AUTHOR'S FOREWORD:
Hello ladies and gents. I've always wanted to write an "Humanity Fuck Yeah!" type story, and so here it is! Mass Effect being the perfect setting, but humanity not being the perfect species for this story, I have opted to include a different backstory for us; the setting of Battlefield 2142.

FIRST TIME READERS:
If you are unfamiliar with the game, I suggest you search Battlefield 2142 on Youtube, particularly the following: Battlefield 2142 Launch Trailer, Battlefield 2142 Titan Trailer, and Battlefield 2142 Northern Strike Trailer 3.

It is also recommended that you read the Torfan chapters of my Battlefield: Wars of the Systems Alliance story, as it goes into much greater detail about what happened on Torfan and its aftermath.

The plan for the entire series is at the bottom.

Hope this prologue story and timeline whets your appetite for the real meat to come later!

The 22nd Century was to be a golden age. First came the ice. It spread everywhere. Nations fought over the last remaining land. There was chaos and fear. The battle for Earth raged and suddenly, the war was over. The enemy defeated, the stars themselves opened up for us to take. But we were no longer alone.

Torfan, 2178

Shepard hurt all over. Her armour was cracked in a dozen places, and smeared with blood not her own. Fatigue threaded through her very bones. She had been awake almost twenty hours, and she felt every minute of it. A freezing cold wind in the morning air made it worse. She felt like collapsing.

The others had already been claimed. Around her lay corpses. Her entire squad. The biotics from the Army that had been assigned with them. Several liberated slaves who had joined them. All had given their lives so the entrance to the bunker complex could be cleared of slavers and their handlers from the Hegemony. Now, with the doors shattered and the enemy broken, only one human being remained standing.

It had gotten easier to kill with every loss. When they lost Corporal Delgado in the batarian camp a couple of hours before to a booby trapped cell door, Shepard had ordered the place bombed out of spite. With that done with, the next task was the entrance to the underground. The only way was an all-out attack. Major Kyle had been knocked out early, and his biotic subordinates were drawn into a crossfire when they charged to avenge him. Shepard's own team had been cut down trying to stop it. Alone, she infiltrated the enemy position and killed them all. By rifle and by omniblade, she had walked among the batarians like the Angel of Death, claiming their lives in return for those already sacrificed.

As Shepard stood among the mixed dead, a terrible guilt gripped her heart like a vice. These people had followed her and died. And for what? A hole in the ground. She had committed a terrible crime. She had promised that they would all return home as heroes. She had not lied, but not told the truth either. She asked herself why. Why had she been so determined to risk the lives of these young men and women? She couldn't remember.

Her attention changed from the dozens of bodies around her as rumbling and thudding noises approached.

Assault walkers and APCs moved in tidy formations towards her. The main force had landed, as planned and safely thanks to Shepard's own actions, ready to take on the task of clearing the enemy hive. They took up positions, covering the archway.

Atop the lead walker, a large flag flew, flowing in the air. A black flag with the Earth in the middle. The blue of its oceans, the white of the ice that had almost choked civilisation to death, the green and yellow of its forests and deserts, the grey of its megacities. Humanity's mother in all her glory.

Shepard remembered. Major Kyle, Delgado and the others, they had given up their lives so others could live. The batarians had kidnapped, enslaved and killed the children of Earth. It was a mistake they had to pay for, and pay for it they would. Her grip on her weapon tightened. The lieutenant's guilt and numbness turned to the impulse to kill once more. She composed herself quickly, suppressing her emotions as best she could.

An officer climbed out of an APC and walked towards her. Shepard stood to attention and saluted in a parade-perfect manoeuvre. Stepping gingerly over the dead, the man approached.

"Colonel Folkesson, with the 13th," he said, returning her salute, "Report, lieutenant."

"Objectives accomplished," Shepard said, "I'm the only one left, sir."

"...I can see that," he replied, glancing at the bodies for the second time, "Your recommendation as N7?"

"Kill them all, sir," she said firmly, "Send a message to the rest of the galaxy that humanity will defend its people and those that attack us will die with certainty."

The colonel nodded slowly.

"Very well, lieutenant, you are relieved."

"With respect sir, I will keep fighting," Shepard replied, "The mission isn't done yet."

The colonel examined her more closely, and said something into his comms. A squad of troops jogged up.

"Sergeant, this is Lieutenant Shepard, an N7," he said to the soldier in front, "You will escort her as she clears the bunker, is that clear?"

"Crystal, sir."

The colonel turned back to Shepard now, a stoney look on his face.

"Good luck."

Shepard saluted once more, and turned around. She promised to have a drink for those that had died and would die, but for now, the batarians were waiting in their hole. She would oblige them.

Timeline:

Pre-War

2103:

The European Union founds Lowell City near the Martian South Pole, the first permanent human settlement on Mars. The achievement is feted as a triumph of European engineering, and threatens to trigger a space race between the European Union-African Union bloc and the massive Pan-Asian Coalition. The US plans further afield, investigating Jupiter's moon "Europa" for possible colonisation.

2105:

Arctic and Antarctic summer ice begins a stunning reversal of 21st Century norms, extending to the Eurasian and Canadian mainlands for the first time in fifty years. The discovery and development of fusion technology is celebrated as having finally undone the climatic damage done during the 20th and 21st centuries.

2100s:

Technological progress in all areas continues at pace, with anti-gravity technology based on controlled air pockets and plasma weaponry being developed in the Pan-Asian Coalition. US espionage places most of the advances in the hands of the Western powers.

2112:

The winter of this year is particularly harsh. The North Sea and the Baltic Sea freeze. Huge glacial flows stretch far into Russia, China, Korea and Japan. Canada nearly disappears under the ice, but its major urban centres are untouched. Populations further north than Moscow are displaced southwards for a number of years.

First anti-gravity aerial assault craft, or Titan, is launched by the PAC, soon followed by European and American projects.

2119:

The first year of permanent glacial flows. Emergency session of the United Nations hears evidence that the Earth is entering a new Ice Age. Evidence points to variance in solar output as cause. Treaties of mutual assistance are signed.

2123:

Pan-Asian Coalition begins to feel the effects of population movement and loss of huge amounts of agricultural land and resources. Unrest begins, measures put in place to insure order, elections permanently suspended. European Union and United States condemn the Pan-Asian Coalition, but refrains from economic sanctions due to fragility of global economy.

The European Union and Union of African States sign formal military and economic alliance treaty.

2120s:

Ice continues to extend further southward each year. Huge areas of Russia and Canada permanently under ice by decade's end.

Space colonisation efforts by the PAC cease as resources are strained, but existing settlements on Mars are maintained.

Assault walkers are field tested.

2134:

Titan deployments for humanitarian purposes save millions from starvation in the PAC, but the government of that state foresees mass starvation and economic ruin by the middle of the century without a change in circumstance. PAC begins mass military build-up along border. Europe and Africa respond in kind, concentrating their forces along the Mediterranean. The US increases its defence budget in response, leading to the same from South America and Australia.

Europe builds the three defensive lines in Northern Europe: Minsk, Brandenburg and Maginot.

Steven Hackett is born in Buenos Aires, in the South American Federation.

2137:

The last real effort to come to a diplomatic solution for resource distribution between the PAC and EU fails. The attempted US-brokered peace would have seen PAC military technology and resource wealth traded for food and energy technology. Both parties continue diplomatic talks beyond this point, but both use it to stall in order to complete their war preparations.

The Eldfell-Ashland Energy Corporation demonstrates helium-3 extraction from Saturn, causing a severe drop in the American stock market as helium-3 extraction from Luna is put under threat. Luna is an exclusively American holding at this time. The United States falls into a state of civil unrest as its economy is already badly affected by the climatic changes, precluding involvement in the Eurasian Crisis.

David Anderson is born in London, European Union.

The Cold War

2139:

With coordinated offensives from the Baltic to Africa, the Pan-Asian Coalition declares war on the European Union with the objective of capturing its resources and land.

The Union of African States honours its alliance with the EU and joins the fight. The PAC first strikes prioritise Africa in a conventional assault, drawing away many regular units of the European Army.

The United States' economy begins to recover quickly as European firms and government contracts pour into the country to fill war logistics demands, allowing Washington the time to solve some of its internal problems.

Kahlee Sanders is born in the Texan Megapolis, United States of America.

November 2139: Minsk

Operation Canute: Three battalions led by General Arkadi Petrov attack Minsk, the EU's command centre for the Minsk Defensive Line. First deployment of the militarised Titan in live combat operations, changing the nature of human warfare forever. Defence and destruction of titans becomes basis for military strategy during the war.

2140: Breaking the European Lines

PAC offensives concentrate on the Balkans primarily, as the region has yet to feel the full brunt of the new ice age. PAC divisions trap EU forces in the region in Belgrade in February. Despite a spirited defence by the EU 9th Armoured Corps lead by General Emil Nikoli, Belgrade falls in March.

The PAC attacks the Brandenburg Line in force. By July, PAC gunships have air superiority over the battlefield, and PAC Titans drop entire regiments behind Berlin. In August, the PAC offensive against Berlin begins, and the city falls two months later. Remaining EU forces retreat to France to make a stand while populations and industrial base is evacuated to Africa.

2141: Verdun & America

The PAC control much of Europe, but the ice advanced to its furthest point recorded, rendering almost all of the land useless. The Mediterranean remains firmly in EU hands.

The next PAC offensive quickly bogs down at the Maginot line at Verdun. Caught between huge iceflows and the European defences, the PAC walkers and tanks found the attack impossible to sustain. EU tank formations using the less-sophisticated but reliable A-8 Tiger were well able to match the Nekomata hovertanks fielded by the PAC. The EU uses infiltration tactics to destroy PAC titans.

The South American Federation, seeing the other major powers distracted by war, declares its own war on Mexico. Mexican forces defend their borders valiantly, and contrary to the hopes of the SAF, the United States declares war immediately, unable to tolerate the possibility of another world power directly on its doorstep. US Titans deploy to the front, against which the SAF deploys anti-Titan missiles.

By the end of 2141, the PAC copies European anti-titan tactics and Verdun falls, but the EU's strategic objective has been achieved; populations and industry have been moved to Africa. The US and Mexico holds off the SAF, but can make no progress to halt the enemy as their military had not been at high readiness when war broke out.

2142: The Fall of Europe & The Venezuela Offensive

With Verdun in PAC hands, the offensive swept through France and into Spain.

Cerbere in southern France stands as a stronghold temporarily until the intervention of PAC General Yuri Vladormirovic. Commando units using advanced optical camouflage technology breach the port's defences, but the EU leaves its crack infantry unit, the Hell Brigade, behind to defend the port. The Cerbere Landing establishes itself as the most costly battle of the Cold War.

US Titan forces attack Venezuela en masse, taking heavy casualties but successfully establishing a beachhead. The region is one of the SAF's industrial centres, and they retaliate with a general offensive on all fronts to draw away the Americans from the sector by the year's end.

The assault on Africa begins soon after with the PAC attacking Camp Gibraltar in Morocco. In May, the PAC strikes at the Suez Canal with large scale Titan forces. The EU responds in kind with their own Titan forces, and a campaign of attrition begins. Raids on Tunis and elsewhere fail to stop European and African reinforcements.

2143:

Mass migrations, diminishing food supplies and extremely insufficient energy generation ravage the PAC's population. With the political situation becoming increasingly desperate, PAC military forces turn their attention to the EU agricultural city project at Shuhia Tabia. Both sides deploy a dozen Titans, and the fighting over the city lasts a year, after which only two Titans are left. The region will become known as the Titan graveyard.

A similar offensive to capture the huge energy plants at Sidi fails after only two months, as PAC Titans divert to capture Shuhia Tabia or are reserved for logistics roles.

The US are repelled from Venezuela, but not before destroying the facilities there, including the SAF's Titan project factories. Furthermore, a joint US-Mexican offensive takes Panama and the path into Columbia. The entire north of the SAF is under threat.

On Mars, the European Union manages to land specialised military equipment, and attempts to bombard PAC settlements from space without success. The colonists in Lowell City begin training, and the first military unit founded on an offworld colony is raised: the European 1st Martian Armoured Regiment. Given the huge distances and harsh terrain, the government is reluctant to use its military forces aggressively until the right moment.

2144: Stalemate and Prothean Ruins

The EU repulses the PAC from Africa, and launches limited offensives eastwards from its holdings. A successful raid on a Titan facility in Karkand leaves PAC Titan production crippled. The Europeans prepare to take back their homeland.

US and Mexican forces sweep into Columbia, Peru and Chile as the Titans lead the way. The success of the attack draws the attention of Brazil, which intervenes in order to preserve the balance of power that has reigned in the Western hemisphere for nearly a century. Brazilian reinforcements push US forces back from Chile and Peru, and the first and only Titan battle between the US and Brazil occurs over Lima in September. The Brazilians copy EU and PAC tactics, using missiles to overwhelm the defences of the enemy titans and then infiltrating them to destroy their reactor cores.

The European Union orders its Martian colonies to use its newly raised military force to finally attack PAC settlements on Mars. The Martian 1st Armoured leaves Lowell City on the months-long journey to Vladivostok-on-Mars. The armoured column runs into something entirely unexpected after a modified rover falls into a large pit.

Inside the pit are the ruins of an alien outpost, complete with a cache of technology and a new material: element zero. The offensive against the PAC colonies is called off as the scientists in Lowell City examine the technology and information. News of the discovery is suppressed.

2145: Endgame

After half a year of examination of the alien technologies found on Mars, the European Union discovers the mass effect. As its first act, it integrates the new technology with existing orbital military satellite strike capabilities.

The planned counteroffensive to retake Europe from the PAC proceeds at a blistering pace. PAC titans and anti-titan missile installations are subjected to orbital bombardment and are annihilated. EU Titan forces are able to range at will and without contest, and PAC forces are swept back. By the summer of 2145, the EU has restored the pre-war borders.

The PAC refuses to surrender, and the EU retaliates with an all out invasion of its own. They quickly capture vast swathes of territory in Asia. The PAC response is to turn to its nuclear arsenal, which has gone unused until this point out of fear of damaging valuable productive land and further lowering the global temperature. European anti-ballistic missile systems shoot the nuclear strike down before the aging missiles can reach their targets.

The European Union responds to the attempted genocide with targeted orbital kinetic strikes on major PAC government facilities. The PAC collapses into a state of anarchy, and the rump government finally gives in. It surrenders unconditionally on November 11th 2145.

The next day, the EU declares war on the SAF and Brazil, and targets Brazil's titan forces from orbit, forcing the South American allies to the negotiating table with the US and Mexico. The cost of peace is war reparations to Mexico and a demilitarised zone in Central America, as well as the resignations of all those who voted in favour of war.

Victory to First Contact

2146:

The European Union formally annexes the majority of the Pan-Asian Coalition, setting up client governments in Japan and Korea. This causes it to become the single largest state in the history of humanity. The population of the former territory of the PAC has dropped significantly due to mass migrations to other states as well as starvation and combat losses. Millions of displaced Europeans are resettled. Surviving PAC citizens are granted citizenship of the EU and receive generous subsidies. Those responsible for the start of the war are hunted down and tried for crimes against humanity.

Earth's economy begins to recover.

The advance of the arctic ice halts at last and recedes slightly.

2148:

The European Space Agency ship Ariane makes the first manned FTL flight between Mars and Luna. The ESA begins a worldwide recruitment campaign for the best pilots and astronauts.

The United States demands full payment of the massive European war debt, hoping to gain FTL technology. The European Union refuses, stating that it would pay its debts as agreed previously and that its new technologies were not for sale. The US begins serious diplomatic efforts to rally the rest of the world against Europe for its position, calling the hoarding of the technology to be selfish and without regard for the cause of humanity.

The European Union accepts Canada as a member state, allowing millions of Canadian refugees to enter Europe as citizens from the massive refugee camps in the United States.

2149:

The secret of European advances in technology is leaked, and the human race learns that it is not the sole sentient species in the universe. Demands from other worlds powers to share the technology gleaned from the Prothean Archives on Mars are met with military brinkmanship from the EU.

Production of mass effect technologies explodes, with everything from small-arms to spaceships being constructed by European state-firms. Petitions to open the technology to private firms are shot down in the European Parliament, which wishes to insure European military superiority before allowing civilian applications.

The Charon Mass Relay is discovered. The American test-pilot Jon Grissom is the first man to leave the Sol System, travelling by mass relay to the Arcturus system on board the European Space Agency ship Ragnarok.

2150:

The European Union gives in to massive international pressure from friends and rivals alike, and forms the Systems Alliance, a political and military compact for the exploitation of space by humanity. As the largest polity on Earth, the EU dominates the alliance along with the US. Two military wings are formed, the Navy made up of the European fleets under unified political control, and the Army, made up of modernised military forces from all member nations.

Arctic ice recedes partially, releasing parts of Canada, Britain, Ireland and Europe from the glaciers. Mass effect technology is released to the private sector, leading to a boom period of population growth and economic development.

The Systems Alliance begins its first surveys of other systems for habitable planets. Demeter and Eden Prime are among the first to be discovered.

Miranda Lawson is born in Werrington Downs, Australia.

2151:

The Systems Alliance accelerates the original European fleet construction programme in anticipation of first contact with extraterrestrials, as well as for the colonisation of space. Ships of all classes as well as orbital-deployed Titans and assault walkers are built en masse. US, African and EU armies are equipped with mass accelerator weapons for the first time.

The first colonisation congress is held in the Palace of Versailles. The European Union cedes the entirety of its rights to the colonisation of Terra Nova to the Union of African States, in compensation of its contributions during the Cold War.

An airport accident in Singapore leads to mass exposures to element zero in dust form.

Kaiden Alenko is born in Singapore, EU-Administered Malaya.

2154:

Jane Shepard is born in Lorient, European Union, to Hannah Shepard, a Canadian cadet of the Systems Alliance Navy.

2155:

Jeff Moreau is born on Arcturus Station, the new forward naval base of the Systems Alliance.

The ten year anniversary of the end of the Cold War is held, with massive parades in Paris, Mexico City, Cape Town and Washington.

2157:

The First, Second and Third Fleets of the Systems Alliance are declared formally ready for combat operations. Exercises in space with the various new weapons designs are ordered as exploration continues at a rapid pace.

Jacob Taylor is born in New York State, the United States of America.

2157: FIRST CONTACT WAR

The Relay 314 Incident:

A scouting expedition from Shanxi colony attempting to open a mass relay is attacked by a turian force and destroyed. A single exploration vessel returns to Shanxi, which sends out a retaliatory flotilla. The flotilla destroys much of the alien fleet in turn, and the situation escalates. The Systems Alliance, unsure if they're fighting Protheans or some other alien species, they rally the military-grade ships at Arcturus and prepare for total war.

The turians, still looking to police the newly discovered species, rally a fleet and destroy several Alliance scout flotillas before heading to Shanxi itself.

The Occupation of Shanxi:

Despite all attempts to stop them, the turians successfully made it to orbit around Shanxi with little effort. They laid siege to the colony, but not before word of the attack was sent to Arcturus. The turians bombarded the Alliance strongpoints from orbit, and then started bombarding food storage facilities and utilities. Guerilla warfare was used to slow down the turian ground troops with some success, but with civilians dying daily and food running low, General Williams called for a surrender. The colony's own defence forces and the accompanying civilians complied.

The United States Colonial Marine Expeditionary Force under Colonel Edward Ryan, a small group of US troops on a tour of colonies with the Alliance, refused the order to surrender. The turians hunted them to Xi'an Valley, where they made a last stand. With the American forces gone and the colony surrendered, the turians occupied the planet and settled in to defend it, assuming that they had destroyed the bulk of the Alliance fleet.

Outrage:

Word of the surrender and the massacre of the USCMEF got back to Arcturus just as a fierce political argument was breaking out between the constituent states of the Alliance. Shanxi was a European-backed colony made up largely of former PAC citizens, so the European Union wished to counterattack immediately. However, every other member of the alliance disagreed, refusing to sign off on the huge spaceborne counterattack already being organised by the Europeans. They still did not know who exactly they were fighting and why.

The why became irrelevent as soon as word of the surrender arrived. The United States, who had led the calls for diplomacy, immediately turned on its position. Not aware that their marines had refused to surrender, the Americans assumed that there had been a horrific massacre of surrendering soldiers. The occupation soon outraged all parties, and it was agreed that the counterattack should go ahead as planned.

Retaliation:

A month after the occupation began, the Systems Alliance Second Fleet under Admiral Drescher jumped into the system and annihilated the turian fleet guarding the colony. The turians were taken aback by a number of human innovations in space combat technology and tactics, and were outnumbered at any rate. The surviving ships limped back through the Shanxi-Theta relay.

With the turian ships shredded, it was the turn of the army. Titans and shuttles were dropped from orbit, surrounding the colony proper with the soldiers of Europe's Hell Brigade and the American Rangers. L5 Riesig assault walkers, now upgraded with kinetic barriers, blasted the turian occupiers to pieces. The aliens' anti-armour weapons were of little help as the active defences on the human armoured units detonated the munitions before they even hit the barriers. The turians soon adapted, using heavy machineguns to wear down the humans' primitive barriers, but they were simply outnumbered by metal behemoths.

The Alliance retreated, having demonstrated their strength and not wishing to risk the civilians' lives. Titans brought down reinforcements from orbit, and the turians were offered the opportunity to surrender. The aliens surrendered, and the human race saw the face of their aggressor for the first time.

The Council intervenes:

With Earth and her colonies now gearing up towards total war against an alien aggressor, and the Turian Hierarchy moving real assets towards crushing the human race, the Citadel Council intervened a month after Shanxi. Humanity learns that the galaxy is in fact inhabited by many species, many of whom possess mass effect technology, and most of whom organise their political and economic life via the Council. A ceasefire is negotiated between the Systems Alliance and the Turian Hierarchy, with the turians accepting responsibility for the war.

After First Contact
2157:

A manifesto for a pro-human group is published, calling for a Cerberus to defend humanity from the alien threats at its doorstep, in the midst of a proliferation of "pro-human" political grouplets and parties. The Systems Alliance dismisses the manifesto as nonsensical.

2158:

Ashley Williams is born on the American colony Sirona, in the 61 Ursae Majoris system.

2160:

The Systems Alliance Parliament is formed, consisting of a Council of States to represent the original powers and their designated colonies, and a Senate to represent the people directly.

Kasumi Goto is born at an unknown location.

2161:

"Jack" is born on the European colony of Eden Prime.

2165:

The Systems Alliance gains an official embassy on the Citadel.

The Batarian Hegemony begins to compete with the Alliance for colonies in the Skyllian Verge. The Alliance slowly prepares for war as the batarians' culture of slavery and aggressive stance leave little doubt in minds on Earth that conflict with the aliens is inevitable.

Legion system adopted by the Systems Alliance Military. Each legion is assigned to a Navy flotilla or colony, and is composed of up to six million soldiers from an Alliance member state.

2170:

The Alliance colony of Mindoir is attacked by Batarian slavers, who seize many citizens and kill many more, starting the First Verge War.

With a potential military coup brewing if no retaliatory action is taken, the Alliance Parliament appeals to the Citadel Council to intervene for the return of the kidnapped colonists. The Council refuses to intervene, so the Alliance Parliament authorises escalating military strikes against the Hegemony until the colonists are repatriated. Alliance Army Titans and armoured forces are dropped onto several batarian colonies in the Verge, and battles fought with the batarian navy. Alliance use of nuclear weapons on three minor batarian colonies forces the Council's hand, who impose a ceasefire, trading off the kidnapped citizens for compensation to victims of the nuclear attacks. Not all of the kidnapped are returned however, and outrage at their treatment as slaves leads to an expansion of the Systems Alliance Army and Navy.

The A-61 Mantis, developed to replace the old Cold War era UD-8 Talon for new technologies, is flown for the first time.

2171:

The Batarian Hegemony asks the Citadel Council to limit human expansion in the Skyllian Verge. They are refused, and withdraw from diplomatic relations with the Citadel, becoming a rogue state. The Systems Alliance reacts by a full assault on various mercenary groups in the Verge, pushing them out of the region and into the Terminus Systems.

Worst winter on Earth in a decade, thousands displaced from their homes. Glaciers advance for the first time in seven years.

2173:

Out of frustration with the Citadel Council and their tolerance of criminal activities, the Systems Alliance seeks to spread its influence. It successfully signs a treaty with the Quarian Migrant Fleet for technical cooperation in return for a number of visa considerations to quarians on pilgrimage as well as various diplomatic concessions and ship deals.

2176:

Batarian-funded pirates attack the colony of Elysium, but the assault is repulsed with contemptuous ease by the V Legion of the Alliance Army and several fleets of the Alliance Navy. The Second Verge War begins.

In retaliation, the Alliance sends six legions to the joint batarian-human colony of Anhur, crushes the slavers there and seizes the world, expelling the batarians en masse to Terminus space.

2177:

Slaver activity in the Verge continues, and the Alliance is lead on a wild goose chase to find their stronghold.

Fighting in the Yuki Cluster. An Alliance Army column on Akuze is attacked by Thresher Maws, the first time humans encounter the beasts. The assault walkers suffer heavy casualties, but are able to use the mass effect generators and heavy weapons on their armour to good effect. Several specimens are taken to the biolabs on Arcturus for examination.

2178:

The Alliance discovers the main staging base of the batarian slavers on the moon of Torfan, as well as several safe ports the pirates use thanks to their trajectories upon fleeing from the Alliance fleet sent to destroy them.

On the direction of an Navy N7 reconnaissance team lead by Lieutenant Jane Shepard, the XIII Legion of the Alliance Army brutally crushed all resistance by the batarians at the expense of many lives. The majority of the N7 team perished while clearing the dropzones for the Army and in the subsequent close quarters fighting. Shepard receives a promotion to Commander, and is assigned to the SSV Tokyo under Captain Anderson. The non-human media nickname her "The Butcher of Torfan", whereas the human media prefers "Our Angel of Death".

Unable to conquer Khar'shan, the Alliance Navy begins a bold operation to destroy the batarians' capability to fight. The Battle of the Kite's Nest begins at the end of the year, a series of naval engagements within the core of batarian space that destroys much of the enemy's ships. The victory forces the Hegemony to the negotiating table. A humilating but fair peace treaty is signed on the Citadel, ending the Second Verge War.

2183:

With the Alliance pulling its weight for the preservation of galactic civilisation, and the Terminus Systems crawling with potential threats to peace, the Turian Hierarchy decides to embark on a joint construction project with humanity for the creation of a new class of stealth frigate.

The first of these is the SSV Normandy.

The plan for the Battlefield-ME series

Shepard's War: Battlefield 2183, Battlefield 2185, Battlefield 2186.

Covering the events of the Eden Prime War, the Collector invasion and the "Reaper War" proper. Given that these events are set and happen regardless of what humanity or anyone else could do in terms of the dates, the timeframes of these are pretty much set. If the Reapers could invade any faster than they did in the canon, I think they would have. Humanity being vastly more competent/aggressive wouldn't really change that.

Battlefield 2184: Children of Earth

The Enemy Without, the Enemy Within, the Enemy Beyond. Humanity fought Saren's geth, but the devils at its door remain. Three soldiers, three stories, three enemies of Earth.

Three shorter stories following what happens to three characters in the story, revealing key details of what happens between 2183 and 2185. One deals with the response to the events of the Bring Down the Sky DLC from the game, one will replace the storyline of the novel Ascension, and one deals with the arrival of the Collectors. Each has a separate main character.

Battlefield 2157: The Secret History of the First Contact War

Humanity survived the First Contact War. Everyone knows the story. The turians attacked, conquered Shan'xi, were driven out a month later and the war was ended prematurely due to the intervention of the asari. Everyone knows the heroes, like Admiral Drescher and Colonel Ryan. But why did the asari intervene? Why did the troops at Xi'an Valley on Shanxi refuse an order to surrender? How was Earth saved from invasion and subjugation? A prequel to Battlefield 2183: the secret story of humanity's first real steps into the galaxy.

Given the background of this AU, the First Contact War is different.

Battlefield: Wars of the Systems Alliance

Humanity is no stranger to war, and the past thirty years have proven bloody. A documentary on human conflicts since First Contact, covering the Verge Conflict, the Eden Prime War and the Reaper War, focusing on the key engagements both in space and planetside, the key people who made victory possible, and just how close we came to defeat.

An in-universe documentary series published in 2197 for the anniversary of Armistice Day, inspired by the real life Battlefield TV series for the BBC and PBS. Basically a side project to get my ideas on the various battles out of the way, provoked by the shared name between the Battlefield games and the old TV documentary. Will cover the Verge Conflict at first: Mindoir, the Mercenary War, Elysium, Anhur, Torfan, and the Kite's Nest, all in pretty much the same style as the TV series. I'll expand it the further we go along to include the Eden Prime War, Collectors, Reapers, etc etc. Also, a conflict you don't know about yet. In short, a bridge between BF2157 and BF2183, and clarification on events that my characters don't see directly in the main series.