A Telescopic Look into the galaxy of Mass Effect

In the year 2183 CE, we arrive into a galaxy full of amazing species, politics and society. Wondrous planets are thriving with civilization, some fighting, some of which have seen better days. With the improvement of life, we also see those who try to capitalize on this, pirates, war brokers, mercenary outfits, and even larger threats that loom in the depth of the known and unknown space. Technology has greatly advanced and the civilizations of the galaxy calls it...

Mass Effect Relays

Mass Effect relays are built by a forerunner race in most system clusters, large structures used to slingshot ships at light speeds across different clusters. Alliance between species are all well thanks to the creation of the Citadel Council, all of them striving to create peace and co-exist. Space faring expeditions, to find more habitable spaces, to neutralize threats, and to maintain galactic peace are launched on the regular. 

All of this, of course, can not all be good for a long time. Larger threats, much more dangerous, that cannot be handled by any species alone, start to appear to disperse and destroy the peace the galaxy has struggled so long to create. All the races need to get together for this one, or else...

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Mass Effect is a game by Bioware and Electronic Arts, a third person, action adventure role playing game. We see the story of the game expand over a trilogy, the first one coming out in 2007, and ending in 2012. 

The game is about a human Alliance Commander, Shepard, who saves the galaxy from multiple threats, from small skirmishes, to species ending threats. We play as Commander Shepard, with a team of amazing squad mates from different species, as we work together in an effort to dispatch these threats. 

The human in the center, is Commander Shepard, and the rest are the amazing characters and cast we spend time with and play through the game with

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We see the start of Mass Effect, at least the first game, at around 2183 CE, where CE means Council Era, which is when the Citadel Council was formed, which we'll get into later. Billions of years have passed before this, known as BCE, which saw species and civilizations rise and fall, fighting against threats, designed to kill them. 

This is what the Citadel looks like on the inside, a large station housing multiple cities and districts in each of its arms, all bringing the different species of the galaxy together, and is also the home of the Council.

We'll take a deep dive into the history in another blog. For the sake of convenience, let's consider the major four species, known as the Citadel species, that played a large role in the advancement of technology and hold a place in the Citadel Council.

The Council representatives for their respective species, as seen in the first game 

Starting with the Asari, a matriarch race, meaning all the members of their species are all feminine in appearance and have maternal instincts, native to the planet of Thessia. Being one of the earliest species to exist in the galaxy, they are highly respected and known for their diplomacy, elegance and 'biotic' aptitude. Most of the Asari favored compromise and cooperation and that is why they played a major role in the formation of the Citadel Council and are looked up to, to uphold the galactic society.

Along with the Asari, the Salarians were the second founding race of the Citadel Council. They are warm-blooded amphibians, native to the planet of Sur'Kesh. Salarians have a hyperactive metabolism, meaning they think, speak but also age fast. The fact they think fast helped most of them become scientists, doctors, engineers, xenobiologists, et cetera; as they were able to understand and grasp knowledge, to experiment and innovate as to apply it to the improvement of society. 

The Turians became a part of the council in 900CE, which is roughly about 900 years after the formation of the Citadel Council. Turians are a militaristic and highly disciplined race native to the planet of Palaven, and look like humanoid raptors, with hard scales growing on their skin. They gained their seat in the Council after defeating hostile 'krogans', who were fighting against the Council during the 'Krogan Rebellion'. The races' nature for ethics led to fill the role of peacekeeping in the Council and founded the 'CSec', the law enforcement aboard the Citadel. 

About 2100 years later, at 2148 CE, humans discover Mass Effect physics. This caused us to explore the science of element zero and mass effect fields, which lead to the development of faster-than-light travel and exploration beyond the Sol System. A mass effect relay is found in the system, which birthed the Systems Alliance, which was the military and exploration organization for Earth. Due to this rapid advancement, humanity starts expanding and building more settlements and fleets across the galaxy. Eventually, they make hostile contact with the Turian, leading to the 'First Contact War'. This drew the attention of the Citadel Council, which helped stop the hostilities and the humans are introduced to the various galactic communities and peace is brokered. The first representative of humanity joins the Council at the end of the first Mass Effect game.

Human Council Ambassador Donnel Udina and Captain David Anderson

Besides these Citadel species, there are a lot of amazing and wonderful species, which I won't touch upon in this blog, otherwise we'd be here for hours. I'll just name them in order of their existence/discovery, Leviathans, Protheans, Rachni, Krogans, Volus, Batarians, Elcor, Drell, Hanar, Quarian, and Geth, along with potential species not discovered or discussed in the games or other media. I will make another blog about these species, and discuss them there. About the threats that are species-ending, that will also be another blog. There are so many things we can discuss, and I'll be making blogs about different topics that are pretty controversial after the educational, introductory blogs.

~sodahead