Mass Effect: Shadows Rising
Galaxy Aftermath
The war is over, the Reapers have been defeated and now it is time to move forwards and rebuild. This the the state of the galaxy.
The Citadel is widely considered the political and cultural heart of Citadel space, the unofficial name given to all systems that fall under the Citadel species’ control.
It is the hub of all trade within the Citadel space and the home of the citadel council.
Citadel Rules
Since the events of the attack by Sovereign and the ex SPECTRE Saren, the CSEC the police of the station upped the security on the station. Specially how weapons are dealt with on the station.
The new law states that only small arms maybe carried while on the station which includes side arms pistols and most SMGs, anything larger is required to be stowed away either on ones ship, in a locker on the station or confiscated by CSEC.
Melee weapons: small knives are allowed to be carried anything larger must either be stowed on one ship, in a locker on the station or confiscated by CSEC.
Omni Weapons: Are automatically put into shut down mode as soon as you enter the stations security fields at every entrance to the station. Will be re-activate when you leave the station.
Weapons and weapons mods may be purchased, but any weapon purchased must be stored.
Citadel Council Members
- Asari Councilor: Tevos- is a diplomat and compromiser, but does not hesitate to put the welfare of asari space over that of her race’s allies.
- Salarian Councilor: Valern- Like his fellow salarians, he likes his wars won before they are started, and has no experience dealing with unexpected variables like Reaper invasions. He doesn’t like to bother with specifics of unsavory operations claiming that they always disappoint, but apparently is not above personally getting others to further his political goals.
- Turian Councilor: Sparatus- Always the first to play the skeptic whenever an idea is raised, Sparatus, when forced to accept the truth of claims he previously dismissed, is just as dismissive of any recriminations against him, instead shifting the focus back to more pressing issues at hand. A consummate politician, he claims the Council uses their authority in the best way they know how to look after their own people in times of adversity, and opts to express personal gratitude on behalf of himself and of Palaven when the situation arises.
- Human Councilor: Rear Admiral Hanna Shepard- Unlike her fellow Council members is not a career politician, she is the mother of the galactic hero Jane Shepard and a career military officer, whom attained the rank of Rear Admiral during the war and was involved in the Crucible project. After the war she was approached by both Admiral Hackett and Jason Anderson (Admiral David Anderson’s son). She was originally against running, but the two of them where able to convince her, being Jane Shepards mother and a hero in her own right she won the post easily. As a councilor she trys to uphold the values her daughter lived by. She fights for all of humanity both those that live in council space and those that live in the traverse.
Ambassadors
- Quarrian/Geth Rannoch has a dual council setup both work together for the good of all. The Quarrian Ambassador is Tali Zora Vas Normandy, and the Geth Hoplite (Whom sometimes is an autonomous unit or lives within Tali Zora’s suit)
- Krogan The Krogan Ambassador is the female Hazka clan Urdnot. The appointment of a Krogan ambassador to the council was not an easy one, but Hanna Shepard using all the clout she could pushed it through giving the Krogan under Urdnot Wrex a legitimate chance to thrive, and Urdnot Hazka does everything she can to make sure the galaxy can rely on the Krogan and not make the same mistakes of the past and to make her closest ally’s proud of her and her people.
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Earth
The homeworld and capital of humanity is entering a new golden age. The resource wealth of a dozen settled colonies and a hundred industrial outposts flows back to Earth, fueling great works of industry, commerce, and art. The great cities are greening as arcology skyscrapers and telecommuting allow more efficient use of land.
Earth is still divided among nation-states, though all are affiliated beneath the overarching banner of the Systems Alliance.
The Systems Alliance is the representative body of Earth and all human colonies in Citadel space. Backed by Earth’s most powerful nations, the Alliance has become humanity’s military, exploratory, and economic spearhead. While the Alliance is relatively new to the galactic community, it has already made a name for itself, gaining humans an embassy of the Presidium. The Alliance is governed by a parliament base on Arcturus Station, which also serves as the Alliance’s capital.
Currently the surviving nations are deciding whether to keep their separate nation status or to fully integrate with the Systems Alliance being the one true government, the arguments are still ongoing.
The Alliance military
The Alliance military is respected by the Citadel races for its novel tactics and technology. Their strength lies in fire support, flexibility, and speed. The Council regards the Alliance as a “sleeping giant” as only 3% of humans volunteer for military service. They make up for low numbers with sophisticated technical support in the form of VIs, drones, artillery, and electronic warfare, and emphasis on mobility and individual initiative. Their military doctrine is not based on absorbing and dishing out heavy shocks like the turians and krogan. Rather, they bypass enemy strong points and launch deep into their rear, cutting supply lines and logistics, destroying headquarters and support units, leaving enemies to “wither on the vine”.
On defense, the Alliance military lives by Sun Tzu’s maxim, “He who tries to defend everything defends nothing.” Only token garrisons are placed on their colonies. These are intended for scouting rather than combat, avoiding engagement to observe and report on invaders using drones. However, the Alliance stations powerful fleets at mass relay nexuses so that in the event of an attack they respond with overwhelming force.
At the end of the Reaper war the Alliance Navy was decimated but still played an extremely important roll in the war, under Admiral Hackett. Now with the war over and everyone rebuilding the Alliance Navy was put under the command of Admiral Hackett to rebuild.
He took a novel approach to rebuilding, as building ships was quicker then training troops even with the quicker then average training that has been put into place, Hackett put out feelers to all humans and even non human privateers, pirates and even mercenaries that would like to return home to fill the ranks of the Alliance Navy and Marines as either adjuncts or even in many cases rejoin the navy having their current ranks accepted or in many cases accepted. If willing to join or rejoin the Alliance military minor criminal infractions within Alliance space would be absolved.
Due to Admiral Anderson and Jane Shepard humanitys influence around the galaxy has grown significantly. It is possible their influance might rival that of the Assari in the near future.
Batarian Hegemony
The Reapers entered the galaxy through the Vular system, near the heart of batarian space, and quickly advanced on Khar’shan. Batarian response to the assault was uncoordinated. Back in 2163 CE, the Hegemony recovered the Leviathan of Dis, a billion-year old Reaper corpse, from Jartar. They issued total denials of its existence then began secret intensive studies of its advanced technology in the hope of reclaiming the batarians’ place in the galaxy. This allowed the Leviathan to indoctrinate the science team and prominent batarian officials. When the Reapers invaded in 2186 CE, the indoctrinated officials sabotaged Hegemony defenses and broadcast misleading messages, allowing the Reapers to easily conquer batarian systems and crush their navy.
As with most races suitable for combat integration, the Reapers converted captured batarians into Cannibals and dispatched them to numerous battlefields across the galaxy. Those that managed to get away found themselves refugees on alien territory, with some even taking refuge in the Citadel itself.
With the loss of their systems and worlds the Batarians are a dying species of desperate individuals. roaming the galaxy without a world to call their own. Due to their own actions most species are not willing to give them much of any help.
The asari homeworld has been called the “crown jewel of the galaxy,” the “apex of democracy,” and the “beating heart of galactic love.” Its republics have a remarkably low incidence of war, disease, violent crime or famine, riding a stable economy backed by wealthy colonies and Thessia’s vast element zero reserves. Traces of eezo in the water and soil are so common that most life on Thessia has adapted to its presence.
Thessia was thoroughly trashed during the Reaper conflict, since most Asari and much of its wildlife are naturally biotic in some way, the Reapers decided to smash and burn their way instead of capture and turn. so much of Thessia’s economy and communications was destroyed. Their government was all but eliminated, making the Asari Councilor to the de facto leader of the Assari government, the Justicar Samara has also returned home to help with the rebuilding efforts of her people.
Even two years later the Asari home world and many of their colonies are still in shambles from the war, much of their communications and e-commerce has been rebuild but much of their infrastructure is still under construction and probably will so for years to come. The Asari Councilor Tevos is still the Asari’s nominal head of government but due to her responsibilities as a Citadel Councilor she has delegated much of her governmental responsibilities to her seconds. The Asari have yet to decide on who is going to replace her and with all of the other issues plaguing them it is not high on their list.
Due to the damage to Thessia and to the truth coming out that the Asari lied to the galaxy about the Prothian data they had their standing within the galactic community has diminished, not as much as the Salarians but it is noticeable.
The elcor homeworld, Dekuuna, overflows with natural resources protected by law, from large deposits of precious metals to vast forests. The elcor themselves live in rich grasslands near the equator. The majority of Dekuuna’s settlements are tucked within this belt, as the conservative elcor feel little desire to build outside their comfort zone. Their twin capitals are for migrations from the wet season to the dry season, a tradition made obsolete by modern technology but still observed.
After the destruction of the elcor navy, Reapers moved in their ground troops to occupy the cities. This has taken longer than most civilized worlds, as the elcor have spread out into smaller, distant settlements, reflecting their preference for close-knit family communities instead of densely packed cities.
Due to this decentralization of theirs, the Elcor came out practially intact without much in the way of massive destruction that other more centralized nations incurred.
Currently the Elcor are in the process of rebuilding their Navy and helping out whever else they can.
The volus homeworld is a high-pressure, high-gravity planet that supports an ammonia-based ecology. This rare environment means that the volus have been slow to colonize, as there are few planets that meet their habitation requirements. Most prefer to stay on Irune, working remotely via the extranet. The more adventurous don the clumsy but vital pressure suits and venture out to worlds in Citadel space to make their fortunes.
Due to its High Amonia content the Volus homeworld was left practially unscathed by the Reaper war, other then minor damage due to random Husk attacks. The Volus came out of the war about the same as they went in, without much in the way of change. They are still a client state of the Turians and since they theymselves dont fight they never made much of an impact in the war so they neither gained or lost ground to other worlds.
Kahje
Kahje is the homeworld of the hanar. Also the home of the Drell.
Due to the actions of Shepard the Hanar where able to get their defenses in order and where able to repel the Reaper advance into their system.
Due to the sucess of the Blasto movies some of the Drell have started to rethink their place in the galaxy and have started to become a more active participant a few even petitoning to join various militaries and mercinary orginizations.
Palaven is the Turian homeworld, it is said “The only thing on this planet that isn’t silver are the turians. It’s all too clear they’re made of steel.” These were Alliance hero Jon Grissom’s impressions of the turian homeworld Palaven, seen by humans for the first time following the First Contact War. The turians’ martial attitude permeates every aspect of Palaven society, from architecture to art to politics. It’s no surprise that their homeworld was never occupied by an invading force until now.
Palaven the homeorld of the turians was bombed from orbit, but due to their militaristic nature no matter how bad it got during the war, they continued to fight and never stopped fighting until the war was over. in the past two years the Turian militaristic has helped them rebuild fairly quickly, much of Pavalen still has scars of the Reaper war but as things move forwards they are quickly removing these scars and rebuilding. The Turian fleet is also growing quickly again due to their nature they are not having as much of an issue rebuilding as other races are.
The current Turian Primarch is Primarch Adrien Victus, who atained that postion during the Reaper war and is beloved by the people of Palaven and the other Turian colonies, his chief advisor and right hand Turian is one of Shepards friends and allies Garrus Vakarian.
The salarian homeworld has been likened to the jungles of Earth: pretty to look at, teeming with life, uncomfortable to live in and dangerous to the unwary. The technophilic salarians had significant pollution and waste problems early in the development of their society. They also embraced social solutions just as quickly, and through complex breeding rules, Sur’Kesh now maintains a crowded but sustainable population. The planet tends to be wetter than Earth, and salarian cities spare no expense to collect and provide fresh water, as one might expect from an amphibious species.
Sur’Kesh was not touched much by the Reaper war, and with there leadership declining to give any offical help to Shepard and the war effort over Shepards decision to cure the Krogan of the Genophage did not stop her people in mass from revolting aganst that order and helping anyway.
Due to this refusal of support over shepards decision, the past two years have not be the kindest on the Salarian Union as they have watched their galactic standing erode and quickly, while they watched the Humans rise to the occasion and take over the slack.
Tuchanka
Scarred by bombardment craters, radioactive rubble, choking ash, salt flats, and alkaline seas, Tuchanka can barely support life. Thousands of years ago, life grew in fierce abundance under the F-class star Aralakh (a Raik clan word meaning “Eye of Wrath”). Tree-analogues grew in thick jungles, their roots growing out of shallow, silty seas. Life fed upon life in an evolutionary crucible. This world died in nuclear firestorms after the krogan split the atom. A “little ice age” of nuclear winter killed off much of the remaining plant life.
Tuchanka is the homeworld of the extremely hardy and extremely warlike Krogan, who up until recently where despondent and either left home without caring about what they did to their people or they fought amongsed themselves again not caring about helping their own people. They also did not have much in the way of strong central leadership that changed when Urdnot Wrex came back from working with Jane Shepard. Shepards change effected Wrex who went home and did the one thing no other Krogan tried to do in ages unite his people.
So, in the past few years Wrex continued to push his agenda of a united Krogran people, after Mordin sacrificed himself to cure the Genophage Wrex’s plans went into full form and with the backing of Urdnot Bakara and the rest of the female clans is doing a great job of uniting his people. That unity is still in in its infancy and very vulnerable as their is still some serious push back against Wrex’s leadership, something he is still working through. Wrex was also able to start getting his diasporate people to come back home and flock to his banner.
Due to Wrex and Counciler Shepard, Shepards Mother the Krogan gained an Ambassador to the Citadel whos job is to negotiate with the Council for colony worlds for the Krogan and to gain better relations with the council worlds trying to remove the stigma of their violant past. With this in mind and at Urdnot Bakara’s insitance they sent a female to the post.
Currently the Krogan government consists of Warlord Urdnot Wrex his chief advisor Urdnot Bakara, Citadel Ambassador Urdnot Hazka
The planet Rannoch, an arid planet orbiting an older star in the Tikkun system, is the former quarian homeworld. Almost three hundred years ago, the quarians were driven from Rannoch by the geth, synthetic servants who gained sapience and rebelled against their creators. Although Rannoch is now largely uninhabited, the geth have acted as caretakers, working to repair the planet’s ecology, restore ancient structures, and cultivate some farmland.
If anything Rannoch has had the largest and most profound change since the war started and ended, other planets where ravaged by war, or totally and utterly destroyed, leadership decimated but in the end they still had a home to rebuild.
Rannoch on the other hand is an ending and a new begining which included a homecoming. The Quarrian Geth conflict ended with Shepard making a tenative peace to fight a more important foe the Reapers. This peace so far has lasted, The Quarians and Geths are trying to make a go of cohabitation both living together in relative peace on the planet Rannoch a planet that both call home.
The Quarrians are no longer pilgrims they are offically a ground based species with much if not all of their species shifting from their shifts to their planet. The Quarrians are still forced to wear their suits most of the time, but with the help of the Geth this is slowly changing, atleast on Rannoch that is, as the Quarrians can now spend some time outside their suits when on their homeworld, anywhere else they still ned to wear them at all times.
Thanks to Legion the geth where able to gain true sentience and individuality, they still have the concensious but they can operate a lot more freely then they ever did before. With this sentience the Geth where instremental to the war effort and reconstruction of Rannoch, this also includes some of them hopping into Quarian suits to help them gain the ability to exsist without the suits, but this is a goal that will take generations to complete. Two years later the Quarrians can spend hours outside their suits on their homeworld, but still cannot do so off their world.
Their is still some friction between both the Quarians and the Geth but at this time, most have been able to work together for the betterment of both species.
In the past two years the Quarians and the Geth decided to create a parlamentary style government initally consisting of those currently on the Admiralty board, plus an equil number of Geth platforms make up the current parlament, and the prime minister is voted on from within their ranks. The current Prime Minister is Admiral Shala’Raan vas Tonbay.
Thanks to the insistance of the Human Council Member the ambassadors from Rannoch where decided to be a combined Ambassadorship. The Rannoch Parlament decided that the one member of Parlament that has a lot of experience dealing with non Quarians and has clout since she worked with Shepard, that is Admiral Tali’zora vas Normandy, then the Geth concensus chose one of their least reactionary members in Hoplite. The qarian/geth Ambassadors are also extremely alied with the Human Council Member.
Other Powers and orginizations
Omega is described as “the Terminus Systems’ dark, twisted counterpart to the Citadel.” It is a huge mining station built from the remains of a massive, irregularly shaped asteroid with twisting streets populated with homes, shops and warehouses. Omega’s inhabitants are usually lawless. Territory is controlled by the strongest faction in that area and frequently changes hands, often after brutal violence. The station’s current “de facto” ruler is Aria T’Loak. As of 2185, Omega has a population of 7.8 million people, composed of various different species. The station’s major export is element zero.1
The term rechid hive of scum and villany is an apt descriptor for Omega which has very few rules, one of this is that their are no rules, the second is don’t screw with Aria. Aria T’Loak is the de facto ruler of Omega, the nominal capital of the Terminus Systems. Also known as the “Pirate Queen” of Omega, Aria is fiercely possessive of the space station and will do anything to protect it and maintain her dominance.
Aria runs Omega with an iron fist, her orginization is quite strong, and her men extremely loyal. The term “I am Omega.” is extremely apt here as nothing goes on without her knowing it. And after loosing Omega for a short time to Cerberus, she moved to the Citadel until she regianed the station. It is rumored that her arm is strong and that she has the Asari councler in her pocket but nothing is confirmed.
After regaining control of Omega with help from Sheapard, she was able to take control of the three major mercinary orginizations, in turn she puts her signifiant influance behind the war with the Reapers.
After regaining Omega with Shepards help Aria, Aria decids to take a more active roll in galatic politics and decides to epand her rule beyond the confines of Omega itself. She took advantage of the chaos after the Mass Relay netork went down and the chaos of the past two years to gain control of a number of small colonies within the Terminus systems, aswell as ‘gainin’ behind the sceens control of about half a dozen others.
Omega now means more then just the station it is the seat of power of atleast half a dozen colonies, all of which is called the Omega Empire by those that live within its borders, and since most nations are still rebuilding its navies no one has had the ability to try to deal with the situation. Currently Aria is using whats left under her control of the Black Suns, Blood Pack and Blue Sons as her defacto military, For the moment it seems to be working extremely well for her.
Originally a small Terminus Systems vorcha gang, the Blood Pack was transformed into a mercenary legion by visionary Krogan Battlemaster Ganar Wrang. Exiled for striking a female in anger, Wrang obsessed over reclaiming his lost status.
The Current leader of the Blood Pack is a Krogan Battlemaster Garm, They are primarily made up of Vorcha and Krogan. During the Reaper war they where taken control of by Aria T’Loak thanks to Jane Shepard. They are still nominally under the control of Aria, but Garm still chaifs under her rule even now.
The last few years have been a mixed bag for them, due to the curing of the Genophage many Krogan that might have Joined the Blood Pack are declining to do so and are either leaving the Mercenary company or just not willing to join up prefering to stay home or return home to help rebuild their people. That is not saying some Krogan are not staying they are, but due to the lack of Krogan the Blood Pack have had to fill the ranks with even more Vorcha.
Currently they are being used to police Aria’s growing kingdom.
The Blue Suns are a “private security organization,” in reality a mercenary outfit, operating in the Skyllian Verge. The Blue Suns have a reputation for being both discreet and ruthlessly efficient, and as such charge a sizable fee.
Blue Suns consist mostly of batarians, turians, and humans. They are also known to employ mechanized support on occasion: YMIR, FENRIS, and LOKI Mechs.
The current leadership of the Blue Suns is Darner Vosque and Zaeed Massani. At some point after the war Zaeed Massani one of the founders of the Blue Suns came back, Darner Vosque knowing his promotion was thanks to Zaeed and Shepards interventions, Zaeed was able to make a deal with Voque allowing Zaeed to take those that wished to go with him, this created a second Bue Suns. It is unknown if the two orginizations have any ties to eachother.
Darner Vosque’s Blue Suns have been retained by Aria T’Loak as her ‘Kingdoms’ primary military. This is an arrangement that Vosque is extremely happy to have as his reputation took a major hit after the skisim with Massani, it is also an arrangement that he wishes to keep for as long as he can.
Zaeed Massani’s Blue Suns have hired themselves out to an unknown party along with a Krogan, and a Prothean, capturing whats left of the Collectors after the Reapers where defeated. It is unknown why or for whom.
Eclipse is a mercenary corporation that was founded by asari commando Jona Sederis. The organization provides effective security and firepower for prospective employers; they have few scruples about the nature of those who hire them, so long as they can afford their services. Eclipse mercenaries work in teams of troopers and vanguards which may be led by more experienced commando units.
Eclipse has had a tough road since the war as both the Human and Asari recruits and some members have decided to return home taking advantage of there peoples willingness to look past, previous infractions and help rebuilding efforts both ground and militarily. This is not saying that they cant find recruits, it is just more difficult for them as they have had to lean more on Salarians then Humans or Asari, that being said does not mean they are not able to find recruits from both the Humans and Asari they are, and a good chunk of their veteran base is still in tact.
Currently the Eclipse is under the employ as special forces in Aria’s Kingdoms military, they also have an old threat nipping at its heels its old leader and founder who during the chaos at the end of the war was able to engineer her escape one Jona Sederis a true psychopath, who is not happy with them for keeping her in jail. So she is now out trying to either regain control or destroy them it is unknown which.
Cerberus is a human-survivalist paramilitary group led by the enigmatic Illusive Man. Cerberus’ core belief is that humans deserve a greater role in the galactic community, and that the Systems Alliance is too hamstrung by law and public opinion to stand up effectively to the other Citadel races. Cerberus supports the principle that any methods of advancing humanity’s ascension are entirely justified, including illegal or dangerous experimentation, terrorist activities, sabotage and assassination. Cerberus operatives accept that these methods are brutal, but believe history will vindicate them. Nevertheless, both the Systems Alliance and the Citadel Council have declared Cerberus to be a terrorist organization and will prosecute identified Cerberus agents accordingly.
Since the end of the war and the death of the Illusive man, Cerberus as an orginization fractured into even smaller pieces with different leaders vying for power. The orginization is no longer considered the threat it once did. Their might still be remnants of this once powerful organization, but if there are they are small and disorganized.
It is rumored that one time member Miranda Lawson has created a team of like minded individuals to hunt down and destroy the remnants of Cerberus when they pop their heads up, but their is no proof of this.
The Shadow Broker Agency
The Shadow Broker Agency was an organization committed to executing the business of the Shadow Broker. The Business of the Shadow Broker, is the acquisition, and trade of information between clients across the galaxy. To society, the Shadow Broker is an omniscent hacker, or an organization that works as one, or a family that has controlled the line of Brokers, however few know the true nature of the beast. The real number of Shadow Brokers, or when the identity came to exist is unknown.
The stated mission of the Jon Grissom Academy, commissioned in 2176, is to “serve a student population demonstrating excellence and passion for math, science, and the liberal arts.” Its entirely human student body ranges in age from the early teens to the mid-twenties. Although the fact is not heavily advertised, the institution also offers classes for students with biotic capability. The school’s Ascension Project seeks to train these students and integrate them into normal society.
The Academy also takes those that others feel are either a danger to others or are un teachable or treatable, and they build them back up.
After the war ended, the Jon Grissom Acadamy re-opened back up at full capacity. The Acadamy is currently run by Kaylee Sanders and Shepards former companion Jack.
Cult of Shepard
At the end of the war, and the death of both Shepard and Anderson, a strange cult has sprung up in a number of places around the galaxy, the cult calls itself the cult of Shepard, the cult is small but it is growing.
The cult was started by known Shepard super fan Conrad Verner, whom seems to have dedicated his life to the cause of Shepard, his latest cause is that Shepard was a deity come to life and who died protecting the various species of the galaxy.
He and his followers believe that she deserves to be venerated as the goddess she is. As she saved so many people many have flocked to his banner, and have brought the Cult of Shepard back to their home planets with them causing the Cult of Shepard to become one of the fastest growing ‘Religions’ in the galaxy in known memory.
Admiral Anderson is also similarly venerated by the cult as their goddesses teacher, mentor and father figure, the one that put her on the proper path. They also venerate Shepard’s mother the human Council member equal to Admiral Anderson, to her utter chagrin.
Currently Conrad Verner is petitioning the council for official recognition of his small but growing religion, but has gotten a lot of push back by the Alliance Admiral Hackett, Admiral Anderson’s son, and Shepard’s own mother Hanna Shepard, all of which knew both Shepard and Hackett and knew both would be against this deification. This push back has not deterred Conrad who has promised to keep petitioning until they hear him out.
by:
Elvathadrin