Standard disclaimer: I do not own Mass Effect, nor any other content that you recognise. Some characters and systems are original creations. I am receiving no money for my work.
Geneva – Earth
2113.02.28
The council chamber in the palais des nations in Geneva was packed. Nearly two centuries ago, this room had been built to hold the council of the League of Nations, humanities first attempt at coming together to solve common problems peacefully.
Today; 12 judges sat on the bench, and the banner officers of the turian 3rd Patrol Fleet - minus their admiral - stood before them. The banner officers of the attached legion, minus General Sparatus who had been killed in action, were scheduled to be tried a week after the fleet officers.
All activity in the room stilled as the doors opened and Macen Arterius was brought forward to the hastily constructed prisoners dock. He wore the Alliance's garb of a military prisoner, an orange jumpsuit, but he was not restrained. The Alliance diplomatic corps had insisted on that as the turians were apocalyptic already, there was no need to antagonise them further with something that would only be for show.
The disgraced Admiral took this place in the dock, but it was not him that caused the confused muttering to echo around the chamber. It was the Volus that entered the chamber at his side.
After consulting with his aide for a moment the chief justice, Yong Pung How, spoke up. "Ambassador Doran Olar, it is an honour to have the most senior of the Vol Protectorate's ambassadors with us today. However, I have to ask why you have accompanied the accused?"
"Greetings Earth-Clan." Ambassador Olar wheezed. "I apologise for the *hiss* confusion. I am present because Admiral Arterius has chosen me to be his defence *hiss* counsel. As is his right under human, turian and *hiss* citadel law.
"I object! Ambassador Olar is only qualified in financial law! He is not qualified to conduct a criminal defence!" Advocate Actus, the turian defence lawyer, was in shock. But the remainder of the fleets banner officers looked knowingly at their Admiral, he only nodded at them.
"The agreement signed with the Turian *hiss* Hierarchy and the Citadel Council to allow this trial to take *hiss* place, states only that the defence counsel must be qualified in both turian and *hiss* citadel law. It does not state what type of turian and citadel law that must *hiss* be, Palaven-Clan." Ambassador Olar replied smugly.
"That is not…." Actus attempted to object but was cut off by Yong Pung How.
"Whether such a qualification was implied or not does not matter in this case. The agreement states only that the defence counsel must be qualified in turian and citadel law, I think that the tradition of being allowed to choose your own defence – found in all three legal traditions – takes precedent over anything in this matter that was not explicitly stated in the agreement." The Singaporean chief justice looked questioningly at his fellow judges as he answered Advocate Actus, one by one they indicated their support.
"But…"
"Your Excellency, myself and Banner Captain Kuril request that Doran Olar act as our defence counsel as well." Solona Kandros spoke up confidently, staring her Admiral in the eye. Ambassador Olar had visited both of them in their cells after he had visited the Admiral. Beside her, Nyreen Kuril stood resolute with her colleague.
They knew what their Admiral had planned and they were not going to let him do it alone. Neither woman had abandoned him during the debacle that had led to this trial, they were not going to abandon him now the consequences were coming home to roost. "I believe Adrien Nyx would wish to stand with us as well, were he still here."
The judges consulted each other for a moment before Chief Justice Yong announced their decision. "Both you and the Banner Captain have the right to choose your own representation Superior Captain. The situation is more complex in the case of Superior Captain Nyx, as he is being tried posthumously due to his death in battle with Admiral Drescher. However, if the two of you, his rank equivalents, colleagues and friends believe that he would wish to join you in your defence, then we shall allow it."
He turned to the Hierarchy appointed Actus. "Thank you for your service Advocate Actus, you will be recalled when the banner officers of the army are due for trial. We will expect to be notified well in advance if they wish to change their defence counsel from the currently stated ones."
Actus looked to be about to argue, but, finally, he reigned in his indignation and withdrew to the public gallery.
The trial began before the press corps could even report on the sudden change.
"Admiral Macen Arterius, Superior Captain Solona Kandros, Banner Captain Kuril, you and Superior Captain Adrien Nyx are all charged with disobeying orders, the relevant breaches of first contact protocols and treaties, and the misuse of Hierarchy fleet assets. How do you plead?"
"On behalf of all of my clients your *hiss* excellency, I plead guilty as charged." The public galleries of the court erupted, but the Volus ambassador wasn't finished. "In addition, all of my *hiss* clients wish to be tried under human law, not *hiss* turian."
"Admiral, Captains." Yong Pung How stated once he had regained control of the court. "As much as I do not wish to impinge the honour of Ambassador Olar, this is a drastic change from the agreement your government has negotiated on your behalf. I feel compelled to ask if all three of you are acting of your own free will?"
There was no need to assure the turian banner officers that they would be safe from retribution if they were being coerced, the human staff assigned to protect them from any 'accidents', whether those 'accidents' had human or turian origins, had made that repeatedly clear since they had arrived on Earth.
"We are your excellency." Admiral Arterius replied firmly, as if he was still standing in the banner CIC of Enforcer. "We feel that as our actions affected humans the most, we should be tried under human law."
"You are aware that your sentencing must still be turian? Regardless of our method of establishing guilt or blame, the agreement between the Systems Alliance and the Turian Hierarchy is explicit on that point, and the precedent of personal choice and dual legal jurisdictions does not override it."
"We understand." Admiral Arterius replied confidently to the shock of the judges.
"Ambassador Olar, will your clients not offer any defence at all?" Chief Justice Yong asked in astonishment.
"The only defence my *hiss* clients wish to offer are the records and logs already submitted. They are *hiss* a true and accurate record of what transpired, and my clients do not wish to *hiss* use any legal trickery to escape the consequences of their actions." Ambassador Olar's pronouncement made all three turian officers stand at attention, resolutely facing down the human judges and more importantly, the watching human public.
"Then we will withdraw to deliberate." Yong Pung How stated simply. The court rose as the judges left the chamber but the turian officers did not waver. The reporters ran out of the room, frantically trying to update their networks but be able to return at a moments notice for the verdicts and sentencing.
Two hours later the judges returned stone faced. The rest of the people in the court were seated, only the three banner officers remained standing as the tension was so thick it could almost have been cut with a knife.
"Banner Captain Kuril." Chief Justice Yong delivered the verdict of the court for the most junior officer first. "This court has reached its verdict. You were the only member of the banner officers who raised any objections to the actions of the Third Patrol Fleet, going as far as to request that the Admiral clarify his orders."
"While this would not normally acquit you under human law, falling below the minimum level of action required when a solider receives an illegal order, this court recognises that in turian culture it was a grave action, far above and beyond what could be reasonably expected for a turian. As such this court rejects your guilty plea on all counts, you are free to go without a stain on your character."
Cries of 'SHAME' and 'TRAITORS' erupted from the public gallery as those present screamed at the judges, wanting blood in return for all of the deaths that had befallen friends and family. As the court wardens attempted to restore order, Nyreen Kuril practically collapsed into her seat from relief despite the rolling wave of abuse calling for her head.
As the crowd quietened, Yong Pung How addressed the second officer. "Superior Captain Kandros, both yourself and Superior Captain Nyx raised no objections at all to the orders you received. As such, were you human you would be found guilty of disobeying orders. However; while we are judging you under human law, we have made allowances for turian culture, taking into account that we cannot expect you to act as a human would in that situation."
"As such, this court finds you not guilty of disobeying orders, but we do find you guilty of the lesser charge of wilfully misinterpreting orders and being complicit in the misuse of Hierarchy fleet assets. The turian sentence for such actions is clear. You will be dishonourably discharged from the navy, stripped of all awards and commendations, and be banned from all government posts, military or civilian, for the rest of your natural life.
Solona Kandros also collapsed into her seat, but unlike Nyreen Kuril it wasn't from relief. Her mind was filled only with the shame she had brought on all of her clan, and how hard they were going to have to fight to remove the stain of her actions from their collective honour.
The public gallery muttered, unsatisfied, but at least this time they weren't actively screaming at the judges. There was little doubt however, that if the same verdict and sentence was handed down to Admiral Arterius all of them would feel cheated and furious. Just as Ambassador Olar had predicted.
The Chief Justice turned finally to Admiral Arterius as the chamber collectively held its breath. "Admiral Arterius. This court may have seen its way to leniency if you had taken the first opportunity to halt your illegal attack and take responsibility for your actions, namely once you had engaged Commodore Lala Hansa in battle and had irrefutable proof that you were engaged in an illegal conflict. However, you did not."
"Instead you knowingly and willingly disobeyed the treaties and orders issued by the Turian Hierarchy and the Citadel Council for first contact situations, in addition to disobeying the orders to report any change in status with your fleet before engaging in military activity outside of your assigned patrol area. Orders crafted specifically to prevent unauthorised conflicts such as this from occurring. As such this court finds you guilty of disobeying orders and the misuse of Hierarchy fleet assets."
The court erupted in cheers as the verdict was read out. Across Citadel Space asari reacted with shock to such a blatant display of bloodlust, and turians with rage that the humans would dare to judge one of their own. The other races however, generally approved of the verdict, seeing it as fair.
When the court had settled Yong Pung How continued. "Macen Arterius. Human law has no death penalty, however, as stated at the beginning of the trial we can only sentence you under turian law. As such there is only one sentence that we can impose on you. Death."
Admiral Arterius stood at attention, refusing to flinch at the verdict he knew was coming since Doran Olar had first explained his plan to him. This was his penance, his sacrifice to the humans would sate their thirst for vengeance and allow them to begin to heal and integrate into the galactic community, however slow or painful that would be.
The Chief Justice continued to speak over the wild cheers. "However, while we will honour the agreement and impose the turian penalty of death despite its illegality under human law, we refuse to countenance your death by spacing as turian law demands. We find it to be in violation of the Geneva Convention's protection from inhumane treatment, and not even interspecies diplomacy will force us to violate that great bastion of protection."
"As such, instead of returning to your flagship to be but to death by spacing, you will instead be taken from this place to a place of execution, where you will be put to death by firing squad. The pre-abolition method of executing human military personnel."
"I understand and thank you for your mercy, your excellency." Admiral Arterius stated simply, also speaking over the still celebrating crowd while looking over at his two banner officers for the last time. They stood and saluted as he was led away and back to the cells. Ambassador Olar watched him go. Respect and regret warring on his face, hidden behind his environmental suit. Hoping fervently that the Admiral's sacrifice had been enough.
Vancouver – Earth
2113.03.02
Rajendra Tharoor took his seat at the head of what had once been the Alliance Security Council meeting table. Now it hosted the new Cabinet of the Systems Alliance.
Thankfully for all involved, there had been academic exercises and pressure groups designing a constitution for the Systems Alliance for some time, hoping at some point in the future they might reach a critical mass and be able to transform the Alliance. That day had arrived sooner than anyone had anticipated.
Needing to form a functioning government at the same time as creating the new constitution, the Constitutional Assembly had simply selected the academic's plan that was most agreeable to them as a whole and set up a provisional government to operate in the manner that the plan said it should. Whilst the provisional government was dealing with the day to day of running the Systems Alliance, the Constitutional Assembly was going through the constitutional plan they were using line by line; accepting, modifying, or out right rejecting and replacing each section of it one after the other.
Whilst progress through the plan was slow and altering the provisional government's power and responsibilities on a day to day basis was confusing, this muddling through had worked surprisingly well so far and was proving a great help in getting the government up and running so quickly.
The first main point decided was the Systems Alliance was going to be a parliamentary democracy, rather than a presidential republic. As such it needed a Prime Minister, and Rajendra Tharoor and swiftly won the backing of a majority of the Constitutional Assembly delegates.
Of equal importance, it was also decided that the Systems Alliance was to be a social democracy. Ie: It would support economic and social interventions to promote social justice within the framework of a capitalist economy and a multi-party liberal democratic political system. Unusually for Alliance governmental development so far this was not a compromise, rather it was the preferred ideology of the vast majority of its members.
Although given that currently India dominated the Alliance's population and the European Union its economy, the choice to take the social democratic route was perhaps less surprising than most commentators made it out to be.
Those few delegates that had favoured a democratic socialist state (a multi-party democratic system combined with a collectively owned and government run economy) or a laissez-faire capitalist state (a multi-party democratic system combined with an unregulated capitalist economy) were heavily outvoted.
The other 13 members of the SA Cabinet filed in as they had done several times over the last few weeks. Finally though, things were beginning to move forwards at an ever increasing pace. Prime Minister Tharoor began the meeting. "Well. While I'm sure the Foreign Secretary would love to regale us with just how much of a cluster fuck the turian navy officer's trial turned out to be diplomatically, I think we can all take it as read that the turians have gone postal, the asari are horrified, the salarians are thinking Shiva only knows what and the rest of known space is simultaneously pleased to see the turians brought down a peg, and terrified that we dared to actually do it."
"That about sums it up." The haggard and tired Foreign Secretary moaned forlornly. "I would ask if we had to follow through with the executions, but I realise that domestically we have backed ourselves well and truly into a corner. We simply have to do damage control with the other races now, I've got the entire diplomatic corps working on it."
"Good." The PM nodded. "So, we can move on to the security briefing first and then the first item on the agenda. Defence, if you would?"
The Minister of Defence summarised the contents of his data pad. "Not much has changed since we last spoke. The blockades of the American colonies of Destiny and Freedom are in place and haven't been seriously challenged, in addition only a few warships with majority American or Chinese crews are still refusing to surrender. We estimate less than 10 have turned pirate so we expect the remainder to follow their fellows' example and surrender in return for repatriation soon."
"There is mild unrest on the three former Chinese colonies, now the Celestial Peoples Republic, but the new government there seems to have it under control. The unrest has been mostly confined to Elysium and Guangxi with almost none on Shanxi, which is to be expected seeing as their former rulers left that particular colony to die."
"Speaking of which, the Shanxi garrison has been rotated home and fully replaced. We've sent all of the survivors who don't require intensive medical care to a couple of military bases in rural Thailand, where they can receive proper mental health treatment given the appalling shit they went through." The Minister of Health interjected.
The Prime Minister nodded, making a note on his pad to recognise the whole garrison for bravery as well as any specific individuals that emerged. He motioned to the Minister of Defence to continue speaking.
"We have secured the last of the orbital shipyards that were under Chinese and American control, thankfully their food stores were nowhere near as extensive as our warships stores are, but our scouts have not found either nations black project shipyard yet. There has been a significant increase in piracy around Destiny and Freedom and the Celestial Peoples Republic, which is undoubtedly the American and Chinese warship squadrons that were constructed in violation of the Treaty of Mars."
"Thankfully it seems that a squadron or two each is all they constructed, the whispers of massive nationally controlled fleets hiding in interstellar space have thankfully turned out to be unfounded. Hopefully when they try and ramp up construction and repair operations at the secret locations, their returning raiding squadrons and expanding supply chains will lead us right to them." The Minister of Defence finished the security briefing.
Thank you Minister. Prime Minister Tharoor stated, looking forlornly at the long list of notes on his pad. "Foreign Secretary, what's going on with our application to join the Citadel as an Associate Race?"
The Foreign Secretary cleared their throat and spoke again. "The Citadel has agreed to it in principle, indeed the asari seem to be very eager. I have it through unofficial channels that we could set a new record for the ascension process and become a Citadel Associate Race in only 8 years."
A silence born of sheer disbelief settled over the cabinet room.
"What was the previous record?" The Minister of Culture asked suspiciously.
"A century, a record held by the Batarian Hegemony." The Minister of Education replied.
"Then it's a huge opportunity! At last these aliens are recognising our worth." The Minister of Heath exclaimed to exited murmurings from several of his colleagues and the speculative glance of the Prime Minister. Actually having humanities superiority, in economic and military terms at least, to the existing Citadel Associate Races recognised would be a huge boon to the Alliance's domestic political spin, and give all of the Cabinet a large chunk of political capital to spend on several of the problems that they were currently playing whack-a-mole with.
"No. It's a trap." The Foreign Secretary deadpanned. The Chancellor of the Treasury, the Minister of Industry and the Minister of Work and Pensions all nodded in agreement.
"Explain." Prime Minister Tharoor stated sharply. Feeling the joy of something actually going right for a change slipping out of his grasp.
"It's a multi stage trap." The Foreign Secretary began to explain. "The first stage is to bring us into conflict with the Batarian Hegemony. Now, we are more developed than the batarians were at first contact so its only proper that our ascension process should be faster, but 92 years faster? No. That's the Citadel Council giving us special favours, raising us above the other Associate Races as favoured pets. It will sit poorly with all of the existing Associate Races obviously, but it will sit especially poorly with the batarians given their strong pride and the fact we already have territorial disputes with them."
"They will rightly wonder exactly how far the Council's favouritism will stretch, and as they can't do anything to the Council Races they will take it out on us. We will then be forced to spend resources and political capital we can ill afford to lose countering them."
"I see that Ambassador Goyle's warnings about the asari trying to lock us and the batarians into a cold war were far more realistic than I had given her credit for." The Home Secretary muttered angrily as the mood became much more sombre.
"Then we go to stage 2 of the trap." The Minister of Industry took over the explanation as the Cabinet became despondent. "The customs union and single market are integral parts of Citadel Space, indeed given time to adapt our economy to them we will thrive and expand like nothing we have ever seen before, the gains we can extract from such a large market are immense. But 8 years isn't long enough to prepare. Not even close."
"Our industries simply won't have been able to even understand modern Citadel technology in that time, let alone design, test and get proper effective products into production. As soon as we become an Associate Race, we will no longer be able to put up tariffs to protect our industry while it catches up, and virtually our entire manufacturing base will go bankrupt overnight as vastly superior Citadel products flood our domestic market."
The Minster of Defence grimaced, considering having to use Citadel manufactured products in the Alliance's warships and black projects. Just how many salarian spy programs and back doors would be hiding in each component?
"Finally, we come to stage 3 of the trap." The Minister of Work and Pensions spoke up. "With our economy in a tailspin because of the sudden death of our manufacturing industry, our remaining large companies will suffer profit collapses as they try to deal with a recession here at home, and then also compete with Citadel companies who are able to operate much more effectively and efficiently because of their better technology."
"They will franticly search for ways to save money and hit on the idea of outsourcing as much as possible to Citadel companies, as they can undercut any human company due to their better efficiently. It will keep them afloat in the short term, but each company that does that takes its business away from its fellow Alliance companies and makes the problem worse."
The Minister paused to take a swallow from his water glass as the rest of the cabinet looked at him in fascination, sickly grimaces on most of the faces. Health actually had their head in their hands. Unwilling to wait, the Chancellor of the Treasury took over. "Once all of our major companies are in serious trouble and need cash injections to stay afloat, that is when the Citadel investors will swoop in."
"Corporate mergers will make some of our companies actually part of Citadel companies directly, while the rest will become puppets when Citadel investors become majority shareholders. Our entire economy, that bit of it that survives the manufacturing collapse anyway, will suddenly be owned directly or indirectly by Citadel companies and citizens. Companies and citizens that are susceptible to pressure from their governments, essentially giving the Citadel Council a way to cripple our economy to an extent that will make the 1930's Great Depression look like a mild blip."
"They'll be able to do it whenever they dam well please, and the average citizen will never see it coming because the name above the door won't have changed, just the owner, and for anyone who doesn't interact with the stock market what do they care if it's an asari who ultimately owns the local car factory? It's still a human factory with a human name and human workers producing human cars after all, what harm could possibly be done?"
Several of the Cabinet Ministers had actually turned green as they saw the bomb that the Citadel Council was attempting to plant at the heart of the Systems Alliance economy. A bomb that could potentially do more damage than the entire turian fleet, at least they would be able to shoot back at the turian warships.
"Well." The Minister of the Environment choked out. "It would seem that we are causing the Citadel Races great concern."
"GREAT CONCERN?!" The Minister of Sapient Rights exploded. "They're trying to turn us into a colony and you're excusing their behaviour!?"
"Not excusing." The Minister of Transport shot back hotly, defending their colleague. "Explaining, we worry them. They wouldn't go to all this trouble for a race that they didn't think has the potential to turn the current balance of power on its head. Or at least severely disrupt it."
The Prime Minister ignored the bickering and spoke directly to the Chancellor, the Minister of Industry and the Minister of Work and Pensions. "How long do we need to be able to effectively compete in the Citadel marketplace? To get all of our companies up to modern Citadel standards of technology and efficiency so we can reap the benefits of this new market rather than being destroyed by it."
The three Cabinet Ministers deliberated, consulting with the Minister of Education several times. Finally, the Chancellor addressed the Prime Minister. "We believe 50 years should be sufficient, but we collectively feel that 60 years is a better target as it provides a safety margin, in case we should encounter any hiccups."
"Still 40 years faster than the batarians. That's going to cause us problems." The Chief Whip noted.
"Oh for fucks sake, continuing to breathe gives us problems with the batarians!" The Minister of Sapient Rights exclaimed exasperatedly.
"I'm inclined to agree." The Prime Minister spoke up. "If we are agreed then the Foreign Secretary should instruct the diplomatic corps and the Citadel that we will be beginning our ascension process, and that we expect it to take approximately 60 years, putting our acceptance as a Citadel Associate Race at 2172 CE. If they try to force us to go faster, we can use controlled leaks of information to bring the other Associate Race's into our corner and make it diplomatically more trouble than its worth for the Citadel Council."
There was a general murmur of agreement around the Cabinet table, several ministers were still in shock. The Foreign Secretary simply nodded, acknowledging the Cabinet's instructions.
Prime Minister Tharoor spoke again. "Moving on to the next items on the agenda. Industry, Heath, there were points you wanted to raise?"
The Minister of Heath answered first. "Yes. There are three potential pitfalls. The first is our development of medi-gel and the second our genetic research projects. Both of them fall foul of the Citadel Council's genetic engineering polices."
The Cabinet looked uneasily at each other. Humanity had, for the last century, engaged in a species wide gene therapy project. Gradually altering humanities genetic code to rid the human species of the genetic diseases that they could now, finally cure.
"I take it that our entire species is not illegal under Citadel law? The Minister of Sapient Rights asked, only half-jokingly.
The Minister of Health shook their head. "No, that's no problem. It's the genetic enhancement program for our soldiers, although it only enhances what is already present in our soldiers genetic code, making it easier for each solider to reach their maximum natural strength, it will cause a lot of concern among the Citadel, it skirts very close to full blown genetic engineering of sapient species, which they have absolutely banned due to the salarians experience with the Lystheni."
Noticing the confusion, the minister elaborated. "The Salarians had their own eugenics movement, unfortunately they had already unlocked genetic engineering by that point so…." The minister trailed off, letting the cabinet fill in the blanks.
"Are these salarian offshoots still around?" The Minister of Transport asked hesitantly dreading to think of a species with the salarians capabilities and the morals that allowed them to think that eugenics was both an actual science and a good idea.
"Yes, but they are isolated and scattered. Stuck in the terminus systems they are no danger to us. Their legacy is." The Minister of Health responded. "Basically it has left the Council very wary of adding new abilities. You can improve what is already there, curing diseases, eliminating near-sightedness, increasing muscle mass, but you can't add an entirely new ability into your genetic code. Such as giving a human the ability to digest cellulose. Now our current military genetic enhancement program doesn't do that, but it does enhance everything that is already there, and the Council will be very concerned that we might be willing to take that small, final, step."
The Cabinet was silent in contemplation for several minutes. Repairing and enhancing humans natural genetic code was one thing, altering it to introduce new abilities and produce a new type of human was quite another, and something that very few humans would support. But how could the Citadel Council trust that gut feeling of humanities leaders? Especially as they had been burned before taking such an important limit on faith, and had the super-salarian Lystheni running around as a constant reminder of that mistake.
"Well medi-gel certainly breaches that as well given its genetic manufacturing process." The Minister of Education spoke up, trying to focus on problems that they could actually solve. "So how do you intend to get around that?"
"We ask the salarians to be partners on all of our genetic research projects. Medi-gel is so useful it should be enough to bring them on board and get them to accept our civilian genetic therapy and military genetic enhancement projects as well. And as they are the biggest proponents of the genetic laws, where they go the rest of the Citadel Council will follow." Health explained the plan that had been hammered out over the preceding weeks.
"Isn't that dangerous, giving the salarians that much access to our genetic research?" The Minister of Work and Pensions asked curiously
"It's better than having no research at all. Better that we use them as human – well alien – shields against the others than have them leading the charge against us, demanding we shut everything down. Besides, it won't be too difficult to acquire a few salarians from the terminus systems. Give our researchers a few months with them and they will have all the information on the salarians genetic code they need to make sure that they understand that using genetic weaponry against us would result in mutually assured destruction."
"What?" The Minister of Defence asked defensively, confused at the looks the rest of the Cabinet were shooting their way.
"The third problem?" The Chancellor asked breaking the awkward staring match.
"Artificial Intelligence." The Minister of Industry spoke up. "Currently all of our AI research is illegal under citadel law, and before you ask no, we have no plan to deal with this. There are only three companies in the entirety of Citadel Space with special authorisation to research AI. The best we can do is put all of our research on ice when we get to the final stages of our ascension process and get on with some good old-fashioned lobbying to get at least one of our companies added to that list. Then we can pick up where we left off."
"All right let's not try and push things too far too quickly, if we do, we run the risk of uniting all of our opponents. We will focus on getting our genetic research authorised and put AI on the back burner for now." Prime Minister Tharoor was distinctly unhappy at the constraints that were being but on human technological development.
He made more notes on his pad. "Moving on to item three. Foreign Secretary, you wished to speak about a diplomatic mission to the salarians. I take it that it wasn't the proposition that the Minister of Heath just outlined?"
"No Prime Minister." The Foreign Secretary replied. "It's an initiative that has even more potential given that we have decided to make 60 years our goal for the ascension process."
The Cabinet looked on, intrigued as the Foreign Secretary continued. "It's no secret in Citadel Space that the salarians are the best researchers around. But somehow, whenever they make a breakthrough, the asari make the same breakthrough only months later. Often the asari method is better than the one the salarians have only just come up with as well, elegant, error free and refined as if they have known how to do whatever the new breakthrough is for decades."
"Whatever they try the salarians can't keep a tech advantage over the asari for more than a few months. As soon as it becomes relatively public knowledge, the asari beat the salarian breakthrough in a tiny fraction of the time it took them to research and develop it and regain the title of most advanced race in the galaxy. It's driving the salarians crazy."
"And how are we supposed to help that?" The Minister of Education asked sceptically. "We have only had access to the Prothean research base on Mars for 29 years. The Citadel species have had access to Prothean sites for millennia."
"Indeed, but the Prothean ruins on Mars are some of the most extensive technologically intact sites ever discovered. And more importantly, it seems to have been set up to be operated primarily by the non-Prothean races of the Prothean Empire, a lot of it doesn't use the direct interface system that true Protheans used that no one can figure out how to activate. Much of it uses the same physical computer interface system that you find in the lower-class areas of Prothean ruins."
"So, we were a backwater of the Prothean Empire, staffed mainly by lower class personnel. That doesn't seem to be something to be proud of." The Home Secretary muttered again.
"No, but it does mean that the information is substantially easier to access than at most of the other Prothean laboratory sites." The Minister of Education said in stunned realisation.
"No wonder we were able to advance so fast in just 29 years. We could actually interface with the Prothean databases, see their data and schematics and ask the computer database questions, almost everyone else couldn't do that because they have no idea how the Protheans interfaced with their technology, outside the Citadel itself and the lower class areas for non-true Prothean races at the other sites virtually all of the actual data was inaccessible. They had to pull the systems apart and reverse engineer them physically from scratch, one painstakingly slow step at a time."
"And as the laws stating that any Prothean technology is to be shared with all members of the Citadel don't come into force against us until we actually become a member of the Citadel….." The Minister of the Environment trailed off as a feeling of hope spread across the cabinet room for the first time.
"The salarians will pay a great deal to be the only Citadel race we allow to access the Mars ruins for the next 60 years." The Chancellor said greedily.
"Yes, they will." Prime Minister Tharoor replied. "All of you are to list ways in which salarian aid could help the Alliance with regards to your own ministries area of responsibility and submit them to me by the end of the week." Noticing the Foreign Secretary catching his eye, the Prime Minister subtly nodded and carried on. "Moving on to item 4. The First Space Lord and the First Sky Martial are here to report to us on the effectiveness of the military in the recent war."
The two military officers mentioned nodded respectfully before taking the floor.
"Prime Minister." Fleet Admiral Carmichael respectfully saluted. "Our report is in 5 parts. The performance of the navy and suggested reforms, the performance of the marines and suggested reforms, the performance of the army and suggested reforms, the state of the R&D projects started during the war, specifically with regards to updating the navy's warships, and the state of the militaries research and production capabilities with suggestions for changes in government policy."
It was not lost on Fleet Admiral Carmichael, Field Marshal Khatri, or Prime Minister Tharoor that the expressions on most of the Cabinet Ministers faces had become rather fixed.
"Perhaps we had better continue this after lunch Admiral." The Prime Minister stated to audible sounds of relief. "Please, both of you join us in the dining room below. If the members of the Inner Cabinet could remain behind, we will catch up with the rest of you shortly."
As the military officers and the rest of the Cabinet filed out, the holders of the four great offices of state remained behind.
"Well Foreign Secretary?" Prime Minister Tharoor asked.
"It is about the salarian initiative Prime Minister." The Foreign Secretary replied. "Clearly our most urgent need is to get someone to teach us how to make proper, modern warships. We simply don't have the time available to learn ourselves. We have too many enemies, several of whom are far to close to us for comfort, and without the protection of being an Associate Race the Citadel is not obligated to defend us if war breaks out."
"Getting the salarians to help is going to use up much of the credit letting them study the Mars ruins will get us." The Home Secretary acknowledged. "But I don't see another option, as you've articulated yourself, we desperately need to speed up our warship development and get something actually worthy of the dam name out of the yards and into our fleet, before the protective halo of beating a turian patrol fleet wears off."
"Indeed, and if we didn't have another option I would agree with you wholeheartedly. But we do have an option, or a possibility at least." The other three Inner Cabinet members looked up sharply at the Foreign Secretary's declaration. "Ambassador Goyle believes that with one ambassadorial ship, an escort squadron, £820 million credits and three weeks she can at least take the first steps to solving our warship development program's problems. Freeing up our potential credit with the salarians to be used on other matters."
The other members of the Inner Cabinet crowded around closely, intensely interested in anything that might stretch their incredibly limited foreign political capital a bit further. The Foreign Secretary placed an encrypted chip onto the holoprojector in the centre of the table and a schematic and pages of analysis from Ambassador Goyle appeared above it, glowing softly in front of them as they absorbed the data.
"Prime Minister; this is Project Eidolon."
Codex Entry: The Government of the Systems Alliance – The Executive
(Citadel Codex, First Human SPECTRE Collector's Edition, 2183)
The executive of the Systems Alliance is made up of the head of government, known as the Prime Minister, and their Cabinet. Some limited emergency powers are given to the head of state, but they are not sufficient to merit their official inclusion in the executive. The Cabinet of the Systems Alliance is made up of the heads of the various departments of the SA government.
Though it would be disingenuous to say that the Prime Minister is merely first among equals (not least because they appoint all of the other Cabinet Ministers) executive power is vested in the hands of the Cabinet as a whole, not the Prime Minister alone as is the case with presidential republic governments such as the USA. The Systems Alliance Cabinet has 14 members. Only 4 of those members may be non-MPs (Members of Parliament) and each of those non-MP members must be confirmed by the Grand Assembly.
The four great offices of state can never be held by a non-MP.
The records of the Cabinet's meetings are kept secret for 50 years to allow for debate without fear of political damage whilst recording the history of how the Alliance came to its decisions. In its meetings all of the Cabinet Ministers will debate the course of action that the Prime Minister wishes to take.
Once a course of action has been agreed upon and voted for by a majority of members, all of the Cabinet Ministers are duty bound to defend and promote the course of action, whether they believe in it or not, whether they voted for it or not. Under this protocol known as collective responsibility, if a Cabinet Minister feels that they cannot defend the policy that the Cabinet has agreed on, they must resign their position.
If the Prime Minister fails to persuade the Cabinet to back their policy then the policy is dead, and the political power of the Prime Minister will have taken a damaging - sometimes fatal - hit.
THE INNER CABINET:
Consisting of the 4 great offices of state, the Inner Cabinet is vested with most of the emergency executive powers, such as responding to declarations of war and deploying soldiers in cases where seconds matter.
To prevent an overmighty executive, it was decided that none of the emergency powers could be used by the Prime Minister without the consent of two of the other three great offices of state. All of these offices must be held by MPs.
The Prime Minister (PM): Leader of the Alliance Federal Government. This office is held by the party leader that can command the confidence of the Grand Assembly. As all Alliance governments have been coalitions, this is not always the leader of the largest party in the Grand Assembly.
In addition to this the Prime Minister is officially the head of the Cabinet Office, dealing with the part of the Civil Service that directly serves the Cabinet. In practice this responsibility is often entirely delegated to the department's chief bureaucrat.
*Deputy Prime Minister: This title is given to the leader of the junior party in the coalition government. As a fellow party leader, should the Prime Minister be unavailable or incapacitated the Deputy Prime Minister takes the head of government position in their place.
As such the Deputy PM will always be one of the other three great secretaries of state (Chancellor, Foreign Secretary or Home Secretary)
The Chancellor of the Treasury (Chancellor): This minister heads the Treasury Office and is responsible for all the economic and financial powers of the Federal Government.
It is effectively the second most powerful position in the government as it has the largest say in the creation of the budget, as such is often filled by the Deputy Prime Minister unless, for political reasons, the junior coalition party leader does not wish to be so closely associated with the governments financial and economic policies.
The Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (Foreign Secretary): This minister heads the Foreign Office and is responsible for the diplomatic corps and relations with foreign (alien) governments. They also hold ministerial oversight of the Alliance's external intelligence agency.
The Secretary of State for Home Affairs (Home Secretary): This minister heads the Home Office and is responsible for the internal affairs of the Systems Alliance including immigration and customs enforcement, Alliance wide criminal policies, federal law enforcement (the Federal Crimes Directorate, federal courts and federal prisons), sector wide and above disaster response efforts, and the Sector Guards.
They also hold ministerial oversight of the Alliance's codebreaking and communications agency and the Alliance's internal intelligence agency.
THE WAR CABIENT:
Convened in times of war to direct the war effort in full knowledge of classified information that is too sensitive to reveal to the full Cabinet, the War Cabinet consists of the Inner Cabinet and two additional Cabinet Ministers.
It should be noted that only the four great secretaries of state are styled as secretaries; despite their official titles being 'secretary of state' the other department heads are known simply as ministers (due to their departments being known as 'Ministry' rather than 'Office') to differentiate them from the great four and the additional responsibilities that those posts hold.
While it is not against the constitution for a non-MP to hold either of these offices, it is considered very bad form for them to do so.
The Secretary of State for Defence (Minister of Defence): This minister heads the Ministry of Defence and has responsibility for the armed forces of the Systems Alliance, the civilian bureaucracy that allows them to function, the nationally owned parts of the defence industry and the veterans services.
The Secretary of State for Energy and Industry (Minister of Industry): This minister heads the Ministry of Energy and Industry and is responsible for the Alliance wide industrial and energy strategies and implementation. They are also responsible for state owned factories, energy plants, shipyards and other production sites that do not fall under military jurisdiction.
Though a miniscule fraction of the Alliance's industrial output, they form a vital part of the Alliance governments social democratic policies, keeping the private corporations honest. This minister also negotiates with the Confederation of Alliance Industry in the event of an Alliance wide industrial dispute.
The Alliance's communications infrastructure is also the responsibility of this minister due to its effect on industrial productivity and remote working in peacetime and its vital co-ordinating role in wartime.
*In the unlikely event that the government is a 3 party coalition, the leader of the smallest party will hold one of these positions so that they will still be able to represent their party in the government in a time of war.
As only two governments have been 3 party coalitions, and in both of those the 3rd party was significantly smaller than the other two, tradition has been set that they do not need to be a member of the Inner Cabinet.
THE OUTER CABINET:
Consisting of the remaining 8 Cabinet Ministers these are the aspects of the Alliance Federal Government that, while important, take a backseat in wartime. Up to 4 Cabinet Ministers may be non-MPs proposed by the Prime Minister and confirmed by the Grand Assembly, due to the immense benefit an industry specialist can bring to a ministry, these 4 slots are often used to fill the Health, Education, Environment and Sapient rights slots.
Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Minister of Health): This minister heads the Ministry of Health and Social Care and is responsible both for deciding the Alliance wide physical and mental health and social care policies, and for ensuring that the Cluster Assemblies adequately provide these minimum requirements. They are also responsible for state run medical research labs and state sponsored medical research funding distribution.
Secretary of State for Education, Innovation and Skills (Minister of Education): This minister heads the Ministry of Education and is responsible for core curriculum of the Systems Alliance's pre-18 education system and ensuring that the Cluster Assemblies deliver this minimum level of federally mandated education.
They are also responsible for post 18 education both in the provision of apprenticeship places and university places, both of which are under federal jurisdiction. They are also responsible for state run research facilities, state sponsored research funding distribution and state sponsored business start-up programmes in close cooperation with the Minister of Industry.
Secretary of State for Work and Pensions: (Minister of Work and Pensions): This minister heads the Ministry of Work and Pensions and is responsible for the provision of the federal state pension and other retirement benefits.
They are also responsible for childcare, parental leave, labour protection and social security policy, ensuring that the Cluster Assemblies adequately provide services to meet the minimum provision dictated by Alliance wide policies. They also negotiate with the Trade Union Congress in the event of an Alliance wide labour dispute.
Secretary of State for Environment and Agriculture (Minister of the Environment): This minister heads the Ministry of the Environment and is responsible for the environmental and agricultural policies of the Systems Alliance, along with ensuring that the Cluster Assemblies meet the minimum protections that these policies set.
They are also responsible for overseeing the terraforming processes ongoing on dome colony worlds, creating and maintaining the Alliance's national parks, and maintaining the emergency food stockpiles sufficient to prevent starvation of civilian populations in the event of shipping disruption from unexpected warfare.
Secretary of State for Sapient Rights and Cluster Government (Minister of Sapient Rights): This minister heads the Ministry of Sapient Rights and is responsible for the protection of minorities and the sapient rights of all residents of the Systems Alliance. This is done by ensuring that the Cluster Assemblies all meet the minimum protections enforced by the Systems Alliance Declaration of Universal Sapient Rights.
They are also responsible for developing the Alliance wide policies to enforce the rights enshrined in the declaration. Their final responsibility is to mediate between Cluster Assemblies when they are in dispute and to carry out the same ceremonial and mediation duties for the Cluster Assemblies that the head of state does for the SA Parliament.
Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (Minister of Culture): This minister heads the Ministry of Culture, Media and Sport and is responsible for regulation of Alliance wide sports leagues, federal museums and art galleries, the locations on and maintenance of the Alliance Heritage Site list, and finally holds the nominal responsibility for the state owned but independently run broadcaster; the Alliance Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).
Secretary of State for Transport (Minister of Transport): This minister is responsible for the Alliance wide public transport policy and for those areas of public transport under direct government control. They also have responsibility for the laws and policies governing business owned cargo and leisure ships throughout Alliance space.
The merchant marine is the name given to the emergency nationalisation in wartime of all Alliance registered civilian shipping, this force is then placed under the Minister of Transport as they are civilians. However; the minister will, in practice, often take orders from the Minister of Defence and the Admiralty so as to best use the merchant marine to support the Alliance war effort.
The Chief Whip: This is the minister responsible for keeping all of the governing party's MPs in line using persuasion, bribery, threats and any other means they deem appropriate. Their first duty is ensuring that the governments MPs actually show up to vote, and then – more importantly – that they vote they way their party leader tells them too.
They are also tasked as acting as a filter for the party's concerns, dealing with small problems and keeping any general low-level complaints from bothering the party leadership and the Cabinet. Simultaneously they must also keep the leadership aware of any problems that have the potential to grow into major rebellions, preferably before they erupt in the press.
All parties have a different threshold of independent action by their MPs that they are willing to tolerate. Some of the more conservative or left-wing parties insist their MPs follow the leadership with little independent action allowed, as such large-scale rebellions are very rare. More liberal parties' chief whips have been known to openly despair, exclaiming that trying to keep their own MPs in line is like heading cats, while looking fondly across the chamber at their opponents disciplined, if unimaginative, political troops.
Sorry to end it there but when this chapter flew passed 9,000 words, with no end in sight I thought it might be better to split it into two bits and give you the completed part now, rather than having you guys wait several more weeks for one super chapter. Those who enjoy military theory rest assured we will see the mentioned Space Lord's and Sky Marshals analysis in the next chapter, the navy and army made mistakes despite winning the war and they have challenges to overcome.
Plus, I just read another three books on defence in depth and combined arms warfare to celebrate the 100 year anniversary of the end of World War One, so there are several things I want to include.
*8 years is the canon length of the SA's Ascension Process, which as I pointed out above, is about as ridiculous as having a species that has only known about the mass effect for 9 years be able to go toe to toe with the millennia old Turian Hierarchy.
The ME writers story is brilliant, but their timescale is terrible. Reverse engineering and getting into production a simple 1st generation warship would be a challenge on that timescale, let alone reverse engineering, designing, constructing and testing a full fleet of 2nd or 3rd generation warships. Its like producing an F16 9 years after the wright brothers proved flight was possible; even if you have technological blueprints to follow, there's a limit to how fast your industry can keep up with the increasing technological advancement of the designs you're deciphering.
I'd honestly have preferred longer than the 26 years I gave the humans in my story to do this, but there was a limit to how far back in time I could push the colonisation of Mars and the discovery of the ruins, and I wanted to keep the canon mass effect 1 date of 2183 CE.
Timeline Changes So Far
First colony on mars: 27 years earlier than canon
Discovery of Prothean ruins: 64 years earlier than canon
Founding of the Systems Alliance (council of nations version): 63 years earlier than canon
First Contact War: 45 years earlier than canon
Founding of the Systems Alliance (parliamentary super state version): 44 years earlier than canon
Citadel Ascension Process: 52 years longer than canon (humans become an Associate Race 7 years later than canon)