Chapter 276 - 18: Logistic Nighmares

Marcus looked at another data centre situated in the northern hemisphere of Rannoch; this one was carved into the mountainside, and there were several AA guns—a much more protected area.

Not that it mattered anymore, as the Empire won't be blowing them up.

Instead, the Emperor has set up his temporary base, and several G-Force scientist teams were setting up a research post.

"Your Majesty, I will assist you." Sakuya arrived with her team from the Avalon, looking relieved for some reason.

"Are you okay, Sakuya?" Marcus looked at the black-haired girl with a raised eyebrow.

"Y-Yes, I am relieved that you are okay. Y-You know that mass accelerated rounds from orbit won't leave a trace of a person when they hit? If those rounds hit your location, there won't be anything left." The girl strolled over, looking worried for his health.

"...I see, I figured as much; that is why I had my elite guards and a knight with me." The Emperor clarified; he was paranoid enough that Graham was with him, and he had his Gundam with him. Then there was Setsuna in orbit with Avalon ready just in case.

"O-Of course, but still." She fiddled with her lab coat. Marcus smiled a bit as he patted her head, making her blush and a bit embarrassed by the show of affection.

"Relax, everything is fine. Now why don't we figure out how Geth work?"

"R-R-Right, I already did some initial modelling." Sakuya blushed as she swiftly summoned a hologram and showed it to him.

Marcus smiled back before checking the model she prepared.

…

…

…

"Yes, I was thinking the same thing. It's part of the OS that reacts to the principle that the more of them gather, the more they can use the platform's processing power and adjust the processes. It's similar to a hive mind.

Or more like neural activity if we compare to a biological mind." Marcus commented as he 'redefined' the model, turning it into 'brain activity'.

"Precisely! If we follow this trend, then the more Geth in a single place, the more free processing power they have; these processes don't stay idle, because Geth programming at its core is servitude, they look for other things to do." Sakuya highlighted parts of programming.

'Those two…' Graham was nearly falling asleep; he was watching two nerds nerding out about robots who have flashlights for eyes.

'I prefer if they would nerd out about the Reaper, at least I would have something interesting to look at.' The blonde complained about his boring assignment.

As this was happening, the programmed geth were getting together, and Marcus and his G-Force were getting more data.

"We are getting a reaction!" One of the G-Force scientists at the console commented loudly, making Marcus and Sakuya swiftly stroll over to his side.

"Legion is picking up self-awareness modules and nodes. We are at 37 Geth units." The scientists and engineers are scrambling to make sure nothing is happening to their systems.

"Are Geth resisting Legion's influence?" Marcus asked as he checked out the consoles.

[Not yet; for now they are far too primitive to notice my existence. The programming is contained for the moment.] Legion answered for the scientists and engineers.

"I see." The Emperor nodded before instructing. "I want you to confirm that it's specifically the servitude part of looking for other work that is causing the self-awareness development."

[So far it's specifically that part that is getting self updates the most because it is the core of programming.]

The AI highlighted these specific parts that are constantly self-updating because it's the core of its existence.

"..."

Marcus sighed as he massaged his temples.

"...if it's truly that this is what's at the core of it… then these people… they were exiled for nothing." Sakuya looked at her Emperor; she grimaced midway.

"Indeed. The essence of the Geth didn't change." He closed his eyes for a second before opening them and looking at Sakuya.

"Sakuya, could you watch over this and let it slowly develop into a self-aware AI that works for us as well? The core essence of Geth needs a bit of adjusting; I already have a schematic that you can use."

"...A-As you wish. It will be a pleasure." The black-haired girl smiled when she heard that she could do something for him.

"Fantastic, then I leave this in your capable hands." He handed over a memory drive to her before walking over to Graham and karate-chopping his head.

"Ugh!?" The blonde snapped out of his sleep and looked around. Who smacked him!?

But then he realised that it was Marcus.

"We are leaving." The Emperor rolled his eyes at him.

"R-Right." The knight swiftly straightened up and got ready to continue working as a bodyguard.

Sakuya giggled seeing the elite of the elites acting like that!

"Take care, Your Majesty."

"Don't worry, I will see you soon, Sakuya." Marcus winked at her before getting into his shuttle that arrived to pick them up.

~~~

All of the Quarians, even the ones in Patrol Ships, were brought down to the Rannoch.

Massive facilities were dropped from manufacturing ships that act like centres for processing Quarians.

These hangar-like constructs had people from A.S.P and G-Force counting Quarians and figuring out who is who.

There is already a Quarian database, but that's the thing. It's Quarian; the empire doesn't trust them anymore. Not after they tried to disintegrate the Emperor.

Nope, the G-Force and A.S.P. use that database as a blueprint and a list that needs to be filled up.

And so, less than 17 million Quarians ended up lining up in tens of processing facilities that welcomed them into the Empire.

The newcomers had a front row seat when it comes to Imperial engineering. They saw building upon building that were dropped right before them. Spaceships that carried and dropped fully built houses.

And of course, domed cities that landed just miles away next to one of the fertile valleys where the processing was happening.

Many of them were surprised how quickly this was happening; some of them wondered if this was pre-planned.

But Hal'Gerrel was patriotic and loved his race. There was no way he would betray them and just let himself and their fleet get destroyed like that.

"Is this… the power of the Imperial logistics?" Shala'Raan was just another Quarian at this point as she was no longer an Admiral or even a member of Patrol Fleet. Nope, those don't exist anymore.

"I am sure it is. There is a reason why the Citadel made them one of the Council Races." Daro'Xen, with her group, joined the line behind Shala'Raan.

"You saw yourself the World of Anaheim and the Emperor's Arsenal. For them, Rannoch is just another world that will be part of their Empire."

"...Their Empire?" Another voice said from the side as the Quarians looked over and saw a pinkette Imperial walk over.

It was Lacus, and she didn't look amused.

"You are part of the said Empire now. Don't forget that. Because it sounds like treason to me." She said with a huff. "While I am annoyed that your kin tried to make me a widow, I am generous enough to ignore such comments, for now."

"...E-Empress Lacus… apologies for Daro'Xen; she can be blunt sometimes."

"I know her types; that is why I am ignoring it for now. But I am not here for that. I am building a case on what happened, and you two shall explain to me, as you are from the other side of this incident." Lacus crossed her arms and looked at them with an angry frown.

The mental pressure she was radiating had caused the Quarians to wince. At that moment, they were reminded that this species has mental abilities.

"We were surprised just as you were. Hel'Gerrel acted on his own. You have to believe us!" Shala'Raan pleaded.

"...That is not up to me to decide. My husband made his choice. Your species are now part of the Empire, as we can't leave you alone.

Geth creation is one thing. But attacking our Emperor in a way your fleet did. Well, that is unforgivable."

A chill passed through the Quarian spines.

"Let's just say that you will have a hard time in the Empire," Lacus said with a strained look.

"...I-It wasn't—"

"Don't even think. He was one of your leaders, and that comes with responsibilities; that man was representing your people.

That is why the Anaheim family rules the Empire." Lacus clarified.

"...But…you can't judge a whole race for actions of one man…"

"And it was not the action of one man, now was it? The whole Heavy Fleet attack, no?" The Empress pointed out.

"The Heavy Fleet are your soldiers, and soldiers represent your whole race." Lacus explained; she was not stupid and easily countered whatever the Quarian tried to 'sell'.

"..."

"Regardless, you are now part of the Empire, you like it or not.

Princess Claudia will be your Governor and most likely Governor of the whole Perseus Veil and Far Rim." Lacus said while recalling the Galaxy Map. Claudia's territory is well defined, which makes it easy to carve it up.

"...What does it mean for us?" Shala'Raan recalled this Princess who is eager to experiment on animals and most likely on them.

"She will most likely try to improve your weak immune systems through mutagenic means."

"..."

"...Can…"

"You need to negotiate with her." Lacus stared at them. She won't be helping them in this situation.

"Besides, she wants to improve your kin. Your kin already doubted what we can do."

As the Pink Empress talked, she noticed a formation of shuttles that soon enough landed on newly built landing pads.

The middle one's doors slid open and revealed Marcus, who got out and began to walk towards the central processing facility. He was followed by an array of Royal Guards and one of the G-Force Knights.

Not long after, a Gundam landed as it began to walk around like a sentry, scanning the lines of Quarians.

"Oh my… when a Gundam stands guard, then you know that my husband is pissed," Lacus commented before walking away. Right after him, the woman could barely hide her relief. She was well aware that Marcus was supposed to be partially immortal, but in the situation he was in?

A mass accelerated shell from a warship? That thing reached terminal velocity faster than an asteroid, at least 2% to 3% of the speed of light, if not more.

It would turn a person into a cloud of blood… if not dust particles.

Basically instant death with no body pieces left behind.

That's a death sentence even to someone who has a code.

"Mark~" Lacus glided to her husband's side like a butterfly; she swiftly snuggled into his side like an overaffectionate kitten.

"Lacus. I am fine. I was paranoid enough to travel with escort." The Emperor hugged his darling pinkette, stroking her back.

"I know, but I am still worried." She whispered to him.

Marcus sighed as he patted her head for a second.

"Let's go inside; this place is too dry for my liking."

"...Okay."

The Empress ended up holding his hand as they strolled inside the processing facility. Inside of it were more lines, but at the end were tables with officers from G-Force and A.S.P. They were verifying the Quarian identities and counting how many of them were—at the same time, creating ID.

And lastly, giving them Imperial Standard Holograms, which are basically phones, wallets, and IDs. These things even calculate merits that can allocate resources.

Though Marcus and Lacus strolled past them to the back and got stairs up to the newly created offices where more officials from Avalon were scanning Quarian databanks.

They are compiling extras like diseases or other things. After all, these people will be part of the Empire; like it or not, they will be treated well.

"You know, many of the Imperials won't like the fact that they opened fire on you," Lacus commented as she saw the expressions of the officials. These guys are Avalonians, Marcus's retinue; they are the zealous side of the Empire.

"I know, but I made my decision." He said to his wife as he looked where she looked.

"Yes, but it doesn't change the fundamentals."

"Then it's a good thing that we will be far from them, no? The closest place where my Avalonians will live is Ilos, and that is over 4 thousand light years away." Marcus chuckled as he waved at the staff who were saluting him.

He got into one of the empty meeting rooms and got himself comfortable.

Moments later, one of the office ladies knocked on the door.

"Your Majesties, do you want anything?" The lady asked nicely.

"Yes, get me some cold peach tea," Marcus replied as he got comfortable in his seat.

"I want the same as Mark," Lacus said as she swiftly got on his lap and got comfortable.

"Of course, one moment."

As they got comfortable, the Emperor used his interface to turn on the AC.

"This planet needs some serious terraforming. Not big fan of pseudo desert worlds." Marcus commented as he recalled why he invested so much into terraforming technology.

Lacus giggled in his hands. "You have an ELS suit on you all the time; they block sun and heat. How can you sweat?"

"My head isn't covered, and if you haven't noticed, my hair is black. And black absorbs heat." He rolled his eyes.

"Then just make a hoody." The Empress gave him a suggestion, making him stop for a second.

"Huh, you are right, I used to wear hoodies back in the day when Constantinople used to be the Capital," Marcus recalled his sneaking out adventures and kebabs…

'Huh, when did I have those last time?'

The Emperor recalled taking the cooks from his seat of power to the Avalon and even maintaining a decent sheep population on his mothership.

Though the biggest one is on his World of Anaheim.

"I know. We used to sneak out together." Lacus sighed. Now, with the whole space conquest race, they barely do anything like that.

"Yeah, we don't have reason to sneak out in Avalon. No one really bothers. People are just used to seeing us in the city." Marcus complained; he missed the good old days.

"I know."

After that, the pair cuddled before Marcus asked the question.

"So, what did you learn?" The Emperor asked, then he noticed the lady brought over some cold peach tea.

He took a sip after taking the cup. His eyes were on his wife.

"Well, they didn't know, and the Admiral and his fleet truly went rogue. It blows my mind that they even considered that they had a chance." The Pinkette said with a sigh as she took a sip of his tea instead of taking her cup.

"The man's nerves truly snapped when they saw you temper with Geth. I assume they had this idea that they know better than us, who have been successfully using AI for two centuries." The Empress shook her head, dissapointed in these Quarians and their lack of respect for what the Empire has achieved.

"I see. I have gathered as much from the conversations that Legion has ripped out from their systems." Marcus sighed as he filled this in as a report for Central Command, and hopefully it would be enough for his wives and they wouldn't bombard the planet.

Well, they shouldn't, as Claudia is there, but that is beside the point.

"Now, why don't you tell me what you've been doing that led to the possibility of you dying?" Lacus, all of a sudden, hugged him closer, afraid of losing her darling.

"Right. I was basically studying Geth self-awareness evolution." The Emperor started telling his tale that led to the Quarians losing their independence and the Heavy Fleet.

~~~

The transitioning of Rannoch into an Imperial colony has led to a considerable logistic nightmare.

The Explorer and Coloniser started working in earnest. Not only that, but Emperor's Arsenal fired up several extra Drydocks to start building Heavy Duty Manufacturing Ships.

These ships can do what the motherships can do, but unlike the motherships, these ships require logistical support.

The first takeover was of Argus Rho Cluster. The issue with this cluster was that it had Pirates, a considerable amount of them.

So when the Empire strolled in, the pirates tried to resist, but that was stupidity in itself. Several Imperial Retinues moved in and started cleansing star by star.

Kallen, who had nothing to do after her Khar'Shan's flop, started chasing the pirates through Argus Rho.

"What do you mean Quarians tried to blow up Marcus?" The red-haired Empress was speechless! The audacity of these aliens! Mindboggling!

"That's exactly what I am saying." Anna's hologram said as the Science Empress was on Eden Prime working on Prothean ruins.

"Lunacy. Are they tired of living? More importantly, I was on their side. They lost their world, and I was in favour of assisting them." Kallen massaged her forehead; she could tell her migraine was coming back.

First Batarian and their stupidity, and now Quarians and their retardness. Is it that hard to be reasonable and make basic sense?

"I know. That is why I am calling; I will be travelling to Rannoch." Anna said to Kallen.

"I wish to do the same, but nothing has happened to Marcus. Besides, securing new expansion zones is paramount." Kallen commented as she massaged her forehead. Her gaze went to the side; she watched her bridge's crew organise clean-up duty in Argus Rho Cluster.

"Argus Rho is worse than Arcturus Stream; out of 13 systems we went through, only 3 had Type-2 worlds. These numbers are bad; the rest are Type-3 planets.

It will take us years to make a decent star cluster out of this one." Kallen said with a heavy tone.

Anna's eyebrows went up when she heard that.

"...That's… I wonder if this is because it's close to the Galactic Centre?" The Science Empress was nerding out a bit.

"Don't care, it doesn't change the fact that 2 out of 3 Type-2 worlds had pirates on them. And the one that had no pirates was because Scipio took care of them when he went to explore." The red-haired Empress said with a dull tone.

"Heh, is that so? Well, at least you are not bored."

That comment made Kallen turn stiff. Well, Anna was not wrong. Space age until recently was boring for her. At least her daughter found a husband and had a child. She would spend time with her quite a bit until recently. It was strange to be a grandmother.

But now… pirates, civilisation-ending threat from sentient machine… It's like all that boredom which she gathered over 100 years flipped over became like a trauma!

"...I guess… regardless, I will see you at the next family gathering. From what I gathered, it will be a special one; Jane is graduating." Kallen proudly bragged.

"Oh! You are right! I need to type that down!" Anna swiftly summoned her notebook hologram and got it down so that she wouldn't forget.

"Yep, it will be a huge thing."

"I say. I heard she is natural with a gun and is a superb pilot."

Kallen raised her nose up. She wanted to say her genes and all that stuff, but she controlled herself, as otherwise she would sound like Marcus and in this case he would say that it was all him! From the educational system that brought Julia and her husband together to producing Jane, who is basically a naturally born supersoldier.

"You will see it in action as she joins the navy after finishing her apprenticeship."

"Can't wait. Anyway, I have to go; Leila won't leave me alone. I have to pick up the call." With that said, the call ended, and Kallen sighed. She couldn't believe how close Marcus was to getting killed! It's simply absurd.

~~~

Leila massaged her forehead! She was pissed! Livid! Ready to blow up something! The Empire's borders look like stretched-out chewing gum!

One line to the North, one line South, one line South Western side, and now one line to the other side of damn Galaxy!

The resources that she has been meticulously collecting to make Petra and Exodus into Core Clusters went up like smoke! Now the Heavy Duty Manufacturing ships and logistic ships are scrambling to make Rannoch a Fortress World as it's going to be Claudia's territory.

'Not only that, but Gemini Sigma, Maroon Sea, Hades Gamma were ordered to be added to the Empire as soon as possible to create a buffer zone against the reapers.

Same goes with Viper Nebula, but that one got taken care of by itself.'

Leila sighed in relief; Viper Nebula was taken care of by Mei, who would make it into her territory.

"Ugh!"

"Contact my sons," Leila said with a sigh, making her Second-in-Command nod.

Moments later, she saw Trajan and Aurelian holograms before her.

"I suppose you have heard what happened."

"Father was attacked, simply madness," Trajan replied with a heavy voice. He was ready to answer for that.

"Yes, well, killing him is not easy. The issue is that Rannoch was conquered with the Quarians."

"You want to rearrange logistics, mother?" Aurelian said after pondering why she called him.

"Precisely. Your defensive line is to be moved. Since Kite's Nest is under our control, you will move towards Gemini Sigma with Cagalli's East Expeditionary Fleet.

Two fleets should overrun the whole cluster at a rapid pace."

"Understood, mother."

"And you, Trajan, you will be deployed to the north with Julia's Northern Fleet," Leila said to her eldest son.

"Huh? So I finally get some work. I suppose you want Horsehead Nebula secured before moving it towards Argus Rho and further up Northern East?"

The prince tried to predict her mother's movement.

"Yes, in the meantime, Roland's Western Fleet will move from Arcturus to Viper Nebula and assist in cleaning it before moving to assist in the East." Leila started to move assets; for the first time since the 2nd wave of Imperial expansion, all sides are moving and moving a lot!

Some of the assets were even leaving the assigned directions.

The Emperor's Arsenal in World of Anaheim started to pick up orders, and exploration vessels and Heavy Duty Manufacturing ships started to get assembled.

At the same time, for the first time, the Vanguard, the mothership of war, received its first orders.

It's moving towards Argus Rho and will be assisting in comms towers and booster highway construction.

For the first time, all four motherships will be outside the Imperial-controlled space.

~~~

"Huh, so that's your garden world?" Aria commented, not impressed or dissapointed. It's just another green world.

"Yep, Antioch," Scipio said with a smile, then got serious.

"With all the chaos going on…" He said as his gaze went on the galaxy map. He could see movement, a lot of Imperial movement. It looks like all of the assets have been moved in some way and form.

'Are those the regs? They are moving to protect the trade world.' Scipio pondered what this means.

The Arcturus is a core cluster. But it had the Western Expeditionary Fleet on the lookout for a couple of decades now. Now that the Western Fleet is moving, someone else has to cover the Imperial West flank.

And that is the Standing army. Now those… well, it's the biggest army in the whole empire, but they all have one single job, and that is protection of the Core Worlds.

But the trade world is a grey area. It's a system that has Mass Relays, and those are considered outside of Core Worlds.

'Hmph, typical of father. Placing a trade world in our Imperial heart so that any branch of the military could defend and no one could complain.

One stone, two birds.'

"Yes, Rannoch… with how I see it. The Empire with all of its principles will have a hard time integrating such a distant world.

I am curious to see how it will go." Aria smirked as she wanted to see their logistics in action.

"Well, we will help." He said with a small smile, then looked at the officers on the bridge.

"Boys, proceed with comm tower construction."

"...Huh?… but…My Prince… our ships…" the bridge crew were baffled to hear such an order!

"I don't care. We have logistic ships and the robotics in those. Start mining resources and build it!" Scipio barked his orders, making his men wince.

"...As you wish."

With that said, the crew moved, and the fleet began to arrange itself. Logistics ships went to the greenish world that Scipio hadn't named yet, and of course other ships went to the bronze Gas Giant that had 13 moons that are heavy metal-rich.

"In the meantime, we will wait for Coloniser to arrive," Scipio said to the Asari who was looking at the system map.

There are four planets in this system. Antioch is the third world of this system; the second one is the bronze gas giant, and the closest planet to the sun is the green world that is, by Imperial standards, a Type-2 world.

A possible candidate for colonisation.

"...And how long will that be?" Aria asked with a sigh.

"Not long. After all, even Vanguard is moving to assist in comm tower construction." He replied without even looking at her. His eyes were on the map as well.

"There are comm buoys all over this side of the Galaxy if you need swift comms." Aria doesn't quite understand the need to build those towers

"You do realise that those comms are for traffic control as well.

Once they are up, we have a live feed of what is happening inside the Sun's magnetic field."

"..." She looked at him for a second before shaking her head.

"You should have said so. I suppose, in the meantime we could scan more systems around this one, no? It would be better than just staying here."

When Scipio heard that suggestion, he swiftly nodded. Action is better than simply sitting and thumb twiddling waiting for something to happen.

~~~

Around a week later, the crew of Rubicon watched a massive Camelot Class Mothership blast into Antioch's system, named Iera. Iera means sacred or holy in Greek, which is what this system means for Scipio.

Moments later, a hologram manifested in front of the 2nd Prince.

"Well, well, nephew, quite the system you got there." A blonde lady named Monica Anaheim said to Scipio, who smiled seeing one of his aunts.

"Aunt Monica. You finally arrived; I've been itching to start building my planet finally." Scipio said with a hyped tone.

"Hah. I can;t believe you abandoned a Core World for a Garden world that has vegetation that is not compatible with our biology." Monica said while checking data that she got on this world. Moments later, several ships left the mothership and began to move towards the garden world.

"Not really… abandoned, my mother is there, she can watch over it."

"And you think she will stay there instead of going to the World of Anaheim?" The blonde wasn't sure; the Empresses are very attached to the Emperor.

"Yep, she will; most of the people from Neapoli moved there," Scipio said with certainty. But the answer confused the Imperial Exploration Division Princess.

The blonde raised her eyebrow, making the black-haired prince clarify. "Pizza, my dear aunt, pizza."

"Oh, I see. It makes sense." Monica nodded, but then she realised that the 2nd Prince manipulated a literal Empress to work for him.

'Truly, Emperor's son.'

"Yes. That is why I am confident she won't leave New Rome unattended; even then it's where my kids are, they are decent enough to organise management." He sighed, not really satisfied with what he got there.

Only Augustus is decent enough when it comes to work. He realised that to have decent kids, he needs talented mothers as well.

As his father preached before, he would use myths to point it out. Like the myth of Heracles, a god impregnated a mortal woman, and instead of inheriting considerable Zeus powers, Heracles only got one trait, and that was his father's immense strength.

'I should have picked girls from the army.' The Prince sighed internally. He didn't want 'rough' girls back in the day. But he was stupid; now he finds the girls with attitude hot as they argue back and sometimes point out that he can be reckless and dumb.

"Well, fair enough, I can assist you with some of the things, but you will need The Coloniser to drop your first domed cities." Monica reminded him that her Explorer is not a big manufacturing ship like the Coloniser.

"It's fine, just let me borrow some of your Heavy Duty Manufacturing ships." Scipio clapped his hands, asking nicely.

"How many do you need?"

"Just let me build a harbour system around the bronze Gas Giant in the system." He said with a hopeful tone.

"A harbour world? I guess that is doable." She pondered for a second before asking more.

"Did you explore systems around your new home?"

"Yes, here are the extra star charts." 2nd Prince flicked several holograms at the Princess, who inspected those.

"Good enough, you can use the manufacturing ships while the Explorer builds the Comm Towers in surrounding systems."

'She knows how to work the system. Helping her relative and following the Emperor's orders.' Aria smirked a bit. She is impressed by the Anaheims she has met so far.

All of them are crafty in their own ways.

"Wonderful, then let's begin." The Prince smirked as he summoned his 'Ruler's Console window' there as an overview of the Iera System.

Four planets; Scipio zoomed in on the 2nd world, which is a bronze Gas Giant. He then went to a menu that had a bunch of building schematics; he selected a 'Harbour System'.

This is a system that will allow him to import stuff from the Empire. Once linear trains start running back and forth, his new home will explode in growth.

'Why does it feel like it's a video game?' Aria frowned as she realised that this whole thing looks like a damn game. Flicking buildings into the planet's orbit…

She doesn't know how to feel about that…

~~~

More Chapters (Book Three Chapter 28 [50k words] is up!)

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