With Pride and Blood 3 (Patreon)

With Pride and Blood 3 - or ‘Time to make Humanity the Greatest Ever, at the Expense of some scum from outer space!’ (Mass Effect, Senator Armstrong!SI)

As the news of a Violent First Contact had started to spread all over the space owned by the Systems Alliance, a request for a response by the government was made and… I happily gave one.

In a situation akin to one taken from one of those Sci-Fi movies where the US President had to give the news of war with a species beyond the stars, I found myself sitting in the oval office, the place having been refitted to accordingly manifest the familiar and yet modernized seat of power of the one that was in charge of the Systems Alliance.

With secretaries and bureaucrats under me moving swiftly through the state of emergency created by the First Contact War, I was passing a few rapid bills by bypassing the parliament in regard to the military budget.

I wasn’t planning to go for too big of a jump in the expansion, but with the situation we were in, it was best to bloat the Navy and the Army to a degree which would make our combat readiness from now on even more effective.

After all, I don’t expect to make any friends with the Council with their idea of ‘restrictions’.

I had a speech prepared, but I had crossed out some spaces as ‘blanks’ to add some improvised flair to it. It was part of the charm, I suppose, and I knew it was going to work just fine, if not better now that it was time to show some guts for humanity’s sake.

“People of the Systems Alliance, this is President Steven Armstrong speaking and… yes, it is true. We are in a state of war.”

There was a brief pause as I stared at the teleprompter.

“Now, I know what many would think of this and I will say this for clarification: this was not an act we decided to be dealing with. We were attacked without proper declaration and the first losses we suffered was the Explorer Fleet sent through the Shanxi’s relay for further studies. Civilians that lacked the means of defending themselves beyond the minimum military escort that could hardly do much with the aggression caused by our enemy’s small fleet,” I explained calmly, knowing that any points I was not going to bring up now was going to be a pain in the butt to discuss in the parliament. “From what we were able to retrieve from the last connection we had on the ship was that they were attacked and obliterated without a chance to open a dialogue, this act of hostility then expanded with the invasion of the Shanxi.”

Another pause, a small smile forming on my face.

“That’s where our new foes messed up big time. Through the decades-worthy preparation for a potential negative first contact, the forward base established by the Navy in Shanxi and the detachment of ground forces garrisoning the colony was able to establish a formidable defense that allowed all civilians in the colony to evacuate safely and orderly. I am sure that this piece of news has spread as well as the one regarding the First Battle of Shanxi.”

I shuffled some papers, cleared my voice and paraphrased some of the reports I had on me.

“The battle, from the eyes of the officers on the field, was quite straightforward. Despite having numerical and technological advances for their infantry, the obsolete tactics employed by our foes, defined as ‘soldiers of the Turian Hierarchy’, turned out to be their own downfall. Out of the large army that amounted to five times the garrison’s size, only a sixth of it survived. Two sixths were taken as prisoners and the rest was decimated as part of the first wave. More waves ensued, but the toll was enough to discourage further assaults. Tragically, the Space Battle happening in the orbit of the planet was less one-sided as our naval garrison took a beating after forcing several of their ships to either retreat or make a landfall on the planet. Confidently so, the HIGHCOM has answered to this issue by already dispatching the First Strike Fleet to not only reinforce but push back the Turian Fleet back out of the system and then guard the Relay for further hostile reinforcements.”

I flipped two pages. “In this regard, I would like to expand that there are no plans for a mass conscription, rations, or war-related measures which would create issues for the civilian industry and corporations. We were attacked and we will hold our ground into a war that will not damage everyone that is part of the Systems Alliance. We have long shedded the need to burn through our natural economy for the sake of prolonging a conflict that, for us, is more of a defensive war.”

I looked up from the script, ready

“But we will also be above the notion of blaming an entire new race on the basis of decisions allowed through by their military. In fact, from what we found on the orders and communications between the soldiers and officers of Turian descent, it is clear that the battlegroup that ravaged the exploring fleet and then assaulted Shanxi was acting with the plot to ‘show off’ some muscles while putting down a potential ‘troublesome race’. Further interrogation of POWs has led to more details to color this scenario- the Hierarchy is part of a Galactic Council which acts within the limitations of a code of law. By their own admission, we as the Systems Alliance, violated rules which prevents the unauthorized use of Relays. What the rule specifically says is that a ‘Member of the Council’ can’t do this, thus confirming one thing that has been played off by many members of the military but turned out to be true.”

I slammed my fist on the desk, holding back from breaking it but making the wood creak.

“They are going to war with us because they can and want to burn military stress. At our expenses!” I relayed angrily. “Without any doubt in mind, it is clear this bunch of scum attacking us has decided to purposely start a war because they think they can get away from it- but worry not for they will be facing sanctions and reparation for this is something I will demand from the peace treaty we will win.”

I calmed down, smiling again. “For we are no quitters and our Military is in a state of efficiency that shall obliterate any foe that dares to endanger those that have done nothing to them but merely exist. We shall repel this scum and protect our freedoms and rights, for the sake of the future for ourselves and the next generations!”

The announcement was thus over. I felt a wave of annoyance wash over me as I got a bit worked up on the matter. I had been so tempted to swear a bit, but I knew it was the kind of communication kiddies were going to watch too. The last thing I needed was a new scandalous revival of the fact I was too ‘potty-mouthed for TV’. That had been embarrassing enough decades ago, and I didn’t need this to make a third comeback…

Still, there was still a lot to do in the backstage. The Behind the Scenes for this First Contact War was already picking up a lot of steam and  I needed to milk this situation as strongly as possible without going too far with it. By the end of it, I expected the military to double in size within the next four years.

Fuck, I can tell this was going to work nice as propaganda for a new major recruitment drive. I may not need to start conscription, but many youths were definitely going to join the Military now that they knew there was something ‘worthy to fight for it’.

And I had to get the right bunch of diplomats to tag along when the peace treaty was signed by my hand. Like hell I was going to miss hurling shit at the bastards that allowed this slight to go unpunished in the original series.

Also… I wonder what to do about the few interesting characters that should be involved in this. After all, aren’t Saren and the Illusive Man involved in this?

So much had to be done, that much I was more than happy to confirm.

—-------d-d-d-d—----

AN

I know many may not like that Armstrong isn’t his memey self, but I had thought about writing it and realized a public announcement of that magnitude would have had that kind of tone and attitude seen in a negative way. His next interactions however… Well, he is going to show some big dick energy.

Especially when he ends up speaking with the Council. He has a few choice words to use in that situation~.