Karlan'Dama vas Koarra wasn't an impatient man, by any means.
The men and women under his command considered him a kind, caring Admiral who always had time for the crew. He was willing to listen to every problem, even the most mundane. It wasn't just his responsibility as an Admiral within the Migrant Fleet, but it was his nature.
But today, his patient nature was running thin.
Unknown ships had entered the Fleets outermost layer of surveillance, minor blips on the radar and scanners. Some would disregard it as random debris like metallic asteroids, which could occasionally trip a scanner or two, but not Karlan.
The disturbances on the Fleets frontier were consistent, the same blip on the scanners came back every other few minutes or so. No asteroid or piece of debris 'came back.'
It was a ship, small, probably a covert scouting vessel. Something mainly used for spying.
In any case, it annoyed the quarian, so much so that he considered getting a frigate into position to destroy it. Anything that was deemed a security risk to the Migrant Fleet was to be destroyed, geth or not.
"Sir!" Lieutenant Teth'Murdan turned in her seat, "Object on the scanners has been identified as Systems Alliance." Silver eyes found her screen again, her voice showed a slight bit of panic, "New contacts! I'm counting ten plus military vessels, all Systems Alliance." Her eyes went wide, "Capital ships! At least four dreadnoughts, the rest are cruisers and frigates!"
Humans. That didn't sit well with the Admiral. He had heard of mankind being forced off the Citadel days ago, and they were rightfully pissed off. Now, they were in quarian space, with practically a fleet of military ships. That didn't sit well with the Admiral, nor the officer to his left.
Ensign Kalesh'Narl hissed to himself as his long fingers worked over his screen, "I knew it, I bloody well knew it. Only a matter of time before those pissy monkeys turned into crusaders. Of course they'd come after us first, it's only logical after all…"
Karlan stayed silent, listening to all the voices around him. Teth kept reporting the numbers, now over twenty detected. Kalesh kept bitching.
Other Flotilla vessels had noticed the human armada, Liveships began to pull back while any other ship able to fight had diverted to meet the intruders head on.
Everyone else was silent, watching their Admiral, waiting for his orders. He quickly made them.
"Get me a line with their lead ship, now. Teth, keep tracking them, if they press into our red zone, tell me." He turned to Kalesh. "Ensign?"
The young quarian turned to his superior. "Yes, sir?"
"Shut up. Please."
With that, the man marched towards the comms station and pressed his finger against the transmit key. "This is Admiral Dama of the starship Koarra, you have entered Migrant Fleet space without any announcement or clearance. If you do not respond immediately, I will be forced to order my dreadnoughts to release their salvos."
A wash of static filled the bridge's speakers, then a strong voice came through.
"This is Commander Charles Ryker, executive officer of the dreadnought Julius Caesar." One could almost 'hear' the confident smile in his voice.
"Mind telling me why you humans have entered our space with this…sizeable force of vessels?" Karlan gave a tiny smile of his own, "If I didn't know any better, I'd say this would appear to be a hostile action, bringing so many boats into another's territory."
'Territory' wasn't exactly something quarians could truly claim, being the Migrant Fleet, but treaties stated that the space that surrounded the Flotilla belonged to it. At least to a point.
But they had every right to defend that temporary territory, and they would if need be.
"One could say that, but I don't wish to come as a conqueror, that I assure you." The man was confident, each word that came from his mouth showed that quite clearly. He reminded the Admiral of his father, a man who brimmed with confidence, bordering on hubris. "But before I divulge any more information, I wish to meet the Flotilla's leaders in person, Admiral. As soon as possible would be preferable."
Karlan huffed, "I'm sorry, Commander, but parading in here with over ten heavyweight warships and asking to see my superiors doesn't fly around here. You're lucky enough that we haven't opened fire upon you yet."
The Admiral barely hid his irritation. If they were forced to fire, the humans would reciprocate, most likely destroying many of the non-military ships within the Flotilla. Civilians would die, fathers, mothers, children. Karlan already had blood like that on his hands, and he wasn't interested in repeating what happened that day.
"Please, Admiral Dama. I need to speak with them, this is a matter of galactic importance." Ryker didn't sound desperate, in fact, he was almost forceful.
Karlan opened his mouth to deny him yet again, only to have a third voice join the conversation.
"Admiral Dama, you and your lance will stand down immediately and permit the Commander's dreadnought, and only his dreadnought, within the Fleet."
The Grand Admiral's words were cold and spoken decisively, like they always have been. You couldn't find a trace of hesitation in that quarian's voice, just calculations. It always sent shivers down Karlan's spine.
Ryker curtly responded, "Thank you for your-"
"Do not get coy with me, human." The cold voice cut off. "You're still being targeted by every able vessel in my Flotilla. Dock with the Rayya at these coordinates. Decontamination teams will meet with you, along with several squads of marines. One careless twitch and you will be blown to particles."
The Conclave was quickly called to order, Karlan among them. Others included Admirals Zinnesh'Ull, Norta'Azzereth, Kmali'Turann, and of course, the Grand Admiral.
Several members of the Rayya's crew had gathered in the amphitheater, what began as a few guards and maintenance members turned into a crowd of curious shipmates. They wanted to know why humans demanded immediate council with the higher-ups within the Flotilla, and why the higher-ups would agree to such a thing in the first place.
But the humans were still being decontaminated, so that left the Admirals to quietly speak amongst themselves.
"I don't get it," Zinnesh grumbled in his gruff voice, stroking a finger against his visor. "If all the humans wanted to do was speak, why bother send in a large section of their fleet. And if the readings were correct, they brought four dreadnoughts, meaning they brought half of all the dreadnoughts they had." He shook his head, "You don't bring in four battleships for a mere diplomatic meeting."
"They're trying to intimidate us, show off their power," Kmali explained. "Ancient nations would march their legions into neighboring countries for 'peace talks.' If they refused to whatever they demanded…" She just shrugged, the ending self-explanatory.
Norta merely snorted and waved her hand, "Them just barging into our space is a punishable offense. We have their little handful of ships outnumbered twenty to one, I say let them have their word and then blow them all to hell."
"And risk hundreds of ships and thousands of lives in the process?" Zinnesh hissed, not willing to entertain the idea. "I don't like this either, but they haven't shot at us yet."
Karlan watched quietly as Norta turned to her fellow Admiral, anger in her stance apparent, "So you think we should just stand by and wait? What if this is some sort of elaborate trap? They could be planting nukes on the side of our vessels for all we know!"
"What would be the reason?" Zinnesh hoarsely shouted. "We've done nothing to them, and here you are fearing they're trying to kill us! They're humans, not savages!"
Carefully, Karlan placed a hand on Norta's shoulder, only to have it shoved off as her yells drew the attention of the crowds below, "So suddenly you sympathize with them? They're killers, just like the turians!" She lifted a finger, "Just like the damned geth."
Clamping a hand down on her thin shoulder, Karlan gave a tight squeeze. She needed to calm down, before she instigated a panic. Carefully, he looked up to the Grand Admiral, hoping to get an opinion. His superior didn't even notice, eyes locked in on the far side of the room.
A single human marched into the amphitheater, flanked by at least two dozen Migrant Fleet marines. He was covered head to toe in deep blue armor, the Systems Alliance emblem shined brightly on his breastplate. He walked tall, chest out, thick arms that his armor couldn't hide swayed back and forth with confidence. Cold, blue eyes stared straight through the clear visor of his helmet, locked in with the Grand Admiral's stare.
As the krogan would say, this man walked like he had a quad.
"Sorry if I kept you waiting." The man simply said, as if speaking to friends rather than a group of Admirals. "Your decon teams insisted that me, being a dirty, dirty human, be cleaned more than once."
The crowds' collective eyes turned to the man, waves of voices filled Karlan's ears, straight through his helmet. Many had never seen a human in person before. The Fleet had made several treaties with the Alliance, most of which were agreements on trading and territorial claims.
Being the Migrant Fleet however, you never really held onto territory for too long.
Norta just scoffed, "Well, I'm sorry if the safety of our people is an inconvenience for you. We'll just let you spread one of your filthy diseases around next time."
"Enough, Admiral Azzereth." The Grand Admiral ordered, tone coldly even.
Norta placed her hands behind her back, wrapping her fingers around each other. It was all she could do to prevent another outburst.
The Grand Admiral's eyes drifted towards the human, now waiting on a small pedestal below them. His hands were behind his back, feet shoulder-width apart, cold blue orbs looking up at all of them.
"This Conclave is brought to order." Slowly, the Grand Admiral began the small prayer, "Blessed are the ancestors who kept us alive through the our darkest of times, sustained us throughout the millennia, and enabled us to reach this season. Keelah se'lai."
Karlan held his tongue as the other Admirals and crewmates repeated the final part of the invocation. He was never raised to be particularly religious, something that alienated the Admiral as a child. Kids always gave him funny looks, adults were hesitant
to trust him.
Karlan didn't blame them, he honestly didn't. After the Morning War, Keelah was one of the few things that kept the people going.
But it was something that Karlan's family didn't connect to very well, his father always said that deities wouldn't help the quarian race if they could do it themselves.
"So." The Grand Admiral's words snapped Karlan out of his thoughts. "What brings humanity to the Flotilla?"
Ryker took little time to reply, "I'm sure you've heard of the recent…developments aboard the Citadel regarding us…" He glanced over to Norta and smiled under his helmet, "Disease-ridden humans."
Bringing up her omni-tool, Kmali spoke, "Yes, the Council appears to be enforcing a mass exodus for your species, citing your violent history as the main reason why they believe humanity doesn't belong with the rest of civilized society." Her eyes narrowed as she focused on her tool, "A history well-deserved, it seems."
Quarians were experts at reading body language, and Karlan knew a flash of anger when he saw it. The tightening of the human's fists as they clenched, the slightest tremor in his arms, the way his back suddenly straightened, eyes glaring at the woman. But it lasted only for a moment as the man's confident façade quickly returned.
"May I remind you that we humans are not the only ones with a questionable past?" Ryker heard the offended gasps in the crowd, as if he implied what the quarian's gave birth to, three centuries ago. But the man was quick to silence them, "The batarians have always been brutal and violent, forcefully expanding into territory that had long been occupied before them." A wave of his hand as his cold blue eyes scanned the crowd, "The krogan, I'm surprised to this very day that they haven't gone extinct yet."
The Commander snorted, a brief chuckle, "Nuclear war ravaged their lands before the salarians found them, then the Rachni Wars and Machiavellian Excursions, followed by the Rebellions and finally the genophage." Another chuckle. "Compared to them, we're damned angels."
"'Angels' don't bring fleets of warships along with them." The hoarse voice of Zinnesh stated. "I believe you should stop wasting our time, Commander. So I'll ask this one final time. Why, in Keelah's good name, are your people encroaching on us like this?"
Ryker stood straight again, arms at his sides. His eyes met the Grand Admiral's.
"The Systems Alliance Navy wishes to seek an active military alliance with the Quarian Flotilla."
The deadpan delivery of his words didn't throw off the Admirals, it was the message itself. In the past, the Alliance refused to take sides with any race, especially after First Contact.
"An alliance?" Norta nearly shouted, the anger in her voice clear. Her finger rose as it jabbed towards the human standing before her, "You send our entire fleet on military alert to ask for a military alliance! This is preposterous, this is what ambassadors are for!"
She turned to the Grand Admiral, "Dismiss this human from the Fleet, Grand Admiral. He has done nothing but waste our time and resources!" She felt Karlan's hand grab her arm again, a hand which she promptly smacked away. "We shouldn't even consider their so-called offer."
Silence was all that followed, the steely silver gaze of the Grand Admiral didn't waver, never leaving the lone human. The words came out slowly.
"This Conclave is adjourned. Commander Ryker, I wish to see you in private."
"Imagine, Grand Admiral, if your people could have a permanent place that could house a large majority of your fleet, while giving your citizens a home to stay for as long as they desired." Ryker explained as he slowly marched from one end of the small room to the other.
It was a modest abode, about the same size of nearly every other room on a quarian vessel. Which really meant cramped.
But the view was impressive. A large viewport replaced a wall, revealing a large sun in the vast expanse of inky blackness, burning bright blue. Large lances of plasma snaked away from the heavenly body, only to die out moments later.
The Admiral turned from the viewport, "What are you talking about?"
"I'm talking about the most advanced and expansive space station known to sentient life." The Commander needn't say any more, for they both knew what he was referring to.
"No." The Grand Admiral hissed. "The Flotilla isn't allowed anywhere near the Citadel, and soon you humans will join us."
The quarian honestly thought he was still thinking of petitioning and asking for admittance. Humanity asked once, and they received a hard kick in the pants.
Ryker was going to make sure that humanity was never going to ask twice.
"I'm not interested in wasting my time with the Council, Grand Admiral. I wish, with your fleet's assistance, to take the Citadel."
"No." The alien repeated. "Too many lives would be put at risk, our own and those on the space station. You may not care about innocents, Commander, but I do."
He should have expected as much. Quarians, all of them, had the 'service before self' mentality. But the man knew them inside and out, he knew how to appeal to the darkest desires of any alien.
A smile crept up on him, "Would you not want to secure your peoples' future? Give them a stable home, where they won't be shunned by the bigots and bastards of the universe?" He tentatively placed a hand on the Admiral's shoulder, where he felt muscles tighten, even beneath the enviro-suit.
When the alien didn't respond, he continued, "Wouldn't you want to stop the geth, once and for all? We can help. We won't put restrictions on your people. You can mine as much as you wish, harvest entire worlds if need be. Develop the top Artificial Intelligences, with absolutely no need to shackle them."
The alien shifted from foot to foot, fingers nervously wringing one another. Noticing this breakdown in the Grand Admiral's demeanor Ryker kept pressing, "Think of what's best for everyone in the long term, Admiral. With your massive fleet and our knowledge of the Citadel's defenses, not even all of the Council races combined could stop us."
"And then…?" The Admiral croaked, fingers still wrestling with each other.
"Then?" Ryker smiled as he made the Grand Admiral face him, cold blue eyes staring into silver orbs.
"Peace and prosperity…for all."
Sorry this took so long to get out, if you hate me I understand. Sports have been kicking my rear-end all summer, and school for me just started up again so that wasn't very helpful at all.
But, I hope you enjoyed regardless.
Peace.