Story
From Complete Mass Effect
[edit] The Mass Effect Story Synopsis
The following information includes plot spoilers.
Every 50,000 years an ancient machine race invades the galaxy and wipes out all advanced organic civilizations with ruthless efficiency. You assume the role of Commander Shepard, one of the few who believe the ancient legend, to lead an elite reconnaissance squad across the galaxy to stop the next invasion of the machine race.
You must act without remorse, without hesitation, and outside the limits of the law to preserve civilized life. You are the tip of the spear for humanity and you alone know the consequences of failure.
[edit] Galactic History
[edit] aprx. 2000 BC
Global conflict on the krogan homeworld of Tuschanka results in a nuclear winter, reducing the species into primitive clans.
[edit] aprx. 0900 BC
The asari become the first to discover the Citadel. The salarians arrive shortly after and together they colonize it and begin develop the society that would become Citadel Space.
[edit] aprx. 0183 AD
Salarians rescue the krogan from the self-created nuclear winter by giving them advanced technology and relocating them to a more hospitable planet in order to use them as soldiers. The krogan population quickly explodes.
At the same time the Council was engaged in a prolonged galactic war with the rachni. However once the krogan population grows, they are able to successfully eradicate the rachni from existence, ending the Rachni Wars.
[edit] aprx. 1100 AD
In what would become known as the Krogan Rebellions, the Krogan used their newfound power to establish colonies by force. When they started conflict with the Turians, the Turians responded by infecting the Krogan with the genophage, which made only 1 in 1000 Krogan births successful.
The Turians are rewarded with a seat on the Citadel Council.
[edit] aprx. 1900 AD
Quarians create an evolving artificial intelligence called the geth. When the geth evolve to the point of being self-aware, the quarians fear rebellion and act quickly in an attempt to destroy the geth. They are too late; however, as the geth fight for their survival and win the resulting war , driving the quarians off the planet and into a nomadic lifestyle on the Quarian Flotilla.
[edit] 2069 AD
Humans establish their first settlement on the moon on July 24th, the 100th anniversary of the first lunar landing.
[edit] 2103 AD
Humans establish their first settlement on Mars.
[edit] 2148 AD
Humanity discovers a small cache of highly advanced alien technology hidden deep beneath the surface of Mars. Building on the remnants of this long extinct race - known as the Protheans - humanity quickly masters the science of mass effect fields, leading to the development of faster than light travel.
[edit] 2149 AD
Spreading out through their own solar system, humanity uses the discovered Prothean data to discover that Charon, Pluto's moon, is actually a massive piece of dormant Prothean technology - a mass relay - encased in ice.
Once activated, humanity discovers that the mass relay allows instantaneous travel across thousands of light years to a synchronized mass relay in another part of the galaxy.
There they discover several more dormant relays. Over the next decade humanity expands rapidly, establishing colonies and activating dormant relays to open up more and more unexplored regions of space.
Humans establish the Systems Alliance to coordinate exploration and colonization of extra-solar worlds.
[edit] 2151 AD
A Shipping accident at Singapore International Spaceport exposes downwind communities to containers of dust-form element zero.
Alliance begins construction of Arcturus Station.
[edit] 2154 AD
Commander Shepard is born.
[edit] 2155 AD
To defend its rapidly expanding empire, humanity assembles a massive fleet and constructs an enormous military space station at the nexus of several key mass relays...even though they have yet to encounter another intelligent space-faring species.
The Alliance begins to move into the completed portions of the Arcturus Station.
[edit] 2156 AD
It is discovered that some children in Singapore are exhibiting telekinetic abilities.
[edit] 2157 AD
Humanity makes first contact with another space-faring culture: the turians. Unfortunately, the encounter is far from peaceful. Over the next several months a brief, but tense, conflict ensues which would come to be known as the "First Contact War" to Humans and the "Relay 314 Incident" to turians. During the conflict, the Alliance's Shanxi colony becomes occupied by the Turians.
This conflict draws the attention of the Citadel Council - a multi-species government body that maintains peace and stability throughout the known galaxy. The Council intervenes before hostilities escalate further, revealing the existence of the greater galactic community to humanity and brokering a peace between them and the turians.
[edit] 2159 AD
The Citadel Council sees Saren Arterius as intelligent, cunning, and capable and name him a Spectre, making him the youngest turian to receive the honor.
[edit] 2160 AD
Systems Alliance Parliament formed.
[edit] 2165 AD
Humanity continues to expand, founding more colonies and establishing trade alliances with many of the other species who recognize the authority of the Citadel Council. In 2165 the Council makes official recognition of humanity's growing power and influence in the galactic community. Humanity is granted an embassy on the Citadel, the political and economic heart of the galaxy.
[edit] 2170 AD
Batarian slavers attack the Alliance colony of Mindoir.
[edit] 2176 AD
Pirates and slavers attack the human capital of the Skyllian Verge in what would become known as the Skyllian Blitz.
[edit] 2177 AD
Thresher maws devour the Alliance colony of Akuze.
[edit] 2178 AD
An Alliance fleet wipes out an army of slavers on the moon of Torfan in retaliation for the Skyllian Blitz.
[edit] 2183 AD
Commander Shepard - a promising young officer in the Human Alliance military - is assigned to the crew of the SSV Normandy the most advanced prototype vessel ever designed. [1] [2],
