First Contact War

The **First Contact War**, referred to as the **Anagama Incident** by the Turians, was a conflict between the Commonwealth of Man and the Turian Hierarchy from 2352 to 2372. It ended when the descendants of the Hope Ark intervened as ambassadors of the Hierarchy to make contact with the Commonwealth and broker peace between the two races.

## History

### First Contact

After the colonization of Trident, a network of automated anti-starship missiles were set up in the planet's orbit to defend the colony. When several Turian exploration vessels, unaware of human presence, entered the system, the automated defense grid sent a warning signal and demanded a response. Turians, not aware of the human language, didn't respond properly to the defense network. After not receiving understandable answers, the defense grid opened fire on the Turian spaceships, before their destruction, they sent an SOS back to the Hierarchy.

Hierarchy considered this an act of war and sent several task groups to Epsilon Indi and the colony of Trident.

### The Occupation of Trident

Not knowing what enemy they faced, Commonwealth sent probes into Turian space, armed with nuclear fusion warheads to prevent the probes from providing dangerous insights into human technology. With humans major forces being far from the system, the Turians managed to defeat scout and patrol fleets in the system.

Eventually the Turians broke through to attack Trident, a major human colony in the system, and settled in for a protracted orbital siege. With the Turians in a superior position, able to kill any human soldiers from above, the Trident defenders began to starve, unable to get supplies without risking civilian lives. Eventually General John Williams, commander of military forces on the planet, was forced to surrender the Trident garrison.

The Turians - who were also suffering logistical problems, believed that they had defeated the bulk of the enemy forces. But they would be proven wrong when ten years later the Commonwealth hero Grand Admiral Evelyn Drescher led the Second Fleet against the Turians, catching the Turians by surprise and evicting them from the planet. The Turians and humans prepared for full-scale interplanetary war, drawing the notice of the descendants of the Hope Ark which was rescued by the Turians centuries ago.

### Peace

Fortunately, descendants of the Hope Ark which was rescued by the Turians centuries ago, taking notice of what is happening and guessing that the hostile race might be humans, then intervened to negotiate a peace with their kin and bring the war to an end. After this chain of events, humans learned that there are other advanced sentient species in the galaxy who co-exists peacefully.

## Consequences

There were political and cultural ramifications for both sides. Humanity's first contact with an alien race would later create a bad reputation for humans amongst other sentient races as aggressors, and created a climate of xenophobia amongst the Commonwealth public. This led to the emergence of extreme pro-human groups like Terra Firma and, later, Cerberus. Some of the nuclear-armed probes sent into Turian space remained at large; their existence remains a Commonwealth secret that could result in political consequences if revealed. However, the First Contact War also demonstrated humanity's extraordinary military capabilities to other races.

For their part, the Turians agreed to pay reparations to the Commonwealth.

In recent years, though antagonism remains, relations have improved. The two races are now trade partners, and the construction of the ISV Venture Star, a multi-species colony ship which was designed and built by engineers of both races, began to mend the antagonism between Humans and Turians.