Hey guys its been a while. Been busy with uni and whatnot. I've only got a few more chapters planned before we break into the meat of the Mass Effect story.

Turian Dreadnought, Shadow of Menae, 26th April, 2157

Lieutenant Sorus Vakarian watched General Arterius' expression closely. It didn't really show, but Vakarian recognised the look of shock in his eyes. He probably hadn't expected the BETA to be like that. They were standing on the bridge of the Menae, observing the data-feeds from the volunteers on the surface. It was horrific. They had already seen several cases where human units, and the turian soldiers embedded within them, were overrun by the disgusting red monsters, before being torn apart and devoured. Several of the bridge crew who had been watching had darted off to the head, gagging.

At some point, Arterius had begun fixating on a certain screen. The tag identified the soldier as one Lieutenant Saren Arterius. Ah, family. I see. Most likely a younger brother. Better not say anything.

"Sir, we're receiving a communication from the Athens", saidthe communications officer, one of the bridge crew who had run off to throw up.

On the screens, the feeds from the surviving soldiers had wound down, and they appeared to be finishing off the diminishing hordes. Some of the turian soldiers looked up to see human fighter aircraft shifting in and out of cloak as they unloaded their munitions into the reduced swarms.

Arterius shook himself out of his stupor. "Put it up on the screen."

The screens shifted, and the bald head of the Brigadier General Williams appeared.

"General Arterius, our forces have destroyed the Hive's control centre. The BETA are disorganised, so we will be proceeding with cleanup operations. I'll have a few dropships launched to pick up your men. I will apologise for the loss of some of your men."

"There is no need for that; they volunteered to join your men. My government will probably request reparations for their deaths, however. They'll probably ask for some of your technology."

Vakarian cringed slightly. That was extremely blunt, considering that the humans are still negotiating with the Citadel delegation.

"That can probably be arranged once the politicians finish deciding what to do."

That was a little bit unexpected.

"Understood. Then, if you could retrieve my men, it would be appreciated. Our shuttles won't survive against those Laser-class that your soldiers are so proficient at combating."

"Aye. I should warn you though, the Marines do not take too kindly to being called 'soldiers'. Too rivalry with the Army. It's a matter of tradition, really."

"I'll keep that in mind. Arterius, out." The comm disconnected, and Arterius turned to Vakarian. "Lieutenant, any insight you can provide?"

Vakarian thought for a few moments. What do I know about them? The humans did seem to be a little too open with their technology and military tactics. Especially with a species they had encountered only days ago. And their technological development was astoundingly different to the typical 'discover Prothean ruins – develop eezo tech' pattern that was standard for the majority of civilisations. Very outside the pattern. Most species would look at giant mechs and say "that's crazy". The humans had taken it and made it work, and apparently it had saved them from extinction.

"Well sir, I don't know what to say. They're a species of contradictions. Non-eezo based tech, no shielding that I know of, and a surprising lack of xenophobia from what I've seen; that's even before mentioning that strange mind-meld-like ability that some of them seem to possess. Very different from what I would have expected from a species with a history like theirs; they might actually integrate well into the Citadel. From what I know of General Williams and Ambassador Goyle, they might actually be willing to share their technology with us."

"Command will most likely be interested in those mechs – Tactical Surface Fighters, correct? We did obtain a lot of interesting combat footage of those. My tactical officers are already running combat simulations to deal with them, although they're still trying to wrap their gizzards around how those things are able to stand, let alone fight like that. And then there's the AI issue. It adds another layer of unpredictability to the humans. And the Council is definitely not going to like that."

"Sir?" Vakarian twitched his mandible slightly. A Citadel officer badmouthing the Council was usually frowned upon, but no one was really sure how to react when it was a fleet commander doing the dissing.

"Although more likely it'll be Councilor Tevos overruling Carnus and Aegir. The salarians will probably be all over any technological development they can wring out of the humans, and Carnus, once he's personally seen the combat footage from today, he'll be pushing the Hierarchy to form some kind of military alliance with the humans, Citadel or not. Your thoughts, Lieutenant?"

After all this, I just want to go back to my kids. Wait, can't say that in front of a ranking officer. "Sir, there would be issues integrating the humans into the Citadel, considering how different they are to the standard. But on a sociological level, they should adjust well, when one factors in how they reacted to us." Vakarian stood ramrod straight as he spoke.

Arterius raised a brow-plate. "And the non-political answer, Lieutenant?"

"Issues be damned, the humans would fit right in, maybe change up that centuries old mix a bit. They're like a fusion of us and the krogan, with a bit of quarian mixed in. And they reached space travel fighting against an enemy that is in some ways worse than the rachni. And the asari be damned, it would be…appreciable not to be a stagnating civilisation, like what all those sociologists have been saying for years."

"I see. I'll put that in my report to Councilor Carnus. Thank you Lieutenant, you may return to your men. I may require your input later during the negotiations later, so I want the three of you to report to the shuttle bay at 0800 hours." Sorus thought to mention the asari first-contact specialist who had been with them, but decided against it. She was still hospitalised aboard the Illaen from her injuries, and would for at least a few more days. He raised his arm in salute. "Sir."

26th April, 2157. Taiyun Base, Shanxi

The atmosphere in the conference room was fairly tense. And it wasn't because of the quarians and their geth, or the human AI on the holodeck in the middle of the room. There had been rumours going around the Citadel fleet that the humans might offer technology in reparations for the turian lives lost during the raid on the BETA Hive. A certain salarian scientist was already petitioning the humans to be allowed to poke around at some BETA corpses.

Ambassador Goyle was the first to break the tension. "I've spoken to my superiors in our government, and I've been authorised to do several things. First of all, on behalf of humanity, I'd like to present the turian delegation with this." Vakarian stood rigid as a statue as Shepard, the one who had probed his mind back on the human carrier, stepped forwards to place a small datachip in General Arterius' talons. "As compensation for the turian lives lost yesterday, and as a show of good will, we are providing you with these blueprints, to be used and distributed as your government sees fit. They are the design details, schematics and manuals for a TSF." Vakarian's mandibles twitched. Seriously? The rumours were right?" It's an older model, the F-35D War Lightning. Almost two hundred years old, but it represents the pinnacle of our combat technology during out war against the BETA on our homeworld."

Arterius' diplomat discipline was cracking. The general was staring at the small datachip in his talons. Every eye in the room that wasn't human glued to it. The implications of it were staggering. Even if the design was two hundred years old, it would provide some very much desired insight into human design philosophies, as well as solving the mystery of how their technology functioned without Element Zero.

Arterius broke from his stupor. "Thank you, Ambassador."

Goyle nodded calmly, before continuing, "The other item I've been told to share with you all is that our government is currently in debate over whether or not to accept your offer of membership in your Citadel government. There is a lot of disparity between our policies, and it is possible that the Security Council veto the decision on the grounds of defence policy. Your Treaty of Farixen is one of the major points of contention."

General Williams stepped in. "Your treaty limits ship numbers based on the power of their spinal cannon. Our carriers' long-range cannons, at their size and output, would be classed as dreadnought, even if their primary armaments are Strike and Surface fighters. And as a matter of practicality, we have a sizable number of carriers."

"Thank you, General. Now, once our government has made its decision, we would like to send a diplomatic party to your Citadel to present said decision to your Council. To that end, we would like to send one of our ships to the Citadel at a later date. In exchange, we will allow the Citadel Fleet to station a ship on this side of the Relay to act as a guide. Alternatively, we can place the diplomatic party under your care. We'll leave the final decision up to you, since we've been informed that the Theta Relay leads to Citadel space. Thank you all for your time."

The parties broke. Arterius shook hands with Williams, said a few quiet words, before re-joining the Citadel delegation as they were escorted from the building by human Marines and turian soldiers. The quarian ambassador and his bodyguard seemed to be segregated slightly from the main group, although out of the corner of his eye he could see the salarian scientist, Dr Solus, speaking in a rapid-fire exchange with the quarian's geth companions. They were most likely discussing the human technology they had observed around the base. Not just TSFs, but also the curious land vehicle, aircraft, and weapon designs. A lot of the technology seemed to lag far behind their Citadel counterparts, despite its inherent utility.

Vakarian climbed into the waiting shuttle, and once the hatch was closed, it took off. Looking out the transparent aluminium windows, he looked down at the bustling human base. Before they had left, he had spoken to Shepard, who had mentioned that the humans were organising a strike against the third hive on the planet. It was quite obvious down below, as dozens of human dropships took off and landed at the airfield, which had a small grey and white mountain as its backdrop. Sorus blinked. Wait. What?

He looked at the mountain again, stared at it, taking in the details. Is that…? Down below, sitting like a silent giant, was a human cruiser. A full sized, six hundred metre long human cruiser, resting on the ground next to the airfield. That was not there before. How did that land so quietly that no one heard it? What the spirits do the humans use?

Sorus thought for a moment, before deciding on what seemed to be the rational thing to do. He tapped General Arterius on the shoulder, and silently pointed out the window. As the General looked outside, his jaw dropped and his mandibles went wide. Piran, who had been silent most of the time, dropped her discipline, "Alright, what the heck? Giant robots, large-scale cloak devices, and now they've got cruisers that can land on a planet? This is like something out of some bad RPG."

"I second that motion," said Kirack.

Nobody else spoke for the rest of the flight back to the fleet.

Taiyun Base, outside the Airfield

1st Lieutenant Mari Bridges and Private First Class Shizuka Yoruda sat on the grass staring up at the sky. They were watching the starships and dropships taking off and landing at the base, because they were both off duty while Mari's Comet underwent repairs and Shizuka awaited the arrival of her replacement Phoenix.

"Hey, aren't those the alien shuttles?" The slightly younger Shizuka was staring up at the quickly receding shapes in the distance.

"I can barely see them. How can you tell?"

Shizuka twirled her hair around her finger. "I just have a feeling."

Taiyun Base, Command Centre

"Well that went well, I think we all need a break after all this excitement," said Fred Williams, letting out a sigh of relief as he was informed that the alien delegation's shuttles had returned to their fleet.

"Sir?" Lieutenant Shepard had a slightly puzzled look on her face.

"FLEETCOM back at Arcturus agreed to give the entire fleet heavily extended leave after our primary mission here is complete. Once Objective 01 has been taken out, both the expeditionary and relief fleets will be relieved by elements from the 11th and 13th Fleets. I've already informed the command staff of each ship in the fleet. You were the last one to find out before the general announcement to the rest of the fleet. When I spoke to your husband, Captain Shepard, he mentioned something about taking your daughter for a trip to Chiron."

"General, sir, can I ask how long this leave was supposed to be for?" The Lieutenant was looking very confused now.

"I managed to secure approximately two months of leave for everyone currently in the Shanxi system."

Shepard's jaw could only drop so far.

6th July, 2157. Council Chambers, Citadel.

The wings of the immense chamber that represented the centre of mainline galactic power were filled with murmurs as the representative from the newcomer species, humanity, presented her case before the Council. Most species joined very quickly after first contact, but the humans had spent almost three times the average duration to make their decision.

Ambassador Anite Goyle coughed, before continuing. She was had just finished engaging in the diplomatic pleasantries that seemed to be universal to all species' politicians. It was time to get into the real reason for her visit to the capital of Council space.

"It is my great regret to carry this message to you. The United Nations of Earth and the Colonies General Assembly has voted to decline the Citadel Council's offer membership."

Every being in the chamber went silent in disbelief. It was almost painful how quiet it had become. On the platform in from of her, the Councillors were stalwart. And then the asari Councillor, Tevos, blinked. As if 'she' was actually waking up to the situation.

"May I inquire as to why your government reached this decision? Yours is one of the few species that has rejected such an offer."

Goyle let out a sigh. Here came the difficult part.

"Our upper governmental branch, the Security Council, examined the Citadel Conventions and found several irreconcilable differences between our governmental policies. Mostly on matters of civil rights, and military issues. The main points of contention were in regards to the Citadels tolerance of batarian slavery and the treatment of the krogan, who share a similar past to use, and of Synthetic Intelligence's, which are vital to our society, in Citadel space. The other issue, which I'm sure you've been informed of by the diplomats who were sent to Shanxi, regards the Treaty of Farixen. The dreadnought ratio detailed in the Treaty, going by the publically available data on the turian fleet, invalidates a significant majority of the United Nations Navy's capital ships. Our carrier fleets are the backbone of our military power, and joining the Citadel would result in highly reduced power projection."

Coucillor Carnus raised a taloned three-fingered hand to interject. "These carriers, their primary armament is fighters, correct? An interesting concept, but in what way would that invalidate your ships?"

Goyle frowned. Not really my cup of tea, she thought. "It's not my area of expertise, but as I understand it, your Treaty of Farixen limits dreadnoughts by the length of their spinal cannon, yes?"

Carnus nodded. Anita's face went blank for a moment as she accessed the fleet data that she'd been authorised to reveal. There were quite a lot of things that could have been asked, so the higher-ups had prepared a small database of answers.

"The minimum for a ship to be considered a dreadnought is a main gun of length greater than 700 metres. The main guns on current model carriers are approximately 900 metres."

Carnus raised a browplate. "That's a rather oversized gun for a ship that uses fighters as its primary armaments."

"I may do my regular militia retraining, but I chose the Army rather than the Navy as my primary service. The specifics of naval strategy are not exactly my specialty. You would have to ask someone from the Navy to explain it. But we do have an expression that human military personnel favour that should suffice." Goyle loosened up and let out a grin. "More Dakka."

"Huh. Interesting. The krogan would probably take a liking to your species, Ambassador."

Tevos took the opportunity to break back into the discussion. "Ambassador, I'm sure there must be some way your government would agree to joining the civilised galaxy. There is a lot of room for negotiation."

Goyle's grin turned into a grim mask. There it is. The aging woman took a slow breath, before beginning. "I mentioned before that the decision was reached by governmental debate and a referendum amongst the civilian populace of Earth and the colonies. The popular opinion is that humanity will not live under the will or power of an outside entity. So I am sorry, Councillor, but it is unlikely that humanity will ever agree to join the Citadel."

Tevos' calm demeanour shifted to something resembling frustration. "I see. That is…unfortunate."

She wants to press the issue, but can't without looking overbearing, thought Goyle. Interesting.

"We may be unwilling to join with you, but that does not mean we are adverse to trade."

Councillor Aegir, who had been silent throughout the talks, perked up at that. "Would such trade include that of technology and information?"

Anita Goyle dropped the frown and a smile took its place. "Within reason."

"Citadel, turian and human military officials turned out in force today at the Cipritine Armoury Primus Testing Centre on Palaven to witness the maiden flight of the first XM-1 Reaper Tactical Surface Fighter. The Reaper was developed with assistance from the human United Nations Defence Force, and is based on the two hundred year old F-35 Lightning TSF developed by humanity during their decade's long war against the alien entities known as the BETA. The XM-1 is expected to serve as a testbed for turian and Citadel technological development. Humanity has yet to release the designs for their more recent TSFs, citing security reasons. Citadel-based corporations have petitioned the United Nations military for access to the schematics for older models of their so-called 'microTSFs' which are believed to more closely fit the needs of Citadel military forces. Several United Nations military officials have suggested that this may become a reality in the near future. If you click the link below, you can access the entire public record of human TSF designs."

-Citadel News Network, 'Turian-Human Tactical Surface Fighter enters testing", 19th November, 2158.

"The United Nations declaration of their intentions to expand into the Skyllian Verge has been met with hostility from the Batarian Hegemony. The Hegemony has been petitioning the Council for exclusive rights to the region for decades, with little success. Colonists are set to depart Terra Nova and Eden Prime in the Exodus Cluster for the newly discovered garden world of Remnant in the Petra Nebula in the next few months. This comes only weeks after news that the United Nations Navy's Relay Exploration Fleet would be expanding to facilitate increased exploration of the Relay Network into the Terminus, Attican Traverse and the Far Rim."

-Citadel News Network, 'Human Expansion Picks Up the Pace', 31st March, 2159.

Location Unknown.

The immense black ship drifted silently in its orbit of the dead world. The intelligence within, the mind that was the ship, pondered the information. The lesser beings had encountered a new species, called humans. They did not evolve along the set path. They were an variation, an outlier. And they had survived an encounter with the Devourers, a highly pervasive outlier that simply extinguished life and planets, erasing species before they could be preserved. An outlier that had been eradicated countless times across countless cycles, only to reemerge several cycles later.

And these humans had beaten them back with technology even far less advanced than that of the current cycle.

Nazara activated its drives and powered towards the Relay.

Codex:

Humanity and the United Nations – Military Culture:

Humanity is a species with a highly militant history. It is almost impossible to find a period of human history where one people warred and fought against each other. In the modern United Nations, where civilian military training is a requirement from the age of 14, the military is also the largest employer. Approximately 2% of UN citizens are employed by or are in service in the UN Defence Force, a combined force of nearly 160 million personnel.

Once human youths complete their compulsory training at the age of sixteen, they are given the choice to continue their formal education or enlist in the military. After first contact with the Citadel, the rate of enlistment doubled.

Sorry about the short chapter everyone. I've been busy for most of my uni break, so I didn't have much time to write. Not to mention that before I wrote this one I spent quite a bit of time writing out the next one in advance, because I had some really cool ideas that I wanted to get down as soon as I could.