So, here's my latest story. Yeah, I know. I have too many of them, and I don't update often enough. But the plot tribbles won't stop breeding, and force feeding them to get them to grow more only makes them look weird. This story is actually something I've wanted to find for a while, and finally decided to just write one myself. It's also heavily influenced by Omniscient1's Mythos Effect, one of my all time favorite fics. In fact, the term "arcaneotechnology" is stolen directly from that fic.

I would also like to explain my failure to update Those Damn Primitives. It's because, frankly, I don't know shit abouut tactics, and that's making it extremely difficult to write. I don't think I'll have the same problem with this story though, because while the First Contact War is still gonna be there, it's gonna be different. And yes, it will consist of the Turians getting their asses handed to them, because the Turians annoy the hell out of me. They're such a bunch of arrogant bastards. Unfortunately, I may have to give them a moderate power boost, just to keep things interesting. You'll see why soon. Hell, considering some of the abilities I'm giving to humans, I'd probably need to boost them anyway.

I am also getting rid of the Reapers in exactly the same manner I used in Those Damn Primitives, because I frikkin' hate the Reapers, and I like the idea I used before.

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Timeline

100,000 years ago, a race known only as the Predecessors discovered the cycle of the Reapers. Knowing it was too late to save themselves, they spent their remaining time leaving warnings of the Reapers where future races would find them. When the Protheans discovered these warnings, they bent all of their research and resources towards finding a way to defeat the Reapers. Before the cycle could begin, the Protheans activated the Citadel Mass Relay, but in reverse- they went to Dark Space and eliminated the Reapers using a massive artificial black hole. The surviving Prothean civilization suffered massively from the use of resources put into combating the Reaper threat. Their civilization collapsed into a massive civil war, and the race went extinct, leaving an empty galaxy, to be filled in a way similar to the canon story. These events are completely unknown to the modern galaxy. For various reasons, none of the warnings of the Predecessors have survived to modern times.

2023- An archeological expedition finds the ruins of an ancient underground city, which was destroyed by a plague. The bacteria responsible for this plague, named Dontrin, is accidentally released due to failure to follow proper quarantine procedures. The disease spreads extremely quickly, despite all attempts to hinder its progress.

2025- Eighty percent of the world population is dead due to the spread of Dontrin. The survivors are found to have a form of immunity to the disease. The survivors begin to display strange abilities, such as telekinesis, the ability to control the environment, shapeshifting, superhuman strength, teleportation, and more. Research is begun by to explain this phenomenon.

2026- It is discovered that the DNA of the surviving human population has been rewritten in ways which should be biologically impossible. The abilities demonstrated are likewise shown to go against all known laws of science.

2033- Almost all of humanity is found to have strange abilities. The few individuals who are without powers are treated as second class citizens, and are openly discriminated against.

2035- Robert Denzon is born, covered in unkown symbols. Similar children begin to be born all over the world.

2038- It is officially determined that the abilities shown by the human population are supernatural abilities, and are thought to be magical in nature.

2041- Samuel Williams, previously thought to be without powers, discovers that he is able to enchant items. Other "powerless" individuals are soon found to have the same ability. Practically overnight, the formerly "powerless" citizens' status goes from "subhuman" to "revered."

2044- Robert Denzon finds that he is able to place runes on the bodies of others to enhance their powers. Unfortunately, the process is excruciatingly painful.

2048- Rune enhancement, while not common due to the extreme pain, is widespread. It is especially popular among pyromancers and summoners.

2132- Society begins to recover from the chaos of the Dontrin Plague. Modern industries are revived, new nations are formed, and technology is recovered.

2135- The first sentient AI is created.

2143- Enchanters combine their ability with known technology to create advances such as limitless energy, superior computers, and magical weapons.

2147- Humans with the ability to animate objects or to create golemns create artificial bodies for AIs. When combined with the abilities of enchanters, these artificial bodies are complete with human senses, and are capable of everything a pre-Dontrin human could do, and, while they lack the magical abilities of post-Dontrin humans, these artificial bodies are stronger, faster, and smarter than any human. They are not electronic in nature; instead enchanted to move at the will of an AI, which accesses a body through an arcaneotech "wireless network" of sorts.

2150- The combination of magic and technology has become commonplace. Everything from cars to computers to guns use what has become known as "arcaneotechnology."

2156- The Dontrin bacteria is eliminated, but the rewritten DNA of humanity remains.

2177- Human civilization has largely recovered from the Dontrin Plague, though the population is still low. Space exploration begins.

2180- A ruined Prothean base is discovered on Mars. It contains no valuable information or resources, but is clear proof of the existence of extraterrestrial life.

2187- The first combat capable spaceship is created by the Republic of Texas, located in the former southern United States. The nations of the world begin building space navies.

2190- The human population is now at five billion. The average lifespan of a human is roughly 120 years.

2203- Earth is invaded by an advanced alien race known as the Fortigal. The nations of the world unite to combat the threat. The Solar War begins.

2205- The arcaneotech Levitation Shield is invented. Unlike the energy shields equipped by the Fortigal, a levitation shield does not simply block projectiles. Instead, an extremely strong levitation field is projected around a ship. When a projectile enters this field, it is simply deflected "upwards" (although the term is meaningless in space, the levitation field still moves items in the same direction, thereby giving spacers a direction to which they can refer as "up"). Because the levitation shield does not simply absorb force, it cannot be broken, but projectiles with sufficient speed can impact the ship before they are fully deflected away. Likewise, energy weapons are completely immune to the levitation charm. Despite these flaws, the levitation shield is regarded as superior to energy shields, as the levitation shield is unbreakable, and the Fortigal are unable to launch projectiles fast enough to pierce it.

2206- Thanks to the enormous tactical advantage provided by the levitation shield, the Fortigal are defeated and driven back from the solar system. Over one billion lay dead, and entire nations have been rendered uninhabitable by kinetic and nuclear weaponry.

2217- Fortigal technology is reverse engineered and combined with arcaneotechnology. The most significant advances are the ability to create wormholes, FTL communication, and terraforming.

2220- The planet of Merid is terraformed, and the first extrasolar colony is founded.

2238- There are now five extrasolar colonies, the largest of which has a population of seventeen million. The human population has reached seven billion total.

2239- The colonies of Plide, Tyson, and Morph are destroyed by an alien race known as the Triating. The First Galactic War begins.

2243- The First Galactic war ends with the destruction of the Triating home planet. Human casualties are estimated at around seven hundred million.

2245- Humanity unites against future threats as the Solian Empire. Frank Tyler becomes the first Emperor of Man.

2293- The Fortigal return in greater numbers. The Second Galactic War begins.

May 2296- Emporer Tyler is slain in an assault by the Fortigal. Humanity rallies at the death of their fallen leader.

July 2296- The Solian Empire launches a counter attack against the Fortigal homeworld. The Fortigal planet is reduced to cinders, and the remaining population of the Fortigal is effectively blasted back to the Stone Age. Human casualties for the war are estimated at 600 million.

2387- An alien artifact, referred to as the Tuning Station, is discovered orbiting one of the planets in the Tarantulon system. A research team is sent to examine it, accompanied by two battlecruisers, two heavy cruisers, six light cruisers, four destroyers, and sixteen frigates.

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Codex

By 2387, the human population is around 11 billion, and there are thirteen extrasolar colonies (of the three colonies destroyed in the First Galactic War, only Plide has been reclaimed). Merid, the oldest and most industrious of the colonies, hasa population of four billion, but it is by far the largest of the colonies. The next largest colony, Tothus, has only 121 million people. The Imperial Navy has 1 Fortress class ship, 9 superdreadnoughts, 44 dreadnoughts, 5 supercarriers, 17 carriers, dozens of battlecruisers, and innumerable cruisers (both light and heavy class), destroyers, and frigates. All colonies are protected by at least a dozen Orbital Defense Platforms and a naval detachment consisting of two dreadnoughts, a carrier, two squadrons of battlecruisers (four battlecruisers each), and a screen of cruisers, destroyers, and frigates.

The Solian Empire is characterized by the typical human drive to improve things- arcaneotechnology has advanced far beyond the capabilities of either magic or technology alone. The Empire also remembers well the fires that forged it- diseas control and military preparedness are large parts of modern human society. Hospitals are easily accessed and all planets have stringent quarantining and screening proceedures. All citizens are required to take a basic self protection course and survival course (further courses in both subjects are available), and firearm possession is highly encouraged.

William Tyson, the current Emporer of Man, is a shrewd politician and an economic genius, but is not as gifted as his ancestor in military matters, forcing him to leave most decisions of tactics up to his advisors. Despite his difference from Frank Tyson I, however, humanity is fiercly loyal to their leader, and most citizens are deathly loyal to the Empire.

Imperial Navy ships are equipped with Arcaneotech Magnetic Accelerator Cannons (AMACs) and Arcaneotech missile launchers. The ammunition of the AMACs carries various enchantments, such as electrical, acidic, or explosive rounds. They are also capable of launching pods, which contain one to five AI golems each, for the purpose of boarding actions. The missiles are equipped with short range teleportation enchantments and a dumb AI (a dumb AI is a non-sentient one) for targeting purposes. Golemn Pods are also equipped with teleportation enchantments, Like the AMAC rounds, the missiles also carry offensive enchantments. Destroyers, dreadnoughts, and superdreadnoughts are also frequently equiped with Directed Energy Weapons (DEWs) or plasma weapons, depending on the class of the ship. The INS Sol's Fist, the only Fortress class ship in commission, has both energy and plasma weapons. Some ships, depending on the specific class, have other magical equipment. For example, the Medusa-class heavy cruisers, which are capable of creating a fear inducing field, causing enemy crews to feel abject terror, or the Hades-class battlecruisers, which are capable of animating the corpses of dead enemy crew.

Imperial Navy ships fall into one of the following categories, each of which also has a number of different classes with varying abilities.

Fortress-class: The Fortress class ship is easily the largest in the Imperial Navy at over eleven kilometers long.

Superdreadnoughts (SDs)- 2-2.5 km

Dreadnoughts (DNs)-1.7-2 km

Supercarriers (SCs)- 3-3.5 km. Carries a detachment of 1300-1600 fighter drones.

Carriers (CRs)- 2-3 km. Carries a detachment of 1000-1300 fighter drones.

Battlecruisers (BCs)- 1-1.3 km

Heavy cruisers (HCs)- 800 m- 1 km

Light Cruisers (LCs)-500-600 m.

Destroyers (DSs)- 400- 600 m. While smaller than cruisers, destroyers are far more heavily armed.

Frigates (FRs)- 200- 500 m.

Fighter Drones- 5-10 m. Unmanned fighter drones are a large part of the Imperial navy's forces. Each squad of fifty drones is controlled by a smart AI. The fact that the drones are unmanned means that more room can be placed into weapons.

All ships are equipped with battlesteel armor and an arcanotech Levitation Shield, as well as a point defense system run by a smart AI. This point defense system consists of hull mounted lasers, anti-projectile missiles, and large numbers of small railguns with extremely fast firing rates.

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