Disclaimer: I do not own Mass Effect nor Honorverse. I am merely throwing the two worlds together. Any original characters, however, are mine.

25,000 views. Wow thanks guys.

Shadowcub asked what the other races think of the battle of Shanxi, and so I've decided to oblige. Sorry guys no action this chapter.

Chapter 6: The Reaction

"Councilor Tevos. Good of you to join us," a male salarian said as he was looking through data on his omni tool. "Must come quickly. Situation deteriorating. Must learn what Turians have done. Foolish. Very foolish."

Councilor Tevos could not help but look at the Salarian in confusion. She had left the Citadel and was currently at a secret facility of the STG, though she was somewhat surprised to see the Asari Second Fleet and an STG flotilla here. She suspected Matriarch Benezia and Matriarch Aethyta were somehow involved with the Second Fleet's placement here. "I can't be here for long. I'm just here for the formal debrief and then I must get back to the Citadel," she said to the Salarian as she was led farther into the space station.

"Very good. Will fill in on the way. Mass Relay 314 has a garden world. Habitable. Decent Ecosystem. Colonized by unknown race."

"A new race?" Tevos asked as they walked through the decks. She noticed the curious absence of any Turians as they walked, the people making up the station seemed to primarily consist of Salarians and Asari. This was getting very curious, where the two governments collaborating on something that even she the Councilor of the Asari didn't have high enough clearance to know? And why where the Turians being excluded?

"Yes yes. Fascinating creatures. Similar to Asari and Quarian. Has same number of digits as Asari and Batarian. Apparently uses base ten mathematics as well."

"Why hasn't the Council been briefed on this earlier?" she asked as they continued to walk. "And..I'm sorry but I don't think you've introduced yourself."

"Introductions can wait. Time is of essence. Already lives on the line. Must work quickly," the Salarian said as they finally reached the viewing deck where a ship seemed to be berthed. It was odd, cylindrical in shape and obviously damaged. It's hull blackened and cracked. It was of a design that Tevos had never seen, and considering that she lived in the Citadel, she was well versed in ship designs. As she suspected both Benezia and Aethyta were there, as well as several of the Dalatrasses.

'"Good. Good. Everyone here. Briefing can begin."

"What is this? I've never seen a ship like this before," one of the Dalatrasses said as they looked at the broken hull before them.

"Hermes class luxury liner. Found near Relay 314. Analysis suggest struck by asteroid. No lifepods found. Crew evacuated. Vessel left adrift. Found by STG team twenty years ago."

"And why are we finding out about this now?" Benezia asked as she looked at the Salarian male. "And who are you anyway?"

"Forgive me. Introductions first. Mordin Lokir. Director of STG. No survivors found. No need for Asari interpreter. Translated alien language 5 years ago. Information found to be troubling." Lokir said as he tapped a few buttons on his omni tool and transferred the data to the screen displaying the vessel. Information readouts spread across the large sheet of glass.

"Information from vessel's medical bay suggests at least two different races working in conjunction. Much like Salarian and Asari. Third species seems to be domesticated animal," he said as he tapped through the medical read outs displaying three different species. "First is designated Treecat. Homeworld Sphinx. Manticore binary system. Due to size, probably kept as pets," He pulled up the data and astrological charts of the Manticore system. "Second designated Medusan. Homeworld Medusa. Basilisk system." He pulled up another chart showing the Basilisk system as well. "Final species designated Human. Homeworld Earth. Sol System."

"Such a variety of species," one of the Dalatrasses said as they looked at the three species. Two had six limbs, but utilized them in extremely different ways. One small and used them much like an insect would, but was mammalian and covered in fur, while the other was more insectoid and was tripedal. The humans physiology was more familiar. Bipedal, with head fur much like the Quarians, but resembling Asari and Batarian skeletal structures.

"These homeworlds are seven hundred light years apart," Aethyta said as she looked at the astrological charts. The distances between them were ridiculous. At least a five hundred light years from Sol to the Manticore System, and two hundred and ten from Manticore to Basilisk.

"And at least a thousand light years removed from us." Benezia said looking at the readouts.

"According to data in astrological charts. Humans have settled a region of space approximately fifteen hundred light years in diameter."

"That's…quite the empire," Aethyta said blinking. "I wouldn't want to mess with someone that had an empire that size."

"Lucky for STG. Passenger on craft seemed to be historian. Left behind a lot of information. Apparently humans have been in space since the formation of the Council."

"Amazing…so why haven't we made contact?" Tevos asked. Considering the size of the human empire, why had they not come into contact with this species before?

"The reason simple. Humans do not use Mass Effect technology."

"Preposterous!" One of the Dalatrasses said. Tevos could agree. It was ridiculous to think that a race could colonize a vast region of space without faster than light capability.

"Not preposterous. Study of Shanxi system shows Humans manipulate gravity for sublight propulsion. Theories and observations suggest humans utilize hyperspace for faster than light travel."

"Wait. Didn't the Salarians try to achieve the same thing?" Aethyta drawled as she looked at the Salarian.

"Yes. Proved too costly. Information on humans suggest no choice. The Beowulf colony developed technology following civil war on homeworld. Only recently discovered Mass Effect technology. Which brings us to."

"Relay 314," Tevos said then blinked. "You don't mean…they opened up the Relay and the Turians are attacking them?"

"Indeed. However Humanity will not be easily defeated. Information suggests unification never occurred. Only in last two hundred years has humanity began to unify. Also. Humans appear very militant. While not as militant as Turians, navies dwarf our own in sheer size."

"And how would you know this?" Benezia asked.

"Sensor information extracted from alien vessel. Suggests that developed planetary systems have high naval presence. Developed planetary systems have a defense force of at least a hundred dreadnoughts and ship classes higher than that."

"Goddess…a hundred dreadnoughts?" for just a single planetary system? That was more than all of the Citadel races.

"Indeed. Turians have begun assaulting human colony of Shanxi for at least sixteen hours now. Reports have shown chance of Turian victory are…problematic. Chance of combined victory should Humans retaliate against Citadel races are projected at six percent."

"We have to stop the Turians. Pay reparations," Benezia said as she began to pace. "With their military, they could easily settle in the Terminus systems."

"Astrological charts state at least six colonies in Terminus systems already."

"What? How did they get there?"

"Information unknown. Perhaps developed own version of Mass Relay."

"I told you we should have built our own," Aethyta said smugly as she looked at her former partner. "Now we're going to have to start training our Maidens in combat. They have us by the Quads if we don't start increasing our military presence now."

"Will send samples of Human weapons technology to Asari Republics. Weaponry subpar compared to Human Military, but more advanced than us. Have already helped develop new shielding technology."

"We will convene with the other Dalatrasses, but we'll have the Salarian Union begin developing a larger military presence as well," one of the Dalatrasses said as they moved out to their transports.

"Is it already too late?" Tevos asked.

"Probably. Possibility they are open to diplomacy. Will probably send a force to Citadel. First contact made with Quarians. So likely have information on Citadel's location already."

"Goddess…I'll try to get the other Councilors to come up with some reparations for them then." They'd have to. The Turians had made a mistake, one that would prove extremely costly to the Citadel. Damn the Quarians, with them handing over information about the Citadel Races this new race could easily strike at the heart of the Citadel Races and destroy the galactic government.

"The Asari Second Fleet will be moving in to break up the fighting. Hopefully we can get the Turians to back down and withdraw," Benezia said as both she and Aethyta left to board the Destiny Ascension's sister ship the Transcendent Glory.

-TED-

"And that's the situation in Shanxi. So far Admiral Williams is still keeping the 5th Fleet in reserve while primarily fighting with Torch's naval forces. There's a good chance that he'll call them in eventually, the enemy is already adapting to our defensive technology," Anton Cachat said to the host of dignitaries he was briefing. He was conducting a multi-star system conference call, and frankly he was glad that his facilities were top-notched. Even so, Old Terra's communications were still a little bit more on the fuzzy side than he would have liked.

"So Torch will not need additional aid. The question is however, what will we do in response to this blatant attack," Sasha Romanova mused. She was the current president of the Terran League.

"We should strike at the heart of their government. Teach them what happens when you strike against a giant," Gustav Andermani XIV said. The oriental-descended emperor of the Andermani Empire fully espousing an action that suited well with his nation's history of realpolitik. To attack the Andermani, was to give them full rights to conquer you.

"No that would be a bad idea. It would be a horrible way to introduce ourselves to the larger galactic community," King and Emperor Michael I of the Star Empire of Manticore said. The ebony skinned man was just as sharp as his predecessors when it came to navigating political quagmires. "We should send a strong force of arms. The 1st Fleet for sure, but we should also send a political delegation. I think we should send our best peace talker."

"Absolutely not!" Bernard Raoul Mayhew, the elderly Protector of Grayson, interjected. "I will not place my grand-nephew at the mercy of a bunch of genocidal aliens."

"If you haven't noticed, my wife might already be in their hands," Hugh Arai-Zilwicki Prince Consort of Torch stated heatedly. His wife was probably in the middle of the fight for her life and he couldn't be there, having been asked to stay behind on Torch while the Home Fleet fought over the skies of Shanxi. She had surprised him with her surprise visit to Shanxi, and had already gone through the Terminus before anyone had discovered her destination.

"It's not like he'll be there alone. He has his security detail, and let's not forget how useful having a treecat around is. They'll know the moment the area is unsafe and extract him," Rupert Coleson, President of the Republic of Haven added.

What followed was another hour of accusations, rebuttals, concessions, and debate before the council finally decided on a course of action. Throughout all of this Anton Cachat sat back and listened. The decision had been made, they would be sending the first fleet with their best peace talker, just like Michael had suggested. Honestly, he knew why they had to debate so much, having grown up around the aristocracy of Torch, but still it took an hour for them to decide on a decision that they had already agreed on. Still, it was all part of the game called politics.

-TED-

"So, they'll be sending my godson," Jack Harper mused as he smoked his cigarette. In ancient times the past time of smoking was considered dangerous for one's health. Nowadays with Regen and the cancer vaccines, he had nothing to fear by smoking.

"How are we on the data we received from the Prometheus?" he asked turning to Eva Core, one of his most trusted subordinates and his best information sleuth.

"Most of the data has been translated, thanks in part to the Quarian delegation. About twenty percent of it has been analyzed. The codex doesn't seem to have concrete information on deployment, but we do have the number of dreadnoughts each of the major players has. From information ascertained from the codex, we can conclude that the Turians are utilizing two thirds of their naval force on the assault on Shanxi."

He nodded as he sat back. Honestly, the information that they had given him had proved that it was literally impossible to infiltrate the other races. Sure by removing a few fingers and some surgery a human could easily pass for a Quarian, and Volus mechanical suits were easy to duplicate, but the more important races were impossible to infiltrate. Although Batarians could be infiltrated after heavy surgery, which he was quite happy to find out.

Unfortunately, The Asari were blue, but had touch telepathy which made infiltrating them impossible. The Turians and Salarians were far too physiologically different for anything other than a complete genetic rewrite for infiltration. And the Hanar and Elcor, yeah that would be completely and utterly impossible. Though he supposed he could have an agent modified into a Drell in order to infiltrate the Hanar.

"Begin infiltrating the Batarian Hegemony. Their practice of slavery worries me the most. It is likely we might be attacked by them next. I want stealth ships to begin mapping the alien territories, and I want to see if we can acquire access to the extranet the codex mentions," Jack Harper ordered.

Eva nodded as she listened to his orders, the facilitation of information being her primary role in their little triumvirate. "Is there any orders for Ben?" she asked. Ben Hislop was the commander of their combat forces, and therefore was usually out in the field rather than here in the Cerberus system at headquarters.

"I want him to make sure that his men are piloting Benjamin's shuttle and at least two men in the security detail. I don't want anything to happen to my godson," Jack added as he took a drag from his cigarette before exhaling the smoke. "Now that that matter is out of the way, what is happening on Shanxi?"

"Queen Berry is trapped in the Honor Harrington Memorial Reproduction Center. Her bodyguard Zaeed Massani has amassed a militia of policemen and civilians to protect her. Unfortunately the nearby military base and air base has been overrun. Their defensive line is crumbling and it is only a matter of time before the lines fall as the Turians begin to focus their combat forces on the inner city. Several of our agents in the city supplied them with two working gravitic launchers and ten Viper missiles. Luckily, a young engineer by the name of Gregory Adams managed to rig a communicator. As of fifteen minutes ago Valkyrie Flight, Amazon Flight, Amazon 6th Armored Battalion, and the Shanxi 6th Regiment responded to their calls for help. Likely by now they have secured her."

"And the Quarian delegates?"

"They elected to forego evacuation in order to assist the Queen. Apparently one of the Turian troop carriers exploded above the city and bathed the fetuses with Element Zero. If it were not for their aid, over four thousand embryos would have been terminated."

"Which would explain why she decided not to evacuate either," Jack mused as he thought about it. Queen Berry would definitely not have evacuated if she was going to leave her as yet unborn great grandchild in the hands of the Turians. By buying time and correcting the genetic damage, she could ensure that the embryos could be safely transported to their cold storage units hidden under the hospital. "Send a recommendation to the Torch Parliament to grant the Quarians access to some of our older military vessels on top of whatever else the Queen already had in the works," he paused for a second, "and flag Gregory Adams as a person of interest. He seems rather creative and we wouldn't want his talents to go to waste."

"Right away sir," she said as she updated her datapad with her new instructions and moved to make sure Jack's orders were relayed.

Jack nodded as she left his side, leaving him to contemplate what his next move would be as he gazed up at the blazing surface of Cerberus. He was one of the most dangerous men in the galaxy, and it was his duty to ferret out anything that could become a danger to humanity and snuff it out. The Audubon Ballroom had a lot of resources and personnel to implement any plan of action that he could formulate. Unfortunately, a plan of action that would ensure that all of humanity's enemies were appropriately dealt with remained illusive.

-TED-

Codex:

Audubon Ballroom: Created in 20th century Diaspora, the Audubon Ballroom is a terrorist organization that focuses primarily on ending the genetic slave trade. They have been well known to resort to kidnapping, assassination, and bombing anything that has a relationship with the genetic slave trade. After the formation of the Kingdom of Torch, the Ballroom began to serve as Torch's intelligence division, and after the Great War has continued to keep an eye out for any development of Mesan interests.

Beowulf: Earth's first daughter world, Beowulf is the forefront of genetic technology. Ruled by a Board of Directors, Beowulf's ruling class is primarily made up of the best and brightest of their scientific fields. This Star Nation also caused the collapse of the Solarian League when they seceded from the League in the early 20th Century Diaspora.

Hermes Class Luxury Liner: Developed by one of the more influential Cartels on Manticore, the Hermes Class Luxury Liner is one of the fastest civilian ships in the galaxy, capable of not only getting important dignitaries anywhere they needed to go quickly, but because of it's armament, safely as well.

Protectorate of Grayson: One of the older Colony Worlds. Grayson proved to be a death trap for the people attempting to colonize it. Due to the planet's heavy metal concentration, and the fact that the plants and animals had dextro dna, just living on Grayson was a massive hardship, one that the colonists had no choice but to endure. Since then, the colonists have risen from one of the poorest Star Nations to the third most powerful member of the Grand Alliance.

Republic of Haven: The Republic of Haven has had a long and rocky past. Once known as the glittering gem of the frontiers, the Republic fell to corruption and mismanagement and spent several centuries as a ravenous entity raping other planetary economies in order to subsidize itself. Thankfully the Republic has reformed since then and has quickly risen to be the second most powerful member of the Grand Alliance.

-TED-

So thoughts people?