Ascent to the stars by Imperial Historian Justinian Theodocia

Overview of History

An indepth look at the VIII

The Sacred Scrolls and the foundations of Faith

The Triumvirate

Expansion to the Stars

The Formation of the Council

Contact

This Ones Religion(A look at the Hanar relationship)

Quarian Sorrow

Sanctuary for the Drell

The Shepherd of the Stars: Autobiography of Tiberius Shepard included with purchase

Overview of History

The History of Man's ascent to the stars is a story wrapped in myth and supported by fact. Some believe our ascent as the will of the Gods, others see it as an incredible coincidence, and still others believe it is all a conspiracy, but I tell you good reader, all the things you are about to read are facts, and supported by the Empire's top scientists.

We all know the story, the Bellators came and uplifted our species, and bestowed upon us the Mandate. While we cannot confirm scientifically the Gods or the Mandate, we can confirm that these are the words that the VIII Bellators speak through the Sacred Scrolls, but on to the point.

The First Emperor was Jadaron, the leader of the Bellators, who, according to the sacred scrolls, ascended into Godhood upon his death. He ruled the Empire until his ascension at the age of one hundred and sixty three. What he accomplished in his time as ruler is consider to be what laid the foundation for the Empires success.

According to the Sacred Scrolls Jardaron ordered that all children, male or female, born after the Bellators arrival, were to be rounded up and taken to their ship, now known as the Temple of Jardaron, for education and training. "All the children born of you, oh women of Rome, shall receive the gift of our wisdom, so that you, Man, may be molded in our likeness"-Declarations of Jadaron. This had a remarkable effect on the class system of Rome at the time. The Bellators saw no difference between slave, plebian, or patrician, and because of this the system was sociologically done away with within a decade.

Technological advancements, were by all accounts miraculous. Rome went from the iron age, to the space age over night. Literally, it is written in the texts that the Temple of Jadaron was able to fly to a nearby celestial body, most likely the planet Mars or Luna, and bring back star ships, one of which serves as the basis for the Capital building of Terra Nova today. "Behold, I Moab, who have bestowed the wisdom of knowledge upon you shall bring back wonders which will aid in the Mandate, and help you unite your separated brethren here on Terra, just as Minerva spoke her wisdom to us, so we shall speak our wisdom to you. So you shall unite Terra under one banner." - Wisdom of Moab

Moab had no shortage of wisdom, and those in Rome took to his message of uniting the separated brothers of Terra together, in order to fullfill the Mandate, a task made easier when the first Centurions emerged from the Temple of Jadaron. The Centurions were the children who had been educated by the Bellators, as confirmed in the Sacred Scroll Foundations. With the Centurions being educated in the martial ways of the Bellators, and being equipped with Bellator weapons, and retrofitted armor, their first task was subjugating all the barbarians to the North. In five short years they completed this task and although the Romans wanted to see the barbarians killed or enslaved for all the bad blood between them Vasha persuaded the people of Rome to instead to share their culture and to bring the barbarians and their descendents into the Empire. "Children of Prometheus, were you not ignorant before we bestowed our wisdom upon you? Look not on your brothers in hatred, but in love find common ground and bring these separated brethren into the light of the Empire." - The Mercies of Vasha

With zeal unmatched the Empire continued to grow and within fifty years it stretched from Hibernia to India. In this time, the first manmade spacecraft took to the stars, and with the Centurions possessing the knowledge of the Bellators the first of them created what can be considered a 'modern' city out of Rome.

Sadly, the VIII Bellators all eventually met their ends, and all radically different. If we are to believe what is written Jadaron ascended to the stars, Meriole passed quietly in her sleep, Constel at the age of one hundred and fifty ventured into the forests to never be seen again, Moab died after travelling with the first colonists to Terra Nova(He is still entombed there), Ruden died from complications with injuries he recieved fighting the Messosum so long ago, Sfigosen peacefully went during his meditations, Nilrine died during a hunt, and Vasha's fate was a mystery, but some say she was looked over by death and became the virtue mercy incarnate.

Now when I say die, you must understand what death means. For the Bellator death does not exist, they dwell in Elysium after this life. The place where all Bellator travel to after death, "Fear not you Children of Prometheus, for I go to that place where I shall live a blessed and happy life, and indulge in peace. If you find yourself alone, riding in the green fields with the sun on your face, do not be troubled. For you are in Elysium, and you have earned your spot amongst the Heroes of old and the Sons of Mars! What we do in life echoes in eternity." - The Elysian Fields

Fortunately when the VIII passed their children were there to continue with their legacy, and the wisdom of their parents was bestowed upon them, "For we will not leave you as orphans, but will give our minds to our children so that they may carry on when we must travel to the next world."- The Burden of Eln

The children of the VIII are as follows, Eln(Son of Jadaron, and Meriole), Miritola(Daughter of Vasha and Sfigosen), and Vactom(Son of Nilrine and Ruden). These three composed the Triumvirate, and while Eln became Emperor with Miritola as his bride, Vactom took control of the military. They could not have become leaders at a better time either, the Empire was transforming the world into modern masterpiece. Most of the Afro-Eurasian continent was under the control of the Empire, and the colonies of Terra Nova, and Elysium were well underway.

Within the next century the whole of Terra was under the control of the Empire. In this time the Trimvirate passed. Eln and Miritola only had one heir, a daughter named Givos. Givos was alone in the galaxy...the last of the Martian line. Determined, she spent time studying the sacred scrolls and consulting the High priests. She created a set doctrine on the history of her people, she died peacefully at the young age of ninety seven. On her death her writings were admitted into the sacred scrolls. Her writings are known as The Meditations of Givos.

With the end of the age of Bellators, a power vaccuum became present that needed to be filled, but everyone knew no one Man could fill the role that rightfully belonged to a Bellator, so a council was established, each councilor representing the needs of the people. A Science councilor was elected out of the top scientific officials, the Senior Military official would represent the military, The Oracle(The Head Priest of the faith) would represent the cultural needs of the Empire, and finally the business sector would elect one of their own to represent them.

This continued for three hundred years, with our species preparing for the day when the Messosum would return, and yes we were eventually attacked, but not by those we were preparing to fight, but by a race known as the Batarians looking to enslave our people. In retaliation we occupied two of their systems before the Citadel council intervened on their behalf.

Having just ended a costly war with a race known as the Krogan, rather than fight they opened up diplomatic relations, but upon learning of the Citadel our people refused to open an embassy, and we warned them that the Citadel itself was a trap.

Curious, they asked us why we believed this and we gave them information on the Bellators and our history with them. Most of the races of the Citadel dismissed our Sacred Scrolls and history as superstitious nonsense at first, all except the Hanar. Despite our tombs, video, and photographic evidence of the Bellators, the Citadel Council refused to believe that they were in fact the Protheans, as they are called in Citadel Space.

The Hanar did not take kindly to this, for they worship the what they call the Enkindlers, another name for the Sons of Mars. Apparantly the Bellators had given the Hanar the gift of speech, and the Hanar, in turn worshipped them as Gods.

Upon hearing of our shared beliefs, many Hanar left the Citadel, with the exception of their ambassador. The Temple of Jadaron, and the Tomb of Moab have became popular pilgrimage sites for the Hanar.

For awhile all seemed to be quiet in the Universe, the Citadel Council continued to ignorantly dwell in their cursed Citadel, while Humanity continued to prepare for the return of the Messosum, but this peace was not to last. The Quarians, in their arrogance created life where there was none, and unleashed the puppetmen known as Geth upon the galaxy.

The Citadel Council refused to help the Quarians, so naturally the Quarians pleaded with us to come to their aid. After much diliberation, it was decided that the Empire would go to war on behalf of the Quarians, and destroy their abominations.

After three years of bloody war the Empire marched victoriously through the decimated streets of Rannoch, and although some Geth had escaped to unknown star systems, the Empire knows that if they are to return, we will know doubt be victorious.

The Quarians, not having anyone else to turn to petitioned for membership in the Empire. This was an unusual development, for no Alien world had ever been brought into the Imperial holdings. It took many months, but it was decided that the Quarian government would be desolved, and Imperial reforms would take place.

Soon after the Quarians became part of the Empire, our friends the Hanar petitioned to also come into the fold. It was almost unanimously agreed that the Hanar should become part of the Empire. The Council was not pleased with this development.

Just over a century after the Geth wars, a Hanar ship made contact with the Drell species. The Drell dwelt on a dying world, and our scientists predicted that their species would not survive. Taking pity upon them, we evacuated all eleven billion of the inhabitants of Rakhana. They were spread to all the colonies of the Empire, and integrated themselves almost immediately into imperial society.

Not much has happened since those days, but Humanity stands ready to face the Messosum, for we know our Mandate clear!

Would you like to know more?

A/N: Hello beautiful readers! Favorite, Review, Follow. Whatever YOU feel like. I would love to hear your impressions of how the story is coming along.