"This is quite good. Did you make it yourself, Tevos?" asked Exedore as he sipped at the cup in his hand. In front of him were three lovely ladies, which would normally have made him quite the swinger, or so he thought the term went. His thoughts were more on the things/technological toys/useless junk he had brought in with him, and had he an option, even with the lovely tea, he would have forgone the pleasure of company to begin playing with his purchases. Hayes had impressed on him the need to be friendly with the asari Councilor, and so he grinned at her instead.
"I feel the personal touch in these maters is best," she said, taking a small sip from her own cup. To her left, Hayes had already set her's down, the empty cup upside down in the saucer, while she smiled and played politician. Outside, Shepard could be seen. Well, her legs could be seen anyway, and that sword of hers, which she had drawn, and then stabbed into the sidewalk outside, creating a large gash in the floor, and making it so anyone with harmful intentions knew to stay well away.
When the asari had come up, she had been...startled would be the nicest way to put it, by the sight of Mrs. Shepard. She had instantly demanded to know what it was, and what it was going on the Presidium, while also asking for C-Sec to come get rid of it. Luckily, she wasn't a Councilor for just her looks. She had a cool head, and while in a panic, she had watched as the giant just stood there, until someone had been able to explain the situation to her. Once that was done, she had merely walked up to Shepard, and then told her who she was, which caused the giant to stand aside a moment, allowing her into her office.
Now she sat here, looking out the window at times, while the other two Terrans answered questions. So far, the answers had proven almost as interesting as the sight of the giant on the Presidium. Their ship in dock had crew of a similar weight and mass to Shepard, and needed no supplies. Shepard herself wouldn't need anything to eat or drink, and would in fact stand guard all night without rest, because the Terrans needed none of those things. These facts were all filed away by Tevos as she sipped at her tea, wondering just what sort of monsters the turians had found out on the edge of the galaxy.
"Back to the question at hand, I've been going over the various Citadel Conventions, to see how they line up with the laws of our own Federation," said Hayes, the voice bringing the asari back to herself, though to anyone watching her, she'd been paying rapt attention to the Terrans, even as her mind wandered a bit.
"There is rarely an issue there. You aren't the first space faring civilization the Council has encountered, and for the most part, the Conventions attempt not to infringe on the cultures we encounter," said the blue woman, and the brown haired one nodded as she brought an omnitool to her face. She seemed to have a bit of trouble with it for a moment, but then found what she was looking for, causing a small holo to display the Treaty of Farixen.
"I've been reading over this document in particular. As I see it, the stipulations on ships are mostly about the size of the mass effect core they use, not about the weight of the ships themselves, correct?" asked the Terran, and Tevos nodded back. She had been thinking about that, and the fact that it would need to be updated to include some more guidelines, as the Terran ship, according to a report from Citadel Control, didn't have a mass effect field, meaning it had no core. Normally, such a ship would be of little threat to an element zero equipped vessel, but the reports from the Talons crew said Terran ships were probably just as strong as the Council's, if not slightly stronger.
"That is correct. To date, no civilization we've encountered used anything different, so we've never had to be more specific. As your flagship doesn't appear to use a compatible technology, we will have to think of something more general for a future treaty," she admitted, and then stopped as she heard Exedore chuckle a little, Hayes turning to him with a bit of rage in her eyes, but then sighing as she turned back to the Councilor.
"I'm sorry, did I say something amusing?" she asked.
"I suppose you did, as did the salarian Councilor back in the Council Chamber itself. The Agamemnon is not the flagship of the Terran fleet. At just over one and a half miles long, it represents a cruiser weight vessel to my people," said Hayes, and this caused Tavos to gently set her cup down.
"I assume then, that you have a larger class of ships?" she asked, and Hayes nodded.
"We do. Our dreadnaughts measure almost two and a half miles in length. Though the size of the vessels is not our largest concern, rather their numbers," explained Hayes.
"You already have more than the Treaty would allow, I take it," she asked, wondering just how many they were talking. The turians would, of course, demand either disarmament, an unlikely prospect she believed, or to be allowed to build more in compensation, ignoring the fact that crewing and repairing the thirty seven they officially had was a severe drain on their economy, and secretly doing it to their reserve force of six others was even more so.
"A significant portion more. At the last count, we had over two hundred thousand ships of the Agamemnon's weight in operation, with about fifteen thousand dreadnaughts to provide command for the fleets," said Hayes simply, and then sipped at her drink. Had Tevos still had her cup in her hand, she probably would be now spilling the contents of it onto her dress. Luckily, she'd had the foresight to set the container down, allowing her mind to spin inside her head, working over that number, before finally coming back to herself with a cough.
"You are certain of that number?" she asked.
"I am. I checked the military disposition myself before coming. It seemed prudent to know just what sort of cards we had to put on the table," said the Terran woman, and Tevos just had to stare at her for a moment, before finally picking up her tea and sipping at the drink, letting the warm liquid flow through her, calming nerves that screamed at her to take some action, while her political mind went over the ramifications of the information.
"If you'll excuse the direct nature of the question, but doesn't that seem just a little excessive? You said that the Terrans had only been operating outside their home system for a little over ten years. Surely you haven't encountered any threats necessitating such a force of arms," said the Councilor. She thought that maybe, this woman was lying to her, trying to claim such a thing, as the batarians would sometimes claim they had a dozen dreadnaughts in their fleet, when the actual number was only three.
"I believe I have some light reading for you. I mentioned before that my people are a union of two races, the Zentraedi and Humanity, did I not?" asked Hayes, and the asari Councilor nodded.
"The meeting between our progenitors was not a happy one, I'm afraid. Many battles, and many deaths, marked the time before the Terrans were born. Since then, we've been ever ready for more conflict, should the need arise, thus our fleet size," she said, failing to mention that most of the hulls were salvaged, rather than built. That particular fact would keep for now.
"I see," was all Tevos said in response as she considered the information. The Terrans lack of need to eat and weapons that were based in energy rather than solid shells meant they would have an advantage creating a larger space force. Without a guiding hand to limit their military expansion, they had seen no reason not to continue building.
"I'll have a history file for you when you go, so you can learn about us. I'm hoping, with your help, our integration into the Galactic Community will be less violent than our previous contacts," said Hayes, and Tevos nodded. A species born from a war between their parents, and who's first contact with the Citadel races was a shot fired at one of their own. Worse, with that fleet, they could do significant damage even if the Council won a war with them.
"Do all of these ships have weapons like those that disabled the frigates of the Talons patrol group?" she asked, and Hayes, after seemingly thinking it over, nodded.
"No ship is unarmed, if that is what you really would like to know," said Hayes.
"We'll definitely have to re-write the Farixen treaty then. I must ask, therefore, how your ships are powered. You mentioned something called, protoculture, I believe," said the asari, and Exedore was the one to nod this time.
"Indeed. Protoculture forms the basis of almost all our technology, as element zero does for your own, though obviously in different ways," as he said this, he brought his own omnitool to his face. Where Hayes seemed to be a bit heavy handed with hers, the smaller man's control was like watching a musician at an instrument she'd been playing all her life. Every press of a button was deliberate, every motion of a finger getting the result he wanted, until finally, a small box appeared to float in the air in front of him.
"This is the most common form of protoculture engine in use today, the Mark XI design," he said this, as the image opened up, and she saw all manner of tubes and filters inside it, pumping some kind of liquid through it
"The engine is very basic at its heart. The protoculture flows through it, like blood through a heart, slowly absorbing into the filtration system of the engine, as more power is needed. The constant motion keeps the protoculture from settling, allowing more to be stored safely, and thus make better use of its transfinite properties," he explained, and she saw as drops of the liquid inside were slowly pulled out by small opening in the tubes, yet, oddly, the liquid amount in those tubes didn't seem to decrease at all.
"Transfinite? That word isn't one I recognize," she admitted. Normally, as the eldest of the Councilors, she would try to feign understanding on any subject, bluffing her way through certain conversations. This was not a time to allow her need to be seen as all wise to interfere with her need to know.
"It means that, essentially, the protoculture in the engine provides an infinite amount of energy to anything it's powering," explained Exedore, and Tevos again had to wonder if she was hearing these people right.
"How is that possible?" she asked at last, wondering just what kind of magic these Terrans had discovered to allow something that so violated the laws of energy in the way element zero broke the laws of mass.
"In essence, the protoculture is alive. It was originally refined from something called the Invid Flower of Life back in the Zentraedi's home galaxy. It will, if you drain it too quickly, wear out, and you'll have to get more, but as long as some of it remains active, it will always recharge back to full if given time," he said simply, and Tevos just nodded, bringing her cup to her lips, and being startled when she realized her tea was finished.
"This information is most enlightening, and will require much debate tomorrow in the full Council Chamber. As that is the case, I must excuse myself so that I can make sure our schedule is completely clear," she said, and a few pleasantries were then exchanged, including allowing them to keep the tea set she'd brought in with her. As she left, without the Terrans seeing, she quickly tapped a button on her omnitool three times in rapid succession. Two others, who had been pacing nervously, heard the three quick chimes on their own omnitools, and instantly set out for a meeting. Minutes later, all three Councilors were sitting in a private room at the back of the Consort's space.
"Clean?" asked the turian as he entered, the last one to do so. The salarian was the one to nod in answer to his question, as he quickly pushed a few buttons on the door, and heard the satisfying hum of a mass effect field being applied to the walls. With the field it place, no one on the station would be listening in to their conversation, as the three most powerful beings on it discussed what had been learned.
"How much did you both hear?" asked the asari as she sat down, the other two joining her at a round table so they could each look the others in the eyes.
"Most of it. The Terrans, I think, believed they swept the room for bugs, but their technology in that regard must be very lacking, given they left over a dozen fakes behind, let alone the real ones," commented the salarian.
"Good, then I must ask your opinions on what they said in regards to their fleet size," said the asari, turning to the turian first, who folded his arms over his chest and gave a rather loud hrumph as his mandibles clicked together in an irritated way.
"Lies, obviously. There's simply no way they could support a fleet that size, not without a massive empire, and we would have seen some evidence of that by now, if they had one," proclaimed the turian.
"And yet, we know from the pictures and holos the crew of the Talons took that their colony on Three-One-Four-P-Two, this Shanxi, has been there for some time. They claim at least two years. How often have our patrols visited that system in that time?" asked the salarian pointedly, and the turian looked even more displeased.
"Once every six months at least, closer to once a month with the recent batarian crisis," said the turian, and the asari nodded thoughtfully.
"And yet, in all that time, we never knew there were people living on the second planet of the system. That speaks of such a different technology that we simply never encountered or looked for each other. Perhaps we should begin to explore worlds in the systems we patrol, not just the Relays," suggested the asari, the turian seemingly about to say something in defense of his people, only to hold his mandibles shut for a moment, to allow his mind to cool.
"Regardless, that sort of force would be absurd in the most extreme degree. Crew supplies, maintenance costs, and just plain keeping them in working order would require more resources than the Citadel receives in a year," pointed out the turian, causing the other two to pause and think, before the asari leaned forward.
"And yet, I didn't get the sense of her lying. Worse, we know from the Talons own crew they have some sort of teleportation system on their ship, one with an unknown range and power. Even if they're exaggerating the size of the fleets they control, that technology alone makes them dangerous," said the asari, the statement giving both the other Councilors a moment of pause as they considered that.
"Their vessel is more maneuverable in real space than our own designs of the same mass. Still, we know from what the Talons' crew said it is by far slower in real space as a result. It took them a little over two weeks to get from Relay 314 to the second planet in that system, a simple few minutes for a mass effect core equipped ship," pointed out the turian.
"A tactical advantage in individual battles, but a severe deficiency in larger scale conflicts. Quite the conundrum," said the salarian Councilor at last, plugging numbers into her omnitool for a few moments, before finally turning back to her colleagues.
"I must admit, while all of this is adding up to be quite the problem, should the Terrans themselves turn hostile, there are concerns they didn't bring up. For instance, their violation of Council Conventions in regards to artificial intelligence research," commented the salarian.
"That will need to be addressed, most definitely, but at the moment, I feel the most pressing issues are their fleets, not who's manning them," mentioned the asari, getting a few looks from her compatriots, who then shook their heads.
"This will need more than to simply 'be addressed'. If Vakarian's report is accurate, Shepard claimed that there are almost a billion AIs in the Terran Federation. Worse, however they achieved it, their AIs are somehow able to exist in any system large enough to handle them, without the blue box requirement of those we know of," said the salarian, and the asari's eyes went a little wide at that. Quickly, she brought documents up into her omnitool's display to reread them, as the turian just leaned forward, crossing his fingers in front of his mandibles in a concerned expression.
"AIs that can hop systems, a fleet that dwarfs ours by at least two orders of magnitude, and a drive system that allows them to be anywhere in minutes. These Terrans are a frightening thing to contemplate. Perhaps it would be best if we nipped the problem they represent in the bud," he suggested. His compatriots looked at him with at least one part horror at the suggestion in his tone, and one part disgust with themselves, as they had obviously been thinking much the same thing.
"My people would never agree to it. The krogan solution was necessary, because the krogan made it so. These people, even after being fired upon, not only returned the crew of the vessel that attacked them unharmed, but even remanded the one who ordered the firing to our custody. I can think of few in their position that would have acted with such restraint," said the salarian Councilor at last.
"I must agree. Until they have proven themselves to be more of a danger to us, I don't believe they warrant such a response. However, I also believe it would be prudent to request the return of the six frigates as well. We should make sure that is on the agenda for tomorrow's talks with Mrs. Hayes, agreed?" asked the asari, and her companions nodded. Conversation soon turned to other items that would need to be ironed out, the three talking well into the night about what exactly would need to be discussed with the Terrans when they had them on an open floor tomorrow.
OoOoO
"We're clear, Representative," said a voice from her omnitool almost two minutes after the asari Councilor left, causing her to sigh with relief. Exedore, for his part, stretched instead, working out some kinks in his muscles by pushing his arms out as far as they would go, until his joints popped.
"Quite a nuisance that," commented the Zentraedi, to which the Terran could only nod. The two had been forced to sit as motionless as possible while Garibaldi, one of the Agamemnon's shipboard AIs recorded them, and then set the recording up to play in a loop for the various bugs in their chamber.
"Now that we have a moment, I must thank you for your aide in this matter, Prime Thinker," said Hayes at last, as she leaned forward, and Exedore grinned at her in that grandfatherly way.
"Think nothing of it. Still, I must ask, are you sure it was prudent to give them such information? How large our fleet is, and how are technology works would have been serious bargaining chips in days to come," commented the older man.
"That's true, but it would also have forced us to reveal that information openly, and while I can hope the Councilors will be a bit more prudent with it, the public would probably see the first as an open admission of aggression from us, and the latter as an invitation to start trying to raid our supplies of protoculture," she explained, and Exedore was the one who had to nod this time after thinking on it. Politicians, even evil, corrupt ones, tended more towards caution than the public at large. Making sure such people were aware of certain details would hopefully make them more likely to think twice about their actions.
"Well then, might I suggest the two of you head off to bed?" said Garibaldi, and Exedore was about to protest that he wasn't in the least bit tired, and wanted to tinker with his new toys some more, only to suddenly break out in a rather large yawn.
"It seems that might be a good idea. Would you like the bed tonight, Representative?" offered Exedore, as the pair of them made their way into the room off the main office lobby. Inside was a bed, a couch, and a small unit that was probably some sort of food container, though it used stasis fields rather than cold to keep refreshments in good condition.
"Since you twisted my arm, I'll gladly accept. We'll rotate after today, until we can find better accommodations," she said, before beginning to pull off her clothing, Exedore doing likewise, both placing them in a set of suit cases that then buzzed as they began cleaning the garments. Stripped down to their underwear, the two then climbed into their respective sleeping arrangements, and found their eyes shutting without much effort, while outside Shepard stood watch, ensuring their safety for the evening.