Beyond the Crucible: The Story

MASS EFFECT

It has been forty years since the battle to free Earth from the Reapers and Shepard activated the Crucible.  The Reapers survived the wave but ceased their attacks and immediately rebuilt all the Mass Relays and then took the Citadel and disappeared into an unknown part of the Galaxy.  The Normandy was found crash landed a few months later and its entire crew had survived; but Shepard has never been found.

The fleet that engaged the Reapers had been the largest ever seen and had been well equipped so had largely survived the encounter.  Recovery of the damage the Reapers caused was accomplished very quickly.  The proverbial thorn in the side of the Alliance, Cerberus, was all but destroyed through Shepard’s efforts.  Peace was established between the Geth and the Quarians and the two races now peacefully cohabitate their home world together.  The Krogans were cured of the Genophage and have become a largely positive force in the Galaxy.

Not all is well though, the Salarians were incensed that the Krogan had been given a cure and in a few years gathered a fleet to attack Tuchanka and try and kill the Krogan before they recovered completely from the Genophage.  To this day no one knows how they knew but the moment the Salarian fleet arrived at Tuchanka the Reapers were already there and almost the entire fleet was destroyed in short order.  A Batarian combat group trying to attack a Human colony near their space was also destroyed by the Reapers.  It was soon discovered that any large offensive action would be met by Reapers and destroyed.  To this day no one knows how the Reapers gained intelligence on these operations.  However the Reapers do not interfere in small scale commando operations and the Salarians took full advantage of it using the Special Task Group to antagonize the Krogan’s any way they could.  The Krogan’s complained to the Council and the Asari, Humans, and Turians, told the Salarians to cease and desist.  Then things spiralled out of control, having all sorts of information on most of the Asari and Turian Spectres the Salarians convinced most of them through blackmail and other threats to fight for the Salarians and help destabilize the council and those who supported them.  The Council turned to the one remaining force they felt they could trust, Alliance N7.  The Alliance immediately opened up membership to their armed forces to all interested races and soon Asari, Geth, Krogan, Quarians, and Turians, served in N7 along with Humans.  Twenty years ago after years of clandestine combat N7 succeeded in wiping out the old Spectres and most of the Special Task Group. 

    

Twenty years on though Peace is still far away, while the Salarians still have a seat on the Council and an embassy on Earth, which had become the new headquarters of the Council during what was called the Commando Wars, they have refused to bury the hatchet and participate in Council affairs.  The Salarians still see the curing of the Genophage as a betrayal by the Council and Humanity in particular.  The Salarians quickly rebuilt the Special Task Force and enlisted the help of any underworld organization looking for money and non council races with an axe to grind.  Some say the Commando Wars have never truly ended. 

Recently the Alliance has decided to allow independent non-Geth AI’s the right to recruit into the Alliance military.  Your ship is the SSV Sachsen a large stealth frigate that is an upgraded version of a design based on the Normandy SR2.  Technology and Resources are readily available but largely given on a basis of need and merit.