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Disclaimer: BioWare is awesome, and I thoroughly enjoy their games and all the associated world-building. But I'm taking their ball, going home, and looking at it in a funhouse mirror.
2.
November 11, 2182
T'Soni Residence
Armali, Thessia
Osiya picked a lull in the conversation to include herself. "Liara, it's been too long! My friend here wanted to meet you before the night packs its bags. Dr. Liara T'Soni, this is Staff Lieutenant Rosa Shepard, of the Systems Union."
"Well, it's lovely to see you again Auntie. A pleasure to meet you, Lieutenant."
"The pleasure is all mine, Dr. T'Soni. I must thank you for your generous hospitality. I–"
"And then, the frigate blew up! Turns out the humans put missile bays under the space port! I'm telling you, they're at least as paranoid as the Empire." Trust Garrus to go off when there were a couple impressionable Turian women around.
Shepard coughed. "Sorry about that. He's a bit of a character."
"Not at all, Lieutenant." Liara smiled.
"Please, call me Shepard."
"In that case, I must insist you call me Liara. Would you like to have a more private discussion?"
"I'd love to. But first, would you grant me the pleasure of a dance?"
"How could I say no to such a dashing military woman?" At this, Liara grinned and bared her long, smooth neck quite prettily.
Wow, thought Shepard. I might actually be in over my head with this one. The Asari quintet began playing another piece in the background, an instrumental version of Tela's latest hit Catching Sparks. The piano player really was quite good.
Shepard offered her arm to Liara, and they began walking in the direction of the dance floor, one in the brilliant white dress uniform of the Systems Union Naval Marines, the other in a floor-length gown of a dark turquoise shade, studded with simply carved lapis lazuli in the shape of the T'Soni family crest.
They took a spot on the gently glowing dance floor, when the calm was shattered by a scream and the sound of glass shattering.
ii.
April 2, 2090
Kremlin
Moscow, Earth
"Comrade President, we have some news from the Arcturus system."
"Comrade Ilyin, you know very well I despair of your theatrics. Whatever it is, you'd better tell me now."
"So I should tell you now?"
"I've been waiting for nothing else for an hour!"
"Fine. Our survey ship attempted to interact with a Prothean artifact of unprecedented size and element zero concentration—and disappeared."
"Shit! Whose ship is closest to the artifact?"
"That's the thing. Our ship returned... the artifact is only one relay in an entire network of them."
President Nikolayev picked up the red phone. "François, what you say in the next ten seconds could determine the fate of all mankind."
April 2, 2090
RSV Grigori Perelman
Near Arcturus Relay
"Georg, what just happened?"
The AI responded after a moment's pause. "Cross-referencing the local stars to those around Arcturus, it seems we've traveled more than a hundred light years in the space of seconds. Sensor data indicates another artifact in this system. My guess is that we've found some kind of Prothean transportation relay network."
"My God, this could change everything."
"I think it's safe to say that it already has," chimed the science officer.
"You're right, Natalia. Think of the papers we'll publish!" Georg's avatar performed the very human gesture of resting his face in the palm of his hand.
II.
January 08, 2183
SUSV Normandy
Approaching Eden Prime
Jeff "Joker" Moreau settled into his very comfortable chair, glad to be sitting down after an all-hands meeting on the bridge. The exoskeleton helped, but his disease still made him weak. It was all a very pathetic sob story, really, but it was his sob story. He wondered if the new XO would be attracted to men who had overcome adversity to become the most skilled pilot in the Union, nevermind the Empire or the Quarian junta? But he'd heard that the Commander had a thing for Asari, and he could hardly compete with that.
Said XO settled into the co-pilot's chair next to him. "So Joker, how do you like flying the Normandy?"
"Commander! I didn't see you there. She's the best damn ship in the fleet, flies like a dream. In fact I'm pretty sure the first time I flew her I had to pinch myself."
Shepard quirked her lips. It was almost predatory. "I'm more of a fan of her stealth system. Edi is sure to throw anyone looking for a loop."
"Commander, I'm sure you're aware that no ship has been designed that can always evade detection."
"Edi, I know there's no such thing as stealth in space. But we've got the next best thing to it. You were great getting past the Empire's patrols yesterday."
Joker butted in, "Yeah, just because we had to go pick you up off Thessia. I bet the Empire thinks you stole away on a freighter like some kind of super spy."
"What, so I could deal with customs? Thanks, but no thanks. We'll let them think what they want. After all, there's no way a ship could get past the cordon surrounding Thessia and not even bother to drop a few nukes, right?"
Edi's avatar's eyes twinkled. How did they do that? It was a hologram, for Christ's sake!
"Commander, Flight Lieutenant. We've got a situation over Eden Prime. Unknown aliens have assaulted one of our colonies."
Codex: Human Systems Union
"Comrades, be welcomed to this the first session of the Systems Union Assembly. While we do not know what lies ahead, know that this is a new era for humanity. Gone are the days of want and petty theft. Gone is the profligate waste of the capitalist. Gone are the very limits of our imagination, for the stars are no limit. We may not be alone in the galaxy. And it is our duty to carry forward the torch of the revolution to the stars!"
- Systems Union President Li, inaugurating the first Systems Union Assembly.
In the years immediately following the establishment of the Human Systems Union, many member state responsibilities were gradually transferred to the Systems Union. This included a transfer of military assets to the Union, with the resulting fleet eventually being standardized over the ensuing decades. It is a successor to the loose confederacy called the Communist International, though it includes those Earth states reluctant to join Comintern until the relay network was discovered. Furthermore, colonies of Comintern member states of sufficient population were granted separate voices in the Union Assembly. The Systems Union continued to grow at a rapid pace, and made first contact with the Empire in 2157. After the ensuing War of Shanxi, the Empire and the Systems Union pledged eternal peace and trade in the 2158 Treaty of New Dhaka. Ever since, trade relations have grown at a steady clip, though no progress has been made in assimilation of the humans into the Empire.
Flag: Red with golden 8-pointed star in canton, with the points representing major founding star systems and the central circle representing Sol.
Motto: Liberty, Fraternity, Equality
Anthem: L'Internationale
Capital: Arcturus Station
Population: 28.2 billion humans, 0.3 billion naturalized aliens, 4.1 billion sapient AIs. Total 32.6 billion.
GDP: 187.18 quintillion credits (est.)
HDI: 0.997
Gini coefficient: 0.160
Currency: Various
Codex: Orbital Stations
Much of the Human population of the Systems Union lives on sprawling colonies of the O'Neill cylinder type, consisting of counter-rotating, 8km diameter, 32km length cylinders. These tend to be in the Union's inner sphere of colonies, which consists of those colonies created when the Union had not yet discovered the Mass Effect Relay network. Newer colonies exist which use mass-effect based artificial gravity; these colonies tend to be much smaller, since Human colonization priority has shifted to the plentiful garden worlds of the Attican Traverse.
Each cylinder of an O'Neill colony resembles a miniature version of the Citadel, with retention of atmosphere by way of windows instead of by size. These windows also allow the light of the local star to penetrate into the interior of the colony, though in some such cylinders the windows are replaced with glowing filaments—especially in systems with weak or bright stars.
Author's Note: I appreciate all the views this has gotten. I won't always be able to update as quickly as this, but interest will definitely cause updates to be faster.
