Rights to Star Wars go to Disney, Rights to SWTOR and ME go to Bioware and EA. I don't get any rights.

Reviews:

xScorpius: Thank You.

Jctherebel: Thank You.

Nonyaarb: Thank You.

shypunk: Thank You.

heartfanglives: Not yet but it will happen.

ThePhenakism: Thank You.

Kagega: Well some did, specifically the dreadnaughts and those closer to them, in total around 300 ships. I apologize I should have been more clear. The ones that were crew-killed and flunk through the relay were only a portion of the ships that got away. So the turians know of The Vengeance of Nox and what she is capable of. Council is still in the dark because nobody in the Hierarchy wants to admit they messed up, except maybe Victus but he values his life so he won't.

Kite15663: Their refusal to act unless it involves them directly still works in the Sith's favor, as it means they are not urgently rushing for an end to hostilities, yet. In terms of their negotiating team, sending a Sith Lord, especially a Dark Lord would be like cheating in a battle of wits, and they would most definitely be doing that.

Servant Ambrosius: Such a great musical accompaniment.

Asharzal: She hasn't found out yet, but she will. I kind of felt bad for Minoram as I was writing her, she didn't ask for this but was roped into the horrors of Sith negotiation.

frankieu: No death star, I agree, that's a bit too much for the story.

baron sanmdi: it works every time, especially with races who love peace more than anything.

leebrough98us: Thank You.

michalrd: Thank you, that is the kind of civilization I was going for. as for the acolytes that don't make it to apprenticeship, they have a few options. The Sith Academy is still a school and offers appropriate education, they have entire pyramids dedicated to arts and sciences, so they can return to normal society if they choose. They can also enlist in the military or as Intelligence agents, one future companion character actually has this as their background. They can also stay and study to try and prove their worth to the less combat oriented pyramids and get jobs running the day to day processes of the academy. The trials are not meant to weed out the unworthy, more like test those the overseers deem worthy to ascend the ranks.

guest of 1/30: their reactions are a few chapters away, i had to split the current one up into two so it may be a little longer before you see them.

jmknz777: Thank You.

Mace Shepard: Well humanity was new, though they did well for themselves for a race that went interstellar only a decade prior. this time they had over a thousand years of Sith history to rely on for guidence in warfare and technology. I'll be keeping Shepard's pairing a secret until it begins in the future episodes.

ja3419: I agree Star Wars is better than ME in terms of tech.

atengawchok: Bold of you to assume they'll ask for help at all. Minoram is one of the more sympathetic turians in the story.

Demonic goat: Thank You.

Commandercommando: Thank You.

HadrianCaesar: Thank You.

Coment9: True as well.

Patriota1993: Thank You.

Shadowcub: The Council doesn't even beleive that the Raepers exist even after seeing one, do you think they'll wholeheartedly believe in and unseen energy like The Force? Also, getting Star Wars tech really won't even the odds as much as they think, then Sith Lords would just reflect blaster bolts back at them. Honestly, the races of ME are just really weak and soft in general. Liara comments that the other races see humanity as bullies and I really don't get it. The Sith Alliance as I've written them, I'd understand that sentiment, the canon Alliance, not so much. While certain sacrifices and compromises will be made in the future, the Sith will be using them to advance their goals and further their agenda.

EricFreak: Thank You.

Lazyfox1991: Thank You.

ja3419: Not until they are unified. Though after that, it is very likely.

OscuroSignore-51: Thank you. The SPECTRE was more about getting the other councilors off Sparatus' back, he never intends to send anyone with ties directly to the council. A quick sneak peek at Wrex's, Liara's, and Samara's general attitudes: Awesome swords and armor, I want to study their ancient ruins, they are a violent and volatile race. The Sith will use any information, or lack thereof against the council when the time comes. Yes actually, Benezia is the one I had in mind, also as a means to explain why she initially agrees to help Seren. TO enhance the range of turbolasers, they would need something that can accelerate the projectile to speeds far beyond what it can naturally achieve, i wonder if the Citadel has anything like that... I'll probably be sticking mostly with Walkers, because they are the most Star Wars like, but I am leaning towards giving the Mako repulsorlift tech instead of wheels. Harrowers are actually four meters short of reaching dreanaught size and have no central spinal MA cannon so the Sith have plenty of justufucation keeping them as crusiers class ships.

trojan Prince: So Sith and human are used almost synonymously in this story, but the ones with red skin rand from very human looking with red skin to full on red spines sticking from their faces. it is still an emerging trait so it has a lit of variance.

KillTheXenos: It's a possibility that will happen.

Perseus: Certain events and revelations will force their hand, plus it is better to have more meatshields. The krogan and Sith will in fact get along quite well.

septic332: no, but they will have plenty of Sunrazers to make up for it.

yann0406: Thank You.

Cristian: They will have mostly Sith abilities.

saitamathewise: Thank you. There is a reason I named the effort Operation Coruscant. Also, Rael is incoming so you'll get your answer down below.

afdhalulakbar2003: Unfortunatly, much of the story, and future events, hangs on Mars being Korriban so it must be this way.

valkrus: it lives.

JHcola: it really helps differentiate the races having their civilization go by different names and the Salarian Union already has the same initials.

Perseus: Mostly it was just the Sith stuff and they have very sinister plans for their favorite war criminals.

YOURLORDANDMASTEROFINTERESTING: Thank You.

Now onto the Show!

After another week of fighting across turian space, the 1st Assault fleet brings another system to it's knees and begins routing out dissenters and disarming it's populus. Efforts are much slower than Torix as these planets are much more populated and have stronger resolves to break. One of many raids on civilians brings the Sith forces to one particular home.

The front door bangs as shouts of translated turian blare outside, "Open up and hand over your weapons, this is your only warning!"

The turian man within grabs his daughter and hides her away as he takes position behind a doorway with his older service pistol. The door breaks apart as a Sith battle droid bursts into the house. The turian fires and hits the metal monstrosity, his shots pinging off its heavy plating. It fires back with its blaster as he dives away from his meager cover. The doorway explodes in a release of energy and the house fills with the sound of marching feet.

The man returns to his daughter, now crying in the corner of her room, as the sound of metal boots draws closer. The ignition of a lightsaber and its hellish hum accompany a feminine, partially mechanical voice, "I can sense your fear. I can feel that you know you stand no chance against us. However, your training won't let you surrender without a fight."

A red glow emanates from the door cracks, "But would you risk your little one? You have half a life left to live, but she has at least nine more centuries. What a shame to cut that so short because you refuse bow your head."

The door shatters to reveal the masked Sith with her hand outstretched. The turian fires at her but she moves the moment he pulls the trigger and makes a pulling gesture with her free hand. The pistol flies from his hand to hers before she crushes it. The red glow of her lightsaber lights up the small room and reflects off of the metallic mask adorning the lower half of her face as she strides in. She lowers her molten gold eyes to the turian man and then to the asari child. She inches her lightsaber in the girl's direction and as she does, the turian attacks.

Only for his arm to be sliced off in an imperceptible strike of her blade. Staggered and screaming, the Sith woman grabs him by the throat and lifts him into the air.

"What utter foolishness," she growls, "There is no single turian who can defeat the power of a Sith Lord."

She turns her eyes towards the asari girl and holds her main hand out, as a burst of indigo flies at the Sith. The biotic push breaks against her Force Push and only causes the lady lord to step back but the effort sends the child to her knees, barely holding herself up.

"Put daddy down! Please!" the child cries.

She drops the man and aims her saber at the child, "Stop! I'll cooperate! Spare her, please! She just a girl she doesn't know what she's doing! My wife and I keep our weapons in a locker in our room. That pistol was the only exception."

"And your wife, where is she?" the warrior growls.

"She's captain of a freighter, she isn't supposed to be home for another week," he replies, "Let my daughter go, please."

"Fine," she replies but slashes her saber across the turian man's face.

"Gah!" he cries out as he clutches his charred faceplate.

"Daddy!"

"Next time a Sith Lord demands your surrender, you had damn well remember that it is not a request," the woman says as she extinguishes her blade and marches out.

As the Sith conquests continue, a single frigate class ship flies into the Salvean System from uncharted space, where lies the relay connected to the Gaulium System. The frigate is of an older asari build and modified at almost every point with stronger engines, more intense life support, and a more complex and efficient mass effect core. This is the Derfri, scout ship of the Quarian Patrol Fleet headed by her captain, Rael'Zorah vas Derfri.

"We should be in range of the local comm buoy, send our survey report to the fleet," the captain orders.

"Weeks charting space for resources and just another report of nothing," his second, Han'Gerrel, replies.

"Nothing is still something," Rael replies, "Then we know where not to survey in the future."

"Sir," one of the lower officers begins, "We're not connecting to the comm buoy."

"Odd, try a few more times," Rael says.

After a few more tries she replies, "Still not connecting."

"That's strange," Han says, "Perhaps something's happened to the comm buoy?"

"Perhaps," Rael replies, "Take us to the relay. If nothing else, we could get answers."

The ship jumps to the relay but finds an oddity along the way, "Captain, I'm picking up a few dozen turian IFFs, their ships seem to be drifting through space."

"Any mayday alarms?" Han asks.

"No, sir. Should I contact them?"

"Fine," Rael says.

She does so but gets no response. She keeps at it until they arrive near the relay and catch the drifting ships themselves and an alert beeps.

"Sir, there seems to be moderate levels of radiation coming from the ships."

"Radiation? Were the ships crew-killed with some kind of weapon?" Han asks.

"Possibly," he admits, "But at the current levels, it should not, considering the turians' natural resistance to it. If I had to guess, they were hit a few weeks ago and have been drifting since."

"Well, they're not salvageable, but where did they come from?" Rael asks.

"Maybe the relay," Han answers, "Scan for a radioactive trail."

The crew does so, and the results confirm their origin from the relay, "Head a course to the other side."

"Rael, is that wise?"

"The Gaulium system is turian space, they even have a small colony there. The fact that these crew-killed ships originate from there is concerning. If something has happened, it may be wise to check it out and report on it so that we can warn the Migrant Fleet of a possible threat. A radiation weapon would be devastating to our live ships."

"Ever the dutiful risk taker," Han jabs.

"We're scouts, it's what we do," Rael replies, "Prepare the crew for departure, we're going through the relay."

Han sighs, "Yes Sir."

The ship speeds off to the relay. The atmosphere of the ship becomes more and more tense as they reach the massive transporter. There are a few moments of hesitation, but it is quelled by Rael's insistence and a quick weapons check. Then they jump…

And land right into a debris field. Their scout frigate veers left to avoid a wrecked turian cruiser as it drifts by the relay. A moment later their alarms go off.

"By the Ancestors, what has happened?" Rael murmurs.

"Sir, radiation levels are abnormally high, we need to get out of here-"

"Unidentified ships are closing in from just beyond the debris field, sir. They're cruiser, no, almost dreadnaught sized and there's at least a dozen of them."

Rael panics at that as he looks out the viewport. Sure enough, the wedge-shaped silhouettes of Harrower Star Destroyers come upon the lone scout vessel. Rael considers fleeing, but the floating junk orbiting around the relay makes that problematic. He gives no thought to fighting, the size of the ships seems reason enough not to try. So, he waits and prays that he'll get so see his family again.

They receive a hail from one of the ships and answer without delay, but not without reluctance.

"Attention unidentified vessel, this is Vice-Admiral Stephen Hackett of the Sith Alliance Navy. You have entered Sith Alliance space, who are you?" Hackett demands in translated turian as he appears on their holo-display.

Rael steadies his tone taking in the sight of this new species, "I am Captain Rael'Zorah vas Derfri we are scouts of the Quarian Migrant Fleet. Our apologies, we saw turian ships floating just beyond this relay and came to investigate. We were under the impression that this was a turian controlled system."

Hackett raises a brow, "Are you and your people allied with the Hierarchy?!"

Rael scoffed, "Not a chance, but it was too odd for me to just ignore, and we came to investigate on my orders. We are not associated with those spikeheaded bosh'tets or the Council."

Hackett stares at the masked aliens, "Stay where you are. Move, and you will be treated as hostile."

The line cuts but the approaching Star Destroyers maintain course. Growing uncomfortable with the dread and silence, Rael decides to get the crew productive.

"Prepare a first contact package and send it to these… Sith. If all they have to go by are their interactions with the turians, they may not even know about us or the council yet."

The crew get to work compiling data and a translated language index. After several minutes, they send the program along the same frequency Hackett hailed them on.

"Package sent and received, sir," one of the lower officers says.

The tension on the bridge loosens a bit, "What do you make of the situation, Captain?"

Rael taps his fingers on his command chair, "They're at war with the turians, or will be soon, that much is clear. Perhaps a first contact gone wrong."

"Do you think these newcomers are naturally hostile to other species, or did the turians pick a fight with them?"

"Turians, always bet on them shooting first," the crew all mumble in agreement, "However, looks like these Sith actually have teeth to bite back with if they're occupying one of the Hierarchy's worlds."

"That's pretty scary, don't you think? A race just now entering Citadel space with enough firepower to take on the turians, who's only interaction with the rest of the galaxy is hostility."

"Then how about we do our best to change that. Maybe we can get a powerful ally out of all this."

"Rael, you can't be serious," his XO says, "The Council already hates us, but if we aid an enemy of a Council species, they will exterminate us."

"They've already condemned us to extinction, a slow extinction aboard ships that are constantly falling apart and forced to roam the stars until the last light of life is sniffed out. These Sith have massive ships, can you imagine the resources needed to keep them operating, let alone build that many just to guard a single relay? The ancestors lead us here for a reason, maybe the Sith are that reason. We need materials, we need new vessels, and we desperately need allies. They can possibly give us all three. This is the opportunity of a lifetime, to be on the good side of a rising power in the galaxy."

"Let's get ourselves out of this hostage situation first, then I'll consider making friends with them," Han says.

Aboard the Malgus, Hackett paces about the bridge, his mind running a hundred lightyears a minute. His rank gives him access to the deciphered Citadel Codex, an opportunity he has taken full advantage of. He is aware of nearly every part of Citadel culture. Yet, before him lays another new unknown. The existence of the quarians and their knowledge of the Citadel Council casts doubt on the grand strategy of the war.

"Sir, the unknown has sent us a first contact package, they included a language index," the ensign at communications reports.

Hackett holds his chin for a moment, humming to himself, "Run the index through our translation protocols and upload it to everyone's holo-comms. I want a copy of this package on my datapad as it's translating. Understood?"

"Already on it, sir," he replies.

"Was this race not a part of the council codex?" an officer inquires.

"No, and that's what's piqued my interest," Hackett says, "These quarians obviously have experience in space travel, they are from a migratory fleet, if I understood them correctly. Perhaps an enemy of the Citadel?"

"That one did seem to harbor ill feelings when we brought up the turians." the comm officer says.

"My thoughts exactly," Hackett affirms.

He scans the text as it appears on the pad, stopping and rereading some segments on occasion. He rubs his chin for a moment before turning to his comms officer.

"Tell the ships at the relay to keep weapons trained but not to make any aggressive moves than are necessary. I'll be reading through this in my office."

"Yes sir," he replies as Hackett departs.

He marches to his spartan office quarters and pours through the information from the quarian package. His features scrunch and furrow as the gears in his head turn.

"Exiled from the Citadel and completely spacefaring… We can use this," he hums to himself, "The Force has granted us quite a boon in our time of need."

Hackett reads through more detailed data as it appears and his mind begins to formulate a plan, one that would change the fate of several races in the galaxy in the decades to come.

Upon the turian home world, deep within the secluded walls of the core military R&D facility, a turian looks over documents and notes taken over the past few weeks as will as the samples of blasters laid before him. An alert on his onmitool takes his focus away and he steps to his private terminal where he is graced by the image of the Primarch. His eyes stare at the engineer, heavy and weary. Sleep seems a distant prospect for the turian leader.

"Sir," the engineer salutes.

"Gregalian, your report is late. I expect better from my chief engineer of R&D ."

"My apologies, Sir, I was waiting until we had more of an understanding of the samples we've received before submitting anything. There is one particular bit that has us stumped regarding the plasma sword. Though we've been able to understand almost everything else you've given us."

"That is acceptable. What do you have so far on that weapon?"

He sighs and pulls up documents on his screen, sharing them with the Primarch, "While we understood that this device was incredibly advanced, we underestimated exactly how much. I've compared it to all prothean artifacts we have on record and none of them compare to this. These sith have been able not only to harness the power of plasma, but also to keep it contained in a free-flowing form. Such a feat for our current level of technology would theoretically require a device many times the size and would be a massive drain on the energy supply."

"Then how is it that they can make a device small enough to fit into your talons?"

"What we've found is that it's a near perfect energy recycling system within the device. Theoretically, it could be used for decades without a power source replacement."

"That sounds amazing."

"It very well might be, if it wasn't dependent on being a Spirits Damned sword!" the chief engineer growls, "We've tried harnessing the power from it but appears to only be nearly unlimited while in the form of a sword. We've found that the excess energy is trapped within the containment field and routed back into the device, hence why we don't get burned unless we touch the containment field, despite the blade being as hot as a star."

"Could we somehow recreate the plasma itself?"

"That's the next problem we face and the one that has us stumped," he replies as he pulls up images of the blood red Kyber crystal, "This crystal seems to harness the energy from the cell, amplify it, and project it through the focuser lens. It is the most central component to the weapon, and we have absolutely no idea what it is or how it does it. We believe it to be something native to their home system, and we have not yet found in it the greater galaxy."

"What can we do with this research? Surely there must be something we can glean from the weapon."

"Personally, I find the sword to be a lost cause, even if we could get any of these components to work, any attempt to recreate it on a larger scale would be pitifully short ranged and if we made them infantry sized, they'd be so expensive and so ineffective for our troops that it would amount to serous losses for us."

"Yet our enemies have been using them to tear our troops apart by the dozens."

"Our enemies also have the ability to shoot lightning from their hands, according to the reports you've given me. Perhaps their aptitude with bladed weapons isn't something we can quantify. If you want my opinion, their ranged weaponry has far more potential, I can at least understand the principles that go into it."

"Very well then, explain."

The chief pulls up the pictures and schematics of the taken blasters, "This canister contains a processed and volatile gas mixture, the exact methods to achieve the properties it holds is unknown to us. When the trigger is pulled, a small amount of that gas is released into this chamber and the power supply charges it into a plasma like state. This module here, then compresses the plasma, focuses it through this projector, and fires it as a 'bolt,' for lack of a better term. While the bolts themselves are slower than a mass accelerator round, they pack more of a punch and cannot be stopped by kinetic barriers. Additionally, these weapons do not suffer from as severe overheating as ours do when firing a shot of equivalent power."

"Can this technology be scaled up to ship sized weapons?"

"I'm almost certain that the sith's ship weapons operate on similar if not the same principles. Given enough time, we should be able to create a mixture of gas that can achieve a similar result, the rest is just trial and error in recreating the modules and components with our own technology."

"How long do you project that it would take if you were given all the resources you needed?" the Primarch inquires.

"I honestly cannot tell you," he replies, "Franky, this technology is so foreign to what we have that replicating it without access to the original schematics and processes will be challenging. I cannot tell you how difficult or trivial recreating these weapons will be and moving up to ship scaled weapons will likely take much longer."

The Primarch sighs, "Get started now. At the very least, if all doesn't go our way in this war, we will at least have a small head start over the asari and salarians when they get access to this technology. I want everyone in your department working on this. I can grant you triple your current budget, use every resource available to you."

"Right away sir!"

Rael thanks the ancestors for his fortune. Though being escorted out of your own ship by starfighters is far from the most desirable circumstance, it is a far cry better than staring down scores of turbolaser batteries. Rael and Han are heading off to meet Vice-Admiral Hackett at his request upon his own ship. And what a ship indeed.

Close up, Rael studies the armored exterior as they fly between the prongs into the upper forward hangar. He notices the sheer mass of the armor adorning the ship and after doing some estimated mathematics in his head, one question came to mind.

"What could be powering a ship this massive?"

"I'm more interested in how they don't have a single detectable source of eezo," Han replies, "And yet, they're still taking on the spikeheaded bosh'tets."

"They don't lack confidence in their ships' capabilities, that is certain," Rael says.

Han nods and keeps his hands steady as they approach the hangar, "So, do you really think this is a good idea Rael? Getting chummy with this practically unknown race that is currently at war with the turians? I don't know about you, but their ships have a… I don't know, a very harrowing aura about them."

The small quarian shuttle enters the hangar, passing through the atmospheric barrier and touches down at the indicated section between the Sith shuttles. Sith troopers in their dark gray and red armor march forward and stand at attention as the shuttle door opens. Rael and Han step into the open hangar, gawking at the space and the smaller craft occupying it. At the end of the line of troopers stands Hackett, who steps towards the two aliens.

"Welcome, Captain Vas Derfri, to the Harrower-Battle Cruiser class Star Destroyer, Malgus of the Sith Alliance Navy," his holocomm translates.

Rael marches towards Hackett as well, "I thank you for inviting me aboard such an impressive ship, Vice-Admiral Hackett. I am honored to finally meet you here in person."

Han follows his captain as the three men stop just before one another. Hackett extends his hand forward with his palm open.

"Apologies, but your first contact package did not specify how your people greet one another. For the Sith, we greet each other by grasping hands and shaking."

Rael reaches out his three fingered hands and returns the gesture, "I understand, another race we know of, the asari, have a similar custom."

The two shake hands and nod to one another as Hackett turns to Han, "I take it you must be the good captain's right-hand man."

Han extends his hand to Hackett with hesitance, "Lieutenant Han'Gerrel vas Derfri."

"Brothers then," Hackett says as they shake hands.

"In everything but blood at least," Rael clarifies, "We serve aboard the same vessel, the scout frigate, Derfri."

"I see, so Zorah and Gerrel would be your family surnames?" Hackett asks.

"Correct," Rael says, "Well met, Vice-Admiral Stephen'Hackett vas Malgus."

"Likewise, Captain," Hackett says, "I'll admit, you've discovered my people in a very tumultuous time in our history. Just a month ago we made first contact with the Turian Hierarchy."

"We are well aware of the turians, Vice-Admiral, damn bosh'tets," Rael says, "Let me guess, the started shooting at you for some contrived reason and you shot back."

Hackett laughs at that, "You truly are familiar with the spikeheads then. That is more or less how it all started. After that, they invaded out outermost colony thinking it was our home world, we kicked them out, war was officially declared by Alliance High Command, and then we counter invaded their world."

"How long has your race been spacefaring?" Rael asks.

"That is a bit difficult to answer in its entirety, but in our current state as a united species under one civilization, we've been exploring the stars for some time now, though nothing on your race I can assure you."

"Your ship is certainly impressive though, I don't think I've laid eyes on a ship so well equipped for combat, nor one that doesn't rely on eezo."

"Would you care for a tour? Honestly, since I've been post here it has been rather dull and I doubt that the turians will come knocking, what with the assault fleet wreaking havoc across their systems on the other side of the relay."

"That would be most appreciated, Vice-Admiral. We would be honored," Rael says.

"Wonderful," Hackett says, "If you'll follow me, we can begin with the bridge."

Hackett takes them across the ship showing them glimpses of the inner workings of a Star Destroyer, though not too much. Hackett answers all their trivia and dances around the more confidential topics, though Rael is careful not to steer too far into that information. They visit all the areas one would expect a ship of it's size to have; the bridge, the crew quarters, the mess hall, repair deck, and finally the armory where Hackett enacts phase two of his plan.

"We actually have a shooting range here for the troops to practice with some of the weapons when we're on patrol. Come take a look at some," Hackett says as he invites the two quarians into the armory.

Rael and Han gaze at the exotic weapons in the Sith stockpile as Hackett pulls a pistol from the shelf next to the standard rifles.

"The standard blaster rifle of the Alliance military is the P-7 Enforcer rifle, and the standard side arm the Z-10 heavy pistol. Would you like to test out a few shots down the range?" Hackett offers the pistol to Rael.

"You would allow us?" Rael asks.

"Honestly, there's not much to do on this ship when we're on patrol duty, and I get the feeling you'll like these," Hackett replies.

Rael accepts the sidearm as Han takes a P-7 from the racks, "A bit heavier compared to a mass accelerator weapon."

"True, but it will last longer in worse conditions and the weight offsets some of the recoil."

Rael takes aim down range and fires off a few bolts. His eyes grow to dinner plate size as he pulls the trigger a few more times. He awes at the power behind the small blaster as Han fires some shots from his borrowed rifle.

"You were right, Vice-Admiral, I do like this. If you don't mind me asking, what is it firing?" Rael probes.

"High energy plasma from a volatile gas mixture condensed cohesive bolt. I'm afraid I can't say more than that." Hackett holds his hand up.

"A weapon of this caliber would sell for quite a sum on the black market," Han comments on his rifle.

"Well, these are just standard issue," Hackett admits, "If you want to talk custom high grade weaponry, Sith Intelligence and the Mandalorians make their own gear that is truly top of the line."

Rael nods and looks to the cannons on the wall, "Are those heavy weapon emplacements?"

"Not quite," Hackett retrieves the weapon with surprising ease considering it seems as large as the man himself, "This is the X-3 Heavy Assault Cannon, it has repulsorlift technology to make it easy to carry around while maintaining its mass to help dampen the massive recoil generated by firing. One shot can blow apart any turian as well as the cover he was hiding behind and the next few soldiers behind him. It can also cycle between blaster and high explosive ordinance modes."

He hands the weapon to Rael who awes at it, "An impressive weapon to be sure, if a bit overkill if you ask me."

"Perhaps but if you want a rapid-fire assault cannon, the X-15 Combat Projector will fit your needs," Hackett says as he points to the twin barreled type and then to a row of long rifles, "These are our primary sniper rifles, the E-80's, with an effective kill range of well over twenty kilometers."

"Impressive weaponry to be certain," Rael says as he passes the cannon off to Han, "I never thought I'd see the day energy weapons entered the galaxy."

He offers the pistol back to Hackett, "Tell you what, Captain, keep it. We've got plenty that won't be going anywhere, it'll be a nice souvenir from the Malgus, and a show of good intentions between our peoples."

"T-Thank you," Rael says, "This is most generous."

"It's nothing really," Hackett waves away their compliments.

"No, this singular piece of technology would qualify as an offering of the highest caliber from a quarrian pilgrimage. I truly thank you."

Han look about the armory and spies an offline battle droid, "What might that be?"

Hackett looks to where he is pointing, "That is a battle droid."

"Droid?" Rael asks.

"An autonomous machine that carries out programs for its master. We use them for all kinds of purposes from construction in a vacuum, to combat roles, such as with this one. Those that are made to fight our enemies are called battle droids."

"And how do they work?" Rael inquires as he grips his new pistol, "What drives their programing?"

"These droids are run by what you would call, a V.I., albeit more advanced than any you've likely seen. As such, they are not connected wirelessly, cannot gain awareness, and are trapped in their mechanical body. We are not in the business of creating artificial intelligences."

"I see, very good," Rael says as he relaxes, "There's a great deal that can easily go wrong with AI and not always how one expects."

Hackett nods, "A very astute thing to say. Regardless, these war machines make up a majority of our ground assault forces' vanguard. They are commanded and controlled by specialized shock troopers."

Han looks the machines up and down with steeled nerves, "I can see how you've been able to handle the turians on the ground if you have hundreds of these on the front lines."

"These as well as our heavy assault droids," Hackett replies, "Think of those as walking turrets that can seek out enemy infantry."

"Keelah Se'lai," Rael shakes his head, "You're certain this is your first galactic war? Your weapons and tactics give off a very different impression."

"The first we've seen in the Milky Way Galaxy," Hackett dodges the question as he leads them out of the room, "However, while our ground forces blow the turians out of the water, that is to say we completely outclass theirs, our navy is nothing to discount. Just one of our Harrower-Battle Cruiser class Star Destroyers, such as the Malgus, boasts 32 turbolaser batteries, several quad-laser turrets, ion cannon defenses, proton torpedo tubes, concussion missile launchers, four deflector shield generators, and a complement of 95 starfighters, 32 bombers, 35 transport shuttles, and room for up to 7,300 ground troops on top of its standard marine compliment."

Rael stumbles hearing this, "I haven't the slightest idea what your weapons and shields are capable of, but you carry so many smaller craft, why bother with it when they're all worthless if the ship is destroyed by a well-placed shot from a dreadnaught?"

"A fair point based upon mass effect technology; however, our ships were not designed with outranging an opponent in mind. The job of a Star Destroyer is to get into the thick of it and overwhelm enemy vessels with turbolaser fire, swarms of fighters, and bombing runs. I'll put it this way, it's much harder to retreat from a Star Destroyer than it is to close the distance to a dreadnaught."

Rael nods, "I can see the wisdom in that. It's just that dreadnaught supremacy has been the staple of naval combat in council space for millennia. To hear it so disregarded by any race is surprising to us."

"Don't get me wrong, dreadnaughts have their place. Ours was responsible for the majority of the damage you flew into when you exited the relay. However, if we relied on one ship and strategy, our enemies would only need one hard counter to defeat us. Getting in close gives us more options to attack and defend. Plus, our mounted weapons aren't exactly strapped for power either. Take a look."

He gestures to the planet outside a transperasteel window. Rael and Han recoil at the sight of Torix. Save for the specs of civilization, flows of lava scar half of the world. One continent remains green but it only highlights the grey and black of the charred one. It's a devastation that both quarians cannot fathom. The amount of firepower necessary burn a continent in such a way is beyond even the migrant fleet.

Han breaks from his stupor first, "This is an atrocity!"

Rael snaps his head to him, ready to shoot the man himself as Hackett replies, "Yes, it was, but it was necessary. The turians held no regard for our sovereignty or our lives, they felt that they had every right to murder our people because they thought us their inferiors. We were not willing to risk these thugs getting off the hook with just a slap on the wrist after what they did to us. Based upon what we've put together from the data collected from their ships, they seem to get away with their misdeeds far too often."

Rael's anger burns at the truth of Hackett's words, "I couldn't tell you how many times they've made our people's lives harder just because they could."

Hackett nods, forcing down a smirk, "My condolences, retribution for their wonton acts of destruction is long overdue."

"Because there isn't anyone who could do anything to them since they practically neutered the krogan," Han adds.

"Until now," Hackett says, "We have the technology to hurt them, the intelligence to wage war, and the means to continue the fight. The one thing we truly lack that would see us winning this war once and for all are star charts deep into turian space."

"Star charts?" Rael probes.

"Like I've said, our technology doesn't rely on mass effect, that includes our FTL travel. While the use of hyperspace does allow for significantly faster travel, there are some drawbacks that makes traveling through uncharted space suicidal in the best of circumstances. If we had properly mapped out star charts of inner turian space, however, there would be nothing stopping us from bypassing all relays and attacking their home world without warning, securing our victory in the war."

Hackett looks right into Rael's glowing eyes, "Captain, I must admit that me showing you samples of our technology and the layout of our ships is not purely out of altruism. From the data you sent us, we know your people have explored more of the outskirts of Citadel space than any other race, and likely have maps that go far beyond those stored in the Citadel codex. My people are willing to pay yours for them, handsomely. I truly sympathize with your situation, my race was once forced off of our home world long ago in the past, and I'm more than certain my superiors would be willing to work with yours."

Rael looks over Hackett as he finishes pitching his proposal, "How much are you willing to pay?"

"Rael!" Han interjects.

"Silence!"

Hackett looks Rael dead in the eyes, "Honestly, that would be up to High Command to determine, but I can say that they want that map more than anything right now. I would not be surprised if they would offer a Harrower or two in exchange for your charts."

Silence reigns in the hallway as the two leaders hold eye contact, an understanding having formed between them, "I appreciate you honesty, Vice-Admiral. Much like you, however, I do not have the authority to make such decisions for my people, that power lies with the Admiralty Board."

"Of course, I was merely proposing that you help establish contact with them on our behalf," Hackett says, "Given that you communication systems won't work from here, I'd be willing to lend you one of our ships to escort you back to your fleet. You can get a confirmation on how fast hyperspace travel is and use that ship to communicate with us. We use faster than light transmissions so right now only one of our ships would be able to reach us from across the galaxy. We would be more than happy to watch and resupply the Derfri in your absence."

Rael nods in understanding, "I would like some time to consider it."

"Rael!" Han gasps.

"Of course, I don't want to put any more pressure on you for this. Allow me to escort you back to your shuttle," Hackett says as he leads them back to the hangar.

Han looks to protest but a leer from Rael silences him and the two follow. They arrive back at their ship and after a departing handshake, the quarians leave the Malgus. Hackett marches back to his quarters and orders the crew to open a holo-call to Arcturus. Meanwhile, the two quarrian men begin to argue.

"Rael, what are you thinking?!" Han demands.

"Vice-Admiral Hackett says they are willing to pay in cruisers for star charts, the Migrant Fleet has nearly three quarian lifetimes worth of exploration through the fringes of occupied council space, and I'm willing to wager they have enough to give the Sith a proper map to Pavalen."

"You'd need to convince the Admiralty Board to make a decision like this, how many of them would be crazy enough to go along with this. Spiting the turians by is one thing, but what you propose would make us their enemies. They'll come after us if we help them reach their home world."

"It would also make us allies with what is likely the most technologically advanced race in the galaxy, even more advanced than the geth," Rael responds, "When she was born, I promised my daughter I would give her the home world one day, and I'll be damned if I allow the first real chance we've found to reclaim it slip by me without doing anything. You saw their weapons and what they could do, imagine turning them on the geth."

Han's features soften beneath his mask, "Fine, I see your point, I really would love to turn that rifle against them to see what it does to the damned machines."

"And think of their ships, imagine what having just ten of those Harrowers would mean. More space for the overcrowding issues, more defense for the civilian fleet, and more firepower to turn against pirates and geth. What have the turians done to help us in the last three quarrian lifetimes? Nothing, in fact they allow it all to happen. What do you think the Sith would do if they found pirates harassing their allies?"

"Annihilate them," Han admits.

"We will never be in the council's good graces," Rael says, "They've proven that every time we've needed help and they've refused. However, the Sith are willing to be our allies, and if the cost of their friendship is to throw those turian bosh'tets into their crosshairs, sobeit."

"Vice-Admiral, are you out of your mind?!" the Guilliman barks.

"No sir, I believe that courting the favor of the quarians will be a worthwhile effort for the war and perhaps beyond," Hackett answers, "Even the Old Empire had allies in the Great War against the Republic."

"But promising Harrowers?" the Minister Shen bemoans.

"Now, now," Minister Graham calms his associates, "I believe that the Vice-Admiral's judgment is incredibly sharp in the matter. We're losing more ships and putting more at risk as we continue headstrong into turian space. Spending a few at a later date for Operation Coruscant's success is a logical decision."

Hackett bows, "Thank you, Sir."

"I agree," the Intelligence Minister adds, "These quarians are a free variable on the galactic stage. We can use them. True allies will likely be few and far between after the war, and from what we know, most of the factions outside the Council's jurisdiction are less than savory. The quarians are desperate and destitute, but they're civilized. I believe it would be wise to establish good ties with them and perhaps bring them under our wing."

"I believe that my new contact, Captain Zora, will want to get in touch with his superiors. However, since we've destroyed the Citadel comm buoys as we've advanced, they cannot reach them with their own communications. As such, I've prepared a Terminus Destroyer to establish a hyperspace communication link to them. This will also accelerate getting them there and back if needs be."

"I see," Graham says, "We will have to run some of this through High Command, but I believe that the Dark Lords will go for it."

"I believe that we should be there for the negotiations, should their government accept our proposal," Guilliman says, "I'll have to get Yvette to clear my schedule in that case."

"Agreed," the Intelligence Minister says, "We should be ready to depart the moment we receive confirmation, or at the very least be ready to holo-call in. Keep us updated, Vice-Admiral, and once again, good work."

"Thank you, sir."

The holograms flicker out as Hackett relaxes his posture for a moment, the anxiety slipping out of his body. He takes a few moments to recompose himself before making another holo-call. Minoram appears at the terminal, disheveled and exhausted.

"Vice-Admiral, I'm in the middle of-"

"I need you to send up a supply of turian alcoholic beverages, the highest quality you can find down there," Hackett orders.

Minoram pauses at his demands, "Vice-Admiral, I am up to my mandibles in logistical reports about the new rationing measures alone. I cannot just-"

"You can and will, end of discussion, and I had better receive those drinks as soon as possible or I'm shutting down your colony's power grid. Am I clear?"

Minoram tries to summon up some level of defiance, but the memory of Darth Tempestus suppresses any will to resist, "Yes, Vice-Admiral, I will get right on that."

Hackett nods, "Do this for me and I'll see about getting a shipment of supplies brought in from other turian worlds we're occupying."

"You're too generous, Sir," she replies with broken relief.

"I'm glad you understand. Dismissed," he says as he cuts the connection.

Hackett then takes a seat and relaxes in his quarters for a few hours. An alert rings on his data pad approving of trade to the quarian people should their star charts be enough to reach Palaven. The message bares approval from every office in High Command and generous terms for the trade between the two peoples. Hackett smiles as he reads it over and orders that a copy of the official proposal be sent to the Derfri. Not long after that, he receives the words he's been waiting for.

"Vice-Admiral, I am willing to take your proposal to the Admiralty Board."

Sorry it took so long to update, I had to spend last week traveling to a funeral and couldn't work on anything for a while. The part at the beginning is mostly to hammer the point of the war still going on across as the war itself is more in the background in this chapter. Also, this chapter was getting too long so I split it up into two, the next part should be out soon. Everyone's favorite race, the quarians, have finally made their appearance. This and the next chapter are why Rael's name is in the description. While he is not in the story too long, he is crucial in changing the ME galaxy setting for many races. We also see Hackett at his best here. Even in the main story, after Udina is outed as Councilor, he's the defacto leader of humanity and has to at least play the part of politician, I thought I'd explore a bit of that part of him here. Also, I do not know if Star Wars assault cannons really do have repulsorlift technology built in, but the way they're swung around in the game and trailers makes me think they do. Not else much to say; Sith meet quarians, it goes much better than the turians. Leave a review if you so desire.

Thank you for reading and I'll see y'all next time!