What can be said about Humanity's first 900 years exploring space except that it was rather unremarkable. There were no technological leaps pushing knowledge centuries or millennia into the future. No mastery gained over the art of void travel that wasn't earned through tireless trial and error. It was nothing more than the slow and natural progression of a fledgling species' first steps into that starry sky. And yet this dullness by itself made Humanity's progression highly unusual amongst its peers. In a galaxy of the Catalyst's design, it was nigh impossible.
Humanity began their journey as a space-faring race as most species do. By colonizing the closest celestial bodies available. First by establishing a base on the Moon, followed a decade later by a settlement on the desert planet of Mars. Notable was that neither the desert planet nor the rest of the system contained any sort of technological stash from some long dead galactic empire. Disturbing was the lack of even the system's local relay. Due to a navigational error made some millions of years ago, the aforementioned Mass Relay was currently hurtling hundreds of light years off course in the middle of dark space (It would be millennia yet before anyone would make the connection).
And that really was the crux of the matter. Add to this a scarcity in local Element Zero deposits and you have a star system that is both far out of the way and holds no incentives for would-be explorers.
In this way the Humans of the Sol system carried on in their humble isolation. Far away from the gaze of intrepid observers as well as Sovereign's eternal vigil. A minor species that would hardly register as a speck in a minor arm of the vast Milky Way. Out of sight and certainly out of mind.
Such descriptions were relative, of course. In this age of the Great Council races, Humanity hadn't yet figured out a way to travel to the nearest star system in a time period that was anything less than several millennia.
While the settlers of Mars were struggling to keep the lights on, the Salarians were erecting massive solar arrays constantly pushing the cutting edge in Galactic power production. While Humanity emerged from the Jupiter Wars battered and perhaps a little wiser, Grand Turian Battlefleets secured peace and stability across the trillions of stars contained within Citadel Space. As Earth's politicians were confronted with the prospect of total resource depletion of crucial raw materials, the Citadel's elite were off throwing lavish parties in their Asari luxury barges. While the Quarians were fighting to the death with a mechanical monstrosity of their own creation, the Humans were enjoying the benefits of having long since granted their AI's full citizenship in centuries past.
Perhaps for this reason, one can be forgiven for believing Humanity's position on the galactic stage to be one of great misfortune. After all, what can guarantee missing out on the choice picks more than being late to the party? When the Reaper's laid waste to the Citadel races of old, where no one from the most vile Batarian pirate to the most respected Asari Matriarch was spared. Having the Great Destroyer hop over your system, presuming it uninhabited or otherwise searched, was a blessing beyond any other.
It was then as the ashen remains of Sur'Kesh, Palaven, and Thessia finally cooled that Humanity's interstellar journey began.
In this galaxy, no Shepard will ever meet the individuals known as Garrus Vakarian, Liara T'Soni, or Tali'Zorah. For they have long since been immortalized within the Reaper Collective. Humanity will never exchange brief fire with the Turians at Shanxi, forge trade partnerships with the Salarians, nor debate philosophy with the Asari.
But perhaps…they would find what comes after.
AN: Hello, everyone!
I'm not entirely sure where to take this story. It's just been an idea that's been stuck in my head for years and is finally being let out of its cage. Right now I'm mostly thinking of separating the story into three acts. Each being a somewhat self contained story.
And in these kinds of stories I absolutely hate when Humans are depicted to be so overpowered that the other races look brain dead in comparison. Making them both powerful yet balanced is probably one of the things I'll struggle the most with in my writing. It is my hope that they struggle and persevere through their hardships because no great achievement would ever be so if it was easy.