Mass Effect: Sol's Armageddon

Disclaimer: Mass Effect is the property of BioWare

Chapter 3:

By 2210 the habitable worlds which had been discovered before and during the Evacuation of Sol had all been colonized leaving the Alliance with no choice but to expand and push the frontiers of human space.

With a recent surge in population and millions eager to find a new home away from the increasingly crowded cities of humanity's core worlds colonial expansion became a necessity, and spearheading these efforts was the Alliance Navy.

New relays being activated opened up a wealth of systems for explorers and settlers to prospect. Numerous worlds were colonized rapidly and resource rich systems were marked for future exploitation.

One of the Alliances main reasons for expanding, other than colonizing new worlds, was to secure these resources. Metals such as platinum, iridium, and palladium were exceedingly valuable in an innumerable number of industries, however the most coveted resource was the all-important Element Zero.

This material, despite being so vital in interstellar travel, was exceedingly rare. As a consequence of this rarity the Alliance had discovered only sporadic deposits.

Combined with this tenuous supply and the use of large quantities in ship construction during the Evacuation of Sol the Alliance found itself running out of the very material which had become its lifeblood.

However heavy research of the arcane element revealed an astonishing discovery, eezo is created when solid matter is exposed to the energy of a star going supernova.

At first the Alliance Survey Corps intended to use this knowledge to predict and locate deposits of Element Zero, but something caught the attention of a civilian consultant. Why look for supernovae when one had occurred recently in the Alliances metaphorical backyard?

This revelation came as a shock to the Survey Corps and it's no understatement to say that the entire Corps would never live down this particularly embarrassing incident.

Nevertheless, the Alliance, conscious of its growing eezo shortage pushed ahead and commissioned an expedition beyond the Charon Relay.

Following the Sun's supernova, the entire Sol system had become exceedingly hazardous as deadly X-rays and more energetic gamma-rays filled the area. Additionally, a small nebula had also formed and enveloped the relay due to gas and dust thrown out during the explosion.

All of these factors had made any travel into Sol an impossibility at first, but as the decades passed so too did some of the danger. In 2212, 40 years after the destruction of Earth, humanity returned to the system of their origin.

As ships began to arrive past the Charon Relay and explore further into the system the view was striking. A vibrant orange-red nebula filled with shattered worlds cracked under the power of the cosmos was burned into the eyes of those who saw it.

To those brave explorers Earth's destruction had never been more tangible than when pieces of their home world drifted by them, a mere speck in the endless void.

Many broke down in silent tears, weeping for a world they would never see again. However, there was a job to be done and they pushed on with their mission. Taking scans and samples from across the system the results were better than could ever have been hoped.

Massive deposits of not just Element Zero, but other resources filled the system as a result of the supernova.

It was a dream come true for the Alliance, the amount of eezo alone would supply the Alliance for centuries and give them a veritable monopoly in mining the material. And to top it all off Arcturus Station, the site of the Alliances capital and main shipyards, guarded the Charon Relay.

It seemed ironic to some that the site of humanity's greatest loss could end up being one of its greatest boons. With a steady supply of eezo secured the Alliance continued its expansion unhindered.

World by world, system by system the Alliance expanded its control into every star cluster it discovered, yet throughout this expansion many began asking themselves one of the most enigmatic questions of man, are we alone in the universe?

Upon the discovery of another habitable world, or the activation of a new mass relay humanity wondered if maybe this time they would finally have an answer to that looming question. But eventually even the most optimistic began to wonder if they were truly alone.

However, this all changed in 2220 with the discovery of the Raloi. In September of that year the Alliance Survey Corps dispatched a vessel to an unremarkable system at the very edge of explored space.

This system would have been ignored entirely if it wasn't for the fact that its star was predicted to have a world in its circumstellar habitable zone.

Despite being so far off from main human space new garden worlds were always needed, and so the Alliance dispatched a vessel to explore the system. After arriving in system via FTL the survey vessel immediately noted that the system contained a mass relay.

This discovery alone was enough to make the entire endeavor worthwhile, but something even more astonishing caught the crew of the survey vessel SSV Argo off guard. The second planet from the systems sun was indeed habitable and was giving off radio waves like a beacon to the stars.

The Argo immediately moved to confirm its readings and pulled into orbit around the planet. Soon the crew realized that the world below them was indeed inhabited, and by a pre-mass effect civilization no less.

However, as the Argo continued its scans it was soon revealed that the civilization on the planet below had already taken their first steps towards exploring the galaxy with the launch of their first space telescope.

This space telescope, defying all the odds, caught a glimpse of the Argo. The crew of the Argo were shocked when radio transmissions from the planet began broadcasting to their position and had no idea of what to do.

As a vessel of the Alliance Survey Corps the crew were all well trained on first contact protocols and procedures, but all of their training was designed with the idea that first contact would be made with a fellow space faring civilization.

Unsure of what to do the crew of the Argo eventually decided that they had to return to Alliance space and report their findings. The system they were in was far from the established comm buoy network and they were completely unprepared for first contact of this nature.

It was nearly a week later on December 2nd of 2220 that the Argo returned with an entire Alliance exploration flotilla and diplomat Anita Goyle to make official first contact.

The following months would be a time of substantial changes for both the Alliance and the newly discovered Raloi.

At first the language barrier was a significant impediment, with the two species only way of communication being through the use of binary numbers. Despite this after a few weeks the Alliance eventually produced a workable translation device to the Raloi's great surprise.

With a reliable method of communication obtained the Alliance and Raloi began to learn about one another. Being the ones to formally initiate contact the Alliance took the lead and began explaining humanity and the tragic loss of their home world, as well as the secrets of Element Zero and the mass relays.

The Raloi soon reciprocated and provided an outline of their species, government, and home world.

Inhabiting their world of Turvess the Raloi are an avian species united under a federal monarchy known as the Raloi Federation. This federation started as a single small kingdom which survived by maintaining a policy of neutrality through political marriages with its larger and more powerful neighbors.

As the centuries passed and technology advanced the balance of power began to shift in favor of this small kingdom which adapted these new technologies faster than the other nations surrounding it.

Using its growing influence and relation to the ruling monarchs of its closest neighbors this once weak and vulnerable nation formed a federation with the other kingdom's subordinate to them.

Eventually this federation grew and whether through voluntary membership or conquest the Federation had control of almost the entirety of Turvess by the time of first contact with the Alliance.

This form of government was akin to the old German Confederation of the Rhine on Earth during the 19th century, but was markedly unique to any form of government ever tried by humanity.

Both sides eventually decided that it was time to take the next step in their relations and moved for a face to face meeting. The Raloi proposed their capital city of Cáthor as a sign of trust and hospitality and the Alliance agreed.

But when this momentous occasion came it nearly ended in disaster. This was not due to the work of some rogue element or natural cataclysm, but the flu.

In this case however it was a type of avian influenza indigenous to Turvess which while fairly common and usually non-lethal for the Raloi, proved to be highly virulent and extremely contagious for humans.

The entire Alliance diplomatic party fell deadly ill and were immediately quarantined aboard a vessel in orbit. The Raloi began to panic believing that they had ruined relations with humanity, but they were quickly assured otherwise.

With help from Raloi doctors the Alliance Medical Corps quickly produced a cure for the virus, saving the lives of the diplomatic party. Soon the cure was used to help develop a vaccine which the Alliance provided to the Raloi.

Despite a tempestuous beginning, relations between the Alliance and Raloi continued apace after the resolution of the flu incident.

By 2223 the Alliance had established a permanent embassy in Cáthor and began providing the Raloi with advanced technologies to help them improve their people's quality of life as well as further their scientific knowledge.

The Raloi advanced quickly with the Alliances help and began adopting many human technologies such as medi-gel and advances in computing. With this increase in knowledge came a thirst to explore as well and the Raloi continued their space program with Alliance support.

In 2230 after years of work the Raloi launched their first space worthy vessel capable of FTL. The vessel was extremely basic and its drive core was supplied by the Alliance, but it was progress nonetheless.

To celebrate this achievement the Raloi decided to send their vessel to join an Alliance survey group about to activate their systems mass relay. The Raloi were ready to join humanity in the stars and were eager to explore the galaxy.