In the year 2148, explorers on Mars discovered the remains of an ancient spacefaring civilization.
In the decades that followed, these mysterious artifacts revealed startling new technologies,
enabling travel to the furthest stars.
The basis for this incredible technology was a force that controlled the very fabric of
space and time.
They called it the greatest discovery in human history.
The civilizations of the galaxy called it Mass Effect.
With the ascension of humanity into the galactic community, those same civilizations welcomed
mankind, yet not as an equal, but as a junior partner.
Decisions affecting the whole of the galaxy were instead made by the Citadel Council,
of which only the Asari, Salarians and Turians were a part.
The Systems Alliance, Earth’s foremost governing body, accepted its new position in the galactic
hierarchy with some reservations, but was ultimately left with little choice.
This decision was seen by some however, as a betrayal of all humanity.
These individuals believed that in accepting the terms of the Citadel Council, the Systems
Alliance had made Earth the puppets of alien masters, and left humanity in a place where
it might never assume a mantle of leadership.
They conspired together in secret, creating an organization designed to further the goals
of mankind at any price.
In Greek myth, Cerberus was the hound of Hades, a guard at the gates of the Underworld.
In the galaxy that mankind has found itself within, a new Cerberus would operate in secret,
a guard at the gates of human dominion over the stars.
Surviving only through secrecy and misdirection, the early history and foundations of Cerberus
are impossible to verify.
Ultimately however, Cerberus was perhaps an inevitable reaction to the First Contact War
of 2157.
While dismissed as a small-scale incident and quickly overlooked by the rest of the
galactic community, the conflict left an indelible mark on humanity’s collective psyche.
In the span of just three months, the Systems Alliance had gone from fighting what was thought
to be a war of survival against the Turian Hierarchy, to serving and cooperating with
them across Citadel Space.
Veteran of the war were particularly apprehensive of this new arrangement and Cerberus was formed
within their midst.
In the immediate aftermath of the First Contact War, an anonymous manifesto was posted across
the extranet.
It warned of an inevitable alien attempt at a human genocide, and called for an army,
a Cerberus, to guard against invasion.
Dismissed by the Systems Alliance as “survivalist rhetoric written by an Illusive Man”, a
series of terrorist acts conducted across Citadel Space beginning in the 2150s , proved
that the manifesto had reached a far wider audience than initially believed.
Additionally, the title of “Illusive Man” became the standard moniker for Ceberus’s
leader, giving this mysterious individual an almost legendary reputation.
Agents acting under the name of “Ceberus” took part in a vast campaign of sabotage,
assassinations, media manipulation, and clandestine reconnaissance.
It was the failed attempt to steal antimatter from the System Alliance Cruiser “Geneva”
however, that first brought the organization into the public eye.
The deaths of Pope Clement XVI, the head of the pro-human Terra Firma Party, United North
American States President Enrique Aguilar and Chinese People’s Federation Premier
Ying (Xi)Shong are all believed to have been the work of Cerberus sponsored agents.
Such high profile deaths were of enormous impact in furthering the goals of Cerberus
and disgraced the Systems Alliance security apparatus.
Above all, they were evidence of the organization’s incredible sophistication, wealth, and ambition.
Throughout the 2180s, Spectre Agents acting under the authority of the Citadel Council
uncovered evidence that Cerberus was manipulating hostile wildlife, and the Rachni, previously
thought to be extinct.
The goal of these experiments was ostensibly to create a new kind of supersoldier.
Many Alliance settlers and even high ranking officials were killed during these operations,
lured into traps in order for Cerberus to test the capabilities of their new specimens.
In the aftermath of the Battle of the Citadel, the organization shifted its focus towards
human biotics, infiltrating the Ascension Project, site of the Alliance’s most prominent
research.
Other major initiatives involved forging ties to the Shadow Broker, a mysterious purveyor
of classified knowledge, and sabotaging the efforts of Batarian terrorist groups.
These were all in some way connected to the organization’s ultimate goal, resurrecting
the first human Spectre, Commander Shepard, who was killed in 2183 at the hands of the
enigmatic Collectors.
Cerberus, unlike the nations within the Citadel Council, believed Shepard’s warnings about
the Reapers to be accurate.
The organization had also uncovered evidence that a race of genocidal machines lay hidden
in dark space, and believed Commander Shepard to be critical in stopping them.
After gathering a team of specialists from across the galaxy, Shepard was able to gain
access through the nearly mythical Omega 4 Relay, from which no ship had ever returned.
Shepard’s actions there brought new revelations to the galaxy, linking the Collectors to the
Reapers, and bringing to light the latter’s impending arrival.
Fear of the Reapers and Cerberus’ successes beyond the Omega 4 Relay, brought renewed
prestige and attention to the organization.
For the first time, it was able to operate semi-openly, albeit through dummy corporations
and puppet groups.
Compared to Ceberus, both the Systems Alliance and Citadel Council appeared in the public
mindset to be timid, and indecisive.
Cerberus manipulated this growing public sentiment to brand itself as a highly competent, noble
vigilante organization, which in turn, greatly expanded Ceberus’s ranks and capabilities.
It achieved further clout in its occupation of Omega, a station widely disparaged across
the galaxy as an anarchist hovel overrun by gangs and mercenaries.
By 2186, with the invasion of the Reapers seemingly imminent, Cerberus had drastically
altered its goals and methods.
Rather than working to stop the Reapers at any cost, Cerberus instead sought to control
them, intending to use them to make humanity the dominant force in the galaxy.
Experiments with Reaper technology allowed the organization to forcefully indoctrinate
many of its personnel, and convert formerly neutral or antagonistic individuals into fanatically
loyal troops.
Ceberus’s xenophobic stance, while always a fixture of movement, became more aggressive
and seemed to overrule even its stated goal to oppose the Reapers.
When the Reapers appeared in the thousands on every major world across the galaxy, Cerberus
had drifted so far from its original intentions as to be almost unrecognizable.
Rather than opposing the Reapers directly, the organization was now fixated on hindering
the efforts of Commander Shepard, who in the midst of the invasion was working to build
a galaxy-wide coalition.
Cerberus’ struggle against galactic unification culminated in an attempted coup against the
Citadel Council, which while destructive, ended in failure.
This brazen act compelled the Systems Alliance to dedicate significant resources to Cerberus’
destruction.
Additionally, Cerberus seemed to be in possession of critical intelligence, necessary to defeating
the Reapers.
The organization’s headquarters was located on an unassuming space station, and the Alliance
5th Fleet deployed against it.
The organization was dealt a critical blow, from which it would never recover.
This strike against Cerberus was the first stage in the final counter-attack against
the Reapers.
In the devastating battles that followed, fought in orbit of Earth and across its surface,
the extent of the corruption within Cerberus was revealed.
In their efforts to destroy the Reapers, Cerberus had become their puppets, indoctrinated by
the same methods that had turned thousands, if not millions of other species to act against
their own.
Even the Illusive Man, whose steadfast will had transformed Cerberus from an idea into
a galactic superpower, was not above the Repears manipulations.
He was killed in orbit of Earth, after a final confrontation with Commander Shepard.
Whether the organization might endure the death of its founder and single leader is
difficult to determine.
For most of its history, Cerberus operated clandestinely, heavily decentralized across
a number of cells.
Each cell was typically dedicated towards a single objective, and largely unaware of
the existence of any other.
It was to the Illusive Man alone that each cell reported, and each was subject to a great
degree of micro-management.
This stymied the organization's potential for growth at times, but ensured that the
Illusive Man was deeply involved in all of the group's activities.
Several times, “rogue” cells were disavowed by Cerberus, but whether they had sincerely
broken ties with Cerberus, or this had been feigned to create plausible deniability, remains
unknown.
While most Cerberus personnel performed their duties within these cells, the organization
also cultivated a network of embedded operatives, double agents, and sympathisers across Citadel
Space.
The loyalty of these individuals varied considerably.
Some were merely useful tools and needed to be blackmailed, bribed or threatened to suit
whatever purpose Cerberus required of them.
These individuals may not have even been aware they were serving Cerberus, believing instead
to be taking part in regular corporate espionage, or some kind of noble whistleblowing.
Others were highly attuned to Cerberus’s goals and acted as willing sleeper agents,
lying undetected in positions of authority and awaiting their moment to act.
Such is the sophistication of Cerberus’s network, that it effectively had access to
every settled star system, trade stop and colony in the galaxy.
Only the Migrant Fleet of the Quarians was said to be beyond their reach.
In addition to its clandestine operations, Cerberus maintained a number of front Corporations,
including CDR Holdings, Terra Nova Commonwealth Bank, the Milky Way foundation.
New Dawn Pharmaceuticals and many others.
The profits of these enterprises were secretly funneled into Cerberus proper, which together
with many wealthy sympathizers within the Alliance military-industrial complex, gave
the organization access to enormous wealth and resources.
These resources were divided amongst a series of projects, ranging from developing illegal
artificial intelligences, forging identification, and numerous attempts to study, combat and
control, the Geth, Reapers and other threats to humanity.
As Cerberus gained access to advanced alien technologies, especially those used by the
Collectors and Reapers, the organization rapidly expanded its military forces.
Personnel deemed suitable, be they willing participants, unsuspecting volunteers, refugees
or abductees were put through a comprehensive “integration” process.
This typically resulted in absolute loyalty, yet without the feral behavior sometimes seen
in those indoctrinated by the Reapers.
Thanks to its hidden influence within Alliance military contractors, Cerberus was also able
to hide its acquisition of a large fleet of warships, augmented with Reaper technology
to become amongst the most advanced in the galaxy.
At the time of its occupation of Omega, the organization had a fleet consisting of frigates,
cruisers and dreadnoughts.
Before its destruction, it was considered capable enough to be of serious threat to
even the numbered fleets of the Alliance Navy.
To coordinate its myriad of cells, operatives, fleets and agents, Cerberus utilized an innovative
communication system.
Messages were hidden within public extranet broadcasts, providing instructions on anything
from fleet movements to financial instructions.
For completely secure communications, the organization could also afford a number of
quantum entanglement communicators.
That such an organization could assemble such wealth and power so quickly, speaks to the
inherent fear across the human race of the unknown.
It was a fear ultimately justified, as even now the fate of Earth, it’s colonies, and
all the races of the galaxy remains unknown.
But if there are any survivors of the Reaper War, and if they are able to re-establish
their dominions across the galaxy, they will have to contend with the legacy that Cerberus
left behind.
It is either a dangerous reminder of how even the strongest willed can be turned against
their core beliefs, or a warning, that in a galaxy full of ancient secrets, no alternative
can be overlooked, that might secure victory.