Information

Absolute has a minion!

Harvest the Terratuga

Absolute
Legacy Name: Absolute

The

Galactic Harvester
Owner: Derelict

Age: 11 years, 3 months, 5 days

Born: July 27th, 2015

Adopted: 11 years, 3 months, 5 days ago

Adopted: July 27th, 2015

Nominate Pet for Spotlight

Statistics

Level: 5
Strength: 10
Defense: 11
Speed: 10
Health: 16
HP: 16/16
Intelligence: 1
Books Read: 1
Food Eaten: 0
Toys Played: 0
Job: Unemployed

“you exist because we allow it, and you will end because we demand it.”

potential mass effect lore spoilers

Heavy slabs of debris misplaced under your boots noisily slide down either side of the wreckage heap you’re ascending. The holographic device on your forearm beeping with exponentially increasing volume tells you you're heading in the right direction. A few more unsteady steps and the peak of this devastation-borne mountain is in sight. Removing your helmet's visor and squinting through the dust, you can just barely make out the silhouette of a short antennae jutting from the rubble. As you draw closer you notice a small bulb at the tip flickering, struggling to continue producing its faint blue light. Hesitantly, you kneel before the beacon and begin shoveling the wreckage to either side.

"Not again." You think as your digging grows more frantic. "Not another false alarm. Please." The stress of your fruitless search finally catches up with you. Your heart sinks and a pit deepens in your stomach as the unearthed metallic capsule glares back at you. You slowly raise your gloved palm, glowing soft orange with illumination from the tool on your arm. The holograph before you whirs and spins rhythmically as it interacts with the foreign technology of the capsule's latch. After a few more painstaking moments of anticipation, the latch on the object suddenly clicks open, relinquishing a faint gust of compressed air. The relief that washes over you is nearly palpable.

"Get a team down here!" You instinctively shout into your radio, pressing an earpiece on the side of your helmet. You can't decide what to grab first, mind racing a mile a minute. This is big. This is it. Resting atop the collection of tools, devices, and other technology you can't place yet is a small blue-tinged glass tablet, as if asking to be taken first. You pick up the datapad, and the HUD slowly awakens after a brief struggle. Bright, fluorescent lights spread across the screen as it powers up. A message is displayed:

"To whomever finds this codex; we have provided you with the sum of our efforts. We can only hope that these blueprints, schematics, and warnings are enough to prepare you for what is to come. For what our cycle was unable to prevent. Herein lies the recounting of our war with the Reapers."

The message is signed with a name that means nothing to you, from a year long, long in the past. However, the archeologist's words intrigue you. Could the contents of this archive shed some light on the burning questions your search has drummed up? Only one way to find out. You press the screen and scroll through what appears to be a glossary of terms, separated into distinct categories until a few catch your attention.

REAPERS

”A label created by the Protheans to give voice to their destruction. In the end what they chose to call us is irrelevant. We simply are.”

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The Reapers are a sentient machine race of colossal synthetic-organic hybrid starships. Lying in wait, dormant in deep space beyond the reaches of civilization they emerge approximately every 50,000 years (or when the apex of development has been achieved) to harvest all advanced lifeforms in the galaxy. Every instance of this mass extinction is deemed a "cycle" and has by their own claim occurred more times than fathomable by an organic mind.

(See Entries: Reaper Origins & Motivation, Leviathan of Dis)

There are a myriad of tactics utilized by the reapers to accomplish their harvests. Able to dominate entire atmospheres of planets with their towering stature and ceaseless numbers, a Reaper invasion will commonly darken the skies of any world. Even the most advanced defensive fleets are often carved through with ease. On the ground, Reapers are also masters of attrition. During their harvests they are known to collect and process fallen enemy soldiers, turning them into a twisted perversion of their former selves with the introduction of reaper technology. With full control over the minds of these unfortunate victims, they are used as ground troops that easily overwhelm most armies.

(See Entries: Reaper Tactics, Husks)

The control Reapers effortlessly exude over the minds of organics occurs through a process referred to as Indoctrination. With this method of attack, Reapers are able to raze worlds not only on a physical front, but also mentally among its occupants. Any prolonged exposure to Reapers themselves or their technology poses a risk for indoctrination, due to a constantly emitting din that "bores it's way into [one's] mind, sows seeds of doubt in one's own leaders and ultimately cause one to succumb to the reaper's influences." They often utilize this method with high-ranking officials or people of importance in order to quickly cripple a nation's morale.

(See Entries: Indoctrination, Saren Arterius)

SOVEREIGN

”There is a realm of existence so far beyond your own, you cannot even imagine it. I am beyond your comprehension. I, am Sovereign.”

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Thus far, only two individually named Reapers have been discovered or have made themselves known. Though the race operates like a hivemind evidence has shown they do each possess, to some degree, a level of agency and individuality while simultaneously remaining connected. Sovereign is one such named Reaper.

(See Entry: Reaper Psychology)

Sovereign was the first Reaper to make itself known. Appearing well ahead of the rest of the fleet, it was to be the vanguard of Reaper's invasion. Utilizing the Geth, a synthetic machine race that worshipped Sovereign as the pinnacle of AI, it was able to launch an initial assault on the Citadel, the galaxies' hub and Council's Capital. Though the initial assault was narrowly repelled by allied forces, many believe it was little more than a test by the Reapers to evaluate the Milky Way's defenses before the true invasion.

(See Entries: Geth, The Alliance)

Extrapolating from the few, brief interactions Sovereign had with select members of the Alliance military, it acted extremely matter-of-factly and overbearing during communications. It spoke of the cycle's harvest as if it were a thing predestined, already a certainty. It is believed that this hubris largely contributed to the Alliance's ability to defend against this first wave and destroy Sovereign, postponing the Reaper's arrival.

(See Entries: Second Fleet Sacrifice, The Normandy)

HARBINGER

“You fight against inevitability, dust struggling against cosmic winds. We are your salvation through destruction.”

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If Sovereign was an example of the Reaper’s cold, calculating and impartial nature, let Harbinger act as the counterargument. Harbinger made itself known soon after the destruction of Sovereign and employed an unseen, much more insidious plan of attack. Utilizing The Collectors, a long extinct civilization turned mindless-army through the Reaper’s cruel processing, Harbinger began to specifically target and abduct human colonies in retaliation for The Alliance’s postponing of their invasion.

(See Entries: The Collectors, Horizon)

Throughout it’s occupation of the galaxy Harbinger seemed much more interested in the Alliance’s individual operations than previously demonstrated by a Reaper, consistently assuming direct control over Collector drones and personally interfering in the spectre Commander Shepard’s missions. This provided one of the first hints that the Reapers are not entirely automatons, but also possess the organic psychological remnants necessary to develop a grudge, or at the very least a distaste towards Alliance forces. An exploitable weakness.

(See Entries: Spectres, Shepard)

Ultimately, Harbinger was thwarted through no small effort and sacrifice. A plot was discovered involving indoctrinated officials, allowing the Reaper fleet to advance ahead of schedule through an isolated mass relay located in inaccessible Batarian space. In order to stop the Reaper’s arrival, the Commander was forced to destroy the mass relay, resulting in the complete obliteration of the entire star system and its’ inhabitants. A minuscule death toll compared to that if the fleet had advanced. “The ruthless calculus of war.” Harbinger’s plan was foiled and it was forced to rejoin the remainder of the fleet until the full-scale occupation began, allowing the Allied systems to prepare in the meantime.

(See Entries: Mass Relays, Alpha Relay Sacrifice)

As you hear your squad approaching from behind, you stash the datapad within the capsule oncemore, and rise to your feet. Replacing, or perhaps merely accompanying your underlying feelings of dread, a new sensation begins to take over. For the first time in as long as you can remember; hope.

CREDITS

story by Derelict

profile template (c) helix

mass effect characters/references (c) Bioware

background (c) wallpaperaccess