To everyone who reviewed thank you so much! Also to that one gentleman, indeed, however, those sources are primarily in South Africa, which is not aligned to the actual nation.
Gargantua Space Station, Atlantean Defence Initiative, Director Thomas Singleton
"-Which is why, it was within the will of the Ambassador, to promptly push that all Atlantean forces not currently engaged elsewhere be deployed immediately to Alliance fleets, and for the mobilization of the shipyards away from their current role, and into wartime production." As Tom finished reading, he was interrupted by shouts of outrage and scowls across the room.
"Those bastards place sanctions on us for the last interstellar war and then have the audacity to demand we give them access to Gargantua!", shouted the Prime Minister for England. "Bare minimum I say".
The Chancellor for Scotland shouted in agreement. "Aye, it's hardly fair that we're still paying reparations. But perhaps we can use this to our advantage".
That caused Thomas of the entire Initiative to look up. "Hmm, a tempting proposal".
The Stadtholder for the United Kingdom, dressed in his traditional uniform, stepped forward. "Perhaps in exchange for the forgiveness of all currently owed war debts, we shall formally put forward our assets for the war. Support roles of course. But nevertheless deployed anyway. And also begin integration of foreign scientists on Cerberus".
The Prime Minister of Ireland sounded outraged, "You want to hand the invisible sword of the Initiative to the Blues? What next, shall we give em the location of all our orbital defence stations?".
"Not to the Americans specifically, but as a Federal initiative under the direct orders of the President, with heavy Atlantean oversight".
The President of France shook his head. "Absolutely not. That technology is too dangerous in the hands of our rivals, and it is what is keeping us so far ahead". The tricolour of his country fluttered in the background from a slight breeze, almost like it was agreeing with him.
The Prime Minister of Canada grunted in agreement. "Though perhaps we should at least bring the project to the attention of our allies. I'm sure Pacifica and Japan both have numerous minds that would be well worth revealing it's existence".
"Are we still keeping an eye on the defectors?".
"You mean Doctor Reid and his companion?".
"Aye".
"Non-stop surveillance, both seem to have begrudgingly rejoined with the project. And the CIA are blissfully unaware of their previous backgrounds working under the project". That garnered some nods of agreement, notably from Canada and Portugal who seemed satisfied enough.
"In the meantime, I'll arrange for the Ambassador to move for an immediate halting of the reparations. If they like it or not. I won't throw money into the bottomless pit that is the UCNA when we're fighting what might very well be a war of extinction".
That garnered quite a bit of agreement from everyone. Most obviously the Irish, Canadian and Chilean leaders who were smiling broad smiles of agreement. Thomas gave a sigh of relief. The work had only just begun, but at least it had actually begun.
Quarian Migrant Fleet, Admiral Rael'Zorah, Head of the Admiralty Board
Ever since the quarians had escaped from Rannoch. For all intents and purposes, they were under martial law. A military government had taken over the day-to-day running of the fleet. And when it became clear, after the kicking out of their embassy from the Citadel, that there would be a lack of any response when it came to the geth, they saw that likely, they wouldn't get their homeworld back any time soon.
With that in mind, the Admiralty had seen fit to develop a conclave of the most important ships' captains, such as the liveships and the few heavy cruisers not in pieces above their homeworld. Since then the Conclave had been the civilian government, but for all intents and purposes, the admiralty was still in charge, as they could overrule the Conclave at any point.
By this point in the proceedings, Rael wished he could do just that. He had shown the human navigational data to the Conclave, and they were split into three groups, each aligning with a certain potential operation. Koris as well as Gerrel and the more aggressive ship captains wanted to take the entire migrant fleet, and using the PT boat as a communications link, immediately launch a full-scale attack to rid the human system of the turian fleet.
Admiral Raan was the more conservationally minded and was advocating the human captain, Grissom's plan. That they follow the PT boat back to the human head of government to directly or indirectly assist with technical expertise and strategic knowledge, as well as providing token forces to assist with the liberation.
Then there were Admiral Xen and those split down the middle. The captains who were either too conservative to even consider letting an alien race dictate their actions or those who were still unsure about their position. It seemed as though the Koris-Gerrel ceasefire currently had the most takers, though Koris had become significantly less vocal about his advocation for revenge, clearly having recovered from his interview with- The terrorist.
"If we want to help the humans! We need to make a decision now. Captain Grissom was clear. The Alliance will immediately react to this, and if one of the worlds under threat is a strategically vital chokepoint, then it is vital we retake this point before continuing the wa-".
"War!? You want us to fight a war against the Turians! Remember the Krogan!".
"War is better than sneaking away to let some new race get punched in the faceplate by the bosh'tets of the Citadel Council. I say we join them. We send the entire fleet alongside theirs and prove our usefulness".
Xen of course wasn't helping, "How fascinating they do not require element zero. I will have to get my hands on their technology at some point". Rael stared her down with a glare at even the thought of stealing tech. "Legally of course".
The shouting continued and Rael looked up to the heavens, or more accurately the roof of the ship. It was times like this that he wished Miri was still around, her authoritative and stern confidence able to easily face down the Conclave. "Shouting like this will get us nowhere. As it stands there are two options that the Admiralty board is deciding on, Either assist with the immediate liberation with the planets and systems under siege, which might I remind you means throwing thousands of lives at the enemy for each ship lost... Or we follow their PT boat and try to assist in other roles".
The votes pinged onto his omnitool. "345 in favour of attacking immediately. 55 undecided, 400 in favour of a cautious approach. The decision has been made".
He stepped up to the podium. "The Quarian people will accompany our human guide back through human space until we can reach the human system of Arcturus".
There where the obvious shouts of victory and outrage, but under it all a sense of unification.
"Kheelah Se'lai"
Turian Resupply Convoy, Erusea
The convoy escaped from the relay, their drives lighting up as they began the necessary calculations to begin approaching the planet. Their FTL drives saturated, they began to blast forward, their escort somewhat paranoid. As they passed through an asteroid belt. 4 contacts suddenly appeared on their scopes.
They were small, the size of drones and accelerating at almost 40gs. As they approached. The GUARDIAN systems attempted to target the missiles, which promptly exploded, into dozens of smaller torpedoes that began to zig-zag, using sheer luck and numbers to dodge the lasers. As well as powerful thrusters.
When they finally reached the fleet, the missiles began to strike, with half of them striking the ship directly. At the point of impact. A tiny amount of antimatter was vaporized, promptly turning a cloud of hydrogen gas into a cloud several million degrees in temperature. When the warhead broke through the lines, it struck the barriers, and the force halted the torpedo. breaking its warhead and stopping it. But the plasma still had all of the kinetic energy, spraying out and scorching the hull easily.
When the shields eventually broke, the warheads often broke through the outer armour, blasting a cone of plasma at insane speeds that melted crewmembers near the sight and burnt out the hull completely. The frigate escort, as well as 2 of the convoys soon lost power, as a second wave approached, and the remaining ship had barely a moment to manoeuvre, before a single railgun slug speared through its lightly armoured core, causing it to lose power and turn into a drifting wreck.
The human torpedo boats didn't spare them a glance, igniting their cold-gas thrusters and heading back for the safety of the gas giant and its moons.
The wrecks wouldn't be discovered for another hour, as a pair of cruisers and frigates encountered them, evacuating the few surviving crew members, all of the cargo having been vented into a cloud of debris.
Codex Entry: The Atlantean Defence Initiative
Formed as a loose coalition of states, the ADI is more of an Alliance within the Systems Alliance, with each constituent country maintaining separate budgets, parliaments, political parties and cultures. However, they all benefit from no trade barriers, free immigration throughout space, and a centralized military apparatus. In no particular order within the Initiative, these countries are:
The United Kingdom of the Netherlands - The second member of the ADI, Controlling various colonies, as well as the Dutch-speaking regions of the European continent. The provinces are now extended to include the Flemish plains, gained under the Treaty of London.
The Anglo-French Union - During the Second World War, these two countries were forced into an early union after the French frontline collapsed. This was the basis for the ADI. The French are the de-facto leaders of this union, while England is responsible for its finances and military planning.
The Republic of Ireland - Following the beginning of the Great Potato Famine, the Dutch placed heavy sanctions on the English, formally dissolving the Union and triggering the English War of Independence. Ireland was a protectorate of the Dutch until the Americans invaded in 1940.
The Canadian Confederation - A former dominion of the British, taken over by the Dutch after the restoration. It is still the protector of the Great Lakes Confederation and maintains its role as the protector of American Indian tribes.
Atlantean South African Holdings - Formerly cape colony, this term is a wide one and while it sometimes refers to the smaller Republic of South Africa, it is generally used as a term for the agreements between them and their neighbours of Lesotho, Zimbabwe and Namibia as well as Angola and Mozambique.
Atlantean British Defence Zone - The Welsh and Scottish, as well as the oddly independent City of London, are not held to within the same status as the Anglo-French union and maintain completely independent parliaments, despite being a part of the ADI, but they and the English, despite their strained relationship, have fought and died next to each other.
Kingdom of Portugal - Several Revolutions have come and gone from Portugal, sometimes they're monarchist, sometimes not, but never-the-less the confusing origins of Portugal's status as a member state of the ADI stem from a dedication to upholding the 1373 agreement.
The Republic of Chile - To some the odd one out of the Alliance, Chile's status as a member state is disputed as anyone who looks at a map can see it is not on the Atlantean Ocean beyond its lower portions. However as a stringent ally during the 1982 Falklands crisis, it became an associate member, providing reconnaissance and intelligence efforts.
"Sé do bheatha, a bhean ba léanmhar,
Do b' é ár gcreach tú bheith i ngéibheann,
Do dhúiche bhreá i seilbh méirleach,
Is tú díolta leis na Gallaibh." - Verse 1 from Unofficial Anthem of the Atlantean Armed Forces