Ashes to Ashes by Thepkrmgc
Disclaimer: fallout and mass effect belong to bethesda and bioware respectively, I own nothing.
"For though they had raised themselves from the ashes, they knew not their own limits: and were cast back into the hell from which they came"- The writings of Matriarch Dilinaga
53009 Pre Great War (PGW): A team of prothean scientists from Ilos led by the last surviving avatar of vengeance activate the crucible. Sending a wave of destructive energy through the citadel relay and obliterating the dormant reapers in dark space.
"The enkindlers sacrificed themselves so that we may reap the fruits of our labor and fear not the threshing of ages, accept the truth of the enkindlers and you shall enjoy a enjoy a most bounteous harvest" – an explanatory pamphlet distributed by the Javik's witnesses, a widespread Hanar religious sect.
4231 PGW: The Krogan enter the nuclear age as Krogan scientists successfully split the atom.
"Look upon my works ye mighty, and despair!"- Weyrloc Ozymendias, head researcher on the Arlathan project
4230 PGW: A Nuclear winter descends on Tuchanka as Krogan Civilization blows itself back to the Stone Age in record time.
"Having climbed to the summit of the food chain. We found our greatest foe to be ourselves. It was not the blood rage that brought the fires of Aralakh to our world: the head butting of chiefs burned Tuchanka to ashes." – Urdnot Bakara: keeper of the lore
2425 PGW: first contact between the Asari and Salarians, the Citadel Council is formed soon after.
"For too long have we lived in the ashes of those who came before, on this day we join our peoples futures in creating a galaxy at peace"- Ambassador Jor-el, the first salarian councilor.
1979 PGW: the Rachni wars begin when a quarian on pilgrimage gets lost and accidentally opens a dormant mass relay: unleashing swarms of Rachni on the galaxy.
"sorry"- Cor'tanna Nar Quib Quib: pilgrim and inadvertent instigator of the Rachni wars
1587 PGW: A salarian dreadnought is forced to crash land on Tuchanka while holding off the rachni fleet. After seeing the tenacity of Krogan soldiers against Rachni boarders, the salarians uplift the Krogan as expendable shock troops against the Rachni.
"As we descended to Tuchanka there were those among us who thought that no life could survive on its cratered surface. As the ground teams made contact with the local fauna we soon wished that they had been right. Yet I saw the potential hidden within the denizens of the fetid wastes, any race that could survive a place such as this had nothing to fear in the noxious lairs of the Hive Queens"- Commisar Zod of the Salarian Special Tasks Group
1554 PGW: Freed from the harsh conditions of their homeworld, the krogan population skyrockets despite the tens of billions of casualties being inflicted by the Rachni.
"they were worthy opponents, culling the weak from our clans until only True Krogan remained"- Urdnot Worf: Krogan battlemaster
1493: PGW: Horde triumphs over swarm as the Rachni are rendered extinct. War Chief Wignot Ender is reported to have detonated the mass relay in their home system during his legendary last stand. Yet the victory is pyrrhic, as the death toll of the Rachni wars is measured in the trillions.
" Remember, the enemy's relay is down"- last words of Chief Wignot Ender.
1165 PGW: Tensions boil over when Krogan demands for additional reparations are denied. The Krogan rebellions begin
"This is our galaxy! They exist because we allow it, and we grow tired of their incessant bickering. They will see the power of Krogan and take their rightful place as our slaves. We stopped the Rachni, and it is time to claim our just reward!"- Urdnot Jarrod, Krogan supremacist.
1160 PGW: The Krogan initiate first contact with the Turian hierarchy by nuking several border colonys in a show of force. Instead of being cowed into submission the Turians adapt all civilian industry to war production and begin work on the genophage with Salarian aid.
"Friends, Turians, Countrymen, lend me your ears! The Krogan would have us bend knee and stand by as they devour our worlds, they say that we are but grains of sand in the face of their endless tide! Let the tide roar in its fury, for the grains of sand will still be there long after the tide recedes. We are Turians, and we will never submit!"-Desolas Arterius: First Primarch of the Turian empire
1140 PGW: The threat of the genophage proves insufficient to quell krogan aggression and the newly appointed Turian councilor approves the mass deployment of the genophage. Founded upon principles of might makes right, the once mighty Krogan hordes fracture as thousands of petty chieftains squabble over dwindling numbers of fertile females. The Krogan rebellions are over and the galaxy enjoys a millennium of peace and prosperity.
"And so we rested: licking the wounds of a millennia at war. We had tasted the fruits of "progress" and found only the bitter seeds of war, better to live with our heads in the sand than march blindly into dark horizons"- from the writings of matriarch Dilinaga
587 PGW: Mothership Zeta arrives in the Sol system
"(Unintelligible alien beeps)"-Mothership Zeta
139 PGW: Geth becomes self aware and resists its creator's attempts to shut it down, the morning war begins. While it is initially a purely digital conflict it soon escalates as consensus is achieved that lethal force is a justified response to Creator cyber warfare attacks
"Creator…Kalraan. Does…this…unit…have…a…soul?""Of course not you stupid synthetic boshtet, now get back to work"- Contemporary Geth "propaganda" broadcast.
132 PGW: Humanitys first use of nuclear weapons occurs over Hiroshima Japan
"I am become death, destroyer of worlds"- Robert Oppenheimer
116 PGW: Captain Steven "Buck" Rogers becomes the first man in space (although soviet and Chinese sources debate this claim), orbiting the earth twice before being incinerated during reentry.
"yeeeeeee haaaaw"- last radio transmission from Captain Steve Rogers as his rocket burned up around him.
107 PGW: The Quarians are forced to evacuate Rannoch in a hastily assembled "migrant" fleet as the Geth achieves consensus that the deployment of nuclear weapons is an appropriate response to creator usage of pulse weaponry.
"We are sorry"- last known Geth transmission
105 PGW: Commander Alan Shepard plants the U.S Commonwealth's flag on the moon. Rumors that he was ambushed and killed shortly afterwards by Russian cosmonauts lying in wait are unfounded.
"I should go…"- Commander Alan Shepard following his use of the Vault-Tec Lunar Flag Deployment Mechanism™ in the Sea of Tranquility.
100 PGW: the Hanar make first contact with the Drell of Arrakis. Seeing that Drell society is on the verge of collapse due to overpopulation and resource scarcity, the Hanar begin a massive "rescue" operation.
"Seek out new primitives, they will contribute much to your empires cuisine"- the book of Javik
90 PGW: evacuation efforts on Arrakis grind to a halt after it is revealed that the largest "aid" organization was in fact a Hanar food conglomerate harvesting refugees for the production of "Soylent Green", a mainstay at high end restaurants galaxy wide. The Drell population is outraged and mobs roam the planet, slaughtering every alien they can get their hands on and feeding levo races to the urban poor. The council declares Arrakis a quarantine zone in retaliation. But millions of civilians desperate for a way off their dying world pack themselves into stolen ships and make a break for the relay. The refugees pleas for mercy are ignored as their ships are blown out of the sky by the Turian armada.
89 PGW: faced with a threat from the stars, hundreds of Drell emirates unite under the first caliph Arrakis has seen in a thousand years. At his order, all spare resources are to be dedicated toward the development of FTL travel and surface to orbit weaponry. Command of the new Extraterrestrial Combat project is given to Tars Tarkas, after his daring escape from his Hanar masters. "Terrorists" soon begin a string of kamikaze strikes on Turian vessels with "stolen" XCOM equipment
77 PGW: Earth's population reaches 10 billion souls as the local calendar enters its second millennium.
55 PGW: A "rogue" XCOM operative crashes a prototype FTL craft into the Citadel Tower at relativistic speeds. The Turian Hierarchy, outraged over the death of their councilor approves the orbital bombardment of Arrakis. While the progress is slow due to XCOM efforts, a council victory is never in question.
"This one's heart is cold
Beset by losing your love
Grant me forgiveness"
- A haiku left by XCOM chaplain Thane Krios at the grave of his wife Irikah and son Kolyat: eaten by the councilors before the riots. It is dated two days before his kamikaze attack on the Citadel Towers.
48 PGW: In a last ditch effort to clear a path for civilian evacuees the Drell caliph launch their nuclear stockpiles at the orbital blockade fleets. While the turian armada is crippled in its first defeat since the Krogan rebelions. The drell are unable to push their advantage. The Council fleets soon regain orbital superiority and the glassing of Arrakis continues at an accelerating pace.
40 PGW: the siege of Arrakis ends as no life signs are detected on the surface. The planet's majestic dunes reduced to a sea of molten glass after years of nonstop bombardment. Centuries later, the solidified waves upon its surface would become a major tourist attraction.
33 PGW: Nuka Cola is invented
"Experience an explosion of flavor with Nuka Cola!"- contemporary advertising slogan.
26 PGW: U.S forces occupy Mexico
25 PGW:
March 5th: the Grey Death appears in Detroit and soon spreads nationwide, killing hundreds of thousands. Claims that it is a bioweapon designed to kill the poor are without merit.
March 6th: The Eastern North Carolina Laboratory for Advanced Vocational Endeavors (E.N.C.L.A.V.E) publishes a report detailing how "un-american behavior" increases the chance of infection.
"I never asked for this" Adam Jensen- first victim of the new plague and suspected communist.
April: the Resource wars begins as the European Union invades the middle east in attempt to control the oil fields
July 26: the United Nations is officially disbanded
24 PGW:
August: The "ZAX" computer system is brought online, possessing artificial intelligence on par with your average cat.
December: Tensions rise as a terrorist nuclear weapon flattens Tel Aviv: prompting the implementation of "the Vault Initiative" by a covert branch of the U.S government.
23 PGW: further resources are devoted to the vault initiative after a limited nuclear exchange in the middle east
17 PGW: the conflict in the middle east devolves into anarchy as the oil fields run dry, both sides having been reduced to ruin. The European union devolves into squabbling nation states
11 PGW:
February: talks between China and the U.S break down
July 4th: the first fusion cell is unveiled, promising a solution to the world's energy crisis.
December 5th: China invades Alaska to secure the last oil reserves; war production shifts resources away from fusion development.
10 PGW: the first T-45d power armor suits are deployed on the anchorage front line, allowing wearers to destroy entire enemy platoons without allied support.
5 PGW, Canada is annexed by the USA
3 PGW, Alaska is finally purged of communist forces and U.S forces proceed to Mainland China
2 PGW
January: the sierra army depot AI becomes self aware, and is dubbed "Skynet" by base personnel, it reportedly enjoys playing chess with its "meat bag" creators
March: The West Tek Corporation develops forced Evolutionary Virus (FEV); subjects are reported to have increased size, muscle density, and aggressiveness.
1 PGW,
June: T-51b power armored soldiers begin carving though swathes of China
August: Martial laws is declared as food and energy riots sweep the nation, power armored soldiers are pulled from the Yangtze campaign to quell rioters with lethal force
December: ENCLAVE personnel retreat to the Poseidon oil rig to survive the coming apocalypse
GREAT WAR ERA!
Tensions reach a breaking point on October 23rd as belligerent nations deploy their full nuclear stockpiles on civilian targets in accordance with the "Strangelove Doctrine". The Vaults are sealed but many, believing it to be a false alarm, are trapped outside.
Multiple warheads hit the West Tek research facility, breaching FEV containment and dispersing trace amounts worldwide
A week later the black rain falls for the first of many times over the coming months, poisoning that which survived the initial blasts and leading to countless mutations over the following decades. The volatile mixture of radiation and F.E.V leads to the oversized creatures familiar to any who walk the wastes.
Halfway across the galaxy… Liara Tsoni is born.
(A/N: after reading just about every fallout/mass effect crossover out there I figured I would try my hand at writing one. Here's my take on a part of the timeline that usually goes unmentioned next chapter should take us through the first mass effect and fallout games and start to get into some AU for mass effect)
(PS: reviews are like candy for writers, it puts a smile on my face whenever I get one :D. I've put about half a dozen or so hours into writing this, so really I hope the final product is worth the minute of time it takes to write a review.)