On the Illusion of Might

by evevee

We thought ourselves powerful, able to conquer a galaxy with nothing but toys. When we overcame every challenge, breached the space between the galaxies themselves, what use were the words of a race ashamed of their own past? Yet we cannot deny that we were warned, for while a challenge to a human is laughable, a challenge to humanity is a death sentence.

18. Wiles of Bureaucracy

Disclaimer: I own no franchise mentioned in this work. Halo belongs to 343, Mass Effect to Bioware.

Hey, hey, look who got their shit together and actually got out a chapter! Only thing I can do is apologize for the long wait and tell you that I will try to avoid such nuisances in the future.

Several people have expressed concern about the story being abandoned, so will address that directly: If I, for some reason, decide to discontinue the story, I will post that in the summary, on my profile, and in a final chapter posting. Obviously that does not include situations where I would be unable to post, such as incapacitation or death, but nothing I can do for those instances.

To be clear, I am NOT abandoning the story. Just got irritatingly busy for a while.

Several people have asked where the Monument to S-117 was. To answer, it was built from 2607 to 2610. The current story time is 2589. It wasn't shown because it hasn't yet been built. Hope that helps clear that up.

I have moved Review Responses to the bottom of the chapter since I will be covering both last chapter, those I missed before that, and all the ones I got during this long break.

These should be the last in-depth political talks for a while. Hope you all enjoy!

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17th Day of 4th Month, 2459/May 17, 2589/May 17, 2180

UEG Grand Chamber

Sydney, Australia, Earth

As the foreigners made their way onto the floor, the small conversations between various groups began to die down, leaving only the heavy silence of anticipation. Soft rustling from several hundred beings gathered in a single room could still be heard, but that was easily drowned out by the footsteps of the Citadel Delegation.

Due to the important nature of meeting with a foreign galactic power, there had been no arguments against holding a joint meeting with the UEG Senate, President, and UNSC leadership. As with all such meetings, the obvious location to host the gathering was the Senate Chamber of the Congressional Plaza. After this first introduction, the various committees, officials, and other groups that would be handling different pieces of the negotiations with the Citadel would all meet with the Ambassador separately.

From the reactions of the Citadel Delegation, it was clear to everyone in the Chamber that this was not what had been expected. Even the humans from the Systems Alliance seemed surprised, though that was to be expected since their Parliament did not play host to almost a thousand representatives from as many colonies. Of the few that managed to keep their thoughts hidden, the Asari Ambassador leading the party did the best as she continued forward, confident in her stride and posture.

It was this being that drew the attention of the politicians as they recognized the Ambassador that they would be dealing with in the coming months. Several glances were directed to the other species in the Delegation, but it was more out of curiosity than any true interest. The main interaction with the Council would be through their ambassador, and thus the Asari garnered the most attention.

As the only species in the Wardens that had a firmly established bureaucratic system following the collapse of the Covenant, the UEG was uniquely situated to accept independent relations from the Citadel. This was precluded by the fact that there was no possibility of adherence to any of the Council's Treaties by UNSC forces. Any agreement to limit Artificial Intelligences or the number of vessels in the UNSC Fleet would be political suicide in the current Post-War climate.

While it was easy for the UEG Department of State and Senate to reject such measures in principle, the official conveyance of that denial to the Citadel Council only added to the difficulty of the coming talks. Since that information had already been relayed to the Council by Ambassador Mousset it was not necessary to discuss it with the Asari on the floor, though the more seasoned politicians would not discount the possibility of the topic being raised in more serious negotiations. As such, UEG officials had the unenviable job of trying to establish civilian agreements with the Ambassador while their UNSC counterparts met with the Citadel military officers to discuss the proposed joint operation deployments.

As it stood, the list of accords that needed to be established already involved significant involvement from the UNSC, UEG, and various private enterprises. There was no doubt that this was to be the first of many more meetings and thus little time was wasted on platitudes as Senate Majority Leader Ellis Gass was given the floor.

"On behalf of the United Earth Government and all its citizens, I want to welcome the Citadel Delegation to Earth, the homeworld of Humanity," Gass began. "While our Ambassador to the Citadel Council has negotiated on behalf of all members of the Wardens of the Mantle, our focus here is to discuss possible agreements solely between the Council and UEG. Before we begin, however, there is one ceremony that typically proceeds any formal talks."

The human turned her attention towards the Asari specifically and stated, "Ambassador Benezia, you are formally recognized as the representative of the Citadel Council to the United Earth Government for as long as your state grants you that position. By our laws, you are authorized to speak on the Council's behalf in negotiations, to advocate for their interests, and represent all citizens from Citadel space which enter UEG jurisdiction. You will be granted diplomatic immunity to perform your duties along with access to communications to talk with the Council. Is there anything you wish to add?"

"No, that is sufficient," the Asari Matriarch replied.

"Excellent. After our discussions today you and your delegation will be directed to an embassy prepared for your arrival," Ellis said. Benezia gave no argument to that, allowing the human to continue, "Are you open to discussing the general requests of the Council on the floor today, Ambassador?"

Benezia smiled slightly and responded, "I am."

"Good to hear. Let us begin by bringing up the possibility of Extranet access for the UEG and, in the future, the other species of the Wardens. I know that this was mentioned in passing among a myriad of other things during First Contact and that the Council has talked with Ambassador Mousset about the topic further, but the UEG Ambassador has limited knowledge of the subject. With your delegation now present, we have brought in an expert on the subject to answer questions and explain the challenges behind connecting our networks. Dr. Endesha, you may have the floor."

With that, a woman rose from off to the side of the main body of politicians and made her way towards the front of the room. Based on her experience with the humans of the Systems Alliance, Benezia guessed that the person was around their mid-fifties, though it could be hard to tell due to the diversity of the species.

Any further speculation by the Matriarch was halted as the doctor began speaking, "Hello, my name is Dr. Sadie Endesha, I'll be working as a consultant for yourselves and the UEG Senate to clarify and solve difficulties with connecting Human networks to your, er, 'Extranet'. I've worked extensively with the Huragok in altering old Covenant communications systems to talk with UEG protocols, though I am hopeful that the Citadel's networks are much more friendly towards different systems. All those technical details can wait until later, however. For now, are there any questions you have that I can perhaps answer?"

"What do humans use your version of the Extranet for?" Benezia asked after taking a second to adjust to the different accent.

Sadie raised one eyebrow slightly in what the Matriarch recognized as a look of confusion as she responded, "Communication, though I think you're referring to something a bit more specific."

"Indeed," the Asari confirmed with a small smile. "All species have access to the Extranet, made possible by the Mass Relays, but each one uses it differently. The Asari utilize chat rooms for political and social debate, open for all to participate and engage in. Salarians publish scientific research and the Volus use it to communicate between their banking clans. Citizens of the Systems Alliance have used their connection to investigate the galaxy, exploring the intricacies of galactic society. Is the same true for the UEG?"

"I'm sure that many people would use it for exactly that reason," Dr. Endesha answered confidently after processing Benezia's clarification. "As for Humanity as a whole, our use of communication networks is far more broad. Much like yourselves, the Huragok communicate for a specific purpose, sharing improvements to pieces of technology in their case. Some other former Covenant species are learning how to use social networks in a more diverse manner as well, though the stifling influence of thousands of years of strict religious doctrine against technology does not fall easily. Humans, however, are different."

Sadie glanced to the humans in the Citadel Delegation before returning her attention to the Ambassador as she continued, "Our use of services such as Waypoint, ChatterNet, and a variety of others is far more complex than any one purpose. There are chat forums and scientific journals and all of that general information, but it goes far, far deeper than that. Not every piece of information on every network is accessible to every person, but the combination of systems still contains the sum of Human knowledge. It's a much more complex system than what information I know about your Extranet, but its use is much more varied. Does that answer your question?"

"Well enough for the moment. One of the major concerns that the Council has is how much traffic a connection to the Wardens would create. Comm Buoys may be small Mass Relays, but they still have limits for the number of users. From what you describe, allowing human citizens access to the Extranet would validate these concerns," Benezia stated carefully.

"Limiting the amount of data is an issue that we've run into with old Covvie systems as well. Part of solving that problem lies in how we connect to the Extranet. I know one of the proposed solutions was using the connection that has already been established with the Systems Alliance. While certainly possible, it would drastically slow down service for those who already use it," Sadie explained.

The Asari Matriarch nodded and inquired, "What about a direct connection?"

Dr. Endesha grimaced slightly as she answered, "Establishing a line of communication using your Mass Relays and Comm Buoys would be prohibitively expensive from what I was told by Ambassador Mousset. Even more importantly, the UNSC doesn't have the forces to defend such a tenuous connection over that long of a distance."

"Your government would need to establish communications using their own methods to Citadel territory then?" Benezia questioned, though her tone made it obvious that it was merely for confirmation and not out of confusion.

"Yes, and that's where the technical details become important. Specifically, where to place such a hub, how to actually connect it, translating the information from one format to another, and all the complications that come with that."

Benezia kept her expression carefully pleasant as she responded, "I will let the Council know about your requirements so that they may look into securing a location for a connection. We do have several technical experts with us, but let us leave those specific discussions for a later date."

"I look forward to meeting with them. Ambassador," Sadie said, nodding to the Asari respectfully before making her way back to the side of the room. Several members of the Citadel Delegation seemed slightly put off by the quick interaction, which made sense if they were used to the drawn out debates of the Citadel Council.

Disregarding that, Ellis once more began speaking, "Thank you for your commitment, Dr. Endesha. For the moment, I would draw our attention to the matter of immigration. Much like connecting our communications, there has been a significant amount of attention directed towards the number of citizens from other species in the Wardens entering UEG space. I know that members of the Citadel have open borders for the most part, and I am glad to say that the UEG supports that policy."

"The Council will be pleased to hear that news," Benezia stated with a smile.

"I am sure they will," Ellis replied. "There are several legal considerations that I would discuss with you now, however, if you are amiable to that."

The Asari Matriarch inclined her head and responded, "I will listen to any issues you may present."

Several papers were shuffled around on the lectern in front of the human before she continued, "Nothing far fetched, merely straightening out the legal standing of any Citadel citizens that may somehow make their way into UEG territory. As you may be aware, any being within the UEG is subject to our laws and will be tried in our courts for any violation, but they are also afforded all rights due any non-citizen. Full legal documentation, including the rights of Citadel citizens, will be provided to the Citadel's Embassy."

"It seems that that is a common practice, as it is not too different from the laws governing all species of the Citadel Council," Ambassador Benezia stated. "From my introduction to the UEG Senate, I gather that any citizen of the Citadel accused of a crime may seek legal help from the Citadel's Embassy?"

Ellis glanced up from her papers and answered, "That is correct. All defendants have a right to legal representation, a right which can be met by either attorneys provided by the UEG or by your Embassy."

"What of beings from Citadel space that are not members of the Council?" the Matriarch inquired.

"As in what will their status be?" the human asked. At the affirmative response, Ellis explained, "The Citadel will not be held accountable for their actions. They will receive the same treatment as citizens of the Citadel within UEG space, with the difference being that you may argue on behalf of your citizens. I assume you ask because of the Quarian situation?"

Benezia replied, "It was a concern of the Council, especially after the Wardens of the Mantle expressed interest in treating with the Migrant Fleet."

"Right," Gass said after a short pause. "We do want to discuss the Quarians, but I'd like to finish talking about Citadel beings first. More specifically, the matter of permanent immigration from the Citadel as well as emigration of UEG citizens to Citadel space."

"Absolutely. There are several issues with that topic that the Council asked me to address specifically, but perhaps you will mention them before I may," the Asari stated.

Ellis shrugged slightly and responded, "I am fairly confident that there will be some overlap. One of the largest and most obvious points is transportation. Your form of travel using Mass Effect would be capable of reaching our location, but it'd be a long journey without the Relays. As we discussed when talking about the Extranet just now, establishing a line of your smaller versions would be too expensive and they would pass near Kig Yar territory. Rather than trying to organize protection for your craft as they pass through the outskirts of hostile space and other possible dangers, the UEG has a number of private businesses devoted to interstellar travel services."

"As you can imagine, they are very interested in participating in the inevitable market of tourism that will develop with the meeting of two starfaring civilizations. Of course, the problem is that these are human companies rather than a free market that the Citadel can participate in. To try and alleviate any issues, prospective companies have agreed to be regulated by Citadel terms when making flights to and from your civilization. Would that be acceptable?" the Majority Leader inquired.

Several seconds passed as Matriarch Benezia considered the suggestion before she answered, "From the secrecy displayed during First Contact, the Council was not expecting access to any of your worlds. I do not have instructions on what they want negotiated, but I will discuss it with them when I am able. If there are concerns about distance, however, would it be possible for Citadel parties to purchase ships capable of making the journey?"

"The Council has already experimented with slipspace technology under the direction of the Systems Alliance, correct?" Gass questioned.

Benezia nodded and replied, "Yes, but there were difficulties."

"Not surprising. Most scientists and engineers who were knowledgeable about slipspace technologies were withdrawn to the Inner Colonies to avoid the Covenant. Very few Outer Colonies had the infrastructure to support those particular fields," Ellis explained. "Unluckily, trade of slipspace drives will not be conducted by the UEG due to security concerns. From the information Ambassador Mousset has obtained from your, uh, Codex, I think it's called, there are areas in your galaxy that face major issues with piracy. The possibility of a slipspace drive being stolen and used by a criminal group with absolutely no idea of what they were doing isn't something we can risk."

"I have little doubt that the Council could easily deal with an unarmed civilian ship, even if it did not use Mass Effect," Benezia argued.

A slightly incredulous stare was directed at the Asari as the Majority Leader countered, "You've already lost ships to faulty slipspace drives in your earlier experiments. Would Citadel companies be willing to run that risk?"

"With your reliably tested drives, yes. How could such ships, even in the hands of hostiles, be a threat to your heavily armored warships? It seems like a manufactured threat," the Matriarch stated with a slightly confused tone.

Ellis Gass sighed and began to explain, "Your ignorance, not personally but rather as a civilization, is the crux of this issue, Ambassador. What you must understand is that under the laws of the United Earth Government, and the Wardens of the Mantle for that matter, slipspace drives are considered Weapons of Mass Destruction."

It wasn't hard to see that this threw off many members of the Citadel Delegation as even the Asari Matriarch leading them looked shocked. After a short moment to process the new information, she glanced back to the humans from the Systems Alliance for a second and stated, "We were unaware that slipspace drives could be utilized as weapons. Of course, they are not categorized as such due to the capabilities of the ships they are on, correct?"

"Correct, the vessels themselves have nothing to do with the classification. It is the destructive potential of the device itself that is considered. The proper handling and accounting of slipspace drives is well established in our laws, and it is very clear that drives cannot be traded or otherwise distributed to unauthorized parties," Ellis explained.

Before Benezia could argue, Gass continued, "Yes, we could train engineers from the Citadel to adhere to our procedures. It would take years, but it could be done. With the heavy civilian usage, they are not simple rules either, adding yet more delay to allowing trade of slipspace technologies. The problem is that any slipspace-capable ships we exchanged would be beholden to your laws, not ours, and the Citadel has no policies on slipspace drives because you've never had them. "

"That is true," the Matriarch admitted after several seconds of thought. "I will discuss the situation as it is with the Council to see what may be done to solve it. I do believe that you are correct, however, in your assessment of the time it will take. Several members of the Council will not appreciate such limitations being pushed by a foreign power."

"If it prevents disaster, then so be it," the Majority Leader replied.

Benezia nodded in understanding at that before suggesting, "Since we have already drifted onto the topic, I would like to talk about possible terms of trade in more detail. Many merchants are eager to begin marketing goods from the Wardens and the Council has no reason to deny them. At First Contact it was mentioned that a number of products and items would not be exchanged, with a more detailed list being provided later. It was also mentioned that independent dealings, such as ours, could include stricter terms. Do you have a summary of what those new conditions may be?"

"I do, actually," Ellis responded. "The UEG will adhere to all the limits set out by the Wardens to the Citadel council, which shouldn't be surprising. That immediately excludes military equipment from any trade, along with items classified as WMDs. What changes in the dealings between the Citadel and UEG specifically are the regulations surrounding controlled substances. Specifics will be made available when we touch on the subject in more detail, but that is what to generally expect."

"Your laws do not allow for the exchange of weapons?" the Asari asked with slight confusion. "From my experience with the Systems Alliance, civilian ownership of weapons is widespread. After your experience with the Covenant War, I would think the same would be true in the UEG."

Gass turned her head to the side slightly as she listened before explaining, "Military equipment by UEG law is material for the sole use of the UNSC and planetary CMA divisions. What this means is that if a Citadel business were to negotiate a deal with, say, Misriah Armory for a shipment of handguns or some other small arms, there wouldn't be much fuss. If, instead, this company tried to buy light machine guns, our laws would forbid the transaction from being carried out."

"Interesting difference, and I assume that the criteria for which weapons are restricted will be covered in more detail," Benezia said, receiving the expected affirmative answer in response. "Obviously the Council is interested in hearing about more than just what cannot be traded, however. What are the products that could be freely exchanged?"

Several pages were discarded to the desk beside the human before she answered, "Any product that citizens of the UEG have access to is available. From the information we received from Ambassador Mousset, I know that some of those items will be considered illegal by the Citadel's laws. Classification of individual items will need to be performed by someone authorized by the Council as there are no experts on Citadel law within the UEG as of now. Even so, if the Council wishes to make exceptions to formalize mercantile accords, then that is their prerogative."

"Aside from that, all technologies designed for medical uses are available to any interested parties, once again limited by the laws set by the Council. I would imagine that several of these might have already been introduced by the Systems Alliance, though I don't know for sure. Related to that, however, is the topic of augmentation technologies. Humanity has developed a number of procedures designed to enhance the lives of citizens and rehabilitate those caught in accidents. The issue that I see is how the Council wishes to deal with the equipment we use for those operations. I know that your laws governing this field are quite stringent, so I understand that you will need to speak to the Council before giving anything close to a solid answer."

"That is true, though I must admit that I am slightly surprised to hear that augmentations are so widespread. Medical augmentations to fix maladies are allowed under Citadel laws, but enhancement programs are strictly limited," the Ambassador stated candidly.

A small sigh came from the human as she countered, "Humanity has fought wars since the beginning of civilization, leaving an untold number of injured soldiers and civilians behind with life-altering injuries. Whatever ethical issues the Council may have with it, there is no mistaking the fact that innovations in the medical field have improved the quality of life for those affected by conflict. After the horrendous cost of the war against the Covenant, even more focus has been put into this area. Whether the Citadel takes advantage of our offer to share that with you is up to the Council."

"Of course, I was not trying to argue against its use in your society but merely highlighting the issue of its use in ours. I did not see many medical facilities in the Systems Alliance during my time as an Ambassador on their capital world, so I must admit to being ignorant as to the extent of human medical advances," Benezia told the UEG official.

"Understood. Many human lives were saved using procedures that would be considered illegal by the Council, so I wished to express its significance," Ellis explained. "As for our medical capabilities, at this time they are limited not by our technical knowledge but rather the human body itself. We can replace severed limbs with cloned equivalents, fix birth defects, solve some of the most challenging diseases encountered in biomes throughout the UEG. What is even more notable, however, is that the effects that have become so widely accepted that many people don't even think about them anymore."

"For example, one of the most prominent differences between the species that make up the Citadel Council is the lifespan of each. Salarians live intensely for a short time while Asari can live for close to a millenium, facts which you obviously know far better than any human. What you must understand about human society is that such concerns fell away several centuries ago, before we left our own solar system even," Gass said softly.

Her words had an obvious effect on the members of delegation as looks passed between them. Before any of them could speak, the Senate Majority Leader finished her explanation," Our technology is at a different place than yours because our ethics apparently took a different turn. There are many philosophical experts eager to explore why that is, but for the purposes of establishing any trade agreements it is something that must be kept in mind."

"How is this accomplished?" Ambassador T'soni questioned eventually.

"The technical details are beyond me, though you should be able to find the particulars on Waypoint. As for the technology itself, it is widely known as Crisper, a fudged acronym for the actual abbreviation of CRISPR which itself stands for the scientific name of the process. It's basically a method for editing genes which could conceivably be adapted to other physiologies. Beyond that, I don't know," Ellis answered.

Benezia frowned slightly and said, "Genetic modification is extremely limited, so I do not know how well suited members of the Citadel are to using such procedures. It would be entirely likely that the stigma against gene-mods would kill any possible commercial ventures that worked within our existing laws."

"That seems to be the case with many things," Gass responded. "We may continue our discussion on that in greater depth once the Council has decided how they would like to handle those products. If you have any questions that need to be answered, experts can be made available to help."

After the Asari Ambassador had given her thanks, the human resumed speaking, "A topic that might be much easier to discuss would be the exchange of raw materials. As far as I am aware, there are few regulations in Citadel laws regarding resources beyond Mass Effect. While the Systems Alliance may have introduced the Citadel to Titanium-A, there are many other unique elements that might interest Citadel businesses."

"Absolutely," Benezia confirmed calmly. "The Systems Alliance has been quite forthcoming in sharing many such things, but supply has become a major problem. Most notable is the keen interest that companies have in the possible applications of the the material you call Titanium-A. Much of that business has been limited by the small amount actually in circulation. From the impressive size of your vessels, this does not seem to be an issue for the UEG."

The Majority Leader replied, "That is correct, it is considered a common element for us. I do want to point out, however, that it will likely only be useful to you in industrial fields such as construction and fabrication. As much as a third of the mass of an armored ship is Titanium-A, making it difficult to use with you FTL drives. There aren't any notable regulations around trading it, though, something which is true for many of our raw materials."

"Many does not imply all."

"True, but the restricted materials are unlikely to interest Citadel species," Ellis argued. "The list of limited elements consists of items that could be weaponized, such as highly radioactive materials."

Realization dawned in the Asari's eyes as she retorted, "The restriction of those materials is not an issue at all. Nuclear weapons are frowned upon after their use during the Krogan Rebellions, and while several militaries do keep stockpiles, they are not actively deployed. There are no nuclear reactors outside of research facilities that I know of, so such resources are hardly in high demand."

"Excellent, we may begin negotiations on specific quantity exchanges whenever you would like then, Ambassador."

"Most deals will be handled by either separate governments or specific companies, but I would be willing to act as an intermediary in any of those discussions if necessary. I assume that transport would be provide by your suppliers?" the Asari inquired.

Gass nodded and responded, "For the same reasons as before."

"Wonderful, I will alert the relevant parties to begin the exchange of specific terms. On the note of resource availability, however, I would like to turn our attention to the issue presented by the Quarians," Benezia suggested.

"Understood, they do seem to be a major concern for the Council," Ellis observed.

The Matriarch grimaced ever so slightly as she explained, "Their creation of the Geth led to Morning War and could have very well led to a galactic war on the scale of the Krogan Rebellions. They currently survive by harvesting resources system by system, often infringing on existing rights laid out when the area was originally explored. As much as the Council may be confused about the Wardens of the Mantle offering to accept them, they won't argue against it."

"I don't see how it can be confusing. Without help, they face the very real threat of going completely extinct. That's not acceptable to us, be that Humanity or the Wardens, for a great many reasons. Ultimately, we have the capability to settle the Quarians within our territory and we're willing to do so to keep them from extinction. We have not yet contacted them, but with members of their species spread throughout your galaxy, I'm sure the news of our offer during First Contact has reached them. All that we need from the Council is permission to send a diplomatic vessel to meet with them and then use of your Relay system to transport their fleet out of your space," the Majority Leader outlined.

"Arrangements will be made to allow you to travel through Citadel space to meet with the Migrant Fleet. Once the Council informs me of their location and provides credentials for your ship, I will relay to you. It is likely that a Citadel escort will be present up until they exit our territory in your galaxy. I assume that once they reach that point, you will take over their transport?" the Ambassador questioned.

Gass confirmed that as she replied, "Again, for the same reasons as before. Whether the Quarians wish to try and guide their entire fleet to a new world or not is up to them, but we will find a system where they may begin to rebuild."

"Quarians are extremely attached to their ships," Benezia warned. "Without them, they would have all died to the Geth assault. I very much doubt that they will give any consideration to your proposal if the cost is their Fleet. More importantly, they will ask for your help in taking their homeworld back from the Geth. The Council informs you that it will not allow that."

It took several seconds before Ellis carefully said, "You seem quite confident in that assumption."

"I was present when the Quarians met with the Citadel Council to request aid in defeating the Geth during the Morning War. I was in the Council Chambers when their Embassy on the Citadel was rejected. Both times they were completely focused on reclaiming Rannoch, not settling on a new world," the Asari Matriarch explained.

"And the Council's refusal to allow us to intervene on Rannoch?"

Ambassador T'soni frowned slightly and answered, "It would require fleets to mount an assault on the Geth, fleets which would need to pass through the territory of Citadel members. The Geth are rogue Artificial Intelligence, meaning that their cyber warfare capabilities are largely unknown. If they were able to take control of your ships, they could be used to attack Citadel worlds. Even if that did not happen, it still might provoke them to emerge from the Perseus Veil."

"I can understand that concern. If the Quarians absolutely insist on retaking their homeworld, then we will not support them in the endeavor. The Wardens of the Mantle do not have the presence in your galaxy to ensure success in an assault of that scale, nor do we have any hostility towards the Geth," Ellis responded. "Our mission is diplomatic, regardless of what the Migrant Fleet decides. If they deny our offer of a new world, then we shall leave them until later."

"The Geth have destroyed every Council vessel to enter the Veil since the Morning War. I can assure you that they are hostile, regardless of your species," Benezia said confidently.

Gass gave a small shrug and countered, "They have not taken hostile against the UEG or any other members of the Wardens and thus will be treated as a neutral party for the time being. By the Council's wishes, we will refrain from sending any vessels into the Veil unless contacted by the Geth. Our negotiations with the Quarians, however, will proceed as planned once the Council allows our diplomats to travel to the Migrant Fleet."

"I will make preparations for that," the Asari reassured. "With that addressed, however, I would like to discuss the proposal from the Wardens to conduct joint operations with Citadel forces. I know that there is a meeting already arranged for some members of my delegation who are also to be assigned to a joint ground team, but there are several diplomatic hurdles that the Council would like addressed."

"First among these is the issue of command. For members of the Citadel Council, combining fleets in the manner proposed is usually only done among close allies to create unit cohesion in case of an attack. Unluckily, the Wardens of the Mantle and the Citadel Council are not close allies. We do not know how your military operates, nor do you have any experience with our own. Since this idea was proposed by the Wardens, the Council is curious if there is already a solution in place for your ranks."

Ellis nodded thoughtfully as she answered, "Currently, the commander of a joint fleet outside of Warden Territory is assigned before they deploy. For joint fleets in UEG space, a human is the commander of the force, while a Sangheili Fleetmaster takes control in their territory, and so on. We can address this in an official capacity with military representatives from your delegation, but I think that strategy would be a good point to start from."

"That suggestion has merit, but it does bring up the issue of unlawful orders. Several Citadel Treaties put clear restrictions in place for military operations, and even if our ships are within your territory, they are still bound by those laws. I am fairly confident in the assumption that a similar situation exists with your forces, correct?" Benezia asked.

"Many members of the Wardens do not have well defined Laws of War due to their involvement with the Covenant," Gass stated. "Some progress has been made, but most of our focus has been on creating independent functioning societies. Without consulting UNSC leadership I can't say how such situations are handled with regards to disciplinary action, but I do know that rejecting orders that would be unlawful to your people would not be cause for a diplomatic incident."

Before the Matriarch could reply, Ellis continued, "I do want to make clear, however, that these combined fleets would not be operating within space held by members of the Wardens. There are some policing activities within our borders, but the UEG as a society tends to look down upon the military acting as law enforcement. While internal issues are handled by Colonial Administration for the most part, the UNSC protects us from foreign threats. Any operations with Citadel forces would be against outside threats, mostly some few remaining Covenant remnants or something else with low risk."

"Once again, however, we return to the issue of how your ships would get to us. I know that the offer was made during first Contact to allow your vessels to fight against the Kig-Yar Menace, and while that is open, it might not be the most feasible option. Between your outposts in this galaxy and even the furthest Warden influence, there is a whole lot of nothing, at least as we know it. The Council has explored with tendrils, reaching a respectable ways in the galaxy but not extensively surveying all the territory on the way. Admittedly, the Wardens of the Mantle have not seriously explored outside of the Orion Arm either. Even the Covenant, with all its fleets, never devoted its efforts to exploration for the simple reason that they didn't have to. Forerunner Luminaries guided them and everything else was bypassed through Slipspace," the Majority Leader explained.

"If they only went to Forerunner sites, how did the Covenant ever discover new species?" Benezia questioned.

Ellis gave a huff and answered, "They were found by other species for the most part. Any other meetings were brought about in their pursuit of Forerunner ruins. For example, Humanity met the Covenant when a Kig-Yar ship raided a human vessel that had dropped out of slipspace due to issues with its drive."

"The large device that we saw when we first landed was made by the Forerunners, correct?" the Asari pushed.

A smile grew onto the human's face as she replied, "Indeed, good connection. How did we avoid detection if we had such a prominent structure on our homeworld? A question with an unsatisfying answer. Quite simply, all that saved Earth from immediate discovery was luck."

"Really?" Benezia said skeptically.

"You'd be surprised by how often that answer is used to describe events during the War," Ellis warned with slight melancholy. "What you have to understand is that Forerunner technology was held as sacred to the Covenant, and thus the only species allowed to deal with it were the San'Shyuum, or Prophets as they were so aptly named. For the moment, the exact technical details of how and why the Covenant did not find Humanity sooner are beyond unknown to me."

"What we do know is that the Portal near New Mombasa is special among the objects left by the Forerunners. It isn't detectable on regular Luminaries, and it was only by obtaining coordinates to Earth from a specific Forerunner facility elsewhere that the Covenant found Earth. In fact, the original force that arrived in our system didn't even know that it was our homeworld. For whatever reason, the Covenant Luminaries did not mark human locations unless if they were extremely close, thus allowing the UEG to slip under the radar for thousands of years," Gass finished.

One of the Salarians in the delegation behind the Ambassador muttered something to the Asari, leading her to inquire, "Is that the only one of these artifacts within your territory? Considering how large the Covenant was to include multiple species, it seems odd that they could discover so many relics while you only have one."

The Majority Leader nodded slightly and agreed, "It is curious, isn't it? The number of Forerunner objects in the Orion Arm is unusually high, and not only that but the prominence of those structures is obvious. They aren't are small outposts but large-scale astroengineering projects. For all that activity, however, Earth and the immediate surrounding area is largely untouched, with the few ruins nearby being deliberately hidden."

"It's fairly obvious that there is some sort of history between the Forerunners and Humanity," Gass said bluntly. "Our status as Reclaimers leads to no other conclusion, but the historical record on Earth points to Humanity being primitive tribes far before the cutoff date of 100,000 years. We're still investigating all of that ourselves, and I can assure you that we won't rest until an answer is found. For now, however, the UEG at least is still dealing with the after-effects of a devastating Interstellar war, the introduction to alien life, and the realization that, for some reason, an ancient galactic power decided to grant the Mantle of Responsibility for all life in the galaxy to Humanity. As flexible and adaptable as humans may be, even our civilization needs time to process the implications of that. For the moment, I cannot answer your questions for the simple reason that I do not know the answers myself."

After giving the Citadel Ambassador a moment to process that, Ellis changed the subject, "We've wandered off topic, however, so let's return to our original discussion. From the reports I've received from UNSC High Command regarding the creation of joint operations units with the Citadel, the actual action that these forces see will have to be in your galaxy. According to their analysis, your ships would be ill suited to fight against the enemies of the Wardens."

"I can assure you that vessels of the Citadel Council are outfitted with the best Eezo cores and kinetic barriers available. Our forces have experience dealing with pirates and other such criminals, which is what seems to be one of the main issues confronting the Wardens of the Mantle," Benezia protested.

"You have experience fighting against those problems in your galaxy," the Senate Leader countered. "That is a completely different matter from fighting forces in ours. It is the same principle of protecting merchant services, but on a different scale. I have the intelligence reports in front of me," Ellis stated, holding up a thick sheaf of paper. "To summarize the plethora of information here, what Citadel forces fight against are usually small groups of older ships, correct?"

"Yes, but-"

Ellis quickly cut the Ambassador off, "But nothing. I apologize for interrupting, but the pirate forces that the Wardens deal with usually have fleets of former Covenant vessels. They may be badly maintained and lack coordination, but they are fully equipped military vessels. It isn't uncommon to find ships in those formations that are capable of orbital glassing. As the UNSC sees it, your ships lack the firepower to stand up in combat against the Kig-Yar menace. It isn't an insult, simply a different scale of combat that your forces do not employ."

Having dealt with the Systems Alliance Parliament in sometimes terse discussions, Matriarch T'soni easily brushed aside the interruption from the human before her as she asked, "Your military commanders truly believe that there is such a large difference?"

"I won't claim to know what UNSC HIGHCOM thinks, but the Office of Naval Intelligence analysts that put together this report after perusing your public Extranet during First Contact certainly think so. One of the key points that they draw attention to is something that you mentioned earlier, specifically the use of nuclear weapons. During the Covenant War, one of the few reliable ways the UNSC had of taking out a Covenant vessel was the use of nuclear warheads, deployed en mass. Rather than put your forces in the position where they would have to use such weapons, the recommendation was made to assemble joint forces closer to Council territory."

"Most members of the Citadel will not easily allow a foreign warship past their borders," Benezia warned.

"Absolutely understandable and reasonable," Gass reassured her. "Our recommendation is the have joint fleets operate closer to your territory, allowing your ships a place to easily resupply while ours do not have to worry about violating sovereign space. Obviously we do not have the full official analysis from the Council, but based off information from your Extranet, the Terminus would work well, as would the area around your outpost in this galaxy."

The Asari nodded thoughtfully and responded, "Specific details such as operating theater can be left to the actual military commanders, as they will know best where forces could be assigned. I think that that recommendation will go over well with the Council, though I cannot approve it without their assent. Before we move on from the subject, however, there is one last thing that I was told to address."

"Let me guess, the ground team?" Ellis said with a hint of amusement.

"Indeed," Benezia confirmed. "The Council has several updates to give regarding organizing such a unit. First, they have selected a vessel to which this combined team of soldiers could be assigned. It is a Systems Alliance vessel by the name of SSV Normandy with the designation of a stealth frigate. While it was developed with cooperation between the Alliance and Turian Hierarchy, it will be commanded by the Systems Alliance."

Gass glanced over to the UNSC officials in the room and replied, "Good to hear that the logistics are moving along well."

Matriarch T'soni smiled slightly at that as she agreed, "It will be a good display to those concerned about possible conflict between us. To add onto that, a crew has already been formed and multiple members of the Citadel have assigned forces to the ship. The Systems Alliance has also selected a mission for the Normandy that should allow the team time to adjust to their roles."

"I know that you stated that the ship was a stealth frigate, so I guess my first question is whether this mission can be disclosed publicly?" Ellis inquired.

"It can, there are no problems with that. I should clarify that this rundown will test the stealth systems but not make use of them in a truly dangerous situation. The task is a fairly simple one, an easy pickup off one of the colony worlds that the Alliance has established in the Citadel galaxy," the Asari explained.

The human seemed satisfied with that, allowing Benezia to continue, "While the Council discussed the matter with your Ambassador, there are still several questions that we have regarding the specific forces you will contribute to this effort."

"I'll answer as best I can, but the UNSC very well might have better explanations," Ellis responded.

Benezia tried to reassure the Senate Leader as she started, "They aren't questions of a military nature, I'll leave those for the meeting between your representatives and other members of my delegation who understand that side of things far better than myself. Instead, my questions are more focused on how you wish to deal with public relations between citizens of Citadel space and the soldiers your forces contribute to this joint unit. Many of the operations that could be assigned to the SSV Normandy will involve interaction with civilian elements."

"I can assure you that the forces assigned to work directly with your own are trained for civilian situations. As for public relations, that will be determined by the orders they receive from whatever commander they are assigned in this force," Ellis explained.

Slight surprise showed itself for a second on the Matriarch's face before she responded, "You will not be handling it closely then?"

"So long as there are no outstanding issues, it is not a concern. Most of the attention will be directed towards larger fleet actions rather than a single stealth ship in any case," Ellis said.

"That is probably true," Benezia granted. "I'm sure that the Systems Alliance will exercise due diligence in selecting missions for the team. Considering the role that this plays in displaying how the Citadel and Wardens may work together against common threats, the Council may also assign tasks to the Normandy."

When there was no argument from the human official, Ambassador T'soni inquired, "Have the Wardens of the Mantle decided on who they shall send to join this crew?"

"As you know from when you mentioned it earlier, there is a meeting between members of your delegation and the forces we have assigned to the Normandy. That obviously covers the UNSC's contribution to this effort, but several other members of the Wardens have also allocated their own soldiers. This was declared in passing during First Contact but fell to the wayside during the succeeding discussions. I don't know what those forces will be, so that is another question to direct towards the UNSC," Ellis replied.

"Understood. I look forward to discussing many of these matters with you in greater detail once I have contacted the Council. Unless if there is anything else to address, we shall head to the Citadel Embassy," the Ambassador stated.

The Majority Leader shook her head and responded, "Nothing that requires official attention. As the coordinator for your travel here might have informed you, there are a multitude of events that members of your party might be interested in attending. Inform us when you have settled in and are ready to continue negotiations in greater depth. There is no hurry, I understand that it may take some time to contact the Council and receive direction from them. Other than that, this session is now ended."

On that somewhat dry note, the mass of humans began to shift around the Citadel Delegation as they stood from their seats. Conversation almost immediately filled the room, echoing softly in the large space. As Ambassador Benezia began to talk with a group of human Senators, Shepard settled back slightly with the knowledge that it would still be some time before the delegation could leave for their temporary home on Earth.

---

17th Day of 5th Month, 2459/June 6, 2589/June 6, 2180

UNSC Pelican

Low Earth Orbit

It had been just over three weeks since arriving on the true homeworld of Humanity and yet it was only now that Shepard had the chance to truly be in her element. As entertaining as it was to watch politicians endlessly debate subjects for hours at a time, which was to say not at all, there was little else to do when standing guard for the Ambassador. Luckily for the sanity of all involved, Captain Vidinos was able to see reason. After talking with Benezia directly, he quickly understood that the presence of soldiers during negotiations was more of a hindrance than anything else.

Thus, the Commander, along with every other military member of the delegation, were left to their own devices. With no training facility at the Embassy, for the obvious reason that it wasn't designed for that in any way, they spent most of their time wandering around the absolutely massive city they found themselves in. After an incident where one of the Salarians became lost in the canyon walls of glass and had to be tracked down, the unguided expeditions into human society came to a quick halt.

Jane had followed several of these ventures, learning about the culture of the United Earth Government and providing some insight as to the differences in the Systems Alliance. What she always kept in mind, however, was that this was merely one city out of hundreds on Earth alone. Considering the differences between the few dozen Systems Alliance worlds she had been to, the hundreds of planets under the UEG inevitably possessed radical differences in culture.

It was that mentality that prepared her to deal with the change from the civilian world of the UEG to the militaristic mannerisms of the UNSC. After only a few short weeks of waiting, the time for meeting the new human members of the Normandy crew was here. A quick gathering of those involved was held in the Embassy lobby, allowing Shepard to finally know for sure who she would be working with on her next assignment.

Commanding the ship would be Captain David Anderson, a respected Alliance officer who had had experience fighting against the Covenant before fleeing with the rest of the Exodus Fleet. From their interaction on the way out to Earth, Jane had already decided that she liked the Captain as both a competent commander and sociable person. The only other Systems Alliance human that came with the Citadel's Delegation was a Marine by the name of Kaidan Alenko. A short greeting was all the chance Shepard had to interact with him, however, so she reserved judgement until later.

While she was biologically Asari, Liara was technically part of the Systems Alliance entourage as well due to her position as an Alliance science officer. Apparently the Matriarchs on Thessia had had some issues in choosing a squad, at least that was what the Commander assumed based on the Justicar that had come instead. That was all that Shepard really knew about the stoic Asari, and that was only because she had asked one of the Spectres. If she was being honest with herself, Jane respected the Justicar for her impressive ability to simply fade into the background, unlike the other Matriarchs that Shepard knew.

Of course, the inclusion of the two Spectres in the crew seemed like a forgone conclusion to Shepard from the start, a hunch she had confirmed that on their trip to Earth. From talking to the two during their time on the human homeworld, she was confident that they were less interested in interfering on behalf of the Council and more so in observing the capabilities of the Wardens. Having never met a Spectre before, however, Jane couldn't decide if that was odd or simply something they were investigating on their own. Whether they were undertaking those observations for the Council or themselves was also unclear, though she never pressed the subject.

Finishing out the party of Citadel species that would be meeting with their UNSC counterparts was a Salarian as well as Drell, oddly enough. While her status as XO of the SSV Normandy would've had Jane working with Mordin Solus anyways due to his position as Chief Science Officer, Liara had insisted on talking with the Salarian more extensively since he would be her direct superior on board the ship. As for the Drell, he seemed to be quite apt at fading from view without a sound, much like the Justicar.

Currently, Shepard and every other member of the Normandy's crew from the Citadel Delegation were on board a 'Pelican' headed to meet with the UNSC soldiers. From the acceleration at the start of their journey as well as the subtle but noticeable feeling of artificial gravity that Shepard was experienced with, she predicted that they were in orbit of Earth. That made sense to her, especially with the UNSC's proclivity to building large objects. If their ships were as large as she predicted, then their stations would be absolutely massive.

This was confirmed as the windowless craft landed and opened the back hatch, allowing a view out into a hangar. While it was good to see that there was atmosphere, the thin blue barrier between them and the void outside was quite disconcerting. Jane was quickly distracted from that, however, as the group was directed out of the hangar and into a maze of hallways. Several surprisingly large thoroughfares later and they were led into an observation room.

As interesting as the view through the large window at the front of the room might have been, what drew the attention of everyone were the four massive figures already present. Jane immediately recognized the distinctive armor of the guards that had accompanied the UEG Ambassador during First Contact. Even though she had seen them before, the distance had belayed their true size. The Spectres seemed unsurprised at this, however, as they moved forward and drew the attention of the much larger beings.

For as large as they were, it was amazing how the only sound from all four of the armored humans were mere thuds from their footfalls. As the two groups reached each other, Shepard took the time to examine each soldier individually with the knowledge that they would soon be under her command on the Normandy.

The first of the UNSC soldiers to catch Shepard's attention was an obvious marksman, at least judging by the optical gear affixed multiple places on their grey armor. As for gender, Jane didn't have the slightest clue as the heavy plate armor concealed any indication. Such was the situation for every one of the humans, though.

Next to draw the Commander's gaze was the being clad in blue armor, probably a scout or pilot of some kind given the wide view allowed by the golden faceplate. After that was the one leading the group of four, probably a rifleman or close quarters specialist given the heavier armor, once again blue in color.

Lastly was the most recognizable figure, one that seemed to be prevalent in almost any mention of the Covenant War and the years following. While she hadn't realized it during First Contact, Jane and every other member of the delegation would've had to have been blind to miss the importance of this soldier in UEG culture. From wandering around a single city, they had seen multiple statues and other hard-to-miss reminders of the figure.

Green armor and a reflective golden visor gave away the Master Chief, a designation that was more a name than a rank at this point. Even though Jane had only spent a relatively short time browsing around on the Waypoint, it was this figure that was credited with winning the war, at least according to the plethora of forum boards and news articles she could find. Finding information on him was difficult not because it didn't exist but rather because there was so much to sort through and absolutely no way to tell what was real or fake in the time Shepard had.

Going over that information once more, the Commander realized just how little it actually told her about any of the soldiers that she'd be commanding. If the four armored figures were anywhere close to the same level as the apparent best of the UNSC, then she was looking at a Spec Ops team that could give Spectres a run for their money. At least, that was according to the Waypoint, any real evaluation would have to wait until combat.

Even so, Shepard's quick evaluation had told her something important, which was that the armor of these four was distinctly different from any other she had seen in use in the UNSC. Multiple pictures of other similar soldiers were easy to find, but all of it seemed different. It was small things that only a seasoned veteran would notice, but that was exactly what Jane was. While describing it sufficiently escaped her abilities, Shepard just felt that the armor these soldiers wore was too sleek. Jane wanted to lay it on their obvious elite nature, but something about the plates and suit underneath was off.

Picking out the word that her instincts gave her, Shepard simply labelled the design as inhuman.

Concealing her inner thoughts and shelving the consideration for the moment, the Commander turned her attention to the blue soldier in heavy CQC armor as he addressed the Citadel group.

---

I know it's a bit of a cliffhanger, but oh well. We're finally getting away from all the bureaucratic stuff and moving towards the obvious focus of both fandoms. Huzzah!

Going to be a fun chapter next time.

CRISPR gene editing technology is already in development today, so that isn't just me making up some random nonsense. As for the Crisper acronym, that's my doing since it seems obvious.

Now for Review Responses! These will cover reviews from both Chapters 16 and 17. I know it's been a while, so apologies about that once again. For responses, later reviews will be listed first, because I'm lazy and can't be bothered to reverse-order them. To those I do not explicitly mention, thank you for reviewing!

Chapter 16:

FORGEMaster: I have no idea if Asari have eggs to create a zygote. The whole 'Mind Pregnancy' thing kind of throws the anatomical process out the window.

Sabatie: Not sure if you're talking to me or people in the reviews, but yes, Star roads were neural-physical megastructures of Precursor origin.

Guest #1: The Ark is that big, but I was talking about the Portal at Voi, which is 117km in diameter. My lore is correct as much as I can make it, but if you do see something wrong, let me know!

Me Myself and I: Not at all, my thoughts for orbital tethers went along similar lines. Have put some thought into the UDP MACs, thank you for the input! As for cloaking, Spacedock makes a point in that a ship would be beyond visual range, but the problem is that he analyzes it in regards to biological sight, something made clear when viewing ports are mentioned. Get an AI on board a ship to analyze imagery, or even just, I dunno, something that might magnify the scene. Maybe, uh, a telescope? Suddenly, you can see a ship in the vast reaches of space and a cloaking field becomes quite nice.

Space: Good to hear, I enjoy writing about political talks, along with cultural interactions. Much more to meeting new life than pew pew pew.

Ase of SpADeZ: Fair enough on the balance consideration. I've thought it might be a mistake, but I want to work around it and see where it goes. Good consideration on economics, and it is something that I will be addressing when it comes to military action.

Axcel: The Colonial Military Administration had orbital control of colonies before the Insurrection, so the UNSC is probably supposed to be a force to use against foreign threats, much like a modern military.

Zenbeast38: Yes, and interesting idea for the interludes. Mass Effect weapons would be worthless against the Flood, all penetration and no stopping power.

Ragnar92: I did not know about that, but indeed yes they did. Will have to think about that one, thank you.

Vrael 1: After this long, destroyed by the Ark's Sentinels I would believe.

Machcia: I address lifespan this chapter, actually! As...you might have just read.

Andy021: Thank you, yes it was, I do plan on addressing new ship classes, and the main force for acquiring tech for the Citadel, namely the STG, would need to break through UNSC cyberdefenses. Considering how badly they hamstrung themselves in computing, that's not going to happen easily.

Jarediscool: Apologies, been there myself!

Chapter 17:

To all the reviews inevitably asking this: I am sorry for the long absence in updates. I will endeavor to ensure that it does not happen again, but cannot guarantee it with complete certainty.

Leonard Church814: Yeah, that's the problem with writing for digital beings, everything's references to actual memory addresses, not names. Can try to get something like that when I get around to updating the Assembly discussions.

Artilyon-rand: Yes Holocaust 'crap', as you put it. It's one of the most defining tragedies in human history and changed our perspective on the status of civilians in war irrevocably. There is nothing that I could find in Mass Effect lore about any of the Citadel species executing such a systemic slaughter. Seeing that brutality would absolutely affect the views of visiting foreigners on how merciless humanity could be.

: Preparing material from the Covenant War for the Museum of Humanity would still be underway.

Dragon lord Syed 101: Not this chapter, but next one yes.

Guest #1: At some point, yes. The Citadel will have to learn of UNSC AI.

Guest #2: As much as I love Avery Johnson, it would not fit to bring him back. His death was well done in my opinion, since he was present from the First Battle of the Covenant War to the last. I won't mess with that.

Guest #3: I mean, there is canon as to what Quarians look like. I'm keeping with that.

Imoneoldfart: Not quite sure where you're getting that statistic, for as far as I can tell the SuperMAC fires a 3,000 metric tonne slug at .04c or 12,000 km/s.

mteran305: If you're talking about Greatest Prison, have an update for that planned to come out of 09/12.

Machcia: Trying to add surprise at every turn, which is kind of what you describe and I would think would be the case in true first contact, quickly turns it into a repetitive reading and writing experience.

Finally caught up on reviews! Looking forward to the next chapter, here's to hoping that it won't be such a wait.

-evevee