===== TIMEKEEPER: 34-26-18-17-3-2657 =====

OCULUS: Central, request go ahead - 4167656E74204B6569726973

CENTRAL: Authorization clear, go ahead.

OCULUS: Reporting turian patrol at relay 314 detecting attempted activation of relay by unknowns, moving to intercept.

CENTRAL: Acknowledged OCULUS. Info on unknowns?

OCULUS: Negative, handoff.

== INFOCHECK - "Unknowns attempting activation of relay 314" ==

DAGGER: Central, request go ahead - 4167656E742054616C6C696E

CENTRAL: Clear, go ahead.

DAGGER: On site. Patrol command believes unknowns are pirates, moving to engage. Scans of unknowns attached - unknowns are not using any known classes of ships. Unknown ships lack offensive/defensive profile consistent with pirates. High EM emissions more consistent with observation/sensory equipment. Three minutes to intercept. Advise.

== SECURE ATTACHMENT: Unknown_Ships_Scan ==

CENTRAL: Wait one, DAGGER.

DAGGER: Acknowledged, yielding.

== INFOCHECK - "Pirate activity around relay 314" ==

WATCHER: Central, request go ahead - 4361707461696E204D696F72687369

CENTRAL: Confirmed, go ahead.

WATCHER: We've logged the usual batarian activity and one asari commando unit near the Terminus. Nothing in 314.

CENTRAL: Do we have anything on the ships?

WATCHER: Negative - signatures inconsistent with known species profiles.

CENTRAL: Analysis?

WATCHER: Ongoing.

CENTRAL: Theories?

WATCHER: Speculation - Geth? More likely first contact.

CENTRAL: How sure are we on first contact?

SCRIBE: Central, request go head - 4B6565706572204D6F72616C6165

WATCHER: Yielding.

Central: Clear SCRIBE, global hold, go ahead.

== GLOBAL HOLD ON ==

SCRIBE: Request alpha clearance only.

CENTRAL: Acknowledged.

== ALPHA CLEARANCE LOCK ON ==

CENTRAL: Okay, we're locked. What is going on?

SCRIBE: 110 years ago we sent a survey team through relay 314. We encountered something rather unique.

WATCHER: Unique how?

SCRIBE: I've attached the relevant data, see for yourself.

== SECURE ATTACHMENT: Incident_Report ==

WATCHER: A weather balloon? THAT was our cover up?

SCRIBE: It worked.

CENTRAL: Regardless, we may have a problem. Do the turians have any idea what they're about to do?
WATCHER: I doubt it.

CENTRAL: Damn, we'll have to move fast here. Thank you, SCRIBE.

== ALPHA CLEARANCE LOCK OFF ==

CENTRAL: DAGGER, you are directed to observe and make no attempts to interfere. Acknowledge receipt immediately.

== GLOBAL HOLD OFF ==

DAGGER: Understood CENTRAL.

== STG PRIORITY DIRECTIVE - "Turian First Contact with Unknown Race. Investigate and Confirm." ==

- Excerpt from a log allegedly leaked from the Salarian INFONET

"We should have known this wasn't going to be a 'policing' action when they wiped out the patrol fleet."

"Why is that?"

"Their ships were too sleek, their response too coordinated and professional to be the work of pirates. Moreover, their tactics were so different than anything we'd seen - it exposed major flaws in our battle doctrines. The patrol fleet was annihilated. We should have been more cautious, but command wanted revenge. So we sent the fleet in."

"To Shanxi?"

"Spirits … Shanxi. What a mess. It's amazing to believe that we thought it was their homeworld at first. First of all, it's a barren shithole - barely an atmosphere and no way complex life could have evolved there. Certainly not life like them.

Elements of the 23rd, 16th, and 4th fleets were dispatched through the relay. I was aboard the PFS Iridia at the time along with the rest of the 26th Armiger Legion. It was a hell of a fireworks show as we moved into orbit. The admiralty did their job and achieved orbital control, but we took some losses … a lot more than we should have. Their ships were nearly as fast as the Salarians, and their damn fighters were too small to hit. For awhile, we wondered if they were drones."

"The fighter craft?"

"Yeah, we thought they were too small for any creature to be inside. Another clue that we weren't dealing with something normal here."

"What about the invasion?"

"Well, after we took orbital control the flotillas started targeted bombardment of key surface assets. Most of the time this kind of fire would crush resistance in a day. But a week later we were still getting hit by sporadic ground to orbit missiles or railgun fire.

Most of the ground pounders were getting anxious - we all wanted to get on the ground and get revenge for the death of our brothers. And we were excited; it was becoming very clear that we were up against something new and formidable. Heh, we were young and full of zeal. And then the order came to land."

"As I understand it, things didn't go to plan."

"That's a goddamn understatement. As soon as we started landing, nearly a hundred hidden ground batteries opened up on us. The flotilla was caught off guard, and it took them nearly ten minutes to fire back."

"Why do you think that happened?"

"Huh, arrogance I suppose. But we learned our lesson quick. The flotilla started firing back, and didn't stop until their fleet showed up two months later."

"What was it like on the ground?"

"Chaos, fire, smoke, rubble, and blood. And we finally got our first look at them ...

That was when confusion ran rampant. So many descriptions on comms, all of them contradictory. They're big, they're small. They're covered in fur, they've got hide like a krogan. We finally realized that we weren't dealing with a single species, but dozens at least.

This made command all kinds of nervous - they'd finally put together that this couldn't be the homeworld of any of the species. And seeing so many different species working together implied that Shanxi was at best an outpost, a colony of something much bigger.

We imagined a multispecies empire, wholly unknown to us. Perhaps existing outside and away from the relay network. Lots of speculation.

But it didn't really matter to us, we were too busy fighting. We'd level a building one hour only to have a horde of the small buggers jump out at us from under the rubble the next."

"What about the civilian casualties?"

"War is war - the concept of a 'civilian' doesn't make any sense. If you're under attack, you pick up a goddamn rifle or a brick or whatever. Being a civilian is a kind of fantasy weak-willed species come up with to explain away their own cowardice.

And for the record, our enemy weren't cowards. They fought hard, tooth and nail for every goddamn street and building. My fellow legionnaires and I learned to respect them."

"Eventually their commander surrendered."

"Yeah, Williams. Cunning bastard, but he did the right thing for his troops. And it was good thing he surrendered when he did - our supplies were getting very short."

"Why's that?"

"We expected this invasion to take two weeks tops. It took the better part of three months. We were on half rations by the end. Once our enemy realized we couldn't eat anything non-dextro, they started targeting our food stores. We lost a lot of good soldiers that way."

"And then the Alliance Fleet arrived."

"Yeah …"

"Do you need a min-"

"No. We should have known. All the signs were there, but command and intel dropped the fucking ball.

Drescher and the Second Fleet knew exactly how our ships were stationed. Exactly where our forces were. And their plan was perfect …

The only shame was that Descius got blamed for it all."

"Admiral Callinus?"

"Yes. History doesn't look kindly on him for the retreat, but he got us out of there. Some of us, anyway. A lesser commander would have gotten everyone killed by staying to fight while bellowing 'Die for the Cause' like a goddamn recruit."

"What are your thoughts on the Systems Alliance now?"

"They're going to change things in a big way. And we're going to have to adapt. The Hierarchy learned a bloody lesson at Shanxi. Let's hope it sticks."

"Thank you for your time, Commander Cato"

- Excerpt from 'The Incident at Relay 314 - The Interviews'

"Here in her sacred temple, before the eyes of Athame let this council convene."

"By the Goddess."

"Our Ambassadors have made great inroads, and we expect that we will arrive at a treaty between the turians and mammals shortly."

"Matriarchs, we very nearly had a disaster on our hands. How did we not foresee this? The archive has several allusions to the great experiment of Jani and Lucen, and these mammals clearly fit the-"

"Surely you can't be serious? That was allegorical, meant to teach about the importance of unity!"

"The Salarians suspect Prothean involvement, and you have to admit, it explains the surprising diversity. Never before have we seen two sapient species emerge on the same planet, let alone dozens."

"Regardless, we have an opportunity here. They have an incredibly strong martial tradition for a society that prises tolerance and understanding. Some of them rival Krogan physically, others rival Salarians in their curiosity, and their engineering prowess is undeniable - they began large scale climate control more than a hundred years before they discovered Element Zero! Properly guided, they could make for a very formidable ally."

"The Hierarchy won't like that idea - they're already chafing under the idea of reparations."

"My point exactly, if the turians turn their enmity to mammals then it won't be focused elsewhere."

"Do you really think we can control them?"

"Of course - we're Asari. We've been controlling the galaxy and keeping the peace for millenia."

"I would agree, but I've been hearing reports that trouble me."

"About?"

"Mammalian biotics."

"What? How?"

"It's nothing definitively substantiated, but there are a lot of compelling reports. They've only recently uncovered eezo, and so we should expect to see biotics emerge … but the troubling thing is that they may have already begun to manifest."

"How much potential do we think they have?"

"Considering the degree of Prothean influence and the reports I've seen … far more than I'm comfortable with."

"So we'd best tread lightly. For now sisters, let us welcome these 'mammals' into the fold. With our guidance I believe we can integrate them into the galactic community without further incident."

- Alleged recording of a meeting of the Council of Matriarchs, 2157

"Well, what about Wilde? Earthborn, but no record of his family ..."

"Doesn't have one. He was raised on the streets. Learned to look after himself."

"He saw his whole unit die on Akuze. He could have some serious emotional scars."

"Every soldier has scars. Wilde's a survivor."

"True, but it's him or Hopps … Her record says she grew up in the colonies."

"She knows how tough life can be out there. She nearly lost her family when slavers attacked New Burrows."

"She proved herself during the Blitz. Held off enemy forces on the ground until reinforcements arrived."

"She's the only reason Elysium is still standing."

"We can't question her courage."

"Mammality needs a hero. And Hopps is the best we've got."

"But Wilde is the kind of mammal who can make the tough calls. He's proven that."

"Is that the kind of mammal we want protecting the galaxy?"

"He's the only kind of mammal who can protect the galaxy."

"So do we want a hero? Or do we want someone who will get things done?"

"I don't think we're going to decide here, and unfortunately - it's not our choice."

"But we agree, it'll be one of them?"

"Yes … I'll make the call."

In the year 2148, mammalian explorers on Mars discovered the remains of an ancient spacefaring civilization. In the decades that followed, these mysterious artifacts revealed startling new technologies, enabling travel to the furthest stars. The basis for this incredible technology was a force that controlled the very fabric of space and time. They called it the greatest discovery in mammalian history. The civilizations of the galaxy call it…

Mass Effect.