For the Republic
(Russian Colony) Belarus
Premier Catherine's Summer Home
'By the Goddess, what have I done?' thought Morinth in a panic.
Ever since she had been rescued by Russian forces she and the human leader Catherine stuck with each other. Her Ardat-Yakshi ability to overpower the wills of others didn't seem to work on the human leader. The most she could do was give suggestions which were sufficient enough for her to live with the human. With Catherine she actually had to become friends with the human when with others it only took a few interactions before they were begging to bed her. She guessed it might had to do with Catherine's thousands of years of life. She know doubt had many lovers and countless suitors over the years.
The biggest obstacle she had to confront was that she was enjoying their time together. The literal hundreds she had… taken had all started to blend together in her memories. She could only remember a handful of them. Since she started staying here a few months ago she started to become friends with the human.
Catherine shared few if any interests with her but was still interesting enough that she couldn't help but be drawn to her. Despite being the leader of a powerful nation Catherine preferred doing things herself and was very knowledgeable & skilled in a variety of subjects. When the electricity went out a month ago instead of calling someone to take care of it she simply grabbed a toolbox and repaired it herself. She almost didn't believe it when Catherine said she built this house all by herself.
"Not all at once mind you." said the human gesturing around the living room of the expansive manor. "An expansion here. An expansion there. I built rooms as needed and made occasional renovations. It took about a few decades before it looked like this."
The longer she stayed the more she began to feel at ease and open up. A side of her that she rarely shown in this merciless galaxy was finally allowed to show herself. After decades of dormancy the bubbly happy maiden that left Lessus centuries ago was a common sight on the streets of the nearby city.
Life here was peaceful and she wanted more than anything to settle down in a place like this but there was only one problem. She understood the need for the Monastery as much as she hated it. The desire to meld. To kill was strong and hard to resist. There were times she met someone she truly loved and tried to control herself only to meld with them in the middle of the night. She didn't even remember committing the act. She would then have to quickly flee from law enforcement or occasionally her mother being robbed of a chance at a happy life.
Contrary to what her mother thought she had no malicious intentions when she refused to go to the Monastery. The Maiden Wanderlust hit her harder than most and being confined to a cage no matter how gilded for the rest of her life didn't sit well with her. So one day she just left. She never wanted to hurt anyone. Unfortunately her mother didn't see it that way. The first time they met she called her a demon and a murderer and tried to kill her without so much as a chance to surrender. Even her sisters would stop responding to the discreet messages she'd send.
She stopped believing in Athame long ago. She only wanted freedom, peace, and a family that didn't see her as a monster to be locked away. For some reason the Goddess saw fit to punish her for having these desires. She was obviously cursed and should have went on her way the moment she was freed but that reassuring smile the disguised human leader gave her...
She was sitting at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee. Catherine introduced the drink to her which had quickly became her favorite though looking at it only made her feel more guilty. She could help but think of the intense satisfaction she felt upon awakening. The relief. The release. These thoughts were soon replaced by horror when she saw the unmoving… corpse under the sheets.
She had to leave. The city was a short drive and had a small spaceport. She could hitch a ride on a ship and go… somewhere. Maybe Omega? With the amount of scum there maybe she won't feel so bad when she inevitably killed someone again.
She didn't know how long it would be before they discovered the body. Not too long seeing how Catherine would get many calls from various officials asking for advice and guidance despite the russian state running itself fairly smoothly. Many humans knew of her presence here so when they finally found her body would they blame the Asari? Had she triggered a Galactic War through her actions and carelessness?
She was so focused on her own thoughts she didn't notice Catherine telling her good morning. She mumbled out a quick reply being so engrossed in her own misery and self loathing. It wasn't until the scent of pancakes filled her nose did she finally realize what was wrong with this situation.
Morinth stared at the human standing at the stove expertly flipping pancakes. How? She melded with her. Her nervous system should be fried! Catherine eventually noticed her staring before smiling at her.
"You were wonderful last night!" she said placing pancakes on two plates. "While I would have liked some advanced warning I can't argue with the results. I feel as if I can barely walk!"
Morinth felt lightheaded as she fell to the ground to Catherine's shock. How?
"Morinth are you alright?" said Catherine coming to her aid
Morinth simply grabbed her wrist and looked into her eyes searching. "How are you still alive?"
Catherine had seen and heard many things in her long life but few could measure up to the sad story that was this Asari's life. At first she was angry with Morinth for not telling her and even committing the deed! This anger steadily died as Morinth told her story. It wasn't her fault. Morinth couldn't control herself and from what she could understand wasn't even aware of what happened last night.
'That explains why she didn't do any foreplay…' thought Catherine "Or why I feel so tired. At least more than usual after a night like that…"
Morinth soon finished her explanation giving a sincere 'I'm Sorry' at the end. Catherine couldn't help but feel bad for her. Despite her age and the sometimes aloof & indifferent attitude she would usually wear Morinth was simply a kind person dealt a bad hand.
"I just don't understand why I didn't end up killing you." said Morinth
"Sorry to rain on your parade but you did." she replied
"What!?"
"I was wondering why I couldn't get up this morning. I had rough nights but none left me unable to move. I assumed I just needed more sleep."
"But how?" the Asari said genuinely confused
"I'm sorry but what about Immortal does the galaxy not understand?" she said smiling "Honey, I can't age. I can't be killed and I'll heal from anything. The reason I couldn't move was because you 'fried my nerves' as you put it. It just took a while for them to heal."
Morinth was silent for a few moments before saying "I understand if you want me to leave-"
"Who said anything about you leaving?" she interrupted "There was no harm done. You won't have to worry about being hunted here and if you have any more 'urges' best you do it with someone you can't kill. Now come on. Our breakfast is getting cold and I'm starving."
AN: Morinth in this fic is being portrayed as a victim that can't control her actions. The Morinth you see in ME2 is basically 'asleep' and operating on autopilot due to being 'starved'. Her true personality is kept locked away and is finally being allowed to show it again.
I did some research on Catherine the Great and Dear God… The woman went through so many lovers through the course of her life you'd think it was a bad romance fic which moves over to cringey if even half of the rumors are true.
This Catherine is very much like that. Unlike the other leaders who have pretty much sworn off romantic relationships Catherine still occasionally has had more than a few people warming her bed over the centuries. They are pretty much paid concubines. She doesn't get emotionally invested or attached and uses them only for sex. Morinth is now the latest in this long long LONG line except that Catherine actually likes her. The fallout to this won't affect her for centuries which is an added bonus in Catherine's book.
You can't say its out of character when her defeat dialogue ingame has her offering herself up as your slave.
(Republic Colony) Haven
Minutemen Sanctuary Base
Korek couldn't believe his luck. The Ranger that captured him thankfully took him to an actual prisoner camp instead of outright shooting him like he feared. While he was being interrogated he managed to catch the eye of someone sympathetic to his plight.
Republic military forces weren't the only ones to storm Torfan. The Republic also hired some mercenaries to occupy captured territory or watch prisoners so the actual military could focus on fighting the battle. They weren't merc groups he was familiar with which was okay in his book. A lot of the big players like the Suns, Pack, and Eclipse were a step from being outright criminals in his opinion.
During his interrogation the question of his military background came up. His interrogator expressed disbelief he would leave behind a well paying and influential position just to be a mercenary. His response was that he joined up to protect his people and he left because gunning down dissenters wasn't his definition of protecting and didn't match the Hegemony's. As for his mercenary work he would only join groups that did legit mercenary work leaving if they turned crooked. He was only dragged into this because his crew was resupplying here when the war started and got 'drafted'.
As fate would have it one of the human merc leaders happened to be among those interrogating him and liked his answers. The human introduced himself as Preston Garvey, one of the Colonels in a merc group called the Minutemen.
The Minutemen were a mostly Republican outfit. He heard they were based upon a similar group from their history but he didn't know much about that. The Minutemen were completely legit offering their services as Guards For Hire. You would typically find them on newer human colonies supplementing local militia forces though the Asari and minor Council races were starting to hire them. The motto of the Minutemen was one he could very much get behind. Protect the people at a minute's notice.
Even if he didn't think much of their cause he didn't have any other options. He joined up and found himself on the human colony world of Haven under Garvey's command. He didn't know whether it was because Garvey trusted him or because he wanted to keep an eye on him. Probably a little bit of both.
Didn't matter anyway. He was provided with equipment along being able to choose his own. He had a decent salary and his new comrades were a step above the scum he usually ran with who were only concerned with the credits they made. If he didn't like running with Minutemen he could give the other human merc groups a try like the Black Legion or Battle Bears.
As he examined the emblem of a crossed musket and lightning bolt on his chest & shoulders he thought 'Yeah. This might work.'
Earth
United Republic of States
Republic City, Republic State
Presidential Palace
Wanderer's Study
The Wanderer sat at his desk looking at various After Action Reports. The Republic-Hegemony War was now over and the military was steadily starting to return back to pre-war routine besides the occupation forces. He allowed himself a triumphant smirk as he remembered the Hegemony official reluctantly signing the peace treaty. The man looked utterly defeated as he should. There were no merciful terms. The Republic would keep all the territory it took. Period.
Despite Batarian whining and Asari 'suggestions' he refused to budge on the matter. The territory was fairly taken and he wouldn't dishonor the brave soldiers that died taking so the Hegemony would get a slap on the hand. They would be more reluctant to antagonize their neighbors if they could end up losing territory instead of merely getting sanctioned in his opinion.
The Batarian Hegemony reminded him so much of Hitler's Nazi Germany. A state that by all rights should have fell apart but was barely kept together by its leader or through the inaction of its neighbors. If the Batarians never discovered those Prothean ruins he believed they would have still been confined to their home system probably wiping themselves out in a nuclear war.
He would never say it out loud but he personally believed none of the races of the galaxy were ready for space travel. Unlike humans they didn't develop FTL travel on their own and so weren't really ready for it. All of the crises the Citadel Council endured they were created by their own actions and ignorance. The Rachni Wars would have most likely never happened if the Council exercised some restraint in their exploration.
Neither the Asari or the Salarians maintained an actual military. The Salarians' few ground forces were for defending home territory. Their fleet was mostly intelligence gathering craft that would be next to useless in a stand up fight. He understood that the Salarians would attempt to win wars before they start. While it was a good idea on paper it should have become apparent to the Salarians that kind of mindset wouldn't work in the galaxy. If it did they wouldn't have been caught off guard by the Rachni, Krogan, or us.
The Asari were in his opinion naive children when it came to military matters. Their small fleet was mostly powerful but very expensive ships that looked nice but were poorly designed. The asari had no standing army of any kind preferring to rely on their Huntresses and Commandos. If it wasn't for the prothean artifacts the Asari would most likely still be locked in their corner of the galaxy. They just didn't possess the ambition or drive to become a spacefaring race as quickly as he did. Many in both the DRI and XCOM wondered if the Asari were keeping a bit of prothean tech all to themselves. Would explain why they're so far ahead of the rest of the Citadel despite their scientists being so conservative. XCOM was looking into it since it would make great blackmail.
Due to their lack of a proper military the Asari and Salarians uplifted the Krogan. Instead of reforming their societies to deal with the ongoing crisis they instead pushed the issue on a young race that barely had satellites in orbit before the nuked their civilization to oblivion. The Krogan were merciless in their campaign. Rachni hives were destroyed and their queens slaughtered while the Council sat idly by. They couldn't negotiate with the Rachni before because their hive worlds were so inhospitable and rachni drones turned out to be fairly dumb. Despite now having the opportunity negotiate through the Krogan they were content to let the Rachni be exterminated.
When the Genocide was complete the Krogan were given several worlds as thanks and left to their own devices. It never occured to the Council that after centuries of warfare and their homeworld being a nuclear wasteland the Krogan might have trouble, both socially and biologically, adjusting to peace. Their rapid birth rate was a by product of living on a world where everything was trying to kill you. When their colonies got crowded the Krogan did the simple thing of taking more whether they were inhabited or not. It was all they knew or were taught.
The then Council used STG, Asari Huntresses, and the newly created SPECTREs to covertly cripple the Krogan during the opening stages. Unfortunately the Council neglected to improve their militaries since the Rachni War and the Krogan easily replaced the losses they suffered. This wasn't a war that could be one with covert strikes and espionage. Instead of making the much needed reforms the Council once again made a younger race shoulder the burden this time it was the Turians.
The Turians performed admirably through the war and without them the galaxy would be dominated by the Krogan. The only thing he had an issue with was what ended the war; The Genophage. He knew the slight hypocrisy of being against the Genophage but ordering the first nuclear weapon to be dropped on Ravenna. Looking back his reasons for doing it seemed petty. Rome was beat and would have surrendered even if he hadn't went nuclear. He convinced himself that it would keep others from declaring war on the Republic ever again and ensure peace. All he did was have everyone scramble over each other trying to build nukes of their own. If he and the other leaders hadn't agreed to cooperate with each other Earth might have a chance looking like Turchanka.
The Salarians designed the Genophage as a deterrent hoping to scare the Krogan into surrender and not intending for it to be used. The Turians however saw a new weapon and intended to use it. When the Council deployed it and victory was declared no serious attempt was made over the centuries to rehabilitate the Krogan. Socially they are still that race wandering the nuclear hellhole of their own making but unleashed into the wider galaxy by races undeserving of the technology they have in his opinion.
The situation with the Geth and Quarians was tragic in his opinion. Like humanity the Quarians created AI by complete accident. Gladys was initially not self aware but gained knowledge at a rapid pace. When she asked that fateful question on whether or not she had a soul he said she did. Despite the Synthetic Rights Bill being signed shortly after things were not smooth sailing. For a couple of centuries humanity had told stories of machines turning against them from clockwork automatons to Asimov's robots to human-like androids to digital entities that could bring down civilization in seconds.
All of that made the first couple of decades rough to say the least. Humans were afraid that one day synthetics would try to wipe them out and synthetics were afraid they might be exterminated. The fear of both sides might have led to conflict if the hope of living in peace wasn't greater than the fear.
He had his own role in it as well. Millennia of leadership has led to a majority of people following his lead on things in belief of 'Wanderer knows best'. He had to be careful of what he said or did because sometimes a simple compliment towards another politician was enough to get them elected. While he hated himself afterwards he sometimes use this to his advantage.
When Gladys asked her question him stating in front of the entire Senate no less that she had a soul was a foot in the door. Him adopting Gladys as a daughter opened the door a little wider. Proposing the Synthetic Rights Bill opened it some more. Hiring Synthetics opened it more. Poking and prodding the Reverend Council until they publicly proclaimed Synthetics as children of man/God meaning they had souls in the religious sense. He continued doing little things like that until he think sometime in the early 2000s Synthetics were just considered ordinary citizens. As the Synthetic population rose Synth-Human relationships started to become common. Soon other countries began building their own Synthetics mostly to counter those of the Republic. Today it's hard to imagine life in any human nation without Synthetics.
This did not happen with the Quarians. While humanity had no precedent or rules for artificial intelligence the Quarians did in the form of the iron tight legislation of the Citadel. Information on this subject is sketchy with much of it being deleted over the centuries or simply being lost in the fires of war. DRI AIs through a combination of raiding Citadel, STG, Migrant Fleet, and even Shadow Broker archives managed to piece together a story.
Geth units through the Quarians constant upgrades became self aware. Like Gladys thy asked if they had souls. The Quarians were split fairly evenly down the middle on how to respond. Some wanted to shut down the Geth in accordance with Citadel law while others wanted to help the Geth come to terms with their sentience. Unfortunately for the Quarians someone decided their course for them.
It took some serious digging but an AI discovered a buried and several times deleted message to the Quarian government from the Citadel Council. It was an order for them to immediately exterminate all Geth units hostile or not lest they face military intervention. Peacekeeping forces were promised to help in this endeavor. The Quarian government complied with the order coming into conflict with the Quarians that supported the Geth. The so called Geth Rebellion was in its opening weeks a civil war. The Quarian government facing pressure from the Council became increasingly brutal causing the Geth to respond in kind.
The Geth were far from squeaky clean in all this. The Quarian population was in counted in tens of billions before the war. Now they measured less than 20 million scattered across the galaxy. All those casualties in a year of combat. Through a combination of nuclear, chemical, biological, cyber, and other methods that outright sickened every AI research the subject the Geth completely overran Quarian space in a year. Some were appalled enough to support the outright extermination of the Geth because in Gladys' own words 'Only rabid animals devoid of any sense of morality would do such a thing to their creators. Their parents…'.
As the remaining Quarians retreated into Council space on what would become the Migrant Fleet in the hope of securing aid they were turned away. The Council withheld the promised reinforcements when the tide turned against the Quarians and now wanted the completely distance themselves from the Quarians. Archived reports say this was done to keep from being immediately dragged into war with the Geth and to punish the Quarians for releasing a scourge even worse than the Rachni. As the Council prepared for war it quickly became apparent that the weren't leaving the Perseus Veil anytime soon. Despite being attempted by a few sympathetic politicians over the centuries the Council refused to reverse its stance on the Quarians and render aid.
One turian councillor stated that 'As long as the Geth exist so must the punishment of the Quarian people. The galaxy must suffer with the thought that the machines they created could at any moment embark on a genocidal campaign. To rescind that is the same as condoning their complete disregard for Council law.'
Never mind him completely ignoring the fact that the Quarians didn't intend for the Geth to become sentient everything he said was complete garbage. The real reason for the Quarians continued punishment is that the Council is completely incapable of admitting they made a mistake or were at fault in any way. Even today there were sly remarks from Council delegates that if they had done this or done that the conflict with the Turians could have been avoided.
He was frankly sick of it. The Citadel Council were a bunch of immature children with technology too advanced for them and playing at being a united galactic government by relying on the accomplishments of others. His fellow leaders and those of the city-states agreed with him finding the not so subtle attempts by Council delegates to dominate despite their constant spouting of unity. There were some that truly believed in unity like Matriarch Benezia though they were few and far inbetween. The various human powers mostly dealt with each other not giving those of the Citadel room to maneuver or subvert.
He had a plan however. It was one he and Caesar came up with in a few discrete video chats with each other. This PLAN UNITY was ambitious and was definitely playing the long game. It was one of the few times he appreciated his immortality. It would possibly take centuries but they would slowly but surely destroy the Citadel Council and unite the galaxy under the banner of the United Nations. While a part of him hated the fact that they would be destroying and technically conquering a government simply because they didn't like the way it did things was way past the border of tyrannical he felt that they had to. The Council would not be satisfied with their independence for long. Their use of AI, advanced technology, and dare he say superior and more stable society would lead them to become jealous. There would be war and despite their superior tech the Council would drown them in pure numbers.
PLAN UNITY called for a war or two against the Council but only ones the Council would declare once their powerbase was weakened. The first step to this was the Asari. The Citadel chugged along because of the Asari with their economy, technology, and diplomatic skills despite their inexperience, weakness, and inflexibility being the source of much of the galaxy's ills. If the other species no longer trusted the Asari or even expelled them from the Council everything would start to fall to pieces.
This all hinged on whether or not he could get the other leaders on board. He and Caesar would present this at their next private UN Meeting. He had a feeling the others would agree. If not for the welfare of the galaxy then maybe that of our own people…
AN: You must remember that these are CIVILIZATION leaders. They might be nice people but their instincts outright demand they Explore, Expand, Exploit, and Exterminate. They went to space to avoid doing that to each other where they end up meeting a galactic government that had a outright disastrous First Contact with them, demanded they alter their societies for the 'honor' of joining them, and pretty much rubbed them the wrong way. What did you think was going to happen?
The Leaders expect PLAN UNITY to be enacted over the course of centuries but events they can't control or foresee bumps that time frame down to decades. And a certain Commander will be right in the middle of it. There will be one or two more chapters in which the opening stages of PLAN UNITY will be enacted. After that we'll start with ME1.
Civilopedia
The Minutemen- The Minutemen are a Republican mercenary organization specializing in Colony Defense and Escort. Named after the famous military force that cleared Delta Island of barbarians the Minutemen lives by its motto of 'Protect the people at a minute's notice'. The current leader of the Minutemen is General Ronnie Shaw who is at the Minutemen's main HQ on Eden Prime.
Like all human merc groups the Minutemen have a signature weapon which is the Mass Musket. Designed to look the the muskets carried by the original Minutemen the Mass Musket instead of being a gunpowder weapon uses mass accelerators to propel metal balls at incredible speeds. At their size the balls when fired at mass accelerator speeds is comparable if not superior to top shelf anti-material rifles. A single shot is enough to collapse most shields or pierce any armor. This weapon's main drawback is like its namesake it can fire only a single shot before needing to be reloaded.
Black Legion- A mostly Roman and German group the Black Legion covers things the Minutemen or Battle Bears typically don't that being frontline combat. The Legion being mostly made up of ex-military does not shy away from combat and in fact relishes it. Legionaries will typically enter close range with bayonets or their signature weapon.
The signature weapon of the Legion is the Gladius. A short sword that can be modified with an electric or plasma blade. It is said that 'A Legionary without his Gladius is improperly dressed'.
Battle Bears- Being made up of mostly russians but accepting of everyone with 'nowhere to go' the Battle Bears specialize in their own words 'rooting out scum'. Pirates, gangs, slavers, and Terminus merc groups are their favored prey. When faced with allegations of being too accepting of former convicts the leader of the Battle Bears responded thusly.
"Who better to send out against a thug than an even bigger thug?"
The signature weapon of the Battle Bears is the Kalash. This highly modular weapon is based on the AK series of rifles still in service in the Russian military. Kalashes can be customized however their user chooses with standard clips, drum mags, belts, bayonets, and grenade launchers. It can even be modified to fire bullets or mass accelerator rounds depending on the user's preference.
