Omega Protocol: Shadow Recruits

by Achaewa

Earth has had more than one space faring race. The First Civilization stood proud for eons until they were wiped out. Now humanity has risen to the challenge of conquering the stars. But will they be their own worst enemy? A Mass Effect/Aliens/Assassin's Creed/Killzone crossover and fusion fic of Tom Clancy, Titanfall and more. Discontinued - read chapter 8 for info on the reboot.

1. Chapter 1: Timeline

Previously a Mass Effect/Killzone crossover. This story has been moved to Mass Effect/X-overs.

Omega Protocol (OP) is a four-franchise crossover of Mass Effect, Aliens, Assassin's Creed and Killzone. While incorporating story elements from Tom Clancy products, Titanfall, I, Robot and the crazy awesome comicbook Last Man Standing: Killbook of a Bountyhunter.

Technology from Star Trek (ship design), Call of Duty (weapons) and science fiction films like Elysium also appears. That does not mean that all the Star Trek races exist in this story or Earth is a hellhole like in Elysium. Only technology from other franchises appears.

This story will have Original Characters as protagonists and feature Femslash and Het. If you do not like that then I suggest you find another story. Though I hope you will give it a try anyway.

Rating is M, though that is mostly because of foul language, scenes of torture and descriptions of gore. Though nothing too graphic like sexual violence. That is a big no no for me.

Character codes are: OC (2 males, 1 female), Shepard (f) and Echo (Killzone character). EDI, Joker and the human Normandy crew also appears. Other ME characters will pop up later.

Thank you to Drgyen for helping me rewrite and revisit elements of this story that were just plain bad or made no sense. Especially the smaller details. I couldn't have done this without him/her. He/her has helped me develop as a writer and I hope that in the future. I can see on my own, the smaller details needed for the bigger picture.

Omega Protocol: Shadow Recruits
Chapter 1: Timeline

Before Common Era (Not Common Knowledge)

Circa 3.2 billion BCE

A member of the Mala'kak or Engineers, an ancient and mysterious race, sacrifices itself to seed Earth with the building blocks for intelligent life. A Prometheus giving fire to humanity against the wishes of the gods.

Between 3.2 billion - 75.050 BCE

The first inhabitants of Earth, The First Civilization, Those Who Came Before, or the Precursors, create the human race out of pre-existing species, making them in their own image, though smaller in size and less intelligent. The First Civilization create the Pieces of Eden, using them as a means to control humanity and turn them into their slaves. With early humans unable to comprehend the First Civilization for what they truly were, they were looked upon as gods.

The First Civilization flourish for millennia spreading across the galaxy, terraforming, cataloguing and colonizing hospitable worlds. Slowly but steadily achieving the rank as a tier 1 civilization.

With the use of massive spaceships called "World Engines," they are able to manipulate the core of a terrestrial planet to a mass identical to Earth, modifying both atmosphere and topography for human habitation.

The epitome of First Civilization engineering was the Centerpoint Station, a massive space station capable of moving entire stars with its tractor beam. Those Who Came Before used the station to create massive multiple star systems with tens of habitable planets, or move celestial bodies into stable orbits within their star's habitable zone. A more cost efficient method than creating entire planets from scratch.

75.050 BCE

The First Civilization makes contact with their creators, the Mala'kak who deem them and humanity too dangerous to exist - having spread and grown at a rate faster than they had anticipated. The war between the First Civilization and the Mala'kak would rage for the next fifty years.

75.010 BCE

Two humans codenamed Adam and Eve, disenchanted by the use of their people as frontline troops against the Mala'kak, revolt against their First Civilization oppressors. Stealing a piece of Precursor technology called an Apple of Eden in the process. Several more humans soon follow their example unleashing a two-front war upon the First Civilization, with Eve as the leader of humanity.

75.005 BCE

The Mala'kak unleashes a mutagenic pathogen, composed of millions of small micro-organisms called "Black Liquid" on First Civilization colonies. There are no survivors.

75.000 BCE

With only Earth left standing the Mala'kak moves in for the final strike against humanity but a solar flare beats them to it. Believing that humanity has been eradicated the Mala'kak leaves for unknown space. Not known to them, less than ten thousand humans survived, and far fewer of the First Civilization.

The remaining members of the First Civilization remained in contact with the humans, who admired their knowledge and mistook them for "gods." The last of the First Civilization would go on to influence human cultures and architecture, such as the ancient pantheons.

While the First Civilization withered away during the next century, their legacy would live on for thousands of years in various myths and legends and their human descendants who received an amount of their genes in their DNA, giving them special abilities such as "Eagle Vision" and an immunity to the Pieces of Eden and the ability to use them.

A Travel Through History by Neil Sagan
Common Era (Official Timeline)

October 4, 1957: The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics launches Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite of Earth in history. Thus starting the Space Race.

April 12, 1961: The USSR opens the era of manned spaceflight, with the flight of the first man in space, Yuri Gagarin.

May 5, 1961: Alan Shepard becomes the second man and first American in space. Later the same year both the Western Bloc and the USSR puts their entire industrial might into the Space Race.

1969

July 21st

Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin become the first and second men to walk on the moon and the first Humans to walk on an astronomical object other than Earth.

During their moon walk, Armstrong and Aldrin stumble upon a massive stone wall hidden on the inside of a crater, it is immediately deemed an artificial structure due to the many strange lines and symbols donning the surface.

When Aldrin touches its surface - the wall lights up and opens a door into a large vault - lit with cyan light. In the middle of the vault, on top of a pedestal lies a single sphere with symbols running across it. This sphere would be known as the Lunar Apple and become the single most important artifact brought back to Earth.

While the Apple had suffered from slight data degradation it still held information about prehistoric humanity as well as blueprints for technological marvels and the mention of a temple on Mars. While humanity would return to the Lunar Vault six more times, though only landing five times, an expedition to Mars is put on hold due to the ongoing Cold War.

1971

January 27

Doctor Alfred Lanning is born. He will go down in history as a pioneer in robotics and the grandfather of modern Artificial Intelligence by creating the first Positronic Brain.

1974

August 12

The Soviet Union manages to land a team of cosmonauts on the surface of the moon. While they do reach the Lunar Vault, it has long been empty due to the ransacking by American astronauts. The Space Race has officially ended.

1982

April 21

U.S. Robots and Mechanical Men, Inc. abbreviated as USR is founded by Lawrence Robertson. The Chicago based company specializes in the manufacture of robots for manual labor and social services. It would later rebrand itself in 2015 as U.S. Robotics.

2000

The Nestor-class 1, designed by Alfred Lanning, becomes the first robots with artificial intelligence. While limited in independent functions they successfully improve work-flow and efficiency around the world.

2015

Alfred Lanning develops the first Artificial Intelligence that eclipses the power of a human brain.

2016: The End of Oil

Nuclear terrorism in Saudi Arabia kills 6 million and cripples the world's oil supply. Earth is seized by an energy crisis of catastrophic proportions that sees many nations struggling to maintain civil and economic order. "Energy security" becomes the explicit priority of governments around the world.

China is knocked out of the running as a global superpower by suffering a total societal implosion due to the economic crisis.

2017 - 2019: The End of Nuclear War

The historic SLAMS (Space-Land-Air Missile Shield) treaty is ratified by the United States and Europe. The Joint US-European orbital missile shield goes live. Strategic nuclear war has been rendered impossible. On both sides of the Atlantic, crowds celebrate the advent of a new age of peace and security.

The Rise of the Motherland

The stage is set. Now the world's leading supplier of oil and natural gas - Russia, spends billions on the biggest arms buildup since the Cold War.

A United States of Europe

In response to the ongoing energy crisis, nearly all of the European Union's member states ratify the European Constitution and unite as a single national entity known as The European Federation (EF), with a population and GNP greater than the United States. The United Kingdom declines federalization, but retains close economic and diplomatic ties to the European mainland.

Other European nations such as Switzerland, the Republic of Ireland and Norway do not join either. Though the latter was never a part of the European Union to begin with.

Arms Race

The international community – Europe in particular - responds with outrage when the U.S. launches its first kinetic bombardment satellites in orbit. The European Federation starts launching its own weaponized satellite systems. Both superpowers are locked in a spiraling arms race in space. By the end of 2019, each has put a dozen ground-effect weapons satellites into orbit.

2020

The militaries of the world's leading powers begin to heavily invest in drones for ground and aerial combat. The Armadyne Corporation is one of many companies to build the first mechanized soldiers for military and law enforcement use.

American Space Supremacy

The United States begins assembling the "Freedom Star," a military space station to house a battalion of rapid-response "orbital marines". International reaction to this "American Aircraft Carrier in Space" is very negative. Despite international protests, the US vows to go forward with the launch of Freedom Star modules as scheduled.

An unofficial Cold War between the European Federation, the United states and Russia sees its inception.

March 3rd
European Federation satellite uplink sites in the "lawless zone," where Croatia used to be, were attacked by an as-yet unidentified group of terrorists from a beached cargo ship. They were repulsed by Federation forces. During the battle, the EF attempted to gain access to the cargo ship that the terrorists used but the ship was destroyed.

April 4th
As the final module of the Freedom Star was set to launch from the Kennedy Space Center amid international outcry, the same group of terrorists attacked the module and attempted to destroy it, using the same methods as the Croatian attack. Once again they were repulsed. This time by the United States Joint Strike Force. Yet again reports of another terrorist attack came in, this time of an assault on the Rozenburg petrol plant in The Netherlands.

After being defeated by Federation forces, the terrorists identified themselves as the "Forgotten Army" comprised of people from a collection of failed states in the Balkans, Africa and South America. Following a final terrorist attack, this time on a Russian power plant near Minsk, the US finds "conclusive evidence" that the European Federation's defense minister, François Pulain, funded the Forgotten Army with modern military equipment. They send a black-ops team to abduct him while he inspects the Copenhagen uplink network, but an anonymous call by Russia informs Danish police and together with Federation forces trap the team in one of the uplinks.

April 7th
The US crash Copenhagen's uplinks and sends in JSF units to rescue the trapped team. The US successfully repel the EF's first attack, but European forces are able to counter-attack and reboot Copenhagen's uplinks in their favor, forcing the JSF forces to surrender. In a show of goodwill they allow American forces safe passage back. While emergency peace talks were held in London. It would later be known that Russia funded the Forgotten Army's attacks as well as planting the evidence against Pulain, citing the need to keep the EF and the US from uniting in order to take Russia's oil. To ensure that war was sparked between the two powers, elements of the Spetsnaz Guard Brigade embark on a covert operation to upload a virus into the European SLAMS network at the Rovaniemi air base in Finland.

The virus causes an EF orbital laser satellite to shoot down the new Freedom Star module during lift off, thinking it to be an ICBM. The entire crew was killed, and news reports blaming problems on "Malfunction" to "Terrorist Hijacking" to "EF Satellites."

This final act starts a war between the two powers. Russia initially joined the U.S. under the guise of "aiding it in its crusade against Europe" and invade EF controlled Poland, but the United States saw this as an attempt to reform the Eastern Bloc and declare war on Russia too. World War 3 had begun.

October 14th: End of War
While relatively short compared to the previous world wars. WWIII would still mark itself as one of Earth's bloodiest conflicts. No one would emerge as the victor from the conflict and the true scale of orbital weapons is known to man. Craters from American kinetic strikes and European orbital lasers marks the countryside of every theatre of battle. Russia is hit the hardest as they lack the defense systems of their adversaries.

When the truth behind the conflict is leaked to the public - that Russia had backed the Forgotten Army and framed Francois Pulain. The people are outraged, but war weariness wins out in the end. The perpetrators are arrested and economic sanctions are leveled towards Russia. Stripping the nation of their status as a superpower.

The war serves as a reminder of human vulnerability and ushers forth a technologic revolution and a push towards space based research. Such as colonization projects.

2023

Weyland Industries, a company focusing on terraforming and space exploration founded by Peter Weyland becomes a global megacorporation. While their terraforming techniques are revolutionary, they still require a planet close to the mass of Earth for sustainable human life on a planetary scale.

2025

January 7th

Weyland manufactures the first advanced android prototype model of its kind. He is affectionately called David, a name Sir Peter Weyland had initially reserved for his own human son. Actor Michael Fassbender lends his likeness to the model. This would start a trend of future series of androids being made in the likeness of actors - both living and deceased.

June 6th

Weyland Industries begin their terraforming of Mars, with atmospheric pressurizers. Life is sustained through the use of large craters and canyons that the artificial atmosphere covers and is constantly replenished so that it does not thin out. In this way, a colony can be established with atmospheric and climatic features similar to those on Earth. Marina City, the largest population center on the planet is located along the banks of the Valles Marineris rift valley.

2035

The Logic Revolution, as it is historically called begins and ends with Detective Del Spooner's Investigation of the apparent suicide of Dr. Alfred Lanning's. When the truth is revealed a full overhaul of the Laws of Robotics commences in order for an incident like VIKI, which lay waste to large parts of major US cities, would not happen again.

2036

The Society is formed. Sonny, the Nestor Class 5 responsible for Dr. Lanning's death, creates a nation for the discarded Nestor robots in an isolated region of Minnesota. Creating something resembling a functioning government.

2041

March 16th

The Society is discovered; Del Spooner and Dr. Susan Calvin are called in to broker negotiations as they are deemed the utmost experts on artificial intelligence. Contact between the leader of the Society; Spooner and Calvin are reunited with an old friend - Sonny who has taken up the mantle as leader of the now sapient NS class robots.

March 23rd

The Sapients Rights Act (SRA) is laid down by both US Congress and the UN General Assembly, respectively. The law would go down in history as one of if not the most important piece of legislation in the 21st century, which was quickly adopted by numerous other nations.

Section 1 under the SRA known as the Article of Artificial Intelligence, defines a Sapient as any synthetic construct that demonstrates a level of self-awareness and intelligence matching that of a human and ensures that any such being is treated, subjected and protected by the same rights as humans.

2050

With the natural resources of Earth running scarce, and the continued survival of humanity at stake, it is deemed necessary to begin heavier colonization of extrasolar planets.

Most Western nations form a coalition of its richest companies and governments called the United Colonial Nations (UCN). Together they begin planning for humanity's future.

As it is in the UCN's best interest to support privatization for the sake of finance, they allow other companies and governments to fund their own colonization projects, but under the strictures of the UCN. Some immensely wealthy companies are able to finance their own colonization, among them the Helghan Corporation.

The UCN issue licenses to pursue colonization projects under strict criteria. Violation of these rules is considered a very serious infraction, warranting economic penalty. Continued infractions, depending on the circumstance, could result in anything from stiffer penalties, economic sanctions, and finally expulsion from the UCN to military action as a last resort.

2060

The colony ships begin to leave the Terran Solar System.

As colonization is still in its infancy, the UCN has not yet managed a way to skillfully deal with the massive amounts of administration necessary to deal with all these new colonies on top of their own significant requirements as a newly minted agency. They are, in a word, swamped. Relying on stiff economic penalties and overwhelming military force to keep the colonies and habitats in line.

The UCN retains a defense force levied from volunteers all across the colonies, although many still retain their own armed forces, the UCN is widely recognized to have the highest tech and best trained troops. What they don't have is numbers. The defense force is conceived as a temporary solution at best.

2068

The First Civilization Temple on Mars is found within the Cydonia region. Inside the temple scientists find another artifact, immediately dubbed the "Mars Apple", as it is the oldest discovered First Civilization relic. Within the Apple lies the coordinates to a cluster of several star systems created by Those Who Came Before as a gift for humanity when they had once again reached the stars. The only problem being that its location is 120 light years away and with the fastest matter-antimatter propulsion systems it would take around thirty years to reach.

Numerous colony ships sets off to settle this region of space that everyone has decided to call the "Frontier." Each ship containing hundreds of millions, some wanting to escape the rule of their respective nation and others seeking a new beginning among the stars.

2071

The first ships, having left ten years ago, begin to arrive in the Alpha Centauri system. The system is a "hub" system between Earth and the outlying proposed colony sites and thus will come to hold great significance in the years to follow. Initially two worlds are pinpointed for colonization - a rocky world around Alpha Centauri A and a lush Eden planet around Alpha Centauri B.

The UCN reserves the colonization rights of Alpha Centauri to itself - not opening them up for competitive bidding, according to its charter responsibilities.

The UCN defense force is dissolved due to allegations of incompetence, corruption and bureaucratic inefficiency. Part of this deal is the formation of the United Colonial Army (UCA) now the only legally permitted military force among UCN member states and their stellar dominions.

2076

A cluster of six colony ships completely drop off the radar during a particularly intense solar flare. Contact cannot be re-established with them. The last transmissions from the ships seem to indicate catastrophic systems failure. At the time, all hands are presumed lost.

The loss of the colony ships is a significant financial hit for the UCN. They simply cannot afford to fund another interstellar colonization effort of the same size, and the chances of a smaller colony failing are too high. In desperation the UCN opens the bidding on the settlement rights for the Alpha Centauri system and after a highly competitive bidding process they are won by the Helghan Corporation. The post-bidding news is full of allegations of vote fixing and bribery and much is made of the fact that the corporation has a fleet of colony ships almost completed, but nothing is proven. Key to the success of the Helghan bid is underwriting and credit from the Interplanetary Banking Guild - in return for some 10% of colonial profits once the colony is established.

2078

The journey is difficult at best and although the cryogenic chambers work well they do not work perfectly. 2% of the total Helghan population expires en route. Upon reaching the nearest planet, Helghan, there is some dismay as scientists realize that life here will be hard. Despite enormous free-energy resources, the ecosystem on Helghan is extremely poor. A prefabricated space station is left in orbit around the planet, with volunteers who elect to stay and seed the surface with automated refineries and power generators. The rest of the ships take a chance on their dwindling resources and push on to the second planet, which they name Vekta after Helghan Corporation CEO Philip Vekta.

2083

Despite some rough early years and numerous occasions where the colony was almost wiped out, the initial Helghan settlers manage to make the Vektan colony secure. In addition their space station around the world of Helghan is perfectly positioned to service the ships passing through Alpha Centauri and the outer colonies to Earth. Starships come to be supplied, maintained and refueled. On top of this many tankers begin to ply the routes between Helghan and their home worlds, bringing vital energy resources that command top prices. The money starts to roll in, offsetting the need to import comforts, medical supplies and food to the space station.

2084

Advancement in the development of synthetics has made them completely indistinguishable from humans both physically and mentally. They can now consume human food to power their fuel cells instead of it being a social function.

Japanese roboticist Yohji Amada, revolutionize android design with his models being able to reproduce with humans. These hybrids while one hundred percent human would suffer none of the debilitating effects of humans, being both smarter, stronger and faster.

2088

Communications technology improves to the point where real-time communications are possible between Helghan and Vekta. The government on Vekta establishes the Helghan Protectorate, whereby both worlds are administered from Vekta. Helghan taxes and energy are now pouring directly into the Vektan market without going through the ISA, whilst Vekta provides Helghan with a wider and healthier variety of goods. Employment is at its highest and morale skyrockets on both worlds. A new emblem is created that is symbolic of the mutually dependent relationship between Helghan and Vekta. Three interlinked arms labeled Peace, Justice and Freedom.

2089

Archaeologists Elizabeth Shaw and Charlie Holloway discover a star map among several unconnected ancient cultures. They interpret this as an invitation from humanity's forerunners, or "Engineers". Peter Weyland, the elderly CEO of Weyland Corporation, funds the creation of the scientific vessel Prometheus to follow the map to the distant moon LV-223. The ship's crew travels in stasis while the android David monitors their voyage.

2090

Roughly 12 colonies are founded during the years 2079 to 2090. Vekta, roughly Earth-sized, is an agrarian and idyllic world, full of natural splendor and lushly forested, an Eden. Agricultural production skyrockets on Vekta with the colony quickly becoming able to feed itself.

As the first colonies get underway the United Colonial Army discovers that communications does not allow it to efficiently manage colonial defense from a central headquarters. In response the Interplanetary Strategic Alliance (ISA) is created, to allow systems with varying degrees of integration to enjoy membership of a unified defense alliance. The UCN provides backup, training and equipment with personnel and budget determined solely by the funds their Colonial Administration, respectively.

2093

April 5th

Modern medicine is able to cure all human ailments. A cure for the common cold remains unknown.

December 21st

The Prometheus arrives at LV-223, after two years and four months of travel, where they are informed of their mission to find the Engineers. Mission director Meredith Vickers orders them to avoid making direct contact. The Prometheus lands near a large artificial structure and a team is sent to explore.

2094

January 1st

The Prometheus expedition is declared lost with its entire crew unaccounted for. Only a final transmission from Elizabeth Shaw cast some light on the events that transpired and a warning against coming to the planet. She is never heard from again.

Meredith Vickers having sent an undercover android in her place takes over the Weyland Corporation. She merges the company with the Yutani Corporation, forming one of the largest interstellar corporate entities - the Weyland-Yutani Corporation.

2095

February 3rd

Major world powers independent of the United Colonial Nations such as the Russian Federation, People's Republic of China, Iran and India begin their own colonization of the Orion-Cygnus Arm.

2097

After years of travel the colony ships finally reach the Frontier. The tight cluster of stars create a natural border isolating the Frontier from the rest of the Galaxy.

Several ships break off from the main fleet to settle in their own region of Frontier space.

2100

Weyland-Yutani sends another expedition to LV-223 in order to cast light on the events that took place on the rocky moon. The expedition manage to salvage the heavily damaged Vickers android and extract the data within its processing unit. The extracted data finally sheds light on what happened to the Peter Weyland's failed venture six years ago.

Upon return all known planets with Engineer temples are put under quarantine by the collective Earth governments. With only a few choice personnel allowed to study these ancient precursors.

Though research into the use of Mala'kak technology and bioengineering is continued by some in secret.

2102

With the increasing complexity of managing the colonies on Helghan and Vekta the Helghan Corporation, having grown exceedingly more powerful through the years, decides to set itself up as a civil administration. This expanded charter allows it to take over all local administration duties from the ISA, levy taxes against the entire population and reorganize all social services, however they are still bound by strict ISA regulations on ship construction, orbital industries and the establishment of new colonies on their worlds.

2105

The Helghan government turns in a significant tax-surplus in each budget, stockpiling the money away in case of disaster. By 2105 this stockpile has grown to such sums that the Helghan Administration makes an offer to the ISA to purchase the entire Alpha-Centauri system, allowing them to avoid sending their yearly tithe to Earth in favor of a fee paying system for individual services, such as support of the local ISA Command.

The UCN, which would have normally outright rejected the offer, is currently cash poor, with other colonial endeavors costing them heavily. The idea of getting a big cash payout up front followed by negotiable fees with no requirement for the UCN to underwrite any colonial costs is too attractive to refuse and so the UCN Senate votes to go forward with the Helghan/Vektan purchase by a majority.

2122

July 3rd

The crew of the Nostromo, under contract to Weyland-Yutani, are awakened from hypersleep to investigate a signal coming from the moon Acheron (LV-426). There, one of the crew members encounters unknown alien eggs and a parasitic creature attaches itself to him. The resulting alien that bursts from the crew member kills off all Nostromo personnel until it is defeated by Ellen Ripley. This marks the second time humanity has made contact with an alien race.

2106 - 2149

Free to invest and tax in their colonies as they wish a period of runaway economic and industrial growth grips the Helghan Administrations two worlds. The automated refineries on Helghan are expanded and developed; the orbital shipyard becomes the largest orbital structure outside the Terran system. The Helghan system is a "hub system" that connects Earth to its colonies - every ship must travel through Helghan to get anywhere. The Helghan Administration begins to charge each ship for the privilege, allegedly a fee for traffic control, customs, search and rescue, and other such services. In reality, it is a thinly disguised tariff upon all trade in space. Helghan based ships are granted a residence permit that frees them from some charges, encouraging some shipping companies to relocate.

Tensions: 2148
The UCN grows concerned at the increasing domination that Helghan is exerting over star travel and space trade, traditionally under UCN control. They also become frustrated that the Helghan are creating vast wealth off the backs of colonial endeavors that the UCN itself has underwritten. It levies stricter controls and tariffs on all space traffic and taxes the colonies more heavily than ever before, using the money to expand its armed forces. For the first time the UCA develops large scale troop transports and new heavy cruisers - warships clearly designed principally to smash the ISA fleets of the outer colonies and invade them by force.

As part of these new regulations several privileges granted to the Helghan Administration as part of the Helghan/Vektan Purchase are rescinded, specifically the right to a large home fleet and tariffs on shipping. The Helghan Administration refuses, but does agree to high-level talks on a compromise. Back home, however, the wealthy people of Vekta and the powerful companies in orbit around Helghan pressure the Helghan Administration not to budge on the issues of tariffs or self-defense.

Secession: 2149
Despite multiple attempts to negotiate a settlement, the talks between the UCN and Earth fail to bring a mutually satisfactory resolution. Earth flat out demands compliance from the Helghan Administration and the Helghan Administration responds by formally seceding from the UCN, declaring itself an independent colony.

The UCN considers retaliation by slamming an embargo on trade with Helghan, but this is deemed to be counterproductive, the Helghan would simply prevent any trade ships reaching Earth resulting in heavy financial losses. The decision is made to send a powerful UCA fleet to seize control of the navigation points between the colonies and Earth in the Helghan system. Protecting the flow of colonial trade to Earth would allow a blockade of Helghan itself by the UCN and bring this matter to a resolution.

2149: First Extrasolar War

As the situation worsens, the Helghan Administration attempts to first co-opt and then expel all ISA forces from Vekta and Helghan. The ISA Marines and Navy respond with lethal force and a number of skirmishes erupt on and around the two colony worlds. Despite their overwhelming numeric superiority, Helghan troops are poorly equipped, trained and inexperienced and many ISA forces escape the initial fighting. The experienced ISA troops and ships scatter to conduct hit and run operations from hidden bases.

2151
The UCA Navy fleet dispatched in 2149 arrives at the Helghan system, hooking up with the local ISA ships and quickly moves to secure the navigational points. The main force of the fleet heads to the planet Helghan itself, to blockade it, but the massed custom fleets of the Helghan Administration attempt to break the blockade by engaging the UCA Navy in battle.

The UCA cruisers prove to be untouchable by the much smaller Helghan vessels and the fleet action is a massacre, with almost the entire Helghan fleet destroyed or disabled. During the fighting, however, the planets massive orbital structure is destroyed under mysterious circumstances.

The UCA claim that the Helghan aboard the station fled to the planet below and sabotaged it to prevent it from falling into UCA hands. The Helghan Administration claim that the UCA fired on the station deliberately. The true story never emerges but, as a result of it the Helghan Authority declares war on the UCN.

The UCA Navy fleet decides that dropping directly onto Helghan would be a waste of resources and lives, leaving a small fleet to watch the planet, they push on to Vekta.

2152: End of the First Extrasolar War
The combined ISA and UCA Navy fleet arrives around Vekta and quickly subdues the remnants of the Helghan Customs Service in orbit. Initially the Helghan Administration threatens to fight to the last man, but after a devastating demonstration of orbital bombardment they quickly yield to the inevitable. The Helghan Administration is shut down, all senior civil servants are arrested, as are any executives of the Helghan Corporation. Many escape into hiding.

When the courier ship returns from Alpha Centauri with the news the UCN Senate debates the matter, eventually determining that the Helghan are too unruly to ever settle comfortably within the UCN, but also that the ISA needs a colony nearby to keep an eye on them and stop them from causing trouble in the future. A decision of debatable fairness is drafted and a broken Helghan Administration can do little more than rubber stamp it. The local ISA takes over administration of Vekta. New colony ships of loyal UCN civilians are sent from Earth to expand the Vektan colony.

The harsh consequences of rebellion are not lost on the other colonies, the UCN's right to regulate and tax space shipping is never challenged again.

2152 - 2154: The Resistance
Helghan extremists begin a terrorist campaign in an attempt to make the occupation of Vekta too expensive for the ISA. Although the majority of Vektan Helghan simply want to live out their lives peacefully, sufficient numbers of the local populace assist the guerrilla movement to enable it to flourish. Bombings, ambushes and shootings against the UCN minority become more common. Vekta is no longer an innocent paradise.

2154: Rise of Colonial Nationalism and Independence

The First Extrasolar War sends shockwaves through Earth's colonies. Many of the colonies question the UCN's actions both during and after the war. With talks of unification wars on the horizon.

If the the UCN is willing to mass an armed response toward the Helghans for becoming a little too independent. Would other of Earth's spacefaring nations, follow their example?

June 4th

Major and minor population centers dots numerous planets within the Frontier. A group of the Cluster's major colonies concerned with Earth bolstering its forces for tighter control of the colonies, choose to band together.

They form the United Systems Alliance (USA). The first stellar nation independent of Earth and able to stave off a potential invasion. This is possible due to the distance between the Frontier and the Sol System.

Despite the acronym, the United Systems is modeled on European nations. With only a passing resemblance to the United States of America. In time the Alliance would prove itself a major player in Galactic politics.

2155

A handful of colonies follow the example set by the Frontier and declare independence from their sovereign states. Not all are successful.

Even to this day. Conflicts concerning independence still flare up and rage on. Not just from Earth, but from former colonies themselves. Perpetuating the cycle. Especially in the Frontier.

2154 - 2160: The Exodus

The ISA governor of Vekta responds to the growing terrorism by clamping down harder and harder on the local Helghan population. Finally, in desperation, many prominent Helghan families pool their wealth to purchase the old colonizing ships and get them space worthy again, the community appoints a spokesman to speak with the ISA governor and request permission for the Helghan people to resettle on Helghan, joining those few souls who escaped from the transfer station there. The ISA agrees and the Helghan exodus begins, shuttling millions of disaffected Helghan colonists from Vekta to the growing Helghan colonies.

Neither the ISA nor the UCN want to foot the bill for establishing this colony, preferring to leave the Helghan to either survive or die on their own merits. In order to legitimize this action, the UCN formally recognizes the Helghan Administration as a sovereign nation and declares the planet of Helghan to be their territory in perpetuity - subject to ISA blockades and restrictions until diplomatic relations are normalized.

2165 - 2170: Surface of Helghan Settled

The bleak existence on Helghan is a far cry from the paradise of Vekta. Initial casualties due to illness, storm damage and starvation are very high. Within ten years, though, the death rate subsides as the Helghan begin to adapt to their surroundings. Slowly a civilization arises from the refugee camps and token Helghan industry and food production starts again.

In 2170 the heads of the various refugee camps come together for the first time to reform the Helghan Administration. 90% of the Refugee camps agree to collectivize their resources and labor in order to cooperate in the rebuilding of their civilization.

Disturbing medical problems are found to be common throughout the colony, exotic radiation and storms have serious effects on the longevity of the human being. Medical support from the ISA is non-existent and indigenous facilities are too primitive. The wearing of masks for those who work in the outdoors becomes mandatory. Mask wearing becomes the sign of having a working class profession. Even with masks, Lung Burn (as the settlers call it) becomes the primary cause of death among Helghan over the age of thirty.

On a more positive note, however, vast mineral resources are discovered by the settlers, mining fast becoming one of the more common jobs on Helghan.

2173: Helghan Approached by ICSA

As the colony on Helghan begins to reform the Helghan Administration and secure the basic infrastructure and facilities needed for life again, the Independent Colonial Strategic Alliance approaches them offering membership and support. The ICSA is an unaligned version of the ISA, created to allow independent worlds to have some sort of support. Despite the ICSA making few demands and offering much help, the Helghan are now paranoid of all outside influences and motivations and strongly decline the offer.

2173 - 2305: Early Helghan Era

ISA trade sanctions force the Helghast to trade on unfavorable terms for over a decade and initial growth of wealth is slow, despite the unexpected addition of a trade in minerals. Life is short, hard and painful for the majority of Helghans as they fight to cope with poor nutrition, poor environment and grueling work conditions and practices. Frequent austerity drives and a Spartan approach to existence allow the Helghan to survive, and even profit, under these harsh conditions, but the more things improve the more the Helghan become angry at the restrictions imposed upon them by the ISA which are meekly accepted by the cowed Helghan Authority.

2176

July 4th: Founding of the United Colonial Nations as a Stellar Government

After years of being the outer space representative of the majority of Earth's nations the United Colonial Nations suggest the merging of all member states into one unified government. The question of unification is put at a referendum and on July 4th 2176 the United Colonial Nations is declared the sole representative of all its members. Both on Earth and in Space.

2179

Ellen Ripley, after having spent decades in hypersleep, accompanies a group of United States Colonial Marines aboard the USS Sulaco to investigate LV-426, after Weyland-Yutani loses contact with a terraforming colony there. They discover that Aliens have overrun the colony and encounter an Alien queen. Ripley, Corporal Dwayne Hicks, android Bishop and the sole surviving colonist, a young girl named Rebecca Jorden, are the only survivors after the colony's atmosphere processing station explodes, and enter hypersleep for the return trip to Earth.

Upon her return Ellen Ripley, Dwayne Hicks and the android Bishop would all serve as key figures in the uncovering of corporate crimes committed by Weyland-Yutani.

2212

After decades of setbacks scientists discover a way to fold space and time. A spacecraft equipped with a warp drive may travel at apparent speeds greater than that of light by many orders of magnitude, while circumventing the relativistic problem of time dilation. A warp drive does not permit instantaneous travel between two points; instead, warp drive technology creates an artificial "bubble" of normal space-time around the spacecraft allowing it to accelerate at speeds greater than light. With the invention of warp drives, faster than light communication is finally possible.

Better trade is established between the Frontier and the Core Systems.

2222

Explorers in the Frontier discover a First Civilization temple underneath the glaciers of the ice planet Arlathan. What they discover would later go down in history as the "Cube," a device containing a massive catalogue of First Civilization technology.

In a show of goodwill the United Systems shares the information contained within the cube with Earth, though many speculates that they have kept a large portion of data for themselves. A vital piece of information within the Cube are the schematics for faster warp drives and more advanced methods of FTL communication allowing for instantaneous communication throughout all of human settled space.

2239 - 2260: Frontier War

The Frontier is plagued by continuous armed conflicts in its first interplanetary war as the clusters many stellar nations fought for independence from Earth nations and the United Systems.

The Frontier War would end with a reshuffling of its governing bodies and their territories. The United Systems would rise from the ashes with newly acquired territories and cement its status as a superpower. Smaller nations band together or isolate themselves. A multitude of planets that once were united saw their world governments balkanize into several countries.

One of the biggest wild cards born from the conflict would be the Hansa/Hanse or the Commonwealth of the Planets of the Frontier. A loose affiliation of decentralized hypercapitalist stellar nations.

Many point to the war as the sole reason behind the militarization of the United Systems Starfleet as the conflict eclipsed both Extrasolar Wars in civilian and military casualties. A tragic record that would first be broken by the Titan Wars a century later.

2304

Several of the richer ISA forces begin construction of elaborate Orbital Defense facilities in favor of maintaining an extensive fleet. The Vektan ISA high command decides to stand down the blockade of Helghan in favor of a smaller customs fleet and its own Orbital Defense network around Vekta.

2305

The newest generation of indigenous Helghan are born. Helped along by basic genetic conditioning and the harsh environment they are more suited to the heavy gravity, immune to the planets pollutants and more resistant to the higher radiation levels.

2307

The man who would one day be Autarch is born to a wealthy family of radical Helghan nationalists. Rumored to be descended from one of the original Helghan Directors, Scolar Visari shows great early promise as a thinker and leader.

2330 - 2350: Helghan Depression

Vekta's monopoly of the Helghan trade allows them to develop great wealth at the expense of reinvestment on Helghan. As the Helghan population increases, more and more of their own wealth is diverted to the feeding and protection of their civilians, this leads to a series of industrial accidents where expensive machinery is not serviced sufficiently to cope with the harsh Helghan conditions. The resulting downtime whilst Helghan pays for the servicing, maintenance and replacement of its old machinery causes a severe economic downturn that lasts almost 20 years.

Helghan economists blame the depression on selfish Vektan exploiters. Vekta has its own troubles with the collapse of the lucrative black-market trade in Helghan minerals and energy and can spare no resources for a relief effort. For the first time since 2220, Helghans die of starvation in the cities.

2340 - 2357: Helghan Era

The tough conditions finally spawn social and economic change. Forced to adapt to a situation so tough that mere humans could never survive it, a charismatic new leader pronounces the birth of the Helghast people: a people no longer human, with a bold drive and vision to succeed.

2340 - 2347: Rise of Visari
With the economy in the abyss and Helghan morale on an all time low, a singular and remarkable figure rises to prominence: Scolar Visari, the eventual self-proclaimed Autarch of Helghan. Visari's ideology is simple and compelling: the Helghan people had once come here as humans, but they are humans no longer. They are different, changed. Changed cosmetically in their travels, changed physically by their residence on the alien planet of Helghan, changed spiritually by the hardships they've endured in every circumstance. The government that has brought them to this end could only give them structure; it could not give them life, could not give them a reason to go on, and could not fully express the magnitude of the transformation. The world has changed us, Visari claims, and now it is our turn to change the world.

Visari's oratorical skill and magnetic personality draws many of the disaffected public to his cause. It spreads among them like wildfire and galvanizes them in a single recognition: that they are one people, one nation, united against all aggressors. More significantly, perhaps, Visari is the first to give voice to what will later become the keystone of the Helghast agenda: their identity as an entirely new and entirely superior race. The 'extra-human' race. He goes on to preach the militaristic, absolutist values that will become the trademark of the Helghast. More importantly, he transforms the value of mask-wearing, once a badge of low station and makes it integral to Helghan identity. There is nothing shameful in its history, Visari tells the people. It is testament to their fortitude to wear the mask. And the Helghan rally around him, rich and poor alike.

2347: Birth of the Helghast
Visari coins the term "Helghast" in a public speech. Its purported origin is from the Old English word, "gast", meaning "spirit", or "ghost", connoting great fear. Visari states that they are no longer what they once were. Where they were once human and spiritless, their generations on Helghan, their sufferings; these have forged them into a new race, the only truly 'living' race. Whatever the etymology, the name sticks.

Feigning an attempt on his life to garner public support, Visari leads a military coup backed by a popular uprising to assume the title of autarch. He seizes unrestricted power from the Helghan Administration and begs the army for 10 years of unchallenged authority to reforge the Helghast into a true independent power.

As part of his plan, Visari begins a major enlargement of the Helghast military. A secondary aspect of the Helghast revolution is a cultural evolution, led personally by Visari to change the face of Helghan society. Visari bans the use of written English in 2349, devising a new Helghast alphabet to be used in its place. Plans for an entirely new Helghast language are never fully implemented due to the logistical difficulties, but the ideal of this linguistic separation remain dear to Visari. As a final touch, the old Helghan banner is dropped in favor of a simpler, starker and more dynamic logo. The Helghast Triad becomes the official banner of Helghan: three arrows representing Duty, Obedience and Loyalty signal the new values that Helghast society is based upon.

2350: New Helghan Economy
Starting with low level smuggling operations but gradually building up in scale, the Helghast begin breaking the ISA embargo of their world to trade directly to black-market suppliers. At first the trade is exclusively to the Vektan energy market, but slowly Visari encourages off-world agents to source their power from Helghan. The whittled down ISA fleet is powerless to do more than put a dent in the trade, and some factions on Vekta question whether the Helghan blockade is even needed at this point. The Helghast rebuild their transfer station, albeit on a more modest scale than before, and trade starts to take off. The depression officially ends when the Helghast secure a contract with the ICSA for energy and materials. The deal is mutually beneficial, and both parties gain immensely from it.

The ISA governor does not increase funding to the ISA Navy, making the issue of containment a moot point.

2356

Concerned by the Helghast military build up, the ISA governor orders the construction of an additional orbital defense platform to complement the 52 year old defense network already in place. ISA General Stuart Adams is appointed the military commander of the network.

2357 - 2360: Second Extrasolar War

Swollen with pride and new strength the Helghast embark on a bold plan of conquest to rejoin the two halves of the Alpha Centauri system and rebuild their great empire. Their gamble fails and their armies on Vekta are defeated, leading to their worst nightmare: the invasion of Helghan itself. But does Visari have a trick up his sleeve?

2357: Plans for invasion
Autarch Scolar Visari outlines his bold strategy for changing the face of governance in this system by returning to Vekta and seizing it again as a Helghast colony. Ignoring the many generations of UCN settlement under the ISA he inflames the passions of the Helghast for revenge. The Helghast High Command takes the bait and eagerly declares loyalty to Visari for the coming campaign, offering to make him emperor if it succeeds.

2357: Second Extrasolar War is Declared
Visari's plan works like clockwork. Deep cover ISA agents Generals Adams and Stratson send word that their plans are in place. Visari sends most of his fleet after the ISA Navy, and a second fleet to invade Vekta.

Early warning is given by a UCA scouting force, but word doesn't reach the ISA in time to prevent the bloodbath in space. The UCN votes unanimously to dispatch a heavy fleet of UCA reinforcements to Vekta, to prevent the destabilization of the entire sector.

August
The invasion incurs casualties on both sides. It is only with the help of four unlikely heroes, led by Jan Templar, that Vekta City does not fall. The Helghast have been thwarted but a sizable contingent is still present on the planet.

Helghast General Lente is killed by his former chief of staff, Colonel Gregor Hakha, and the ground campaign is disrupted as a result. The ISA traitor who enabled the Helghast to invade Vekta, General Adams, is also killed when Templar and crew sabotage the orbital platform to prevent its ambush of the UCA fleet from Earth, which arrives in a timely fashion. General Stratson manages to keep his cover intact.

September
The ISA Council stops the development of the second orbital defense platform as a result of the Helghast capture of the first one. General Dwight Stratson proposes a nuclear program to purge the remaining and regrouping Helghast from Vekta. The suggested nuclear weapons are being prepared in Rayhoven base, but require ISA Council approval to use in the field.

Helghast General Metrac arrives on Vekta and takes command of the remaining forces. Establishing a stronghold in southern Vekta, the Helghast are gaining ground again.

October
Helghast General Metrac attacks the ISA base at Rayhoven where the ISA Council is voting for the use of General Stratson's proposed nuclear plan.

Meanwhile, Captain Jan Templar is sent to reinforce the troops at Rayhoven. Together with Sergeant Rico Velasquez, he destroys Metrac's base. Stratson is unmasked. However, the Helghast now possess the nuclear weapons developed for them by General Stratson, as well as numerous other high-tech weapons stolen from the facilities of weapons researcher Evelyn Batton.

2358: End of Conflict

January
The remaining Helghast on Vekta are retreating. Shipping their troops and materials back to Helghan.

Sergeant Velasquez's team is assigned to retrieve vital ISA information from an escaping Helghast cruiser. They discover that Metrac and his forces are about to strike back with one massive attack. The last decisive battle of Vekta is fought in the northern plains.

All the Helghast forces on Vekta are destroyed. Vekta is secured. The UCN recalls their fleet and the ISA is given two order: The restore the Helghan blockade and full cooperation with a Judge Advocate General's inquisition team when it arrives to investigate the matter.

March
With the Helghan forces on Vekta shattered a council is called at Vekta City to decide the best policy for the further pursuit of the War against the Helghast to its conclusion. The Council quickly establishes a working list of priorities: Neutralize Helghast as a military threat, capture Autarch Visari for public trial and establish a more easily controlled regime on Helghan.

These priorities are in clear violation of the UCN orders given before their withdrawal, but the Council becomes concerned that the UCN wishes to blame past decisions regarding treatment of the Helghast upon them

September
The Vektan ISA prepares for the invasion of Helghan in what will prove to be one of the most complex military actions in human history.

2359: Invasion of Helghan

November
Twelve battle groups arrive at Helghan. ISA Cruiser New Sun is the flagship of the fleet, under the command of war hero Colonel Jan Templar. Battle Group Mandrake is deployed to Pyrrhus with orders to seize the capital city, hopefully capturing Visari in the process, as it is one of the primary population bases as well as a center of trade for the planet.

Starships of the ISA Navy and Helghast fleet engage each other in orbit. The ISA outclasses the Helghast significantly and quickly establishes a total orbital blockade, but suffer heavy losses to anti-orbital cannons stationed in Pyrrhus.

At this point, the ISA Council reaffirms its decision to break the UCA orders to simply isolate the Helghast and launch their invasion. Channels are cleared for planetside troop deployment and the way is made clear for the invasion. Negotiations are no longer a possibility

The helghast having spent the past two years preparing for the coming invasion, are determined to hold their home. In a slow, brutal urban war, the ISA slowly advance into the Empires' capitol, with both sides taking heavy casualties. However, once most of the city is conquered, the bulk of the ISA invasion is annihilated by the nuclear weapon Red Dust, detonated directly over the heart of Pyrrhus, where the majority of the ISA troops were preparing for an advance into the Imperial Palace. A small ISA contingent under the command of Captain Narville managed to avoid the nuclear explosion entirely, due to being situated outside the capital city in the Helghan desert wastes while conducting rescue operations. This small contingent gathered any surviving troops and launched a desperate, all-out attack on Visari's Palace in an attempt to capture the dictator.

After a brutal battle between Visari's Palace Guard and the remaining ISA forces, the Helghast forces were driven back to the massive entrance of the Palace where they fought, and died, to the last man. This allowed two members of the elite ISA unit Alpha Squad to storm Visari Palace itself. There, Colonel Radec, leader of the Helghast defense of Pyrrhus, and Visari's remaining bodyguard contingent were killed, and the two ISA soldiers entered Visari's throne to finally place him under arrest.

Unfortunately, Alpha Squad Sergeant Rico shoots Visari. Soon after, a massive Helghast fleet launches a surprise attack on the remaining ISA cruisers, forcing the ISA into retreat while destroying the remnants of the ISA's starship contingent. Thus, the surviving remnant of the ISA invasion were stranded on Helghan, desperately trying to find a way to escape.

It is unknown what the other Battle Groups were tasked with while Battle Group Mandrake assaulted Pyrrhus, or what happened to them after that and why they were unable to assist the survivors of Mandrake. Presumably, these Battle Groups simply withdrew back to Vekta once the orders for ceasefire were given, not being in such dire straits as the troops of Battle Group Mandrake.

2360: Helghast Invasion of Earth thwarted

May
The small ISA remnant finally manage to escape Helghan after heavy fighting across the planet, six months after Visari's death. Eventually, the ISA forces board a Helghast space station and hijack several strike fighters while the Helghast forces destined for the invasion of Earth were plunged into civil war over who was to be Visari's successor. The ISA remnant use the fighters to destroy the experimental cruiser of Helghast corporate chairman Jorhan Stahl, who planned to bombard Earth with hundreds of irradiated petrusite warheads, thus killing or irradiating millions of people on the UCN capital world and causing the UCN to capitulate. The experimental cruiser's destructive payload was detonated over Helghan due to secondary explosions, irradiating the entire planet, decimating it's population, and obliterating the remains of the Helghast fleet destined for Earth. Managing to avoid the cataclysmic explosion in time, the remaining ISA troops onboard the hijacked strike fighters make their way back to Vekta.

2360: Cold War

After the destruction of Helghan, the survivors of the so called Terracide are offered refuge on Vekta. However, the survivors largely refused to integrate with humanity's culture, and most Vektans are appalled at the thought of ceding half their world to the enemy. Quickly, violence becomes common wherever humans and helghast interact. As such the Helghast and ISA have walled themselves off from each other in a joint effort with hopes of it maintaining the peace. Soon after the Wall is completed, the Helghast forcibly evict all humans and half-breeds out of their territory, killing any who resist the order. Now, with the cities and territories of the two nations separated from each other by massive walls that divide the entire planet, an uneasy peace is formed. However, Human-Helghast racial resentments linger still, with half breeds suffering most of the wrath.

Some manage to escape to the United Systems Alliance, where tensions from the Extrasolar Wars are non-existent.

Consequences

The Helghan Wars and the massive destruction that came of it, especially the total decimation of Helghan, was the last nail in the coffin for many concerning their affiliation to Earth. The brutality of the Terracide alienated and frightened many human nations to withdraw or cut their allegiance with the United Colonial Nations.

This did not sit well with the post-war sentiment of the UCN and its people, who saw the numerous planetary-spanning nations born out of both wars, as no different from how Helghan came to be. All waiting to pounce on them. The fact that the Helghan Wars never achieved any lasting peace and only provoked more discontent on far-distant colonies. Is used by many as justification for a rebirth of McCarthyism, which would carry on till the end of the Titan Wars.

To prevent insurrection within their territories, the United Colonial Nations expand and increase the funding of the Shadow Marshals. Reforming it from a special forces unit into a special task group to preemptively eliminate any growing independent movement or agitators by all means necessary. Allowing them to break human rights laws to achieve those ends.

The Shadow Marshals, once a military unit is now essentially a secret police, used to spread fear and stamp out anyone who opposes the ISA and UCN. All for the sake of maintaining their interests and the status quo.

2365 - 2375: The Titan Wars

One of the many, though largest, proxy war between the United Systems Alliance and the United Colonial Nations. The roots of the war can be traced back to 2355 and even further if one counts the numerous conflicts that plagued human space since the First Extrasolar War.

The war was fought in the systems bordering Frontier and Sol Space with participants from numerous other stellar nations who either allied with, or had a bone to pick with the US and the UCN. Neither the US or the UCN officially declared war against each other.

The war saw the largest deployment of Titan Mechs in history as battles stretched across Frontier worlds in brutal urban combat. In the end public opinion turned against all participants as no sides made much progress in defeating each other. With the death toll rising the war grew increasingly unpopular on the home fronts and ultimately led to its end.

Contrary to popular belief the war is not called "the Titan War" because of the titan mechs, but because it involved the titans of interstellar nations.

The Titan Wars was the most deadly and largest war in human history with an estimated death toll ranging from approximately 600 to 850 million in military and civilian casualties. While political tension has eased between the USA and UCN, mistrust and resentment is expected to linger for at least the next three generations.

2376: Humanity Discovers Mass Effect Physics

Humanity discovers a small cache of highly advanced unknown non-First Civilization technology hidden deep beneath the surface of the south polar region of a faraway colony. Building on the remnants of this long extinct race, humans quickly explore the science of mass effect fields, leading to the development of an alternate faster than light travel. While it has serious setbacks not found in warp technology, such as static build up, and runs on a limited resource. Mass effect technology finds numerous uses in industrial engineering and the civilian market. Large space stations also incorporate mass effect technology for artificial gravity.

It is only within the arms industry that mass effect technology is not used as warp drives has numerous advantages to mass effect physics. Such as non-fixed points of arrival and a more numerous fuel source.

Weapons using mass accelerators also have a tendency to be large and bulky, a setback for any armed force.

2386 - 2388: The Frontier Crisis

The Frontier Crisis were a series of armed conflicts between the Interstellar Manufacturing Corporation and the Frontier Militia composed of independent colonists in the cluster. The crisis saw a large deployment of Titans and once and for all certified their efficiency during the urban combat at the height of the crisis.

The crisis came to an abrupt halt in January 2388 when the United Systems forced both parties to sign a peace treaty. The independent colonies would later become part of the United Systems. Not all joined willingly though and hostilities first came to an end in late December. Terrorist groups still exist on the former independent planets.

2390

Peace between the Vektans and Helghast is fragile and tensions are at an all time high. War seems to be just one stone's throw away with both sides waiting with baited breaths for the first instigator.

Meanwhile the United Systems Alliance watches from a distance. A neutral player standing at a crossroads and whichever path they choose to follow. Will change the face of the Galaxy.

June 7th

Explorers of the People's Republic of China discover a mass relay near a colony of theirs named Shanxi.

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