What if Humanity had evolved during the same time as the Protheans, and what if a damaged and delusional Reaper had crashed onto Earth and advance the human race by hundreds of years.
But most importantly, what if Humanity had chosen to Ascend themselves, to willingly convert its people into machines that resembled nothing of the Reapers true form.
50 000 years ago...
In endless void of space above the glittering world known as Horizon, raged a terrifying battle between monstrous synthetic machines known as Reapers and the humanoid insect species known as the Protheans and their various followers of countless other races.
Mass Accelerators, long ship mounted weapons capable of giving a 17 kg projectile the kinetic energy of a nuclear warhead. Hurled through space at 0.4% the speed of light and slamming in violent explosions of energy against near invisible kinetic barriers that covered the Reaper dark blue hull.
Magneto hydrodynamic cannons fired beams of liquid metal travelling at similar speeds to lash out through space, their red glow descending upon unlucky warships that were ripped apart in a single or repeated blows with devastating ease on the Reapers part.
General Javik of the Prothean military stationed over Horizon bellowed orders angrily like a bull at his subordinates. Inside his massive dreadnaught class warship measuring over 1km in length, streams of mass accelerator rounds hammered against Reapers both big and small, showering the upper atmosphere with deadly projectiles at Javik fleet sought to protect the fleeing civilian ships as they prepared to enter FTL.
"Focus fire on the left flank!"
"Bring cruisers 014, 034 on an intercept course with those Reaper destroyers we cannot allow them to pass our defences!" bellowed Javik like a mad man, his Dreadnaughts main weapon fired a devastating salvo into Reaper forces, blasting away the small 160meter tall Reaper support ships that could be devastating in close combat.
"Where are those cursed apes and their demon warships!" demanded Javik as he slammed his fist on a terminal before the Dreadnaught shook violently as a beam of liquid metal slammed into its shields and over loaded several systems.
"We can't take another hit like that General!" warned someone while several Protheans rushed about to put out electrical fires on the bridge.
Javiks Dreadnaught was slowly being surrounded as dozens of Reaper Destroyers swarmed his battle group, latching onto the warships hulls before cutting them in half with their primary weapons.
However as everything seemed loss, the fabric of space began to rip apart with massive purple portals that lead into the Abyss of time and space.
"General Slip Space Portals just materialised, it's the Humans!" yelled someone, and just in time as from those massive portals leapt forth massive machines.
Massive robotic warships that resembled the mythological dragons sprang from the portals, hulls gleaming white with glowing gold lines amongst the armour plating giving them an unusual similarity to the massive aquatic like forms of the Reapers.
Like predators, the machines launched themselves at the closest Reaper. Ripping away at shields with tooth and claw or blasting them with their own magneto hydrodynamic weapons with devastating effect.
Missiles flew from their forms to hammer against Reaper kinetic barriers, while small AA size Mass accelerators fired away at enemy fighters zooming through the battle zone.
The Guardians had arrived, along with several human warships of various size. But what drew Javiks interest the most was the towering flagship of the Guardian fleet that emerged off the bow of his warship.
Rising from her portal, Shepard flared her massive wings that hummed with biotic energy and reached out with massive clawed hands to grasp a Reaper Destroyer in her claws. Manoeuvring the smaller vessel between both paws, Shepard crushed the Reaper warship into a twisted pulp of metal that she than threw casually into the void of deep space.
From behind Shepard's hull, two more dreadnaught size Guardians materialised from their own slip space portals to enter the fight, moving into planking positons behind Shepard to guard her from attack.
They were the famous Admiral Hackett of the Guardian Everest, second in command to the Guardian fleet. Unleashing a wave of missiles from various missile tubes on the Guardians body, the form of Captain Anderson stood proudly beside their leader who was surveying the battle with a critical gaze.
"Javik, have your forces defend your civilians, we'll handle the Reapers!" Bellowed Shepard, her voice ripping through the communication network like the voice of a divine angel.
"Hackett, move in and take over ground operations. Give the civilians planet side more time" ordered Shepard, prompting Hackett to dive downwards to the plat surface below.
As he descended, he launched countless drop pods ahead of himself into the midst of the Reaper forces. Amongst the hordes of enemies, glowing red pods slammed into the surface like missiles, blasting the mutilated and cybernetic forms of Reaper victims into the air moments before massive creates exited the pods.
Humanities Demons were an abomination to behold, standing nearly 9 feet tall with long slender tails and a split lower jaw. The Demons were a biological weapon constructed from human host who were heavily augmented, genetically modified and cybernetic enhanced into beings of devastating power.
Fitted with their own Mass Drive cores in their chest, they were effectively super weapons on steroids.
One of these Demons, a tall almost 10 foot tall giant covered head to toe in technological battle suit, raised both arms towards the Reaper horde around him.
Lieutenant Vega didn't even blink as a pair of heavy machineguns materialised in his hands, and he unleashed a storm of mass accelerator rounds down range.
Rushing past him more Demons appeared, some wielding unusual duel blade swords of energy. Others carrying rifles or heavy weaponry, several even flew overhead using hard light wings upon their backs. While others just unleased their biotic potential upon the walking dead that was their enemy.
Back in orbit, Anderson had split from his Commander and was dancing around the hull of a Reaper capital ship that effectively dwarfed him in size. The hulky machine couldn't move fast enough to get him in its weapon sights, and the Reapers secondary weaponry was ineffective at fighting the powerful kinetic barriers of the Guardians hull.
However while Anderson was fighting the Reaper, he failed to notice Shepard had become isolated from the main forces. The large Flagship of humanity flared her wings, blasting beams of liquid metal at any Reaper in sight while barrages of missiles flew from her body at various angles.
'Shepard!' Boomed a synthetic voice that rumbled with the power of a god, hearing her name being called through the void of space.
The massive 1.7kms of synthetic and organic warship turned its reptilian head upwards and away from the fleet battle raging before her. As she looked to the heavens, her eyes narrowed and her wings flared with energy, Shepard's jaws glowing as she charged her primary cannon to fire at the descending form of Harbinger looming above her.
The largest and most deadly of the Reapers, Harbinger was over 2km long and sported massive appendages that flexed wide like the gaping jaws of a predator, reaching out to ensnare Shepard in their grip.
Slamming together in a furry of sparking metal the white and gold plating of Shepard's Guardian was thrown backwards as Harbingers navy and blue plating slammed into her hull. Knocking her head to the side and causing her stream of molten metal to launch harmlessly into the void of space.
Harbinger used this to his advantage, firmly grasping Shepard in his appendages and holding her in place. Ignoring her pitiful efforts to claw and bite at his hull as his own primary cannons glowed red in preparation to fire.
Latching on with her fangs, Shepard sing her teeth deep into Harbingers hull. From her back and other weapon turrets launched dozens of flickering lights, that launch out into space before curving back to slam against Harbingers kinetic barriers.
That would be the last display of violence Shepard's Guardian, the Normandy who had accompanied her through so many battles. Would ever utter before a stream of red light burst through the draconic warships chest. Blasting one of her 1km long wings from loose in the process and tossing it limply into space.
Anderson roared in horror as he watched the display from his own Guardian warship, his blood boiled inside his armoured hide. Fangs snapping shut and dripping with venom as he stared at the display of Harbinger with a murderous glare.
'No Shepard!' cried millions of voices in Andersons mind as the people that comprised the core of his warship all registered the horror that was taking place.
"ALL SHIPS DISPERSE!" cried out Shepard's voice over all channels, and Anderson could only watch on as the Guardian equivalent of blood spilled from the Normandy's hull and jaws like a dying animal.
"I repeat get out of here, continue the plan!" was Shepard's last words as Harbinger proceeded to rip the Normandy apart limb from limb.
Anderson could feel the thousands of human minds inside his ship's hull cry out in grief, in outrage and protest as they refused to leave their leader behind. But with the destruction of the Normandy, the Guardian Fleet fell under Admiral Hackett's command.
"All ships, proceed to rally point Alpha… Horizon is lost" said the demons voice over the intercom system, despite the authority in his voice, all Demons and Guardians alike could feel the sorrow in his words.
This was their last offensive, they lost so many in this brutal war over the past 50 years that there wasn't enough humans to rebuild the Guardian fleet. Despite this Anderson felt some satisfaction knowing they had destroyed nearly 1000 capital Reaper warships, which would lead a deep scar in the Reapers forces and hopefully allowing the civilisation of the next culture in 50 000 years some chance at winning.
All through the conflict of space, Guardians either dived down to the planet's surface to collect ground forces or flared their wings with biotic energy to create barriers that would protect them as massive portals materialised behind their 900 meter tall and 2 meter wide wingspan frames.
With violent flashes of light, Guardian after guardian vanished into the void of space while the Prothean warships still in the region snapped into FTL or faster than light travel as quickly as possible. In their wake was a field of destruction from all sides, several dozen capital ships from both sides were torn and mangled, drifting lifelessly in space while others burned with battle damage.
As for Shepard, the Normandy was a twisted mess of metal and parts that hovered beneath Harbingers frame.
Far away, the last remnant of the species from this cycle gathered together in a massive fleet of thousands of ships both military and civilian in design.
All organics were placed into stasis, while the Guardians and their crew of artificial Demons stood watch over the massive fleet as they all drifted into dark space outside the relay network.
It was a massive gamble on their part, the Reapers were numbering nearly a million strong in total. Intel gathered that only 2/5th of the Reapers forces had actually mobilised to attack, meaning continuing the fight would only lead to their utter demise.
So the survivors of this cycle and their 5000 Guardian escort drifted into space, splitting into three divisions to make themselves harder to track down and destroy by any perusing Reapers.
For the next 10 000 years, the three fleets would drift in empty dark space while the Reapers exterminated the remains of civilisation from the galaxy and allow a fresh chance for new races to develop and be harvested at the start of the next cycle.
But when the Reapers returned to hibernation, the fleets returned to their homes to survey the damage. Nothing remained of their old lives and so all species began to plant seeks for the next species of the cycle to discover, the Citadel was rigged to prevent the Reapers from ambushing the next races and archives were left behind for the more promising species that were developing in the galaxy.
It would be this cycle's final gift to the children of the next cycle.
The Guardians oversaw this operation and uphold their duty as protectors of the galaxy and its people, they helped them farm and gather raw resources, used their hive mind network to relay information and kept an ever watchful eye for a Reaper ambush.
Over the next few thousand years, the Guardians had slowly grown in numbers as more species admitted their fate and allowed themselves to be Ascended. With their flesh transformed into 900meters of reversed engineered Reaper Technology with a single Demon to act as their voice and captain.
But it wasn't enough, they only grew by less than 1000 Guardians, and slowly the last the organic species from this cycle were preserved inside a Guardian before Admiral Hackett ordered one last sweep of the galaxy.
In doing so they planted the seeds for new species to develop, adjusted planets once inhabitable into the early stages of sustaining life. Making sure to leave clues behind of Humanity and the Prothean Empire on several worlds, the Guardians returned to the Sol system.
To the charred surface of Humanities home world where they dug deep into the surface and remained there in hibernation. Waiting to be awaken by the next cycle and reap vengeance upon the Reapers for the genocide of so many species.
A vanguard was left to watch over the galaxy in the Guardians absence, a Vanguard who would guard the 314 Relay and wait for the day the children of the next cycle would awaken the Guardians to protect the galaxy.
Right so I've been trying to come up with a Mass Effect story idea for ages and I think I finally got something solid to use.
I know it needs a lot of work but does the story sound interesting thus far?
Please leave your opinions in the review below I'll need a lot of help to get this story into anything resembling a series.