Halo is owned by 343 studios (and their souls are owned by something small and soft)
Mass Effect is owned by Bioware (and EA owns them)
Author Notes:
Chapter 1 is no longer a timeline of events, now this chapter is a informational Codex of the Fic, thus I will be dumping world building information in here. This chapter will not contain spoilers.
The Codex will contain public information from the Citadel Government and reports for ONI agents with sufficient clearance to read them, in short things that are "public knowledge", however these may not be entirely true.
Some important changes:
FTL speed are going to be reduced from the speeds in cannon Halo, I know, I know that sucks balls, but is a necessary change to make this fusion work. So the covenant have pretty much focused their expansion towards the former Forerunner territories (Away from SOL), and have colonized a good percentage of it, this expansion towards these territories is the main reason why it was the humans that stumbled their way into the backwater and less explored Covenant front yard while the covenant focused all their colonization efforts into exploring and taking former Forerunner core worlds.
The events in Halo developed around a fifth of the Galaxy, a Fifth with almost no mass relays, most Forerunners relics will be located in this sector (besides the Halos).
Office of Naval Intelligence
Logged as GRAVEDIGGER
From: Classified
Department: Section Zero
PLNB PRIORITY TRANSMISSION: (CLASSIFIED)
ENCRYPTION CODE: (CLASSIFIED)
FROM: CODENAME SURGEON
TO: CODENAME BLACKSMITH
CLASSIFICATION: DAWN OF THE THREE SUNS (3/14)
SUBJECT: SHIFTING PLATES
It's unclear whether the influence of the Council of Light will be enough to spring a reformation of the covenant, but evidence suggest that the majority of the Sangheili territories including the frontier worlds are falling under the influence of this council, is no longer feasible to keep the Sangheili divided and fighting each other as the council provides them the means to achieve settlements in forms outside of our predictions, the operation should be halted and all our links to the servants of abiding truth should be severed, and if possible links to one of the insurrectionist movements should be planted instead.
The Lights of Sanghelios continue their growth as more ships from the frontier worlds join with the fleets, and the skirmishes with the Jiralhanae end in the favor of the Sangheili, the suppression of pirates continues to be a major focus of their operations, but reports suggest that as the security in former covenant territories increases so does the likelihood of assaults and raids on our own worlds, the negotiations with the Kig-Yar must continue to avoid a partial or full reconstitution of the covenant under the Sangheili leadership.
The Unggoy seem content to be under the command of others and have little agency of their own, some have fled covenant space and migrated towards UNSC territory, but most still remain under the command of the Sangheili or the Jiralhanae and have made few independent movements of their own, their military potential is negligible and their force projection remains insignificant.
The Kig Yar society continues to stabilize and Eayn's native population continues to grow and expand; its economic and social lines have stabilized in the wake of the war, this was within our estimated results of covenant realignment in a post schism scenario. Our scout vessels report that a coalition of mercenaries, raiders and pirates are gathering in high orbit of Eayn, the motive remains unknown, but we suspect the coalition is defensive in nature at least for the moment. The total number of ships is inconclusive as more ships arrive while others leave, either to patrol the Y'Deio system or other systems under Kig-Yar control, ship numbers are estimated to be in the thousands, but only a few dozen can truly be identified as heavy warships.
The Jiralhanae remain visibly divided in the wake of the war, their raids for resources against Sangheili colonies are being meet with fierce opposition, and their raids against the Kig Yar has further alienated them from possible trade partners, Jiralhanae capabilities remain unknown, but their inability to stabilize their society assures that their already limited force projection will be eventually neutralized, this is an outcome our experts deem as undesirable, the animosity between the Sangheili and the Jiralhanae is an integral part of the balance that presently exist, one humanity needs to recover.
A tentative peace agreement between the Jiralhanae and the Sangheili, with humanity as the catalyst could if done well, ensure the continued existence of both races as opposing forces, further details in regards to this specific scenario will be addressed in section six of the report.
NEXT
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PLNB PRIORITY TRANSMISSION: UNSC NAVCOM
ENCRYPTION CODE: (CLASSIFIED)
FROM: ADMIRAL SERIN OSMAN
TO: FLEET ADMIRAL LORD TERRENCE HOOD
CLASSIFICATION: SECTOR DEFENSE FLEETS
SUBJECT: RE: GHOST SHIPS
Terrence,
Don't give in to the pressure from the civvies, the status of our fleets has nothing to do with them and to give them any factual information would be foolhardy. As far as they know we have enough ships to defend the entirety of our territories and ONI will make sure to silence anyone that dares to say otherwise.
I don't know how those 'reporters' got as much information from our "Ghost Fleets" as they did, but we will find out and deal with it. I will forward you our progress report from the Excession and what I believe is a solution to our problems, can't give you the entire dissertation through this channel, but expect more information after the meeting with President Ruth Charet.
TEMP FILE ID: 15A2S257SQ64DSSD6247F688
STATUS: ENCRYPTED
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Office of Naval Intelligence
Logged as GRAVEDIGGER
From: Classified
Department: Section Zero
STATUS OF THE INSURRECTION REPORT: TRU1956M12D3Y2556
Date:
2494 - 2525 (original conflict)
2525 - 2553 (in reduced capacity)
2553 - ongoing
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CLASSIFICATION: BIOGRAPHY OF KNOWN AND SUSPECTED LEADERS (142/145)
Caleb F. Aagard
Birthplace: Newport, Luyten
Born: May 16, 2511
Species: Human
Gender: Male
Height: Unknown
Genetic Markers Probable Adult Height: 6'2-6'6
Weight: Unknown
Hair color:Unknown
Genetic Markers: Red
Eye color: Unknown
Genetic Markers: Green
Caleb F. Aagard, (civilian identification number: 78104-985-RBA8774), was a candidate for the SPARTAN-II supersoldier program. The candidate was never conscripted and disappeared after his twelfth evaluation in 05/01/2517. Investigation following his disappearance continued for a whole year with no results, his case file was archived as unresolved DA15CL134M6D11Y2518
Information on the subject remains scarce beyond the report provided by the Insurrectionist Staffan Sentzke, extensive internal investigation was employed to confirm whether the subject had been recruited by other branches of ONI or the UNSC with negative results, the reappearance of this subject name as an insurrectionist leader, as commander of some sort of fleet and the particulars of his disappearance leave us with little concrete information. The following dissertations are limited to speculation and extrapolation from the AI assigned to the investigation and should be viewed as such.
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Office of Naval Intelligence
Logged as GRAVEDIGGER
From: Classified
Department: Section Zero
UNITED EARTH GOVERNMENT REPORT: EGR19M12D3Y2556
CLASSIFICATION: COLONIES[SOL[EARTH
POPULATION: 4.1 BILLION
RECONSTRUCTION PROGRESS:
AMERICAS: 82%
TWO SPACE ELEVATORS OPERATIVE
AFRICA: 29%
NO SPACE ELEVATORS OPERATIVE
EUROPE: 66%
ONE SPACE ELEVATOR OPERATIVE
ASIA: 60%
ONE SPACE ELEVATOR OPERATIVE
AUSTRALIA: 42%
ONE SPACE ELEVATOR UNDER CONSTRUCTION
STATUS OF PLANETARY DEFENSES: [CLASSIFIED]
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Office of Naval Intelligence
Logged as GRAVEDIGGER
From: Classified
Department: Section Zero
UNITED EARTH GOVERNMENT REPORT: EGR19M12D3Y2556
CLASSIFICATION: ACTIVE COLONIES
POPULATION: APPROXIMATELY 34 BILLION
SYSTEMS: 20 [LIST]
COLONIES: 69 [LIST]
PLANETS: 147 [LIST]
STATUS OF OVERALL COLONIAL DEFENSES: [ACCEPTABLE]
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Codex Entry (Turians)
Known for their militaristic and disciplined culture, the turians were the third race to join the Citadel Council. They gained their Council seat after defeating the hostile krogan for the Council during the Krogan Rebellions. The turians deployed a salarian-created biological weapon called the genophage, which virtually sterilized the krogan and sent them into a decline. The turians then filled the peacekeeping niche left by the once-cooperative krogan, and eventually gained a Council seat in recognition of their efforts.
Originally from the planet Palaven, turians are best known for their military role, particularly their contributions of soldiers and starships to the Citadel Fleet. They are respected for their public service ethic—it was the turians who first proposed creating C-Sec—but are sometimes seen as imperialist or rigid by other races.
Since the Unification War, turians normally wear elaborate tattoos marking their colony of origin. The lack of facial markings is looked down upon in turian society; the turian term "barefaced" refers to one who is beguiling or not to be trusted. It is also a slang term for politicians.
Turians are noted for their strong sense of public service. It is rare to find one who puts his needs ahead of the group. Every citizen from age 15 to 30 serves the state in some capacity, as anything from a soldier to an administrator, from a construction engineer to a sanitation worker. Turians have a strong inclination toward public service and self-sacrifice, so they tend to be poor entrepreneurs. To compensate, they accepted the help of the mercantile volus, offering protection in exchange for their fiscal expertise.
Turian society is highly regimented and very organized, and the species is known for its strict discipline and work ethic. Turians are willing to do what needs to be done, and they always follow through. They are not easily spurred to violence, but when conflict is inevitable, they only understand a concept of "total war." They do not believe in skirmishes or small-scale battles; they use massive fleets and numbers to defeat an adversary so completely that they remove any threat of having to fight the same opponent more than once. They do not exterminate their enemy, but so completely devastate their military that the enemy has no choice but to become a colony of the turians.
Other species see turians as "men of action," and they are generally regarded as the most progressive of the Citadel races. Since their culture is based on the structure of a military hierarchy, changes and advances accepted by the leadership are quickly adopted by the rest of society with minimal resistance.
While turians are individuals with personal desires, their instinct is to equate the self with the group, and to set aside all personal desires for the good of all. Turians are taught to have a strong sense of personal accountability, the 'turian honor' that other races find so remarkable. Turians are taught to own every decision they make, good or ill. The worst sin they can make in the eyes of their people is to lie about their own actions. Turians who murder will try to get away with it, but if directly questioned, most will confess the crime.
Economy
The turian economy is large, but cannot match the size and power of that of the asari yet. For many years, development was hampered by cultural disinterest in economics. When the turians accepted the volus protectorate guidance business development improved.
The military is supported by a well-developed infrastructure. Manufacturers such as Armax Arsenal and the Haliat Armory produce advanced, reliable equipment.
Religion
Turians believe that groups and areas have "spirits" that transcend the individual. For example, a military unit would be considered to have a literal spirit that embodies the honor and courage it has displayed. A city's spirit reflects the accomplishments and industry of its residents. An ancient tree's spirit reflects the beauty and tranquility of the area it grows within.
These spirits are neither good nor evil, nor are they appealed to for intercession. Turians do not believe spirits can affect the world, but spirits can inspire the living. Prayers and rituals allow an individual to converse with a spirit for guidance or inspiration. For example, a turian who finds his loyalty tested may appeal to the spirit of his unit, hoping to reconnect with the pride and honor of the group. A turian who wishes to create a work of art may attempt to connect with the spirit of a beautiful location.
Turians enjoy absolute freedom of religion and can practice whatever appeals to them so long as it does not impede anyone's ability to perform their duties.
Government
The turian government, known as the Turian Hierarchy, is a hierarchical meritocracy. While it has great potential for misuse, this is tempered by the civic duty and personal responsibility turians learn during their childhood.
Turians have 27 citizenship tiers, beginning with civilians (client races and children). The initial period of military service is the second tier. Formal citizenship is conferred at the third tier, after boot camp. For client races, citizenship is granted after the individual musters out. Higher-ranked citizens are expected to lead and protect subordinates. Lower-ranking citizens are expected to obey and support superiors. Promotion to another tier of citizenship is based on the personal assessment of one's superiors and co-rankers. At the top are the Primarchs, who each rule a colonization cluster. The Primarchs vote on matters of national importance. They otherwise maintain a "hands-off" policy, trusting the citizens on each level below them to do their jobs competently.
Throughout their lives, turians ascend to the higher tiers and are occasionally "demoted" to lower ones. The stigma associated with demotion lies not on the individual, but on those who promoted them when they weren't ready for additional responsibility. This curbs the tendency to promote individuals into positions beyond their capabilities. Settling into a role and rank is not considered stagnation. Turians value knowing one's own limitations more than being ambitious.
Turians enjoy broad freedoms. So long as one completes their duties, and does not prevent others from completing theirs, nothing is forbidden. For example, there are no laws against recreational drug use, but if someone is unable to complete their duties due to drug use, their superiors step in. Judicial proceedings are 'interventions.' Peers express their concern, and try to convince the offender to change. If rehabilitation fails, turians have no qualms about sentencing dangerous individuals to life at hard labor for the state.
Military
The turian military is the center of their society. It is not just an armed force; it is an all-encompassing public works organization. The military police are also the civic police. The fire brigades serve the civilian population as well as military facilities. The corps of engineers builds and maintains spaceports, schools, water purification plants, and power stations. The merchant marine ensures that all worlds get needed resources.
Boot camp begins on the 15th birthday. Soldiers receive a year of training before being assigned to a field unit; officers train for even longer. Most serve until the age of 30, at which they become part of the Reserves. Even if they suffer injuries preventing front-line service, most do support work behind the lines.
Biotics are uncommon. While admired for their exacting skills, biotics' motives are not always fully trusted by the common soldier. The turians prefer to assign their biotics to specialist teams called Cabals.
Command and control is decentralized and flexible. Individual squads can call for artillery and air support. They make extensive use of combat drones for light duties and VI-controlled fighters, and practice combined arms: infantry operates with armor, supported by overhead gunships. Strategically, they are methodical and patient, and dislike risky operations.
Tradition is important. Each legion has a full-time staff of historians who chronicle its battle honors in detail. The oldest have records dating back to the turian Iron Age. If a legion is destroyed in battle, it is reconstituted rather than being replaced.
The turians recruit auxiliary units from absorbed minor races, like the volus or raloi. Auxiliaries are generally light infantry or armored cavalry units that screen and support the main battle formations. At the conclusion of their service in the Auxiliaries, recruits are granted turian citizenship.
Turian wars are often marked by citizen resistance. Most turian families keep small arms in their homes and take basic training courses that include instruction on how to create simple anti-vehicle explosive devices. To suppress citizen militias, the Turian Hierarchy makes use of "execution squads" known as hastatim. First, "safe camps" are established in cities to incentivize surrender. Next, hastatim soldiers are deployed door-to-door; anyone who refuses to be transported to a safe camp or demonstrates hostile intent will be shot. Hastatim burial units then retrieve and cremate the bodies. This approach is necessary because without the safe camps, no turian would ever surrender, and without the hastatim, it would take years for a population to be pacified.
Turian Navy
The turian navy is divided into colonization clusters, each cluster having its own number of administrative sector fleets, the navy serves as a galactic peacekeeping force (CDF) as thus the colonization clusters are required to mobilize their sector fleets to serve as the primary military arm of the Council, contributing the single largest portion of the Citadel Defense Fleet.
Codex Entry (Salarians)
The second species to join the Citadel, the salarians are warm-blooded amphibians native to the planet Sur'Kesh. Salarians possess a hyperactive metabolism; they think fast, talk fast, and move fast. To salarians, other species seem sluggish and dull-witted, especially the elcor. Unfortunately, their metabolic speed leaves them with a relatively short lifespan; salarians over the age of 40 are a rarity.
Salarians are known for their observational capability and non-linear thinking. This manifests as an aptitude for research and espionage. They are constantly experimenting and inventing, and it is generally accepted that they always know more than they are letting on.
Culture
Salarians excel at invention, preferring to use cutting-edge technology rather than settle for anything less. For example, their GARDIAN starship defenses put emphasis on high performance over reliability even though a malfunction could cost lives.
The salarians see information gathering and even spying as a matter of course when dealing with other races, but this is not underhanded: they simply embrace the dictum of "knowledge is power".
Normally, the rare salarian females are cloistered on their worlds out of tradition and respect. Powerful female Dalatrasses are dynasts and political kingpins. They determine the political course of their respective regions through shrewd negotiation. Though male salarians rise to positions of great authority in business, academia, or the military, they rarely have any input on politics.
Due to their method of reproduction, salarians have no concept of romantic love, sexual attraction, or the biological impulses and social rituals that complicate other species' lives. Male-female relationships are rare (due to the scarcity of females) and more akin to friendship. Sexuality is strictly for the purpose of reproduction. Ancient social codes determine who gets to fertilize eggs, which produces more daughters to continue the bloodline. Fertilization generally only occurs after months of negotiation between the parents' clans, and is done for purposes of political and dynastic alliance. No salarian would imagine defying this code.
Salarian names are quite complex. A full name includes – in order – the name of a salarian's homeworld, nation, city, district, clan name and given name.
Salarians celebrate "Betau," the first day of their New Year. Traditionally, it marks the end of winter in the southern hemisphere on the salarian homeworld, Sur'Kesh. During this occasion, they repay debts, and petition favors from one another.
When it comes to keeping secrets, salarians have two types of social cues. The first type is personal or guilt-based, and invites suspicion and exploration. The second type is for secrets deemed dangerous if discovered, and signals discourage curiosity for protection of the relevant parties. Reflexive body language conveys the type of secret and cannot be faked convincingly.
Economy
The salarian economy is the smallest of the three Council races. It is based on "bleeding-edge" technologies; salarian industries are leaders in most fields. They make up for a lack of military quantity by holding a decisive superiority in quality.
Government
The salarian government, since at least the formation of the Council in 500 BCE, is called the Salarian Union. It is a labyrinthine web of matrilineal bloodlines, with political alliances formed through interbreeding. Structurally, the government consists of fiefdoms, baronies, duchies, planets, and colonization clusters. Each area is ruled by a single Dalatrass (matriarchal head-of-household) and represents an increasing amount of territory and prestige within the salarian political web.
Approaching 100 members, the first circle of a salarian's clan comprises parents, siblings, uncles, aunts, and cousins. The next circle includes second cousins, etc., and escalates to well over 1000 members. The fourth or fifth circle of a clan numbers into the millions. Salarian loyalty is greatest to their first circle and diminishes from there. Their photographic memories allow salarians to recognize all their myriad relatives.
Military
The salarians believe that a war should be won before it begins. The unquestioned superiority of their intelligence services allows them to use their small military to maximum effectiveness. Well before fighting breaks out, they possess complete knowledge of their enemy's positions, intentions, and timetable. Their powerful intelligence network is spearheaded in the field by the Special Tasks Group (STG), which is responsible for monitoring developing situations and taking necessary action, usually without the shackles of traditional laws and procedures. This may be as simple as scouting and information gathering, or as complex as ensuring a conveniently unstable political situation stays that way. The effectiveness of the STG during the Krogan Rebellion is what provided the template for the Council to establish their Spectre program immediately afterward.
In every war the salarians have fought, they struck first and without warning. For the salarians, to know an enemy plans to attack and let it happen is folly; to announce their own plans to attack is insanity.
Biotics are virtually unknown in the salarian military. Those with such abilities are considered too valuable to be used as cannon fodder and are assigned to the intelligence services.
While capable of defending themselves against most threats, the salarians have learned that the universe is filled with danger, they lost over a hundred billion of their people during the Rachni war, thus as a point of survival, they have cultivated strong alliances with larger powers, particularly with the turians. Though the relationship between the two species was rocky at first due to the krogan uplift fiasco, the salarians take pains to keep this relationship strong enough that anyone who might threaten them risks turian intervention.
Salarian Navy
The Salarian Navy as an organization emulates the Turian Navy, and is also divided into colonization clusters, each cluster having its own number of administrative sector fleets, the navy serves as a galactic peacekeeping force (CDF) as thus the colonization clusters are required to mobilize some of their sector fleets to serve the Citadel Defense Fleet.
Codex entry (Asari)
The asari arose on Thessia, a rich world with abundant quantities of element zero that caused much of life on Thessia to exhibit biotic tendencies.
The asari were the first contemporary race to achieve spaceflight and discover the mass relay network. When they found the Citadel in 580 BCE, the asari also encountered the keepers, whose mute assistance enabled them to quickly settle on the station and learn how to operate its systems. Sixty years later, the salarians made first contact with the asari, and together the two species agreed to found the Citadel Council in 500 BCE. In later years, the asari continued to explore an unusually empty galaxy with dozens of habitable worlds with no signs of life beyond the fossils found in them. This and the ruins in other planets have spurred many theories of what could have been the cause of such an event, scholars debate to this day with no apparent solution to be found, many sects within the Asari have joined the Hanar in their belief of the ascension of those that came before to a higher plane of existence.
Traditionally, asari spread their influence through cultural domination and intellectual superiority. They invite new species of advanced development to join the galactic community, knowing that their ideals and beliefs will inevitably influence the existing culture. The asari tend toward communal, consensus attitudes among themselves too: for example, they prefer to live in shared spaces aboard starships even if there are alternatives available.
Economy
The asari possess one of the largest economies in the galaxy. They have extensive trade and social contacts with all other species within citadel space.
Government
The asari governmental structure, known as the Asari Republics, is relatively broad; the asari came late to the notion of world government. For centuries, their homeworld of Thessia was dotted with loose confederacies of great republican cities. Since the asari culture values consensus and accommodation, there was little impetus to form larger principalities. Rather than hoard resources, the asari bartered freely. Rather than attack one another over differing philosophies, they sought to understand one another. Only in the information age did the city-states grow close; communication over the internet evolved into an "electronic democracy". The advent of space exploration and the high number of colonies has once again limited information exchange within the Asari Republics, especially in new colonies with not enough com buoys, colonies in this situation develop a form of temporary local democracy similar to the republics of old.
Aside from their Council representative, the asari have no politicians or elections, but a free-wheeling, all-inclusive legislature that citizens can participate in at will. Policy debates take place at all hours of the day, in official chat rooms and forums moderated by specially-programmed virtual intelligences. All aspects of policy are open to plebiscite at any time. In any given debate, the asari tend to lend the most credence to the opinions of any Matriarchs present, nearly always deferring to the experience of these millennia-old "wise women".
In modern times, the asari normally act as the exploratory and diplomatic arm of the Citadel Council, asari exploration efforts have discovered many habitable planets over the year's planets they develop at a modest phase while trying to be as little intrusive as possible or cede them to other council species. In approximately 200 BCE, the asari made first contact with the elcor the only other species aside the yagh to be discovered in what is popularly know as Asari space and played a key role in helping them establish a regular trade route to the Citadel.
Military
The asari military resembles a collection of tribal warrior bands with no national structure. Each community organizes its own unit as the locals see fit, and elect a leader to command them. Units from populous cities are large and well-equipped, while those from farm villages may be only a few women with small arms. There is no uniform; everyone wears what they like. The asari military is not an irregular militia, however; those who serve are full-time professionals.
Asari Navy
The Navy of the Asari falls under the direct command of the council of matriachs and is maintained by taxes from the major Asari colonies and are for the most part stationed in Asari Space, in relay hubs with their battle stations.
Auxiliary Fleet
The Asari Auxiliary Fleets is an organization administrated by the council and paid with taxes and donations from the Asari Republics, these funds are used to pay private security firms to cover the Asari CDF quota, among these security firms the Eclipse it's the most successful.
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Codex Entry (Planets)
Thessia
Location: Milky Way / Athena Nebula / Parnitha System / Second planet
Species: Asari
Population: 7.1 Billions
The asari homeworld, Thessia, is the core of one of the largest economies in the known Galaxy. The planet's reserves of element zero are so vast that they affect its price galaxy-wide. Because life on Thessia evolved in an eezo-rich environment, the world is home to a wealth of both biotically active and eezo-resistant species. Travel to the planet is strictly controlled, but smuggling remains an issue.
Thessia is host to varying republics instead of a single government and, although each maintains a military, it is notable for having long been free of internal or external wars. The asari of Thessia are renowned for their cultural and political dominance, and they excel in ambassadorial ventures. They have a strong presence in Citadel politics and galactic policy.
Cyone
Location: Milky Way / Silean Nebula / Kypladon System / Second planet
Species: Asari
Population: 4.8 Billions.
The closest thing to a fortified world in Asari space the colony of Cyone has the largest military presence and highest recruitment rate of any other asari colony in the known galaxy.
This garden world's claim to military fame is that it was assaulted repeatedly during the Krogan Rebellions, but never occupied. Today, antimatter generators on the surface and in orbital stations provide fuel to many military starships throughout asari space.
The colony is also home to the academy of Asha, a prestigious center of military teachings that has taught asari the arts of war and martial combat for centuries. The asari of Cyone are renowned for their discipline and martial mastery.
Aratoht
Location: Milky Way / Viper Nebula / Bahak System / Second planet
Species: Batarian
Population: 2.7 Billion (Free), 2.6 Billion (other).
Terraformed in the early 2300s the Batarian colony of Aratoht is often used by the Batarian Hegemony as an example of the prowess of their people and their ability to colonize hazardous garden worlds.
As the easiest and shortest point of entry towards Batarian space, the colony of Aratoht quickly became an important trade hub with the rest of the citadel space, however, as relations continued to sour the colony of Aratoht quickly became a military stronghold not unlike Oma Ker.
Information on the colony itself is restricted by the Hegemony's Department of Information Control, but a few facts are known. Slave labor is largely reserved for the planet's manufacture and farming industry as the mining industry moved to the rich asteroid belt. The colony is home to several batarian military installations and space stations showcasing the strength of the Hegemony.
The citadel council maintains a watchful eye on Aratoht as it is only two relay jumps away of Irune the Volus homeworld.
Codex Entry (Starships)
Starships are spacecraft capable of traveling between star systems using thrusters and FTL drives. Starships are classified into warships and civilian ships; civilian ships are all ships not armed with military grade weapon systems. Civilian ships are classified by tonnage, thruster type, cargo capacity and a wide arrange of other minor parameters that are taken into account for the ship classification. Arming civilian ships with military grade weapon systems can carry hefty penalties when found as this is a practice mostly employed by pirates and those that wish to avoid the regulations and licenses needed to purchase warships.
Codex Entry (Warship Classification)
For many centuries warships have been classified by their weapon systems, with everything else being secondary to their classification, this draconian approach to warship classification has at times resulted in dreadnought sized ships being classified as cruisers, or cruiser sized ships being classified as destroyers or frigates. Experts believe this classification has endured the passage of time because building dreadnought sized cruisers could be considered to be an inefficient use of resources as the element zero core scales up the more mass a ship has thus not many would build under-gunned ships by choice. The classification system has been overhauled since the Turian introduction of Carriers, with would have been classified as Dreadnoughts by tonnage, and as frigates by weapon systems.
The current classification parameters are not on the public domain, but experts presume the new classification takes into account the main gun of a ship, its secondary armament, its mass, its thruster type and so forth.
Frigates (Light, Standard and Heavy variants)
Length: 180 m
Width: 65 m
Height: 25 m
Crew: +80
These values are approximates and change with design and variant.
Frigates are light escort and scouting vessels. Frigates often have extensive GARDIAN systems to provide anti-fighter screening for capital ships, and carry a squad of marines for security and groundside duty. Unlike larger vessels, frigates are able to land on planets.
The most important role filled by frigates is reconnaissance. Sensors, unlike ships and communications employing the mass effect, are limited to the speed of light. Subsequently, a stationary observer can only detect a vessel one light-year away when its light arrives at the observer's location, one year after leaving said vessel.
Because faster-than-light attackers always arrive before defenders can detect them with luminal sensors, attackers can always surprise defenders. For defense, fleets surround themselves with spheres of scouting frigates scanning for enemy ships and transmitting warnings to the main body of the fleet.
Frigates achieve high FTL cruise speeds because of their high-performance drives. They also have proportionally larger thrusters and lighter design mass, allowing them greater maneuverability. In combat, speed and maneuverability make frigates immune to long-range fire of larger vessels.
In fleet combat, frigates are organized into "wolf pack" flotillas of four to six. Wolf packs speed through enemy formations, hunting enemy vessels whose kinetic barriers have been taken down by fighter-launched disruptor torpedoes. The wolf pack circle-strafes vulnerable targets, using their superior maneuverability to evade return fire.
Destroyers (Standard and Heavy variants)
Length: 280 m
Width: 100 m
Height: 58 m
Crew: +80
These values are approximates and change with design and variant.
Destroyers are fast maneuverable long-endurance warships intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller more maneuverable attackers. Destroyers use their larger frame to store complements of drone interceptors and a larger GARDIAN array.
In fleet combat, destroyers support larger less mobile vessels with their GARDIAN systems or drone interceptors.
Cruisers (Light, Standard and Heavy variants)
Length: 560 m
Width: 250 m
Height: 120 m
Crew: +600
These values are approximates and change with design and variant.
Cruisers are middle-weight combatants, faster than dreadnoughts, and more heavily-armed than frigates. Cruisers are the standard patrol unit, and often lead frigate flotillas. Cruisers cannot land on medium or high-gravity worlds, but do possess the ability to land on low-gravity planets.
Cruiser-weight starships are the standard combat unit. Nimble scouting frigates have neither the punch nor the stamina to stand up to serious combat, and the mighty dreadnoughts are a limited resource, carefully hoarded and committed to the most critical battles.
Cruisers perform routine independent "show the flag" patrols in settled systems and lead flotillas of frigates in small engagements, such as pirate suppression campaigns.
Dreadnoughts
Length: 1160 m
Width: 300 m
Height: 250 m
Crew: +1400
These values are approximates and change with design; this is especially true for Asari dreadnaughts that are usually twice as big as the standard dreadnaught's.
Dreadnoughts are kilometer-long capital ships mounting heavy, long-range firepower. They are only deployed for the most vital missions. A dreadnought's power lies in the length of its main gun. Dreadnoughts range from 800 meters to one kilometer long, with a main gun of commensurate length. An 800-meter mass accelerator like the ones installed in the Destiny Ascension are capable of accelerating one twenty-kilogram slug to a velocity of 4025 km/s (1.3% the speed of light) every two seconds
Dreadnoughts are so large that it is impossible to safely land them on a planet, and must discharge their drive cores into the magnetic field of a planet while in orbit or into a space station equipped for such labor. The decks of large vessels are arranged perpendicular to the ship's axis of thrust, so that the "top" decks are towards the front of the ship and the "bottom" decks are towards the rear of the ship.
Historically the turians maintain only twenty active dreadnoughts within their patrol fleets and ten more as part of the citadel fleet, the turian hierarchy refuse to build more and have long since switched to produce a much larger amounts of heavy cruisers and carriers this has made dreadnoughts a rarity outside of fleet flagship duty.
Carriers (Light, Standard, Heavy variants)
Length: 800 m
Width: 400 m
Height: 350 m
Crew: +3000
These values are approximates and change with design.
Introduced in the early 2500s by the turian hierarchy as an answer to the harsh stipulations of the Treaty of Farixen in regards to the construction of dreadnoughts, carriers are almost dreadnought-sized vessels that carry a large number of fighters and drop ships. All races provide their fleets with organic fighter support. Cruisers fit a handful in the space between the interior pressure hulls and exterior armor; carriers however are ships that wield fighters and interceptors as the main armament.
In fleet combat, carriers stay clear of battle, launching fighters bearing torpedoes with esoteric warheads. Fighters are the primary striking power of the ship; if a carrier enters mass accelerator range of the enemy, things have gone very wrong.
It is possible to recover and rearm fighters during combat, though most carriers seal the flight deck and try to stay out of the way. The flight deck is essentially a corridor through the armor and into the heart of the vessel. A single well-placed torpedo is enough to gut a carrier.
Combat Support Craft
Drones
Length: 8.5 m
Width: 5 m
Height: 1.5 m
Crew: 0
Drones are VI-piloted Unmanned Space Vehicles that fulfill the roles of scouts, detection platforms, sentry fighters, and FTL maneuvering hazards each class its optimized for its role and sentry drones are equipped with mass accelerator weapons to destroy opposing fighters, all drone classes can be repurposed as anti-ship missiles.
Fighter
Length: 14 m
Width: 10 m
Height: 2 m
Crew: 0-1
Fighters are one-man craft used to perform close-range attacks on enemy ships, they use mass effect enhanced rockets to try and gut the barriers of bigger ships in a single salvo, or if lucky the ship themselves.
Like warships, Fighters use heavy ablative armor that allows them to survive sustained enemy point defense GARDIAN lasers for a few seconds, hopefully giving fighters a chance to survive long enough to unload their payload on an enemy ship.
Interceptors
Length: 12 m
Width: 8 m
Height: 2 m
Crew: 0-1
Interceptors are one-man craft optimized to use mass accelerator weapons to destroy opposing fighters, as fighter armor is optimized to survive GARDIAN laser weaponry; it is vulnerable to the heavy mass accelerator canons used by interceptors.
Shuttle
Length: 16 m
Width: 10 m
Height: 6 m
Crew: +16
Shuttles facilitate personnel transfer between large ships without the need to dock, or between a starship and the ground. Some models are capable of independent FTL travel, and are usually equipped with both mass accelerator cannons and prototype stealth systems.
Drop ships
Length: 35 m
Width: 25 m
Height: 12 m
Crew: +35
Drop ships are capable of deploying personnel, vehicles, weapons, and supplies. Drop ships serve as craft capable of delivering troops and supplies wherever needed once a landing zone has been secured. Drop ships are lightly armed with mounted mass accelerator canons and light mass accelerator turrets.
Corvettes
Length: 40 m
Width: 20 m
Height: 8 m
Crew: 10 - 15
Corvettes are small, ten-man craft usually tasked to perform light combat and survey missions on planets.
Codex Entry (Famous Flagships)
Destiny Ascension
Class: Dreadnought*
Crew: 10,000
Length: 1000 m
Width: 1924 m
Height: 1980 m
Unlike Turians that build their ships around their main guns for maximum offensive effect, the Asari favor barrier strength above firepower in their ships, and this remains true even to the largest dreadnought in the known galaxy the Destiny Ascension.
The Destiny Ascension has the largest barrier curtain field in a starship, the barrier field is capable of creating solid mass effect barriers on top of the standard kinetic barriers to protect it from enemy fire, and if operated well can even deflect enemy dreadnought fire by increasing the strength of the barrier on the targeted section of the ship for a few seconds. The Destiny Ascension is still capable of dealing dreadnought grade damage on its enemies with its two standard eight hundred meters mass accelerators mounted at each side of the central barrier field generator.
Each 800-meter mass accelerator is capable of accelerating one twenty-kilogram slug to a velocity of 4025 km/s every two seconds. Each slug has the kinetic energy of about 38 kilotons of TNT, this and its many smaller mass accelerator turrets make the Destiny Ascension a formidable ship that can survive substantial enemy fire while dishing as much damage as a normal sized patrol fleet on its own.
THN-Unbreakable
Class: Dreadnought
Crew: 12,000
Length: 1260 m
Width: 640 m
Height: 340 m
Commissioned during the Geth uprising the Unbreakable has achieved a reputation of having the best worst luck, it was the only ship of its class to remain in active service to this day and it also has the dubious reputation of just barely surviving the first and only incursion to the Far Rim carried by the Citadel Council. The Ship and its support fleet supposedly remain at the doors of what was once considered Quarian Space, protecting the Battle Station 'Prayer to the Dammed'.
Codex Entry (Ship Systems)
Barrier curtain fields
Reverse engineered from prothean ruins, barrier fields also known as basic Force fields are advanced mass effect fields created from the use of element zero, barrier fields in essence use a high magnitude of positive current of dark energy to increase the density of the space in field itself reducing the speed of light inside it in more than ninety five percent. Used mostly in security check points of military installations, barrier fields allow for the quick deployment of theoretically impenetrable walls at a moments notice, walls that can be sustained as long as the flow of positive dark energy remains.
This technology is not often used in starships because the use of barrier fields increases the static electrical charge build up in the starship drive core, this charge must be grounded at regular intervals, either by touching a planet surface or interacting with a planet's geomagnetic field, to prevent the electricity discharging into the hull and causing catastrophic damage.
GARDIAN point defense
A starship's General ARea Defense Integration Anti-spacecraft Network (GARDIAN) consists of anti-missile and anti-fighter laser turrets on the exterior hull. Because these are under computer control, the gunnery control officer needs to do little beyond turn the system on and designate targets as hostile. While it's possible to use GARDIAN to intercept Mass Accelerator fire, it's considered inefficient to do so as kinetic barriers are more reliable and energy efficient.
Kinetic Barriers
Kinetic barriers, commonly called shields, provide protection against most mass accelerator weapons. Whether on starships or a soldier's suit of armor, the basic principle remains the same.
Kinetic barriers are repulsive mass effect fields projected from tiny emitters. These shields safely deflect small objects traveling at rapid velocities, in combat kinetic barriers can be used to cause the premature detonation of incoming high speed ordinance or to slow and redirect slower moving objects over a larger distance, a reflex countermeasure response and analysis VI is tasked to operate the system for the sake of efficiency, but kinetic barriers can be keep operational for hours if the need arises.
Cyclonic Barrier Technology (CBT) attempts to solve the higher-end limitations of traditional kinetic barriers. Traditional barriers cannot block high-level kinetic energy attacks or attacks from disruptor torpedoes because torpedoes possess mass effect fields of their own. The CBT violently slaps aside rather than halting incoming linear force. By rotationally firing their mass effect field projectors, ships create rapidly oscillating kinetic barriers instead of static ones. Shooting through the CBT is like trying to shoot at a target inside a spinning ball.
Its many high-frequency sensors and emitters require frequent maintenance and replacement. A partially damaged CBT can endanger its operator, who is surrounded by rotating mass effect fields skewing in unpredictable directions. Fortunately, if an emitter is damaged, the CBT corrects to become a traditional shield array, a safety feature that makes it most effective during opening volleys.
Pulse Barrier Technology (PBT) taking advantage of the mass increasing fields deployed by ships to mitigate the effects of momentum during heavy bombardment, Pulse Barrier Technology is little more than an advanced targeting and VI adjusted algorithm that combines the fire rate of the mass accelerator canons and current cyclical capabilities of the emitters to time strong and temporary increasing mass effect pulses, the pulse quickly changes the proprieties of the space-time around the ship. Incoming Kinetic impactors will encounter the new and expanding medium and flatten themselves in it, the significant energy intensive operation of this mode limits its use and value during combat as the ship has reduced mobility inside the field, its use lies in bombardment against targets with limited mobility.
Ablative Absorption Armor (AAA)
Similar to fortification in heavy infantry armors and vehicles, Ablative Absorption Armor reinforces fighter grade armors with a non-Newtonian fluid that hardens when struck by low level kinetic impactors, and boils when struck by GARDIAN defenses, using the mass effect fields to hold the Ablative non-Newtonian solution at a reasonable distance increases the drive core static build up rate, thus is not recommended to use Ablative Absorption Armor outside of combat.
Codex Entry (Space Station)
Space stations are artificial structures built and maintained to facilitate space travel, defense, or resource gathering.
Stations can be built from scratch or, occasionally, built up on existing bodies like asteroids. They normally occupy a fixed position inside a star system or remain in orbit around a planet. Large structures like the Citadel - which does not orbit a fixed point, aside from its position near the Widow - have sophisticated navigation systems and engines to correct their motion and maintain their position. Most stations have drive discharge points, allowing starships to dump their core charge safely.
Codex Entry (Space Station Classification)
Trade Stations/Gateway/Space Ports - As they are often to be found near mass relay nexuses, these space stations can become key points for commerce. 'Gateway' facilities provide communication hubs, and starship docks and can build up a sizable population. Orbital stations - such as Asteroids orbiting colonies or Moon Bases - also allow an easy way to transfer goods for travelers that wish to offload their merchandize as their customs restrictions are more relaxed than the ones on the proper colonies that they orbit.
Battle Stations/Defence Stations/Listening Post - Having a Defense station in orbit around a colony can give early warning in the event of an attack. Orbital superiority is key in modern warfare, so Defense stations also allow control of situations on the ground. Battle Stations are heavily armed space stations placed in key strategy relays and are usually assigned a Fleet for sector defense, Listening Post serve a similar purpose to Battle Stations but are placed in less important sectors and are assigned elements of a fleet (usually a Group of Frigates).
Habitats - A space habitat (also called a space colony, space settlement or orbital colony) is a type of space station, intended as a permanent settlement rather than as a simple way-station or other specialized facility. They are usually build around Trade Stations, Space Ports or the occasional large scale mining operation.
Research - Stations are ideal platforms for long-term experiments, scientific processes that require low or zero-gravity, or astronomical observations. If research is too risky to conduct on a colony - for example, developing an AI - or is highly classified - a space station is the ideal alternative, allowing easy containment and isolation. In the event of a catastrophic safety breach, the station can be destroyed to keep the experiment contained.
Codex Entry (Famous Space Stations)
The Citadel
Supposedly constructed by the long-extinct Protheans, this colossal deep-space station serves as the capital of the Citadel Council. Gravity is simulated through rotation, and is a comfortable 1.02 standard G's on the Wards and a light 0.3 standard G's on the Presidium Ring.
Total Length (Open): 44.7km
Diameter (Open): 12.8km
Population: 17 million (not including keepers)
Gross Weight: 7.11 billion metric tons
Omega
Built in the mined-out husk of a metallic asteroid, Omega has been a haven for criminals, terrorists, and malcontents for thousands of years. At times the station has lain idle and abandoned for centuries, only to be reactivated by a new group of outlaws seeking a fresh start. The space station's original elegant design has given way to haphazard expansion by scrabbling factions of every species. There is no central government or unifying authority on Omega, and nobody can recall a time there ever was one.
Population: 8.4 million
Total Length: 44.7 Km
Diameter: 22.7 Km
Battle Station 'Prayer to the Dammed'
Moved to Tassrah System in the year 2401 (GS) after the failed expedition into Quarian space in the year 2397 (GS) the SB-28TA00 renamed 'prayer to the dammed' remains to this day among the largest FTL capable battle stations ever build. A great deal of the information related to the station, its complement of ships and the Tassrah system remain classified to this day. The battle station and its fleet complement remain stationed in the Tassrah system monitoring Geth Space to the best of their ability.
Total Length: 46.5 km (Originally)
Total Width: 12.8 km (Originally)
Total Height: 11.3 km (Originally)
See Quarian Genocide
Codex Entry (Miscellaneous)
Treaty of Farixen.
The Treaty of Farixen is a treaty signed by Council races limiting the number of dreadnoughts among the different Citadel races in their given fleets. At the Farixen Naval Conference, the Council races agreed to fix a ratio of dreadnought construction between themselves due to their destructive potential. At the top of the pyramid is the peacekeeping turian fleet which makes up most of the Citadel Fleet. Second, are the other Council races - the asari and the salarians. Council associate races, like the hanar and volus, are at the bottom of the list.
The ratio of turian to Council to associate dreadnoughts is 4:3:1, which essentially means for every four dreadnoughts the turians construct, the asari and salarians are allowed three, and all other Citadel races one. Signing the Treaty of Farixen is a requirement for any race wishing to open an embassy on the Citadel.
Carriers are megalithic ships that have a similar general design to that of Dreadnoughts. The only difference is that Carriers are designed to carry and transport mass amounts of vehicles, fighters, interceptors, and troops across the galaxy. Dreadnoughts are specifically designed to combat enemy ships in a space combat environment and/or bombard planetary targets. The construction of Carriers is not included in the Treaty of Farixen policy resulting in no legal limit upon building any number of Carriers for any race.