Disclaimer: I do not own Mass Effect nor Honorverse. I am merely throwing the two worlds together. Any original characters, however, are mine.
So I typed this one out as fast as I could, it's The Effect of Diaspora's 1st Birthday everyone! Also with this chapter Diaspora has officially graduated into Novel length!
Chapter 11: The Ambassador Goes To The Citadel
Matriarch Lidanya was on edge. For the last two months the different militaries of the Citadel Races had been gearing up for war, and all because of the Turians. The aliens that they had attacked, humans, were probably planning to retaliate for the horrible damage done to one of their colonies. What on Thessia had the turians been thinking? It was like the Rachni wars all over again, everyone was on edge. Although Matriarch Aethyta seemed to be enjoying a large following lately, her participation during the cease fire and assessment of humanity's offensive capability was giving her a rather large block of votes in terms of beefing up Asari defenses. Eight new Asari dreadnoughts were under construction, four of them being Ascension class. Hopefully they would not be needed.
"Ma'am we're getting unusual gravity readings."
Lidanya frowned as she looked at her readouts. "Prep the ship for combat. Have all fighter pilots report to their ships. Open up all weapons ports. Get me the Turian and Salarian COs and have the Citadel prepare to close its arms." She ordered quickly. Aethyta had made available all the information her ships had gleamed when the humans had exited FTL behind her fleet, and what she was seeing was something similar. The humans have arrived at the Citadel.
"Ma'am I'm reading dreadnoughts exiting the hyperspace rifts."
"Give me numbers!"
"Two..no..over three thousand dreadnoughts and counting!"
"Ma'am, fifty of the dreadnoughts are launching corvettes. Almost seven thousand of them!"
"Ma'am over four hundred of the enemy dreadnoughts are Ascension class!"
"Ma'am hundreds of thousands of drones are launching from the enemy ships! Ma'am I've lost them!"
Lidanya did not let the disbelief overwhelm her. She was a Matriarch of War, with hundreds of years of experience in naval combat. She needed to keep her cool. But she knew that she was facing a hopeless situation. If the drones could attack as well, she did not have the firepower to fight something like this. Especially if she could not see them! Hell, no Citadel Race could engage this fleet and survive. The only ships that had any sort of chance were her people's, but if the enemy could field four hundred Ascension class ships, against her single one, she had no hope of escaping this conflict alive. Though it seemed that the alien fleet was content with remaining over two million kilometers from the station. Just on the very edge of her Citadel fed sensor envelope.
"Ma'am we're receiving a hail from one of the enemy ships."
"On Screen."
The alien visage that greeted her was rather surprising. The alien was wearing a bio-suit similar to the Quarians, though the helmet was not as form fitting, allowing her to see the alien's face. That was interesting, did these aliens have weak immune systems? Though didn't the Turians see them without suits? Perhaps they wore suits when they went offworld.
Still the female alien before her, or she assumed it was female since it had distinct mammary glands like the Asari and the Quarians, was remarkably similar. The skin was somewhat similar to Quarians, but the creature did not have internal ears, and it had the same digits and bone structure as the Asari. In fact it looked like the love child of both the Asari and Quarian people. The alien itself was fairly old, its skin wrinkled the way that most elderly Quarians would look.
"This is Fleet Admiral Faith Harrington of the Grand Alliance's Second Fleet. I have come to deliver and ensure the safety of Humanity's Ambassador to the Citadel Council."
"This is Matriarch Lidanya of the Citadel Space Fleet. I welcome you to the Citadel. Please send the ambassador's ship to the following coordinates and we'll escort it to the Citadel."
"Very well, we'll send the ambassador's party on a pinnace to those coordinates, but be warned. Should anything happen to the ambassador I have orders to destroy every military structure in this system." With that the feed was cut.
"Ma'am the Turian contingent is preparing to engage the enemy."
"Tell them to back off or the Ascension is going to fire on them!" she snarled. She was in a delicate situation as it was, with an alien fleet that vastly outnumbered her own. She was not going to allow any of the Turians to fuck things up any further than they already did!
-TED-
"Ambassador, could you quell the excessive bouncing?"
"A little exuberance never harmed anyone," was the ambassador's reply.
"Sir we can't maintain your safety if you're all over the place."
"Please, we have yet to arrive at the designated coordinates. Ridding one's self of excessive energy is a good way to ensure proper behavior when it counts."
"You should probably just let him exhaust himself," Edward LaFollet said as he watched their charge run around. The alliance marine was a newbie, and hadn't known the ambassador very well, he on the other hand was the ambassador's armsman and had known the ambassador for years.
"B-but he's representing us to the rest of the galaxy!"
"And he'll represent us correctly when it's time. Right now, let him unwind."
"You should listen to him. Eddie knows what he's doing," Micah LaFollet interjected with a grin. The elderly armsman looked to be in his early sixties, something that was deceptive being that he was almost two hundred and sixty years old, and still was more than capable of taking down any of the younger armsman or bodyguards around him. And of course he would, being Faith Honor Harrington's armsman for nearly two and a half centuries. That and he was the only one she trusted to keep an eye on her godson.
-TED-
Councilor Tuitio was aghast as she and the other councilors watched the human ambassador's entourage as he made his way towards them. The female Turian had just recently replaced Councilor Russus, who was under house arrest pending his trial. The Hierarchy had needed a drastic change of face when it came to the Council, and had thus decided to not place someone with a military career to replace Russus, instead they chose her. Councilor Tuitio wore blue face markings, instead of the red that Russus had, and she was a fifth tier social worker, the highest any social worker had managed to advance in the Hierarchy.
Furthermore, the loss of fifty percent of the Primarchs due to their folly had caused the Hierarchy to take a good hard look at itself. Especially since those same Primarchs had done something so foolish that it had the Asari not only threatening to remove them from the Council, but also threatening to declare war. Seeing the gentle Asari so incensed was enough of a wakeup call for the Turian public to demand answers, and what the Turians saw was not pretty.
Even so, the humans sending a child to be their ambassador was a slap in the face. She was going to be careful though, her Turian pride was insulted that was true, but they would not send in a child if the boy was not the best, and it seemed that they were prepared to be insulted. She also didn't understand why the boy was carrying around a feline with him. Though both he and the feline were wearing environmental suits like the Quarians. Perhaps they did indeed have weakened immune systems like the Quarians and were thus being careful.
-TED-
Bernie was excited. He was finally going to see aliens! Well aliens that he didn't already know that is. He'd met Barthoni, he'd met Medusans, and of course what kind of child would he be if he hadn't encountered a treecat or two. But these, these were aliens that nobody else had met before! It was amazing and he was happy to be part of everything.
The elevator rides were pretty boring though, and the dinosaur people were all kind of shifty. The blue ladies seemed to be keeping them in check though, something about how the bad dinosaur people had done awful stuff to Shanxi and the blue people grounded them. Though he didn't see any blue dudes, just blue ladies. Maybe there weren't blue dudes. Wouldn't that be weird?
And there were froggies! Froggies and jellies and four eyes! He even saw an elephant man! It was amazing that there were people like this all over the place. So many things to see! Now if only the weird itching at his head would stop. It was very very annoying.
His eyes widened at the beautiful garden at the top of the tower. It was very pretty, he would've loved to play here, but he had an important duty to do so he couldn't slack off. With his bestest best pal ever Eddie behind him, and old man Micah and that buzzkill dude with him, he was pretty sure that things were going to go great!
But he didn't like that he had to wear his skinsuit the entire time. That was boring. And Icky. And it felt really weird. But Old Man Micah explained that it was like when he was going to go out and play in the snow back home. You had to be well prepared or you'd die. Except here he wouldn't get poisoned, but he'd get alien cooties and he didn't want to get alien cooties.
He walked into the Council meeting room to meet with the Councilors and frowned at what he saw. The Council was way way up there, so far up that he had to crane his neck to see them. If they were going to talk like this his neck was going to hurt! He was looking at all the leader aliens though, there was a froggy man, a really pretty blue lady, and wow he didn't know dinosaur people came in girls. He'd only seen guy dinosaur people. He thought that the dinosaur people were like the blue ladies, except only guys. All of them looked really unhappy, like he'd kicked their puppy or something.
Oh well, he'd show them that he was a nice kid. Nobody hated him. "Hi!" he said bright and cheery.
-TED-
By the goddess the negotiations hadn't even started and Tevos was already exasperated. Though the good thing was that she wasn't getting any complaints from the Turian Councilor, they chose well then. This new one was far more reserved and cautious than the ones that came before her, and honestly this was probably the fourth female Turian Councilor in all of Citadel history.
Still the humans had sent a child to negotiate for them, an exuberant child, but a child nonetheless. She could already imagine the ramifications of the rest of the galaxy. "Hello little one. I am Councilor Tevos of the Asari Republics, to my left is Councilor Tuitio of the Turian Hierarchy, and to my right is Councilor Narra of the Salarian Union."
The human boy gave the Councilors a smile. "I'm Bernard Jack Alfredo Michael Mayhew of the Grayson Protectorate, beside me is my armsman Edward LaFollet of Mayhew Steading. Beside him is arsmman Micah Mayhew of Harrington Steading, and beside him is Mr. Grumpy butt Oliver Darling of the Star Empire of Manticore Royal Marines," and then he lifted up the treecat so that everyone could see him. "And this is Ambassador Babel of the Poison Sky clan."
There was a stunned silence before Tevos looked at the boy incredulously. "You're going to have a pet serve as the ambassador for your people?"
Forestalling the boy's angry outburst, the feline got up onto the podium and started to sign, a voice projecting from its wrist mounted translator. "I assure you Councilors, that I, Ambassador Babel of the Poison Sky clan, am not only fully sentient, but sapient and more than qualified to negotiate peace between the aggrieved parties of Humanity and the Citadel Races. I can also assure you that no member of The People has ever been nor will ever be a mere pet."
The feline continued walking on its two hind legs while the two arms continued to sign for the translator. "Furthermore, I would appreciate it if you desist in your attempts to brainwash myself and my colleagues, your attempts at such are primitive and ultimately futile and can be seen as a sign that you wish to further the war."
"I beg your pardon but there is no such device," Councilor Tuitio said before looking directly at the Dalatrass on the podium with her. "Right?"
The Dalatrass narrowed her eyes at the Turian before nodding. "There is no such device to my knowledge."
"Then a third party is attempting to manipulate the proceeds of this meeting by brainwashing all of us. The mental waves are emanating from this structure." The Treecat signed.
"And how would you know whether or not we, or your people are being brainwashed?" Tevos asked, a little alarmed at how quickly the ambassador was attempting to change their venue. Because she could see where this was going, the Ambassador wanted to move the negotiations, probably somewhere where the Councilors were not twenty feet above him and looking down at him.
"The People are a telempathic race Touch-singer," Babel signed as he looked at Tevos. "We know that someone is attempting to instill obedience into our party, and a sense of safety in this place. I will show you how to detect it, if we change the avenue of this meeting forthwith."
"And how will you show me this?" Tevos asked as she watched the ambassador with narrow eyes. This creature was dangerous, very dangerous. She had not thought that something so small could prove so formidable. So cunning, so intelligent. She should do everything in her power to make the…what on earth was she thinking? This wasn't right, she was letting her emotions rule her. Maybe there was something to this creature's claims.
"I will let you take it directly from my mind," the Treecat responded as it crossed it arms, patiently waiting for the answer.
Both Tuitio and Narra were looking at her, waiting for her decision. After all she was the only one that could determine if the other was lying or not when she entered his mind. Her opinion would be the one that would be the most important in this. "Very well, we'll have the talks take place in one of the C-Sec meeting rooms if that is better for you?"
The Treecat smiled at the prospect, it would allow the Council to continue to try to intimidate them, and give the Council a safety net so to speak, but it also would get them away from the corrupting influence of whatever it was that was trying to slip into the minds of himself and his bodyguard detail, and most importantly of his partner. Whoever was responsible was making itself an enemy of the People, and there were only two types of enemies. He couldn't wait to suitably deal with this one.
-TED-
Dalatrass Narra was unsettled as the two political groups took their seats around the table, the humans and treecat on one side, and the Council on the other. So far she was rather interested in the treecat, the consequences of a telempathic race were rather enormous. It was rumored that the Protheans were a race such as this, but would that mean that the Treecats would be more than capable of understanding the beacons? If so, then was that the reason why the humans were so much more advanced?
Also, that meant that the STG had completely underestimated the opposing forces. She did not like that she was so deeply in the dark, and she was sure that several heads were going to roll. Though she could not have Lokir culled, no that one had already established a breeding contract. Hopefully Mordin Lokir's child would not have the STG head's rapid fire speech while preserving his intelligence, but the results of that little experiment would not come to fruition or a few years more.
Still the knowledge that she might have been brainwashed was also unsettling, who would be the one responsible for such a feat, why would they want to brainwash the Council, and for what purpose? These were questions, so many questions, and yet the first and foremost question was if she was really being brainwashed, and only Tevos could provide her with that answer.
Provided what the furry creature was stating was true, what did that mean for galactic stability? If the Council was compromised a new one would have to take its place provided that the brainwashing could not be expunged. Too many unknowns, and now her thoughts were becoming cyclical.
If she were brainwashed, would that mean that her clan was as well? And if that were true, what of the dalatrasses that came before her, the hundreds of different clans that had sat here in this council. Was the majority of her people brainwashed? She needed to know, she must know. If Sur'Kesh was compromised, she must discover the way to counteract it!
She watched as Tevos and the furry creature locked hands, her own two holding the top arms of the smaller creature as Tevos took a steadying breath. "Embrace Eternity," her comrade stated, eyes turning black to signify an Asari meld taking place.
And then she started screaming, and chaos ensued.
-TED-
Codex:
Grayson Protectorate Armsman: Elite Bodyguards of the Steadholders of the Grayson Protectorate, the Armsman are permitted by Grayson law to go everywhere with their Steader, or his or her heirs, and protect them from any threat. At no point is an Armsman allowed to be unarmed. Their loyalty to their steadholder is absolute and their training brutal.
-TED-
So what do you think of my all female Council? According to the wikia, Valern was something of an anomaly when it came to Councilors for the Salarians, which means that since Valern is yet to be born, the current Councilor was probably female. In terms of Councilor Tuitio, the Turian hierarchy is facing turmoil. Based on how their merit system works, when half the Primarchs were demoted for the Shanxi Fiasco, their fellow Primarchs were shamed for promoting them to a position that they obviously weren't ready for, thereby the entire first tier of the Hierarchy was put out of commission, leaving mostly the second tier to rule, and since I think the second tier would be more civilian oriented, thus the changes in Turian ideology.