In 2148 CE, humans discovered the ruins of an ancient spacefaring race called the Protheans on Mars. With the technology from these ruins, humanity learned the secrets of mass effect physics and element zero, unlocking faster-than-light travel. Humans also discovered the mass relay network that threaded the galaxy, permitting instantaneous passage across thousands of light-years. Humanity began its journey among the stars, encountering various alien races and establishing itself on the galactic stage. Humanity was eventually given an embassy on the Prothean-made city known as the Citadel, the heart of an intergalactic alliance of spacefaring aliens.
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| John Shepard. |
John Shepard was born on April 11, 2154, and is a graduate of the Systems Alliance N7 special forces program (service no. 5923-AC-2826). He was an orphan, and grew up on the streets of the great megatropolises covering Earth. He was a member of the Tenth Street Reds, an anti-alien street gang. Shepard escaped a life of petty crime and underworld gangs by enlisting with the Alliance military when he turned eighteen.
In 2177, the planet Akuze was in the early stages of colonization by humans when all contact was lost with the pioneer team. The Alliance sent in a Marine unit to investigate and look for survivors. Shepard was a member of that unit, serving as an Infiltrator. When the unit camped for the night, they found themselves set upon by thresher maws, gargantuan subterranean carnivores. The Marines has no idea what they were facing and almost the entire unit was slaughtered. The sole survivor was John Shepard.
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| SPECTRE Logo |
Because of this incident, Shepard was noticed by the Citadel Council and flagged as a potential recruit for the Special Tactics and Reconnaissance (SPECTRE) organization, an elite shadow unit with a mandate to operate outside the boundaries of the law to complete sensitive assignments. He was assigned to the Systems Alliance Space Vehicle Normandy, Stealth Reconnaissance 1 frigate vessel, a deep scout starship co-developed by the Alliance and the Turian Hierarchy with the sponsorship of the Citadel Council.
Aboard the SSV Normandy SR-1, Shepard was unwittingly monitored for SPECTRE candidacy by Captain David Anderson and turian SPECTRE Nihlus Kryik until 2183 CE, when a human colony on the planet Eden Prime uncovered a working Prothean beacon, which may be a data cache with the potential to further advance humanity's legitimacy as a Citadel species.
