Mass Effect: Revelation

Mass Effect: Revelation
Original cover of Mass Effect: Revelation
Author(s)	Drew Karpyshyn
Country	Canada
Language	English
Series	Mass Effect
Genre(s)	Science fiction
Publisher	Del Rey Books
Publication date	May 1, 2007
Media type	Print (Paperback)
Pages	323
ISBN	978-0-345-49816-8
OCLC Number	150381260
Followed by	Mass Effect: Ascension

Mass Effect: Revelation is a science fiction novel by author Drew Karpyshyn. Published on May 1, 2007, by Del Rey Books, it is the first novel set in the Mass Effect universe. It is the prequel to the Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows game Mass Effect, which was developed by BioWare Corp. Karpyshyn is the lead writer of the Mass Effect series.

The book serves to fill in much of the background details of the game, such as locations and the internal politics of the Council's races, as well as characters. A considerable amount of the plot revolves around the galaxy's views on Artificial Intelligence, as this appears to be a major plot point in the game. The book tells of a young Alliance lieutenant David Anderson and his efforts to find a survivor of an attack on a top-secret Alliance base, lieutenant Kahlee Sanders. As the book progresses it is revealed the base was attacked purposely by the Blue Suns mercenary group, who were hired by the leading scientist on the base. A turian spectre, Saren is assigned to help Anderson and find clues as to where the missing scientist is. Eventually they find the scientist, but Saren escapes with the information the scientist was researching to an ancient alien ship which he plans to use for his own evil deeds as portrayed as the main plot in the game Mass Effect.

Story

Mass Effect series chronology  Evolution Revelation Mass Effect Incursion Redemption Ascension Galaxy Mass Effect 2 Retribution Inquisition Mass Effect 3

The story begins in 2157 with Rear Admiral Jon Grissom, who is on his way to Arcturus aboard the SSV New Delhi to congratulate the new graduates of the Alliance's N7 specialist training program. Nine years prior in 2148, scientists discovered a cache of alien technology buried under the surface of Mars. These aliens were known as the Protheans, and it was decided that they had disappeared for unknown reasons 50,000 years ago. Using this technology, humanity discovered faster-than-light travel, or FTL, and expanded throughout the solar system. In 2149, an exploration team near the edge of the solar system discovered that Charon, Pluto's moon, was a mass relay, a dormant piece of ancient Prothean technology covered by sheets of ice. Scientists discovered that the mass relay granted instant travel across thousands of light-years to another mass relay in a different area of the galaxy. Jon Grissom led the team of brave men and women through the mass relay and became a symbol of the Alliance, a global coalition formed after the discovery of the Prothean cache on Mars. Fast forward to 2157, Grissom meets with recently married Second Lieutenant David Edward Anderson, a promising young graduate of the N7 program, and informs him that his true reason for arriving at Arcturus was to find new recruits to battle an unknown alien force that attacked an Alliance post at Shanxi. It was this that started the First Contact War between the Turian Empire and the Alliance. Several battles ensued until the Citadel Council, a multi-species government devoted to preserving galactic peace and stability, intervened and stopped the conflict. Eight years later, humanity was recognized by the Council and granted an embassy.

In 2165, David Anderson answers an S.O.S. while patrolling the Skyllian Verge, an isolated region on the farthest fringes of Alliance space. Anderson lands with a squad composed of Gunnery Chief Jill Dah, tech specialist Corporal Ahmed O'Reilly, Private First Class Dan Shay, and Private Second Class Indigo Lee. Seeing no visual signs of forced entry on the landing pad, Anderson developed a theory that someone on the inside had let the attackers in. While in the facility, Anderson and his crew discover numerous signs of a systematic room-to-room killing of personnel, and a blood trail leading to an elevator connected to the lower sections of the facility, which was never taken back up to the surface. In the lower facilities, Anderson and his crew are attacked by several mercenaries, who they manage to kill through a series of tactical maneuvers of suppressing the enemy and flanking them. All of the mercenaries are killed save for two who fled. Lee and Shay are left behind to guard the area's only exit. Following a blood trail left by one of mercenaries who escaped, Anderson, Dah, and O'Reilly eventually come upon the body of the mercenary leaving the trail, now deceased. Beyond the mercenary lay a locked door where upon opening they discover a pile of the dead bodies of the missing personnel surrounded by rigged explosives set to a timer. The last remaining mercenary had led them into a trap. Realizing that there was no time for them to disarm the bombs, Anderson ordered his squad to run back towards the elevator. Over his comlink he orders Lee and Shay to leave if they cannot make it to the elevator in time. While exiting the area where the blood trail began, the last surviving mercenary ambushes Dah and critically injures her leg. Anderson manages to kill the mercenary who had become distracted by Dah tumbling over herself, and tries to carry Dah before the bomb explodes. Caught up in the blast, Dah and Anderson manage to survive, with Anderson finding the strength to carry the 6'3" Gunnery Chief to the safety of the elevator. Anderson and his crew manage to escape. While back on his way to the Citadel, Anderson is informed of the finalization of his divorce with his wife Cynthia; the stress of being away due to the military had taken too much of a toll on their marriage.

It is revealed that First Lieutenant Kahlee Sanders, one of the scientists working at the Sidon station, had escaped the attack on the facility through a combination of lucky timing and her willingness to break Alliance protocol. While stationed in Sidon, Kahlee found Dr. Shu Quian's behavior to become increasingly erratic, far removed from his usual self that she had grown accustomed to over the two years she had worked alongside him. Fearing that Quian was involved in something sinister (as well as other higher members of the Alliance), Kahlee hacked into multiple data files and copied Dr. Shu Quian's research into her own OSD, forged her own pass to leave the facility, and landed on Elysium.

While still on Elysium in the Black Hole Bar, a news broadcast broke the story of the entire facility on Sidon being destroyed with no survivors. Kahlee, after nearly fainting upon hearing the news that all of her coworkers and friends were dead, came to the realization that instead of being viewed as someone who had taken unauthorized leave and stolen data from the facility, she was now a chief suspect in the destruction of the base and might be viewed as a traitor. Kahlee exited the bar and went on a sobering walk to gather her thoughts, making her way through back alleys to avoid crowds. Kahlee is taken by surprise when a seemingly Alliance MP spots her in one of the alleys and tries to place her under arrest. When he begins to handcuff, she notices that there is a discrepancy between the pistol he has in his holster, a Ahial-Syndicate Striker, and the standard issue of Alliance personnel, the Hahne-Kedar P7. Realizing that he is a fake MP, Kahlee headbutts him and through a series of kicks is able to knock him nearly unconscious, giving her enough time to escape. She heads towards the only person she believes that can help her at this point, her father, retired Rear Admiral Jon Grissom.

On Camala, Edan Had'dah, a rich batarian, organizes a meeting in a remote warehouse with krogan Battle Master bounty hunter named Skarr. Had'dah is accompanied by a body guard of Blue Suns mercenaries, the same group from which he had hired the assassin who attempted to capture Kahlee on Elysium. During negotiations with Skarr, Had'dah accidentally tips his hand several times, revealing information about the job and circumstances causing Skarr to increase his fees for the job. After a brief struggle with three of Had'dah's guards, Skarr is hired by Edan to assassinate Kahlee in order to cover up his involvement with the attack on the Sidon facility. At this time, Anderson arrives at the Citadel, the center of the Citadel Council, to meet with Ambassador Anita Goyle, the representative of the Alliance. Ambassador Goyle informs Anderson that the Sidon facility was researching artificial intelligence, technology that was banned by the Council after an incident 300 years ago, where the quarians created an artificial race known as the geth that eventually turned on their creators. Ambassador Goyle reassures Anderson that the studies were being conducted under safe conditions. She sends Anderson to locate Kahlee Sanders, who may have information on who was behind the attack, and who may know the whereabouts of Dr. Shu Quian, the brilliant scientist in charge of the Sidon facility, and who is believed to still be alive.

Anderson, in an attempt to find more information about Kahlee, reviewed her personnel file in the hopes of finding where she might have fled to. Any mention of her father had been censored from all Alliance records. Acting on a hunch, Anderson hires an information broker who reveals that there might be a possibility that Grissom is her father. Anderson makes his way to Grissom's house, wherein Grissom tells him that Kahlee has already left the planet through a contact of his. Anderson tells Grissom that he will try to return his daughter to safety and leaves. Shortly after Anderson leaves, Kahlee, emerging from her hiding place, asked her dad, Grissom, what their conversation had been about. Grissom had lied to Anderson, sending him on a wild goose chase across the Terminus Systems. In the meantime he was still working on a way to smuggle Kahlee off the planet.

Later that night, Skarr deactivates the lock of the front door and is greeted by a shotgun blast by Grissom who had been keeping watch at night since his daughter Kahlee had arrived. Injured by a knife thrown by Skarr, Grissom is unable to finish him off and is thrown against a wall by Skarr's biotics. Before he is killed, Anderson appears in the doorway and fires multiple shots at Skarr with a pistol, disabling Skarr by hitting him in an unprotected area around his knee cap. Fearing for her father's safety, Kahlee appears and shouts out about his wound from his altercation with Skarr. This distracts Anderson, allowing for Skarr to biotically throw Anderson's weapon away and charged him. Anderson repeatedly dodged Skarr's attempts to bash him with his hand, destroying multiple pieces of furniture in the process. During the struggle, Kahlee attempted to grab the shotgun that had fallen from Grissom's hand. Skarr, now focusing his attention on Kahlee, was shot multiple times as Saren appeared in the doorway. Recognizing the turian Spectre, Skarr leaped out of a window and ran off.

Shortly after the fight, Saren began to question Kahlee as to the nature of her work on Sidon. Kahlee, who had purposely sat next to Anderson, lied to Saren, claiming that they were working on adapting humans to be capable of becoming biotics. Believing that she may in fact be untruthful, Saren sets out to follow the information he had been given but also warns that he would find out either way if she was lying or not. Kahlee divulges more information about her findings from hacking into Quian's data, and tells Anderson that there might be a possible lead from the main manufacturer of the components used during her research at Sidon, Dah'Tan Manufacturing located on Camala. Utilizing a forged ID and changing her skin's pigmentation (both techniques supplied by one of Grissom's contacts), Kahlee and Anderson both set out to Camala.

Skarr meets once more with Had'Dah, explaining how he failed his mission to kill Kahlee as the direct result of Spectre involvement. Using Skarr's failure, as well as paying upfront for a job unfinished, as negotiating tools Had'Dah convinces Skarr to destroy Dah'Tan Manufacturing to cover up tracks leading to his involvement with the Sidon attack. Skarr is hesitant given that he believes Saren is on his tail. Had'Dah informs him that he has an insider (Jella) in the manufacturing facility who will let Skarr in through a security door and disable a camera, buying him time to blow up the building. In addition to destroying evidence, Skarr was also to kill Jella, now the only other person besides Skarr to know of Had'Dah's involvement.

Skarr, accompanied by a platoon of Blue Suns Mercenaries, are able to destroy the building and seem to have succeeded in destroying all evidence tying Had'Dah to Sidon. Unknown to him, Skarr had failed to kill Jella, who had hidden in a bathroom vent for most of the attack and had barely managed to survive the explosion. Saren arrived well after the building had been destroyed and emergency crews were on scene. Anderson arrived as well, leaving Kahlee behind near his vehicle. After a brief confrontation with Saren in which a shot was fired at the feet of Anderson, Saren heads out to the location of the sole survivor of the attack, Jella, who had been placed in an induced coma due to her traumatic injuries.

At the hospital, Saren wakes up Jella by injecting amphetamines into her IV despite the protests of her doctor, and interrogates her. He asks her who was behind the attack, and while barely able to speak, she tells Saren that Had'Dah was responsible. Saren had also been given a sedative to inject her with after he was done with his questions, but waits for her to expire as he plots his next move. After she passes away, Saren injects the serum, and walks out of the door, telling the doctor that he was indeed right and that it was too soon to wake her up.

Meanwhile on Camala, Kahlee eventually discloses more information about Sidon to Anderson, and hands over the OSD she had copied Quian's data to. Anderson sends this information to Ambassador Goyle who then in turn organized a meeting with a council and handed them the information. Part of the negotiating included having permission granted to the Alliance for them to land a military vessel, the Iwo Jima, on the Batarian world of Camala to pick up Kahlee, and have Anderson paired with Saren for consideration in becoming a Spectre.

Saren is eventually sent a dossier by the council, outlining the plans of the operation, as well as information about the supposed alien piece of technology that the Sidon faciity had been working on. Intrigued by this he chose to log the Iwo Jima's arrival into the official logs of the local starport. Camala had multiple refineries owned by Had'Dah, and it could take months trying to locate him. Knowing that Had'Dah had multiple informants on all levels, Saren was relying on this information being brought to his attention as well as Had'Dah acting on it. True to form, the APC and accompanying marines sent to escort Kahlee and rendezvous with the Iwo Jima are ambushed by Blue Sun Mercenaries led by Skarr. Kahlee is captured and transported back to Had'Dah's true location, an eezo refinery, which Saren plans on attacking the following night.

Anderson is paired up with Saren, much to the latter's chagrin. Anderson negotiates with Saren to give him 30 minutes to find Kahlee and rescue her and return to the location before they began their infiltration. Saren agrees, and watches as Anderson makes his way through the outlining camp and eventually enters the facility. 15 minutes in, Saren enters the facility as well and began to shoot civilian workers out of the belief that they will sound an alarm. While doing this, he placed explosives in multiple areas. Saren believed the ensuing explosion would draw Had'Dah out of his hiding place. Anderson finds a restricted area where Kahlee might be held and kills two Blue Suns Mercenaries guarding the door to the entrance using a silenced pistol. Anderson then took out an assault rifle had been hiding in his coat, broke open the door, and killed every other mercenary in the room, including Skarr. He locates Kahlee behind a locked door, one that he cannot breach with a charge for fear of injuring Kahlee. Believing that Skarr has the key, he turned over his body and was then catapulted against a wall by the krogan battlemaster. For the second time, Anderson had been caught unaware by Skarr's biotic prowess. Anderson is lifted off the ground by Skarr in a chokehold and is fighting for breath just as the first set of explosives rigged by Saren are set off. They are both sent to the floor, with Anderson grabbing a pistol and hitting Skarr in the shoulder with a shot. Kahlee manages to break through the now unhinged door, dislocating her shoulder in the process, grabs an assault rifle on the floor, and fires off a burst at Skarr, hitting him in the stomach. Anderson then takes careful aim and finishes him off with a shot to the head. Both Anderson and Kahlee set out to escape the facility.

Saren locates Dr. Quian and Had'Dah by following of group of Blue Suns whom he believed to be the escort. Saren executes both Quian and Had'Dah after stealing Dr. Quian's files, and detonates the remaining charges, killing hundreds of innocent civilian workers in the building as well as the surrounding camp in the process. As Kahlee and Anderson escape, they both see the carnage that Saren had inflicted: every building in the camp was on fire, and multiple bodies lay burnt on the ground. They both are able to make it back to Saren, who is surprised to see that they survived, and they escape.

Back on the Presidium, and after three days of questioning, Anderson informs Kahlee that Saren had pinned the blame for the explosion on him and that he was unfit to be a Spectre. Anderson tells Kahlee that a romance between them could work, but Kahlee replies that she is a soldier and that the military would get in the way of things. She leaves after giving him a kiss on the cheek, leaving Anderson to stare out at the lake.

Saren examines the files he had acquired, and learns that Dr. Quian was researching a massive alien ship called Sovereign, composed of technological achievements that surpassed anything the galaxy had seen before. Knowing that there is a danger surrounding the ship given the madness Quian displayed as his notes progressed, Saren heads to the ship and plans to use it to put humanity in its place and seek revenge for the turian concessions forced by the Council.

Notes

• It is mentioned in the game Mass Effect that Saren told the Council that Anderson ruined his plans at the Had'dah facility, and therefore led to the council rejecting Anderson as the first human Spectre.
• The book explains how Saren learned of Sovereign and hints at the indoctrination effect.
• The book provides an explanation for Saren's disdain towards humanity; he lost a brother in the First Contact War.

External links

• Revelation
• Press Release