Guest:

Fair, although the OG challenge for this fic set up some pretty weird rules that I had to work around, and it ended up evolving into something rather...complex, to say the least. Appreciate the feedback, tho

However, politics wise, humanity's kinda in a dilemma right now. They can't afford to not poke at the sleeping dragon, quite literally, else the Council'd pace themselves ahead within a few decades (or centuries at most) and have humanity another weak cilent race. And they can't afford to take things at their own terms, either. The Council has the ability to overtake them within a reasonable timeframe and bully humanity into their fold in that time, and that leaves the only winning move; to play it as hard to the red line as possible, and hope that the multiplying short-term problems won't overwhelm them before they successfully avert the long-term problems that may arise later.

It's like a high-stakes poker game. Play it quick, else you'd die

Yoshida,

The krogans accepted our terms and conditions easily enough, although they were still rather wary of us, which is totally understandable given how the galactic community turned their backs on them (not to mention how weak their position was in these negotiations, while we have showed them extremely restrained hands to boot). The Citadel's quite wary of us too, heard that they gave the joint embassy at the station some flak, only to get a stern talking-to for their pains. Although you might've been aware of this fact.

They've been going nuts for quite a while now, and I'm pretty sure they're scrambling for ways to counter us effectively, especially after they realized that they've basically given us free reign now since they just overlooked hard-coding rules, since they could just bully others into their fold instead. When we showed up, that strategy didn't work as well as they would like...duh. Skill issue.

Anyways, I'll sum it up here: Success. It's done now.

—Anita

Colonel,

STG's on the move. Recommend investigating further.

Go do it. Keep me posted.

Vienna, Austria, Earth, December 13th 2257 0910HRS local time

Alliance Parliament Building, Cabinet Assembly, Inner Quarters

"We'll start long-term now," Yoshida Ayumi, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, spoke as she stifled a yawn—welp, her sleep scedule had gotten a payload of SNAFU dumped onto it quite a while ago, and the same fate was also born on the rest of the Cabinet. While being a high-ranking politican had it's perks indeed, it sometimes sucked, and when it did, it did so with a vegeance. Today was merely a testament to that. "Short-term plans, and the basic groundwork for long-term plans, should be good. Let's just move on to plans that should be good to commence within a decade or two instead..."

The Korean man coordinating humanity's (well, technically, half of humanity's) intelligence service, Yang-Wen-li, sighed. "Project Ethos is going well, at least for now. Phase one, which included plopping an AI inside of their ranks to go do whatever...it went alright. No hiccups, at least for now. Girl's named Shimizū, by the way. As in Michi Shimizū."

"That name sounds familiar."

"...swiped it off a bunch of random names off their database. Shimizū Daitō, and Michi Yōtsaka. War heroes during the First and Second International Wars, respectively, it seems. She's doing quite well, things seem; this job is kinda infinitely easier given how the Ethosians rely massively on independent researchers doing things out of their own will, before shipping the results off to Waypoint. Fifteen years would be a reasonable time-table for this project, but I'd say thirty, just to be safe. If we want even better results, we can might as well push the time-table to a century."

"Good enough."

"And about Project Pandora..."

"The krogans? Yeah, they're going well, at least for now. The estimated costs for restoring their homeworld, however..."

"Yep, I figured. Last I checked, the price tag was around fifty billion pounds a year? Might be tight, but it wouldn't hurt our thirteen-quadrillion-pound GDP, at least by much. Not to mention that we'd also have a new trading partner if things went well, plus a new ally, not to mention the possibility of their help in dealing with the batarians. That alone should be worth more than a hundred billion pounds annually."

"Yeah, I figured. But that's going to be a few decades from now. Lütjens, sitrep?"

The Chief of Naval Operations took a sip out of his coffee-cup. "Surveys into the Attican Transverse, including and massively prioritizing regions without an active relay connection to regions with one, are underway. While we are currently expanding into the Gemini cluster, a project that's not even half-done yet, we can still shuttle resources away from that project for this one, I'm thinking about half, to get the job done. Getting the Kaiserreich on board might help, too. I'd expect for an optimistic estimate of 2270 for the full development of the Gemini cluster and expansion into the Transverse well underway."

The Prime Minister turned towards the Minister of Industry. "Is such a time-table feasible?"

"It is," the Minister agreed. "Our colony ships can craft a city single-handed, several if they are fortunate enough to find some resource-rich asteroids nearby to mine for ore and material. Finding the colonists needed for this project might be a little bit of a stretch, but it's manageable. Centering our sights on systems without a relay connection also gives us a huge advantage since literally nobody can get to them save perhaps us, unless we claim dibs on the system first and send a relay activation petition to the Citadel, or someone else gets a publicly available copy of our maps and files the same. Suffice it to say, sending probes through a relay and submitting a petition would take a century at best, since the probes can go only so fast, but with our FTL, it won't be of an issue. Provided that we get the Kaiserreich on board, and perhaps the Geth as well, then the 2270 timetable will most certainly a feasible one."

"The Geth would like this idea?"

"Any treaty to end the Quarian-Geth war, something that they're pushing a lot for long-term, would hinge on the return of former quarian territory and colonies back to quarian hands. As the Geth Consensus currently occupies territory formerly belonging to the Quarian Federation, now the Migrant Fleet, it would be more or less inevitable for them to start looking into the Transverse as a potential candidate for re-locating to. Talk about good timing."

"How likely are they to get on board with our idea, though?"

"I'm not sure, but it's very likely. We're not the only ones with a lot to lose if the Council or the Terminus gets there first, and I doubt they're going to want to be second-rate citizens in their own home, considering how the Citadel's a bit...biased, shall we say. They're a logical race, after all. Besides, the Kaiserreich's going to need an extra source of raw materials, and the Transverse is a perfect location for it."

"Damn," mused Yoshida. "We're really cutting up the place here."

"Indeed we are, minister."

"So, 2270 is the best estimate, at least. The other side of the coin, the Citadel's reaction..."

"Well, the Citadel's not going to like this, no," Lütjens admitted. "But they're going to have to get over it. This is not their jurisdiction, and it never was. They can't really stop us. Sure, they'll bitch and moan about it, but what else can they do? There's no Council law or regulation or anything that prohibits us from doing this, and we're not exactly breaking the law, either. They'll probably send us a strongly worded letter about how we're being rude or whatever, and that's about it."

"Good point," said Yoshida. "And I highly doubt the Terminus is going to be thrilled about this, either."

"Well, the Terminus can suck my ass," said Lütjens. "What are they gonna do, declare war on us? Please. We could crush them in a heartbeat, and they know it. And even if we couldn't, we're still backed by the Kaiserreich and the Geth. They're not stupid, they know that if they try to mess with us, they're gonna get stomped flat."

"The Council already flipped themselves inside out when they found about about Club Synthetic," said Yoshida. "More won't hurt. Matriach Tevos Callis can go fuck herself for all I know or care."

Five cargo hauls with the Hakusan Maru did certainly translate to a lot of credits (and pounds) indeed, and by the end of it, Fubuki's bank account did swell by quite an amount, more than enough for her to chill back on the Citadel for the fifth time in a row in a month. And with her, Shigure, and Javelin running into Liara T'Soni shortly after they had set foot back on the Citadel on a shopping trip, well...

"Good thing I wrecked those bastards, I guess," said Fubuki as the four of them—herself, Shigure, Javelin, and Liara— cruised down a street at random inside an autopiloted taxi (one that could hover, surprisingly enough). "Didn't even put up a fight. Those dudes were almost like target practice for me."

Shigure meanwhile was engaged in a discussion with Liara over the subject of Prothean relics, the content of which went above her head all the while, trying her absolute best to filter out Javelin's snores as her fellow destroyer rested her head against the window, passed out cold. The taxi took a left turn moments later, it's mass-effect drive systems allowing it to glide along with minimal soundm similarly to many typical cars she had driven in the past, especially the electric ones. And ignoring the racket that some internal-combustion vehicles could rack up, obviously.

"Indeed, the Protheans were a truly remarkable people, capable of things that are beyond the comprehension of the modern day. Even with the information contained within their beacon, a large part of their achievements are beyond our grasp."

"They were that good, huh."

"Yes. Their civilization stretched across the galaxy, their empire was vast and powerful, their technology advanced and sophisticated. It is no wonder why they were considered to be the pinnacle of galactic society. And their influence can still be felt today, even though their civilization is long gone. The Citadel, the mass relays, the Citadel races, they are all part of their legacy."

"You'd think that if their stuff was that amazing, they'd have been able to prevent their extinction."

"Not necessarily," said Liara. "Just because a civilization is advanced, that doesn't mean that they are invulnerable. Sometimes the simplest of mistakes can lead to the greatest of tragedies. A war between two advanced civilizations could be just as destructive as a war between a primitive and a modern civilization. If not more."

"Welp, that would make sense. You'd think that they'd have learned their lesson."

"Unfortunately, not everyone is wise enough to do so."

The taxi took another left turn, and began to descend. The buildings around them grew taller, the streets became wider, and the crowds grew thicker. Traffic began to slow as the taxi descended into a bustling business district.

"So," said Fubuki. "Liara, what are you planning to do after this? I know that you're a researcher on Prothean relics, but this is kinda the slack season...eh? You told me that you were open, at least for the moment, since there was pretty much nothing for you to work on, right?"

"I'll admit, it has been rather slow lately," Liara agreed. "However, I am sure that I will be able to find some way to occupy myself. I may not be able to work on any major projects, but there is always plenty of smaller tasks that need to be done. Not to mention the occasional errand or two."

"...does mechanic/tech expert duty on a freighter that hauls random odds and ends to random places across the galaxy appeal to you?"

Liara blinked. "You have a freighter?"

"The Hakusan Maru. She's a rather beat-up vessel by this point, but she still works nonetheless. Swiped her off a yard sale in the middle of bum-fuck nowhere when I was trying to figure out what the hell to do after the Second Abyssal War, and bam, here I am. I zip across the place hauling all these odds and ends with my two friends right here," she motioned towards (still racking a storm of snores) Javelin and Shigure, "But given how we're kinda missing a mechanic/tech expert slot here, I'd guess I can call for you. Your knowledge of systems within Citadel and Terminus space would be a massive help for us."

"Well, I do have quite a bit of experience with working in various places," Liara replied. "I would not mind helping you out, if you need it. And it would be a good chance to see more of the galaxy. I have been confined to the Citadel and a few other planets for far too long. It would be nice to have a change of scenery for a bit."

"Yeah, and your experience as an archeologist might be a bit handy in places where we've got some odd tech laying about," Fubuki said. "I mean, sure, it's not much, but the pay's good enough. At least, it is for us. You might be thinking otherwise."

"Oh, I am not worried about that. Money is not a problem for me. And it would be interesting to see what kind of artifacts and relics you have come across during your travels."

"We didn't find any as far as I am concerned, but there were indeed plenty of other useless and head-scratching stuff that's currently sitting around in a heap inside our cargo bay."

"Oh," said Liara. "Then perhaps we could take a look at it sometime, if you don't mind. I am sure that we could find something interesting among the pile."

"Eh, why not. We're not really using most of the stuff we have anyways, so I don't think it'd hurt if we let you sift through our junkyard."

"Excellent! Then I would be happy to join you on your next voyage."

The taxi came to a stop, and the doors opened. The four of them stepped out, and onto a bustling sidewalk. The street was lined with shops and restaurants, and the sidewalks were packed with people. It was a busy, bustling district, filled with the hustle and bustle of daily life. Just like any other city, especially during shopping season. Or Black Friday, for that matter.

"...while there's no fixed salary, really, since I'd just split the profits of whatever haul I get my hands on evenly and be done at that, the split-cashdumps are still quite a lot, in fact. Also, it includes food, water, shelter, and communication..."

"You make it sound like a survival guide-book sometimes," chuckled Liara. "Anyways, let's continue this later, for—"

"Again, really?" Fubuki muttered underneath her breath as a few all-too familiar faces emerged from the crowd. And not in a good way.

"Approaching the Raloi homeworld, Benezia," the sensor operator reported as the asari cruiser decelerated from FTL speeds, it's engines slowing as the ship approached the planet. The system's star shone brightly in the viewport, and the planet loomed before them, a swirling mass of blue and green. The cruiser sailed onwards with plasma-blue trails of exhaust left in it's wake, flanked on both sides by two turian cruisers, two salarian frigates, and the dreadnought PFS Hiltromax for escort duty,just in case.

"Very well," the matriarch replied, nodding as the bridge crew went about their business. The ship's engines continued to thrum steadily as the cruiser made it's approach, and the view of the planet grew larger. It was a beautiful sight, and the matriarch took a moment to admire the view. "Set course for the planet and prepare for orbital insertion. Inform the captain of the Hiltromax that we are ready to begin the mission."

"It's a beautiful world," commented Matriach Benezia T'Soni as she viewed the planet through the cruiser's bridge viewports.

"It is, indeed," the ship's captain agreed. "Lush green garden world, with oceans and rivers. No signs of pollution, and a temperate climate. I have no doubt that the Raloi would have built a vibrant, thriving society here."

"As would any species, with such a planet as a home," said Benezia. "Let us hope that the Raloi are receptive to our presence. It would be a shame to lose such a world, and such a species."

"I have no doubt that they will be. The Council has sent us to establish a peaceful contact, not an invasion force."

"That may be so," Benezia said. "But we must still be prepared for anything. We have no idea what the Raloi are like, and how they will react to our presence. It is best to be cautious, and not assume the best of the situation."

"A wise attitude to have," said the captain. "But I am confident that we will be able to find a peaceful solution to this situation. We have come here with good intentions, and we will not let anything get in the way of that."

"I agree," said Benezia. "The Raloi are a sentient, intelligent race, and they deserve our respect. If we can come to an understanding with them, then we will have gained a valuable ally and partner in this galaxy. If not, then we will still have made an important step in the advancement of galactic society. Whatever the outcome, we will not let it get in the way of the Council's vision for a peaceful, prosperous future."

With that, the matriarch turned back towards the viewport, watching as the lush green planet loomed ever closer.

"Raloi satellites in the vicinity are sending us a transmission burst. Instructing us to indentify ourselves and state our intentions, apparently. They're using an encryption method that we've never encountered before, and have a hard time decrypting before, by the way. Thank STG for the intel on this, else we'd be hanging a long time ago."

"Inform them that we are here on a diplomatic mission, and are interested in establishing peaceful contact. Tell them that we are here to bring them into the galactic community, and wish to share our knowledge and technology with them."

"On it, ma'am."

"Good. Inform the Hiltromax that we are ready to begin our mission."

"Copy. They acknowledge and are standing by."

"Proceed, then."

With that, the asari cruiser and it's turian and salarian escorts began their descent towards the planet's surface, and the Raloi homeworld loomed ever larger in their viewports.

"This is a historic moment," said Benezia. "We are here to make first contact with an entirely new species. One that is completely unknown to us, and the rest of the galaxy. It is an opportunity that comes only once in a lifetime, and we must not let it go to waste."

Colonel,

The Council has suddenly acquired an interest in primintive, undeveloped races. Undertaken top-secret by STG under the name of 'Project Tosa'.

...forgive my translation skills. It's skill issue on my part.

"You must be the ringleader, then?" asked Shigure as she eyed the dozens of thugs who had emerged from the crowd, all bearing a similar symbol to that of the gang who had Liara (only to be given a stern talking-to by Fubuki, to say the least), and all bearing the same aura of menace. The air was tense, and everyone seemed ready for a fight. "What do you want this time?"

"Oh, not much, just you girls," their apparent leader answered, cracking his knuckles. "We've got some unfinished business to settle, after all."

"Well, sorry to disappoint," said Fubuki, narrowing her eyes as she folded her arms across her chest. "Wasn't me beating up you guys like six to one good enough of a deterrent for you to back off? There's three of us now, even. Couldn't get to me six to one, and now you expect to get three of us?"

"At ten-to-one odds? Yeah, we're going to try our goddamn hardest. What's wrong, are you too scared?"

Fubuki scoffed. "Not in the slightest."

"That's what I thought," the leader, a batarian, duly said, as a good thirty thugs came forwards in a scene straight clean from Taxi Driver (the Korean TV series, not the Hollywood film), fists clenched and ready, some wielding outright guns and clubs to even out the playing field, perhaps, while a few others were armed with melee weapons like knives, crowbars, and the occasional baseball(?) bat. The batarians' four eyes glowed an ominous yellow-red as they stared down the destroyers, and the asari was visibly sweating.

"You have five seconds to get out of our way," the leader continued. "Before we send you packing, and this time, the hospital's not gonna be an option. If you're smart, you'll run, and never come back."

"Yeah, not gonna happen," said Fubuki, her tone defiant. "You're gonna have to get through us, and you've already seen how we deal with scumbags like you."

"Well then," said the leader. "Have it your way."

The tension in the air was palpable as the two sides faced off, neither willing to back down. Fubuki and the other destroyers were determined to defend Liara, while the thugs were equally determined to exact their revenge on the girls who had humiliated them so. Both sides were prepared for a fight, and neither was willing to back down.

"I'd sure as hell like to see you guys try," Javelin nodded, having somehow gone from half-asleep to fully awake within less than a second, as if she was an engine that just got fired up on the ignition. "Thoughts?"

"Are you daring to threaten us, you punk?"

Shigure lit a cigarette before butting in for added effect. "We've seen worse, Quad-Eyes. Ever bothered to research the history of Szurdok Fireteam?"

The batarian's eyes widened. "You mean the—"

"Yeah. And that's just the beginning."

"The fuck is that supposed to mean?"

"We'd be more worried about the collateral from bodies thrown into the air by half a dozen yards that you guys, duh~"

The ringleader, whom Shigure had bestowed upon the rather infamous nickname of Quad-Eyes—narrowed his eyes, all four of them. "Guess we'll have to see who has the last laugh then."

Fubuki took one exact glance at the thugs forming up around her before a five-foot pole was swung at her face as if it was a European broadsword...

Councillor,

STG's been running wild again. And not in a good way.

We've got some serious concerns about the Geth. They're up to something, but we don't know what. We've been monitoring their transmissions, and they're definitely up to something, but we can't figure out what. They're being extra careful to cover their tracks. This isn't just routine maintenance or the usual stuff, there's something else going on. We need more time and resources to investigate further. In the meantime, keep your guard up and stay vigilant. There's something going on, and we need to find out what they're up to. And we need to do it fast.

I know. It's not exactly the best of situations. But what can we do? We can't just invade them. That would be suicide.

I've got a bad feeling about this. Something's going on, and we need to find out what. And fast.

Anyways, you're going to have to make a call. Is it worth it?

It might not be worth the cost. We can't risk an open conflict with the Geth.

We can't risk the entire galaxy over the possibility that they're up to something. We don't have any proof that they're planning anything. But if we're wrong, and they are up to something, then it could be a disaster. It's a tough call, but I think we need to err on the side of caution. We can't afford to take any chances.

I've got a bad feeling about this, too. Something's not right. And it could be serious. We need to find out what's going on, and we need to do it fast.

Parrying the pole sent her way with her hand while Shigure's karate skills dealt with her attacker for her, Fubuki's foot instead drove itselfinto the krogan who was about to pounce upon her and propelled him into an unlucky turian, the sheer force behind her strike sending them both sprawling, and the impact with the ground was enough to knock them out cold. A batarian rushed at her, a crowbar held high above his head, but she quickly dispatched him with a swift knee to the stomach. She then grabbed his arm, twisted it around his back, and threw him into a charging batarian.

Javelin also in the meantime let off some licks of her own, a jeet kune do maneuver throwing over her head her oversized opponent with his meter-and-half-length piece of metal piping, sending him soaring through the air to plant his head into a trash can, the impact more than enough to render him unconscious. Shigure, on the other hand, was holding her own against her attacker, a batarian thug wielding a club, and her karate skills were more than a match for him. Her kicks and punches were quick and precise, and her footwork was impeccable. She easily blocked and dodged his attacks, and she landed a few of her own, her strikes doing damage.

Meanwhile, Liara was watching the scene unfold, her biotic barriers already activated and ready for combat, but the thugs weren't really paying her any attention. Instead, their focus was on the destroyers, who were holding their own surprisingly well, given the numbers and the weapons that the thugs were armed with. And they didn't even reach for their holstered sidearms, either. They clearly didn't need them, as evidenced by the thugs that they were dispatching with relative ease.

Two turians and a batarian ganged up on Shigure with the intent of using strength in-numbers, but she stopped her first attacker's fist with the palm of her hand and used the momentum to redirect him into his companions, and while he missed one, the other was pinned down to the ground by the weight of his companion being turned into an ad hoc bowling ball. The krogan got back up, easily enough, but the turian wasn't getting up, and probably won't for a while. The weight of the krogan explained why easily enough.

"I told you," Fubuki stated as she grabbed a batarian by the head and slammed him onto the ground, "that it wasn't a good idea to mess with us."

"This isn't over!" yelled the krogan as he struggled to get back up, blood oozing out from his nose and mouth.

"You're right, it isn't."

"We'll get you, you bastards! And your friend, too!"

"Yeah, you will," Fubuki admitted as the krogan struggled back to his feet, only to be met with a punch that sent him crashing into the ground, unconscious. "And we'll give you a lesson that you'll never forget. Now, get lost. Or are you gonna end up like him?"

Javelin and Shigure meanwhile ducked and slid underneath a series of attacks, not even bothering to parry them away, Shigure even catching a pole from one of her attackers and using it to play swordsman with him. The end result was that the pole ended up broken in two, and her attacker ended up with his hands wrapped around his neck, coughing and spluttering. The thug was out of the game, and there were only a few left. Or, to be more exact, the odds had dropped from ten-to-one to eight-to-three.

"You..." Quad-Eyes began, only for Javelin to cut him off with a pro league soccer kick, sending one of many fallen weapons on the ground, a nasty-looking stick, to slam into the face of a batarian right next to him, bounce off to finish a turian, and hit the krogan Fubuki had slammed into the ground moments before just as he was getting up, rendering him combat-ineffective, perhaps for good. A turian bum-rushing her with a knife was promptly disarmed and tossed aside courtesy of Shigure, and the last two—both wielding pistols and about to pull the trigger—ate a pole to the face each well before they could fire, merely another testament to Javelin's spear-throwing skills. Had she the prep time and distance, she might've as well nailed them each from a kilometer away.

Fubuki maneuvered over to Quad-Eyes's location before he could even start to run, much less leave the site, eyeing a bunch of C-Sec guards who had witnessed the fight and were rushing over to intervene. "Well, conveniently, there's a buncha C-Sec guards right over there, and I'm not sure if they'll be as friendly. You can either go now and leave us the fuck alone, or, you can go down fighting and spend some quality time with the C-Sec guards. Your choice. But either way, this is the last time we're seeing each other."

"Phase 1 of Project Tosa is complete," Tevos addressed her colleagues as she read the briefing document from STG, the rest of her fellow Councillors seated around the table. "The raloi have accepted the Council's offer, and have agreed to join the galactic community. They have expressed their gratitude, and have stated that they are eager to learn more about the rest of the galaxy. They have also agreed to allow a small team of STG agents to remain on the planet as part of a diplomatic corps. Phase 2 will begin shortly, as soon as the first round of raloi delegations are sent to the Citadel."

"Good," Valern replied. "We need to show the galaxy that the Council is not afraid of contact with other species. The raloi are the perfect example of this. They are a peaceful, intelligent race, and they have shown no signs of aggression towards the other races. This is the perfect opportunity to demonstrate our commitment to diversity, and to show that the Council is a force for good."

Oraka nodded in agreement. "The raloi are a unique and valuable addition to the galactic community, and the fact that we have established peaceful contact with them is a testament to the Council's willingness to embrace diversity. This is an important step for us, and it will send a powerful message to the rest of the galaxy. We need to be strong and united in the face of threats such as the Terminus. By working together, we can build a better future for all."

"The humans have been a threat to galactic stability," said Tevos. "But the raloi are a potential solution. They are a peaceful, intelligent species, and they are a powerful ally. With their help, we can achieve greater things than we could ever imagine. We must continue to pursue contact with them, and we must continue to work together for the betterment of all."

Valern's eyes ran down his onimi-tool as he spoke. "I take it then that the project to uplift the yahg will be commenced after this one has matured sufficiently for us to be able to split our resources?"

"Indeed. Fifty years, make it forty, and we will have to powerful species by our side, at least. Enough to compete with the humans."

"Understandable," said Valern as he made his report. "In the meantime, allow me to present my side of the matter, especially the technology-related issues, and their solutions. Mostly minor reports here and there from STG's tech labs, condensed into a single report for easy reading."

He placed his device onto the table, allowing for it's data to be better displayable, before carrying on. "We'll start with the technical section. For starters: asari research teams, aided by salarian personnel, have come up with a new drive core design, although this may be a fact that you are aware of. It's design, however, proved critical to our next step in technological development—namely, a new type of kinetic barrier that can supposedly adapt to enemy fire the same way as human ones do, at least in a limited capacity, as well as being up to 20% more efficient compared to previous designs. I'll spare you the math and physics here, but that's it in a nutshell. You can view the finer details through documents I'll send you later, if you wish."

He eyed the blank look his colleagues gave him before continuing. "The catch, however, is that it requires extremely complex programming and massive amounts of processing power to be functional—sometimes up to ten times as much as the level of computing power we employ on our current designs today. It's needed to be able to calculate the protective barrier—in essence, it's not a giant, solid wall, it's one large bubble of thick dense fluid that angles itself rapidly to counteract hostile incoming fire, thus optimizing it's defense against weapon impacts. Without it, the barrier would effectively collapse and cease to function entirely."

"So, in other words, we need any ship coming out of our shipyards as part of the next-generation fleet program to have eight to ten times the computers it has alongside VIs of another order of magnitude above all current ones in terms of raw complexity alone to be able to accomodate the new barriers, and most likely extra if we are to counteract the superior electronic warfare capabilities that the humans are currently enjoying with their AIs," mused Tevos.

"Yes. We expect the designs to be finalized by the end of the decade, and a batch of such vessels to enter service within the span of twenty years. Inside of a decade will see the first ships of the line, especially prototypes, enter service."

Oraka, the turian Councillor, sighed. "At least we have a way this time around. Although, the humans might have more surprises in store for us still...their knack at pulling tricks out of their sleeves is disturbing, to say the least."

Valern agreed. "Indeed. Humans have proved themselves time and time again to be worthy opponents for us, and they have been a thorn in our side ever since first contact a few months ago. There has be a way to stop them...we do have some ways, to be fair, but they're too risky to pursue, and would most likely result in making our problems worse, if not ensure outright war. These are the best options we have...and they're not good, to say the least, but at least, they're more than nothing. We need to out-pace them if we are to counter them effectively."

"Uplifting the raloi and yahg, potentially, to galactic standards," agreed Tevos. "What else?"

"The Attican Transverse," said Valern. "It currently stands as a buffer between them and the batarians, if we permit them both to expand into the region, then chances are they would either lock themselves into a deadlock or come to war with each other directly, stunting the growth of both powers and killing two birds with one stone, effectively, to use human terms in these situations. The huamsn can expand directly into the region out of their own will—STG will be sure of it, amd the batarians rest assuredly will submit their own petitions for relay activations once their probes make it through; we just need to make sure that we give them as little trouble in the process as possible, and we're done."

"And if that doesn't work, there's still the other two," Valern continued. "I'd rather not resort to it, given that it's the last case scenario, but we could also try to provoke them into going after each other. It's a bit risky, and it's hard to predict how things will go, but it's worth a shot. The more we can get them to focus on each other, the better."

"Well, that's not a bad idea," said Tevos. "If they're distracted fighting each other, then we can focus on expanding our own influence and rebuilding our strength. It could buy us some time to catch our breath, at the very least. We'll have to keep an eye on things, though, and be prepared for anything. If things start to get out of hand, we'll have to step in and take action. Otherwise, this could spiral out of control, and that's the last thing we need right now."

"So, we tell the humans that we would publicly endorse any of their petitions for relay activations leading into the Transverse, provided that the requirements for such are met, and then we make the same process as fast and easy for the batarians as possible," said Oraka. "And we wait."

"That's the general idea," Valern nodded. "The batarians will be eager for a chance to expand their territory, and the humans will be even more eager to stop them. If we play our cards right, we could end up with a full-scale war between the two of them, and we'll have the chance to sit back and watch as they tear each other apart. It's a long shot, but it's worth a try."

"Let's hope that it works," said Tevos. "The humans are a dangerous enemy, and the last thing we need is another war. But if we can take advantage of their rivalry, then maybe we can finally gain the upper hand. It's a risky strategy, but it could be our only chance. And we need to take it."

Admiral,

The quarians proved a massive help to our cause. Mostly in helping us integrate eezo into our shit, but still. And the results are pretty nice to see, by the way.

You know how a MAC gun works, right? Anyhow, the magneto-plasma accelerator coils themselves can be modified to accommodate eezo amplifiers in their design, and it raises efficiency by 17% as well as 15 to 20% increases in performance in autocoil and missile systems, plus a 20% buff in the RoF of our MAC systems, but firing at that pace (called burst-fire, methinks) comes at the cost of an increased risk of overheating and potentially damaging the coils, which can be a real pain in the ass to repair, especially in combat, if you don't want the whole thing to blow up in your face, and we've already had that happen on a few occasions, but I won't bother you with the details.

That's just the icing on the cake, however. Amongst the many concepts my engineers had drummed up (or even outright prototyped), they took inspiration from various sci-fi franchises, like, say Halo, and the results are...interesting, to say the least. One in particular is the 'high-pressure-amplified guided-plasma-bolt', or a Covvie plasma torpedo, in other words, using eezo fields to contain and guide a huge glob of plasma towards a target. While it has limitations, sure, it's still worth looking at; it's useless at long ranges due to thermal dispersion, and it's anti-shield performance is vastly inferior compared to, say, an autocoil system, due to the non-solid projectiles it fires, but it makes up for it with some serious anti-armor capabilities, especially at close range. Thing would just boil through SmartSteel on impact, and Council ablatives would just, well, dissappear.

And there's the high-pressure-amplified plasma-beam-cannon (energy projector). They repurpose the coils of a MAC gun to charge up and fire a dense plasma beam at a target, and while it's anti-shield performance is undoubtedly inferior compared to a typical MAC round, due to the lack of a self-sharpening SmartSteel bullet-tip like on projectile weapon systems, and it's effectiveness degrades over distance, it's nonetheless extremely brutal against armor, especially at medium-to-close range. It can be installed as a co-axial module to the rear end of our existing MAC systems, allowing them to share the same barrel, and thus save space. They call it one gun, two modes. Hypothetically, there's as many modes to the thing as the amount of modules it has.

And we even pulled a Space Battleship Yamato as well. Remember the Wave Motion Gun? Welp, we rechristened it as the Graviton Lance. Normally, our FTL drives work by creating a blackhole in front of the ship and using gravity fields to rip it open, leaving us with a hole that leads to interdimensional space, where we can just, well...do whatever. The reverse is done to exit, gravity fields rip open a hole to leave interdimensional space and seal it after us. Although the manner we do it would be closer to a scalpel as compared to a butcher knife, but...you get my point nonetheless. Well, this beast of a weapon does exactly that, except that it does only half the job.

You see, when an interdimensional portal collapses without gravity fields to seal it after us, or when it is squeezed shut too early, the energy that it releases in the form of gravity waves can in some cases make a gas giant go supernova. No, not as in making it turn into a brown dwarf, but as in making all the hydrogen and helium it has fuse together, like, almost instantaneously. Even at the lower ends of the spectrum, if we use such a weapon against a fleet...

(just google Wave Motion Gun to get what I mean. The Dispersion type, too)

The catch is, though, is that it soaks up power like no tomorrow. Trying to use such a weapon would leave the ship it's mounted upon drifting and helpless for up to an hour after using it, alongside the charging up procedure beforehand (although you can do a cold-fire chargeup, where you leave the defenses and armaments on and let the gun charge to spec slowly, but it would take up to four hours to charge up to max. Hot-fire chargeups would leave you helpless as you charge it up and fire, but it'll be up to spec within half an hour on average). A mounting would be, similarly to the energy projectors, a co-axial mount that can be mounted with other modules in a rotating-block design, similarly to a gargantuan revolver assembly. Might take up a lot of space, but it'll be better than, say, seperate guns and barrels for the job. Looks cool, however, so there's that going for it, too.

Basically, we have a plasma-glob TOW-analogue shooter, a glassing beam, and a planet-killer superlaser. Although only heavy cruisers and above can support the latter, since it's so damn big and soaks up so much power, but still. Frigates can house coaxial plasma torpedo launchers with their MACs to fire like a machine gun, and destroyers, cruisers, and above can house additional pod-launchers. We just reinvented Long Lance oxygen torpedoes in space, it seems. Normal ones work for fighters and frigates all right, but this thing would take the cake at medium range, too close for traditional gunnery and too far away for autocoils to do the job. This is a nasty surprise to pack indeed.

We're working on ship-borne prototypes now as I speak, and they'd be ready by next year, with full production be commencing within a decade. Expect to see inside of half that timetable the cruisers Asuka, Kashima, and Yūbari running around with such armaments installed for trials.

Councillor,

STG reports that human stealth prowlers U-94, I-401, S-170, and Ki-191 have gone dark.

Reasons unknown. Reccomend further investigation.