Aucune réponse à ce sujet

[Dean_the_Young]

A backstory recast that could be a story in and of itself. In which the idea of species-unification in the ME universe's xenostate system is a major theme, without actually happening.

---

One idea I had awhile back was a 'no Human-unification' idea. Not necessarily a no-Reapers AU as much as one where the Reapers aren't a factor in this: just Humans, Aliens, and some bad-guy Batarians, but a lot of national-projection politics and such.

In a case of peaceful First Contact with, oh, the Salarians, the lack of the First Contact War to spur the Alliance to unify the nations of Earth leads the nations of Earth to, well, not unify behind the Alliance. Every nation/continent group tries to speak for Humanity, which of course means that none do.

The Salarians, in a case of being the naughty boys, exasperate this by trying to play politics, more or less seeking to ransom the role of 'who the Salarians/the Galaxy recognizes as the leader of Humanity' in exchange for 'who will grant the most generous concessions/alliance to the Salarians.' The Salarians entertain the idea of their chosen proxy, becoming a de facto leader of Humanity, increasing Salarian influence when Humanity is 'ready' to enter the galactic stage. (When it's advantageous for the Salarians to stop hiding them.)

That falls quickly, though, when the Asari and Turians find out... but only because the Asari and the Turians soon find their own horses to back.

The liberal-democratic Asari decide to back the ones most like them, the rich/democratic/liberal New EU (EU 2/3.0, now with consolditation). The Turians, who have been galactically overstretched and are increasingly unable to meet their commitments to galactic peacekeeping, start a military-alliance with the largest/most willing nation of them all: the Chinese Federation (China, still authoritarian but more meritocratic, and without the nonsense of communism). The Salarians, in a case of 'if we can't have them no one should', decides to further the division by supporting the anti-imperialist non-aligned movement: effectively making a lot of little alliances with a number of the traditionally imperialized nations of Africa, ME, and South America, giving them the means to avoid domination by the other nations. Smaller nations strike deals with smaller powers, and so on.

Humanity, rather than unite as a powerful force in the Alliance, is effectively divided into spheres of influence. As far as prizes go, Humanity is a pretty potent one: due to the hyper-population buildup of the Earth, as well as heavy industrialization and infrastructure due to concentration, Humanity is synonymous with potential as it adopts Mass Effect technology. What might have become another Drell disaster is instead of a new force in galactic politics: even divided, individual continents or great powers have the strength/size of small to mid-power species.

With the spheres of influence being drawn up, the major galactic question turns to the presumed unification of Humanity. Divided for now, everyone (by which I mean every alien of the Council system) expects that Humanity will come to terms with its pecking order and join the Council system as another species in the one species, one voice system. The nation that claims the Human Embassy will represent the entire species, after all, and each species wants their proxy to be the Leader: to that end, the alliances are propping up their 'partners' and trying to promote them as the most worthy leader.

In some ways, that's a good thing for Humanity as a whole... because the Council races are giving (their allies) great trade deals, colony opportunities, and technology transfers in order to 'win.' In other ways, it's 'soft' imperialism: all those partnerships mean submitting to Council standards, Council laws, and no nation has as much as an embassy to represent themselves with, as the Council races refuse such. As a nation, you are only as protected and influential as your Citadel-ally feels like exerting on your behalf.

In all this Great Gaming, it's sad to say the Alliance is just another arm of the UN: coordinating international disputes, law, and otherwise helping direct policies without dictating them.

Not all the nations of Earth get a major foreign backer, though: too many nations, not enough powers. While a few rogue states try to make it in the Terminus, to mixed results, the three most notable ones are India, Brazil, and the USNA, all of whom reject the Citadel conventions for one reason or another.

India, in the culture of the 'non-aligned' movement, leads that group of nations, mostly small, who don't want to submit to Council domination or align themselves in the Terminus/Council disputes. Effectively a colective security assistance group, they mostly settle in Human space, near the Traverse and Terminus that isn't highly desired or disputed. While technically Terminus states, the Non-Aligned movement is seen as generally harmless and non-threatening, and as a group maintains relations with most species. Not a great power, being too divided on anything but mutual non-aggression, but over time their impartiality has even attracted some of the more benign, independent Terminus colonies to join the mutual-defense pact of no conditions.

Brazil, a bit of an outlier in South America, has taken up the role of Earth's international diplomatic power. The home of the UN after it moved out of North America during the Second American Civil War, and thus the home of the Alliance as well, Brazil is the big power that pushes for the most inter-human unity through the offices of the Alliance, to which it is the single greatest part. Not quite the UN as an actual state, Brazil's power rests in its influence on the Alliance-UN agency, as well as its strong ties with just about every Human group. Brazil is synonymous with 'Human diplomacy', and is the instigator of most Human mediations and agreements. Brazil, and its few satellites, work under the Aegis of the Alliance: though most countries retain their own colonies, the Alliance effectively runs Brazil and a few others.

The USNA is kinda-sorta a great power, or at least it was, but now its on the rebound, kinda. Still distracted and recovering from the Second American Civil War when the Salarians arrived, the USNA more or less missed out on the proxy-picking contest: too weak to appeal to the Council Races, to strong/prideful in memories of lost power to submit to the influence of a minor race, and too self-interested to abandon potential for Council rules and regulations, the USNA went independent on its own, and into the Terminus. In a mix of renewed nationalism, Manifest Destiny, and Westward Expansion/return to glory politics, the USNA engages in a significant colonization campaign in the Terminus, with a mission of 'liberating' the poor/oppressed in a profitable campaign of 'civilizing' and expansion. Lots of civilized-species-burden, combined with ambition, but in the Terminus that thinking could be justified. The colonization drives, and especially the anti-slavery crusade, however, bring it in dispute with the Batarians.

The narrative, such as it is, focuses on how the Humans slowly subvert the alien influence and surprise the galaxy by defying its expectations.

China, seemingly the ideal remorseless partner for Turian strategy and tactics (playing on negative stereotypes here), surprises everyone when it publicly and directly intervenes to stop Turian atrocities in a Turian crackdown of a colony revolt. Disputing the Turian doctrine of 'there are no civilians', as well as the Turian tendency to obey even bad orders, the Chinese military pulls an intervention in preventing a Mai Lai-style massacre by Turian soldiers. In a moment that is not-at-all-Tienamen-Square-photo, a lone Chinese soldier stands in the way of a Turian tank column, an image that crosses the galaxy. The Chinese assert their morality and autonomy, refusing to be the needlessly-overwhelming accomplices of Turian excesses.

Europe, seemingly the idea democratic student from the Asari, becomes far less endearing when the mirror of cultural reform is raised at the Asari and their own taboo. The extensive honeymoon becomes increasingly strained and uncomfortable when the Sentient Rights groups that the Asari pushed to criticize the other races learn of the Ardat Yakshi prejudices, and the Justicars and abandonment of due process, as well as legalized slavery on the not-colony-but-really-is of Illium. Asari find themselves in the same position of Israel, in being a far more comfortable and safer environment for professional protestors to come protest, and the Asari over-reaction to such challenges to their taboos... Screaming, hateful Asari using their biotics to throw Humans off a bridge (and with the picture not showing the lake just underneath) arguably ruins centuries of a carefully cultivated image as the wise, enlightened race.

The Salarians don't quite have time for schaedenfreud either, because their policy of divide-and-dominate of the anti-imperialist movement backfires, at least for the Dalatrass, when the many Human allies start meddling in Salarian politics in reverse. Individual human nations, once thought to be in the pocket of the Dalatrass, strike relationships and covert agreements with individual Salarian matriarchs, favors for favors that complicate and upset the Salarian status quo. While the STG remains unified, Salarian Dalatrasses undergo a series of replacements as the influence of the Human partners becomes an uncontrollable but influential part of Salarian politics.

India and its like-minded compatriots turn the Non-Aligned Movement into the first trans-species movement to flow from Humans to the galaxy. The Civilized Terminus, as they've been called, is a modest but real alternative to the extremes of Council Dominance and Terminus chaos: as incredibly decentralized as it is, barely worth calling an Alliance, this non-aggression pact has given a number of colonies safer borders, enabling them to defend themselves from pirate and merc aggression and better develop themselves. Much to the Council's discomfort and quiet concern, a few of the smallest species, too small to even warrant an embassy, have actually left the Citadel System to join the NAM.

Brazil the Diplomatic Power, aka the power behind the Alliance, is a real force in Human politics. By helping coordinate and resolve Human disputes in space, and helping the Earth nations manage their own colonial developments that resolve problems at home, Brazil has become something of the indispensable diplomatic partner... and one that every Earth power respects. Alliance colonies and stations, once a joke, are now considered respected neutral grounds that, if in trouble, any nation will attempt to assist. The Alliance has gained ground as a coordination agency, much like the WHO or Red Cross. Most importantly, Brazil has also become home to the legendary cross-nation military training program that is... the N7 program.

(There's also a Cerberus aspect, in which Cerberus is that UN conspiracy no one really believes in, but that's about as significant as their role gets.)

Finally, the UNAS has broken Citadel norms by becoming the first 'civilized' species/nation to have an effective cross-species national culture. The expansion/moral crusade into the Terminus, as well as the anti-slavery drives and a legal case that keeps the 'individuals born in the UNAS become citizens' regardless of species, has succeeded: given that all Mass Effect aliens are pretty much Humans in the first place, the Cultural Imperialism of America 2.0 works out well for the Terminus, and the immigrant culture successfully assimilates a number of aliens as honest-to-god citizens. As the UNAS has regained status as a great power on Earth, and thus a minor galactic power in its own right, it's even gained some Terminus space into its own orbit. This 'civilizing the Terminus' is something the Council has largely given up on after centuries of failure, and the idea of a multi-species state in which the species are equal citizens is anathema to the Council system, and effectively unheard of even in the Terminus. At the same time, however, the UNAS is something of a reckless, even destabilizing, and certainly self-interested actor: probably the best example is when the UNAS launches a 'Humanitarian Intervention' in Omega without Aria's approval, an act that leaves it with her deep animosity but also the UNAS annexing the second most important space station in the galaxy.

All these developments take the course of decades: a historical narrative rather than a specific story, if you will. But as a story, there is an end-game: the Big Bad Batarians.

The Batarians, the previous Council Runner Up before the Humans came into the picture and distracted everyone, are a Major Galactic Power. While the Alliance of Canon was stronger, the Alliance of Canon was unified: as it is, the Batarians could mop the floor with just about any two Human great powers (minor galactic powers) with ease, bar only the Chinese (due to Turian aid).

The Batarians don't like Humans for a lot of reasons. Not only did we derail their ascending narrative towards gaining Council Status, but when the Human Pie was up for grabs the Batarians lost out: only a few dictators were interested, and even then they didn't want to give the Batarians the control they were seeking. After that, the Humans are just all-around unpleasant targets: the major powers can defend their colonies from pirates, the NAM and Brazil-led Alliance work together to help smaller countires/colonies protect themselves, and no one in Humanity likes slavery.

Worst of all, though, is the UNAS. The UNAS has set up the Underground Relay Network: a slave-escape and resistance ring that has funneled countless slaves (and other, equally valuable, items) to the safety of UNAS territory. The UNAS has also contested and thwarted Batarian efforts at colony expansion in the Terminus, including the annexing of a colony to which the Batarians have long held designs. (For the purpose of narrative, the Alpha Relay colony.)

Tired of being ignorred and disrespected despite their strength as a Major Galactic Power, the Batarian Hegemony decides to put Humanity in its place. Seizing upon a pretext, the Batarians launch a war against the UNAS, seeking to take all their Terminus colonies and leave the UNAS a humiliated, eviscerated state back on Earth. To make it worse, the Council Races would actually stand by and allow such a happening: the UNAS and its multi-racial state is a direct challenge to the very structure of the one-race, one-voice Council system, and seeing the UNAS reduced to ash would remove a threat to the stability of the Council regime. Even knowing about it in advance, the Council chooses not to warn the UNAS or any of their own allies. The UNAS, while a minor power in its own right, is also over-extended and invested in its moralistic foreign policy, and stands no chance against the upcoming Batarian surprise attack.

Alone, that is.

A series of diplomatic, political, and military events occur in the face of the looming disaster.

The Salarian allies, acting without their mentor's guidance, discover the evidence of the Batarian buildup and share it with their own allies and friends. Brazil is informed, and convinces the skeptical to share it was the UNAS.

The UNAS is able to mobilize its fleets and leave its ports just before the first Batarian strike on the Colony of -P-e-a-r-l-, Safe Harbor. The UNAS, avoiding being knocked out of the war in the first minutes, proceeds to mobilize a defense for time as Batarian slavers try to reclaim their property, many of these ex-slaves now UNAS citizens.

The next break comes with India and the Non-Aligned Movement. While relations between the UNAS and NAM have been twitchy, with the UNAS using Omega to build the very sort of Sphere of Influence the NAM decries, the NAM indicates that they will not attack the UNAS, even if they will not help it... but they will accept and protect refugees from the UNAS. With the border secured and evacuations of endangered citizens underway, the UNAS moves garrison forces from the UNAM borders to fight the Batarians, especially at Omega. Though the colonies are now virtually defenseless, the NAM does not move against the UNAS.

On Earth, a diplomatic offensive in activating the Alliance's mutual-defense clause begins. Though every nation on Earth is a signatory of the treaty, this is the first time that any member has tried to activate it... and the Batarian hegemony has bribed a number of the most recalcitrant members to try and block the measure. Human multilateralism wins, however, and the Alliance stands up the first Alliance Coalition Forces... being led by Admiral Hackett, representative of Brazil, the architect of the diplomatic dance.

The Alliance Combined Fleet comes in right in time to save the UNAS from losing the colony of Freedom's Progress (heh, could it be anyone else's?). The Alliance CF is not only able to blunt the Batarian advance, but even launch counter-offensives in the Terminus theatre. The War reaches a period of indecision as the campaign wages.

More political events occur, this time in Council Land.

The Batarian-Human War has caused a sharp jump in Terminus-Council tensions. The UNAS, while destabilizing the balance of the Terminus with its takeover of Omega and conflict with the Batarians, was never a member of the Council's order. The large number of Council Race Allies, however, who are now backing the Alliance...

The Council, originally intending to let the conflict run its course, now seeks to avoid a wider Terminus-Council War. Each Council Race tries to reign in its ally, to convince them to drop out of the Alliance: each ally refuses, seeing this as a red-line of the country's autonomy and independence. Even though the Council guarantees their safety and offers them generous concessions, the tradeoff of abandoning their right to make their own commitments is too much.

The greatest concern, however, is with China, the only nation to have an all-out military aliiance with a Council Race. The concern is quickly becoming that if the Chinese activate the alliance, the Turians will be dragged in... and that will cause a galactic war. The Batarians, committed to the course they are on, are far more willing to play chicken than the Council is, and the Turian Councilor outright and publicly demands the Chinese remain out of the conflict.

The Chinese publicly refuse, and when the Batarians reveal a surprise a surprise offensive aimed at capturing the Alpha Relay, a drive that could turn the war around, the Chinese single-handily fight it off, protecting the UNAS colony.

The Battle for the Alpha Relay marks the effective end of the war: with China firmly in the war, the Batarian Hegemony, fourth greatest power in the galaxy, can no longer overcome the collective strength of Humanity. An armistice is soon signed between the Alliance and the Hegemony: a return to pre-war borders, a twenty-year non-aggression pact, and not one slave returned. It is nothing less than a humiliating failure for the Hegemony.

The war is over, but the after effects are not. Though the Council tries to sweep the conflict away, even laying sanctions on the Batarians for their aggression, its own role is not: the highly-classified Council deliberations in which the Council nakedly admits to intending to let the UNAS be castrated, and why, is smuggled out by an Asari with ties to the European professional protest movement.

Though the Council attempts to deploy a team of Spectres to recover the data, the team runs into trouble: a team of N7 soldiers, operating under the aegis of 'Cerberus', intercepts the Spectres and allows the Asari to make contact.

European Whistleblowers go wild, and within 24 hours the Council's duplicity, far beyond the 'we don't want war with the Terminus' that the Earth nations knew about, is viral. Along with that already damning information, the Council's attempts to sabotage the war effort by pressuring their allies to withdraw is also released, turning the Council into a force conspiring with the Batarians in an unjustified attack on a troublesome force for good in the Terminus.

It's the political scandal of the mellinia, and the effects are immediate. For the first time in history, all three sitting Councilors resign in disgrace. Their replacements, scrambling to compensate, make the most stunning offer of all: Councilorship to the Alliance, which has proven itself in virtue and capability and political wisdom and please please please don't destroy relations because of this and kick-start the Terminus War right now.

The Alliance, not content to seeing galactic politics torn assunder once in the week, says no and accepts an Embassy instead.

Because while the Alliance united for this war, Humanity remains what it is: divided, diverse, and different from the rest of the galaxy. It doesn't seek unity for its own sake: it doesn't speak with a single voice. It is a number of people in a number of groups, some noble and some petty, who may never agree to speak with a single voice. Not because they 'aren't ready', or 'haven't developed enough', but because they have no need to.

The crisis passed, the Alliance disbands the Coalition Forces and returns to its normal, ineffectual self: a bit more respected, a bit more ready to return to the task if duty calls, but still just a coordinator of Humanity when it wishes to.

The Alliance maintains the Human Embassy on the Citadel, run by Brazil but for the use of all Earth Nations no matter their relations with the Citadel Races. It is the first avenue many in the Terminus, via the UNAS or the NAM, to bring their voice to the Council, and soon after many of the lesser Citadel races clamor for the same.

The many political wheels and deals struck during the time of need are quietly addressed: backroom deals are presented as tokens of gratitude and friendship, as the USNA pays the costs of its salvation.

To the Non-Aligned Movement and India, the UNAS reforms its policy of non-interference in the affairs of those states: as well as the informal compensation of privileged access to Omega the UNAS ceases its attempts to pressure members of the NAM to join its own Sphere of Influence.

To the great, unexpected ally of China, the strategic assets of the UNAS are opened to it like they never were before. Though China honorably turned over the Alpha Relay colony back to the UNAS, rather than keep it for its own, China is granted unrestricted usage of the Alpha relay, as well as military bases in its vicinity. The Alpha Relay colony becomes a port-of-call for the Chinese Space Navy.

With the Alliance and Brazil, and understanding was reached: the UNAS would temper its moralistic drive with more caution and better sense, if it wanted to be able to rely on Alliance assistance again. Though the UNAS retained its direction and policies in the Terminus, they were... a bit more restrained, and more cautious of starting a conflict it could not win itself.

And similar gestures, concessions, and favors to all the other nations who answered the call. The UNAS's access to the Terminus trade routes opened to the nations of Earth. Omega became a popular trade stop for all the nations of Earth. The UNAS and its Terminus States repaid the debts it owed, but lending its own military strength to the colonies of its fellow nations and helping rebuild the losses suffered.

Humanity emerged healthier, wiser, and more balanced from this First Alien War. And it would need it... for what lay ahead.

(Insert Star Wars ending music.)

That's really as far as it goes. I know it's a little amerio-centric by proxy, and a bit nationalist-centric by consequence of design, but I think that's a decently balanced showing. Different ways for Humanity to interact with the ME galaxy, and one in which Humanity is both affected (being divided into spheres of influence) and able to affect (the end-game) the galaxy.