Terran Federation: Counterstrike

Edited by a person of many names Blood Raven AKA TimedRaven117. Go check out his story Mass Effect: X-Com Theory!

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Welcome to Fed Net News Network, for all your Citadel and Terran Federation News Needs!

All quiet on the western front

It has been 8 years after the 2nd Bug War. The Arachnid Empire has been completely eradicated from Terran territory and all investigated planetoids in a 100 Lightyear distance. Small colonies have begun to grow on that new frontier, though most wonder if this is a safe idea.

To be better informed we've asked Sky Marshal Enolo Phid for a comment.

Enolo Phid: Well of course it's safe to settle in the region. We've found no trace of any bug presence after the last redoubts were smashed by our forces in the last push. And with the StoneWall Project, we will assure the safety of all Federal Citizens from even the small incursions the feral bugs could throw at us. That isn't to say we won't be prepared for the inevitable, but barring extreme and unfortunate circumstances, it's impossible for the bugs to strike back within a hundred years time.

Strong words from a strong leader! The Future looks bright in the west, so don't be afraid to settler there! Consult your local colonial recruiter today about what you can do to gain citizenship and adventure in the frontiers of space.

Do you want to know more? Continue

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Terran Foreign Legion Recruitment Video: Turian

You! Yes you! Out of the good ol' Corp? Looking for a job to put those killer skills to use? Maybe you're looking for a change of scenery or adventure? Maybe you want to set up a life for you and your family outside of the Hierarchy, with people who understand and respect your culture and way of life? Perhaps you want an alternative to the criminal haven that is the Terminus?

Then maybe the Terran Federation is the place for you! You want a war story in a real war? You want to meet men and women who have a bond tighter than family? People who have had to fight in a war that would make your ancestors proud? People with a culture and history that is as varied as the stars we roam? We don't discriminate! The Space Wings need pilots, the Mobile Infantry need experienced NCOs, we need heroes, we need you!

Remember: Service! Guarantees! Citizenship!

Become a Dual-Citizen today!

A message from the Terran Federation Council to the Turian Hierarchy, brought to you by the Federation News Network, and Citadel News Network.

Do you want to know more? Exit

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Saren Arterius, formerly 1st Talon Leader for the 97th Palavan Legion, closed the video on his omnitool as he looked to the Terran Recruiting Center. It looked… Packed. Turians, Asari, Salarians, even a few Batarians and Quarians. He reigned in his resentment.

For years he'd been stonewalled at every corner of his career. He'd made Talon Commander, the equivalent of a Terran Company, before his brother's disappearance. That day he promised himself he would discover what had happened to his brother. He excelled at everything, he fought tooth and nail in every engagement, cared for his men, and trained until his talon's were raw and what did he get? He was denied even the most traditional of advancements.

As if someone were purposefully halting his progress. He was told by his commanders that he was a shoe in for officerships, for Blackwatch, for possibly even Spectre status, and just like himself, they were astounded when he was denied. It was a travesty and a waste of his skills. So it was when he finally ran his 15 years he declined a second term of service and went to the Citadel to seek his fortune more directly. Lacking his brother's high placement in the military he no longer had an in for higher command, no longer had anyone's ear. It was like he had inherited a curse from his brother. This had built up as resentment in him.

And he had nearly given up hope in getting anywhere legally until he saw that ad in his inbox. Taking a deep breath he got in line and waited in the queue. Being near so many different aliens was uncomfortable for him, he had been raised as a proud Turian, to see to his people's needs. But his vow would require him to work with the Terrans, who to his knowledge were honorable and capable soldiers on their own, but lacked Citadel War making experience and military theory. If anyone would accept him, it would be the Terrans.

Even as he thought that, he was soon greeted by a Human, he was missing his legs, and his face was also slightly replaced with obvious plastic replacements. He looked horrible, as if he had stepped on a mine. "Gud mornin' son, what can ah do ya fer?" He asked, as if he were as cheery as could be.

"Yes, I'd like to enlist as a soldier." Saren said neutrally, trying not to stare.

The man just smiled at him, and felt his metal and plastic synthetic jaw, "Ah've been gettin' ah lot o' Tur'ans lyke ya asking dat sam' t'ing. Ahmost aww of 'hem ex-pec-ted ta git raght in, no que-stions asked, no testin', ah lot o' them were awso from dose colony worlds ta Hagher-archy don't cantrol. Thinking dat mahybe Federal Service whould be eaysier dan Hagher-archy con-scrip-tion."

Saren didn't know how to respond, his translator barely managed to translate the man's garbled speech, "Ya see wat hap-pen ta meh? Stepped on ah Skinnie mine back on Fortunde VI, last mah legs, and a piece of shrap-nal barely mhissed mah head und in-stead took out mah jaw and cheek. Ah've neva been mor' thankfu' ta be ahlave dan now. Naw, ear's the que-stion: Ya willin' to lose dose fringes? Ta lose yer legs? Ta lose yer life? Ahll fer a cause ya may not eva' understand?"

Saren knew his answer, "The only cause I would need to understand is the soldier by my side. The only ambition I have is to see my brother again." The Man's eyes lit up, as if he saw something special in the Turian.

"An' Ah Be-Lieve ya." Typing something up, he then produced a printed out paper and stamped it. "Reeport ta da ad'ress on dat paper 0600 sharp! Yaw're reel intavew is den!"

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Batarians a threat?

Another attack in the north west by Batarian pirates last week has created a coalition of governors asking the Federation to take action against the Hegemony, though there is no proof that the Batarian government is behind these attack they do seem less than helpful when locating the pirates bases in their territorial claims. The Federal government though does not see the Batarians as a threat to the Federation compared to the Fourth, whose raids are far more deadly and destructive, and on bigger colonies. No doubt Federal authorities will raise a complaint with the Citadel but it's doubtful military action will be called on or be deemed necessary.

Do you want to know more? Continue

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Terran Foreign Legion Recruitment Video: Quarian

Down on your luck? No one willing to hire you for whatever reason?

The Terran Federation will never discriminate against those who wish to join!

We accept anyone with the guts to pass our rigorous training! We will teach you skills that will help you in life. We will give you a place in our society that you can be proud of! All while earning a generous salary, food and board provided while you serve.

Not interested in purely military service? Our doors are open for scientists, pilots, accountants, engineers, and more!

Join us today! Because remember, Service guarantees citizenship!

Warning: Acceptance into training is not guaranteed.

A message from the Terran Federation Council to the Quarian people, brought to you by the Federation News Network, and Citadel News Network.

Do you want to know more? Exit

~[==|==]~

Kal'Reegar lowered his own omni-tool as he looked at the recruiting station, the address matched up, and he looked at the packed recruiting station. Dozens of people were shoulder to shoulder in line to the five desks manned by maimed Humans in the small room that made up this station. It was so full it reminded him of home. That brought a moment of nostalgia of being on the Jessan. A small boarding corvette, home of the Reegar clan, one of the many influential family blocks that made up the fleet. Kal himself was barely 17, he had been travelling for more than a year trying to find steady employment but no one was hiring Quarians and he didn't exactly have the technical skills to be a must have commodity. Sure he could repair a life pod with nothing but his omni-tool, and with enough scrap and a pound of eezo make it do FTL jumps, but he wasn't exactly Zorah Family level technical genius.

Without thought he got in the queue, and waited patiently as he played a simple Quarian game on his HUD while he waited. He filtered out the people around him, to the point where he almost missed being called up by one of the maimed Humans. She looked to be in her mid years by asari standards, perhaps even less than that, strong features that were accentuated by the exotic skin tone, which was a light mud black color, but it was marred by the lattice of scar and burn tissue. Behind his mask he winced, injuries like that on Quarians were excruciatingly painful, her right arm was also missing, replaced by a cybernetic replacement.

Her black hair was cropped short, and was long in the back that formed a tail like braid. Her eyes were the most striking, brown irises on pure white. "Well? Are you done staring?" The woman asked in a stern battle worn voice. Those eyes still struck him, they looked just like his father's.

His glowing eyes blinked, "I'm sorry, forgive my poor manners. I'd like to enlist in the marines." She stared at him.

"Registration? References? Previous family information?" She asked tersely, not rudely, tersely, like his father asked recruits when on duty.

Wordlessly, he brought up his omni-tool, transcribed his "resume" into Terran standard, and tried to send it to her, it linked to her desk which brought up a holographic interface. She cupped her chin in her cybernetic replacement, carefully tracing the deep red scar that was once a gash perhaps a year ago. "Kal'Reegar vas'Jessan, 17 standard Years, no official employment history, not unusual for a Quarian your age. No criminal record."

"If you don't mind me asking ma'am…" She looked up at him with an arched eyebrow.

"Yes prospect?" Wincing once more behind his mask, Reegar sighed, 'Great I'm not even being considered recruit.'

"How did you lose your arm? I don't think it's likely you just misplaced it somewhere at home." He winced at his weak attempt at a joke.

However she smirked ever so slightly, before her real hand, calloused and scarred as it was, traced along the bionic metal from her elbow to her wrist, "Tanker bug, they spit an acidic flame, dissolved my arm to the shoulder, nothing left but a puddle of goo on some no name desert planet of Urilla. Got the scars on my face from a gas explosion fighting fire fries. The one on my chin was when a Skinnie with an axe thought he could take out my jaw like Chinny over there. My chin guard on my light armor stopped it mostly." Chinny upon his name being spoken had the entire office of Terrans shout out, "Chinnnnnnny!" Much to the confusion of everyone and the embarrassment of the man with the metal chin.

"Why do you ask prospect?" She demanded with a dead seriousness, her smirk gone.

"For a Quarian such injuries are usually near fatal or debilitating for a long time. A Quarian unlucky to have all three of those things happen to them and to survive is the mark of both extreme courage and remarkable tenacity." He explained carefully.

"You wouldn't know it, but I screamed like a little girl when I got my arm burned off, when my face got burned badly I cried tears of blood. When I got hit in the chin I was so pumped up on combat stims and adrenaline that I beat the Skinnie who hit me to death with his own axe, AFTER removing it from my face." She made a motion as if pulling something off of her face. "Every single time my squad mates would always ask, 'are you alright Birdie?', do you know what I said?"

Kal pondered an answer for a short moment before replying, "I'm not dead aren't I?"

She smiled, her pearly white teeth contrasting with her skin, "No, haha, I screamed out for a goddamn medic…. What would you do if you had a major suit breech prospect?"

Kal thought once again for a moment, before pulling out an anecdote from his father, "I'd say a prayer to the ancestors, trust in my combat clamps, kill the bosh'tet who hit me with the flat end of my rifle, inject copious amounts of antibiotics, and continue the fight. All in that order."

She smiled at him, "Well Recruit." She typed in something on her console and a paper got printed out before it was stamped, "The real interview is at 0600 sharp. Address is on the paper, if you need a place to stay tonight, go in now and report in."

Kal couldn't believe the paper he was being handed, he thought for sure they'd make a show of looking at him and then send him away. "Yes ma'am, I'll report in immediately!"

~[==|==]~

Citadel space, Citadel station, Citadel Council Conference Room 1A 2666GS/2338AD february 15

Tevos sat at the old red wood table with her colleagues. The last 8 years had brought more change then she was used to. The technology and ideology spilling out of Terran space was the main subject of discourse today. So much was changing so fast she had been forced to call this meeting. She wish the other councillors who had been there originally when the Terrans arrived on the galactic stage were still with her, but Gallius had retired last year, and Cenike had come to his natural end three months ago. So she had to work with relatively fresh meat.

For the Salarians, Valern was young and suspicious, but flexible. He'd been STG as was typical tradition of a Councillor, he also had nearly a decade of political experience and of political sciences, substantial for a Salarian, but his assignment last year after being sworn in meant he was still becoming familiar with his post.

The Turian representative was a hero of the Terran Contact War, Kalio Gainus. he did not run for the position but had it forced on him as a political posting for Gainus due to his close ties and understanding with the Terrans, an increasingly necessary feature these days. But he was an okay sort and had actually been in Terran Federation space, seen the real Terrans, seen the many enemies the Terran's had, and not that front their ambassador put forward.

Standing up, Tevos began, "We stand at the crossroads for the Citadel, a situation that does not come often. The Terrans as we all know are becoming an increasing issue."

"Agreed." Valern concurred, "Their ships and FTL drives has significantly devalued Element Zero, not by an amount noticeable to the public, but the signs are present, if it weren't for the Federation themselves buying so much at record lows in price, we'd have faced a severe recession that would have extended galaxy wide."

Tevos nodded her agreement as the former Turian admiral added, "That's the only problem for the economy, it will sort itself out eventually, especially due to the expertise of the Volus, bless their suits." The Volus had been put upon increasingly to provide financial stability, the crash in Eezo prices, the galactic standard for universal currency, and market shares for Eezo processing and mining, would have been ensured if it weren't due to the expert handling and trade deals established with the Terrans. "However if you look at things on a military front we're having some strained relations. The Batarians are continuing to antagonize the Humans, so far nothing tragic has happened thanks to Terran reluctance to place any substantial Civilian populations on the border, but one of these days the Batarians are going to start a war with that Federation, and barring some substantial evidence against the Batarians showing them as the antagonists, they're going to drag us into it, and I personally do not relish the thought of having a war between what can be best classified as two superpowers on the galactic stage. Their lack of need for Relays and use of nuclear weapons already makes them a significant strategic threat if they were to ever feel threatened."

Tevos nodded, they were already in agreement, this was all simply being officially transcribed for the purpose of record keeping, "That my fellow Councillors, is why I suggest we must fast track the Terran Federation to join the Citadel Council as a member state."

Gainus raised a fringe, "I have heard of reports from Turian Spectre Verpine warning of the necessity of it, but I'm surprised you're outright suggesting it Tevos."

Valern nodded in understanding, "If the Federation officially joins with the Citadel, the economy will fix itself by entering a complete circuit, profits that go into the Federation would then have Federation investment going out to support other ventures as economies of scale and galactic transportation become a factor it will be cheaper to outsource production to other planets, we will no longer have a drain on our system and if the Batarians do attempt to start a war, they'll be signing their own death warrants as we cut off all trade and military access to the Hegemony and allow the Federation to annex them if they feel so inclined. Better to have the Federation as our buffer state than the Hegemony any longer."

"But won't this make us more vulnerable to Terran Military Intelligence? Ambassador Maghernus has clearly stated that the Federation is not inclined to join as anything less than as a full member, and we have no substantial incentives for them to join for anything less than an equal part." Gainus pointed out sharply. There'll be hell to pay if the Federation were to just bypass centuries of process and diplomatic lollygagging. Not even the Volus had been given a council seat despite sorely deserving it for more than a thousand years. It would make the Council look weak and afraid of the Federation for the entire galaxy to see.

"While Military Intelligence is most certainly efficient, they also have a conserved relation to immigration and expansion, their defeat of the Arachnids left more than a military doctrine of a slow war, it also brought on the mental mindset to not make rapid military or colonization advances without proper procedure and preparation first. This has completely stonewalled us at all aspects of espionage. If they were to join us, they'd have to open their markets, and inexperience combined with rapidity of it will open up more than enough holes for our agents to get entrenched. But as for incentives… Barring most unforeseen and horrendous circumstances, there are no incentives we can reasonably propose to the Federation that would see them even tempted."

Tevos agreed, but looked pensive, "Please extrapolate what would require such 'unforeseen' circumstances?"

Valern took on a serious tone, "I'm talking of a war of proportions unseen since the Krogan Rebellions. The Terrans would have to suffer rapid and significant military defeats that would necessitate a military alliance between both ourselves and the Federation to ensure mutual survival and cooperation. This would be a war that would be in our interests to avoid at all cost and would significantly affect us as well as them, and so I would not suggest such an event, and would assist Terran Millitary to avoid it if possible. It is ultimately unnecessary, as the Terrans expand their economy and civilian population, we'll get a foot in the door within the next hundred years, and by then the markets will stabilize, even if we see a substantial dip in all galactic productivity for the next few decades because of it. Our connection with the System's Alliance gives us a diplomatic in with the Federation, and allows us to also interact with the Petolemaic Hegemony. This is not to mention our connection and joint operations with Cerberus who have been more than helpful in protecting the galaxy from threats, even if it comes at personal costs." Bringing up General Desolas Arterius, Spectre Illia Verpine, Director Jack "Illusive Man" Harper, and Minister Carl Jenkins, the four minds behind the Cerberus organization, one of the few joint Citadel-Federation organizations that existed at the time.

Cerberus had been busy categorizing and studying the objects they had termed "Artifacts of Great Paranormal Danger". This had come at the cost of billions of Terran credits, the loss of more than few science teams and specialists, and their work proved vital to galactic safety after the incident 3 year ago with a Terminus warlord who had fallen under the effects of one such artifact and had threatened to cause genocides in ten systems. Spectre Verpine had led a team of Terran Pathfinders and Turian Blackwatch to remove the threat, in the process recovering the artefact for study.

Valern took a moment to breath, "As I see it, we should offer the Terrans provisional ambassadorial status, to be in great favor of them they'd have to sign no deals they don't want to, and for the most part this deal will be clandestine and as an effort to open them up to further enticement. Beyond that, we will just have to let them come on their own."

"The Volus won't be pleased when this becomes known to them." Gainus warned.

Tevos nodded in agreement, "If worse comes to worse we will give the Volus a seat on the council to placate them. I know this council has restricted their joining due to personal interest of preservation of power in our hands, but with the Terrans we will need a tie breaking species in our favor to tip any deadlocks that may form."

~[==|==]~

Eastern Federation, Shanxi orbit, Williams Intersystem Starport 2666GS/2338AD february 16

Admiral Erica Chavez looked out of her office sipping the Thessian tea she had become hopelessly addicted to. Well addiction was a strong word, but it was pretty close, it helped her deal with the stress ever since she had been introduced to it, it was very soothing and helped her get through the day. It had been nine years since they used that damned asteroid as target practice, and she regretted it more than ever. Oh sure finding the Citadel species had saved her life and Shanxi's and had resulted in her being catapulted up the ranks, but being a hero and becoming famous apparently meant you get more of a workload as everyone expected you to fix everything.

Relaxing and sitting back in her chair, she looked out the window at the glowing city of Shanxi below. It had a grown many times the original size, now covering the battlefield that had made it so famous. Parks and little meadows dotted the landscape in places that marked significant skirmishes and holding host to little memorial shrines to the dead. The only place that was still an open field was where T'Phai and his Raiders had made their landing but even that had been converted into a training ground for the military for combat drops.

As people had predicted, Shanxi had become the most important system in the Eastern Federation, if not the de facto capital for the region as all trade with the Citadel passed through Shanxi's numerous ports. Most of the other species never saw past Shanxi into the Federation, so every attempt was made to make Shanxi a model colony, such a success even drew colonists from the Citadel species. In the first few years, the Federation wasn't sure what to do about them, but it was soon realized this could expand their manpower reserves greatly, just in case the bugs ever came back, and so the brass moved to capitalize on it by granting land plots and other amenities to the species who came to colonize, preferential treatment was of course given to Humans for land, but most of the Humans stayed in the main city, or in the growing townships. The largest concentration of Human farmers was actually a large Mormon presence in the outer farmlands.

This then lead to the formation of the Terran Foreign Legion, which sounded like some sort of bad joke Maghernus made, but so far they haven't had many problems in regards to culture or discipline. It was actually somewhat similar to how they handled the Skinnies before the formation of the "Systems Alliance" to the South, and those Skinnies that still remained in the Federation out of loyalty or desire. However the species from the Citadel had a lot more to prove to their Terran Drill Sergeants, as a result their leadership, or "Officers of the Foreign Legion", was primarily made up of xenophilic Terrans, and Petolemaic's who had decided to go career.

Now the Legion wasn't just a military detachment of SICON, it also represented and maintained both Marital and civilian style occupations like construction, accounting, law enforcement, and even scientists. All Legionaries or aspirants were to however pass basic Federation boot camp regardless of later occupation and species. A Volus was expected to achieve the same physical goals as a Human, within reason of course. This was to show citizenship not as a title, but as a goal, a reward for service in the Federation that can't be earned by just being a government employee, but by being a model for civilians to aspire to.

Those who had joined the Foreign Legion and showed great aptitude in training for leadership positions were either transferred to the NCO corp of the Legion, or to the general military for official officer training within the Federation. However, the Foreign Legion was mainly designed to operate in the Eastern region, Federation holdings outside the Federation proper (IE, the Citadel Embassy), and supporting actions within the Systems Alliance. The concerns of STG and Shadow Broker infiltration despite psionic weeding processes had many in the Federation concerned, so steps were being taken and they were slowly easing the idea in.

Each new species brought in new ideas, new religions, beliefs, and cultures. This wouldn't rock the Federation much due the isolation they would have from the rank and file and the literal physical distances of the Legion's postings to the average Federal citizen. Maghernus had been a crafty bastard like that, giving them only minor political power compared to the Human population, and since they were in the Federal Holdings, and not the Federation proper, when they mustered out their political power would be centered away from the general Human population, a win win as far as the Federal Council was concerned as it wouldn't edge into traditional voting spheres.

But from interviews and psionic investigations, they did have a fairly good map of what each of their new recruits wanted. The most problematic in the future was the Krogan, generally it was either hoped for consciously or subconsciously that the Federation could find a way to cure them of their genophage. Erica wouldn't touch that one, but she thought that there may be scientist out there who would be able to remove or lessen the effects.

The Asari were the biggest pool of recruits. The sex appeal combined with a sense of adventure had combined to have the disadvantaged, the poor, or especially adventurous Asari join in unprecedented numbers. Nearly 10,000 Asari maidens and even a few experienced Matrons had joined up seeking a more permanent future in the Federation. Studies showed that most were seeing this as a quick fling, maybe bag a Human in the sack, see the Federation, ect. Only a small portion of them had been found unfit due to security reasons. But there were more than a few Asari who showed promise for officership and permanent residency in the Federation.

The second largest was the Turians, most of them were Turians who were more more ambitious than you're average bird. Some of them ruthlessly so, but most wanted another life away from the Hierarchy for a variety of reasons. They were willing to work hard and long hours, fight to the bitter end, and were almost universally sound physically and psychologically. Only a few were found to be attempted Shadow Broker plants, but they were handled tactfully. The largest subsections were Turian separatists or nationalists who wanted a life away from the Hierarchy proper, some were genuinely people who just wanted to get away from perceived or real tyranny, others wanted military training and connections with the Federation to further their goals. Those latter individuals would be given thorough indoctrination to abandon their cause.

The next biggest group that tried to join were the Salarians, unfortunately, a large portion of them were found susceptible, or sympathetic of the STG, and so could not be counted upon to remain loyal to the Federation and the Federation only. Hence, most of them were declared unfit for military service for "Psychological and physical deficiencies." As a compromise many who would normally be unfit for security reasons were instead given a career path in places they couldn't do harm or advance in, a few easily manipulated Salarian spies were being allowed in as a ruse, to be fed information and lies when it benefitted the Federation.

Next were a hodgepodge of minor races. Elcor, Hanar, Volus, Henathka, Kan, and the Batarians. The Batarians were the largest of these groups at a few thousand. Most of which were casteless or criminals who either desired reform, better legal opportunities, or a true opportunity at a good life. The criminals were being carefully screened, but it appeared most were genuinely trying to reform or achieve a better life.

And then there were the Quarians. Not many Quarians joined the Legion proper, instead directly applying for fleet or marine service on Shanxi as was typical to do before the Legion was officially formed, now most of those same recruits were being shunted to the Legion whether they wanted to or not. But they also brought in very interesting problems for people like her.

Namely there were actually suggestions for forming a second Migrant Fleet. Many Quarians brought with them vital and unreplicable skills that the Federation desperately needed to catch up with Citadel ship making norms, that because of the embargo that only ended just recently, meant they could only get these skills from one reliable source before, the Quarians. Now this wasn't a problem at first when they hired Daro'Xen and Jeefa'Sina, both of which were now accomplished scientists and engineers in their fields of study. And at the end of their contract four years ago, they had been given a generous reward, instead of paying them in Federal dollars they transferred that money into Federal civilian model starships. In total they had nearly eight frigates between them when they returned to the Migrant Fleet. They had then returned with those same frigates filled with hopeful Quarians wanting to join the Federation for Pilgrimage. Apparently the Federation had made enough of a mark on Daro and Jeefa that the stories of their studies and time living on the Gibraltar inspired thousands of young Quarians to seek their luck in the Federation.

They were willing to work for shit pay, shit postings, and shit food just for the chance of bringing back a ship to the fleet or having a ship in the fleet be refurbished by Federal shipyards for a couple years of service. This was apparently an improvement from wandering the galaxy looking for work, salvage, or supplies, dealing with hardship, discrimination, and possible death. Daro'Xen had even became the captain of her own ship, the Istapah'Kela, meaning "Ferry of the Aspirant", Jeefa'Sina's was also a captain for the Gibraltar'Pas, Literally "Bridge of the Gibraltar". Daro had handpicked her Pilgrims for their skills in scientific and engineering work while Jeefa's ship had been filled to the brim with industrial workers or manufacturing specialists who bore valuable skills to the Federation that wasn't just labor. These ships full of pilgrims had just finished their pilgrimages, and were returning with ships of their own after informing the fleet for the necessary manpower to crew them. Each Frigate had born nearly a thousand crew when they returned to the Federation, with each scientist, engineer, or worker forgoing pay for two to four years for a ship of their own to return, most were smaller frigate or corvette class ships, with only couple kilometer long mass conveyance freighters, but the new flood of ship orders had resulted in a backlog, which was then addressed by the Quarians themselves in their off time who would actually assist in the manufacturing and shipbuilding process. And from these volunteering exercises, invaluable experience had been gained in Terran ship making industries. Quite literally, problems that Terran Shipwrights had never even thought of were solved in a blink of an eye with a line of code or mathematics, accepted sacrifices and time constraints were completely erased with novel and ingenious ideas or workarounds, and manufacturing techniques for materials both old and new were developed that squeezed every last ounce of potential from their designs at the same or even cheaper price.

To say it had revolutionized the Terran shipbuilding industry and the Quarian Migrant Fleet at the same time was not exaggeration! Even now the best schools for ship making and design were hiring Qurian engineers and workers to teach Humans. And the flotilla of 8,000 ships, both old and new, were now on their way to the Migrant Fleet. And to the amazement of the Quarian people, the next generation's best and brightest had been educated and got their first few year of work experience in Terran space, and that same generation felt they could call the Federation and its people friends.

This made a lot of people nervous. Not just the Shipbuilding guilds in the Federation, but every single species out in the Citadel Council and the Terminus systems. All those who relied upon cheap Qurian labor and intellectual slavery, who had relied upon Quarian traffic and mining to supply them and make them rich, for the Turian military who feared a joining of the Federation and Quarian fleets as one entity. The mere threat of an alliance could shake the power dynamics of the galaxy. While Quarians were looked down as thieves, beggars, and criminals, no one could deny the Quarians had a survivalist instinct within them.

The sudden swell of business for ships in the Federation had caused a massive boom in the industry, so many new techniques and designs, and the sudden influx of experienced and eager talent in the Quarians had caused a golden age in all stages of ship production as demand had only just been met for the Quarian's payment. And now with rumors that more Quarians would be devoting themselves to the Federation ship industry had caused investors to salivate. This was before the announcement for the Quarians being folded into the Legion's ranks, and unless those Quarians were of the same caliber as Daro'Xen or Jeefa'Sina they weren't exactly going to be paid enough for a small fleet of ships, especially now that they had access to a much wider range of people to hire at much cheaper prices. But still, the "Gift" of 8,000 ships for the Quarian Migrant Fleet was something that wouldn't go unnoticed for the aspiring Quarian engineer, scientist, programmer, or worker.

The fad of hiring Quarians for ship building hadn't just been solely within the business, it had also extended into the Fleet here in the East Federation. Quietly Erica had met a few Quarians, and she had made the impression upon them about possibly joining the Fleet. This apparently made such a significant mark upon them that they were planning on pursuing citizenship and joining the Fleet after some time in the Legion. Erica welcomed this, as Qurian experts were definitely something she was seeking.

But there were a few issues with… a formal alliance with the Quarians. Namely, the Geth. The stated and final public goal of the fleet was to destroy the Geth and the return of the homeworld. This was their ultimate mission that they wished to achieve. Now, the Federation wasn't in the business of wars of aggression or pursuing a war across the entire galaxy. Because of this, official diplomatic communications were mainly centered around the large number of Quarian Pilgrims in their territory and their well being.

Sitting back and looking out on the city below. Erica relaxed, it had been a long week, and she would enjoy this moment of peace, and the solid state of mind the Federation was entering a golden age.

To be continued

Responce to a review by Sanj49

L4: …. fanservice lesbians...what the hell? Blood do you remember any fanservice lesbians? because i swear i remember writing everything and i don't remember anything like say… two lesbian girls in bikini or some shit like that… Does he mean the coven? Because my friend if you think the coven are fan service i hope you enjoy being there mindless pool boy. Damn xenophilic trator.