Heated discussions were taking place in the worlds of Palaven, Thessia and Sur'Kesh. The news of sentient machines trying to harvest all civilised life has such an effect.
As ludicrous as it sounds, the proof is the live stream from Marcus's vault, which even the most disbelieving Turians have accepted as reality.
In the provided estate in the Flagship Avalon, the Primarch was having a video call with Paleven's senate.
"I do want to remind you that the Empire of Sol could have simply kept this knowledge to themselves and waited for their arrival before they would have begun their expansion," Fedorian said to his sceptical people.
"They are going to need us." His people were a proud bunch.
"For what? They have superior military and technology." The Primarch shook his head before moving on.
"Regardless, we will first move the Citadel Council to the new solar system found by the Empire. They will assist with logistics.
We already have decided to invite them to the Citadel Council with all of their requests."
In other words, the Empire will have all the benefits of the Council and no drawbacks, which means that they don't need to bother with AI regulations and other rules.
It's simply because of the absurd logistical power they can provide. Moving capitals is not easy, and the Empire is master at it.
Their own capital world underwent monumental changes. According to the Imperial Codex, Sol's capital is an orbital ring around their homeworld of Terra. Most of the planet had returned to wildlife.
The planet itself has only a few old historic cities left; for cultural purposes, monuments like Notre Dame, the Colosseum, and the Taj Mahal have been moved to the orbital ring around the world.
Leaving the planet's ecosystem to recover after thousands of years of human activity.
Of course, this is only on Earth, as the initial development of civilisation was chaotic. Worlds like Mars and Venus, or worlds in Alpha Centauri like Centauria, Chiron, Rigel, or Proxima, all have planned, orderly growth that has nature in mind.
Cities with their satellite towns have been planned out in advance for many generations by the Imperial Logistics division; it's an orderly growth to what is most of the time pure chaos in Marcus' eyes.
Eventually, all of the excess population will become colonists for future Imperial worlds. In old times, it was like moving to a different town to start a fresh life.
But in the space age, it's colonising a world that is thousands of light-years away.
"You mean to say they can ignore council rules and regulations? Then what is the point in all of them!?"
Some Turians don't like such preferential treatment for newcomers.
"We need their navy, their soldiers and technology that will keep up with Reaper technology." Fedorian highlighted the Reaper's main weaponry with another hologram that he summoned.
"The Reapers utilise beam weaponry; it will take us years to decipher these schematics."
"We will learn far more from them than this. Our technology has barely advanced for over a thousand years."
That one stung quite a bit. Turian technology advanced quickly when they acquired Prothean technology, but once they understood Eezo and its utilisation, there was no need to improve beyond what was necessary.
Technology is not a constant growth; it's a reaction to an action.
Capital growth can only take so far…
But then the Empire appeared with technology so advanced that it made the rest of the galaxy look primitive. That sparked a desire and the need to improve technology once more.
And then the reveal of the civilisation-ending threat. Now, that caused a wave of desperation. Turian, and not just them, but Asari and Salarian realised that they don't have the means to fight these guys.
At least statistically… their numbers and capabilities are simply terrifying; the data and Javik's testimony paint a grim picture.
The issue is that these machines can brainwash people; while ships alone are terrifying two kilometres long for capital ships and around 300 metres for destroyers- they are bearable to some extent, but facing their own people and knowing that they can betray at any moment, that is bad; it's like bleeding that one can't stop.
It's most likely what ultimately ended the Protheans.
"...Fine, we approve. But nothing more, Fedorian; we still have our pride, we are the ones that beat Krogan; don't forget that, and these Reapers will be no different."
'I wish that was the case.' The Primarch looked at the statistics; the AI had provided them with possible outcomes.
All Fedorian had to enter was his species' military might and compare it to possible Reaper might.
Sure, the numbers could widely be different, but he got a terrifying and 'beautiful' number of 0% chance of winning if Turians are to face the Reapers on their own.
He even added theoretical numbers of Asari and Salarian.
But then he got a random idea.
With the call ended, the Primarch decided to test something.
"Legion, what if I add your Empire into the prediction?" Fedorian wanted to know how well prepared the Empire is for the Reaper threat.
"Can I hope for a non-filtered and unbiased prediction?" The Turian asked hopefully.
[Depending on circumstances, and if we utilise Core Worlds, the chance of winning is over 89%.
That is, we are on defence; however, if we go on offence, the chance drops to below 50%.]
"..."
"How is that possible!?"
'They have such a high percentage of winning!?'
[Core worlds have another name, and they are named the Fortress worlds. The defensive installations we have will shred anything that even thinks of entering the system.
Plus we are prepared for their indoctrinations.]
"Can we learn these secrets?" The Primarch asked hopefully.
[My apologies, these methods are classified and only accessible by the Imperial Military; you need level A permission.]
"Ugh…"
~~~
Meanwhile, as Marcus' guests were dealing with the new information about the upcoming war for survival, the atmosphere was different in the Imperial Family estate as the Emperor was relaxing in his favourite seat and enjoying a cold drink while watching a Knightmare football game between his Constantinople Imperials and Centauria's Rangers.
The black-and-purple machine was dashing forward while the Rangers were tightly on defence.
"My, aren't you relaxed? I thought—" Marcus placed his finger on his lips, making Lacus stop and roll her eyes.
The Emperor stared for a bit, but the goalkeeper caught the ball, making the Ruler groan.
"Anyway." He muted the TV before looking at the annoyed wife who stood there with crossed arms.
"I gave them a day to do their thing while I can enjoy the game." The Emperor declared to his wife.
"...I see…" The Empress was speechless for a bit. But then she realised that it made sense; that's so him.
"Besides these knockout stages for the year 212 Imperial tournament. For this tournament, teams from Elysium are joining. The 43rd tournament will be the biggest so far. With over 448 teams participating." He explained to her, making her look at him for a bit, then shake her head.
"I suppose for an Imperial family-sponsored event it's quite a big deal." The Pinkette commented. She always saw him watch it. But to make it so that it's above diplomatic relations with alien races…
It's quite something else.
"Indeed, games like these are a big deal." He seriously nodded.
"Anyway…" He patted his lap, making her sit down and cuddle automatically.
She then began to whisper what the three races are talking about.
"From what Legion heard is that they are planning to give us a council seat. With no strings attached."
"They are planning to wrap us with gifts so that we could not deny their requests for help. But that is fine, we will try cultural conquest first, before switching to the classic if it doesn't work." He explained to her, placed his drink on the table, and then hugged his wife.
"...I thought as much. I was wondering why you were not continuing to wage war. But turns out you are doing something different." The Empress said with a thoughtful look.
"I think I just want something different. We have been continuously colonising for the past 170 years. I do believe it's our nature to be social beings." Marcus frowned as he tried to put into words what he was feeling.
"Oh, my! Is my husband desiring friends?" Lacus teased him as her finger poked his cheek.
*Snort*
"Aren't you here because I wanted company of a gorgeous woman?" He replied with an eye roll.
"True, thought it was so long ago…" She recalled her early years.
"We should go on a date, as we did before." Lacus grinned at him as she had an idea.
"That is a good suggestion. Besides, so many new spots opened—"
Marcus' eyes widened as he swiftly checked his TV; Centuria's Rangers scored!
"Fuck them! How dare they!" The Emperor's eyes glowed; he was pissed!
Lacus's eyes widened before she giggled.
"If that world weren't Imperial, I would have blown them up!" Marcus began to rant like a madman.
"Hey, it's just a game…"
Her comment made him stare at her.
*Sigh*
"How little you understand, my gorgeous wife. Thankfully, you are mine; otherwise you would be experiencing labour camps in the Trappist system asteroid belt for such insensitive comments." He said with a plain tone.
Lacus wanted to roll her eyes, but her sixth sense told her that he was not joking.
And that made her treat his sport as if it were his workshop! Treat it like a temple; otherwise, it will be trouble, wife or not.
"Understood, husband."
"I knew you would."
'I wonder if sisters know how serious he can be about the Knightmare Football.'
Well, others haven't had the chance to see him watch football, as the sport became a huge deal only in the late 70s, by the time Marcus left for the front lines of the Empire, and he only got serious about it in the 150s.
With Imperial support from several Princes and the Emperor, the game became a second religion, second to mobile suits.
Maybe one and the same? Since they utilise knightmares, which are considered a form of mobile suits.
~~~
The news about the Empire of Sol spread through the whole galaxy, not just the heart of civilised systems, but to the corners of Attican Traverse and Terminus Systems.
Even pirates as far as the Omega System learned about the existence of an advanced race of Imperials.
While Batarians heard about the attack on their homeworld of Khar'Shan, now the existence of a new race and new travel advice of not travelling to Arcturus Stream, Exodus Cluster, Petra Nebula and Kite's Nest made them reluctant.
Others found the whole thing something akin to a challenge, as soon enough pirates from the east side of the galaxy began to test the 'waters', so to speak.
~~~~~~Expansion Zone of Exodus Cluster, Persia System, Dariuspolis~~~~~~
A garden world of Dariuspolis named after the 9th Imperial Prince who discovered the system and the planet.
In another timeline, this world would be known as Terra Nova, but in this one, the Prince named it after himself upon discovering it.
Ever since then, he treated this world as his seat of power.
By the Emperor's decree, if his children find a world they like, they can settle in it. Assuming they don't have one beforehand, especially for the younger generation of princes who are not that high in the pecking order, or whose mothers are not that high or do not have important roles, like Darius's mother, who is merely an assistant to Empress Marina.
That's right, Darius inherited his mother's brown hair and striking gaze but his father's purple eyes.
The 9th Prince was the son of Marcus Anaheim and Shirin. Since Shirin was part of the Entertainment division, the Prince didn't have many prospects… well, he could have gained a role as a TV host and become truly famous like Marina's second child, who is an idol, but that is something he didn't want, so he went into the military and became an explorer.
And now, he has a planet- well, a whole system as his!
"My prince, we detected ripples in gravity; several small-sized ships entered the system." The recently built traffic control tower already became useful.
"GN particle readings?" Darius asked with narrowed eyes. He checked the logs; there was no cargo delivery from the Coloniser mothership.
Coloniser was close, around 150 light-years away in Eden Prime's orbit, where it refines materials for Dariuspolis. Since his colony was in its early stages, he still needed support until it was self-sufficient.
"None, they don't emit particles."
"Eezo-based power source… damn aliens, prepare my Xerxes; I will deal with them personally!" The Prince swiftly left the recently built Command Centre/Estate.
It was basically a colony ship-dropped building that served as the central piece before dome cities could be established.
Darius doesn't need to do much, as the Empire is a well-oiled machine; the perks of being a prince are that he found the world and named it after himself. The rest of the Empire will do for him; the only thing that he needs to do is defend the world. Normally, he should notify the Central Command that there are pirates; well, the Central Command should know already, as the solar system has a comm tower, but he is in the area, and it's his world.
So it falls to him to defend it; if he messes up, then it will be on his head. But he was an Imperial Prince; just by being one, he had something only the Anaheim family had.
And that is a Gundam; well, he has his father's Geass, but that's beside the point!
The Prince rushed into the hangar where Mobile suits are stationed. His sand-and-gold coloured machine reacted to his presence and moved, dropping to one knee and picking up the Prince.
"Let's go, Xerxes; we have aliens to deal with."
[Very well, it will be a pleasure to erase them.]
"My thoughts exactly."
The prince got into the cockpit of his machine; the seat adjusted, and holograms manifested for him. Moments later, the GN drives picked up pace, switching from idle to active state, and then they swiftly left the hangar and rushed into space.
Once in space, the cockpit configuration changed, and the machine could orient according to the stars.
[My Prince, we have a stable connection with the World of Anaheim and the Armoury. Yeager Dahaka is ready for you.]
"I doubt I will need my ace in the hole." Darius frowned as he used the comm towers to track the ships; his machine's FTL turned on, and he swiftly rushed to face them in Gas Giant's zone of influence.
He doesn't want any trash in his system, so might as well feed the wreckage to the natural cleaners of the solar system.
~~~
"Incoming small object!" A confused Batarian said to his captain and boss.
Krogan, sitting in the captain's chair, hummed before barking to his minions.
"Some puny fighter, blow that pijak into oblivion!" The carnivorous alien instructed with his stretched-out hand.
"Yes, boss!"
As the gunners were getting into position, other ships followed the command as well, but soon enough they realised something strange.
"It's not a fighter… It's some sort of mech?" The navigation and spotter checked the cameras; the image zoomed in, and they could see a two-legged, two-armed mech with a V-shaped visor, holding two energy whip-like objects.
"Turn around, alien trash; this system is part of Empire, and is under direct protection of the 9th Imperial Prince Darius Anaheim.
It's your first and last warning; don't want to clean up after what I will do to you."
"That pijak! Who does he think he is!? Shoot him! Try to keep some part of it presentable; we could get a decent amount of credits in Omega!" Krogan barked commands as his hand was clenching the armrest to the point that it began to bend in strange angles.
The gunners listened to him and opened fire; mass-accelerated physical rounds rushed at the mech at absurd speeds.
But at that moment, Darius closed his eyes for a second before opening them, revealing a golden bird symbol that replaced his pupils; he could see the rounds as if they were moving in slow motion.
Though his machine, possessing the most advanced form of neural interface, could tell that the pilot was pissed, so was the machine in turn. So its trans-am activated automatically, and one of its hands went up; the energy whip turned into a pillar of blue and green, a tower of gravity and GN particles, before descending on the dumbfounded pirates who saw a light show like no other.
"What the fu—"The Krogan didn't even have a chance to swear for one last time as his ship and half of the fleet that he brought for pillaging were gone, alongside dreams of advanced tech and new alien slaves.
Though it was not the end, as the gundam began to drag the pillar to the side, taking out more ships.
"FTL! FTL away you moron! Stop staring at the light, we must leave! Now!"Turian pirate barked at his minions as the remaining pirate ships started to turn rapidly to the side and jump away with their FTL drives.
Darius looked dissapointed that some of them were able to escape; his Gundam stopped the act and looked at where they escaped.
But then there was a call from someone who made the 9th Prince grimace; still, he picked up.
"Yo, lil bro." Scipio appeared on the screen as he was sitting in his comfy throne.
"Since you contacted me on short range, you are in Exodus Cluster?" Darius realised what was going on.
"Of course. Father is watching his football, so I had my chance to slip out. I left my West Fleet with Roland."
The 9th Prince looked baffled to hear that.
"Isn't he with G-Force? How in my father's name did you bait a knight to lead as admiral?"
Roland Anaheim is the 14th Prince and one of the youngest; he is the son of Oldrin, one of the knights who serve mostly Empress Marrybell, but she is also part of G-Force and A.S.P.
So, stuff happens when you are on guard duty…
"I told him that his dad wil be proud that he could defend the border from greedy aliens, and so… bam, I am here. Now, then…" The 2nd Prince bragged about how he did it. It was some basic manipulation, but it worked on an eager younger sibling.
With that said, an armada of ships exited Jump space; a series of explosions followed as Clarent-class warships with extremely powerful tractor beam technology yanked pirate ships back, causing them to explode from sheer force.
It's like they were stretched in both directions, causing an explosion.
"..."
"You didn't see anything, Darius. Now do you have any of their data?" Scipio was embarrassed that he couldn't show off his rare tractor beam-based warships, which were supposed to bring aliens back and not explode…
"I think I do. Xerxes ripped any files it could; a few seconds was enough; those ships don't have decent firewalls." Darius said with a borderline mocking tone, as he used his neural interface to skim through files.
"Here, I am sending over their nav data, and some other interesting files."
"You have my thanks; you are one of my favourite little brothers." With a smirk, the 2nd Prince ended the call as his armada turned towards a specific direction and activated jump space once more.
'That direction…' The 9th Prince pondered; it was the Argus Rho cluster in that direction.
Argus Rho, according to Citadel Codex and pirate data that Xerxes pillaged, is more or less a pirate haven; the cluster doesn't have many colonisable worlds; not only that, to reach this cluster one needs to take a turn.
For example, it's not that far from Exodus Cluster, but there is no direct link to it. One needs to fly to Horsehead Nebula and then only into Argus Rho.
But that is something that Empire doesn't have to bother with.
They will simply fly there.
~~~~~~Several Hours Later~~~~~~
"Are we there yet?" Scipio was pissed. His mothers got some action; even his little brother AND uncle get some action!
But not him! Forget about hot alien girls! He needs to blow up something to recover from this!
"Sorry, my Prince, but we are travelling into an unknown star cluster; we need to watch out for space anomalies like supernovas and black holes." The navigator said with a nervous tone.
"Tsk. Just do your thing." The 2nd Prince clicked his tongue as he returned to his throne and looked at a nebula that was getting closer by the moment.
There are no boosters, so they are taking several times longer than usual.
Eventually, they exited jump space in a system marked in pirate navigation computers. Rho Argus has several marked solar systems. Not all of them, just a couple.
According to the computers, these systems are marked by pirates so they won't get close, as they belong to other pirates.
'Some sort of honour system? Robin Hood much?' Scipio snorted before asking.
"Anything of interest in this system?"
"Umm, according to the pirates, this solar system has a planet that is inhabited by a turian pirate by the name Tonn Actus and his gang.
Though the planet itself is fascinating, it's a Type 2 by Imperial scale."
Scipio raised his eyebrow when he heard that.
"Turian pirate aside, a Type 2 world requires minimal effort to be terraformed and then colonised."
Empire has a basic scaling system that it utilises to scale the world's value.
Type 0 is the perfect garden world, with daytime between 22 and 27 hours, gravity between 0.9 and 1.1, temperature between 5 and 15 Celsius, and, of course, oxygen-rich and has water.
This is the perfect world for the Empire. So far, only Benning and Elysium have got close to it. Sadly, Eden Prime doesn't match its description, since daytime there lasts 40 hours.
Then there is Type 1 world. These are garden worlds with more than two faults they need to fix for a perfect life. Among them is Eden Prime and Milly's crown jewel world of Academia.
Then there are Type 2 worlds… many of the worlds that Empire has colonised so far are either Type 2 or Type 3.
Venus and Mars were Type 2 worlds. They have either a thin or a thick atmosphere; their positions are well placed relative to the Sun and don't require extensive shielding.
These worlds are what Empire looks for the most because they are quite common.
And they require an average amount of resources to work with.
Like this world of Tuntau, the average temperature is 21 Celsius; it has a thick atmosphere of Methane and Helium, a daytime length of 69.7 hours, and a surface gravity of 1.1.
This planet is a Type 2 world that is leaning towards Type 1.
Gravity is one of the crucial, hard-to-terraform factors.
And when it's this good… it's a world perfect for terraforming.
Then, there is Type 3… Type 3 is basically the most common rock found in space, a barren wasteland that requires extensive work.
The best example is the Moon. No atmosphere, bad gravity, can't even sustain atmosphere.
These worlds require the most amount of work. They are worlds that are the last resort.
When Empire arrives in a solar system, they look for Type 2 worlds. Of course, Type 1 is like striking gold.
And Type 0 is like finding diamonds. But space is vast and full of stars; planets like these are super rare; that is why they don't have hopes that high. Type 2 is enough.
"Mark this system and this world. Father will be pleased to know that we found it for him." Scipio wasn't dumb. He is his father's son. The Prince is covering his ass. Once he returns with loot and some hot alien girls, he will have star charts that his father can use.
While he doubts that father will reward him, he won't punish him either, as not only did he cleanse the galaxy of the pirate scum, but he has intel that is good for Imperial expansion.
The perfect plan for the 2nd prince to release all that pent-up frustration.
"Understood, Prince."
"Then proceed with entry, find that alien."
"As you wish."
And so the Prince's battleship and its escort began to descend. Followed by several transporters full of his retinue.
While the bulk of the fleet is still in orbit, it will be enough, as the alien pirates won't know what hit them!
~~~
"By the spirits…" the Pirate stared at massive warships releasing machines and transporters most likely carrying platoons of soldiers.
"Boss… that insignia… I think it's the new race that the Batarians made contact with," one of the Turians said to his leader.
The Turian Pirate looked down. He started to think. Either he surrenders here and lives or fights to death.
Well, he wants to live; that is for sure.
"...We are going to surrender."
"..."
"..."
His men were well-armed, powerful, and even at the level of commandos. There is a reason why he is wealthy and successful, but he is not invincible.
What he is looking at is a planetary invasion fleet. Something like that could easily take a well-armed colony. However, the turian can't see what is happening in orbit.
Otherwise he would pass out.
"...Understood…" His men were not happy, but they understood. Fighting what is before them is… a death sentence; surrender is the most viable course of action.
Sure enough, transporters carrying soldiers and massive robots landed in front of the facility built into a mountain; it was a pirate lair for sure.
Scipio, standing at the front, looked around. It was the first time he had seen an alien structure outside the Prothean one on Mars.
"Let's proceed."
The Prince had a rifle in his hand. He was ready to fight at the front lines. His royal guards were close to him. They were here to make the prince survive; otherwise, they would suffer the wrath of the Witch Empress.
As they got close, the front entrance was sealed shut; the 2nd Prince brought his hand close to the console, his suit reacted, and the hand turned liquid, rushing into it.
Moments later, the doors opened, and the prince with his men strolled in.
Though what they found was around twenty Turians with their hands raised.
'Fuck… fuck!'
Scipio swore. Was the number of soldiers he brought too much?
'Next time I will leave ships in orbit! And bring down only transporters! Ugh! Stupid!' The 2nd Prince is so used to his soldiers and forces that he's forgotten others don't have them!
'Fine! Whatever!'
"Are you…" The Prince read his name from his HUD… "Tonn Actus?"
"Yes."
"Good, I am here for your stuff and your data," Scipio said with a dull tone. He then looked to his son.
"There should be a bounty on his head, no?"
"I think Turian Hierarchy will pay you, father." His son and second-in-command said in a pensive tone.
"Good, we will use those funds to fund the new estates that I plan to buy in Citadel Species capital worlds; I won't need to sell Imperial resources."
The 2nd Prince has more than enough wealth, but it's resources, not 'money'; that stuff is for common people.
So he doesn't have Credits; he could exchange some, but he is a greedy man. He already gave away the West Expeditionary Fleet. He gave away hundreds of ships and hundreds of thousands of soldiers so that he could explore the galaxy, collect loot and get some alien girls.
That means he already sacrificed enough, and now he needs to get back what he lost!
"That is a good way of thinking, father."
"Of course. Lock these pirates up! Oh, and take their stuff." With a lazy motion of his hand, Scipio's soldiers moved in and grabbed the surrendered pirates.
As the soldiers took the pirates away, the 2nd prince began to look around.
A floor above, he found something… incredible!
It was artefacts! Some seriously old stuff!
"This is… find out what these things are!" The prince instructed his soldiers while he went to a computer console on a table that looked like an office of the pirate boss.
He used his suit to translate the language while he skimmed through the files.
There was some interesting stuff that he picked up, some nav points. Like other places that are pirate-infested, like Gemini Sigma or Artemis Tau, though Artemis Tau is in the opposite direction; he won't be going there. The prince looked upwards in the galaxy map.
'Oh, my… That is far, but… Pirate Queen? An Asari? Are you serious?'
Scipio's eyes gleamed; it appeared he found his new love.
"Aria T'loak… my oh my…" He saw a picture of the Asari.
The Prince decided on the course of action. He would go to the other side of the Galaxy; he would collect everything along the way, and then, at his destination, he would lay siege to Omega and get his prize.
"Any luck?" After copying all the files and erasing everything from the computer, the Prince turned around and looked at his men, who were scanning and inspecting the artefacts.
"According to the data, some of these pieces are over a thousand years old. From the consoles we scanned… the pieces belong to the Krogan, an alien race of carnivorous reptiles that live in a DMZ in the middle of Citadel Space.
A thousand years ago they waged a rebellion against the Salarian and Asari; the Council was losing, but then they invited turian who assisted in beating the Krogan.
We can assume that the turian pirate is a collector." The leading officer explained to the Prince.
"Is that so? Well, I am a different kind of collector. These pieces don't interest me. Though my father? They will, collect these and be careful; they are gifts to my old man." Scipio said with a smirk.
"Yes, your Highness!"
With that said, Scipio was feeling much better; he had some goals in mind. He had some destinations to explore; from the looks of it, the east side of the galaxy is not that widely explored.
Though he will do his part and check some of the destinations.
However, the most excited he is for is the fierce Pirate Queen of Omega. It will be a fun trip indeed!
With that said, the Prince strolled out of the hideout of the pirates; there was nothing else for him to collect here.
It was time to leave this world for his next destination.
~~~
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