Chapter 105

Following the Flotilla's split, the faction led by Suki soon arrived at Rannoch. Their short trip was filled with nervous energy, as their dreams of returning home and living free from their constructing suits came closer and closer to being realized. However, underneath the hope for a better future was very real fear and despair. They all on some level are expecting to have their hopes crushed. That they are heading toward death or worse. Yet to the people making this journey it doesn't matter. The Quarians either have more hope than fear and believe this is the best way forward or they have more fear than hope and have given up on things ever getting better.

Given how precarious a position the schism has left the Quarians I decided to step in to make sure there were no interferences. I started with something I should have done a long time ago. I called in my favor with recently promoted Vice Admiral Hewitt and passed along everything I knew about Cerberus. That included black sites, operative identity, alliance moles, and a full dossier on the Illusive Man. With everything I gave him he was in a position to deal a massive blow to the terrorist organization. In the end, I set him up for yet another promotion and procured another favor to replace the one I just called in. I had been unwisely content to let Cerberus do as they please until now. I could no longer leave them be, they posed too much threat for the galaxy as well as my current efforts with the legion.

After sicking the Alliance on Cerberus I made my way to Rannoch just in time to deliver the immunity boosters. Actually stepping foot onto Rannoch cleared almost all the lingering doubts they had. Trying to get them to take the booster before would have been impossible, but now plenty of people would risk it. From there it snowballed. As more Quarians stepped out of their suits more Quarians wanted to take the booster. It wasn't long before the entire population was clamoring for a booster.

What happens next shouldn't have been surprising. There are no words to properly describe the festival that followed that wouldn't be an understatement. The 22nd century is no stranger to wild celebrations. The Asari in particular have some wild holidays. Nothing can compare to the chaos that erupted. For the next 2-3 weeks, the most accurate description of the Quarian race may be a drug-fueled hedonistic orgy. If it wasn't related to drugs, sex, dancing, or food it wasn't happening. The whole thing was only possible because of the well preserved Quarian infrastructure and surprisingly well-stocked markets.

The whole thing was definitely and ill times delay, but on the other hand, Quarian people and I could use a break. Plus there was no way I was letting Suki have all the fun. At first, I was concerned that my AI body might freak people out make things awkward, but no one gave a fuck. Wait. Reverse that. They gave every and all fuck.

But all fun must come to an end. As the festivities wound down work towards rebuilding Rannoch began. That meant not just fixing the planet and settlements, but also setting up a new government. The new government nominally called the Quarian Republic worked similar to how the Admiralty Board was supposed to. There was a legislative Senate made up of elected officials. Then the Senate would select from its members up to four chancellors and 1 high chancellor who would control executive powers. The Republic's first order of business was restarting the civilian sector, the second preparing for the Reapers, and the third planning for the inevitable baby boom.

Everything was progressing smoothly for several months as the Krogans and Quarians rebuilt their society while at the same time preparing so it's not all destroyed. We hit our first major obstacle when we lost our obscurity. It was inevitable that the radical changes happening to the Geth, Quarians, and Krogans would be noticed. However, how people were going to react wasn't inevitable. The formation of the Legion shocked people. It would be like finding out Israel, India, and 1940's Germany formed an Alliance. It seems impossible and the more they think about it the less it makes sense.

We used the confusion to our advantage. The Geth and I flooded the extranet with bot comments. Most were in favor or slightly in favor of the Legion, but a few were extremely xenophobic and hateful. The negative comments gave our opposition bad optics. It's hard to argue a point when your most vocal supporters are fanatics. Using these outreach tactics we specifically targeted Humans and non-council citadel races. Both factions that regularly disapprove of overly aggressive Council actions. Normally the Council had a high chance to respond to the formation of the Legion with extreme prejudice. However, now they have mitigating factors to consider. First the potential threat of the Reapers, and second how much tension direct violence will cause between the Council and Citadel races. I can't be sure our methods worked, but at least for now, we evaded an unnecessary war. Instead, we have been 'invited' to the Citadel for talks.