Feared Reverence
Ps: The Minato one-shot was amazing!!
[Standardized Human Date: March 14, 2536
ARV Keeper of Fire, Diplomatic Ship from the Citadel.
Benezia invited everyone to go to a chosen room, where they could start the diplomatic meeting, after they were all seated she noticed that the first group of human guards was divided in two, and each part was close to the exit of the room, while the second group placed up in procession behind the 3 humans sitting at the table 3 meters away.
Her guards were spread across the room and Shiala was right behind her, strategically speaking they had the upper hand as there were only eleven humans and only eight were guards and they only seemed to have melee weapons.
"I would like to apologize on behalf of the entire Citadel Council for the atrocities the Turians' had done to your people." She addressed the human diplomat with all the genuine sincerity she has.
"I appreciate that Matriarch, but sorry to ask, shouldn't it be the Turians' job to address that to us and not your species? Why are you here to apologize for the mistake of what they've done? Do you at least have a Turian that represents their people? To represent themselves." The human woman barely could contain her unnoticed rage.
Seeing the expression on the Human's face, she realized that it must seem strange that the species that attacked them would not send any representatives to negotiate peace. "Excuse the question, but how should I refer to you?
"Just call me Hana, I know my name might be a little long and that should help; the closest I can think of to a Matriarch in our language to show respect would be Hana-Sama, but I insist that you just call me Hana," the human insisted.
"Alright, Hana, I should explain a little bit about the Citadel's politics and creation, maybe that way you can understand us better."
Seeing a nod of agreement from the Human, Benezia began.
"I will begin with the Founding of the Citadel known as PG 0, the beginning of the Galactic Standard Chronology (GC). Many species joined the Citadel, but I will focus on the species that are part of the Council."
Seeing that the Humans were paying attention to her words she continued.
"The Asaris, as they were the first to find the Citadel, took the duty of making all the first contacts with new species and introduced them to the Citadel, the Salarians were the second and act mainly as scientists and inventors in various branches, while the Turians found us in a bloody war and fight together to end the war, and they are today our main military force working for our security." Benezia's expression turned sour
"What I deeply regret, however, is that sometimes they take this duty too seriously, seeing some officers acting recklessly taking our laws too literally in certain cases, and when some overzealous officers see an unknown craft that is apparently opening a relay they attacked judging that you were a threat, or might release some horrible threat like the Rachini into the galaxy again, they thought they should act to prevent it."
"Matriarch, what would be the Rachini, why would they think we would release something like this by opening a relay."
Upon hearing Hum-Hana's question (she should start referring mentally to the diplomat by name, this would lessen the chance of committing a slip and ends up calling her human while speaking) Benezia remembered that the Human species do not know about the Rachini wars and the damage they caused throughout the Citadel space.
"The Rachni, a highly intelligent insect species, was discovered when an expedition from the Citadel opened a huge relay that took them to their star systems. The Rachni turned hostile and started a war with the rest of the galaxy. And communicating with the Rachni Queens was impossible. That was in 1 CE (Council Age)"
"I can understand that the Turians would not want a war like that to happen again, even though we humans were in terrible wars centuries ago and we would not want to go back to those dark times, but the attack against us is not justified, we are not part of the Citadel, which means that its laws do not apply to us, moreover, the opening of the relay did not go to an unknown location opened from its side, as the research ship came from the other side, our side and I can assure you that we For the last 7 years that the Shanxi colony was founded, nothing in that piece of space was remotely dangerous to the settlers. Well, that was until the Turians arrived. "
Hearing all this in her mind, Benezia cursed the commodore that had caused this in the first place, now she was trying to explain that that rash action (madness! That's what it was, all that idiot commodore's fault.) was caused by overzealousness and a mix of incompetence. It was a shameful black mark for their collective civilization. And most of all she knew the Turians had crossed a line, and that was the Hierarchy's fault for not being able to control their officers, but as an ambassador representing the council, she couldn't blame the Hierarchy, that would show their disunity towards these humans.
"I recognize that it was a huge mistake, but I can assure you that all responsible officers who returned were severely reprimanded and dishonorably relieved of their duties, which for the Turians who are a species supplemented with duty can be worse than death in some cases."
"Sorry to interrupt the Matriarch, but could you answer one thing." Inokou, who had been silent until that moment, spoke.
Benezia was taken aback, she didn't expect the other Human to say anything, but she nodded, that she might.
Seeing the confirmation she asked.
"Matriarch, do you have information if the Turians tried to contact the research ship or sent any messages?"
Hearing her question, Benezia cursed them in her thoughts again, she knew that this was an idiotic move by the turians and that in any other species, it might work, but it wasn't the case, and that this information could be harmful, she could deny it. What's more, she didn't know how far the humans' technology had come and if they could recover that information from the destroyed ship, it was better not to lie and be honest.
"No, they didn't try to communicate with the ship."
Inokou and the other humans in that room knew they didn't try as the senior officers who survived reported that the ship just appeared and attacked them without provocation.
And even if they tried their ships didn't use the same mode of communication and it was just luck that Minato the heir of the Uzumaki remembers the old radio frequencies that were no longer used, (And that information would not be shared).
"I'm sorry for my words Matriarch, but they are idiots, if they stopped by to analyze the situation instead of attacking an unknown ship of a species it has never seen, something that any sensible person would not do as it could lead to a war, having seen that the research ship came from the other side of the relay, and that it was not trying to activate it, but that it was already activated."
Inokou's words were full of coldness, she just couldn't understand what went through those damned birds' heads to attack without any information about their opponent, which in her experience could lead to death and drag her teammates along! Even the genin knew this, as adult men and women who served in an army didn't think about it.
"That is true, but you must understand that the attack, although misguided, was an over-the-top attempt to maintain the law of opening inactive relays to unknown places."
"What does this law say Matriarch"
"It clearly says 'It is forbidden to open relays in Citadel space without Council approval, lest we encounter another threat and plunge the galaxy back into war.' It was created after the war with the Rachini in 300 CE, it is one of our most important laws, and this war was the bloodiest we've had since our founding."
"I'm sorry about that Matriarch, but this law, while important to you, means nothing to us. Our ships don't use element zero and the research ship was allowed to open the relay after a long time since its discovery near the Shanxi colony." Hana took the floor again.
"Wh-Wait that means." Stuttering Benezia couldn't believe in faster-than-light transportation without element zero! It was impossible! Every civilization they've met uses element zero! To find a race that doesn't use it… it's unbelievable.
"We never actively researched relays, this was the first time we opened one as we feared being attacked by a hostile species, isn't it ironic Matriarch that our fears were realized in the end." Her words were fraught with sadness due to the whole situation, (Actually, Hana couldn't be more pleased with how everything was going according to her plan, as Asari was believing her words without question and seemed in favor of giving in to her requirements).
Benezia decided that her situation was all the Turians' fault and she swore that she would make them pay for it somehow, maybe she could convince other matriarchs to deny building the new ships they are building because of the failure to defeat humanity, which would be petty, but it would give him a lot of satisfaction, since they weren't the ones who had to explain without looking like idiots expansionist, amend with people that never think with their heads, with them, it was always shot first, ask questions later.
After all, humans managed to create FTL travel without the use of element zero, this could revolutionize the entire Galaxy! And the Turians almost ruined everything with their lust for war.
Benezia was at a loss for words. How did they do this? For years the only known form of FTL is with Element Zero and using relays that the Prothean abandoned. It goes to show that everything that happened was a bigger mistake than I could have imagined since you aren't opening relays simply to expand your space, and could never release any threats if that's true. And unless you could give me proof…"
"That would be simple with this here." Taking a scroll from her Dress Hana turned to the Human man sitting at the table.
" And ChoKuma, could you give me one of those apples you're eating, please? "
Benezia remembered the man who until then had been silent all this time and saw that he was eating a red fruit, she saw that the human took another one from one of his pockets (from where he took that fruit his pocket didn't seem so big, and what did they need it for?) and handed it over.
" Matriarch, would you have something to give me too, preferably something unique that can't be easily copied so you can see this isn't a fluke? "
Looking at the Scroll Benezia doubted that this could work, but she decided to trust these humans, taking her brooch that signaled that she was the First Consul, there was no other like that, all previous Consuls used the same brooch and it would be used after her the next ones as well.
She handed it to Hana who ran her hand over the parchment that emitted a slight glow and opened, there were seals and she took two and then closed the parchment.
"Matriarch please give one of these seals to your guards and ask him to take it to the other side of the room."
Benezia took one of the seals and handed it to Shiala who was right behind her, who went to the other side of the room awaiting further instructions.
"Now observe, Matriarch." Placing the apple on top of the seal and some of her Hana chakras activated the Flying Raijin seal, which teleported the apple to the other seal across the room and did the same thing with the brooch.
"That's impossible, the seal was just paper and ink." Benezia was in shock, trying to understand what happened she could assume it could be a trick with that apple since it was a human fruit, but the pin was unique it couldn't be copied so fast, and she had nailed the seal in Her hands there was only a piece of paper with symbols written in ink!
"That Matriarch was a space-time Jutsu used to teleport objects, it is clear that this is one of the simplest since what we use in our ships is more complex allowing FTL travel."
"You mean your people could manipulate the fabric of space and time on a whim?!!" By the Goddess! what did she get herself into?
Seeing her increasingly pale expression, Hana couldn't help but smile.
"Yes, Matriarch we can," she grinned.
"Manipulating Space-Time with paper and ink, It's so obvious why didn't I think of that before!?" Letting out a hysterical laugh, Benezia cursed the Turians again, but this time for releasing Humans into the galaxy.
--
[Human standardized date: March 20, 2536
Destroyer SSV Hyuga en route to the Citadel.
The SSV Hyuga was the third largest ship that the Allied Shinobi had.
And looking into space a Woman was so deep in her thought that she didn't feel anyone approaching her.
"A Penny for Your Thoughts Hana"
Turning around in fright, the woman feels her friend behind her, was she so distracted?
"It's you Chokuma, I didn't see you coming."
"I can see that. What's keeping you so distracted, Hana."
"I was thinking of the orders the Kages sent me, specifically the five demands for the Citadel Council."
"You don't like them?"
"No, they are reasonable, considering that we are the aggrieved party in all of this."
"Something else has you worried, you know you can tell me anything, trust me with that tell me what's wrong Hana."
"This whole situation is the problem, I don't know what to do ChoKuma. What is your opinion about all this."
"You have to be more specific Hana' All this' what exactly."
"This trip, find that Council and above all those Xenos. Let me know if you've read the information they've given us about their history and everything they've done."
Sighing, ChoKuma approached and sat on the ground and called Hana to the ground too.
"I read it and I can tell you that I don't like it at all. Elevation of a species to then biologically mutilate it, abandon allies in a war that almost led to extinction, and still expel their descendants and marginalize them for generations, not to mention that pathetic excuse for the cultural respect they have for slave traders, just thinking about it fills me with rage."
"Yes! You see, it's with these people that I have to deal with! I don't know how I can do this ChoKuma, it's one thing to deceive someone presumptuous and another to make a deal with someone who can stab you in the back!."
Screaming all that was trapped inside her, she didn't know how she could do this, Gods, what kind of 'society' this was.
"Hana, do you know why the Kages chose you for this mission?"
"I, I don't know! ChoKuma, I don't know what in their fucking mind it must be because I was closer to their vicinity."
"No, it was because they trust you and your ability to stay calm and analyze the situation without letting your emotions get the better of you. Honestly, you are failing right now."
Hearing those words she realized it was ridiculous for someone like her to lose control that way.
So she closed her eyes and took a deep breath trying to calm down. After two minutes she opened them and felt calm but with a clear mind.
" How do you feel now?"
"Much better, thanks ChoKuma. Without your help, I wouldn't know what to do."
"Don't say that Hana, you know you'd find a way, you always do, besides, you just needed to let out all that anger and anguish that you've been holding in since the beginning of all this."
"Yeah, I think I've been holding all those feelings in since I learned about the attack on the research ship and the Shanxi Colony."
"That's true I think everyone on this ship was guarding that too. But don't worry, as a captain I took care of that so they took out their frustrations on me in a fight."
Looking at the giant man on her side saying this, Hana couldn't help but laugh thinking about the poor bastards who accepted this.
"My friend, are you sure YOU weren't the one who used these poor bastards as a punching bag to relieve your frustrations."
Embarrassed ChoKuma turned his face away. "That might be true a little bit, but that's not important right now! And yes we'll be arriving at this Citadel soon, as soon as the frigate we sent pops the flying Raijin FTL, we'll be ready."
"Hahaha, you really are a big ChoKuma teddy bear. But with the Frigate, she must already be installing the Jutsu; they left three days ago by relay with Matriarch Benezia."
As soon as she finished speaking, a large Flying Raijin: Teleport Barrier appeared in front of the Alliance fleet.
"Well I believe it's about time we started the show." ChoKuma got up and headed towards the bridge with Hana close behind.