General Williams served as a Systems Alliance commander of the garrison on Shanxi when the First Contact War broke out. After humans were caught activating the mass relay known as Relay 314, an Alliance expeditionary fleet was attacked and almost completely destroyed by a turian patrol fleet. After several small skirmishes, the turians broke through to Shanxi, the closest human colony to the Shanxi-Theta relay, and began a brutal siege campaign utilizing orbital bombardment.