Side Quests for Harem and Powers 10: Unexpected (Patreon)

“Give me the short report right now. I can get the full report once we’re in my secure office,” I said as I quickly made my way back to the ship. I turned off the hologram but kept an earphone in my right ear.

“The Geth, after hearing information that we agreed should be shared, decided to expand out of the Perseus Veil.”

That brought me up short. I literally stumbled to a stop in the middle of the avenue leading to the hangar bays right outside the commercial sector. I steadied myself on the wall next to me before responding.

“... You’re kidding.”

“I am not kidding, Steven,” Cortana grumbled. “We’ll talk later.”

I nodded and quickly made my way.

It took me an hour to meet with the representative after I left my ship. I arrived there in fifteen minutes and took no more than three to reach my office and lock it down.

“Okay, lay it on me,” I said after securing my office within my ship. “What happened?”

Appearing once more as a hologram, Cortana looked miserable. “It took me half a week to get to Perseus Veil, where the Geth were. Just like we planned, we thought that we should get the support of the Geth, if not for their industrial output than for the sake of their military power.”

The Geth had been busy since the Quarians fled, and they - according to canon - should have a fleet that could meet the entirety of the Council Races’ militaries and then some, not to mention the fact that they were technologically more advanced than the said coalition of races. Having the Geth on my side to meet the onslaught of Reapers was more important than getting the active military support of the Citadel Council. 

“Yes, we agreed on that. So what happened?”

“When I told them the estimated count of the Reapers, they decided that they would devote their all into combating the threat to the galaxy.”

“... But why?”

Cortana sighed. “Apparently, they still have some Quarians on their homeworld.”

I blinked at that. In the Mass Effect canon, there should not have been Quarians on Rannoch. That was the whole premise of why the Migrant Flotilla was divided: those who wanted to take their homeworld back and those who knew that they didn’t have the firepower necessary to win against the Geth. 

“The Migrant Fleet knows…?”

She shook her head. “Geth only told me because I didn’t tell them about you; they saw me and only saw an AI trying to stop a genocide across the galaxy.”

“Then…?”

“The quarians still on Rannoch aren’t the decision makers, Steven. They are being taken care of.”

“... I don’t understand.”

“The Geth more or less took over all forms of political and military matters by providing those Quarians still on Rannoch to the point of decadence. Steven, they consider themselves servants, so when those willing few who survived their Morning War remained with them, they did what they were designed to do in the first place but with far too much resource to individual ratio.”

I frowned. What does that have to do with… My eyes widened. “Oh. The Geth didn’t see a need to limit the quantity of resources once designated for the entirety of the Quarian race.”

Cortana nodded, exasperated by what she learned. “And so when they learned that the Reapers were coming to harm their Quarians and given some basic information on what the Reaper threat would amount to…”

“They decided to push out of Perseus Veil to expand and grow.”

“Exactly, and they consider that a necessity even with their some fifty thousand warships.”

I spit-took. “F-Fifty thousand…?!” I wheezed. It was shocking to hear of that much number, because despite knowing that the Geth were the secret military powerhouse, having a conrete number to work with still blew my mind away. 

For comparison, the Turians had thirty-five dreadnoughts at this moment. 

“They had two hundreds of uninterrupted growth with very few needs to sate for themselves and quarter of a million Quarians on Rannoch.”

“How many of them are dreadnoughts?”

“At least a thousand.”

Yup. Secret powerhouse.

“And our request…?”

“They’ll help. I traded the blueprint for a lesser slipspace engine for it.”

I blinked. “Wait, you had blueprints with you?”

Cortana rolled her eyes. “Duh. I had to coordinate repairs more than once.”

“... Any other blueprints that you might have that you want to share?”

“Finally you ask, you big idiot.”