Terminus Quest: A CKII Mass Effect Quest

uju32 · Mar 15, 2024

Randino Treviani said:
Fair. We don't know what the Terminus alliance will use the favor for. I doubt they'll use it poorly. Afterall, if they were the kind of terrible leader we replaced, they wouldn't have managed to survive the Rachni and grow stronger as a state. Your being a tad pessimistic here.

In the last thirty six turns:

Our previous PM mismanaged the war, and literally stole the pensions of dead soldiers to establish a state religion
Our finance ministry, with the help of parts of the business community, was embezzling most of the govt budget with the Rachni literally at the relay to the Virmire system
The first Lystheni dalatrass had a bioweapon/cognitohazard weapons program aimed at us
The second Lystheni dalatrass tried to kidnap Mira in the middle of a diplomatic meeting with a war on
The Republic of Rannoch have largely done their best to avoid military commitments
Two AYs tried to assassinate us
The Jondam Corporate Nation is explicitly maneuvering to undermine us right now, despite our being a frontline nation

So no, I dont think Im being pessimistic.
Large sections of the setting have lived down to all my worst fears

Randino Treviani said:
Regardless, I'm comfortable in my assumption we will get something worthwhile passed with this, and it serves an extra purpose in distracting from the maroon sea negative pr. We'll simply have to agree to disagree on this issue.

You do not hire a urologist to do brain surgery.

If this was the Asari Republics that owed us a favor, it would be reasonable to argue for a Diplomatic Favor. Because thats what they are really good at, and what would get us the best deal. If it was the Salarian Union, I would suggest something Tech or Intrigue. Because its their hat. If it was the Quarians, I would go for computer tech.

The Volus are good at Money. Faction Moneybags is offering
A) Its specialty OR
B) things that arent in its specialty

If you take its specialty, you get the most payoff.
Take the money.

picklepikkl said:
The reason why I'm voting for the favor is simple: I think it's very likely that the TA will look at the volus and go "invest please," and the economic development over the rest of the TA is let's call it uneven. In particular, two of the poorest nations are the ones who happen to be in our corner:

1) The Volus arent any good at diplomacy.
If they were even halfway good at it, they would have leveraged their economic influence into a seat at the big boy table. Instead they ended up a protectorate of the Turians.

What they can convince the Citadel to do is going to be significantly less than if one of the big boys, or a diplomacy-specced faction, would be able to do.
Dont ask your plumber to repair your car.

2)The people who need investment most are also the people who have the most of a grudge against the Citadel for literally being abandoned to the mercies of the Rachni, and those who would be most unlikely to accept it.
Ask the Remnant how they feel about the Citadel.

3) People do not necessarily have our priorities.
Mira came to power because the Virmire govt literally was squandering money on state religion and on embezzlement while there was a Rachni fleet battering through the relay defenses.

Assuming that other people will automatically prioritize our priorities is a recipe or disappointment.

EBR · Mar 15, 2024

[X][EXTINCTION] Only bombard worthless rocks. You want to preserve anything you know to contain valuable resources or facilities, but there's no harm in scratching the worthless asteroids that the Rachni occupy purely to be a pain in the ass off the list.

[X][MAROON] In force. All three raiding fleets are now coming off of patrol duties, and the 2nd Battle Fleet is held in Sentry Omega for situations that require a reserve, just such as this one. Send all of them to Maroon Sea while you figure out a more permanent solution. If the Rachni have decided they've smelled weakness, they'll be terminally disappointed.

[X][FAVOR] Investment. The finances of Irune are without equal. You want that money moving to prop up enterprises within your space, on generous terms.

[X][PLAN] Plan Business as usual even if they are Ardat-Yakshi.

MrRageQuit · Mar 15, 2024

[X][EXTINCTION] Bombard almost everything besides locations of particular value. While some locations the Rachni occupy hold value in mundane resources and infrastructure, they're nothing we can't replicate ourselves or get elsewhere with little issue. However a few places hold unique or extremely valuable resources that are absolutely worth the effort of taking by force such as Precursor ruins and significant Eezo deposits.
[X][MAROON] Conventionally. Deploy the 2nd Battle Fleet to Maroon Sea. Have one of your raiding fleets pick up patrol duties in Sentry Omega. That will provide a powerful deterrent to any attempts at moving in, and if the rachni try anyway, you should be able to hold long enough to bring in reinforcements.
[X][FAVOR] Investment. The finances of Irune are without equal. You want that money moving to prop up enterprises within your space, on generous terms.

[X][PLAN] Plan Business as usual even if they are Ardat-Yakshi.

Mad0Slayer · Mar 15, 2024

Pittauro said:
...or we could invest in these polities ourselves AFTER our economy is improved by the Volus?

That is true and with the economy improved we should be able to target who get's the economic aid, the thing is while it will no doubt be good for the whole of the Terminus, I think it might be to wide to really see any kind of major boost for a long time, where as if we get it we can recover and once where solid we can start helping out our allies in the party.

picklepikkl · Mar 15, 2024

Pittauro said:
...or we could invest in these polities ourselves AFTER our economy is improved by the Volus?

picklepikkl said:
And I'd rather spend this AP on getting the volus to help the rest of the TA, which contains a number of less-developed economies that need help more badly than we do, than on getting the volus to invest in us and then needing to budget further AP later to help the rest of the TA out of our larger economy.

uju32 said:
1) The Volus arent any good at diplomacy.

Why is that relevant? We're not asking them to do diplomacy. We're asking the TA what they want from the volus. The Citadel doesn't come into it at all. All the foreign diplomacy has already happened; all that's left after the TA presents its wishlist is intra-TA politicking.

uju32 said:
3) People do not necessarily have our priorities.
Mira came to power because the Virmire govt literally was squandering money on state religion and on embezzlement while there was a Rachni fleet battering through the relay defenses.

Then it will be extremely useful to be able to force one issue of our choice through the TA when otherwise they would be making a stupid decision, won't it?

uju32 · Mar 15, 2024

picklepikkl said:
Why is that relevant? We're not asking them to do diplomacy. We're asking the TA what they want from the volus. The Citadel doesn't come into it at all. All the foreign diplomacy has already happened; all that's left after the TA presents its wishlist is intra-TA politicking.

Yes we are.
The Volus have to convince the Citadel to actually accept whatever it is the Terminus asks for.
Thats not a given.

Like I said earlier, the Favor options are straightforward:
ASK: Diplomacy
INVESTMENT: Economy
TECH TRANSFER: Tech

Randino Treviani · Mar 15, 2024

uju32 said:
In the last thirty six turns:
Our previous PM mismanaged the war, and literally stole the pensions of dead soldiers to establish a state religion
Our finance ministry, with the help of parts of the business community, was embezzling most of the govt budget with the Rachni literally at the relay to the Virmire system
The first Lystheni dalatrass conspired had a bioweapon/cognitohazard weapons program running aimed at us
The second Lystheni dalatrass tried to kidnap Mira in the middle of a diplomatic meeting with a war on
Two AYs tried to assassinate us

So no, I dont think Im being pessimistic

You are. Your using a bunch of individually bad leaders who would have each died had they been the ones in charge of any polity in the Rachni war to justify assuming none of the leader in terminus to be competent despite their successful exploitation of our actions to survive and grow as a polity. Mira is not the only competent leader in the galaxy.

Frankly, I'll ask voters to ignore the assertion that the allies we chose to throw our lot in with are completely worthless and simply must fuck up in the worst way imaginable should we lend them this favor. It's an entirely ridiculous notion that ignores entirely the presence of a fair qm who isn't just going to turn us trusting our allies into some kind of objective lesson in the downside of allowing people choice.

@PoptartProdigy I was under the assumption that the citadel is not directly involved in the volus repaying this favor, and that both the Volus and terminus alliance are sufficiently politically savvy as to avoid an agreement that would cross any lines that would allow the citadel to involve themselves in this matter?

Libandlearn · Mar 15, 2024

[X][EXTINCTION] Only bombard worthless rocks. You want to preserve anything you know to contain valuable resources or facilities, but there's no harm in scratching the worthless asteroids that the Rachni occupy purely to be a pain in the ass off the list.

[X][MAROON] In force. All three raiding fleets are now coming off of patrol duties, and the 2nd Battle Fleet is held in Sentry Omega for situations that require a reserve, just such as this one. Send all of them to Maroon Sea while you figure out a more permanent solution. If the Rachni have decided they've smelled weakness, they'll be terminally disappointed.

[X][FAVOR] Ask for something on behalf of the Terminus Alliance, which they will pick, in exchange for one vote of your choice passed without a veto in the Council.

Mad0Slayer · Mar 15, 2024

Randino Treviani said:
Frankly, I'll ask voters to ignore the assertion that the allies we chose to throw our lot in with are completely worthless and simply must fuck up in the worst way imaginable should we lend them this favor. It's an entirely ridiculous notion that ignores entirely the presence of a fair qm who isn't just going to turn us trusting our allies into some kind of objective lesson in the downside of allowing people choice.

I doubt they are worthless, but you have to admit that some of them are not portrayed in the best light and while most of the front line polities are definitely well managed we can't say the same for those further away from the front. Especially as since their territory is safe they could very well make some more greedy decisions.

Vista · Mar 15, 2024

[X][EXTINCTION] Only bombard worthless rocks. You want to preserve anything you know to contain valuable resources or facilities, but there's no harm in scratching the worthless asteroids that the Rachni occupy purely to be a pain in the ass off the list.

[X][MAROON] Conventionally. Deploy the 2nd Battle Fleet to Maroon Sea. Have one of your raiding fleets pick up patrol duties in Sentry Omega. That will provide a powerful deterrent to any attempts at moving in, and if the rachni try anyway, you should be able to hold long enough to bring in reinforcements.

[X][FAVOR] Ask for something on behalf of the Terminus Alliance, which they will pick, in exchange for one vote of your choice passed without a veto in the Council.

[X][PLAN] Plan Business as usual even if they are Ardat-Yakshi.
-[X] Republics cooperation. How closely will you work with the experts in this field? They will have conditions.
--[X] You will pass information on ardat-yakshi fugitives back and forth, but little more (you must take no options marked, [BREACH].
-[X] Scope of reveal. You can do nothing to compel others to keep the secret save whatever is available to you, in-character.
--[X] You will establish a formal government agency to handle the matter of ardat-yakshi within Commonwealth space.
-[X] Ardat-yakshi recruits. Do they have a place in these efforts?
--[X] You'll recruit them in advisory capacities to inform policy.
-[X] Aim of efforts. What are you planning on doing about the ardat-yakshi? To an extent all of these will happen, but what is your point?
--[X] Treatment and support. Fundamentally, this is a public health issue, and you'll treat it as such with an eye to allowing victims to function in society as best they can.

PoptartProdigy · Mar 15, 2024

uju32 said:
Yes we are.
The Volus have to convince the Citadel to actually accept whatever it is the Terminus asks for.

They do not. The Citadel does not actually have a common foreign policy. There's common defense and such, but even that is not absolute, as we can see in canon that the Council is able to stand by and allow geth attacks on a signatory to pass without response. Members and especially affiliates can carry out their own agreements. The Council may have an opinion, but that opinion is not a veto save on matters of Council law, which at this point in history is very barebones.

flotter · Mar 15, 2024

[X][EXTINCTION] Only bombard worthless rocks. You want to preserve anything you know to contain valuable resources or facilities, but there's no harm in scratching the worthless asteroids that the Rachni occupy purely to be a pain in the ass off the list.

[X][MAROON] Conventionally. Deploy the 2nd Battle Fleet to Maroon Sea. Have one of your raiding fleets pick up patrol duties in Sentry Omega. That will provide a powerful deterrent to any attempts at moving in, and if the rachni try anyway, you should be able to hold long enough to bring in reinforcements.

[X][FAVOR] Investment. The finances of Irune are without equal. You want that money moving to prop up enterprises within your space, on generous terms.

[X][PLAN] Plan Choices.

I'll be honest, trying to parley an indeterminate favor from the volus into a piece of un-veto-able legislation sounds incredibly difficult when we already have major expenses coming down the pipeline.

Keeping the AYs secret for now is also important because it keeps the Republics happy, makes it harder for the Union to catch onto the secret, and prevents our allies of connivence like the Corpos from having Good Ideas about making biotic supersoldiers.

Randino Treviani · Mar 15, 2024

PoptartProdigy said:
They do not. The Citadel does not actually have a common foreign policy. There's common defense and such, but even that is not absolute, as we can see in canon that the Council is able to stand by and allow geth attacks on a signatory to pass without response. Members and especially affiliates can carry out their own agreements. The Council may have an opinion, but that opinion is not a veto save on matters of Council law, which at this point in history is very barebones.

Excellent. This answers my question well enough.

Mad0Slayer said:
I doubt they are worthless, but you have to admit that some of them are not portrayed in the best light and while most of the front line polities are definitely well managed we can't say the same for those further away from the front. Especially as since their territory is safe they could very well make some more greedy decisions.

I agree that not all of them are great, but I think we can trust them to come to some kind of beneficial agreement. Who it benefits and how maybe somewhat allayed by corruption and further exchange of favors to get the various members aligned, but ultimately I feel we won't regret this.

While I'm here, I will point out the questionability of allowing Ardak Yakshi of questionable commitment to our goal of treatment and support to hold advisory positions. A majority of Ardak Yakshi are not Talani Shalaya.

uju32 · Mar 15, 2024

picklepikkl said:
Then it will be extremely useful to be able to force one issue of our choice through the TA when otherwise they would be making a stupid decision, won't it?

Sure. Im not saying its useless.
But we are not at a point of comfort where we can afford to simply sit on a resource until some indeterminate time when we might get to play that card.

We are at war. Buffing up for that war takes priority.
IMO.

Randino Treviani said:
You are. Your using a bunch of individually bad leaders who would have each died had they been the ones in charge of any polity in the Rachni war to justify assuming none of the leader in terminus to be competent despite their successful exploitation of our actions to survive and grow as a polity. Mira is not the only competent leader in the galaxy.

You arent paying attention.

Omega: 90. While President Su'val may have private reservations about the Commonwealth, officially, she is your number one advocate. She does not enjoy having to defend leaving a cluster completely open.

-Korlus Technocracy: 62. In joining the Cooperatives, you have strengthened their grip on power, and thereby improved the stability of the Alliance -- all to Korlus's benefit. Governor Gaim has sent a very blunt note regarding the Maroon Sea.

-M.I.C. Border Region: -33. The Border Region has lodged a protest with your embassy regarding your words of support for the Cooperatives, objecting to your, "Cavalier dismissal of the interests of polities less directly integral to the war effort." They have not directly communicated regarding the Maroon Sea, but Shereel tells you that they're leading the effort to censure you.

-Jondam Corporate Nation: 20. The JCN does not typically appreciate competition, and your civilian ship exports have been slicing into the JCN's share of the market. While you are a political ally, they doubtless view you with some wariness.

-Northern Defense League: -10. The NDL, the other member of the Protestants, has lodged a rote protest with you regarding your support for the Cooperatives, albeit in gentler and less charged terms than the M.I.C. Border Region. They've also spoken up with disapproval regarding the Maroon Sea.

-Tamaras Republic: 12. The Republic is pleased by your more representative government form than is typical of many Terminus governments, but gravely disappointed by your decision to spurn them in favor of the Cooperatives.

-Rim Dominion: 50. You are a fellow member of the Alliance and a fellow participant with the Cooperatives. They expect any fallout from the Maroon Sea situation not to touch them, but they don't think well of it.

-The Remnant: 73. The Remnant owe you a debt of some magnitude, and with your close cooperation with them in Terminus politics, they have grown ever closer to you. Their reaction to the Maroon Sea situation has...dramatically...soured their view of you, albeit they still like you quite a bit.

-Frontier Confederacy: 90. The Confederacy views you as possibly the greatest hero in the galaxy, and their personal advocate to the Alliance. They appear to be reacting to the Maroon Sea situation with an air of, "She definitely has a plan."

The Terminus Alliance has been characterized as being in large part ruled by military dictators, strongmen and oligarchs. Some by necessity, some by design. One of the reasons that the President of Omega went out of her way to bring us onboard was because we are on a trajectory to tilt things.

Randino Treviani said:
Frankly, I'll ask voters to ignore the assertion that the allies we chose to throw our lot in with are completely worthless and simply must fuck up in the worst way imaginable should we lend them this favor. It's an entirely ridiculous notion that ignores entirely the presence of a fair qm who isn't just going to turn us trusting our allies into some kind of objective lesson in the downside of allowing people choice.

Please dont put words in my mouth.
I did not say they are completely worthless. I did say that I expect significant factions will make moves that are to their own perceived benefit and not those of the Terminus Alliance as a whole, or that of Virmire.

This is something that is already happening; we have seen Jondam Corporatocracy explicitly make moves to that effect.

uju32 · Mar 15, 2024

PoptartProdigy said:
They do not. The Citadel does not actually have a common foreign policy. There's common defense and such, but even that is not absolute, as we can see in canon that the Council is able to stand by and allow geth attacks on a signatory to pass without response. Members and especially affiliates can carry out their own agreements. The Council may have an opinion, but that opinion is not a veto save on matters of Council law, which at this point in history is very barebones.

*raises eyebrow*
Is that what this implies:

[ ][FAVOR] Tech transfers. They'll run the risk of offending the Council with this, so you won't get much or the really good shit, but the Volus really owe you one, so they'll float you some less flashy stuff. Perhaps something...dual-use...for the discerning customer?
[ ][FAVOR] Write-in.

Because, otherwise, if Im understanding this correctly, the Terminus Alliance can already make individual trade deals with the Volus. Or the Asari.

jjffjhjf · Mar 15, 2024

Randino Treviani said:
Excellent. This answers my question well enough.

I agree that not all of them are great, but I think we can trust them to come to some kind of beneficial agreement. Who it benefits and how maybe somewhat allayed by corruption and further exchange of favors to get the various members aligned, but ultimately I feel we won't regret this.

While I'm here, I will point out the questionability of allowing Ardak Yakshi of questionable commitment to our goal of treatment and support to hold advisory positions. A majority of Ardak Yakshi are not Talani Shalaya.

I'm running on the assumption that we won't be picking the majority of Ardat Yakshi, but the ones who are... you know actually capable of conducting themselves with a level of self-control. Likely only new ones that get picked up after a bad first melding experience. At which point the addiction is at its weakest, and most such AY seem to be able to go live in a nunnery and proceed not to cause issues. Those should be fine for such jobs. The sociopathic murderesses on the other hand we'll likely put down as a matter of course... seeing as they are well, sociopathic murderesses.

uju32 · Mar 15, 2024

Randino Treviani said:
While I'm here, I will point out the questionability of allowing Ardak Yakshi of questionable commitment to our goal of treatment and support to hold advisory positions. A majority of Ardak Yakshi are not Talani Shalaya.

Nor are we likely to give the opinions of all of them equal weight either.
But its generally a good idea to have a population of people have a voice and input into how the details of official policy implementation towards them will evolve. And get feedback as to how it is received.

jjffjhjf said:
I'm running on the assumption that we won't be picking the majority of Ardat Yakshi, but the ones who are... you know actually capable of conducting themselves with a level of self-control. Likely only new ones that get picked up after a bad first melding experience. At which point the addiction is at its weakest, and most such AY seem to be able to go live in a nunnery and proceed not to cause issues. Those should be fine for such jobs. The sociopathic murderesses on the other hand we'll likely put down as a matter of course... seeing as they are well, sociopathic murderesses.

^^^
This, essentially.

Mad0Slayer · Mar 15, 2024

uju32 said:
Because, otherwise, if Im understanding this correctly, the Terminus Alliance can already make individual trade deals with the Volus. Or the Asari.

I think it's more a case of them being less influential and while yes their nothing stopping them from trading advanced tech it would lose their lucrative contracts and piss off their allies who we're no longer aligned with closely.

Rivenscryr · Mar 15, 2024

[X][EXTINCTION] Only bombard worthless rocks. You want to preserve anything you know to contain valuable resources or facilities, but there's no harm in scratching the worthless asteroids that the Rachni occupy purely to be a pain in the ass off the list.

[X][MAROON] Conventionally. Deploy the 2nd Battle Fleet to Maroon Sea. Have one of your raiding fleets pick up patrol duties in Sentry Omega. That will provide a powerful deterrent to any attempts at moving in, and if the rachni try anyway, you should be able to hold long enough to bring in reinforcements.

[X][FAVOR] Ask for something on behalf of the Terminus Alliance, which they will pick, in exchange for one vote of your choice passed without a veto in the Council.

[X][PLAN] Plan Business as usual even if they are Ardat-Yakshi.
-[X] Republics cooperation. How closely will you work with the experts in this field? They will have conditions.
--[X] You will pass information on ardat-yakshi fugitives back and forth, but little more (you must take no options marked, [BREACH].
-[X] Scope of reveal. You can do nothing to compel others to keep the secret save whatever is available to you, in-character.
--[X] You will establish a formal government agency to handle the matter of ardat-yakshi within Commonwealth space.
-[X] Ardat-yakshi recruits. Do they have a place in these efforts?
--[X] You'll recruit them in advisory capacities to inform policy.
-[X] Aim of efforts. What are you planning on doing about the ardat-yakshi? To an extent all of these will happen, but what is your point?
--[X] Treatment and support. Fundamentally, this is a public health issue, and you'll treat it as such with an eye to allowing victims to function in society as best they can.

uju32 · Mar 15, 2024

Mad0Slayer said:
I think it's more a case of them being less influential and while yes their nothing stopping them from trading advanced tech it would lose their lucrative contracts and piss off their allies who we're no longer aligned with closely.

So that would apply to any larger deals as well.
Particularly to any larger deals, since they presumably dont want the rest of the Citadel to think they are considering pulling a Tamaras Rim and defecting en masse to the Terminus.

jjffjhjf · Mar 15, 2024

uju32 said:
So that would apply to any larger deals as well.
Particularly to any larger deals, since they presumably dont want the rest of the Citadel to think they are considering pulling a Tamaras Rim and defecting en masse to the Terminus.

For tech yes. But if you notice the Investment option has no such restrictions on it. So if the Terminus asks for Investment? Should be fine.

nat_401 · Mar 15, 2024

[X][EXTINCTION] Only bombard worthless rocks. You want to preserve anything you know to contain valuable resources or facilities, but there's no harm in scratching the worthless asteroids that the Rachni occupy purely to be a pain in the ass off the list.
[X][FAVOR] Ask for something on behalf of the Terminus Alliance, which they will pick, in exchange for one vote of your choice passed without a veto in the Council.
[X][MAROON] In force. All three raiding fleets are now coming off of patrol duties, and the 2nd Battle Fleet is held in Sentry Omega for situations that require a reserve, just such as this one. Send all of them to Maroon Sea while you figure out a more permanent solution. If the Rachni have decided they've smelled weakness, they'll be terminally disappointed.

Shadowkragg · Mar 15, 2024

[X][EXTINCTION] Bombard almost everything besides locations of particular value. While some locations the Rachni occupy hold value in mundane resources and infrastructure, they're nothing we can't replicate ourselves or get elsewhere with little issue. However a few places hold unique or extremely valuable resources that are absolutely worth the effort of taking by force such as Precursor ruins and significant Eezo deposits.
[X][MAROON] Conventionally. Deploy the 2nd Battle Fleet to Maroon Sea. Have one of your raiding fleets pick up patrol duties in Sentry Omega. That will provide a powerful deterrent to any attempts at moving in, and if the rachni try anyway, you should be able to hold long enough to bring in reinforcements.
[X][FAVOR] Investment. The finances of Irune are without equal. You want that money moving to prop up enterprises within your space, on generous terms.

[X][PLAN] Plan Business as usual even if they are Ardat-Yakshi.

Randino Treviani · Mar 15, 2024

uju32 said:
Sure. Im not saying its useless.
But we are not at a point of comfort where we can afford to simply sit on a resource until some indeterminate time when we might get to play that card.

We are at war. Buffing up for that war takes priority.
IMO.

You arent paying attention.

Omega: 90. While President Su'val may have private reservations about the Commonwealth, officially, she is your number one advocate. She does not enjoy having to defend leaving a cluster completely open.

-Korlus Technocracy: 62. In joining the Cooperatives, you have strengthened their grip on power, and thereby improved the stability of the Alliance -- all to Korlus's benefit. Governor Gaim has sent a very blunt note regarding the Maroon Sea.

-M.I.C. Border Region: -33. The Border Region has lodged a protest with your embassy regarding your words of support for the Cooperatives, objecting to your, "Cavalier dismissal of the interests of polities less directly integral to the war effort." They have not directly communicated regarding the Maroon Sea, but Shereel tells you that they're leading the effort to censure you.

-Jondam Corporate Nation: 20. The JCN does not typically appreciate competition, and your civilian ship exports have been slicing into the JCN's share of the market. While you are a political ally, they doubtless view you with some wariness.

-Northern Defense League: -10. The NDL, the other member of the Protestants, has lodged a rote protest with you regarding your support for the Cooperatives, albeit in gentler and less charged terms than the M.I.C. Border Region. They've also spoken up with disapproval regarding the Maroon Sea.

-Tamaras Republic: 12. The Republic is pleased by your more representative government form than is typical of many Terminus governments, but gravely disappointed by your decision to spurn them in favor of the Cooperatives.

-Rim Dominion: 50. You are a fellow member of the Alliance and a fellow participant with the Cooperatives. They expect any fallout from the Maroon Sea situation not to touch them, but they don't think well of it.

-The Remnant: 73. The Remnant owe you a debt of some magnitude, and with your close cooperation with them in Terminus politics, they have grown ever closer to you. Their reaction to the Maroon Sea situation has...dramatically...soured their view of you, albeit they still like you quite a bit.

-Frontier Confederacy: 90. The Confederacy views you as possibly the greatest hero in the galaxy, and their personal advocate to the Alliance. They appear to be reacting to the Maroon Sea situation with an air of, "She definitely has a plan."

The Terminus Alliance has been characterized as being in large part ruled by military dictators, strongmen and oligarchs. Some by necessity, some by design. One of the reasons that the President of Omega went out of her way to bring us onboard was because we are on a trajectory to tilt things.

Please dont put words in my mouth.
I did not say they are completely worthless. I did say that I expect significant factions will make moves that are to their own perceived benefit and not those of the Terminus Alliance as a whole, or that of Virmire.

This is something that is already happening; we have seen Jondam Corporatocracy explicitly make moves to that effect.

Fair, but they have to agree on how this is used, and the worst bad faith actors of the Terminus alliance aren't exactly going to come together and agree on which of them should get this specific benefit. There will likely be further favor trading within Terminus, on a time table, since the volus aren't going to just wait around forever, but their going to settle on an application of the favor to some worthwhile benefit more likely than not.

uju32 said:
Because, otherwise, if Im understanding this correctly, the Terminus Alliance can already make individual trade deals with the Volus. Or the Asari.

Not these kinds. This has the "I gave you a planet" special discount, where their willing to take some heat with the tech exchange or give rates that would normally be unreasonable when it comes to their investments.

uju32 said:
Nor are we likely to give the opinions of all of them equal weight either.
But its generally a good idea to have a population of people have a voice and input into how the details of official policy implementation towards them will evolve. And get feedback as to how it is received.

Hmm. Fair point.

uju32 said:
So that would apply to any larger deals as well.
Particularly to any larger deals, since they presumably dont want the rest of the Citadel to think they are considering pulling a Tamaras Rim and defecting en masse to the Terminus.

You keep trying to assert limitations on this deal that are different than what they would be if it was just the commonwealth getting it that you have no evidence for. Anything they could give us they can give terminus, no more, no less.

uju32 · Mar 15, 2024

Randino Treviani said:
Not these kinds. This has the "I gave you a planet" special discount, where their willing to take some heat with the tech exchange or give rates that would normally be unreasonable when it comes to their investments.

If I'm reading it right, the only reason they havent done so yet is that the TA hasnt approached them with a good enough deal.
And as an alliance of nationstates with a large market, the TA has a pretty good bargaining position.

Randino Treviani said:
You keep trying to assert limitations on this deal that are different than what they would be if it was just the commonwealth getting it that you have no evidence for. Anything they could give us they can give terminus, no more, no less.

Its explicitly stated that the Tech option has limits because they dont want to offend the Citadel. At least not too much.

I do not see any IC reason why the Diplomacy option wouldnt have similar limits.
Especially since they arent great at Diplomacy as a faction.
And with the Tamaras Rim having seceded several years ago, diplomacy with the TA will draw the attention of the big boys.

At least money they can justify as money. And as investing in and around the volus garden world.

Terminus Quest: A CKII Mass Effect Quest

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