Humanity, Earth and Systems Alliance
Humans are a viviparous race originating in Earth aka Sol-3. The climate of Earth is similar to Sur'kesh, however it only has 70% of oceanic bodies compared to 85% of our own planet. Earth is divided into various biomes, with different ecological effects. Humans are the only sentient race and the apex predator of Earth. Geographically, Earth is divided into seven continents, surrounded by five oceans.
The human civilization is relatively younger compared to the Salarian one, with a history going back only 10,000 years or so. Their industrial revolution took place only 400 years ago and they achieved spaceflight around 1960 CE. Humanity ventured in space for about 250 years before meeting another sentient species, and joined the galactic community only half a century ago. They have risen in the galactic stage at a breakneck pace, whilst the Volus do not have a council seat even after 1,500 years, the Elcor and Hanar still enjoy member status after almost a thousand, and even the Turians had to wait a hundred years for their council status.
Humans have not yet been capable of forming a united government, in fact they have just started to attempt the prospect after a couple centuries wrought with worldwide conflict. Earth's only resemblance to a governing body is the United Nations, which has regional headquarters in New York, Shanghai and Geneva. In the post-war era, Earth's nations have been gradually handing over power to the UN. The UN has the responsibility of Earth's security, governance and development. The common misconception is that the Systems Alliance is the governing body of Humanity. It is in fact, a political-economical Alliance of Earth's coalitions and its colonies, to protect their interests.
Before the Reaper War there were about two hundred nation-states on Earth, most of them allied by political and economic coalitions; formed for security and space exploration. The United North American States, The Chinese People's Federation, The European Union, The Eurasian Federation, The South Asian Federation and the South American Confederation are the most influential amongst these coalitions, each with a presence in space. Although they have taken severe hits in the war, their governmental frameworks still exist. However, they do not hold the same power they used to wield, instead being dominated by the UN now. Some anti-SA nations were allied in the Union of Incorporated Nations, but this coalition has not been as fortunate as the aforementioned ones, mostly being annexed by neighbouring countries.
Recent History of Humanity
At the beginning of the 21st Century, humanity was just embracing a pan-global identity. The advancement of space exploration gave pace to this movement, however there were several impediments to it - the foremost being war. The later half of the 21st Century and the first half of the 22nd saw several large-scale yet low-intensity conflicts, continuing well after humanity's ascension to the Citadel space.
The war against terror, spanning from the 2000s and to the 2040s, was not devastating in a materialistic sense. It, however, took a severe toll on the collective morale of the people on Earth, and pushed the developed nations towards a regional identity to nullify the superpowers. The large nation powers found it more important to tackle issues of global warming and resource exhaustion than to fight the superpowers' proxy wars. Research into space exploration and constant conflict among each other were the main characteristics of the 21st Century. This era was of utmost importance to humanity; the minute details have been discussed in a later chapter.
Space exploration was going on in full scale by this time. NASA established the first space elevator on Guam in 2065 and established Armstrong Outpost on Luna in 2069. The European Space Agency had established permanent outposts on Luna and Mars by 2070. Within two decades, humanity was working on faster-than-light concepts, antimatter space drives, and other technology necessary for interstellar travel. In 2092, the Eurasian space agency established an outpost on Ceres asteroid and started mining the asteroid belt for rare earth minerals. The first robo-mining station over Jupiter was established in 2115, by Eurasian Space Agency. In 2130, Gagarin Station became the largest man-made object in space, past the orbit of Pluto. The first European settlement on Mars reached a million inhabitants; by this time the Prothean ruins were discovered.
It was an EU prospecting team that discovered the Prothean ruins on Mars in 2148, after a search-and-rescue mission unearthed the 50,000-year-old archives. This would, for the first time give humanity a common identity. After a global effort, the information remaining in the ruins' computers started to be translated, identifying the structure as a former observation and biosciences station, set up to receive and process data from Earth as the Protheans studied Cro-Magnon humans. The Systems Alliance was established in 2149 comprising eighteen nations and coalitions. As of 2259, SA consists of 68 nation-states, and 14 political coalitions. Amongst these, 50 nations and nine coalitions are from Earth, the rest have arisen from the colony worlds.
After discovering the Prothean ruins and unveiling the Charon mass relay, humans settled several systems around the lower-right quadrant of the galactic disk, roaming the stars for nearly fifty years. The Arcturus system was selected to be their capital; other worlds got connected to it while the Alliance navy was drafted to protect humanity in space. In 2198, a turian patrol fleet caught explorers from the human colony of Shanxi trying to open a dormant mass relay; in violation of Citadel conventions. What followed is a short but very decisive conflict - the turians showed absolute dominance and drove the Alliance almost back to Sol. The humans would have been annihilated if not for the asari, who intervened between the two. Humans call this the first contact war, while turians call it the Relay 314 incident. Following this, humanity was given an embassy on Citadel and welcomed into the galactic community. This also began the severe expansion of the Alliance military.
The golden age of humanity, as it is called, began after first contact, and continued into the 2200s. The period was equally fruitful for both Earth and humanity in the stars, which saw human expansion in the Skyllian Verge, the human-batarian conflicts, establishment of UN Security Command Resolution and humanity's first steps towards a unified government. Humanity achieved a seat on the Council only after thirty years of membership after the Geth war, its military and economic powers grew substantially. Reasonable estimates can show that the discovery of Prothean ruins and the subsequent acceptance into galactic society propelled human technology and civilization for about five hundred year's worth. This was disrupted sharply by the Reaper War, devastating a lot of their achievements in a short order. Post-war, they have been rebuilding and getting their previous positions back.
Government, Populations and Worlds
The Systems Alliance, as part of the Rio Accords, holds no sway over matters of Earth's security and policies. However, it has a very close relationship with the UN and a dissent between the two is not feasible. As Earth is dependent on resources from its colonies and vice-versa the SA is dependent on economic support from Earth, their relations are mutually beneficial. SA have the ultimate say in matters of human colonies. The government of SA is situated in the Arcturus Space Station. During the initial stages of the Reaper War, the station was destroyed; it was rebuilt in 2240. The SA is a parliamentary entity, with Prime Minister Ines Lindholm at the forefront. The Systems Alliance parliament is divided in two houses and is mostly based on the former British parliament. The houses comprise equally of representatives from Earth and the class-A colonies. The parliament decides about diplomatic relations, council matters and colonial matters. The security of human space is also under the purview of Systems Alliance.
The SA government had to be rebuilt almost entirely after the Reaper War. Prime Minister Amul Shastri and the entire line of succession were killed on Arcturus, and human councilor Donnel Udina was shot by one of his fellow humans during the second battle of the Citadel. The advisor to Udina, Admiral David Anderson, died heroically on the Citadel, during the ending moments of the Reaper War. The renewed government sees an influx of former career soldiers and career intellectuals – an interesting mirror to the Israeli parliament. The upper house of the parliament contains many decorated naval officers, including Prime Minister Ines Lindholm, Industries Minister Nitesh Singh, and Defense Minister Tadius Ahern. Intellectuals and scientists like Lon Xiang, the Minister of Colonial Affairs and Dr. Kahlee Sanders, the Minister of Science, also feature heavily in the new Alliance Parliament. Today, the Systems Alliance is moving towards becoming a meritocracy, somewhat similar to the Turian Hierarchy. However, this can also be attributed to the focus on strengthening and reconstruction efforts.
However, career politicians are not obsolete in the SA. The Alliance Minister for Council Affairs, Ajit Chaudhary, came up as a governor in the South Asian Federation. The human councilor, Dominic Osoba, is also a formidable career politician, having served as the prime minister of Illyria and the ambassador of humanity in the Citadel. Osoba was the former ambassador under Donnel Udina, and took over the duties of councilor after the war. Councilor Osoba and Executor Armando Owen-Bailey are the two highest ranking humans on Citadel.
The entire number of humans can only be approximated after the massive losses during the Reaper War, but it is generally assumed that Earth houses about 6.5 billion humans post-war, and another 3 billion in the colonies. The SA is in charge of eight class-A human colonies. Except these, humans have twenty-two class-B colonies, with populations lesser than a million, and more than fifty class-C colonies and outposts with less than 100,000 people. About 100,000 people live on Arcturus Station, and ~2.4 million humans live on the Citadel.
The class-A colonies, namely: Elysium, Eden Prime, Benning, Terra Nova, Watson, Therum, Horizon and Bekenstein – are the horizons of the new humanity. Each of these worlds have an identity of their own, with self-sufficient economies and governance. They have inhabitants who are certainly human, but do not call Earth home. These colonies constitute about 2 billion of the human population. The most populous and important are the 'Big Four' – Elysium, Terra Nova, Watson and Bekenstein.
Elysium (Petra Nebula/Vetus, pop. ~1 billion, cap. Illyria) is the most populous Alliance colony and is generally considered the second human homeworld. Featuring low gravity, tolerable atmospheric pressure, a suitable climate and a "decent day-night cycle", it was the oldest human colony in the Skyllian Verge. Humans and aliens both flocked to this alpine paradise, and today almost a billion humans, five hundred million asari and turians, and about a hundred million salarians call Elysium home. Elysium is rich in minerals and agriculture – its materiel and volunteers make up a sizable portion of the Systems Alliance. Cities like Firdaus, Illyria and Asphodel display a mixture of asari, human and turian architecture housing large economic ventures, universities and research institutions. It is for this reason Elysium was always the target of batarian slavers and pirates, resulting in the 2226 Skyllian Blitz. During the Reaper War, Illyria was almost completely cratered by orbital bombardment. In the last sixteen years, the people of Elysium has rebuilt, displaying remarkable grit which they call the "Elysian spirit". Elysium has developed a culture distinctly different from any area of Earth. The cohabitation of asari, humans and turians have created a lenient but resilient civilization. Elysium features heavily in the SA – they have the largest colony contribution in both houses of the parliament, in the Navy, and entertainment media. From the parliament, to the theatres, to the marines, Elysians bear their flag proudly.
Terra Nova (Exodus Cluster/Asgard, pop. ~517 million, cap. Scott) is humanity's second extrasolar colony, and first beyond the local cluster. It once had the highest population amongst Alliance colonies, but now holds the second place. Roughly five hundred million humans call Terra Nova home. Though banded by a harsh equatorial desert, areas closer to the poles are temperate. The pace of development was modest until extensive deposits of platinum were discovered in the 2220s. Along with mining infrastructure, military installations were built. This world is the Alliance's main political and military world, hosting the 8th and 9th Fleets as well as the majority of the Alliance Marine Corps. The capital region of Scott and the city of Kirk has the record of highest recruitment for the SAMC, even surpassing Rio de Janeiro and Fort Bragg. The people on Terra Nova are tough, for their world is so. Because of the heavily armed and trained citizenry, it was never occupied by any pirate forces, although its artificial satellite X57 was attacked by batarian intervention units repeatedly. With little for work except mining and military, it lacks charisma but not grit.
Watson (Sigurd's Cradle/Skepsis, pop. ~324 million, cap. Disputed) is the human manufacturing and technological capital. Initially popular for two things - its spectacular tides brought on by a large moon, and the bureaucratic snafu over which Earth nations got to settle there first. After the 2215 Reykjavik Compromise, colonists from CPF, UNAS and EU settled on Watson, each establishing their own outposts. What followed was ultimately beneficial for humanity – due to intense competition from each other, the different outposts brought in numerous innovative procedures for the edge in production. Watson quickly became the premier hub for technology, making all types of high-end gadgets required by other colonies and the Alliance Navy. Engineering megacorporations sprang up, among them the Ayndroid Group, Heed Industries and Jormangund Technology.
Today, Watson hosts the Alliance Navy's 10th Fleet, the 4th Marine Division and the leading technological firms in all of humanity. Its three capitals, namely New Manhattan, Kunlun and Nouvelle-Marseilles; host a diverse population and a very Earthlike culture. Its moon, Franklin, holds two Alliance spaceports – the Sergei Leonov Spaceport for commercial freights and shuttles, and the Kalpana Chawla Spaceport for the 10th Fleet and the 23rd Missile Wing.
Bekenstein (Serpent Nebula/Boltzmann, pop. ~220 million, cap. Milgrom) is the human economic capital, the equivalent to salarian Aegohr or asari Illium.
Eden Prime (Exodus Cluster/Utopia, pop. ~410 million, cap. Constant) and Benning (Arcturus Stream/Euler, pop. ~278 million, cap. Joughin) are humanity's breadbaskets. These idyllic agrarian worlds produce food for the colonies and profit from the surplus harvests, all the while maintaining support infrastructure for the Arcturus Station. Eden Prime provides logistical support and freight services, while Benning hosts the Arcturus First Division of the Alliance Army and several dry docks including the Arcturus Support Flotilla.
Therum (Artemis Tau/Knossos, pop. ~290 million, cap. Nova Yekaterinburg) is the premier mining and industrial world of humanity. While Watson boasts shiny tech labs and cutting-edge innovation, Therum is the exact opposite, filled with dusty mines and large, functional factories. The large deposit of mineral resources in Therum help the Alliance immensely. Its massive refineries and mega-factories produce everything from clothing to vehicles. It may be dusty, but it is rich.
Horizon (Shadow Sea/Iera, pop. ~100 million, cap. Discovery) is humanity's resort capital. Once called as a colony with minimal tourist value, Horizon has about-faced by developing homely resorts near verdant forests and beautiful lakes. The hospitality industry enjoys a fair amount of asari and turian business, however the lion' share still comes from Earth and Elysium's upper middle-class. The ones who cannot afford Nevos or Bekenstein come to Horizon to enjoy a few days of peace.
Economy
The human economy is very young; thus, it cannot hope to match the size of any of the Council Economies – especially not – the Salarian Union. Their economy has also taken a grievous hit because of the Reaper War – almost all the large human worlds and commerce hubs were hit. Not only the Reapers, the Systems Alliance had also faced attacks from the indoctrinated terrorist group, Cerberus. Because of the decentralization of the human governing, isolated worlds such as Noveria were able to defect from the Systems Alliance. However, the humans have shown remarkable grit and dedication in rebuilding; within the sixteen years that have passed, humans have rebuilt most of their destroyed infrastructure. Their economy is now at the same level as the Pre-War period, it can be safely assumed that within 2220 the human economy shall grow by at least 40 to 50 percent of its current state. The human economy is still a dwarf compared to the Volus or the Asari, however it has surpassed the Elcor and Hanar economies.
The human economy is based on giant corporations like Eldfell-Ashland Energy and Sirta Foundation. Humans have the sole rights and patents to various well-received and useful items, such as the Medi-Gel, which is the source of Sirta's fortunes; and the Synthetic Insights Graybox, a virtual intelligence companion created for personal assistance.
Beneath the economic giants like Eldfell-Ashland, Sirta, ExoGeni, Nashan-Stellar and Binary Helix, hundreds of human companies battle to make a mark in the galactic market. The galactic marketplace is pretty much already declared for – the Salarians have a monopoly on technology, the Turians in defense, and the Asari in pretty much everything else. The finance sector is almost exclusively Volus, with a few Asari and Elcor firms here and there. In this jungle of credits and market-shares, the humans bring something that was previously lacking in the galaxy – ingenuity and innovation. Companies like Heyuan Genomics and Genex Chemicals scout new colony worlds and study their resources. Genex, a human company, has achieved astonishing advancements in levo-amino agriculture. MarsGene, a genetics company, provides various types of gene therapy not only to humans, but to asari, salarians and batarians as well. Although the human treaty known as Sudham-Wolcott Genetic Heritage Act (c. 2161) is a significant impediment in the way of genetic engineering, the human companies have indeed circumvented it and have made great strides in the field.
Human class-B colonies and class-C outposts are spread across the expanse of the Anansi-Ishtar Shipping Lanes in the Hades Gamma region. Planets like Trebin, Chohe, Klensal and Nonuel are mining and manufacturing colonies; terraformed by human colonizers and consisting of huge corporation presence. Protected by the navy and marines operating out of the Fortress Worlds like Sparta and Mindoir, these worlds provide many types of supplies in the way of both raw materials and finished goods; and allow the Alliance to contribute a large percentage of the galactic economy.
On the edges of Attican Traverse, near quarian-geth space, a similar ring of colonies and outposts can be seen in the Hades Nexus and Caleston Rift regions. These planets are major mining locations, as well as the commerce hubs for both the Alliance and the Rannoch Conclave. Asteria, Trident, Makhaira, Komarov and Gei Hinnom all host vibrant agrarian colonies and commerce hubs, protected by geth, quarian and human soldiers while the Alliance, Citadel and Rannoch fleets provide overwatch and deterrents against Terminus pirates. Asteria and Trident are settled by humans, asari, quarians and turians alike. These planets show a promising future for galactic coexistence, where members of all races work together towards prosperity.
In the Skyllian Verge, human exploration and colonization remains in full throttle, thanks to their efficient exploration corporations. ExoGeni, certainly the leader in the field, is responsible for the establishment and maintenance of several class-B and class-C colonies and outposts through human space. They continuously explore and research plausible settlement spots, often jointly with Systems Alliance Geological Surveys. Other corporations such as Delta Pavonis, who established the first human extrasolar colony of Demeter, and Homeworlds Initiative, do the same work in a smaller scale. Previously they used to fight tooth and nail against batarians for colonization rights - now left unchecked, they are rapidly expanding all over the Verge.
The planet Bekenstein produces various novelty items, which have a large market amongst the Asari and Turian worlds, and Bekensteinian luxury items are sought after in the Citadel. Humans are certainly not new to the notion of luxury – in fact they are the only Council species except the asari to have a penchant for it. Thus, the "Human Illium" has become the advertising ground for Earth's largest fashion and luxury brands. Centuries-old fashion houses like Versace, Dior, Gucci and Levi's make clothing for humans and aliens alike. Formal clothing made by Saville Row and shoes made by Armani have taken asari and turian markets by storm. Volkswagen-Porsche, Ferrari-Nezo Transportation and Petronus-McLaren produce legacy street-cars as well as high-performance speeders, called "superflyers". Luxury items from Rolex smart-bands to Sony-Isenberg entertainment consoles are all available at Bekenstein. The planet has become a melting pot of galactic culture, and works as a great advertisement for the Systems Alliance.
Humans also make above-par weaponry. Weapon manufacturers like Hahne-Kedar, Kassa Fabrications and Rosenkov Materials are centuries-old companies, having been at the spearhead of weapons technology since the advent of smokeless gunpowder. These manufacturers, under different names and ownership, have provided weapons in every human conflict in the last three hundred years. Their guns and licensed/unlicensed variants are go-to brands to many PMCs and militaries. For example, the M-96 Mattock platform and modular weapon upgrade schematics, patented by Kassa; are go-to combat issues for many militaries, including our own. Rosenkov produces highly acclaimed weapons as the M-97 Volkov Viper sniper rifle and the L-14 Bellatrix carbine (the latter jointly with Armax Arsenal); Rosenkov also has near-monopoly in high-grade weapon targeting softwares and optics. Similarly, Onyx, HyperGuardian and Colossus armors developed by these corporations are highly sought after by asari and drell forces. Due to extremely high demands for these products, Rosenkov and Kassa are now (jointly) one of the largest weapon manufacturers in the galaxy; rivaling the Vol giant Elcoss Combine and the turian behemoth Armax Arsenal, at the surprise of many security experts.
In terms of heavy weapons, humans export advanced fire control systems, several ground vehicles, including the M-35 Mako and the ND1 Nomad; missile technologies and most importantly - the blueprints of Cyclonic Barrier emitters. Another innovation of human weapons tech that sells well is fighter technology. Humans have brought in several specialization roles in the galactic warfare that previously relied on do-it-all multirole spaceplanes, and several militaries in the galaxy are adopting these designs.
Humans certainly are behind the curve in the field of electronic and digital technology. Even the largest human corporations, such as Aldrin Labs or the Ariake-Honda Technologies cannot even match a fraction of the size of the salarian Halegeuse Corporation and Saronis Applications, the asari Armali and Serrice Councils, or the turian-volus Delumcore Systems. Perhaps, the only high-end competitor in this field is Synthetic Insights. Despite the usual frowning towards artificial intelligence in Council Space (the tendency has decreased after peace with the geth, however) the human corporation leads the galaxy in developing artificial intelligence and neural interfaces. Their proprietary 'graybox' technology is the most advanced – if not so popular – neural interface in the galaxy. They also produce other implants that help a being integrate with technology better – the 'bareskin' niche generally depends on SI for their tools of trade.
It is a sigh of relief for us that humanity is not a leading producer for high-end technologies, or advanced weapons. The Salarian Union can rest easy on this sector, because we outmatch all of our rivals by a large margin, including humanity.
However, STG should do everything in its power to stop the humans and the quarians from partnering up. The Quarian economy, although at its infancy, possesses exceptional potential in electronics, engineering and computer technology. If these two very ingenious species partner up, the Salarian economy will lose its edge in technology within a couple decades.
Human Diplomatic Relations
Whatever their standings were before the Reaper War, humanity have risen as the protectors and saviors of the galaxy afterwards. Due to the efforts of Commander Shepard and Admiral Hackett, and the numerous heroics of the Alliance fleets and forces, many species are in a debt of gratitude towards humanity.
Asari owe the sustenance of their civilization to humanity. During the evacuation of Thessia, the human fleets spearheaded the efforts, carrying almost the entire battle and providing valuable time for the Quarian and Geth fleets to extract more than a billion asari from their homeworld. The postwar relationships between Asari and humanity have developed to a great extent, with increased commerce and sharing of cultures. This will only continue to improve, as the Asari are very grateful to humans for saving their civilization.
Commander Shepard will go down in Quarian history as the sole savior of their race. During the ending moments of the battle of Rannoch, the human soldier destroyed a Reaper on foot, and standing on the ruins of the Reaper, he convinced both the Quarian and Geth fleets to stand down. The combined civilization of the quarians and the geth have flourished in the following years, and the Quarians have an embassy on the Citadel after 300 years. The first generation of suitless Quarian children are coming into their adolescence as of now. Most of the quarians have adapted enough – with geth help – to live without enviro-suits. Even this immense gratitude is dwarfed by the geth – who consider Shepard to be their life giver. The growing Quarian-Geth economy has gotten most of its trade from the Systems Alliance, as well as support in the repopulation of Rannoch. The combined military of Rannoch, consisting the second largest navy and one of the largest land forces, are staunch allies of the humans and will unquestioningly aid them in any conflicts.
Systems Alliance and the Turian Hierarchy are the joint wardens of Citadel Space. Due to fighting together for most of the war, and Primarch Adrien Victus being very appreciative of humans, the Hierarchy and the Alliance have completely gotten past their previous history (see: Relay 314 incident), and are staunch allies with large trade, and combined military practices. The Turian 43rd Legion and the Human 11th Marine Division are currently deployed together. It is safe to assume the rest of the two militaries will fight together if the need arises.
The rising Krogan Federation is similarly friendly to the Alliance, due to, once again, Shepard's intervention during the Genophage cure. Chieftain Urdnot Wrex and Shaman Prime Urdnot Bakara both go beyond the standard diplomatic relations and consider various Alliance soldiers to be personal friends. The Krogan military is being trained by the SA soldiers, and they rely on human naval support due to their lack of a spacefaring navy.
Humans enjoy standard diplomatic relationships with Elcor, Hanar, Volus and Drell. The newest species in the Citadel, the Raloi, are very fond of humans and seem to idolize them to an extent. The Raloi rejoined the Citadel after the Reaper War, and they have been trying to compensate for their non-participation in the war.
Humans have an unlikely ally in the Rachni, who are grateful to humanity. The Alliance were the first race to attempt to befriend the Rachni during the Reaper War, and after the war humans have aided the sentient insect race to habituate a few former Batarian worlds as well as repopulate Suen, their home world. The Rachni are an unpredictable race, but they will, too, probably stand with humanity in times of conflict. In the case of another Krogan rebellion, the Rachni will be a tremendous ally.
The Batarian Hegemony has practically gone extinct, and almost all of the few million survivors of the Hegemony have retreated to Khar'shan to attempt rebuilding. They have been aided by the Council, but it seems likely that the race will die out in a thousand years. The worlds formerly colonized by them have mostly been taken over by the Alliance. Four of the former Batarian worlds, including Camala, have been given to the Krogan to colonize, in return of them agreeing to a specially developed birth-control bio-transplant. The Krogan promise to keep to themselves and not overpopulate, but the galaxy remains alert.
Lastly, the humans have a cold and formal relationship with the Salarian Union. Point to be noted is that, most of the species in the galaxy are currently weary of Salarians, due to the Union joining the war efforts very late, and committing only a single fleet to the battle of Earth. The only ally the Union has nowadays, is seemingly the Hanar and the Drell – both minor races in Citadel politics. The Union has an important ally in the Drell, due to the terraforming and habitation of Rakhana with Salarian technology. However, political leader Kolyat Krios is friendly towards humans. There is a potential vassal race in the Yahg. With proper upbringing and controlling schemes, the Yahg could be a great military workforce for the Union.
All in all, the Salarian Union are at a disadvantage to the Systems Alliance in galactic politics. To ensure survival, we must gather our superior intelligence and technology against humanity.