It had been one week since the diplomatic party had returned from the Citadel. One month since the discovery of life within the Milky Way. All over the Sol System, discussions were being had in the halls of power, and for most, these centered on Gloval Station. The Senate was in an uproar, that much was clear. Exactly what it was in an uproar about seemed to vary by where you turned your head. Most wanted to conquer the galaxy now, after seeing how it was run. Others wanted to impeach Representative Hayes for her brash action of cutting them off from the rest of the galaxy. Still others just seemed to want to fight, and in fact a few brawls broke out amid the cacophony, fists, feet, and even a few swords being drawn against their fellows. The news agencies caught everything, all the while oblivious to where the actual decisions were being made.
"How long until the first colony ships are ready to be sent out?" asked Grant of the two beside him. The one that was a projection of light waved a hand to cause a countdown clock to appear over his head, the timer showing only a few more days.
"With the help of a few turian fleets, we've been able to...convince the batarians to leave the two systems in which they maintained bases. I have to admit, they are quiet efficient at what they do. With them out of the way we'll be sending out ships to every planet they've already surveyed as habitable and resource rich," as Amalgam spoke, a map of Federation holdings appeared over his head, many planets lighting up in a variety of colors to show what uses they would put them to. Some were red for mining, others green for agriculture, while others were blue for just being places were Terrans could live.
"How long can we expect them to keep our borders secure? They weren't having much luck with the batarians before, and I doubt they'll have much more now, considering their fleet strength deficit," commented Grant.
"I've been keeping a close eye on the situation in regards to them, and can say that they've been bringing all their reserves up to make up for their defeat. Twice as many ships as what they lost at Shanxi that they'd been hiding have been revealed to the galaxy at large, and those, plus a liberal application of political and economic pressures are keeping most of the galaxy in line. For now," Breetai added the last as Amalgam pulled the map above him back, to reveal the entire galaxy.
"Politically, as of right now, everything is starting to stabilize, which is a testament to the order that was there before. Nothing has really changed for the average citizen, and with their news agencies downplaying our victory at Shanxi. The civilian population of Citadel Space is almost willing to write the Federation off as just some new Terminus System, a problem for those on the edges of civilization, but not those that walk in the light," as he spoke, the lines of the galaxy appeared.
Most of it belonged to the Citadel Races, and was outlined in blue, with varying shades depending on exactly how closely the Council patrolled the area The Terminus Systems were a dull red, almost blood color, and made up a much smaller collection, with a few small shadings to show larger warlords and a few fledgling empires. Only a few other colors seemed to find their way onto the map, symbolizing other species that were independent, including a metallic silver for the geth, and the Federations grass green.
"As such, we don't have to worry too much about them sending patrols or the like to violate our borders. There might be the occasional idiot or spy that attempts a run on our territory, but I expect those to be few and far in between, especially after your fleets make a few examples," the last was said to Breetai directly, and the Supreme Commander of the Federation Fleets nodded. He'd already set several vessels out to the relays they knew of, and while they'd only had to turn away the occasional trader or smuggler who wasn't quite up on the news, he knew that wouldn't be the end of it.
"Well then, we should focus on exploiting the territorial gains we've made. This first wave of colonies should do that nicely," said Grant, imagining all the new goods and resources that would be flowing through his station into Sol itself. Heck, the Senate, in one of the few things they could agree on, had finally repealed the last of the population restriction laws. Any Terran, be they AI or other, could now breed as much as they want, just to get enough people to handle all the new planets.
Some had, controversailly, proposed reactivating the cloning facilities on board the Factory Satellite, but were quickly shouted down. Even if that wasn't one of the most reprehensible ways to make new Terrans, the entire facility was currently being put to other use. Namely churning out and refining Exedore's designs. One of the reasons it was just the three of them in the Conclave Chamber was that the old Zentraedi had abstained from leaving his lab for the foreseeable future.
The Factory was, for all intents and purposes, a planet sized production facility. Claimed at the end of the Robotech War by the Terrans as part of their birthright, the Satellite was huge even, but had grown far larger since. Originally it had a diameter of almost three thousands miles, and enough gravity pumps, reflex guns, and other tools to reduce a planet to rubble and then process that rubble into a fleet. In the two centuries since, the place had more than double the diameter, going to almost six thousand-five hundred miles, and now, using a set of gravity pumps as a focusing lens, literally lifted matter directly from a star for use by the processing plants inside.
It represented the power of the Terran people now, not as warriors, but as makers of things. Everything the Terrans had learned of ship building had been loaded into the computers of the great facility, and every hour the thing could pump out a fleet. Better, it could upgrade and alter the fleets they had, every ship and bit of materiel in less than a year. A colonial expedition could be fitted with prefabricated buildings, satellites, and vehicles built to the specifications of each individual citizen
More, it employed almost a tenth of the current Terran population. Many were born, lived, and eventually died in the great halls there, and it was said that even the immortal Exedore had seen only a thousandth of the Factory's innards. The only thing that made Gloval Station the center of Terran politics, rather than the more mobile factory was the defenses, as the Factory's sheer number of reflex guns could never hope to match the six Grand Cannons that marked the surface of Gloval Station.
"How goes Exedore's research, by the way? Can we expect any eezo equipped ships in our fleet soon?" asked Grant after a few silent seconds, turning to the other two.
"Did you not read his latest report?" responded Breetai.
"I must admit, I couldn't follow a word of the technical jargon he was using, and considering how many fires I've been having to put out in the Senate, I haven't been able to go over them to any great degree," said the Terran, and his two compatriots nodded. While they'd been busy themselves, with Amalgam talking with fellow AIs and Breetai commanding the various fleets, they'd had the free time to go over the data, especially the latter who had called up his old friend for a direct talk of his findings.
"Then I shall tell you straight out, we'll be more limited in eezo tech than expected," as he spoke, he pressed a few buttons on the controls in front of him, causing the table before them to display an image of a large turian ship.
"The Factory has been disassembling the turian vessels acquired at Shanxi, and Exedore has been studying their inner workings closely. For the most part, they are actually simple machines, more or less the same complexity as our own. Yet the cores are by far different," as he spoke, the ship in the image came apart, eventually revealing the sphere at the center of it.
"Each ship contains an eezo core, and unlike our own protoculture, it's not really an energy source. Instead it's used to move the ship, applying a charge to the core to create the mass effect fields that allow the ship to move," the sphere split open, and what was inside shone with an inner power, the power of mass effect.
"Interestingly, not one of the samples Exedore has been able to study has had a purity rating higher than thirty percent," continued Breetai.
"Thirty? That seems awfully low for a purity rating. I thought these were warships," commented Grant, and the Zentraedi nodded.
"They were, but as it turns out, thirty is about the purest they can get it. Refining Element Zero is a task not unlike trying to separate salt from grains of sand by hand. It can be done, but the efforts will seldom bear too much fruit," and it was Grant's turn to nod.
"Even the Factory's processors are having trouble with the stuff, according to the report. Exedore is convinced he can manage a sample at least a percentage point purer than what the Council ships had, but even then, it will take energy comparable to a Protoculture Matrix to achieve, as well as more samples of eezo itself," said Breetai.
"Would that be worth it then? We may have a slight surplus of protoculture at the moment, but not to that degree," responded Grant.
"Exedore believes it would be worth the effort. According to his data, every single point of purity raises the efficiency of the eezo an entire order of magnitude. In other words, with a sample of one hundred percent pure Element Zero you could use a chunk the size of your fist to create a mass effect field around a planet," said Amalgam, and Grant had to whistle at the image, holding his hand in a fist, and then imagining that sort of power, the power to move worlds as easily as ships.
"That would be useful. We should begin surveying for more eezo at once then, maybe send the Factory on a planet smashing run to see what it can find," said Grant, but this time he got Amalgam to shake his head.
"That would be, as far as we can tell right now, a pointless gesture," as the hologram spoke, the image of the galaxy appeared above his head again, focusing once more on the space the Terrans now controlled.
"One of the reasons the Local Cluster and Skyllian Verge were both off the beaten path for the Council Races and their ilk is that eezo is incredibly unlikely to be found in large quantities in this region of the galaxy. In over a millennium of exploration, the various peoples have found only a few tons in the area, and I can't see us finding much more even with a dedicated effort," several of the large deposits they knew of were highlighted, with their natural purity and amount. None of the samples was more than a ton, and the most pure was still in the single digit range.
"I had wondered why they were so willing to give up a space with so many verdant garden worlds," admitted Grant, thinking of the dozens of such worlds literally right around the corner now.
"To the people in the galaxy, such worlds are rare enough to be noticed, but common enough that no one would go out of their way to find one. Eezo and resources are what draws them to a place," the two beside him nodded, both thinking much the same.
"So, we have a large area to exploit, but the resources we really want are rare here. Do we have any options?" asked Grant.
"War is one. The area claimed by the turians is quite rich in deposits of eezo. It is one of the reasons they've been able to maintain a large fleet presence, on top of their position on the Council," said Breetai, with Grant quickly shaking his head at the notion.
"No, I refuse to support that. We just said no to a war where we would have been well within our rights to persecute the turians. I won't have us just decide to flip to an aggressive stance over some resources. What about trade? Exedore set up a few contacts while he was on the Citadel. Perhaps they can arrange for the sale of eezo to us," retorted Grant, but Breetai shook his head at that suggestion.
"I doubt they'd be willing to deal with us at the moment, considering our closed borders. Worse, I doubt the Council would allow them to make any trade agreements with us, and while we could apply military pressure, they still have the upper hand in economic pressure," said the Zentraedi, shooting down the idea.
"Perhaps something outside the Council then. The Terminus Systems?" asked Grant, and Amalgam chimed in with a head shake at that.
"I wouldn't trust any deal we made with those people. To many of them live by the code of 'do unto others, before they do unto you'. Even if we found someone to deal with fairly, it's doubtful they'd stay in power long enough to really make such an effort worth what it would cost us," the AIs words hung heavy in the air for several minutes as they pondered it, but when neither of his biological compatriots stepped forward with another idea, he motioned for their attention.
"As that is the case, I would like to propose we pursue diplomatic relations with a group the Council has also cut themselves off from in much the same way they have from us," as he spoke, the galaxy map above his head swung around, and the two men watched as it zoomed in on a huge space cloud, both knowing exactly what he was speaking of.
"The geth. Do you think they'd be open to negotiations with us? They haven't extended any overtures towards the Council as far as we know," said Grant simply, and the AI just shrugged in response.
"We don't know. The Council has so cut themselves off from the geth, mostly just bottling them up in the Veil that no one has really seen or heard anything from them in the three centuries they've existed," admitted Amalgam.
"But such a people would, if they proved to be approachable, be the best sort of allies in our situation. The Council is going to be trying to pressure ally and enemy alike to avoid us. Such pressures, even if they could use them, simply don't apply to the geth," added Breetai, and Grant just stroked his chin thoughtfully.
"More importantly, should this negotiation prove successful, we could hopefully open talks with the quarians as well. 'Two birds with a single stone', as they say," said the AI, and this seemed to catch the attention of the two men. Both knew of the quarians, and Grant at least had openly supported a proposal to offer them a planet or two in Terran space, maybe give them somewhere to settle down outside the Council's sphere of influence. If they could literally give them back their homeworld, so much the better.
"Who would head this diplomatic mission? Hayes is going to be tied up with the Senate for a while, trying to keep her job, and I doubt we could pry Exedore from his lab with anything less than an SDD," noted Grant.
"I was thinking sending myself on the mission, if it were all the same to the both of you," responded Amalgam simply.
"Are you certain that's a good idea? We did nearly lose Exedore on the Citadel to those mercenaries, and they tried to detain Hayes. Perhaps someone of a less prominent station should be chosen," suggested Breetai, and Amalgam shook his head.
"No. We must show the geth we give them the same respect as we gave the Council. Besides, the same logic applies. Anyone who goes on this mission must be able to negotiate for the whole of the Federation, and that means one of us," counter Amalgam, and the other two of the Conclave could only nod in agreement with that assesment. They needed a diplomat with authority, someone on the ground who could see everything, and react quickly, especially when dealing with a species of non-organics. By the Federation's own charter, the only ones with that sort of power were the sitting members of the Conclave.
"We would need to ensure your safety. A full fleet, flag with supports. I would suggest possibly sending an SDF as well, but given they've proven vulnerable to mass effect weapons, risking even the SDF-5 would not be something I'm willing to do," said Breetai after a moment.
"I will throw my support behind this plan as well. The geth represent a unique people, as cut off from galactic society as is possible. If overtures with them fail as badly as they did with the Council, we might as well just write off the entire galaxy," stated Grant.
"So, the three of us are in agreement? If so, I'll begin preparing for my departure immediately," asked Amalgam, and the other two looked at him, before nodding, pressing a button on their controls to make their sections of the table glow green. Amalgam smiled at that, and began to mentally go over the list of things he would need on the trip out. Hopefully, this meeting of two disparate species of artificial life would go better than the organics had.