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In 2330, a Crimson Fleet detachment launched an attack on an Argos Extractors outpost on Vectera. A local miner took up arms and rallied fellow miners to repel the attackers. This miner was subsequently recruited by Constellation as part of their hunt for alien artifacts.

Six months later, a group of LIST settlers en route to establish a new colony stumbled upon the mass relays.

Between these two events, the Settled Systems would never be the same again.

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Timeline

2076: Geth War/Morning War
2112: Cydonia, humanity's first extra terrestrial colony, is founded on Mars 2156: Humans arrive in Alpha Centauri. The United Colonies are established three years later.
2161: The drell make first contact with the hanar around this time.
2167: Cheyenne is settled by Solomon Coe, who founded its first settlement, Akila City.
2188: Coe invites Volii to join Cheyenne in a new alliance, the Freestar Collective. The Freestar Collective is officially formed in 2189.
2190: A colony ship is launched from New Atlantis and disappears. This ship's descendants go on to become House Va'ruun, a theocracy founded by Jinan Va'ruun.
2194: The United Colonies positions the star station called the Clinic in orbit around Deepala in the Narion system. The unaffiliated peoples of the Narion system see this as a UC attempt to expand their borders and demand the UC remove the Clinic. When the UC refuses, the people of Narion vote to join the Freestar Collective, who mobilize to protect the system in 2195.
2196: In response to Freestar mobilization, the UC moves a fleet into the Narion system and Freestar responds in kind. The Narion War begins.
2216: The Narion War drags on as public sentiment sours. Finally, the Treaty of Narion is signed by the UC and Freestar Collective in 2216, ending the conflict. The term "Settled Systems" is formalized in the treaty.
2221: The Freestar Rangers are founded as an elite protective and investigative force dedicated to serving all citizens of the Freestar Collective.
2230: House Va'ruun reveals its existence and establishes diplomatic relations with the other factions.
2240: House Va'ruun launches the Serpent's Crusade, an all out war on the rest of human civilization in the name of the Great Serpent.
2241: Jasper Kryx instigates a prison riot at The Lock, a United Colonies super: max prison on the planet Suvorov. After capturing The Key star station orbiting Suvorov, Kryx forms the Crimson Fleet, which begins carrying out pirate raids on UC shipping lanes.
2263: The Serpent's Crusade ends. Jinan Va'ruun dies and is succeeded by his son, Jarek Va'ruun, who sues for peace with the other factions.
2275: Constellation is formed by Sebastian Banks.
2306: The yahg are discovered on the planet Parnack. Ambassadors representing the Citadel Council arrive on the planet and attempt to open diplomatic contact. After the ambassadors are killed by the predatory yahg, the Council ceases all contact with the yahg and declares Parnack off-limits.
2307: The Freestar Collective begins farming on the planet of Vesta in the Lunara system. By 2308 the United Colonies claims that by establishing a colony in a fourth star system, the Freestar Collective has violated the Treaty of Narion. Diplomatic talks break down and the UC lays siege to Vesta and kill anyone who stayed behind (or was brought in) to defend it. The Colony Wars officially begins.
2310: Constellation comes into possession of their first Artifact and tucks it away in the Constellation archives.
2311: After several years of conflict, the Colony War effectively comes to an end with the Battle of Cheyenne as a flotilla of civilian and military Freestar Collective ships takes down the major ships of the UC Navy using hit and run tactics. House Va'ruun withdraws into near: total seclusion. Hostile remnants known as Va'ruun Zealots stay behind and continue to plague the Settled Systems.
2315: The UC Vanguard is founded as part of a UC response to the Freestar Collective's use of civilian ships during the Colony War. The Vanguard is the UC's own civilian navy, relying on civilians using their own ships, who pledged to protect the United Colonies and its interests. The ultimate reward for this service: citizenship in the United Colonies.
2330: The Crimson Fleet is sent into retreat after UC System Defense forces deal a crushing blow at the Battle of the Key. Naeva Mora is the only Crimson Fleet higher up to escape.
2338: LIST Settlers make first contact with the Turian Hierarchy.

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10 years ago, there was a war that engulfed the galaxy. The Reaper War.

The Reaper War has always been shrouded in mystery. Between communications losses and the general disarray, the line between fact and fiction was blurred. By setting out in producing this documentary, I hope to produce a definitive work based on confirmed records and the testimonies of those who were there. To tell this story, however, I must embark back to the beginning. From the start of the First Contact War on January 10th, 2338 UT to the last moments of the Battle of Jemison on December 31st, 2367. 

This documentary covers moments of daring and bravery. Heroes who stand tall above us all, and those who have yet to have their story told. It takes place in the lawless districts of Omega to the blue collar mines of Mars and everywhere in between. In my studies I talked to eyewitnesses big and small, visited fascinating locations, and recorded countless details. In this war, every one is a hero, every one is a legend, and each one has a story.

I’m Brett Thompson, and you're listening to the SSNN documentary special, Warriors and the Reaper War.

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As with many major historical events, the discovery of the Strix Relay started small. The League of Independent Settlers, or LIST, provided a prospective colonist family resources to find a new home: a remote moon filled with life and ideal for farming. The only problem is that the moon didn't exist. Family patriarch Remington Carey returned to New Atlantis with his family and filed a lawsuit. A contractor by the name of Drake Castaneda was hired by LIST to update the survey information on the Strix system to patch the holes in their archive. While there, Castaneda discovered a gravitational anomaly within Strix VI-b. The planet appeared to have a shifting gravitational field.

Upon further research, scientists discovered Strix VI-b to not only be some sort of alien device from which the planet formed, but to be one of two devices. Following the trail the first device led to a new system in the Northwest with the ruins of a primitive civilization known as Protheans. The artifacts led to a new colonization boom. One of the systems settled in this boom was the Bifröst System, home to the colony of Shanxi. In the Bifröst system, it was discovered the first Stellar Relay not encased in a planetary amount of ice. The colony of Shanxi and its first city of Xīn Tiānjīn became a boom town, which led to its population of 200,000 by the end of 2337. While Shanxi grew into a mining colony, scientists activated the relay in 2338, but before they could venture to the other side, a court injunction was filed to halt the action during a legal battle over who would get resource rights on the other side. Little did they know that resource rights would be the least of their problems.

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Despite the illegality of it all, it appears the treasures on the other side of the relay were just too much for some. On January 10th, 2338, a group of LIST settlers illegally traveled beyond the relay. Maybe they wanted land or maybe riches, but that part of the story is forever lost. All we know for sure is that the turian patrol did not take kindly to their accessing of the relay.

Two days later, the turians ventured to the Bifröst side of the relay. Three Freestar ships, the FCS. Argonaut, the FCS. Icarus, and the FCS. Nautilus were the first to encounter the fleet. As was standard procedure, they attempted to scan the vessels before they were fired upon. The FCS. Icarus and FCS. Nautilus stayed beyond to fight as the FCS. Argonaut fled to inform Akila. The two ships fought valiantly, but the outcome of the battle was settled the moment it began. It was around this point that other local vessels began radioing what they thought was a House Va'ruun zealot threat. With all their patrol ships missing or destroyed, Shanxi Governor Saniyah Wagner ordered the starport closed and sent a message to Major Jaycee Cameron, the CO of Fort Henderson which was a glorified military storage depot just outside Xīn Tiānjīn. Within 30 minutes, all the civilian vessels in the sky were either shot down by the turian patrol or fled from the zealot threat. When some of the ships came into land, Xīn Tiānjīn security were prepared for a fight, not a massacre. The Battle of Xīn Tiānjīn Spaceport left many of the security force dead, while the survivors escaped with Security Chief Everett Noble and a group of civilians. 

At this point the town was in chaos and Major Cameron knew his fort was the last thing standing between the city and the spaceport and all he could do was buy time for civilians to make it out of the city, knowing they would stand a better chance in the outlying cities. He ordered his 200 men to prepare Fort Henderson for battle and a last stand.  The battle that followed was a fierce one. Fort Henderson had enough air defense to prevent the turians from landing close by. If they wanted to take the fort, they would need to do so on foot. Six times the turians would attack the fort and six times the defenders would push them back. The fort only fell after its defenders began running low on ammo. It was at that point where Major Cameron took out his blade and stood his ground with twenty-four other good men and stood his ground to allow the rest of the 200 heroes time to escape. It was with the blood of Major Cameron spilled by a turian blade that the opening salvos of the First Contact War fell silent, but the war was very much far from over.

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[Montara Luna weathered the Reaper war better than most colonies. Freestar claimed it to be due to the resilience of its citizens, but with the devastation Akila faced, it seems more due to luck. Captain Walker, better known as the Butcher of Torfan claimed this abandoned farm after the war and has been working on it for the past 10 years.]

Captain Walker: If there's one thing you learn growing up Freestar, it's self-reliance. Sure, you have the militia and the rangers sometimes, but it might not be enough. They might not get there till after the Crimson Fleet has already killed your family. You always need to be ready. My parents took those lessons to heart when they moved to Shanxi with the first wave of settlers after LIST was done with it. I was born a few days later. When I was six, I got my first lesson in self-defense from my grandfather. Both he and my old man were colony war vets, but he was part of the First Cavalry, he barely made it out of those trials with his freedom. He was always a bit crazy with training his kids and grandkids, but I guess it paid off in the end.

Thompson: How old were you when the war began in earnest?

I was 7 at the time, didn’t even know it was a war in the beginning. The first sign was the lack of supply ships and the loss of comms. Both were easily explained, comms go out all the time for homesteaders and pirate activity had delayed cargo many times in the past. It wasn’t till a few days after the birds touched down on our soil when we really learned what was happening. The 23rd Militia Company went full retreat through our town, they stopped for the night and caught us up on the news. He treated them like heroes and let them stay for the night. Then the trouble followed.

And what do you mean by trouble?

The fucking turians, who else? Birds followed them and attacked, and they didn’t much care who was in their way. I was up late when a militia broke into my house to hide. I asked what he was doing, and he told me it was pirates and I had to hide. Taking my grandfather's lesson to heart, I grabbed my family's Coachman from the hearth. Dad bought it to deal with predators, pirates, or anybody else who tried to harm his family or his livestock, but he never fired it except to make sure it was still working. As I came back, I saw one of the turians with some sort of knife. I acted fast, one shot brought down the bastard's shields and I got lucky with the second one. If I went for center mass, I would have never pierced the armor, but the recoil allied my shot right with his head. I’ll spare you the details, but I did keep his knife, my first memento from my service. Still keep on me, care to see it?

No, thanks, Mr. Walker.

Suit yourself. That was really the end of first contact excitement for me. The turians underestimated our numbers, so we won with the skin of our teeth. We ended up having to flee with the militia out of fear of reprisals, so we spent the rest of the war in a bunker. Lost my dad when an orbital strike killed him after he joined up with the militia. Was sad for a while but moved on. Death comes to us all eventually, I’m just glad he went down in service. Just figured I would make him proud through my service. After the peace deal, I enlisted as soon as I could. We were all buddy buddy with the birds and the council, but who the hell knew if that would ever last. We were all buddy buddy with the UC after Narion as well. One thing I knew for certain was that I wasn’t going to let any bastards get the drop on our colonies, no matter what part of the spectrum they bleed.