Humanity perhaps more than its immediate competitors and near neighbours is imprinted with the idea of its own exceptionalism. While the word and the official thought around that term is associated with the most unsubtle human philosophy, and as such easily talked down, the feeling itself exists with near universal subscription among the race. However profusely denied this thought in ones' own destiny as 'special' has a firm hold over the imagination of any individual. Optimism and imagination are necessary components in the evolution of societies; though with Humanity it powers a desire for 'comparative edge' that has that species forever postured in competition with those nearby. Humans observe, envy and covet while convincing themselves otherwise like no other... but it is that propensity that will ultimately civilise them

- Citadel Council Session minutes

2151, with earlier events briefly related but undated

With Cochrane's Warp flight and the reception of Vulcan ambassadors Earth awakened. The planet was made aware of extra-solar life and it was hinted humanity was emerging into a crowded neighbourhood. Then began Earth's hurried road to recovery, which to the mind of many humans was achieved by the early 22nd century. In the wake of a third and most devastating global conflict humanity had experienced it hurried away from its past, into a future that promised much: exposure to the wider galaxy along with the need to rebuild inspired an idealism and impatience in the population of Earth to raise their development index to something comparable with those alien worlds they were just now hearing amazing accounts off.

The decades leading up to the mid 22nd century had humanity seemingly abandon the cynicism and hard edge of previous centuries for an outwardly 'naive' new deal emphasising peace, prosperity and progress. This frame of mind naturally came about with the recovery of Earth materially, and the encouraging attitude of alien embassies did little to add to it. These embassies nevertheless had to be happy to see the emergence of a good natured, warp capable race. Human impatience was the only thing that looked to trouble their immediate allies- the Vulcans- whom saw the fragile system on Earth that emerged in the wake of First Contact as rushing along, growing in the manner of a 'bubble'. The Vulcans fell into the role of cautioners as a result.

Humanity was centred on Earth, but had organised a united Government that took in the whole system and a handful of colony worlds beyond. On Mars, orbiting the same sun as Earth, discovery of a ruin of extra-solar origin at once surprised, and sparked human interest in investigating. While humanity knew it was not alone already, Mars held a special place in the human psyche, and the idea of there once having been Martians- with it clear these ruins were not Vulcan- or for that matter any immediately known peoples- spurred an effort to investigate. Another reason not at first realised and taken to heart by the public, was that human scientists had also found data present at the site, and discovered an element previously unknown to science.

It would seem the ruins were an information cache that when understood promised technology, with applications of an unconventional nature. The equipment on hand, though malfunctioning, and some 'refined' Element Zero (the name taken from the appointed atomic number of the newly discovered material) were immediate examples of a totally new, tangential technological path to the one Earth was rushing along.

The Vulcan Science Academy provided researchers but the effort on Mars was almost exclusively human, and it was a new source of anxiety between the two friends as to how much of the tantalising, promisingly revolutionary results would be shared. While the human concept of ownership might have pre-disposed most to want a 'first' look at the findings it was more likely that United Earth had suddenly found leverage, with which it hoped to extract more conventional technology and assistance from the Vulcans. Nevertheless, the research effort on Mars did not distract humanity from its other great venture- to develop a Warp Drive that could allow it to explore its immediate neighbourhood. Both endeavours, the first under the United Earth Government and the latter through Starfleet reached simultaneous eureka moments in 2151.

By 2151 Earth had translated the 'Prothean' data on Mars and used it to develop a second type of FTL system. This system promised faster speeds then in-service Earth Warp systems, which ran at a factor of Warp 3. But it required the creation of a totally new industry to build, and it was believed would result in FTL engines with 'endurance' drawbacks that would likely not be competitive against a matured Warp drive. Starfleet's Warp Five Complex had already delivered results, and knowing other space-faring nations could produce faster ships determined humanity to use Cochrane's equation for FTL systems. Nevertheless the Prothean post on Mars continued to provide opportunities and had pointed to the existence of a huge 'mass relay', which was initially believed to be a powerful Transporter system. The Relay promised instant space travel over vast distances that even the fastest Warp ships couldn't hope to match. Starfleet didn't know where to look though, and it was an independent scientific effort that made the discovery quite by chance- that Charon was in fact the Relay as described in the ruins on Mars. In 2151 United Earth almost on the spot became an interstellar power; activating the Charon Relay in late March, and in mid-April launching the Warp Five ship EnterpriseNX-01.

Jon Grissom was the explorer who travelled through the Relay while Jonathan Archer was the explorer who captained the Enterprise. Both were Starfleet men, though otherwise quite different in outlook. Archer's father was a lead researcher at Bozeman where the Warp Five Complex had worked, and from the onset had been committed to a future in Starfleet. He had gone through Flight School, and been a Test Pilot with the NX program before winning the Captaincy of the Enterprise the year before; in April 2151 he hastily assembled a crew and took the new Earth Starfleet ship on a voyage to return a Klingon scout to his homeworld. Archer's connection to Bozeman and his new role as Commander of the Enterprise pre-disposed him to want to explore 'beyond the relay' rather than through it.

The man who went 'through the relay' was Starfleet officer Jon Grissom, a man who had not been involved with the NX program but instead, as a test pilot, been assigned to an abortive Element Zero FTL program run alongside it. Grissom got to Warp 4 with it before shut down. The test pilot, it was known, didn't care for the environment within the NX program, where most of the next generation of Starfleet Captains were expected to emerge from. The atmosphere was competitive and self-promoting, being a more modest and workman-like person Grissom avoided it. He instead spent time at Jupiter Station before being called out to Charon. In early April he went through the Charon Relay in a re-activated NX prototype, looked around, and came back with news of three more Relays near his exit point.

The two men at this point became the supposed champions of differing factions on Earth, mulling over the question of which avenue to pour its resources into. Both Archer and Grissom were celebrated as heroes though neither particularly liked the idea; the latter a retiring man, and the former caught up in Quadrant politics from the get-go, as essentially Earth's ambassador-at-large. Also neither personally had anything to do with the 'Boldly Camp' which wished to explore via the Relays, and the 'Go Camp' which wished to explore into neighbouring star systems. By all accounts Grissom and Archer had a deep personal respect for one another.

Within Starfleet it was Admiral Forrest who led the Go Camp and Admiral Black who led the Boldly Camp. The Go Camp was the more popular group, as Starfleet had been positioned with its eyes and energies towards the stars on the horizon. To change tack through portals Mass Relays appeared to be would require some re-organization, and the abandonment of grand efforts that had been decades in the making. Why at this moment in which to begin should Starfleet stop and suddenly start anew? It wasn't that they were uninterested in the Relay- but that they believed it a side project. The Boldly Camp meanwhile saw a truly unknown area in which to investigate; much of near space had been seen before, if not by human eyes then by alien ones who could relate findings, while what was through the Relays was seemingly unseen since the Protheans.

Grissom led exploration missions through the Relays; the one at the other end of the Charon Relay was the site of Starbase 2, itself a concession to the Boldly Camp. This Starbase was still under construction when it was designated new home to the Relay program; which had grown out of the Starfleet program responsible for the initial excavation and activation of the Mass Relay, and into an initiative for finding and cataloguing more of the Relays in space- along with any further Prothean artefacts. Beyond Starbase 2, which would be slowly constructed after an initial burst, the Relay program had very few resources with most of them then hand me downs. Grissom was supported by two other crews who all shared two hastily upgraded, previously retired NX prototypes. Neither had the speed of the Enterprise, both achieving Warp Factors around three, nor the room for sophisticated sensors and a scientific team. The ships could only support short missions, lacking range and support systems for extended operations. From the start Jon Grissom was badgered by Black to act on his personal fame, to publically pressure Starfleet into assigning more resources to effort. While Grissom was unhappy with what little he had to work with, and accordingly the compromised effort to actually explore around a discovered Mass Relay, he did not do as told by Black.

Archer meanwhile was responsible for numerous First Contacts that seemed to justify Starfleet's focus on the NX program and conventional exploration vectors. Also the discovery of the Relay and the launch of Enterprise had convinced humanity its good fortunes were among the Stars; accordingly Starfleet was receiving attention and resources to assist it while other organizations felt themselves marginalised. Military Assault Command Operations was one such case. While it had no issues with the 'Astronaut Corp' of UESPA and was co-operating with it easily, the MACOs felt they'd likely be squeezed as United Earth did its best to give Starfleet what it wanted.

MACO was the umbrella under which most of Earth's old militaries sat, so while the Royal Navy or United States Marine Corp still existed along with a host of other national defence forces; their formations were for the most part ceremonial, hollowed and historical. The actual working elements of each national force found itself transformed into MACO; which had organised out of all Earths militaries as a most potent tactical force. But MACO had no space-branch and with Starfleet having done 'all the work' to come up with NX class it didn't feel the need: happy to hitch a ride in the eventuality. The organization was as such primarily units of highly trained and very capable light infantry- excepting surface, air and underwater weapons platforms limited to spheres of operation on Earth. MACO also had no real designs for a role beyond its terrestrial one, but it importantly retained a feeling that it was the primary defence organisation of United Earth. Black recognised this and made it known to General Casey, in charge of MACO, though in reality the military could not actually contribute to the 'through the Relay' movement. The people who could were in the private sector, and to a lesser extent pulling the levers of Government.

While Grissom and Archer explored, Black politicked for results he could put through the Relay. He was able to hasten efforts on Starbase 2 such that by the end of the year, though it wasn't near complete, a section could be occupied and utilised. He lobbied in concert with a few private individuals to 'open' the Relay to more than just Starfleet, thinking that so long as the Relay program was responsible for the Charon Relay it could ultimately control the flow 'through' whilst attracting resources 'to' Pluto. Black was not especially successful though he found a contact more receptive than Casey in Government with Udina, and in private industry with Morgan.

Donnel Udina was a United Earth diplomat who was inclined to advance human interests wherever possible, til now his energies had been spent countering Vulcan demands through their Ambassador Soval to scale back Starfleet's Relay program- or stop it completely until proper studies surrounding the machine, technology and theories underpinning it were released... the Vulcan Science Academy promising a report based on data they'd received within the decade at the earliest, that would definitively speak on the 'safety of Mass Relay travel'. The healthy example Grissom presented discounted against various sensor readings, and data collectors positioned at Charon.

Nwabudike Morgan was from African royalty, though had made his name and considerable fortune in the rebuilding of Earth- through the mega-corporation Morgan Industries. This conglomerate had investments or subsidiaries that allowed it to boast a hand in most anything from Earth, from shampoos to shuttlepod engines. Morgan was an incredibly old but still very energetic character, and happy to put money into the Relay program if a deal could be reached... his motivations were likely to find and secure uncontested resources near the Relays in an obviously unregulated area of space. Black, Morgan, Udina and Casey would all come to influence human operations beyond the Relay.

By the end of the year Archer had led his ship on a tour of near star systems. Grissom had discovered and activated a series of Mass Relays and Admiral Black had convinced Udina and Morgan to focus on 'what could be' through the Relay than in the Alpha Quadrant. Starbase 2, though unfinished was christened. The discovery of Element Zero was spurring human scientific research at the kind of explosive rate the Warp Drive had, while also giving Earth a technological edge no known power held. Humanity had two avenues to the stars; 2152 as such promised much...

AUTHOR NOTES

The focus is on Earth though the setting is both the Star Trek and Mass Effect universes. As a Galactica fan I plan to introduce the Colonies though as yet am not committed to how. My hope is to outline the general course of history with FACT FILES attached, up until Sheppard comes of age... then maybe focusing on him. Will likely include AUTHOR NOTES with each entry where I can answer questions PMed to me or made in review.

I am open to input on events or characters as this 'shared universe' will likely include factions more at home in alternate Star Trek realities or from other sci-fi stories with timeline opportunities for inserts.