…

"He who wishes to be obeyed must know how to command."

(Niccolò Machiavelli)

…

MFV Rayya, August 13th, 9:49 AM, 2184

…

I arched my head backwards, taking a seat near the rear of the atrium bleachers with Greg. We were both already exhausted from arguing with the Admirals for nearly an hour in regards to securing the rights to transport Catherine Parangosky back to the Alliance for trial. Greg was pushing for it very aggressively, so much in fact that I thought he would begin yelling at them. On the other hand, the Admirals wanted her, likely for information on Cerberus and as leverage against the Alliance.

I had little doubt that the only way any decision would be made was by getting Hackett to directly speak with them.

"So, what was it like?" Greg asked out of the blue, as I relaxed my shoulder to look back at him.

"What was what like?" I said, unable to discern what exactly he was talking about.

"Living in the Fleet for over a year." He clarified, hands folded behind his head as she stared up at the ceiling of the Atrium. "I've never spent much time on ships, I was normally part of ground detachments. So I was curious."

"Hm, what is there to say? No sky, no trees, and no animals. Nothing but metal and recycled air." I mused, moving closer to him. "After a few months, you really start to feel the claustrophobia, get a little stir crazy. I honestly don't know if we could have kept it up if we hadn't found Reach."

"I don't understand how they do it." He replied, eyes still focused on the ceiling. "Living on starships all your lives, spending everyday keeping your aging ship from falling apart… the quarians really are something."

"Heh, I can't argue with you there." I agreed, looking down at the bickering Conclave. "They're not the easiest lot to get along with, but if you gain their trust you can't ask for better people to watch your back."

"Well... most of the time." I thought to myself, electing to keep my mouth shut on my current grievances with the Admiralty Board.

"Ambassador Buckell? Can you please join us for a minute?" Raan called over to him, cutting off our conversation.

"Duty calls." He said in a quickened tone, giving me a quick tap to the arm and running back down to the discussion.

I continued to listen to the conversation with lackluster interest, losing track of it several times as my mind drifted off to other things.

I began thinking about Parangosky. I remembered that even back on Aldrin she was a spook, never at all interested in what we were doing unless it suited her own ends. Treating it as a mere annoyance to her dad-to-day. I had no doubt she had likely been part of one of the Alliance's intelligence divisions. There was no way someone with her kind of disposition wasn't involved with that crowd in some way.

I remember the stories that went around Aldrin Station regarding them back when there still was an Aldrin Station. Stories about clandestine missions deep into restricted territory, stealing tech and assassinating potential threats to the Systems Alliance. It all sounded like something from a Tom Clancy novel, but there was never any way to tell if it was true or not.

Hell, to them we were probably just a bunch of eggheads with overinflated budgets and egos.

Seeing that Hackett had returned to the conversation via Greg's omni-tool, I walked back down into the crowd of Captains that were gathered around the podium.

"Is all of this correct?" Hackett asked in a confused tone, looking up from his datapad. "I understand you want information, but this woman stole over two million tons of raw Element Zero from one of our shipyards along with two Geneva-class cruisers. She's the most wanted individual in the Alliance at this time, and you honestly expect us to just sit on the sidelines?"

"If you want Parangosky for yourselves, you have to promise us two things Admiral." Gerrel stonewalled, standing confidently at his position on the podium. "One, that you agree to share with us any and all information regarding Cerberus after your investigation. Two, that you share with us more data on this… Reaper killed at The Battle of the Citadel."

That last one shocked me more than it really should have. I knew the Admirals were still interested in that thing, but to directly ask Hackett about it really seemed to shed light on how far that interest went.

"Getting you information is fine by my standards, just don't expect it all at once." Hackett agreed, but with notable resistance in his voice. "A lot of this attached to our task forces, and will need to be reviewed before being sent over."

"That is satisfactory." Rael agreed, nodding his head.

"What will we do about the Council?" Koris inquired, tapping on the railing with his right hand. "Will we wait for them to find out about our coalition, or will we outright tell them in advance?"

"I've been pondering that myself. Either way, it's going to be quite the shock to them." Hackett replied, taking in a deep breath as he threw his hands back behind his back as he looked at Greg. "Gregory, what do you think we should do?"

"Well, I think it would be better to come to them and tell them outright." He answered, shifting his footing as everyone else turned to him. "The longer we wait; the more time Cerberus has to expand their range of influence. No matter how the Council reacts, we'll still have our seat and they'll expand their surveillance over our regions as a precaution."

"You think their expanded coverage will help detect Cerberus activities." Hackett picked up, letting a serious smile cross his scarred face. "I like the way you think, son."

"Thank you, sir." He thanked, nodding to him as he looked quickly at the Admirals. "With Captain Anderson on the Council, we'll be able to get near-instant status reports regarding all Citadel intel taken of both the Alliance and the Migrant Fleet. We can use frequent markers of Cerberus activity to flag down potential leads, making the process go even faster."

"Isn't that a dangerous move?" Raan inquired, taking a step forward and pushing both hands against the railing. "If they begin monitoring the star clusters near our system, it'll make deployments harder to do in secret."

"Not necessarily." Zadie countered much to my surprise, looking up at her. "Bypassing the nearby star clusters could easily be done by mapping out jump points that outright avoid the Relay network."

"But doesn't that present a risk to navigation?" Rael asked, sounding less confrontational and more curious which I found odd. "None of these spaces have been explored by manned spacecraft before."

"That's why we have the scout flotilla." Koris immediately rebutted, one arm crossed as he raised the other into the air slightly. "We outfitted them to search for habitable systems. There's no reason why they can't begin mapping out new paths that take advantage of the flexibility the Gravity Drive."

"This can also open up safer trade routes and supply lines between us." Hackett agreed, letting his smile grow even larger before it went away suddenly. He then looked to me. "Dr. Michaels, how long do you think it would take the Council to begin reproducing the jump drives once word gets out about it?"

"Well, my best guess would be around two or three years, give or take." I estimated, rubbing my neck as I kicked my brain into gear. "The Salarians, being the tech-hungry little bastards they are could have it as soon as a year after we go public depending on how well we safeguard everything. The Asari will eventually follow suit a few months later, claiming they built it first before the Turians get it. After that, we can expect to see the rest of the races get their hands on it within a year or two. By that point, it'll start to become standard across the galaxy, removing our strategic advantage."

"So, two to three years… not a lot of time, but enough to keep them on their toes." He responded, holding his hand up to his chin in thought.

"What about the plasma weapons?" Gerrel asked, causing me to flip around to face him.

"The plasma weapons will take a lot longer to reproduce as long as we make sure no one gets their hands on one for reverse-engineering." I went on, making sure to keep my posture at full attention. "At the most, it'll take them about a year and a half to figure it out after producing a working Nemo-Michaels Reactor. From there, there's no telling what they could come up with, and how quickly."

"So we should be saving our plasma capability for major missions to reduce the chances of it being revealed to early." Rael correctly guessed, as I nodded to him in confirmation.

"Sounds good. We're still reserving our rifles for specific operations, so as long as we keep it to a minimum we should be fine." Hackett finished, looking back to Greg. "There's still the issue of who to send to see the Council."

"I can go, sir." Greg immediately volunteered without hesitation, standing at attention. "I'd love to have the chance to see the looks on their faces when they hear about this."

"I understand the feeling, but it can't just be you, son. The Council isn't going to take one man seriously." Hackett denied, waving his hand dismissively. "What we need to do is put together a diplomatic mission, a group of individuals who can show the Council we mean business."

"How can they not take the Alliance seriously after you saved their asses?" I blurted out, unable to keep my thoughts in my head.

"You'd be surprised at how easily they forget things." Hackett mused, pursing his lips for a second before looking back to Greg. "Gregory, I'll assign you the responsibility of building a group with the Admirals. Once you've chosen who you want, I'll get you access and let you know when the talks begin."

"We'll take care of transportation, Admiral Hackett." Raan finished, giving him as nod as the connection went dead and his hologram disappeared.

"Jeez, this just keeps getting better and better…" I sighed, scratching the back of my head.

…

For the last hour, there had been a long debate regarding who would go with Greg on this trip to see the Citadel Council. We decided on a fairly large group of a dozen people, not including security detail. Friends of mine in the Conclave, Captains Ysin'Mal and Teera'Soren were picked to come, along with less favorable characters such as Daro'Xen. Admiral Raan would be with us representing the will of the Admiralty Board.

There was only one thing about all of this I didn't like. They wanted me to come. Not only that, but they wanted to use my ship as well due to the advanced stealth tech we had installed on it.

I was absolutely livid.

I sat in the back of the mess hall with a cup of coffee, staring at a cooling unit on the wall as I let my thoughts run wild.

I hadn't left Reach in a long time, and had no desire to do so. We were all happy here, secluded in our own system behind the might of the Migrant Fleet. The idea of leaving it all behind for any period of time left a terrible feeling in my gut.

I saw Greg come out of the elevator, hands in his coat pockets as he walked over to me. He didn't say a word as he sat down next to me, back firmly planted against the wall. This silence lasted a few more second before he spoke up.

"What are you staring at? He asked, trying to connect the direction I was facing with an object.

"I don't know." I replied, looking over at him.

"Listen, I did my best by they just won't relent." He tried to comfort, only succeeding in mildly annoying me. "It's not that bad, it'll only be a day or two."

"That's easy for you to say. You don't have an entire terrorist organization after you." I rebutted, shaking my head as I picked up my cold coffee and downed it all in one long gulp.

"It's alright, we're putting together a good security team, and Anderson will make sure nothing happens." He reassured as I took in a deep breath. "You have my word nothing will happen."

I simply shook my head, standing up and looking back down at him.

"I wish I had your confidence." I finished, pulling him up. "My team will leave on a shuttle in ten minutes. As soon as they're gone, everyone can board."

"Understood." He acknowledged with a nod, giving me a quick pat on the shoulder before walking back off.

I made my way back over to the barracks, where everyone was picking up their stuff to make sure nothing was left behind.

"Sean, I'm sorry." Mara apologized, giving me a tight hug as everyone began to walk out of the room.

"You don't have anything to be sorry for, this is simply how things are going to happen. Keep your head down." I said with obvious resignation in my voice as I looked down at her belly. "And you, you'd better wait until I get back."

That caused her to laugh, getting me to at least smile.

"Maybe you can g-grab me a souvenir while yo…you're there." Dan suggested, actually getting me to chuckle slightly.

"I don't know. Feeling lucky?" I replied as we shook hands quickly, testing each other's squeeze strength.

"Good luck, my friend." Dimitri said, throwing his arms around me as he gave me a bear hug. "Don't get into trouble."

"I'll see all of you when we get back." I finished as they began walking off, gathering into the elevator as the doors closed behind them.

I stood there in silence for a few moments, thinking about my wife before looking up at the nearby security camera.

"You better make sure you behave yourself once we're there." I said to the camera, directly addressing Lydia, who had refused to leave with Richard. "If you fuck something up, it'll be all our asses."

"Aw, quit being such a drama queen. I'll be fine." She replied, appearing in the center of the mess hall above the table. "Besides, I've always wanted to see the Citadel in person."

"You really haven't changed at all, have you? You really are a cat reincarnate." I remarked, shaking my head at the thought of it all. "Anyways, you'll be in charge of making sure nothing weird happens with the stealth systems during transit, and monitoring communication traffic once we're actually there. If anything at all doesn't seem right, you message me and let me know."

"Got it." She agreed, fading from my view as the hologram of the Saturn V returned.

I could only hope no one would do anything dumb during this trip. This was my ship, after all.

…

MFV Explorer, August 14th, 11:11 AM, 2184

…

"Lenlo, how's the stealth system holding up?" I asked, pacing back and forth with a cup of coffee as I watched over all the bridge consoles.

"Heat sinks are at 38% capacity, and cloak is measuring at 98% effective wavelength." He answered, looking back at me. "All systems nominal."

"You feeling better after the other day, sir?" Kirva asked from the navigation console, causing me to flip around and face her.

"Yeah, I suppose you could say that." I replied in a half-dodge, scratching the back of my neck as I looked over at her console.

We were currently in transit from the Horse Head Nebula to the Annos Basin. Once we were there, it was only an hour and a half between there and the Serpent Nebula. So far, we had only stopped twice to radiate our stored heat from the stealth systems, once in the Caleston Rift and once in the Argos Rho Cluster.

"Keep me up to date on all system reports until we've reached our destination." I finished, walking out of the bridge and into the CIC.

Here, I found Captains Mal and Soren looking at the galaxy map in the center of the room, occasionally talking between themselves.

"Hey there, Michaels!" Mal greeted with enthusiasm, giving me a handshake the moment I was within range.

"Morning, Captain Michaels." Soren said right afterwards, still focused on the map.

"What are you two up to?" I asked, leaning against the railing.

"We were just discussing the Klenot system and a few other things." Soren answered, looking to me. "You run a nice ship here, Michaels. Despite everything it's been through, it still doesn't look a day old."

"I appreciate it. We've always work hard to keep the old girl in tip-top form." I remarked, rubbing the console next to me as I looked back to Mal. "I forget to ask earlier, how are Hendel and Gillian doing?"

"Oh, they're doing fine." Mal went on, sounding strangely proud of them. "Hendel was a great addition to our security, helping use his experience in the Alliance to better train my men, and Gillian has become increasingly better at handling both her emotions and her biotics."

"That's good to hear. I've really got to visit them again one of these days." I finished, looking back at the hologram of the Milky Way.

"Can you believe we haven't even seen a single percentile of what the galaxy has to offer out there?" Soren mused, looking to both me and Mal. "There are still countless worlds out there waiting to be discovered. Limitless opportunities."

"That's true. Thanks to your old friend, we were the first to begin exploring these previously out-of-reach worlds, Michaels." Mal added, giving me a good pat on the back. "We just have to make sure we find them and claim them before everyone else gets their hands on the drive tech."

I nodded silently, thinking back to that day when the Explorer went on its first shakedown run. I never really did grasp the true magnitude of what we had accomplished that day until we had gifted our tech to the quarian people. Seeing what it was capable of, witnessing all the doors it opened to them… it was beyond admirable.

It also made me progressively angrier at the Council, and the Citadel government in general. I understood why they had done what they did, the creation of A.I. was indeed incredibly illegal and had repercussions all these years later, but was that any excuse to leave the quarian people to slowly wither away over the course of two centuries? I didn't think so. After so many generations of quarians had come and gone, the banishment bestowed upon them had become the equivalent of original sin.

I had noticed this type of extreme action had become a recurring trait for the Citadel Council. The Asari, with their long lifespans, were incapable of forgiving past grievances. For them, 200 years was nothing but a drop in the bucket. The Salarians on the other hand usually didn't live for more than 40 years. This allowed them to simply brush away the actions of their predecessors with little regard for what effect it had. The Turians, being the hyper-imperialist blowhards they are could care less about what happened to a race that wasn't under their banner, seeking only to expand their interests across the Traverse.

I honestly couldn't understand why people listened to them.

Humanity had been the exception, at least most of the time. We had good people and bad people, but there were always those among us who were willing to help those in need. Hackett, Gregory, and my friends and I were all examples of what humanity was truly capable of. Forgiveness, the willingness to extend an olive branch. It just seemed to be one of those things we were good at.

It also made me realize why I was going with them on this diplomatic mission.

Greg and I were to be in-person examples of human-quarian solidarity, one that the Council would be forced to take seriously. There was no way they would be able to brush off the quarians knowing that not only did they now have their own star system, growing economy, and one of the most technologically-advanced militaries in the Milky Way galaxy, but that they were also allied with a Council race of equal military might.

It was us spitting in the faces of the Council, forcing them to learn the hard way that they had made a terrible mistake. You can't beat down on individuals and expect them to take it forever. The more you beat a man, the taller he stands.

It made me smile, now understanding the full scope of this trip.

Now this was something I wanted to be part of.

…

MFV Explorer, August 14th, 12:43 PM, 2184

…

I sat calmly in my Captain's chair as we neared the Citadel, Raan pacing back and forth behind me as we waited to clear the nebula. I was now excited by this point, looking forward to seeing this through.

"Kirva, we almost through?" I asked, tapping on the armrest of my chair repetitively.

"We should be clearing the nebula any second now…" She replied, focusing on the monitor in front of her. "There it is!"

As she announced it, the view in front of us opened up, revealing the Citadel. The five arms looked like orange, glowing flower pedals as the station slowly turned. I let myself gawk in awe at it, eyes wide open as I took in the sheer size of it. Greg looked over at me from the communication console, knowing what I was feeling.

"Citadel Control, this is MSV Explorer, requesting permission to land." Greg announced over the comm, making sure we were using the dual frequency given to us by Hackett.

"Standby for clearance." Came the swift response from the traffic controllers, pausing before coming back. "Clearance granted, transferring you to an Alliance operator."

"An Alliance operator?" I questioned, mildly confused.

"Hackett got us permission to use the Alliance docking facilities." Greg explained, looking back at me for a few seconds. "Obviously he didn't want us to dock in a public sector."

"Makes sense." I agreed, crossing my legs as I went back to admiring the view.

"Explorer, this is Alliance tower, please proceed to dock 3-12." The new operator finished, cutting off as we neared the edge of the Presidium ring, slowing and coming to a stop inside an internal docking area with its own self-contained atmosphere.

"The Eagle has landed." I remarked, letting myself chuckle and smile as I stood up from the chair. "Lenlo, as usual, you're in charge until we get back. Keep everything locked down, and forward anything important to my omni-tool. No one comes or goes without my say so."

"Yes sir" He confirmed, saluting as I walked over to him.

"Also, make sure Biss doesn't do any of his experiments while we're out here. I don't need any problems with the power grid while we're this far from home." I whispered, nodding to him as I gave him a quick, reassuring tap on the shoulder. "Alright Greg, you're in charge from this point on."

"Sounds good." He agreed as we both looked at Raan. "Is everyone ready, Admiral?"

"As ready as we can be for an occasion such as this." She answered with a hint of excitement in her voice as we walked back into the CIC where the other nine Captains and our six-man Marine detail were waiting. We all gathered into the airlock, barely able to fit all of us as we prepared to leave the relative safety of the Explorer.

"I've already got a wedge into the Citadel's primary communication grid. Nothing looks to be out of the ordinary as far as I can tell." Lydia spoke into my earpiece as I looked up at the camera in the corner. "It looks like C-Sec has a security team waiting for you outside on the docks."

I nodded to the camera, knowing I couldn't say anything in here as the decon cycle ended, revealing the walkway that led to the docks. We all followed Greg and Raan in order, and sure enough C-Sec was there waiting for us.

"Gregory Buckell?" The man in charge, a human sergeant, questioned with his hands behind his back. He was flanked by four armored officers in standard police gear, one human, two turian, and one asari.

"Can I help you, sergeant?" He responded, looking very confused. "I wasn't aware there was going to be a welcoming committee."

"I'm afraid it isn't." The sergeant replied in a tired, almost annoyed tone. "I've been ordered to have you all screened for weapons and foreign devices before we take you to see the Council."

"That's ridiculous, we never agreed to this." Raan objected, crossing her arms.

"It's standard procedure, ma'am." He said, taking in a deep sigh. "I can't let anyone proceed until we've determined everyone is clean."

"How can we get any cleaner? We spend all of our time in the Fleet." I mocked, actually getting Greg and a couple of the other Captains to laugh.

"Fine, we'll go through screening." Greg agreed, still not sounding entirely happy with the situation. "It's not like we have anything to hide anyways."

I turned around, looking at two of the six Marines that had accompanied us.

"You two, stay here and guard the ship until we get back." I ordered, receiving two acknowledging salutes from the men as we began walking.

We all piled into the large elevator, heading all the way up to C-Sec headquarters.

It was strange being back here in the Citadel after all of these years. It was uncanny, and in a very odd way. I had no real connection with the Citadel, it had only served as Dan and I's first portal into the future. But still, being back here brought one major question soaring back to my mind.

Why, of all possible places, did we end up on the Citadel? It was statistical near-impossibility that we'd end up in such a specific location out of sheer luck. It wasn't even a 1% chance; it was along the lines of googolplex units in terms of how many zeros that single percentile had. We had a better chance of ending up in the core of a star than on the Citadel.

This had been a question I was unable to answer, no matter how much math I brute-forced into it.

I refocused myself as we finally reached C-Sec headquarters, seeing the massive amount of activity occurring here. There must have been hundreds of people moving around the place performing various tasks and jobs. It was too much for me to even pick out a single spot to focus on. It was like a convention center.

"Follow me." The sergeant urged as we all moved out of the elevator into the main lobby.

I could feel the eyes following us as we walked, knowing full well that this must have been an unusual sight. The quarians had been the subject of many, many theories since we relocated the entire Migrant Fleet to the Klenot system, and seeing two humans with them much have fueled the questions forming in their heads.

It made me wish I could read minds. It would be ceaseless entertainment to hear all the zany conspiracy theories they had.

We were led into a section off of the main lobby filled with offices, "interview" rooms, and lots of storage. The last one on the end of the hall had a full-body scanner.

"We'd like to ask that you hand over all weapons, bio-amps, and military equipment until you're ready to leave." The sergeant ordered, standing next to the turian scanner operator. "It will all be returned to you untouched once your buissness in the Presidium has concluded."

"Then one at a time, each of you will walk slowly through the scanner while I monitor the readings." The turian officer added, clutching a datapad with both hands. "The process should only take a few minutes."

I shook my head in disappointment, pulling my Carnifex out of my shoulder holster and placing it into the bin as a few of the Captains and our Marine detail did the same. The bin then slid through the scanner, showing a green light as it crossed through the other side.

The scanning process for everyone went off without a hitch until they got to me.

"Hold up!" The turian said out loud, causing me to stop in my tracks. "I'm detecting some kind of cobalt-chrome compound coming from inside his head."

"What do you mean?" I asked, completely confused as the sergeant walked over to the operator's terminal.

"What's that inside your mouth?" The sergeant asked, now seeming as confused as the turian.

"What, these?" I asked, pulling open one side of my mouth so they could see my molars. "Those are metal fillings. I had two bad teeth when I was a kid."

"Strange. I didn't even know metal fillings were still a thing." The sergeant commented, a quizzical look on his face. "Never mind. Let him through, he's clean."

From there, we all hopped back into the elevator and shot up towards the Presidium. Even though no one up there was supposed to have weapons, I still felt incredibly uncomfortable without my sidearm. The Marines looked about as anxious as me having lost their weapons.

Nothing could have prepared me to see the Presidium, though.

It was magnificent, single handedly one of the most awe-inspiring sights I had ever witnessed. There was greenery, luxury shops, a massive lake, and the artificial sky… all of us were seeing this for the first time, and we couldn't help but gawk like a bunch of tourists.

The people here took notice of us as well, much like those in the C-Sec lobby had done. They watched our group move through in silence, though their faces betrayed their thoughts. Most of them looked annoyed, distrusting, and outwardly confused.

Alas, the chance to stare at it all would have to wait. We walked over to the Citadel Tower lift, hopping in for one last elevator ride before we finally met the Council. I watched the Wards glitter in the distance as we traveled the length of the tower, seeing certain parts of one of the Wards shrouded in darkness.

I assumed a lot of damage had occurred there during the Reaper attack. Knowing how these people operated, they were probably still collecting salvage.

"Alright, the Council is ready to see you." The sergeant finished as the elevator reached the Council chamber.

"Thank you very much." Greg finished as we all walked into the chamber, seeing the large fountain right off the bat.

This place was immaculately set up, with gardens, trees, and hidden sniper boxes at the top of the chamber. It didn't take a genius to guess they were tracking us very closely, following our every movement.

We climbed up the stairs, finally coming face to face with the Council. They were all standing there, waiting patiently for us. I already knew who they all were from the Alliance News Network. Tevos was the asari councilor, and Valarn was the salarian one. They both had what looked to be their best neutral expressions on. Sparatus was the turian one, and looked to be barely holding in his contempt based on body language alone.

And of course there was Anderson. He needed no introduction. He stood there with relaxed confidence that put the other three to shame.

"This meeting is now in session." Tevos announced without even a hello as they all tapped their consoles, likely beginning a recording.

"Greetings Councilors." Raan introduced, taking front stage at the front of the platform. "I am Admiral Shala'Raan vas Tonbay, here on behalf of the Admiralty Board of the Migrant Fleet. Behind me are Captains representing our civilian Conclave."

"Good to meet your acquaintances, Admiral." Anderson greeted warmly, smiling to us while Sparatus shot daggers at him.

"We had been informed that the Migrant Fleet returned after their mysterious disappearance almost a year ago." Valarn remarked, sounding quite snide as he noticed me and Greg among the Captains. "Who are the two humans among your group?"

"This is Captain Sean'Michaels vas Explorer, representing the head of our scientific development divisions and Gregory Buckell, Systems Alliance ambassador to the quarian people." Raan calmly explained as the body language of the three councilors took an immediate dip in quality.

"What?!" Sparatus blurted out, sounding as if someone had just insulted his mother. "This must be some kind of joke!"

"Admiral, are you telling us that the Systems Alliance and Migrant Fleet are engaged in a diplomatic relationship?" Tevos muttered, sounding dumbfounded as she looked over at Anderson, who couldn't look more pleased unless he allowed himself to smile.

"They say it as if it's a bad thing. Jeez." I whispered to Greg, who allowed a smile to cross his face for a moment.

"That's precisely what I am telling you, Councilor." Raan answered, hands behind her back.

"Anderson, what is going on here?!" Valarn demanded to know as they turned their attention away from us. "Is this true?"

"It is. Since January 19th of this year, we've had open relations with the Migrant Fleet." Anderson explained, already knowing exactly what's been happening. "Recently, we increased the scope of our relationship due to the open hostilities Cerberus has had against both our sides."

"How come we weren't told about this until now?" Tevos asked, beginning to lose her cool in the heat of this sudden influx of information.

"Before Cerberus increased their hostile activities, our relationship had only existed on a strict information-based level." Raan explained, taking some of the heat off of Anderson. "Both of our sides determined that to better combat this threat, creating a coalition was the best solution to a mutual problem."

"If that's the case, then do you care to explain to us how a fleet of over 50,000 ships managed to disappear off of the map?" Sparatus inquired, sounding none too pleased. It was obvious from this sudden shift in topic that he desperately wanted to try and cast suspicion over us. I decided to take the reins from here.

"Oh, that would be my fault." I answered with a smile, taking a step forward with my hands held together behind my back. "The answer to your question is quite simple, Councilor. I, along with a group of other fantastic individuals, created the Reach System. It's a revolutionary jump drive setup that enables FTL travel at speeds rivaling those of Mass Relays. Thanks to us, the entire Migrant Fleet now has access to this incredible new tech, among other advances we've made in the name of science."

"It has given us access to safe new worlds filled with bountiful resources, economic opportunity, and chances to grow as a species." Captain Mal added, pointing at the Councilors. "Above all else, it has given us a chance to ascend from this exile that you have kept us perpetually trapped in for over two centuries."

That really got to them. Both Tevos and Valarn looked like they wanted to vomit by this point, and Sparatus looked like he wanted blood. We had them by the balls.

"It doesn't matter what you think about us, Councilors." Raan said, still sounding just as calm as she did before. "In the end, what happens to us will have little effect on you as a whole. We just wanted you to know that we're no longer the homeless beggars you once thought us to be. Goodbye."

And with that powder keg lit, we all began walking away from the meeting in progress, knowing we had done more than enough damage to last a lifetime. No one tried to stop us, not even the Councilors. Those who had been watching our meeting simply stared in disbelief at us as we walked away.

We had just performed the biggest mic drop in galactic politics. I couldn't wait to begin work in this new political climate.

As far as the Council races were concerned, the quarians were back, and bigger than they had been since they had fled Rannoch all those years ago.

The Council was scared of them, and only now realized what they had created.

…

A/N: Wow, I was really on a roll with this one, people. I don't know how to explain it; this last week I have just been filled with this sudden burst of energy and I just kept writing and writing and writing. I haven't written this much this quickly in a long time, and I hope you will all enjoyed it!

So, the official decision is made and the Council now knows what the quarians have been up to all this time. Now we have to wait and see what happens now that the Alliance and Migrant Fleet are part of a formal coalition. There's going to be hell to pay on Cerberus' end, and it won't be pretty.

As always, I'd love to read any reviews, I'm always up for suggestions or constructive criticism! Stay tuned!