Chapter 10

Agreement

Author's Note: Well I see that the last chapter got good feedback. Well I plan to have another arc before I move on to the main events of the game. Please note that there will be a minor time skip in this arc, there won't be a timeline for this one, one chapter will simply say X number of (insert unit of time here) later. Well here we go, I hope you like how I handle this.

"I understand that this is an unusual course of action President Richards, one that the UEG has never taken. I appreciate that you were willing to put it to a vote," Mack said into his COM unit.

He had been standing outside the meeting from of the Quarian Admiralty Board for the last two hours. He had proposed the idea that occurred to him to the UEG Senate, leading to lengthy explanations and debates. Afterwards the Senate had voted on it with the vote coming up to 309 for and 143 against.

"Frankly I'm glad you had this idea Colonel," Richards replied, "my grandfather used to tell me stories about how he served in the Human-Covenant War, no race deserves to be on the receiving end of genocide."

Isaac Richards was the current President of the UEG, midway through his first term of office. The UEG main government was partially based off of the United States government of the 21st century. The UEG Senate was comprised of two representatives from each UEG planet. The UEG President was elected every four years and could serve a total of four years and could be elected for two terms. The power given to both the Senate and the President was, like their structure, similar to the United States government, in terms of passing laws, granting immunity, declaring war and many other things.

"I'll write up the agreement and sign it," Richards said. "It'll be sent to the Quarian Admirals, all you need to do is get them to agree to it so that they can sign it when they get it. Oh, and Colonel, if there's any promotion or transfer that you're looking for just drop my name, I'm sure I can push enough papers to get it done."

"Thank you Mr. Richards," Mack said as he lowered his hand. Turning around, Mack walked through the door leading to where the Admiralty Board was waiting for him.

"You certainly took your time," Han'Gerrel said as Mack walked into the room, causing everyone to glance at him.

"Mack what was that all about?" Taylor asked from where he and the other troopers were standing. "You were out there for hours,"

"Members of the Quarian Admiralty Board," Mack said to the Admirals, ignoring the comments directed at him, "I have a proposition for you."

The Admirals looked at Mack with startled composure. "What kind of proposition?" Shala'Raan asked.

"Before I go any further let me ask you this," Mack said. "The reason that you have not attempted to colonize any planets since you were pushed off of your homeworld by the Geth is because your weakened immune systems would make it too impractical, am I right?"

"Yes," Zaal'Koris said, "why did you need to know that?"

"Bear with me," Mack said. "Say that there was a planet that posed absolutely no biological threat to you, that has a zero percent chance of the local bacteria and virus affect you. If you found a planet that met those criteria, would you consider establishing settlements on it?"

"Of course we would," Zaal'Koris said, "but where would be find such a planet?"

Mack grinned slightly. "We're orbiting it right now," he said. "I have received approval from the UEG Senate and President to forward this to you. Your people have been authorized by the Senate to colonize Sanctuary; all that is required is the approval of the Quarian people."

The Admiralty Board looked at Mack in shocked silence, clearly not believing their ears. "Mack how can the Hell did you come up with an idea like that so quickly?"

"You...you would honestly allow us to live on this planet?" Shala'Raan asked in a hesitant voice.

"Well, we can't just give you the entire planet, 20 million Humans live on it," Mack said. "Still I imagine that you should be able to integrate into our society fairly well. So what do you say?"

"I am sorry," Zaal'Koris said. "You said that this planet would pose no biological threat to us, what do you mean by that?"

"Sanctuary is a rather unique planet," Mack replied. "The amount of radiation exposure that it receives is next to zero, as a result there is barley any evolution on it. Local plant life is overwhelmed in days if off-world plants are introduced, and bacteria and virus are no threats at all. You should be able to live on this planet without any complications at all."

"Wait a minute!" Rael'Zorah shouted, causing heads to jerk in his direction. "I appreciate the offer Colonel, but are you suggesting that we abandon any and all hope of ever reclaiming the homeworld?"

"No offense Admiral," Taylor said, "but exactly how do you plan on retaking your home-planet? If the Geth were able to defeat you when your total population was millions of times larger eight hundred years ago, how do you plan on defeating them now?"

"I think you underestimate the Migrant Fleet," Han'Gerrel said. "It is easily the largest known fleet in the galaxy, if any fleet can take back the homeworld, it can."

"Don't be so hasty you two," Zaal'Koris said. "We are being offered a chance to rebuild and start and you are refusing it? I understand why you long for the homeworld, but you must accept the fact that it is forever out of our reach."

"I have to agree with Zaal'Koris," Mack said. "If I was to run the numbers by a Smart A.I., I would bet my right arm that you would get the same result."

"If you were to run it by a what?" Rael'Zorah shouted.

"Aw crap," Taylor muttered. "Somehow I don't think that the Council really went out of their way to tell that many people about our A.I.'s."

"You mean to tell me that you are actually insane enough to actively use Artificial Intelligence?" Rael'Zorah continued, his voice somewhere in-between scared and angry.

"Look, we've already had this conversation with the Council," Mack said in an annoyed voice. "Yes A.I.'s are a part of the UNSC and yes they are considered to be on par with Humans. We've used them for centuries and we've never had any serious problems with them."

"Really?" Zaal'Koris said in an interested voice. "It is quite interesting to hear that my theories were correct, A.I.'s and organics truly can coexist. Tell me, what is the standing of A.I.'s in your community?"

"Smart A.I.'s are very similar to Humans in many ways, as a result they are considered to be our equals. Their processing capability is incredibly high and capable of processing massive amounts of data in a matter of seconds. Dumb A.I.'s on the other hand lack the capacity to truly be considered sentient, therefore they're usually looked on as equipment, also due in part to the fact that the can only learn how to do one job."

"Fascinating," Daro'Xen said quietly.

Something about her voice sent shivers down Taylor's back. He had no idea exactly what he found so ominous about it, maybe it was the way she seemed to be completely relaxed as she spoke, or maybe it was the way she had remained quiet throughout most of the talking. Something simply seemed eerie about the Admiral, and Taylor couldn't help but feel that her goals were very different from the other Admirals.

"I can understand that some of you would be rather reluctant to be on the same planet as a sapient A.I.," Mack said, either not noticing the tone of Daro'Xen's voice or simply ignoring it. "But I beseech you to put your grudges behind you and think of the future of your people."

"While we may be able to tolerate living among you and your A.I.'s, and that is a rather large may be, the main fact is that this planet is not our home," Rael'Zorah said. "Our home is still occupied by the Geth, and while we may not be able to fight them head on, there are countless otherwise that we could defeat them, viruses, reprograming, EMPs, we simply cannot abandon hope of ever reclaiming the homeworld."

"As much as I hate to point it out Rael," Shala'Raan said, "it is not our choice to make, the Conclave will have to vote on this."

"The what?" Mack asked, clearly confused.

"The Conclave is the Quarian civilian government, made up of representatives from each ship," Shala'Raan explained. "They make most of the decisions about the Migrant Fleet. We can only override their decision if we unanimously agree, and afterwards we must retire and be replaced with new Admirals."

"An interesting form of government," Mack commented. "So you will present our offer to the Conclave correct?"

"Yes," Shala'Raan said, "I hope you that you understand that due to the sheer size of the Conclave it will take some time for them to reach a decision."

"How long?" Mack asked. "Hours? Days? Weeks?"

"Most likely days, possibly longer," Shala'Raan said. "It depends on how divided the Conclave is over the subject."

"I see," Mack said as he turned to face the door. "Well, get back to me on that when you have a reply, come on men we're leaving."

"Wait you're going?" Han'Gerrel asked in a surprised voice.

"No point in sticking around is there?" Mack asked as he and the troopers began to head for the exit.

"Wait," Shala'Raan said, holding out her hand. "Why are you doing this, why are you helping us?"

Mack let out a sigh as he turned to face Raan. "You're not the only species that's been on the receiving end of genocide. Human-Covenant War, 79 billion Humans dead, 632 planets rendered uninhabitable. The only reason we're still able to function as a species was that the war ended before our heaviest industrial and most heavily populated planets got caught in the crossfire."

Without another word, Mack turned and silently exited the room, the ODSTs following him.

"What do you think?" Shala'Raan asked as she looked at Rael'Zorah. "Do you think that this will be a good move?"

"You can't honestly be considering this Raan," Rael'Zorah said, "you really believe that this would be a good idea?"

"Rael, I know that you promised Sirona and Tali that you would build them a house on the homeworld, but I ask you to consider this, how often does a chance like this come around?"

Zaal'Koris cut across Rael'Zorah before he could speak. "As Raan said, it is not up to us, it is up to the Conclave, I do believe that we should send out a message to them now."

[Two days later.]

High in orbit above Earth, President Isaac Richards sat in his office on the space station Washington, the acting capital of the UNSC and UEG. He was wearing a suit and tie, sitting behind his desk, typing on a laptop when the door opened. Looking up, he saw a UNSC Admiral enter, closing the door behind him.

"Ah, Admiral Anderson, I'm glad that you're here," Richards said warmly, as he closed the small laptop in front of him.

"I'd prefer that you call me David, but if Admiral Anderson is what you prefer, then so be it," Anderson said, a slight smile crossing his face.

"That's the idea," Richards said, standing up from his desk and walked around to face Anderson.

"You know when you told me that you were dropping out of the military to enter politics, I thought that at the very most you would be the governor of a city," Anderson said. Imagine my surprise when you become one of Earth's Senators and then the President of the UEG."

"Yes, well I hope that you understand that I didn't call you up here just so that we catch up on old times," Richards said, as he took a datapad off of his desk. "I trust that you heard about what happened in orbit over Sanctuary a couple of days ago?"

"Who hasn't?" Anderson replied. "If you don't mind me asking though, why did the Quarians send their entire fleet into that system, and for that matter why that system?"

"From what I've been able to gather, the Quarians are rather isolated from the rest of the Council races, so when we drew the border lines I doubt that they got the navigational data, therefore they would not know that we have a presence in that area." Richards answered. "As for why they went into that particular system, Sanctuary is right on the border between UNSC and Council space. The Quarians are a nomadic species that travel from system to system strip-mining planets, moons and asteroids for resources. I'm guessing that the Sanctuary System was just their next stop, and when they found us they just tried to make friendly contact."

"And during the negotiations, Colonel Mack Norman contacted you and proposed this joint colony idea that seems to the topic of every discussion recently," Anderson said.

Richards nodded. "Actually I wanted to ask you about that, I know you have a lot of contacts, what can you tell me about the civilian reaction to this proposal?"

"Mixed," Anderson said. "A lot of Humans look at the Quarians and see themselves there, and want to help them. At the same time a lot of Humans don't want anything to do with aliens, mainly because of the Human-Covenant War. This group however is rather small, which might have something to do with the RSN providing military support during the Second Contact War. At the same time quite a few people really don't care what you do about the situation, since the Quarian population is so small they probably believe that it won't have an impact on their lives in any, way shape or form."

"And what do you think about this?" Richards asked. Anderson was silent, and Richards could practically see the gears turning behind his eyes. "Don't tell me what I want to hear, give me your honest opinion."

"Frankly I'm rather divided on the situation Richards," Anderson said honestly. "The pros and cons seem to be completely equal to each other. On one hand the Quarians obviously need our help and we could stand to gain from this. Since we haven't shared any of our technology with the Council, they've refused to share theirs with us, and we were forced to get what we could off of captured equipment from the Second Contact War. We've seen that Mass Effect technology can be more effective than ours in a handful of situations, and the Quarians will most likely be willing to share them with us. I have also heard that Quarians are very effective at maintenance and efficiently gathering resources, another reason to have them on our side."

"On the other hand, they will most likely be mistrustful of our A.I.'s which may cause some complications down the road. Not to mention the fact that Quarians aren't very popular among Council races, they're viewed as freeloaders and pickpockets. If we go along with this course of action, we may take some flak. In the end though, I trust your judgment, Richards."

"Thanks old friend," Richards said as he reached down the front of his desk and opened a concealed hatch.

Anderson raised an eyebrow, "What have you got there?" he asked.

"A little present from the Arbiter, he gave it to me after the annual war memorial service, I've been saving it for a special occasion, and I'm pretty sure that this qualifies." As he spoke, he produced an oddly curved bottle and two glasses, setting both on the desk. "But remember this Anderson, you've had enough booze in your life so take it easy," he said, poring the purple liquid into two glasses."

"What exactly is this?" Anderson asked as he picked up one of the glasses and swirled it slightly.

"I forget exactly," Richards said as he picked up his own glass. "But Thel said that it was expensive, even in RSN space; imagine how expensive it would be to get it exported all the way out here. From what Thel said though, it's well worth the price."

As he was about to raise his glass to his lips, his closed laptop beeped, signifying that he had just received a message. "Pardon me a moment," Richards said as he placed his glass on the desk and sat down. Opening his laptop, Richards pushed a few buttons on the keyboard, bringing up the message. As his eyes scanned the message, a smile broke across Richards face.

"What is it?" Anderson asked as Richards stood up from his seat.

"The Quarians have accepted our offer," Richards said as he picked his glass off of the desk. "They'll begin to settling the planet tomorrow."

Anderson grinned as both he and Richards raised their glasses. "Here's to hoping that this works," he said.

"Amen," Richards said as they both downed the contents of their glasses. "Ok maybe one more," Richards said as he poured himself and Anderson another glass.

Author's Note: Well personally I think that chapter went rather well. I haven't been feeling that well recently and I've had a bit of a fever but that's not enough to stop me from writing this story. Please note that the main events of the game will not be starting for a couple more chapters, as I have an idea that will help shape the future events of this story. Anyone who can guess what it is gets a cookie. Well, as always, tell me what you think.