[Politics] Terminus Colony Disconcerted Over Alliance Presence

Terminus Colony Disconcerted Over Alliance Presence

Richard Seong, Attican Outlook

At a glance, there’s nothing remarkable about the colony of Inspiration, a quiet planet on the lip of the Traverse. Cold nights and colder winters are hallmarks of its’ long year, and the harvest seasons are just as unforgiving. But for its’ colonists, a little over one thousand miners surrounding the community of Tenacity, it’s home. And for the Alliance, it’s the site of an uncovered Prothean ruin that could span for kilometers under its surface.

“We’ve only had the opportunity for some basic survey, but if what our instruments are suggesting is true, we could be in these caves for years,” said Dr. Rainn Oliver, head of the team of Alliance scientists sent to explore the ruins. “The potential of this find is extraordinary.”

There’s only one problem: the colonists don’t want them there.

Inspiration has its’ roots in bands of wildcat miners who’d settled it in hopes of exploiting the rich, easily accessible iridium deposits. Most of them were unwilling to share with the Alliance, whom they saw as untrustworthy and disinterested in their livelihoods; this attitude would be shared by a majority of the colony as the community around the mines grew. Still, this didn’t keep them from gladly accepting Alliance aid when the Reapers arrived.

Elation quickly turned to resentment when they realized that the Alliance military presence wasn’t getting ready to pack up. The fighting would uncover subterranean Prothean ruins, left untouched since the species was wiped out by the Reapers fifty thousand years ago.

“They’re wrong to fear the Alliance,” said local garrison commander Colonel Ahmed Khan in a short interview with Outlook. “I don’t think [the colonists] understand the complexity of this situation, or how big a favour we’re doing for them. The moment we pull out, every pirate, raider, and Terminus state this side of the Traverse are going to be scrambling to get their hands on these ruins. They’ll be eviscerated.”

Despite this, it’s clear that many of the colonists see that as little more than empty words. “It’s not protection, it’s occupation,” declared a local dock worker, who asked to remain anonymous. “We built this colony because we didn’t want to live under the Alliance. And now they’re marching in here with their guns and their earthmovers and they tell us it’s for our own good. It’s degrading.”

Those closer to Inspiration’s chief livelihood expressed similar concerns and more - many are worried for their livelihoods. “They keep telling us about potential this, and potential that, but I’m not sure why they expect us to care,” complained Bryson Alvarez, one of Tenacity’s head miners. “They dress it up with big talk over our future and ‘progress’, yet they’re sitting on our mines and our iridium and they won’t let us near half of it. The fact of the matter is this: we never asked the Alliance to stay here, and we ain’t an Alliance colony. They got no right be here.”

The initial Alliance survey should finish within the next three months, where a much larger excavation mission is expected to follow.

I take it the colonists haven't heard much about the legislation regarding Prothean relics and such?

I'm unsure how you seem to think that legislation is relevant outside of Citadel Space.

Ah, the lovely never defined borders of Alliance Space. I do so love them.

Well I hope they enjoyed their colony while it lasted. They sure as hell aren't getting it back now.

If they don't want the Alliance on their fucking colony. Then they should shove the fuckers off. Not bitch and moan about it.

You're not very bright.

...Really? Really?

There is a massive Prothean complex beneath the colony, eviscerated is putting it mildly. Think mining iridium is difficult now? Try doing it when it's raining chemical shells. Or you have orbital drop frames being deployed. Or warbeasts. Or kill teams going door to door. Or low level kinetic bombardment. All of these are, of course, assuming that the invaders aren't bothering to just enslave the colonists and put them to work clearing out the ruins.

The point is: there are a thousand and one things that raiders, pirates, warlords, and Terminus states can and will do to the settlements that get between them and a prize like that; and the moment the Alliance pulls out Inspiration is going to be a warzone.

Who, pray tell, do these colonists think is going to be collateral?

Ungrateful shits, the Alliance is all that's keeping them alive. Maybe we should back off for a few weeks, let a few raiders hit them, then see how they feel about us.

I'm not sure if I missed something, or if the report's skipped it, but - putting aside the debate about pirates and so forth - are the colonists proposing that they mine iridium out of areas of the cave complex actually containing Prothean ruins? I know there's mineral wealth there, but surely compared to the archaeological treasure, it's not worth just hoping nothing valuable gets disturbed when you're blazing away with mining lasers one tunnel over.

Classic.

When the colony is on the verge of collapse, the Alliance is a heroic defender. When that imminent danger recedes, its a tyrannical occupier. You cannot simply absorb Alliance protection and then protest when that means accepting Alliance administration. That is the basis of government. Privileges come with commitments; benefits are saddled with obligations. If they did not want the Alliance, they should have refused them from the outset, not acted as cheerleaders when the Reapers were around before becoming rabble-rousers the moment their precious Prothean ruins were at stake.

Oh, and of course Helen Keller is here, somehow able to take time out of her busy schedule of freezing to death to be insufferable.

because accepting help from people you see as your enemy when reapers are killing everyone, mean you want their help forever.

also they not know about ruins when alliance show up.

you fail logic.

I sympathize with the colonists desire for independency, but prothean ruins are to valuable to give up and the risk of letting them fall into the wrong hands is just to great.
I mean look at Garvug, three corporations went in against the krogans and vorcha for a few prothean trinkets.

And I suppose the Alliance is just going to keep paying off pirates to do their dirty work now that the Reapers are gone? What? They were perfectly happy to accept their help before, going back to hunting them down and killing them? Christ you people are ungrateful shits aren't you?

And of course the cheerleader of Earth is able to take time out of her busy schedule of politicking to harangue those damn ungrateful colonists. What's the matter? Did I hurt your feewings? My heart breaks.

WILL YOU TWO HAGS SHUT UP ALREADY

you're wasting valuable extranet bandwidth to argue about stupid things you can't have any effect upon

If you have such a problem with people daring to argue their opinions about political issues, might I suggest you post elsewhere? This is after all a news article. People will discuss the news. Sometimes they will argue about the news because... oh holy christing shitcakes, people don't always agree!

SHOCK AND SCANDAL!

I will argue that both the Earther and Colonist sides of the debate each have their own merit. On one hand, I can somewhat see why the colonies, especially remote ones like Ur (no offense) are frustrated. Having to spend the majority of the war roughing it on their own, and when the Alliance finally returns, they are more or less demanded to contribute most of their resources to the rebuilding of Earth, prioritizing the homeworld's needs above their own. And when the popular sentiment is that the Alliance abandoned them to their own fate, its a policy that will satisfy few if any.

On the other hand, Earth is the homeworld of humanity, the center of the Alliance's power. Rebuilding is still nowhere close to being finished, many people especially in more devastated areas still lack basic necessities despite SATAE's best efforts, much like what I am hearing with Ur's solution. The argument here, help Earth, and the colonies will get support in turn.

Either way though, there is one thing I hope both Earthers and colonists can agree on: No one wants to see this culminate in a civil war in the near future.

Absolutely not. I already saw my home destroyed and my friends slaughtered once. That was more than enough for me.

no you

you're picking on every chance you get to moan about the plight of the colonists at the hands of horrible, horrible oppressors of SA when the alternative could be the gentlemen over next system who'd enslave, murder and rape you without even blinking an eye. yeah you have problems and they're legitimate but hearing about them for the hundreth time in the same tone tends to lean towards a broken record!

Are you retarded? I mean really? We held out against Reaper ground forces until the end of the war. Why the fuck would we be afraid of slavers? Beyond that there is barely anything of value here. This colony was fucking dying before the Reapers rocked up because we barely produced anything. There is nothing here to attract anyone. Beyond you know three or four tons of iridium a month. So you know barely anything on a large scale.

Secondly; again this is a news article wherein my god people talk about news. If you don't think this news is in any way related to colonist separatism then you sir are immensely retarded.

Thirdly; this is the second thread that I have posted in about this subject, not the 'hundredth time.' I know that you prefer to talk about who you are/have/will/want to bugger but some of us like to have meaningful conversations about currently relevant topics.

Fourthly; you sir are retarded.

Yes, really.

I don't think you get it - to these colonies, there is functionally no difference between the Alliance parking themselves on their colony and some shitty Terminus tinpot dictatorship. Both are sitting on their livelihoods without their consent, both are impinging on their independence as a colony. And it will never make a difference to them who benefits from the complex. What you quoted is about as 'really' as you can get - they don't give a shit about what's 'for their own good', what's important is that whatever they do, they do it on their terms. They were never asked permission and never offered anything to actually gain from the discovery, and maybe if they were, this article might have had an entirely different tone.

It's not like they somehow don't have any bargaining power whatsoever. They're still standing on top of a giant ruin. What if they don't trust the Alliance to defend them and the find adequately (and they clearly don't)? Maybe they would have preferred to hand over the ruins to some corporation and their private army, or one of those Terminus states that you keep waving your arms in the air about. Need I remind you, it would make no difference to them who benefits from the discovery. And for all the jokes we like to make over government in the Terminus Systems, most would prefer not to throw their standing army at a problem asking to be solved another way.

It's also a tad surprising that for all you emphasize over the sheer lengths that any raider, slaver, warlord, or Terminus state would go through to hit a prize like a Prothean complex and immediately assume that an Alliance garrison somehow invalidates all of that. Like there hasn't been countless slaver or raider attacks on the Alliance for worse reasons - it'd be even easier, given how ridiculously far out the Traverse is and the position that the Alliance Navy is in right now after Earth. If what you say is correct, Inspiration is doomed to be a 'warzone'.

The point is: there are a thousand and one ways the Alliance could have dealt with the colonists, they chose to treat them like children.