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HNV Blade of Destiny, One jump away from Torfan, six days later

"Any news in our latest STG update?"

"The batarians are pushing several shiploads of cargo through, sir. They seem to be anticipating a lot of business."

Adrian Victus snarled something inaudible. His eyes swept over the bridge consoles and the crewmembers operating them, looking for something, anything, to vent his anger on. The bridge looked immaculate as always and the crew was performing its duties with admirable efficiency.

"Is there any sign that there are turians among the cargo?"

"No, sir." Captain Drastion knew his commanding officer well enough to understand what he wanted to hear, but the answer was the same as always. The batarians avoided trading in turians. They never hit a turian colony and if they found turians in a system they hit, or aboard a merchant ship they captured, they usually left them alone or killed them on the spot. Still, there were exceptions to every rule and Victus had hoped to find at least on or two turians among the slaves.

"As usual."

"Yes, sir."

Victus cursed again. He had known what to expect when he took command of this patrol. It was arguably the least popular command in the Hierarchy, which was probably why Victus had received it. As advantageously situated as the Torfan relay was, its function as a haven for pirates and slave traders had turned it into a major security headache. Because much of the trade that went on there would have been illegal in Citadel Space and armed conflicts broke out on a regular basis, the Citadel Council had requested that the Hierarchy maintain a fleet presence in the connecting system. However, Torfan itself did not fall under Citadel law. Therefore, the detachment was under strict orders not to enter that system. Their duty was to guard the mass relay, check the cargo of any trader entering Citadel Space, and generally ensure that whatever happened in Torfan, stayed in Torfan.

Victus had known all this when taking command. Still, he had cherished the hope that he might be able to make a more positive contribution. Before he had left, the Primarch had adjusted the rules of engagement slightly to reflect a more aggressive stance against the slavers: While the fleet was forbidden from attacking slavers in general, any attempt to traffic in turian slaves would be considered sufficient provocation to break the Citadel Council's orders. With this new set of instructions, Victus had hoped to be able to smash the slavers. After all, the Hierarchy was known for it's all-or-nothing approach to warfare. No-one would be particularly surprised if the trade of a few turian slaves let to a massive response that wiped out all slave traders in Torfan.
Victus had pulled as many strings as he could and managed to get an STG reconnaissance vessel inserted in Torfan space. The salarians would monitor anything and everything that went on and might be able to provide him with the excuse he needed. Unfortunately, it seemed that the batarians had been warned in advance. The only turians seen in Torfan were either pirates, mercenaries or just shady traders. In a last, desperate effort, Victus had asked the STG to start checking food supplies in the hope that by tracing dextro-aminoacid-based food, he would be able to find some turian slaves. The only effect seemed to have been that the raiders had stopped selling quarian slaves as well as turians. Not that the suit-rats, with their non-existent immune systems, made for very good slaves in any case, but it had reduced some of the pressure on the Migrant Fleet, which, in turn, reduced the number of quarian incursions into Citadel Space. It could be called a victory of sorts, but certainly not the one that Victus had been hoping for.

"So, it's just salarians and asari?"

"A few Drell and Elcor as well," Drastion said. "but the last batch seems so consist mainly of humans."

"Humans?"

"Yes, sir. It appears that the rumours were right. The slavers were keeping the captives from their raids in the Verge locked up somewhere until the situation became less tense. Now they are moving them to the market."

"I see."

Victus did, indeed, see. The massive raid on the new human colonies in the Skyllian Verge had occurred about six months earlier. While initially successful, the raiders had been stopped cold at Elysium and had withdrawn, taking with them a considerable amount of looted property as well as a large number of human slaves. The consequences had been surprising. This was not the first time the humans had been attacked in this fashion. More than a decade earlier the small human colony on Mindoir had been attacked and destroyed. The Alliance of United Systems had protested but agreed that the colonists, who had decided to settle outside the protection of the United Systems Military, had voluntarily taken a large risk. Attacks on other, similar colonies had likewise been ignored. This time things were different. The Settlements in the Verge were not independent entities but officially sanctioned by the human government. They had representatives in the General Assembly. The latter organisation had made it abundantly clear that it was one thing for alien pirates to attack a bunch of fools who had willingly placed themselves at risk, but a completely different story when they dared to attack territory that the human government had formally claimed as its own.

Aftershocks had rippled through Citadel Space for months, with the newly appointed human ambassador, Donnel Udina, practically breathing fire on the Presidium as he raged against the citadel races in general and the batarians in particular. It had put the council in an awkward position where they were stuck defending actions that were, in the end, indefensible. But the batarians were a citadel species and the humans were not. As long as the Batarian Hegemony could hide behind the fiction that these raids were the work of private individuals, unconnected to the batarian military, the Council would not, could not, abandon its allies, however distasteful they might be. And the batarians had covered their tracks reasonably well. According to the official story, it was pirates from the Terminus who had carried out the raid and any involvement by subjects of the Hegemony was surely limited to a handful of 'upset individuals' who had been 'displaced' by the 'aggressive human expansion'. Eventually, things had calmed down, the Hegemony had made some token reparations because it 'regretted the misguided actions of some of its people', the human rhetoric had been dialled down, and things had seemed to be on their way back to normal.

Among turians, feelings had been mixed. No right minded turian could approve of the Hegemony and its sanctimonious attitude. Then again, humans weren't exactly popular either and many turians would, at least in private, have admitted to a certain amount of satisfaction that the arrogant newcomers had been burned this way. Most of all, people had been worried. If the humans decided to strike back, as seemed likely, the Hierarchy would be in the same untenable position as the council: forced by treaty commitments to defend the batarians. That would mean open warfare with the United Systems Military, and, despite all bravado, that was not a prospect the turians looked forward to. The Hierarchy had studied its short conflict with the USM carefully, and identified many weak spots in its order of battle and doctrine. Steps had been taken to remedy those defects, but that didn't change the fact that the humans had given the Hierarchy a very unpleasant shock, the likes of which they would prefer to avoid in the future.

But months had passed and the humans had done nothing. They had strengthened their fleet in the Verge and increased the number of patrols. The handful of non-human traders who entered human-controlled space had reported being stopped and searched repeatedly by human warships, but that had been all. As a result, the Hierarchy had been able to relax a bit, but now Victus started to wonder. How much did the humans know? Did they understand the way the slave trade functioned? Humans were newcomers on the galactic scene, but by now they had been around for twenty years and their traders could be found in both the Terminus and Citadel Space. Victus did not deceive himself that those traders would at least occasionally talk to government officials. Once the batarians sold their captives it would only be a matter of time before human slaves started showing up in the Terminus. Sooner or later the human government would find out. What would they do then? They might be unwilling to attack the Hegemony, which was at least nominally supported by the Citadel Council. But would they show the same restraint when dealing with the Terminus?

Suppose the United Systems Military invades the Terminus? The Hegemony would protest, but would they go to war? Unlikely, especially if they have to do it on their own. So the batarians would appeal to the Council, but what could they do? The humans aren't subject to council regulations. If they want to move into the Terminus, only force of arms can stop them. Would the Council go to war? More importantly, would we?

It was possible but unlikely. There were some turians who were hoping for a rematch to wipe out the humiliation of the Relay 314 incident, but they were a minority. Most were sensible enough to understand that hurt feelings were insufficient reason to goto war.

So we don't interfere, which means the batarians will have to back down. That means the humans can do as they please. It would weaken them in the end, fighting endless campaigns so far from home, but they will destabilize the Terminus. No way to tell which way Omega will jump. The mercs won't want to fight the United Systems. Too many losses, not enough profit, but they may have no choice if Aria decides to back the pirates. Either way, it will spill over into Citadel Space, and we get to clean up the mess.

That would never do. Victus briefly considered his options. He could report this latest development to Palaven command and ask for permission to enter Torfan. If he could liberate the human captives it would be an incredible diplomatic coup for the Hierarchy and might go a long way toward normalizing relations with the United Systems. Of course, it would also permanently damage their relationship with the Hegemony but, in the end, one had to make a choice. As far as Victus was concerned that choice was easy. Despite their bad start, the United Systems would make for more palatable allies than the Hegemony.

He allowed himself to daydream a little. General Victus, the turian who fixed the mistakes of the past and brought humanity into the Citadel Council's fold. Make way, Fedorian, here comes the new Primarch! It was an amusing fantasy, but he knew perfectly well that it would never happen. Apart from the fact that he didn't have the slightest taste for politics, he would never get permission for such a move. The Hierarchy would not risk the political backlash of invading the Terminus even to liberate citizens of its asari and salarian allies. It would certainly not do so for its recent enemies. Besides, he didn't have the resources. Attacking Torfan and destroying the slaver colony was something he could do with the forces under his command, but in order to save anyone, he'd have to launch a ground campaign and he didn't have anywhere near the required number of soldiers for that. The only alternative would be to bombard the colony, almost certainly killing all captives in the process. That would NOT endear him to the humans who had already demonstrated what they thought about their people being killed in orbital bombardments.

So, no heroic rescue. Just more waiting and hoping that common sense would prevail and that the United Systems government would refrain from sending its fleets on a roaring rampage of revenge throughout the Terminus. Unless of course... The thought suddenly came to him.

What if the humans know more? What if they know exactly how the slave trade works. What if they know about Torfan's function as a slave market? No need to search half the Terminus for your people, if you know that they'll all pass through one system. If they could get the timing right, after the slaves have left the Hegemony, but before they are sold and moved on, that moment would be... Just about NOW.

"General! Message from Torfan, it's the Salarians"

"What? They just send us a message. The next one isn't due for another two days."

"Sir, it says: USM ships entering Torfan from Attican Traverse. Ship count: 20+."

For a moment, Victus stood as frozen. If he didn't know any better, he might have believed in prescience. He had just been thinking- No, no time to wonder.

"Alert all ships! Get me direct communications to the Citadel and Palaven Command."

"Yes, sir." Drastion moved to obey but stopped as a new warning flashed across his haptic display. "General, the relay is activating. Incoming transit from Torfan."

-o-o-o-

In a brilliant display of light, the mass relay activated and more than a hundred small contacts appeared on the turian sensor displays.

"Sir, I make it at least one hundred fighters and a dozen large, shuttle-sized craft. Identification coming up now: mixed force: USM fighters F-302 and SA-23. Shuttles are of unknown design. Sir, we are getting massive jamming. Very powerful. It's coming from those shuttles. They're cutting us off from the relay.

"Specialized craft then. Fast enough to accompany the fighters, but with the volume to mount heavy electronic warfare equipment."

"Sir, do we engage?"

"No." Victus stared at the sensor screen. "They're not advancing against us, so let's not start another war just yet. Try to open communications."

"Yes, sir." One of the communication techs spoke up. "General Victus, we're getting a message."

"Put it on speaker."

Within seconds a new voice spoke up, speaking words that a turian vocal system could never reproduce. A moment later the translation scrolled over the screen

"This is groupleader Ichijo Eika calling turian fleet. Do you copy?"

Victus glanced at the communication tech and nodded. The tech touched his display.

"This is HNV Blade of Destiny. Go ahead, groupleader."

The same voice continued.

"This is a message from the United Systems Military for the commanding officer of the turian squadron. We are attacking the pirate base in Torfan at this time. This attack is against the pirates in Torfan, not against Citadel Space. The United Systems have no quarrel, I repeat: no quarrel, with the Citadel Council or the Turian Hierarchy. We ask you, therefore, not to intervene. However, we have blocked the relay connection from both ends and we have orders to destroy any Hierarchy vessel that does not comply with this request and attempts to approach the relay. Do you copy all that?"

Victus leaned forward and activated is own communication link.

"This is General Victus aboard HNV Blade of Destiny. Message received and understood."

He closed the channel, then looked around. "Well now, this is an interesting development."

"Sir," Captain Drastion stared at him. "What do we do?"

"Do, captain? Why should we do anything?"

For a moment, the captain seemed lost for words.

"General, we have to stop them. I mean, we cannot let them do this!"

"And how do you suggest we go about stopping them, captain?" Drastion looked at him as though he had lost his mind, but before the flag-captain could answer, Victus continued. "More than a hundred fighters on this side of the relay. That means there is at least one fleetcarrier on the other side. One carrier, figure at least four of their destroyers as escorts. Plus whatever they brought along to deal with the raiders, pirates and other trash in Torfan. But it doesn't stop there. You can bet your life savings that they're locking down the Terminus connection as well, so they'll probably send a similar number of fighters there, that means two carriers, at least. Plus escorts. Besides, they clearly planned this in advance. They knew we were here. Do you really believe they wouldn't assign adequate firepower to deal with us? Or do you think they're just bluffing and will back down if we ignore their warning?"

Victus turned back toward the display and watched the swarm of human fighter craft that was now circling the relay.

"No. It's no coincidence they show up now, just as the batarians are moving their human captives. They must have planned this for months and you don't do that unless you're willing to see it through. So, what happens? We move on the relay. That means fighting our way through these fighters, then fighting our way through whatever they have on the other side, and then we still have to stop them from attacking the planet. Even if we succeed, it'll cost us hundreds, perhaps even thousands of lives. Not to mention that we may end up in another war. And for what? To protect a bunch of pirates, slavers, smugglers, and other scum? Absolutely not."

"But sir, what's the alternative?" Drastion seemed to have recovered from his earlier astonishment. "If we stand by and let this happen, the Hegemony will-"

"Will do what? The Hegemony is not involved, captain. Torfan is part of the Terminus. The Hegemony is not being attacked, so why should they do anything?"

"Oh, for Spirits' sake!" It was not often that turian discipline broke down, but Captain Drastion was clearly reaching the limits of his self-control. "General, you know as well as I that is a load of Varren shit. There are at least half a dozen Hegemony ships in Torfan at any given time. They may not be broadcasting their identity, but that doesn't make it less true. Between those ships and the settlement, I bet half the highest-caste batarian families have a relative of some kind in Torfan. And they're about to be slaughtered if we do nothing."

Turians didn't have eyebrows. For the first time, Victus felt the lack. He had once seen a human raise one of them and it had perfectly conveyed the sentiment he now wished to express.

"How can you say that, captain? Surely, you know as well as I that no member of the Hegemony's establishment would EVER be involved in the kind of shady deals that take place in Torfan. Why, they have told us so themselves! No, I really don't see how they could complain about the deaths of a few pirates and smugglers, none of whom were Hegemony subjects." He reconsidered. "On second thought, I suppose they might be a bit upset about the humans destabilizing the Terminus, but honestly, Torfan is only barely in the Terminus. As long as the humans restrict themselves to this one action, I doubt there will be many long-term consequences. Aria T'Loak will certainly not complain. If Torfan is wiped out, that only means more trade going through Omega. Besides, to interfere, we'd have to enter Torfan space, which we have been forbidden by the Council. If I remember correctly, it was the Hegemony that insisted on that. No captain, we will do absolutely nothing. Any action would have to be authorized taken by Palaven command or the Council. It's a shame that with the humans jamming the connection we cannot contact either of them."

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A/N:

In my last story, the humans were handicapped because they could not control large formations of fighters unless they had a carrier in-system. I used the method we saw in Battlestar Galactica, where a shuttle accompanies the fighters and provides command and control, to remedy this. Basically, these shuttles serve as AWACS, EW platforms, ELINT etc.

Ichijo Eika is an expy from Sky Girls (No, the USM don't have teenaged girls in skintight bunny-suits flying fighters, I just happened to like that character.) Some people may recognize her speech. This is actually the message that the Rhodesian airforce sent to Zambia during the 'Green Leader' raid. I just changed the names. You can find the details on Wikipedia, or alternatively, just look for John Edmond's 'Green Leader song' on youtube.

In ME2, Jacob discussed the corsair program. They seemed the best ships to gather intel on Torfan. I always regretted that we didn't see them in the games. For much of what you do, they would have been more useful than the Normandy, which is just way too obvious.

As to whether this story qualifies as a cross-over. It's actually a bit of grey territory. I submitted it as a cross-over, mainly to stay in the same category as the first two. Don't worry, the xenomorphs and the Yautja will be back. And, yes, I plan on releasing the xenomorphs on the Citadel eventually.