Presidium is the ring that connects all five of the Citadel arms. It's the place where Embassies are and where all government-related facilities are, like C-Sec, their law enforcement, a.k.a. the police.
Though the most striking part of it was how similar it was to the Sword-type colonies, the interior of the Presidium was.
"Not bad, reminds me of the sword-type colonies we built," Marcus commented as he looked through the balcony, the fountains, the fake blue sky and the feeling that you were in a ring, those are very familiar to him.
"According to the codex, those were the very first things your Empire did." The Asari Councillor, Tevos, replied. She studied the data that the Empire had shared with them extensively.
"Indeed. We built them very early on. Even before I unified my world. I was still waging war on my father when that happened." The Emperor fondly remembered that.
"Though the Ring was big enough to house a million souls. The reason we call it a sword is that it they are shaped like one, and the colony was like the crossguard.
The type 1 colony was generating gravity by rotating. It was before we got gravity particle or GN technology, and Fusion tech was still primitive." Marcus all of a sudden felt like going on a memory trip, but his two pinkette wives stared at him for a bit.
Lacus and Euphemia's gaze told him he was not at home and not talking to his kids…
"Right, anyway, I do apologise, we should return to business at hand."
"No, no, it's fine. It's rare to speak to someone who actually uplifts their own race. All of us were born way beyond those years." The Asari slightly smiled, and her two fellow councillors nodded.
Especially the Turians and Salarians, they don't even know people from those eras… those are thousands of generations ago…
Hell, Turians even had Unification Wars by this point. Wars in which colonies became so distinct from their homeworlds that they waged war to become independent.
"Good, well, regardless, let's get down to business. There are some things that we need to clarify." The Emperor went over and took his seat. Two of his wives surround him, then his kids, farther apart.
"Indeed. We have inspected the files that your Empress has sent over.
We are relieved to hear that you are planning to keep some of the relays and even dedicate a solar system to them." The Asari said in a relieved tone as she began to check the files Euphemia had sent them.
"That is true. Maybe even colonies on worlds in those solar systems. Something similar to the trade and commerce worlds that you have."
Salarian's eyes gleamed as he felt that this was a perfect opportunity to glimpse into their technology!
"It would be perfect, your Majesty." Asari smiled at him as this was better than she had hoped.
"Yes, by my estimation, you should have relays to trade and commerce worlds that will exist in each star cluster.
Like Arcturus Stream, Exodus Cluster, Petra Nebula. With those in place, you should be able to cross into Attican Traverse." Marcus explained. Internally, he was quite satisfied with this.
Reapers built these for easier travel, but the Emperor will move these to make them into killing zones where Core Worlds and their defence can slaughter everyone and everything in these systems.
Solar Cannons were made just for this.
"Wonderful, we were getting worried as a lot of the Mass Relays went down and we can't access certain systems." Salarian Councillor said with a relieved tone as well.
"That's because there was a Mass Relay very close to our homeworld; in fact, it was in my homeworld's systems, its defensive weak point that we disabled in its entirety in our local cluster.
We have what is called an FTL highway, boosters to our FTL, they work similarly to Mass Relays and are far cheaper to produce." When Marcus explained that, his comment made the Councillors perk up.
They have their own FTL rapid travel! They read it in the Imperial Codex, but to think it's not like Batarian Propaganda… but real…
That's the thing: Batarians have spread so many lies that the Council takes new races with a grain of salt until these newcomers prove otherwise.
"Would they work with eezo-based technology?" Asari councillor asked with a hopeful tone. While Mass Relays are amazing, they are forced to develop around them.
But if they can make a highway on their own… well, that changes everything.
"I don't see why not. It's quite a simple method. It's based on the same principle, only that instead of Eezo, we use particles. The particles stick to the ship and are used as boosters from point A to B," Marcus explained. They did use relays as reference points after all.
"Then we could have joined ventures? Council could sponsor those." The Asari suggested, but the Emperor smiled at her.
"That's the thing, Councillor, the Imperial budgets are different from your credit-based system. We don't need budgets. Imperial logistics were built where Imperial colonies exist.
We use extensive AI-based construction protocols, which the council has banned in Council Space." He dropped a piece of news that made her lose whatever enthusiasm she had.
"To build in our territory, one requires to field several AIs, which is what we do, robotic labour, AI protocols, even our materials are AI-based.
All of those are banned here."
"Aren't you afraid that it could go rogue?" The Salarian councillor asked; he really wanted to talk about that. To figure out how the Imperial AI is made.
"That's the thing, I'm pretty sure all of us here are parents." He looked around the councillors, who slightly nodded in agreement.
"Then you are well aware that children require attention and patience to be raised properly. The same is required for AI.
I have read the reports of Morning War. Quarians have recklessly experimented and advanced in their creation of the Geth.
It's like giving a recently born child a weapon of mass destruction. Would you do that? No, it's as simple as that."
"Then, how should one develop it?" The Salarian Councillor continued with it.
"There is no short way of doing it. The whole thing took me around twenty years, from software to VI and to AI.
It's like raising a plant from a seed and a child at the same time. No, even harder as one needs to develop the very existence."
"...I see… I suppose we could draw some alteration to AI legislation." The Amphibian councillor is not going to miss the opportunity to study proper AI.
Marcus slightly smiled when he heard that.
"We could review it." The Asari slowly nodded as she looked at the Turian Councillor.
"Indeed."
"The next part is migration. I already received requests from my people who want to visit your worlds." The Turian recalled the pile of messages he got from his people.
"As we discussed before, with Matriarch Benezia, we could allow settling expansion zones and the trade worlds that we are planning to develop.
That is because the laws we have are different from the ones you follow." Euphemia chipped in, pulling out a holographic display and placing it on the table.
Moments later, a paper-like sheet appeared above the display unit.
It was a set of rules…
"We got rid of crime many years ago because of our eye-for-an-eye law doctrine."
"..."
"..."
"..."
The Turian Councillor was speechless. These laws are cruel! And he likes it! He always thought that Asari were soft on some of the laws. Still, they needed to accept these changes when they joined the Citadel.
"these laws… they are quite… barbaric."
"And they keep the Empire safe. We don't even have what you call… Prison. It existed in the pre-Imperial era; what we have is a labour camp. If you break the law, you will be held accountable for your crimes.
If you kill, you will be killed in turn. There is no excuse for killing a fellow Imperial. However, we do have re-education programs for those who steal. If they had no other choice but to steal, the Empire would step in to solve the issue, but that is after the stolen items are returned or the criminal worked back the wealth they stole." The Pinkette explained in a plain tone, as if she had practised this in front of a mirror for several hours, which she had.
"As my wife said, it's not barbaric but fair. However, we do worry that once we start trading, the Empire's most notorious people will flee the Imperial Space and will begin their unhinged spree in your Space, as your rules are soft for them.
Believe me, they can read minds; in your courts, these people will dominate." Marcus hinted at what Imperial criminals could do in Citadel space. Their space is easy pickings for them…
The trio of them paled as they realised that it was the truth. They do have a court of justice, and if they can do that…
"Is it possible to block mind reading?" Salarian asked nerviously; he is especially worried about his race.
"Your deep thoughts are safe; we can only pick up surface ones. You can sense when someone is reading your mind." Lacus joined, as she is probably the most experienced… a true Psychic.
"...Is that it?" Salarian was speechless; there should be something they could do!
"That is why we want to open an embassy in the Citadel." Marcus got them back on track.
"Of course, we don't mind." Asari immediately agreed; she wanted them as close as possible.
"Wonderful, then my daughter, Daphne, will be our representative." The Emperor looked to Euphemia's side, where Daphne was sitting.
"She is the 3rd Princess and was under her mother's wing for over a century and a half. She is quite the diplomat." Marcus obviously praised the pinkette, who smiled brightly when her father praised her.
"Does that mean she has a retinue?" The Turian Councillor asked curiously.
"She does. It's a typical Battleship with three Carriers. In total, 150 mobile suits and around a 1000 marines.
You can say that these men will assist the Citadel in its defence if needed."
'Isn't it the size of a super dreadnought? Those are the size of Destiny Ascension.' The councillors were a bit speechless that they would get one of these, and hell, those Carriers are almost that size!
The so-called Imperial 'Battleship' is nearly twice as big as the usual Citadel's Dreadnought. The only ship that can match these battleships is the Citadel's Flagship and Asari's navy's crown jewel, the Destiny Ascension.
"That is why we require that any of the Imperials you capture are to be given to us, so that our justice system can deal with them," Marcus said as he looked to his daughter.
"That is why we require an embassy, and of course, you can use the embassy to contact me or any of my wives."
"That can be arranged." She swiftly nodded.
The Asari are unhappy about the lack of a unified justice system. But at the same time, she wants to know what the citizens of the citadel think.
"Good, then we can move on."
~~~
Marcus, with the Citadel Council, ironed out some of the initial treaties. Like the migration, the Emperor was generous, and people could earn their citizenship, though they would have to pass through a meritocracy, which had fascinated the Turian Councillor. He said that there could be a decent amount of Turians who would move into the empire, as they are all about what the Empire stands for.
Which honestly made Marcus smile a bit; he doesn't mind a race driven by military service, discipline, and actual merit.
Then it was the borders, the expansion zone, and the new trade worlds. That's where the Emperor decided to test how well his people would work with Aliens.
These 'trade' worlds will have weaker and more lax immigration laws; as long as aliens have a decent profession, they can work and live as much as they want.
However, to stimulate the newcomers to get into the Empire's meritocratic society, these trade worlds won't have 'true' Imperial technology.
Sure, the terraforming technology to create a barren world into a garden world will be used, but that's about it. Once true trade happens, they will be exposed to GN, gravity, Dyson, Imperial Robotics, AI, and nanotechnology.
To learn all that they will need to become true Imperial.
Bit by bit, the Empire will use its culture and technology to conquer the Citadel; if not, then they will in a several hundred years when the rest of the galaxy is part of the Empire, and the only thing that is left is Citadel Space.
Though he might conquer them culturally, as Marcus noticed that the Turian Councillor was basically eating from his hand, as this man loved everything about the Empire's meritocratic society.
If he gets Turian on his side, then the rest of them won't be far behind, even if they don't want it.
Just these two subjects to discuss, iron out and put on the 'paper' lasted for most of the day.
Marcus's two wives and his daughters worked with the councillors to put together multiple pages of documentation detailing how everything would work.
Of course, this was only the beginning, as there is much more to do.
Though the Salarian Councillor wanted to discuss the next part.
"Now that these two are out of the way, I suggest we can discuss the technology collaboration—"
The Turian wanted to interrupt, as it was getting late, but the Emperor did it for him. However, he did so differently, reminding them of the transgressions the Salarians had committed.
"It will be difficult on that front, Councillor." Marcus fished out a holographic projector and began showing pictures of Salarian ships.
"These are your STG ships at our border systems. There are sixteen of them, not just border systems, but following my fleet and observing retinues or my wives."
Pictures upon pictures, hacked files with pictures or Salarian working inside of these ships, the data that they have been collecting…
Everything was there…
"..."
The Councillor couldn't worm himself out of this one when there is that much evidence.
The Turian Councillor gulped down as he thankfully stopped the Primarch from doing the same thing.
They have no idea about the technological prowess, but now they do. These STG agents are literally exposed with their pants down!
"Any sort of trust is hard between us, Councillor." Marcus smiled at him, making the Amphibian just stare at the countless pictures and evidence before him.
"Your Majesty, I just want to tell you that the Turian Heirarchy was not involved in any of this. We only learned about this after the Salarian Union sent their agents after your fleet." The Turian Councillor basically sold out the Salarian, making the Amphibian just stare at him in disbelief.
'Y-You sold me out! Damn… You!'
"I do have to apologise for my colleague's behaviour, Your Majesty. Salarians are known for their curiosity; it is hard for them to ignore your Empire's different technology." The Asari councillor tried to mediate between all the sides.
"Indeed." Marcus smirked as he looked at the 'cornered' Councillor.
"But it doesn't change the fundamentals. Your Union entered my empire's territory multiple times. That is provocation." The Emperor continued with his train of thought; his wives and children didn't seem bothered by this at all, making the trio of councillors realise that his family fully supported him in starting another war just days after the previous war with the Batarians had ended.
"..."
The trio of them turned stiff, and their poker faces were barely holding.
"I require compensation if you want me to forget." The Emperor smirked a bit.
"...What kind of compensation?" Salarian Councillor asked, having a very bad feeling about this.
"Your STG."
"!"
"Y-You…" He didn't finish his train of thought as the gaze Marcus was making is telling him: 'Are you sure you want to continue this train of thought?'
"Don't worry, I don't need your agents. Mine are far, far better. I just hope you didn't provoke them." The Emperor shrugged for a second as he continued to explain.
"What I want is your STG intel; you share it with my empire for ten years, and we can forget about your Union's actions.
If your agents are good enough, my wives might share some things; we do reward good work." Marcus finished explaining what he wanted from Salarians.
"...Fine, but answer me this one question." Salarian Councillor narrowed his eyes for a second.
"Depends on the question, you are in no position to ask anything." The Emperor shrugged at him.
"...How were our ships discovered so easily?"
This question fascinated the other councillor as well.
"Hmm, it's vibrations." Marcus shrugged an answer for them.
"...Vibrations?"
"Indeed. Your Eezo cores send ripples through the very reality itself."
"...Sonar… you people invented Sonar that travels through the void itself!" The Turian Councillor was speechless as he realised what it was!
"But how…"
Then they realised the massive towers above every sun!
"..."
Compared to this technology… they are centuries behind!
Marcus didn't confirm or deny as he simply looked at them.
"It doesn't matter how; it's a simple reminder that your ships will be discovered. I do hope that your Union won't try anything stupid again, curious species or not. There is a limit to our goodwill." The Emperor reminded them that he was a Sovereign of an Empire.
"It won't happen again, and you have my word that STG will do what you have requested."
With that said, the meeting for the day has ended.
~~~~~~Later, Same evening~~~~~~
Back in the Avalon, Marcus had two pinkette wives surrounding him in another of their cuddling sessions.
"Fufufu~ As always, our husband is so cool~" Euphemia gushed like a teenage girl. Most of the time, she is like a beacon of maturity and understanding, but her husband is a huge weakness, even after so many years.
Lacus giggled when she heard that. She was wondering what he would request from Salarians.
"What are you going to use STG for anyway?" The girl asked as she was on one side, and on the other was Euphemia, who was patiently waiting for his explanation.
"Information, obviously. They will share their thousand years of space exploration. So far, we are complete newcomers in space, while they have explored many of the stars in the Milky Way." Marcus explained, using both hands to hug them.
"Fufufu~~~ as expected of you~~~" Euphemia got closer as she began to kiss him.
Lacus, in his other hand, stared at them for a bit before she shook her head.
'Well, I am behind in this specific race.' The Empress thought about her situation; she had only one kid with her Emperor, unlike his other wives.
And that is not good, as she is his constant companion, unlike other Empresses. The only issue is that his ability to manipulate his virility makes it hard to persuade him to impregnate them.
"I suppose we should celebrate the fact that we put the Council in its place." All of a sudden, Lacus got… motivated.
~~~~~~Next Day~~~~~~
The group returned to another day of negotiations. This time around, it was another session of serious negotiations.
"Your Majesty, Primarch Fedorian would like to talk to you directly. I hope you can agree to meet him on such short notice."
Marcus looked at the Councillor. "Sure, I suppose we can meet. He is your de facto leader."
"In a way, he is. We Turians have a very decentralised government model compared to your family's centralised monarchy model.
Primarchs rarely intervene in government matters as people vote on them."
"Huh, that's very nice of you to do that. People usually don't have long-term plans. That's why Rulers like my family exist. Since our plans span decades and centuries. We leave small matters to people as well, like local tax distribution for the area improvement." The Emperor explained to him.
"I see. Then you have my thanks for accepting."
"Indeed. When he arrives, I would like to invite him to Avalon as I have something to show him. It's very important and related to why I am so lenient with Salarians."
"!"
"Yes, it's something major and will impact the whole galaxy."
The Emperor was hyping up, acting all mysterious about it.
"..."
"Don't worry, I was expecting only Councillors, but it would seem I will share with the Primarch himself." Marcus mysteriously smiled.
"...What could we expect?" Asari Councillor was very curious.
"The fate of Protheans."
"!"
The trio gulped down.
"You mean to tell us your Empire found out what happened to Protheans!?" Salarian said with disbelief.
"Indeed, I recovered a VI and rebuilt it. I am keeping it in my vault."
*Gulp*
Having Prothean VI is huge! Like its precious treasure! A piece of tech from 50 thousand years that still works!
"I will share what happened to them; that is the least I can do. What you do afterwards with that information is up to you all." Marcus graciously smiled as he got to his seat.
His two wives were glowing for some reason. They swiftly surrounded him and were whispering something to him. His children rolled their eyes, knowing what had happened last night.
As he was basically flirting with his wives, the councillors were having borderline mental breakdowns! How can he leave them hanging like this! Why not explain and let it be!
Funny enough, the Salarian Councillor started to spiral as he mentally went through all the theories on everything he knew!
'No doubt he found some sort of ruins that revealed those secrets!'
In the end, they could do nothing but return to the negotiating table…
Today's negotiations were trade what they can sell and what is legal and illegal in the Empire and Council space.
There is a considerable amount of red tape in the council, especially with stuff related to food and drinks, as before they can sell any sort of food to each other, they need to pass tests. After all, for example, Turian food is poisonous to Asari and Salarian, and vice versa; the same applies to Quarians, who can eat Turian food but not Asari or Salarian food.
The Turian homeworld's biology and chemical composition differ from those of Earth and the Empire's terraformed worlds.
As most of their animal species developed metallic-like carapaces to protect from solar radiation, their world has a weak magnetic field.
'Claudia will have a field day… I can imagine her bribing herself into Palaven… just to study their home world.' Marcus sighed as he could imagine his eldest daughter throwing herself into studying and exploring that world and its biology.
Of course, Marcus needed to warn the council, as once again, the Empire's trade system differs from theirs.
"We do need to develop a system of trade to make sure the empire doesn't overwhelm your capitalistic system.
Most of our goods are created by AI and robotic force. That means that we produce an enormous quantity of consumer goods.
We could destroy your market. That is why you should focus on items that are unique to your world and culture.
If you do that, you would most likely get one of my sons as a patron." Marcus commented, chuckling as he imagined a specific son.
"...won't that be an issue if he takes our side and not the Empire's?" The Asari Councillor worried that it could lead to another dispute.
"You must understand, Councillor, the trade worlds which we are proposing are test beds for us." Lacus chipped in.
"My husband, since the very beginning, is a creator and engineer. At the moment, we are in one of his testing phases. If it works, then it's fantastic; our Empire and your community can coexist, and we can build something greater.
But if it doesn't work, then it's fine with us; we will continue what we have been doing for the past 211 years." The Empress explained to them.
"I see, it does make sense. I completely forgot that His Majesty is the one who created most of the things in the Empire."
There was a certain glint in the Asari Councillor's eyes.
"Not entirely correct. More precisely, I pioneered the prototypes…"
"No need to be humble, husband." Euphemia sighed, and so did Lacus, who just rolled her eyes at his random 'humble' moments.
"Regardless, we want these trade worlds to be successful; it's for the betterment of all of the galaxy, but for them to work, other races have to make it appealing for the regular citizens of the Empire.
Most of them are driven and obsessed with what they do. You might invite the typical biologist who wants to study other races. But the regular engineer, doctor or scientist?
In my empire, they get all the opportunities they need without even interacting with other civilisations."
"What about wealth incentives?"
"Our empire is resource-driven. Currency like credits is meaningless since even the most common engineer gets enough money to buy whatever they want." Lacus explained as she knew where this was going.
"...Is this because of the robotic and AI infrastructure?"
"Precisely, we don't have labour-based work. Resources are mined and refined before being sent to warehouses, which almost anyone can access. Most of the time, it's by people who got land for their service, noble rank, or as fresh colonists.
Most of the time, it's fresh colonists, but it's beside the point. The greater the merit, the greater the access to resources and technology." Euphemia said with a proud tone.
"That is why it's better when one of my sons has invested curiosity into this. Though it won't be an issue." Marcus sighed, a specific son in mind.
"...Should we be worried?" Asari Councillor Tevos FELT that sigh!
"My 2nd son and Prince Scipio, he is the Grand Admiral of the Expeditionary Fleet. He inherited my obsessive nature, though he channels it into a range of things.
One of them is collecting mates. I am certain you will have a visit from him in the not-so-distant future, Councillor Tevos."
"...I see… I am sure we can arrange something…"
In a sense, it was not a bad thing, was it? Asari desire great genes to continue their race, and this Emperor's genes will be the prime desire for many of her fellow Asari who are in the Matron stage of their lives.
"Indeed, though I do want to warn you, he can take things to extremes to get what he wants, and he has one of the biggest fleets in the empire," Lacus said to the councillor before looking at her husband.
"What? As if there is something I can do when his achievements speak for themselves." Marcus rolled his eyes at his wife's complaint.
"May we ask what he achieved?" The more they know about this obvious loose cannon, the better.
"This was before my empire established proper and stable communications between my colonies that are further away from the homeworld. Some dissidents wanted to establish independent systems.
Mostly descendants of people whom I conquered back in the day…
Let's just say that they don't want to do that anymore as they no longer exist."
"We had the very same thing. We call the unification war, and it lasted for years." Turian Councillor said with a sigh.
"Indeed, now every single Imperial in the Empire knows that they are part of my nation. They can see it when the sun is up."
Marcus smiled a bit as he recalled this tower. They are multipurpose constructs… from a 'flag', comm tower, to a sensor.
The best part is that they are extremely hard to destroy as they use the sun's nearly limitless energy to power themselves.
The shielding and barriers they have are among the strongest he has ever engineered.
"Fascinating way to keep the population in line."
Weirdly enough, the Turian Councillor is constantly getting inspired and taking notes; he is going to send these to Primarch Fedorian.
"I do try my best. But, back to my son. The only reason I am explaining all of this is that my son will most likely seek to expand his harem.
And I do mean it could lead to some… unique developments."
"By unique, he means that some Ambitious Asari could use him…" Lacus looked at her husband before intercepting.
"...What do you mean by that?" Tevos looked a bit nervous.
"What I mean is that he could use his influence and armies to destabilise your republics. He has one of the biggest retinue fleets in the Empire, close to a hundred ships, half of which are battleships." Lacus said with a sigh.
*Gulp*
"That is why you should be careful when dealing with him. In the end of the day, he will get what he wants. Even if it means destroying cities."
"I see… so you think he could get into Asari politics and then utilise his armies for favours…" Tevos pondered, this was a new kind of thing for her race…
"Indeed… I'm not saying that everyone will do that, but power, especially the one our Anaheim wields, can lead to conflicts." Euphemia sighed as she recalled how Scipio operated.
"War for females? I heard that Turians did something similar, and now you do too…" Salarian shook his head; these species are just so strange for him. Amphibians like them operate differently.
"Biology. In my homeworld's ancient records, there was a conflict called the War of Troy. It was waged for a beautiful woman." Marcus shrugged.
"Not that I am saying that this will happen. But I am warning you of it. Thankfully, my son is on a tight leash at the moment.
But for how long will it last… well…
Who knows…"
Marcus wasn't sure; his son was Grand Admiral, and he likes armies just like he does, so losing the Expeditionary fleet is something he hates.
But for an alien beauty? He might give it away to any one of his sons, and just scramble to have some fun.
That's the thing about his warships, they are self-sustainable, from food to water. They can be deployed for centuries and are not dependent on something like logistics routes,
Unless it's repairs, but even those can be done anywhere as long as there exist logistics ships which follow the warships…
~~~
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