Sirius News Service
New London, New London System
It is a historic day here in the colonies as Humanity has made official First Contact with an alien race. Today, His Majesty, King Alexander I of Bretonnia greeted the representative of this Citadel Council, one Dr. Aela D'Avo, an Asari, aliens who look rather like women, but instead of hair have tentacle like fringes and blue skin. She greeted His Majesty in the "name of Peace. We of the Citadel hope that we will have a bountiful future together Your Majesty."
When asked for her thoughts on Humanity as a whole she said "Every day I continue to be surprised by Humanity. I imagine that in the future, Humans will certainly make an impact on Citadel society."
We of the SNS hope that Dr. D'Avo continues to have a safe trip throughout her tour.
Planet Malta
Omicron Alpha System
When the Hispania first arrived in the Sirius sector, and the people had awoken from cryostasis, the passengers were shocked to find that their engines had been destroyed and that they were drifting towards an unknown star system. The people aboard were terrified. There was no guarantee that the system they were heading towards would even have a planet that could support life. The ship eventually became split into two parties: those for taking the escape pods and try to push their luck somewhere else, and those for nursing the Hispania onwards to its final destination.
Those who elected to stay steadily directed the Hispania towards a star system that, luckily enough, contained a single habitable planet. They took what escape pods and shuttles were left and found themselves on a planet with gray skies, acidic green seas, and endless plains of orange grass. The survivors named the planet Malta.
Several decades after establishing themselves on their new home, they managed to set up enough infrastructure to begin exploration of their home system. However, for some reason the further an explorer went away from Malta, the sicker they would become, only to miraculously recover upon landing. Doctors were baffled and only after doing a thorough genetic scan did they discover the answer to why.
Their entire genetic structure had been altered considerably. Several strands had become identical to that of the orange grasses on the planet which some of the colonists had begun to take recreationally, Cardamine.
Further investigations showed that trace amounts of it could be found everywhere. From the air they breathed to the water they drank, trace amounts of Cardamine could be found in it. Even the plants and animals they had managed to save from the Hispania's seed and animal bank had been slightly altered. Everything they were taking into them was altered, and thus changing them. These people of the Hispania were now the Outcasts of Humanity. They could never really expand beyond Malta now, they depended too much on Cardamine.
Still, with the initial problem discovered, they could compensate by bringing with them processed Cardamine, and exploration could continue beyond the system.
When they encountered the other Houses around 600 A.S., the Outcasts came up with an idea; rot them from the inside out with Cardamine and grow rich off the profits. So they began their work, slowly building connections, getting criminals to build a dependency on them for their fix of Cardamine.
Now the Dons of Malta live rich comfortable lives, with a level of wealth unrivaled throughout the Sirius sector, and even Citadel space. Everyday, more and more Cardamine is exported from Malta to satisfy the growing need of the Sirius sector.
Now… things could change. Drastically. In the villa of one of the most powerful Dons of Malta, one Don Michael Sforza, who owned a full third of the fields on Malta, was reading a news report that he was confident would dramatically increase the number of people who would answer to the Outcasts.
Aliens. A whole new galaxy of opportunity had opened up to the Outcasts. Billions, no, trillions more people to get hooked on Cardamine, and thus for the Outcasts to profit from. Trillions in credits all just waiting for the right moment to strike.
But patience would be required. The Outcasts hadn't learned how to communicate with them yet, not to mention how to even get there. That would require exploration of Jumpholes from relatively unknown systems, bases to set up if necessary.
But so long as there were people, there would be someone who would want their fix of Cardamine. All the Outcasts needed was time.
They had plenty of that.
Planet Crete
Omicron Gamma System
The other half of the people of the Hispania landed in what was for all intents and purposes a barren planet. It was a planet full of extremes from icy cold mountaintops to bone dry deserts. Between these extremes, there was hardly any arable land for the survivors to eke a living, and starvation was often to be expected.
Still, after a few centuries, a stroke of luck for the people of Crete hit them. A Rhineland expedition landed on the planet, and seeing this opportunity, the descendants of the survivors of the Hispania killed the crew and took over their ships.
Within a few decades, these Corsairs had managed to expand their raiding operations, hitting House shipping and isolated outposts wherever they could, striking quickly and efficiently before retreating into their hidden jumpholes.
Today, with the help of the huge demand for alien artifacts that were so common throughout their home system, the Corsairs had managed to set up a thriving smuggling route, selling their artifacts to whoever wanted them at prices they dictated. With these funds, they no longer had to fear things like starvation, now bringing in much of their food from the Zoner bases in the neighboring systems. They established a thriving shipbuilding industry and now possessed some of the finest ships and equipment throughout the Sirius Sector.
Today, the Council of Elders, the effective ruling body of the Corsairs, convened to decide what to do with a startling new piece of information. Though they were separated from the rest of the Houses by many Jumpholes, that did not mean they did not receive news, and this particular piece caught the Council's eye for one reason alone. Aliens.
"This… is troubling." said Elder Jose worriedly. The fact that maybe he didn't hallucinate what he saw at his trials was what really worried him. The fact that maybe… these aliens knew what he saw.
"Where you see trouble, I see opportunity." retorted Elder Carlos. Typical, though to be fair, true. More people meant more targets, and the fact that they were new meant they would, initially at least, not expect the Corsairs to raid them.
"I must agree with Carlos, Jose." replied Elder Lourdes. "This is more an opportunity than a threat. While the occasional Bounty Hunter may find us here, we are the finest pilots in the Sirius sector, and have the finest equipment as well. Some of our scouts have even filed reports that we can in theory take on Rhineland and win, though at a cost I would find far too expensive. What is there to worry about?"
"You of course know of the trials," Elder Jose replied after a brief moment of silence.
The other two nodded. It was the Corsair right of passage. To prove oneself worthy of continuing to live and earn their right to eat, every young Corsair had to take an unshielded ship into the Malvada cloud. They were to go in, retrieve a single artifact, and return. If they failed, then it meant that the radiation took them, and thus no longer a burden on Corsair society. Thus the other name of the cloud, the Graveyard of the Innocents.
"When I took my Trial, in an attempt to take an artifact that I thought would be most worthy of me, I stumbled into a Jumphole, where I ended up in an unknown system. There… there was only darkness. No stars, no lights, nothing, yet scanners said they were detecting objects nearby." he said slowly, as if reliving the moment again.
"It took me a moment to realize that the reason why I wasn't seeing anything, was that I was surrounded by hundreds, possibly thousands of black ships. All blocking the sun and stars. I quickly fled back into the Jumphole and grabbed the first artifact I could find. I never spoke of that again, thinking it was only a fevered dream of perhaps being exposed to the radiation a little too long. Till now at least." he ended, letting that final statement hang in the air for a while. He could see his fellow Elder's eyes slowly dawn in comprehension.
"I fear that, since there are other creatures out there as intelligent and determined as we are, those black ships must therefore be owned by someone. I fear that maybe… one day, the owners of those black ships will come for us."
The Citadel
Serpent Nebula
Once again, the Council, the three most powerful people within Citadel Space, convened in a room that wouldn't be unusual anywhere else in the Citadel. Just like a little apartment really.
The main difference really, was that it was guaranteed no one would be watching that little discreet room, where some of the most important decisions in the galaxy were made. Especially now, in light of what Captain T'Loni reported.
"Advanced energy shielding, energy weapons, super hard armor, and most importantly, wormhole generation…" Councilor Sparatus, the Turian councilor, read through the list worriedly. It was supposed to be just an investigation into an unknown artifact. But now… "First contact with a race so advanced, miners took out one of the newest ships of the fleet,"
"Then it is a good thing these people seek peace with us." Councilor Tevos, the Asari councillor, countered. "In fact, these people seem very open to talking to us. What's more, these Humans are incredibly factionalized. The damage to the Gladius was caused by one of these factions, a group of rebelling miners called the Mollies. I think we can definitely use that to our advantage in our future talks with them. It should be trivial for our Matriarchs to get them to share their technology when we convene to meet at this… Curacao place."
"I'm far more worried about what these technologies mean." Councilor Raleh replied worriedly. "They speak of an understanding of physics that is simply… beyond us. Even if they were to provide complete technical details and the fundamental theories behind them, I fear that it would still take several Salarian generations for us to just catch up to their basics."
"Then we would obviously need their teachers." Councilor Tevos argued. "We would just need to include that as part of the provisions in our future talks."
"And we can take advantage of this factionalism as well," added Councilor Raleh after a bit of thought. "From the sound of it, these Humans have underlying problems with their society, especially if miners could revolt so effectively. Sowing discontent and supporting separatist groups should be relatively easy, at least if these Humans prove to be too stubborn."
"I don't think you understand just what we are dealing with, Raleh." Sparatus growled. "Spirits damned miners crippled the Gladius! Just think about how that could come back to haunt us,If these regimes or factions we support turn out to be uncooperative even after getting what they want, or worse, try attacking us. We would face something far more terrible than the Krogan Rebellions."
"Sparatus has a point, Raleh," Tevos gently replied. "We need to think of the long term… effects of making use of separatist groups. It could easily come to haunt us in the future. We need to find some way to take advantage of the factionalism in Humanity, without any… unpleasantness on our part if at all possible "
"T'Loni suggested in her report that there were other major nations as well, for a total of four. The Republic of Liberty, The Federal Republic of Rhineland, The Kusari Empire and finally, the only one we have definitively made contact with, the Kingdom of Bretonia. We could play one faction against each other, plant false information, or even truthful ones. It could make all the difference in encouraging… violent activities. Even on just the diplomatic level, it should be easy to obtain information and supply them with what they wish to know about the others." Raleh suggested.
"See Sparatus? With the amount of factionalism there, it should be relatively easy to keep things in our control," Tevos said reassuringly.
"If we are caught though… the repercussions could be worse than anything we could imagine. With their advanced technology, it is doubtful that we could force them to the table with something like the Genophage." Sparatus replied gravely. "We should consider slowly expanding each of our respective militaries. I know I will be suggesting it to the Primarch as soon as possible. These Humans have the advantage in technology, so we should, if possible, try to get the advantage in numbers."
"I'm not sure that would be the best message to send to them, Sparatus," Tevos countered. "If they find out about it, they could interpret it as a hostile action. No amount of misdirection could possibly cause them to not unite against a perceived threat like us."
"Then we should do so subtly," Raleh argued. "Sparatus makes an excellent point. Where we cannot win in terms of technology, we must try to catch up. Take any destroyed ships, whether bandit or not, and salvage the technology. Fundamental analysis can be done later. What matters more is that we produce copies through tried and true, trial and error. Understanding can come later, what matters most is that we copy the devices. The underlying principles can be taken on much later."
"All of these are for worst case scenarios of course," Tevos said cautiously.
"Plan for the worst, and we will not be too surprised when it happens." Raleh retorted.
"Very well then. On to the more peaceful plans. How do you think will the humans affect the economy? Big or small, I'm sure they are bound to leave their mark on the galaxy," Tevos said optimistically.
"Unless their advanced technology allows them to produce huge amounts of goods quickly and cheaply, I don't think they will make any very visible changes in the economy when they first arrive, not to mention the possible logistical problems. We don't quite know how they will transport their goods to us," Raleh reported.
"It is something that needs to be discussed with them then, the establishment of trade routes and handling the safety of said routes." Tevos replied. "Trade will be essential to the growth of their economies after all, and I suspect it will also be essential to their expansion as well."
"Their crime," Sparatus replied suddenly, "is something I would be worried about. If criminal groups attack shipping, I doubt there would be many survivors, if any. If the reports are accurate, and that the Gladius was crippled by mere miners, imagine what criminal groups who may have access to better weapons could do, especially if they were more organized."
"Then we would need to inform the Humans that it is imperative they control their crime problem as part of any treaty they would have with us," Tevos countered. "Relax Sparatus, after all it would be in their best interests to protect trade between our systems and theirs. We have the situation under control."
"I suspect Tevos, that things will not be as simple as that..." Sparatus ended as he looked out of the apartment window over a peaceful view of the Citadel.