I know, I know. Some people reading are probably upset I haven't update story 'X', however that is due to a lack of inspiration that this and some other stories that will be coming out like the 'Little Goddess Chronicles' which will help me get inspiration by working on something different but similar. This story is designed to help me by acting as a foil and testing ground for ideas that while good, don't fit in with 'X-Com: Mass Effect' (I may need to change the name eventually)

However this story is going to be slightly interactive, that is if a Reviewer has an idea that fits in with the story and doesn't change what has already been written. I will strive to implement it. If two ideas clash then a poll will be put up to decide which will be done.

Basically, what you say has a massive effect on this story more than most of my stories. I really want to hear what you think about this story and what you want to see in this story.

The only warnings will be, Supremely OP Fem Shepard, Mild Politics and variable amounts of Gore and Awesomeness.

Edit: Props to Leonas for pointing out a continuity error. It has been fixed

Chapter 1

The Fall of Man

In 2020Mankind finally cracks the secrets of Genetic and Biological manipulation, immediately after this discovery is announced, all major militaries begin researching combat improving upgrades.

A new era of warfare began, the era of Bio-Wars.

2021: The first publically available biological implants, alterations and/or mutations called Evolutionary Improvements or more commonly 'EVOs' are released

2022-2025: First Bio-Wars

2022: The People's Republic of China, desperate for resources and having run out of land in which to grow. On the twenty-second of March, China strikes into Russian territory. They use Biological engineered troops known as Brutes, Russian responds with their Berserker Bio-troops.

2024: The War escalates and the size of the conflict slowly but surely comes to reach those of the World Wars.

2025: American 'Harpy' reinforcements help Russian to win the war. The People's Republic of China is struck with a incurable sterility. They are projected to die out in just under a hundred years, to ensure this all of their scientists are killed and their cities are reduced to rubble.

2028-2053: The Years of Change

2028: American bio-manipulators, worried about the resurgence of the Bio-Wars, begin work on a top secret project known as Project Omega.

2029: Stolen gene-sequencers are used by Islamic extremists to create 'daemon' troops. The various groups begin to gather together and plan for a 'holy war'

2030: The Prophet War begins, using their new 'daemon' troops the unified Islamic terrorists and extremists proclaim themselves the 'Sword and Fury of the Prophet' and immediately demand the surrender of the 'heathens' America in response drops nearly fifty thousand tons of ordinance on their mountain stronghold.

2031: The 'Sword and Fury of the Prophet' release their 'daemon' troops on heavily populated American and European cities, Casualties number in the tens of thousands within just one hour, by the time the 'daemon' troops are stopped nearly five million people are dead. The UN declares war on the extremist group alliance.

2035: After five years of fighting and fearing the 'daemon' troops, America reveals Project Omega. Pandora Shepard the first 'Banshee' is released upon the extremists, although appearing to be a young girl of seven. Pandora tears through the extremists and their pet 'daemon' troops.

2036: The UN, terrified of the potential Pandora has, puts in place a plan to cryogenically freeze her once she is fully grown. Her class is re-named from 'Banshee' to 'Phantasmal Queen' America willingly destroys all research on Project Omega and starts Project Sigma, meant to be a weaker version of Omega.

2045: The first trials of the Project Sigma bio-troops is revealed, given the class name 'Banshee' like their predecessor, the Sigma's are around a quarter of the danger of Pandora.

2053: Pandora Shepard, at the age of Twenty-Five and having matured both physically and mentally is cryogenically frozen at [Location Redacted] only to be revived after an Extinction Level event has occurred, this plan is known as 'Pandora's Box'

2054-2058: The Second Bio-Wars

2054: The Coalition of Genetic Freedom, a group of individuals numbering in the millions, take offence to their perceived imprisonment of Pandora and start a war with America and the UN in order to free Pandora from her 'prison'

2057: Pluto's Moon Charon explodes into a hail of ice shards and the ancient Sol Mass Relay is revealed. On the other side of the Relay, a group of Batarian ships is being reamed by a Turian Peacekeeping Fleet. The Batarian Hegemony is forced to travel through the Relay and brave whatever lies beyond.

2058: On January 5th 2058, the Batarian Hegemony's fleet enters the Sol System. Upon detecting a sentient race on the third planet they immediately take up position in orbit around Earth, they then command Humanity to surrender to them and become their slaves. Mankind in a surprising display of unity answers, with an eight hundred megaton Nuclear powered NO! The Second Bio-War ends.

2058: The Fall of Terra

The Batarian fleet remnants, angry and terrified at mankind's nuclear response. Commence an orbital bombardment on Earth with their Mass Accelerator Cannons, within minutes two thirds of Humanity is slain.

The remnants are able to do two things:

First: they are able to escape into Bunker complexes that had been constructed after the onset of the First Bio-War by various governments, concerned citizens and conspiracy theorists and crackpots.

Second: they are able to launch a second nuclear salvo that causes five of the seven Dreadnoughts orbiting Earth to crash down on the planet reasonably intact but with all crewmembers dead and causes the other two Dreadnoughts to become radioactive ash in orbit.

The final consequences of this action filter down to the planet below, the powerful radiation of the nuclear weapons invades the atmosphere and irradiates the surface. Forcing Mankind to remain underground for longer than anticipated.

The Batarian remnants leave the system and report the destruction of a dangerous 'off-shoot' of the Rachni, that they destroyed with a concentrated Mass Accelerator barrage.

Sol System, known to the Citadel Races as SX-342, on the fifteenth of April 2058. Is declared a quarantined system with Class 1 dangers present, no ships are allowed to enter it for at least eighty years.

2058-2150: The Suffering of Man

2058: Stuck on an irradiated planet with no means to escape mankind prepares a daring plan, they would cryogenically freeze most of their population while the scientists guarded by a token force of soldiers work on reverse-engineering the 'Alien' ships.

2070: After twelve years of study Mankind manages to piece together Mass Effect technology. During that time the scientists were forced to massively improve their biological manipulation technology and anti-radiation 'EVOs', they develop an immortality 'EVO' based on recovered Asari bodies. They also identify the Batarians as the aggressors. The scent and pheromone composition of the Batarians are programmed into the Bio-Troops as an watch with caution entity. The Scientists were planning on the long term victory and having their less sentient Bio-Troops attacking the Batarians would give the game away.

2071: Despite Mankind having the power to fly to the stars, the scientists decide it's too dangerous to attempt such a feat. They instead decide to delay the launch of Humanity's first interstellar ship the 'Ark' for another fifty years. However in the meantime they decide to set up a 'listening post' on Mars.

2072: The scientists in a stroke of genius revive the 'Banshees' from their cryogenic slumber and prepare them for their new task of watching out for the return of the 'Aliens' In order to provide some leadership, the 'Phantasmal Queen' Pandora Shepard is revived. Upon doing a simple genetic scan the scientists are blown away by the complexity of Pandora's genetics. The scientists delay their plan for five years to study Pandora's genetics.

2077: After five years of study the scientists bind the 'Banshees' to Pandora using pheromones in order to create a pseudo society. Pandora is given the ability to utilize Parthenogenesis to create new 'Banshees'

2080: The ESS 'Custodes' is launched from Earth, carrying Pandora and her six hundred 'Banshees' (The other 9,450 are left on Earth in Cryo-stasis) it's mission is to travel to Mars and set up the listening post code-named 'Castra' (Latin for Castle)

2081: Work begins on the ESS 'Vindicta' Mankind's first Dreadnought, it was considered that building a protector for the 'Ark' before actually building the 'Ark' was a good idea.

2082: The 'Banshees' and Pandora finish building their base, while they had set up the listening post two years earlier they had gone all out and started to build a full fortress surrounding it. The Scientists allowed this as it kept the 'Banshees' happy and gave them a place to transfer the Bio-Troops to lessen the stress on the Bio-Fusion Reactors for the Cryo-stasis pods. For the next five years rapidly constructed ships that no normal Human could survive on are sent to Mars containing all of Earth's remaining Bio-Troops, which are all given the command link to Pandora to prevent anarchy.

2085: Lulled by nearly three decades of no activity the Turian fleet enforcing quarantine on Sol System starts to relax their patrols. The Hierarchy has always been suspicious of the Batarians citing of a Rachni offshoot and that disbelief has travelled down to the Turian troops. Notably the STG is just as suspicious, this is one of the rare occasions when the Salarians and the Turians are in agreement.

2090: The nine year long construction of the one point one kilometer long ESS 'Vindicta' is complete, the Military Hierarchy of Earth (That survived the Fall) is revived, although a little angry at the Scientists presumption, they agree with their plans. The fact that the scientists handed them shields, power armor and a massive ship with BFGs had nothing to do with this acceptance and agreement.

In a show of caution the Military requests a year of testing before the ESS 'Vindicta' is fully crewed. The Scientists happily oblige.

2091: The ESS 'Vindicta' makes its maiden FTL jump from Earth to Mars, the crew are shocked at the pseudo society. But rapidly adjust, this is helped by the fact that the Bio-Troops were all specifically created and raised to be soldiers and thus have no idea of any life but that of soldiers, the only thing keeping them from starving is the fact that in the first shipment was a group of Bio-Troop Combat Engineers/Technicians (commonly referred to as Bio-Techs) who set up an automated agriculture section using cloned flora and fauna. The fact that an automated brewery was also created is happily looked over by the Military Hierarchy.

2092: The Earth Military sets up a roving patrol of the solar system using newly developed stealth frigates. The Scientists devote themselves to building ships and a shipyard for the Military, several thousand engineers are brought out of stasis for this.

2100: The shipyard for the 'Ark', nicknamed the 'Cradle' is completed, the construction of the 'Ark' begins, it is expected to take at least twenty years.

2110: After five decades of no activity the Turian fleets are dismissed, to the Batarian's concern their colonization request of the Eastern Rim, the area between Batarian space and Turian space, is denied due to their refusal to provide information on the SX-342 incident.

Turian patrols are deployed to the Relay points that allow access into the Eastern Rim, only Citadel Council approved vessels may enter.

2115: Human frigates begin to explore the Relay network, they discover several habitable worlds. One designated 'Hope' is set as the new homeworld of Humanity until the technology to repair Earth's ecosystems becomes possible. The Earth Military begins construction of a orbital station in which to make a headquarters

2119: The orbital station 'Constanti' is completed, the Earth Military shifts to 'Constanti' and renames themselves the 'Custodians of Terra' or Custodians the Bio-Troops indicate a desire to remain on Mars, this wish is granted and Mars is given the title of Bio-World.

2120: The 'Ark' is completed, the population of Earth is awoken from Cryo-stasis and they begin to board the 'Ark'.

2121: The 'Ark' leaves for Hope, the Custodians keep a presence in the Sol system via Satellites created with Quantum Entanglement Communicators (QECs) normally a patrol force would be kept on station but the Bio-Troops desire to stay on Mars made that obsolete.

2128: Leaked Batarian sensor data indicates the presence of Prothean ruins on Mars, the Council immediately begins discussions on the idea of sending a survey and study (S&S) team.

Council Side Chamber, the Citadel, Widow, Serpent Nebula. 25th of October 2128.

Tevos, the newly appointed Asari councilor sits at the table in the side chamber of the council chambers, normally meant for clandestine operation reports or diplomacy with a new race. On her right sits Meticulus the Turian Councilor and on her left sits Yelena the Salarian Councilor. In front of them is the full undisclosed sensor logs for the Batarian frigate 'Sankara' one of only eight survivors, from a fleet of five hundred.

Tevos nearly growls at the data "A pre-FTL race, with what seems to be an aptitude for atomic warfare. Why were Batarians the ones sent in?"

Meticulus sighs wearily "They were the ones that 'accidently' opened the Relay, they were sent through in order to check for the possibility of an enemy like the Rachni. In truth I think they may have only created one far worse"

Yelena looks confused, as much as a Salarian can that is "Why? Possible resentment from survivors a possibility, but do you really think there are any?"

Meticulus laughs "I do, if a Mass Accelerator bombardment wasn't enough to wipe them out, I doubt that the destruction of their world's ecosystem would. I saw at least two Batarian Dreadnoughts nose dive into the planet, considering the angles -"

Yelena nods "Yes, with wind resistance and gentle slope. Survival of wreckage almost guaranteed, crew not so much. These Humans appear to be very clever, reverse engineering of FTL a possibility. But wouldn't the Turian patrols have encountered them leaving?"

Meticulus shakes his head "No, these Humans appear to be warriors, they launched a nuclear strike over their world knowing that it's magnetic field and atmosphere would protect them from the worst of it. I would imagine that they waited a couple of decades for the radiation to die down, most likely studying the FTL drives and Eezo of the Batarians while doing so. Then they would have tested it all in system, I can almost guarantee you that they waited just in case the Batarians were watching the Relay. After all if they waited just eighty or maybe even a hundred years…"

Tevos nods in realization "Then the fleets would have been recalled, as they were in the end"

Yelena rapidly runs through the statistics "Hm. Meticulus, you appear to have some idea of what these Humans might do. Do you think reprisal against Batarians possible? Is Council at risk of reprisal as well?"

Both Yelena and Tevos stare at Meticulus as he thinks "To be honest, I would have to say yes and no. Will the Humans go after the Batarians? Yes, but they might do so in a manner that is unexpected. After all who expects a race to nuke the orbital space of their homeworld? But would they go after the Citadel and the Council? I doubt it, if we distance ourselves from the Batarians and acknowledge the fact that yes we did send them in, but they were out of line in attacking them. The Humans would most likely ignore us, I doubt they'd ally with the Council as a whole, but they'd most likely enter into non-aggression pacts with the nearby races like my people and the Salarians,"

Tevos muses to herself then has an idea "What if we sent a recovery effort, disguised as an S&S team. If we make the first motions of diplomacy, we might be able to at least have Humanity abide by Council laws within Council space"

Yelena nods rapidly "Yes, that could work. But it would best be multi-species. Prevents Humanity from distancing species in case of an diplomatic error. Meticulus, your thoughts?"

Meticulus had to admit, he felt good that they were asking his opinion "I'd say treat the Humans like a mix of Turian and Krogan, but don't discount that they might be like the Salarians or Asari. Honest will be our best ally, no manipulations of any sort. If we are honest right from the start, we have the best chance of gaining their trust and possibly their allegiance. Quarians would be very useful on this expedition, the shared loss of their homeworld, whether or not they have colonized another will be invaluable. I would suggest offering any suitable Dextro-amino acid worlds within the Eastern Rim to the Migrant Fleet as an incentive if Humanity at the very least remains friendly"

Tevos nods in agreement "Yes, that's a good idea. I agree with this proposal"

Yelena nods as well "Yes, proposal best way for strong relationship with Humanity. But who should lead it?"

Meticulus immediately jumps in with a suggestion "I would say a triad with one Asari, one Turian and one Salarian would be best. I have a candidate for this"

Tevos nods as well "I have two candidates for the Asari. It depends on which is available. Although I know which has more experience"

Yelena nods "Good suggestion. Shows Humanity what Council government is like. I know a good STG agent for the job. Will see if he is available. Should we put Specters on the assignment?"

Meticulus nods slowly "Some, but not a lot. Although having a fleet escort the team to SX-342 would be ideal"

Tevos nods "Well, discussing this won't get us anywhere more at this point, let's start seeing if this plan is feasible"

Over the next few weeks calls are sent throughout Citadel space to individuals specifically suited for this assignment.

While it eventually is decided the Asari leader would be Matriarch Lidanya and the runner up Matriarch Benezia would be her second in command. Benezia's daughter Liara would be brought along as well.

The Turian Hierarchy sent Tellarius Vakarian as their leader and had the Eighth Legion sent as protection.

The Salarian Union sent STG operative Jadon Solus as their leader for the SX-342 assignment.

The Quarians, surprised at the offer sent Admiral Lia'Zorah vas Vera with her son Rael'Zorah nar Vera who was on his pilgrimage. A squad of Migrant Fleet marines and the Quarian Cruiser Vera was also sent for the assignment. The Council happily accepted their help and even sent a decommissioned Turian cruiser as thanks for their generosity.

The assignment to SX-342 was just beginning, but every member of it wondered what they would find.

After all they had always been told that SX-342 had an offshoot of the Rachni and that Prothean ruins were present, so why was such a large fleet present for what was a simple S&S assignment?

And done, like I said before (or wrote) as long as a suggestion doesn't alter pre-existing history and isn't too mismatched with the current universe (No Lightsabers, plasma/laser weaponry or Force powers) then they will be considered (and almost immediately integrated into the story with credit given)

Human ship designs are open for anyone who wants to give it a try, although keeping them in line with current fighter jet designs is a bonus. The Dreadnoughts are going to resemble Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird stealth jets. (If you don't know what that looks like, look it up) but basically streamlined is what Humanity is going for, however if a good enough reason (or design) is given I am happy to break that restriction, also mankind can have multiple designs for each weight range, so a short description and intended purpose is helpful. Dreadnought weight mining ships or foundry ships are okay.

Lastly would anyone like to name the Bio-Trooper city on Mars? The only restriction is that it must be in Latin, although you can give the name to me in English and I'll translate it (Thank you Google) into Latin. Obviously an English translation would be helpful, also feel free to provide any back story or details for what the city looks like.

Now come the Codex entries

Bio-Troopers

Bio-Trooper or Bio-Troops is the nickname given to specially grown soldiers used by humanity in their various wars. These soldiers have abilities beyond most humans and even most Krogan, the 'weakest' Bio-Trooper has strength equal to a average Krogan and speed and reflexes almost beyond ability of the Asari.

Bio-Troopers are incredibly dangerous in close combat as they have massively reinforced skeletal systems, dense musculature and a Regeneration ability greater than that of a Krogan.

The first Bio-Troopers were savage beings with almost no intelligence and short life spans, these early beings were either called Brutes or Berserkers. Depending on their allegiance in the First Bio-War.

Harpies used later in the war were more refined, but still suffered from short life-spans.

The first Bio-Trooper to have a normal or beyond normal human lifespan is Pandora Shepard, codenamed 'Banshee' at first, she later received the Designation 'Phantasmal Queen'

All later Bio-Troops were based off of Pandora's DNA, as such she could be considered the Mother of modern Bio-Troopers.

Augments

Augments was the term given to ordinary humans who have had biological implants, alterations and/or mutations (colloquially named EVOs) added to themselves. Following the 'Fall of Terra' Augments were the only humans to survive. As such it can be said that no 'pure' humans exist anymore, however this has not affected the humans at all.

EVOs

The colloquial name for Biological Implants, Alterations and Mutations or Evolutionary Improvements to use its un abbreviated name. EVOs can be considered any biological tinkering done to a living being, they come in three different 'domains'

Alterations are adjustments to any original features or abilities possessed by the being. This is usually things such as eye, or hair color. Arm and leg strength or metabolism enhancements. Although gender shifting is also considered as part of this.

Implants are the additions of new glands or organs to the body, however this is only the addition of glands and organs that don't give new abilities to the human. Implants and Alterations often go hand in hand together but are seen as different things as Alterations don't always require implants while Implants often cause Alterations.

Mutations are any addition abilities granted to a living being that were not present in it at conception. Things under this heading are the ability to eat certain things, infrared vision, heat sensing, echolocation (although technically most beings capable of hearing have a version of this) Parthenogenesis, mind reading (This is still being worked on) and many more.

While some species may limit the amount of genetic tinkering done to their people, in the name of laws, genetic purity or tradition. Humanity (Post Fall) has embraced this, this has caused Humanity to have a much more accepting nature (With the exception of Batarians and Vorcha). Humans rarely if ever judge individuals on appearance and they put little stock in first impressions anymore. Humans also now days tend to be almost brutally honest and appear to have no ability to lie, although that in itself may be a lie perpetrated by Humanity.

Parthenogenesis

When Parthenogenesis was first developed by the Biological Alteration Initiative it caused a wave of philosophical arguments and almost led to riots.

The reason for that is Parthenogenesis is the ability of a woman to self-impregnate without the requirement of a male, however this leads to the child always being female and with minimal genetic deviation.

Many Human males began to question their place in society following the development of this mutation.

However to combat both the possibility of men becoming obsolete and the lack of genetic deviation a special organ called the Genesis Gland was created. At its most basic the Genesis Gland is a genetic library created from sperm banks that allows the Parthenogenesis Organs to utilize extra Genetic information.

The quality and nature of the genetic material within the Genesis Gland is determined by the woman it's implanted within. They can choose the exact ratio of X-Chromosome to Y-Chromosome genetic data within the gland, which raises or lowers their chances of having a child of either gender.

Women with specialized nervous system modifications can also direct the Genesis Gland in selecting the genetic data for their next child. Allowing a great deal of choice to the woman in question.

After the Fall however the ratio of Men to Women became nearly 1:9, that is to say for every man there is on average eight to nine women. This has caused a slight societal shift with women becoming more prominent to Humanity then men.

Strangely this has had a minimal effect on the day to day of most Humans and if anything has lead to a more tolerant society overall. Most men adopting a 'pass the buck' mentality and happily giving the more complex issues to women, who in turn enjoy the greater responsibility and try their hardest to insure the best outcome for Humanity.

A strange system perhaps, but one that works incredibly well. With minimal bureaucratic red tape.

Brutes and Berserkers

The very first Bio-Troopers, Brutes and Berserkers were utilized in the beginning of the First Bio-War.

They are massive beings nearly eight foot tall with an incredibly dense musculature and skeletal structure, however this was countered by their lack of intelligence and their tendency to go into Battle-Rage at the slightest provocation, including just smelling the enemy.

Brutes and Berserkers used a simple Pheromone system to identify Friends or Foes. They had a life expectancy of just under eight months and could be created and trained in just twenty-four hours.

Harpies

The second class of Bio-Troopers, the only things that separated Harpies from Brutes/Berserkers was their ability to fly, slimmer physique and lower strength.

Otherwise the Harpies were exactly the same as the Brute/Berserker class.

Phantasmal Queen

Originally called the 'Banshee' due to her ability to cause total internal hemorrhage to enemies via compressed sound bursts delivered via screams. Pandora Shepard was the first 'complete' Bio-Trooper, her strength, speed, agility and regenerative capabilities were beyond any other Terrestrial being, no Council Race even comes close.

What is known is that she can jump several kilometers with ease, she can move up to 120 kilometers an hour and that she is rumored to have lifted up an unpowered Batarian Frigate on her homeworld.

Pandora is the current 'Queen' of the Bio-Troops, akin to a Human General or Admiral, she has absolute authority over all Bio-Troops. This is reinforced by the fact that her genetic material is the base of all Bio-Troopers, which is the reason the majority of them are female.

No other Bio-Trooper can match Shepard's abilities, this is due to the Midnight Treaty, which the exact contents of are unknown to non-Humans. While this treaty appears to ban the creation of Bio-Troopers above fifty percent of Shepard's stats, it has absolutely no laws or restrictions on increasing Shepard's statistics at all, whether or not this is an intentional oversight is unknown.

The Phantasmal Queen was the first Bio-Trooper to have a projected life-span equal to that of a normal Human being. Currently her projected life span is thought to be equal to an Asari, due to the introduction of Asari genetic material.

Banshees

Often considered knock-offs of the Phantasmal Queen, Banshees possess the same sonic attack as the Phantasmal Queen, as well as the same life-span.

Banshees are only twenty-five percent as strong, fast and agile as Shepard, but possess the same regenerative capability.

Of the current Banshee population of 11,550, 10,050 were created before the Fall and the rest were birthed by Pandora once the Bio-Troops were shifted to Mars.

Anyone who wants to write a Codex story on an event within this universe is welcome to, although I recommend waiting for next chapter which will given Codex entries on human society and interspecies relationships. The only thing I will reveal is that Parkour is alive and well in the twenty-second century.

dragonsong2795