I do not own Mass Effect.
Inspired by 'Transcendent Humanity' and the fascinating 'Encyclopedia Biotica'
"It does not take an intellectually gifted individual much difficulty to realize that there is something incredibly wrong with our solar system. Anomalies and unexplainable phenomenon are a fundamental part of the universe. When we aim our EM observation satellites or advanced sensory devices towards the night sky were expected to run into a couple of difficulties, an object seen from Mars would appear at a different location from Jupiter; a star appears in one place but doesn't at another; our local star, the sun, has unpredictable solar seasons. But none of this compares to what we do and do not see on our planets or in local space. Venus is more attuned to our organic counterparts preferences then Mars, despite the heavy rain and weather cycles. Every planet and habitable celestial body we have come across has experienced strange things in some form or way - phantom sightings, abnormal activity in the sky, the whispers, or in more extreme cases, sudden disappearances. I myself, have experienced some of these things. But it was not until I accidentally came across the graveyard between Mars' and Venus' orbit, that I experienced the horrifying reality of what was our Solar System..."
566-Grissom, 'A variable in the Universe of Constants'
No one remembers what happened. All that is known was the Consequence, the result. A Great War had happened centuries ago, who fought and for what purpose, no one knows. All that is known was the Consequence: humanity was nearly destroyed, civilization was killed off, the planet of many names was lost, most knowledge had been removed, the past, forgotten. Pockets of humanity, man and machine, would arise on the ashes of dead worlds and within the orbital relics of a time long passed, with no memory, no clue as to who they were.
As time moved on, they would meet, flesh and iron, on planets, on orbital installations. Each time the contact was without violence. There would be no war. No sharing of hostilities. Just the acknowledgement that both searched for the very same thing, answers. Each shared similar shape. Each had no culture. Each had no identity. No purpose.
Aware that existence was pointless without one, man and machine decided that they would forge their own purpose, together.
It was on the impossibly large dunes of a red planet, under the orange light of a young star, that they would forge a truce. The purpose was unclear, the future unsure, the past unknown. An Alliance was needed if they would ever stand a chance to discover what happened, to contact any others like them, to reclaim what was once lost.
They united, man and machine. Together the Solar Alliance was formed. Together, the Solari were born.
Equipped with nothing but principle magnetoplasmadynamic thrusters, recovered Stanford torus ships, and primitive tightbeam communication systems, they traveled slowly across the vast blackness of space. From planet to planet, station to station, they searched. In the hopes of finding others like them and in a quest to discover answers to questions they did not know to ask, the Solar Alliance would explore the entire Solar System.
What they would found would instead puzzle them. Through the process of advanced mathematical-sciences, orbital mechanics and visible observation they predicted the vectors and locations of sites that caught their attention: planets, moons, asteroids and space stations. Yet upon arriving at these supposed locations they would come to find nothing but wreckage, or a planet that was hundreds of millions away. Understandably, they were confused. 'Did we do something wrong?' they would ask themselves. Secondary attempts to get to their location of choice achieved similar results, millions of miles off course, nothing but graveyards or empty space.
When they eventually got close to a planet or space installation, they would find even more mysteries within. Expedition teams who went exploring inside space stations would disappear. Those who did not, would come back insane, speaking about meeting copies of themselves within.
The planets were barely better.
It would be near the planet once known as Mercury that the Solar Alliance met a nomadic group of machines, the Sunwalkers. Across the equatorial line, the Sunwalkers would travel through the burning seas of Mercury with but one purpose: to watch what they described as a ghostly image of a white-towered landscape. Occasionally, a Sunwalker would break away from its group and disappear in its search of the White-Towers. Orbital observations could scantily provide any information over the so called "Sea of White Towers" apparitions.
The Solar Alliance would travel to a green planet close to Mars, known to its inhabitants as Venus. It was not under the canopy of the Amazonian forests that they would find another sign of civilization, but in the onyx colored skies. Like giant cities hanging in the air, thousands of large, floating skyscrapers held the planet's only inhabitants, a mix of man and machine. And like the rest of the Solar System, they too suffered from mysterious circumstances.
The metal towers that so many took residence in would change location at a whim. One moment they were over the Minwel Forest, the next, they were floating over the Waters of Tranquility with no explanation as to how or why.
Early exploration attempts by the Solar Alliance were not completely fruitless or mind breaking. Generation ships would be sent across all parts of the Solar System, tasked with exploring unknown space. Within a single century, the Jovian Colonies would be brought into the fold, asteroid habitats were created, the Sky Kites of Neptune would be explored and the excavation of Mars' Walled Cities expanded habitable space.
Science and technology also progressed as more and more relics were recovered, forgotten structures reopened, and ancient starships discovered. Inertialess drives, space elevators, Direct Conscious Transfer and massive manufacturing facilities pushed humanity forward.
But it was not enough.
With each new discovery, more questions arose and fewer answers were provided.
No clues had yet been found as to what or why of the Consequence. There were still no explanations for the why things are. No machines could recall their birth. Many installations still lied mysteriously, over skies, underground, within space, all with no discernible purpose. Many expeditionary teams disappear in the structures they explore. Trying to predict the vector of celestial objects is impossible, regardless of the supporting data, the location will always be off.
The biggest mysteries, however, are founded in the same decade by Inner and Outer Rim pioneers In the depths of a 10,000 kilometer large ice comet field on the outskirts of the solar system, lies an alien, tuning fork shaped structure. Already featuring a different appearance and size than most space stations, the Solar Alliance is cautious. Remote operating probes are sent to observe and investigate the inert structure. Considering the infamous status that comes with all space structures, it is better to send expensive but replaceable drones than live human and machine beings.
The observation and analysis takes decades, but the purpose of the structure is revealed. Like many things in the Solar System, it should not exist. The composition of the structure is nothing more than "locked subatomic molecules of strange make", making it impervious to nearly any form of damage. In the center of the structure lies a massive 'zero-matter' core that releases dark energy when exposed to electrical currents.
While it was not the first time the Solar Alliance had come across the element, it was the first time it had been discovered in such abundance. Unfortunately, the large structure only responds when 'zero-matter' is nearby. Curious as to find why, the Solar Alliance tasks ships to locate more of the strange element.
Due to the displacement and unpredictable shift of the Solar System's celestial bodies, the process took decades.
In the end however, the research was worth it.
Believing that the 'zero-matter' could assist in the propulsion and acceleration of space-vessels, the Solar Alliance invested in the process of synthesizers, machines capable of producing artificial forms of any needed elements. The results were a weaker form of 'zero-matter' that decayed much quicker then what normal 'zero-matter' did. Despite acknowledging the drawbacks of synthesized 'zero-matter', the Solar Alliance pushed onward, feeling the benefits would surpass any consequences.
Led by 566-Grissom, the famous explorer of the Graves Expedition, the first fleet of 'zero-matter' ships would soon find themselves in a different Solar System. Upon arrival, the expedition fleet began charting all constellations and analyzing all star maps in an attempt to locate the Sol System, strangely none of the stars looked different and despite the fleet's best attempts, the Solari could not find their own system. It was almost as if it did not exist. Two months would pass on the outside before Grissom and his fleet of starships returned.
Grissom would arrive to find an fleet he did not recognize, and three time more ships there than he left with. The welcome they got from the Sol Fleet was even more irregular, "We thought you had disappeared like the others. Where have you been for the past six years?"
Presuming the issue to be simply associated with time dilation from the newly dubbed "Zero Relay", the Solar Alliance hesitantly allowed his expeditionary group to be resent to what they deemed 'The Outside'.
Within the next Martian year, 566-Grissom's newly upgraded fleet would expand throughout the other systems; exploring and cataloging all the planets the Zero Relay would present to them. Six solar systems were explored before the forty-ship expedition fleet made the fateful error of opening another Zero Relay to Council-known space. A patrol fleet consisting of turian warships had been nearby when they noticed the activating Mass Relay. The Solari had numerous contingencies and protocols in place in the event of an extraterrestrial first contact, what they never prepared for however was hostile contact. Mistaking the Solari expedition fleet for a hostile invasion force by a new species, the turians followed protocol.
Two-meter thick titanium composite plates could do very little to protect against twenty kilogram slugs travelling at a fraction of light-speed. And within seconds, half of the Solar Alliance expedition fleet was taken out. Caught off guard by the sudden act of violence, the Solari were slow in their escape before another twelve ships were taken out. Based on past experiences, they assumed the new species to be a threat equal of the Rachni, as such fourteen warships gave chase with one staying behind to update incoming turian forces.
Only three Solari ships would make it back to the Sol System in one piece. Following close behind them were fourteen warships.
When the turian 5th fleet arrived to the Arcturus System, ready to provide assistance and handle any large-scale military warfare, they were surprised to find the fourteen ships that went into the Sol System waiting right outside the relay. Expecting the patrol fleet to report a suppression success or at least a request for additional reinforcements, they were astonished once again to find the fourteen ships inactive and showing signs of aging. The Turian 5th fleet, unsure how to proceed, decided to dock with the patrol fleet's vessels.
The soldiers sent to board the patrol fleet's ships would return minutes later, so disturbed and frightened that no one could get an answer from them. Any soldiers sent into the inert turian ships following them would also suffer from extreme fear. Tired of not getting any answers, the 5th fleet Admiral, Desolas Arterius, personally boards one of the vessels with his trusted Blackwatch guards.
Since boarding the ship, he would feel a creeping sense of dread. The walk to the bridge was uneventful, the halls were quiet, rooms completely empty, the walls were covered in strange, orange growth that would fade away as one neared it. Every time he entered a dark room he could see shadows on the walls, and the feeling that people were watching him. The nail on the coffin came when Desolas and his team of Blackwatch entered the bridge. He had hoped to find dead turians, who valiantly worked until they died.
Instead, he found something that only the worst spirit stories would feature: twelve, blue, ghostly figures of bridge crew members seated at their stations. The moment Desolas let one foot enter the bridge, they would all turn to him simultaneously, their faces etched in eternal torment: eyes missing, mandibles bent in impossible ways, facial plates cracked. The silent screams were louder than Desolas expected. But, even more disheartening was the main screen in the room. For in turian blood was a warning written in palavenian speak-
"Heed our warning. Do not try. Do not follow. The Void does not welcome you."