The Citadel Council wanted to remove their people from the Citadel as soon as possible, but they had nowhere to go. That is why they wanted to enlist the Empire's assistance in preparing a world for them.
For that, the trio of councillors decided to work with the Emperor, who showed them a solar system just 320 light-years away from the Citadel.
A quick survey conducted by Salarians, Asari, and Turian left the council baffled by how good the system was.
A mineral-rich asteroid belt, a helium-rich gas giant that works as a vacuum for asteroids and is good for refuelling.
It was a perfect system for a colony and, might one say, for a capital world.
"Such a system, you could have kept it for yourself." Asari Councillor Tevos said to Marcus as they checked the system with holograms aboard Avalon. The Mothership has moved towards the newly found system.
"We are a considerable distance away from the Arcturus Stream." The Emperor replied while looking at the system alongside them.
"The habitable world is perfect for colonisation." With a hand motion, he zoomed into the garden world.
"The equator is a bit too warm, but the rest of the planet is decent. Though a bit too much water for my tastes." The Turian Councillor Sparatus said with a pondering tone.
"I find it just fine." Salarian councillor shrugged it off. "Besides, we have no time for that."
"We actually do." Marcus intercepted as he summoned a console and began to flick several things at the planet's hologram.
"I am here to prepare the planet for you. We are going to do it in Imperial style."
The Emperor added five towers around the globe.
"These are weather and magnetic field towers that will stabilise weather and improve the radiation protection for the planet.
It's the first layer for imperial terraforming effort. The next layer is dome cities that are deployed like this."
Marcus showed how cities are literally dropped on the planet. They are built on several platforms. This method is old and was used by the Britannian Empire. It's a protection against possible earthquakes and is easy to use as a maintenance tunnel.
The round cities are dropped next to each other and eventually form a massive city with shielding and barrier technologies.
"The cities will be built in locations where local flora and fauna are sparse. To cause as little as possible damage.
I already have teams exploring the world to route out the expansion of future cities and satellite villages." Marcus explained as he showed several locations for future cities on the planet.
"...I am impressed at the speed of development. But it makes sense, your Empire is full of worlds that used to be barren planets." Salarian councillor was a bit humbled by how swiftly things have been going.
"One of my wives will be assisting with this. We have been discussing linking our trade world directly to this system, if you so desire.
A booster FTL system could be installed around the Gas Giant.
Though this technology alongside our weather towers will be maintained purely by Imperial people." Marcus placed a hologram of a gate in the Gas Giant's orbit; it was pointing towards the Arcturus Stream Cluster.
In fact, this system is closer towards Arcturus Stream than the Council races that were with Citadel.
"..."
The trio of councillors were not sure about this, but at the end of the day… what choice did they have?
The Empire is simply too strong; the only way they could resist is if they wait and let their factions grow in strength…
That's about it…
"Well, you could keep your fleet close to the gates. In fact, I think we could make a colony out of the Gas Giant.
It would be a perfect demonstration of how the Empire colonises Gas Giants."
Marcus placed several domed floating landmasses that eventually formed a spider-like network around the Gas Giant.
"Though, we will do maintenance on these." The Emperor smiled as he looked at them.
"...That will be for the best. This will be a test for us as a galactic community. I understand that you are paranoid, and that's what allowed you to discover the Reaper threat.
That is why the Asari agree to your suggestions. I believe we can learn a lot from your Imperial engineering."
"I am with Tevos on this one. We are already working with your daughter in the biology department; I doubt this will be different." Sparatus mentioned that Claudia was on Palaven on purpose.
Marcus chuckled when he heard that. He wondered if these guys knew that she wanted to gut these Turians and find out how their stomach acid works…
"Good. I am happy to hear that she found something that piqued her curiosity." The Emperor sounded pleased as he then looked back at the solar system's image.
"But yes, it's one of the projects where we work with each other to see if coexistence is possible," Marcus explained as he looked at the holograms.
"If we are successful, we will share our terraforming technologies. Though I doubt they will make a difference as we utilise AI calculations to a considerable degree."
"Calculations like those are done with VI as well. We can work something out." Salarian Councillor said with a pondering tone.
This project is worth it on terraforming prospect alone!
"We will see." Marcus shook his head; these Amphibians can be annoying; it would seem they can't read the room.
~~~~~~Meanwhile~~~~~~
At the northern eastern far side of the galaxy, in a corner of a galaxy, there is a massive collection of ships of many different types. This group of ships is known as the Quarian Migrant Fleet. A nomadic race that was exiled from their homeworld by the sapient AI they created.
The Quarian Board of Admirals, also widely called the Admiralty Board, were bickering among themselves.
"Why do we need some alien help to deal with the Geth!?" The one who was complaining was by the name of Han'Gerrel vas Neema, the Admiral of Heavy Fleet. He was a military man who was proud of his race and couldn't see a reason why they would want outsiders' help.
"That's because for the past two hundred years we couldn't." The one who wanted to enlist the help of the outsiders was Admiral of the Civilian Fleet, Zaal'Koris vas Qwib Qwib.
Two out of four admirals were in favour of meeting the Empire and striking some sort of deal with them.
One of the admirals, Zaal'Koris, wanted to ask for their help in colonising a world, and the other wanted their expertise in AI.
However, the Admiral of Heavy Fleet is against any sort of help from outsiders.
"We could ask for their help." All of a sudden, the third one joined. It was the Admiral of Research Fleet, by the name of Daro'Xen vas Moreh.
"Daro'Xen, not you too." The Heavy Fleet Admiral groaned as he was the only one against it!
"I am not asking for them to lead or command us, Han'Gerrel. If they demand too much, we will leave." Daro'Xen said with crossed arms.
"Fine."
"For now. We can watch their military efforts in the Omega system. I want to see them in action." Han'Gerrel said while slightly narrowing his eyes.
It will be the perfect time for them to see these newcomers at Galactic Stage… not far from their location.
They have heard about Batarian Conquest, but it's far from their location, on the other side of the Galaxy; in fact, now they can see it up close.
~~~
As the Quarians are preparing for their meeting with the Empire. In Omega, the situation was grim.
Aria T'loak has been following the Prince's progress since he entered the Pylos Nebula, a Cluster just east of the Omega Nebula Cluster.
From what she gathered from surviving pirates who had the misfortune of encountering this armada, the Prince's goal is Omega.
This warmonger Prince was on a campaign throughout the galaxy. It made her realise that this Empire was a different beast from the Citadel species; the sheer logistical power they could wield is very concerning for her future business as a Pirate Queen…
That means that in the upcoming battle against these Imperials, she HAS to win. Otherwise Terminus Systems and their Freedom will be in real danger.
"How is my fleet?" Aria asked with crossed arms; she watched in the distance the massive Prince's armada. Of course, the fleet is far away from Omega, but she zoomed in.
What she saw sent a chill through her spine. The majority of those ships were legitimate Dreadnoughts in size.
The power of these Imperials is simply absurd. If one Prince can wield such power, then what about their standing army?
"Umm… we have some bad news, Aria…"
"Let me guess, they run away with their tails between their legs?"
"...Pretty much…" the Batarian second in command said while grimacing.
"...Just great. At such an important battle, they run away… do you know what will happen if I lose here?" The Asari Pirate Queen asked without even looking at him.
"...They will start hunting them down?"
"Precisely, if we break their morale, they will run away. These people are a simple raiding party… they have been hunting down pirates, mercenaries, slavers all the way from Argos Rho Cluster… that's more than thirty thousand light-years away."
Her Batarian follower, Bray, slowly nodded; it made sense to him, but even he, a Batarian, had heard how badly these people had defeated his race.
In fact, there was a sense of fear… He hadn't heard that a single soldier, ship or one of those mobile suits was destroyed when Batarians were conquered.
If a unified race can't even put a dent, what can a ragtag of pirates and warlords do?
Not that he will tell that to Aria's face…
"...Then we only need to take out their leader? That Prince?"
"Precisely. We will throw everything we have at him—"
At that moment, all of the consoles in the Command Centre of the Omega glitched out.
Every single hologram, holo screen, and TV showed a throne in the middle of a warship's bridge.
'That thing… he hacked Omega! Shit! They have AI!'
Aria grimaced even more as she realised the dangers of this particular weapon the Empire is employing.
"My name is Scipio Anaheim. I am the 2nd Imperial Prince of the Empire of Sol.
To all citizens of Omega, I want only one thing, and that is your Pirate Queen. Give her to me, and you all will be spared."
Aria's eyes trembled; she realised what kind of move it was. He is targeting the weakest link of her faction! Rule by fear is great and all, but the moment the gangsters and pirates start fearing something more than her, the whole structure collapses.
"It's as simple as that. If your choice, you can keep your station…
In fact, why don't we make it more interesting, help me get Aria T'loak, and I shall make you the ruler of this station."
"That freak! He dares!" Aria's whole body trembled from sheer anger as her biotics surged; she was ready to choke this newcomer to death!
"...Aria… we have trouble; this message… it was broadcasted to entire station."
The Asari nearly choked on what she heard, but she quickly composed herself.
"Then make sure it doesn't get out of control! All this Prince wants is for us to fight ourselves! Don't fall for these tricks!"
Aria barked as she realised that this guy wants to turn the entire Omega against her.
'Your tactics…' She gnashed her teeth when she saw her men waver.
~~~
[Your tactics are working, my Prince. Some of the gangs under Aria are planning to double-cross her.]
Legion, which was already in Omega's systems, was feeding live videos of Omega's interior.
"There are close to 7 million people in this station; most of them are criminals who only care about themselves.
Regardless of race or culture, they are all selfish beings. Their survival is a priority." Scipio snorted as he got up from his throne.
"Prepare my Praetor; we are launching, and prepare my battleships for combat."
"As you wish." The captain of his flagship nodded as he began to instruct the ships, and soon enough the frontline Excalibur-class battleships slowly began to move forward away from the Arondight-Class Carriers.
With that said, the Prince left the bridge and took direct lift to the hangar bay.
Unlike the massive hangars of Arondight-Class, which carry 50 Cataphracts, Excaliburs only have a few spots for mobile suits, as these ships were built for raw power to dish out damage and sink ships in a broadside exchange.
Over the past 200 years, the designs have become much more efficient. The Empire barely changed these ships; instead, their interiors underwent makeup many times.
For example, the Arondight-class has five catapult decks where they can launch 50 mobile suits in under a minute. If it's more than a minute, the Carrier's crew undergoes retraining.
It's as simple as that.
And Aquila Legion, which is Scipio's troops, are one of the best in this particular strength.
By the time Scipio got to the hangar, his troops had already launched and were ready to lay waste for him.
"It has been a while since we did anything fun, right, Praetor?" Scipio asked his Gundam as he looked at the Gundam that was inspired by Roman style.
[Yes, I am ready for action.] The cockpit opened for the Prince.
"So am I."
The Prince's clothes shifted into a pilot suit as he got into his Gundam; solid holograms powered up as he linked with his machine; before long, it was as if he were Gundam.
As he was doing system checkups, the machine was moved onto the catapult deck; instead of robotic hands that used to move machines, the purely magnetic walls now did all the work.
Before long, the tunnel lit up for the Prince as he gripped the solid hologram control sticks; a smirk spread across his face.
This was life! He was thousands of light-years away from home, laying siege on an alien space station for a Pirate Queen. Just thinking about the shit he was about to blow up with his Gundam made his heart race from sheer excitement!
"Your Highness, you are clear to launch." The operator gave the Prince the green light.
"This is Scipio Anaheim, in Praetor Gundam, launching!" With the press of a button, the machine accelerated out from the catapult deck.
Right after him, his Praetorian Guard followed as they launched one after another. These were heavily modified Cataphracts that resembled mobile suit legionnaires, following a Gundam modelled after a Roman General.
~~~
Not long after, Aquila Legion assembled the mobile suits and attacked Omega's fleet with reckless abandon.
The pirates expected these machines to wait for their fleet, but instead they simply attacked them.
The pirates launched missiles, kinetic rounds and all sorts of things that they had, but the Cataphracts simply ignored those as they launched their beams.
It was quite the cultural shock for the pirates as they had never seen someone fly into bullets…
But it was even worse when the machines didn't blow up.
"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! What are those things!?!" Batarian screamed as his fighter was getting tailed by a mobile suit.
The fighters were fast; they were craft built for rapid movement, but these things were big, and they were just as fast.
Not only that, they looked like a large version of a person, making them move with insane precision.
Trying to manoeuvre around them was impossible.
Soon enough, the machine hit its mark, and the fighter exploded.
"Agh!!!"
The Aquila Legion made quick work of a ragtag fleet that didn't have a decent command structure.
By the time battleships got close to Omega station, the fleet was a debris field.
"Honestly, I am a bit surprised how organised they were for a group of criminals. No doubt it's the job of my Queen." Scipio commented with a smirk; he then mentally called his ship.
"Send the word for the armies. We are laying a proper siege. Not a single corner will be left untouched."
"As you wish."
With that said, transporters carrying troops moved out and started landing in hangars and docking tubes throughout the entire station.
It's like this army knew the layout of the station just as well as the pirates themselves.
And Aria learned that soon enough.
"Aria… they are landing everywhere… There are tens of thousands of them."
'It's a proper invasion fleet meant for a world, not a single space station!'
"I know!"
The Pirate Queen moved to intercept. It's the only thing she could do. But then she noticed the weaponry of these guys; they punch through kinetic barriers. It's like fighting them without any protection; their armour melts upon contact; it's one-sided slaughter.
As locals, they tried to use hit-and-run tactics, but cameras and listening devices were hacked, and the Imperial army knew their movements and where to look for them.
In a matter of a few short hours, Aria was surrounded.
"Die!" The Asari Pirate Queen roared with anger as she used her biotics.
Blue energies tried to envelop one of the soldiers, but nothing happened; it was as if an invisible force field surrounded them.
'What the… they have biotic dampeners in their armours!?'
Aria grimaced as he tried to shoot with her shotgun, but that too was useless.
*Clap*
*Clap*
*Clap*
"Such resistance. It would seem it was worth coming here. You have thoroughly impressed me, my Pirate Queen."
The army split up and let a single person walk through.
Aria slowly revealed herself from cover as well. She looked at the Prince who entered into her nightclub.
Her last stand was at her seat of power. If she is going to lose everything, then might as well do it in her favourite place in the whole Omega.
"My, what an honour. Sadly, you won't be getting VIP treatment." The Pirate Queen sarcastically commented as she looked with anger and fury at him.
"Is that so? Well, I am not much of a nightclub person. Military is more of my thing." Scipio ignored her anger and sarcasm; it was pointless in his eyes. She already lost the battle and the war.
"What, expecting a surrender from me?" Aria asked, ready to resist to the very end.
"I do. You see, I already did my homework." As he said that, soldiers poured in and began to place some sort of devices all over the place.
When Aria saw them, she had a bad feeling about this!
"You see, my darling. I know that you love this station, a lot. In a sense, I am a bit jealous, so I will start blowing it bit by bit, until only your nightclub will remain." Scipio explained, looking at her, then at what the soldiers were doing.
"These are miniature versions of graviton field generators, the very same technology that we use in creating space colonies and stations in the empire.
That means that I can blow up your Omega into pieces, but this nightclub won't be affected."
As he said that, the whole place shook… uncontrollably.
"...You lunatic! What did you do!?" Aria began to sweat as she had a hunch what was going on.
"Nothing much. Just a section of your station got… detached." He pulled out a thin disc and projected an image; it was a live stream from his flagship showing a piece of the station got blown off.
"..."
"I will continue, bit by bit, until your station is no more… well, only your club will remain. I am generous enough to let you keep it." He looked around for a second. This place looks… well, alien to him, but if she loves this place, well, he is decent enough to let her keep it.
Aria realised that she was dealing with a very dangerous individual; she didn't expect that he would risk destroying the whole station and killing millions…
Clearly, she has underestimated how far this… Imperial will go.
And so, she lowered her shotgun.
"What is it you want? You want to get the bounty on my head? I doubt anyone would pay you; Citadel and Asari won't dip their fingers to deal with me." She snorted for a second.
"Bounty… you mean money? Wealth?" For a second, he was confused.
"I earned more than enough of those things. Your understanding of the Empire is limited from looks of it.
Money, wealth, all of those, I get by default as Prince. But there is one thing that I love collecting far more…" as he said that, he began walking towards her.
Her bodyguards reacted; the Batarians even opened fire!
Aria's eyes widened! She knew what would happen to her Omega if the Prince were dead!
"What the fuck are you doing!?" She exclaimed with seething anger! Damn those Batarians.
"My oh my. It appears this place has a decent amount of slaves." Scipio shrugged aside all of the bullets. Kinetic damage is literally primitive technology.
"Is it right, my Batarian friends? I should pack you up and send you to my uncle so that you start working the fields where you belong." Scipio chuckled; he found it ironic that these pests practise slavery, so might as well make all of them slaves.
Not that he cares about them. As the whole thing is just a way for him to mess with them.
"Shut up! Just die!" A grenade flew towards Scipio, who shook his head. He simply kicked it away before it exploded; he then did a motion and the Batarian dropped on the ground, bleeding from his chest.
'What the fuck?' Aria's eyes widened as she looked at her dead bodyguard; she saw something sticking out from his chest.
'Did he throw… a piece of his suit? What kind of tech is this?'
"As I said, back to the fields you go." More guards rushed towards him. Since ranged weapons didn't work, they tried hand-to-hand combat; the Prince's head was not covered, so they tried to gauge his eyes or smash his face.
But…
*CRACK*
"AGH!!!"
Turian guard screamed from the top of his lungs as his arms were broken.
"Huh, so your bones make a similar sound when they break, fascinating," Scipio commented as he broke the guy's neck moments later.
"Interesting, so those feel like metallic plates." The Prince commented after touching Turian's head. He then looked at the baffled pirates and at Aria, who was confused and concerned by the raw strength of this Prince.
Something was not right: is it the suit he is wearing or the biology of these Imperials?
Regardless, they stopped resisting when Scipio walked to the Asari.
"You will be coming with me, and that's it. I do not care about the station, the pirates or any of that." He said as his hand went to her chin; he grabbed her, making Aria realise that this guy got intoxicated by her looks.
'Typical.'
Internally, she rolled her eyes, but she is an Asari Matriarch, someone who had been around for over a thousand years. She has seen Turians, Batarians, Salarians, even Krogan get head over heels for her.
It appears this was not different. Only this time around, it's the literal royalty of a technologically advanced race.
"Huh, is that it? But what about what I want? Hmm? If you are that interested in me, then aren't you afraid that I could do something?" For now, the Asari ignored his hand on her; instead, she asked the curious question.
"Is that so?" He lowered his hand and looked around.
"In other words, you care about this piece of rock that much. How about a planet or two?" The Prince asked curiously.
*Snort*
"What about it? I don't care about empty worlds; it takes decades to build them up." Aria said with a knowing look; she lived long enough to understand how worlds are developed.
When Scipio heard it, he started laughing.
"You clearly don't understand a thing about the Empire." He shook his head as he looked at the Asari.
"We terraformed and colonised hundreds of worlds in the span of two hundred years. And it's not credits or some sort of currency that drives it.
Such a thing is primitive; we do it because it's what we do. Builders build, warriors fight, and we, as Imperials, expand and conquer.
This galaxy, it's ours; it's just that the Asari, the Turians, our amphibian friends, or the little slaves over there–" He pointed with his chin at Batarians, which made them pissed off. Still, the four-eyed aliens didn't do anything apart from looking pissed off.
"-Didn't realise yet. My father might be playing house with them, but that is to be expected as it will take hundreds of years until the Empire envelops the rest of the galaxy." Scipio shrugged as he walked over and took his seat on the comfortable couch.
"That leaves my siblings and me to do our thing. My thing is collecting ladies."
"Hah. So that's what it is. Aren't you afraid to bite more than you can chew?" Aria narrowed her eyes.
So she was the trophy. She wondered if he knew that the trophies can have thorns?
"Hmm, I heard that before. The thing is, you just fought against my followers. Not my father's followers, not my mother's followers, or something else.
So even IF you are Queen of Pirates, or even Queen of Asari, I will have what I want." He explained, spreading his hands and then putting one leg over the other.
"Hmm, fair point, but what about knife to your chest?" She grinned for a bit, challenging him.
But this is where Scipio smirked.
"Hmm, I suppose we are newcomers to the galactic stage, so you guys don't know my family stories.
You see… well, you could say I inherited my father's desire for multiple women. I don't know if it's a thing with other races.
But one time years ago, he had some fun with a scientist lady; she was married to another scientist, but as is typical with scientists, they are obsessed with their work, and the lady was neglected.
You probably know where this is going.
My father comforted her multiple times, which led to the birth of my little brother and sister.
But the thing was, when my father realised what was going on, that woman was dead for years by that point.
Not only that, my siblings were already grown up. So, as you could expect, the man who had the entire race under his foot was pissed that something like that was hidden from him.
In a normal situation, a dead person is dead, isn't it? But you see…" Scipio closed his eyes for a second before opening them and showing his geass.
It was a red bird symbol, not a golden one; Scipio's Geass didn't evolve, as he doesn't have the Code or inherited his father's eyes.
"We inherited the technology of a precursor civilisation that was spiritually advanced.
My father simply dragged her soul back and gave her a new body; after that event she never did anything like that ever again.
So, even if you kill me, I won't die; that is why I am not worried."
"..."
'He isn't lying…' Aria, over many years, learned how to read people, and she dealt with his kind before. His kind wear their emotions on their sleeves; he might use crafty tactics, but that's about it. She is certain that she could easily trigger or manipulate him, but he is simply too big or powerful for simple manipulation.
The Pirate Queen doubts she could wiggle herself out of this and get back to controlling Omega. Nope, she will need to think of something.
"Bullshit, bring people back to life? That's a bunch of crap!" One of the Batarian voiced his doubt.
"And that is why you are a slave. Your whole civilisation was taken down in a single day. It tells us all we need to know about the level of your intellect." Scipio deadpanned as he looked at the Batarian.
"He has no reason to make up shit!" Aria hated the sheer stupidity her hired muscles could have.
"Regardless, you win; congratulations." The Asari said with a borderline sarcastic tone.
"Just remember something, my dear prince; I will remember this." The Pirate Queen said with a smooth tone. It was not a threat or anything like that; it was a simple fact.
"Indeed, I expect you to remember, or I will do it for you, Aria T'loak."
Aria slightly frowned as she wondered if her time as a Pirate Queen was over. This man, a simple collector of women, destroys all that she has built?
It makes her annoyed beyond belief.
~~~
As the battle for Omega has settled down. In the southern part of the Galaxy, Augustus' Corvette finally arrived at Serpent Nebula and the newly named Citadel System.
The new capital for the Citadel Council. The Emperor's grandson was a bit confused about why the Empire was building a literal capital for the aliens.
But honestly, he has no idea what is going on in the Emperor's mind half the time. The ruler's plans span literal centuries…
"My Lord, we have permission to dock in the Avalon." The captain of the ship got Augustus out of his thoughts.
"Wonderful, tell the command that I have multiple gifts and intel that I need to hand to the Emperor personally," Augustus replied.
"Understood, sending the message."
Soon enough, the craft docked in one of the countless hangars. Many of them were in use, as the mothership was in orbit above a garden world; a lot of work was happening, which made the grandson realise that the Emperor is doing all the heavy lifting to build this capital for the Citadel.
'Huh… I wonder if these aliens realise what happens when you give that much power to a foreign power…'
~~~
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