Mass Effect is the property of Bioware. 20th Century Fox owns the Alien/Predator franchise.

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Destiny Ascension, seven weeks after final hostilities

"Thank you, Matriarch, your time and effort have been most appreciated. I believe we have made some real progress today."

With a distinctly insincere smile, Anita Goyle rose from her chair. The Asari sitting opposite from her at the table did likewise, smiling graciously and, most likely, equally insincerely. Ambassador Goyle kept the smile pasted on her face until her shuttle had departed from the alien dreadnought. Then she leant back and started cursing, softly and viciously.

"That stupid, condescending, blue-skinned BITCH! If I have to hear ONE more patronising word about peace, prosperity, and all the benefits of her precious FUCKING galactic civilisation, I'm going to ram her teeth down her throat so hard she'll be shitting them out by tomorrow morning. Just who the hell does she think she's talking to?"

She paused, but no-one among her delegation, many of whom had known her for years, seemed willing to answer that particular question. Goyle was normally an even-tempered person, an absolute necessity for a negotiator, but the past month had stressed that temper to the breaking point.

"It's alright guys," she continued more calmly. "The danger is past. I just needed to vent that."

It had seemed so beautiful when they had started out. The first diplomatic exchange between humans and aliens; and she would be spearheading the effort. It was the opportunity of a lifetime. Unfortunately, reality had failed to live up to her expectations. They had been talking for over a month now and were no closer to an acceptable resolution than when they started. Worse, it wasn't just that they couldn't reach a compromise, it seemed like there was no compromise to be reached.
When general Spears and the Assembly had requested that she take point in the negotiations, they had supplied her with a long list of issues that needed to be addressed and none of them had been dealt with. It was like negotiating with quicksand. Perhaps it was a problem with the translation software, perhaps it was due to the alien mind of her opposite number, but no matter what they were discussing, she couldn't get down to business. Irrespective of the subject, Matriarch Benezia always managed to direct the flow of conversation to what seemed to be her favourite subject in the universe: Galactic Society, and humanity's future place in it. At first, Anita had been willing to go along with it. It was certainly an interesting subject that needed to be discussed. But it was also a long-term issue that would not be resolved in a month or even a year. In fact, she was convinced that it was an issue that would sort itself out over time as humans and aliens interacted. It didn't need to be planned and historians could debate it after the fact. Speculating in advance, while interesting, was ultimately unproductive. Meanwhile, the things that needed to be resolved remained in limbo. Every time Anita brought up a specific point, the asari handwaved it and referred to the way the affairs of existing citadel species were conducted, as though that would automatically apply to humanity as well.

"Alright, anyone, suggestions?"

No-one spoke up. Most suggestions had been made, tried, and ultimately discarded.

"That's what I thought. As soon as we're back aboard Yamato, inform Ms. Vickers that I want to see her asap. It's time we tried a different approach.

-o-o-o-

USM Yamato

"You've seen the transcripts?"

Vickers nodded. "I have."

"And?"

"You have a problem."

Anita snorted "I know I have a problem. You don't need to tell me that. The questions are A) What is the problem? And B) How do we solve it? Do you think it's just because they're aliens?"

"No." Vickers shook her head slowly. "They may be alien, but they can be dealt with; they can be reasoned with. It's something else. When I look at the transcripts, it's almost like..."

"Like what?"

"Like I'm seeing two different conversations. You're having one, the asari has another. Not because she is an alien, but because her priorities are so far removed from yours that she might as well be sitting in a different room. You're talking about short term concerns. Peace terms, demilitarised zones, reparations, prisoner exchange. She barely acknowledges that those points exist. It's as though in her mind those things have already been settled and she's moved on to the next stage and, frankly, she seems to have worked that out too. She keeps talking as though integrating humanity into their Citadel Space is a forgone conclusion and all we need to do is work out the details of that process."

"And you disagree?"

Vickers laughed. "Ma'am ambassador, a celluloid dog chasing an asbestos cat through hell is a lot more likely to succeed than these aliens are to get either general Spears or the General Assembly to agree to relinquish sovereignty to any non-human organisation."

"Right. Good. I had the same impressions of our friendly neighbourhood matriarch, but it's good to have it confirmed. That brings me to the next point. How do I get her off her hobbyhorse and down to business. We need to finish this peace treaty. Everything else can wait. She doesn't seem to grasp the consequences of dragging this out. Or perhaps she just cannot imagine that she'll fail. After all, how could we possibly fail to jump at this marvellous chance to join the great galactic community, to experience its wonders, it's freedom, it's whatever... God, I swear I've heard more superlatives in the past month than in the ten years before that."

"She does favour flowery language."

"And then some. Unfortunately, behind all the empty speeches there is a will like steel. Frankly, I don't think she is going to move from her position. She's so convinced of her superiority, no, of the inevitability that her vision will come true, I might as well be talking to the walls. And from what I understand, this is someone who's the better part of a thousand years old. That's a long time to entrench your opinions. I don't think she'll change them before I die of old age."

She sighed.

"Okay, that's enough self-pity. Benezia won't budge. So, we have to try a different approach." Anita activated her tablet and called up an image. "I've kept you away from the negotiations, so far, because I didn't know how they would react to your presence after the events aboard Calypso. I think it's time to change that. Here, take a look. That's a picture taken by of our security cameras during an earlier session"

Vickers turned the tablet around and studied the image.

"Wait, is that...?"

"Yes, one of the asari you met aboard Calypso; the one who seemed to be in charge. We compared the image to data from the helmet cameras of lieutenant Anderson and his squad. They resemble us enough that human facial recognition software works on them. We have a better than 95 percent certainty that it's the same individual. And it makes sense for them to have her be part of the negotiation team. After all, she has the closest thing to previous experience when it comes to dealing with humans. Anyway, she has been sitting on the sidelines during the negotiations. Doesn't say much, at least in public. We're still alternating the venue for the negotiations each day, so tomorrow the negotiations will take place here, aboard Yamato. It won't be that difficult for you to run into her 'by accident' and renew the acquaintance."

"I see. You want to open a back channel."

"Exactly. Whatever her precise status, she has access to the private discussions of Benezia's team. Even if she cannot convince Benezia to stop building castles in the air, perhaps she can get into contact with the people behind Benezia."

"This Citadel Council." Vickers nodded. "I can try. Besides, it might be interesting to go over events with her, now that we'll actually be able to talk. Just for the record, exactly how close do you want me to get? I've read that codex they send us and some of the information on these blue ladies is, eh, interesting."

"Interesting? That's one way to put it. I'm still not sure how much to believe. But to answer your question: do whatever you have to. Just make sure she's convinced that we're serious. The longer this takes, the more likely that some fool back home will do something stupid. Speaking of which, I just received a message from Shanxi. Three guesses what they're up to."

-o-o-o-

USM Yamato, the next day

One more day, one more round of talks, and they still weren't getting anywhere. Matriarch Benezia was becoming increasingly frustrated with the human negotiator, who insisted on dwelling on minor details and temporary situations, instead of focussing on the bigger picture. Unfortunately, captain Shiana Armali had a strong suspicion that Benezia wasn't the only one getting frustrated. Human faces were fairly easy to read thanks to having a musculature that resembled an asari's to a degree that would undoubtedly intrigue xeno-biologists all over the galaxy. By now, the face of the human negotiator had started to show signs of strain, as though she was permanently tensing those muscles, a clear sign of stress, and, unless Shiana was sadly mistaken, a sign of annoyance. That was not good. With both the Citadel Council and the human government too far away for practical direct contact, the negotiators had rather more authority than would normally be the case, and with both of them reaching the end of their patience, a potential disaster was not too far away.

Meanwhile, Shiana herself had been relegated to an 'advisory role', which around Matriarch Benezia seemed to consist primarily of listening silently while the Matriarch spoke and agreeing with whatever the Matriarch said. For Shiana it had been a powerful reminder as to why she had never had the least interest in becoming a Matriarch's acolyte. It wasn't so bad when the negotiations took place aboard the Destiny Ascension, where she had the freedom of the ship. On the days that they met aboard the human vessel she was restricted to the conference room, or like now, one of the adjacent rooms that were used for private conversation, in-between the negotiation sessions. Private, at least if you didn't count the camera's and listening devices that the humans undoubtedly maintained.

The door to the compartment opened. Shiana didn't bother looking up, expecting another member of the delegation, until an alien voice spoke up, followed almost seamlessly by the translation.

"Excuse me, but I believe we've met before."

It took Shiana a moment to make the connection. Although it was a ridiculous cliche that all aliens looked alike, it could still be difficult to distinguish between them unless you knew what you were looking for. In this particular case, the difference in attire didn't help. The human standing at the entrance was dressed in a featureless grey suit. Whereas before-
Shiana felt her eyes widen in shock. She remembered a blue-on-black environment suit with a large, transparent helmet; the same face, with the yellowish hair tied back-

"I believe that is a yes," the woman continued with a brief smile. "We didn't meet under the best of circumstances. Though, considering the alternative I think we did a good job making first contact."

"Yes, on the whole, it seems we did quite well. Especially, considering the circumstances." Shiana hesitated, unsure of how to proceed. "I was not aware you were on board this ship. Did you arrive recently, or..."

"No." The woman shook her head, a gesture Shiana had learned to interpret as a sign of denial. "Ambassador Goyle brought me along when she came here. I've been advising during private sessions. Seeing how things worked out, we didn't know how your people would react to my presence. The situation is complicated enough as it is."

"That's true." She hesitated again.

"Do you mind if I join you for a while? When I realised that you were here, I had hoped to eh, renew our acquaintance. Perhaps discuss the events. It would be very interesting to hear things from your perspective."

"Of course!" Shiana relaxed. This would not be nearly as awkward as she had feared and it was good to finally have an opportunity to talk to a human in an informal setting. Besides, she herself was curious about the events surrounding their previous meeting.

"Where would you like to start?"

-o-o-o-

"... which is where we ran into that..., that thing."

"The xenomorph."

It was as though somebody had thrown a switch. The conversation had been going well, with both of them being able to laugh at the awkwardness of Shiana's boarding party while they tried to understand the human ship; and the image of the USM Anzio, blinking its navigation lights in sequences of prime numbers in the hope of establishing communication, while the crew of Light of Dawn tried to figure out why anyone would introduce mathematics during first-contact. But suddenly, the human's demeanour changed.

"I have been wondering," Shiana proceeded cautiously. "How did those things come to be on board the ship? Where did they come from?"

"A mistake," Vickers said. "We made a mistake."

She fell silent for a moment, then, "I apologise. I didn't mean be rude. But that is not a good subject. Let's just say that we found them by accident, we thought we could control them, and we were wrong. Not just aboard that one ship, but in a lot of places. The results were disastrous, and a lot of people died. I cannot say much more about them. Basically, the entire story is classified."

"Are there any more of them?"

"No. Not was far as I know. There certainly aren't supposed to be. Though, if you, or anyone really, ever comes across them again. Just run. Run as fast as you can, and contact us. We learned a lot of lessons the hard way. It would be a shame if you had to learn them all over again." She grimaced. "Assuming, of course, that by then we will actually have a peace treaty signed."

There was a long silence.

"I'm sure," Shiana began carefully. "that we will be able to come to an agreement soon enough. If only-"

"Are you? I wish I shared your confidence." She sighed. "Shiana -May I call you that?- I have to be honest here. We are beginning to get the impression that these talks are a waste of time. We have been talking for over a month and we are no further now than when we started. Perhaps it is a cultural thing. Perhaps we just don't understand each other well enough. But some people are beginning to suspect that we're being played with. That Matriarch Benezia is stalling for time. That she is keeping us occupied while the turians prepare a new offensive."

"What?!" Shiana was honestly shocked. Shocked, and suddenly very afraid. It was one thing to suspect the humans of increasing impatience, but if this kind of rumour started to go around, the effect could be disastrous. "I can assure you that-"

"Please," Vickers raise a hand. "I'm not the one you need to convince. It's the people back home. From their perspective, it doesn't look good. Everyone is still hyped up because of the war. The military is recruiting everywhere, the arms industry is working overtime. Everyone is on edge. We have to show them that we're actually getting somewhere."

"I understand," Shiana said slowly. "I really do. But you have to see past recent events. Yes, mistakes were made, terrible mistakes. But it doesn't have to be that way in the future. Our species, all of our species can live together, be friends even. The citadel has proved that for thousands of years. That is what Matriarch Benezia is working for. To help your species integrate into the galactic community."

"By joining the Citadel?" Vickers shook her head. "Shiana, that's never going to happen. Even if we'd made a peaceful first contact, I'm not sure if that would have worked. Frankly, I'm not even sure the United Systems can legally subvert themselves to an outside government. That possibility was never considered when we drew up our government charter. Besides, the idea of accepting that your Citadel Council, an organisation in which we have no representation, would have ultimate authority over us, that is completely unacceptable. As things stand, after being attacked by surprise, without provocation-"

"What the turians were trying to do-"

"Yes, yes, they didn't want us to open the relay. I know. In a way, I can even understand. We opened Pandora's box ourselves, once-"

She stopped at Shiana's confused look. "Never mind, just an expression. Suffice it to say, that I do understand the sentiment behind that law, even if the execution was appalling. But that is not the point. It's not about the incident at the relay. That can be explained away as the mistake. It's about the invasion. That was a deliberate act, a matter of policy. The turian Hierarchy has proved, beyond any doubt, that we cannot trust them, that they are willing to use military force to impose their will on us. And the way the invasion was conducted..."
She shrugged. "Perhaps it's better that you know, but there has been a development at Shanxi. One that could seriously influence these peace talks."

"What is it?"

"The local government of Shanxi has decided to put general Desolas Arterius on trial for war crimes. Specifically, the use of orbital bombardment, a weapon of mass destruction, against civilian targets in retaliatory strikes."

"But..." Shiana tried to make sense of what she had just heard. "You cannot do that. Using orbital bombardment is part of Hierarchy military policy. It may be extreme, but he had the legal right to use it."

"Not according to our laws." Vickers' voice had suddenly turned very cold, even through the translation software. "And since these crimes were committed in our jurisdiction, it's our laws that will be applied. Make no mistake about it. By his own admission, he was in charge of the force that committed these actions. That alone is enough to convict him."

"And if he is convicted, what will happen next?"

"Death. For mass murder on this scale, there can be no other punishment. The only way to avoid it is if the Hierarchy petitions to have him extradited. But that is impossible without a treaty in place. And that's not all."

"What... What else is there? I mean, what else can there be? This will destroy the peace process!"

"Perhaps, but with people losing faith in the negotiations, I doubt anyone will care. Especially on Shanxi. In any case, depending on how things go from here, this may only be the beginning. General Arterius may have been in charge, but he wasn't acting alone. Everyone in the chain of command can be charged as accomplishes. The commanders on the ground that called in the bombardments, the staff officers that passed on the orders, the captains of the ships that fired. Even the gunners who pushed the final buttons. All played their part, all contributed. We have a lot of these people as prisoners."

"But they had no choice; they had to obey orders."

"Not under our laws. And, again, it's our laws that apply. Shiana..." Vickers suddenly sounded almost as though she was pleading for understanding. "We used to be like that. We used to think that obeying orders absolved a person from guilt and responsibility. And the results were gruesome. Humans have committed atrocities against each other that make that idiot Arterius look like a naughty child. That's why we changed the laws. Now we hold everyone accountable. That way, when a general gives an illegal order, his soldiers at least have reason to think twice before they carry them out."

"An illegal order?" Shiana was still trying to make sense of what she was hearing. The whole concept seemed insane, and, perhaps for the first time in her life, she began to realise just how alien the thoughts of another species could be. "How can that possibly work. How can you even define what constitutes an 'illegal' order? How would the soldiers know which order to obey?"

"In practice? The side that wins will tell them after the war is over." Vickers shook her head. "Sorry, it isn't a joking matter. There actually are rules for this, even though they tend to be convoluted and often contradictory. The bottom-line is, these things have been set in motion. Unless we come up with a peace-treaty real soon, the number of people involved will only grow and I don't think there is any chance of a lasting peace if we end up executing scores of turian prisoners."

She rose from her seat. "I'm sorry I had to bear bad news, but I thought it better that you knew. Perhaps you can make Matriarch Benezia see that she's running out of time. This idea she has, of humans happily joining the Citadel? That's pure wishful thinking. It's time she started dealing with the real world."

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I'm updating quickly now. For one thing, parts of these chapters were written a long time ago, so I just need to polish them. Also, I just got ME Andromeda, so I want to get back to slaughtering aliens myself, instead of just writing about it. It's been over a year since I played ME multiplayer and muscle memory is mostly gone, so I need a lot of practice.

So, the characters from my previous story 'someone has heard the scream' are finally able to talk to each other. Not sure how far it will go, but hey, if you want to imagine Vickers (so, basically Charlize Theron) making out with a hot, blue alien; by all means, go ahead.

In reality, a war crimes trial would take a lot longer to arrange, but then again, remember the first Starship Troopers movie: "A murderer was caught this morning and tried today. Sentence: GUILTY. Execution at 6PM, mandatory viewing on all channels" Or words to that effect.

Don't worry, humans are not joining the Citadel anytime soon. That wouldn't make much sense. Between increasing human xenophobia (honestly, even under the best circumstances that would be a major problem) and the recent war, the best either party can hope for is an end to open hostility. In time, trade and diplomatic exchanges may improve the relationship; but that will take decades. Meanwhile, Spears and Harper are slowly pushing Earth toward a military dictatorship conform Starship Troopers and they are certainly not going to give up their newfound power. Of course, everybody forgot to tell Benezia, who probably wouldn't have listened anyway.