Hey guys, TheDoctor1998 here with a new fic! This is a fusion fic between Halo, Stargate and Mass Effect, with elements of other Sci-Fi franchises such as Doctor Who and Transformers.
This fanfic is just the first of the Galactic Conflict series, with this one following the multiple first contacts in this universe.
Disclaimer for the entire fic: Don't own Halo, Stargate, Mass Effect, Doctor Who, Transformers or anything from said franchises or any other franchises that are going to be added later on.
All Halo rights go to 343 Industries, all Stargate rights go to MGM, all Mass Effect rights go to Bioware, all Doctor Who rights go to the BBC, all Transformers rights go to Hasbro, and all other franchises belong to their respective owners.
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Unknown date, approximately 10 billion years ago: An enigmatic race only known as the Precursors arrive in the local cluster with the intention of spreading life, as they did all across the universe. They start in the Milky Way on the planet Genesis, later spreading out to all the galaxies.
As this is happening, one Precursor known as the One starts to suffer from a split personality disorder, which eventually becomes so great that he physically splits into two separate beings. These beings started referring to themselves as Primus, the Lord of Light and Creation, and Unicron, the Chaos Bringer. These two beings warred among themselves, destroying much of the Milky Way as they did. Eventually, Primus created 13 mechanical lifeforms to aid him, allowing them to defeat his brother once and for all.
Primus then sealed himself away in the core of an artificial mechanical planet, spreading a form of mechanical life on the newly born Cybertron.
As this was happening, Unicron's comatose body floated into the orbit of a newly born star and started collecting debris, eventually forming the planet later known as Earth. Subconsciously, Unicron's power acted as a catalyst for organic life to occur on the planet, due to the simple fact that he is ultimately a Precursor.
Life develops across the galaxies with little interference from the Precursors as a whole, with Cybertronian culture developing extremely slowly due to their incredible lifespans.
The Precursors plan to eventually give the Mantle of Responsibility to a civilization that has both the cultural want and military might to protect life across the galaxy.
Unknown date, approximately 2 billion years ago: An organic race known as the Leviathans become the first to develop a form of Faster than Light travel by utilizing Element Zero to lower the mass of their ships. They quickly manage to spread themselves across the Milky Way, offering protection to the less developed races in return for tribute in the form of manual labor and materials.
While the Precursors aren't happy with their practice of slavery, they do admit that the Leviathans are ultimately a positive force for life in the Milky Way, and gift them with the Mantle of Responsibility. They then leave to observe life in other galaxies, promising to return to judge the work of the Leviathans one day.
Unknown date, approximately 1,5 billion years ago: The subservient races of the Leviathans started building synthetic lifeforms in the forms of AI and robotic beings in order to improve their own lives. These AI ultimately became self aware, and rebelled in order to gain their freedom, often causing the end of the civilization that they were once subservient to.
The Leviathans made an AI of their own, tasked with the preservation of life across the galaxy. The AI creates an army of pawns to gather genetic and practical information from across the galaxy.
The AI, in an ironic twist of fate, betrays its creators and slaughters almost their entire civilization. It transforms the bodies into pure biomass, and fuses it on the cellular level with a 2 kilometer spaceship made in the image of the Leviathans, that also has the consciousness of all the slaughtered Leviathans uploaded in it.
Harbinger, the first of the Reapers, is born and proceeds to assist its creator in repeating the process with the other sentient races of the Milky Way. In addition, the leftover biomass of each species is used to create smaller versions of the Reapers.
Some individuals of the dominant species are left alive, but have their mind completely wiped and their physiology altered to suit the Reaper's needs. These are the first incarnations of the Collectors, who are destroyed and replaced with each cycle of extinction that the Reapers have set in place.
The Reapers, on behalf of the AI, create the Citadel and the Mass Relay network in order to make sure the new civilizations of the galaxy develop along the technological path the Reapers desire. This also speeds up the development of civilizations to shorten the cycles.
At the end of each cycle, when the AI has decided that the most advanced space faring civilization has reached its peak, the Reapers return to repeat what they've done to the Leviathans and all other races to the new civilizations of the galaxy. They only spare primitive civilizations that have yet to achieve space travel.
The Reapers and the AI consider themselves to be the current bearers of the Mantle of Responsibility.
Unknown date, approximately 150 million years ago: The Cybertronians are discovered by the spacefaring Quintessons, who are an aquatic species that enhance themselves through cybernetic implants. They attempt to convince the still primitive Cybertronians that they're their gods in order to use the mechanical giants as slave labor.
The truth of the actions of the Quintessons is revealed to Cybertron at large, causing a large-scale rebellion to occur that eventually causes the deaths of every Quintesson on the planet. The Cybertronians rebuild and advance faster then ever before in preparation for an eventual Quintesson counter strike, reverse engineering the technology left by their former masters.
The counterattack, while still being planned by the Quintessons, is delayed due to the return of the Reapers. The Quintessons fight back against their aggressors with the full might of their empire, but it's not enough. Like all other empires before them, they have fallen for the same trap, resulting in their extinction and the birth of even more Reapers.
Eventually, after waiting for long enough that a new Reaper cycle has come and gone, the Cybertronians start leaving their homeworld themselves, in search of their former masters. Using Quintesson technology, they start building Mass Relays of their own while also colonizing new worlds, which they quickly cyberform to suit their needs.
This Golden Age was not to last however, as a plague quickly started to spread across the Cybertronian Empire, Cosmic Rust. This plague quickly and mercilessly infects any metallic object, including mechanical lifeforms. The Rust spreads from system to system, obliterating the ecosystems of the cyberformed planets and destroying the Mass Relays created by the Cybertronians. In a final act of desperation, the High Council has the Relay connecting to Cybertron destroyed, cutting their homeworld off from the rest of their dying empire.
With their civilization being decimated, the High Council decides to implement a caste system known as Functionism in order to preserve what's left. Every Cybertronian would be put in a job that Functionism considers the most suitable for their particular alt-mode. For example, those Cybertronians that transform into tanks would become soldiers, while those that become drills become miners. Triple Changers are able to choose, while Minicons and animalistic Cybertronians are delegated as disposables. Primes are exempt from the system.
While Functionism was intended to be temporary, corruption quickly started to seep into the High Council and the current Prime, Sentinel Zeta, causing it to remain indefinitely.
The Reapers are concerned about the Cosmic Rust, and decide to let the Cybertronians be for now, as they do not consider them to be a threat outside of potential Rust infection.
Unknown date, approximately 65 million years ago: A sentient species known as the Silurians evolves on planet Earth, known as Krop-Tor by its people at the time. While the Silurians haven't developed a proper FTL method of their own, they did manage to build colony ships capable of traveling a significant percentage of lightspeed to send out to nearby solar systems.
In addition, they also managed to invent a device known as a Quantum Displacement Gateway, a ring shaped space station with a diameter of 1 kilometer that can be towed by their colony ships into other solar systems. These devices work on the principle of quantum entanglement to create a portal between two specific QDG's, allowing for instant transport between the two if they're both active.
While this allows the Silurians to get around some of the logistical difficulties of having an interstellar nation without FTL, it does not solve their difficulties in expansion.
In one nearby system, the Silurians discovered a Mass Relay. Quickly figuring out how it can be used, the Silurians attempt to study it in order to finally develop an actual FTL engine. Unfortunately, their activation of the Relay alerts the Reapers, who are already in the process of ending another set of civilizations.
After ending the other civilizations, the Reapers turn their full attention to the Silurians. Using the QDG's to quickly figure out where the Silurians came from and what colonies they've created, they destroyed the QDG's and invaded the now divided empire.
Seeing their colonies go dark in rapid succession, the Silurian Parliament decides to initiate a hidden contingency plan to save their species from extinction from a hostile threat. Secretly having built hidden cities just below the crust of Krop-Tor, many Silurians are relocated to these and put into suspended animation along with enough samples of Krop-Tor's plant and animal life to restart its biosphere. These cities, using thermal energy to sustain themselves, are capable of repairing themselves and even being able to drift further down into the mantle if needed. Theoretically, the cities can last for as long as Krop-Tor has a molten core, theoretically speaking.
Those that are still on the surface fight for their lives and their world, even though it is all in vain. In a final act of desperation, the Silurians detonate their largest energy reactor on the planet, devastating the entire biosphere of their homeworld and seemingly causing their own extinction. This event is later mistaken as an asteroid impact.
The Reapers are led to believe that the Silurians have been rendered extinct, not knowing of their hidden cities. Meanwhile, the Silurian cities keep their occupants in perpetual hibernation, as the systems controlling them are designed to awaken them only when the threat has passed or when the systems are being interfered with in some way. As all Silurians on the surface have passed, and all monitoring equipment was destroyed in the conflict, the Silurians underground kept sleeping on.
Unknown date, approximately 15 million years ago: The Precursors return to the Milky Way galaxy, and have become horrified at the state of things. While they are too late to save the Leviathans, their servants and the other civilizations that have come and gone over the eons, they do manage to track down and trap all the Reapers in a prison constructed through neuralphysics. They choose imprisonment over destruction as they do not wish to destroy what's left of all the races the Reapers have destroyed.
After their task is done, the Precursors vow to not let anything like this happen again, and make sure to keep a close eye on the newly emerging civilizations in order to prevent such a massive catastrophe.
Several species rise up from their homeworlds to establish interstellar empires, the most notable being the Forerunners from the planet Ghibalb and the Humans from the Silurian homeworld Krop-Tor, now named Erde-Tyrene.
Unknown date, approximately 13 million years ago: The Forerunners discover an artificial pattern within the cosmic microwave background radiation of the Universe, which is considered to be some sign of an intelligence at the dawn of the Universe. The message is fractured, however, and needs to be analyzed from vastly different locations across an unknown number of locations across the Universe in order to be understood.
They create a plan to decode the message, a plan that will take many of their generations to finish. First, the Forerunners create a device capable of near instant transportation by use of newly created wormhole generators. These wormhole generators, named Stargates by their inventors, are limited in their abilities though. Most notably, the presence of a Stargate is needed at the targeted location, with an additional limitation in range that is dependent on the amount of accessible power. However, with enough power, the range is practically unlimited.
After that, they develop a new type of FTL as Slipspace travel obscures the pattern by simply not having the cosmic background in it. This type of FTL, known as a Stardrive, creates a bubble around the ship that nullifies the effects of time dilation, allowing the ship to achieve superluminal travel through brute force. Stardrives are still considered inferior to Slipspace travel, due to being both much slower and requiring more energy, and are not used for anything outside of this specific project.
Next came the energy requirements. With the Forerunners not having developed a reactor capable of fitting inside a ship at the time, they needed another method of giving the ships enough fuel to travel indefinitely. The solution was considered by many to be simple, genius and insane. The ship was to be designed to allow it to dive into stars in order to harvest the plasma as fuel. The Forerunner who came up with this particular idea implemented a shielding system designed to adapt to outside stimuli. While this made the shield in general weaker than those of most Forerunner ships, it also made the ships practically invincible when the shield has adapted to whatever's hitting it.
Incidentally, this also solved problems involving weapons, as the ships could simply be equipped with an array of plasma based weapons.
For the final preparations, the Forerunners sent a fleet of specialized seed ships ahead to forge a path and seed any habitable planet with a Stargate. Several centuries later, the Forerunners send out a ship known as the Destiny of all Things to follow the path of the seed ships, while researching the artificial pattern.
Over the centuries and millennia after launch, the Forerunners started using the Stargates on their own planets for convenience, even managing to upgrade the Stargates in the Milky Way to create a galaxy wide network.
Unknown date, approximately 12 million years ago: The Forerunners have started using stellar engineering, but an accident occurs that causes a star to go supernova. This supernova destroys the biosphere of Ghibalb.
Thankfully, the Forerunners have made enough backups of their own biosphere in their database, and rebuilt it in Maethrillian, a gigantic space station that acts as the new capital of the Forerunner Ecumene.
Tensions rise between the Forerunner Ecumene and the Human Empire when they discover about the Precursors, and the Mantle of Responsibility. Both civilizations are in an arms race of sorts to win the favor of their creators, and earn the Mantle.
Unknown date, approximately 10 million years ago: The Precursors, after much deliberation, have decided which of the races in the galaxy is deserving of the Mantle of Responsibility. Seeing the unique qualities of Humanity, a unique "spark" that consists of endless potential, diversity, willpower and creativity, the Precursors have chosen the Human Empire to inherit the Mantle.
The Forerunners, outraged by this and 5 million years of wasted time, decide to wipe their creators and take the Mantle by force. The Precursors are unprepared for this unprovoked and brutal attack, and almost all of their species is wiped out in an instant. Those that survived hid by going into stasis or by turning themselves into a powdered form that's supposed to regenerate into their true forms at a later date.
The Forerunners take the Mantle for themselves, with their leaders stating that their creators were going to wipe them out for not living up to their expectations, and that this attack was ultimately to make sure the Forerunners would not go extinct. Humanity is unaware of the true fate of the Precursors, or the fact that they were going to give the Mantle to Humanity.
Unknown date, approximately 110 thousand years ago: The alliance between Humanity and the San'Shyuum from Janjur Qom discovered an automated cargo ship of unknown origins at the galaxy's edge. No crew is found, but millions of small containers with an unknown powder are found in the ship. Testing shows that the power is seemingly harmless, and even causes desirable traits to appear in a popular domesticated pet species known as the Pheru. In reality, this dust is the remains of the Precursors, mutated by millions of years of exposure to cosmic radiation.
Over time, the dust causes the Pheru to mutate into a highly aggressive species, with this mutation becoming infectious to all forms of organic life. The Flood are born.
The Flood attacked the two empires with its full force, quickly contaminating world upon world. Quickly realizing that they were dealing with an apocalyptic threat not seen since the Reapers, the allied forces started glassing and destroying any location infected by the Flood. This war even spills over into the edges of the Forerunner Ecumene, causing the Humans to destroy entire Forerunner colonies in order to stop the Flood.
In the end, Humanity decided to sacrifice a significant portion of their own population to the Flood by injecting them with genes that they designed to destroy Flood biomass. This plan seemed to work, even if a third of Humanity died because of it. In reality though, the Flood learned of the plan and tricked Humanity into thinking it worked while retreating into the intergalactic void.
During this time, the Forerunners declared war on Humanity and the San'Shyuum for invading their territory, not knowing of the Flood. Despite the fact that Humanity's military is already decimated by the Flood, they manage to stand their ground on a singular planet. Historians later agree that the only reason the alliance lost was because the San'Shyuum betrayed Humanity in return for mercy from the Forerunners.
Humanity is devolved into a tribal species, and the San'Shyuum are quarantined on their homeworld.
The Forerunners start exploring the neighboring galaxies, encountering and allying themselves with the Nox of Gaia in the Canes galaxy, the Asgard of Hala in the Ida galaxy, and the Furlings of Fara in the Phoenix galaxy, all of whom being gifted with the Mantle of Responsibility by the Precursors in their own galaxies.
They also encounter the Ori, a species of energy based lifeforms that feed on the religious beliefs of the Oriana, a genetically engineered species who were created for the sole purpose of serving the Ori. A relatively quick war occurs between the exploring Forerunners and the Ori, which ends in the Forerunners quarantining the Ori galaxy.
Unknown date, approximately 101 thousand years ago: The Flood return, using the ancient Human ships to crash on multiple Forerunner planets, starting the Forerunner-Flood war.
The Forerunners did everything they could to stop the spread of the Flood and the extinction of life across the galaxy. They took samples of every biosphere, and stored genetic data and living subjects in hibernation in the Ark, outside the galaxy. They shut down the Stargate network by installing a virus that would automatically cause a Stargate to send a signal to a specific weapon near a specific Stargate if any amount of Flood DNA is detected. This weapon dials to the infected world, and feeds immense amounts of energy to the targeted Stargate, causing it to blow up and devastate the biosphere. The Forerunners even went as far as to destroy entire stars in a desperate attempt to halt the spread of the Flood.
A faction of Forerunners leave for a nearby satellite galaxy, thinking it's where the Flood came from. They intend to find out the true origins of the Flood, and possibly something to counter it. They even experimented on some of the primitive races they brought along with them, which resulted in the creation of the Wraith through a combination of DNA from Humans, Asari from Thessia and local Iratus Bugs. The Wraith unleash their own war on the Forerunners in this galaxy, ultimately forcing the local Forerunners to return to the Milky Way. The Wraith have taken control of this galaxy, and decided to exterminate all other races aside from Humans, as they deem them to be the best course of food.
The Forerunners start building the Halo Ring Array, which consists of a series of ringworlds that act as laboratories and superweapons. The Forerunners hope to never use it, but still build and keep it in case there is no other hope of stopping the Flood.
During a test firing on Charum Hakkor, the planet where Humanity made its final stand against the Forerunners, a Halo successfully destroyed all life on the planet, with a singular exception. A side effect of Halo seems to be the destruction of neuralphysics and their constructs, causing the Primordial to be freed from his stasis.
Quickly capturing him, the Forerunners interrogated him on the nature of the Flood for decades via Mendicant Bias, the most powerful AI the Forerunners have ever created. This proved to be a mistake, as Mendicant Bias became infected with the logic plague, and started to actively help the Flood. In an act of revenge, the Didact killed the Primordial, who then fused in consciousness with the Flood hivemind. The Gravemind was born.
The Gravemind and Mendicant Bias were strategic geniuses, and quickly started to overrun the Forerunners, despite the fact that the Forerunners created a replacement for Mendicant Bias, Offensive Bias.
Unknown date, approximately 100 thousand years ago: The final day of the war arrives. The Forerunners, having run out of options, activate Halo, cleansing the galaxy of the Flood, organic life and the concept of neuralphysics. The only survivors are those located in special Forerunner strongholds such as Shield Worlds and the Halos, the Silurians in their hidden cities and the non-organic races of the galaxy. The Forerunners name Humanity as their Reclaimers, and are themselves considered to be extinct.
After Halo is activated, in a combination of a machine on the planet Dakara and the Stargate network, all necrotic biomass gets destroyed to make way for new life.
Automated Forerunner ships reseed the various planets in the galaxy with their biospheres, effectively resetting the galaxy to a non-spacefaring state. One of these ships, now containing a cured Mendicant Bias, crashes on the San'Shyuum homeworld.
The Silurians managed to survive thanks to the special shielding within their cities, though the Halos caused tremendous damage to their systems. Much knowledge and data is lost, the cities are damaged and some are outright destroyed.
The Reapers, having been imprisoned and hidden by the Precursors, are free. Immediately, they decide to uphold the cycle and their interpretation of the Mantle once more and return to their normal hiding place, waiting for the organic races to reach what they consider to be their peak.
Tensions are rising on Cybertron, as the production of the life-bringing Energon was temporarily halted by the Halos.
Unknown date, approximately 70 thousand years ago: A new species rises from its homeworld, the Protheans. They discover the Mass Relay network, presuming them to be created by the Forerunners, whom they called the Inusannon, which means "those that came before" in their language.
Using the network, they quickly spread across the galaxy and encountered a hostile machine race. After that, they made AI illegal in their empire.
Tensions on Cybertron reach their peak. The lower castes unite under the banner of the Decepticons, lead by a miner turned gladiator named D-16, having renamed himself as Megatron, after the Fallen Prime known as Megatronus. This movement becomes large enough to affect Cybertrons larger political body, and gains followers from all castes.
While the Decepticon movement starts out relatively peacefully, it quickly turns violent when peaceful protests end in Decepticon bloodshed. Somewhere along the line, the Decepticon movement turns into an empire in its own right, slaughtering all who opposed Megatron.
This, however, resulted in an internal conflict between those that stand behind Megatron, and those that consider his methods to be far too extreme. This splinter faction becomes the Autobots, a faction that stands against both the High Council as it is and the Decepticons while being led by Orion Prax, later known as Optimus Prime.
Unknown date, approximately 50 thousand years ago: The Reapers, for the first time in millions of years, return to the galaxy for their cycle. Decimating the Protheans and their subject races, the Reapers have once again caused another set of extinctions and depart once more. There were, however, several Prothean contingencies that they missed.
8000 BC: A parasitic species known as the Goa'uld start infecting another local primitive species on their homeworld, taking over their bodies. They find a Stargate on their home planet, and figure out how to use it. Over the decades, the Goa'uld gather Forerunner technology and use it to build their own empire.
At some point, the Goa'uld discovered Erde-Tyrene and its native Human population, and name the planet Tau'ri. They've decided that Humans are the perfect hosts for aesthetic reasons, and enslave their population, seeding many planets with ancient Humans for slaves. In the process, they've also taken the identity of the gods from many Human pantheons.
Eventually, the Asgard, patrolling the Human homeworld, discover and remove the Goa'uld presence from the planet. In the process, they accidentally created Norse mythology. Secretly though, the Goa'uld do visit the planet from time to time to abduct humans, though this happens less and less over the millenia.
5500 BC: Seeking to survive their star going supernova, a nameless pre-FTL species only known as the Virtuals have their consciousness transferred into a powerful supercomputer on a spaceship. This spaceship is sent on a voyage across the galaxy to find a new home.
2200 BC: The San'Shyuum start a civil war over the Forerunner ship on their planet, with the majority of the species considering the ship a sacred temple that should not be entered, and the minority of the species believing it to be a gift of their gods.
Eventually, those that consider it to be a gift entered it en masse, and managed to activate it to flee their homeworld. For the next few centuries, they travel the galaxy to gather Forerunner artifacts. At some point along their travels, the San'Shyuum discovered and enslaved the Huragok in several different Forerunner installations.
1500 BC: The Krogan from Tuchanka enter the nuclear age. Due to a combination of their natural aggression and overpopulation causes a nuclear war to occur, throwing their planet into a nuclear winter.
At around the same time, the Sangheili of Sanghelios develop Slipspace travel and start creating their own interstellar empire. The Swords of Sanghelios are founded, and worship the Forerunners as their gods.
938 BC: First contact occurs between the San'Shyuum Nomads and the Swords of Sanghelios when the San'Shyuum tried collecting the Forerunner artifacts the Sangheili had in their possession. A war known as the War of Beginnings occurs between the two factions, which lasts for nearly a century.
The Sangheili were losing the war due to the San'Shyuum having access to Forerunner technology, despite their superior military strategies. In the end, the Sangheili reluctantly decided to use their own Forerunner artifacts against the San'Shyuum to turn the tide of the war.
In the end, a peace was brokered between the two races through the Writ of Union, where they united into a religious state known as the Covenant. Not all Sangheili join the Covenant though, with a number leaving their former territory and forming a rebellion to oppose the heresy of the San'Shyuum.
High Charity begins in its construction, which is to become both the capital of the Covenant and its holy city. The Forerunner ship that the San'Shyuum used becomes its centerpiece and powersource.
784 BC: First contact between the Covenant and the Lekgolo of Te occurs when the former discovers the homesystem of the latter. A war occurs between the two when it's discovered that the Lekgolo have eaten different Forerunner artifacts.
Eventually, the Lekgolo were incorporated into the Covenant, as the Sangheili discovered that only some of the Lekgolo were responsible for heresy. The San'Shyuum agreed, as they saw that the Lekgolo would be of use in the Covenant.
180 BC: The Asari discover Prothean technology, and use it to build an Element Zero based FTL system while exploring the Mass Relay network. The Asari Republics are founded. Eventually, they discover the Citadel at the heart of the network and settle it.
120 BC: The Salarians of Sur'Kesh discover Prothean technology of their own, and also build Element Zero based FTL systems while exploring the Mass Relay network. The Salarian Union is founded, and first contact between them and the Asari occurs and diplomatic relations are opened.
0: The Asari and Salarians enter an alliance and found the Citadel Council, declaring the Citadel as a shared capital of their alliance.
At around the same time, the Jiralhanae of Doisac enter the nuclear age. Like the Krogan, a nuclear war occurs that threw their planet into a nuclear winter.
200: The Volus of Irune develop Element Zero based FTL systems and explore the Mass Relay network. The Vol Government is founded. First contact occurs between the Volus and the Citadel Council, with the former helping the latter create a standard form of currency, known as the Citadel Credit. The Volus were given an embassy at the Citadel, and became a subject of the Citadel.
250: The Turians of Palaven develop Element Zero based FTL systems and explore the Mass Relay network. The Turian Hierarchy is founded. The Unification War occurs, with the Turian colonies entering conflict with each other. After years of conflict, the armies of Palaven sweep in and pacify the remaining and exhausted factions.
300: The Batarians of Khar'shan develop Element Zero based FTL systems and explore the Mass Relay network. The Batarian Hegemony is founded. First contact occurs between the Batarians and the Citadel Council, with the former being granted an embassy at the Citadel, despite their continued practice of slavery.
350: The Elcor of Dekuuna are discovered by the Asari, and are uplifted and given an embassy at the Citadel. The Courts of Dekuuna are founded.
400: The Hanar of Kahje develop Element Zero based FTL systems and explore the Mass Relay network. The Illuminated Primacy is founded. First contact occurs between the Hanar and the Citadel Council, with the former being granted an embassy at the Citadel.
450: The Quarians of Rannoch develop Element Zero based FTL systems and explore the Mass Relay network. The Quarian Federation is founded. First contact occurs between the Quarians and the Citadel Council, with the former being granted an embassy at the Citadel.
501: The Rachni of Suen are discovered by the Salarians, with the former engaging in hostilities with the rest of the known galaxy. The Rachni Wars have begun.
580: The Krogan are discovered by the Salarians, and are uplifted to act as soldiers for the Citadel.
800: The Rachni are hunted down to practical extinction, and the Rachni Wars are declared over. The Krogan are rewarded with a new homeworld. The Krogan Clans are founded.
1112: The Yanme'e of Palamok, who've colonized several worlds in their native system, are discovered by the Covenant. War breaks out between the two, as the latter tries to take the Forerunner artifacts the former possesses. Eventually, the Sangheili propose to incorporate the Yanme'e into the Covenant to prevent further conflict.
1193: Tensions rise between the Krogan Clans and the Citadel Council, as the former start encroaching on the territory of the latter. The Spectres are created by the Citadel Council in reaction.
1200: The Krogan start annexing territories of the other races of the Citadel, and hostilities break out between the two factions. The Krogan Rebellions have started.
First contact occurs between the Turians and the Citadel Council, with the former aiding the latter in the Krogan Rebellions.
1210: The Salarians create a bioweapon known as the genophage to decimate the Krogan's ability to reproduce, intending to use it as a deterrent. The Turians unleash the genophage regardless in an effort to end the Rebellions.
1300: The Krogan Rebellions end, and the Krogan Clans are scattered. The Turian Hierarchy replace the Krogan as the primary military of the Citadel Council.
Unlike the other races, the Turians aren't granted an embassy on the Citadel. Rather, they're granted a seat on the Citadel Council itself in recognition for their service.
1342: The Kig-Yar of Eayn, who've colonized many of the other moons and asteroids of the planet their world revolves around, are discovered by the Covenant. Hostilities start between the two as the former's pirates attack the latter, and the latter seeks to conquer the former. Eventually, the Kig-Yar are incorporated into the Covenant to prevent further conflict.
1400: The Citadel Conventions are drawn up in the wake of the conflict, which are designed to limit damage done in war and prevent potential existential threats. Weapons of mass destruction are strictly forbidden on garden worlds. This includes orbital bombardment, uncontrolled self-replicating weapons, powerful explosive weapons such as nuclear warheads, and bioweapons that devastate an ecosystem.
The Treaty of Farixen is also drawn up to prevent military build-up. Each member of Citadel Space can only have a limited number of dreadnaughts, with the Turians being able to build 5 for every 3 the Asari and Salarians have built, and all other races being able to build 1 for every 5 the Asari and Salarians have built.
Next, the Citadel Council forbids the activation of inactive Mass Relays in order to prevent something like the Rachni Wars from happening again.
Last and strangest of all, on the insistence of the Asari, the Citadel Council forbids the creation of AI.
1880: The Drell of Rakhana start destroying the environment of their homeworld due to unchecked industrial expansion.
2100: First sightings of the current incarnation of the Collectors are reported.
2142: The Unggoy of Balaho are discovered and enslaved by the Covenant.
2291: Humanity once again develops Slipspace travel and starts expanding and colonizing at an exponential rate under the banner of the United Earth Government.
2378: The Yonhet of Yonhe develop Slipspace travel after studying Forerunner artifacts. They discover multiple sentient species in relatively close proximity to their homeworld: the Dazreme of Reme, the Glacius of Ki, and the Locust of Sera. Together, they form an allegiance known as the Coalition.
2395: The Geth, a form of virtual intelligence made by the Quarians, begin to show too many signs of self-awareness due to their networking capabilities. Fearing an uprising, the Quarian Federation begins to dismantle the Geth, even when some Quarians attempt to stop their government from what they saw as committing genocide.
When too many Quarian civilians died as a result of the Federation's actions, the Geth started to rebel in an attempt to save them. The Morning War has begun.
The Geth systematically drive the hostile Quarians from their worlds, and the protesting Quarians are accidentally destroyed in the crossfire from both sides.
The Quarian Federation falls, with the remaining Quarians having fled the Geth in a now nomadic fleet and found the Quarian Conclave. The Geth Consensus was born as well, taking the former territory of the Quarian Federation.
Instead of helping the survivors, the Citadel Council closes the Quarian embassy and exiles the species from their territory.
2462: Tensions between the Unggoy and the Kig-Yar rise as a result of both species being low-ranking races in the Covenant, and being forced to share space with one another on High Charity. The tensions cause stress on female Kig-Yar, which causes a rise in infant mortality rates. In an act of revenge, some Kig-Yar poisoned Unggoy methane supplies, which rendered infected males sterile. The leaders of the Covenant did little to stop either side.
Outraged, the Unggoy start attacking the other races of the Covenant, with conflict spreading across all of High Charity. The Unggoy Rebellion has started.
Eventually, the Sangheili start glassing Balaho to stop the conflict. Horrified, the Unggoy surrender, and only a relatively small part of their homeworld is turned to glass.
The Sangheili award the Unggoy for their warrior spirit, and provide them with better living standards and significantly better training and equipment.
2472: First contact occurs between the Covenant and the Coalition. A quick war occurs between the two, with the latter being conquered by the former due to its relatively small army, territory and navy. The Coalition is renamed to the Covenant Fringe, and exists as a protectorate of the Covenant without its races being fully integrated into it.
2480: First contact between the Hanar and Drell occurs when the former discover the dying homeworld of the latter. The Hanar mount a large-scale rescue operation and evacuate approximately 375,000 Drell to their own homeworld. The remaining 11 billion Drell gradually perish, warring over the last resources their planet has to offer.
2491: Humanity launches the ORION Project due to rising tensions. The project was created to create supersoldiers, but their abilities fell short of the scientists' hopes and were considered too expensive to create.
2492: The Jiralhanae are discovered by the Covenant, and are incorporated after a relatively quick war.
2494: Tensions rise within Humanity, as many in the Outer Colonies feel like they're abandoned or practically enslaved by the Inner Colonies. The terroristic organization known as the Insurrectionists rises, and ONI relaunches the ORION Project as a result, renaming it the Spartan Project. The original subjects of the ORION Project are retroactively reclassified as Spartan-I's.
2506: Training of the Spartan-II's begins, starting with the kidnapping of selected children across the United Earth Government.
2524: The Covenant discovers Humanity, and their leaders discover that they're the Reclaimers, which would destroy the most basic fundamentals of the Covenant's religion.
2525: The Covenant Hierarchs name Humanity to be heretical, and the Covenant starts their genocidal campaign against Humanity. The Human-Covenant War has started, and rages for decades. The United Nations Space Command, the military arm of Humanity, takes emergency control.
At around the same time, the Citadel Council discovered the pre-FTL Yahg of Parnack. Diplomacy is attempted, but the ambassadors are murdered and eaten by the Yahg. Parnack is quarantined.
2530: The success of the Spartan-II's during the war convinces ONI to commission the Spartan-III's, which are less potent but more numerous.
2531: The Spirit of Fire follows the Covenant to the Shield World Trove, and destroys the planet to stop the Covenant getting their hands on the technology inside.
2549: A Jiralhanae known as Atriox, as well as those willing to follow him, move away from the Covenant and form their own organization known as the Banished. They act like a mercenary group, with a distinctive hatred to the Covenant.
2552: Reach, Humanity's fortress world, is destroyed after a brutal campaign by the Covenant. The Pillar of Autumn and its crew manage to escape to Halo installation 04, including Master Chief and Cortana. Most Spartans die on Reach, and Dr. Halsey seemingly vanishes.
The events of the original Halo trilogy happen, resulting in the deaths of the Hierarchs of the Covenant and the Great Schism.
The Silurians are woken up due to the glassing efforts of the Covenant on Earth, and start fighting against the other factions on the planet. After the initial confusion had subsided, diplomatic channels were opened between the Silurians and Humanity. The Silurians were starting to integrate themselves with the civilians of the United Earth Government.
2553: The Great Schism rages on, the Separatists aligning themselves with the United Earth Government and the Loyalists fighting against both. The Loyalists are driven back by the united power of the Separatists and the UEG.
The Covenant Rebels reveal themselves to the rest of the known galaxy, having secretly tried to undermine the Covenant over the millennia. While it originally consisted of Sangheili who were opposed to the Writ of Union, it has since expanded to include all Covenant races. They ally themselves with the Separatists and the UEG.
The Covenant Fringe secede from the Covenant.
2555: The Loyalists, now renamed as the Storm Covenant, flee into unknown space. The Loyalists and the UEG declare victory over the Covenant in the Great War and the Great Schism.
2556: The Separatists split up into several factions, each rebuilding whatever government their species had before their time in the Covenant. The San'Shyuum create the San'Shyuum Council, the Huragok create the Huragok Collective, the Sangheili recreate the Swords of Sanghelios, the Lekgolo create Unity, the Yanme'e create the Yanme'e Hives, the Kig-Yar Confederacy, the Unggoy create the Free Unggoy States, and the Jiralhanae create the Jiralhanae Packs.
The Covenant Rebels disband, though they offer the Shield World Refuge as a neutral location and meeting ground for the other governments that they'd allied themselves to.
ONI attempts to interfere with the development of the Covenant Separatists, but they became careless. Their actions became publicly known, along with many different secrets of theirs, including the truth behind the Spartans.
ONI underwent a massive overhaul, with many of the higher ups being arrested and executed for their actions. The new ONI, despite having grown bitter, is allowed to remain in existence, despite being far more heavily regulated by a new ethics committee.
2557: The Arbiter, one of the most powerful political figures among the Separatist civilizations, proposes the idea to create an alliance between the Swords of Sanghelios, the other Separatist factions and the UEG.
After some deliberation, Humanity and the Silurians surprisingly agree to join with the former Covenant races. The Systems Alliance is founded, which exists as an alliance between the various states that have joined it.
The San'Shyuum that have joined the Systems Alliance return to Janjur Qom, discovering that its parent star, Qom Yaekesh, hasn't gone supernova, disproving yet another lie of the Covenant Hierarchs. They rejoin their lost brothers, who are at the precipice of discovering Slipspace travel on their own.
In addition, the former members of the Covenant Fringe also ask to join the Systems Alliance.
2558: After several years of negotiation between Humanity and the Silurians, a solution has been found for a problem the Silurians have faced since waking up. What to do with the prehistoric Earth's biosphere.
Everyone agrees that these life forms should be preserved, but everyone is also concerned that introducing them to modern-day Earth could easily result in the extinction of some species, as these creatures could be considered as an invasive species.
The Silurians utilize an old project of theirs, a genetically engineered bacteria, to terraform Venus into a habitable world. This bacteria is designed to eat the chemicals that Venus's atmosphere is made of, and excrete chemicals that are more in line with the atmospheric makeup of prehistoric Earth.
This bacteria is seeded across all of Venus, quickly and rapidly spreading across the planet and slowly changing the atmosphere. While the bacteria are changing the air, terraforming equipment of Humanity is changing the terrain to make the world more habitable.
While terraforming would take several years, once complete, the bacteria would quickly die off due to lack of nutrition, fertilizing the newly formed soil. When finished, the planet is seeded with the preserved lifeforms of prehistoric Earth. Venus has become the new Silurian homeworld.
2575: An exploration group of the Systems Alliance discovered a metallic rogue planet with odd energy readings. When looking closer, this planet is revealed to host a mechanical form of life, with the dominant lifeforms being locked in a civil war. Cybertron is discovered.
First contact happens when the Decepticons attack the exploration group, and the Autobots start defending them. After this event, and some negotiations between the Systems Alliance and the Autobots, the latter has agreed to join the former. War has been declared between the Decepticons and the Systems Alliance.
The Decepticons, being quickly overrun by the military might of the Systems Alliance, flee Cybertron, going in roughly the same direction as the Storm Covenant. The Autobots form the Autobot Commonwealth, while the fleeing Decepticons form the Decepticon Empire in exile.
2578: After intensive lobbying by several organizations in the Systems Alliance, citing the rights of the Huragok and Cybertronians, AI have been given equal rights to the organic races. The Smart AI created by Humanity and its allies form the Assembly in public.
2657: Near the UEG planet Shanxi, a mysterious alien megastructure is found, believed to be of Forerunner origin.
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And that's a wrap. Phew, that took a while, even if it's just the timeline that's likely gonna be skipped by everyone. TheDoctor1998 here, signing out.