New Leningrad, Mindoir, August 2078

Four quarians entered the imposing concrete building sitting next to a grand plaza filled with humans and aliens of all types. Admiral Shala'Raan thought that if she was ever to see an ancient Prothean building, it would look like the concrete monstrosity she's currently entering. Brutalist architecture had something akin to a revival during colonization of space. The imposing, ample spaces that defined the style perfect to house all the government apparatus needed for a nascent colony. Plus, concrete and steel were cheap, and strong enough to withstand the more exotic climates the galaxy had to offer.

The building in question was the International Consortium Headquarters, the civil administration center of Mindoir and its system. A soldier in formal fatigues met them in the atrium, who stood as tall as the tallest space inside a liveship. Han'Gerrel wondered if the choice of place for the meeting was designed to intimidate them before the meeting proper began. The four quarians were ushered to a room with a pretty view of the city center outside, and were seated in specially made chairs, to accommodate the different anatomical needs of quarians on one end of a beautiful wooden desk. On the other side the Russian President was talking in hushed tones to several aides and, once he realized his guests had arrived, quickly ushered them to their seats. Garrel decided to do the honors.

"Greetings Mr. President, I'm Admiral Han'Garrel vas Neema, commander of the Quarian Heavy Fleet".

As if on cue, the other quarians hushed to introduce themselves.

"Admiral Shala'Raan vas Tonbay, Patrol Fleet commander"

"Admiral Rael'Zorah vas Moreh, Special Projects"

"Admiral Zal'Korris vas Qwib-Qwib, Civilian Fleet"

The russian president, Vladmir Sokolov fought the urge to smirk at the last name, but he managed to keep a straight face. No need to create a diplomatic incident so early in the morning. He also noticed that in their haste to introduce themselves, they failed to notice another human siting right next to him: Prime Minister Koopmanns

Once the quarians had settled, it was time for the humans to present themselves.

"Well, Admirals, you already know who I am, President Vladimir Sokolov of the Russian Federations and Chief Representative of the International Consortium. Here is Madame Prime Minister Julia Koopmanns, from the European Federation"

The young woman gave a polite nod, and decided not to comment on the very obvious confusion of the admirals. Koris was the first to speak:

"With, ah, all due respect Mr. President, but we were under the impression that Russia had a invitation…"

"Da, Admiral Koris, we did had an invitation, but circumstances changed… But I believe nonetheless that Europe's offer will make ours even more attractive to you, Koopmanns, if you so kindly"

"Of course, tovarisch, Admirals, you may have seen the attack against this very colony some weeks ago, right? The truth us, Russian and its allies have no means to defend their colonies in systems so far away from Sol. The Japanese and the Koreans have already pulled theirs industrial plants from Mindoir and are taking them to American Space."

Rael asked the question every quarian in the room wanted to ask

"You'll have to forgive my bluntness but, how is this our problem? The Migrant Fleet has suffered very few pirate raids during the centuries, and we certainly weren't the ones attacking Mindoir"

Sokolov grinned. "That's exactly the point of this, uh, deal, I wish to propose. It's no secret that the Migrant Fleet is desperate for resources for its own survival. Russia and its allies are willing to let the Migrant Fleet stay indefinitely on Maroon Sea, and to have the rights to explore 50% of the asteroid belt for resources. We'll also be willing to let your ships use our shipyards and start the construction of a bigger one. And finally, there's a system, not far from here, you can get there in one or two days at low FTL speeds, that houses a dextro world, which we'd be willing to cede to the Quarian Admiralty."

The admirals were wordless. What they were presented was an opportunity to try and reconstruct, the first one in 300 years. Surely, they'd would ask for a mighty high price for it. Rann took the lead

"It's a most generous offer Mr President. But what can my people give you in return?"

"All I'd ask is that you keep the Migrant Fleet here in the system, at least the bulk of the heavy and patrol fleets, as a deterrence against further attacks. That way we can concentrate our fleets in Horizon. The civilians can settle on said dextro world, and since it's inside Maroon's Sea cluster, the only way to access it is to exit the Relay here and go there at low FTL speeds, they'd be protected, but I understand if you want to keep part of your forces orbiting the planet.

Also, I'd like to propose a knowledge sharing agreement. Your technicians put everyone we have with a PhD. in engineering to shame, we'd like to be able to hire some quarian specialists, paying, of course, fair wages, to work on some development and research projects we have. Also, we'd be willing to open our border, not only from our colonies, but also from the homelands back on Sol for your Pilgrims, they'd receive a monthly stipend and be covered by our social security's nets"

Raan was agape, not that anyone could see behind her mask, this deal could mean a prosperous Quarian nation, not just a motley band of ships trying to survive. But she steeled herself back to her diplomatic mode and said.

"It's… a most interesting offer, but I'll have to discuss it in private with my fellow admirals, if that's ok?"

Sokolov gave his consent, and the four went to a adjacent room discuss the terms laid to them.

"So, Sokolov, think they'll buy it?" Asked Koopmanns,

"I don't know, but I hope they do. Something is brewing, the last decade or so, the Great Powers focused so much on space competition that their allies back on Earth were relegated to second fiddle. Now, they want them back. The americans all but bought the loyalty of the Japanese and Koreans, India is their go-to country to antagonize China, and Canada and Mexico, well, they are too far from heaven and too close to the Americans. China is courting Venezuela, Pakistan, Iran, Ethiopia and Turkey pretty blatantly, they even started making moves on Malaysa and Singapore, guess they realized that they alone cannot hope to populate all their new shinny territories."

Koopmanns gave a small laugh, "And that's why you decided to invite me? Want a friendly superpower for you band of non-aligned misfits?"

The Russian frowned at her, but she could tell he wasn't angry. "Da, it makes the most sense, your grand objective in geopolitics is to maintains a balance of power so that Europe can act as a middle ground between the waring super powers, we, the non-aligned, can only benefit from this."

Koopmanns noded. "And after the last round of defections of your multilateral project here in the buttfuck of the Traverse, who's left in your club?"

"We, the South Americans, some Asian nations like Mongolia and, interesting enough, Australia and New Zealand"

"A sizeable group all right, I guess we can work with it"

And then, the Quarians returned, having apparently reached consensus on the matter. Shala'Raan was the first to speak. "We'd like to know what's the European position regarding this… treaty"

Koopmans straightened herself on her chair, now was the time for her to shine

"Well, we'd be playing second fiddle, the meat of the deal was already laid down by my Russian counterpart. What Europe has is an agreement with the Russians to increase patrolling on the parts of the Traverse not yet claimed by either of us, the Batarians or the Terminus, and to find out potential vectors of expansion. We would like to ask for quarian sky maps of the area, certainly you have mapped the best systems. In return we are willing to help finance your needs colonizing your new world, and to extend Russia's offer for your pilgrims to have a safe place in Europe and her colonies."

The admirals conferred among themselves for some minutes more. Finally, they'd reach a conclusion. "President Sokolov, Prime Minister Koopmans, we accept the terms of your deal"

Undisclosed location, Hades Gama, July 2078

Maya Brooks hated her job. One would think that a CIA ground agent would have the romanticized jobs of movies and books about the First Cold War. Her current predicament, however, was the farthest from "having lunch on a café in Prague while tailing a possible KGB defector" that it could possibly be. She was currently on an almost barren planet, a Batarian colony near the end of their territories. As she stepped outside, her nose was instantly assaulted by a strong sulphury smell, and the coarse sand started blasting her exposed face.

Her mission was, originally, simple: contact the local rulers that hated Kar'Shan, make them give her at least some assurances that they were moderate Batarians and that things like slavery were going to be abolished once they consolidated their power. All so she could go back to the States with a shinny report on the guys they wanted to throw heavy weapons and material at. The CIA plan for the Batarian unrest was to ally themselves with local rulers, ones that weren't too much insane and maybe were willing to drop the whole slavery thing. Their argument was that moderates local leaders could create a more democratic, stable government once the Hegemon fell, and the small letters to their plan was that localized leaders would be easier to control once in power.

The problem was that the perfect Batarian moderate rulers simply did not exist, all of them were far deep into the slavery kool-aid to be of any assistance, so she had to find the next best thing: a coalition of middle class Batarians willing to work with the Americans. And she did find, several Batarians disliked slavery as a concept as much as anyone normal, but the problem was: these people had zero power, either political or military, to make a difference in the civil war.

So, the geniuses at Langley proposed an compromise: ally the local rulers and the middle classes on the grounds that both hated the Hegemon, and then have the latter betray the former down the road. Typical spook plan.

Undisclosed Location, Skylian Verge, August 2078

Mr. Chen was chosen by the Intelligence apparatus of Beijing to arm and radicalize the slaves' populations that started a revolt against the Batarian Government. He figured he was a good choice, after all he was involved in similar ops in his younger days, subverting the proletariat of several countries and orchestrating pro-Beijing revolutions.

That's how he found himself at a slave colony at the end of the galaxy, the place the Hegemony sent their most troublesome slaves, mostly Batarians who had recently been "downgraded" in life. He already had a highly motivated force at his disposal: people who didn't want to be slaves. His job now was simply convincing them of the wonders of the immortal science of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism, just to guarantee that any slave nation rising from the wrecks of the Hegemony would be friends with China and wiping them out into an effective guerrilla force.

He lit a cigarette and watched as some workers unloaded creates of old AK-47's derivatives. Ah, the weapon of the free world would have one last hoorah.

SIS Building, London, October 2078

Tela Vasir found herself on the same table as the foreign intelligence director for Europe, the Prime Minister and Matriarch Aethyta. What would surely be the beginning of a terrible joke was in fact, a discussion of great importance about the Batarian Civil War.

"So, let me get this straight, the americans are arming any and all local rulers and warlords who they think can be moderate enough to create a somewhat stable government without slavery if they win the war?" Aethyta asked incredulous

"And the Chinese are fomenting a Maoist revolution among the Batarian slaves" added Koopmans, who clearly didn't change her manners once elected to the possibly one of the most powerful offices on Earth, as she was currently propping her bare feet at the table.

Vasir sighed, and Director Havelmo, the European Spymaster gave her an understanding nod. He too was tired of repeating the same information for the incredulous Matriarch. Havelmo took the lead this time.

"Matriarch Aethyta, our sources from inside the Hegemony are certain that this is the current disposition of forces in the civil war they are fighting, with the Hegemon's forces as well, obviously, and Spectre Vasir recent mission to Batarian Space all but confirmed it"

Aethyta groaned. "How can they be so stupid as to start financing completely disparate groups that will fight amongst themselves more than they will fight the central government? I thought the Hegemony was the problem"

"It's only natural Aethyta, they're less interested in getting rid of the Hegemon, which they think is a foregone conclusion, and we think so as well, and more interested in putting a new government aligned with them afterwards" answered Koopmans

Aethyta wasn't convinced yet, no one could be that dumb and still have the conditions to become a galactical power, but she went along. "And Europe, what are you guys going to do?"

"Well, nothing, the Batarians are not a imminent danger to our territories, and our deal with the Quarians and Non-Aligned countries have somewhat pacified the Verge closer to those borders, so throwing our lot into that shitfest would only come back to haunt us latter" answered Koopmans

"I wonder what the Turians and Salarians are thinking, they can't be too happy with the mess their little pets are doing in the Hegemony" grunted Aethyta

Vasir answered the disgruntled Matriarch. "I don't think they care, either way the piracy sponsored by the Hegemony would collapse, leaving them only with disparate bands in the Terminus. They are probably helping their allies, just so that if they get the upper hand in the Hegemony, it will strengthen their alliances galactically"

Aethyta nodded. "And the Asari won't intervene unless Europe comes with a plan the cronies in Thessia like"

"Well, then I believe I have a plan" said Director Havelmo. "It's not in our best interests to intervene directly in the civil war but sitting on the sidelines will be bad for propaganda purposes. We can do something, just to say we had a part on the downfall of a terrible regime, but not too much that we get dragged into a quagmire. I propose we help to liberate alien slaves of the Hegemony"

The director made a dramatic pause, to see if he could get some reaction from his audience, absent one, he continued

"Alien slaves are kept in far away territories, lest they start upsetting the Batarian slaves who spent generations shackled, it's the same reason as recently enslaved Batarians are moved far away from core worlds. Some of these worlds are actually outside Hegemony's borders. If we attacked one or two of these worlds, we could liberate hundreds of thousands of slaves, send them back to their families, and generally be seen as the good guys"

"That's a solid plan, I know for a fact that Tevos will support it, there are more than a few Asari who spent their lives clamouring the Council to go and rescue their loved ones" said Aethyta

"Ok Havelmo, I'm sold, but how the hell are we going to do it?" Asked Koopmans, who admonished herself mentally. Since when she cared about those boring things as operational details!

"I believe an insertion of special forces with ample fleet support would be the best alternative. They can go in, destroy the slavers defenses, liquidate the slavers and clear a path to the rescue ships to land"

Aethyta seemed pleased with the idea, so did the Prime Minister

"Spectre Vasir, it would be an honour to have you on this mission, so that the Council can oversee the rescue operation. And I do believe I have the perfect unit for this job, a Special Operations Executive squadron captained by one David Anderson, he and his second in command, Lieutenant Shepard have ample experience dealing with pirate strongholds in the Terminus"

Vasir sighed, great, she'd have to do the euros job for them, while babysitting two special forces wannabes.

Sometimes she hated her job