NOTE1: Greetings readers! I wanted to post this before Christmas, but my writing speed was shit. Alas, I hope you will enjoy the thirteenth chapter of my story. Oh, please read NOTE2 at the end when you get there. I keep getting this hunch that I forgot something about this chapter… Anyway, enjoy!

Chapter 13: Phantom of the Opera I

As it is written in The Art of War, "Victorious warriors win first and then go to battle, while defeated warriors go to battle first and then seek to win." Good luck and Godspeed, mister president.

(Fleet Admiral Hackett in a personal message to President Montgomery)

Reach, Intelligence Command HQ

Interrogation room, Late night of 2nd November 2157

Jack Harper was far from happy at this moment. He was arrested moments before signing a contract with the Ministry of Defense for one of his companies. Basically, AIC agents busted into the meeting room where the whole discussions between the officials and Harper and his entourage were taking place and arrested the man and every other high ranking employee in several of his companies, among them being the one from Harper's Commodities.

Harper sat down in the uncomfortable chair made only of metal. He tried to keep his cool and wait for the interrogator to come and tell him how screwed he was. The two guards stationed on either side of the door weren't much for talking. That, Harper concluded after a few fruitless attempts to talk to them. But then a person who carried himself with lots of confidence walked in. He slammed the datapad he brought in front of the businessman.

Harper looked at him mostly unfazed. "Jack Harper. Charmed," he said.

"Mister Harper, quite the interesting plan you had there. A shame we busted you, ey?" the man said.

"I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about, sir. And I won't talk without my lawyer."

The older man smiled at Harper for half a second before he smashed his face against the metal table. As he held Harper's face against the cold steel, he leaned to the left side of his face and spoke in a low voice.

"Listen here, sunny. Here you are nobody. We can delete you from existence if we want to. We're going to do this the old fashioned way, between you and me, no lawyer and no police. No jack shit. And if you're feeling cocky… remember that dead men tell no tales. Comprende, amigo?"

Harper just grunted in response, but also in protest to the inflicted pain.

"Good. Now, let me brief you on how deep in shit you are now," his interrogator said and allowed the young Harper to hold his head up. "Jack Harper, son of Andrew Louis Harper, inherits his father's empire of companies. Said empire became a real empire with the emergence of separatist movements in the colonies, thus Harper's Space Industries, the company which got contracted to boost the rate of warship production, and Colt's Manufacturing Company for rifles and pistols production, a company which your father bought just ten years before.

Life was good for good ole' Andrew who retired in 2155 and left it all to his son. Then Kharak and Eternium are pacified and the demand for military gear drops significantly. Suddenly, Harper's empire incomes drop just as significantly. Now what does Jack do to revitalize it all? Hm?"

Harper simply stares at the man, already knowing where he was taking it.

"You use your companies' employees to conduct 'rebel' attacks," he finger quotes, "against Alliance locations. Say, maybe at London Headquarters a day and a half ago during the commemoration ceremony?"

"What? What the fuck are you talking about? I'm no fucking traitor for corporate greed!" the accused defended himself. "How the hell can you even prove something that didn't actually happen?"

The man simply raised an eyebrow before pointing at the datapad. Jack took it and scrolled through its contents. He saw pictures and video footage taken by the AIC Counter Terrorist unit at London Alliance HQ the prior day. He saw the bodies of men and women in gardening clothes of Harper's Commodities, weapons ranging from pistols, to shotguns, to rifles were lying on the ground near the bodies.

"You wouldn't be the first, you know?" the interrogator said.

"What the hell!? I am not responsible for this. You can't put this on me just because some employees were insurrectionists. You don't actually have anything against me. Else I'd be hearing that I'll face a tribunal."

The man took the datapad from Harper's hands and changed the folder, this time showing him politicians and businessmen being arrested. Those were old ones, pictures dating back to 2153, 2154 and 2155.

"You know how this whole fucking mess started? It's because of assholes like the ones in those pictures. Cheeky bastards used their wealth to instigate anti-Alliance feelings in the colonies through proxies. What was the end goal? Fucking profit! Money's the ultimate devil. Money and desire. Create the context for their companies to receive requests to develop new technologies to sell. Like it always happened in wartime. People died and two colonies ravaged by war because a bunch of big league money makers and their lobbyists wanted to make money from conflict!" he shouted at Harper.

"That's not what you told in the media when you arrested them," Harper pointed out.

"You're a smart man, Jack. Consider the shit storm it'd have caused in that period. Now, you tell me that what proof I've got isn't painting you in the same colors! Would be a shame if your wife Eva became the widow of a traitor."

Harper immediately stood up and gazed into the man's eyes with his own piercing blue ones for a few seconds.

"Don't threaten me with my wife," Harper hissed.

"You're a smart man, Jack. Help me prove I'm wrong," he told him. The man took a cigar from the pack he had stowed in the pocket of his suit. He lit it up and dragged a long one.

"What do you want me to do?" Harper asked him.

The man exhaled the smoke first. "I wouldn't be surprised if this was a well laid out plan to get you out of the picture by rivals… Rivals whose ultimate goal is profit in the detriment of the Alliance and its citizens. Rout out enemies of the Alliance and of Humanity with the help of your companies. Help me cut the evil from its root. Serve the Alliance."

"And how do you want me to do that?"

The man smiled. "Become my… Illusive Man," he said.

Harper's face adopted a smirk. This cooperation could also benefit him and his inherited empire greatly. He extended a hand. "Pleasure to meet you…" he said and waited for his interlocutor to return the fake politeness. And he didn't disappoint.

"Nathan Bourne, Alliance Intelligence Command Director. Pleasure to meet you… Illusive Man."

Reach, Intelligence Command HQ

Director Harper's office, Present day

Harper sat down in his chair after another QEC session with President Montgomery. He briefed him in regards to the latest developments in his field of work at first. Among those was the summary of an analysis based on the findings of the stealth ship Equinox deployed to the Aralakh solar system from Magna. The Alliance was making a daring move against the Council in the eve of the peace talks. Then he worked to obtain access to the more intact wrecks recovered from Shanxi after the battle, and to one or two ships captured at Relay 314 from the second Council fleet.

Miranda came with the idea to create a hybrid ship, or more of them, for the Corsairs. It would be much more deniable if one said that the Corsairs managed to get their hands on custom made ships from recycled hulls from Shanxi after the battle, wrecks which weren't picked by the Alliance cleaning ships and somehow found their way into a shipyard to be put together. Turian hulls would be used to create the first vessel of this kind for the new group, with hyperspace FTL drive and other Human technologies incorporated in there.

As his train of thoughts regarding the Corsairs ended, something else of great importance came to his mind. After data mining Vasir's omnitool, the AIC discovered something interesting, an intriguing persona. Somebody called the Shadow Broker. There were various names, numbers and channels regarding this Broker's network in the more secure and encrypted parts of the omnitool's memory. Harper concluded that Cerberus must take over his network in the future. This Broker could prove highly problematic with the kind of resources he has at his disposal, should his goals not align with the well-being of Humanity.

Then Harper considered the fact that the Salarian busted by Averescu while trying to conduct espionage acts during Irissa's meeting with Goyle and Zorah was actually an agent of the Broker. The STG surely wasn't that stupid to risk it like this. He expected the Salarians to be slippery bastards, not idiotic bastards. Problematic indeed, this Broker figure.

He took out the pack of cigarettes from one of the desk's drawer where he held them along with a spare pistol with three spare magazines and a secondary personal shield generator if shit ever hit the fan. It was the same type of cigarettes the former Director used to smoke. Harper had to admit that the old man knew his stuff when it came to smoking.

He lit it up and savored the first puff. Then he activated the smoke filter to keep the air clean in his office. Before concluding the meeting, Montgomery gave Harper an order. Harper opened his work computer, the files already downloaded from the AIC servers. He opened it.

…

Director of Alliance Intelligence Command Jack Harper,

It would be stupid of me to assume you're not aware of the fact that the aliens part of the Citadel Council invited us to their seat of power to sign a peace treaty. You know that. But I want to prepare Humanity for the scenario where it all fails.

At the suggestion of some of our military leaders and after consulting the CEOs of ASIMO Robotics and Cyber Spark, the Parliament concluded that we need to bolster our numbers with synthetic combatants (not including the AIs who already serve). You have been allocated funds to immediately commence a development project for a new combat platform based on the Universal Platform series employed by our fellow AIs. Technical details are attached, forwarded to you as I received them from the military.

Your job is to see this project through with thorough secrecy. We don't want the population or aliens (and especially the Quarians) to find out about this. They will be used if needed, though. Use your companies and cooperate with ASIMO and Cyber Spark to get the job done. Variants for espionage are included. Time to dust off the Decade Plans.

Good luck, Harper.

President Kevin Montgomery.

…

'Well, this is going to be interesting,' Harper thought. The niche of objectives that the new platform must fulfill was a large one. Those units would be operated by advanced combat VIs; organized in units no larger than a company and be able to operate the battle network used by the Alliance to coordinate in the field. A Smart AI will act as the commanding officer for these platforms. Certainly something to tip the balance of military power in the Alliance's favor by a bit, since humanity was severely outnumbered by the Hierarchy's military alone; counting the other Citadel militaries would be like a tidal wave against the beach.

An army of battle platforms like these doesn't require much logistical support. They can operate indefinitely behind enemy lines, cut off from friendly units. As long as they have a means to fight and somebody to efficiently coordinate them, these units are a real pain for any military to deal with. There was even the request that if no Smart AI was leading them, the battle platforms will resort to a hive mind type of thinking for increased performance and better decision making by pooling their processing powers through their own battle network.

All that if the Alliance is able to successfully design and build them. But considering the huge amount of experience Humanity has when it comes to building robots, it should be within reach.

The AIC took another precaution before sending Garrus on his merry way home. They installed a virus into his omnitool when he was sleeping one night. A virus meant to spread through Hierarchy and Council official servers, one activated through a command or event. A logic bomb virus in the eventuality the Alliance will have to go again to war against the aliens, a virus to bring down vital digital elements to the administration and organization of the state. After all, this is how the hackers of the 21st century brought down many governments and their intelligence agencies, thus sparking worldwide revolutions – employees and infiltrators gave them a hand. Unwillingly and unknowingly, Garrus was an infiltrator for the Alliance, one meant to spread the virus in its dormant state.

Arcturus Station, Administrative District

Presidential apartment

Arcturus Station is divided in multiple districts. The 15 kilometer long and up to 8 kilometers wide station began as a much smaller one, and is continuously growing ever since. The Administrative District is the most important of them all, housing military establishments, as well as civilian institutions. Also, here's where the complex of apartments reserved for Alliance officials was built. Among other smaller districts there is the Quarian District, the Vegas District known for its entertainment establishments, games and nightlife, the Port Arcturus District known for being the commercial and shipping hub of the station, and Elysee District – mostly a residential district with housing apartments.

The Presidential Apartment is reserved for the highest ranking person within the Systems Alliance to live in during his or her stay on Arcturus. It also served for Montgomery as a meeting place with his colleagues, away from the unwanted attention they'd get in more official places such as the Arcturus Parliamentary Hall. The station was designed to be a reserve command station for the civilian and military leadership of Humanity if a catastrophe ever befell on Earth. As a consequence, it had everything ready for the officials. Its much more important role was that it served as port for the Fourth Fleet and fortress to defend the primary node of the Relay Network in Alliance space.

In the living room, decorated with various paintings and works of artisans, on two perpendicular couches sat Representative Zaal'Koris, Ambassador Rael'Zorah, Ambassador Goyle, the first Smart AI Alan, and President Montgomery. They were discussing how the negotiations at the Citadel might play out.

"Thank you for accepting the invitation of meeting here," Montgomery began. "I wanted to have a dialogue with all of you in regards to the upcoming meeting we'll have at the Citadel with the three governments."

"I'm feeling privileged and it's an honor to represent Homo Artificialis to the galaxy, mister president," Alan said. Homo Artificialis was the scientific name given to every Smart AI, just like organic humans are known as Homo Sapiens Sapiens.

"You're the very first of your kind, mister Alan. It's only natural that you are the first one to be invited."

Alan was normally working with Cyber Spark, the same company which gave him digital life, to improve his kin and make the Smart AIs as human as possible. On the offside, he was enjoying philosophy. His UP model was of the newest generation and his face was modeled after the man whose name he was given – Alan Turing. His clothing was that of a formal office suit.

"No offense intended against our artificial counterpart here," Koris said, "but the Council will not take his existence easily."

"They fear that which they do not understand," Alan replied. "My purpose is to shed a new light upon artificial intelligent life forms across the galaxy."

"That is good to hear," Rael said. "Let us focus on the upcoming negotiations."

"Yes. What do you think this Council will do?" Goyle asked the two Quarians in the room. "You must have had some past experiences with them."

Koris gave Zorah a glance before voicing his thoughts. "Well, first and foremost they will try to impress you with the Citadel and their galactic civilization. That is how they did with our delegation when they visited the Citadel for the first time. Then it should come the negotiations in the Council Chambers, probably it will be broadcasted due to it being a historic event as it is with every new race. Should it conclude, they will ask you to join the Citadel."

"Ask us to become pawns of theirs, you mean," Montgomery pointed out. "The way I see it, the Council has lost sight of its original purpose. Either that or they deliberately lied. It's a triumvirate who is only concerned about itself. If the Krogans and the Quarians were any clue, they became power hungry and bigoted," he seethed his words with disdain to the galactic organization.

"Let us focus on what we'll ask and concede at the negotiations first, sir," Alan said. "Then we can analyze what it'd entail to associate with the Citadel Council."

"Right," Montgomery said, stood up and began pacing around. "After a few sessions with Ambassador Goyle," he gestured with his right hand to her, "with the Parliament and Government, the Alliance decided on what will demand."

Demand. That was the word. Not ask, but demand.

"We want reparations for the damage done to Shanxi, for the lost ships and costs for the mobilization of our military. That would be a first. We're also going to demand the establishment of a demilitarized zone between Relay 314 and Magna. A public apology in front of the whole galaxy. And… the uplift of the DMZ in the Aralakh System."

"The Council will most likely agree with everything but the DMZ… there's a great fear within Citadel races that the Krogan will rekindle the war against the galaxy," Rael said. "The DMZ is there to make sure no such thing happens. Many planets have terribly suffered during the Rebellions."

"The situation of the Krogan race could have been addressed long ago and the Rebellions prevented," Alan cut in. "I'm basing my arguments on what I've read from the codex the Quarian people shared with us. The Council at the time simply used them to fight a war they couldn't win by themselves. They gave a culturally underdeveloped warrior species modern technology. It was only a matter of time until the time bomb would go off and the situation blew in their faces. The Salarians gave them technology, but the Asari never bothered to teach them self control, patience, to educate them and help them rediscover their ancient culture before they nuked themselves. They left a race of warriors with an exceedingly high birth rate with a few underdeveloped planets and nobody to fight. Do we want to leave it like that?"

Koris and Rael shook their heads, as did Goyle.

"Of course not," Koris gave his support for the situation, even if he was having his doubts about the chances of success the Humans' plan had. "But it will have severe repercussions on Humanity and the Quarians to demand that. The Elcor might not trade with you anymore and you made it very clear that you want to import those metals."

Goyle smiled at that. "The Elcor can't afford to turn us down. We're going to make them offer they can't refuse," she said. "What are you going to push for at the talks, Representative and Ambassador?"

"First and foremost, a public apology for what they did to our people," Rael said. "Then it will be reparations for the lost vessels and compensations for the families of the dead."

"Is that all?"

"Well, we took the Turians' shipyard that was at Magna. I don't want to push our luck."

"It will be hard," Alan said. "If my thought process was the right one, the Turian Hierarchy will have a most unpleasant surprise when we vacate Magna's solar system and they take possession of it. They will not take it kindly. It will hurt future relations with them."

"They will get over it. They owe you at least that much," Montgomery said. "What about that invitation they'll give us? I'm not keen on accepting that and neither is the Parliament and Government. The people would have us hanged if we accept."

"The Council does not like it when somebody isn't dancing to their tune," Koris pointed out. "This will generate tensions between the two camps. A lot of tension."

"We might have a second Cold War on our hands, mister president," Alan said. "A Cold War that could very quickly turn into a very hot one."

"Sometimes doing what is right is not the same with what is popular. We need allies and we need them soon," Montgomery said. "We'll do what they should have done a long time ago and make new friends. Either choice we'd make, the Council will not be friendly to us. They have a juggernaut of an economy compared to us. In a short span of time they can overwhelm us if they so desire. The Alliance and the Quarian Republic can't win a war with the Council with this discrepancy. Secrecy is the best weapon we have in case of war."

"And there's the possibility of an insurrectionist reemergence," Goyle pointed out.

"If the Council finds out about rebellions within your territories, they will take advantage of it. They're very proficient in black ops and wouldn't back down from a fight if they feel that their position as the greatest and ruling is threatened," Rael said.

Montgomery's face took a dark expression when he heard that. He stopped pacing around and stood his ground like a statue. "They're welcome to try if they want us to send them in flames to the lowest pits of Hell."

Alan was the first to notice the expression and voice Humanity's leader had. "Let's not rush in head first, president," he cautioned.

Montgomery took in a breath and let it out before speaking. "If they like to play dirty then they'll be in for a surprise. I appreciate the concern you're showing, Alan. But I took the holiest of oaths: to protect Humanity as its elected leader. It's every Human's duty to protect his species. I am no different."

"Still, it's too extreme what you're suggesting, president," Rael stepped in.

"No, it's not," Goyle who was quiet for this part finally said. "If you are bullied and don't do something regarding it, you will only invite further aggression. We want a peaceful coexistence, like we have with the Quarian people. But…"

"But we won't shed many tears if we must be alone in the galaxy if the others don't feel like us," Montgomery finished. "This first conflict has bought us some time. For the foreseeable future we're secure from blatant aggression. But they'll muster the courage sooner or later. But nobody says that we have to fight with weapon in hand to get rid of them."

A smile crept on his face as different ideas came to his mind. The Alliance had AIs specialized in cyber warfare. Some infiltration and hacking could give them the cards to start a shitstorm in Council space and hinder their capabilities by instigating the public opinion against the leadership.

"I want to make it clear beforehand that we won't accept their invitation either," Koris said.

"Huh?"

"It's obvious," Koris began, "that they will want us to join the Citadel and use us to get to you. Either way, I see them inviting us only to take advantage of us. If we rejoin the Citadel races and don't comply, then the Council will have the legal justification for a military intervention against us. As they will have public opinion on their side."

"What if the negotiations crumble down?" Alan asked. "I fear my presence will only do us a disservice."

"The Turian named Garrus Vakarian will have briefed them before the meeting. They will know what to expect. After all we wanted to use him as a middle man when we came out before the galaxy. But that peaceful scenario went down the drain," Goyle explained.

"Let us hope that everything will go well at the negotiations. I don't want to think what Udina and his Terra Firma party would do if they used the failed negotiations to win the next elections…"

SSV Normandy, Docked at Arcturus Shipyards

Crew quarters

The stealth frigate Normandy was docked at Arcturus to change its load for a nuclear one. They were giving up most of their nuclear arsenal to stock up on the Shiva antiship nuclear warheads. Initially planned to conduct a raid on Trebia System, the vessel will soon play a deterrence role at the upcoming negotiations.

Captain Anderson wasn't pleased with this new mission. Aside from being the ship that will take the delegation, along with the parade block, to the Citadel docks, she'd also be the ship that'll take 17 million lives if worst happened. The Alliance wouldn't hold back from blowing the Citadel to kingdom come with nukes to gain another advantage if the war went on. Any alien aggression is treated as a threat to Humanity's existence. And Anderson prayed it would never come to that.

While the captain of the ship was away at the Navy HQ in the Administrative District, the crew had been given a one day shore leave. Alex, on the other hand, stayed on the ship. Chakwas' orders to keep her under supervision for the time being. She was examined by an expert doctor when the Normandy arrived at Arcturus, but Chakwas didn't want a person under her care to try anything foolish as Alex was known to do on shore leave.

She sat in her bed, cramped in one of the small rooms that serve as part of the living places for the crew. This particular room was reserved for the Marine contingent of the Normandy. It had Fireteam Immortal's beds and 8 more for the other Marines, everybody sleeping in them once their shift is over and they're changing with their bed partner. Small locker rooms serve as a holding place for their personal belongings. Alex grabbed the book she was reading before this goddamn war started, right before the mission where they saved Garrus from certain death: With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa.

The book wasn't a gentle one. It described the war through the eyes of a US Marine as he went through the horrible battles on the two islands, as the US clashed with Imperial Japan. And as she reviewed what she read so far, she drew parallels between Sledge's book and the reality she lived.

She heard and read some reports about Shanxi, firsthand accounts of Alliance combatants there. The 501st Special Marine Regiment, as (in)famous as it already was, was gaining a lot of popularity within the Marine Corps. They earned themselves another nickname, besides The Devil's Specials. This time it was Heroes of Shanxi. They and the whole garrison which included the Army regiment, tank battalion and the militia. Last but not least, Brigadier General Karl Dietrich. Then it was Major General Joachim Williams' 5th Marine Shock Division, now nicknamed Liberators of Shanxi.

Lieutenant Kai Leng's platoon was also held in very high regards by the more nationalist and extremist ones due to his daring mortar raid on the Turian FOB with white phosphorus shells. One of the slogans circulating on the Internet is "Let every alien know how it feels when you burn him! How it feels when Alliance artillery is shelling!". There was also Kal'Reegar and his men who were earning a great deal of appreciation from Humanity. Han'Gerrel was portraying the latter as heroes to his people and a model for the Quarian Marines.

And the stories of the combatants were pretty brutal. The Marines of the 5th, and 501st especially, were ruthless and brutal. The Turians pressured the garrison hard in the first two days and nights. But on the third day, it was them who were pressured by the Alliance. The Paladin mechs and their AI pilots have proven themselves as formidable weapon systems against infantry and light armor, as they cleared building by building with the heavy troopers and regular Marines. Their triple barreled 7.62mm Gatling guns tore through the Turian armor suit with ease, mainly due to the superfast velocity the bullets were accelerated at. They were excellent at suppressing enemy positions or using their 40mm grenade launchers to blow up cover. Almost every Turian who was caught in the city was killed, the survivors mostly originating from Desolas' FOB. At Williams' orders, those who didn't surrender immediately were given no quarter.

Alex remembered Anderson's orders, as he received them from Ahern and Hackett and passed them to his ship's N7 team: no prisoners. She didn't totally follow that order and ended up taking a grenade to the face. Her helmet was decommissioned and she had to get a new one from the N7 base at Arcturus. That helmet saved her life. The Turian concussive grenade was a powerful weapon. She mentally noted to stay away from it if the enemy laid its hands on it.

'Maybe if I followed the orders I wouldn't have screwed up,' she thought. Then she thought of the royal scolding Tali gave her in the sickbay. The young Quarian engineer was naturally very worried when she found out that one of her Human friends was injured and KO-ed in the mission. Alex didn't register her words well, she was more focused on her 'cute voice, pearly eyes and that nervous body language she gave when she scolded me.' She did recall some words and sentences, most predominant being bosh'tet.

"Hm hm."

She turned her head to the right and saw Shepard a meter from her. 'When did he sneak up on me?'

"Alex?" he said.

She stood at attention in the blink of an eye. "Major Shepard, sir."

Shepard smiled and leaned against a locker. "Off duty, Alex. Just call me John or Shepard. I'm not the Major now."

"Right, sorry Shepard."

"What are you doing here? Almost everybody's on the station, hitting a bar or something," he asked.

"The Doc wants to keep me away from the kind of establishments I tend to prefer… and get in trouble with later on," she replied.

"Oh? Trouble?" he asked. Alex was new to his team in comparison to the others.

She smiled and shifted her weight on her left leg. "If there ain't strippers, then there's a fight. Vegas District here on Arcturus does have some interesting places where you can blow steam and make money."

He eyed her for a few seconds. "Alex? You didn't…"

"Oh, I did. Former colleagues bet on me and I fight in the ring. And split the money. Nothing against regulations there since it was within legal parameters of the Alliance, and within regulations of the Corps and Armed Forces. Plus there was nobody who would spar with me in my former unit."

"I can see why," Shepard commented as he remembered the kind of proficiency she's known for in close quarters fights.

"Anyway, what are you doing on the ship? I thought you'd be out too," she asked.

"Well, Anderson called in. We just found out our new orders," he replied. "The Normandy will go to the Citadel where the enemy Council resides. We'll take the president aboard once we reach the Widow System and bring him and the honor guard to the station. And…"

"… and?"

"And Fireteam Immortal will be his personal guard."

They sat there in silence for a moment.

"Well, better not screw that one up too," Alex remarked.

Shepard looked a bit puzzled at her before speaking. "What do you mean with that 'too' at the end?" As an answer, she simply pointed toward her new eye and the scars on her face. Shepard sighed heavily at that.

"… You know, I made a promise to see my sisters. To return home. I almost broke that promise… They all I've got and I'm all they got beside each other," she said and giggled afterwards. More like a sad giggle. "I think I sound like a retard and coward, for an N7."

"You're human, just like I am. Like Ash, or Kaidan, or James. Hell, Edi's human too. She feels the same way, especially with Joker now. We all think like that. Just that we've been together a while longer. You don't have to bottle it up like that, you know? It will eat you on the inside. Talk to us. Even the strongest is weak," Shepard advised her. "Listen, it was my fault you got injured there. We were supposed to got everything covered and didn't notice the grenade he had on him. You don't have to blame yourself."

"Stow it, Shepard. I know I'm the one at fault here. Don't try to take the blame on you and the team for my idiocy," Alex replied. She paused, her mind in thought. "Next time I won't be weak. I won't hesitate to kill next time…"

'I made a promise to return home, after all…'

"Alright. We're always here to help each other. Get some rest if you don't want to join the others in a bar," the Major said and patted her on the shoulder before making to leave. "We'll run some simulations in 36 hours in preparation for the Citadel."

"Shepard!"

"Yes?"

She smiled at him. "Thank you."

"Anytime Alex," he answered and gave her a nod. As Shepard left the empty room, save for Alex as the only inhabitant at the moment, a piano's music followed his steps. It was Canon in D by Pachelbel played on an MP3. She was such an old person.

Palaven, Capital city of Cipritine

Palaven Command HQ

Quentius' ship has finally arrived at Palaven and landed at one of Cipritine's spaceport docks. Garrus and Eudorian were on their homeworld. The two were met by a guard detail and an intelligence officer who immediately took them to Palaven Command HQ for debriefing. The higher ups would have liked this operation to be done on their way to Palaven, but the ship lacked the necessities.

Garrus was now waiting for the people that'd debrief them. He was very surprised when he saw who came in: Flavian and Fedorian. Garrus immediately stood up when he recognized the Primarch.

"Primarch Fedorian, sir!" he saluted in a military manner.

"At ease, son," Fedorian told him and extended his hand to Garrus who only accepted it. It was similar to a Roman handshake. Garrus turned his attention to his father and engaged in the same handshake.

"Father."

"Son. It's good to see you back home," Flavian told him.

"Happy to be home, father. Although I would have preferred a much more favorable political context," the young Vakarian said. "How are mother and Solana doing?"

"They're doing good. Caetina is still on her medication while Solana is still away studying," Flavian answered. "But family will have to wait. We are here for a whole other matter," he said to draw the attention back to what was important.

"Of course. Apologies," Garrus excused himself. Fedorian gestured him to sit down and the three of them did exactly that. "Primarch, I expected you to see Admiral Eudorian rather than personally come here for my debriefing."

Fedorian growled in frustration at that. "Eudorian doesn't have as much to say, considering the preliminary report. You've lived for… what, two months with them? You can help me a lot more for the upcoming peace talks at the Citadel, Garrus Vakarian. And time is short. Tell me about the Humans."

Garrus didn't ask why his father was here. He knew his presence will be an encouraging factor for him to speak more freely. Yet he seemed to hesitate. "I don't even know what to begin with," he admitted.

"Begin with… your general opinion about them. A story about your time with them," Flavian advised. Fedorian was eager for information.

Garrus' gaze was fixed at the long end of the table as he put order in his thoughts before voicing them.

"Humanity is just like any race – they prefer to live and prosper in peace. They've been good to me, although paranoid too, and the Quarians. From what I could ascertain, they gave them a dextro planet as a gift and helped them colonize said planet. New Rannoch is its name."

"Were you able to learn their planet's location?" Fedorian asked.

Garrus shook his head. "I just know that you can get there from Arcturus. Nothing more. My access to their extranet was also limited, managed by their state intelligence agency."

"What and where is Arcturus?" the Primarch immediately asked. While he was positive peace will be the result, the Hierarchy needed every bit of information they could ascertain.

"Arcturus Station is like their Citadel," Garrus said. "It serves as a backup station for administrative purposes, as a commerce center, living places for Humans and Quarians, and a military port for one of their fleets."

"A must destroy or capture target in case of war," Fedorian's military mind immediately thought out loud.

"Well, that will be very hard to do," Garrus said and got curious looks from the two. "It's heavily fortified. And judging by how the Turian ships performed so far, they'd get slaughtered in a straight on battle with the Arcturus based forces. Any attack would end with many losses on our end."

"We are balancing the field," Flavian pointed out. "Apparently, the Humans are very good at hacking. We are taking steps to neutralize that kind of threat to our ships."

Garrus shifted uneasily in his seat. The other two picked up on it and knew he had something to say. His own eyes were betraying the fact that he was debating whether to tell them or not something.

"Garrus," he heard his father's voice, "what aren't you telling us?"

"Ah… I wanted to come to this part, but the sooner, the better. The Human Systems Alliance has both …organic and synthetic citizens," he finally said. Fedorian and Flavian feared that this scenario was the real one. "Both groups are Human, just that… one is organic and born in a woman's womb while the other is born in the digital world. They live as equal citizens and in peace, not like what happened during the Geth Uprising. Actually, part of the six man team who got me out that frigate was an AI called Edi."

Alarms rang in Fedorian's mind. Artificial intelligence was something highly frowned upon by galactic society. Especially after the Geth episode. He didn't want to judge the Alliance for this, he wanted to keep an open mind when Garrus said that they're coexisting with their creators, up to the point they're serving in the military. But decades of training, drills and mental doctrine came screaming out against this idea. Outside, he looked very composed, maybe like a statue. Inside, a battle was raging.

'No! I don't want to get stuck in those old ways,' Fedorian thought. 'Maybe if they coexist… then everything they taught us may be wrong. We have to give them that chance.'

"I will have to bring this up to the Council," Fedorian said.

Flavian looked at the Primarch with a questioning look. "Sir…" he muttered without the ability to find the adequate words to correctly express what he wanted to say.

"I won't compromise the negotiations, Vakarian. I am not locked up in mind," Fedorian said, picking up on what Flavian failed to vocalize. "For a more detailed report on the AIs an intelligence officer will come. What else do you know about Humanity?"

"Well… imagine the Asari, Turians and Krogans rolled into one, with some touch of Quarian and Salarian."

"That doesn't help much. Explain in more words, Garrus," his father told him.

"Well… they love democracy, but it is a representative one rather than direct e-democracy like the Asari Republics employ. Well… if I think better, the e-democracy is a façade for the Armali Council. But I'm digressing. Their military is no joke, more than comparable to ours in terms of tradition and discipline." Fedorian guessed that last one right, if the alien song that accompanied the declaration of war was any indication of their fighting spirit. "A history rich with conflict allowed them to develop this militaristic mindset, but it's not mandatory for all citizens. They can be brutal as the Krogan if the articles I've been given access to are any indication. And they always push to exceed their limits… they seem to be the most universal species. They were planning on coming out and meeting the galaxy… I believe we would have gotten along very well, had the Council not blown this one up too."

Fedorian picked on the antipathy his tone carried against the Council. He didn't bring up what Flavian brought up to him regarding the pirate attack on CDF Frigate-07, he noted to have a chat with the young Vakarian on the topic sometime soon. But he also wanted to keep him secret for an investigation he was cooking up.

"I have been at odds with the Council and I agree with the fact that they've been reckless in recent history. But I'm just as guilty…" the Primarch said and got a very surprised look from Garrus. "I knew it would spill trouble and yet I gave them ships… Spirits…"

Flavian wanted to focus more on intel instead of hearing the Primarch mumbling to himself as he sometimes did when he felt guilty of something.

"Garrus, what of their form of administration? You said they're a representative democracy."

"Yes. The Humans' state is split into… four branches. There is the judicial branch which deals with the obvious, as its name suggests. Their methods of judging people seem way too laborious if you ask me, unlike a more straightforward tribunal of the Hierarchy. Their executive branch is the Government. They're split into ministries: Ministry of Education & Science, of Health, of Foreign Affairs which was mostly doing nothing up until their first contact, of Defense, of Culture… I can't remember them all.

Then there is the legislative branch called Parliament. The members of the Parliament are elected by the people every 6 years. Their job is to pass or abolish laws, serve as a consultative body similar to the Council of Primarchs and decide with the president on their species' future goals in extraordinary circumstances. The last is the Presidency. The man or woman who occupies that post is elected through democratic vote every 6 years, similar to the Parliament. The current president is an elderly man called Kevin Montgomery. I met him only two times: first it was when he visited me at their hospital, second time it was on a meeting where he asked me about the Council and galactic politics. He's like Humanity's Primarch, just with a lot more strings attached."

Flavian and Fedorian considered Garrus' words. This was a similar, but different organization of the state compared to their race and others. They came close enough to the Asari Republics and the pre Geth Uprising Quarian Republic. Now that he thought about it…

"What about the Quarians?" Flavian asked. "Have they reformed their leadership?"

"Yes but not by much," Garrus began. "The Admiralty Board is gone." This piqued their curiosity very much. "The Conclave remained the one who takes the decision for the whole Quarian people. There is Representative Zaal'Koris, something similar to the human post of president, who can represent his people in galactic politics and take decisions without ratification from the Conclave in extraordinary situations. They're still working on something more adequate after the Migrant Fleet settled. There's Ambassador Rael'Zorah, former member of the Admiralty Board, who's the middleman between the Quarians and the Humans. I believe Han'Gerrel retained his post as Admiral of the Heavy Fleet and highest ranking military man."

"Who do you think they'll send to the Citadel?" Fedorian asked.

"Representative Koris and President Montgomery will be there. That's a no brainer if you ask me. I can't tell you much about their character. Then I believe it will be one Ambassador Anita…" he paused trying to remember the whole name, "something was her name. It looked like she was the one being prepared to represent the Humans at the Citadel. And an educated wild guess here – Zorah too. These two seem reasonable people. Although the Human female seemed irate on a few occasions when talking about the Council with me."

"They seem like an interesting bunch to talk to," Fedorian said in a much more unprofessional manner. "How does a Human compare to the other races in physical prowess?" he asked Garrus.

The younger Vakarian leaned backwards in his chair before speaking. "It compares in such a way that you prefer not to find out on yourself," he said and gave Fedorian another reason to growl. "Just like you would expect, not every individual of their race is equal in physical strength. The males have a much more muscular build than the females, a similar trait to the Turians, Batarians, Drell, and Quarians. I can't tell for sure, but an average male of their species will give a Turian soldier a run for his money in a close quarters fight. Despite their fragile look and our exoskeleton, they could kill a Turian with a good punch either to the neck, either to the abdomen, or a bite to the neck…"

"A bite?" Flavian asked. Yes, a bite could infect them and give them unhealthy reactions due to dextro-levo incompatibility.

"Indeed. Their jaws seem pretty powerful. It's similar to the Asari, but looks like it can do a lot more damage. These are predators, just like our ancestors were. They have teeth that can cut through our skin and crush the wind pipe, thus leading to death through depravation of air," Garrus explained. "And a good percentage of their species makes a habit of working out and improving their musculature. Especially within their military."

Garrus brought up the image on his omnitool, same image he showed to Eudorian. "Look at this guy," he said as he pointed to James. "Comes close to a Krogan in height and looks like he could rip an Asari in half if he puts his mind to it."

Fedorian and Flavian analyzed the image. Their attention immediately fell on James in his more casual clothes. Combine the fact that he's military, which means extensive training in close quarters, with the strength he can develop, plus a few ideas and alien fighting styles, and they wouldn't pick on him.

"It's remarkable how much they resemble the Asari," Flavian noted. "Look at the females. Paint them blue and put something to hide their hair… and you have yourself an Asari."

"Hmm… Are we sure they aren't some long lost cousins? The Asari and these Humans?" Fedorian asked. One of the scenarios he would despise the most from the outcome of Humanity's reveal to the galaxy was them joining or falling under Asari influence. He simply felt like the Matriarchs were too arrogant. The military prowess of Humanity, plus their new weapons and interesting inventions, would make the Asari a royal pain to deal with.

"I don't… know," Garrus replied hesistantly. At first he wanted to say that it wasn't the case, but something clicked in his mind.

And that rang alarm bells in Fedorian's mind. "What do you mean you don't know?" he asked.

"I asked the Humans the same thing and they told me that it'd be impossible to some degree. They have hard evidence of their evolution on their homeworld, from the very ancient past of about 65 million years ago when a mammal common ancestor began to leave its mark on their planet. That was after a mass extinction caused by a comet or an asteroid's impact. I raised the same issue with Alex and Shepard-"

"Who are these two?" Fedorian interrupted, to which Garrus showed them in the picture on his omnitool.

"They were a bit more forthcoming than the officials I asked previously. There are individuals among them who believe that sometime in the past… their species was influenced by aliens. Influenced in an evolutionary manner. But the proof is next to nonexistent. That until they discovered Prothean ruins on one of their neighboring planets some 130 years ago. That theory gained some popularity, but was dismissed once more by society."

"Sounds something like a Hanar would preach," Flavian remarked.

"Maybe the Protheans or a previous species actually visited Earth, the Human homeworld, in the past. And took a few samples… after all it is known that there was a sudden leap or there's a missing link in Asari evolution," Garrus added. "I wouldn't be surprised to see they are somewhat linked… but the chances are astronomical for that to be true."

"The last thing the Hierarchy needs is the Republics getting a hold of this race," Fedorian said.

Flavin picked up on that, the older Vakarian fully aware about the fact that many Primarchs had a tough time with the Council in the past when the Hierarchy wanted to strike at the Batarians or the Terminus in retaliation to pirate raids. But the Republics and Union always shot down their plans. This was cause for mild friction between the two camps, and only aided in boosting popularity of groups such as Palavani Prima, the Turian equivalent of Terra Firma.

Fedorian, like many of his predecessors, feared the other Council races will one day have enough military power to make the Hierarchy more and more irrelevant and force the Volus out of a client race status. The Hierarchy needed the Volus to keep their economy flowing and the Council to have trade partners. Their militaristic mindset and form of organization of the state made them a military powerhouse, but their economy wasn't shown as much love after the end of the Krogan Rebellions. The Asari and Salarians subtly forced the Turians into this state of dependency. The game of power and superiority was a subtle one, and if it came to armed conflict then shit really hit the fan.

The door to the 'interview' room opened and a female Turian came in. She saluted the Primarch in the traditional military salute. Garrus recognized a Major's insignia on her uniform.

"Primarch Fedorian, sir! I apologize for interrupting, but the dreadnought Bellicose is waiting for you," she said.

"Prepare a shuttle. I'll be there in 10," he replied. "Did Corinthus bring the files I requested to my office?" he asked her.

"Yes, sir. And STG Commander Jonis left a datapad as well before leaving, for your eyes only," she informed him.

'What could he want?' Fedorian asked himself. "Bring them to the shuttle. I will need them. Dismissed."

She left the room. The Primarch was running late for his departure for the Citadel. He turned again his attention to Garrus. "Son, any last input that will help the Hierarchy at the upcoming negotiations? Like their goals?"

Garrus stood thinking for a few moments before replying. "Expect them to be a pain to deal with. They were very upset when news reached their leaders that the Council has attacked them. I also doubt that they will join the Citadel member species due to the very obvious reasons… Alright, I know this may sound stupid, but… just like Turians, one can be your best friend, a group of them can be racist bastards, and a society can be warmongers."

Fedorian glared daggers at Garrus for that parallel. The young Vakarian felt the need to defend himself from his gaze. "We're very much alike, you'd be surprised, sir. I recognized many Turian traits in them."

Fedorian kept his even gaze on Garrus for two more seconds. To his credit, Garrus didn't' back down and did his best to gaze back into Fedorian's eyes. After all he wasn't one to take back his opinion if it upset somebody. He raised hell at C-Sec with some of his buddies when the whole Quarian – Turian – Elcor incident became common knowledge. Fedorian inwardly acknowledged Garrus' guts and honesty before giving his father a nod ad leaving without saying anymore words.

THW Bellicose, Primarch's quarters

En route to the Citadel

Fedorian sat at a desk in a room specially prepared for him to use while onboard. The crew was more than happy to have the Primarch aboard their warship. The Bellicose is one of the newest dreadnoughts fielded by the Hierarchy, only fitting to take the highest ranking Turian to the Citadel for a meeting that'll decide the future of the galaxy.

In front of him were datapads about various periodical evaluations made by Palaven Command on its senior officers. Evaluations on mental stability, personality evaluation, health and the such. Then there was a separate datapad with something General Corinthus wante to get to his attention. And there was the datapad from Commander Jonis of STG.

And Fedorian wasn't pleased by what he was reading. While the overwhelming majority of the Hierarchy's senior officers were very much the same or with small deviations from their previous examinations, there were cases whose balance was tipping into a much more aggressive and belligerent one. Two high ranking admirals and a dozen Generals of various ranks, ranging from Brigadier to Major General, were showing a huge rise in said factors in their psychological examinations.

Normally, these traits aren't disliked in the military, but cultivated to some degree. But what Fedorian was reading here was by far over his comfort level. He didn't want his officers to go off starting conflicts over what could easily be settled through civility. No, he isn't one of those Primarchs who bends down to please others. Fedorian simply knows how things must be dealt with to secure a better future for his people. And starting wars due to wounded pride wasn't helping that cause.

Desolas Arterius was proof of that. He was among the flagged senior officers. The Primarch saw where that took Desolas and his troops. He decided to keep these officers under watch and keep them away from places where they could stir trouble. Maybe a reallocation to inner Hierarchy space and Palaven Command will do the job without attracting unwanted attention upon himself. It wouldn't bode well to sweep aside officers like that without any good reason, the results of the examinations being within accepted limits established by the Hierarchy, even if barely for a few individuals.

Then there was a very unusual change to the designated patrol route of three patrol fleets within the Attican Traverse. He used to keep an eye on the situation in the Traverse. With all the pirates that were waiting for an opportunity to hit Council planets on the border, Fedorian took that threat seriously even before his promotion to Primarch. The patrol routes used to be the same for many years. Yet they were suddenly 'reevaluated'. And the change was mode a month ago.

'What in Spirits' name is going on here?' he asked himself. 'Somebody better have an explanation for this when I return home.'

And it was getting better. He then read what Jonis left for him.

…

PRIMARCH FEDORIAN,

I'm going against a few orders by bringing this to your attention, but I believe this is too important for me to work on it. I avoided speaking to you about this while I was in Cipritine due to reasons which will become apparent as you read through.

Two weeks ago one of my agents whose identity shall be kept secret received a message from Councilor Valern. It was about disturbing discoveries related to Citadel Security. To use as few words as possible, Councilor Valern believes that the Turian Councilor, Sparatus, might have… overstepped his powers and let personal ambition jeopardize Citadel space.

Communication systems between the Citadel and the joint fleets have been sabotaged. Not insignificant sums of money have been paid to various Turian officers and random people whose background is shady, most likely bribe. Pirate activity is suspiciously absent in the Traverse. Information concerning Citadel military assets was leaked. The attack on Frigate-07 is likely to have been an act of treason.

These were the findings of SPECTRE Jondum Bau and a few STG agents, including the agent who brought this to my attention and I subsequently passed it up the ranks to my superiors. We are still checking everything and investigating. This information may be outdated by the time you read it. But it is very important that you know of it.

I reasoned that there is no logical reason for you to partake in such treasonous activities, and, against standing orders, leaked this to you. Councilor Valern first assigned the SPECTRE to look into a communications problem. He discovered what could very well be the metaphorical entrance to a den of feral varrens. The suspicion of Councilor Sparatus is one without solid bases, but Councilor Valern's instinct as a former STG operative.

I hope you realized by now that the Salarian Union's leading Dalatrasses, adding the current galactic situation with the emergence of a new race to the context, consider this a possible Turian black operation to weaken the Council and strengthen the Hierarchy's position. If worst fears come true, they will not hesitate to strike at the Hierarchy. This misunderstanding will trigger a massive war.

I know you are not an enemy. And I hope that you will use this intelligence to do the right thing as soon as possible. I won't be able to keep you updated from Sur'Kesh. Try to get your most trusted men in an investigation regarding these troublesome findings. SPECTRE Jondum Bau is the one you're looking for if you want STG resources on your side. On our side. I suggest you start with Executor Venari Pallin, Councilor Sparatus, and General Desolas.

And I apologize for my poor choice of words in several instances. Apologies if I offended you or the Turian Hierarchy.

Commander Jonis.

…

It was safe to say that Primarch Fedorian was boiling with anger at this point. If there was one thing he couldn't stand, it was traitors. He honestly hoped that Flavian's information on the Frigate-07 being an inside job wasn't true and that it was an interesting coincidence. But traitors and corruption seemed to have flourished even among people who he thought to be honorable enough. But people change… and some not for the better.

The STG and Fedorian just stumbled upon the tip of the iceberg. An iceberg of galactic proportions.

Many light years away, in the Aralakh System, further bad news were brewing.

NOTE2: Phew, again I fill like this chapter could have been a lot more interesting action-wise. But it sheds some light on characters and what is to follow. So, what's so important? Well, I couldn't help but notice that some reviewers believe my Humanity is OP. No, ii's not. The Alliance could be trashed by the Council if the circumstances are right. I explained this in previous chapters through the narrative and dialogue of characters. Oh! And I might come back to edit this chapter. I will inform you in the next one(s) if I do so.

NOTE3: Garrus' last reply to Fedorian might have been inspired by LordGhostStriker's review to chapter 5.

NOTE4: And holy hell, more than 500 favorites and nearly 700 followers? I never thought this story would become so popular. Thank you for your support, folks! You're awesome! And please don't forget to give feedback before you leave :D

NOTE5: Next chapter: the reactions (which i initially planned to add in this one), arrival at the Citadel, negotiations and more shady shit. As always, you can track progress of next chapter on my profile.