Chapter 22. On the Galactic Events of the Age. The Asari Ascendancy, The Salarian Genomachia and The Krogan Resurgence.
Never in the history of the galaxy have so many players decided to play a game for its future, some, unwilling were dragged by the great galactic players who left them no choice but to join or perish on their own, others through sensing opportunity for glory and simple minded killing like Krogan, joined out of their own volition, their very existence meaningless in this ever insane galaxy.
Alien Races opened their own relays only to see metal Gods butchering the nearby inhabited worlds with viscous contempt, their first experience of the galactic void was one filled with anger and misery as they saw that the great promise of expansion was nothing but a walk to the meat grinder.
These unlucky races that happened to be within the sphere of the Citadel Domain were quickly invited into the Citadel Empire Federation with promises of protection and progress, many accepted without much given thought, as the price for rejection was isolation and eventual extinction all alone in the galaxy which did not care anymore.
Some were cursed and opened their relay welcoming the reapers directly into their home systems, their silent screams echoing the darkest voids for no one to hear as the primordial nightmares flooded the system and soon silence fell upon them.
Citadel Federation Empire became a grim place in those days, their idealism and pride quickly turned to steely determination and desire to weather out the storm coming from the galactic west. The reapers were slow, methodical, and most of all, uncaring. They besieged a world and remained there, harvesting and exterminating, building more of their numbers with each passing day, the colonists which fled were mostly ignored by the black ships, many were shot as they ascended to orbit, or if they ventured too close to them, but they were not always pursued, the Reapers knew. There was no place in the galaxy they could hide, they would find them, and they would kill them.
In this war of attrition there was no stopping the reapers, methods of war used by the Citadel Empire simply postponed the advance, they gave out one planet of civilians to save 2 filed with industrial capacity which churned massive amounts of weapons for the war effort.
It was truly miraculous sight to see what kind of machinations were invented in those days, gone are the days of thermal clips and weapons which cooled at the cost of the fire rate.
It is worth noting that the Asari were the leaders in this new age of warfare, their society shaken to its very core by the Reaper invasion. The previous Matriarchs were silently and swiftly removed from positions of power in favour of the more war hungry and aggressive ones, the former commandoes and pirates now sat at the head of the Asari Republics, the ever individualist republics were forced to shed some of their liberty for the sake of security, no longer were they allowed to produce items of vanity but instead dedicated themselves to technological and material pursuits to benefit the war effort, much to the chagrin of the former ruling matriarchs and the young Asari whom in their own words "did not found themselves yet" before being given weapons and thrust into the meat grinder, uncared by the new government.
The asari fielded energy weapons powered by their very beings, their own biotics, blue arcs of energy spewed from their rifles as they melted the husks charging at them, the strength of the beam depending on the biotic prowess of the user. These weapons were made by the oldest and smartest scientists of the asari after tinkering with the imperial Lasguns captured in various ways. Combined with more than a bit desperation such invention was made. There were talks about the side effects, shortened lifespans, cancers to the users, and eventual coma and potential to end brain dead from overusing the weapons.
But in the nightmare of the galaxy, such trivial concerns were ignored for the sake of sheer survival.
Specialization began to take hold, Asari slowly drifted away from their commando roots and took various professions. Highly powerful Asari, like Matriarchs, whom wielded biotics with absurd strength had specialized power suits fashioned for them, these greatly expanded their power, and they used those suits and its dual canons to maximum effect, melting fields of husks and brutes with ease. Greater number of these Matriarch soldiers could even challenge a reaper destroyer on the ground, if consistent with their attacks could weaken the shields long enough for the killing blow to be delivered.
There were also rumors about a special type of asari, one never before seen, a creature of such vast power it frightened even its own kin. The rumor say these asari were biotic wielders of incredible might even before the change happened to them. But when the wound in reality on Anhur was made, and it spewed its vile filth on the galaxy triggering a change In the biological makeup on most races, this created a new type of Asari.
These Asari were nicknamed "Dual Wielders" for they used both Biotics and Psyker energies, these new creatures terrified both friend or foe, their power was vast, and it only took one of those to change the fortunes on the battlefield. But they were so desperately rare that most of those were not even used for battle, but attempts at breeding them would commence after much coercion with the users themselves.
Combined with the quick growth technology which was forbidden until the start of the war, potentially this would mean that they could breed and grow the asari psykers within a year and use them for war.
This is how the incident Beta came to be.
On the planet Mala this program commenced, two asari psykers sired an offspring, after the natural birth the child was given to the project scientists whom quickly placed it into quick growth tank, in it, it was fed information about the galaxy, about the war and how to wage it, all the things it would need when the 1 year time ended and it could be used.
And so the time came, the Asari has grown in the vat, its pigmentation changed, taking much darker color, very dark blue, almost black, it was also more muscly and taller than the common asari, the explanation that its new metabolism of a psyker has given it greater strength.
The release procedure was activated by the eager scientists hard pressed by their governments to produce new war assets.
Growth waters flushed down the special tubes emptying the tank rapidly. And the Asari inside stumbled to her knees. Then the tube glass has opened and her fall was mitigated by two scientists grasping her with their arms, their first bioweapon.
"Do you understand me? "one asari scientist was noted to have asked the dazed Asari Psyker.
"yes…" the cold and vibrating voice answered as it opened its eyes. They were of unknown color to the asari, purple.
"Do you know who you are?" another question followed, by this point the Asari Psyker stood on its own two feet and towered full two head over the average asari, it gently cracked its bones as it felt the gravity for the first time.
"I do" it responded and uncaringly grasped the scientist's head between her hands.
"le…go…kh" the scientist gargled ,her feet swinging wildly in the air. Her colleague smacked the emergency button and guards were rushing in.
Asari psyker then screamed into the scientist's face , her eyes glowing bright purple and ethereal energy erupting, after a second the twitching of the scientist ended and it became a dry husk, void of life.
The creature tossed the corpse aside and turned to the guard detail and the other scientist.
"It drained her fully, by the Goddess!" the soldier responded.
"The yakshi! It is an ardat yakshi! Only they do this" the scientist screamed.
And she was correct, the experimental gene did produce a psyker, but unknown to the Asari in general, the psyker mutation in the asari caused that whenever two psykers bred the result of that breeding was always an ardat yakshi, it was an utter and total abomination, the yakshi vampiric nature combined with immense biotic and psyker potential created what was an "Alpha Asari", the first of its kind and an insanely powerful creature.
The two Asari Guard opened fire upon the creature, blue energy washing over the biotic shield with ease causing no harm, and split second later the Alpha Asari Psyker lept and closed distance, it ripped the gun from the hands of one guard, along with its arms , a single scream from the psyker and its head exploded.
The second one was not so lucky as to die so gently, the creature grasped the top of her head and cracked it open like an egg all the way to its jaw, blood and spit flew as the guard shook in immense pain, the creature did not even took time to drain its energies and just simply let it fall down.
Swaying its hips the muscly Asari gently approached the scared scientist and knelt down next to her.
"Aw, you poor thing. Do not worry, I will not hurt you" The voice was poison, pure silky smooth poison, infested with warp energy and the unrestrained lustfulness and charisma of the Ardat yakshi, it wormed its way deep into the mind of the scientist, crawling like little bugs all over, shivers ran up her spine, and her breast became aroused, pupils dilated and expanded, lips shook gently in anticipation of what is to happen next. The scientist became enthralled with a simple gesture of the Alpha Asari.
"Good girl" she caressed her face which brought her immense pleasure and ecstasy. "I need you to do something for me, would you help me gorgeous?"
"Yes…anything for you mistress…" was the only response the overexcited scientist spoke to the Alpha.
The Alpha smiled with obvious satisfaction, She was now enjoying the enthralled scientist fully under her absolute dominion. No more free will, only her will.
"Now. We have work to do".
What happened next was not exactly known under the historical chronicles of the time, for the records were purged and the facility itself looted of all technology, whether by opportunistic pirates which swelled in enormous numbers during those dark years, or by the Alpha Asari herself, it is not known.
Clues and pieces of what possibly happened only became known to the observing and keen minds, for the general population of the galaxy they seemed like accidents. Asari psykers were kidnaped from their fortified homes, the only clues as to what happened was the biotic and psyker discharge as the fighting occurred in their homes.
Sometimes the corpses of the dead Asari Psykers disappeared from the battlefield before they could be retrieved, all witnesses dead by the unknown culprits.
Worst yet were the news of hidden ardat yakshi monasteries being attacked by the unknown commandoes who attacked quickly and left no survivors. As of yet, no ardat yakshi hidden in the monasteries were found, for they were all gone from their sacred places of seclusion.
If the Alpha is still alive and acting, one could only imagine the designs of the abominable creature with the captured asari and the corpses of the psykers. It is not unknown for the alien neo psykers to be drawn to the Eye of Anhur, the maelstrom of raw energy drawing them there like bugs to light. Many were called to that hellish place that even the Reapers seem to avoid like a plague.
Another faction which saw prominence as the stars grew dim from the sheer numbers of the reapers were the Salarians. Their short lifespan and the mad fast metabolism allowed them to be spectacular scientists, but their bodies, unless honed from birth , were utterly useless in combat.
The race itself preferred to deal with their rivals through espionage, cover operations and other acts which were carried out in silence, never an open war. And this became a horrifying realization when the reapers assaulted via their enthralled proxy race of Korvinx.
Korvinx were wolf like creatures, lifespan of up to 50 years, they walked on all four, had six eyes on their heads and were vicious by their very nature, nearly as tall as a common human while on all four, their very own strong physique did not require tools to wage war, yet they did carried them. Donning metal armour and swords that supplemented their claws, they were some of the finest melee warriors in the galaxy.
But they were also a preflight species.
It is In such form that Reapers found them when they opened a relay to their system at the outskirts of the galaxy near the pale stars at the galactic south west.
Usually these creatures would be left alone, perhaps ascending as the new space faring race in the next cycle.
But there were no more cycles, and reapers cared not, for they descended upon the metal age world of Korvinx itself just as the world's two biggest empires were stuck in what was a thousand year war, and with no clear winner in sight the reapers showed themselves and obliterated one of the beleaguered side which surrendered that same month to the new "Star Gods"
It did not take too long for reapers to convince, conquer and indoctrinate the planet that they should fight for them. Within the year the Reapers had a great staging ground for the superb shock troopers of the Korvinx. And with their rather fast breeding cycle, they could deploy them all over the galactic battlefield.
Their first deployment occurred against the salarian border worlds of the Citadel Empire. It was a massacre. The Korvinx could not be frightened, for they were led by an Alpha, and the Alpha's courage was the packs courage. Even in case of the Alpha dying, the pack itself would soon have a battle between 10 of the strongest creatures, the one who won was the new alpha.
The Pack is a standard military unit of Korvinx, it means 1001 unit. The alpha, and his 1000 soldiers.
The 10 packs create Dominus Pax. Don't let the world "Pax "fool you, the peace in the word meant that the world was cleansed from all life forms, hence there is now everlasting peace on it, brought by the Korvinx.
There are a rumors of Alph-an-alph. The Alpha of Alphas. But nobody has ever seen the great wolf himself.
When the Korvinx were deployed, usually in 10 packs per battlefield, each pack had a mission, wheater to destroy power, cut the industry, terrorize civilians, etc. they have done their task with incredible success, the salarians who tried to fought with their frail bodies were turned into gore pieces scattered all over the cities, for the Korvinx could scale walls with their claws, reaching forts and high apartment buildings with ease.
And now with reaper technology and their very own personal shielding, all they had to do was weather the hail of bullets and enter the melee range, then, it was all red mist and carnage.
Full three worlds of the Salarians were turned into the Korvinx feeding grounds. And some 30 million civilians died in the first month of the Korvinx deployment, devoured and hunted all across the worlds by the ever hungry creatures, whom to the horror of the Salarians, were not really modified, or huskified. In truth, the Korvinx were savage and blood lusting race, it did not matter to them what they killed, most of them were not even indoctrinated. they saw the galaxy teeming with life and meat, and were more than eager to devour it. Only the most stubborn of alphas were indoctrinated to serve the reapers, the rest just slaughtered for the beauty of it.
The Reapers saw their deployment as an unmitigated success and would from this moment onwards use them in most battlefields of the galaxy in varying amounts.
The 3 initial Dominus Pax assemblies of the Korvinx were ordered to push deeper into Citadel Empire. Some 25000 wolf creatures, supplemented by several tens of thousands of huskified creatures soon found a minor mixed colony of Asari and Salarians.
Here, the limited amount of the Asari energy rifles proved to be efficient against the packs, overloading the personal shielding and carving deep into the wolf creatures.
The initial wave of flesh was stopped from invading the rather well entrenched world of stubborn defenders. They were not idle as the last worlds burnt. Also they had a contingent of 5000 Krogan mercenaries on the ground, whom were very eager for the conflict. And highly paid by the Asari patrons.
As the capital city of the Xania was ever fortified, the outlying smaller cities and villages were evacuated. But many did not even stood a chance, beset by the Korvinx they were slaughtered to a man, the creatures never offered surrender or cared for it. even when one city surrendered fully without battle it made the korvinx job that easier as they flooded the streets and buildings, killing everything that moved.
Still, the Xania seemed like a last beacon of hope, the civilians were being extracted thanks to the volus merchant fleet in the system, but it was not enough, and with each passing minute settlements around the globe went dark.
When the moon of Xania was at its peak, illuminating the vast plains stretching in front of the city, then the howl came. Guttural and unnatural, vox enhanced in order to spread fear, it reverberated through the plains and the air carried it to the city defenders who sat afraid in their bunkers and improvised fortifications.
Then the Assault came, 3 packs launched direct and frontal assault, rushing across the plain in a veritable tide of black hide.
The High Commander of Asari, Itina Usmil, fired a flare into the sky, and with a viscious crack the plains were more visible.
The signal given, the defenders instantly opened fire at the approaching enemy, bullets ricocheted against the personal shielding, various slug and energy weapon was unleashed, bigger caliber rifle blasted through the shielding of the Korvinx and felled them easily, breaking bone and flesh.
There were few mechanized vehicles in the city, those fired anti-personnel burning rounds, it kept burning through the shielding, collapsing them quickly. And when impacting the black wolves it caused dread among their number, for all dark creatures instinctively feared the agent of light, fire.
the initial onslaught grinded to a halt. Ditches filled with spikes, and mines placed around the city halted the creatures, and with a howl, the alphas ordered a retreat.
There was an instant and horrifying silence, even as the crackle of fire burnt on the field, the Korvinx were nowhere in sight. But they were there, in the forests, waiting and watching.
It didn't took long, as 22 guttural howls surrounding the city echoed through stone ,metal and flesh.
It was a signal for an all-out attack, the previous one tested the defenses, and it found them lacking.
Then like a veritable tide of flesh and fang, the 22 packs flooded outwards and towards the city, uncaring of anything except that they kill and feed.
The initial dread filled survivors hesitated for split moment, before one asari, her head armored by a helmet of unknown design shouted louder than it should be possible.
"FIRE!" the order was not just heard, it was felt, it was sensed, and it commanded obedience to the giver. For the Asari Psykers were a dominating presence wherever they are.
The survivors, shaken out of their stupor opened fired on all sides at the encroaching tide of hungry beasts.
Mines, guns and traps done their work, and the tide was thinning, but not close enough to make a dent which could be exploited. Soon enough, they were at the ramparts.
Bionic users tried to halt the tide, but the wards which the Korvinx carried on their person negated the users. Those unable to adapt were rend to ribbons, those who saw the futility of bionic attacks ,used their powers to grasp rocks and other huge debris and throw them at the enemy, this helped somewhat.
But they fled from the first barricades deeper into the city followed by the beasts.
This is where the second phase of the defense plan came to be , the krogan mercenaries, whom seen limited action until this point were let loose. And their hunger for battle showed as they used their shotguns in close range to a devastating effect, their volleys butchered the creatures. And when they came close, the krogan did not panic, but simply used the blunt edges of the shotguns as clubs and resumed their carnage.
Many fell to the blood rage, such was a horrifying battle that they did not notice themselves being wounded or mauled beyond salvation, all these blood raged krogans had one thing in mind, killing their enemies. And they have done that, claw against club, bullet against fang, they turned a combat into a brawl, these 5000 mercenary krogan were no newborn, most of them were centuries old, and they knew how to fight, even against feral beasts.
The initial counter attack of the Krogan surprised the Korvinx, and they lost several packs to these blood crazed battlemasters. But still they kept coming.
Seeing their krogan comrades fighting and dying for them, the remaining population and soldiery were roused to new heights, they climbed from the holes they were hiding, and from the windows they opened fire even as they joined the krogan as support roles.
This time the Packs were slowed to a stalemate, being butchered in the small streets and open plains, the alphas tried to lead several packs through the sewers and directly into the city. but the Asari Commander assumed the creatures would do that. And so waited for the creatures to enter. Then when they filled the tunnels, the commander sent a message to her demolition teams to blast the foundations of the river. They were mined with a high yield explosives beforehand, and when the order came they activated them, blasting safeguards and the river flooded into the sewers, catching the creatures unawares whom began a blind panicked retreat outside. 2 packs drowned along with their alphas in the maze of collapsed tunnels beneath the city. Only the remains of the 3rd managed to escape, barely dozens of them without their alpha, the creatures had no time to elect a new leader, being surprised by the local asari force and burnt alive with their flame throwers.
Inside the city was the first recorded footage of what an Asari Psyker can do. With strength of many Justicars, it descended in the midst of the Krogan battle line, and then began to fight in hand to hand combat with the creatures.
Her fists were combination of blue biotics and purple lightning, each impact obliterated the shield and the body of the wolf creatures, and she was fast, very fast. She screamed at one Korvinx creature and broke it like a doll, it just fell, fur burnt away by searing warp magic.
Her fingers unleashed lightning which ignored the shielding and ate through the flesh and soul alike.
One creature came into melee with her, hand to hand they grappled. The creature roared in her face defiantly, she returned the roar, and exploded its head like glass. It fell to the ground lifelessly.
But even her, a one woman army, could not hold on her own, and soon bodies thrown at her caused her to fall back, pounced quickly by a Korvinx wolf, seconds before the creature tore her head off it was stopped, grasped on its neck by a mountain of flesh and muscle, the Krogan mercenary leader, he clenched his fist and the creature squealed, the he used his other hand and lifted it up, much to its useless flailing. Then with a swift stroke, he broke its back on his knee before discarding the dead wolf aside.
Standing over the Asari he offered her his hand. She eagerly grasped it and was lifted up.
"Thank you" her voice full of might said to him. "What is your name? "
The krogan responded, his voice equally as strong.
"Wrex. Now, let us finish this"
The duo then rejoined the battle with renewed zeal, such was the inspiring presence of the two that it caused many covering and afraid combatants and civilians to pick up arms and join once more unto glory or death.
The great wolfen tide kept pouring in, defenders fell one by one, concentrated fire and steely resolve taking toll onto the horde, but they pushed relentlessly, whole city blocks were lost, creatures eager for blood climbed into windows of apartment buildings, most which were luckily empty save for combatants within them.
Those filled with civilians unwilling to evacuate soon turned to charnel houses, in the grim twist of fate, these bought more time for the beleaguered defenders, for each home that the Korvinx took time devouring was a minute more the defenders sorely needed.
Hour by hour they were pushed backwards until they had to fall back to the space port itself, it was teeming with afraid masses of civilians and noncombatants, wounded and old. They all awaited the return of the Volus merchant fleet to rescue them.
There were screams across the city itself as pockets and civilian remnants were dealt with by the Korvinx, and then, all was silence.
The defenders knew, they were the last ones remaining.
Then a howl came from deep within the lost zone of the city, and he wolf creatures attacked once more, their number harshly depleted, but still the monsters were unrelenting in their desire to claim this world.
Unleashing all they had into the tide, what remained of the defenders knew that this was it, and they decided to go remembered.
Even as the combat was ongoing, the civilians screamed in utter terror, crying and praying for salvation, at one point the wolf creature passed through the barricade and rushed onto the crowd of civilians, it rended few of them apart with incredible ease with its metallic claws, and then surged towards another asari holding a smaller child. The mother turned her body as an improve shield to protect her child, but the little girl had her eyes wide open and yelled defiantly.
"NO! " her hand was raised towards the charging monster and her whole body unleashed a pulse of raw biotic and psyker energy, weak as it was, it stunned the creature for a moment, giving a krogan commando his chance to blast it apart with his shotgun to its back.
The girl slumped into her mother's hands losing conscience. Her mother cradled her and cried sorrowfully as she saw blood leaking from her eyes, nose and mouth. The girl was unresponsive, and her mother could do nothing but echo a cry which pierced the heavens with her grief.
As a response the heavens split open and the tide of flying fighter/bomber craft descended upon the planet and unleashed its ordinance upon the Korvinx.
The wolf creatures were surprised by this event, stuck between an anvil and a hard place those few remaining alphas echoed a mournful cry to retreat, as they fell back they were hunted by the survivors on the ground and the descending Turian Shock troopers.
Driven inside the forests near the city , their numbers catastrophically destroyed, the wolfs were stuck and tried to hide, but the sortie of the Turians burnt the forests and hopefully all the creatures inside it.
After the turian reinforcements established ground control, they established a perimeter, and sought to determine the origin of this new enemy. The death toll was beyond reason, in the planet of 13 milion people, some 7 million were dead, most of them in the outlying cities and places outside the control of the main city of Xania. The death toll for the defending soldiers was as high as 90%, the Krogan mercenaries were thinned to 200 of their number.
The exact number of deployed Korvinx is unknown, but there were more than 22000 bodies across the battlefield, along with innumerable husk creatures of various sorts, and some 2000 to 3000 drowned creatures in the sewers bellow.
This was the first true battle the Citadel Empire had against this new foe, and they were bloodied and humbled to extreme.
Afterwards, the Turians kept evacuation of the planet, deeming it unsafe should another incursion happen. As the last civilians and the last fighters climbed their transport ships they could hear something in the distance. A howl echoing the burnt forests surrounding the city, defiantly reminding them of the enemy which could never truly be defeated.
The ships ascended, and one Turian gunner, out of pettiness, or due to shaken nerves at the sight of what happened on the planet opened his orbital canon towards the forest, instantly causing a crater some 1km wide and obliterating everything in the radius.
When questioned by his superior officer, his only response was.
"It was the only way to be sure."
The officer looked the other way this time, and the fleet retreated to more defensible worlds of the Citadel Empire, in these dark days, every outlying world standing at the outskirt of the Citadel space was a target for myriad of horrors prowling the void, ever hungry to the bidding of their various masters.
As for the Krogans and their involvement, there are rumors of a deal they made with the powerful asari matriarchs whom originated from this world and had families on it.
their exact reward was unknown, but it is known that Wrex returned victorious to his home world of Tuchanka and quickly took reign of the whole planet, what promises he had for his people were fulfilled by the looks of the events that took place soon after he took control.
For the Salarians, whom by now lost 4 worlds in a span of 2 months, there was panic. Panic and total overhaul of the ways they thought of themselves and the galaxy as a whole.
Korvinx were the enemy which made them question their whole structure. It was not an enemy which could be stopped by terrorist or quick attack actions, the death of alpha did not stop them, they quickly chose a new one, and as one attacked once more, ever organized, ever efficient.
They could not be afraid by common tactics used by Salarians, and their overwhelming physical power proved to be disastrous for the weak bodied amphibians, whom stood zero chances in close proximity combat the Korvinx preferred.
So the Salarians tempered with DNA, namely theirs.
Taking pieces of DNA from other races, the Krogan, the Asari, even increased tendon strength from the Korvinx themselves. They molded their bodies to best suit the galaxy at war, what spawned was a creature towering over turian, human and asari alike, with endurance of the Krogan, and the biotic potential of the Asari. It was a horrifying sight to behold, a whole new subspecies originated in the Gene labs of Sur Kesh. It was never a question can the Salarians do this, their genome being highly modable to begin with, it was a question of should they.
And millions of dead comrades ripped to shreds and eaten was enough to convince them.
This was not the first time the Salarians gene moded themselves, last time they did they have created the outcasts of their own race, the Lystheni, these were modified salarians with the genes of the Krogan, it increased their lifespan dramatically. But not much is known about them, they lived among the Batarians mostly, and the Batarians are not planet bound species anymore, not officially.
The new Salarian was not like the New Quarians of the Quarian Reich, where the new quarians are just original quarians with vaccinations which increased their immunities, and better health technologies which increased their lifespans, the quarians benefited from their new therapies, it helped them live without their masks like other galactic races, they were named "New" because they were better aspects of what their people could be given the chance, but deep down on the genetic level, they were the same.
The New Salarian was not, it had less to do with Salarians than other races, the only Salarian thing about it was its head and body, and even that was stretching it. The new salarian, which was named "Kriksamos" from the word "Krik" meaning strong, and Samos, "Long, Long living" gave this new race a name, Strong and Long Living.
But for the sake of this Chronicle the word Kriksamos and New Salarian, would be used respectively.
I will take moments to detail the appearance of this new race, for they were truly miracles of the technology and gene tempering. We are not sure of the lifespan and how long can they live, we know the physical attributes of it, for we have no direct access to the Salarian Gene Labs, not yet anyway.
The New Salarian had a very strong muscle mass, no doubt taken from the Krogan, this in turn had a side effect of making them hunch slightly, not that noticeably and they lack the krogan humps, but the gene is there, and so is the great strength. They also have 2 hearts, but not 4 lungs of the krogan, so the two they already have were gene reinforced to withstand the pressure.
Their chest is unnaturally coated in metallic carapace, akin to the turians, how the salarians mixed Dextro and Amino acid genomes is a question which eluded all answers until deeper into the Reaper war, this single event nearly caused the collapse of the Citadel Empire and the Civil war, but this is not here or there, it will be covered, for so much has happened in these opening days of the galactic wars several books couldn't cover it.
But still, the new salarian had a turian origin ,at least partially, giving them tougher carapace, but as a side effect, teeth. Namely the Turian sharp teeth of the predator, this alone set this creature apart from its kin. No longer was a Salarian prey species, now it is a predator species, this caused much instinctual fear in the original salarians towards this new creature, not only did it tower them, but could also consider them prey due to its dominating mindset.
The most unstable gene which this creature was gifted with was the Asari genome. For all asari have inborn ability to channel biotics, and with the Eye of Anhur opening, of all xeno races they had the possibility of turning psyker.
Salarians felt nothing as they saw the hole on anhur, no psyker awakening, no reaction to it. they were nulls, they did not exist in the warp, such was their lifespan that it could not link soul to that accursed place.
They suffered badly on the battlefields due it. Asari psykers were indeed rare, but also curiously stable….for the most part. For many of the awakening psykers were centuries old asari from the most stable of bloodlines.
So the salarians tried to correct this misfortune, by including asari genome in their creation. The results were…not impressive for the most part. The creature could not project any warp powers, the only thing it had was some modest protection from warp borne powers, and asari tentacles on its head. Much to the disappointment of the scientists whom expected their new toy to be a warp super user.
Here and there, minor improvements were given to the creature until it stood 2 meters tall and were an improvement over the common Salarian in every way.
Every way except breeding that is.
The breeding cycle of the New Salarian was abysmally slow, so painfully slow that they considered cloning just so they can use the creature in wars. For so much was done to make it strong that the genome became rather unstable,
Tinkering here and there, they tried to fix this issue, making it tolerable enough for the project to be deemed a success. The New Salarian was hence born. And unlike the Alpha Asari, it was stable, the natural clan obedience of the salarians was ingrained into its very being, and from the moment it was born it served the Salarian nation. Although it tend to have a domination complex, always seeing the other salarians as inferior to it.
Like the incident on their first application to the battlefields of the planet Bor.
By that point some 2000 were made or born, depending what the salarian doctors tried to do, even tempering with the genome to increase its breeding speed.
They were promptly deployed to Bor to relieve the beleaguered Salarian defense team.
Bor was a small outer colony world, away from the main battle lines, but this did not stop the reapers to stop any production it had on it. One of the crash transports landed there. These were new reaper vessels, for people tend to forget reapers create their own vessels given the resources and time, and not all reapers were used for combat, on conquered planets, the enslaved billions marched and harvested their own kin and resources, then used all they had to construct more Reapers and other vessels.
These reapers were not made like the originals, they were soulless automatons of immense intelligence, an AI akin to reapers, but much inferior, still they were devastating in war, and were deployed to most battlefields.
Crash transports were another reaper design, filled with millions of creatures tightly packed, they were made to disrupt and potentially conquer the planets in the absence of the Reaper battleships, when they crashed, they unleashed millions of huskified creatures ,mechanized vehicles and fliers.
This happened to Bor, one reaper crash transports landed there, and within the opening stages of the war obliterated and enslaved 2 out of 3 continents, third being under siege from both the reaper land troops and enslaved salarians beings, mind controlled by the new reaper devices which made them utterly obedient, but made their life span drastically short before their brains gave up and they ended brain dead.
They kept with the human wave offenses against the defenders, and through sheer numbers took cities in the last content, every city made them stronger as they turned the populace to mind controlled slaves, this made shooting at them all the harder for the Salarian defenders.
When the New Salarians or Kriksamos arrived they found the commander holding the defense line well, but not pushing or reacting in a way applicable to the war situation. This had to change.
The Commander of the New Salarians, a being named Ulphimas came from the transport ship carrying his comrades and rapidly approached the commander, dwarfing the Salarian General easily.
"I am Storm Unit leader Ulphimas, give me a situational report General." His voice carried no courtesy, only dominating desire for obedience, a byproduct of so many dominating race's genomes within him.
"I..uh, yes. I am General Corentin. The situation is stable for now. Their advance has stalled due to our bombing runs, but we expect a decisive attack any moment now." General tried to keep his composure, he has heard of this new unit, but never saw them in person, and didn't know how much presence they possessed until now.
"You call this stable General!? " Ulphimas shouted, drawing attention to the defenders. "Two continents lost, a third under constant siege, and you have done NOTHING!" he approached him until he was looking at him like ant.
"N-Not true! We were caught by surprise, it was all we could do to stop the advance! " the general tried to defend himself, but his voice was weak compared to the booming explosion of the Ulphimas.
"Doesn't this planet have Vapour Bombs? Why haven't you used them yet!" (Vapour bombs were high yield nuclear like devices, very filthy weapons, the pollution in radiation and biotic particles was horrifying to any life form, easily killing in hours and days and lingers for centuries at the time.
"Vapour bombs! Those would ruin the reason why we are defending the planet to begin with! If we use them, we lose the planet."
"Do you have usage of your eyes! This planet is dead and gone, the only reason you still haven't been swarmed is because they are gathering all the slaves from the conquered cities for the final push, and you are sitting here with your hands beneath your ass! I have full authorization from the Salarian Union, and I order them used, prepare them for launch." Ulphimas decided coldly
"NO! I wont let…" the salarian general tried to utter before his oxygen was cut short by the tough fist of Ulphimas.
"I tire of your incompetence General." And with that he cracked his neck like nothing, letting the body drop to the floor like a doll.
The Salarian soldiers were shocked, some even raised their weapons out of fear.
"Now listen up soldiers! " he shouted, explosively and strongly, almost as if he was using the vox
"You have been led here by mewling infants instead of leaders! "
"They were teaching you that cowardice is a way to win a war. And they were wrong, this is the price for being wrong" he pointed at the dead general.
"Your lives are meaningless! You individually are worth nothing! But what you are doing here is more important than anything!
You defend the Salarian Union from the nightmares that crawl in the dark!
Not just the union for which we stand, no! but for the children of the Union, those hiding in the rooms hearing tales of heroes and monsters.
They look up to you to drive the monsters away!
And By the Moons of Sur Kesh will we drive them away, with fire! With Bullets and with STEELY HANDS OF OUR UNION!
We will crush their backs, we will break their spirit, we will pollute and salt the very planets they cross! We will make them choke on their own waste and then watch them as they die in misery!
For the enemy is showing us no mercy! Why should we show any to them!? Why should we sit here in our own sweat and blood if we can drown them in theirs!
This is why I am here, this is why we are all here. We are the harbingers, the leaders of the new galactic order, the dominating force of will and steel that is the Salarian race!
And with that steel! With that will! We will fight and we will struggle, until the enemy is dust, until they are nothing but smoldering ash and cinders!
Until their bones are nothing but waste underneath our feet!
And when we are done with these creatures, these soulless automatons, when we stand on top of their piles of corpses and win this galaxy and future for our children.
ONLY THEN, WILL WE HAVE OUR VICTORY! "
He raised his fist to the booming response of the soldiers ,mad and excited with zeal and renewed fighting spirit, the charisma, the dominant will of Ulphimas was now theirs, and with angry and determination not seen in salarians since, they chanted the names of the heroes, howld and cursed at the enemy, even as the Vapour rockets burnt the positions of the enemy, and destroyed factories and slave centers, they chanted, for deep down they realized this was will not be won without tremendous sacrifice and the will of utter and unbreakable steel.
The war lasted for 1 more month, the expertise in warfare of the New Salarians was a sight to behold, they were not just ranged professionals, they were also highly skilled with their new blades fashioned from the finest cosmic steels on Surkesh, it ate through the Armour of Husk and Brute alike, crushed through shield of Korvinx like nothing opened their flesh like paper.
They fought as one unit, before the war on planet Bor ended; they separated in 10 units of 200 New Salarians, each led by a skillful commander. These ones liberated the cities still not lost wholly to the union, executed the indoctrinated and burnt their corpses, and all that without so much as batting an eye. They were the driving force the Salarians needed for the war in order to win it.
1/3rd of the planet was burnt by the Vapour bombs, the site of the crashed transport ship was obliterated, from it is here where the reapers centralized their unit production, and it was here where they ended, without new units and indoctrination ways, they could not produce more units.
The necessary sacrifice of the fallen cities were easily justified by the Ulphimas upon his arrival, for if the General Corentin launched them in the initial phase of the invasion all of this could be avoided. The Salarian leadership accepted this story and his rather unorthodox way of punishing the general, because the results spoke for themselves.
The new Salarians had several amazing battles on this world, one was when 3 units of 600 salarians saw a horde of 300 000 salarian indoctrinees charging at them wearing nothing but clubs and knives, without reapers to supply them, they were just a disorganized mess of mad creatures without a purpose.
The new salarian units obliterated the initial wave of their heavy guns, as they drew them into a natural choke point. for the normal guns for salarians were not enough, funnily enough ,the Asari energy weapons could be used by them, for all New Salarians were biotic to a various degree. But they much preferred heavy stubbers which fired high caliber bullets at the enemy, using mass expansion fields the rifle could hold of up to 500 bullets in one cartridge, when the bullet was loaded into the chamber it expanded in size and flew at tremendous speed towards the enemy, causing catastrophic damage to flesh and metal.
When the mad horde was thinned by their rifles, they then grasped their swords. Details of the gory battle aside, after they were done the battlefield was filled with corpses of the indoctrinees. Some 130 new salarians paid for it with their lives. proving their melee proficiency.
Another heroic tale was when one of the commander of the units came head to head against one of the Korvinx wolf creatures, the monster jumped at him and they grasped hand to hand, if the wolves could feel confusion they would no doubt feel it as they saw what was once an easy meal being so strong now.
They grasped so much and pushed one against another , with a roar the New Salarian lifted the wolf creature above his head and threw it with all his might at the nearest wall concussing the creature.
Not wasting a moment the New Salarian jumped on his back and grasped its head in his choke hold, muscles bulging and veins straining to their utmost physical limits the salarian squeezed hard at the creature trashing around slamming itself on the wall with its unwelcome rider.
But it gave, and the lack of oxygen caused it to falter down, with a swift stroke the salarian broke its neck. Standing over the dead wolf triumphantly he used his blade and cut off its head, lifting it high towards more wolf creatures approaching. He roared a defiant roar and his soldiers behind him supported their leader.
The Wolf Slayer was hence born in the crucible of fire.
Many tales came from that world, and many more were made as the New Salarians grew in numbers and spread to the battlefields helping their own beleaguered race.
Some even came to new Krogan Empire which came to be during the events of the Long War to help them against their own enemies. But that is a story for later.
What is true is that there was ineed a resurgent Krogan Empire, it was an empire in but a name, but it had a new solid foundation under its new ruler, Urdnot Wrex.
After his mercenary contract for the mighty asari matriachs ended, and the world protected by his finest soldiers. He was gifted something, something the Asari worked on in secret.
Was it a Genophage cure? A new weapon? it is now wholly known, the numbers of the Krogan saw increase in those days, maybe the krogan adapted to it and ignored the gene curse. What came to be after Wrex returned to Tuchanka is unknown, but he did took control over the whole planet within a year, and began his reforms.
Within a span of 2 years the Krogans were reinforcing Tuchanka, building ships and orbital installations, and even reestablishing colonies on their old worlds in the same system.
There were rumors of all Krogans returning to Tuchanka wherever they were, and even talks of a cure for the Genophage. But it could very well be just a heartwarming story to raise morale across the galaxy of a race saved from extinction, now that it has threatened them all.
The tale of the Krogan Empire and its expansion deserves its own story, for their deeds were mighty during these ages, and the Krogan once again reclaimed their glory as " Monster Killers " in the eyes of all galactic races.
The war did not spare even them, but they were used to war, molded by it and shaped by it, and they welcomed a new challenge. The first incursion by the wolf creatures onto one of the rare colonized Krogan worlds outside of Tuchanka proved to a bitter lesson to both the races, the Korvinx creatures took a horrifying toll on the krogans, but so did the krogans return the favour, realizing one of the planets in the neighboring systems harbored at least 10 packs of the creatures they directed an asteroid towards the planet, killing the arid and barely livable planet.
The krogans were not new to this war, and they only got better as it went on. But this story is not here, it will be told in due time.
For in this time when the Alien Races were adapting or falling, there was a psychic echo from Anhur. The xenos psykers also felt it, but could not understand any of it, they we simply inexperience to understand.
Those few who understood refused to say. And one, after a bit of coercion did say what the message carried.
Namely the message came from Stefan, the blind priest whom brought faith and also destruction to the world of Anhur, he finally realized his true purpose, a direct link to something big in the grand scheme of things, and it wanted to speak.
Gathering his power at the great cost to himself, he sent a single astropathic message directly to the ruler of Terra.
The message was confusing; it was also blasphemous, for if it harbored truth to it, then it could change everything. And so the message went as follow.
" Lord of Terra, praise be to you now and always, I relay this message to you.
The one whom sent us here wishes to speak to you, here, where the time and space has no meaning, where your will can touch his, and where his words can be given to you.
He says unto you."
"Come kin, we have much to discuss.
The great game is not over.
And the Throne lays empty.
I have much to teach you.
Here, where my world can touch yours.
Where our minds can link
Where you will understand yourself."
It is unknown which entity sought to converse with the Emperor of this universe. But it is known that the message carried a psychic signature which made the Emperor organize a fleet from Earth and awaited the arrival of imperial fleet from their last mission.
When the admirals were asked where the fleet is bound they simply responded with one word.
Anhur.