Interesting Times

April 30, 2158

17:57 Standart Earth Time

Reach, [CLASSIFIED]

Only the nearly silent humming of the computers and projectors filled the room. Neither I nor any of the other occupants had said anything since we had entered. Even our greetings were nothing but acknowledging nods to each other.

It was as if every one of us knew that if we started talking, even just small talk, we would inevitably discuss the subjects which were on today's agenda. But for that, we wanted everyone present.

Only one person was missing from our illustrious round.

Andrew Clark, the head of the Alliance Communication department. He was also the head of the Alliance Intelligence Service, which officially didn't exist, yet.

Truthfully, it didn't surprise me that he wasn't here yet. Over the last two years, I've had the pleasure to get to know him, and I knew he would arrive at the meeting the moment it was supposed to start. It was just like him to not waste even a single minute. He was probably already on his way to this room, going over all the data he had gathered.

My eyes wandered away from the datapad I had in my hand, which showed me a version of the galactic codex. One much more comprehensive than the one I'd known from the Mass Effect games, but at the same time, there was less information.

It had been a gift from the Asari diplomatic delegation that had come to Shanxi a week after the fighting with the Turians had ended. Somehow they had already made a translation software for English and the major Citadel races. After a bit of thinking, it didn't surprise me that they had learned our language already.

Especially after I heard from Wright that the Turians had some of our soldiers as prisoners, it wouldn't surprise me if they got our language from them.

After all, we had been trying the same with the Turian prisoners.

Fortunately, a prisoner exchange had happened just a week ago as a sign of willingness to end the conflict before it could escalate.

As I looked to my left, I saw how Anita Goyle, the head of our diplomatic corps, was still engrossed in the codex. For a woman closer to sixty than fifty, she certainly didn't look like it. Not a single grey strand could be seen in her blond hair, and she looked more like a woman in her mid-forties. Somehow I knew that would probably change in the coming years. After all, she had been selected as our spokesperson for the negotiations with the Citadel. Her emerald eyes showed intelligence and political experience as they scanned the text for every bit of information that could become useful to her.

With a quiet sigh put Admiral Wright, who sat to my right, the datapad down and leaned back in his chair. The exhaustion was plain to see on his face. He had only arrived on Reach today and was probably still going over the damage and clean-up reports from the 'Shanxi-Fiasco' as some called it. The term 'First-Contact-War' was also beginning to gain traction too. That was my favorite term for it too. And not just because it would be the official title in the ME games but because I believed that every war changed something fundamental for human society. Meeting a new species for the first time in human history fit the bill for me.

There were still two more people inside the room. One of them was Director Port, and the other was Dr. Helkin. Micheal had his eyes closed and was tipping his nose with his right index finger over and over again. That was one of his quirks. Something he always did when he was going over facts in his head.

Dr. Helkin, on the other hand, seemed the most relaxed person in the room. I did not doubt that she had read the codex multiple times and was already working on replicating some of the Turian technology. Or perhaps she had already done that and continued working on some other projects of hers. Perhaps even both. You never knew with that woman. Even now, in her mid-sixties, she was as brilliant as ever and showed no sign of slowing down.

Just as I wanted to pick up my datapad again to read some more, the reinforced doors to the underground meeting room opened, and Andrew entered the room. If you didn't know where to look, you would've never guessed that this man had dealings with all major intelligence agencies that were present on earth. He looked like a friendly neighbor who had three children, a lovely wife, and a middle-class job. Everything about him screamed normal. Nothing was out of place. His brown hair was neatly cut, and he kept the typical body of someone in his mid-thirties.

He truly was what someone would call the picture of normality.

That was until you looked into his brown eyes and behind the facade he carefully maintained. And that was just when he let you.

Then you saw someone who was intelligent and shrewd enough to weave a net around you that would never be noticed until it was already beyond late.

Another interesting fact was that he thanked me for saving his life the first time we met. He never elaborated on that, and I didn't ask. Not that he would have told me. Nonetheless, he was someone I could call a friend and as invested in the Alliance as any of us five.

With a short nod, he took his place at the round conference table, waiting for the meeting to begin.

As if a signal was given, Micheal's eyes shot open, and he said: "It seems like everyone is present. Great. The meeting can begin now."

With a few commands on the console before him, the light in the room dimmed. At the same time, the projector in the middle of the table started up and showed a picture of Shanxi.

Micheal turned to Wright and asked:" What is the status of the operations in the system? You were there until a few days ago, how does it look?"

"I'll start with what's going on on the planet itself," began Wright. "The clean-up is still ongoing. The main streets may be free of debris now, but many others are not. Many buildings were destroyed in the fighting, nothing to speak of the bridges that our forces collapsed so that they weren't forced to spread themselves too thin. It will take time and a lot of money and resources to rebuild."

He took a small breath to steady himself and continued: " First evaluations show the number of deaths in the middle of three thousand. That number is still climbing as we excavate dead bodies under collapsed buildings. More than two-thirds of our garrisoned forces on Shanxi have been killed, and the battlegroup in orbit has been annihilated with no survivors. We've also found civilian casualties. All bodies that we find, are taken to a designated area and are being prepared to be given back to their families. The Turian bodies are currently kept separately until further orders."

Wright took a small moment to collect his thoughts as he opened a new file on his datapad.

"As I already said," he continued:" the battlegroup that we stationed above Shanxi was destroyed, but they could get a signal out to us before they were. Without it, it could have taken longer than two weeks to react to the attack."

A quiet "Still too slow" left my lips before I could stop it. But it was either quiet enough so that nobody heard it, or they didn't react to it. One thing was clear, though. Everybody had the same thought. That was one of the reasons why I had ordered Dr. Hoshiyume to think of ways to make our drives faster. He was already brainstorming ideas, but I hoped I could secure him some of the recovered Turian technology to support him.

"Clean-up operations in orbit are proceeding smoothly. The debris around Shanxi has been taken care of already, and paths to the planet are clear."

"So, help from outside sources can come to the planet? I've been contacted by multiple people offering to help," interjected Micheal in a short pause between sentences.

With a nod, Wright acknowledged the question. "Yes sir, while our ships are continuing to stay on alert level orange, civilian ships are allowed in the system."

A small smile and a nod back were the only response Micheal gave as he made a short note and gestured to Wright to continue.

"Currently, we're in the process of searching the destroyed Turian ships for any kind of intact technology. Luckily, one of the ships was mostly intact. It seems the bridge and a few other necessary systems got hit. Their reactor and drive also took damage but nothing too significant. The transport to Reach is already organized and it should arrive in the next few days. Oscar, I would like it if you could send Dr. Hoshiyume here as well. His expertise with starship engineering could be extremely valuable in analyzing the vessel."

A small smirk played on my lips as I answered: "That is no problem. It's more like I would have to stop him from doing so. I already thought of sending him here permanently anyway. With the growing shipyards in orbit, he's of more use here than elsewhere."

"Thank you, is it a problem if he's attached to the Science Department?" Wright asked with a side glance towards Dr. Helkin.

"That's not a problem," Barbara answered for me. "As long as he doesn't interrupt my other projects," she added quietly.

I knew that those could do incredible work together, but there were still a few times when they argued like schoolchildren. While Takahashi was the foremost expert in starship engineering, Dr. Babara Helkin was probably the foremost expert in all other fields. At least in human space. So while Takahashi wanted to discuss with someone who could at least follow all of his theories, Dr. Helkin got annoyed with him pretty fast when she was concentrating on another field of science at that moment. And then they would argue. I heard one of those arguments and fled the room as fast as I could. While they threw insults at each other like children, the level of discussion was so high that nobody could follow their arguments. They had a way of making you feel stupid without even trying to do so in the first place.

"You heard the doctor, Admiral. There's no problem," I said so that Wright could continue with his report.

And he did, after clearing his throat. "As we are already on the subject of recovered alien technology. We've also sent multiple crates of recovered arms and shield units to your scientist Barbara. All of them were from the Turian forces. I would like to ask you to start with the shield units. Ours are still in development and not even close to mass production for our soldiers. From reports, I gathered that those personal kinetic shields of the Turians are better by magnitude than our prototypes."

With a hand gesture, she acknowledged his request. "I put some of my best on it. When they have analyzed them, I will take a look as well. With working examples, I guess it will take a month or two, then we will have our own."

"Wonderful," replied Wright. "There's, of course, more we're collecting from the battlefields, but those are the main things. The next point on my agenda is the effectiveness of our soldiers and navy against the Turians. I've sent all of you a preliminary analysis, and I would only present my personal opinion on it now. Would that be alright, director?"

Micheal pondered the question for a moment before he answered: "It is your decision, Admiral Wright. I didn't have the time to read it, and I trust your analysis of the situation. So please, tell us what you think."

Wright's face hardened, and I mentally prepared myself for his opinion. As long as I knew him, he had never held back anything that came to his mind, and this situation was something that should be explained as plain as possible.

He took a breath and said:" If we go to war, we're fucked."

Well, that had been blunter than I expected. The silence that followed his words was deafening. Even the constant humming of the computers seemed to stop. All of us knew that if it came to war, our position would be precarious but that it would be this bad? Nobody expected that. The only one who didn't grimace at that was Andrew. He had probably read the preliminary report and came to the same conclusion.

"Could you please elaborate?" asked Micheal, trying to keep his shock from affecting his voice.

"Of course," began Wright, and with a command to his datapad, the projector showed a new picture. It showed the positions of our and the Turian fleets at the beginning of the battle to retake Shanxi.

"As you can see, we outnumbered the Turian ships three to one. During the battle, our superior positioning and the element of surprise allowed us to win this battle with acceptable losses." He almost spat those last words out. All of his soldiers were precious to him, and he hated to think of their deaths as something acceptable. But he also never hesitated to risk them if the need arose.

"After half of the Turian fleet was destroyed, they evacuated from the planet all they could and disappeared through the relay. But from the data we could gather during the battle, it seems like the general estimate is that we would need two or three ships to match one of theirs, depending on ship class."

That was not a good number. While I had no number to compare it to, I believed I had done my part to strengthen our navy. How outclassed and outgunned must the Alliance have been in the games during the First-Contact War?

"That would mean, that at our current technological level, we need at least three times as many ships as the Turians, better four times as many," I said.

"That is correct, Oscar," confirmed Wright.

"In the codex the Asari gave us, there were no fleet sizes or even an estimated population count. Nothing that we could use to guess the number of ships," added Andrew, speaking for the first time since he entered the room. Before Wright could say anything, he continued: "But if we take into account that they have been a member of the Citadel Council for more than a millennium, I guess that the number of ships is somewhere around 5000. Probably more. At least ten times as many as we have."

"Even if we had the technological advantage, which we don't have, we would lose in a direct conflict with them. Sometimes, quantity truly is a quality of its own," commented Anita, who had been quiet till then.

"That's true," acknowledged Wright. "A lot of that number would be probably stuck in policing their borders, but we should not forget that the Turians are not our only possible enemy. The Asari and Salarians could support them in the event of war by taking over border patrols and thus freeing assets that could be used against us. We currently don't even have a tenth of that number. I don't see any way we could win without exposing Earth to danger. Something we just can't do."

A frown crossed Micheal's face before he said: "I see what you mean. We would have to evacuate all planets that can be reached by the relay network. Among them Earth. Transport them into systems that are too difficult to reach without a DR-drive and rebuilt there."

After he finished, Micheal shook his head.

"Nobody would give up Earth willingly. She is humanity's home. That means we must try to avoid any kind of conflict."

A picture of a burning planet came to me, of Reapers attacking Earth. My eyes hardened, and I unconsciously clenched my hand. It was a memory of what was to come and a reminder to do what I could to prepare for it.

"That is what I would suggest," said Wright.

"I concur with the Admiral's analysis," remarked Andrew. "We should avoid conflict with the Citadel for now."

I noted how Andrew used the words 'for now', and I wasn't the only one. He wasn't someone to choose his words carelessly. No matter how, but we would clash with the Citadel Council at one point. Be it politically or militarily. We should not be in a position where they could hold us at gunpoint and order us around without being able to push back.

That was the statement Andrew wanted to make with his words.

"We should take our time and collect more information," Andrew continued and added with a small grin: "After all, knowing is half the battle."

Anita threw him a dubious glance and asked:" And what is your opinion of the other half?"

Instead of Andrew, it was Wright who answered with a snort: "Violence."

"Men," muttered Anita and rolled her eyes.

Before the discussion could get even further away, Micheal intervened.

"I believe we've strayed from the topic far enough. Is there still something you want to add, James? Or should we continue to the next point on today's agenda?"

Wright straightened his posture, dropping all signs of humor, and answered:" Only the report on our ground forces. Efficiency of equipment and tactics."

He looked at his datapad and opened another file. His eyes flew quickly over the displayed information, summing it up in his mind.

"It seems like we measure up to the Turians better on the ground than in space. I have to note that this was mostly a defensive battle and only a counter-offensive in the later stages. So I don't know how well we would do in leading an attack on a fortified Turian defense position. But there is some interesting information."

I caught a glance towards me and the ghost of a smile on Wright's face before he continued.

"While the Turians arms have a higher rate of fire and projectiles that are faster, ours have more stopping power."

"I guess that is good?" asked Micheal.

"Very good," was my answer. Micheal shifted his look from Wright to me and gestured that I should explain. Something that I complied with.

"It means you would need fewer shots to drop a kinetic shield, for example. Or to kill someone. Another point is that we design the hardsuits the soldiers get in a way that they can at least stop two bullets from our rifles. In theory, that would mean that they could stop the fire from the Turians even better."

"Ah, thank you for explaining, Oscar," said Micheal and directed his next question back to the Admiral. "Your assessment James?"

"What Oscar said is mostly true. The enemy's bullets were mostly stopped, but since they were smaller and fired at a higher velocity, they could still penetrate the hardsuit. Combine that with a higher rate of fire, and you get a lot of shots that hit the less protected areas or are just lucky."

I took a moment to remember the last reports I got about the projects which were in development in my companies. Once a month, I got a detailed report about everything that happened in every company I owned. Or invested in. That included the development of new products or the testing of prototypes. If a project interested me, it wasn't uncommon for me, that I demanded bi-weekly updates. I searched my mental list for the projects that had to do with armor until I found what I was looking for.

"Hahne-Kedar is testing a few new material compositions that could be used for hardsuits. I relay your findings and see what they come up with."

Wright nodded gratefully. "My men will be glad to hear that."

"Could you please continue, James? There's still more we have to discuss," asked Anita impatiently.

"Sure. The only thing left is the effectiveness of our tactics. While we could hold the line with orthodox battlelines, our troops shined when they used a combination of 'hold-your-ground' mentality and flexible tactics. Every time they used an advantage they had found, it was used until it wasn't useful anymore. Then a new strategy or tactic was implemented. It kept the Turians on their toes, talons, whatever. Their strict command structure was often not fast enough to react to the changing tactics of small units. The use of drop pods was also very effective. We got soldiers on the ground fast enough to stop the breaching of the last defensive line. I expect this tactic will be very effective in clearing landing zones or surrounding enemies. Sadly, the Heavy Troopers were not as effective as expected. The exoskeleton suit was good against small arms but since they were intended to be used against armored vehicles we have to redesign them. They were a target for their cannons much too easily. Of the ten we send down, only two survived."

Wright looked at all of us, one at a time, and said: "That would be all. The completed reports will be sent to you in a month."

He took a deep breath and leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms as if he was saying: I've done my job, now's your turn.

"Thank you for your report, Admiral Wright," said Micheal with formality. A glance at his datapad, and he said: "Before we get to the probably most important topic today, I just want to ask you, Barbara and Oscar, is there something you want to report?"

I looked to Barbara, who was still looking at her datapad. She lifted her head to look back, and I signaled her to start.

"All projects are on schedule or even ahead of. If you want to know more, read the weakly reports my assistant compiles and sends you."

Well, that was to the point. She was probably reading over some new data sent to her. At such moments, she always answered bluntly. In her own words, she would not waste her time answering asinine questions that could be answered by reading.

I suppressed a sigh. A little bit more time would have been nice to collect my thoughts, but you have to work with what you get.

Still, I took a minute to search for all files I would possibly need, even as I felt their eyes on me, waiting for me to begin.

"There are only a few things that have to be shared at this moment. Our shipyards are already working to repair the damage sustained to our fleets. We estimate it will take five to six months to return to our old strength."

"I would have expected it would take less time. From what I know, we are building enough ships that it would take around two months," chipped Wright in.

"That would have been correct a few days ago," I replied. "But I ordered to stop all work on ships less than 50% finished."

"What? We need those ships, why did you stop the construction?"

"Because I want to wait until our scientists finished analyzing the Turian technology. As I know them, they will improve our ship designs by a large margin after this, and those ships can either be improved on or scrapped without losing too much money and resources. I would rather have ships with improved technology than ones that will have to be replaced before the decade is over."

Before Wright could say something, Micheal placated him. "See it this way, James. It will take more time, but you will get new shiny toys instead." While he didn't like to have fewer ships than before, even if it just was temporary, he could see the advantage of having ships of a newer generation. After thinking it over, he nodded, satisfied with my explanation.

"There is some other news you will like, Admiral. Our first two carriers will be ready for deployment in about a week."

While in canon, carriers were built to circumvent the restrictions of the Farrixen-treaty, Takahashi had proposed to use them as mobile command bases to direct the fleets. At around 800m in length and a height and width of 200m, it could hold 200 aircraft on both an upper and lower deck. Their kinetic barriers were the strongest we currently had, and their plating was also thicker than all others ships. In exchange, they were also the slowest ships we had, even if their ezzo cores were bigger than those in our dreadnoughts. But since the carriers would stay behind our lines, it was deemed acceptable.

"I'll look forward to their naming ceremony then," said Wright with a grin. Gone was the man, who was displeased with waiting for his ships, and in his place was a child waiting for Santa Claus to come.

"In other news," I continued:" the construction of a prototype for an Orbital-Defense-Platform has finished. Testing is scheduled to start in three days."

Another brainchild of Takahashi. As I've mentioned before, he can be a total nerd at times. Like I can be. Just because I own a company that spans multiple solar systems and am the head of the Economics & Construction Department of the Alliance didn't mean that I had no hobbies. Sometimes Takahashi and I would meet for a break and play video games or watch movies. As we played the newest remastered version of the first halo trilogy, which I may or may not have kickstarted, we discussed the feasibility of ODPs. From there it evolved into actual designs and now the prototype was finished. It took a few years but the preliminary data looked promising.

Furthermore, the ODPs' design was based on modularity. That way, the parts could be produced independently and put together at a designated location. It also allowed us to change them if they had to be repaired or we could replace them with newer and better ones.

"The plans for a new shipyard on the last planet of the Olympus system, the dwarf planet Asphodel, have been approved. The needed materials are currently being assembled, and construction should begin in a month. If everything stays on schedule, the first ten docks finish construction by September. Estimated completion is in two years, and it will have 50 docks. Most of them are for ships up to 800m, but ten will be for ships up to 2.5 km."

"2.5km?" asked Wright, Anita, and Micheal at the same time.

"Why are you so surprised?" commented Dr. Helkin. "Designs for such ships exist for a few years. While they aren't feasible with our current technology, we're planning for the future. I've looked over the plans for the shipyard. It's possible to build more than one ship in the longer cradles. If it's effective we will use that design again."

"Ah, that's the reason," said Micheal. "But I thought spaceships could not be longer than 1200m?"

"That's a common misconception," replied Barbara and started to explain. "If you use a pure E-Zero drive, the maximal effective ship length is around a kilometer. More and the E-Zero requirements become too high. That is because the E-Zero you need to create a large enough Mass Effect field is not proportional to ship length. It's more like an exponential curve. Through Dr. Hoshiyume's invention of the DR-drive, we've found out that a more effective energy source to power the E-Zero core, creates a slightly larger Mass Effect field. In light of this, our maximal effective ship length rose to 1.5 km. Any larger than 1600m and our E-Zero cores start to destabilize. We don't know why at the moment but are studying the problem. Of course, those facts only affect ships with a ME-drive or DR/ME-drive. When you're just using a DR-drive, then you can build your ships as big as you want. You only have to take into account that you will be slow as a snail. The technology is still new and not yet developed enough. For the ME-drives, we had the Prothean blueprints."

"Thank you for your explanation, Barbara," interjected Micheal in the brief pause she used to take a breath. I and everyone else were grateful he did when he did. Else she would have delved deeper and deeper into the topic until nobody understood a word anymore.

She muttered to herself about morons and ignorants but followed Micheal's unspoken request to stop.

After a few moments, I moved to finish my report.

"The only thing that's left to say is that our survey ships found a few mineral-rich planets inside our borders. Furthermore, they've found a garden world outside the Exodus cluster. Their standing orders are to explore the nearby solar systems and if they find a mass relay to not activate it until its destination is confirmed."

"That sounds great. And your point of not activating the relay binds perfectly in our next topic," said Micheal with a smile that he lost not a few seconds later. In its place was the determined gaze of a man who could and would impact the lives of billions with his decisions.

"As you know, on March 25th 14:34 SET, a single unknown ship entered the Shanxi system. It was a diplomatic delegation from the Citadel comprising of Asari, another alien species. Their appearance is close to that of a human woman, except for the blue skin colour and scalp-crests. Their goal was to achieve a ceasefire between the Turian Hierarchy and the System Alliance. Admiral Wright agreed to this with the stipulation that all military vessels were to retreat from the relay that leads to Shanxi. As far as we know, this was upheld. After this, the Asari wished to hold further diplomatic talks. Anita was sent to hold these talks which happened on April 2nd. A short summary is that they wish for us to join the Citadel. Could you please elaborate on this, Anita?"

"Of course, Director," said Anita and stood up, holding her datapad to check her notes if needed.

After clearing her throat, Anita began to give a brief summary of what the Citadel and the Council were. The massive space station, the Council species, and the associate species, bolstered with snippets of their cultures.

Nothing that we hadn't read in the Codex already but still necessary so that we were all on the same level of information.

"After the explanations about our species, we moved to the topic of humanity joining the Citadel. I replied that I had no authority to make that decision. We arranged a second diplomatic meeting, this time on the Citadel for the 25th of June. As a sign of goodwill from both sides, a prisoner exchange was arranged, and on April 14th executed. Furthermore, they gave me documentation explaining the major Citadel laws. To sum them up, the following laws have to be recognized by every species associated with the Citadel. Any research into Artificial Intelligence is prohibited, and any existing AI must be destroyed."

Anita took a short break to look around. None of us had any vocal response to this law. While humanity had some success with creating intelligent programs they were rather limited. It was still within the limits of VI by Citadel standards.

"Mass Relays are not to be opened without the Council's blessings. This is to prevent contact with possible hostile species."

"Not that we need those Relays anyway if Hoshiyume continues to improve the DR-drive," muttered Wright to my right. Still, he was correct. At the moment the Mass Relays were still the fastest way to travel between clusters and systems but that didn't help if there was no Relay. For these kinds of systems, the DR-drive was the better option. Like for the Olympus-System, we were currently in.

I was torn from my thoughts as Anita continued.

"All Prothean technology and ruins have to be reported to the Citadel Council after they are found. No species is allowed to hold back and hoard their findings, thus allowing all to profit from them."

That one gave way to some grimaces and eye rolls. None of us believed that all would profit from the findings. It was more likely that the Council species profited the most by this law.

Especially, since the Asari had a working Prothean beacon, one they never told anyone about.

In my mind, this was a dangerous card, that could be played if the situation was truly dire. After all, it would probably make me the target of more than a few assassination attempts by the Asari if word got out that I knew about the Beacon.

"The regulation of WMDs as stated in the Citadel Conventions. The details have been forwarded to you. And the last one is called the Treaty of Farixen."

That one could be problematic. While the other would restrict us somewhat, they didn't touch subjects that were important to us. But the Treaty of Farixen would limit the force we could field to protect our territory.

Not really something that would be popular, especially after our first contact with another spacefaring civilization was hostile.

Anita's thoughts were along the same line if I interpreted the small grimace on her face. Nonetheless, she started to explain the treaty.

"This treaty restricts the number of space-vessels of the classification 'dreadnought'. Its purpose is to guarantee civil and peaceful conduct between the Citadel species. The current ratio is 5:3:1. The Turians are allowed five dreadnoughts for every three the other council species build. Every other species is only allowed one for every three or five. The number is rounded up."

"Rounded up? What exactly does that mean?" asked Wright, his voice filled with resentment towards the treaty.

"For example, if the Turians have 25 dreadnoughts, we can build 5. If they have 26, we can have 6. The same applies to the other council species. If they have 15, we have 5. They have 16, we have 6. Furthermore, the higher number counts. So if the Turians have 25 and the Asari 16, we can still build six."

"Alright, but I want to say that I'm against this treaty. It will limit our future capabilities. This could jeopardize the defense of our colonies. Besides, if our relations with the Turians turn hostile again, we would be outnumbered in dreadnought count," declared Wright, his voice hard.

It didn't surprise me that the Admiral was against it. Limiting our forces was not ideal for a young spacefaring civilization. But there were more factors to consider. Before I could voice my thoughts, Micheal beat me to it.

"Just for clarification, what exactly is a dreadnought by Council standards?"

With a quick swipe, Anita opened a new file on her datapad. She quickly found the wanted information and replied: "Dreadnoughts are kilometer-long capital ships with 800m long mass-accelerator-cannons. That is the only description I've found."

"Just to be clear, that would mean if we built a 2km ship with a mass-accelerator-cannons of less than 800m, they would not be limited by the treaty, right?" I interjected with my question with a small smile.

Anita looked surprised and confused for a moment and checked her files again. She looked up from her datapad and answered: "The Treaty of Farixen only limits the number of dreadnoughts. And their definition is as I said."

"And the definition about the main armament is that it is a mass-accelerator cannon, right?" I further questioned, my smile growing a little bigger.

Now even the rest looked at me questioningly. Only Dr. Helkin seemed to understand what point I was trying to make. At least, she also had a small smile and a glint in her eyes that spoke of mirth.

It was Andrew who voiced the question that was on their mind.

"What point are you trying to make, Oscar? You already have a plan to circumvent the treaty, right?"

My smile grew even bigger.

"A few," I answered.

"Then spit them out, Oscar. Let us hear what you're thinking of," exclaimed Wright, his voice hard but with a slight of hope in it.

"If we follow the Treaty of Farixen and the Citadel's definition of a dreadnought to the letter, the only thing we're not allowed to do is to go over a specified number of ships that are longer than a kilometer and have a mass-accelerator cannon of 800m length. So, if we build a starship of over 1km length but with a mass-accelerator cannon of 750m length, it would not be categorized as a dreadnought, and so not restricted in numbers by the treaty."

After I finished voicing my idea, there was a moment of silence as they thought about it. Slowly the tension disappeared that had been present in the room after Anita explained the conditions of joining the Citadel.

"Wouldn't the Council quickly stop the construction of these, let's call them, 'pocket-dreadnoughts'?" asked Micheal, pointing out a possible flaw in my idea.

"I'm not saying we should start immediately. If we decide to join the Citadel, we should first collect more information about the political landscape and judicial processes. Find the blind spots and use them to our advantage. Just like we humans always do."

"That could be a possibility," said Anita, holding her chin with her right hand and a faraway look in her eyes. "A body as large as we believe the Citadel to be would have dozens if not hundreds of administrative and political obstacles to cross if they wanted to create a new law or adjust the Treaty of Farixen."

"And more importantly, they won't do it because of their pride," added Andrew.

"Their pride?" questioned Micheal.

"Yes, their pride. The Council has ruled their part of the galaxy for more than a thousand years. They won't admit that a species that didn't even have FTL travel for half a century outsmarted them. And every move to stop us from building 'pocket-dreadnoughts' as you called them will be exactly that. An admittance."

"I see. The plan is to use their pride against them. Now that I think about it, the possibility that we will be underestimated by the Council is pretty high. Any species that had so much power for such a long time without challenge is bound to become arrogant. I wouldn't even be surprised if the Council species feel superior to every other species. Perhaps each Council member feels that way even about the other members. But that's just speculation for now. Oscar, do you have some more ideas?"

"Sure have, director. I don't know what their definition of a mass-accelerator is, but I'm sure that somewhere in the description, it says that eezo is a component. So, if we take the eezo away..."

"The cannons wouldn't be mass-accelerators anymore. Is something like this even possible?"

"It is," chipped Barbara in. "The cannons on starships use eezo to lighten the mass of the projectiles. The actual velocity is created by magnetic coils that accelerate the projectile. In theory, this concept would work even without eezo. But the energy requirements would be enormous. To get the same amount of speed as with eezo, we would need a power plant to power it. Not even our fusion reactors generate enough power for it. To continue using eezo is... the... better... alt.."

As she said that, she suddenly became very still. For a minute nothing happened, but nobody made a move. We all knew that Barbara had one of her Eureka moments.

Without warning, she snatched her datapad, fished a pen out of her jacket, and started scribbling furiously on it while muttering loud enough for us all to hear. "Fusion-reactors still new. Still room for improvement. Always room for improvement. Got too comfortable. Eezo makes things too easy. There's always more. Better reactors could improve many projects, perhaps even make others feasible. Changing this could lead to, no, no, no, would destabilize other components." Her mutters grew ever quieter until they were no longer audible.

"It seems like we will see some technological breakthroughs in the coming future," joked Wright.

"Seems like it," Anita agreed with a quiet laugh.

"That would be perfect," I said. "As it would perfectly fit my next point."

"Oh, there's still more?"

"Naturally. If we continue on this path, it won't matter if the Turians outnumber us five to one in dreadnought count. Not if they need five to counter one of ours."

I could feel their surprise at my comment.

A genuine smile had found its way onto Wright's face as he asked: "Are you saying what I think you're saying?"

I returned his smile with one of my own as an answer.

"Holy shit, you do. Something like that could take decades, maybe even more than a century."

"Yes, but we humans can be patient if we want to. And even if not, we would use our impatience to reach that goal even faster. Join the Citadel, learn from them, use their technology as a template for our own, improve on it, surpass it. If we didn't get a Council seat by this point, we could still leave the Citadel. At this point we would be strong enough to oppose them if needed," said Andrew.

"The lesser number of dreadnoughts could even be a boon. The costs to refit them all wouldn't be too high," I commented.

Andrew was about to say something as a loud clap interrupted us.

It had been Micheal, who had stood up from his chair and clapped his hands to get our attention. As he saw that he had it, he leaned forward with his hand lowering on the table to hold him.

"Ladies and Gentlemen," he began. His voice was calm and serious, while his face showed no emotions. "It seems to me as if we had already decided that we will join the Citadel."

Hesitant nods were his answer, even from Barbara, who had listened to our discussion with one ear and stopped writing when Micheal clapped.

The more I thought about it, the stranger it was. Normally we would fight tooth and nail against anyone who would try to subject us, and now we unambiguously decided to do so willingly.

Perhaps it was the knowledge of what happened in the games, but for me, it felt like the right decision. Without the other species, we would never survive the Reapers. It seemed like the logical step to me. But I didn't know why the others seemed to prefer this direction. Was it because it was the better option? Or was it something else?

Before I could get lost in my thoughts, Micheal continued to talk.

"I too, see joining the Citadel as the right step. Even if we would join as second-class citizens. It would cut off all possibilities of war with any other member species. The technological, cultural, and economical gains are not deniable. But we must not forget that we would give others power over our society, over our whole species, over humanity! That is not a decision we can make. We have no authority to do so. Do not forget, that the Alliance is not a government! It is an organization tasked with exploring the galaxy, discovering new technology, and defending human colonies! Before we can sign any treaty with other civilizations, we have to transform the Alliance into a government. A government that can represent humanity as a whole!"

Applause filled the room after Micheal finished. The sound echoed in the room, and I had joined in before I realized it. His words lit a fire in our chests, a fire that would keep us warm even in the darkest winters. Nobody knew how the future would turn out, but we knew that we would stand tall against all adversity. And that we would build a future to be proud of. It took almost two minutes for the applause to settle so that Micheal could continue.

"It had always been my plan to transform the Alliance into a governmental body. Uniting humanity under one banner while also preserving the independence of its members. Over the years, I worked on this with a team of political experts, and I've talked about this with every single one of you at least once. I wish we had more time, but it has to happen now. Andrew, in your opinion, how long do we need?"

He seemed to think a moment about it and answered: "If we work fast, it will take no longer than a year. Maybe a few months more."

"That fast?" asked Wright and I at the same time.

"We've done enough groundwork over the years. The colonies won't be a problem anyway, not after showing that we can defend them. And the elements there that would stand against it are a minority with no real support. The only problem will be the nations on Earth. They won't like to lose power. But it is unlikely that they will be able to do anything against it. Last I heard, they were squabbling with each other over who sends how much help to Shanxi. And when the news of the attack on Shanxi arrived on Earth, the same happened. While we were there, defending humanity, they were arguing like children. The people didn't like that. Moreover, a few confidential memos had been leaked to pro-Alliance bloggers who continued to spread them on the internet. Let's just say that there have been a few protests and that the disarmament of the nation's orbital forces will be going a lot more smoothly from now on.

All in all, they can't afford to stand in our way right now, not if they want to keep a sliver of power."

"That coincides with what I've heard over some military channels," Wright picked up, drawing our attention. "Mostly, it is just some talk among the enlisted soldiers. But some people high up in the chain of command are not happy with their governments at the moment. There was an attack on humanity, and all they could do was twirl their thumbs. It wouldn't surprise me if there's a rise in our recruitment quotas for the Navy and Marine Corps in the coming months. We might even get some with impressive resumes."

"That's great, but I will wait until I see the numbers black on white," commented Micheal. "But for now, we focus on what lies before us. Admiral, you will continue to fortify our position on Shanxi and salvage what you can. Every piece could be helpful. Coordinate with our science teams. Barbara," he looked to her, still writing on her datapad," will continue what she's doing," he said with a sigh. With a turn of his head, he focused on Andre and ordered:" Talk to your contacts in the other intelligence agencies, see if there are some who would like to play on a bigger stage. I have the feeling that we will need them in the future. Meanwhile, Oscar, Anita, and I will either set up or visit some charity events for rebuilding Shanxi. There will be a lot of people who want positive PR, and that is their chance. During the events, we will lobby for support among the movers and shakers for our plans. With them on our side, it will be easier to get things done."

For a moment, Micheal and Anita held eye contact, holding a silent conversation between them, before Anita made a quick glance towards me. A barely noticeable nod was Micheal's answer.

"We don't know how long it will take to travel to the Citadel," continued Micheal. "But I want you on the way at the beginning of June. Tell the Council that we are interested in joining, but can't make the decision without a unified government. Also, tell them that we will uphold the five Citadel laws and treaties you explained. That should give us some goodwill and time. By the way, Oscar, you will accompany her."

That was surprising. I hadn't expected to be on the diplomatic mission to open talks with the Citadel. That I would visit the Citadel in an official capacity was out of the question, but I had thought it would happen at a later time. After all, someone had to broker trade agreements and adapt our currency to the one of the Citadel. And those fell within my purview.

Still, I asked them if I heard right in the most eloquent way I could.

By pointing at myself and asking: "Me?"

"Yes, you," answered Anita instead of Micheal. "I need someone I can trust with me. Besides the others within the diplomatic service, I would take with me, will be too busy in the coming months. They are the ones that will have to do the grunt work for Micheal's plans. Besides, dealing with politicians is not too different from what you have been doing. Like businessmen, they want power, money, and prestige. The only difference is that they have more people to send after you if they want to see you dead. But you will be fine. Just do what you always do."

"Know who you're dealing with, know the situation. What are your goals, what does your opponent want? Consider all possibilities and consequences. Then choose the best way to maximize your gain and minimize your loss while also denying your opponent the same. I know how it works, I'm no amateur. I was just surprised for a moment," I defended myself.

"Seems like it's decided," chuckled Micheal.

"I guess we should get to work. This meeting is closed."