Hey all, cheers for the support from last chapter. I hope you enjoy this one which ends with a bit of action and starts to show a change in Human attitude.

/.../

After being guided to Tevos, Shepard sits down in a wingback style chair, then when she is comfortable, she says, "I've got a question for you, now that I am here," The pleasantries are ignored.

"Do ask," Tevos comments as she pours a drink from a dark green-tinted bottle with condensation running down the outside; the beverage looks expensive, having been pulled from a crystal bowl filled with ice. Other than an initial raise of the brow, the Asari Councillor does not seem concerned or interested that Shepard can now speak the Asari language.

"Why am I here?" Shepard then asks, "And it's your turn to be truthful; all I've been given so far is vague, wafty reasons." Shepard did not initially ask this question on the Praetorian out of fear she would not get to travel. It is a common trait for soldiers to not tell of injuries or question decisions out of fear they will either miss out or put themselves in an uncomfortable position. In this scenario, Shepard most definitely did not want to miss out on the opportunity of a lifetime.

Tevos considers the question for a split of second before standing from her seat to give Shepard a drink, "You are right; you are here for political reasons." Tevos then says without remorse as she retakes her seat. "I wanted access to one of your species, so I can learn how you think, what is important to you, what is not meaningful to you, what is detestable to you, and what you like. I chose you because I think you will somewhat fit in here." Shepard nods in understanding as she accepts the reason before scanning and then trying the drink, only to find it quite palatable. Seeing Shepard's reaction, Tevos then says, "What you are enjoying is an Asari delicacy, available only to a select few."

"The mega-rich?"

Tevos blinks, "The berry used to create this drink is native only to a single, small island on Thessia and are tended to by dedicated monks. The berries themselves only grow once every three years, weather depending; all this results in a minimal supply and a long line of people wanting the drink. To receive the drink, many people preorder it decades before the berry has even begun to grow. I have a standing order and receive five bottles every three years. What you are enjoying, most can not afford with a lifetime of work."

Shepard tries it again to then say, "I could get used to it. But going back to our last topic, why don't the other species have someone like me to study?"

"The Turians take actions at face value," Tevos reveals, "They will judge you on that. Rarely do they try to understand why outside of strategic strategy, nor do they really need to; their economic and political entities would not benefit the same as my own would from such understanding. The Salarains do not value learning from a single subject, they study the species as a whole, and their intelligence agencies will feed to their short term councillors what they need to know. The other species are, for lack of better words, irrelevant."

Shepard takes another deep sip of her drink before shaking her head, "I won't teach you much about my species; we are a pretty diverse bunch with many different ways of thinking."

Tevos takes a moment to consider her response before taking a sip and replying, "I have studied many species Shepard, Volus, Vorcha, Turian, Salarian, Elcor, Hanar, Krogan, Quarian, Drell, Batarian, and a few more. Every species has mindsets, quirks, and even if you are outside of how your species operate, work, and think, you have come with your species colloquialisms. But, I disagree with your idea, I did not spend long with you in Human space, but I spent enough time to see you were not an outcast in your society; you operate within it and understand it."

"You're wrong," Shepard tells Teovs with some conviction, "I'm an augment, created for a brutal war from a bygone era. I am an outcast that is often down talked to because of what I was created to do."

"And I am a pureblood," Tevos replies almost instantly and with an equal amount of conviction as Shepards reveal. "You could say I am also a product from a bygone era; what we are, what our blood is to our society does not mean we do not understand how our society operates or thinks. And by outcast, I did not mean your genetics." Shepard is silent for a second, allowing Tevos to then add to her comment, "Also, please be discrete with the information I am pureblood; that information is not widely available."

"I have no idea what that means to spill the beans," Shepard eventually informs Tevos, "But I'm now curious then, what do you want to learn from me."

"It is little things you would probably consider inconsequential." Tevos tells after a sip of her expensive drink, "For example, you knew you were coming here under false pretences, so why did you still come? Was it an order?"

"Yes," Shepard answers truthfully, "But I would have come anyway. I was too curious."

"Is this common for your species?" Tevos inquires.

"We have a saying," Shepard relents, "It says that 'curious Barbara's nose was torn off at the market'. We will poke our nose where it doesn't belong, and it will be our downfall."

"Is this saying species-wide?" Tevos asks; her curiosity is evident through her focus on Shepard.

"There are a few variations, but yes, for the most part. In a different language, we say 'curiosity killed the cat'; the two sayings mean the same thing."

Tevos blinks before replying to Shepard, "And already in this conversation, I just learned something," Tevos informs Shepard; "The fact you have a saying regarding your curiosity is just as important to me as what the expression implies. It tells me that it does not only apply to a few, but your species as a whole; you are a curious people. You also mentioned your mother tongue; reading into this can imply a few things."

"So, taking a step back" Shepard then asks after a moment when she realises she is moving away from her original topic, "What am I to do here to fill my time?"

"Your people will have tasks for you," Tevos guesses correctly, "And you can pursue them, but for me, I want you to be more open with my people and let them know what a Human is like. I am also sure you will be asked for interviews, and so on. I already know numerous news stations want to talk with you and will pay big numbers to get first access, if you play your game right, and I also know a movie is being made around the contact situation, you will be paid well for advising on the Human response, you may even be asked to star in said movie considering you were the one to make first contact."

Shepard breaths out hard, in the military world, if you appear in the news or in military media, you often get 'crated', where people you know can take a snapshot of you in the media, send it to you and then ask for a crate of beer. Shepard knows she owes more than a few crates to friends and acquaintances she has made in her life from recent events. "But tonight we have another reason for talking," Tevos tells.

"We do?" Quieres Shepard.

"Yes." Tevos responds as she opens her omni-tool and loads a video file, "You may be interested in this." A video plays which shows a damaged vessel destroy numerous others before using a Relay to transport somewhere else. "Familiar?"

"Yeah," Shepard replies, but without taking her eyes from the video playing, "I would recognise that ship any day of the week. What do you know." Shepard makes sure she has started to record the conversation so that higher authorities can analyse what is about to be discussed.

Tevos closes her omni-tool and takes another sip of her drink before replying, "The relay it entered belongs to the Collectors, the ships attacking it were scavengers who mistook it as a vulnerable and easy target. There are no reported survivors."

"Where has it gone?" Shepard asks, now raising her eyes to look at Tevos. "I know people who want words."

Tevos takes a breath in and out before replying to her Human, "The relay it entered, only the Collectors know how to navigate, leading us to conclude it is either allied with or has traded with the collectors. If you want information about it, the Collectors have it... or at least more information than we do."

"Who are the Collectors to you?"

"The Halifa of Converge," Tevos initially responds, referring to something Humans may call the 'Boogey Man', "They are a mysterious species that live in extreme isolation; we do not know where they call home or their philosophies. They arrive at a dark location and then disappear as fast as they arrived, making establishing any first contact attempts difficult."

"Why the name collectors?" Shepard then asks.

"They occasionally trade with... undesirable people," Tevos begins, "They pay the undesirables for rare genetic samples; Asari with a particular congenital defect, Turians over 7ft tall, or Salarians with particularly good eyes. The name comes from the fact they collect our people."

"A suitable name then," Shepard agrees, "What are you doing about them?"

"There is little we can do." Tevos reluctantly tells Shepard, "They operate in a lawless part of space that the Council can not enter, or war would break out."

Shepard raises a brow, "Are you telling me you don't have spies or operatives that work in these places."

Tevos raises her own brow but does not answer the question; instead, she says, "The Collectors are not a large enough problem for us to interfere; the galaxy has bigger threats that we must consider."

"If they were abducting my people, especially with genetic conditions, I would want to know why," Shepard remarks, "And I may go medieval on their hiney to get that information."

"Many are not happy about the situation." Tevos relents, "But now we know they are possible in allegiance with this fish ship, our current stance is being reevaluated." Tevos notes, "I can not really discuss what that means; however, I'm sure you can understand." Shepard half nods, "I'm glad you understand. How is your wound?"

"Sore but manageable," Shepard replies, "Nothing a few shots of premium grunt grade vodka wouldn't cure."

"Yes," Tevos replies, "I've seen you are healing well, our doctors are no longer concerned you are in danger, but I am not sure about this vodka you speak of, it does not sound medicinal."

"Doctors prescribe it for lifting the mood," Shepard lies, "Wonderful stuff."

"If you say so. I also see you are now proficient with my language."

"Only Asari galactic," Shepard replies, "Turian galactic I can understand, but yeah, my vocal cords aren't that great."

"Only Turians sound like Turians," Tevos admits, "So, how long have you been able to understand our language?"

"Since this morning." Shepard confesses, "I've been testing it out for the AI's."

"If you are testing it, then they have had it for far longer," Tevos concludes aloud before taking a small sip of her drink and then saying, "And you just downloaded it?"

"My AI did," Shepard nods, "Without my other half, I wouldn't know what you are saying right now."

Tevos breathes out, knowing that the Turians would understand this statement to mean that Shepard is just a robotic humanoid. "So if your AI was damaged or removed?"

"I would be in difficulty." Shepard admits after thinking on it for a moment, "But that is a near impossibility, its nano-tech and the tech is designed to survive electronic warfare, I have redundancies upon redundancies."

"Hmm," Tevos replies in response before continuing, "Moving on, what are your plans for tomorrow evening?"

"I'm guessing I'm about to have a plan?"

"Only if you wish. There is a celebration being held for the Avians crew; that would be the ship you boarded and made first contact with; considering all, it would seem appropriate you are there."

"What is the celebration for?"

"Two reasons, the first is to celebrate those who lost their lives, the second is to congratulate the crew on making a peaceful first contact."

"You are celebrating their deaths?" Shepard asks with a raised brow, she knows soldiers will send off a fallen comrade with plenty of alcohol, but it is seldom referred to as a celebration.

"Turians," Tevos replies initially as if that was the answer to the question, before then elaborating, "Believe to die in service is a great glory. To many, the Hierarchy is seen in a god-like way, and for many, to die for the Hierarchy is only a good thing. Therefore, this is a celebration of their lives."

"Well, who am I to down talk their traditions. What will be expected? Drinks? Stories of heroism?"

Tevos blinks, "Those who knew who died will tell the stories amongst themselves. For yourself, you will have people inquiring as to your side of the story, so accept drinks offered and tell them a tale or two."

"Is it a political event?"

Tevos blinks again, "You will shortly learn that everything we do is political, yourself included now."

"Alright." Shepard slowly replies before asking aloud, "And If I say no?"

"You can, it is well within your prerogative to do so, but people have seen you walking; they will ask questions."

Shepard smirks, more out of annoyance than anything, before necking the last sip of the drink in her glass, "Then I have no say. I will have to tell higher, and they will make the decision for me."

"You don't have to listen to your chain of command," Tevos replies, "You are still injured, and an individual capable of making your own choices."

"I'm a soldier," Shepard tells Tevos, "And good soldiers follow orders."

Tevos taps her fingers off her drink glass a few times before stating, "Dangerous soldiers follow orders blindly."

Shepard smiles a little as she begins to reply, "Now you are getting into my terrain. A soldier who does not follow orders without reason is useless, but you are right; a sheep is no lion. My people operate within the arms of loac, the law of armed conflict; we have the right to reject illegal orders, such as 'leave no survivors'. Unfortunately for me, this would not be an illegal order."

"A sheep and lion?" Tevos inquires so Shepard spends some time explaining the idiom. "I see. So, shall I confirm your attendance for tomorrow?"

Shepard nods, "Any choice would be an illusion. I'll be there."

Upon seeing someone enter the room, Tevos finishes her drink, and then proclaims, "It appears that the waiting staff are ready for us, so, shall we proceed for our evening meal?" It is not really a question as Tevos stands up after asking the question.

/.../

The next evening.

As Tevos approaches, Shepard pushes herself out of the chair and onto her feet, ready to begin the evenings' activities.

As Tevos gets within a few meters, she simply asks, "Dillenia line?"

Shepard raises a questioning brow as she says, "You have lost me."

"You attire, I do believe it is from the dillenia line." Tevos clarifies before adding, "It is a product from one of my fashion companies."

Shepard looks up and down her red and white coloured evening wear before shrugging her shoulders, "I couldn't tell you. All I know is it's red, and it came from the cloth printer machines."

"Not wanting to show off some Human fashion?" Tevos asks with curiosity, but she is not disappointed as she knows cameras will be present, so people will see Shepard wearing her company's clothes. "And shall we?" Tevos gestures to the estates front door, and the two begin to walk towards the skycar that awaits them at the top of the garden.

"I rarely do this," Shepard gestures to her body as a whole, "So I had nothing suitable, or nothing that the contact teams were willing to let me wear." The contact teams back in Sol had yet again decided to interfere with her decision-making, which Shepard suspects will be a common theme. After a moment, Shepard sighs and then adds, "They also decided looks were more important than comfort; these shoes are not the most comfortable."

Tevos smiles at this comment, "In politics, appearances are often more important than comfort; I often make sacrifices of convenience for a political edge."

"Oh yeah?" Shepard replies, her tone hinting at the unspoken question.

"Depending on the audience, I will often change my appearance to suit and make a more significant impact. For example, suppose my audience is mostly Asari; in such a case, I will wear enough make-up to appear healthier than my skin may suggest and wear traditional clothing to gain the approval of the traditionalists. On the other hand, if Turians are targetted for maximum impact, I know that they expect facial marks, hence my tattoos, and value a strong head fringe and narrow waist. To meet their idea of attraction, I use make-up that accentuates my crest and a tight corset to cinch my waist, as you can witness tonight. Finally, Salarians are the easiest of the big three to appease; while they are not easily swayed by appearances, our political scientists have proven they respond better to Asari of a particular skin hue, so I will wear a shade of blue make-up that they are particularly fond of."

Shepard looks to the Councillor, and sure enough, her crests appear to have been emphasised and look more prominent than usual, and her dress hugs her body following an hourglass curve. "So you try to appear more attractive to the species you want to influence?"

"Simply put, but yes." Tevos admits, "It has been proven time and time again that if people want to look at you, they are more likely to listen to what you have to say, so I try to put that idea to practice."

"Are you sure they aren't getting distracted by their thoughts? I'm sure alot of humans would be."

Tevos smirks, "I'm sure more than a few do; young Turian and Salarian males tend to have an unhealthy obsession with my species, but as long as I'm conservative enough that I don't cause Matriarchs to raise their brows, then the net gain for me is positive. However, I do want to stress that there is more to all of this; influence does not just rely on looks, and on the surface, this pandering is more fickle than anything else, but the marginal gains from all the 'little acts' add up."

"I would like to think so," Shepard states, before asking, "What if you were addressing the entire galaxy?"

Tevos does not reply until she is seated in the skycar that is awaiting them, "In that instance," She begins when Shepard is also sat in the skycar, "I need to decide who I want to have the largest impact with. If I need everyone to pay attention, which I often do, I will wear a combination. So my day to day attire sees me donning a corset, traditional Asari robes and heavy application of make-up."

"How do you influence the other species? There are more than Salarians and Turians here."

Tevos takes a moment to consider before answering, "The Volus and Elcor are the few species that would not care what I looked like, so I influence them through different means to the normal. Starting with the Volus, they value financially successful people, meaning I need do little for them as I am already a successful entrepreneur. The Elcor are fascinated with biotics, so I try to ensure images of me playing biotiball reach the intranet before making any meaningful address to their species. Moving on from the oddities, the Batarian government is entirely male-dominated, and while most will not admit it freely, our sources tell us time and time again that they like physically strong females with a pale perplexion, so you will fit in well with their desires. The next species, the Krogans wish to see someone strong-willed and scarred, and there is no better way to gain their attention than with a good head butt. This leaves only the Hanar, who have shown to favour stick-thin limbs, and the Quarians, who do not interact with the Council at all."

"I would not be jumping around to people's desires," Shepard remarks, "They either listen or they don't."

Tevos blinks, "No, you do not strike me as someone who cares what others think of you. My problem is, I must care about that, and I need them to listen. Anyhow, this pandering will only get worse; I now must learn how to influence another species."

Shepard shakes her head a little, "Nah, to Humans, you're a female, meaning you fit the 'green space babe' profile," Shepard begins, "So as bad as it sounds, to get Human eyes on you, keep your current figure, wear a tight-fitting dress to accentuate what you have, and the males will be all too happy to look. For my own gender, it's going to be more complicated, but if you talk a good talk, and look healthy, you shouldn't have too many problems." Shepard gives it a moment to consider before then adding, "Basically, don't change anything from what you're doing tonight."

"I see. And green space babe?" Tevos inquires.

"In human science fiction that features friendly aliens, particularly movies or tv shows, you will often find a species that looks just like a female Human, except their skin will be a different colour, usually red, blue or green. You will also not be surprised to learn that it is usually young, visually attractive women who play these space babes." Shepard pulls her phone out as she speaks and starts tapping away on the device.

"I see," Tevos says slowly, "So, you are saying if our existence was a human TV show, my species is your green space babes?"

"Yes. Your whole species is a horny teenager's wet dream, a lot of Humans will find you pleasing on the eyes. Look at this." Shepard hands her phone to Tevos, on the screen she has pulled up a website that documents TV tropes, and her AI has converted the text to galactic.

Tevos reads from the device for a few minutes before looking back up and blinking once, "Yes, my species would seem to fit your 'green space babe' idea; also, I must comment, your verbal galactic is far more robust than your written galactic, this was difficult to read."

Shepard blinks in response, a trait she is slowly picking up more and more as she spends extended time around the Asari, "Freya has heard your people talk a lot; she probably hasn't seen many written documents."

"That is fair," Tevos remarks, "Then it is a good effort worthy of some praise. Remind me tomorrow, and I will have Ophelia take you to the library, and I'm sure your AI will be able to quickly improve their vocabulary." This will benefit everyone.

"Don't say too much; you may actually start to like them," Shepard tells Tevos.

"Hmm," Is Tevos's only response till she follows up with a statement, "We also must talk about your name."

"My name?" Shepard asks, a brow raised in curiosity. "I hope you're not about to tell me it sounds like an insult as I quite like it."

"No, nothing of the sort," Tevos confirms, "The problem can be best demonstrated with a question, that being how do you spell your name in Galactic? Could you even write it out?"

Shepard is silent for a minute; every time she tries to reply to the Councillor, she realises she has no idea how to answer that question. Eventually, Shepard finds her voice, "I haven't even thought about this."

"Nor had I till I went to add your omni-tool IP to my contact list." Tevos pulls up her own omni-tool and loads up an app used for finger writing. "This is what I suggest,"

Shepard frowns at the letters drawn on the Councillors omni-tool, before shaking her head in rejection, "No, I'm trying to work this in my head, but I can't get to my name from how I think you would pronounce that."

"This is mostly because your grasp on written galactic is poor," Tevos informs, "In my language, Asari galactic, we do not have the 'shhh' sound, however, this is the next best phoneme. It is pronounced more like an 'se' quickly followed by a 'he'." Thinking on it, Shepard realises that this would explain why people seem to slightly struggle with her name; Shepard had just thought it may be a limitation of their biology.

"So, how would this be pronounced?" Shepard asks, looking at the written text.

"The best we can do using our language is 'Lidoca Sehepeart." Tevos uses a finger to highlight the part of the words she is saying. "Obviously, those Asari who know you will learn how to say your name, but you still need to have a way to write it down."

"Well," Shepard says after puffing out a little, "I guess I better learn how to write my name again." Shepard does not like this idea, as it makes her feel a little like a child back at school.

"Yes." Tevos returns, "But if you liked that conundrum, you will definitely like this one; you will also need to learn a second name."

Shepard's brow raises again, "A second name? I'm guessing you don't mean Shepard."

Tevos blinks, "Unfortunately for you, I do not. The reason being is that you are going to be interacting with many different species, some of which will not be able to pronounce the sounds required for your name. Of particular concern for you are the Turians."

"Alright," Shepard nods, "But why can't they just say 'Lidoca Sehepeart' in their own tongue and my translator can pick it up?"

"I can show you why," Tevos says before pulling up her omni-tool and setting it to convert her language to Turian Galactic. After saying 'Lidoca Sehepeart', the omni-tool does not show any translation or even make a sound, as if it did not even attempt to translate the Councillor. After a second, Tevos then goes on to say, "Your name in our language is very much a scattering of random letters; the omni-tool could not translate your name as it does not translate."

Shepard breaths in and out, before saying, "Alright then, I'm sure you have a suggestion for me."

"A good turian name is actually a phrase," Tevos reveals, "So, for example, Sparatus Turian name is actually 'Quick Feet, Sufficient Empathy, From Pure Herritage', the name 'Sparatus' is what he decided we Asari should call him. My Turian name was actually an insult I liked, so my Turian name is 'Slow Tongue, Blue Scales'."

Shepard raises her brow yet again, "Hold on, so you go through all this make-up and uncomfortable wear, all to influence people, and you then let them call you that?"

"Yes." Tevos blinks, "It caused much mirth among the Matriarchs when I adopted it, and it caused a lot of merriment among the Turians that I used it and did not shy away from what their politician thought of me. They very much appreciate someone who will challenge a Krogan in a corridor." Seeing their end destination come into sight through the sky car's front window, Tevos then says, "But there is no rush, you have plenty of time to come up with a Turian name, so for tonight, just use your real name. Anyway, we are about to land; when we step out of the car, I am sure we will be bombarded with flash photography and the paparazzi..."

"Great..." Shepard replies with a huff, but just before she leaves the car, her phone buzzes.

/.../

Half an hour earlier,

Fleet Commander Rouse Quirinus stands tall on his bridge in thought; over the last few weeks, the initial First Contact fleet has reduced in size, meaning that now there are only a total of 36 vessels dedicated to the task. The Primarchs Chosen, now believing the initial force to be overkill for the job, has pulled out of Batarian space with the rest of the fleet, leaving Quirinus with only a few extra support vessels for aiding the first contact.

While Quirius feels comfortable with the stealthy Humans, his most recent challenge has come from the Batarians. The fact the Council has dictated that the system he is currently occupying is a no go area has started to cause a lot of friction, mostly with people who used to make profits from this system. As a result, there has been a dramatic increase of trespassers over the last few days, from protesting resource hauliers to colony ships that now want to colonise planets in the system. Currently, trespassing in the system are a few colony ships, with a small attache of defence ships, but their current activity is monitored 24/7, and a single ship has been sent to intercept.

To Quirinus, it is crystal clear what is happening; the Batarians have realised that the Council is going to give the system to the Humans, as per council law relating to territories and infringing on home systems, so the Batarians are attempting to make that as difficult as possible. However, if a colony ship can land and set up shop without being noticed, it would put the Council in a tough position, or worse yet, if a colony ship arrived and refused to turn around, how should he deal with the incident? Hostility breeds hostility and Quirinus knows the Batarian government would quickly escalate the situation through shady means.

Despite the trespassers sending EM spectral transmissions towards the Humans, the Humans have been silent on the issue and have been content with simply watching from behind their minefield. In truth, Quirinus is not even sure the Humans use EM emissions for communications, so it would not surprise him if they didn't even hear the Batarian messages.

"Fleet Commander," An officer calls to him, "Geth frigate on LADAR. Loc Gas 1, traj Relay."

Quirinus does not change his stance or even look surprised, he had expected the additional geth ship for two reasons. The first is that the Geth are already here, with a small scout vessel that will only be able to operate for a set period without replenishment. Secondly, the Humans have told him a few days prior that a Geth heavy frigate would be arriving above the planet designated Gas 1.

What disturbs Quirinus the most about this entire situation is that the Geth have been able to arrive at this location without causing a single alarm to be raised that they are traversing the Relay Network controlled by Citadel space.

After a moment to do a quick battle estimate, Quirinus turns to his fleet orchestrator, "Fleet Orchestrator, have the HWV Phalacrocoracidae shadow up until the Human mines."

"As you command," Replies the Turian in charge of fleet movement. In truth, Quirinus should have sent the Salarian vessel attached to his squadron, it has better sensors and equipment that could take more intimate readings of the vessel, but Quirinus is playing politics. Had he sent the Salarian vessel, and the Salarians found something interesting that is worth investigating, such as a new novel technology, it is unlikely they would share the information with the Hierarchy unless it put the fleet in immediate danger.

As expected, the Geth vessel begins navigating towards the Human fleet, but it does broadcast a general message, letting those listening in know that it comes in peace, and its intent is to head towards the Humans. Most likely, this unusual broadcast is to stop Quirinus from outright attacking it had he forgot it was invited here by the Humans.

"Fleet commander," A voice calls, so Quirinus turns on his heel, "Have a look at this." Quirinus approaches a workstation and looks at some data the Phalacrocoracidae had sent. "The vessel is way too light for its weight class."

Quirinus flares his mandibles a little as he thinks; the Geth vessel type is known to the Council, it is a standard heavy frigate from appearances, but it is almost half the weight of what should be expected. With another flare of his mandibles, he begins to look through some recorded data. He then notices that its eezo readings are off the chart, almost four times greater than the expected reading.

"Fleet commander," Another voice calls, "I think the vessel lacks weapons or military-grade shields."

Quirinus flares his right mandible in a manner that shows he is questioning the truth of the statement, "It does?"

The Turian who made the initial statement confirms, "I'm failing to detect CIWS, MD's, TADS, or even MP's."

Before Quirinus can think about why the vessel would lack basic self-defence weaponry, another officer calls for his attention, "Fleet Commander, we are being hailed by the Batarians; they are demanding we engage the Geth vessel."

"Tell the Batarians they are trespassing," Quirinus replies to the communications officer before moving to a screen with a tactical 2d map of the system.

"Fleet commander, two Batarian gunboats are heading to intercept the Geth, ETA 10 minutes." Any other day this would be suicide for the Batarians, but if the vessel is defenceless, then the Batarians could pose a real threat towards the Geth.

Quirinus realises, however, that the Batarians do not have the sensors his vessels have, and will not realise that the ship is defenceless, so what is their intent? Unless it is to drag his own fleet in to defend them. Should he fail to do so, then the Batarians could cause a huge stink, the type the Council would have to address. Quirinus can already imagine the headlines, 'Turian war fleet fail to defend Batarians from Geth attack.' Quirinus also knows he can not attack the Geth, nor can he defend the Geth, doing so would either cause diplomatic relations with the Humans to sour or have even worse recourse should he do nothing.

Looking at his fleet locations, Quirinus realises that he will not be able to intercept the gunboats, with enough time to prevent their madness. "Comms, inform the Humans of the Batarian attack. We will not intercept."

A minute later the comms officer speaks again, "They are asking us to broadcast a message to the gunboats, they will defend the vessel. Anything that approaches within 10,000km will be considered hostile."

Quirinus turns around at hearing this statement; his mandibles display his complete surprise at the Human response. "They are getting bolder," He says before then adding, "Broadcast the message, and let the Phalacrocoracidae know that it is prohibited from getting any closer."

A few minutes pass, and from looking at the 2d map, Quirinus realises that the Batarians are still approaching, "Let the Batarians know stealth ships are operating in this system,"

Nothing changes, which truthfully excites Quirinus. "Get the camera's ready, and have all sensor systems powered up. If this turns red, I want to learn anything we can." Quirinus knows the Geth ship can not run away, it is too slow, and gunboats are designed to be fast. He does not understand why it doesn't reactivate its stealth capabilities, however.

As the ships get closer, Quirinus moves to a workstation that is displaying the Geth ship with visual sensors, so he can watch what is about to happen. An officer begins to speak, saying, "Batarian gun boats, are at..." The officer stops speaking as a Human stealth vessel quickly dispatches the ships with two shots. The Human ship came from nowhere, and just as soon as it appeared, it slinks back into the darkness of space, ready to prey on its next victim. Quirinus notes that they have now adopted a strike first policy, which differs from their earlier days, meaning the Humans are getting more confident. Standing up straight, Quirinus then says, "I want any data recorded analysed, and have the Alopochen Aegyptiacus retrieve a Batarian vessel for study." Anything that can reveal information on Human weaponry is useful.

As his crew gets to work, Quirinus makes his way to his office to begin writing a report detailing his decision making since he realises that he will be questioned why he didn't stop this.