History Fanfic / MythosEffect

* LoopholeAbuse: Nator's plan to engage in trade with the [=NEF=] despite the Citadel's current trade embargo hinges on the fact that the Quarian's expulsion from the Citadel means they're not bound by that. Likewise, they're able to auction off their merchandise at Illium due to it technically not part of the Citadel.

* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: Trooper Taeden allowing his men to take a fifteen minute break to eat some snacks (after days of starvation rations) while on a scouting mission gets all of them killed or captured by the NEF.

* HopeSpot: Several. The Asari send a Matriarch to negotiate and hopefully defuse the situation. She manages to FUBAR the mission when she attempts a melding on a race scarred by [[MindRape mind-raping]] {{Eldritch Abomination}}s, leaving the ''[[BloodKnight Turians]]'' with the responsibility of drafting a peace settlement. While it starts off well, acknowledging they jumped the gun and that they have to pay reparations, they get stuck when discussing arcanotech, Engels and energy weapons. Quentius shows a video of the events at Shanxi to the leading Primarch, hoping to convince him Earth is best left in peace. This has the exact opposite effect when the Primarch is so disgusted at arcanotech he presses for treaty clauses involving, in a nutshell, the defanging of Mankind's war machine and joining the Council as an associate race. This insults the humans beyond the point of appeasability and starts the war.

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: [[spoiler:The Turian research team charged with reverse-engineering the Federation ship they found opens [[SealedEvilInACan the chamber where the Eldritch Abomination that killed everyone was being contained]].]]

* PoweredByAForsakenChild: Implied to be the case with [[spoiler:the Asari's newest mech, the Avatar]]. It's as responsive and graceful as an Engel, but implied to have [[spoiler:the mind of Ardat-Yakshi within it, allowing its grace and biotic enhancing abilities]].

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: [[spoiler:The Turian research team charged with reverse-engineering the Federation ship they found opens [[SealedEvilInACan the chamber where the EldritchAbomination that killed everyone was being contained]].]]

* ArtisticLicensePhysics: During the first fight between the New Earth Federation's and the Turian Hierarchy's fleets, the NEF use an antimatter bomb on the Turians, who state they have not detected any radiation spikes. However, the antimatter bomb ''does'' create a radiation spike in the gamma spectrum.
* AssholeVictim: Malgus, a Turian soldier and later prisoner of war, is executed for rape and attempted murder. Absolutely no one, including his commanding officers has any sympathy for him, with most saying it was about time someone put him down.

* LaughingThemselvesSick: [[TheCaptain Captain]] [[AwesomeAussie Cormac]] [[BaldOfAwesome Tyson]] breaks down laughing, even tearing up, when Quentius asks if the Turians wouldn't stand a chance against the sort of beings humanity has been fighting for decades.

* HopeSpot: Several. The Asari send a Matriarch to negotiate and hopefully defuse the situation. She manages to FUBAR the mission when she attempts a melding on a race scarred by [[MindRape mind-raping]] {{Eldritch Abomination}}s, leaving the ''[[BloodKnight Turians]]'' with the responsibility of drafting a peace settlement. While it starts off well, acknowledging they jumped the gun and that they have to pay reparations, they get stuck when discussing arcanotech, Engels and energy weapons. Quentius shows a video of the events at Shanxi to the leading Primarch, hoping to convince him Earth is best left in peace. This has the exact opposite effect when the Primarch is so disgusted at arcanotech he presses for treaty clauses involving, in a nutshell, the defanging of Mankind's war machine and joining the Council as an associate race. This insults the humans beyond the point of appeasability and starts the war.

* HypocriticalHumour: A female troop commander complains that, when men of different corps meet, all they do is to have "dick-measuring contests". One of the men under her command points out that she was comparing bust sizes with a Nazzadi woman a few weeks ago. She denies it, but her next comment makes it obvious it did happen.

* InterserviceRivalry: While mostly friendly, the ground soldiers and mecha pilots still rag on each other nigh constantly. (ie. "Like the LZ we cleared of hostiles for you?" "Must have been scary with only your two story armored mecha to protect you.")
* {{Irony}}: Lampshaded by Captain Jorus who notes that for all their claims of trying to prevent another Rachni War, the Turian Hierarchy is doing a good job of starting one.

* LuxuryPrisonSuite: The humans keep Turian prisoners in fairly good conditions, but compared to how the Turians' own camps are faring, the human prisons are magnificent due to the availability of food, entertainment, and more.

* PoweredByAForsakenChild: Implied to be the case with [[spoiler:the Asari's newest mech, the Avatar]]. It's as responsive and graceful as an Engel, but implied to have [[spoiler:the mind of Ardat-Yakshi within it, allowing it's grace and biotic enhancing abilities]].

* BreatherEpisode: The war between the Turians and the NEF is occasionally broken up by chapters focusing on the Citadel races, such as the Quarians seeking a trade agreement with the Federation or the Volus planning on how to end their status as a client race to the Turians..

* FeedItABomb: Tarkin attempts it with an Engel trying to eat him. It ''is'' successful, if not quite as expected: even though the Engel itself is effectively unharmed, it is enough to take out the ''pilot'', which means that the creature goes berserk, in this case against allies, causing a lot of damage by the time the commander activates the external overrides.

* LuxuryPrisonSuite: The humans keep Turian prisoners in fairly good conditions, but compared to how the Turians' own camps are faring, the human prisons are magnificent due to the availability of food and such.

* GoneHorriblyWrong: Quentius meets with Primarch Daxon and shows him videos of what humanity can do in an attempt to convince him that humanity is best left alone. Daxon is instead horrified and approves an addendum to the peace treaty that would force humanity to immediately switch to an eezo-based economy and abandon all arcanotechnology.

* ItsAllMyFault: After the fall of Digeris, Primarch Daxon assumes most of the blame for the mess that has been the war with the Federation, because he was the one that approved the terms that ensured war would happen.

* KnowWhenToFoldEm: [[spoiler: General Orinia, the Turian officer in command of forces on Digeris, ultimately decides to surrender the planet when she finally accepts that fighting the Federation is hopeless.]]

* LuxuryPrisonSuite: The humans keep Turian prisoners in fairly good conditions, but compared to how the Turians own camps are fairing, the human prisons are magnificent due to the availability of food and such.

* MovingTheGoalPosts: Councilor Sparatus is noted to be doing so verbatim in regards to the war against the Federation. First he claims humanity will never launch a serious attack, then that they will never attack a major colony, and most recently that they'll never take said colony (Digeris). Each time, he's proven wrong.

** During a scouting mission, Trooper Taedan's group comes across a convenience store filled with dextro-amino snacks. As everyone present has been on "starvation rations" for several days, he allows them a fifteen minute break to eat. During said break, Taedan admits that under any other circumstances, he'd force them to move on, but they're fatigued from hunger and in desperate need of a morale booster.

** Implied to be the fate of the Asari diplomat who's impulsive use of the Meld made a bad situation worse.

* SchmuckBait: Late in the war, the Turians come across an abandoned Federation war vessel. The more sensible Primarchs note that there ''has'' to be something wrong with it, despite all indications otherwise, as no one abandons a perfectly good ship in the middle of nowhere. Quentius later hears from the captain who found the ship and learns that the humans didn't abandon it; they were still onboard and pleading for the Turians to destroy the ship immediately. When the Turian navy arrived and towed it away, ''it was empty''. [[FromBadToWorse And now the ship is on a Turian world being studied]].

* TaughtByExperience: Quentius has learned enough about the Federation to know that anything that inspires desperate terror in them and makes them plead to be killed immediately is Very Bad News.

* TradingBarsForStripes: The beginning of Chapter 25 has a Turian executed for rape and attempted murder at the POW camp. Adrien is told that Digeris attempted to make up for manpower shortage by recruiting criminals. The results were... mixed.

* SchmuckBait: Late in the war, the Turians come across an abandoned Federation war vessel. The more sensible Primarchs note that there ''has'' to be something wrong with it, despite all indications otherwise, as no one abandons a perfectly good ship in the middle of nowhere. Quentius later hears from the captain who found the ship and learns that the humans didn't abandon it; they were still onboard and pleading for the Turians to destroy the ship immediately. [[FromBadToWorse And now the ship is on a Turian world being studied]].

* ReassignedToAntarctica: The sad fate of the few Turian officers that preferred not to poke the bear.

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: At the beginning of the war, the Asari and Salarians chose to stop trading with the Turians. The loss of the Citadel's second largest economy means that, after two years of war, hundreds of companies are bankrupt, cost of living is rising ahead of salary increases, and there's a high chance of a galaxy-wide recession within a decade.

* EnlightenedSelfInterest: The NEF forces make a point of treating their prisoners of war well, including healing any injuries they have when they're captured, because they're a SlaveToPR and want to maintain a "good guy image" about how they're just defending themselves against Turian aggression.

* DudeWheresMyReward: After building the galactic economy, including creating the standardized "credit" currency, the Volus requested a seat on the Citadel Council. The Asari and Salarians denied them, stating that one must "perform a great service to the Citadel to earn a seat". This is especially noteworthy as the Volus were the third race to reach the Citadel, making the Council relatively recent and meaning it hadn't gained a single new member since its formation. Torbel and Tevos eventually privately admit their banking services more than fill the quota and is likely to ensure they will be made Council members the next time they ask.

* DudeWheresMyReward: After building the galactic economy, including creating the standardized "credit" currency, the Volus requested a seat on the Citadel Council. The Asari and Salarians denied them, stating that one must "perform a great service to the Citadel to earn a seat". This is especially noteworthy as the Volus were the third race to reach the Citadel, making the Council relatively recent and meaning it hadn't gained a single new member since its formation. Torbel and Tevos eventually privately admit their banking services more than fills the quota and is the main reason they are likely to be made Council members the next time they ask.

** The Volus aren't soldiers or scientists or diplomats like the Turians, Salarians, and Asari respectively, but they did functionally create the galactic economy including the credit. That they didn't receive a council seat for it chafes quite a few of them.

* DudeWheresMyReward: After building the galactic economy, including creating the standardized "credit" currency, the Volus requested a seat on the Citadel Council. The Asari and Salarians denied them, stating that one must "perform a great service to the Citadel to earn a seat". This is especially noteworthy as the Volus were the third race to reach the Citadel, making the Council relatively recent and meaning it hadn't gained a single new member since its formation.