Chapter 4. Gunboat Diplomacy


13. December 2385 AD, Citadel, Chambers of the Citadel Council

"Ambassador Goyle," the salarian councilor, Vaelan, said from across the room. "We've been over this. The treaty is non-negotiable. Every race associated with the Council has to agree to it," he placed his palm on his head as probably he realized the blonde human would not back down this easily.

"Councilors, with all due respect. The associate races of this council rely on the turian navy to defend them and the turian patrol fleets are stretched thin as things are. This treaty would put an even bigger strain on them. The HSA is more than capable of defending its own territory, at least as long as our dreadnoughts are allowed to remain active," Anita Goyle, the human ambassador on the Citadel replied, remaining stubborn.

When humanity had started the process of becoming an associate member of the Citadel Council, establishing an embassy on the station in the process, they had been informed of a restriction called the 'Treaty of Farixen', a contract that limited the number of dreadnoughts, large warships armed spinal-mounted mass accelerators, a race could have. The number of vessels fitting this description each member could field was dictated by the status and power they held within the Citadel Council. For example, the Turian Hierarchy ,due to filling the role of the Council's peacekeepers, currently fielded thirty five vessels that met the definition of a dreadnought, only the nature of the treaty keeping them from constructing additional ships that would make their task easier. The Treaty of Farixen dictated that for every five turian dreadnoughts the other members of the Council were allowed to construct three, or more accurately, due to the nature of the treaty, for every three dreadnoughts either the asari and salarians maintained, the turians could put five into service. Due to these conditions the navy of the Asari Republics currently contained nineteen ships of the class with another, as far as rumors were concerned vastly superior vessel, under construction while the Salarian Union only maintained fifteen vessels that suited the definition. Associate members were allowed to field one dreadnought for every three dreadnoughts constructed by the 'weakest' member of the Council. And that was exactly the detail that had been causing a lot of trouble for the HSA. In a fit of expansionism, resource abundance and refined orbital construction methods the HSA had been building, modernizing and replacing their fleet of dreadnoughts ever since further expanding into the Fringe in the early 2300's, the number of vessels climbing to thirteen at the end of the Fringe Wars, a number the navy had planned on increasing.

"There is no need to divert turian attention into a region that the HSA is completely in control of," Goyle moved a strand of her blonde hair that had obstructed her view before further defending her cause. "By forcing the deactivation of eight of our dreadnoughts you'd remove that control and place an incredible strain on the Turian Hierarchy. You are well aware of the amount of territory claimed by my people, councilors. You are also well aware that we can defend it ourselves." she said as her blue eyes looked at the turian. She was playing the sympathy card and they both knew it. Ever since First Contact Ioventus and the Turian Hierarchy had been the most approachable of the three, for good reason.

She knew that Ioventus, and by extension the Primarchs that formed the highest tier of turian society, agreed with her on this matter. It was a sore topic for the Council but their clinging to the status quo and their reliance on the Hierarchy's fleets were starting to harm the avian race. While still capable of their role as peacekeepers, prominent groups within turian society had started to questioned whether or not the Turian Hierachy carried an unfair share of the work required to maintain the Citadel Council without reaping half the benefits the asari or salarians seemed to way they saw it, the Council was putting an intolerable strain on the Hierarchy and diverting turian attention away from turian space and towards council territory, enjoying free protection all the while throwing stones into the way of their protectors by having the audacity to limit the number of heavy warships the turian navy could maintain.

She could see their point.

"I believe that this unique situation may require another solution," the flanging voice of Ioventus declared as he looked at the human woman standing in front of them. "As you are aware fellow councilors, raids on turian worlds by groups originating from the Terminus Systems have increased in the last few months," he said as he looked at the asari. "While the Hierarchy is still very capable of its duty, I would like to interrupt the discussion on this matter in order to focus on the problem at hand. In the interest of the people on these worlds our fleets should extend their protection to those in need of it. The HSA is currently not one of them," his final sentence earned him the glare of the purple asari standing in the middle of the podium. "Why make them one?"

"Ambassador Goyle, I thank you for answering our summoning. If you'd please excuse us, there is something this Council needs to discuss in private. You are dismissed and this meeting is concluded," Tevos offered a smile before looking at the turian on her left, presumably flaying him plate by plate in her mind for so openly opposing the agenda she and Vaelan were trying to push.

Ambassador Goyle offered a smile towards the turian and turned to walk away, people on the levels above her doing much the same as the chambers were cleared for the following private discussion. She left the chamber and was greeted by her security detail, the man in charge of it wearing an HSAIS uniform, an organization that normally didn't indulge in guarding politicians.

"Well you sure as hell caused a lot of drama with that move. Wouldn't want to be Ioventus right about now,"he said as they walked side by side, the rest of her guards forming up around them, weapons at the ready. "You kind of threw that one under the bus back there if you ask me," he turned his head back and Goyle once more noted the red dagger on the shoulder of his black uniform, remaining silent at his accusation. The bad side of being assigned a spy for protection was that he was probably one of the few people that managed to see through her negotiation tactics. He knew that every word she had just said had been aimed at further delaying the discussion about the Treaty of Farixen until the HSA could find a way to keep their ships. Both the parliament and the chancellor had made it quite clear that they would not agree to the deconstruction of eight dreadnoughts. Especially during times like these.

"I really like that birdy thing," her chief of security said absent-minded while scanning the environment, his eyes darting through the crowd around them as they made their way to the fortified complex housing the HSA's embassy on the Citadel. "Next time sacrifice the lizardy one to the mono-gendered freak. Screw those guys for not building enough dreadnoughts," he finished, either unaware or simply unconcerned by how offending his at times surprisingly accurate descriptions could be.

"For the sake of saving all of us from cultural sensitivity training, I feel the need to tell you that they are called 'turians', 'salarian' and 'asari', but part of me thinks you know that and just don't care," she said as she looked at the man who met her gaze as he registered the movement of her head in the corner of his eyes. Dark hair cut according to military regulations, not an uncommon trait these days. Grey eyes, a bit more unusual. In fact incredibly rare and somewhat alluring as he looked back at her. A faint scar coming from his torso somewhat visible at the edge of his collar and another more recent one above his left eyebrow. By all means he could certainly be considered attractive if one didn't mind his choice of career or the implications it made about his character. People like him had a reputation for going from stoic or cheerful to state sanctioned serial killer in less than a second if the situation called for it.

"You good?" he asked as they entered the embassy area. Multiple races had build their relationship with the Council from right here but none of them had acted like the HSA. In the few months they had been here, her people had already made headlines by challenging the Citadel Council in regards to the Treaty of Farixen.

"I am fine, Specialist," Goyle said as she forced the yawn back down her throat. "I just didn't expect to get summoned this early."

"Hey what can I say, I got up even earlier," he shrugged as he held open the door of the embassy building. Being of human design it was one of the few buildings on the Citadel that could still be entered through a door one could actually hold open, others opening by themselves and rendering this simple act of chivalry non existent. "Don't see me being grumpy."

"I do see you being unprofessional though," she replied with a snarky tone once their guards vanished into the direction of their barracks. "I'm needed in the conference room," she claimed innocently as the next intersection within the building came up. "Enjoy your day."

"I've always been unorthodox. It's why I got this job in the first place," he somewhat shouted as they parted ways before deciding to add something "You too though!"

"Unorthodox is one way to put it," her voice echoed through the hallway as she disappeared around the corner.

"Damn that woman. Always having the last word," he remarked as he opened the door to the armory. Contrary to what he had just said, he actually liked Goyle. She was different from most politicians in the HSA as she stood up for the things she believed in, not the things she thought people wanted to hear. While that made her an unusual choice for a diplomat, who usually were supposed to say what their counterparts wanted to here, the last few meetings with the Council had shown him just why the chancellor had sent her.

After exchanging a swift greeting, he walked over to the sergeant behind the armory's counter and turned in his pistol. The gun based on the Standard Issue Sidearm 8, 'SIS-8' or 'Sissy' as far as grunts were concerned, had been altered for the use by people of his profession, several modifications setting it apart from the normal pistol handed to every servicemen in the HSA's armed forces. As the silenced pistol vanished in the one locker designed for him he threw one final glance towards the black piece of technology, already missing the familiar weight of it. He just wasn't cut out for this kind of work, even if there were worse people to protect than 'humanity's link towards a galactic society'. He contemplated on what this assignment would contribute to his life as he chose to get rid of his 'kinetic barrier generator' next. The concept reminded him of the shields employed by Paladins, vehicles and space vessels, only without the danger of exploding when being scaled down removed and its energy demand problem solved. Unlike the human technology, these were actually feasible for an infantryman. The Turian Hierarchy had offered a ship load of the devices shorty after formal relations had been established with the government as what they had called 'a token of our appreciation'. As far as he had picked up, the act had caused some tension between them and a few of the all-female ruling class of the salarians, the dalatrasses. But since he had been more concerned with other matters at the time, he hadn't thought much about it until now.

He tossed the small box between his hands before looking at its grey form. It was generally thought that human shields, while less resistant than state-of-the-art turian barriers, were superior to all kinetic barrier projectors in one aspect, the things of which they shielded one from. Unlike the mass effect fields, the human technology also triggered upon contact with things like guardian lasers, a huge advantage in space combat. Furthermore they protected from extreme temperature and provided radiation shielding, both of which simply passed through kinetc barriers. In fact there were talks about creating a joint turian-human research team which would aim to fabricate a hybrid shield capable of combining the advantages of both technologies while removing their disadvantages at the same time. A breakthrough like that would have more than just scientific consequences.

He handed the small box to the sergeant and walked out of the local weapon stash, turning left to move to his room. He greeted a few workers as they passed by him and came to a halt in front of the door, swiping a card previously dangling around his neck through the device next to its handle before being able to step inside. The room was really a testament of his line of work, there were no personal affects, can't have people snooping around in his private life and use it against him after all, and no decorations or commendations. While he possessed the later, six regulations prevented him from actually wearing them due to the conditions under which they had been bestowed to him being strictly classified, can't have people asking questions either. There was just a bed, a desk, a computer terminal and a locker with his clothes and some books. He didn't need more.

He closed the door behind him and threw the top piece of his dress uniform on the spartan bed before opening the computer terminal sitting at his desk. This computer, being property of the HSAIS, was one of the few aboard the Citadel he knew wasn't monitorable for anyone but the HSAIS itself . Apparently human encoding was considered top-notch even by salarian standards and as such breaking into the small computer would require not only direct access, which they'd never get, but also a lot of time. The fact that no one knew that the communication network it used existed at all helped as well. The HSAIS was rather good at covering its tracks. He went to open the newest message he had received when another one, flagged high priority, appeared on his screen.

"Now what does she want?" he mumbled as he opened the message, reading its content before rising from the chair once more. "So much for 'enjoy your day'," he sighed before grabbing the jacket off his bed, once more heading out.

He had to plan a trip.


Three Minutes Earlier, Citadel, HSA Embassy, Conference Room

"So the Council really isn't backing down on this one?" Noé, who had recently been reelected to serve another term in office, muttered. The man was currently sitting in his office on Arcturus but thanks to the comm buoy network of the Council instantaneous communication with him was still possible, in spite of the vast distance between them.

"I think the turians are on our side here," Goyle replied while looking at the blue projection of the chancellor in front of her. "They are having issues with pirate raids at the moment and really like our approach of 'not stretching out the turian patrol fleet' as far as I can tell. Every ship they can keep for themselves is a win for them and right now we're saving them a lot of work by not backing down. Besides, they've never been big supporters of the Treaty of Farixen in the past, now they actually have someone that shares their stance on the matter that isn't a batarian."

Both of them knew that playing nice with the turians was their best bet at the moment. It was no secret to the HSA that they had made a positive first impression by saving parts of the crew of the CSS N'vas Thelo and it was certainly no secret the turians would be grateful for every system they didn't have to patrol. The number of ships they dedicated to defending their own territory was already far below the threshold they had set themselves during the Krogan Rebellions, having to patrol human space as well would decrease that number even further.

Keeping that from happening would get them a lot of good will.

"Ambassador Goyle, I want you to return to Arcturus as soon as possible. There is something we have to discuss under four eyes," he was probably referring to the fact that the HSA was almost certain that their embassy was being monitored by the 'Spectres', a group of agents that only answered to the three councilors and did their bidding for them, ensuring peace and upholding order within Council territory, through both direct but also more subtle means. They were not unlike a certain human organization her chief of security belonged to. Walking on the thin line between hero and villain to ensure the continued existence of their government while conduction highly classified and sometimes beyond questionable operations. The HSA understood the idea behind the group but that didn't mean that they trusted them not to eavesdrop.

"I'll reroute a ship to pick you up, prepare to leave by tomorrow," the chancellor said as he lit one of his cigarettes, a habit he was rumored to have developed during the Fringe Wars. "See you on Arcturus, Goyle."

The transmission cut off as the bluish depiction of the ma sitting in his chair disassembled in front of her, leaving her alone in the now noticeably darker room, its lights turning on only when they registered that the projector was no longer active. She brought up her omni-tool, feeling only somewhat sorry for interrupting whatever it was that her chief of security was doing, and sent the message.

They had to plan a trip.


14. December 2385 AD, Citadel, Docking Area Bay D-24

He was starting to get impatient as the elevator was taking its time towards the deck at which the HSASV London, a cruiser of the Geneva-Class, had docked. Being the man in charge of the ambassador's protection, he too had to make the trip all the way to Arcturus. After all, he'd be a lousy chief of security if he ditched her at the first possible chance. The elevator, after what had felt like an hour, finally came to a stop at bay D-24. The doors hissed open and the green hull of their ride to mankind's political and military nerve center became visible behind a large glass panel, several smaller vessels behind it acting as its wolfpack escort. The vessel was by far not the biggest one currently docked to the Citadel and paled in size and armament when compared to the dreadnoughts of the Citadel Defense Fleet, one of which was currently doing an almost certainly planned fly by off the wolfpack, but it was still an impressive sight non the less. His eyes spotted the welcoming committee of the London due to their telltale naval blue uniforms but they were not alone. Instead of a squad of a marines, a squad of the Citadel's police force, 'C-Sec', flanked them. The blue-clad figures were the technically the only ones allowed to bear arms on the station, only diplomatic guards such as he himself or the Spectres being excluded from the rule. Knowing that, he started to count the amount of weapons they were carrying and thought of a way to take them down as quickly as possible on pure instinct really. It was simply something his mind had been trained to do.

"Ambassador Goyle," the asian man at the center of the formation said as the C-SEC officers took a respectful step away from them, scanning the surrounding area instead. "I am Captain Lin," he offered his hand and the blonde woman took it as he double-checked C-SEC's work. "We're ready to leave at once, just give the word."

"We won't be long," she answered before turning her eyes to the specialist in an attempt to introduce him. "This is my security advisor, he'll will join us for the time being," she said as the captain looked at him, his expression visibly shifting upon spotting the red dagger on his shoulder. It was a rather common reaction.

"I have been informed of that," he said in a respectful but slightly noticeably less excited tone before briefly shaking his hand. "Now if you'd please follow us, we've already been asked to make room for another vessel intending to dock here," he said as the group started to move towards the airlock. He didn't know why they'd assign a bay to a ship waiting for someone only to ask it to leave not an hour later. If this was another form of powerplay, it was simply annoying. The decontamination process ended as quickly as it begun and the captain soon parted ways with them as he lead Goyle through the cruiser and towards her room, coming to a halt in front of the elevator.

"So what will you be doing on Arcturus while I meet the chancellor?" the blonde woman asked as she broke the silence while they waited for the elevator.

"Can't say I planned anything, really," he replied before deciding to joke, faking a sad voice. "Wait for you to come back, I guess."

"That's kind of sad actually," the woman chuckled. "Now you made me feel bad for dragging you out here."

"It's not like I had anything better to do," he shrugged as the doors opened and they stepped inside the cabin. "I'll think of something."

Luckily the elevators within the vessel were much faster than those on the Citadel. After dropping of the ambassador at her room, he started to walk towards his assigned quarter after once more being forced to turn in his SIS-8 at the ship's armory, already missing it but refraining from complaining about it, even if it seemed unnecessary to confiscate the gun for the short journey. The insides of the ship were something he was very familiar with, having been posted on the Geneva, the first vessel and namesake of the class, for some time during the Fringe Wars. He knew every corner of the crew deck and could navigate through them in complete darkness, the nature of his profession requiring him to do so and the perks of his training allowing it in the first place. He could recall every bump in the floor, every door in the walls and every weapons rack meant to be used against boarders. So it was quite the surprise when he turned the corner and crashed into something that caused him to hit the floor. As he regained his senses, the first thing he registered was red hair and an equally surprised junior officer on the floor next to him.

"Floored by the navy. I hope no one saw that one," he mumbled as he sat up. It was only partially a joke, he knew a certain someone who'd never let him live that one down.

"I am so sorry. Are you alright?" the red haired woman began. "I was in a hurry and didn't look where I was going an-" she sounded nervous as if she had bumped into the most important person on the ship. Hell, she was a commissioned officer, if not for his very unique position, she'd be far above his pay grade.

"It's fine, nothing's broken. I'm not made of sugar after all," he interrupted her and rose to his feet while she was just sitting up. It wasn't as much as her being slow to get up, he had just been thrown around a lot harder than that before. "Although I've been told I'm rather sweet," he lifted the woman to her feet and handed her the tablet that had fallen next to him. "Guess that goes for both of us."

"As I was saying, I'm so sorry." their hands lingered for a moment before he let go of her.

"Hey, I've bumped into worse things," he chuckled before deciding to test his luck. "But if you're still feeling apologetic we could grab a drink on Arcturus," he offered a smile which was returned. It was mostly meant as a joke to ease her up. He didn't actually expect it to work. Apparently keeping his schedule free had been the right decision.

"I think I'd like that," she said as her bright, green eyes met his. "I'm Lieutenant O'Brien. Hannah O'Brien, he shook her hand upon their formal introduction and she returned his smile, freckles only ever so slightly becoming visible as he focused on her face.

"Pleasure to meet you Hannah, Alec Shepard," this was going to be interesting.

Later on Arcturus 'one drink' turned into three and three drinks turned into a second date two weeks later during shore leave on the Citadel.

The future would reveal this to be the most important 'bumping into' in galactic history.


16. December 2385 AD, Arcturus Station, Ministry for Alien Relations

Ambassador Goyle had rushed to the building within humanity's biggest space station the moment she left the ship, only somewhat formally dismissing Specialist Shepard as he seemed to be in a hurry. The man had been even more cheerful this morning, as if that was even possible, and she was slightly worried as to what could've caused it. Maybe he'd been promised a new gun to play around with.

As she now had spent two hours waiting in the ministry, her rush turned out to be unnecessary. Drumming her fingers on the armrest of the metal chair, she got up and looked out of the large glass wall separating her from the rest of the ministry. Currently standing in an office on the second level of the building, which was in fact build within the space station and not a part of it, she saw dozens of people walking either to their workplace or away from it. When she had first come here seven years ago, Anita Goyle never would've expected to see this many people in the ministry. Times had changed. Bringing up her omni-tool, an invention that was finding its way into human space far slower than expected, she checked the time. He was almost an hour late. She was about to get up and ask if the meeting had been rescheduled when Noé entered the room.

"I apologize for the delay, I was caught up talking to our mutual friend," he said. She knew exactly who said friend was and she only somewhat agreed with what he was doing.

"I don't exactly consider Harper a friend but I understand, Chancellor," she nodded as the man sat down opposite to her. "What is it that you wished to discuss in private?"

"First off, I'd like to congratulate you on once more avoiding the subject of our dreadnought issue," he began. "You are doing an excelent job as our ambassador," he took one of his cigarettes out of its case, knowing better than to offer her one, and lit it on fire. He was one of the few people who really couldn't care less about the risk of cancer this habit developed, his past life as a fighter pilot and the job-related Eezo contact being far more likely to eventually cause the disease in him.

"I'm sure you didn't order a cruiser to pick me up from the Citadel just to congratulate me on my work," she argued as she leaned forward in the chair, folding her hands.

"I did not. You see, this is why I picked you Goyle. I really like that you just want to get to the point of things," he chuckled as he exhaled a small cloud of smoke. "I've been approached by the Hierarchy. A Primarch to be precise," the orange tip of the cigarette glowed a bit brighter as he inhaled, Arcturus' artificial sunlight shining through the window and making the glow hard to notice. "You are aware that a councilor can call a veto on a decision and place its final ruling on hold for up to five years if he wishes to do so, correct?" he asked as he started the projector within the room, green blinds rolling down from the ceiling to shut out the liht of the outside.

"Yes but the Council usually decided uniformly on a matter. There hasn't been a veto for over a century. Political pressure works miracles to create an unanimous decision," Goyle recalled. She had caught up on Citadel Council history in her free time, it only made sense to know the stories of the people you were working with. "The last time a councilor vetoed something was when the Salarian Union decided against a turian military intervention into the Terminus Systems."

"Exactly. Turns out the Hierarchy really wanted to bring order into one of the border regions but the salarians shot them down due to the threat it would place on Ernile," the chancellor began." I mean I get their worry, the colony is one of their bigger sources of fuel and minerals, a lot of their platinum comes from that rock. Adding to that, its the biggest salarian star port in the region and creates a lot of revenue for the Salarian Union. Basically it's one of the few safe haven in the region and they wanted it to stay that way," the projector assembled an image of the planet. She had heard of it, it was a garden world in the last stage of its life and the Union was currently trying to reverse the process and reanimate its biosphere. It wasn't their only terraforming project but definitely their most ambitious one.

"And I'm guessing that this has something to do with the Primarch?" Goyle asked as she looked at the planet, its appearance not unlike that of Sur'Kesh. She could see why the salarians were trying to keep it that way.

"Correct. The Primarchs, and as it turns out Ioventus, aren't exactly happy that turian colonies in Outer Council Space are being raided by groups based in the Terminus Systems while their ships have to guard asari shipping lines. Thousands of turians have died in the last few years because of this particular group. They argue that if they'd been allowed to crack down on the problem when it first appeared none of this would've happened," an image of 'Invictus' with the date 1939 CE appeared.

"Invictus used to be a colony of the Hierarchy but nowadays it's an independent world that harbours hundreds of thousands of pirates, slavers and general scum bags," the next image displayed a fleet with vessels of multiple designs, especially the several clearly turian ones standing out to her.

"As it turns out the groups doing the raiding use this world as their base of operations as well. Bottom line is, the Hierarchy knows that they can't just swoop in and pacify the place and they know that they'd get shot down if they tried to vote on another formal intervention as well. Asari and salarian colonies in the region are threatened by Terminus warlords as it is, if the Council would actually kick that hornet nest, officially or inofficialy, those worlds would be in trouble, a lot of trouble. Sure, they'd win the war but besides the turians no one thinks its worth it."

"I take it the Primarch wants us to do something about this and Ioventus would then veto the Treaty of Farixen issue?"

"Precisely. The Primarchs offer the veto if we take care of the issue for them. Blow up some ships, keep our own for the time being," the chancellor chuckled,"of course we'd need full deniability on the whole thing. Otherwise the Council would be pretty pissed at us. That's where our friend comes in actually," the image of Cerberus's sigil appeared in the room. Why the secret division decided that yellow and white were the most inconspicuous colours available to them was not a question she'd answer anytime soon.

"Four unidentified cruisers are going to trash the raider ships after dropping into the system. They'll broadcast no IFF signal, they'll just appear, fire at the vessels while they are in port and use their FTL drives to return to the Fortis system where they'll use the relay to escape."

"So we are going to break Citadel Law by flying a false flag operation in order to ignore the Citadel Law dictating us to reduce the number of our dreadnoughts?" Goyle questioned. By all means this was illegal and could blow up into their face.

"We? No. There will be nothing that is even remotely going to point at us. Cerberus has been busy. They won't leave a trace," Noé threw his cigarette into the ash tray, a few orange spots still burning on its remains.

"This seems very disproportionate. I mean causing such a political division over an issue like this?" Goyle asked. "In fact it's not very turian at all to even go behind the backs of the Council like this."

"That's what I thought as well but there's a reason the Primarchs are willing to make this compromise," Noé said. "They believe that by not acting, they are alienating their outer colonies."

"They are afraid of another Unification War?" Goyle asked. The inter-turian conflict was a part of history that she had looked into as well, parts of it were far too familiar.

"They are afraid of generating the mind set that led to the Unification War," Noé corrected. "They think that five years, really not that much if your civilization is thirteen thousand years old, is a reasonable amount of time to avoid having to crack down on recently established colonies and create division in an otherwise united race. They are already dealing with nationalistic groups calling for a separation from the Council as it is, they don't need more people joining them. Turns out that the turians feel like the asari and salarians are ditching parts of their responsibility." Noé explained. "These groups, especially Palavani Prima, are gathering even more support now that the Council is trying to give the turians even more work by making them patrol a region that wouldn't need patrolling if not for a treaty they themselves dislike."

"What does the parliament say about the offer?" she asked.

"They don't say anything since they aren't entitled to know. In fact since Cerberus is part of the HSAIS, their actions are classified to the parliament. I'm just telling you this, because you'll have to deal with the consequences of letting Harper loose."

"So when are you going to decide on the matter?" Goyle finally questioned as she took in the suggestion and its potential results. It was a calculated gamble that may just work.

"I already did. This was a courtesy call," Noé admitted as her eyes narrowed. "The ministers and I already decided on the matter before you even arrived, guess why Ioventus took the heat by drawing the Council's attention away from you yesterday?"

"That's why you were late," she connected the dots. "You were ordering Harper to set out to Invictus."

"This is why I gave you the job, mon chéri. Always so perceptive," Noé got up and walked to the door. "I didn't mean to ignore your input on this," he started his justification, suspecting that she was far from happy with people not telling her things. "It required an immediate response, there's no telling when the raiders will leave or when the Council is going to force a decision regarding the treaty on us."

"But what do we do in five years?" Goyle sighed. This wasn't a solution, it was a break.

"We find another excuse to keep our ships until we get ourselves a seat on that Council."

"The Council already thinks were rushing this as things are and you want to push for a seat? The volus have tried that for over a thousand years and got nowhere."

"The volus weren't human," Noé said as his hand reached for the handle of the doro. "The volus also didn't hold sizeable claims in the Attican Traverse or the Skyllian Verge and the volus sure as hell didn't have enough dreadnoughts to make the salarians nervous. Our claim is very valid. Especially if get the Hierarchy's backing. Backing that you are going to get us."

He left the conference room and Goyle, for the first time since the start of her career, had not seen the entire picture.


Tweny Hours after the meeting, 17. December 2385 AD, Fortis System, HSASV Budapest

The Budapest was one of the vessels Chancellor Noé had given Harper after putting him in charge of the Cerberus Initiative, which most people that knew about it called 'Cerberus' by now. Alongside the Warsaw, Seoul and Manila, the vessel had enjoyed severe modification throughout the last two years that set it apart from other HSA cruisers. While the retrofit had been in progress, Cerberus had gathered the approved personal, consisting of both retired and active servicemen considered discreet and talented enough for this kind of work. The original crews of the ships had finished the final stages of the modification ten months ago before being redeployed and ever since then the small Cerberus fleet had been practicing for its first combat deployment. Now being armed with long range torpedo launchers, their torpedoes capable of remaining undetected to most sensors currently used, the vessels would drop into the system, conduct a precision FTL jump and unleash their deadly cargo before the crews of the raider vessels or any other ships around Invictus could react. The operation was planned out to the last minute, while no expert in naval warfare Harper was superb at surprise attacks. The attack would commence during the time at which most of the inhabitants of the worlds were either too drunk or too hooked on some form of drug to retaliate effectively and since Invictus lacked a formal colonial administration or a central command, the few who weren't wouldn't be able to mount a counterattack against the Cerberus flotilla.

"We'll drop out of FTL in ten minutes, Sir" his naval commander informed him. "Our core won't need discharging until after we hit the relay in Fortis again," he added.

"Thank you, Captain. I am formally handing command to you until we are back at Arcturus," the man currently standing on the bridge said. "From here on out, I'm just an observer, this is your expertise. Give them hell."

"Will do, Sir," the captain walked towards his command chairs. "Alright people, you heard it. Timeto give these amateurs a wake up call."

As the crew got into position a red counter appeared on the screen at the front of the bridge and soon enough it began to rapidly count down.

"Attention all decks, this is not a drill, general quarter.." the captain declared. "All hands man your battle stations."

With breakneck speed the new crew of the ship did as as they ordered, rushing to their assigned positions and just as the final preparations aboard the cruiser were finished the Seoul, Warsaw and Manila reported their own combat readiness to the captain of the Budapest. Whoever had picked the crews had done a fantastic job. They had known each other for barely a year and already worked like a well-oiled machine.

"Dropping out of FTL," the navigator began as the ships entered the Caestus system, "now."

"Calculate the precision FTL jump towards Invictus. How many enemy vessels in orbit?"

"Fifty on the far side of the planet, fifteen of which are our targets," a combat officer said seemingly unimpressed by the numbers. "None of them above frigate tonnage. Torpedoes armed and ready."

"Status of the formation?" the captain asked.

"Manila, Seoul and Warsaw are ready to jump," the communications officer said.

"All ships, synchronize VIs and execute the jump. Upon arrival we fire our torpedos and jump back to Fortis."

There was a moment of silence before the ships launched forward and appeared within weapons range as blue flashes. The four cruisers unloaded their torpedo salvo on the fifteen acquired targets not a moment later and the disruptor torpedoes surged across the void. With mass effect fields making them too heavy for the barriers of the ships to deflect, they impacted with extreme prejudice and upon contact the weapons ripped apart the hulls of the unprepared raider ships. Soon after the vessels started to lose orbit, pummeling towards Invictus as flaming wreckages, never to raid again.

"That got their attention. Multiple vessels from the orbit of the second planet are closing in on us," a combat officer informed the captain. "Reading at least thirty new contacts. All of them frigate-analogues."

"Launch countermeasures, prepare to jump," the captain ordered as the human vessels fired of a series of guided missiles that would force the frigates to either break formation or face the consequences. The missiles called 'Swarmers' due to the fact that each of them carried a series of smaller explosives that would be launched from them shortly before hitting their target, would overload enemy point defense and cause damage to multiple sections of the hull, making it harder to just seal of the damaged regions. At least if one got hit by them. As the rockets raced towards the older vessels, their formation breaking apart, the four Cerberus ships were engulfed in blue once more as they made their escape back to Fortis.

"Attention all personal, good work. Prepare for relay transit," the captain stated over the intercom not a minute after he had called them to their battlestations. "You can always count on pirates not to be prepared for a surprise attack," he explained as Harper recalled that the Budapest' captain had been part of the anti-piracy operations predating the Fringe Wars. "It's a trend that translates across all species. If you lack discipline and cohesion you are going to be annihilated."

He was more than glad to see that Noé had given him someone that understood his craft to such a degree. If this operation was any indication, Cerberus would do exactly what it was created to do.


Four Weeks Later, 2127 CE, Citadel, Chambers of the Citadel Council

"On behalf of the Turian Hiearchy and the turian people, I chose to exercise my power to veto this decision," Ioventus spoke the words that had last been used by a salarian councilor upon learning of the possibility of a turian military intervention into the Terminus Systems. While he had shot down multiple proposals of Tevos, the turian with red facial marks had never defied both the Union and the Republics at this level. This was simply outrageous. While Tevos was the calmer of the two remaining councilors, having already been in office during the time of the salarian veto, Vaelan was visibly more affected by this decision.

"Are you absolutely certain of this?" the salarian quickly began. "The Citadel Council should not be this divided," he tried to reason, invain. She knew that the stubborn turian had made up his mind.

"The Primarchs do not wish to deploy our naval forces in a region which would only need them after we turned it defenseless. Fleets that have to patrol human territory because you disarmed their navy will be missed in Council space, we can't approve of this in good conscious. The decision of the Primarchs is final, the Hierarchy wishes to delay this ruling for five years," Ioventus argued. "Now do you respect this formal veto or does the Union not recall how it used this right in the past?"

"Councilor Ioventus. On behalf of the Asari Republics, are you absolutely certain of this?" Tevos tried to fit her mediator role. She wouldn't allow this council to tear itself apart over some upstarts with too many dreadnoughts. "Surely we can come to a conclusion that does not force us to this extreme."

"As I said, the decision of the Primarchs is final. My veto stands," Ioventus refused.

"So be it then. The Council recognizes the turian veto on the matter at hand. As requested by Councilor Ioventus, the ruling on this matter will be put on hold for five years," she sighed while typing on her omni-tool. "I shall inform the human embassy to immediately summon their ambassador and inform them of this change. She turned to look at the salarian councilor and spoke. "This meeting is adjourned. Vaelan, a word in private please."

"Of course, Councilor Tevos," the salarian nodded, the shock still visible on his face.

Ioventus threw exactly one glance at them before withdrawing to his office. She knew that the turian had a problem with her, she never thought it would lead to something like this.

They had to do something about these humans before they caused even more damage.


21. January 2386 AD, Arcturus Station, Ministry for Alien Relations

"I have already scheduled a meeting with the turian councilor on this matter," Goyle said as she addressed the assembled ministers and the chancellor. "We will work on furthering cooperation as soon as possible and I'd like to mention the possibility of holding something akin to ajoint fleet exercise."

"That's a good idea. The turians like us for actually using our navy," Chancellor Noé said from the head of the table, his eyes darting between the ambassador herself and the members of his government. "Anything else to report from the 'Council Front'?."

"As a matter of fact, yes. As far as rumors are concerned the elcor actually stand with the turians on this one. They are afraid that they'll lose part of the defense fleet assigned to them should the Hierarchy be forced to patrol our territory as well," Anita Goyle explained, before sounding more worried, "but I've heard rumors that salarian and asari diplomatic traffic has increased ever since the veto."

"I'm kind of surprised the turians actually pulled through on that one," Noé admitted. "After all, we're the new kid and they just pissed of their two biggest allies to do us a favour."

"If I may," the Minister of Alien Relations, who by now was one of the most important members of the government, said. "I can explain this course of action," Victor Kadlec gestured towards the projector. "Ever since our operation on Invictus, approval rates on the outer turian colonies are off the charts. The Primarchs are more popular than ever for not backing down to the Council."

An image displayed a map of turian territory and charts showing recent polls the man had just mentioned

"We also have to consider that the Turian Hierarchy has never been as close to the Asari Republics or the Salarian Union as the two have been to each other. Centuries of being the third wheel may have something to do with their decision as well."

"Minister Kadlec is right," the Minister of Defense stated. "The Turian Hierarchy has no ally that could help them rival the strength the Asari Republics and Salarian Union have in each other. While they enjoy good relations with the Vol Protectorate, the volus as a military factor are close to irrelevant. They rely on the Hiearchy for a reason," he went on as the projection switched through the sigils of the governments. "Same goes for elcor, hanar, or the drell." A diagram representing fleet numbers appeared in the middle of the room, five distinctively coloured bars standing next to several smaller, grey ones. The biggest of them, a blue pillar, obviously stood for the Turian Hierarchy itself with the smaller purple and orange ones next to it representing the two other council members. Noé realised that the green-red stripped one, which represented the HSA, was just slightly smaller than the orange to its left and suspected the brown one to its right to be the one of the Batarian Hegemony, the difference between them luckily being noticeable.

"Turian relationships with the batarians have been ice cold for centuries. They almost went to war twice in the last fifty years. That takes them out of the equation as well," he concluded as a press of a button caused the brown bar and the grey ones next to it to vanish, leaving behind only the four bigger bars "As you're all aware in terms of dreadnoughts we almost match the numbers of the Salarian Union and this doesn't factor in our carriers, assault carries or the" he said as the bars of the HSA and the Turian Hierachy united before the purple and orange ones stacked on top of each other next to it."By looking at our military might and adding the numbers of the turians into the mix, we'd make a reasonable alternative for them," he explained as Noé noticed that 'their' bar was actually slightly bigger. "While they certainly aren't planning on cutting ties with the Council, the Hierarchy views us as a potential ally," Minister Kadlec, head of the Ministry for Alien Relations, explained. "An ally that could give them what the Asari Republics and Salarian Union have had in each other for two thousand years but never gave to the Turian Hierachy, someone to lean on."

"So we're basically a crutch for them?" Chancellor Noé questioned. "That doesn't sound all that good when you say it out loud."

"Not a crutch Sir, think of us as an something they've been looking for for a long time. A race that doesn't rely on them but isn't a direct threat to them either. An ally able to be helpful and willing to be cooperative. First Parnack, then Invictus. The turians probably see us as a nice change compared to a galaxy that's only ever demanded of them, never giving back anything in return. You have to recall that the turians made their entrance into this Council by fighting a several decade long war with the krogan that caused countless of turian deaths. There has always been a sense in their society that the turians did more for the Council than the other way around."

"Alright so not a crutch but a welcome change," he contemplated. "That sounds better. Next time say it like that," he ordered with a laugh. "I'm kidding, sorry Minister Kadlec, go on, please."

"I join the recommendation of Ambassador Goyle. Considering the turian culture, joint military exercises in space would further reinforce the bond we are trying to create," he stated.

"Furthermore we can probably learn a thing or two about space warfare from them," the Minister of Defense, Suhail Nadim, added. "The turian navy has clashed with organized alien navies in the past. We only ever fought humans. There's bound to be a few tricks they could teach us, give us a look at how others do things around here."

"Any objections?" the chancellor looked around the room. "Good. Let's grab some lunch people, I'm starving."


2128 CE, Palaven

"Ready for this?" he asked his youngest brother as their vehicle came to a halt in front the base's main gate, the familiar sound of other soldiers marching already audible in the distance. He had taken several days of leave just for this occasion. After all, a turian only got sent to boot camp once in his life and since their father couldn't, or rather didn't want to, make it, he chose to be there for him. He figured the eldest son was the next best replacement for a father figure that had been far to absent in his brother's life.

"Of course I am. You know I've been looking forward to this ever since I could walk," the smaller turian replied in an equally flanging voice as he opened the doors of the skycar, walking towards the trunk of the vehicle before opening it. He grabbed the grey case and in spite of its surprising weight pulled it out of the storage compartment with little effort.

"I know I was just kidding," he chuckled as he handed his brother the footlocker with his personal effects, seeing him struggle a little more to carry its weight but deciding against helping him. It would either make him stronger or teach him to pack lighter, both lessons had their perks. "Remember what I told you, trust your comrades, trust your superiors and do exactly as you're told. No matter how much this is going to suck, and trust me it will suck, I've done it, just pull through," he considered saying the next thing for a few moments, no matter how little he wanted to hear it, he needed to. "If anyone calls you 'bare face' , just ignore it. Proof to them that you are reliable," he began the responsible speech he had practiced succeeding for exactly two sentences until choosing to improvise,"and beat the shit out of them during close quarter drills. Just don't start a fight outside of the ring otherwise the sergeants are going to make you wish you would've died in it," he finished.

He had learned that one the hard way.

"I'll do our family proud," the white plated turian promised as he strapped the footlocker on his back. "Trust me Desolas. They'll remember the name Arterius!" he shouted as he started to walk away from the skycar and towards the rally point, picking up his pace in spite of the weight on his.

"I know you will," he said idly to himself as he opened the door of his vehicle. "Just take care of yourself, Saren."


Codex: Human Systems Alliance Intelligence Service

Originally established as a subdivison of the HSAMC, the HSAIS already became its own organization after three years of existence, retaining only the black uniforms as a reminder of their origins. Tasked with upholding the power of the HSA by conducting espionage and surveillance the HSAIS also established a subdivision that gave them access to highly specialized field teams. 'Section 13' of the HSAIS Bureau for Field Work is the highly classified home of the enigmatic 'specialists'. Being selected under unknown circumstances, Section 13 agents are known to be the brightest, deadliest and most mentaly resilient agents the HSAIS has to offer, their training and missions remaining among the most closely guarded secrets of the HSA.

Rumors put Section 13 numbers at no more than two hundred agents and multiple sources of varying credibility suggest that sometimes years go by without new agents joining its ranks. Up to date only one assignment of the Section has been revealed to the general public but fringe elements, especially on the outmost human colonies, believe the group to be responsible for multiple important historic events since the founding of the HSA, some even claiming that the bureau itself is merely the newest incarnation of a similar group predating the HSA itself. The theories surrounding the group range from reasonable to outlandish, some people even claiming that the engine malfunction which caused the Sun Tzu to arrive at Parnack just in time to intervene on the surface and in turn encounter the Citadel Council was caused by an undercover agent of Section 13.

Generally considered to be the shadiest organizations within the HSA, the HSAIS also completes such mundane assignments like helping colonial police forces by maintaining a central data base containing information on known criminals or assisting in interplanetary crime by acting as a mediator between several police departments. Furthermore the HSAIS also assists selected research programs throughout human space, lending its expertise and resources to several dozen renowned institutes in the hopes of recruiting promising young minds into their organisation.


A/N: So I hope the meeting that will decide the fate of the galaxy wasn't too... cheesy. I just wanted something more light-hearted considering how last chapter ended. Not everything here is going to be grim-dark. I don't want that. Grim-dark has been done before. I also hope that I didn't totally fuck up the believability of the political situation but this is how I've always seen the Council and I feel like Mass Effect 3 confirms this. The turians do way too much and the asari and salarians kind of hang around each other. Makes sense if you think about it.

Let me know what you think with a REVIEW, I like those reviewy things, and well, this story is going quite well.

See you around next time.

Edit: As of 28.7.17 Chapter 4 has been remastered.
I altered the Codex to make more sense and fixed some contradicting statements within the chapter.