For the Republic
AN: This chapter here is an interlude that takes place from a few weeks to a couple of years after peace is achieved. These are from the perspectives of the various human leaders to show how they are adjusting to the galaxy and introduce some elements that will play a big part later in the story. The next chapter will cover alien perspectives.
New Brandenburg Orbit
Dömitz Military Station
Bismarck glared at the aliens lined up in front of him. There were 30 of them. They were all of various species though most were from one called Batarians. These were the survivors of an attempted raid on German merchant vessels headed to the Citadel. It seemed they underestimated the ships of the Raum Marine (Space Navy). Space Piracy though rare wasn't unheard of in human space. Criminals and terrorists would occasionally get their hands on a mothballed military ship or weld guns to a civilian vessel and raid shipping or underdeveloped colonies. They were always dealt with swiftly by the all human nations though Germany had a special way to go about it.
"What you've done is a serious crime. Not just here but in all civilized space." He said glaring at each alien in turn. "In most societies you'd be tossed into prison or executed. We Germans however feel that you should give back to society. So congratulations."
One male Batarian was brave enough to ask "Congratulations for what exactly?"
"Your new positions of course. Welcome to the Strafbattalion. You've all just been drafted." Bismarck replied with a smile. "The number of years you will have to serve will depend on your position in the crew with commanding officers serving longer. You all will have to serve at least five years regardless of position."
Expressions of shock and anger were on the faces of most of the aliens, especially the Salarians. They were known for, in comparison to other species, relatively short lifespans. Five years to a Salarian is a very long time. None of them acted out on their anger. The dozen heavily armed guards watching the proceedings made sure of that. Bismarck did notice some were completely unfazed by this new development. He was referring to the Asari. There were only 4 of them in the group. All maidens by their youthful appearance. They probably joined this pirate crew because it would be exciting.
"For some of you however…" he said turning his attention to the Asari "five years isn't all that effective a punishment. Our new Asari recruits shall have sentences to better fit their lifespans. We'll hammer it out later but I think a hundred years is a good start…"
One of the asari the youngest of the four stepped out of line and shouted at him "But you can't do that!"
"I can and I will." He replied casually.
"I am a citizen of the Asari Republics! You can't treat me like this! I have rights!" she yelled
"No. You are a pirate and a criminal. You forfeited those rights the moment you decided to steal. Though if you prefer we could deal with you the way the Turian Hierarchy deals with pirates. I believe it involves tossing you all out the nearest airlock…" he said quietly
Everyone blanched at Bismarck's statement and the looked on his face that made it clear that he was 100% serious. The young asari closed her mouth and stepped back into line.
"Do I hear any other disagreements?" Bismarck asked hearing nothing but silence. "No? Good. You all ship out to basic training immediately."
Terra Nova
New Syracuse
Caesar's Summer Palace
"I admit Generals, I find your offer to be unexpected." Caesar said to the 2 turian generals seated in front of him.
"The Primarch would like to mend human and turian relations after the… incident" said General Oraka.
Caesar raised an eyebrow at the word incident. 'That wasn't an incident' he thought 'that was a damn war.'
"Your fleets are powerful and having you patrol with us would be a big help in rooting out pirates and slavers." Said General Orinia, a female turian.
They must have been really impressed with the Terra Nova Defense Fleet. Rome's biggest (and only) dreadnought type ship happened to be in the system after returning from its trial flight. The Executor-Class was the biggest ship ever built by humans at 19,000 meters. It was also ridiculously slow, had many weaknesses, and a crew the size of a small city. After construction it was decided that it could not fulfill its duty as a battleship so it was turned into a carrier instead. On the bright side its large size allowed it to carry thousands of fighters, dozens of corvettes, and even a couple of frigates. AIs predicted it could wreck a half of the Republic Fleet singlehanded on a good day. He still thought it was a bit of a waste of money.
"I am flattered that you'd consider us. Many would think that you'd ask the Republic for help. It is no secret they have the most ships out of all of us." said Caesar
"The Republic didn't want to dedicate any ships to patrolling for criminals. They are content to guard their own territories and those of their allies." Said Orinia
That's pretty much the Republic military in a nutshell thought Caesar. When not at war the largest human military were more or less glorified security guards. They keep the borders secure, maintain bases and outposts, and defend allied city-states. Occasionally throughout history some barbarian tribes would get uppity and do something that brings the entire Republic military down on them reminding the world they are still a very efficient fighting force.
"Not to mention" said General Oraka "Our people have much in common. You Romans remind me very much of us turians. Our values are more or less the same and our cultures are fairly similar."
That much was true. The turians shared many cultural similarities with romans like having different tiers of citizenship and the emphasis on a strong military. After thinking it over Caesar saw no major cons to the offer. Patrolling with the turians will not only improve relations with them but give him some leverage in future Council sessions.
"Generals, On behalf of the Roman people." Said Caesar "I graciously accept."
URS Alliance
Near colony of Haven
The colony of Haven was relatively new. It only had a population of a few thousand people but it was steadily growing. The previously dormant mass relay in the system was activated after it was discovered to lead to an area of the Terminus Systems that contained some relatively peaceful independent colonies. This made Haven likely to become an important trade hub in the future. In terms of protection it had usually had a few corvettes and defense satellites making it a lightly defended colony. At the moment however it was one of the most heavily defended system in Republic space with the Republic 2nd Fleet in system. That wasn't all though.
A few hours earlier ships started pouring out of the relay. They just kept coming and coming. The Haven Territorial Militia panicked and called in the Navy. Less than an hour later a small fleet hyperspaced in. By the time they got there the number of ships that came through the relay were well over a few thousand. Before the situation could escalate transmissions from the still growing fleet of ships identified themselves as the 'Quarian Migrant Fleet'. The commander of the Republic Fleet ordered them to stay put while a diplomat was dispatched.
That diplomat happen to be the Wanderer himself who just happened to be at Vietnam which was a few systems away dedicating a memorial to those that died. The Wanderer after the dedication boarded the Hunter-Class Cruiser Alliance and made the jump to Haven. The Quarians had to send a shuttle to pick up the Wanderer and his guards since they didn't have any ships compatible with the Quarians airlocks. The Quarians also insisted they all wear environment suits to prevent contamination explaining they had poor immune systems.
To say the Quarian piloting the shuttle was nervous would have been an understatement. Even through his envirosuit the Wanderer and his two Ranger guards could see his unease. The humans guessed it was due to the Wanderer. After peace was achieved the Council gave basic information about the galactic community's newcomers in a press conference. One piece of info they gave out was the leaders of the human nations being immortal. The Citadel extranet completely exploded. Most assumed that we were lying or it was a translation error. After humanities internet was linked to the extranet and aliens everywhere got access to human historical records did they general populace finally accept it.
They docked with the one of the larger ships. The pilot called it a Live Ship. At nearly 3000 Km it was much larger than the Republic's Venator-Class Dreadnoughts. The pilot explained it was more of a passenger/farming vessel than a warship. It had some defensive weaponry in the form of some Council frigate size mass accelerators but anything larger ran the risk of overloading the already stressed mass effect cores. The Live Ships were still an impressive feat of engineering and construction.
The Wanderer was welcomed on board the live ship Rayya where he'd meet with the Quarian Admirals. The Wanderer asked what they were doing in Republic Space. The Quarians told them of how their creations the Geth rebelled against them forcing them to wander the stars. The Wanderer and his guards tensed up. Especially Ranger Ripley.
The Quarians went on to explain that after losing their homeworld and colonies the Council stripped them of their embassy and forbade them from colonizing within their space. Quarians are heavily discriminated against in Council space being looked upon as beggars and thieves. It seemed the Council neglected to The Wanderer thought about talking to them about that but decided actions louder than words. He'd take the Quarians under his wing like he'd done with the city-states of Hanoi, Mogadishu, and Florence. From what he'd seen the Quarians would make an invaluable member of the Republic's many protectorate nations. There was one thing that he'd have to get out of the way…
The Wanderer offered to ally with the Quarians. The Quarians asked if the Republic would be willing to help them reclaim their homeworld. The Wanderer said yes but not in the way they expected. He instead offered to allow the Migrant Fleet free access to Republic Space, give them ships both new and old, and get them back Rannoch by negotiation if possible.
An admiral by the name of Han'Gerrel laughed asking how he expected to negotiate with the Geth. The Wanderer asked how much they knew about humans the Republic in particular. The Quarians admitted very little. The Council refused to give them any information and the extranet had so many conflicting opinions it was hard to find the facts. The Wanderer knew that a demonstration was in order.
"Ranger Ripley. Remove your helmet." The Wanderer ordered.
One of the quarians protested saying this was a sterile environment and she could contaminate it if she removed her helmet. The Wanderer calmed them saying that there was no risk of contamination from her. Ripley's helmet hissed as she unclasped it. When she removed it the Quarians, the admirals, guards, and civilian spectators all gasped. Instead of a normal human like they were expecting they saw one with pure white skin almost like porcelain, black hair that upon closer inspection was revealed to be artificial. The Quarians knew that without a doubt this was a synthetic.
Seeing that all hell was about to break lose the Wanderer yelled "Hey!" grabbing the attention of everyone in the room.
"Before you all freak out I would like to say that Ranger Ripley is not like the Geth and neither are any of the Republic's synthetic citizens. They are recognized by United Nations law as human beings and have our trust. I'm going to make you an offer. You put your fear behind you and let us help or you can continue living in fear. Your choice."
The Quarian Admirals deliberated in private for a few minutes before returning. "On behalf of the Quarian people we accept your offer."
Carthaginian Space
Colony of Libya
City of Oea
Dido's Summer Palace
What is Carthage? If you asked the Wanderer he would probably say a valued ally or something similar. If you asked Bismarck he would say their main trading partner. If you asked Caesar or Catherine they would say the Republic's lackey. All of them including, to Dido's displeasure, the last one were more or less true. The Republic and Carthage have been friends for as long as she can remember which is pretty long. The Republic defended them when the Nazis invaded. The Republic traded with them when their coffers were low. They even shared the same religion at least until the rise of Islam though Republican Protestantism was still followed by some. Though Caesar and Catherine accused her of being the Wanderer's lapdog they couldn't deny it had its perks.
The Hunter-Class Cruisers and Acclamator-Class Frigates in their navy were some pretty good perks not to mention the permanent defensive pact between them. The Wanderer was also a friend she could trust which in her book was high praise indeed.
Contrary to popular opinion Carthage was a powerful nation in its own right. They didn't have a strong military, advanced technology, large territory, or powerful culture. What they did have was money and lots of it. On Earth Carthage had the second strongest economy of all the human nations. The only reason they weren't at the top was the large amount of resources the Republic sat on. When humanity took to the stars Carthage quickly moved to first place with new resources at their disposal from their colonies. Carthage now had a treasury full of gold and was responsible for making a universal currency. The Human Credit (HC) was similar to the Citadel Credit (CC) in some ways but vastly different in others. HC were both digital and physical while CC was purely digital. This made it fairly easy for anyone with basic hacking skills to steal large amounts of credits from the unsuspecting. CC was also fiat currency while HC were backed up in gold. This made it difficult to create an exchange rate since CC's were technically worthless.
She was currently in a meeting with several members of the Vol Protectorate to fix that. The Volus reminded her a lot of Carthage. The only difference was that instead of a friendly relationship with a stronger power the volus had a master. A turian and some volus would protest calling it a mutually beneficial relationship but any idiot can see the turians were benefiting the most. By all rights the Hierarchy and by extension the Council would have collapsed economically if the volus weren't keeping their treasuries full. To add insult to injury they get little to no recognition despite singlehandedly creating the galaxy's economy and keeping it afloat.
Dido could see an opportunity. The Volus weren't the only neglected Citadel species. The Hanar, Drell, and Elcor were all ignored by the Council. She'd start off slow at first. Giving them generous trade deals and forging better relations. Then a military alliance. Despite being the weakest human nation the Carthaginian Navy was still very powerful. Promises to give them priority in tech deals will help bring them closer. Before the Council finally notices Carthage would have already stolen their associate races away…
Unclaimed System near Terminus-Russian Border
1st Fleet, Russian Navy
SSV Rodina (MC80 Dreadnought)
Catherine checked her equipment over once more before joining the rest of her squad in the dropship. It was a LAAT/i they bought off the Republic. It wasn't Russian but it will do. She was on another of what Caesar called her 'excursions'. Every decade or so she would chose a job at random from the inside of a hat and work it until the next. This decade she pulled out soldier, one she hadn't picked in a while.
She started doing it around the same time Russia embraced socialism. She wanted to do her part and help her people in a more personal matter. That and it helped stave off boredom. Not to mention it was amusing for both her people and herself to see one of the most powerful humans on Earth working a blue collar job. It also gave her some skills she could use in her everyday life. She built her summer palace on Belarus all by herself. Granted it wasn't really a palace and more of a small house by a lake but it was still nice.
She hasn't been a soldier in a couple hundred years. That was when her people were still using muzzleloaders. Needless to say she had a lot of bad habits to unlearn. Her squad leader a Sgt. Viktor Rezno was patient. He taught her to be a very deadly soldier. She used a submachine gun in combat, a PPSH-41. It was an old model but as the Wanderer would say 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it'. It could still kill and very effectively despite its old design. She wore a large vest in combat not to protect her but to fool both her allies and enemies. The bullets wouldn't kill her but there wasn't any need for those around her to know her true identity. Her role as Premier was known only to her squad and her commanding officers. To everyone else she was Private Tayna.
Their mission was to wipe out a pirate base built on a jungle moon here in this system. The pirates thought they were being very sneaky building this base so close to Russia's borders, but nothing escapes the KGB. She ordered a small detachment be sent in to clear out the base. Luckily her battalion was being sent in. How did that happen...?
The operation went along with few problems. Their LAATs came in fast and low evading their AA. MI-124 'Howler' gunships covered their landing. Once inside the base the pirates didn't put up that good of a fight with some surrendering almost immediately. The main problem was the mercs. It seemed that the pirates captured some people in their last raid and were turning them over to the Blue Suns. The Blue Suns she read was a mostly Batarian outfit with the odd turian or krogan. They were officially a private security company but in reality they were just better armed thugs. The Blues Suns didn't usually sell slaves to the Hegemony but they were known to do it when short on credits. This must be one of those times. The Suns fought hard causing them to lose a few men in the process but they inevitably prevailed.
Slavery was never really practiced on Earth. It was seen as something only barbarians would do. She could still remember hearing how workers would get dragged off to an uncertain fate. She gave Reznov a look of grim approval when he ordered all the Blue Suns against the wall and for them to fire. Officially the Russian military was against executing unarmed prisoners but she knew their COs wouldn't make a fuss. They'd probably give him a medal.
They opened up the cages and released the prisoners. The pirates said their last raid was an Asari passenger ship so the prisoners were mostly Asari. Many of the Asari showed signs of being abused. As her squadmates helped carry out the more injured Catherine kneeled next to one who was too weak to stand on her own. She offered the Asari an arm which she hesitantly took.
"Thank you." The Asari said quietly.
"Your welcome." Catherine replied giving her a reassuring smile.
The Asari returned it before frowning. "Haven't I seen you before…? Wait you're…"
"Shhh" Catherine interrupted her. "It's best that didn't get out. Think of it as our little secret. So you know who I am can I get your name?"
The asari thought about it for a moment before saying "It's Morinth."
AN: You saw a mention to a Hunter-Class Cruiser above right? When I got reviews saying that having both the Republic's cruisers and dreadnoughts be called Venators would be confusing. From here on out the cruiser ships will be called Hunters.
Oh and about Rome having the Executor. Since I am completely uncreative when it comes to ship designs and can't draw at all I decided to just have the human powers use Star Wars ships because "WHY NOT?!"
This is a bit grounded in reality since in Galactic Civilizations 3 (which is basically Civ In Spaaaace!) I have the United Republic which I made in-game use a bunch of star wars ships I got off the workshop. So there. What ships everyone uses will be listed below.
Morinth's character will be different since her and Catherine will strike up a friendship and Catherine's positive influence will allow her to control her Ardat-Yakshi influences. There still will be friction between her and Samara but to see how that will be resolved you will have to wait. ;)
You also see I made the Blue Suns an batarian mercenary group. The nations will have their own unique merc groups.
Ships
United Republic = Galactic Republic
Rome = Galactic Empire
Germany = CIS
Russia = Rebel Alliance
Carthage = Buys ships of everyone else giving them a mishmash fleet.