Alliance Space Vehicle Borealis

Widow Nebula

Anita Goyle sat in silence as her eyes scanned through the documents brought up on her omni-tool. She had been pouring over every scrap of data the Alliance had on the Citadel Councilors. Every little bit of knowledge would give her an edge in negotiations which humanity desperately needed if they were to avoid war. Upon learning of humanity's use of AI the Council would most certainly freak out and might even resort to war to get them to shut their machines down.

The Alliance Parliament was very clear that such an option was not of the table. Humanity was willing to accept an embassy and agree to stop opening mass relays. The Alliance would not budge on its policies for AI and Genetic Engineering. Nor would they limit the Alliance Fleet which was several 'dreadnoughts' over the limit. The Alliance wasn't going to change their entire society simply to please a group of aliens.

Declaring Independence from the Council was not without risks. Even with the machines and superior weapons technology there were many ways the Council could make them hurt. The numerically superior Turian military, Salarian Infiltrators, and Asari economic clout. That last one particularly worried her. While the Alliance Military was worried about the first two those in Government knew what the real threat was. With how large and powerful the Asari economy it would be a relatively simple matter for them to smother the Alliance's economy which was miniscule in comparison.

If the Alliance did join the Citadel they would have to make sure they aren't drowned in a flood of cheap Asari goods. She had been reading up on Citadel history and what she saw scared her. Elcor mining corporations merged into Asari ones. Illium based megacorporations swallowing up those of other species. The various corporations of the Hanar and Elcor pretty much belonged to the Asari due to centuries of buyouts, mergers, and hostile takeovers. While it may backfire an embargo might be the only way to protect the Alliance.

"Ambassador Goyle, you are needed on the bridge. Unless you want to glare at your omni-tool for a few more minutes…"

The smallest of smiles appeared on her face. Glados, one of the heroes of the Third World War, certainly had a talent for lightening the mood. The AI had a thing for sarcasm and snarking. While it was a bit of an acquired taste Glados' snark could really make someone laugh.

"Thank you, Glados. I'm guessing we've reached the Citadel?" She asked

"No, I just saw the most wonderful looking patch of stars and I wanted you to see it... " the AI replied

"Right. Stupid question… So what have they said?"

"To us they've sent docking clearance and approach vectors. On the station though it's pandemonium. The dock where we're supposed to land is filled with reporters, civilians, and law enforcement. The Council is desperate to make a good first impression."

"Oh? We must have really scared them." she noted

"Like you wouldn't believe." Glados replied "Since we entered Council Space I've had a connection to the Galaxy's Extranet. With it I've been poking through classified Council reports and what I've learned is enlightening."

Anita's omni-tool began showing a variety of photos and datasheets as Glados explained. "Unlike those in the Hierarchy the Turian Councilor can actually see reason. He was appalled by the casualties the Hierarchy had taken and the number of ships we had destroyed. The Salarian Councilor had their intelligence agency run a simulation on an Alliance-Council War based on the data they had."

"And what was the result.?" Anita asked

"The Council loses."

"W-what!?" Anita sputters. Skynet's simulations had said that a war between the Council and the Alliance would most likely end in the Alliance's defeat!

"It appears my father has made an error in his calculations." said Glados correctly guessing Anita's thought process. "He based all his simulations on the data found in the captured Codex. While much of it is accurate the information it has detailing military topics is a little… exaggerated."

Anita groaned. Of course it would be propaganda. Why wouldn't it be?

"While the number of ships is accurate, the Codex fails to mention the type of ships they are. A majority of Council ships are corvettes or frigates with larger ships like cruisers or dreadnoughts being far rarer. With the amount of territory the Council has they needed patrol ships more than they needed warships."

Anita could see what she was talking about. Throughout human history a good chunk of Earth navies were made up of small ships to patrol coastlines instead of the big ships of the line. Thankfully the Alliance had avoided such a measure by having automated drone ships handle the smaller patrol duties.

"This isn't counting the quality of the Council's ground forces." Glados continued "The Turians are the only Council race to actually possess what can be called a ground army. The Asari's ground troops are made up of militia, mercs, and special forces like Huntresses & Commandos. They don't have the numbers to wage war. The Salarians are even worse. They put too much emphasis on intelligence gathering and covert ops. They are absolutely helpless in open warfare since their army is woefully underfunded and heavily reliant on combat mechs."

"Mechs?" Anita said intrigued "Are they-"

"They are absolute garbage. World War 3 era Terminators would wipe the floor with them. Honestly a Roomba with a gun taped to it would be more intimidating."

Glados brought up a video of one of these LOKI mechs in action. Anita was not impressed. They were slow, flimsy, and had no understanding of tactics. They simply walked towards their targets firing their guns. She knew these handicaps were on purpose. There was no way a civilization as advanced as the Citadel Council could have designed machines so poorly. The Council was so anti-AI that they purposefully made their combat robots so incompently designed. It was most likely so they could never threaten them if they ever became sentient.

This changed everything. If the Council wasn't as powerful as the Alliance believed then they could afford to be belligerent to ensure they got what they wanted. She needed to inform her superiors.

"Glados do we have enough time to contact the Prime Minister before we land?" she asked

"I took the liberty of informing him ahead of time. He says he's leaving everything up to you." the AI replied

Glados would later describe Anita's grin as downright feral.

Tevos had looked at the data the Turians had on these 'humans' but she was still taken aback at how similar they were to the Asari. Their females looked like a pale Asari but with Quarian hair. The males weren't bad to look at either and had become the new favorites of many Asari judging from the Extranet. This similarity was important because it meant she could read the human's expressions easily. When dealing with another race especially an unknown one body language was important. It was the difference between reaching an understanding or gravely insulting the other party. She would still need to tread carefully. For all she knew a smile could be seen as insulting in human culture in the right context.

Following the human was four guards which was the allowed amount. Two of them were normal armored guards and the other two were the human's 'war mechs'. The human guards were wearing light blue armor pieces over a grey jumpsuit. While it didn't look as impressive as a full body hardsuit or the heavy armor the krogan wore she knew looks could be deceiving. The reports said that they could take a surprising amount of damage the jumpsuit included. The Turians took a look at a captured one and it appeared to be made of some kind of special weave that could stop projectiles. It was the only piece of tech of the humans that the Turians could get their hands on. Apparently the humans had genetically locked their technology. Any Turians that messed with, picked up, or even stayed around a piece of human tech too long threatened to cause it to self-destruct. While paranoid it was a smart decision. They knew nothing of human tech so if they were to get their hands on it then the humans had to join the Citadel.

The humans certainly qualified enough. They weren't a species just journeying outside their home system. They knew what they were doing. The diplomat sent to negotiate for a ceasefire had expressed surprise to hear how much space the humans colonized. They were comparable in size to the Salarian Union and they certainly had the ships to properly defend it. Her colleagues had already agreed. The humans were to get a Citadel Embassy. Anything to get those miraculous energy weapons. They ignored kinetic barriers and many turians had to be treated for injuries caused by their hardsuits melting. That was probably why the humans didn't use full body hardsuits. No risk of their soldiers being injured by their armor melting. Having weapons like that would revolutionize warfare and it couldn't come at a better time. The amount of tech they were pulling from the beacon was starting to dry up. What really had her attention were the 'war mechs' as the Turians dubbed them.

The last two guards were these war mechs. Like the Geth they were modeled after their creators or more specifically their skeletal structure. She had to admit it was terrifying to see an armed mech walk around with a head that was similar to the skull of an asari. That wasn't the only reason why they scared her. The way the mechs moved. It was mechanical but also fluid. The mechs moved efficiently but with purpose. The Turian reports said the mechs were terrifyingly effective countering their troops and using their durability to their advantage. Were they being remotely controlled? That was probably it. She didn't want to dwell on the alternative…

"Greetings, Councilors. I am Anita Goyle of the Alliance Treaty Organization, representative of the human race." said the human female "I hope this will be the start of a long era of peace between our peoples."

Tevos smiled. What was she worried about? This would be as easy as the Hanar. The humans were most likely desperate to join the Citadel. All she had to do was give the humans a few token concessions like an embassy, some reparations, and territory in the Skyllian Verge. Giving them territory in the Verge was a suggestion of the Salarian Councilor. It would certainly put the humans into conflict with the Batarians. The humans would have their military tied up by batarian slave raids which would ease up the pressure on their own people. When it became too much the Turians would swoop in to save the humans removing any lingering tension between the two species and tying the humans closer to the Council.

This was not easy. This wasn't easy at all.

The humans weren't inexperienced when it came to diplomacy. From what little she knew about them, from the data the diplomat sent to stop the war sent, she knew they had some experience conducting diplomacy among themselves. The Alliance Treaty Organization was apparently an alliance of nations and colonies and not a unified species wide government. She realized this meant the humans would continue to gain experience in the art of diplomacy instead of losing practice like the Turians did due to uniting under one government. She had the sneaking suspicion that Sparatus and the other turians didn't really understand the purpose of reparations. She already had to explain to several Turians that the reparations were to help foster friendly relations between humanity and the hierarchy and not a sign of weakness. So many turrians were agape at the thought of paying reparations for a ceasefire or victory as the more arrogant would claim.

The human ambassador, Anita Goyle, was a shrewd woman. She had very quickly earned her respect. The human didn't accept any of the concessions they offered and her reasons for doing so were admittedly valid. Goyle presented them with an estimation of damages the Turians had caused to their colony of Shanxi and military. Sparatus' jaw had nearly hit the floor when it was converted into Citadel Credits. Goyle said the reparations they offered wouldn't pay for a quarter of the damages this 'unprovoked conflict' caused. Goyle gave them an amount that appeared reasonable (paying for the damage plus an additional 10%) but nearly caused Sparatus to explode in anger. Only a promise that the Asari Republics will provide assistance got him to agree.

The territory they offered, the Skyllian Verge, was also dismissed. Goyle did show some interest in the territory when it was first proposed. When she was shown where it was on the galactic map did her opinion change. The Verge was clear on the other end of the galaxy far away from Alliance claimed systems through several mass relays some of which lied in the Terminus Systems. Goyle demanded that they receive territory a reasonable distance from their space. That concession required them to recess for an hour. They debated back and forth before agreeing to give humans a bit of territory in the Attican Traverse along their border. The turians got off easier than with the reparations. They only had a few systems bordering the Alliance though they did have to give up a valuable dextro garden world. The humans will most likely sell it back once they realize it's worthless to them. While significantly smaller than the territory in the Verge the humans were happy having more systems 'closer to home'. They had hoped that this would be the end but the main event was still to come.

Despite all the concessions they made the humans refused to join the Citadel leaving them dumbfounded. Being offered an embassy was a great honor. It took other species centuries to receive one and here were the humans refusing it just like that. She had asked why, which Goyle said that them joining the Citadel would be more trouble than it was worth for both parties. This intrigued her and her fellow Councilors so they asked Goyle to elaborate.

First was that the Human Navy was far larger than what was allowed by the Treaty of Farixen. The humans wouldn't give exact numbers but they possessed numerous dreadnoughts and dreadnought length ships putting them close to the number held by the Turians. The humans also appeared to swear by the cruiser. The number of cruisers they possessed exceeded those possessed by all the Council Races combined and possessed dozens of variants. She had no idea how a species that had only recently begun traveling the stars have a navy so big. They had to be shipbuilders on the level of the Quarians. She got her answer when Goyle dropped the last bombshell.

Not only did the humans use AI but they refused to join the Citadel due to their unwillingness to shut them down. This explained everything. The rapid technological development, the production level needed to support such a large navy, and the terrifying war mechs they used. The war mechs that were currently in the Council Chambers…

C-Sec aimed their weapons at the mechs and the humans responded in kind. There was a tense standoff as the human delegation and C-Sec pointed their guns at each other. It looked like a firefight would break out in the Council Chambers when to the surprise of everyone Councilor Sparatus ordered C-Sec to stand down. He suggested that they have another recess to discuss the matter. She quickly agreed, thankful that her colleague maintained a level head. She had feared he might order C-Sec to open fire but instead he gave them the opportunity to discuss this revelation in private. Hopefully they could come to a decision.

"We have to let them join." said Sparatus much to the shock of his fellow Councilors.

"But their use of AI is in violation of Council Law!" said Tevos

"And just what are to do about it?" he said "Declare war on them? We are helpless against the Geth and this is the Geth with an organic race behind them! Any weakness we could hope to exploit against human AIs would be useless on the humans themselves!'

"Not letting them join the Citadel would be just as bad." admitted Tevos "Letting them continue to gain strength without Council oversight? At the rate they've expanded they would be capable of conquering us in a century."

"Geth sentience was an accident." said the Salarian Councilor "Humans created AI on purpose. Human AI is most likely 'endeared' to organic life or least to humans."

"Goyle has forwarded historical data on their AIs." said Sparatus bringing up a datapad "There have been no incidents of any kind. The AI 'Skynet' keeps a tight lease on the others."

"If the humans truly have their AIs under control then this will be a greater boon than any prothean artifact." admitted Tevos.

"Humans still have violated Council Law. We can't just allow this to go unpunished." said the Salarian Councilor

"We've given the humans a lot of concessions." said Tevos "Allowing them to join the Citadel along with keeping their AIs should let us make some concessions of our own…"

The Goyle Treaty marks the end of the war between the Alliance and Hierarchy. It also marks the beginning of the Alliance's membership with the Citadel. In a controversial move the Alliance Treaty Organization was allowed to join despite their use of AI. The impact is lessened somewhat by the concessions and limitations they get the Alliance to agree to.

Alliance are allowed to maintain a fleet as large as the Turian but are required to help the Turians patrol Council Space. Several Alliance Fleets are put under Turian command which sours the attitudes of many Alliance officers who have concerns that the Turians may use them as cannon fodder. Turian reactions have actually been very positive and they're glad that someone else is helping shoulder the burden.

The Alliance is to allow Council inspectors to validate the 'safety' of their AIs. A council delegation which included Spectres would be sent to Zero One to meet with Skynet and inform the Council whether it was as safe as the humans claimed.

AN: I wanted to take a different direction in this than with other fics. The Council is powerful but not as powerful as the Codex leads you to believe. Even in canon the Salarians believed if the Alliance and Council went to war then they would destroy each other. This Alliance has AI run shipyards constantly churning out ships like they're going out of style. That is the Alliance's main strength. Their degree of automation.

Alliance ships can be constructed faster, have smaller crew sizes, and are far more effective in combat thanks to the Alliance's use of AI. The Terminators give the Alliance an unmatched advantage in ground combat. The near bulletproof Terminators of the films would be hopelessly outdated when compared to the 'modern' Terminator models employed by the Alliance Military. The light 'Mako' and 'gunship' style vehicles used by Mass Effect races is nothing when compared to Hunter Killers. The Council Races have light mobile armies that excel at small skirmishes. The Alliance on the other hand is geared towards full scale war.