Chapter 277 - 19: The Martian Prince

Harbour worlds in one's solar systems are paramount for receiving massive cargo from the Core Worlds, as they are the only ones that can 'catch' the massive linear trains that come and go.

Marcus worked tirelessly to make sure space is accessible as ever. The easier it is, the better the industries he can build.

And a Harbour world is one of them. They are built around a gas giant as they utilise their massive gravity wells and magnetic fields to 'capture' the linear trains.

Based on gravity and booster technology, there are arrays of 'tracks' in the form of booster fields. Though these boosters don't just accelerate, they can brake as well.

Thus the whole complex looks like a train station, only in space.

The linear trains themselves are a simple construct, for the sake of being easy to load with goods and move.

The Empire utilises the void of space to its maximum. This allows easy movement of these cargo wagons from mining worlds to harbour worlds, and then yanking them to refinery worlds.

Sometimes these mining and refinery worlds are extremely close, since gas giants are just that good.

While hard to colonise for living, for the rest, these worlds are simply perfect. Like the bronze Gas Giant that Scipio keeps on forgetting to name.

This Gas Giant has 13 moons that are perfect for mining. He can mine and refine and, if need be, export it from the same place.

Of course, he will do that after his Antioch is fully built and can sustain itself.

With that said, Aria looked closely at what was a 'harbour world'

All she saw was a modular space station that had train-like platforms.

But then she saw a smaller station getting built up. The whole thing took just a few short weeks to set up.

"What are we waiting for?" She asked after realising that some of the work had stopped.

"GN drives." Scipio declared as he worked on a screen.

"Right. The perpetual motion engines… they are those fancy particle generators?"

"Yes. However, the exact word should be cosmic reactor. But we simply call it GN Drives for simplicity's sake. The new models are….I think the fourth generation of these drives.

They generate two types of particles, and if you install them in the boosters, they operate like high-speed rails in space.

I am making sure that I got a bulk of those." Scipio explained to the Asari as he was skimming through what looked like an order page on an extranet.

"Honestly, I never imagined how expensive it is to build up colonial infrastructure. I could just wait for a decade or two for things to build up normally, but we don't have that luxury." He said with a sigh.

"Right. Because you just need to have a fresh colony in nowhere space." She said with an eye roll.

"Part of it is true. But we are no longer nowhere space. This place is now an Imperial expansion zone.

My old man has Ilos, and my sister had Rannoch, which are further away from where we are right now." He explained with a shrug.

"Then you should just wait for those machines to get beaten before you focus on massive expansions." She reasoned.

"You don't understand, do you? This is a buffer zone. We are building a buffer zone that can become a defensive line if need be.

The core worlds long ago became defensive powerhouses; they don't need protection.

What we need is to figure out their numbers before we can strike where it hurts." The 2nd Prince explained how his father has been building up the Empire.

"You want to stretch those reapers as much as possible until you take them apart?" Her eyes widened in surprise.

"Indeed. We are following their book; it's exactly what they did to the Protheans. The only difference is that we have legitimate means to destroy their numbers.

Thanks to the carcass of a reaper that Father has in his Avalon." He explained to the Asari, who nodded a couple times.

"So your actions are not as random and weird as I initially thought," Aria said with a smirk.

"...right. Back when I invaded your place, it was because I was bored, truth to be said. Everyone was getting some action. Even my science mothers were exploring Prothean deep sleep bunkers." He said with an annoyed sigh.

"...Right." Now she felt annoyed that her omega was treated like some stress relief tool.

"Indeed. Anyway, I am ordering more Manufacturing ships."

As he said that, a hologram of a man appeared on a screen. It was a serious man with dark green hair and sharp glasses.

"Scipio, what is it?" The man asked with a matter-of-fact tone. This sharp-glasses-wearing man was no other than Nicolas Anaheim, the Forge Master of Mars, the creator of Colossus, the world-destroying station and premier builder of anything related to space.

Where Marcus has a vision and builds the prototype, this man improves upon it and builds greater forms of it.

Such talent is given as he is the son of the Emperor and Nina, who is Premier Terraformer and builder of giga-sized stations that could blow up a planet if not careful.

"Lil bro! I need a favour, well more like a trade." Scipio's opening conversation made the intellectual Anaheim slightly twitch. There are not that many people in the galaxy who could call him 'lil bro'.

"What kind of trade?" Nicolas, who always looks for extra resources, got his attention piqued. However, he is cautious, as this was Scipio.

"I got several moons that have heavy metals. Metals that you would need for your prototypes, and I know that Mother Leila is limiting your access."

Leila is limiting his access, as Nicolas's projects usually are black holes, and to fight that, he is running a 'side hustle': shipyards. Not any shipyards but mostly manufacturing-based and resource-extracting ones.

"So, what is that you want?" Nicolas replied, annoyed that everyone knows his little secret.

Being ruler of Mars has its pros and cons. For one, his prestige is off the charts. He rules a world in Sol that is the highest-prestige one can get besides being the Emperor.

Of course, there is Alpha Centauri, with its enormous industrial power, which he is jealous of. Not that he will say to anyone.

"I want you to build the infrastructure, and several of those moons will be yours to mine," Scipio suggested, making Nicolas push his glasses up. He pondered for a second.

"I want half of those moons."

'They are bargaining… this is absurd…' Aria was baffled to hear this. These princes are hardcore to hear. With credits, it's less extreme, but they are bargaining entire moons.

Gas Giants usually have moons that are as big as regular habitable worlds. From what she saw, this Gas Giant is not that far from that description. Since it was an exoplanet that was caught by this sun and now it's in the green zone, well more than close, as the moons of this gas giant are volcanic now thanks to constant gravitational forces from the sun and the Gas Giant.

"I will give you four of the bigger ones."

"I want five." Nicolas showed him his hand, five fingers.

"Very well, I will give you two bigger ones and three smaller ones." Scipio rolled his eyes; his lil bro sure loves to bargain.

"Then I shall build infrastructure for those mines."

"Yes, and I want a rail link to the harbour world," Scipio revealed what he truly wanted.

"So you want me to industrialise your gas giant?" Now Nicolas rolled his eyes.

"That's right. Once you help me with this, turning the rest of the system into a fortress won't be that hard." Scipio revealed his grand plan.

"You will need to wait for the extras, dear brother. From what I have seen, Argus Rho is only halfway done.

It will take a good month for the coloniser to arrive at your Shadow Sea."

"That is where you come in. You can arrive here early and do half of the work; on top of that, you get your resources." Scipio grinned from ear to ear.

"And in the process, build up the highway for my new resources, classic Scipio. Very well. I was bored anyway; with the peanuts that I am getting from my allowance, I will assist you." The glasses-wearing 10th Prince said in a matter-of-fact tone.

'Peanuts he says. Damn the rich siblings!' Scipio complained to himself. Being ruler of Mars makes this guy absolutely rich.

Not the planet itself. The world itself is not that big. In fact, it's the smallest habitable world in the whole of Sol.

But what makes this world a true industrial powerhouse is the refineries, drydocks, and the satellite construction facilities.

The planet's orbit is full of those. In fact, Phobos and Deimos, two of Mars' moons, turned into factories alongside the orbital ring.

Mars origins as a factory world can be traced back to when it first became a habitable world. Even when it became a green world, it had one of the biggest issues that is found in many Imperial colonies.

And that is water current circulation. Half of the planet is ocean, and half of it is land. The Northern Hemisphere is the Marsian Ocean, and the Southern Hemisphere is land with the biggest volcano in the whole solar system.

Now there is no in between like other planets that have multiple oceans and multiple continents that allow for moderate water current flow.

Because of that, Mars has two seasons. The Typhoon season and the calm season. There is no autumn, summer or winter. But two seasons: the storm and the calm.

Storms can last for months, sometimes even half of a Martian year. These massive typhoons cover half of the planet and grow to an enormous size.

Thankfully, the entire population is inside the domes; because of that, people ended up locking themselves in their workshops and forges.

Slowly, Mars became a place where the population became proficient in creating. Before long, 'Marsians' became synonymous with being a forger or an engineer in the Empire.

That reputation only grew in scale when Nicolus was given Mars as his domain. The orbit of the planet became dotted with his projects; among them is the infamous Colossus, the world-ending moving station.

But it was only the beginning, as the Prince revolutionised the asteroid extraction process with improved manufacturing ships, volcanic planet resource extraction, and more, as the Prince was on a mission to show the Galaxy that he was an Anaheim.

"Indeed, it's a good time for you to join the efforts in expanding the territory directly, my dear brother." Scipio teased the Ruler of Mars.

"I have been assisting with Exodus Cluster for the past fifty years and similarly with Petra," Nicolus said with a raised eyebrow. The Prince was wondering where this was coming from.

"Yes, but you've been doing so from your fancy palace on the top of Olympus Mons."

"I see. So that's what you meant. I was about to cancel our deal just from sheer audacity I was hearing from you." The Marsian Prince said with a snort.

"What I meant is you should leave the security of the Core Worlds and see the galaxy." Scioio clarified, feeling a bit nervous.

"I leave that to your kind. That's your purpose, explorers and such. You find we make something out of it.

Now enough talk. I need to organise my assets before I send them halfway across the galaxy."

With that said, the conversation ended, and Scipio sighed in relief.

"Can't believe it worked!" The Prince exclaimed.

"You just sold 5 worlds for mining equipment?" Aria pointed out. She doesn't understand what is so great about this.

"You don't understand, do you? That's the brother who rules the forge world of Mars! His people are top-of-the-class experts who have been forging and making stuff since the world's colonisation.

It's like enlisting the top matriarchs of your race to build my stuff! But that is not all! They will be living in the harbour world as they mine the resources.

If I have such forgers and refiners, I can ask to make dry docks and other critical infrastructure needed to secure the rest of the Shadow Sea Cluster."

"...huh… so you wanted the people and not the mining equipment."

Scipio snorted at that comment.

"If I wanted mines and all that stuff, I could have used father's arsenal to build it in bulk and be done with it. Which I will once this system is all set up."

His explanation made the Asari nod. She is learning bit by bit how the Empire plays 'The Game'.

It was a bit more to her liking. There are favours for favours; these Imperial retinues are acting like small kingdoms, and they all are working to improve the Empire.

"Once the system is fully built up, you will take over the rest of the Shadow Sea?" She smirked, realising that he was building an Empire inside of an Empire.

"Of course. I still need to give some of the planets to my useless children." He sighed while saying that.

"Hah, made too many of them too early?" Aria shook her head, finding that amusing.

"You could say that. I ignored what my mother and father said. Funny enough how my mother is as old as you are, Matriarchs."

Aria's eyes widened. Now that was a surprise! She read in the Imperial codex that pre-evolution Imperials barely lived to 100! And the oldest current Imperial should be only around 210 to 230 years old.

So how can there be someone as old as a thousand years old?

"How?"

"Precursor civilisation technology. While my mother is called the Witch Empress, she was the one who helped my father discover the precursor civilisation that led to his immortality."

"..."

"Our civilisation discovered the precursors first, which helped to develop sound- and vibration-based technology that led to gravity manipulation.

Far superior to Eezo-based technology, as it's simple sound manipulation, far easier to use and more flexible. It doesn't run out of juice, as you can use any power source."

"...Damn. I suppose it's better than our Prothean ruins." Aria smirked; that got her a surprise, but now it made more sense why their tech is so different.

"True, and you guys don't have my father. That's probably the biggest perk our Empire has." Scipio proudly shrugged, making the Ex-Pirate Queen roll her eyes.

Yeah, they can't have their father because he is literally Imperial and not Asari. But yeah, she got the idea; they don't have a genius inventor of THAT level.

"Back to the previous point. Shadow Sea is a decent cluster with a range of Tier-2 worlds. The quicker I secure these for myself, the quicker I can lay down my roots here." Scipio looked at the map with the cluster on it.

"Fair enough, and from the looks of it you are in a good position. The Emperor is far away, and from what I understand, after Rannoch he will move to Illos to build his base there?" Aria turned her tactical mind on as she looked at the Imperial map and how the territories are spread out.

"Yes, knowing my father, he will stay there for a considerable amount of time. It could be up to two years, as by then he will return to the World of Anaheim for the family gathering." Scipio recalled his niece, who will be turning eighteen; it's a big deal, as that girl is a genius and honestly reminded him that he needed better women in his life to produce better kids for him.

~~~

Marcus used the comm tower above Tikkun, the sun of the Quarian home system, to scan the whole system. He found an array of storage stations and refineries that the Geth were using to operate in the system.

Now these were abandoned, and he swiftly took over, adjusted to Imperial standards, and began to industrialise the whole system.

As this was happening, more and more retinues were coming to see him.

Since the Emperor saw this coming, he instructed his worried wives to bring more manufacturing ships.

Which in a way pissed them off. Here they are worried, and all he says is: 'If you are coming to visit, bring some Agraivan-class ships with you.'

Regardless, they listened even if it pissed them off.

And so Marcus got extra support before the Coloniser arrived.

Though he won't need it by the time it arrives since Avalon can do it as well. However, the ship's industrial might is halved because of many things it can do.

"You know, I have mixed feelings about this." Leila strolled over and crossed her arms as she looked at her husband.

"My attention was on the aliens and the trade world. Even though we gave away a mediocre system for this experiment, I wanted to be there to see how it progresses, but then the kids and you pull this. We are over 10,000 light-years away from Argus Rho.

Most of the retinues are outside of the Imperial territory. I feel like the Eastern front all over again." The blonde Empress said with a sigh; her tone was tired.

When Leila speaks of her ancient history and compares it to her time in Europia Military, you know that she really doesn't like the whole situation.

"Overstretched frontlines is what Europia did, not our Empire, my dear husband." The blonde walked over to Marcus's side, then nodded at Euphemia and Lacus.

It appears the pinkette squad was the first one to arrive.

Well, Daphne was not here; the Princess was a literal ambassador in the Citadel.

"That is why I want to fix that as soon as possible." He said to her as he showed what he was doing.

"I am thinking of switching it to development stages." The galaxy map he was looking at switched to a local cluster.

"First, we will lock down the system with a comm tower and build up highways.

All we will do is focus on that. This way we can rapidly lock down literal clusters in months instead of years.

Once that is complete, we can start picking the best systems for colonisation and work way down from high 2-tier worlds to low 3-tier space rocks.

Colonising the best planets first and so on.

Selecting the biggest fields of resources to exploit first, and you get the picture."

Marcus explained as he looked at Leila. By this point, Anna was there as well; she didn't say a thing and instead listened to his explanation.

"So what Russia did back in Tsar Peter time. But we all know how well that ended. Your father literally walked over that nation like it was a midday picnic, and he invaded through Siberia and not through Eastern Europe." Leila shook her head. Even to this day, that move is considered one of the most 'based' in Imperial Existence.

It's at the level of what Hannibal did against Rome. And he took elephants through the Alps.

"Yes, I know. But that is what we need anyway; we need buffer zones against the reapers."

"I would tend to agree to that if not for the fact that we have no idea from where those things will invade us." Leila strolled over to the hologram projector, zoomed out, and turned on the border colours.

Funny enough, the Empire was already bigger than the Citadel space; that just shows how far better they are prepared than the aliens.

"Our home cluster is literally next door to the Citadel's Serpent Nebula. The same door that leads to Dark Space.

No amount of buildup here will help the situation there." Leila zoomed in on the gap between clusters in the Arcturus Cluster and Serpent Nebula.

"Actually, there is something." Anna chipped in as she walked over to them.

"Hmm?" Leila immediately perked up. She was far more concerned about stuff at home than here on the other side of the galaxy.

"Mei just called in when I was travelling here. She found an artefact of Reaper origin."

"!!!"

Leila's eyes widened; so did the rest.

"Initial scans prove that the artefact is a beacon, or more precisely a lighthouse. The Mass Relay in her new Garden world is far older than we have seen so far.

In other words, that system is the gateway to the Milky Way galaxy.

If the reapers fail to enter through Citadel, they will use Mei's new system as a Gateway into the wider Galaxy.

And one of the first clusters they can access is the Kite'e Nest and our Arcturus." Anna took over the galaxy map and focused on Viper Nebula, highlighting a system that had a Mass Relay.

"Hmm…can we rig it?" Leila asked as she looked at her husband.

"We can move that Mass Relay and make it lead into a specific system, preferably a black hole or the galactic core." Leila hinted with narrowed eyes.

"I like the way you are thinking, darling." Marcus smiled at his wife and her naughty idea.

"Same."

"I like it too."

Euphemia, Lacus, Anna, Calypso, all of them nodded in agreement. Reapers don't fight fairly; nope, in fact, according to the only living Prothean, these reapers use any and all tactics to make sure they harvest the population faster.

For efficiency's sake.

So the Empire can do the same; they can fight them 'dirty' for efficiency's sake.

"Then Anna, take your whole retinue and begin your research on the relay, and Leila, we will need your retinue to figure out a system that we could sacrifice in case things go south.

We will most likely need to blow up a sun." Marcus seriously explained to the pair.

"...You mean the relay…" Anna and the rest of them stared at him with wide eyes. What he just suggested is destruction at an enormous scale.

"I mean that reapers could figure out that it's a trap. They are sentient after all. We need to find a system, or at least the outer part that is similar to Mei's system." The Emperor reasoned as he showed the occupied Bahak System, Mei's new Garden World, which she had already begun terraforming to improve the pressure and oxygen levels.

"There is an asteroid belt not far from the Mass Relay; we need that part to be perfect, for sure; for the rest we could improvise." Marcus reasoned, making the ladies nod.

"I will send a word for them to be on the lookout." Leila agreed before she pointed out the bait. "We should move the beacon or their lighthouse or whatever it is." The blonde Empress showed a black object that was radiating strange energy behind a powerful forcefield.

It was located on an asteroid.

"Yes, that is a good idea. At the same time, we could use similar reaper signals, make them think it's theirs." Anna suggested.

"But would that even work?" Euphemia frowned, not believing that it's that easy to bait these sentient machines.

"I don't know? It's just a suggestion. But I am certain that there should be more of these lighthouse beacons. There should be more Mass Relays of a similar kind around the edges of the galaxy." Anna said to everyone gathered around the galaxy map.

"Maybe. But for now we should focus on setting up this specific trap. We are certain that they will pass through here. The relay is far older than any other we found in the Imperial territories; there is a device that is sending pings to those things sleeping in dark space.

If this works, we could cripple these machines before they set their tentacle feet in the Milky Way." Leila replied as she looked at the edges of the Galaxy.

"Indeed. Then we have a course of action. I want central command to organise an official Imperial task force for this.

This will be Imperial business, not just a single Anaheim retinue." Marcus issued what was basically an Imperial Decree.

"Understood, I shall join this task force." Leila nodded, and so did Anna.

"I will do the same." Anna nodded as well; she then looked at the fellow Empress. "Leila will organise resources, and I will rig the Mass Relay for a specific destination." The Pinkette slightly smirked while saying that. Her smirk looked 'harmless', but she was basically going to send the enemy to its death.

"Wonderful, then it's settled." Marcus smiled at them. The girls smiled back, but then Leila crossed her arms and her smile turned strange.

"Now that part is out of the way, we need to talk about an Orbital Bombardment that you were part of."

When Leila mentioned that other ladies 'stared' at him, they needed clarification from the source and not the report.

Though Marcus hoped that they read the report that he posted, and he knows that they read it, as Legion told him that his wives read it!

"Well, the Quarians got trigger-happy when I took over the Geth."

"I hope that it's true that the moron who did that is dead!?" All of a sudden, Euphemia was feeling murderous.

Making the other Empresses a bit spooked. Leila and Anna looked at each other. This is the first time that they saw the Empress of Diplomacy give a look that doesn't fit her job description. After all, she should be 'diplomatic'.

"Avalon ripped their ships apart, and the fleet blew up whatever survived the initial gravity burst," Marcus explained as he walked over to the pinkette's side and pulled her into a hug, trying to cool her down.

"Hmph, that's better. Damn aliens. Is that how they pay us back for giving them support?" Euphemia continued to complain in her husband's hands.

"I am thinking the same thing." Another voice joined. When Marcus's gaze went up, he saw Marrybell and Oldrin walking over. The pair of them looked 'dissatisfied'.

"I wanted to make them suffer. But turns out you already conquered them and claimed their homeworld." The Empress of Justice commented as she crossed her arms, then her gaze scanned the room.

Internally, she sighed, not satisfied with how many of the Empresses were in the room. It had been some time since she had her husband all for herself.

The same can be said for Oldrin, who had that longing gaze. Her knight wanted some affection as well.

"Well, the ones who attack are already dead, and it's nice to see you, Mary." Marcus smiled, seeing the brown-haired Empress who smiled back and walked over.

"Likewise. It appears there are quite a few of us here. I wonder if Quarians are having a heart attack with how many fleets there are in orbit." Marrybell giggled as she saw the fleets gathered around Avalon.

"Maybe, but they are busy with their new lives. The bastards are giddy that we are building their new homes for them.

We should send a considerable amount of Imperials here as well. To balance out the numbers." Leila swiftly suggested, making them ponder.

"Don't forget the Geth. We should be the ones that they obey. Let them watch their own creations take our side and not theirs." Anna narrowed her eyes, still pissed that the love of her life got attacked.

Marcus, who was listening, could only shake his head internally.

'As people of the old said, there's no fury like a woman's wrath. And they were right. Not only are they still angry, but they are getting petty as well.'

"Then we can request the Coloniser to give us around 15 million people."

"What about your Avalonians?" Marrybell asked, wondering about his highly qualified people that he is keeping for himself.

"Will be using to colonise Illos," Marcus said with a smile. Now that he thinks about it. He is not far from Pangaea Expanse.

"Ilos! I heard about it! Can we see it?" Euphemia, in Marcus's hands, got excited! She wants to see the only planet in the whole galaxy that got spared and never was invaded by the Reapers!

"Sure, why not? Once we are done here, we can go there." The Emperor smiled at the beauty in his hands.

"Sorry. I will have to pass. While it does sound extremely fascinating and I would love to explore ancient alien ruins with you, I have a massive list of things that I need to do." Leila sighed in disappointment. At the moment, her duty and desire were fighting, and duty was winning the battle.

"I am the same with Leila. I have relays to study and fill out reports on the discoveries we had on Prothean relics and ruins that we discovered on Eden Prime." Anna similarly looked dissapointed.

"But don't worry, when I get time I will visit you there. That is, if you will stay there for long." The Pinkette smiled at him.

Meanwhile, Marrybell, who had just arrived, sighed; she looked dissapointed once more. "I am in the same boat as these two. I had to run away from the border that we are building in Arcturus Stream.

"The trade world. While working, it is generating a side effect. As you might have noticed, our merchant class is learning.

They are learning from their interactions in Kite's Nest.

Batarian stupidity, technological difference, and the idea of abusing a superior economy are making the Merchants realise that they can swim in wealth.

Of course, what I just said is the 'good side' of the coin. We are getting rumours that some Imperials have turned to crime in The Trade World of Carthage."

"...Carthage? You named it after them?" Marcus was more surprised that his wives named the planet after an ancient Punic city-state.

"We followed your theme of naming. Besides, it fits. It's the gateway world, focusing on trade." Leila, who had named it, smiled smugly at him.

"...Honestly, nice call." Marcus nodded. He approves it!

"Now you are forcing my hand to bring elephants and Atlas Lions to that place." The Emperor joked, making Leila roll her eyes. She hoped to tease him with that call, but instead he loved it far too much.

~~~

More Chapters (Book Three Chapter 29 [50k words] is up!)

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