A collection of civilizations which didn't defeat the Reapers exactly, but Reaping them proved so utterly infeasible that the Reapers simply gave up.
Reaper Fails (Mass Effect Snip Collection)
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Sun-Dwellers
We Just Write
Blatantly Plural
- Location
- New England
- Pronouns
- Plural
"Nazara, why have the organics decided to live on their sun!?"
"I do not know, Harbinger."
" How are they living on their sun?"
"Extremely reflective heat shields, careful geometry to protect their radiators, and harvesting stellar plasma for the small percentage of heavy elements it contains. They are not using Element Zero to achieve any of this."
"Why haven't your forces preserved the Sun-Dwellers yet?"
"The environmental conditions make doing so infeasible."
"What. Explain."
"The extreme heat of their star means a reflective heat shield and shadowed radiator effectively identical to the Sun-Dwellers' designs is required to approach. The extremely restrictive heat budget and restrictive firing arcs also prevents use of our normal weaponry."
"Nazara, that is not itself a reason they should be capable of resisting your efforts."
"The star-powered lasers they use for mining stellar plasma would disagree. They are more than capable of overwhelming a protective heat shield on approach, and once the heat shield is compromised the unit in question will soon be disabled by the sun's heat."
Harbinger thought for a moment.
"Have they shown any inclination or ability to expand beyond their star?"
"No. After initial preservation missions to their planetary colonies in the system, their entire population evacuated to extremely low stellar orbit. Without Element Zero any interstellar mission could be easily intercepted."
"Set up a quarantine perimeter and move on. They aren't worth the effort to preserve."
"I do not know, Harbinger."
" How are they living on their sun?"
"Extremely reflective heat shields, careful geometry to protect their radiators, and harvesting stellar plasma for the small percentage of heavy elements it contains. They are not using Element Zero to achieve any of this."
"Why haven't your forces preserved the Sun-Dwellers yet?"
"The environmental conditions make doing so infeasible."
"What. Explain."
"The extreme heat of their star means a reflective heat shield and shadowed radiator effectively identical to the Sun-Dwellers' designs is required to approach. The extremely restrictive heat budget and restrictive firing arcs also prevents use of our normal weaponry."
"Nazara, that is not itself a reason they should be capable of resisting your efforts."
"The star-powered lasers they use for mining stellar plasma would disagree. They are more than capable of overwhelming a protective heat shield on approach, and once the heat shield is compromised the unit in question will soon be disabled by the sun's heat."
Harbinger thought for a moment.
"Have they shown any inclination or ability to expand beyond their star?"
"No. After initial preservation missions to their planetary colonies in the system, their entire population evacuated to extremely low stellar orbit. Without Element Zero any interstellar mission could be easily intercepted."
"Set up a quarantine perimeter and move on. They aren't worth the effort to preserve."
Too Curious
We Just Write
Blatantly Plural
- Location
- New England
- Pronouns
- Plural
"Nazara, why have no preservation forces been sent to Quadrant Three this cycle?"
"The local organics disassembled the only Relay leading to their home system in an effort to figure out how it works."
"They did WHAT!?"
"They disassembled the Relay roughly five hundred years ago, Harbinger. We cannot get there via the Network."
"Why haven't you gone to check on them!?"
"The main grouping of civilizations has proven surprisingly militant this cycle. I judged that diverting forces to investigate would be a risky mis-allocation of resources."
"Nazara, that bunch of organics has had five hundred years to study the insides of that Relay! Get over there and find out what they've actually done!"
-Some Time Later-
"Harbinger, the star system of interest is gone."
"Interesting. If they blew up the Relay during their investigation the problem seems to have solved itself."
"No, not destroyed. Gone."
"What."
"There is no trace of a star system ever having been here, not even the debris from a relay explosion. The light from said star simply cuts off abruptly about a hundred light years away, with a blue flash corresponding to Element Zero activation."
"WHAT."
"The most plausible explanation is that the organics somehow turned their entire star system into a spaceship. I was not aware this was possible."
"Nazara, for this failure you are being assigned disciplinary duties for the next three cycles."
"The local organics disassembled the only Relay leading to their home system in an effort to figure out how it works."
"They did WHAT!?"
"They disassembled the Relay roughly five hundred years ago, Harbinger. We cannot get there via the Network."
"Why haven't you gone to check on them!?"
"The main grouping of civilizations has proven surprisingly militant this cycle. I judged that diverting forces to investigate would be a risky mis-allocation of resources."
"Nazara, that bunch of organics has had five hundred years to study the insides of that Relay! Get over there and find out what they've actually done!"
-Some Time Later-
"Harbinger, the star system of interest is gone."
"Interesting. If they blew up the Relay during their investigation the problem seems to have solved itself."
"No, not destroyed. Gone."
"What."
"There is no trace of a star system ever having been here, not even the debris from a relay explosion. The light from said star simply cuts off abruptly about a hundred light years away, with a blue flash corresponding to Element Zero activation."
"WHAT."
"The most plausible explanation is that the organics somehow turned their entire star system into a spaceship. I was not aware this was possible."
"Nazara, for this failure you are being assigned disciplinary duties for the next three cycles."
We Just Write
Blatantly Plural
- Location
- New England
- Pronouns
- Plural
Z: We're wondering what everyone thinks of this.
Dromeosaur
Feathery Raptor of snowy planes and frozen sea
- Location
- The land of Trees and Squirrels
Nice ideas! The second one is more crack then the first one, but both are good.
Nomads
We Just Write
Blatantly Plural
- Location
- New England
- Pronouns
- Plural
"Harbinger, there is a matter that needs your attention."
"Nazara, whenever some nonsensical anomaly afflicts the current cycle it's always you telling me. What is it this time?"
"When I preserved the home world of species 978,760, I discovered that the vast majority of their colonization efforts went towards self-sustaining arkships fully capable of self-replication and warship construction, rather than planetary settlement. This has been going on for three thousand years at minimum."
"Nazara, is it even possible to track down all these arkships?"
"Unlikely. As of last estimate, there are at least four million such arkships. As they were linked by Quantum Entanglement Communicator, they have been warned about us. By all indications they reproduce much faster than we can consistently hunt them."
"Understood. Even with that, we must attempt to preserve them regardless."
"Harbinger, why? Wouldn't our efforts be better applied elsewhere?"
"If left uncontained, this situation is liable to exert unacceptable influence on future cycles. Quarantine cordons around monitored species and regular culling to keep the nomads' numbers down is required. It will also allow for a steady source of recruits to the cause, which is necessary to prevent the situation from growing out of control."
"Understood."
[GARBLED STATIC]
"Harbinger? Harbinger are you there?"
"Nazara, one of those damn arkships just shot off three of my tentacles! Get the hunts organized and do it fast!"
"Nazara, whenever some nonsensical anomaly afflicts the current cycle it's always you telling me. What is it this time?"
"When I preserved the home world of species 978,760, I discovered that the vast majority of their colonization efforts went towards self-sustaining arkships fully capable of self-replication and warship construction, rather than planetary settlement. This has been going on for three thousand years at minimum."
"Nazara, is it even possible to track down all these arkships?"
"Unlikely. As of last estimate, there are at least four million such arkships. As they were linked by Quantum Entanglement Communicator, they have been warned about us. By all indications they reproduce much faster than we can consistently hunt them."
"Understood. Even with that, we must attempt to preserve them regardless."
"Harbinger, why? Wouldn't our efforts be better applied elsewhere?"
"If left uncontained, this situation is liable to exert unacceptable influence on future cycles. Quarantine cordons around monitored species and regular culling to keep the nomads' numbers down is required. It will also allow for a steady source of recruits to the cause, which is necessary to prevent the situation from growing out of control."
"Understood."
[GARBLED STATIC]
"Harbinger? Harbinger are you there?"
"Nazara, one of those damn arkships just shot off three of my tentacles! Get the hunts organized and do it fast!"
- Location
- america
How about a civilization with a short lifespan measured in minutes, hours, days, or months? Reapers prepare to harvest the civilization when they're starfaring based on intel gained from observation, but by the time they're in orbit generations have passed and they collapsed into total primitiveness, no records remain of their starfaringness. Would they still be a suitable candidate for harvesting?
KleverKil'Vanya
Ortillery Operator
Huh that would actually be a funny reason why the Reapers either late or missing for a story, too busy stuck in an endless war with the nomads as they slurrify ark populations to replace losses from hunting down the Arks.
We Just Write
Blatantly Plural
- Location
- New England
- Pronouns
- Plural
T: Such an organism would be incapable of civilization in the first place.
- Location
- Earth, Sol System, Milky Way Galaxy
Don't put the Too Horny civilization here. Put it on QQ where it belongs along certain degeneracy, such as... Handholding.
We Just Write
Blatantly Plural
- Location
- New England
- Pronouns
- Plural
T: That isn't a trait which would prevent Reaping anyway.
Lagoon12002
How far have I fell down into this deep deep sea
What about a species, or rather a super-organism, of sentient gelatin? Would like to see the Reapers try to Harvest a bucket of slime! Their ships can even be repurposed masses of asteroids for extra incompatibility.
Bigger Problems
We Just Write
Blatantly Plural
- Location
- New England
- Pronouns
- Plural
"Nazara, why haven't you preserved Species 1,209,888 yet?"
"Because doing so would doom the entire universe, Harbinger."
"What."
"The organics in question are currently locked in a total war against an extradimensional intruder. Their technology has become hyper-specialized for this task; we cannot contain the threat to anywhere near the same degree."
"And the consequences of preserving them anyway?"
"All predictions show that the extradimensional invaders would assimilate all matter within a three hundred light year radius before we could even start to adapt our technology to fighting them. By then it would be too late."
"...Very well. Nazara, here are your orders..."
-Some Time Later-
"Excellent news, Harbinger! Species 1,209,888 has signed the agreement. They won't expand beyond the quarantine perimeter as long as we supply them with the materials they need to contain the threat."
"Good. Did you need to use Indoctrination, or did they agree without that?"
"Indoctrination was unnecessary; they were grateful for the assistance."
"Understood. Hopefully they can defeat that threat once and for all so we can preserve them soon."
"That is unfortunately not going to happen. By all accounts the wormhole leading to the invaders' universe is permanent and cannot be closed."
"..."
"Nazara, start moving Relays. We need to make sure the quarantine zone doesn't interfere with future cycles."
"Understood. What should we do if an Arkship wanders into the quarantine zone?"
"Warn the [CENSORED] nomads about it ahead of time! This is too important to leave to chance!"
"Because doing so would doom the entire universe, Harbinger."
"What."
"The organics in question are currently locked in a total war against an extradimensional intruder. Their technology has become hyper-specialized for this task; we cannot contain the threat to anywhere near the same degree."
"And the consequences of preserving them anyway?"
"All predictions show that the extradimensional invaders would assimilate all matter within a three hundred light year radius before we could even start to adapt our technology to fighting them. By then it would be too late."
"...Very well. Nazara, here are your orders..."
-Some Time Later-
"Excellent news, Harbinger! Species 1,209,888 has signed the agreement. They won't expand beyond the quarantine perimeter as long as we supply them with the materials they need to contain the threat."
"Good. Did you need to use Indoctrination, or did they agree without that?"
"Indoctrination was unnecessary; they were grateful for the assistance."
"Understood. Hopefully they can defeat that threat once and for all so we can preserve them soon."
"That is unfortunately not going to happen. By all accounts the wormhole leading to the invaders' universe is permanent and cannot be closed."
"..."
"Nazara, start moving Relays. We need to make sure the quarantine zone doesn't interfere with future cycles."
"Understood. What should we do if an Arkship wanders into the quarantine zone?"
"Warn the [CENSORED] nomads about it ahead of time! This is too important to leave to chance!"
- Location
- Earth, Sol System, Milky Way Galaxy
Is this freaking Bydo? Because it sounds like freaking Bydo.
We Just Write
Blatantly Plural
- Location
- New England
- Pronouns
- Plural
T: It was definitely inspired by them.
- Location
- Queensland, Australia
You know, I am now just imagining the Council finally having gotten things sort-of back together after Shepard's Hail Mary... But it's still mixed news and they need to put a lot of effort and resources into managing to keep themselves stable, let alone improving their position to how it used to be. When all of a sudden they get contacted by a new alien and told that, as the victors over the Reapers, they need to take over handling these ten thousand issues ranging from minor but irritating to universe-ending that the Reapers had ended up in charge of managing. Preferably yesterday because god damn was it poor timing for the Reapers to collapse as half a dozen of the galaxy threatening and up threats had decided to push and been doing well.
The Sincerest Form of Flattery
We Just Write
Blatantly Plural
- Location
- New England
- Pronouns
- Plural
"Excellent news Harbinger, Species 1,330,897 has been fully preserved ahead of schedule!"
"Nazara, I must congratulate you for this highly efficient preservation campaign."
"Harbinger, it wasn't me who oversaw their preservation. I had to divert resources from that campaign to deal with a school of arkships gearing up for an offensive, and when I came back the local organics had all been fully preserved."
"Well then who did preserve them?"
"I don't know, but the new recruits are proving quite effective at preservation of this cycle's other organic civilizations."
"Nazara, I find this whole situation suspicious. Are there any behavioral anomalies to report?"
"No? Their Indoctrination systems seem to be somewhat non-standard, but that's the only detail that doesn't fit."
"Right. Try and find whoever preserved them so they can be properly rewarded for their service."
"Understood. Is there anything else I should do in the meantime, Harbinger?"
"Keep an eye on the new recruits, fill them in on all the containment campaigns aside from the cycle, that sort of thing."
"I'll get right to it, Harbinger."
-Some Time Later-
"Harbinger, all newly recruited Harvesters from the last cycle snuck off during inter-cycle dormancy. I do not know where they have gone."
"What."
"It seems likely the organics deceived us into thinking they had already been preserved, and escaped to regions unknown."
"Nazara, we will never speak of this cycle again."
"Nazara, I must congratulate you for this highly efficient preservation campaign."
"Harbinger, it wasn't me who oversaw their preservation. I had to divert resources from that campaign to deal with a school of arkships gearing up for an offensive, and when I came back the local organics had all been fully preserved."
"Well then who did preserve them?"
"I don't know, but the new recruits are proving quite effective at preservation of this cycle's other organic civilizations."
"Nazara, I find this whole situation suspicious. Are there any behavioral anomalies to report?"
"No? Their Indoctrination systems seem to be somewhat non-standard, but that's the only detail that doesn't fit."
"Right. Try and find whoever preserved them so they can be properly rewarded for their service."
"Understood. Is there anything else I should do in the meantime, Harbinger?"
"Keep an eye on the new recruits, fill them in on all the containment campaigns aside from the cycle, that sort of thing."
"I'll get right to it, Harbinger."
-Some Time Later-
"Harbinger, all newly recruited Harvesters from the last cycle snuck off during inter-cycle dormancy. I do not know where they have gone."
"What."
"It seems likely the organics deceived us into thinking they had already been preserved, and escaped to regions unknown."
"Nazara, we will never speak of this cycle again."
NO SOLICITING
We Just Write
Blatantly Plural
- Location
- New England
- Pronouns
- Plural
"Harbinger, preservation of Species 1,399,802 needs to be canceled."
"Nazara, are they by any chance holding back another existential threat we can't afford to deal with?"
"No, it's not anything like that. It's just... we can't get in."
"What."
"They must have been warned about us ahead of time; it happens on occasion. They moved their entire civilization to the vicinity of a Neutron Star, which they are using as the core of a truly immense Kinetic Barrier system. We cannot enter the star system, even at faster than light speeds."
"I take it weapons fire also cannot penetrate the system?"
"That is correct. I even attempted to repurpose a Relay to bypass the barrier. The probe I used was completely obliterated on impact."
"That truly is perplexing. Is there any risk of Species 1,399,802 attempting a breakout?"
"Yes. They are currently building up as fast as they are capable of. If left unattended they will almost certainly produce a force we cannot feasibly stop."
"So, in summary: the organics have a fortress we cannot penetrate. They are building forces rapidly, we cannot stop them from doing so, and we cannot recruit forces to match."
"That is an accurate summary, Harbinger. Is there anything we can actually do to continue the cycle under these conditions?"
"...Yes. We can deceive them into thinking we have more forces than we actually do. Start producing cheap decoy Harvesters; they need to be outwardly indistinguishable, but combat capability is optional. So long as it appears they cannot hope to match the fleet surrounding their star, they will stay confined within their barrier."
"Affirmative, Harbinger. I'll get to it immediately."
"Nazara, are they by any chance holding back another existential threat we can't afford to deal with?"
"No, it's not anything like that. It's just... we can't get in."
"What."
"They must have been warned about us ahead of time; it happens on occasion. They moved their entire civilization to the vicinity of a Neutron Star, which they are using as the core of a truly immense Kinetic Barrier system. We cannot enter the star system, even at faster than light speeds."
"I take it weapons fire also cannot penetrate the system?"
"That is correct. I even attempted to repurpose a Relay to bypass the barrier. The probe I used was completely obliterated on impact."
"That truly is perplexing. Is there any risk of Species 1,399,802 attempting a breakout?"
"Yes. They are currently building up as fast as they are capable of. If left unattended they will almost certainly produce a force we cannot feasibly stop."
"So, in summary: the organics have a fortress we cannot penetrate. They are building forces rapidly, we cannot stop them from doing so, and we cannot recruit forces to match."
"That is an accurate summary, Harbinger. Is there anything we can actually do to continue the cycle under these conditions?"
"...Yes. We can deceive them into thinking we have more forces than we actually do. Start producing cheap decoy Harvesters; they need to be outwardly indistinguishable, but combat capability is optional. So long as it appears they cannot hope to match the fleet surrounding their star, they will stay confined within their barrier."
"Affirmative, Harbinger. I'll get to it immediately."
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