THE LEADERS
From Peace to War: The Foundation of the Systems Alliance
The end of the Cold War brought with it a seismic shift in the global balance of power on Earth.
The European Union stood as the true victor of both major theatres of the Cold War, despite only ever having been truly committed to one of them. It possessed huge armies and extremely capable air forces, hardened by battle and carrying centuries of collective military experience. It possessed most of Asia through annexation; any member of the Pan-Asian Coalition that had joined willingly or had surrendered saw their territory made the property of the EU.
This left the bloc as the largest single state in the history of the human race, the largest empire that Earth would ever see. Only those that had resisted the PAC to the bitter end were given their independence once more. Japan, Korea, Nepal, and Bhutan rose from the ashes, proud and renewed. The former states of the Middle East Coalition gained some level of independence too, but divided between the EU and the African Union as protectorates.
The science that made it all possible, the mass effect, intrigued and baffled international opinion. For five years after the discovery of the Prothean ruins on Mars, the Europeans kept the secret of extraterrestrial life as its most guarded secret. Instead, the great leap forward was attributed to the brilliance and innovation of the EU's Martian colonists, whom were more than happy to keep the real source in the highest conditions of secrecy. Every year that passed saw greater strides. Despite attempts to keep the rhetoric of the victory humble, those political leaders that were aware of the ruins on Mars wishing to keep them under wraps, there was no shortage of arrogance among the victors.
The other nations of Earth found it unacceptable. The combination of greater power concentrated in the hands of a single people and the increasing arrogance of the same people seemed to be dangerous, as dangerous as the ambitions of the Pan-Asian Coalition at the very least. However, at first, this did not provoke a serious or unified response.
This was mainly due to the exhaustion of the entire world, which created a deep will to avoid conflict. Under the surface however, there were men and women on the make, ready to make an issue of the disparity as soon as the opportunity arrived.
2148 was when events overtook the feeling of planetary unity. The European Space Agency, after three years of development and careful testing, finally launched humanity's first faster-than-light spacecraft. Ariane was derived from the wreck of a Prothean ship structurally, but remains a startling achievement even from the perspective of Citadel species.
This predecessor of the Geneva-class cruiser made its first jump from Mars to Luna in March 2148. A month later, it made the jump from Earth to Neptune. Its most fateful scientific voyage however was when humanity first left its own solar system, a trip with one purpose in mind. The planet Demeter, the first garden world discovered by humans, was visited and claimed for the European Union. Although the planet would not be colonised until 2152, the effect the voyage had was huge.
News that humanity had visited another life-bearing world was entirely eclipsed by the controversy that one of its major political entities had claimed it exclusively. Even the announcement of a recruitment call for astronauts from all countries by the European Space Agency dampened the outrage only slightly. In particular, there was disgust from the African Union that it had been forgotten by its great ally, disgust shared by many EU citizens who remembered the sacrifices of African soldiers on all fronts of the Cold War.
2149 would be a watershed year, as the man most responsible for the creation of the Systems Alliance stepped up to the plate to hold Europe accountable for its monopolisation of the mass effect and their unchecked colonial expansionism. Popular history does not well remember his deeds, instead remembering him for restoring the political fortunes of his extended family, allowing his more famous niece and nephew to take their place.
Jonathan "Jona" Dennison, Senator for Massachusetts, Chairman of the United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations
American opinion, both in North and South America, was increasingly negative during the immediate post-war years. The United States, having saved Mexico from occupation and carved its way into the northern heartlands of the South American Federation, found itself sidelined by the might of the EU. The SAF and Brazil found themselves in the position of being defeated states, despite having plenty of fight left in the tank when they were forced to capitulate after watching the EU systematically destroy the PAC's military and government.
Only in Canada was the situation different, the EU having accepted that nation as a member state, allowing huge numbers of Canadian climate refugees in US camps to migrate to Europe or rebuild their lives in those parts of Canada not swallowed whole by glaciers. This generosity was not enough to stem demands for technology sharing. Not even European civilian corporations or universities were allowed access to the mass effect, which saw them join the cause of transparency.
The EU had no wish to see the technology fall into the hands of other powers until it began construction of its new navy, one built to operate in space rather than on the ocean. This was the final straw for one American politician, who set out on a personal crusade to have the new technology shared and to discover its true source.
Jonathan Dennison had succeeded to his father's seat in the United States Senate for Massachusetts in 2142, and inherited the stigma of his father's opposition to US involvement in the defence of Mexico. By the end of the Cold War, the family reputation had been restored through vigorous campaigning for better conditions for soldiers and for aggressive action. In this, he had the aid of every able bodied member of the Dennison dynasty, including a young Alice Dennison, by now famous for her iconic picture with the Mexican Brigada Irlandesa. His reputation was greatly enhanced by their efforts to see to proper treatment for returning veterans of all nations, and he became a figure of great respect throughout the nations of Earth.
By 2149 however, Dennison saw the inequality being created by the monopoly held by the EU over mass effect technology, both potential and real. He saw the beginnings of the first truly global government, one that ruled with the iron fist, one that did not respect the differences between human societies. In Asia, the Europeans had began to impose their way of life on the populace, and due to the overwhelming nature of their victory, they were doing so without great resistance.
Dennison invited all those who would see the new technology shared together at a meeting in Hawaii, the Mass Effect Summit. The list of attendees was platinum. President of the Union of African States chaired the meeting as the leader of the most powerful state, but other heads of state were present also, including the US President, the Mexican President, the Chairperson of the South American Federation, the Supreme Commander of Brazil, and the Prime Ministers of Australia, New Zealand and Japan. On top of that, all major defence contractors from outside of Europe and many high-tech companies from the EU itself sent representatives and lobbyists, urging that something be done to free research and development of the mass effect.
The question was raised. Why was the European Union's Commission and their military High Command so insistent on keeping the technology secret in the first place? It was only a matter of time until other scientists cracked the wall and discovered how the mass effect worked, or so it was thought. Why were the Europeans not using their advantage now to make huge amounts of money? To most, it looked like the military-first strategy of the EU was a prelude to a final war of conquest. This perception was made considerably worse by the reaction of the European military to the summit itself.
From the leased airbase on Wake Island, the European Air Force launched the Styx, the precursor prototype to the first Geneva-class cruisers being built as the militarised version of the Ariane. As the Mass Effect Summit continued, and agreement looked ever closer to being reached, the Styx made its way towards Hawaii in violation of US airspace. American fighters scrambled and warned the cruiser to withdraw. It did not.
Eventually, as the ship drew within visual range of Hawaii, the US President ordered that it be shot down. The fighters, equipped with anti-titan missiles, found their fire was entirely ineffective. The Styx's kinetic barriers were far too strong to be breached by pre-mass effect weapons of this kind. With no other choice, President Huevera was forced to announce the outcome of the engagement before a panicking audience, and to order an evacuation. No one knew the Europeans' intent. It was feared that the Styx's mission was to destroy the leadership of all the major powers in a single stroke, the first strike in the next global war.
Instead, the cruiser buzzed the convention centre at supersonic speed, running the gauntlet of AA missile and new anti-titan laser batteries with ease. The sonic boom shattered every window in the building, causing minor injuries to many delegates but no fatalities. The Styx, having received some damage from the lasers and with its mission complete, turned around and headed back to Wake Island at a much more leisurely pace, flying by the other Hawaiian islands on the way. The EU's message had been delivered. If war came, they would win.
The reaction to this was a mixture of anger and despair. Already it seemed like there could be no victory against such powerful machines in the hands of men and women determined to use them. In the EU itself, the attitude was one of pride and relief. Having seen their own lands subjugated, European citizens were happy to see their strength built up to be unchallengeable. EU Titan forces moved to forward deployment zones against the Americas and Australia, in case the message wasn't received loud and clear. For the most part, it was.
Dennison found himself the leader of a hopeless cause. Africa immediately withdrew its support for holding the EU accountable, in favour of attempting to leverage their alliance into technological support. The other countries were lost, unable to come up with any coherent strategy for opposing the build-up of European military might.
The Senator was not dissuaded. He continued to publicly call out the EU for what amounted to an act of war, and demanded that they respect their common humanity by sharing their knowledge. This paid off. In June 2149, he received information about element zero and how the mass effect had been discovered in his home on Cape Cod. It is not known which Martian-European scientist exactly leaked the secret, there were many Martian scientists in Massachusetts at that time for academic reasons.
Dennison gave the information to the Boston Globe, and the story broke: Humanity was not alone in the universe.
The news was received with shock and fear. Rioting began in EU cities, particularly in the occupied territories, as citizens were outraged that the information had been kept from them. This subsided quickly in Europe itself, and the anger of other powers did too, as a particular realisation set in.
Suddenly, the EU's concentration on military applications made sense. There was a confirmed existential threat to the human species out there, and only a limited supply of eezo in the possession of the human race. For the moment, there could be no mass exploitation of the new technology. Every ounce of the special material would be needed for exploration and defence. Yet still the EU refused to hand over the technology, stating that its expertise in the matter was vastly greater and that its government viewed itself as the best body for organising planetary defence as the possessor of the most powerful military forces even without the mass effect.
Dennison pounced on this, countering with the idea of a pan-human alliance for the defence of Earth and the exploitation of space. The EU had no right to take sole responsibility for the defence of the motherworld, he argued, and they were failing to exploit the genius of other nations in keeping the mass effect to themselves. Humanity must have one confederal government to oversee space activity. It was an extremely effective message. The aftermath of the Mass Effect Summit disappeared. All other nations on Earth rallied against the EU position. Still, the Europeans refused for months, not trusting other nations to use eezo wisely.
Jon Grissom showed the way. While test-piloting the first all-human exploration vessel, the ESA Ragnarok, he made a very close flyby of Pluto and its moons. On the surface of Charon, he spotted a previously uncharted structure. As he changed his orbit to get a better look, his Prothean-derived FTL navigation computer began acting strangely. It kept asking him if he wished to do something, which he could understand. Something other than a regular FTL jump. In the end, his curiosity got the better of him, and he acceded to the computer's request.
Charon split into pieces immediately, revealing a mass relay, its rings moving and pushing the debris of the former moon away. Grissom was forced to flee, as his orbit decayed instantly. The ESA ordered him and his crew to return the day after, to assess the situation and take readings. Upon the arrival of the Ragnarok, its FTLcomputer made a second request, this time to use the mass relay. The relays were known about from the Prothean archives, but it had not been known that there was one in Sol itself.
This message was much more clear than the previous one, stating clearly that it was a transition from one star cluster to another. Grissom communicated the news to Space Command Terra, the EU's extraterrestrial military headquarters, and declared his will to use the relay. As his ship was prepared for long-range operations already, he was given authorisation.
Jon Grissom became the first human to use a mass relay, entering the Arcturus System on December 21st 2149. He returned to Sol on the same day after a preliminary exploration of the system. Most importantly, he found more relays. Arturus was a relay nexus, the twin nexus of the Omega relays on the other side of the galaxy no less, although no human could know that yet. News spread quickly to all on Earth, Luna, Mars and Demeter; humanity had a new hero.
Dennison immediately exploited the mass relay announcement, bringing together supporters once more in Washington DC to demand that the EU create an alliance of the nations of Earth. The argument over the limited amount of eezo was now destroyed by the revelation of the mass relays. Limited amounts of eezo were detected in asteroids in Arcturus, and there was the entire galaxy to explore and exploit. Furthermore, the threat of alien attack was even greater, now that it was known they could come from almost anywhere in the galaxy. "Unity is now a necessity of survival," Dennison declared from the steps of Congress.
The European Union finally agreed.
On September 1st 2150, after months of intense negotiations, the Systems Alliance was founded in Geneva. A military compact first and foremost, the EU demanded that it be ruled over by the nations of Earth directly for its first ten years, during which time the constitutional structure of a more democratic government for humanity would be developed.
Space Command Terra was made into a joint military command of all Earth's major powers, the fleets under construction by Europe became the basis for the First, Second and Third Fleets of the Alliance Navy, for which the EU gained considerable financial compensation.
In addition, three strategic Army Troop Commands were created to oversee the coordination of ground forces, although it would be another fifteen years before the formal creation of the Alliance Army Legions and the full integration of army structures under Alliance command.
Humanity had found the unity it required to survive. Animosity between the nations over how it had come to be quickly disappeared, as information regarding the capabilities of the Protheans scared all governments out of any notions of reprisals quickly. The species began to pull together like never before, out of fear and pride.
Dennison was quickly forgotten as the Alliance prepared for first contact, deliberately so. The EU refused him the position of Chief Political Officer of the Alliance itself, opting instead for the South American Franco Fratala. He did not mind so much, and instead turned his attentions to campaigning for fair division of future colonies, successfully organising the First Colonisation Congress in Versailles in 2151, an act for which is he far better remembered. He would die in a shuttle accident along with a number of his other relatives on the eve of the First Contact War in 2157, having no idea how much of a contribution he had made to humanity's inevitable victory.
Galactic Government before First Contact
By the time of the First Contact War, the Citadel Council had been in existence for nearly two thousand, seven hundred years. To humans, this seems like an impossibly long period of continuous government. Many of the powers of Earth could not claim to be even five hundred years old. For instance, the European Union was in its second iteration, the first existing from the 1950s until the mid 2020s, reforming in the middle of the 21st Century as new threats arose. Its great rival, the Pan-Asian Coalition, had not even lasted a single century.
However, in examination of the Citadel system before First Contact, it is important to note that to the asari, the Council was only coming into its maturity. Only four generation of asari have passed from maiden to matriarch since its foundation, yet fifty have passed since the beginning of the asari enlightenment. The asari formed and shaped the Citadel Council in ways that no other species possibly could have. Their huge lifespans and cultural inclination towards exogamy and diplomatic solutions had allowed them to dominate the institution. Their innately conservative, gradualist outlook has been a hallmark of the Council's modus operandi from the very beginning.
For the most part, this attitude had served all three of the major races well. Neither the turians nor the salarians were culturally inclined to taking great leaps in the dark, having their own sort of conservative ideas regarding governmental hierarchy and the form of war respectively. Of course, the asari gradualist instinct also failed spectacularly on occasion. Allowing the uplift of the krogan and attempting to slowly integrate them into galactic society, counting on time to temper their barbarism, was a disastrous grand strategy. The krogan themselves adopted a similar attitude to grab as much territory as they possibly could, while the asari appeased them in an attempt both to avoid war and to bring them closer culturally to the rest of the galaxy.
Despite this strategic blunder, asari leadership of the Council was reinforced by the Krogan Rebellions, as responsibility for the uplift of the krogans was placed with the salarians alone. Human historians take a dim view of the mainstream galactic opinion in this regard, perhaps rightly seeing the asari as the true arbiters of things. Regardless, the integration of the turians into the Citadel Council was a masterstroke that made up for all the damage done by the krogan. Furthermore, the turians and salarians were easily played off against one another.
For centuries after the Rebellions, colonisation and suppression of the numerous lawless areas was the priority of the Council. The war had created a particular mindset that was kept alive by the asari throughout the many years until First Contact. By the 2150s, the veterans of the krogan conflict were dead but almost all of the asari leadership had mothers that had fought. Along with turian military culture that preached much the same thing, the Council took to defending only what it could. Using its increasingly powerful navies and armies for rapid expansion was not possible. Consolidation followed by careful colonisation of existing clusters was the name of the game.
By the time of the Morning War, this refusal to intervene in the affairs of non-Citadel controlled space had become almost cult-like, and it was becoming increasingly dangerous. With the occupation of the quarian worlds by the geth and the use of their huge fleets for refugee housing, the last counterbalance in the Terminus was removed. The pirates and warlords, already growing strong in the vacuum created by Citadel refusals to act, became fully fledged kleptocracies. In 1980CE, less than a century after the exile of the quarians from the Perseus Veil, Aria T'loak seized power on Omega. With that act, she was ushering in a new era. From that point onwards, the collective power of the Terminus warlords could challenge the Citadel, at least on the defensive.
For the asari and salarians, this was no particular problem. They had no desire to conquer the Terminus, and their extensive contacts throughout the region allowed them to exploit the natural resources to be found there without the need of expensive governance. T'loak herself cultivated close ties with the majority faction of matriarchs at the heart of the asari embassy, which allowed her to join the cabal of eezo producers to set prices galaxy-wide. Meanwhile, the batarians flooding in were courted by the salarian STG, granting an extensive early-alert system to the dalatrasses against any threats that might emerge from lawless space.
But for the turians, the Terminus situation was a different issue, and it had nothing to do with the constant piracy or the abuse of sentient creatures. Their territory did not border the Traverse in the first place. Their problem with the lawless region struck far closer to home. From the very beginning of turian colonisation of the stars, the Hierarchy had to deal with the problem of separatism. Turians simply refused to cohere to a single political system, and yet unlike asari and human customs, they also refused peaceful settlement of the questions arising from that. The independence of the Terminus created a training ground and sanctuary for elements within turian society that saw the Hierarchy as decadent or as the centre of repression of turian nations.
Without the support of the asari and salarians for a war of conquest, the Turian Hierarchy became the head advocates for isolation or even quarantine of the Terminus. More and more, they regarded engagement or exploitation of the region without adequate government control as reckless. Instead, they increasingly turned to regions of space closer to home, star clusters that had been discovered just prior to contact with the Citadel but never explored. The asari and salarians allowed this, provided that it was done gradually and with due regard for opening up new threats. Much of the space became the 'new colonies' of the Hierarchy, but the great majority made up what would become the core clusters of the Systems Alliance.
The new efforts did not suppress separatist feeling among turians to a degree that satisfied the top levels of the Hierarchy, and even the asari were beginning to grow concerned by the depth of intra-species hatred. The turians' empire was never larger, never more prosperous, but the peaceful and sedentary nature of its new golden age ran against the grain of turian identity itself. By the 2100s, the turians were looking for a war.
The Council of Three, Citadel Galactic Community,
At the time of First Contact, the three councillors were Linea, Troenus, Zaleeh.
Linea T'posa was a famously conciliatory politician, even for an asari. She was the architect of the deal that allowed the turians to colonise their previously explored clusters, trading that concession for greater salarian exploitation of the dense belts of clusters close to the galactic core. The entire agreement was technically illegal under Citadel law, as both the proposed salarian and turian sectors had been the subject of only the most cursory explorations. She felt that they had been explored at all was sufficient loophole to allow it, even over the objections of the batarians, as it brought the Big Three species closer together.
However, she did not just believe in unity among the major powers, but wished for all sentient species with the mass effect to accept Citadel government. In return for their own signature of the agreement, the batarians were allowed to colonise further into the outer edges of the galaxy with the assistance of Citadel explorator flotillas.
In sharp contrast, Councillor Troenus Palavar was a hard-headed patriotic zealot. He was appointed with some degree of controversy in 2154CE, and he was very much regarded as a concession to the war party's desire for military conflict. He spent most of his time lobbying the other councillors for action in the Traverse. Linea found his prejudices and attitudes relatively easy to exploit, and even allowed a limited campaign in the western Traverse against a group of turian pirates operating out of the Nemean Abyss. That satisfied some turians, those who saw the separatists as traitors, but the craving for glory against a foreign foe was larger. Troenus was among them, and he viewed the batarians, with their dysfunctional government and fresh colonies, as a good target. Had humanity not encountered the turians at Relay 314, it is likely that the batarians would have been coaxed into declaring war by the turian militarists.
Standing aloof from the diplomatic Linea and the militaristic Troenus was Councillor-Dalatrass Zaleeh. The highest ranked salarian ever to hold the position of Councillor, she was sent for one purpose alone; to restrain the other two. The salarians had long feared both the dominance of the asari and the militarism of the turians, and since the end of the Morning War, had sought to keep the other two species from gaining any particular advantages. They had adopted a policy that required unanimity for the Council to act. Where the turians and asari disagreed, the salarians would tend to abstain. Zaleeh took this policy and made it absolute. There could be no policy changes unless the Salarian Union benefited.
The three species played each other off, the asari and turians outvoting the salarians on the military expedition in the Traverse, Linea outmanoeuvring both the salarians and the turians to deliver their new territories without infighting, the turians pushing at every moment for action and succeeding on occasion. Each species was their own sovereignty, and the Council was only allowed to act where there was an overlap. How humanity could have been dealt with, with such dynamics in play, is the subject of great speculation even today, and how they were in fact dealt with remains hugely controversial.