"This is unreasonable!" Zaal'Koris stomped around Baird's office on the SNV Jannermont, docked at the Citadel. Six months after the Friendship Treaty between the Humans and the Quarians were signed, they had lobbied together for representation on the Council. Naturally, the whole process was wrought with challenges:
The demilitarization of the AI's was incomplete, because it wasn't as simple as cutting off the AI's control over the systems; new systems had to be developed and put into place without sacrificing fleet readiness.
Quarian settlement of Baonoch was only in its initial stages, with only a few million flash-colonized on the surface, and the rest focusing on prefab construction.
The Turian Empire had yet to recognize the relinquishing of Baonoch to the SUN, despite the SUN having purchased the colony and relocated the original colonists.
The Batarian Hegemony was still lobbying complaints about the Humans interfering with the slave trade, despite the fact that the SUN Navy did not leave its borders.
Asari protection of the Locust Queen, causing suspicion between the two races
Human assassination attempts on the Locust Queen
"I know. The Council refuses to help, when we need it the most, story of my fuckin' life in one way or another. If not the Council, then COG command, or the SUN, or whatever," Baird said. The Council had not only not given either the Humans nor the Quarians an Embassy, they had refused to see the Quarians at all, but at least they spoke with the Humans. The Human delegation hadn't been told about this, and had met with them. Now, Zaal'Koris was furious.
"We need support from the Humans if we're to get the financial assistance we require. Quarians need to be able to open businesses on the Citadel, to live here and use it as a center of the economy, just like everyone else! We can't afford to sit here and wait for someone on the Council to grow a conscious!" Zaal'Koris said, "There's too much at stake. Even with your help, Baonoch is still at risk of any number of disasters! Millions could be at risk of injury or starvation if we can't develop the colony quickly enough."
"I know. The SUN is doing everything it can to help," Baird assured him.
"But we need the Turians!" Zaal'Koris insisted, "And we need to be connected to the Galactic economy. The complexities of our needs, of how we've traditionally done business, we would only grow with fleet-wide jobs that allowed us to grow as a whole, in spurts. Now, we need constantly growth, constant change, to make this colony work, and the SUN has its own challenges. The Turians can provide us with the food we need to survive, and we can buy the materials we need from the Council races. We have no other choice!"
Baird stroked his beard, thinking. He was right that they needed the Council's economy, especially in the long term. But right now, they needed immediate economic influx. They needed machinery, labor, and raw materials. It was an economic and technological challenge that he actually found engaging to solve conceptually, but dealing with the actual people involved? That was a pain in the ass. Baird understood why Hoffman had chosen to be a dictator, and just appoint people to positions and make decisions himself. The problem had been that he was only accountable to himself, so none of his mistakes were held up to be fixed. Any attempt to bring them up was sedition.
Baird had chosen to permit democracy and a parliamentary system not to permit dissent, but because he needed to focus on solving problems, and he needed them raised to him. If there was one thing that politicians were good at, it was complaining, and that's what he needed: Complaints. When an MP was bitching about something or another, he knew there was a problem to be solved, and he could focus resources to it.
And that's what Zaal'Koris was doing; complaining, as a politician. There was clearly a problem here that needed to be solved, not just Baird listening to his friend vent. He leaned forward, thinking and listening. He pulled up his viewscreen on interactive, and started writing out Zaal's points:
Sustainable Dextro-Based Food Source
SUN kicking industrial capacity to provide
Migrant Fleet Agriships
Turian Imports
Food grown on Baonoch
Industrial Machinery
SUN prefabs
Existing Migrant fleet
Imports from Council
Starship Maintenance
SUN shipyards
Migrant Fleet
Citadel
Labor
Mechs
Native Labor Force
Migrant Workers
Economic Income
SUN Mech production (Limited market injection)
Quarian technical expertise
SUN Eezo exports
Opening businesses with Citadel
Baird lowered his stylus. Zaal'Koris stared at it, thinking.
"This is a good start," the Quarian remarked.
"If we can solve like, two of these things, we'll be in good shape," Baird said.
"You know...I have a weird idea. The SUN makes excellent Mechs, but you need more facilities to build them in, and an economy to sell them to. It's a strange idea…"
"Well, spit it out!"
Zaal'Koris tapped on his Omni-Tool, and brought up a galactic map, selecting a specific system, and showed a gigantic space station built out of an asteroid.
"It's called Omega. It's the largest space station in the galaxy, run by an Asari named Aria T'Loak. It's a hive of scum and villainy, because there's only one rule: Aria's rule. Don't fuck with her, and you're free to do as you please. It's one of the four largest economic centers in the Galaxy, along with the Citadel, Illum, and Irune," Zaal explained, "They have constant need of labor, and they have the facilities and space for us to build Mechs."
Baird leaned forward, thinking, "What does their economy run on?"
"Slavery. Drugs. And lots and lots of guns. They have stardocks and advanced facilities, if you can afford them."
"Lots and lots of guns you say? We can do lots and lots of guns."
Jessica Fenix knew she'd be dealing with a lot of weird in her career. That was to be expected. But this? This was definitely going to stay in the top ten for a long time.
Omega was an unpleasant, disease-riddled hole of chaos and corruption where decent people tried to etch out something resembling life, and the meek were trodden upon by the strong and powerful. Which wasn't far off from Sera itself. Its largest source of income was the massive deposits of Eezo in the asteroid itself, but its entire economy was based around the sale of...Everything, and that was what the Humans and Quarians needed.
Jessica, three Gears, and a pair of Quarians headed straight for Afterlife, the heavy bass and flashing pink lights commencing an immediate assault. The patrons of the bar stepped out of the way as the four heavily armed humans made their way through, headed straight for Aria's little lookout.
"We're here to see Aria," Jessica told the guard.
"Aria's busy," the Batarian thug said.
"We're expected."
"She doesn't have any appointments lined up. Fuck off."
"Double check," Jessica told him, "I made sure she knew we were coming. We're trying to be respectful of Aria's time."
"You need to back off lady," the Batarian reached out to shove her. The moment he did, the three other Gears pressed their rifles in his face, but it was Jessica that actually took action. Her biotics flared, and the Batarian froze in place. She grasped the outstretched arm with one hand, twisting his arm. There was the sound of a revving chainsaw and flesh being cut through as Jessica whipped out her chainsaw knife and sliced the arm clean off.
The Batarian started screaming bloody murder, and the other guards started aiming their guns, but nobody fired as Aria's voice called out,
"Might as well let them up," the Asari instructed, "Before they make a mess of my club."
Jessica flicked the bayonet, letting blood spatter over her victim's armor, and she wiped it down with a cloth as she walked by the other guards, who were still training their weapons on her. The Gears stood pointedly between the guards and Jessica as she approached Aria.
"Neat little show," Aria said, "Did you have a point in cutting up my guard?"
"Gears don't make it a habit of getting shoved around," Jessica told her, "Especially by Batarians. There's been a bit of bad blood recently."
"So I heard," Aria remarked, "You Humans have made quite a splash recently. The Matriarchs are quite upset that you keep trying to kill their little pet project."
"Their 'pet project' nearly drove us to extinction. We're not overly keen on the Matriarch, either."
"I can imagine not. Yet you're here, talking to me, so I can imagine you want something."
"The Seran Union of Nations was hoping to engage in economic relations with Omega on a large scale. Seeing as you are the ruler, boss, CEO, queen of Omega, we came to you."
"So you haven't managed to get onto the Citadel, so you turn to less legal options, is that right?" Aria asked.
"Something like that."
"If you want to buy, go to the markets, don't waste my time," Aria shook her head.
"We know where the markets are, buy what we want to buy we can't get there. Not unless we want to move in one room at a time," Jessica said, "The Seran Union of Nations and the Quarian Conclave are interested in Omega itself. Not the whole thing, of course. Just rent."
Aria raised her head, keeping her gaze just outside of a scowl but certainly looking curious, "As a rule I try not to let Galactic governments run around unchecked on my station."
"I thought there was only one rule on Omega?" Jessica asked. Aria actually laughed.
"True enough. You know, I'm interested now. What do the Humans want with my station? It's not just a matter of renting out some rooms, I expect."
"There's a lot of things. We need to access the markets. We need to sell our Mechs. We need to buy industrial equipment, and set it up. We need to build starships and guns. We need to conduct scientific experiments to find ways of curing our fertility problems. We're doing that back in our own space, but it's not fast enough. We need to use the markets that already exist, and the Citadel isn't playing ball. Omega has considerably fewer regulations," Jessica explained.
"And what if I say no? Are the Humans and the Quarians going to swarm Omega until I surrender?"
"No. we'll still send people to do business, and we'll rent what we can. But there's no point in getting into a war with the very criminals and pirates that keep the Citadel from sending in their fleets to crush us."
"And what if I tell you to fuck off and never return?'
"Then we'll fuck off and never return."
Aria smirked, "All right. And what would you pay me with in return for letting the Humans and Quarians set themselves up on my station?"
"We'd be able to pay you in credits, of course, but I doubt you'd be astounded by our offers, and we'd have to take out considerable loans to do so. Instead, there's something else. Omega is the largest single exporter of Element Zero in the Galaxy. No other planet has the same capacity as you. I'm not sure how much you've been paying attention to our development, but you're about to have a major competitor. Our homeworld is completely filled with the stuff, and we're mining it out as fast as we can. The problem is that we're having problems selling it, or turning it into anything useful. If only there were an open, unregulated market where we could create an influx, or even buy more of it as we expand our industrial capacity," Jessica said.
"Twenty percent."
"Five."
"I'm not going to sit here throwing out numbers. You're going to have to do better than that."
"Five percent," Ran'Kaufin called out, "And the Quarians will upgrade Omega's entire battery defense systems. We'll upgrade your centuries-old tech with state of the art. Tech the Council hasn't even considered banning yet."
"Hmm. That is a good deal. What assurances would I have that your little coalition won't turn on me, and do something stupid?" Aria asked, "Why should I tolerate a military force that isn't under my heel on my station?"
"Except for the part where we are," Jessica said, "I don't think you understand how desperate we are. Baonoch is in constant danger of collapse. The fertility rate of humans is comparable to the Krogan, except we don't have either the lifespans or the reproduction rates to make up for it. We're on the brink of extinction, years after the defeat of the things that were driving us there, and we need your help. We couldn't take Omega if we wanted to. And if we do figure out our problems and get back on our feet? We won't care enough to do so. And if you're smart about it, you'll find a way to have your fingers in every little detail of our development."
"So, what, you expect me to take your deal to spare your pitiful little species?"
"I expect you to take the deal because you're a shrewd businesswoman who's had centuries of experience as one of the most powerful people in the Galaxy. Besides, when humans get ambitious, they usually end up blowing themselves up in the process anyway."
"And the Batarians, from what I hear."
Jessica shrugged, "They started it. And Humans really only have one rule."
Aria leaned back, draping her arms over the back of her couch, "I can respect that rule."
Codex: Human and Quarian Sectors
In 41 AE, the Quarian Conclave and the Seran Union of Nations established a formal presence on Omega, opening the galactic market to a pair of otherwise secluded species. Thousands of residents were evicted from their homes in the designated sectors, and millions left Omega as the alliance took control of almost a quarter of the station. Almost immediately, that population was replaced with Human colonists and Quarian engineers which brought the station's shipyards to bear and began upgrading Omega's systems.
The Gears firmly established the SUN's presence on Omega with surgical precision, removing threats to their presence and cracking down on Human and Quarian slave trafficking, though they deliberately left all other slavery untouched out of respect for the markets of their neighbors.
Within weeks, Seran Eezo began pouring into the station, briefly crashing the market, though it quickly stabilized over the next few months, as the industrial capacity of their efforts came to bear and they began major consumers of Eezo as much as exporters. Despite concerns that the Gears would take over the station, Omega stabilized, accepting the change as it had embraced change innumerable times before.
