Alternate Past: Uncertain Future Mk. II

Co-written with aDarkOne.

Please read both Author's Notes at the bottom of the chapter. One by me, the other by my cowriter.

Chapter 20

Fragile Peace: Advent of Shadows

The batarian ambassador to the Citadel had requested a meeting with the Council, claiming that he had urgent news for them. None of the Councilors liked Jath'Amon, because while he often acted pleasant and agreeable (at least in his official capacity as ambassador), experience had shown him to be untrustworthy, self-serving, and arrogant (much like the government that he served). Nevertheless, it remained their job to deal with the representatives of the Associate Races. Besides, Jath'Amon requesting a meeting was unusual enough to warrant special attention.

"What do you think the bastard wants?" Wrex asked Tevos as the Councilors waited in the Audience Chamber for the ambassador to arrive.

"It is difficult to say." Tevos replied diplomatically.

"Aethyta is right." Wrex said with a chuckle.

"What are you talking about?" the asari matriarch replied with the merest hint of irritation in her voice.

"That you'd rather do nothing, than risk doing the WRONG thing." The battlemaster answered with a shrug.

"There is nothing wrong with being patient and prudent." Tevos said defensively.

"Sure...most of the time. But in a crisis, sometimes you have to just pick a choice, hope for the best, and carry through." Wrex replied with shrug of his massive shoulders.

"Perhaps, but we shouldn't treat everything like a crisis." Tevos countered.

"When hasn't it been a crisis since the damn humans showed up?" Wrex asked, a question to which Tevos had no ready answer.

The tension was broken by one of the Citadel Council's guards announcing that the ambassador was waiting just outside the Audience Chamber.

"Let him in." Councilor Cicero imperiously ordered.

As befitting his station, ambassador Jath'Amon wore the fanciest batarian finery, though the Councilors all thought the outfit ridiculously gaudy. His body husky (due to a lifetime of self indulgence) and movements confident as he strode into the Audience Chamber. Deliberately meeting the eyes of Wrex, Tevos, Cicero, and Valdn as he entered the large room.

None of the Councilors had good feelings about this meeting, as the Batarians rarely, if ever, called for a meeting of their own accord. The smug, and simultaneously angered look on the ambassador's face further reinforced that feeling.

"Honored Councilors I come with the gravest of news...treacherous outsiders are interfering in our affairs putting all the peoples of the Citadel at risk." The ambassador began once he knew that he had everyone's attention.

"Who are these outsiders?" Tevos asked, though she feared she already knew.

Jath'Amon fulfilled those those fears with one word. The last word that the asari Councilor wanted to hear right then.

"Humans...humans are committing acts of terrorism inside the Hegemony robbing, mutilating, and murdering everyone they can in a treacherous attempt to undermine the government and install a puppet state under their control." The ambassador said passionately. His disgust for the rebels and their aims genuine.

"Do you have proof of this?" the salarian Councilor asked coldly.

"Of course. I wouldn't dream of wasting the Council's time on mere rumors." Jath'Amon replied with a smile. With a tap of his omnitool, the projectors in the chamber activated, generating a massive screen for everyone to see.

At first, it showed nothing but static and white noise then, it began to clear up. Despite the poor quality, it was obvious that the video came from a soldier's helmet camera. Standard protocol to discourage soldiers from any war crimes and proof to either vindicate or prosecute them as needed.

The video shook as the batarian fired his rifle at a group of armed civilians. "Before you ask, no they are not civilians, they are terrorists. Those who have tossed in their lot with the humans and now fight against us." The ambassador explained, answering the unspoken question.

Many of the rebels simply ducked down when shots came too close for comfort. The soldier themselves not managing to bring any of them down. "Move in! Don't let them breathe!" The cam-soldier ordered, waving his troops forward, turning away from the battle for a split second. Turning back, the video shook hard then panned upwards as the soldier was shot and killed, showing the Khar'Shan sky and other troops walking past his body.

Before anyone could question the ambassador, he tapped his omnitool again. The video reversed, then paused just as the cam had finished turning back to the battle. "My first, though admittedly not conclusive piece of evidence." Focusing on a single figure, the video zoomed in, cleaning up the pixelated image as best as possible.

"No." Valdn breathed as they all saw a blurry but unmistakable image of a Spartan, just like the ones that had assaulted and kidnapped the salarian (along with the other Councilors) himself. Wrex cursed at the sight, but Tevos merely stared in horror.

Remembering how helpless and terrified she had felt as the massive armored alien warriors had taken her prisoner and then proceeded to fight their way off the Citadel. C-Sec and even the Citadel Defense Fleet unable to stop them as the humans carried off the Council. The Destiny Ascension itself (pride of the Asari Republics and until then the most powerful warship in known space) brushed aside (and crippled) with contemptuous ease as the humans made their escape.

Unlike the others Cicero had not been a Councilor at the time. He had not even been on the Citadel. Instead he had been an admiral commanding one of the Hierarchy's fleets. During the war with the UNSC Cicero's fleet had managed to ambush and destroy a small patrol of human warships scouting the system his fleet was already in.

In truth the battle had been little more than a skirmish during the war, and had no real impact on the overall conflict between the Council Races and humanity. But it was one of the few real victories the Hierarchy had against the UNSC (especially in space) so Cicero had been hailed as a hero afterwards. Using his newfound fame as a 'war hero' as leverage to get a seat on the Council itself. But in his heart Cicero knew that his 'victory' had meant nothing in the overall scheme of things, and it made him hate the humans all the more. A fact that he had learned after the sacking of Impera and the scale of the UNSC armada was made known to him.

Before anything could be said, Saren made his presence known. "Councilors, before we beginning jumping to conclusions and begin blaming the UNSC, I must protest against this so-called proof." Looks of shock and anger were directed at his person but he shrugged them off. "I do not say this because I am trying to defend the humans, but I would prefer not to fight a war on false-assumptions. Yes, that appears to be one of those that abducted you at our first encounter, but it could also be an asari, or even a batarian, wearing armor that could give the appearance of those humans, for reasons known only to them. The quality of the video is shoddy at worst, and a blur at best."

"The Hegemony has nothing to hide examine the recording all you like, but first Councilors observe the rest of it." the batarian ambassador said, his uncharacteristic reasonableness throwing even Saren a little off guard. The batarian ambassador was known for being defensive, challenging, and combative in the political arena. The fact that he was capitulating without any real fight or argument did not bode well in the slightest.

The scene they were watching shifted to another room, as a batarian female gunned down a male whose uniform showed that he was a technician 2nd Class. The female (who identified herself as Jella Korragan) proceeded to give a passionate speech against the Hegemony. Echoing sentiments that a lot of the Councilors secretly (or not so secretly in Wrex's case) shared.

"Now here's the important part." Jath'Amon said as one of the figures that looked like a Spartan took his helmet off to clean the blood off his golden visor. Giving all the Councilors a clear image of his face. Revealing the fair skin, heavy brows, and sullen expression of what was obviously a human male. The man immediately putting his helmet back after he had wiped the blood off.

"That looks nothing like an asari to me and even less like a batarian." the ambassador added arrogantly as they all took in the sight. This here was irrefutable proof that the humans were involved, and almost without a doubt, the UNSC/UEG itself as well. It was one thing for a human to be part of this terrorist group, but one of their elites? That was something else.

"I promise you Jath'Amon, that this outrage against an Associate Race will not go unanswered. We will make the humans answer for what they have done." Cicero said passionately.

The other Councilors stared at Cicero in shock. The sheer arrogance of him speaking for the entire Council this way was disturbing. Moreover, even IF they all agreed with his course of action, the Citadel Council's ability to get the humans to do anything was seriously in doubt. Yet with a single statement, Cicero had all but dedicated them to the course of action. He had left them unable to do anything but publically support both Cicero and the Batarian Hegemony, whatever their personal feelings may have been. Seeing as the only other option was to go against Cicero and publically appear to be a supporter of the humans, which would have been political suicide.

"I knew our faith in the Council was not misplaced." the ambassador replied happily, and only somewhat insincerely. Having learned years ago the most expedient ways to use Citadel politics to his government's benefit.

"But FIRST, we will see what the humans have to say for themselves." Tevos stated with uncharacteristic steel in her voice.

"Yeah. We should at least talk to the motherless varren before doing anything crazy." Wrex added.

Both the turian Councilor and batarian ambassador turned to Valdn at that point. Hoping to find some support for immediate action with the last Councilor. But Valdn simply said "Gathering further data WOULD be prudent."

Biting back a scathing comment, the batarian ambassador simply put on a fake smile. "Very well then. Let us hear what the human's make of this. We would not to wage a full-scale war over a misunderstanding or mistaken identity."

**APUFMKII**

Back on Jarum, in the UNSC/UEG consulate in New Ozai, things had gone to hell in a handbasket, to say the least. When word spread that Bluestone had been violently spirited away by what appeared to be UNSC troops, open rioting broke out. The consulate had publicly advised all humans to stay indoors, while consul personnel had quietly spread the message that those who could, should go off-world until things calmed down.

When Denton heard the first gunshots, his first thought was, "Oh great, another idiot trying to climb the walls." Until more cracks of gunfire started sounding out, first single shots, and now it was a constant cacophony of burst fire. Having still been inside the meeting room, he bolted from his chair and out of the room, trying to find someone with a radio. Grabbing the first trooper he found, he ordered, "Status report! Now!"

The trooper, scared out of his wits being both a greenhorn and seeing one of the heroes of humanity snapped of a salute. "Sir! Something's going on with the crowd outside! They're trying to enter the compound!"

"What bloody hell for! What in Reach just happened!?" Denton ordered, all but shaking the trooper with a strength unexpected of the doctor.

Instead of answering, the trooper just pointed to one of the many screens in the consulate on the wall, an asari news reporter with what looked like a scene out of the First Insurrection in the background.

"As you can see here, the convoy of police that was to be escorting the human Bluestone to the New Ozai courthouse has been ambushed. Almost the entire convoy was destroyed, and all those guarding it killed. The images are incredibly graphic so younger and more sensitive viewers are encouraged to look away." The camera then panned away from the asari to observe the carnage that had been left behind. The remains of vehicles and bodies alike, shattered and ripped apart. Many of the bodies were covered by blue tarps or in black bags, those that were largely intact that is. Some were in pieces, with limbs and other pieces scattered around where they died. "Thankfully, some have survived the carnage and are been taken to the hospital for immediate medical attention." Again the camera panned to show some officers being placed onto stretchers, medical aid being applied as they were moved into ambulances. Though they were far outnumbered by the dead.

One of the officers saw the news crew and started waving to them to come over. "Hold on, it looks like one of them is waving us over, perhaps we can get more information." The feed shook as the camera hovered over, following the news reporter. "Can you tell us what happened here?"

"It was the humans..UNSC troops..they pretended that they were helping us guard Bluestone but as soon as everybody was in the tunnel they turned on us" the police officer said hoarsely. Clutching her chest where the armor was splattered red, and a dash of blue.

"Are you sure it was the UNSC? Could it not have been some faction not associated with the UNSC?"

"May the spirits and ancestors condemn my soul if I am wrong, but those fucks had their armor, had their weapons! And no, it wasn't that green shit that everyone could make in their grandma's house, it was that black gear. It was them." The officer coughed, hacking up a bit of blood. "You don't believe me, check the cams. One of them had bars stamped to their armor." The officer started hacking again, wheezing as they tried to breathe.

One of the EMTs came up, a krogan, and pushed her away. "Stand aside, we're getting them out of here, now." The krogan lifted up the stretcher with ease but gently, placing it inside the medical truck. Stepping inside, he slapped the walls of the truck. "Lets get moving!" He shouted, before slamming the doors close and it sped off, leaving the news reporter and her camera behind.

"Did we do it, sir?"

Doctor Denton turned around to find himself addressed by one of the consulate personnel. A good natured young woman who normally worked as the receptionist in the main lobby. As he looked at her, Denton realized that she was addressing him as a member of the Office of Naval Intelligence.

"Why are you asking me?"

"Well because you're one of...them." the woman admitted nervously.

Denton held back a sigh, it seemed that no matter where he went, the stigma that came with being a part of ONI was always following him, even on an out of the place like Jarum. "No, far as I know, it wasn't us."

'If it is, I am going to TEAR that BITCH a new one!' He thought to himself.

"Then who did?" She asked earnestly. No one answered as no one did have an answer.

The tense moment was broken as Consul Xanatos walked into the room. Approaching Doctor Denton with a message in his hand. Giving it to Denton as he told the ambassador "we just received this from HighCom, sir. Priority Alpha."

Denton grabbed the message, reading the scant few lines on it. Priority Alpha was code for "Read now, postpone everything else", for when something required immediate attention but wasn't something as important as say a declaration of war. The only words on the paper were, "Return to the Fortress. Alpha priority. Rome has been made aware." Denton's eyes grew wide at the last sentence.

"Damn it all, what the hell is going on?" He muttered. Turning back to Xanatos he'd ordered, "I'm taking command now, under ONI authority. Get all non-combatants to the dropships and get them off-planet now. Keep only the medical personnel next to the troops. Have all combat ready troops get ready for evacuation and load up on TTRs and LTL weapons."

"Sir?" Xanatos asked, "Why evacuate? Won't that make us look guilty?"

"Only if we evacuated the human civilians from here. Right now they're all focused on us. And right now, I'd rather not risk anyone getting hurt. Besides, from the looks of it, it only looks like there's what, a dozen at best non-fighters here?"

"Well I think Tiala spent the night again." the woman Denton had been talking to a moment ago said, referring to Xanatos's asari girlfriend. Earning a venomous look from her boss, the consul.

"Then get her off planet if you, and more importantly, she, wants to. If she wants to stay, you can stay. I just want to make sure that few people as possible are at risk." Turning to those that had come with him, "That goes for you as well. I expect you on the next transport off-world." His aids nodded, with the exception of Serana, who was staring at a message on her omnitool. "Serana, what's wrong?"

"A message from High Charity. They...all New Covenant citizens are to return and make way to the Holy City by the fastest means possible. Under the Arbiter's decree to all citizens." It was clear how much the message disturbed Serana, but no one understood why. The New Covenant had a standing agreement with the UNSC/UEG that they could order all of its citizens to return to Covenant space at a moment's notice, with all then standing contracts and agreements, if not nullified, then postponed until they could leave Covenant space again.

**APUFMKII**

Derek Hardison got up slowly as his alarm went off. Looking around his apartment as he awoke. Stretching out as he got out of bed and gazed at his possessions.

Things were looking up for Hardison. He had a new much nicer apartment, new furniture, and new vehicles. He was important and praised again (albeit behind closed doors). And all it took to reach this new state of affairs was a deal with the mysterious group that Olivia Miller represented.

After decades of total war, the UNSC and EUG had more military hardware than they knew what to do with. Moreover, as an administrator at a UNSC Reach R&D facility Hardison had access to a great deal of that equipment.

All he needed to do was requisition the transfer of a few companies worth of equipment from anywhere from a few dozen or a few hundred warehouses and storage facilities to certain locations. Then, while in transit, he simply struck them from the manifests, and relabelled them as some other material, and arriving as innocuous as a crate of scrap metal to be recycled. Since he was pilfering from surplus supplies, no one was really watching them closely. Well, no Smart-class AI that would have caught onto his tricks at any rate. With the CDF and private security firms moving so much materials anyways, that made his job even easier as all he had to do was make a few crates 'disappear' and some incorrectly placed ones, 'appear' as it were. The sheer volume that was being moved meant that no one would notice when a half dozen mislabeled crates were found among a few hundred or even a few thousand.

At least that was the layman's way of explaining it, the actual process itself was obviously much more complex.

As he approached the windows, the blinds opened up, presenting to him the gleaming skylines and towers of New Alexandria. Before, owning an apartment such as this would have been well out of his reach, pun not intended, unless his Project Eezo had succeeded. But the payments from Ms. Miller's hidden benefactors meant that it was well within his grasp.

The trickiest part of all these deals had not been covering his tracks, no he felt more than comfortable in his ability to do so, having spent the better part of six months learning all he could about how the UNSC/UEG tracked and kept count of all it's supplies and materials, and more importantly, where all the holes were, before he even considered making his first deal. No, the most problematic of these had been concealing all of his newly found wealth. At first it had been easy, being mostly untraceable credit chips that he could use at his leisure and hide at whim. Then, with more transactions, it became an unfeasible option. Simply hiding all his new found wealth in his home was no longer plausible.

So instead there was a bank account, held under another name, where the majority of his ill-gotten gains were being sent, that only he and Miller's benefactor's had access to. Which was at his beck and call at a moment's notice.

His private terminal, with all the trimmings and modifications necessary to make it a 'ghost' platform, one that, for all intents and purposes, technically didn't exist on the network, signalled a message had arrived. Opening it, it simply read: "We are highly pleased. The remainder of the transaction has been wired to the account provided. We look forward to doing business with you again."

Hardison was not sure whether as to smile or frown at the message. It regarded his latest, and perhaps most dangerous, deal that he had made so far. And this one had caused him so much stress that it felt like it had taken several years off his life. The shipment itself had been several crates of weapons, ODST Battle Dress Uniforms and a M12 LRV, and the ammo to go with it all.

The Warthog, weapons and ammo had been easy. What was one vehicle among literal millions? What was a few rifles among billions, if not trillions? And ammunition? There were literally warehouses packed to the brim, safely of course, of the stuff. What had taken years off his life had been the ODST gear, and shipping it all.

ODST armor was watched (relatively) carefully, as it was the best armor the UNSC could mass produce. Contrary to popular belief, the MJOLNIR GEN-II armor was not easily produced, as a single suit cost enough to make a few hundred or so ODST BDUs. He shuddered at just how many close calls he had making so much of it disappear, scarcely believing having pulled it off at all. Indeed, he was wondering if this latest deal would be unseen as all the others had been.

But as though summoned by his doubts, Olivia Miller entered the room. She hadn't bothered to put on any clothes since their romantic evening last night. The blonde's voluptuous form somewhat obscured in the dim lighting of the apartment. Pressing her heavy breasts to the back of his head as she murmured "come back to bed darling."

The feel and sight of Olivia's body was enough to drive all other thoughts from Derek Hardison's mind. Oblivious to the calculating look that briefly crossed the Insurrectionist's face. As she debated whether the administrator was still an asset, or had become a (disposable) liability.

**APUFMKII**

Anita Goyle had always wanted to make history, so when she was appointed the first ambassador to the Citadel she was overjoyed. But over the last three years she had come to hate the Citadel and her job. Probably because the people of the Citadel made little effort to hide the fact that they hated her and the government, and for that matter the species, that she represented.

In retrospect, when she would look back on this, the situation seemed obvious. Not only had the UNSC attacked the Citadel during what were supposed to be negotiations, but the human forces had also kidnapped the Councilors, who were the most powerful people in the galaxy as far as the people of the Citadel were concerned, fought their way through the Presidium, for them, the most exclusive and well guarded neighborhood in all of Citadel space, after the home systems. And then proceeded to maul the Citadel Defense Fleet, which was then considered the most powerful fleet of warships in known space by the natives.

In the aftermath of all that, hundreds of soldiers and police officers stationed on or near the Citadel had been severely wounded or killed, and hundreds of civilians, many of them from the creme of Citadel society, had been killed, wounded, or rendered homeless as a result of the heavy fighting during the humans escape. To top it all off, the imprisoned Citadel Council had been forced to accept a humiliating treaty after one of their homeworlds had been attacked and another of their worlds had been destroyed.

The average citizen of the Citadel saw humans as vicious monsters only one step away from committing another atrocity. Few humans were permitted on the Citadel at all (the minimum required by the treaty that Doctor Denton had made the Council sign), and those that were, were all heavily monitored and shadowed by police, soldiers, and other government forces whenever they left the building that functioned as the UEG embassy on the Citadel.

That being said, she was being escorted by a squad of ODSTs to her meeting with the Council. Normally it would have been just a squad of regular marines, but recently HIGHCOM on Reach had upped their security protocols. Something recently had stirred up the nest back home, enough that it reached more than a way's up the food chain. Anita had a bad feeling about this meeting.

'They never want to talk to me...not unless something has gone wrong that they blame me and the UEG for anyway...what has happened?' Anita wondered as she was escorted to the Council.

As she walked through the Presidium Anita saw many civilians stop and stare at her. None of the looks were friendly, and a few actually made obscene gestures in her direction. When she was first arrived on the Citadel Goyle would have reacted to such rudeness, but at this point she was sadly used to it. At least none of them attacked her, as had a few lunatics who had lost friends and family to the UNSC, only to be brutally put down by her human guards or the Citadel's own security forces (who feared humanity's retaliation should she be killed). Regardless of what the rest of Citadel space thought, here on the Citadel itself the UNSC was regarded as an enemy nation, and its representative would always be merely tolerated at best.

'Even more guards!..what do they think I'm going to do?...try to kill and eat the Councilors if they get too close?' Anita thought as she was escorted into the Audience Chamber to meet with the Council, seeing that security there had once again been upgraded. It seemed that with every meeting, the number of C-Sec, Spectres and PMCs present doubled. As though they were expecting war to erupt at any moment.

As she finally arrived at the main chamber, the pit in her stomach seemed to grow fivefold at the sight of the Batarian ambassador. Since their arrival on the galactic scene, the human nation and the Hegemony almost immediately started butting heads. Due to the fact that the UNSC had claimed territory near the Hegemony that in many cases the batarians were planning on colonizing (or at least exploring in search of natural resources).

But as far as Anita knew it hadn't gotten any further than angry words and diplomatic posturing. The Hegemony knew that it didn't stand a chance against the UNSC in a real war, and the UNSC had no desire to fight another war when it still hadn't fully recovered from its war with the Covenant.

The batarian ambassador wasted no time on pleasantries. Sincerely hoping to catch the human diplomat by surprise (and perhaps get an honest answer) as he demanded to know "why is humanity sponsoring terrorism in the Hegemony?" When Anita didn't answer, the ambassador smirked, "Well human? Why is your government sponsoring acts of terrorism within our sovereign territory?"

Anita was, for lack of a better word, stunned. Whatever she had expected, all the scenarios she had considered, an accusation of that magnitude was most definitely not one of them. Trying to recover and buy herself time she asked, "I'm sorry, could you repeat that? I believe that my translator is broken. It sounded as though you said my government was sponsoring a terrorist organization in the Hegemony of all places?"

Jath'Amon crossed his arms in confidence, "No, you heard me correctly human. Your government is directly assisting a terrorist organization within the Hegemony. An organization that has caused the deaths of thousands." Amon was fudging the numbers by several hundred, but it wasn't as though anyone else in the room knew that.

"Was it not enough that you destroyed Impera and cowed us, but now you want to tear us apart from the inside?"

"The UEG does not support terrorism." Anita Goyle said firmly, but in truth even she didn't believe the words. At this point it was an open secret that ONI had been conducting a covert campaign to weaken the New Covenant through sabotage, assassination, and manipulation. But as far as she knew her government hadn't done anything similar to the Council or Associate Races. Still, she liked to believe that the her government would spit at the idea of supporting an actual terrorist group, considering everything they had faced against both the First and the Second Insurrection.

Turning the Councilors, she addressed them "Honored Council, are you going to allow this liar to make such baseless and slanderous accusations against my government? Where is the proof, where is the evidence to these claims?" Anita all but demanded.

At this point Anita Goyle wasn't especially fond of any of the Councilors. But her least favorite was easily Cicero. The turian Councilor had never made much effort to hide his utter hatred of humanity from her. So he was the last one she wanted to hear from, as he turned to her and said, "So...you deny all of the charges?"

Cicero's expression made Anita feel as though she was walking into a trap. Nevertheless, she knew what her position demanded of her, so she replied, "Of course! And unless he can provide proof I demand a formal apology from the ambassador and his government."

An apology would cost the batarian regime nothing. But Anita knew that issuing a formal apology would embarrass the Hegemony and hurt the batarian leaders pride. So she hoped it would make Jath'Amon back off. Instead he merely leered and said with false politeness, "As you wish."

As if on cue, the videos that Jath'Amon had shown the Council before, was projected again. Anita staring in horror as she watched footage of Spartans aiding batarian rebels in slaughtering government forces. Gazing in disbelief as one Spartan foolishly took off his helmet in enemy territory. The scene ending with the rebel leader gunning down a helpless batarian technician.

"Bohrak Kanran was merely doing his job at broadcasting station alpha four...he was known at work for being punctual and detail oriented...he had five children and a loving wife...and now his wife is a widow and his children are fatherless...unfortunately Bohrak is just one of many killed by these terrorist dogs and their HUMAN allies." the batarian ambassador venomously explained.

Anita just stared at Jath'Amon in horror for a moment. While it was possible the video was fake, something in her gut told her it wasn't. Besides, this kind of operation fit ONI's M.O. all too perfectly. But she knew that she could never admit as much. If the UNSC admitted to doing this it could easily lead to all out war. Something her bosses desperately didn't want while the New Covenant was still strong enough to be a threat. Besides, Anita suspected that if she admitted that ONI might have done it, her superiors would simply call her crazy and have her replaced.

With a conviction that did not reflect the trepidation she felt, Anita shot back, "Do you really expect me to believe this farce? This fabrication in an attempt to implicate my government for something that they had no hand it?"

"So any humans within Hegemony territory trying to overthrow the government and commit acts of terror are not supported by the UNSC or the EUG?" Cicero coldly demanded of her.

'They're probably ONI attack dogs.' Anita thought. She like most UEG citizens had no love for the covert ops group. But aloud she replied, "Of course not."

"Then they are criminals by both your standards and ours?" Cicero continued as he stared intently at the human ambassador. His gaze weighing on her like a physical thing. The turian's expression reminding Anita that his ancestors had been predators that had killed with tooth and claw.

Anita swallowed in response. For all her training and experience, this was something beyond her. Right now, she was standing at the precipice that could determine if the UNSC would again be in a state of total war against a coalition of alien way she saw it, she had only one real option: to agree with Cicero and decry all humans found in Hegemony space as those independent of the UNSC and cut all ties with them. If she tried to argue that there was something else going on, then Cicero would likely claim the human presence as a prelude to an act of war. If she tried to ask for more time, even to simply contact her superiors, chances were that someone would use her request against her, claiming that humanity was trying to cover up their actions, and act without her being able to interfere.

'May God forgive me for what I am about to do. Especially if there really are Spartans over there.' She prayed to herself.

"Any humans trying to overthrow the Hegemony or found committing acts of terrorism within its territory does so against the wishes of my government. Those found within the borders of the Batarian Hegemony will be considered criminals by my government and should be treated as such."

"Good...because I talked to the Primarch before this meeting. And he's agreed to send a Hierarchy fleet and and its accompanying army to help the Hegemony to eliminate these terrorists. And I would so hate to cause a diplomatic incident." Cicero replied, the words delivered like a threat. Unseen by Cicero, each of his fellow Councillors shot their turian counterpart a look that promised that they would speak of this later. Not realizing the trouble he was already in with his peers, Cicero continued, "The Batarian Hegemony is an Associate Race and as such the Council will not permit ANY outsiders to violate its sovereignty."

Anita Goyle shuddered as the implications of the words hit her. Meanwhile the other Councilors were openly glaring at Cicero at this point. But the turian was oblivious as he enjoyed his moment of victory over the human, unaware of just how far he had stepped out of line.

**APUFMKII**

"So…let me get this right." Terrence didn't break his gaze from Margaret as he poured two fingers worth of a high grade scotch into two glasses. "You're telling me, that you've had outposts and listening stations with the Arbiter's territory, conducting acts of both espionage and sabotage against his people, since the end of the Great War." He pulled back the bottle, capping it as he set it back on the desk. "And now they've started fighting back?" He took one of the glasses, nudging the other Paragonsky.

"Not quite so simply, but yes." Margaret answered, taking the proffered drink. "You should have known Terrence, that it was always the case. We couldn't let them gather the strength to become a threat to us again, not after what they've done." She added, letting go of all pretenses. The two were in Terrence Hood's private office, which was also the prototype version of Odin's Eye on the Point of No Return. The two were old colleagues, and almost equal in rank, so the usual show of respect and pomp were discarded, especially since they were alone. Even Margaret's usually constant shadow, Osmin, was absent.

She took a sip of the scotch. "Very good, Terrence. Martian, 2500, correct?" Hood nodded, taking a sip of his own, as she put hers back down. "But that is hardly an issue, humanity has been doing such since the First Cold War, back in the 1950s. If anything, this is considerably more ethical."

"Ethical, is that what you people think of it now?" Hood asked in disgust. "By god, Margaret, just what are you trying to do? Are you trying to start another war?" Slamming his fist on his desk. "Our military is still recovering from the Great War, let alone the Heretic Wars! If you recall, we lost over ninety percent of our navy alone between those two, and since then, we've only brought up our numbers to seventy percent of the our peak during the Great War. And you said yourself that the people are not in any state of mind to accept another war."

The ONI Section III Director didn't even flinch at Lord Hood's anger. "Yes, which was precisely the reason why," stressing the word, "that these operations were carried out in the first place. To make sure that they would be far too focused on saving themselves, than to even consider fighting us again."

"Well it seems on that, you both somehow managed to succeed and fail spectacularly." He said, referring to the topic they had just discussed earlier. Of how the New Covenant, or Neo-Covenant as some had recently begun referring to it, had managed to utilize the Citadel Race's Mass Effect-based FTL, and adapt it to their fighters. Then of course, the subsequent destruction of three of ONI's covert operations/listening stations within Covenant territory. "Now they've got a weapon that we can't defend against, or least not properly. Not to mention the assets and personnel lost in these attacks. One that we," referring to the UNSC/UEG as a whole, "can not do anything about, as these stations were supposed to not exist in the first place."

"For now, Terrence, for now." She chided, "We will find a countermeasure. For every problem, there is a solution."

"And what is your solution to the loss of humanity's only potential ally in the galaxy?" Hood asked coldly, wondering if the head of ONI really couldn't see it.

"There are plenty of other powers in the galaxy that-" Parangosky started to argue, only to be interrupted by the admiral.

"Are too weak to make a difference...if the turians or somebody else choose to wage all-out war, the ONLY ones strong and interested enough to interfere would be the Covenant Races except now THANKS TO YOU they hate us again too." Hood thundered as he glared ferociously at Parangosky. "Should we go to war with the Covenant, it will be like the Great War again, despite all that we've achieved. A fighting retreat. If the Citadel races fought alongside us, it would make little difference."

Admiral Parangosky stared at Hood in disbelief. She was not used to be spoken to so disrespectfully (even Denton was didn't dare to be so rude). She was almost universally feared anywhere she went. But Lord Hood was perhaps the only man who could get away with it.

He was probably the only person within human territory with more real power than the head of ONI. Moreover, unlike Parangosky, Hood was publically lionized for his actions, both during and after the Great War. More so the latter, as he actually began returning power to the UEG, rather than hoarding it like some despotic dictator. In short, he had the whole of humanity supporting him.

"Now, I want you to cease all activities in Covenant space. Pull back everyone, and I meaneveryone. No sleeper cells, no dead drops, nothing. And I want ALL records on everything." He downed the last of the scotch before placing the glass in his desk. "Thereafter, I'll be arranging a meeting with the Arbiter. If luck favors us, then he'll see this as an act of good faith. Be prepared to lose some of your agents, Sangheili honor will demand nothing less."

Parangosky openly frowned, "Of course, Terrence." Internally however, she was pleased. She already knew this would be the case, after all. The operations had already since been postponed or cancelled entirely, it would be a simple matter of doctoring the reports to make it appear as needed to appease the Fleet Admiral. As for the agents, well, acceptable losses.

Such pleasants thoughts were interrupted by one of Parangosky's aids entering the room. Urgently demanding the admiral's attention. Despite her clear orders to be left alone during her meeting with Hood unless it was an emergency.

Before she could say the word, the agent blurted, "Apologies Admirals. I understand that you gave explicit orders that you were not to be disturbed unless it was dire and...well...You better take a look at this sirs." The agent handed over two datapads, which Parangosky and Hood immediately began reading. "We just got the information sir. ID codes confirm as Anita Goyle's."

As Margaret read ambassador Goyle's report, which covered her meeting with the Citadel Council and batarian ambassador in detail, a feeling of dread settled in her stomach. Ideally the Council and Lord Hood would have never found out about ONI involvement in the slave rebellion, or at least not until long after the fact. But of all the ways for Hood, probably the only man inside the UNSC with both the power and the will to bring her down, to find out, this was the worst.

"Thank you, agent." Hood's voice was eerily calm and collected as he said this. "You're dismissed." Seeing the situation for what it was, the agent snapped off a quick salute and 'yes sir' before all but running from the office. "Now then, just when were you planning on tell me of this, Director?"

The truth was 'never' but even in her shocked state Parangosky was too smart to say that. Instead saying in placid tones, "When the time was right."

With a huff, he retorted, "And when would that have been? When this operation of yours was a done deal? Or after we were at war with the Citadel Council?"

"Neither, but it is a moot point, all things considered."

"All things considered…" Hood parroted. "All things considered you have turned humanity's most powerful ally against us...perhaps forever. And seem intent on making the only other superpower in the galaxy hate us too. I have half a mind to execute you here and purge Section III. God knows that nobody would object. Hell, if anything, people would praise me for it. Your people have been allowed to work without oversight for too long. Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?"

The head of ONI shuddered at the words. For all its power, ONI's strength was in assassination and subterfuge. In an all out war, they wouldn't stand a chance against the human military. Moreover, Hood was right about one thing. ONI was almost universally feared but it was also almost universally hated too. If the UNSC proper turned against ONI, the public in the UEG territory would gladly join in. Parangosky and her people would be hunted everywhere, and under those conditions the admiral suspected that most of her own people would happily betray her for an offer of leniency.

"If you purge Section III, that would cripple ONI, and would leave humanity vulnerable to groups like the Insurrectionists Remnants and the STG at least until you created a decent replacement, which would probably take years." Parangosky explained, doing an admirable job of hiding her fear.

"I know...which is why I hope you won't drive me to it." Lord Hood replied coldly.

"Its too late to stop Operation Spartacus." Parangosky protested.

"I assumed as much." The Section III director raised an eyebrow. "The fact that a Spartan-IV is there is proof enough. A Spartan-II is one thing. You would have sent one as a vanguard, to set the operation in motion. You wouldn't risk sending anything less to do so. But an S-IV? You would have only allowed it if the Operation had passed the point of no return, when it was too late to stop, but needed more force to stay alive, lest the operation falls apart under its own weight as it were."

"The rebels already hated the Hegemony which treats them as little better than livestock...we are only offering minimal support." Parangosky replied.

"I would hardly call having Spartans fight beside them 'minimal' support" Hood answered critically.

"The natives are doing most of the fighting and dying Terrence...were just giving them enough support so that the rebels have a fighting chance" Parangosky objected, which was, if not quite a lie, certainly a dubious statement.

"We are not even trying to take the Hegemony away from the Council. We want the batarians to stay so that they can be our big backdoor into Citadel territory." the head of ONI explained.

"The UNSC will NOT be providing any official support to this...Rebellion, in any capacity...do you understand?" Hood coldly demands.

"It might too late to stop the ground war but if you start a real war between us and the Council Races I will at minimum have you executed as a traitor and if necessary have all of Section III purged...and we both know the civilians and foreign powers will support me if I do" Hood says. Not threatening, because he doesn't have to. But a guarantee of what would happen if Parangosky and/or her people stepped far enough out of line.

**APUFMKI**

Denton crashed into his office chair almost as soon as the doors closed behind him. "First Impera, then Bluestone, and now Serana. Does the galaxy just want me to suffer?" It seemed as though the piles for the UNSC/UEG, and by default, for him, seemed to arise without end. First it was him becoming the head negotiator for the UNSC with the Citadel Council. Then he was saddled with being in charge of diplomatic relations with both the New Covenant and the Citadel Council. Then came the Bluestone issue, and all the headaches that came from it.

The only silver lining all of this had was the fact that, for once, Denton knew Bluestone's escape was not ONI. Whoever had done it, had done it without any of the finesse ONI's Section III usually operated with. Finesse being either a lack of evidence, or a high degree of efficiency. The carnage left behind spoke for itself. And the use of TTRs, why would ONI purposely leave behind witnesses implicating humanity?

For all the good that information did, as everyone was no doubt already blaming humanity. Along with it being extremely unlikely he, or anyone else, would be able to convince the Citadel races of that. "What else could go wrong?" He muttered to himself.

As if to answer him, his private terminal began beeping with an alert. "I just had to say something…" He muttered as he turned to read where the message was coming from.

"UNSC/UEG Embassy: Citadel Station. Caller ID: Ambassador Anita Goyle"

"Aw, cripes. Don't tell me this already made it that far already?" He asked himself, slapping his hand to face and dragging it across. "Alright let's see just what's the fallout from this is going to be…" Dreading all the while as he tapped the 'answer call' button.

"What the hell are you ONI bastards trying to do to me!" Anita Goyle screamed as soon as the connection was established. The image of her pretty face glaring hatefully at Denton.

"Bloody hell woman!" Denton all but threw himself into his seat. "Calm yourself down! It can't have been that bad?"

"How am I supposed to remain calm with the Office of Naval Intelligence deliberately sabotaging my mission!" Anita shot back.

"What? Did the news reach about Bluestone reach the Citadel already?" Denton was legitimately surprised, having not expected the news to travel that fast from the colony. "The fallout can't have been that bad. We got proof it wasn't even us."

Anita laughed in Denton's face. Replying contemptuously "Who cares about Bluestone anymore? I am talking about ONI's violent invasion of the Batarian Hegemony."

"Wait, what in the Forerunners are you talking about, the Hegemony? Bring me up to speed here. I just spent the last several hours in Slipspace between Jarum and Earth." Denton had a feeling he already knew just what Anita was talking about, and was praying to every deity he knew that he was wrong.

"The batarian ambassador just showed me and the Citadel Council video footage of SPARTANS aiding rebel terrorists in taking down government facilities. These rebels have already publicly stated their intent to overthrow the Hegemony and establish a new regime." Anita angrily explained.

"Jesus, Mary and Jospeh..." The ambassador whispered. "Are you telling me that, right now, there are Spartans, honest to god Spartans, fighting in the Hegemony?"

"Don't play dumb...I know you and other ONI bastards are pulling all the strings." Anita replied. For once in her career too angry to be diplomatic (or scared of ONI).

Anita Goyle had tried (with the best of her knowledge) to always bargain in good faith with the Citadel Council. Attempting to prove that humans could be decent, trustworthy people. But her superiors (or at least ONI) had made a liar out of her. Cynically using her face to project a trustworthy image as they attempted to undermine the Citadel Races from within.

Denton resisted the urge to facepalm as hard as he could. Operation Spartacus was not supposed to have gone like this. Not even remotely. "By the way your face is almost incandescent with rage, I assume that this proof, is actually proof?" Receiving a glare he return, he continued, "Right stupid question, what's the fallout so far?"

"In order to keep from provoking a war then and there, I denied everything and said any humans operating inside the Hegemony to overthrow the government were rogue elements with no ties to us...saying that the Hegemony could treat them as criminals." Anita explained.

That was…actually good news. His eyes widening as he processed the information. Good for the UNSC as a whole, and the potentially, the operation. "That's, that's genius Anita!" A grin plastering itself on his face. "You have probably just saved the UNSC," 'and me,' he thought to himself, "from so many problems!" He may not have been completely onboard with the operation when it first began, but he had changed since then.

"Then Councilor Cicero told me the turians would be sending a fleet to 'suppress the terrorists'" Anita grimly explained.

The smile was wiped from his face. "Say what?" This Denton, nor did anyone else in Section III, did not expect. One of the core details about Spartacus was the assumption that absolutely no government, let alone one of the Council Races, would assist the Hegemony, when the Rebellion went public. As the Hegemony had soured diplomatic relations with their peers over the course of centuries. "Would you kindly repeat that?"

"Councilor Cicero informed me that he had already spoken to the leader of the Turian Hierarchy and that the Primarch would be sending a fleet and an army to assist the batarian government in putting down the terrorists...apparently they hate us even more than the batarians...it might have something to do with ONI destroying one of their worlds for no reason." Anita said sarcastically.

This time Denton didn't even hesitate to facepalm, "Is that it so far? Doesn't sound so bad…" Sarcasm dripping from every word. "Alright, keep me up to date Anita. Let me know the moment anything happens."

"Cicero also implied that the entire Council supports his actions...although I have no way of knowing if he was telling the truth." Anita admitted. But considering the way that the other Councilors had glared at Cicero as he spoke, she doubted the sincerity of his statement.

"Oh, great! That's all we need!" Denton could already seem the reams of paperwork that would begin to pile on his desk from both the Bluestone Incident, and now this. "Any ideas just how truthful Cicero might have been? And what's been the public reaction so far?"

"How would I know what the public reaction is?" Anita asked with a cynical laugh.

"Ask around, talk to people, do your job" Denton said in annoyance. Finally starting to get angry in return.

"I can't even leave the embassy without being followed by an army of soldiers and C-Sec personnel, EVERYTHING I do on the Citadel is carefully monitored and recorded, besides nobody will talk to me because they all hate humans." Goyle explained.

"Brilliant, bloody fucking brilliant this. Alright,just keep us updated for now" Denton replied in frustration. Having had no idea that things had gotten that bad.

"I'll do my best but-" Anita's image momentarily broke up as her 'voice' turned to static. Then the image cleared up as Goyle sighed in annoyance. Informing Denton "its the embassy mainframe...the people on the Citadel are so paranoid about us hacking them that they've left legions of viruses for us to find whenever we try to access any systems on the Citadel."

Anita Goyle was if anything understating the problem. The entire area surrounding the embassy was a wireless dead zone, due to the powerful jamming fields that C-Sec had installed. Citadel Security claimed that it was for the human embassy's own protection, but everybody knew that it was to prevent any human AIs in the embassy from hacking things on the Citadel. Of course ONI tried to find ways around that to hack into Citadel communications anyway, but they were constantly bombarded by an ever increasing and sophisticated array of computer viruses.

Individually the viruses themselves weren't a problem, whatever issues they caused were resolved in short order. The problem was the sheer volume of viruses. As soon as one virus was taken care of, another five were queued up to cause the same problems. Making matters worse were how they seemed to be planted everywhere the humans MIGHT access, leading to regular malfunctions in the embassy (and although the humans didn't know it, other parts of the station, but that was a price that the Powers That Be on the Citadel were willing to pay to restrict ONI's access).

So far, the viruses hadn't affected anything critical in the embassy like data servers and other critical stations, but everything else was affected. Plumbing, lights, water, environmental controls, absolutely everything. The worst to be hit being the Communications Relay between the Embassy on the Citadel and the closest UNSC/UEG communications relay. Drop outs, delays and the every hated 'lag', had become so common, it was worrying when they didn't happen.

'For the love of God Osmin, why couldn't you just leave this place well enough alone?!' Denton mentally shouted, knowing it was all the Protege's fault. Serin Osmin, compared to her mentor, was blunt, rash, and ruled by her emotions. Whereas the Section III director would have taken the time to set up a separate location for ONI to run its operations, Osmin, who was probably in charge of most operations in Citadel space, decided to just dump it all on the Embassy, and all the problems that came with it.

Making matters worse is the fact that the Embassy was the only place on the entire Citadel, outside of their private docks, that humans were even allowed to be on the station. Meaning that it was under constant surveillance for any signs of 'covert human activity'. Osmin was effectively taunting the damn Citadel Council with her actions, and for what!? It was as though she was trying to start a war with the Citadel Council. Denton pinched his nose as he thought to himself, 'Note to self: schedule a meeting with the bitch and her daughter. Pack TTRs'

Focusing back on Anita, he grimaced internally at what he was about to say.

"There is no campaign against the Hegemony. its your job to convince them of that and prevent a war...a war that we can't afford to start especially now" Denton told her, as he thought of increasing tensions with the New Covenant.

"Especially now." Anita said thoughtfully.

"You finally pushed the Covenant Races to the point where they look like there going to start pushing back didn't you?...and now ONI is trying to avoid provoking a war on two fronts against both galactic superpowers" Goyle guessed, not knowing that the New Covenant had already started 'pushing back.'

"Yes, perhaps we have." Denton admitted. 'Perhaps more than any of us realize.' He mentally added, recalling Serana's recall order.

"And now I have to clean up your mess." Anita said bitterly.

"Its not MY mess" Denton denied.

"BULLSHIT Doctor Denton...you were there when ONI destroyed Impera and you were there when ONI destroyed those ships right after the treaty was signed" Anita shot back.

Rolling his eyes, Denton retorted, "If you had read the official reports, you would remember that Impera was caused by an idiot of a Prowler captain, and the Post-signing losses incurred was by the Everest's back-up AI following its last given orders." Shaking his head, he finished, "Call me back once there's been any changes, or once you manage to cool off." He shut down the terminal before the ambassador could get another word in edgeways, fury clear on her face just as the terminal shut down.

Denton had to admit though, if only to himself, that in Anita Goyle's position he would probably be just as angry. Aside from the fact that she was being expected to sell lies she knew were lies, her superiors had denied her vital information that she needed to do her job. It was when a diplomat was put in a position where their own superiors lied to them and they had to learn the truth from the enemy.)

But most of all, finding out that people blamed him for the destruction of Impera stung. As though he had personally made the call to deploy the UNSC's most powerful weapon at a whim. He may be a part of ONI, but it wasn't as though he lacked morals. The only silver lining was his reputation before Impera meant that most people didn't blame him for what ONI did. Still, his association with the brutal clandestine branch of the UNSC meant those who did blame him, saw him as guilty by pure association.

Alan Denton realized for the first time, that all the good he did might be forgotten, both by the public and history. That his reputation would be forever tainted and defined by his association with moral monsters such as Parangosky. But still…

"Somebody's got to prevent the galaxy from sliding into another Great War" Denton said to himself and the universe at large.

So, unacknowledged and unappreciated though his efforts might be, Denton tried to figure out how to do just that.

**APUFMKII**

"By Kalros and all her spawn, just what were you thinking Cicero!?" Wrex roared, slamming a mighty fist against the wall, using all of his considerable restraint to not throttle his turian counterpart right then and there. "I don't care that you want to help the thrice-damned batarians, but why did you have to involve us?!"

Wrex's ire was mirrored by his asari and salarian counterparts, though they were slightly more composed. Tevos held a glass of Thessian Brandy while Valdn had hypodermic needle pen in his hand, loaded with a relaxant, some of which he already injected. For once, their advisors and Saren were absent, as the four of them had started the impromptu meeting immediately after the session with the Hegemony and UEG ambassadors.

Cicero, to his credit, appeared to be unperturbed. "I simply assumed that your assistance would be given. After all, you three had promised it."

"That was in the event that UNSC involvement was proven to be a factor, Cicero." Tevos countered, appearing to be more calm than she actually felt. "As of right now, because of how you chose to force this issue on the human ambassador, rather than take advantage of their ignorance of our awareness, they have disavowed their agents publically, rather than privately."

"So, what does it matter? That simply means that whatever humans we find in the Hegemony are ours to do as we see fit, when we capture them."

Tevos shook her head at Cicero's ignorance, 'or was it idiocy in this case', she thought to herself. "Because Cicero, if we had been more cautious in the rather public session, we could have allowed the public to think it was the UNSC, and when we moved to assist the Hegemony, the public would have seen us as aiding the Hegemony against the UNSC. Now, with the humans publicly disavowing any and all humans in the Hegemony, there is room for doubt. That these humans truly are acting independently. And that any aid we send, is to help the bastardous hegemony survive their comeuppance, rather than fighting against the UNSC. Doubt that we can ill afford."

"You still think this is about regular politics don't you?" Cicero replied, a note of genuine surprise in his voice.

"Everything is ultimately political...the humans may be powerful and ambitious but eventually once they realize they cannot achieve everything that they want through fighting they will begin to come around to our point of view" Tevos answered.

"You wouldn't say that if you had toured Palaven after the humans left...I know ever since you asari discovered the Mass Relays you have dealt with virtually every new race from a position of strength...but these humans are different...their technology is more advanced, their weapons are more powerful, and they have already been bloodied by a conflict that was as bad as the Rachni War...THEY DON'T NEED US...but we still have things they want…and they will take them by force if we look weak" Cicero explained. Trying to get the other Councilors (none of whom had actually faced the humans on the battlefield) to understand just how much the rules had changed.

"You think the humans are testing us by trying to subvert the Hegemony" Valdn observed.

"They might not think of it that way but yes...despite all the humans technology we are strong and numerous enough that making war on all of us could cost them dearly...but if they can take down our species and government one at a time without ever having to fight all the Citadel Races they can conquer us easily at little cost or risk to themselves...if we let the Hegemony fall without helping the batarians the humans will probably go after the other Associate Races next and eventually the Union, Hierarchy, and of course the Asari Republics," Cicero calmly stated.

"Perhaps." Tevos conceded. "But that still does not take away from the fact that you squandered one of our of greatest opportunities, nor the fact that you all but declared public support for the Hegemony, Cicero. The people will not be happy about this." Tevos felt confident that, in her opinion, the people would only support Cicero for going against quote unquote, "independent" humans in the Hegemony, for so long. Then they would turn on him for ensuring a government and nation that upheld values that they saw as abhorrent, would stay standing.

"She's right." Wrex now having calmed down, could think more clearly. "When word of this gets out, we're going to have a public relations nightmare on our hands. It won't be riots or anything, but we can definitely expect movements and calls to leave the Hegemony to its own devices."

"Yes well, political ramifications aside. I think something as equally as important is: just what are we going to do about said humans?" Valdn questioned. "We all know that the human ambassador's public disavowing of those humans was only to prevent a declaration of war, or anything of the sort. But we all know that it is also a pile of varren shit, pardon my words. And that these humans are the same ones that so thoroughly humiliated us years ago."

"And what's your point?" Cicero was getting irked by how the salarian was treating him as though he were a juvenile fresh into boot. Having to be strung along by his fringe, because he didn't know any better.

Valdn sighed at Cicero's impatience. "My point is, we can't just throw ships and troops at the problem and hope it resolves itself. If these, super-soldiers," He waved his hands around for emphasis, "are indeed there, then the only thing we'd be doing by sending in troops would be adding to the body count. I think we can all recall the casualties a small squad of those elites managed to pull off, when they were here?" Only Tevos and Wrex actually cringed as they recalled the numbers.

"It doesn't matter...if we lose the Hegemony, the batarians will only be the first to fall." Cicero said with certainty. "After that, who knows who the humans will target next? One of the associate race, or one of us? I'd rather send in as many as it takes to end this as quickly as possible."

"What if the STG was able to quietly end the Slave Rebellion...then there would be no need for the Hierarchy to send its fleet." Valdn replied thoughtfully.

"We already promised the batarians military support...and the Hierarchy takes those commitments very seriously." Cicero pointed out.

"True but you can certainly delay sending the fleet for a month or two….and if the rebellion is over by then…" Valdn helpfully added.

"Special forces would be much less likely to draw notice or retaliation than a army." Tevos agreed.

"And they'd be a hell of lot more effective than a bunch of random grunts." Wrex added. "The only thing I don't like is that we'd relying entirely on the salarian team for this. I don't know ring about you, but one thing I've learned about plans like this, they rarely go how you want to."

"So what would you suggest?"

"We each send a squad, STG, Commandos, whoever. If one team fails, another one can pick up the slack. At any rate, we don't risk the everything if the STG gets found out." Wrex

explained. "We can send in another set of squads with the Hierarchy fleet if we have to."

"One squad from each of us won't be enough...still the idea is sound...if all of us agree to send our special forces I can probably get the Primarch to delay sending the fleet for a few months...but we ALL need to contribute." Cicero said as he stared pointedly at Tevos.

"That, will not be an issue. I promise you, the Asari Commando Corps will deploy its best, and in numbers." For once, Tevos wasn't lying through her teeth. The ACC would jump at the opportunity to take on the human super soldiers, having been eager since the Council's kidnapping, and the humiliation they suffered. "Though, admittedly it may take some time to deploy them." Here, she was lying. The ACC was in a constant ready status, able to deploy at moment's notice. Tevos only lied because she was going to use the time to ensure there wouldn't be a mass exodus of the ACC to the Hegemony. She wasn't sure if the other would have the same problems or not.

"We can have Blackwatch on the batarian homeworld within a day and I would be surprised if the STG can't at least match that." Cicero said confidently, Valdn nodding in confirmation when the others looked towards him.

"Despite my reservations, Cicero is indeed right. We can't let the humans divide us." Tevos murmured sadly. "Despite how it may disgust us personally, we can not allow the Hegemony to destroy itself under the machinations of the humans."

"Although, if the Hegemony survives the human onslaught, we still must rid ourselves of the current government at some point in the near future. The Batarian Hegemony has always been the weak link amongst the Associate Races: being the most ambitious, least liked, and most aggressive. If the humans had been less arrogant, they might have offered the batarians a share of our territory in exchange for fighting against the Citadel. Under such circumstances I doubt that we could count on the Hegemony's loyalty." Valdn pessimistically concluded.

"You're probably right Valdn...but the Hegemony must end on our terms...not at the hands of humans and their puppets...agreed?" Cicero asked as he stared at his peers.

The other Councilors all voiced their agreement (except Wrex who merely nodded). Even the normally diplomatic Tevos. Thinking that it would be better to send in covert operatives from all the Council Races instead an actual army. Believing (or at least hoping) that such half measures would be enough.

Though none of the Councilors knew it, this marked the beginning of the Shadow War between the Citadel Council, and the United Nations Space Corps.

Author's Note:

aDarkOne here.

My relationship with this story began as just a reviewer. Then Follower and I started communicating about what he wanted to do with the story. He was impressed enough by what I said that he asked me to be his Beta, then after I had been doing that for awhile he asked me to be his co-author.

The change in the direction of the story is somewhat due to my influence. Three topics I especially like reading and writing about are sex, violence, and intrigue. Because of the restrictions on FF any sexual content will probably be heavily toned down, but that doesn't apply to violence or intrigue.

War is coming again, but right now none of the main factions want to leap into a full scale war against their principal rivals. The UNSC still hasn't recovered completely from the Great War, and the New Covenant is just starting to recover from their own civil war and ONI's decades long campaign of assassinations and sabotage against them. In terms of industry and population, the Citadel Races are the largest and healthiest of all three superpowers, but theyre massively outgunned by Covenant Races and humanity, and without useable Slipspace technology they can't even reach most human or New Covenant worlds.

However, the turians haven't forgotten or forgiven Impera, the New Covenant may never forgive what it regards as decades of betrayal by their human 'allies,' and of course the UNSC (especially ONI) still has grudges and ambitions of its own. As for what will happen with the batarians...well you will just have to continue reading to find out.

I will say though, that the the Batarian Civil War, was at least partially inspired by real events such as the Vietnam War, the First Iraq War, and the Korean War. It has also been influenced by Sci-Fi such Star Wars and Star Trek (especially DS9).

Follower38 here. Yes I know most of you are disappointed by the fact that the UNSC and the Citadel Council will apparently be not engaging in an open war. But as my co-writer has said, neither faction are really in any condition for an all out war that would not leave them ridiculously vulnerable to the New Covenant. And even if that were not the case, the UNSC would easily win the conflict.

Much like during the Great War, the Citadel Council does not know where the majority of the UNSC colonies are, only the potential locations of sum. And even then, they would have to contend with a CDF fleet protecting each world/system. Along with any CDF or UNSC reinforcements. Before they can even consider attacking any UNSC world, they would have to refit a massive number of ships, at least several hundred, before they were in any position to lay siege to any UNSC system. While they are refitting their ships, the UNSC would be free to simply lay waste to the homeworld systems of the Citadel Races by jumping there via their own, and more powerful, slipspace drives. Then, they would have the choice of either taking the system by conventional methods, following the methods of the Covenant, or simply begin nuking worlds to a cinder. All the while the Citadel Races are at this point, still madly trying to refit their vessels.

And my co-writer was half-correct about the Citadel Races not having slipspace technology. They do have the technology, but only the bare basics. Nowhere near the scale they need for a full-scale war, and they know it.

And quite honestly, I want to have a prolonged, semi-equalized conflict. Equalized in the sense that it's not like a martial artists master fighting someone who just became a black belt, and more of two third degree black belts, one fresh and one about become a fourth degree, duking it out. That's the best metaphor I can think of.

That being said, when war does happen, well, can't say anything without spoilers really except that it'll be worth the wait.

However, to satisfy you all somewhat, the Shadow War...well, I think I can safely say that many of you will be happy with it.

Also, some of you will probably say something along the lines of that's not possible, or that doesn't make sense for some things. Well please keep in mind, thats the best me and my co-writer could come up with. You can criticize us, but please do not be scathing about it. No, I am not referring to those of you that usually point these out to us. Though, some of you have come off a little more scathing as of late. Anyways, I will talk with my co-writer, but I am looking for another person to discuss war knowledge with as well. Specifically military codes, behaviors etc. If only to better my own knowledge. There is only so much one can learn through the internet.