Earlier than usual...

"They're Humans! How can they be Humans, Admiral?"

Admiral James A Johnson honestly couldn't explain. It was impossible for two species to evolve to become physically identical. Thats what he'd always been told. The odds were astronomical. And yet, here were these "Hiigarans", a completely alien race that just happened to look exactly like a human. He was having a hard time believing it, even as he reviewed the Hiigaran first contact package once more. He gawked at the newly translated images of the "average Hiigaran male and female": carbon copies of their Human counterparts. And yet, their language was foreign. As was their culture and society. Infact, everything else about them was as alien as the Asari or the Turians had once been. Whatever biological anomally had caused this would give the scientists something to think about for a long time... but right now, he had more pressing matters.

The Hiigarans had came with a massive fleet: around one hundred warships (and they were warships) give or take a few. There were more than enough ships here to pose a serious threat to both Alliance and Council space. It was the single reason why the 7th fleet -that he commanded- had been ordered in to the sector to back up the Turian fleet all ready present. Combined with the other Council ships present, they had just enough ships to match the Hiigaran numbers, but they were seriously out-gunned. The Hiigarans had brought five dreadnoughts with them, each one lit up like a small sun on his ships thermal scope. Five. That was only three less than was in the entire Alliance Navy. That was nothing compared to their flag vessel: a gargantuan, hulking beast (1.6 kilometres long according to the scans), that lurked at the centre of their formation, bristling with what appeared to be gun turrets, missile ports and communications antennae, its hull swarming with patrols of pronged, delta shaped fighters that exited and entered the two cavernous hangars on its flanks. It was like someone had taken one of their smaller dreadnoughts, put it on steroids and added dozens of guns to it. In comparison, the assembled council races before them had just the Turian dreadnought Firaxi and his carrier the SSV George Washington: a paltry force considering the Hiigarans had six times the number of dreadnoughts and at least three (smaller) carriers themselves not to mention all of their dreadnoughts possesed hangars on their flanks, towards the engines at the rear. He had to be wary. Whilst the Hiigarans claimed to have peaceful intentions, the fact they'd showed up with a fleet this size made their claim quite doubtful. There was nothing stopping them wiping out the council forces before them and assualting the Terminus Systems or Council space.

Thinking about that would have to wait though. First, he had to deal with a rather annoying Batarian Commander.

"Perhaps this is just another Human plan to undermine our great nati-"

"Commander Orr'lathe, please be quiet and think about this rationally." It wasn't him that silenced the Batarian. Rather, it was Matriarch Ludina aboard one of the two asari cruisers present, that had cut the Batarian off. Ludina had placed herself in command of the rag-tag multi-racial force before himself and Admiral Vakarias -the Turian Admiral aboard the Firaxi- had taken over command of the Alliance and Turian forces respectively. Since then, Ludina had been commanding the small number of Asari and Salarian vessels left over and -due to her far superior knowledge of the arts of diplomacy- was the only beinging currently in communication with the Hiigaran fleet: though progress was slow due to the Hiigarans buggy and sometimes restrictive translation software.

"You are claiming the Systems Alliance somehow created a race with completely alien technology and ships that don't have a trace of element zero aboard them in order to bring down your race? Even you should be able to see the insanity in such a accusation."

"Then explain why they look exactly the same!"

James had to admit, it was quite amusing hearing the Batarian Commander splutter and talk nonesense. The commander was Batarian Navy, and members of the Batarian government and armed forces had quite a habit of blaming the Alliance and humanity in general for most its problems. Ludina, however, didn't appear to find it so amusing.

"I lack the scientific knowledge to explain, but I assure you that it is most likely an odd coincidence at the most." The asari Matriarch paused for a moment to mutter something to a subordinate in the background before she continued. "Now Commander, unless you have proof for your accusations, please keep this channel clear. Admiral Johnson and Admiral Vakarias would be all to happy to see the back of you, understand?"

"Damn you Asari." The Batarian Commander sounded positively furious as he struggled to keep his tone level. James enjoyed ever second of it. "You're little better than the damned Humans."

And with that parting insult, the Batarian killed the link to the channel, much to James' relief. He marvelled at how the Matriarch managed to deal with that annoying fool so calmly. Had he had the chance to speak to the Batarian, he'd have probably ended up shouting insults right back at the four-eyed commander. To be fair though, if the Batarian Commander hadn't found -and then run away from- the Hiigaran fleet in the first place (the Batarians were being tracked by both Alliance and Council ships at the time: Batarian Naval vessels were rare outside their own space so the appearance of a small taskforce had raised suspicions) it would have taken far longer for the Alliance or the Council to find and deal with the new arrivals. So he had to at least thank Commander Orr'lathe for that.

Now that the annoying Batarian appeared to have been quelled, it was time to turn his full attention back to analysing the armada -and potential threat- hanging in space 30,000 kilometres away from his carrier and fleet. Were they truly peaceful? Or was this all a show to hide their true intentions? They were human, or at least human looking, but their mindset could easily be totally alien. For all he knew, he could be looking at somekind of conquest fleet or slaving force that put the Batarian slavers to shame... and that image didn't exactly fill him with optimism.

The Hiigaran fleet was also an oddity to him. There was not a single trace of element zero throughout the entire fleet. He glanced at the scans again. Nope, no element zero at all. He should probably check if everyone else had noticed this...

"Matriarch Ludina, Admiral Vakarias, is anyone else picking up not a single trace of element zero from the Hiigaran fleet?"

"We are, Admiral." The Matriarch replied with a moments pause. "No element zero, but we are picking massive thermal readings from each ship."

"That is impossible." Admiral Vakarias' smug voice dismissed the claim in an instance. "All faster than light travel utilizes element zero. It is the basis for all practical applications of space travel. No, it is basis for almost every piece of useful technology used within galactic society. Society as we know it would struggle to exist without it!"

The Turian paused to let that sink in before finishing with one final statement.

"Also, the thermal readings from those ships are impossible. Those ships should be burning their crews to a crisp."

"No element zero..." The Asari matriarch muttered. "Perhaps they have an alternative method of FTL?"

"If they even have FTL..." The Turian Admiral dismissed the Asari once more. "They have yet to display any kind of advanced technology we don't happen to have. Our scans show they don't even have kinetic barriers! They appear to be a new, primitive upstart race."

"At least you're scanning them this time and not trying to hack their systems." James couldn't help himself there. That was the moment the Turian Admiral had almost started another war through an act of sheer stupidity.

The jibe struck home, hitting the Turian where it hurt: his pride.

"We were well within our rights! A possibly hostile fleet shows up on our doorstep and sits there for hours doing or saying nothing? What did you expect? Or need I remind you that these new comers have already broken council law by activating that Relay? By rights, our response should have been far more severe."

James rolled his eyes from the safety of his carriers bridge. It was sheer luck they'd detected the silver plated Relay at all: it being located within a dense dust cloud and almost masked from their sensors by the sheer scale of the thermal outputs coming from the Hiigaran fleet. It's chance discovery shed some light on just where the Hiigarans had come from, but also gave the Turian Admiral another supposed reason to give the order for his fleet to open fire on them. The Turian Navy, as the supposed peacekeepers of the galaxy, took breaches of Council law really seriously, even though the Hierarchy had been weakened by the Geth attack on the Citadel two or so years ago.

"I'm sure these new comers would have heard all about the Councils laws regarding Relay activation..." James could not keep his disdain for the Turian from seeping into his voice any longer. "Or would the Hierarchy have prefered another first contact war? Another chance for them to show their power and might? I'd have thought you'd have learned from that mess you caused the last time."

"Admirals, please." The Asari Matriarch cut in, preventing the assured argument from starting. The First Contact War ,despite the taking place almost 28 years ago, was still a touchy subject for some Turians and Humans -Admiral Johnson included- and generated arguments between the two races. The Turians saw it as policing action against an ignorant race who'd violated council law. To the Humans it was their first contact with an alien race and an act of aggression for breaking a rule they did not know existed.

"This is neither the time or the place for petty arguments. Keep focused on the task at hand."

"I apologise." James could still feel the anger built up inside him as he muttered his apology. Some Turians were arrogant, to say the least. "Now, what are the Hiigarans planning on doing? What are their reasons for being here? It would be nice to know their intentions, to calm my nerves a bit."

"I have been speaking with both the Hiigaran Ambassador and the Admiral in command of their fleet." Ludina replied without a moments pause. "Whilst their translation software is still a bit sketchy, they appear to be here on a peace mission. The fleet is seemingly just a precaution as apparently some of their ships were attacked on their side of the Relay a few weeks ago."

"Attacked?" The Turian Admiral sounded -surprisingly- quite shocked at that statement. "By who?"

"I'm guessing a pirate or slaver gang." James cut in. "The Terminus Systems are crawling with them. Probably a larger group came across the Relay and decided to do some exploring."

"From what information the Hiigarans would relay to me, your guess appears to be closer to the truth than you'd think, Admiral." Ludina replied. "They most likely brought a fleet of such size out of fear of being attacked on arrival."

James thought about that. If what the Hiigarans had said was true, it explained why they'd felt the need to send warships through the Relay... but surely an entire fleet, especially one of such size, was an overreaction. Surely sending a few escorts would have been enough to ward off a pirate attack... But then again, the Hiigarans could have easily mistaken the pirate vessels as belonging to the navy of a major nation and had simply feared the worst possible outcome. He could just as easily be wrong, this could still be a ploy by the Hiigarans to lure them into a false sense of security, but he'd reserve his judgement for now. Still, the very fact the Hiigarans could spare a fleet of that size gave hint of a very well developed economy and industrial base, especially regarding the construction of the "super-dreadnought" leading the fleet. The industrial might that vessel represented was astounding. Only the Asari Republics, whom were arguably the most powerful nation in terms of economics, had managed to construct a vessel so large.

"Yes, that is all very intresting." Admiral Vakarias was not impressed. To him, the Hiigarans were a bunch of primitive new comers who'd overreacted to a simple pirate gang of all things and had committed a severe breach of council law by not just sending a scout through the Relay, but an entire war fleet. They, like the arrogant Humans, needed to be put in their place, but he'd hold his word for now. "What do these new comers plan on doing now? Do they even have a plan or are they so amazed and dumbstruck that they have decided to just sit there for eternity? Surely they are planning to go before the council as all new races have done before."

"Calm yourself Vakarias." Ludina replied serenely, though quietly she was bursting with excitement and anticipation. The Hiigarans were a fascinating race. Having had first hand experience talking with the Hiigaran ambassador via video link she could indeed confirm that their physical appearance was identical to that of the humans of which she'd became so accustomed. Whilst there was the possibility of internal biological differences externally there was no way to tell the difference. And yet everything else was so... alien. Their language was foreign and exotic (one that she would happily take the time to learn were the Hiigaran absorption into the galactic community to go smoothly) and their culture and history - even judging from what little had been given to her via their first contact passage- was varied and almost... mystical in how it was conveyed. Of particular note was the way they spoke of their Homeworld, Hiigara. They spoke of it with such care and warmth, they way they took such time in describing every little detail, it was as though it was a precious jewel that they held close to their hearts and one that they'd gladly die to defend.

"The Hiigarans are willing to send a representative to the council to discuss the relations between them and the Council." Ludina smiled slightly as she finally relayed what she'd been told scant minutes before by the robed Hiigaran. There was nothing quite like seeing a peaceful first contact between races. She'd only seen a handful herself. But to actually be the one responsible for its bloodless conclusion, it... it was hard to explain how she felt. The only thing that had her worried was how willing Admiral Vakarias was to attack them over a breach in council law. Ever since the First Contact War with the Humans, there was a hidden feeling amongst the Asari Republics over how "enthusiastic" the Turians were when dealing with breaches of council law. There was even hushed talk of confronting them over it. Still, that was a matter for another time and another place.

"They have requested more time to prepare." The Hiigaran Ambassador had been most adamant (to the extent of the capabilities of their translation software) that they be allowed time to prepare for their first formal meeting with the Citadel Council, citing "diplomatic concerns". Ludina could only imagine what those concerns must have been but she offered no arguement against them. The Council would understand, and would most likely welcome a chance to prepare for the historic meeting themselves.

"How long must we wait?" Admiral Vakarias almost demanded the answer.

"A week." Ludina replied curtly.

"A week!" Vakarias sounded offended. "They expect us to face off with their fleet for a week whilst they try to organise a diplomatic team?"

"The Hiigarans will pull most of their fleet back to their side of the Relay and will leave only a token force on ourside. They have requested that I and a few others ships from different races remain here until they return and then escort them to the Citadel. They will not return with many ships."

"They're putting alot of trust in us." James added. Completely pulling back their fleet and only leaving a small guard force behind... the Hiigarans were taking quite a risk with their new found "friends".

"Then we'd better not squander it." Ludina answered immediately. It was true the Hiigarans were taking a massive risk, but she recognised an olive branch when she saw one. It was a test to see whether the Council races could be trusted to their word, whether they'd take advantage of the weakened Hiigaran force and attack the ships left behind or whether they'd stay true to their part of the bargain. Even if they kept their word, (which they would) she had no doubt the Salarian Special Tasks Group would still be all over the Hiigaran vessels as soon as they entered Citadel space as they attempted to find out everything they could about this new race and its technologies.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, Admirals, I have a report to send back to the Citadel. The Council will be eager to learn of the developments out here and how best to prepare for our guests. I bid you fairwell."

Such a gargantuan event could not be missed by someone in his position. His network spanned the entire galaxy, there was nothing that he missed. The sudden deployment of a Turian and then an Alliance fleet to the same quiet, empty sector of space in the Terminus Systems had piqued his intrest. As a dealer in a market where information was gold, he could not afford to miss out on such an obvious opportunity when it presented itself, especially when it promised to be big. The re-routing of Terminus System patrols to the same sector had drawn him closer and like a lion closing in on its prey he'd deployed his assets to the area in secret. A ship he controlled -not officially, obviously- had been dispatched, parading under the alias MSV Concordia. Aboard this freighter was no several hundred tonnes of refined ore as would appear to any ship that turned its sensors towards it. Instead, the Concordia's cargo was something a little more precious: a state of the art sensors system and communications tapping array. As his contacts had predicted, the fools in the Council had not restricted shipping to the sector allowing the Concordia to slip in amongst the dozen or so civilian ships already there. With all the communications traffic between the council warships already present and with their attention already occupied, no one noticed as the Concordia listened in on the goings on.

What his risk had rewarded him with was beyond anything he had expected. A new race, Hiigaran, had made peaceful first contact with a combined Turian, Asari, Salarian and Alliance fleet. Arrangements were already being made for a delegation to be sent to the Citadel. Hiigaran warfleet: one hundred and two ships strong. Six dreadnoughts, one of them 1.8 kilometres bow to stern. No element zero trace detected in entire fleet. Thermal signatures so high they would be impossible to contain with current technology. Heavy use of strike craft. Unknown language. Apparent physical copy of Humanity: Homo Sapien.

This was a gold mine, a great find that would reward him well. There were organisation out there that would pay vast sums of credits or provide him with warhouse loads of resources for information like this. He immediately shifted his plans. He had to know more about this new race. How many ships did they have? How many planets? What technology did they possess if they did not rely on element zero? Did they have an alternative method of FTL? Were there other races like them? He would, in time and with the proper bribes, spies, bugs and investments, find the answer to all of those questions. He always did. He knew how it worked. And when he did, there were those that would pay dearly for this sort of information. Those that would have an intrest in this carbon copy of Humanity and their technology that was not based on element zero. Those that would not appreciate an insolant race deviating from their master plan.

For him, today, was going to be a very, very good day...

There, I hope that was a good chapter for you to read. If there is anything that bugs you or anything you spotted, don't be afraid to tell me so I can change it/fix it.

Also, the reason I'm... reluctant to write a chapter from the perspective of Karan S'jet is because I don't really know how to write her as a character... so yeah, I avoid doing it rather than make a total mess of it.