BIG NOTICE, I WILL NO LONGER BE ACCEPTING ANONYMOUS REVIEWS, SO SIGN THE FUCK IN OR I'LL DELETE YOUR REVIEWS, I'M GETTING TIRED OF ANONYMOUS PEOPLE PISSING AT ME AND NOT LETTING ME PISS BACK.

Little message: If I really wanted to buff the UNSC, I would have had them reclaim their glory from when they fought both the flood and the forerunners to a standstill. At that time they were so powerful that a single ship would have been enough for everything I'm doing here.

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"You'll what?"

"I'm not going to repeat myself Councilor Sparatus," Hood replied coldly.

For an instant every eye in the room, even those of the guards was split between Sparatus and Hood before the Asari Councilor suddenly spoke up as she interjected, "Please! Please! Let us all calm down! I understand that there are issues between us both, but please let us talk this out." Her desparation clear through the translation and even before hand.

Sparatus hesitated for several moments, clenching and unclenching his hands into fists before he sighed as he spat out a reply saying, "Fine."

An audible sigh of relief left both Gelor and the Asari Councilor before the Asari spoke up asking, "Thank you Sparatus. May we please retire to somewhere more comfortable to continue these negotiations? I can't help but notice we didn't even introduce ourselves to each other though you seemed to have picked up on our names quite quickly."

"I would be amenable to this," Gelor replied followed by a curt nod from Sparatus and a brief reply of agreement from both Lord Hood and the Arbiter.

"Very well, then we will move to a nearby conference room to continue and introduce ourselves," the Asari replied with audible relief.

OoOoO

About five or six minutes later the entirety of the group had retired to a large conference room set in a hallway off to the side and down one tier from the speaker's area where they had been speaking. They had been joined by three Asari guards, three Turian guards, and a pair of Salarian guards. Now the sixteen guards stood around the perimeter of the room, alternating between UNSC and Council while a circular table sat in the middle with the five...diplomats around it.

"Now as you have already learned, these are my associates and fellow Councilors, Executor Sparatus of the Turians and Dalatrass Gelor of the Salarians," the Asari Councilor began as she settled into her seat, gesturing to each in turn who nodded in acknowledgement. "I myself," she said, "am Matriarch Tevos of the Asari."

Hood and the Arbiter nodded in reply to the formal introductions before introducing themselves as the Arbiter spoke first as he said, "I am the Arbiter, leader, commander, and representative of the Sangeheili people."

"And I am Lord Admiral Knight Terrance Hood, leader of the United Nations Space Command and the commander of all human forces," Hood replied, giving his introduction.

"Very well then," Tevos began, settling her features into a practiced, if slightly nervous smile, as she continued, "Lord Hood, you stated what were quite reasonable reasons for the elevation of client races to the status of full Citadel Council species. Besides the obvious disruption to the standard balance of power this would cause, there is issue that many of our species are strongly traditional. Such a change could cause incredible disruption within our society unsee-"

"They'll get over it. Make no mistake, as a species, both of us deeply understand tradition. The uniform I wear now is a design nearly five hundred years old, the armor worn by the Arbiter's Sangeheili guards is a design millennia old. So make no mistake in understanding that we know tradition's importance. However, tradition must take second place to adaptation Councilors," Hood replied calmly, even patiently one might say, "Centuries ago, I am ashamed to say, people were separated and treated differently based upon the color of their skin and the origin of their birth. Whole sections of society came to be structured around the oppression of one color of people by another. Then the government made a change. The segregation was forcefully undone, and yes there was violence, and yes bigotry persisted for some time, but the people got over it Councilor. They adapted and we grew stronger for it. The same could easily be said for your Council. We never said things had to be done immediately or that they had to be done all at once, we merely said they needed to be done if we would have peace with you."

To Tevos, the sudden change in demeanor for Lord Hood was dramatic and easy to observe. Almost it seemed that he was more tired of dealing with them which worried her, but his calmness assured her slightly.

"If you do not require these things done instantly, then when would you require them done?" Councilor Sparatus asked as calmly as he could.

"The surrender of the Turian Heirarchy would need to take place within the next week or we will resume attacking though we will restrict ourselves to military and industrial targets only. The elevation of all races to become council members and the curing of the genophage must take place within the next three years," the Arbiter supplied calmly, letting his translator supply once he had finished speaking.

Tevos let out an audible sigh of relief. They had time, for everything it seemed, except the Tirian surrender. Otherwise Sparatus had one week to coerce his people into standing down or else they'd be slaughtered, or he'd be deposed for not surrendering. Those were the three immediate options she saw for him to chose from in the immediate future.

"I...believe...we could accomplish the elevation of the client races to full Council members within in the allotted time Arbiter, Lord Hood, however," Tevos remarked with a sigh, "Curing the genophage may take longer as it was primarily a Salarian creation and I do not know how long the creation of a cure would take, or if one is already prepared now. The surrender of the Turians may take longer as well depending upon Executor Sparatus's ability to reason with his people. As you've seen, the Turians are a strong willed people and do not fall easily."

"Yes, we did notice that," the Arbiter supplied. He'd watched one of the prisoner interviews and noted the fire in the Alien's speech and posturing, mentally connecting just how similar they were to the Sangeheili in that respect as well.

"Very well then," Hood replied, bringing all attention back to himself, "You will have one month to secure the surrender of the Turian Hierarchy. The original time frame for the elevation of client races will remain the same, and the time frame for the cure for the genophage shall be decided after preliminary studies begin and we know the progress of any current cure, and we will know if you lie about any of these. Understood?"

Nods from all the present parties signaled the end of the conversation at which point Admiral Hood stood up from his chair, the Arbiter joining him, and left the room, their guard detail following them out and back to the shuttle bay.

Only in total they were short four members, but the Council didn't need to know that.

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And you know what's great? A lot of you seem to have the idea that UNSC is flipping tables, but the thing is, I never ever set a time table for when the changes had to be done by till now. So really the UNSC is sorta just shuffling tables around. Those of you who thought the UNSC would just blast them for not acquiescing immediately and whined are about as short sighted as the Council.