The Mass Effect Universe - a Primer, Page 2

  In Mass Effect 3, the importance of Legion comes to the forefront. He is carrying a piece of the Reaper code within his hardware which is allowing him a distinct advantage in ability and cognizance. During the recapture of Rannoch by the quarians, Shepard allowed Legion to upload the Reaper code contained within him to the geth neural network - thereby giving all geth the ability of individualized thought processes. Eventually, the upload was permitted, and it gave the geth the gift of true artificial intelligence, combined with a sense of self. They were finally a people, capable of independent thought and actions. This upload of the Reaper code also resulted in Legion sacrificing himself, as direct 'personality assimilation' was required. Shepard still carries the emotional blow from Legion's death.

  Asari:

  The first race since the Protheans to achieve interstellar flight and discover the Citadel - asari are incredibly long-lived. Lifespans exceeding 1000 human years are commonplace. As a people, they are elegant, diplomatic and aesthetically pleasing. Their long life span lends itself to their 'long view' outlook on life, and they tend to be a more careful, passive culture compared to some of the galaxy's other races. All asari are mono-gendered, although they possess physical characteristics and voices that are inherently feminine. Asari are true natural 'biotics' - possessing the ability to move objects with the power of their minds, raise protective biotic barriers, and unleash devastating biotic attacks on their enemies.

  An asari can mate with any gender of any species - although the 'father' species' physical characteristics will not be displayed in the offspring. Often called 'melding' - less commonly 'the joining' - during reproduction, an asari attunes her nervous system to that of her mate and absorbs a copy of their DNA which she subsequently uses as a biological 'map' to create their children. The two species briefly become one interlinked nervous system. All asari children are asari. Asari have come to prefer non-asari mates for reproduction, believing that it allows for the transfer of more positive genetic variances while eliminating the negative. 'Pure-bred' asari (those with two asari parents) tend to be frowned upon and are somewhat considered to be throwbacks by their peers. Asari all have a complexion which is on average blue to purplish, Greenish or teal shades can be found in rare cases. Their faces can be devoid of markings, or possess varying degrees of patterning.

  (Notable asari - Liara T'Soni, Samara, Aria T'Loak).

  Krogan:

  "I don't need luck - I have ammunition."

  ~Grunt, during the freeing of the Rachni queen.

  A race of large, reptilian bipeds, the war-loving krogan were 'uplifted' into galactic society by the salarians in order to assist in exterminating the Rachni that were plaguing the galaxy. However, after assisting the other species in fighting the Rachni, the krogan wanted to expand their own horizons and in turn staged their own rebellion, fueled in part by their extremely fast rate of reproduction and extreme physical prowess. The Krogan Rebellions eventually resulted in the salarians designing the Genophage sterility plague. Released onto the krogan homeworld of Tuchanka by the turian military, the Genophage altered levels of reproductive hormones within krogan bodies and ensured that that only one-in-one-thousand births survive. It was a high price to pay to keep their race in check, but the other Council races had little alternative given the savage toll the war with the krogan was wreaking.

  Krogan stand over seven feet tall and weigh over one ton in armor. Notoriously self-centered, they are selfish, can be unsympathetic and blunt - having little diplomatic skills or requirements. (Notable krogan - Urdnot Wrex, Urdnot Grunt).

  Salarians:

  "Hold the line!."

  ~Salarian Captain Kirrahe prepares his unit for battle on Virmire.

  Evolved from lizard-type life on their homeworld of Sur'Kesh, salarians are warm-blooded amphibians and were the second species to join the Citadel Council. With their hyperactive metabolism, they are fast-moving, fast-thinking and fast-talking. Unfortunately, due to this they rarely live past forty human years of age. Renowned for their observational skills, the salarians excel at espionage, research and experimentation. The salarian Special Tasks Group (STG) is an esteemed unit of their most brilliant and skilled combatants and sleeper agents, which undertakes some of the most dangerous, critical and classified missions in the galaxy. It was the successes of the Salarian STG during the Krogan Rebellions that provided the Council with the template for their Spectre program.

  Bipedal and slender, salarians possess a pair of horn-like protrusions from their scalps, and their eyes are large and oval-shaped. The females of the species lay a clutch of eggs once per year; fertilized eggs hatch as females while unfertilized eggs hatch as males. Through strict social regulation, only about 10% of salarians are female. Due to their method of reproduction, salarians have no concept of romantic love, sexual attraction or the biological impulses and social rituals that complicates other species' lives.

  Salarians lack the military prowess of the turians and the brute strength of the krogan - nor do they possess the unequaled biotic abilities of the asari. As such, they have forged alliances with the galaxy's larger powers - most notably the turians.

  Possessing some of the most talented scientists and geneticists to have ever lived, the salarians were the designers of the Genophage virus that effectively sterilized the krogan and ended the war with them, utilizing the turians' military strength to disperse the illness across Tuchanka. More recently, during the course of Mass Effect 3, the brilliant salarian geneticist and doctor Mordin Solus worked with Shepard and her team during the Reaper war to synthesize and disperse a cure for the Genophage in turn for krogan support in the battle for the turian homeworld of Palaven. Mordin Solus and Commander Shepard enjoyed a fast friendship and were long time allies before he gave his life to reach the control room of the facility that would disperse the Genophage cure. The emotional blow of his death, even though for a vitally important purpose in the war, affected Shepard considerably. (Notable salarians - Mordin Solus-dec'd., Major Kirrahe, Dalatrass Linron, Spectre Jondum Bau.)

  Protheans:

  The Protheans existed over 50,000 years ago and are now an extinct people. Humanity's understanding led them to believe that it was the Protheans who were responsible for the creation of the Citadel and the Mass Relays. However, throughout the events of Mass Effect it has surfaced that these vast structures of advanced technology were in fact created by the Reapers.

  Rising from one home planet, the Protheans established a massive, galaxy-wide empire that dominated and crushed opposition if the subservient civilizations resisted their rule. Only one biological specimen of the Protheans exists today. During Mass Effect 3, Shepard and her team are able to wrestle a Prothean 'artifact' from Cerberus, and during the conflict discover that it is in fact a Prothean stasis pod with the inhabitant still alive. Revived 50,000 years after his people were exterminated by the Reapers, Javik agrees to aid Shepard and the alliance of races in their fight to end the Reaper war. They are bipedal and have two pairs of eyes, each possessing dual pupils. Their heads are covered in a thick, chitinous carapace and their dominant skin color - from the one remaining example, Javik - is a pale greenish-blue.

  One of the most noteworthy abilities of the Protheans aside from their biotic talents and wide-ranging empire was the means in which they communicated. Based on physical touch, a Prothean has the ability to recall a person's or place's experiences. They are capable of learning an entirely new language with one touch, and this ability gave rise to the Prothean beacons that Shepard and her team have experienced on planets such as Eden Prime and Virmire.

  BACKSTORY

  Mass Effect 3 is the final game in the trilogy and, as such, is the jumping-off point for my novel 'EndShard.' After the sudden arrival of the Reapers to the galaxy, each and every civilization and star system is plunged into all-out war. The Reapers' strategy consist of only one premise - obliterate the enemy with overwhelming force.
Some species - such as the batarians - are eliminated almost immediately. Others, including the Council races and humans, fight for their survival by attempting to band together and provide support for one another. Many view it as ironic that it took the arrival of the Reapers to instigate true intergalactic cooperation.

  During the war, acting as soldier and unwilling diplomat, Karen Shepard works tirelessly aboard the Normandy SR-2 to bring the galaxy's prominent species together in a united front during the Reaper attack. Once regarded as impossible, Shepard forges an alliance between the turians and krogan by means of curing the Genophage virus on the krogan homeworld of Tuchanka. With the krogans satisfied, they in turn agree to help liberate Palaven from Reaper forces. The quarians choose this most inopportune time to launch an all-out offensive to retake their homeworld of Rannoch from the geth, and Shepard and her team strive to attain peace between the two factions. The resulting peace gives the quarians back their homeworld, while the liberated geth welcome them and promise assistance in resettling on their long-lost planet.

  Throughout the story of Mass Effect 3, plans for a giant Prothean device called the Crucible are unearthed from the Mars archives. While mysterious and immense, it becomes clear that this device holds the key to defeating the Reapers. While waging war on almost every front, the allied forces pool together every resource available to them in order to construct the Crucible in space. Human Admiral Steven Hackett acts as overseer of the project and marshals support from far and wide. Scientists, engineers, dark matter experts, and later, 'anyone who can hold a hammer' are all recruited to work on the gargantuan Crucible project. However, towards completion of the project, the engineers admit that they still do not have a firm idea of what the huge weapon of mass destruction is actually supposed to do. A crucial element of the Crucible - called the 'Catalyst' - is missing, and Hackett enlists Shepard's aid in the final days of the war to desperately locate it.

  Shepard's search for the Catalyst brings her and her team into conflict with Cerberus, and they learn that the Illusive Man's splinter group is also searching for the Catalyst. With no other option left to them, Shepard's team - backed by Admiral Hackett's fleet - launch an attack on the Illusive Man's headquarters to retrieve a Prothean Virtual Intelligence (VI) which contains vital information about the Catalyst. Time is running out as they defeat the Illusive Man's genetically altered minions and activate the Prothean VI. It tells them that the Catalyst is, in fact, the Citadel. It is with disbelief that Shepard listens to this information, and to her dismay, the VI also informs them that the Reapers have already taken control of the Citadel and moved it into orbit around Earth in preparation for the harvest of the planet's people. Linking Earth's surface with the Citadel via a beam of pure energy, the Reapers close the ward arms and turn the station into an impregnable harvesting device. In the final day of the war, Shepard and her team in the Normandy SR-2 prepare to take part in the assault to retake Earth. It is at this point you join up with my novel 'EndShard' and discover Karen Shepard's true fate.

  NOTES:

  Alliance Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams was a human soldier who was a member of Shepard's team in Mass Effect 1. Shepard had to choose between saving her and saving Lt. Kaidan Alenko - another member of her team - during the battle on Virmire against an agent of the Reapers, Saren Arterius (an indoctrinated turian Spectre). The mission required them to focus on the deployment of a nuclear bomb that would destroy Saren's attempts at breeding an army of indoctrinated krogan, and Ashley Williams and her squad lost their lives during the conflict.

  During the events of Mass Effect 1, Shepard had a brief romantic liaison with Kaidan Alenko. After the destruction of the Normandy and the loss of Shepard's body, two years elapsed before they crossed paths again. The two never fully reconciled after Alenko discovered Shepard working with Cerberus in Mass Effect 2 to defeat the Collectors.

  GARRUS VAKARIAN

  Noted turian sharpshooter Garrus Vakarian left his post as a disillusioned C-Sec officer to serve with Shepard aboard the Normandy SR-1 during their pursuit of Saren Arterius.

  After the ship's destruction by the Collectors and subsequent loss of Shepard, he went to ground for the next two years. Eventually he found his way to Omega, where under the alias of 'Archangel' he worked as a vigilante to single-handedly clean up the massive station's seedy back-alleys and crime-infested wards. Shepard succeeded in locating and recruiting Garrus for the mission to destroy the Collector base, although he suffered near fatal wounds by a rocket attack in the process. Vakarian, however, views the scars he bears from the attack as a particular source of pride and accomplishment. After reuniting with Shepard and working with her to defeat the Reaper-controlled Collectors, his relationship with her became increasingly trusting, and eventually amorous.

  The two remain romantically involved through Mass Effect 3 and this novel.

  For those familiar with the pivotal decisions of all three Mass Effect games - here is a primitive decision tree.

  CHRONOLOGICAL DECISION TREE - KAREN SHEPARD:

  Saved the Rachni queen.

  Kept Wrex alive on Virmire.

  Rescued Kaidan Alenko on Virmire.

  Romanced Kaidan in ME1.

  Chose to sacrifice the Council.

  Saved Maelon's data.

  Chose to rewrite the geth heretics.

  Destroyed the Collector base.

  Survived the suicide mission with 12 squadmates.

  Romanced Garrus in ME2 & ME3.

  Cured the Genophage.

  Achieved peace between the geth and the quarians and allowed the upload of the Reaper code to the geth collective.

  ADDITIONAL IMAGES