Introduction:

This is the story of the galaxy approximately 50,003 years before the Reapers began their purge of the Protheans. The Chronicles will follow the story of Kar Pyshyn, an Inusannon Ghost (this cycles version of a Spectre) who serves the galaxy wide government known as the Systems Alliance, whose capital is the Citadel. Kar is assigned a high priority mission leads him to a shocking discovery, that the Systems Alliance which he serves (and the galaxy at large) will soon face an invasion from an unimaginable threat, the Reapers.

Chapter 1: The Ghost

Kar Pyshyn shook his head as he reviewed the report on the datapad he was holding. His head hurt. It hurt real badly. He hadn't felt pain like this in over a century. The fight with the Maurader's Guild cell had gone far worse than he anticipated it would. Kar had to fight through 20 plus Bata'h only to get to the leader of the group, who turned out to be a Forst named Korbos. Korbos was proficient not only in biotics but in melee fights and Kar was worn down by the time he got to Korbos. This was when Kar realized his first mistake had been deciding not to bring a squad of Special Operations Marines with him. The marines could have handled the Bata'h while Kar focused on Korbos. Sometimes Kar took being a Systems Alliance Ghost too seriously. He was not a superbeing. Though, usually, he could kick some major ass with his biotics. The fight with Korbos and his MG cell proved to be one of those "other" times.

And after a prolonged fight with the leader, Kar had taken a couple of shots to the head from the butt of Korbos' particle rifle, along with having to block several biotic attacks. Not wearing his usual armor had also been a huge mistake. Kar realized he had ignored most of the advice given to him by Overseer Junak at Ghost Command. Junak had warned Kar he was becoming too cocky and that Kar needed to be more careful on his missions. Needless to say, this was not the first time Kar had almost gotten himself killed by not being more careful in his mission preparation and in his actions during a mission.

Kar had finally defeated Korbos by using a biotic field overheat the Forst's particle rifle and cause it to blow Korbus in half. Despite this victory, Kar was pretty battered and beaten by the time he returned to his ship, the Specter. The commander of the retrieval team and his executive officer, Commander Absolam (an Inusannon), had almost called for the ship's doctor to come to the surface of the planet and perform an emergency field evaluation on Kar as though he had just come out of a major warzone. Kar knew that Absolam would only have such a reaction if Kar was truly close to needing such medical treatment. After being scolded by Absolam for being so reckless, Kar reported to the medical bay and to his equally pissed off doctor, Morlis (an easily angered Zhun who was known to be punching the walls of the med-bay in frustration with one of his four arms after Kar reported in from a mission).

Morlis had ordered Kar to rest in the med-bay for a while. When Kar asked the doctor to clarify "awhile", the doctor had simply said "Whenever I feel that you are better and will not go into another mission with your face tentacles buried in your ass." After performing a few surgeries to repair the major injuries, all that Morlis could do for him was to turn load his wounds up with medi-gel and to have Kar rest. Though Kar was not the rest and heal type, he knew better than to piss off Morlis after this mission. Plus Kar know Morlis would load him up with sleeping drugs if Kar so much as looked at the medical bay door wrong.

Kar's vocalizer was also damaged and he would not be able to get it repaired until he was able to get to the SA Med Clinic at the Citadel. The vocalizer translated the Inusannon language into an audible form that could be understood by races that did not possess telepathic abilities of the Inusannon. He was glad he followed his brother Scoran's advice and purchased the backup vocalizer from Innotech. The backup was not as efficient as the implant but it would save him from having to click on his omni-tool to activate the vocalizer stored on it every time he needed to speak to a nontel (Inusannon slang for non-telepathic races).

"If only the nontels could communicate with us using something other than vocalization," he thought to himself as the sleeping drugs began to slow down his mental processes and Kar began to feel truly exhausted, something he rarely felt.

His race, the Inusannon, used a mix of telepathy and vocal sounds to communicate. They could vocalize sounds but their mouths were obstructed by the facial tentacles that hung from the base of the Inusannon's face down to their chest. Inusannon used these tentacles to help in the consumption of food and for amplifying the vocalizations that they naturally produced. Inusannon did not the range of vocalization other species had. Given that this form of communication was limited his people had developed telepathy during the course of their evolution. This was the preferred method of communication between his people, though using this telepathy for long periods of time could tire a typical Inusannon within a few hours. These factors made communication with nontels very challenging for his people.

This is where the vocalizer came in. The device was able to translate the mixed forms of the Inusannon language into an audible form that other species could understand. Without the vocalizer, interspecies communication was extremely difficult for Inusannon. Kar had only been without a vocalizer twice in his life and he swore that he would never be without it again. As Kar processed these thoughts, he realized he had just learned yet another lesson from this mission.

"I am not sure what is worse, the beating I am giving myself or the beating I am going to take from the crew for the way I handled this mission," Kar thought to himself as he drifted off into sleep.

When he awoke about a day later, Kar requested to view the datapad he had taken from Korbos. For the next few hours, he focused on the datapad and he barely acknowledged the various members of his crew who came to check up on him . The datapad provided him with some valuable intel on the Marauder's Guild and some of their plans. Kar learned that the group had raided an Alliance depot in the Sol system and had stolen several hundred thousand credits worth of valuable technology. The fact the Guild could get access to the depot meant it was likely an inside job. Kar would eventually make his way to the depot to investigate further but he was hot on the trail of the tech and wanted to get it back before the Guild sold it off. He had gotten the coordinates for the transaction from the datapad and he was itching to get to the site of the sale. First, stop the transaction, then get the traitor, he thought to himself.

He had tasked the ship's artificial intelligence, Quantum, with plotting the course to the transaction site and to compiling a tactical report of the overall situation based on the information retrieved from the datapad.

"Quantum, how long until we reach the Caspian system?" asked Kar as he continued to review the datapad. He was glad his neural interface with the ship and Quantum had not been damaged.

"Approximately 104.5 standard hours. We have one more relay jump then we have to use standard FTL to travel from the Bemin system to the Caspian system," replied Quantum. "I would suggest you get some rest given your current fragile state."

"Funny, funny," replied Kar with a tone of mock indignation. He knew the AI was teasing him about the mission and the beating he took. Quantum had suggested calling for Marines but had not done so despite what the AI called his "best judgment".

"I will grab more rest as soon as I finish reviewing this datapad and I get another round of medi-gel treatments from our good doctor," replied Kar. "And I assume you did take the 'liberty' of asking for backup for this mission?"

"Yes," replied Quantum. "I have requested the backup and given the nature of the situation, Command is sending a full company to ensure the mission is a success."

"Wow, whatever the Guild made off with, it must be important," replied Kar. "Well, I have the good doctor breathing over my shoulder so I am going

He was lucky if he ever got more than a platoon for back up on most missions, when he actually requested backup. If Command was sending a full company, then this mission was extremely important to Command and more important than they had let him know it was.

Morlin had ordered another regimen of drugs and Kar knew better than to argue. After the drugs kicked in, Kar slept for almost two full days. When he awoke, he felt a hell of a lot better than he had in a long time. But it wasn't too long after he awoke that he got a priority message from the Citadel and Alliance Ghost Command.

"Sir, we are receiving a priority message from G-Comm. They are requesting an immediate change in our mission. The Overseer has a new mission for us," said Quantam.

"What? Are you sure? What about the mission?" said Kar as he lifted his head from his bed.

"I will patch the full message through to you now. Here it is," replied Quantum.

Kar's omni-tool came to life and the image of Overseer Junak appeared in the small holographic display above the omni-tool.

"Operative Pyshyn, I apologize for the sudden change in mission plans. I, and the rest of the Alliance, appreciate the work you have done on this project but your talents might be needed elsewhere. I have been asked to put you in touch with General Wrex Voctus for a high level meeting at the Citadel. Know that I am only doing this because I feel this new mission is of the utmost importance to the Alliance and that you are the best person for it. Please report to the Citadel immediately for this meeting."

The message ended and Kar could only stare blankly at the omni-tool. He collected his thoughts and decided on a course of action.

"Quantum, relay the Overseer a message that I am completing medical treatment and we will head to the Citadel as soon as possible," said Kar, sounding unsure of this change of plans. "I am going to enter a med-tank per our good doctor's orders and finish my treatment. Alert Commander Absolam to the change of plans."

"Understood. I will alert you when we are close to the Citadel," replied Quantum.

With that Kar alerted Morlin he was ready to finish his treatment. Kar walked over to the med-tank and opened up the coffin like device. Morlin pressed a few controls on the top part of the device and Kar climbed in. Morlin smiled coyly as Kar climbed in and the door closed and sealed him in. Within a few minutes a foggy vapor filled the air and Kar began to drift off to sleep.