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

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Destiny Ascension

"Nonsense." Benezia's voice was gentle, chiding, but Shiana thought she was hearing an underlying strain.

"Matriarch, this woman, Vickers, was very insistent. It seems the humans are even more upset than we thought. And if their laws are really this strict, they may have no choice in the matter."

"No choice? No government would allow itself to be put in such a position. No, they are trying to put pressure on us. I don't believe for a moment that this person met you by accident. They probably think that they can force us to hurry and make additional concessions, just to prevent them from carrying out their threat. No, we will not be played so easily."

"But what if they're not?" Shiana tried again. Not for the first time, she was beginning to sympathize with the human negotiators. Whether their position was correct or not, it had to be intensely frustrating to have your words just bounce off without making any impact. "Even if they just want to give us a warning, once they start these proceedings there may be no way back. Their own people may insist that the execution be carried out. They may end up killing general Arterius, no matter whether they intended to."

"My dear, they wouldn't dare. I'm sure their government is becoming frustrated by the lack of progress, but they only have themselves to blame. They should have selected a representative with vision. This Goyle, is so obsessed with the past that she cannot see the future. Still, if this person you spoke with really has a direct connection to their government, we may be able to use it. Surely by now, the humans must realize they've made a poor selection with their chief delegate. Perhaps we can persuade them to replace her with someone more forward-thinking."

-o-o-o-

Shiana sat in her quarters and thought for a very long time. If Benezia was right, she was allowing the humans to manipulate her. Well, not completely. She didn't believe her encounter with Meredith Vickers had been coincidental anymore than Benezia did. Clearly, someone was trying to send a message, but what was the message and who was it for? If they were trying to put pressure on Benezia, they had clearly failed. The Matriarch would not deviate from her course. But then again, the humans were not stupid. By now they must have gained at least some insight into Benezia's character. What if their message was for someone else, someone farther away? What if, like Benezia, they thought that some changes needed to be made at the negotiation table?
If so, that put Shiana on the spot. She had been attached to the delegation because of her successful previous contact with the humans, but that position was purely advisory. She wasn't a diplomat or a negotiator. Who was she to question Matriarch Benezia's judgment?
Benezia is a racist She remembered Liara T'Soni's brutal indictment of her own mother. Granted, the girl had been half drunk, and mother-daughter relationships could be a complicated thing. Still, the judgment of a close relative could not be casually disregarded. Especially, since the rest of her predictions seemed to have been spot-on. What if her own assessment was right? What if the humans were willing to carry through with their threat? Sure, they were using it as a message, but that didn't mean that they weren't deadly serious. After all, it would be tough to call their bluff, if they weren't bluffing at all. If so, the consequences could be terrible. The Hierarchy might accept the execution of general Arterius as the cost of doing business. After all, the general had made a terrible mess of things. But the rest? Punishing other officers and soldiers for carrying out his orders? That could not be allowed to happen. Obedience was a fundamental aspect of the Hierarchy's structure. They would never allow anyone to undermine that.
Shiana rubbed her face in an attempt to relieve her headache. Tomorrow the negotiations would be aboard the Destiny Ascension. If she wanted to speak with Vickers again, it would be up to her to arrange it this time. And she needed to have another conversation. Most of all, she needed information. Information on human law and information on their government structure. Not just the offical story, but the way it worked in practice. After all, the asari republics weren't quite as democratic as they claimed to be either.

Geneva, Earth, three days later

Assemblyman D'Orsinio put down the message he'd been reading "So, Goyle's prediction was right. No change in their position at all. They aren't listening."

"At least the leader of their negotiation team isn't." Spear shrugged. "Goyle may be looking for excuses because of her lack of progress, but, according to her, it's primarily this Benezia who is stonewalling everything. Either way, we need to send a message. We'll not let them call our bluff. Tell Shanxi to go ahead. Trial, verdict, appeal, execution. But make sure they understand that it all depends on the aliens. If we get a treaty hammered out before they're finished, they have to let Arterius go."

D'Orsinio laughed. "That'll light a fire under them! Those people are out for blood. They'll hold the quickest war crime tribunal in human history."

"Good. That way we'll all understand each other. So, what is the news from the Assembly?"

"On the whole, quite good. Not that they like it, of course, but your remarks regarding public opinion were well taken. They understand that some changes need to be made."

Spears raised an eyebrow. "Some?"

"Some. You cannot have it all your own way, general. Still, I think you will approve of the end result. I should add, though, that it does depend on these negotiations. There can be no question of joining this 'Citadel' of theirs. The Assembly is very clear on that."

"Even if they offer us a seat on their council?"

"Even then." D'Orsinio stood up and walked over to the window. In the distance, he could see the Assembly building. "You will have your permanent seat on the General Assembly, general. But the Assembly itself will never accept the superior authority of any other organization. No matter who sits on it."

"Fair enough. It was never really an option anyway. But that leaves us to decide how we want to proceed, now that we know we have neighbours. Goyle has sent me a comprehensive list of all the things that they want to force on us, as well as her own recommendations. We cannot just reject everything. So, we need to pick the ones that we can give in on."

"Such as?"

"Well, let's see." Spear activated his tablet and opened a document. "We cannot let these special operatives, these SPECTRES anywhere near the United Systems. Have you heard about them?"

"I heard something," D'Orsinio snorted. "Wasn't sure what to believe. Do they actually have a bunch of legally sanctioned loose cannons running around with a license to kill?"

"Apparently so. I had to read it twice, but they really have a blank mandate. Can go wherever they want, do whatever they want, kill whomever they want, all in the name of galactic peace."

"Completely insane. How would that even work? If a cop sees a SPECTRE commit murder, is he just to let it happen?"

"Yes, no interference." Spears shrugged. "It gets even weirder: What if a SPECTRE tries to kill you? Are you supposed to stand still and let it happen, or do you have the right to fight back? If you do, and you kill the SPECTRE, then what? Is that legal self-defence? These aliens seem to have some rather weird ideas about law. It's as though each law is separate, and never tested against the others. That's how we got into this mess: They have one law concerning opening these mass relays, and another regarding first contact. Their commander on the scene had to pick which law he was going to obey. Speaking of which, they are rather paranoid about opening these relays. To be honest, I think we can accommodate them on that subject."

"Really? What about our own expansion. These freaks divided the galaxy between them long before they met us. We're going to need to make room for ourselves."

"And we will." Spears opened a starmap. "Take a look. This new relay, the one where it all started. It links to an area called the SKyllian Verge. It's explored, but not colonized. Plenty of room for us. Plus, it will give us access to another area, one they call the Attican Traverse. That one forms a buffer between the Citadel species and an area known as the Terminus, which is basically a lawless mess. Again, plenty of Lebensraum. Besides, we have a major advantage: From what we've learned, they never developed proper terraforming. No need I suppose, because they could travel through the relays and have their pick of the best planets. They probably have the theory, but never bothered putting it into practice. Our atmospheric processors are far more efficient than anything they seem to have operational. That will give us a lot of extra real estate."

"Alright," D'Orsinio nodded. "So, we claim this... this SKyllian Verge right away, move in, and settle every rock we can find."

"Yes. The sooner the better. This is something we're good at. We can collect all the FTL haulers we have and start towing colonization modules into that area. Give it five years and we'll be all over the place. Meanwhile, we keep the stretch of space between Shanxi and the citadel species empty, as a buffer zone. We'll insist that nobody builds anything permanent in there, especially nothing military. Which brings me to the next point. They have a naval treaty in place, call it the Treaty of Farixen. We don't have all the details yet, but from what I understand it is supposed to limit the number of large naval vessels."

"Didn't we try something like that ourselves? Back in the Twentieth Century?"

"Yes, and it didn't work at all. Crippled the people willing to keep the treaty while giving a huge advantage to the rest. Still, we have to discuss it sooner or later. We don't want any part of their precious council, but neither do we need to start an arms race. Now, I don't want to limit our military presence, but there may be a way around..."

The discussion continued for several hours.

The Presidium, the Citadel

"So that is the situation." Sparatus stared at his communication screen. He had spoken more with Fedorian over the past few months than he had in the ten years before that and, somewhat to his surprise the two of them had established a reasonably good working relationship.

"And you don't think they are bluffing?" It was more a statement than a question.

"No. Matriarch Benezia thinks they are. In fact, she never even let us know about this, and she seems intent on ignoring it. But I cannot imagine this is a bluff. To make such a threat and then not carry through would make them look like fools. They may not want to carry it out, but I think we have to assume they are willing to execute him. Which means that we have to decide what to do."

"What do you suggest?"

"That we should do nothing." Sparatus wasn't quite happy with his own conclusion, but there were more important matters to consider than his own conscience. "After all, this entire military adventure was general Arterius' idea. Whatever we may think of these human laws, they are not wrong when they say that he is responsible for much of this mess, and especially for the unnecessary deaths. Very well then, let him be responsible. In a way, it strengthens our position. After all, if the humans convict him, if they publicly state that he gave the orders for the bombardments, they themselves admit that it is Arterius, personally, not the Hierarchy, that is responsible for those deaths. They cannot have it both ways."

"Arterius made mistakes, Arterius pays the price. That is what you're saying."

"Yes."

"Very well." The Primarch nodded. "If they sentence him, I will lodge a protest with the council, and they can repeat it to the humans. But that will be all. But only if it ends here. We cannot let them kill any other prisoners. Make sure the other councilors understand that. I don't care what they have to do. Replace Benezia if necessary. Whatever it takes, get these negotiations moving again!"

Two weeks later

"This is Breena Lakovski for Westerlund News. We have just received news from Shanxi that General Desolas Arterius, the commander of the turian invasion force has been convicted on multiple counts of war crimes and sentenced to death by firing squad. As yet we don't know when the sentence will be carried out, but sources in the government say 'soon'. Meanwhile, several members of the General Assembly have expressed their concerns that these events may influence the ongoing negotiation process. for more news..."

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I wonder of there is a turian word for scapegoat.

About twenty years ago, a Dutch businessman was arrested in Singapore with a suitcase full of heroin. He was sentenced to death and eventually that sentence was carried out. Afterwards, a story circulated that they never wanted to do that. It was suggested that the sentence was just to look tough on drugs, but that they expected the Dutch government to make a plea for leniency, giving them a way out. Basically, they wanted to have their cake and eat it. That never happened because the Dutch refuced to interfere and they had no choice but to carry through. Both governments faced a backlash. If it's true that it was all a bluff (it was never proven) I wonder who was bluffing, and who called it. Maybe both sides bluffed and screwed up.