What If? The Shadows in Mass Effect

Kevral

Active member
Theres a codex entry in ME2 about beings of light that fought the Reapers. What if these beings of light were actually the Shadows fron B5?

At the end of B5 the Shadows learn the error of their ways and go beyond the rim with Lorien and the others. Only they dont stay there. They decide to explore the multiverse. One stop they make is in Mass Effect in the dying months of the Prothean Reaper war.

Appaled by what they see - a twisted reflection of themselves and the Vorlons. They help out a bit here and there but know this cycle is lost. They ensure Javicks bunker has enough power, make sure Vendetta survives amd the beacons etc.

They leave but decide to return later to see whats happened (they can pick and choose a time and location to return at). They return at the beginning of ME1 and see the cycle about to repeat. They monitor the situation and see Shepard about to blow the relay in ME2 so instead if letting it happen they lock the relay by freezing it to absolute zero. Something along the lines of what they did to the fleet jump engines at Corianna 6. Later after Shepard is debriefed he's leaving his faveourite store on the Citadel when he is approached by a regular looking man who asks him 'what do you want?'

Without acting openly (e.g heres a bunch of giant laser canons and nano plagues) how do the Shadows, Shepard and the Citadel prepare for the Reapers and what are the consequences?
 

Husky_Khan

The Dog Whistler... I mean Whisperer.
Founder
Sotnik
Was this the relay in the Mass Effect 2 expansion pack Arrival? I wish I played that one... now I feel left out.

But still, the Shadows did leave Javik's Bunker intact on Eden Prime and the Vendetta VI on Thessia, the chances (especially of the latter) being discovered by or during the events of Mass Effect 2 would increase dramatically. Since the point of divergence is six months or so before the Reaper invasion of Mass Effect 3 I'm not sure how dramatic the difference could be however.

If they haven't been discovered yet, the Shadows would be able to inform Shepherd of the location of both of those Prothean areas which could change the foreknowledge they have rapidly. They'd know about the whole Crucible/Citadel thing and Javik could give more helpful general details on the threat and would be an interesting companion to have when fighting the Collectors as well.

Another point of divergence would be that the Shadows would likely be against the Illusive Man and Cerberus, competing with Shepherd over influence (especially with how compromised Cerberus became in Mass Effect 3 which was later revealed to be indoctrination). The Shadows have powerful psionic agents so they might even be able to discern at least some of the low level plotting Cerberus might be involved in, though the Illusive Man wisely isolates himself so he might have more insulation.

The other advantage the Shadows have is they are basically an out of context problem for everyone. Neither Cerberus nor the Reapers or Citadel races or anybody has much intelligence on the Shadows which can be used to their advantage. Only the Protheans might have some inkling of what went down but even then, it'd be scant information at best.

I still don't think they could decisively change any outcomes (at least not without bringing out their own fleet) by working from the Shadows but it would make things easier for the War Against the Reapers and could help cripple Cerberus and their shenanigans early on.
 

Aaron Fox

Well-known member
First, what happened at Corianna 6 is that the Narns got a faceful of Jump Point Disruptor (basically, from what I've heard, it disrupts the jump point and making it far too unstable to jump safely into hyperspace), not having their jump points frozen to absolute zero. Far different.

Second, the Shadows would have started having fun in preparation. We're talking sending seeds to worlds that would turn them into giant armories sort of fun, so if they come back, they'll be able to just stomp the yard.

Third, B5 is immensely powerful as a setting in comparison to Mass Effect. Depending on the race, they tend to throw things like X-Ray Particle Lasers around like candy at ranges that outdoes dreadnoughts in Mass Effect with surprising regularity. Oh, I almost forgot to mention that ships in B5 also go around like methamphetamine-junked rabbits in comparison to Mass Effect. For their dreadnought snipe paradigm to even have a chance to work at the ranges stated, their velocity is going to be (comparatively) shit. While most species in B5 don't go to the Minbari 'lol, 0.25c is something we can do with ease', the Shadows are well within that category if I remember right.
 

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