to ask her.
"What do you mean by that?" she asked.
"We met members of your 'Allied Races' several years prior to this day, and our contact has not been pleasant." Goyle answered vaguely. "Our secrecy is as much for our own sake, as it is yours."
It sounded as though the first members of the Council races they met was immediately hostile to them. If that were the case, it would make sense why they would want to isolate themselves and watch from the sidelines. This now lead to another question: who did they meet, and why did hostilities break out? She needed to investigate.
"Will you be willing to tell us who you made contact with all those years ago?" M'sari asked Goyle.
"It wouldn't matter." Goyle answered. "We've already neutralized those which are responsible for the event. They are no longer a threat to us."
M'sari gulped at that answer. She didn't know what that meant exactly, but she knew that it likely wasn't peaceful negotiations and arbitration.
"I... see."
Her colleague gave her a heads up that the Council's secure line is ready.
"Ambassador, the secure line is ready. I will be transferring communications to them now."
"It was nice talking to you, operator." Goyle said.
"The feeling is... uh... mutual."
-000-
The Councilors steeled themselves as the operator transferred the call to their secure line. A progress bar was on screen, showing a countdown until the call was fully transferred.
"*wheeze* Prepare yourselves, Councilors. What we do here may turn the tides of history." Councilor Bola said.
The others nodded to him, and as the call fully transferred, they were greeted by an eerily Asari sounding voice. Bola wondered if the operator that spoke to the Alien previously felt the same sort of uneasiness.
"Greetings Councilors. I am Ambassador Anita Goyle speaking on behalf of the System's Alliance. May I say that it truly is an honor to be speaking to some of the most powerful and prominent individuals in the civilized galaxy." The alien ambassador said.
As the other councilors answered the Ambassador's greetings, Bola could only think about how this new Alien was already starting to appeal to their egos. Not only do they look like the Asari, but they seem to have a similar kind of political guile. These newcomers may be smarter than Bola's colleagues will give them credit for.
"Once again, I must apologize on behalf of my people for the trouble and distress we may have caused by starting first contact this way. Due to the ongoing nature of your war, we thought it prudent to engage in contact quietly."
"We... thank you for your gesture, though we must inform you that this is not how we usually conduct first contact." Tevos replied. "We are hastily preparing the station for first contact ceremonies."
"Usually, we have more time to prepare." Councilor Toraph continued. "We hope you understand if some parts of the welcoming committee seems... rushed."
"All is understood, Councilors." Goyle answered.
"Which leads us to the matter of your delegation." Councilor Yorgal said. "How many of you will be setting foot on the Citadel proper?"
"A small group, 9 guards and 3 delegates."
"*wheeze* This includes you?"
"Yes, Councilor. Only 12 of us will set foot on the Citadel today." Goyle informed them.
"Yes, arrangements can be made for a dozen individuals." Tevos told her. "Operator M'sari shall direct you to where you shall dock, and inform you of the procedures. I look forward to meeting you in person, Ambassador."
"As do I, Councilor."
-000-
Wrex, Tela, and a host of other SPECTRE agents currently in the Citadel received an emergency call from the Councilors some time ago. They were to serve as bodyguards and escorts for a first contact procession. Wrex and Tela had mustered their Krogan Shocktroops and Asari Commandos to assist them, as they were uncertain on what to expect from their guests. They knew that only 9 of these new aliens would be present, but they weren't going to take any risks.
They arrived via shuttle in the Presidium tower, exactly where the Council said they would meet both the SPECTREs, and the Aliens.
"Agents, thank you for responding so quickly. I cannot emphasize enough how critical your mission will be." Councilor Toraph said.
"We will require a security team to escort us personally, as well as a few quick response teams to bolster the local Presidium security force." Councilor Yorgal explained. "Snipers, stealth units, what have you. Make sure the whole venue is secure. I don't want anyone to mess up this event."
"We'll make sure everything is air tight, Councilors." Wrex answered.
The SPECTREs nodded and went off to their posts, with Wrex and Tela personally escorting the Councilors to the presidium docks. As they arrived there, they saw that the Alien ship had started to pull into the dockspace designated for it. The ship itself wasn't very large, it was smaller than the frigates in the Volus navy in fact. The Councilors knew not to completely dismiss the ship's size and it's Alien crew. The last time they did, they ended up with the Rachni Wars.
"Are they trying to make it utilitarian, or luxurious? I can't tell." Tela commented. Indeed, despite seeming stark and bland in contrast to it's Asari and Salarian counterparts, the Alien still carried a strange look of grace in addition to it's clearly more military use. The angular build of the delta shaped starship was the polar opposite of the blocky shapes of the Krogan ships, and with the curved silhouettes of an Asari ship. Tela wondered what cultural history these Aliens had to bring about these design decisions.
The silver and blue ship came to a halt at the dockspace, a few dozen meters in front of the councilors and their group. Journalists and reporters from the various news outlets and channels in the Citadel arrived, no doubt wanting to get coverage of the historical moment at hand. All the Councilors, save for Yorgal, flinched as a hatch on the ship's bell opened with mechanical hiss. Some smoke obscured the Aliens as they descended from the ship, a small touch for some dramatic flair intentionally done by these Aliens, perhaps.
Tela, Wrex, and the other escorts gripped their weapons as a large metal thud, followed by the sounds of machine and motor whirring alerted them. Instead of an Asari looking Alien emerging from the smoke, instead they saw four metallic hulking bipeds armed with what looked like oversized rifles come out to scan the area. Tela assumed this was some of the bodyguards that was mentioned on the emergency briefing they were given.
"I just finished my scan." A Salarian SPECTRE reported from his vantage point."That's powered armor." Specifications are still unknown."
"Good catch Valern. Keep observing, the more we know about these people, the better." Wrex replied.
After a minute of surveying, the armored Aliens made a gesture to the ship. Following this, more mechanical noises and metal thudding was heard from the ship. This time, it wasn't just the armored Aliens, but also three unarmored individuals being escorted by the two remaining bodyguards.
The journalists and reporters were all surprised to see Aliens that not only looked and walked like Asari, but also to see one in male form. Behind who Tela assumed was the Ambassador Goyle, were two males of the species. At least, she assumed they were the males of the species.
"It's good to meet you in person, Councilors." the Ambassador greeted.
The reports were right, the Aliens did sound similar to the Asari. Way too similar, perhaps.
"The meeting is mutual, Ambassador." Tevos replied. "Are these colleagues of yours?"
"Yes. This is High Admiral Jon Grissom, he is here to represent our security interests, and my other colleague is Secretary of Trade Ben Hislop. He will be speaking to you about trade and other such economic deals."
The Councilors acknowledge both of the other Humans.
"We are glad to make your acquaintances." Tevos said.
"*wheeze* Is there anything you would like to say to the people here?" Councilor Bola asked.
Goyle looked to the crowd, then to her colleagues. When they gave her a curt nod, she went forward and addressed the crowd.
"Greetings, fair people of the Citadel, and subjects of its Councilors. I am Ambassador Goyle, speaking here on behalf of the Systems Alliance. Shortly, talks will begin between our respective parties for what is hopefully a long and prosperous future. Though what future we shall share is still yet to come, let it be known that when the Alliance first came here, we came offering branch of peace and cooperation to Citadel Council, and their subjects."
Tela listened to the Ambassador's words carefully. While she was certain the speech was to promote goodwill between them, she can't help but notice that it seemed a tad bit like she was preempting possible criticism against her and her people.
The procession marched along the path and the SPECTREs carefully shadowed the delegates, close enough that they could cover them when necessary, but also far enough that they wouldn't intimidate the guests.
Tela, in particular, kept watch on the power armor clad bodyguards which stuck to their delegate's flanks tightly. As she understood it, this seemed to be a political move as much as it is one for security. Tela remembered what Aethyta had rambled on about back when she was still in University and doing her thesis on Xenopolitics. Something about associating their image with power and grace at the same time.
It took a while, but the procession finally arrived at the Presidium tower. Entering the tower, the delegates and the Councilors were finally separated from the crowd of news reporters and onlookers. Now, they can get down to business.
They entered a conference room, and in there all the Ambassadors of the Citadel races. Tela saw the two Batarains, representing the Republic and the Hegemony respectively, and felt bemused. Glancing at the Human ambassador, she wasn't that surprised to see that she had changed her posture and body language immediately. Goyle seemed more defensive now, almost as if she expected the Council to start giving her ridiculous demands as soon as they started. Given that these are completely alien... well, aliens to her, Tela understood somewhat.
An interesting development.
Everybody took their seats on the conference table, and Councilor Yorgal started the conference officially.
"With your people having observed us for some time now, I'm certain you know who we all are by now, but allow me to introduce my colleagues and myself formally." The aged Krogan said. "I am Councilor Gatatog Yorgal, of the Krogan Federation. My colleagues here are Councilors Tevos Yori, Bola Fore, and Toraph Linron of the Asari, Volus, and Salarians, respectively."
"*wheeze* We, as Councilors, represent the most prominent races in the Citadel Alliance of Races. *wheeze* Under us are the Batarians, Hanar, and a handful of other smaller races."
"Why do they have two representatives?" Goyle asked, pointing at the Batarians whilst she masked her true knowledge on the subject.
"While they're not true associates due to the nature of their conflict, The Free Republic and the Hegemony are still tied to the Citadel and the Council. We allowed them to maintain a diplomatic presence, so long as they keep the fighting out of the station." Councilor Toraph explained.
Goyle nodded along.
"As previously stated, I am Ambassador Anita Goyle, representative of the Systems Alliance. We are a coalition of states united under the banner of the Alliance. The Alliance itself is a federal governing body, who's primary purpose is to provide security and equal representation between our various member states." the Ambassador explained. "And with first contact on our heels, the security provided by the Alliance has been expanded to include a myriad of... other threats."
Everyone in the room perfectly understood what the Ambassador was implying.
"Despite this, however, the Alliance is eager to begin relations with members of the Citadel Allied Races." She continued.
"If the Alliance is eager *wheeze* then so are we."
"Esteemed ambassadors and councilors, the Alliance is a fledgling player in this galaxy. Our federation, in its current form, is not older than a few decades. We have yet to gain our bearings as a true interplanetary union, let alone one surrounded by various neighbors, each with their own characteristics and agendas." Goyle began her speech. "As such, our technology is not advanced, and we cannot hope to compete with the Citadel's more mature and advanced markets on equal footing."
Her previously mentioned partner, Secretary Hislop, continued where she left off.
"This is why, as unfortunate as it is, the Alliance cannot engage in open and free trade with the Citadel races as of yet." He said. "Limited trade, of which will be strictly monitored and controlled, shall be the norm until our businesses and entrepreneurs can safely and confidently say that they can engage in healthy competitive capitalism."
Admiral Grissom now chimed in.
"Our economy is the lifeline of our fledgling federation. Our various states and worlds depend on each other to cover their needs where they are lacking. As such, threats to our economy are threats to the Alliance at large." The officer said. "The President calls it the 'Silver Blood' doctrine."
"Parliament and the Bureau of Trade has discussed and debated at length as to what goods we could potentially trade, and we have rounded down the list to what we believe would benefit the both of us equally." Hislop continued as he pulled out a small holographic projector. A list of items showed up with corresponding images along with it as the projector activated. "Our industry is formidable enough whilst being self sufficient, though that's not to say there's no room for expansion. As of the moment, raw material is what we believe will be best suited for trade until a proper currency exchange rate can be established. However, we do have processed materials and other consumer goods that we can traded given the right agreements."
Councilor Bola read through the list, which was thoughtfully already translated by the Humans beforehand.
"The list is very comprehensive, Secretary." the Volus said. "*wheeze* We may enter into the details in a later date, but I see that there is much potential from the items on the list here."
Hislop nodded in agreement and returned to his seat. Goyle continued.
"Humans are an industrious people, given the proper incentives. This one key aspect drives our society at large from our bronze age civilizations some five thousand years ago, up until today." She said.
"Five thousand years?" Toraph mused. "Your people advance remarkably fast."
"Thank you, Councilor." Goyle nodded before becoming more grim. "While we are not... immune to making mistakes ourselves, we must address how we came into contact with your people in the first place. The Batarians."
Jath'amon shifted uncomfortably in his seat, whereas Moth'omar simply smirked. The rest of the attendants seemed confused, whispers were shared whilst they attempted to put the pieces and clues together.
"The reason why we held back from contact for so long was due to the... less than friendly nature of our contact with the Batarians." Grissom explained. "It was bloody. Hundreds of thousands of lives were lost. It took us a great deal of time before we could... resolve the issue."
The Councilors turned to each other, then to the Hegemony's ambassador.
"Jath'amon, is this true?" Yorgal asked.
Seeing no other option, the ambassador attempted to answer in a way that he hoped could shift most of the blame from the Chairmen, to the military commanders that were in charge, though the majority of those who were involved in the campaign were dead already.
"Some years ago, we were made aware of a large collective of Terminus warbands preparing to invade Batarian territory, possibly under influence of the Turians. A preemptive pacification campaign was launched by Admiral Dov'tok, with permission from the Chairmen. The campaign dragged on for some time until they were recalled to deal with the... uh, civil discontent in Anhur." Jath'amon told them. "We only realized his deception shortly before today. We wished to inform you all sooner, but the radicals had us all occupied."
The reactions from each Councilor varied, from curiosity by the Salarian, disghust from the Asari, and seething rage from the Krogan.
"Is this true, Ambassador Moth?" Councilor Yorgal asked, his voice trembling with rage.
"We can't confirm whether or not this was the doing of a rogue officer, or a coordinated effort by the government." He answered. "We were as much in the dark as everyone else here."
Jath'amon was visibly stressed now, if his shaking left hand was any indication.
"We couldn't be sure that the entirety of galactic civilization were after us." Grissom told them. "Admiral Dov'tok brought with him slave soldiers of various races, further confounding our fears. It wasn't until the good Admiral's demise that we were able to surmise that there was something off about his campaigns."
"Indeed," Goyle continued. "It wasn't until we met the Turians that we realized there were bigger fish to fry."
"The Turians?!" Councilor Bola exclaimed.
"What do you mean, 'bigger fish to fry'?" Yorgal asked.
"We intended on launching a punitive campaign against the Hegemony, but the expansion of what galactic civilization meant forced us to reevaluate our entire strategy." Grissom explained.
"This is... most disconcerting." Councilor Toraph mused. "Do your people still intend on exacting retribution against the Batarians?"
"War is something that's best left as last resort." Goyle answered. "President Harper believes that we can all move forward from this whole mess. While the good Admiral here may say otherwise, I'm inclined to side with our commander-in-chief."
"Make no mistake: while we'll be willing to play nice with you people, we won't allow ourselves to be caught off guard." Grissom added.
The Councilors looked to each other, assessing their colleague's opinions. The last time they started first contact off on the wrong foot, it snowballed into the half century conflict they're mired in right now. They will have to try to appease the Humans for now.
"We sympathize your concerns, but we must inform you that Admiral Dov'tok's actions are not representative of the Council's policies." Tevos reassured them. "We... we are not your enemies. It is unfortunate that first contact started the way it did; for your losses, we give you our condolences. Understand that a prosperous relationship between our people are all that we wish for."
Goyle looked to her colleagues who nodded back to her. After a moment she shifted her gaze back to the alien politicians. The ambassador took a deep breath before speaking again.
"On that, we can agree on."
-000-
Archive Update:
501st "Sons of Mars" Division.The "Sons of Mars" as it's name suggests, is a Marine division comprised almost exclusively out of Martian born colonists, though there are a handful of rare exceptions to this. This division was originally formed by the Sol Union during "The Brothers War" to bolster dwindling Union numbers. Being based in the industrial colony of Mars, the 501st Division more often than not received the latest equipment earlier than other divisions would. The 501st's infantry were among the first to be equipped with modern mass effect weapons such as the M7 Lancer Automatic Rifle, the M98 Widow Anti Material/Sniper Rifle, the M76 Revenant General Purpose Machinegun, and also the M142 Powered Infantry Exoskeleton.
Notable engagements which the 501st were involved in include:
Battle of Midway Valley, Terra Nova, The Brothers War.
Battle of Wu Lin Pass, Shanxi, The Great Galactic War.
[Redacted] The Great Galactic War.
Siege of Christmas, Elysium, Skyllian Blitz.
New Harbor Counterattack, Elysium, Skyllian Blitz.
[Redacted] Operation Germanicus.
Battle of The Citadel, Operation Hammer.
-000-
A/N:
God dammit I'm late again. I got caught up with my classes and assignments and I could only whip this up so far. I really wanted to do more with this, but I guess this'll have to do for now.
As many of you might have figured it out by now, the refugees in Alliance space are there to create friction and conflict between the Alliance and the Council. I don't want things between them to cool off to quickly, and I also want to open some political intrigue to happen.
Regarding the future of the series, I think I'm going to have to split the story off after The Great Galactic War ends, considering the things I have planned won't fall into the scope of The Great War. It'll focus a lot more on Shepard and his escapades around the Galaxy, but that'll come in the future, maybe next year or after that once this part is concluded.
Anyways, thanks for reading thus far. I hope you've enjoyed this chapter. Write a review or PM me your thoughts. Reasonable responses are always appreciated.
Again, thanks for reading, and enjoy the rest of your day.