Ilos

=== Location: ===
Pangaea Expanse/Refuge System/ Second Planet
== Description ==
During the time of the prothean and inusannon, Ilos was a verdant garden world., with magnificent cities dotting its' surface.
By 2183 of the current cycle however, the planet's native ecology is in it's deaththrows. The entire surface appears to be a rust color, deviated by some unknown means. The heightened levels of oxygen suggest that most respirating animal life forms have died off.
== History ==
Ilos was once inhabited by the inusannon, the most prominent sentient organic race prior to the protheans. The protheans built on top of the innusannon stronghold using funds from one of the many "lesser" races conquered by the Prothean Empire and given temporary control of Ilos. Initially their purpose was to conduct a historical study. As the protheans came closer to unlocking the secrets of the Mass Relays, the research facility was repurposed for the Conduit project, though they carefully persevered the inusannon technology left behind.
The Conduit Project was top secret, so the Prothean Empire took drastic steps to make sure it stayed a secret. As a result, Ilos took on a "Troy"-like mystery, only noted in second-hand references. When the Reapers struck the Citadel by surprise, all official records of Ilos were destroyed. This would save Ilos from disaster, though not completely.
=== Prothean Extinction ===
When the Reapers launched their invasion during the Prothean cycle, they struck the Citadel first. As a result, they had the location of every current Prothean settlement- giving them a map for slowly wiping out the entire species. Those working at Ilos heard about the invasion and immediately went into cryogenic statis and the facility went dark, hoping to outlast the systematic destruction. Unfortunately, the extinction of an entire galaxy-wide civilization took several centuries. While they waited, the base began to lose power, and the VI Vigil was forced to shut down the pods of the vast majority of those waiting. When the danger had finally passed, there were too few remaining to rebuild their race- only a dozen of the top researchers. One of the first things they did was risk sending out a message through the decimated beacon network, warning of the dangers of the Reapers and about Ilos as a measure of hope to any possible survivors, though they did not expect that anyone would hear them.
The scientists turned their minds toward breaking the cycle of extinction, though whether this was out of a desire to protect those who came after them, or revenge is unclear.
=== The Signal and the Conduit ===
Decades of frantic study went by, but eventually those at Ilos came to the conclusion that the Reapers must have reacted to some kind of outside signal to launch their invasion, and this signal must be sent by the enigmatic Keepers. After coming up with a way to alter this signal, those left used the Conduit to travel to the Citadel and prevent the Keepers from signaling their masters in Dark Space. This left Ilos empty of organic sapience for approximately 50,000 years.
=== Supernova ===
Four thousand years before the Reaper War, a star exploded and knocked the Mu Relay out of position. As a result, access to the Pangaea Expanse was lost. The rachni searched carefully for it, though it was difficult to locate a unmoving, cold object in a nebula of hot gas. This data was lost after the Rachni wars, though is was preserved in the ancestral memories in Free-Flickering-Flame.
The galaxy at large would occasionally consider making attempts to locate the Mu Relay. Though many universities would talk about organizing an expedition, the danger and cost prevented them from going further than talking. The Migrant Fleet did attempt to locate Ilos in their search for a suitable world to settle on, but came up with nothing. 
=== Chasing Saren ===
Commander Shepard, Garrus Vakarian, and Dr. Liara T'Soni landed on Ilos in 2183, shortly after Saren Arterius and his geth. After restoring power and overriding the lockdown, Shepard and her squad entered the base, where Vigil waylaid them. Vigil explained what the Citadel and the Conduit was, and why Saren wanted it along with a data disk to help Shepard take control of the Citadel.
=== A Short Silence ===
After the Battle of the Citadel, the salarians went to Ilos to study what was there. The prothean VI Commander Shepard reported speaking to did not appear to be there any longer. The Alliance did make a stop at Ilos during their tour of the Attican Traverse. The salarian researchers expressed gratitude toward the military in keeping the safe. The Batarian Hegemony protested the lack of relics that had been made available to them for study.
=== Ghosts of the Near Past ===