Winning Peace - Chapter 42 (Patreon)

Councilor Aethyta M'Soni decided it was far past time to put her foot down.

The batarian and salarian councilors sitting opposite her had begun the meeting by bringing up a map of the new System Alliance's disclosed territorial boundaries. In and of itself, that was perfectly acceptable. Although geographical determinism might read differently on an interstellar scale than a planetary one, there were facets of the study that carried over. Specifically, the relays created bottlenecks that limited the flows of interstellar traffic in curious ways.

Those flows of traffic were important to understand, in turn, when setting tariffs, checkpoints, patrols for pirates and smugglers, and planning out infrastructure to better support inter-system trade. So when speaking of a newly-introduced polity on the galactic stage, it was only reasonable and logical to first look at their boundaries in correlation with one's own before making any sort of plans.

Sadly, she'd already understand that wasn't why her other councilors were doing that.

“Perhaps the best route to put pressure on them would be moving forces through the Attican Traverse? Given the location of their space relative to our own, I would bet my best slave that those relay pairs open up to each other,” Pretok Recgagar stated, pointing to the cluster in question.

“Will have to move quickly should the relays open. Establish foothold before they have time to reinforce with a minefield,” Sebort Nazzi concurred with a sharp nod. “STG is already developing countermeasures for antimatter mines, but still experimental.”

Aethyta took a deep breath. “The Asari Republics will not broker any act of aggression on the Systems Alliance.”

The councilors of the other two dominant species in the galaxy paused, looked at Aethyta, then turned back to look at the other.

“The Systems Alliance represents an inarguable threat to the dominance of Citadel Space in the wider galaxy,” Pretok stated bluntly, waving at the map with one hand. “You can see for yourself that their position between batarian space and the more central asari-salarian sectors poses an incredible danger that could threaten the very heart of our civilization if we overlook it.”

Aethyta shook her head. “If you indulge yourself in a two-dimensional map of the galaxy, that's true, but the High Arc relay route, the Irune Path, and the Attican Way bypass Systems Alliance and turian space easily.”

It was a common misconception in the news media that the political factions of the galaxy could be presented in an easy-to-understand flat plane with bright colors annotating their various territories.

That was not the case.

Currently, there was an enormous fuss about the furthest reaches of human territory, a racial subset of the Alliance, overlapping with batarian space. If one were standing far above the galactic plane and looking down upon the entire spiral, then that would be the case. However, such a perception ignored the fact that the galaxy was between one thousand and ten thousand light-years 'thick' depending on where you were located within it.

So, yes, human and batarian territories 'overlapped' in the loosest sense possible.

But the batarian territories in question were part of the upper ten percent of the galaxy in that region. The humans, by contrast, were much more in the middle of that distance. Which meant that the 'overlap' did not actually exist, the space being claimed by each species being on a different galactic plane than the other. To the average idiot, though, it could easily be used to justify a war between the two species, she supposed. Given where the relays were, there was even a strong chance that some pairs did link up with each other, or linked up through another secondary set. Uncovering that would only serve to validate the fears of warmongers who sought conflict, however.

Even if one took into account potential military conflicts, that made it all the more necessary to properly delineate border regions now, before that kind of thinking could take hold.

“And before you speak on it, I am well aware of the rachni threat,” Aethyta stated bluntly, meeting both of their gazes firmly. “That said, we have never observed a rachni queen or her hive cooperating with one or more other races in a peaceful setting. There is ample evidence to suggest, with their past record of violence, that this could be a feint in order to achieve some strategic goal, but I can only see a major interstellar war helping them to achieve any such objective, not hindering them.”

Sebort scowled as he nodded slowly, turning back to his batarian counterpart. “Sensible objection, at least. Distracting human and accosian military forces may open up their alliance to slowly be consumed from within by rachni menace.”

Pretok showed off a row of spiked teeth. To the asari, most would consider that a smile. To the batarians, it was closer to a threat display. “So we will just wait by the sidelines and allow them to grow stronger while the ignorant infants nurture a swarm that could reignite the Rachni Wars in full?”

“I said no such thing,” Aethyta replied with a narrowing of her gaze. “And I will thank you to remember that the asari have a much clearer recollection of the horrors of the Rachni Wars than most. The Council of Matriarchs has no wish to revisit such a tumultuous and violent time, which is precisely why the Asari Republics will refuse a military engagement with the Systems Alliance until such time as the rachni have shown their true colors. Until that time, though, it appears that the New Prothean Empire is willing to oblige us by instigating a conflict.”

With that cue, she brought up the now-famous clip of the human ambassador escaping a Prothean fleet in his... transforming mech-fighter.

Complete with the embedded musical accompaniment.

“Prothean treaty demands were a trap,” Sebort snorted, blinking his black eyes rapidly. “Designed to initiate hostilities. No other polity would entertain the idea of handing over so much of their technological base.”

Aethyta privately agreed, even if she expressed the public opinion that the botched meeting with the protheans was ample evidence the seemingly-peaceful rachni were either a fluke or an active deception on their part.

Nevertheless, her eyes were drawn back to the beginning of the footage as Dr. Ezekiel Lopez and the Prothean Empire's delegates sat down to discuss the destruction of the NPE fleet, the safe harbor granted to the turians, and the potential consequences of their violent First Contact.

“I should begin by apologizing for the circumstances under which your people lost their lives. The Systems Alliance deeply regrets the unfortunate First Contact between our peoples and, moreover, we acknowledge that despite our obligation to defend ourselves, we also have an obligation to those parties who trespass our space unknowingly and wish to make amends through whatever reasonable action would ensure there is no further violence between our groups.”

It was, to Aethyta, something of a pro-forma opening. Despite the grandeur of the imperial meeting hall it was taking place in, the human did not seem intimidated or overawed by the circumstances he found himself in. His expression was apologetic, too, without crossing the line into simpering or submissive. He also never actually accepted blame for the deaths of the combatants or the destruction of the fleets.

Overall, Aethyta thought it was a good effort. Not the best she'd seen, but a good one with a solid statement of intent.

The only thing lacking, in her opinion, was sincerity.

Oh, he went through the motions, but Aethyta had had centuries to practice her art, and this Dr. Lopez didn't buy a word of what he was selling. Despite that, he was giving it his best effort in the name of peace. He still wanted to deescalate the situation, but if the turians had been even remotely honest with the new faction, and she knew they had, he understood a lost cause when he saw one.

The Councilors watched as Lopez was received coolly by the three prothean officials. One was clearly an admiral, the other a high-ranking functionary from the imperial homeworld, and the final bearing no obvious decoration of office.

That clearly marked him as an intelligence agent of some stripe. To Aethyta, he was perhaps something akin to the departmental-heads of the STG.

“There is the matter of reparations. What is the Systems Alliance prepared to offer us for so great a loss of life, war materiel, and a collapse of our strategic momentum?”

Again, Lopez tried. Most parties would be affronted by the very idea that they would need to pay reparations after being attacked in their own territory, but the human clearly understood the power disparity between their respective polities.

“I have been empowered by my government to offer a one-for-one material exchange of all processed and refined substances involved in the manufacture of your vessels, with an additional thirty percent on top of that. All of which will be delivered to a neutral meeting point over the course of the next three standard cycles.”

The fact that even the infamously warlike protheans took a moment to process that their implicit demands were acceded to underlined how unexpected this turn of events was.

“The Systems Alliance is also prepared to offer precious or semi-precious materials in the amount of a lifetime's pay to the next of kin of everyone who died in the battle. Both before and after your fleet entered our space.”

That alone was an offer of billions of Citadel Credit-equivalent value.

Even for a major power like the constituent races of the Citadel, that kind of offer wasn't a drop in the bucket. Combined with the previous reparations of an entire fleet's worth of resources? It was enough to cause a moderate recession simply out of public panic over rampant government spending and reallocation of resources.

That, more than anything else, convinced Aethyta of the information coming out of the Hierarchy's back channels.

The hologram kept playing, an intricate display of high-level politics and negotiations as Lopez alone held his own against the three protheans. Food was brought in, a meal was had, the Empire being careful to offer every possible indication that they were the gracious hosts they pretended to be.

“Finally, we wish to discuss the security of our border with your Systems Alliance. It is of paramount importance to any peace between our peoples that the system you call... 'Shanxi' has the antimatter minefield removed from its boundaries. The New Prothean Empire cannot coexist with such a cache of automated weapons, only one relay jump away from an active battlefield with an enemy you have already shown preferential treatment towards.”

The worst part, to Aethyta at least, was that the disparate parts of the argument were sound.

Galactic powers held the relay system as inviolable in many regards. While it was within many of their power to blockade or cut off access to the relays as the Systems Alliance had done, they didn't. Part of it was, admittedly, the expense. Only the humans had shown a willingness to invest in infrastructure of the scale needed to pump out the amounts of antimatter needed to arm that kind of deterrent.

But, more importantly, the potential destruction of one or more relays could easily cut off entire systems from commerce and communication. Positioning so much volatile material so close to the relays was utterly unthinkable.

Even the salarians had balked at the notion after the krogan fleet had bombarded Sur'Kesh with asteroids after the release of the First Genophage.

 Unfortunately, that meant she had to agree with the New Prothean Empire, as distasteful as it was. That kind of ordinance was simply too dangerous to have near one of the irreplaceable relics that made up the galactic transportation network all parties relied on, regardless of war or peace. It was, sadly, a black mark against their trustworthiness in the eyes of most of the galaxy.

“I can offer you a twenty percent reduction in the number of mines placed around the relay itself and a series of positions to be appointed by your government which will serve as oversight of the positions of our defense network in the Shanxi system.”

In her position, Aethyta would have accepted that offer. In the ensuing centuries, she and her successor would be able to wean humanity and the larger Systems Alliance off their paranoia. Achieving a 'good enough' gesture out of the gate would quiet a number of dissenters and make those still remaining look radical.

That, however, was not the Prothean Empire's goal.

“That is unacceptable to His Imperial Majesty Javik I. It is unconscionable to allow such weapons so close to the galactic relay network. You will be regarded as an uncivilized race who does not abide by the norms of galactic warfare should your people continue to pursue this course of action.”

Lopez made several counteroffers, with the prothean demands only growing more and more acrimonious as the discussion went on. It had started off with a simple stripping of Shanxi's system-wide defenses, but quickly grew into a denouncement of the System Alliance's entire engagement strategy.

Soon enough, things came to a head.

“Enough!” The prothean admiral stood violently, his face twisting in anger. “You are making a mockery of our offer of peace and I have had enough of it! Your Systems Alliance government will remove and destroy the offending weaponry themselves or the Empire will do so for you! Choose!”

“The Systems Alliance must decline to acquiesce to your request,” Lopez smiled, opening his hands up in an expression that was tagged 'without further recourse.' “If you are unsatisfied with my service as designated ambassador, though, I would recommend we resolve what issues we have come to terms over already and leave the issue of the defense network on the table for other talks in the future. Would that be acceptable?”

Again, Aethyta had to give this Lopez-character credit. Intractable problems did occasionally rear their ugly heads in diplomacy and politics, but few people had the wisdom to admit they had come to an impasse before focusing on what they'd already managed to achieve.

If she'd been at the negotiating table with him, this would have been an excellent point to accept the terms they'd already hammered out and push the matter into a joint committee where it could quietly die until relations could improve.

“We will not.” This time it was the bureaucrat who spoke. “To do so would be tantamount to leaving a knife posed at the throat of our war effort against the turians. Your intragnizent stance on this issue has forced our hand. Either you will commit your government to a policy of disarming your illegal defense network or the Prothean Empire will be forced to regard the Systems Alliance as aparty to the numerous offenses the Turian Hierarchy has already committed.”

“Then I will carry your words back to my leaders,” Lopez stated. “While I have been given significant powers in regards to negotiations here and now, such an agreement is beyond my remit. As such, I would ask that I be allowed to consult with my people's leadership and return with a proper answer.”

“No,” the prothean admiral stated, crossing his arms. “We will communicate directly with your government. You will be shown to accommodations until such time as a treaty has been arranged or war has been declared. Afterwards, you will either be released back to your people or executed for your role in the destruction of our fleet.”

Which was, honestly, the outcome Aethyta excepted. Diplomacy with the Prothean Empire was always tricky, and usually held on neutral facilities with fleets in orbit from both factions above. Such locations were rare, but valuable.

Regardless, it was a foregone conclusion what would happen as Lopez was marched off to a small guest room on the large prothean vessel, accompanied by a pair of deadly drell Guardians.

Finally, when Lopez was finally alone, he looked up at the camera and grinned.

“Well, folks, looks like I've been trapped in an enemy stronghold surrounded by hostile forces, and all diplomatic efforts have fallen through. Now my mission, should I accept it, is to escape captivity and return to my people to bring warning on an imminent enemy assault.”

The human was quiet for a moment, still grinning widely.

“That means it's time to pull a Die Hard.”

What followed was, well...

There was a reason Lopez was now ranking as one of the most eligible prospective life-partners among young maidens. If she ever met the man, Liara had instructed her to get an autograph at all costs, even, and her daughter seldom took notice of things outside of a textbook.

“What is a... 'Die Hard,' anyway?” Pretok asked, his tongue stumbling over the human words.

“A two-century old piece of human theater telling the fictional account of a protagonist escaping a band of terrorists who have occupied a high-rise building in one of their pre-space flight cities,” Sebort explained in typical salarian shorthand. “Curiously, a very popular holiday film.”

Aethyta privately snorted, disguising the gesture. She'd actually pulled a few strings and gotten a copy of the movie at her daughter's insistence. It had been... interesting, in the way that only old media of another civilization had a tendency to be. Entertaining, though.

“Then what was watching the human's escape from the Prothean Empire's fleet supposed to achieve? I have seen it at least five times in intelligence briefings,” Pretok waved off the elaborate flight to freedom.

“It underlines exactly that,” Aethyta stated, leaning back. “The entire galaxy has seen this footage after the humans released it to the turians. It's a damning indictment of the prothean's diplomatic process and a monumental insult all at once.”

Finally, she saw gears turning behind the batarian's eyes. Thankfully for her peace of mind, her salarian counterpart seemed to have long understood the message she was sending.

“The Citadel will remain a bastion of peace and stability in these trying times,” she declared, her tone as firm as a mountain. “The war between the Systems Alliance and the Prothean Empire is now unavoidable. We will let them fight. And be there to pick up the pieces afterwards.”

~~~

And here it is! Next chapter of Winning Peace, as promised!

More details on Lopez's little diplomatic misadventure with the Protheans, and how things went down. Next chapter will return to Lopez's POV as the primary character and check up on more pressing issues than the largest interstellar war in recently history.

Last chapter for the month will either be OG Industrious or Where Your God Is. One of the two.

Rock on, stay awesome, and thank you for all your support!