Mass Effect: Revelation

Mass Effect: Revelation is a prequel novel to the Mass Effect trilogy by Canadian science fiction writer Drew Karpyshyn. First published in 2007 by Del Rey Books, it is the first novel set in the Mass Effect universe. Karpyshyn is lead writer of the Mass Effect video game.

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 (though which of the book's characters besides Anderson and Saren will appear remains to be seen). 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. It also sets up the game's main villain, Saren, and how he came to be involved in the events preceding Sidon.==Preface==

''Every advanced society in the galaxy relies on the technology of the Protheans, an ancient species that vanished fifty thousand years ago. After discovering a cache of Prothean technology on Mars in 2148, humanity is spreading to the stars; the newest interstellar species, struggling to carve out its place in the greater galactic community.''

On the edge of colonized space, ship commander and Alliance war hero David Anderson investigates the remains of a top secret military research station; smoking ruins littered with bodies and unanswered questions. Who attacked this post and for what purpose? And where is Kahlee Sanders, the young scientist who mysteriously vanished from the base–hours before her colleagues were slaughtered?

Sanders is now the prime suspect, but finding her creates more problems for Anderson than it solves. Partnered with a rogue alien agent he can't trust and pursued by an assassin he can't escape, Anderson battles impossible odds on uncharted worlds to uncover a sinister conspiracy. . . one he won't live to tell about. Or so the enemy thinks. 

Story
Warning Spoilers

The story begins in 2157 with 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 ago 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. Back in 2157, Grissom meets with 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. Inside the facility, Anderson and his crew discover an elevator leading 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 defeat. They discover a pile of dead bodies of the scientists and also find out that there was a traitor on the inside because the mercenaries had the codes to open certain doors. One remaining mercenary manages to set off a bomb that destroys the entire lower facilities. Anderson and his crew manage to escape.

On Camala, Edan Had'dah, a rich batarian, meets with the Blue Suns, an infamous mercenary group in the Skyllian Verge, who he hired to attack the Sidon base. A krogan Battle Master bounty hunter named 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 famous elected 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 reassured 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 Qian, the brilliant scientist in charge of the Sidon facility who is believed to still be alive.

Meanwhile, Saren, a turian Spectre, soldiers of the Council allowed to work above the law, who also has an extreme hatred for humanity over the First Contact War in which he lost his brother, tracks an illegal weapons exchange in a warehouse on Juxhi. After interrogating one of the arms dealers, Saren learns that the weapons were for the Blue Suns but at the last minute they pulled out to pursue a different job. Saren becomes suspicious and becomes dedicated to finding out what the Blue Suns were involved with. From a Blue Sun mercenary named Groto Ib-ba, Saren learns that a bounty hunter named Skarr was sent to assassinate a human named Kahlee. On Elysium, Anderson appears to Jon Grissom who tells him that he sent Kahlee away from Elysium to safety. Anderson leaves and a few hours later, Skarr shows up and attacks Grissom and Kahlee who was actually hiding in the house. Anderson appears to fight Skarr and later Saren appears and drives Skarr away. Saren questions Kahlee on what was going on at Sidon and she lies and says they were working on prototype weapons because if she revealed the work on artificial intelligence, Saren would alert the Council and the Alliance would be in trouble.

After Saren leaves, Kahlee tells Anderson that while working at Sidon. Kahlee mentions that all the equipment for the project were supplied by the Dah'tan Manufacturing Company on Camala. Meanwhile, Skarr returns to Edan who sends him and the Blue Sun mercenaries to destroy the Dah'tan facility and erase any information connecting him to Dr. Qian and the Sidon facility.

Anderson finds and kills Skarr in a Had'dah refinery. Meanwhile, Saren kills Dr. Quian and Edan after stealing Dr. Quian's files. He plans to use the artifact to take his revenge upon humans.

Spoilers End