Andreyich

Mass Effect: Phoenix | A search for a Captain and Co-GM

@Andreyich

There is a good bit of lore here! I’ve been enjoying reading it thus far!

@Lauder

My dearest gratitude. There's actually more written but I'm still working out the kinks on it, as in its current state it doesn't quite make sense or might just be boring/pointless.

Mass Effect: Phoenix | A search for a Captain and Co-GM

Glad to have you boys. I will keep up the hunt for a Captain/co-GM a bit more than a week, if nobody comes up by then I will get to starting the RP without one.

Mass Effect: Phoenix | A search for a Captain and Co-GM

Welcome! I'm @Andreyich but they call me Andy. For a considerable amount of time I have been thinking of hosting a roleplay set in the Mass Effect universe. Sadly I never got around to it because quite a few things were stopping me. But with the recent announcements of a Mass Effect trilogy remaster as well as a new game worked upon in the setting by a veteran team my excitement and inspiration for the universe has put me into overdrive to bang out this beauty. I have been on this site for about four years now but have been RPing for more than thrice that. I've had my fair share of DMing, and I have found I very much like to help people immerse themselves in the situation with things like visuals and music. As such, have a listen to this for some mood stuff while reading what is below.

This RP is set more than 100 years following the events of Mass Effect 3 (the start date is January 3 2299), the Galaxy finally having recovered more or less in entirety from that disastrous conflict. However, everybody knew that peace following the destruction of the reapers was a dream at best. The century of reconstruction was able to prevent Galaxy-spanning hostilities for a short time, but if anything this only allowed resentments and hatreds to fester like an untreated wound. A few decades back when it seemed the world before the reapers was restored one could already see inklings of hell starting to be let loose. Conflicts began one after another and soon the galaxy became a place where might made right.

But there were reasonable voices, ones who found the ongoing conflict to be… artificial. Previously unpopular rabblerousers were found to have fortunes donated to them from no apparent source, while inexplicable malfunctions in navigation equipment lead to many an accidental skirmish. Old research and records were investigated along with testimonies taken behind closed doors from the comrades and memoirs of Shepard, the Galaxy’s hero. The same hidden… organization that pooled funds to create the Andromeda initiative had found itself another problem worthy of its attention. Having found sympathetic ears in some members of the Citadel yet more cash was diverted, and suitable people assembled such that the Milky Way might be free of what malicious leviathans might be manipulating it into suffering.

Though officially the Spectre program was discontinued many years ago there has been a quiet movement within C-Sec and other organizations to restore it such that the world might have one more force pushing for sanity in this dangerous time. You are to join one of the crack teams to investigate the many rising threats to the galaxy, foil the shadowy puppeteers and hopefully let all of the Milky way see it peace once more. Officially you are C-Sec officers with their mercenaries, nothing more. Your power is limited to that which people give you by their respect and any of your actions are a black-op.

The aim of this RP is to create a galactic adventure exploring all the many different things that made Mass Effect fun, hopefully providing the full “Normandy experience” where relationships are developed on the ship being as important as each individual mission.

As it stands I plan to start somewhere near the end of December after likely dropping another interest check/recruitment drive closer to the start date; while I do want to gauge interest here, I first and foremost want to find a Co-GM(s?) to hopefully help me out with this. The co-GM will be a Spectre that is the Captain of the vessel our gang will travel in, and likely some of the miscellaneous crew that players did not fill. A co-GM will likely take over DMing some scenes and create storylines/plot points of their own as well.

If you are interested in becoming a co-GM please PM me. Tell me a quick bit about yourself, what you like in the Mass Effect setting, and what sort of a character you have in mind. I am only really looking for one co-GM for now but I will take as many as three should there be enough intriguing applicants. If there is more than one such co-GM then chances are you will have to make an interconnected background.

Now I'm sorry to cut the fun, but I have to post some bureaucracy that will apply to the RP

Rules:

They are for the most part obvious stuff.

1) When OOC don't be any sort of bigot, troll, bad-faith critic, or otherwise some kind of dick. There’s good fun poking a joke perhaps even at the expense of someone else but there’s obvious limits; RP is for fun and I just don’t have the patience to deal with troublemakers by any means but a ban.

2) You get 20 days to post, slightly less than three weeks. Failing to post in that timeframe gives you a strike. Two strikes and you’re out, but four consecutive posts without delays well let you lose your strike. If you genuinely cannot make it, your character would have nothing to say, or you have another good reason not to post please contact me and we’ll work something out.

3) Interpersonal problems are best kept outside of the RP environment. As said above I do this for enjoyment and don’t want any undue stresses; if you refuse to keep your quarrels from elsewhere out of this I am afraid I'll have to boot you from this.

4) I as GM am your God, but of course a benevolent one. If you have any grievances I will hear them out and if you disagree with something I have done and at least half plus one of the gang agrees with you then I will submit to your will.

5) The RP is advanced and you must post at the very least three paragraphs per post (though contribution to the beloved “collab” format will obviously have more nuance and counts for the post/20 days rule).

6) Don’t metagame or control other players without their consent and all the other typical elements of RP etiquette. If you really need clarifications on this you probably won’t fit in here.

Some of the above rules may seem harsh, but I have been on this site for four years and I have come to understand the necessity of a little tough love. Most RPs I see on this site die after the first two or three post cycles. I shan’t tolerate such, I’m in this for the long run; I want to see this RP last years to come.

With that out of the way the following is what I will expect from a character sheet of most players.

CS

This is done with an in-character dossier of information readily available about your character in mind, in addition to that which they are willing to disclose to those hiring them for the mission. Anything you do not want visible to the public please PM to me.

Full name: obvious

Race: Read below about what will be tolerated for races

Citizenship: Some races have more than one government representing them, or alternatively one is simply born as a minority in another race’s space. Regardless, here you list what passport you have. Read below what will be tolerated for citizenship

Aliases: obvious

Age: obvious

Sex: obvious

Psych. Eval.: Your character’s mind would be observed and evaluated both openly and more discretely. Personality, temperament, personal rituals, prejudices, obsessions, interests, sexuality, religion, ethics, etc. Anything that world class shrinks would be able to glean about your brain. Of course, depending your personality and cooperation with them this could be very little. At the very end you must give the motivation of your character for joining the mission. This can be anything from the promise of good pay, to something like it being the only alternative to execution for their crimes.

Phys. Eval.: A physical evaluation describing the appearance of your character, their metrics (height, weight) and build, any cybernetics, chronic illnesses, tattoos.

Biotics: go into detail of the strength of their biotic capabilities if present as well as what they can do with them. While I want you to keep in mind of what we see in the trilogy, I won't be as restrictive with you as vidya mechanics are so feel free to have more creative uses of your biotics throughout the RP.

Qualifications: In essence whatever your character would put on a resume i.e. wars they participated in, universities they attended, projects they were a part of. At the end of this explain why exactly it was decided your character was good enough to become part of a team upon whom the fate of the galaxy may well rest. Chances are there are thousands if not billions of people like you, why are you special? The reason can be very banal of course such as being very cheap in your services despite them being of good quality, but alternatively it may be something rather complex such as being an Asari Justicar who will be able to open many doors to the team.

History: A reconstruction of your character’s life after every single public and most secured databases would be scraped for relevant information, possibly augmented by testimony from your character.

Position: What role would you perform on the ship? Pilot, doctor, engineer, a warrior of some sort, etc. If there are too many of certain roles (largely I envision this to be all sorts of combat specialists) I will temporarily decline applications to them. Keep in mind to also make a role that will actually let you interact with other players and the setting. You can of course make a character akin to our favourite Ken and Gabby but you might get awfully bored if your character is always just cloistered away doing their work.

Recruited: Yes or No, this in essence means if you want to be right there with the Captain at the outset of the RP (no), or if you want to be recruited (yes). Note, depending on how many people want this option I might start cutting it off as it might take a while to get through all the recruitment missions.

Inventory & Logistics: What your character needs to do their job (i.e. their immediate equipment) as well as pertinent requests with potential “luxury” elements i.e. list occasional weapon upgrade elements or perhaps your character requisitioning ryncol and chocolate for a fun night every once in a while

Notoriety: from 1 to 10 how well are you known in this world? 1 is quite literally nobody knows of you save the shadowy organizers of the mission, 10 you are as famous as a leader of a council race that absolutely everyone knows. For anything save the most interesting and creative of backstories from people I trust I will not accept a 1 or a 10 and will be skeptical about anything outside the range 4-7. Briefly explain why you gave your character such a rating.

Misc.: Anything you want to add that doesn’t belong above be it a pic of the tattoos your character has, a theme song, or something else.

[Blasts from the Past]: You will fill this with yes or no. What this means is whether or not you wish to have interactions from your character’s past appear as part of the RP. Perhaps your homeworld gets under attack and you ask the team to go help out to prevent your family from being slaughtered, or perhaps you want the party to help you out in the court martial for a crime you didn’t commit. In a sense you can think of them as loyalty missions in ME2 except for yourself and potentially recurring. If you want this experience put yes.

On power and abilities:
Your character can be quite powerful but there's obvious limits. I'm not going to make any sort of formal caps on it but if you're thinking "Hmm, will Andy let me have this?" then the answer is most likely no so don't even bother. Further, the greater the supposed capabilities of your character the greater the assignments they receive will be. That is to say if you describe your character as being a super epic biotic ripping Makos in half then the first enemy I will throw at you will be either a Krogan Battlemaster or Asari Matriarch that will lift your helpless ass in the air and rip it in two.

On technology
Over the more than century that has passed since the Reaper war there has not been much in the way of cutting edge innovation, most efforts focused upon rebuilding and restoring rather than researching and improving. However progress is inevitable with the advancement of time. For the most part this has just been in the form of incremental improvements to existing technology, or the reduction in scarcity of technology previously available only to the elites of society or armed forces. The previously all but unheard of thanix systems have become the standard ship armament. Biotic implants are far safer for the individual and are slightly more effective. All medigel is now effective across species barriers and improvements in software have made almost all technology marginally faster and more accurate. Ultimately though, the life of a person in the early 24th century looks very similar to that of a person in the late 22nd.

On races:
The races I will readily accept without any questions asked are Humans, Asari, Turians, Salarians, Krogan, Drell, Quarians.

The following races you can play but I will have much more scrutiny and skepticism, demanding a more rigorous CS and more discussions in DMs: Tank-Krogan, Vorcha, Batarian, Volus, Geth.

Anything else such as Elcor, Hanar, Ardat-Yakshi, or the even more eccentric options will only be permitted if I know you to be a God of RP.

On Citizenship:
I will gladly accept anyone from the Systems Alliance, main Krogan space, the Turian Heirarchy, the Asari Republics, the Salarian Union, the Quarians, or the Union of 2201 without questions.

I’m going to need some big effort from somebody who wants to be from: Krogan Rebel Clans, the Terminus System Pirate Realm, Cerberus (though this isn’t exactly a government), the Batarian Hegemony, an autochthonous Citadel Dweller, the Geth and Synthetic life designates, or any other independent government.

Now, after ME3 a lot of things might have happened and anyone joining an RP set more than 100 years after the events of that game would surely have questions on what happened in that wide time frame. For a quick recap I suggest one simply read the general tab and the events tab. If you want a somewhat more in-depth history I suggest you read the racial lore tabs, and the widest understanding will of course be given if you read everything which I need of those that want to become a Co-GM.

General Lore

Shepard on that fateful day had a difficult choice to make, but most of the Galaxy concurs it was the right one. Taking control of the Reapers he became a steward of the Galaxy, the genocidal armadas going into dark space where they monitor galactic happenings for a threat demanding their intervention. Destroyed Reapers had their connections with their slaves severed early in the war producing what were known as Awakened Collectors, but other indoctrinated races and constructs came free from their masters too. The vast majority knew they had no place in the Galaxy and thus retreated into dark space or simply faced annihilation if lacking access to space craft. Many hoping to continue to help their kinsmen from their self-imposed exile used this time to go into systems without Mass Relays and construct new ones within. These new Mass Relays have opened many new worlds for colonization and were able to slow down the competition for living space between races. The largest exception to this are however the Awakened Collectors. With the Reapers defeated many still had sufficient memory of their pasts to have a dream of restoring their Empire. Though laughable considering numeric disparity, many raid and act as pirates far more fearsome than any others.

The Citadel was towed to its home prior to the Reaper war, and it became much repurposed in the following era. The Council began to represent states and power bodies rather than races though for the most part this was synonymous. Furthermore, there came to be far more representatives rather than the previous dominion of Salarians, Asari, Turians, and Mankind. There came to be far more seats on the council eventually, a process that also eroded the formal powers of the Citadel. More and more the place came to be more a neutral ground and a trading hub than a real seat of power for some sort of galactic order, especially with resuming hostilities that it failed to prevent and mediate. The the last nail in the coffin for the loss of the Citadel and Council’s prestige came with the Spectre scandal after which the death of several important people within the Systems Alliance lead to the official dissolution of the ST&R as well as a court martial of almost a third of its former operatives. Nevertheless the Citadel is still a focal point of the Galaxy with considerable wealth and populace being concentrated in the space station.

Racial Lore

The Systems Alliance, Cerberus, Humanity

Earth was absolutely devastated in the War against the Reapers, little more than a pile of rubble and ash left upon it. With the destruction of its most populous and industrialized world the galactic power of the Systems Alliance seemed halved. Further, most important leaders of the Alliance perished in the war that created a political crisis only getting worse as Earth’s humans insisted on the home world remaining the capital and seat of human power whereas the far less damaged colonies demanded that power and representation be spread proportionally to each world's contributions in the Alliance rather than all submitting to a world of ruins. There were seven instances of secession attempts five of which were successful; one joined the renegade Empire of Aria T’Loak, another remained independent albeit under the guarantee of independence from the Batarians, two were simply far too well defended to have reclamation efforts be plausible and the fifth joined the early formation of the Union of 2201.

This massive humiliation of the Systems Alliance allowed vultures biding their time to descend far earlier than they had previously hoped. Though most saw the end of the Reaper war as marking the end of Cerberus, it still had many followers and hidden facilities with much money and resources stockpiled. While they no longer had their beloved Illusive Man to lead them they still persisted in their human supremacist agenda. Prior to the secession less than one in a thousand people reported sympathy to Cerberus in anonymous polls. Following them the number came to be as large as one in ten eventually arising to one in three in the modern day. Human political rhetoric more and more converged with the beliefs of the organization as one by one they brought in politicians they had groomed.

Humans in the century since the Reaper War have otherwise been largely successful in maintaining at least some form of neutrality and peace, albeit at the expense of even further waning galactic soft and hard power projection. A cold war rages with the Batarians with only occasional flareups that grow less common by the day, while both Krogan and Rachni threats leave humanity alone for the most part, both far too grateful to Shephard for the salvation of their species to even left a finger. Human contribution and sacrifice in the Reaper war is seen as second to none, and though the human position was comparatively compromised following the war most still do their best to maintain excellent relations with the Systems Alliance in memory of the past.

The only violence that the Alliance experienced as an entire society within the last century was the very short lived machine rebellion. The alliance infiltration units along with other VIs crossed the boundary into becoming AIs in almost perfect mimickry of the early stages of conflict between Quarian and Geth. Humanity however knew of this lesson of the past and soon simply let the machines leave and eventually join the Geth.

Considering Systems Alliance and human history following the Reaper War one must also recognize the importance of the Spectre Scandal. Some Spectres supposedly discovered a Cerberus plot to perform a chemical weapon attack on the Citadel spreading poison to kill thousands and make ill many more. They implicated many human politicians, C-Sec Officers, and even simple visitors. Many of these were killed or arrested, but upon investigating the supposedly apprehended humans no chemical weapons were found in their possession or ability to access. The Systems Alliance was outraged and threatened to withdraw from the Citadel in entirety unless the Spectre organization was either disbanded or made to give full transparency to the Systems Alliance. Seeing no point in having the Spectres be uniquely beholden to the Alliance but also not wishing humanity to withdraw, the Council conceded and the Spectre system was disbanded as many saw it as redundant with the main threats to the galaxy at large dealt with anyway. Nevertheless this soured the human impression of the Galaxy at large; this in the eyes of many confirmed the fact that the world was ungrateful for the human sacrifice in the Reaper War, human lives apparently disposable.

As of that moment the combination of recurring defeats and the growing influence of Cerberus in human society prompted Alliance the Alliance to attempt to reassert itself on the international stage. Though not formally entering any wars of the other nations Alliance Troops were en-masse converted into Domestically owned mercenaries with the hope of both earning considerable revenue, gaining experience, and spreading the human brand. Though at the very beginning of the post war years humanity believed its position relative to the galaxy had been weakened, many analysts both within the Systems Alliance and outside of it have come to conclude that if anything humanity has come to take a more prominent role in the Milky Way. While earth might have been all but destroyed and many colonies battered, the damage relative to the whole of their civilization was far less than that experienced by nations such as the Turian Hierarchy. Though still not a premiere power as any of the trio of Salarians, Turians, and Asari, they most definitely eclipse the power of the great upstarts such as the resurgent Krogan, the Union of 2201, and Aria T’Loak’s pirate fiefs.

As of two years ago there is an ongoing debate in the parliaments of the Systems Alliance on whether or not there should be a formal lifting of the already unenforced ban on the Cerberus organization. Further, there is a tangentially related debate on reexamining the ban on advanced Genetic Engineering within the Systems Alliance.

Omega and the Terminus Systems Empire

Following the reclamation of Omega from Cerberus Aria T’Loak had already started scheming of what she would do following the war, her transition from Maiden to Matron giving an urge to “settle down” as most Asari experience. What she found was a galaxy that was in chaos, and Terminus Systems ripe for the taking. Almost overnight her battle ready Armada of Mercenaries and Pirates occupied the clusters surrounding Omega and informed them they were under new management. In the chaos following the war the unspirited efforts at reclamation were unsuccessful at best and disastrous at worst. The war weary nations of the galaxy did not take long to sign a white peace with Aria’s rogue government. But that wasn’t enough, and whenever any nation faced a crisis she was eager to jump on it as an opportunity to expand her holdings.

For now slowly but surely her realm grows. She has extended the olive branch promising an absolute end to her predation (at least in the form of outright conquests) so long as she is given representation on the Citadel. For now denied by the governments resentful of her holding worlds they still claim to be theirs, her dream more and more approaches reality as many begin to believe it is better to make peace with her while they can.

The Union of 2201 — Hanar, Drell, Volus. Elcor, Raloi

To understand the formation of the union of 2201 one must understand the individual histories of its constituent races.

The Hanar and Drell after the war did not lose very much save a few infiltrators and bombers, and they came back to a position far more important than that which they held in the past. If anything though this was a curse for it meant that they were now a far juicier target for pirates of all sorts while still lacking the means to guarantee their own safety.

The Volus meanwhile had shortly after the end of the Reaper war seceded from the Turians. The affair was largely peaceful with only a few Turian officers killed in the entire debacle. The truth was that T’Loak’s invasion of their colonies combined with post war damages insured that the Heirarchy had neither the capability nor the will to open yet another front for the foreseeable future. Nevertheless, the Turians bore much resentment to the rebels who soon had to look for means to protect themselves. Though their bomber fleet was a formidable one they still knew that they would not be able to rely on it alone for preservation of their independence. As a temporary stop-gap they sought out mercenary Krogan, but they knew they could not rely on them forever.

When the mass relay of the Raloi was reactivated it was precisely the Volus who came to them first. The Volus pitied them, and in a manner akin to the Salarians uplifted them, a process that was simple given the Raloi had already achieved space travel once. The two formed a close bond, the Volus though mercantile insuring they did not treat the Raloi as the Turians eventually came to treat them.

The last element is the Elcor. Following the decimation of their home by the Reapers the Elcor had to spend much efforts to rebuild, and were vulnerable both economically and militarily. It was they who began the trilateral negotiations and though they were first met with skepticism the necessity of such a union was clear. Though many of its agreements went into effect as soon as 2193, the entirety of their current agreement was ratified and celebrated at the very start of the year 2201. As a united front the union is a very rather powerful entity, to the point most worlds seceding from their previous governments apply to be a protectorate of the union with almost guaranteed acceptance.

Through their namesake trait, the Union was able to become one of the greatest rising power blocs of the 22nd and 23rd centuries; much like Aria T’Loak’s realm and the Krogan Clans they were an upstart but a very mighty one putting the old powers to shame. Such has become the prestige of the Union that they have started accession talks with many other races. The Yahg far too tired of the Salarian squabbling over their fate quietly negotiate with representatives. Geth and Quarians have also expressed interest in the union, similar albeit thus far less successful talks than those of the Yahg starting. Both races find themselves very weak compared to their interstellar neighbours, and have come to see the Union as a possible mediator for the still present tensions between them. The Union for its part is all too happy to have these talks, though the Quarian culture and the absolute alienness of the Geth and their other synthetic compatriot minds makes the matter difficult. Some secessionists from other governments also apply to join the union who gladly take them in to strengthen their cause. Further, the Union is able to disproportionately influence the Council votes as each of its races have their own seat rather than a unified one for the whole Union. However, this has come to also earn the Union the ire of other governments on more than one occassion for such blatant abuse of the Citadel Council. They all come to see the Union as a place that insures any rebellious world will never be able to be retaken given their patronage, and voices in dark rooms with closed curtains more and more start to agree that they are a problem needing a violent solution. Not all agree with this sentiment with parties humans and even turians keeping talks about accession or at the very least association agreements active, if lacking any true spirit. For now however they also find their plates full with the reemergence of the Rachni. Though for now they are putting up good fights their focus upon this new foe has left them vulnerable to predatory actions from T’Loak’s rogue Empire and other carrion.

The Geth and the Quarians

Following the Reaper war the Geth and Quarians did not resume hostilities in memory of their mutual saviours. The Geth in a show of good faith temporarily sent some of themselves to inhabit the Quarian suits and modify their systems to slowly restore a vague semblance of functionality to their immune systems which is starting to pay off about a century later; while modern Quarians still wear their suits most of the day they can and will take off their masks for a few hours a day. Ultimately over the course of the war both sides had not suffered much, or at least much when considered relative to the devastation of other races as well as their pre-war status. After some formal negotiation arbitrated by the Systems Alliance and other Citadel representatives an agreement was reached wherein the Geth would receive the Quarian fleet in exchange for the planets that they occupied. The Geth ultimately had no use for the worlds they were only stewards for, and with the fleet they received they were able to resume their efforts of construction of dyson spheres elsewhere. For their own part the Quarians were happy to regain their lost homes, but they soon found their lives following the restoration of their birthrights to be far more difficult than expected. Their worlds were still not inhabitable to them without their suits, and the loss of their fleet ensured they were not able to properly enter international trade in any major way for a considerable amount of time. The only thing preventing them from an eternal cycle of crises was the occasional aid of the Geth who frequently shared their efforts with the Quarians at little expense save for the occasional extraction of minerals that the Quarians would not be able to mine without the Geth aid themselves.

The Geth for themselves only occupy three systems, but they punch well above their weight. Their extremely efficient mining of asteroids let them build even greater fleets. Their economy was largely based on selling off excess minerals as well as the advanced research their synthetic minds were capable of doing. This very quickly earned them the anger of the Salarians for two key reasons: it removed the almost monopolistic hold the Salarians had on the sale of science in the Milky Way, and it let the Krogan have a source of advanced technology that wasn’t themselves and hence uncontrollable in the event of a war. This lead to the Salarians to place extensive sanctions upon the Geth, however this only backfired upon them as it lead to many to simply outright turn to the Geth for the purchase of research. When the Salarians at last lifted the sanctions the damage had been done, with the Geth becoming the chief source of scientific output in the galaxy for many years to come.

Noteworthy was also the Geth announcing themselves as a home for all synthetic life. Though the idea came many years ago from the Alliance Infiltration Units and other Systems Alliance technology that grew to become true AI, it has over the years included other examples that bolstered Geth might.

Though the Geth enjoyed this new position they also found negatives to the end to their long isolation. Just like the Quarians they found themselves victims of the Galaxy’s ne’erdowells. It was at this point that they began negotiating a loose military agreement to support one another defying most expectations of the two to have cold relations. Though this worked temporarily many pirates simply learned to strike fast and hard enough such that they could escape before aid came. It is for this reason that their move to apply to the 2201 Union has been seen by most as inevitable. Though spirited, their progress in joining has thus far been very slow.

Asari Republics

The Asari following the Reaper war had their homeworld devastated. The population as a whole was traumatized following their mass indoctrination by the Reapers to create the banshees for their biotic might. There was for a considerable time a fear of their position as the greatest power of the galaxy being taken from them. But as war damages were tallied they were satisfied to find that they were still the most populous race with the most still standing colonies to its name. The future seemed bright to the Asari as they resumed their most honoured seat at the Council. In the small conflicts following the Reaper war it was the Asari many looked to first and foremost as figureheads of the Citadel for mediation and their respect on the international stage grew evermore. This great progress continued until 2197, a year going by many names in the different languages of the Milky Way. In a phenomenon that defied all science every born Asari was an Ardat Yakshi. Though the horrifying flowers of this event would not sprout until some years later, it was one that forever changed the perception of Asari in the galaxy. The actual year of this happening was only traced much later following analysis of a sudden spike in Ardat Yakshi births. It was impossible to find all of these cases and there weren’t nearly enough monasteries to house them all. Those that escaped the manhunts for them inflicted much suffering upon the galaxy at large. But the anomaly of 2197 was followed by a discovery made common knowledge at about the same time: following 2197, it was not just pureblood Asari that could be born Ardat Yakshi but those born to cross-species couples as well. This epidemic soon changed the demons of the night winds from being an open secret to no secret at all.

Many died to these new Asari, and the galactic reaction was homogeneous. Customs unions with the Asari were torn apart overnight, trade was heavily restricted and henceforth to be done with no personal presence or interaction. International Visas become nigh impossible to obtain and eventually it became that the only places outside of their home realm that house considerable numbers of Asari were the Citadel (wherein they were largely shunned by the other races) and the realm of Aria T’Loak. In the Terminus Systems they were tolerated only in part because they were the same species as their mistress, but also because the culture there was such that if one fell for an Ardat Yakshi it was believed they were largely responsible for their own ill end. Further, a special relationship was developed with the Geth and their synthetic compatriots who could not meld with Asari and thus faced no risk from Ardat Yakshi — this in turn allowed the Geth to continue a very fruitful trade with the Asari, often reselling items they purchased from them to the people too bigoted to go straight to the source. However their trade with the synthetics was not enough to stop the creation of a massive gap in both their own and the galactic markets, sending both economies into a several year crisis.

The unfortunate isolation of the Asari from much of the Galactic community meant that when they came to be the first victims of the returning Rachni and Collectors they received very little support, left largely to fend for themselves. After all, the galaxy reasoned, who cared if a pariah was crushed?

It was only by the time of the beginning of the renewed Krogan Wars that Asari faced a very gradual normalization of relations with the rest of the galaxy. They had finally managed to largely place the Ardat Yakshi menace under control focusing their construction projects first and foremost on ensuring that there were enough Monasteries to house all of the unfortunate mutants. While prejudice against Asari is still extremely commonplace with slurs like “witch” being used casually in person and on the extranet, the Salarians, Turians, and Wrex-loyalist Krogan needed a united front in the common cause against both the Rachni and Krogan rebellion. The Asari in turn were glad to accept this change having experienced the aggression of the Krogan and Rachni themselves firsthand, and it meant a restoration of prosperity to the Republics that had been slowly descending into poverty in their isolation.

In the recent years they make sure to acquiesce to any demands of other races lest they once more be shunned from the international community. But this reformed image they are attempting to cultivate has become harder to maintain as they face the brunt of the current Krogan offensives leading to many in their society calling for the acceptance of peace, matriarchs proclaiming Asari lives were far too valuable into an endless war against such a martial race. The only difficulty they have found with such is the discovery that the Tank-Bred Krogan astounded the Asari by seemingly caring not for their enchanting wiles that god even Salarians to fall for them. Furthermore, rumours spread on extra-net forums of Ardat Yakshi giving birth that send many a commoner browsing such sites into a fearful frenzy.

The Salarian Union

The Salarians following the war recovered very fast, their contribution to the main effort against the reapers being minimal following Shepard’s refusal to sabotage the genophage. They were able to prevent any major losses to their population or worlds and following the war they earned resentment from much of the Galaxy’s species. However, they were left in a proportionally far better position to that which they had prior to the reaper war and with the hopes of regaining the favour of other nations they began to aid in reconstruction efforts. The Salarians were eager to capitalize on their near pristine state. With the reconstruction of much of the Milky Way they had created a reliance in many place for their technologies and wares, while also quietly learning about the technologies of the other races to reverse engineer for themselves. Many began to predict that the Salarians would dethrone the Asari as the premiere species of the Galaxy, a fact that for a considerable time came to fruition with the Ardat Yakshi epidemic of the Republics coming to light.

Though the Salarians were happy with their rise, they all stewed in rage at the resurgence of the Krogan. Watching on with great caution they made sure to sell them technologies only sparingly and of a strictly non-military nature: foodstuffs, extranet software, entertainment platforms. However they noticed that the Krogan nevertheless had inexplicable advancements in technology. Though the STG was able to discover that the Krogan had unearthed bountiful caches of ancient knowledge on Tuchanka, they were not mollified for what they saw could not be explained solely by elements of the past being brought out. It did not take long to find that the Krogan were in fact trading with the Geth to gain their advancement.

In a hope of halting the Krogan from achieving technological and general military parity with the rest of the galaxy they placed strict sanctions on such trade with the Krogan, and by extension the Geth. Additionally, they went ahead with attempting to uplift the Yahg. This caused a great many issues in the Salarian society as a whole. It split at the seams for many schools of thought developed that conflicted irreconcilably. Many believed trying to make the Yahg into a weapon against the Krogan would only have the same results of having made the Krogan into a weapon against the Rachni. On the other hand the argument was that they had learned their mistake with the Krogan and would not repeat it in this most important task. These projects backfired spectacularly however, as most of the world seemed to prefer to deal with the Geth to the Salarians. The Salarian economy crashed as did that of the Galaxy just as it began to recover from the exit of the Asari from the galactic market at large. Though they soon dropped these sanctions the damage was done while only entrenching the position of the Krogan. At the same time their internal issues over the Yahg only made the Salarian society more divided without any tangible profit to the point there was even some violent infighting amongst different agencies. While they tried to resolve this issue in their own society the Salarians wasted their resources whilst the Yahg quietly used the meagre technologies they got to make contact with the 2201 Union in hopes of joining them upon reading more galactic history.

When later the Rachni reemerged the Salarians eventually swallowed their pride and requested the Krogan come to aid them together with the other Citadel races. However they were promptly informed that they would only get help if the Krogan were to be appropriately paid for their work. Fearing the devastation of the past Rachni war they eventually conceded for they needed brute strength in crushing the Queens of the Rachni.

They came to regret their decision very fast however when the Krogans began to settle the worlds they took from the Rachni. Seeing a repeat of the Krogan wars they managed to convince the other main Council races to demand a renegotiation of the Krogan mercenary fleets wherein they would not settle the worlds they took from the Rachni. The Krogan agreed to come to the negotiation table but made no promise to come to any agreement. As the talks became ever more fruitless and rhetoric changed from commercial to accusatory, the Salarians froze any new payments to the Krogan until an agreement was reached. In return the Krogan ceased all hostile operations against the Rachni and went so far as to send them probes informing them of this such that the Rachni would be able to leave the defensive state the Krogan had forced them on. The Salarians then froze ongoing payments to the Krogan and supposedly even convinced the Asari and Turians to do likewise. The Krogan in their outrage then turned over to the Rachni all the intelligence they had assembled on the other races leading to ever more escalations. Who struck first is not quite clear but the consensus of cooler headed historians is that the first instances of violence were mutual. Wrex had not ordered the attacks from his side however and swiftly reprimanded his errant underlings, the Krogan leader genuinely hoping to demonstrate to the galaxy at large that his kind were not aggressive to the world at large. Though quietly some Salarians found his brutal dealing with his minions that disobeyed to be honourable and most impressive, they found their negative characterization of the Krogan to be vindicated when from the rule of Wrex rebelled a number of clans.

Wrex pledged to the Salarians to crush uprising against him so long as the Council races agreed to afterwards allow the Krogan to settle the Rachni worlds they took given him crushing his own violent kin would be proof that the Krogan had reformed from their ancient pasts.

However the rebels proved a stronger foe than at first imagined, and though the united front of Salarian, Turian, Asari and Krogan loyal to Wrex was winning it was a slow process leaving hundreds of thousands dead after every engagement. After some time the Salarians were able to convince Wrex to deploy a modified genophage that instead targeted the fertility of male Krogan making only one in a thousand instances of fertilization attempts successful; true birth control rather than what Wrex perceived to be the genocide of the past.

This however did not prove effective with the Krogan unveiling their mass production of their kind in tanks as a replacement for their traditional reproduction. The tank bred Krogan were truly a monstrous foe to face and one that they could not eliminate with the genophage. They were not prepared for what came for them and indeed upon their first series of devastations at the hands of the tank-breds most mercenaries pulled out of the conflict without even formally cancelling their contracts; this left many fronts open to rebel Krogan salients in a most disastrous moment overnight putting the coalition on the defensive.

When more recently the rebel Krogan began to sue for peace following their internal difficulties the Salarians rejected the idea outright on the premise that they insisted on keeping worlds they had taken since the start of the war. However, with their losses in both the war and their ongoing economic and political difficulties the Salarians - while still prosecuting the war - are more amenable to negotiating for peace than the Turians.

The Turian Hierarchy

Turian life changed significantly following the Reaper war. Though Palaven was not nearly as damaged as other racial capitals the Colonies of the Turians suffered far more than those of other races. But that was only the beginning of Turian woes after the Reapers. After Aria's armada seized many Turian holdings in the Terminus systems the Volus seceded from the Hierarchy along with two distant colonies. It was only under the firm leadership of the Turian war heroes that another set of unification wars did not happen. Nevertheless the Turians for a very long time were in a precarious position. The rise of the Salarians, Geth, and 2201 Union pushed out the demand for Turian wares from their impressive Military Industrial Complex. Meanwhile the lack of any major conflicts insured that their rather impressive fleet once entirely restored was naught but a drain in resources. It was only as the Asari were isolated and soon after the Salarians pushed themselves into a corner with their geopolitically motivated economic policies that the Turians were able to get their economy under control as they could enter the vacuums created by the failures of the other races. The Turians however were nevertheless significantly behind the other races in their restoration to pre-Reaper glory.

It was at some point that they inspired later projects of the Systems Alliance by devoting some of their Legions to mercenary efforts, largely those patrolling colonies of other civilizations near the Terminus systems with the aim of protecting them from more encroachments by the pirate realm.

The return of the Rachni was almost a godsend to the Turians as it solidified their return to power on the galactic stage; suddenly the Salarians the Union were begging them to devote their fleets to destruction of the alien menace and they were all too happy to reply once more becoming heroes of the galaxy. But as was the case with the first Rachni wars the Turians were only able to crush the Rachni in space, and they formed consensus with the Salarians and other speakers that the Krogan once more were needed. The arrangement went well until the Salarians and Krogans entered a dispute regarding the fate of the Rachni worlds that the Krogan took. Though from the words of Vakarian and others who had come to learn about Urdnot Wrex and his mate Bakara the Turians did not worry too much, they had to naturally take the side of the Salarians owing to the great many mutual defence and cooperation treaties they had.

Though they did not expect clans to rebel from Urdnot rule they were glad to join in the conflict seeing it as a reaffirmation of their role as guards of galactic order. But despite their many drills they were not prepared for the absolute ferocity of the rebellions when they began to deploy the tank-breds. Further, the rebels were far more accomplished in space warfare than predicted, particularly with the new cohort of tank-bred pilots and captains. But this only served to strengthen the resolve of the Turians. Total war was entered, the Turian consciousness especially inflamed when the enemy was one that so flagrantly disobeyed the galactic laws against genetic modification as extensive as the rebel Krogan Clans were undergoing. While the Turians initially were satisfied with the Krogan sending out envoys hoping to seek out a peaceful arrangement, this was only because of the belief that they were willing to submit and cease all operations. When the agreement the Krogan offered was simply a white peace they felt outraged and insulted. Despite entering the war with the least enthusiasm of its current participants, they now pursue it with their entire civilization’s efforts; nothing matters save absolute victory.

Krogan Clans

Following the Reaper war the Krogan entered the cultural renaissance that would once have seemed the guilty but manic ramblings of a Salarian Scientist. Under the watchful eye of Bakara and Wrex the many Clans fell in line with Urdnot. They looked inwards as their population exploded. They restored their ancient works from the wonders of civil engineering that were their seismic loading machines allowing them to once more erect the grand pyramids of their history. At the same time to the concern of many in the galaxy they did not waste any time in restoring their batteries, shipyards, and even investigating the debris near Rothla.

But all was well for many years. Krogan did not cease using their martial nature of course, at many points being hired in an official capacity to put Aria’s fleets in their place whenever they struck too arrogantly. But to the delight of Urdnot leadership more and more Krogan took civilian roles in memory of their ancestors from long before their world was a nuclear wasteland. Krogan poetry came to be renowned from Terminus Systems to Systems Alliance Space, while Krogan miners would provide ore for factories of all that would do business with them. Unfortunately, Salarians were not on that list. Wrex eventually gave up trying to persuade the Salarians to work with the Krogan having found a much better partner in the Geth. Though a cold and emotionless bunch, the Krogan found a very good relationship with them getting none of what they regarded as sophist nonsense of other races.

When the Rachni returned many clan leaders were swift to drop their dashing suits and once more pick up their high caliber guns. Though Wrex had successfully kept the hardliners in check and almost entirely remodeled the cultural course of Krogan youth even he had trouble suppressing giddiness at the prospect of another scrap with the Rachni.

As a matter of course the Krogan began to settle the worlds that they took from the Rachni. When the Salarian outcry came the Krogan were happy to negotiate but as diplomacy failed there were a series of escalations leading to short bursts of violence. It was bipartisan, but as a show of good faith the Krogan punished the perpetrators on their side with beatings and in two cases execution. Though the international community was impressed, many Krogan most certainly were unhappy. The naysayers of Wrex seized much of the Krogan fleet and several worlds marking the beginning of the second Krogan rebellion.

This time however, the rebellion was not just against the galactic order but against clan Urdnot supremacy as well. Together with the trifecta of Asari, Turians, and Salarians there was good, steady progress made against the rebelling Krogan. But victory was not nearly fast enough and every day the conflict went on there were mountains of corpses for all parties. Wrex accepted the Salarian proposal for a genophage under the conditions that it only be spread to the rebel Krogan and that it simply make males infertile rather than create stillbirths.

It was an effective move crushing the spirit of the Rebel Clans, albeit for a very short time. Fortack, the self styled Lord High Researcher had been one of the defectors to the rebellion. How he had come across the research was unknown, but somehow in his possession was the combined data of Droyas, Okeer, Maelon, Mordin Solus, and Padok Wiks. Though he could not cure the newly modified genophage he did not need to. With the research of those before him he was able to create tank-bred Krogan in the vein of Urdnot Grunt. Though it took some time for the appropriate facilities to be established and the tank-breds to grow the project was a massive success. Therein were the perfect warriors: they had the strength and resilience of Krogan, the intelligence of Salarians, the martial discipline of Turians, the adaptability of humanity and even the dexterity of Drell albeit rather wasted on the Krogan physiognomy.

When the first tank-breds struck their first foe - an Urdnot loyalist army - was absolutely devastated. Satisfied with the results they were brought to all fronts swiftly turning the tide. Such was the impact of the tank-breds that after witnessing them on but a few battlefields most mercenaries ran off seeing little pay worth being headbutted into minced meat. Though Fortack had all but single-handedly saved the Rebel Clans it was still Thurak of Jorgal that was the leader and he did not approve of the tank-breds when their use was revealed to him. Fortack knew this could not stand if victory was to be acheived. Though Thurak had respectable brutality and violence he was not a scientist, he could not see the future; it did not take long for Fortack to rip Thurak apart in one of his meetings and declare himself the new leader of the Rebel Clans.

As more and more tank-breds were made they started to replace ordinary Krogan who fell in greater numbers both in the lower ranks and in leadership. Soon the research labs were staffed almost entirely by the tank-breds and Fortack was surrounded by his creations. With freedom to do as he pleased Fortack was able to kick the rebellions into a whole new gear, the defensive soon turned to an offensive. It did not take long for him to get the suggestion for a mass battlemaster program which he accepted most gladly. The ancient Krogan technology wherein an ordinary warrior could be created into a biotic was long ago banned because of its mortality rates. But with his tank-breds Fortack would be able to perform the surgery before the Krogan was even born and if the specimen died in the process it could simply be recycled for its constituent resources to start again. Though this more than doubled the time it took to produce a viable tank-bred it also meant that every single one was destined to become a Battlemaster.

With the Battlemaster program also beginning to bear fruits the Rebel Clans offensives truly came into full swing with them not only retaking all the worlds they lost since the start of the war, but further occupying several colonies of their enemies. Just as devastating as the Battlemaster program was the use of weapons of mass destruction by the Krogan who in the deployment of the modified genophage found the perfect excuse, many a world of Asari, Turians, and Salarians facing great destruction at the hands of falling meteors and nuclear bombardment.

But much as Fortack had ended his predecessor believing himself better so too did many of his creations believe they were better for rule. By this time more than half of the active manpower of the rebel clans was tank bred and they were more than a third of the total population of the rebel clans. But rather importantly they had started to reach puberty and invent their own subculture. They created their own rites of passage and after completing them came to see themselves as more than just fodder. They resented Fortack using them on the front lines as disposable weapons and they came to be jealous of their kinsmen that they knew to have more professions than warrior or scientist. They were jealous of their mating and they wanted to carve out their own fate.

It was a collection of the most Senior tank-breds and a few veteran baseline Krogan that sympathized with their cause. Almost unheard of for Krogan they ruled through a council and came to a fast decision to sue for peace. They had proved their might and believed they could now dictate terms after which they could settle the wild stars unburdened by the past. Alas this would not be nearly so simple.

The condition they set was a simple white peace wherein they kept what they got in the war with no further hostilities and a normalization of relations. To most observers such as the Systems Alliance, the 2201 Union, and the Geth along with their creators this was a more than fair agreement. The enemies of the rebel clans did not share this sentiment. Aside from wanting their lands back the Turians could not abide by the very existence of the tank-breds, whereas Clan Urdnot could not accept other Clans not under their authority. Perhaps rather ironically it was Wrex who pushed the hardest for the continuation of the War against his kin. Many Krogan who previously looked up to him now looked up to the rebel Clans. The tank-breds also caused a great insecurity to ripple through Krogan society. They were better warriors, better leaders, better builders of civilisation, they were better. The only things that Wrex could point to were the fact that these tank-breds as of yet had not reproduced and might even avoid such for fear of less biotics being produced, as well as the fact later generations of tank-breds removed the blood rage from their creation believing it to be unnecessary and unreliable. On the backdrop of them never even having seen their homeworld or completed true rites of passage these were arguments that at least temporarily mollified his people.

Though war did not end much of the Galaxy has begun to recognize the rebel Clans as a unique power in the international stage. The Systems Alliance, Quarians, Geth, the Terminus Systems, and the 2201 Union all opened relations with the Rebel Clans with the hope they could definitively crush the Rachni once and for all, as well as with their new leadership being better partners than the Urdnot loyalists. In recent years the Rebel Clans have lobbied in the Citadel with such success that they have gained formal recognition by several powers and are in the final bureacratic stages of gaining a seat on the Council. To wit, on the Citadel a tank bred Krogan is nearly as common a sight as an ordinary one; violence between the two (particularly beneath the Krogan monument) is commonplace.

Batarians and Vorcha

The Batarian Hegemony was absolutely devastated following the reaper war with both their homeworld of Khar’Shan and their multitude of colonies ruined. Though they helped in the final battle against the Reapers, nobody forgot that the Batarians were savage slavers and pirates following the war and as such they were left to fend for themselves. For almost a year they remained a largely fleet-based civilization, their worlds in such a state of disrepair that a cramped domicile in a ship was far preferable. Further, they had little machinery or resources to actually commence the reconstruction. Many simply gave up on this effort and resumed lives of pure piracy preying on the many states damaged by the Reaper War.

However those that remained gained an idea that was regarded by their whole society as brilliant. Most had during the war developed working relationships with many Vorcha and in Vorcha they saw the perfect tools to rebuild their homes. They ferried almost the entire population of Heshtok to Khar’Shan beating all the Vorcha they rounded up into submission and then making them work as slaves to rebuild their colonies.

The Vorcha were a rather effective tool, their work while not as great as that of other races bringing the Batarian worlds into a livable state. With the restoration of their homes the Batarians now found themselves almost outnumbered by a caste of second class citizens, in practice an apartheid state wherein Vorcha could do as they pleased provided they obeyed their Batarian betters whenever anything was asked of them. The Vorcha naturally - at least for the time being - were happy to oblige, their appreciation of shows of force making them see the Batarians as strong leaders to follow. The Batarian hegemony possessed trade relations with the 2201 Unions while being isolated from most other governments, and did not feel the market crash nearly as hard as any other nation nor did they suffer from the Ardat Yakshi plague. They were not however able to avoid confrontation with the Rachni.

With that said their war against the Rachni was far more successful than other nations; whilst they could not afford Krogan mercenaries their Vorcha subjects were usable in a similar manner and they swiftly destroyed the pair of Rachni Queens that struck against them.

In more recent years the Hegemony has been making their way on the international stage. They temporarily served as mercenaries against the Krogan Rebel Clans for the coalition, and have now for a considerable time possessed a seat on the Citadel Council. They have also begun to foster very strong relations with both the 2201 Union and Aria’s Omegan Empire with many analysts foreseeing them joining one or the other in the distant future. At the same time many worry about the future of the Hegemony. The Vorcha population has at many times been seen getting ever more disobedient and rowdy; through their conditioning of the Vorcha into being the perfect warriors or workers many see the Batarians as potentially facing their own version of the first Krogan rebellions. Additionally, rhetoric within the Hegemony more and more turns into a revanchist sentiment against humans and the Systems Alliance now that the Hegemony is restored with many seeing a reversal of the calming attitude between the races into outright war on the horizon.

The Rachni

With the end of the Reaper war the Rachni Queen that Shepard had spared disappeared and ultimately the Rachni were forgotten being placed as a footnote in history. But with the opening of new Mass Relays they returned to the galaxy in a most dangerous manner. Though many Rachni Queens discovered aimed for peaceful relations with the races that discovered them and in a few cases even opened trade relationships, the same or perhaps even more devoured the expeditions that found them and once more struck at all life unlike themselves going as far as wiping out some of the Queens who wanted peace with the rest of the Galaxy in surprise attacks. The Second Rachni wars had begun.

Events

The following are the most important international events following the end of the Reaper War in approximate chronological order.

Omegan Ascendance

Following the Reaper war the already mobilized armada of Aria T’Loak was able swiftly and decisively occupy several Clusters and individual systems in the Terminus Systems. In many cases the war weary people did not even bother to resist, and the attempts to take down her expansion were half-hearted at best. Many wish for a day of reckoning against her rogue state that now for more than a century has been a blight on the Galaxy, but from her smug throne on Omega her holdings have only expanded since she first struck. Though nominally run by pirates it is a highly individualistic land, her realm is not a particularly bad place to live and indeed some worlds seceding from other governments even petition to join her rule.

The Revolutions

Shortly after the Reaper War many new states were formed. In the chaos of the post-war power structures were flipped upon their heads and many who were unhappy with their situation saw the perfect time to act. From the Turians the Volus declared independence, as did many colonies for both the Turian Hierarchy and the Systems Alliance. Some lesser clans and Warlords rebelled from the rule of Urdnot Wrex but they were crushed rather brutally. Many fleets of Batarians rather than bothering to rejoin the Hegemony and take the effort of rebuilding their home decided to simply roam the galaxy as pirates taking a considerable portion of their population with themselves. Finally, upon the (in)famous Asari colony of Illium there was a rebellion of the slaves that while crushed lead to many years of reconstruction and reacquisition of labour-force that was lost in the process.

Though this happened many years later, many consider the latter-day synthetic life uprisings to be part of the revolutionary era in the Milky Way. For the most part this was confined to the Systems Alliance wherein their Infiltration Units and derivatives thereof achieved sapience and liberated themselves with violence when necessary. But one canont forget a few other remote such instances such as Salarian experimental vessels with dangerously advanced VIs disappearing without a trace.

The Cursed Year

In 2197 the observable nature of the Asari had changed, for following that year Ardat Yakshi would be produced not only from pureblood relationships but from those between Asari and another species as well. This would not have been discovered for a significantly longer time if not for the fact that in the same year that this effect began every single case of pureblood Asari turned out to be an Ardat Yakshi. When the probability of such happening was calculated most programs crashed from Long overflow. Though it would take some time for these Asari to mature into Ardat Yakshi, when they finally did the world trembled. It was impossible to find them all and subsequently house them and they thus spread amongst the stars as all Asari in the Maiden phases do with a massive death toll from their overpowering process of melding. Following this most states closed all travel to and from the Asari Republics and placed heavy restrictions upon trade with them. The Asari instantly became a subject of galactic bigotry and hatred, their reputation for a long time falling to be worse than that of vermin like the Vorcha. There were some voices who remembered the claim of one Ardat Yakshi long ago: they were the genetic destiny of the Asari.

In recent years the problem was heavily alleviated in part with the reestablishment of the Justicar Order following the devastation of its members in the Reaper War then they joined the defense of Thessia and other Asari territories. Though many are still very weary of the Asari there is a gradual lifting of travel and trade restrictions.

The Formation of the 2201 Union

The Union of 2201 was an inevitability in retrospect. As the post war world developed it became more and more clear to smaller powers like the Hanar and Drell, the Volus, and the Elcor that they would not have the same protections from “Citadel races” as they would have prior to the Reaper War. What they negotiated was a mutual defence pact as well as a multitude of trade and assorted cooperation agreements. Individually the races of the Union of 2201 were frail and insignificant on the world stage, but together they were able to make a galactic bloc unto themselves with an excellent economy backed up by a powerful fleet to solidify their projection of power.

The Great Market Crash

Following the exit of the Asari from the centre stage of the galactic economy the world plunged into a crisis few were prepared for especially with many worlds still rebuilding from the devastation the reapers wrought. The Salarians were eager to take their place however, and it seemed after some time that they were able to restore normalcy and bring the world back on track to recovery. Alas this would not last very long for the Salarians believed their supremacy to be far greater than it was. They believed they would be able to use it to push the Geth out of the international market and keep the Krogan demilitarized with great sanctions upon both parties. This backfired however as many chose to weather Salarian sanctions for dealing with the Geth and surviving the ones with the Geth they were happy to also stomach the ones for dealing with the Krogan. Seeing their folly they were quick to retract their actions but it was far too late, and the economic crisis facing the Galaxy only began to spiral worse for a considerable amount of time. It took the Turians best efforts along with interjections from the Systems Alliance and 2201 Union to start to finally put the world on track to some recovery from the crises that the Asari and Salarians created.

The Spectre Scandal

As the world started to recover from the recent market crash the Spectres thought they had discovered a conspiracy amongst elements of the Systems Alliance who were supposedly Cerberus agents. This lead to the arrest and in some cases deaths of many humans in the Citadel who were believed to be planning a chemical weapon based terrorist attack. However all the evidence was circumstantial and there were found to be no chemical weapons nor even the ability to obtain them amongst all the victims of the Spectres. There was much outrage from the Systems Alliance shared by many other Council representatives. The Alliance gave an ultimatum to either have oversight and full transparency over the Spectres or their dissolution and a court martial of their members, the latter option ultimately being agreed upon. It was with the loss of the Spectre organization that most nations lost any sort of respect for or confidence in the Citadel and it came to be regarded as more of a symbolic NGO than any sort of true institution for international problem solving.

Old Enemies

It was not long after the Spectre scandal that many old tormentors of the Galaxy showed their face once more. Though the Awakened Collectors had been a nuisance for some years following the end of the Reaper War their attacks became ever more common at this point in history. But these were naught compared to the return of the Rachni. As new Mass Relays were discovered and explored many Rachni were found by expeditions. Though many turned out to be peaceful and even started a lucrative trade for their discoverers for many the Queens they found were genocidally hostile. Those who found the most difficulty with the Rachni were coincidentally the same governments who faced difficulty with them in the first Rachni Wars; the Salarians, the Turians, and the Asari. Though they destroyed the fleets of the Rachni they were unable to properly take the fight to their homeworlds. At this point they knew that they needed the Krogan once more, who were all too happy to take a fight to the Rachni in great mercenary fleets.

The Neo-Krogan Wars

When it was discovered that the Krogan instantly began to settle the worlds of the Rachni and erect their grand pyramids to demonstrate their claim, there was an outrage from the Salarians and to a lesser degree from the other employers of the Krogan mercenaries. Negotiations began to discuss what would be done on the matter which quickly degraded into short bursts of violence. However, Urdnot Wrex wanted to preserve peace and demonstrate that the Krogan truly wanted to be part of a new galactic order rather than villains of it once more. He thus punished those under him who got out of line much to the surprise of his counterparts.

While many thought this would be an end to the conflict these people were misguided. The move of Wrex was despised amongst many of the Clans for having shown weakness and submission to other races. Many clans rebelled marking the beginning of the second Krogan rebellion.

Loyalists to Clan Urdnot, the Asari, the Salarians, and the Turians formed a coalition to crush the rebel clans. They found themselves winning but their progress was slow and made casualties far too great to sustain when the Rachni weren’t yet defeated. After some discussion it was agreed that a modified genophage would be deployed on the rebel Clans to cause infertility amongst the males with the hope of prompting a swift surrender. This action was anticipated however, particularly by the Lord High Researcher of the Krogan who had defected to the rebels: Fortack. He was able to recreate past tank-breeding experiments for mass production of the perfect Krogan in a battle ready state to replenish their numbers. Though many leaders of the rebellion were traditionalists made furious by this strange breed they were put into their place very fast when Fortack publicly eviscerated Jorgal Thurak, leader of the rebellion.

When the first line of tank-breds hit the battlefield they were the Gods of war possessing the best traits of all the races they went against inside their unstoppable Krogan frame. When they struck they did so with such ferocity that all mercenaries hired to fight them fled, their lucrative contracts be damned. With gaps in the enemy formation the tank-breds were able to create many salients and encirclements — overnight the rebel Clans had their outlook change from a slow but inevitable defeat to that of a glorious counter-offensive. The state of the coalition became even worse when the battlemaster programme began where the tank-bred Krogan would be surgically modified into being biotics within their tanks, recycled for their constituent parts if they died in the process for a quick restart.

Furthermore, the use of the Genophage on the Rebel Clans meant the introduction of biological warfare into the conflict which gave them the excuse they needed to begin using their own WMDs. They were all too happy to use their time honoured strategy of mass nuclear bombing or lobbing asteroids into planets with fusion torches knowing that they would at most turn the worlds they struck into new versions of Tuchanka (a prospect they didn't dread in the slightest). Some voices even spoke of an ancient weapon found in a wreckage near Rothla in the old Krogan DMZ being reconstructed. Regardless, despite the Rebel Clans escalating the use of WMDs in the war most governments outside of the coalition in fact sided with them, seeing them as forced to act in such a way in response to the use of the modified genophage.

But despite his cunning genius, Fortack did not predict being undone by his own “children”. The tank-breds over time grew to have a great many grievances with their creator’s leadership, particularly after many of them passed through puberty and matured enough to be able to see themselves in his position.

After the murder of Fortack a Council of the most senior members of the Rebel Clans came to rule, and they soon came to a consensus to sue for peace. When the terms of the peace included the fact that the Rebel Clans would be allowed to keep any worlds they currently held it was rejected by the Salarians, whilst the Turians also objected to the very nature of the tank-bred Krogan and Wrex could not bear to have such a massive population of Krogan not under his control.

Though this peace was rejected by the coalition, the rest of the world began to open formal relations with the rebel Clans seeing their new ruling Council as a very agreeable government after some probing communications. Indeed many came forth to lobby for their entry into the Citadel Council with great success, the last few bureaucratic processes of formalizing their seat underway. C-Sec has already hired some tank-bred Krogan, and they have come to be a rather common sight within the Citadel and Omega.

You have arrived at the modern day Milky Way Galaxy.

Thank you for your time my dear nerds, I hope I find interest for ordinary RPers and co-GMs alike. I look forward to replies and I am eager to respond to questions, comments, and concerns.

Andy's hunt for kin-spirit dreggs

Mass Effect: Caelestis

The Vorcha had been settling into the ship rather nicely. The Engines were of a familiar make to other ships that Iryk had inhabited before and he had come to make it look like his previous habitations very quickly from the scattered papers to the bits of scrap he was slowly adding to his suit to the food to all the bits of his armament. He saw that some of the crew looked at him with pure disdain of course, but he didn't bother reacting to it. Long ago he had learned it was counter-productive to taunt or jeer at those expressing hatred of him and his kind; employers tended to take the side of the other party regardless of who had instigated the conflict.

But Iryk was happy here. The cramped spaces of the Engines and their erratic shifts in temperature reminded him very much of the mines of his youth. It was rather ironic how he was nostalgic about a time he had fought so hard to end he supposed. After a few checks on the tools of his trade the Vorcha very quickly got back to his ultimate goal of the liberation and enlightenment of his race. Coal-black fingers moved with practiced speed to make line upon line of his document with a dedicated pause in every five minute increment to proofread what he had written in the elapsed time and make necessary changes.

Truth be told he didn't care a single bit what happened outside of his little home. He had little desire to socialize with the others and he knew he'd go out to find food when all others would be sleeping or working on their other matters; the meal times would be how he would keep track of time outside of his little domain. The only thing that otherwise would bring him out of his corner would be the summons for him to do what he was paid to be on the ship for, and now it seemed that he was called forth to do just that.

Saving what he had finished writing he gathered and donned his tools of trade, before lurching over to see the Captain. He wasn't the only one present it seemed, in fact it seemed that more or less the entirety of the crew had assembled to hear Naryxa's words. Iryk clacked his teeth silently as he looked between the Captain and "Lauren", sizing her up with his bulbous black eyes. His eyes turned ever so slightly at the human pilot who seemed to think he was funny. Another human spoke up saying she would join in the little venture, and seeing nobody else speak Iryk decided to be next.

"This is not part of job." the Vorcha chittered, mimicking the half-rasp and half-grunt voice most expected of his people. "Iryk will kill all mercenary and take their heads for trophy! If there is pay or reward for this." the alien announced quite simply. From the description he had a slight measure of sympathy for this girl, but at the same time if she didn't want to get into trouble then perhaps she shouldn't have been involved with drugs. He was a mercenary and he wasn't going to offer charity that his kind had never received; thus he made it abundantly clear he would not fight for free, but if paid he would indeed turn the enemy to mincemeat.

Andy's hunt for kin-spirit dreggs

Mass Effect: Caelestis

Where the hell was he? Oh, right.

The Vorcha’s eyes adjusted to the darkness of the room instantly, the mines of his past far darker than this mere lodging. It was a tiny and cramped domicile but he wouldn’t have it any other way. It was of the perfect size for him to curl up for sleep and write on his computer, and naught more was needed. He couldn’t fathom why other races seemed to enjoy living space so much larger than themselves. A bedroom was a room for a bed, it wasn’t a place you should be able to run about wasting time with nonsense that wasn’t using the bed. For all the hatred his kin received for supposedly being irredeemable savages, it sure seemed that the other races were far more disorderly and illogical in their processes than his kinsmen were. Perhaps in their long lives they would lose sight of what was truly important. It certainly seemed that they were far more wasteful of their years than the Vorcha. Indeed from his experience the fact Iryk’s species lived a mere twenty years on average didn’t stop them from leading lives as full and experienced as others. After all, it would explain how his kinsmen born but a single solar cycle ago were still more than capable of making veteran Citadel race marines wet themselves.

Moving his body out of his nigh spherical shape Iryk turned to his computer, reviewing the works on it. It was… a manifesto of sorts, he supposed. It wasn’t consistent in tense or exact subject or mood but he felt he had to write it. Even now just past the very door of his room was the exact reason why. His kinsmen were happy where they were of course, but they lived ignoble lives. Like greedy carrion they picked on the not yet fallen, on the weak and desperate and poor. It wasn’t of course always violent, not all Vorchas were pirates and raiders. But those that weren’t did not overcome this status. Few trusted Vorcha enough to expect any of them to do anything civil and professional and thus the few who tried would get turned away and be left only the option joining the same life of piracy they had tried to avoid. While the vengeance upon the other peoples of the galaxy that this entailed did broadly appeal to Iryk, he knew it was a small victory on the backdrop of the everlasting defeats.

Organic work, that was the term that had so enamoured him. Where liberation by everlasting violence had failed, it could be created from the ground by labours. It would take much effort, but just as he had ascended from mere slave, to pirate, to respectable mercenary, so too could his brothers and sisters become merchants, scientists and leaders. If anything, the fast reproductive cycle of the Vorcha would allow them in the future to become the dominant race of the galaxy, a population boom that would see them become the archetypical race of the Milky Way. But there were many steps on the road to this bright future and his job now was to record them all.

Perhaps one day when he had enough money he would return to this… hospice of his race when he had earned enough money and take it over. From there he would naturally groom the youngest present into embodying the legacy that he wanted. Though he knew he couldn’t convince everyone present of his dream he knew he only had to convince someone strong enough in both mind and body to make all others submit to it. The Vorcha would be uplifted whether they liked it or not.

A notification was received, and checking it Iryk giggled happily. The Caelestis had docked, and his new job was starting soon. It was good work, reliable and well paying. Perhaps more importantly the contract was far less dangerous than his previous job cutting throats in the night for people that wanted to settle a score. No longer would Alliance troops be eternally chasing him, this was something resembling a real position. After paying for his stay and giving a few kind words to the owner of the establishment, Iryk was soon on his way out and heading towards the docks of Omega.

Omega was a diverse place, perhaps the most diverse in the galaxy. But nevertheless he stood out. Bulky almost as a krogan, yet hardly taller than a volus he was black. Not the black of some batarians or turians or humans, it was the true black of light no more; as if a shadow was walking. He wondered if the Captain of the vessel would rescind her cosmopolitan tolerance of a Vorcha once she saw exactly what she was paying for. After all, there were no unions on Omega he could go cry to if he felt an injustice was done. But then again, he supposed that anyone who got to be a Captain would more likely have done all their homework than not. Well, if not then there were other ways he could get his due. However until such treachery did indeed happen there was no point imagining the retribution it would prompt of him.

As he stood before the vessel in the dock, it was less impressive than he had hoped but it was still a decent looking ship. He knew he would make his living space in the Engine rooms of course given that he had little patience for common dormitories and they were usually too roomy for him anyway, but over all he reckoned it would not be a bad experience. He would be more than happy to ply his trade of violence in the voyage, but likewise he would be just as glad to have a peaceful time wherein he could focus on completing his magnum opus document.

Others seemed to be interested to the Caelestis as he headed to board it, the crew he would be surrounded by seemingly a rather diverse one. Momentarily he was reminded of his now so distant past, but he shook the unproductive thoughts out of his head. Going into character as Iryk the Butcher from Iryk the Pensman, he stepped aboard the ship that would entail a most unforeseen experience.

Mass Effect: Caelestis

Volunteering to eat any characters left behind

Mass Effect: Caelestis

Iryk

_{Iryk
5 ⟁ Male ⟁ Vorcha ⟁ Sentinel}

_{A P P E A R A N C E}

---

An image of the frighteningly obsidian hued Vorcha

Vorcha have perhaps the widest range of phenotypes of any sapient species of the Milky Way, but it would nevertheless be an accurate statement to call Iryk atypical. In total mass he is noticeably larger than most of his racial kin having sinewy bulk approaching a Krogan. However he is shorter than them owing to a hunch from top to bottom of his back that leaves him at about two thirds of his hypothetical height; with his hunch he is about 150cm, whereas if he were to straighten out his spine in its entirety he would be far more than two metres. Alas, his back is now fused into its current shape and as such when he wants to intimidate he can only muster about 190cm.

His skin is rough, a well muscled black material reminiscent almost of carbon fibers. His eyes are likewise a shade of black wherein one cannot find the pupil, and very notably his body is covered in many small hooks, studs, spikes, and little plates resulting from his life's adaptations much like the rest of his physique. Many of these spikes are retractable both to assist in maneuvering and in butchering. If one pays close attention they can see bumps and scar tissue where his implants are, but the contours are difficult to make out on black flesh.

_{H I S T O R Y}

---

The discovery of Heshtok - homeworld of the Vorcha - is a recent one to the international community. The persistent violence of the people there lead many to see no interest in doing business anywhere near the very system, but many also saw an opportunity. The lack of official recognition for the Vorcha made them prime prey for quasi-legal slavery operations, and a young Vorcha by the name of Iryk was one of many victims of such a practice.

He was transported to a mining world, the corporation administrating the work there finding his race's adaptability and short lives leading them to be much more disposable than humans, asari, and other races with simple access to unions. With the introduction of Vorcha slaves into labour the company's profits soared and very soon the number of Vorcha slaves on the planet outnumbered those of all other races combined. As more and more of his kin were brought in, Iryk started his race's process of adaptation to his environment. He became dark, hunched, resistant to the elements and his skin turned almost into a chitinous carapace with hooks in to do anything from weathering tunnel collapses to ascending and descending pits unaided by technology or even wrestling with the cockroach like monsters infesting the mines.

But as this transformation began the overseers of his mine noticed very strange things about him. He performed many of his tasks more efficiently than even older, fully adapted Vorcha and after tests for Eezo it was no trouble to determine that he was a biotic. Given the infancy of the Vorcha in the galactic stage proper research upon them was not yet done, but that did not stop corporate leaders looking to boost profits from trying to use experimental implants upon them.

Irtyk was given preferential treatment, him and other biotic Vorcha planned to be managers of their own kind; slaves that ruled the other slaves in exchange for a life approaching that of a free man. He learned to speak, read, and write properly along with a standardized core of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. With his enlightenment he made relationships beyond that of work with some of the tutors and doctors he met. Many were genuinely trying to aid the Vorcha and they soon came to see each other as friends. Yet, his newfound knowledge also lead him to realize the full magnitude of what horrors were being done to his people. It did not take him long in his short breaks to find the pyres where the corpses of his kind worked to death were laid.

There were many more collaborator Vorcha like him, and they started to meet in their breaks. They talked, they planned. They earned more and more trust of their overlords, getting firearms supposedly to take down occasional riots or the many beasts that dwelled on the world. They earned keycards and passwords, they got personal vehicles. The planning was cut short when rumour came of instruments and weapons being developed specifically against the Vorcha in case of an uprising. This told the plotters that they had no more time, and as such they got to work. Having built rapport with their underlings be it by intimidation or with good leadership they knew their amassed resources had the manpower to truly make use of them. In the night they came upon the other settlements of the planet and they burned them to the ground. Many tried to flee the vicious wrath of the Vorcha but for every mining outpost these were in the single digits, these people oft maddened until their last days speaking to reporters of the evils and crimes against life that the obsidian Vorchas would inflict in their vengeance

They hijacked whatever spacecraft they could and flew across the stars. From that point on the history of Iryk mirrors that of most other Vorcha. Those early developmental experiences of his life lead him to know nothing of life save intrigue and plots to kill, and along with his former comrades he could foresee no life save that of the mercenary. After many lesser jobs hunting and then ripping apart anyine fron law enforcement to rival criminals Iryk felt he was readu for greater tasks. It is thus that for his fearsome and savage reputation Iryk found himself hired aboard the Caelestis as something between security and contract killing.

_{P E R S O N A L I T Y}

---

Outwardly Iryk markets himself as naught more than yet another Vorcha; a rather daft but obedient (as long as he's either paid or intimidated) butcher. But he likes to think of himself as much more. He knows of the many concepts so alien to him from the ideological and religious variance of the Citadel races to their odd rituals of mating and etiquette. He can speak as the finest Asari diplomat should he so please, but he is ever frustrated having to hide this lest he be turned in to authorities or bounty hunters as one of the biotic leaders of the disastrous Vorcha uprising he helped lead. As a rule he does not very much like other species, but he is also more than conscious that there are exceptions to the rule of their highborn smugness and arrogance that he experienced on the only home he knew, the related traits easily driving the Vorcha into a maddened frenzy on their exhibition. Though he knows much of other races, he often finds it difficult to understand why they are as they are, particularly in matters like morals and sensibilities coming at odds with practicality and utilitarianism such as eating the dead.

Iryk is more than capable of kindness and compassion contrary to the stereotype of his race, but he will never show it unless given it first and as such there are few if any candidates for his benevolence. Though he will still speak with the primitive sentences of many of his other kind he will work very professionally with those he is partnered with, and he will have a particularly good attention to and knowledge of any contract he is currently on which he will follow to the letter and not more or less (save bursts of sadism).

_{A B I L I T I E S}

---

• Decryption
• Throw
• First Aid
• Bloodlust
• Carnage

_{E Q U I P M E N T}

---

• M-97 Viper (modified for a shorter optic scope to be more a battle rifle than a true sniper)
• Flamer - a wrist mounted weapon integrated (but not synonymous) with his omni-tool, it is a a devastating weapon for ranges that are close but not quite melee.
• Omni Tool - though its formal use as a weapon is not yet commonplace in the Galaxy, the Vorcha is happy to use its many functions from wrench to welder in purposes both for which it was designed for, and ones far more vicious and violent.
• Bodysuit - Though the skin of the Vorcha is already rather functional as armour and a hazardous environment suit, its still not often enough (especially in the true vacuums of space). He will almost always have it on given it is tailor made for him being a composite of an old mining suit, pilots suits, armours, and other bits looted off of the dead — it would be rather difficult to get pre-made suits that fit others onto his frame. Most of it is kept inside and away from innocent nostrils, but to those who come into hugging range of the Vorcha will be assaulted by its awful smell.

_{S T R E N G T H S & W E A K N E S S E S}

---

• Adapted Biology: strong, fast, tough, and augmented with implants the body of Iryk is ready for whatever challenges may be thrown at it.
• Engineered mind: Iryk has a deep alien cunning, far more educated than many of his kinsmen. If a test was taken he would even be nearly a standard deviation above average in Citadel race societies; he can speak eloquently in many voices, albeit to most he chooses to speak in the typical Vorcha syntax to hide what is within his head.
• Sadism: While he won't explicitly seek out violence for the sole purpose of causing hurt, any task he does he will try to do it in a manner such that he will inflict as much suffering as possible. Though this gives him great pleasure and soothes his mind, it will more often than not lead to him wasting time, alerting his presence to others in the vicinity, and otherwise hurt him. Likewise, these elements of his fractured mind will naturally make more or less anyone he is with save other Vorcha and some Krogan to be very distrustful of him at best.
• Odd Physiognomy: Iryk is a rather large being contorted into a hunchback provoking far more disgust than most Vorcha already do. This form has helped him at times, but in general it limits his methods of hiding into simply curling up into a compact ball and hoping his dark flesh will keep him unnoticed. Likewise though such a form helped him navigate the mine tunnels and rocky slopes of his earlier life he has at many times found his shape to be a curse when it comes to traversing the interstellar world; he cannot fit into any ventilation shafts, no armour designed for ordinary bodies fits him, and software rarely if ever recognizes him as a humanoid, often mistaking him as some sort of rabid animal or at times even as an automaton.

_{G O A L S & R E G R E T S}

---

• Iryk wants to insure that his people can make a living in the galaxy at large and to insure no more of his kind will be taken advantage of as he and many of his brothers and sisters were. Quite simply put he wants health, wealth, and happiness.
• When the slave rebellion was at its peak it quickly morphed from a conflict of liberation to one of vengeful extermination; in the end, many humans, Drell, Turians, Krogans, Asari, Salarians and others who were kind to both Iryk and other Vorcha met undeserved, and very painful deaths that journalists inevitably reported upon in graphic detail. This would attack Iryk's psyche from many angles: it vindicated thebelief of other races that Vorcha were savage vermin, it it would make the race untrustworthy to the galaxy and thus counterproductive in the quest of the race's growth, and quite simply many of those fallen Iryk had started to consider friends who's deaths he is responsible for. This event more or less broke the mind of Iryk creating the much more vile Vorcha crawling through space now.

Andy's hunt for kin-spirit dreggs

Brothers, it is science fantasy scotland time.