Note: Hello, all! This is my first posted story that started because of my love for Victus. This was inspired by a Star Trek: TNG episode when Riker is traded to the Klingon ship. My Shepard is Siddalee Shepard, Spacer, Adept, War Hero. I've played with the backstories a bit and created A LOT of original characters. Please feel free to leave comments and critiques, I'm always open to feedback.

This is part 1 of 4 and will span all three games posted as separate stories.

4/16/17: updated with additional content and fixed some glaring errors. There's some extra stuff with Nov and Cerrus in here so enjoy.

Mass Effect
"Foreign Relations"

Part One: The Assignment

Chapter One: The Assignment

Cdr. Siddalee Shepard sat on the Alliance transport as it made its way to the Turian Warship Lante. The Alliance had practically twisted the arm of the Turian Councilor Sparatus to get them to take on an Alliance Officer to help relations between their species. The Turians agreed and there was really only one person in Anderson's mind to take on the responsibility, or the one person who could survive the hornets nest that was about to be stirred up, Cdr. Siddalee Shepard. Sidda, as she was called for short, had the Alliance in her blood, both of her parents were career Alliance and she didn't set foot on Earth until she was 15 years old. Living on starships as her parents went from assignment to assignment wasn't easy but it was a life she would never give up. She had an appreciation of other species' that was beyond compare. Enlisting in the Alliance was the next logical step for her and she excelled as an officer, a natural leader with a strong survival instinct. Sidda's major claim to fame, so to speak, was the Skyllian Blitz. She was in the right place at the right time and became the Hero of Elysium, repelling an overwhelming attack by Batarians bent on taking control of the colonies capital.

She looked out the window to the powerful Turian ship and couldn't help but feel a little nervous, why did Anderson send her on this mission? She was now temporarily assigned to The Lante. All she could think of was Anderson's advice before she left for Turian space. "Better bring you're A-Game."

She boarded the ship and was met by two Turian guards. Compared to the Turians Sidda was a shrimp, she was about 5'6", fit, with long brown hair twisted up into a bun. Her eyes were a light brown that were green in different lighting. She carried herself with confidence, knowing she could handle just about anything thrown at her. She was a biotic and a powerful on at that. "Cdr. Shepard, welcome aboard the Lante. Gen. Victus wants to see you in the CIC." The soldier said to her and she looked him up and down to size him up. "If you leave your duffles here my men will take them to your quarters." She nodded dropping the duffle over her shoulder then followed them to the CIC. She'd never seen so many Turians eye her as she walked by.

"This is going to be a long assignment." She thought to herself as she walked behind him. Sidda had been on many frigates in her life, both in the military and growing up around it and the Lante was the biggest one she'd been on. It was bigger than any Alliance frigate and according to her couple months of study preparing for this assignment she was the biggest one still active in the Turian fleet. The floors were polished grey and the halls were tall, it seemed strangely odd though, it didn't seem quite proportioned. As she passed Turians in the hall she got several strange looks, it wasn't every day that a human strutted around a Turian military vessel so she let the looks go.

Her escort led her to the CIC where a tall Turian stood by the galaxy map. His skin tone was darker than the rest but the colony marking made his face almost completely white, this was the same marking the Turian Councilor had. He looked over at her and turned to give her his full attention. "Cdr. Shepard." He began looking her up and down. "Welcome to the Lante. I am Gen. Adrien Victus."

Sidda nodded to him respectfully. "Cdr. Siddalee Shepard." She introduced. "It's a pleasure to be here, General." She said her tone quiet and respectful but not timid. Her training was hard to break and she sized up the room. It was an odd looking CIC quite different from that of the Agincourt and the Iwo Jima, the two frigates she'd spent time on. Its design was off but she wasn't here to critique ship design, she'd get to know the ship in time. Victus was a name that she'd heard of in her crash course of the Turian military; he was a much respected general, served in the First Contact War and was apparently a legend among the Turian Military.

He returned her nod looking her up and down. Human's always looked so frail, they were smaller, heavier than Turians and the female of the species seemed weaker. Not that the males of the human species seemed stronger compared to a Turian but their women didn't have the heir of inherent danger. He'd read the file that was forwarded to him by the Turian Councilor. Just as a military mind she was magnificent, he would have to judge who she was but her actions, not her file. But he couldn't help but be impressed by the strong tactical mind embodied in a highly skilled Biotic. "You have an impressive file, Commander." He stated, noting noticable scars under her left eye and down her right temple. "Your actions on Elysium…excellent work."

Sidda gave a nod but said nothing surveying more of her surroundings, she saw another Turian with blue markings on his face, and his colony markings were more subtle than Victus' well defined white. Her silence wasn't counted as negative toward her and Victus appreciated it, she didn't know it was he was judging her character seeing if she would live up to the hype around her reputation.

"Commander, this is my first officer Maj. Damar Maridus." Victus introduced and the Turian with blue marking, obviously named Maridus, looked her up and down.

He extended his hand to her. "A pleasure to meet you, Commander." He said. "I've always wanted to meet the Hero of Elysium." Maridus was the same height as Victus but had a much darker face and green eyes, the face paint was a dark blue swath that went from one side of his face to the other but the color wasn't lost in the dark complexion.

She shook his hand and nodded to him, she was already tired of hearing that phrase but since it was really her only military feat she'd take it if the Turians respected her for it. "A pleasure, Major."

"Major, if you please, show the Commander around." Victus said he'd seen all he wanted to right now. Her actions would have to speak to her character from here on out, so far he had no opinion. He wasn't overly comfortable with this arrangement, having a human onboard opened his ship with to untold amounts of trouble given the hostilities that still lingered between Humans and Turians.

Maridus nodded. "Yes, Sir." He said and gestured for her to follow him.

Sidda was trying not to show the nerves about a mission such as this. Being the first human to have a year long assignment to a, until recently, hostile species' ship was a big deal. "What, umm…what kind of ship is this, Major?" she asked and he glanced down at her as they walked down the corridor. Maridus was, in a word, enormous; easily coming in at 6'6" he was a foot taller than she was. Human men could get that tall but for the most part averaged 6 foot. That she was used to, but a Turian…the sheer height of them was intimidating.

"The Lante is a Verck class frigate, has a crew compliment of 130, top of the line firepower, specializing in fast attack missions." He stated and she nodded, she was trying to feel out the crews feelings about this assignment, the best person to guage that from was the first officer.

"Lante…what does that mean?" she asked and Maridus could appreciate her trying to understand the ship.

Maridus spared another glance down to her before answering her. "T'alla Lante was a General during the Krogan Rebellions, she defended a colony against a Krogan assault with a single frigate." He explained and she gave him an appreciative nod. The silence was a little awkward as she was trying to figure out how to talk to him. Turians and Human were very different but she wasn't quite sure how different. She wondered if talking too much or asking too much at once would be irritating.

Sidda decided to be blunt and speak her mind. "What do you think about this assignment, Major?" she asked and he tapped a door control to the lift then turned to look at her.

Maridus sighed but it wasn't one irritation, just thought. "Commander, this is a mission that should have happened years ago." He answered honestly and could see the surprise on her face. "If there is one thing the First Contact War, as your people call it, taught us was that our people were never meant to be enemies. We're too much alike. We don't give up. Your people fought us to a standstill and it's a very good thing that the Council stepped in when they did."

The lift door opened and he stepped in letting that sink in for her. She stepped onto the lift standing next to him and clasped both hands behind her back. "I have a feeling I'm gonna like you, Major." She commented and the tall Turian gave a small chuckle.

Her tour of the ship was pretty straight forward and he brought her to what he called a training room, Maridus had explained some of the finer points that she needed to know while being onboard, shift rotations, mess times, the rest he told her would be in an orientation after she was settled in. Then she would learn emergency procedures, escape pod locations, pay a visit to the doctor, etc. The training room had a few things in it that she could relate to, a few Turian versions or punching bags, maybe a few strength training pieces and a large open mat. When she came in with Maridus there were two Turians on the mat looking that they were beginning to spar. They were both tall but had different markings, one had noticeable purple markings on his chin and from his forehead and running back the center crest, a diagonal slash over each eye, and more purple from his cheekbones back to his ears, he had a broad build and was Maridus' height, the other one was a little taller with a striking bright red mask for colony markings.

They forgot about what they were doing when they noticed her with Maridus. The one with the red face cocked his head slightly looking her up and down then looked to the other and they both looked at Maridus.

"Cerrus, Nov, this is Cdr. Shepard, Alliance Navy." Maridus introduced in as succinct a manner as possible. "Commander, this is Capt. Cerrus and Lt. Nov, they lead the two ground teams aboard the Lante."

Sidda observed them, and thought about extending her hand to the two of them but the vibe from them wasn't as open as Victus and Maridus' was in the CIC. The two Turians look at each other with the same uncomfortable expression that transcended species'.

The silence was awkward but it was broken by the one with the red markings, Nov. "Welcome aboard, Commander." He said with a sharp nod that wasn't necessarily friendly, it was more of an obligation. The other one, Cerrus, said nothing to her and had an obvious sneer on his face.

"Thank you." She replied with a sharp nod, the uncomfortable silence that followed was enough for Maridus and gestured for her to leave with him.

"Come with me, Commander, I'll show you to your quarters." He offered ushering her to the door leaving the two Turians to return to what they had been doing prior to her arrival.

Maridus stepped onto the CIC and quietly made his way over to Victus. Everyone had their concerns about this arrangement and they were well founded. Having a human onboard surrounded by Turians was a fight waiting to happen.

"Is the Commander settled in?" Victus asked knowing he was approaching him as he studied the data pad before him.

"Yes, Sir." Maridus replied standing next to him. There was a lingering silence from Maridus and Victus found that odd. Usually when he was quiet like this there was something on his mind.

"Speak your mind, Damar." Victus said, he'd groomed Maridus as he protégé for about 10 years and could read him like an open book, curious silence like that meant that he had something on his mind.

Maridus let out a short sigh. "Sir, is this a good idea?" he asked but Victus didn't look up from what he was studying. "If anything happens to her because of a grudge it could start another war."

Victus nodded understanding his hesitation but disagreed with part of his comment. "I don't think it'll start another war but I understand your concern, I have the same." He added and looked to him. "Make sure she stays in one piece."

Maridus nodded. "Shouldn't be too hard considering what's she's survived." He replied and heard an airy cackle from Victus.

For the next few days, Sidda was getting used to the ship and making sure the Turian's onboard knew she was there. That wasn't too tough since they all knew about the human exchange student they got. Everytime she ran across a Turian they looked at her sideways and gave her a wide berth. She knew that it would take time for everyone to get used to the situation but it was starting to get on her nerves. Her quarters were at least something close to familiar, she was given private quarters meaning she had no roommate. According to Maridus they were reserved for VIPs, she wasn't entirely sure how she felt about that, there was a desk, a terminal, a locker, a bunk that a human would call twin or queen size, a couch and a small table. It was oddly big given the military vessel she was on. The best was the biggest irritation, too soft and that took her by surprise.

Her armor had been stored in the locker room along with the rest of her combat oriented equipment but would look out of place to the jet black armor that she had observed the Turians used. She was going to have to get used to feeling out of place but it was going to be a long mission.

Morning mess was just like any other ship she'd ever served on. Packed, noisy, a place everyone could talk before getting on with their day. Sidda didn't eat the food onboard, Dextro DNA food wouldn't kill her but it would sure as hell be uncomfortable. Anderson had sent a generous supply of human rations, the rations were not the best but it did the job. Rather than being anti-social she tried to befriend the crew, so far it wasn't working. She normally ate at a table by herself.

Sidda entered the Mess Hall and the room got quiet, she looked around suddenly feeling like she landed under a microscope but put her chosen rations for the morning on a tray and made her way through the line to get some water. She didn't want to appear uncomfortable but some could tell as she walked toward the table she normally sat at.

"Commander." A voice said from her right and saw Maridus gesture for her to come over.

She walked over to him and shook her head. "What? Do I smell? Do I have something in my teeth? What?" she asked and Maridus chuckled shaking his head.

"No, Commander, you smell fine." He said chuckling, gesturing for her to take a seat. "Please, join me."

Sidda sat down and looked at him still feeling like the new kid in school. "What the hells the matter with everyone?" she asked, her voice tinged with some irritation about everyone staring at her. "You'd think that they'd never seen a damn human before."

Maridus shrugged and could agree with some of what she said. "Well, you're human and that's part of it." He said as she opened her rations. The food wasn't readily identifiable to Maridus, hell not even to Shepard. It probably tasted like Chicken too.

"Yeah, well, what's the other part?" She asked paying more attention to her food than anything else, probably trying to identify it.

Maridus looked her up and down as she forked through her food. "You're a biotic."

She paused and looked up at him cocking her head. "So? What does me being a biotic have to do with anything?"

Maridus leaned forward taking in a sharp breath. He studied her still trying to get to know her after a few days of being onboard. "Commander, let me ask you this; have you ever seen a biotic Turian?" he asked and she thought about that.

Sidda's brow furrowed as she thought about it, in all the studies, and the Alliance training during the academy about them she'd seen or heard of maybe a handful. "Actually, no…not really." she replied now listening to him completely.

Maridus made his case. "There are very few Turian's with biotic capabilities, but…their population is segregated. Turian's don't trust biotics they never have, not even our own people. Don't expect them to trust you…not even a tiny bit." He explained and she never knew about any of this.

Sidda blinked, now she had a thousand questions. "Why don't your people trust biotics?" She asked and he took a drink clearing his throat.

"Unit cohesion mainly." He replied. "During the Unification War biotic Turians were placed among the units as 'observers' and assassins, this did not go over well after the War." He said and she leaned forward listening. "After the War the Heirarchy didn't trust the biotics and segregated them into their own colony. They're used as shock troops now." He hoped that what he was saying would help her.

She sat back in the chair and took it all in. "That explains a lot." She said. "Thanks, Maridus."

"Damar." He correct and she looked at him cracking a smile.

"Sidda." She said with a smile and leaned forward to starting eating. "Glad I have at least one friend onboard." She muttered and Maridus chuckled.

"Just didn't want to see that pathetic look on your face anymore." He sniped as she took a bite of food and coughed on it.

She cleaned up the food bits and eyed him. "Don't know which is worse…your sense of humor or this food."

He laughed out loud and went back to eating. "Probably your food…it even smells horrible."

Fitting in with the Turians was turning out to be tougher than she thought, there had been a lot of negative talk among the Turians about Shepard, she was doing her best to fit in and train with them or do something to gain their trust or approval. It wasn't easy; they didn't know what to do with her, although she had respect from some of them due to her background the majority of them didn't really care about what her credentials were. She'd been onboard for about two weeks but it felt like an eternity. She wasn't making any headway and that frustrated her, Victus was patient but still wasn't sure exactly what to do with her, he hadn't assigned her anything and part of that was because of her biotic abilities.

Sidda spent a lot of time watching the Turian's spar, observing them was one way she could learn how to fight like them. She was very good at hand to hand as a human but had never gone up against a Turian. She eyed two of the recon scouts as they carefully battled it out, Turians closely monitored the sparring to make sure no one was injured Maridus was apparently the ship moderator most of the time, she rarely saw him spar in the two weeks she'd been onboard but he was always there to make sure the crew didn't overstep.

"Who's next?" the Maridus asked and the young Lieutenant she'd met on her first day stood up. His name was Nov, and it turned out his first name was Callus; she'd observed in at morning mess with others and determined that he actually had a sense of humor but he practically ignored her when he was in her presence. His markings were striking, she'd never seen Turian markings like his bright red solid mask, she'd seen the red colony markings but not like this and so far he was the only one onboard who had them. "Alright, pick your dance partner, Nov."

There was a pause as Nov's attention turned to her direction. "The Human." He called and Sidda looked up surprised but she couldn't help but feel a little worried, she'd never actually sparred with a Turian.

The entire room turned to look at her and she looked around still surpised about sudden challenge. "How about it, Commander?" Maridus asked, Victus' second in command was one of the only people onboard that didn't look down at her for being 'the Human'.

She stood nodding, sink or swim time if they were going to hurt her it was going to happen. Her mission was to build relations with the Turians so showing that human's weren't weak was a hell of a way to show that. Her service record was one thing but that didn't mean a whole lot to the Turians, it got her a little bit of respect out of the gate but that was it. "Let's do it." She said and took her Alliance tunic off leaving her with just the undershirt, pants, and boots.

Her opponant was much bigger than she was and as she had observed Turians were exceptional fighters, light, fast, and strong. Nov attacked her and she blocked his attack like a human would, it was good block but it also got her knocked on her ass from Nov's other punch. His fist hit her gut like she'd been hit by a rock. She groaned in pain and made a mental note not to do that again. She returned his hit by attacking this time and used her size to evade him going under him and kicked him firmly in the back sending him forward. Nov didn't like that too much and went after her with renewed effort. He came at her hard and a friendly sparring match went one step further. She was hit quite a few times in the abdomen as she tried to block but fighting a Turian was not easy. He had her at a disadvantage and backing up when she lost her footing he added one final insult, a hard backhand to the left side of her face.

"Keep her in one piece? That was supposed to be an easy job." Maridus thought to himself remembering Victus' standing order to him to keep her in one piece. "Nov!" she heard Maridus yell as his hit dazed the hell out of her. "That's enough."

Nov leaned down to her but it wasn't to offer her a hand up. "Go back to Earth, Human." Nov hissed, his comment earned a burning glare from Maridus.

She pulled herself up and shook her head to get her brain back into place. She tasted blood in her mouth that she spit out onto the mat. "You alright, Commander?" Maridus asked, watching her get up and shake off that match.

"You wanna fight, Nov, bring it on." She challenged and Nov turned to look at her and the look on his face took her by surprise. Was he impressed?

As entertaining as the next few minutes were bound to be, Maridus knew he needed to stop this before Shepard was killed. If she died during a sparring match he knew his head would be a trophy on Victus' desk for the rest of time. "Stand down!" Maridus barked and Nov froze in his tracks. "Commander, go to medical, get checked out. You took a pretty good hit."

Sidda didn't like his decision to end the fight, it made her look weak and that was not her intention. "I don't nee-…"

Questioning the first officer was something none of them did and that was plainly evident on everyone's face. "Now, Commander." He stressed and she walked out.

She didn't like the walk out of there, she felt like she didn't show what she could do. Like she was weak and let herself be beaten, being sent to Medical pissed her off even more, she wasn't going to break. Something was going to need to change or she was going to drown on this ship.

In Medical, she was treated with kind of a loathsome distain, there was really nothing wrong with her, but Dr. Holum did what he was asked and made sure nothing was broken or damaged. "What happened?" Victus asked; he startled her since she hadn't realized he walked in.

"General." She said and moved to stand but he waved her off.

Victus stepped toward her and studied her. "You took part in the sparring?" He asked and put his hand on her chin turning her face toward him so he could see the damage, Nov gave her a really good hit. "How did that go?"

She chuckled slightly and got off the bed. "Not well." She replied. "You Turian's are some tough bastards."

Victus still didn't know what to do with her; she was interesting but still didn't know how to handle her. "When you are feeling able, Commander, would you join me in my cabin?" he asked and she thought about it for a minute, unsure exactly why he was asking.

"Uhh, sure…I mean, Yes, Sir." She replied and he was satisfied with that answer and quietly walked out. She watched him go and allowed a smile.

Sidda put on her very best, her sharp Alliance uniform, and made her way to the General's quarters, she ignored the looks she got she went but no one questioned her. Victus' quarters were bigger than hers and she felt out of place again as she stepped in.

"Commander, thank you for coming." He said and she noticed food set up on the table. "I understand the food on board isn't tailored to suit a human, but our chef enjoys a challenge." He offered and she looked at the food, it looked kind of like a round steak with some vegetables she couldn't identify.

Her stomach growled and she couldn't help but smile. "Oh, this is perfect." She said and smiled to him. Her reaction made him cock his head slightly finding that he enjoyed seeing her smile like that. "I've been eating the human rations Anderson sent but…there's only so much of that stuff you can eat." She chuckled and he cracked a laugh too then gestured for her to sit.

"Please, have a seat, Commander." He said and then sat down by his dinner. "How are you feeling?"

She settled in the chair and picked up a fork glancing at him. "Sore…but I'll survive. I felt like that a lot after N7 training." She said and took a drink of the water, there was something up. He wanted something from her and he was doing a pitiful job of covering it up. "Alright, General, spill it. Why'd you call me here?"

Victus allowed a smile and nodded to her. "You're very perceptive, Commander." He said and she cocked her head. "Do you know the main reason I agreed to taking you onboard, Commander?"

Sidda's default was sarcasm. "Drew the short straw?" she replied with a snort.

Victus allowed a laugh but shook his head; her sense of humor was refreshing. "I wanted to meet the officer responsible for the Skyllian Blitz." He continued and he saw her pause for a moment. "Tell me about Elysium."

Sidda adjusted in her seat and looked away. People called her a hero but that battle was hard to talk about, a lot of stuff happened that she'd rather forget. "You read the file." She replied and he nodded.

"I did." He nodded and leaned forward putting his elbows on the table. "But I want to hear it from you."

Sidda was quiet for a moment and took another drink of the water. "I was on shore leave." She said. "Then the Batarian's dropped in. They hit Illyria hard and fast with more Batarians that I'd ever seen in my life, when the fighting started I found three Marines on leave from the SSV Caledonia. We rallied a resistance, Illyria Security and set up a defensive line at the spaceport. We had control of the AA Guns and the Alliance said to hold that position." She explained sounding unhappy while talking about this. "There were thousands of Batarians in that attack against three marines and me. In Earth's Anicent History there was a battle in a place call Thermopoli. A decimated Spartan Army of 300 held off a Persian attack of a million men. The Spartan army fought so hard that the Persian's lost their taste for fighting."

Victus simply listened to her, he hadn't studied Earth's history but he took her word on it. "Brave men." Victus stated, he was content to just listening to her talk. "What happened to the Spartan Army?"

She sighed and smiled to him. "Annilihated. But that is all that I could think of during that fight." She said and he continued to listen. "I set up a defensive line with the Marines; we armed the civilian police force in case any Batarians got past us. The Alliance told us to hold and they were on their way so all we had to do was survive until they got there. During the first wave the Batarians launched a missile at us…killed those three men instantly." There was a pause as Victus looked her up and down. As hard as her exterior was she could feel the pain of what she was talking about. He'd lost men too and understood where she was coming from. "Watching them die really pissed me off. They launched a second missile toward the civilians bunkered in the spaceport…I spawned a singularity and trapped it. Then I hit it thrown and sent it back." She said with a bit of growl sounding please with her work.

Victus chuckled softly his head and smiled. "Impressive, Commander." He stated and she nodded.

"The biotics amplified the blast." She said. "Times two, one biotic missile destroyed I don't know how many Batarians in the process, gave the Batarians a moment of pause as they tried to figure out how to beat a biotic that had one thing going for her…superior position." She added, looking up at Victus. He was intent listening to her, there was something about him that she was attracted to. So far he was quiet and kept her at a distance but there as just something about him. "The Batarian's kept coming; wave after wave I had to conserve ammo so I used biotics…probably saved us all. When Hackett arrived I was exhausted…I was shot twice, took a shrapnel hit." She said gesturing to the scar under her left eye and down her right temple. "They sent me to Medical on the Agincourt and I didn't wake up for 16 hours. When I woke up they called me a hero and gave me The Star of Terra."

Most people she told this to brushed it off as military bravado or propaganda but he didn't see that, Victus saw a brilliant tactician who used what she had to achieve the mission. She did the impossible and he respected that. "Commander, what you did is harder than facing a bullet. You were tasked with holding a key location that prevented the total domination of a colony. You may not be a hero in your eyes but you're most deffinitly a hero to those colonists."

Sidda knitted her eyebrows and cocked her head to him. His words actually made her feel better about retelling the story. She'd heard people tell her that before but hearing it from him just felt better. "Thanks."

He nodded to her respectfully. "You're a hell of an officer, Commander, I'm proud to have you here." He told her and she couldn't help herself.

"Even though I was thrust upon you against your will." She inquired and could have sworn she saw him blush, at least she thought it was a blush, the plates under his paint darkened and he cleared his throat. He's blushing.

Victus tried to hide his reaction behind his drink and took a sip before responding. "I can think of worse things, Commander." He replied and she cracked a half smile before returning to her dinner.