Welcome!

You can click 'Next' to start reading the story right after this little introduction!

Below the intro there's some optional info in the form of a small codex and a listing of characters, both organized by chapter. It is strictly extra and isn't needed to read the story…but should you want to know more about a concept mentioned, or find the need to look a character up as you read, you can come back here to use those two resources. Or you can go through them beforehand, if you like.

The story starts in the middle of the ME3 finale. Like a good Infiltrator I use as much of the provided cover as I can, sneaking in and fixing the endings with the fewest changes possible. The game's confines are escaped in Chapter 3.

The sections overlapping with the game are told from non-Shepard POVs to provide a new perspective.

We move from the chaos of the final moments of the Reaper War through the emerging understanding, recovery, and rebuilding of the aftermath, eventually into the new, uncertain future and the challenges and adventure that it holds.

(In fact, the beginning of the story reflects that chaos a little. Things start settling down around the tenth chapter.)

All OCs are strictly side characters supporting the story. I'll be sure to let you know if this ever changes. The cast is fairly large, but don't worry…you'll get to know the important people along the way (and you always have the character listing, below, to refer to).

Of Eevy Shepard, perhaps it'll suffice for now to say that she's a paragade tending toward the good, fairly well-adjusted for what she's gone through, and head over heels for Liara.

Content will be M/MA, sciency, gritty, often funny or teary, and sometimes sexy.

I love any and all feedback and interaction from you guys! Anything you can tell me, be it encouragement, critique, enjoyment, displeasure, short notes on individual chapters as you go or an in-depth literary critique at the end, or just your impression of a scene or characterization, questions, clarification requests…please leave reviews, send PMs, talk to me on Facebook or Twitter… Comments on the earlier chapters are valuable, too.

Don't hesitate to give critique if you find any cause. I will love you for it, I promise :)

For optional reading, there's a short companion text in my profile on the asari who, in my world, are not merely blue human females. Don't worry, I won't contradict lore, just enhance it a bit.

In addition to the above, there's also a companion to this particular text, called Coherence (also in profile). It expands on various things in Unity, but it is highly recommended you're caught up on Unity before reading it.

With that, I hope you enjoy reading Unity as much as I enjoy writing it! —A

Disclaimer: Mass Effect and its characters conceived and owned by BioWare.

Codex

This is all extra or background information. Reading this is not necessary for following the story, I just elaborate on various terms and concepts for those interested. If there's anything in the story that you think should have a glossary entry and doesn't, let me know!

General stuff:

Time: The Galactic Time standard is, essentially, the same amount of time as 24 Earth hours divided into 20 'hours' of 100 'minutes' instead—this is how the Citadel counts time—but for simplicity, I will present all times in Earth equivalents so that 10 minutes means what you think it means.

Measurements: I use the metric system for the measures that appear. In case you want to convert to imperial, here're a couple general rules. Please let me know if it's too confusing… I can add A/N's as necessary.

Meter (m): roughly equivalent to a yard, or 3 feet. Just multiply all meters by 3 and you're close enough in feet.
Kilometer (km): 1000 meters, or ~3000 feet. 2/3 of a mile (1 mi = 1.6 km).

Rarer use:

Centimeter (cm): A little less than half an inch. (1 meter = 100 centimeters.)
Kilogram (kg): About 2 pounds (lbs).
Liter (l): About a quarter gallon.
Celsius (C): Water freezes at 0 celsius, and boils at 100. Body temperature is 37 (35 is hypothermia, 40 is a high fever). Outdoors, 10 degrees is chilly, 20 is warm, 30 is hot. A reasonable rule of thumb is celsius times 2 plus 30.

Chapter 1:

ID chips are carried by all persons, and can typically be scanned from a small distance. Different groups, be they nations, corporations, militaries, usually have encrypted extra information that can be viewed given sufficient permissions, e.g. officers for their subordinates but not the other way around.

Aurals are speakers usually implanted in the ear canal, either on the surface or subdermally. More advanced models actually tie directly into the nerves. Some prefer to use nonintegrated aurals, small plugs that can be taken in and out. Aurals are nearly always connected to both the user's omnitool, the translator, and any other comms equipment they may have.

Chapter 2:

HI or holographic interface is the most typical computer interface in use. Instead of a physical monitor or keyboard or other peripheral devices, a hologram was projected to function both as the interface for input by the user in various situational forms as well as output. The classic interface is typically yellowish-orange but can of course display full-color output.

'Ions' is a general term for non-FTL/non-combat propulsion. It's almost always an inaccurate designation as real ion drives are rarely used in any spacefaring vessels, and instead just works as a convenient shorthand to differentiate between the lower and higher thrust modes. The Normandy is a special case as the Tantalus core gives it a special, relatively fast and quiet operating mode that doesn't use the main engines.

Chapter 3:

Asari naming conventions are fairly simple. They have a given name, and a surname that follows matriarchal lineage. The T' or Te-prefix indicates that the family is—at least historically—one of regional leadership. For example the T'Sonis are originally the leaders of the Soni region clans (Soni, named after the river around which it sits, is a département of Serra, one of the nine semi-autonomous republics of Thessia.) Loak, on the other hand, is not an actual region: it's an area of the Purple Sea known for its capricious humors—not unlike the Bermuda Triangle on Earth.

Additionally, there are a few honorifics in use. While maidens and matrons are simply known by their name, matriarchs are addressed by the honorific Matriarch and their first name alone—the surname is only used in official paperwork and similar situations. Other honorifics follow the same convention, and include Justicar, Ambassador, and Councilor. Honorifics, once earned, are never lost (unless the person is e.g. stripped of rank due to some crime). Even if an Ambassador eventually gives up her post, she will still be known as Ambassador—although some may choose to return to Matriarch.

Chapter 5:

A Rim mission is a scientific Council task force of a few ships sent to map the unconnected systems close to the rim of the galaxy. They last a few years and typically involve a 'dark' period, with the task force out of reach of all reasonably fast communication without access to FTL buoys. QEC is still too expensive to be an option.

Chapter 6:

Comm networks are an integral part of warfare. Unlike times in the past, lack of communications is usually not a significant problem for any military (or other) operation. Certainly, there are jamming and interference issues, and orbital communications are still slightly harder, but by and large the issue is rather the abundance of communications. Managing the complexity of information flow and communication hierarchy is a critical strategic asset.

The typical comm network consists of an arbitrary number of pre-designated and ad-hoc channels, with any number of users on any number of channels. The military networks typically use rank to limit privileges such as setting up and maintaining private channels, adding users to channels, joining channels with only receive access, and so on. Channels may exist in some central location or, more commonly e.g. ad-hoc channels are just created on a user's omni. The channels may exist essentially anywhere in the galaxy as long as they are properly created and connected inside a supernetwork.

Main interface is voice/video chat, but all speech is also transcribed to text and optionally recorded on the fly so that users can monitor multiple channels. Networks typically integrate with omnis, armor and so on, so for example name and location can be retrieved automatically, or video can be streamed, data shared, and so on. Even the cheapest suits have some type of VIs handling preferences, trigger phrases and so on. The more expensive the setup, the more elaborate the VI processing gets.

As always, the interface can be either purely voice including voice commands ("Comm: connect some channel'), or the omni or other computer or device (poke the button that says "connect"), with i/o easily redirected to e.g. a helmet HUD, or something more sophisticated like an eye movement tracking UI, usually called a 'retinal'. Command modes can of course also be mixed arbitrarily.

Chapter 7:

A creche is the common name for a medical transport device used especially in space rescues. In simplest terms, it's a coffin-like box in which an injured person can be placed for transportation. It's naturally completely space-capable, and it has several medical capabilities, both for monitoring the status of the patient as well as administering medi-gel, blood, drugs, even ventilation and cardiac or brain stimulation for certain types of injuries. One of the more important features is that it tries to stabilize the patient by subduing vital functions. For example, a human heartbeat can drop as low as 5 beats per minute, the body temperature drops to below 30 degrees Celsius, and the muscles are relaxed by means appropriate to the species. This 'stasis' is very useful in certain types of injuries, especially heavy bleeding, or swelling in the brain. Unfortunately it's not a magic solution, and due to the nature of the 'stasis' it's in fact unhelpful in many serious conditions. Creches are manufactured by two asari corporations and both models are capable of containing any of the Citadel species with the exception of elcor. They are impractically expensive to deploy in great numbers: on average it could be guessed that there's one creche per 50-60 patients in an average Search & Rescue unit's supplies.

Chapter 10:

Fleet strength in the Battle for Earth is one of the most misrepresented numbers in the retellings of the battle. It of course sounds more heroic to say that 3000 brave cruisers took on the entire Reaper fleet, but in reality the approximately 2000 Reaper capital ships and some 15000 Reaper destroyers (of whom around 600 and 7000 respectively actually took part in the battle in space) would of course have completely decimated only 3000 ships. The actual number of classified ships (Dreadnoughts, Carriers, Cruisers, and Frigates) between all of the allied fleets was around 16000. In addition to these, there were numerous Fighters as well as a vast number of nonclassified transport- and civilian ships repurposed for the fight. There were also some smaller contingency patrols such as the one tasked to Charon, as well as a fleet of hospital ships stationed just outside the Sol system and ordered to re-enter the system only in the case of victory. Even this vast number of vessels would only have been able to hold off the Reaper forces for a total of 4-5 hours before defeat had the Crucible not been constructed.

Hospital fleet is a collection of ships intended primarily for treating and transporting wounded soldiers. The System Alliance, for example, had two hospital ships attached to each of its fleets, each ship with a crew and medical staff of around 3000 with beds for around 5000. For the Battle for Earth, all the different fleets pooled their hospital ships under the command of ChiefMed Nitaros, the respected CMO of the turian hierarchy's military medical care. The fleet jumped in to Sol along with the rest of the allied fleets, but immediately withdrew beyond the termination barrier 'outside' the system and travelled closer toward Earth thus hidden, waiting to emerge in the event of victory. The remaining Systems Alliance hospital ships are named after rivers for the traditional healing properties of water: SSMV's Nile, Amazon, Yangtze, Mississippi, Congo, Amur, Mekong, Ob, Tiber, Danube, Parana, Volga, Murray-Darling, Niger, Seine, and Ganges.

Chapter 11:

QEC or Quantum Entanglement Communication is a means of communication based on entangled quantum pairs. Whenever one changes state, the other does the same regardless of where and how far it is (some supporting processes are required for galaxy-wide range). The bandwidth is not particularly wide, since effectively the data transfer happens one quantum bit (qubit) at a time, but it is sufficient for a limited form of videoconferencing. The technology is quite expensive both in credits and power required to run it, and is reserved almost exclusively for military use. Each of the council species only has a handful of pairs, usually housed on the Citadel and their more important worlds as well as a few select ships. The Normandy was an exceptional case: it had a lavish array of four entangled pair-ends, one to Earth, one to Admiral Hackett's Tai Shan, one to the Citadel, and one originally to the Cerberus base, but now temporarily relocated to the Fuji in its deactivated state.

Chapter 13:

Cherenkov event refers to a detectable trace of FTL Cherenkov radiation, released as a byproduct of a collapsing FTL tunnel. Normal Cherenkov radiation is, simply put, electromagnetic radiation released when a charged particle travels through a medium faster than the speed of light in that medium, and it's not dangerous. FTL Cherenkov, on the other hand, is caused by the regular space being the slower medium, and as the event enters the regular space, the radiation actually becomes ionizing – which is to say, hazardous. While the principle is the same, due to the vastly different result the term is a bit of a misnomer. An FTL Cherenkov field only exists in the regular space, and its size is quadratically relative to the multiple of c the tunnel was supporting, but typically even the smallest fields are shaped roughly like a pear, with the sphere centered around the actual collapse and the protrusion toward the exit direction. The field is hazardous to life for only a few hours in vacuum, and it can be detected for a period reaching up to a week depending on sophistication of equipment. The radiation levels inside ships with normal shielding are estimated to reach as high as 60-70 grays (by and large, anything above 30 Gy is lethal in a matter of hours regardless of treatment).

Phonetic writing was one of the things changed during the formation of the Systems Alliance. Where other nations agreed to use English as the official language – it was already de facto that – they did succeed in pushing through the demand to move from the archaic and error-prone spelling into transliterating English phonetically so that each sound was represented by a specific glyph rather than the reader having to guess or know how a certain combination of letters was to be pronounced in a particular case. This practice has been universally adopted in the following decades (A/N: don't worry, I'll still write everything in the archaic style ;)

Chapter 14:

Datapads come broadly in two flavors: normal, and restricted. A regular datapad is more or less an extension of or attachment to the omnitool, better-suited for certain tasks. They're fairly powerful computers in their own right, but usually only come with limited HI. Nearly everyone has an omni, but datapads are an alternative for those who for one reason or another do not have one. Restricted datapads, the more common variety (why they are not 'regular' is a mystery), have only physical connections, and they are typically heavily encrypted. Pads like these can be used to give someone temporary access to information that must not be exposed to any external connections. In a more relaxed environment, any kind of information exchange is typically done using the omnitool through either local or remote transfer directly to the other party, naturally encrypted to discourage the most casual eavesdroppers.

Chapter 17:

Disabled mass relays: when the Crucible fired, the energy disabled the first relay it traveled through, Charon in the Sol system, Local Cluster (or Earth Cluster as it's also known). In addition to it, several other relays were also affected. While the exact routes that the energy pulse took to reach all known systems — as far as anyone can tell — are still being resolved due to the speed of the event, there is a clear pattern in the relays where operation was disrupted. Starting from Earth Cluster, there is a spiraling path against the direction of galactic spin (or, if you will, 'counterclockwise' if you look at a typical 2D map). The list of affected relays is, in order: Arcturus, Horsehead (Noveria), Petra (Grissom Academy), Shadow Sea (Horizon), Hawking Eta, Ninmah (Rachni space), Pangea (Ilos), Pylos, Rosetta Nebula, Sigurd's Cradle (Sanctum, Watson), Omega, Hourglass Nebula (Hagalaz), and Eagle Nebula (Korlus, Anhur). In addition to these, it is likely that some dormant or unknown relays were affected along the route. Of these, several only exhibited instability rather than 'turned off' completely, and they have returned to what seems to be full operational status: Shadow Sea, Rosetta Nebula, Omega, Sigurd's Cradle. Horsehead and Eagle Nebula remain unstable, but some transmissions are getting through in both directions. What caused the differing effects is unknown at this time, though there is some evidence that each of the less-affected ones may have had a craft in transit at the moment the pulse reached it.

Chapter 32:

Languages and translators. Languages are naturally very varied in the galaxy. Most species still have multiple languages in use, usually regionally or by clan or similar, but a common language used within the species—like English is for humans.

The translators nearly everyone has equipped are extremely powerful, having been in use and constant development for closer to two thousand years. They are perfectly capable of translating any languages they're programmed for with microsecond delays—essentially as well, or better, as a native speaker's brain can. These are used in the cases where there is no common language, or when a party feels they would be limited by their skill. The translators also emulate the speaker's voice, simplifying the experience, and by default modulate the actual foreign-language speech out from the stream going through the aurals. The only unsolved problem is that in a face-to-face conversation, the speaker's words will be out of sync with the speech. This can be disconcerting.

Partially for this reason, the Citadel established a common language early on. As the asari were the first species, and the salarians who came next were quick learners, the language chosen was the common tongue of the asari, Astran. It is used for all official and public communications, and widely used in everyday life. All Systems Alliance personnel learn Astran—in fact, most schools on Earth have begun teaching it as their second language in the decades after humans joined the galactic community.

Astran is from the Thessian republic of Astra. The name derives from the word for 'mountainous region' because Astra spreads along most of the significant highlands of Thessia. (Nos Astra, the capital of Illium, means something like 'the mountainous region which we built'.) The vast natural resources and shelter of Astra made it the biggest player in Thessian politics and economy, leading to the dominant role of its language.

Serran is the language of Serra, the republic in which the city of Serrice lies, and whence Liara T'Soni is from.

Chapter 42:

SA fleet vessel command structure: the layout at the top is fairly straightforward. A ship's run by five people: the CO (with few exceptions this is a Captain for Frigates and non-combat vessels, a Rear Admiral for Cruisers, and an Admiral for Dreadnoughts and Carriers), the XO, the Chief Navigator (who on Frigates may also be the XO), the Chief of Engineering, and the actual pilot or helmsman. In addition to this the senior command consist of the Chiefs of Defense and Offense (same person on Frigates but rarely on larger ships), Ground and Extravehicular Ops Chief (who may also be the XO, and is usually of rank with the XO otherwise), and possibly the Chief of Deck Ops (responsible for the Fighters and/or shuttles and hangars).

Excluding combat situations, the officers in principle work a similar 6 hours on–6 hours off schedule as the rest of the crew excluding ground ops ('marines'), though especially the CO and XO often partially overlap. During off-time, each post has an assigned relief officer.

The day-to-day running of the ship is handled by the XO and the navigator. The CO's tasks are split into deck, which has to do with the normal running of the ship, its destination etc. (and is thereby implemented by the aforementioned); and tactical meaning combat command. These tasks can be performed by different people should the need arise. For example the CO of a ship who also has Battle Group tactical command would likely accede both the deck and tactical commands of their ship to their XO, and focus on the higher-level operations instead.

A Battle Group or Strike Group is a (possibly permanent) detachment of ships from a System Navy, two or more of which in turn comprise a Fleet. At the latter two levels, the tasks of running the ships and running the entity are separate. The CO of a System Navy is often—but not necessarily—stationed on one of its Dreadnoughts or Cruisers, but has nothing to do with running that ship. They may assume command, but in practice very rarely do so while the normal command structure of the ship remains operational.

The top command structure of the SA fleets is theoretically fairly flat, elastic, and configurable (though in reality things may be a little less fluid), and it's based on assigned task rather than rank directly. In practical terms this means that there is a large number of Admirals—many of whom don't actually even serve on ships—whose command structure is dictated by the strategic situation. During combat, for example, the fleet admiralty has command above all others. The admiralty may also agree upon a certain command structure to be set in place as a temporary measure.

Chapter 57:

The individual fringes of the asari crest are named, much as your fingers are. From the left, in Astran, they are meies, ebelas, erras, atrole, aben, and ameien.

There are also three smaller ones at the back of the head. In Serran, they are commonly only known collectively as ainova, which means something like a floret. Astran refers to the whole as entiuus, the same word that is used for the equivalent of adipose fins. If there's need to separate, they are usually referred to as 'left', 'middle', and 'right', though medical names do exist for each.

Characters

Names appearing in given chapter for the first time. You can use Ctrl-F to find a specific name.

CO = Commanding Officer, XO = Executive Officer, ACO/AXO = Acting CO/XO, SA = Systems Alliance, SD = Special Detachment, S&R = Search & Rescue.

Chapter 1:

Mkawa, Edilson: Sergeant N6, Hammer strike force.
Goto, Kasumi alias Greta: part of ME2 Normandy squad, best thief in the galaxy, abandoned her identity by faking her own death.
Bajic, Alina: Admiral, ACO SA 5th fleet. CO SSV Aconcagua.
Moreau, Jeff "Joker": First Lieutenant, SA Special Detachment Normandy, XO and helmsman of SSV Normandy.
EDI (AI): SA SD Normandy, Artificial Intelligence existing partially in SSV Normandy and partially in a humanoid cyborg form.
Hackett, Steven: Admiral, CO Sword Fleet, Ranking Officer of SA Navy, CO SA 5th Fleet, CO SSV Tai Shan.
Traynor, Samantha: Specialist (Communications), SA SD Normandy, Chief Communications Officer of SSV Normandy.
Lok, ?: Doctor, SA SD Crucible, Chief Architect of the Crucible project.
Bao, Jin: Second Lieutenant, SA SD Normandy, communications officer on SSV Normandy.
Heise, Jurgen: First Lieutenant, SA SD Normandy, third pilot on SSV Normandy.
Niemi, Ander: Second Lieutenant, SA SD Normandy, communications officer on SSV Normandy.
Adams, Gregory: First Lieutenant, SA SD Normandy, Chief Engineer of SSV Normandy.
Daniels, Gabriella "Gabby": Engineer, SA SD Normandy, Engineer on SSV Normandy.
Chakwas, Karin: Medical Doctor, SA SD Normandy, Chief Medical Officer of SSV Normandy.
Harper, Jack alias The Illusive Man: Leader of Cerberus.

Chapter 2:

Chambers, Kelly alias Hannigan, Felicia: human civilian, ex-Cerberus, member of ME2 Normandy squad, last known location assisting refugees on the Citadel.
Donnelly, Ken: Engineer, SA SD Normandy, Engineer on SSV Normandy.
Shepard, Eevy: Spectre/N7 Commander, SA SD Normandy, CO SSV Normandy
Urdnot, Grunt (krogan): Captain, Clan Urdnot, CO Aralakh Company.

Chapter 3:

Vega, James: N7 Corporal (Staff Lieutenant), Hammer strike force, member of ME3 Normandy squad.
Zorah, Tali or Tali'Zorah vas Normandy (quarian): Admiral, SA SD Normandy, long-time Normandy crewmember, long-time friend of Shepard.
Rivers, Catey: Sergeant, Hammer strike force, member of Vega's squad.
Ulyanov, Alexandr "Sasha": Corporal, Hammer strike force, member of Vega's squad.
Molina, Robito: Corporal, Hammer strike force, member of Vega's squad.
Vakarian, Garrus (turian): General, SA SD Normandy, long-time Normandy crewmember and long-time friend of Shepard.
Javik: prothean, General, SA SD Normandy, last prothean, revived from cryo-hibernation.
Rodriguez, ?, Unknown rank, Hammer strike force. First report of the husks surviving the death of the Reapers.
Jonsson, Mattias: Yeoman, SA 5th fleet, yeoman of SSV Orizaba.
Shepard, Hannah: Admiral, SA 5th fleet, CO SSV Orizaba. Mother of Eevy Shepard.
Chandara, Amita: Rear Admiral, SA 5th fleet, XO/ACO SSV Orizaba.
Alenko, Kaidan: Spectre, Citadel Spectres, member of the original Normandy crew.
Anderson, David: Admiral, SA Earth resistance, ACO Hammer strike force.
Ranas, Arron (turian): Corporal, Hammer strike force.
Liu, Jon: Second Lieutenant, SA 5th fleet, shuttle pilot on SSV Orizaba.
Te Aras, Lidanya or Matriarch Lidanya (asari): Matriarch, Asari 1st fleet, ACO Sword Fleet, CO Destiny Ascension.
Lakopoulos, Aristo: Admiral, ACO Sword Fleet human contingent, CO SA 4th Fleet, CO SSV Fuji.
Gerrel, Han or Han'Gerrel vas Neema (quarian): Admiral, CO Quarian Heavy Fleet.
Raan, Shala or Shala'Raan vas Tonbay (quarian): Admiral, Quarian Envoy to the joint fleets.
Rachni Queen: no name known, rachni, Queen and leader of the rachni.
Rastias, Mazin (turian): Admiral, ACO Sword Fleet turian contingent.
T'Soni, Liara (asari): Shadow Broker and SA Acting General, SA SD Normandy, long-time Normandy crewmember, bondmate of Eevy Shepard.

Chapter 4:

Pressly, Charles: Second Lieutenant, SA 5th fleet, former navigator of SSV Normandy SR-1, Killed in Action in the 2184 attack.
Legion (geth): Geth Mobile Platform, a gestalt artificial intelligence who worked with the Normandy, voluntarily deactivated on Rannoch in 2186.

Chapter 5:

Urdnot, Wrex (krogan): Leader of Clan Urdnot, strongest contender for ruler of Tuchanka, long-time friend and ally of Shepard.
Coats, Daniel: Major, SA Earth resistance. Admiral Anderson's right-hand man during the Earth occupation.
Napassa, Aethyta or Matriarch Aethyta (asari): Matriarch, attached to Asari 1st Fleet, ACO independent commando unit, father of Liara T'Soni.
Ebus, Ami (asari): aide, Asari 1st fleet, aide assigned to assist Hannah Shepard while on the Destiny Ascension.
Bostrom, Henry: Lieutenant, Science Officer Citadel Rim Mission 2182/5, spouse of Hannah Shepard, father of Eevy Shepard.
Reegar, Kal or Kal'Reegar vas Neema (quarian): Captain, Quarian Admiralty Board Joint Assets Unit, CO JAU Detachment Reegar, friend of Tali'Zorah and the Normandy crew.

Chapter 6:

Marks, Raj, Sergeant, Hammer strike force, member of Kaidan's temporary squad tending to Admiral Anderson.
Continau, Xauvier, Corporal, Hammer strike force, member of Kaidan's temporary squad tending to Admiral Anderson.
Victus, Adrien or Primarch Victus (turian): Primarch of the Turian Hierarchy, CO Turian First and Third Armies in the battle of London.
Vanna, Eris (asari): Asari Second Fleet, ACO Citadel Search & Rescue operation, CO S&R unit 5.

Chapter 7:

Ibhan, Mas or Mas'Ibhan vas Neema (quarian): Flight Officer, Quarian Admiralty Board JAU, Kal'Reegar's shuttle pilot.
Amirai, Inan or Inan'Amirai vas Taw (quarian): Medical Doctor, Quarian civilian fleet, medic attached to Kal'Reegar's unit.
Vanna, Terea (asari): Medical Doctor, Asari Second Fleet, Medical Officer attached to S&R unit 5. Sister of Eris Vanna.
Xiao, Fo-hsing "Foss": Corpsman, Hammer strike force, member of Kaidan's temporary squad tending to Admiral Anderson.
Weiss, Albert, Medical Doctor, Primary Medical Specialist, Hammer strike force, roaming the battleground in London to gather wounded.

Chapter 8:

Bailey, Armando: Commander, Citadel Security (C-Sec), commander of the Citadel's police force, formerly the commander of the Zakera Ward C-Sec district.
Krios, Kolyat: drell, Attached to C-Sec, son of assassin Thane Krios.
Rodriguez, May: Biotics Student, Attached to Hammer strike force's Second Medical Corps, one of Jack's "kids" from Grissom Academy.

Chapter 9:

T'Loak, Aria (asari): Matriarch (but don't call her that), de facto ruler of Omega, currently deposed and on the Citadel.
Miius, Liselle (asari): Younger daughter of Aria T'Loak, killed by Cerberus (unbeknownst to Aria) in 2184.
Alene, Linesse (asari): Elder daughter of Aria T'Loak, last known location somewhere in the Shrike Abyssal nebula a few weeks into the Reaper war.

Chapter 10:

Tann, Tasah (batarian): Admiral, CO Sword Fleet batarian contingent, CO batarian dreadnought The Red Wind.
Bat, Nif (volus): Admiral, CO Sword Fleet volus/elcor/hanar contingent, CO volus dreadnought Kwunu.
Vosque, Dorner: Leader of the Blue Suns, CO Sword Fleet mercenary/civilian contingent, CO Blue Suns cruiser Perseus.
Lawson, Miranda: Ex-Cerberus civilian, attached to the Burns Unit on SSMV Tiber of the hospital fleet, part of the Normandy ME2 crew.
Nitaros, Jacelin (turian): ChiefMed, CO and Chief Medical Officer of the hospital fleet, CMO of the Rakhas.

Chapter 11:

Laksh, Dajeer: Medical Doctor, Hospital fleet, surgeon on SSMV Danube.
Kalimoff, Cintzia: Medical Doctor, Hospital fleet, surgeon on SSMV Danube.

Chapter 12:

Westmoreland, Bethany "Befs": Private, SA SD Normandy, military guard serving on SSV Normandy.
Campbell, Sarah: Private, SA SD Normandy, military guard serving on SSV Normandy.
Copeland, Bernhardt: Ensign, SA SD Normandy, yeoman of SSV Normandy.
Shu Yu, Liko: Corporal, SA SD Normandy, secondary fire support squad ground team on SSV Normandy.

Chapter 13:

Kirrahe, Par (salarian), Major, Salarian Special Tasks Group, Hammer strike force, long-time acquaintance of Shepard, went rogue to bring his unit to the final battle against salarian government orders.

Chapter 14:

Garondt, Zoe alias Goto, Kasumi: Kasumi's newest alias.
T'Mion, Tevos or Councilor Tevos (asari): Councilor and Matriarch, Citadel Council, asari councilor.
Sparatus, Mitron (turian): Councilor, Citadel Council, turian councilor.
Valern, Baru (salarian): Councilor, Citadel Council, salarian councilor, whereabouts unknown.
Osoba, Dominic: Councilor, Citadel Council, Earth's temporary councilor replacement.

Chapter 15:

Cortez, Steve: Second Lieutenant, SA SD Normandy, Drop shuttle pilot, ground operations chief, SSV Normandy
Calitx, Joan: Captain, SA 8th Fleet, Sword Fleet S&R, CO frigate SSV Leyte.

Chapter 17:

Akor, Tig Professor of Galactic Economics, Nos Astra Business School.
Orra, Letana (asari): News anchor, GNN.
Menor, Feron (drell): Information broker, Shadow Broker Network, Liara's friend and right-hand man in running the network.
Urdnot, Galem (krogan): Clan Urdnot media director.

Chapter 18:

Bashu, Mim, Biotics Student, attached to Hammer Strike force support artillery, one of Jack's "kids" from Grissom Academy.
Sundquist, Olaf, Biotics Student, attached to Hammer Strike force support artillery, one of Jack's "kids" from Grissom Academy.
Larionov, Yvon, Biotics Student, attached to London supplemental medical corps, one of Jack's "kids" from Grissom Academy.
Natanda, Tonu, Sergeant, SA SDS Normandy, tactical operator on SSV Normandy.
Alitez, Jorge, Master Sergeant, SA SDS Normandy, scanner operator on SSV Normandy.

Chapter 19:

T'Soni, Benezia or Matriarch Benezia, Matriarch, Formerly of the Thessian parliament, mother of Liara T'Soni, suffered indoctrination and was turned to the side of the Reapers, died on Noveria in 2183.

Chapter 20:

Keethem, Nas (drell): Captain, CO C-Sec Tayseri Ward, died during the Reaper invasion of the citadel.
Vergara, Margit: Ex-wife of Armando Bailey.
Vergara, Fiona: Daughter of Armando Bailey.
Vergara, Joan: Son of Armando Bailey.

Chapter 21:

Nuan, Qiu, Sergeant, SA Military Police, SA Second Fleet, MP on SSV Tiber.
Van Den Bak, Pieter, Operations Chief, SA Military Police, SA Second Fleet, XO MP SSV Tiber.
Storimer, Jon, Captain, SA Second Fleet, XO SSV Manchester, currently recovering on SSV Tiber.
Dabrowskj, Pawel, Captain, SA Second Fleet, CO SSV Tiber.
Gek, Jannah, Staff Commander, SA Second Fleet, XO SSV Tiber.
Solus, Mordin (salarian): Doctor, Unaffiliated Ex-STG, friend of Shepard, died ensuring the delivery of the genophage cure on Tuchanka.
?, Okeer (krogan): Medical Doctor and Warlord, unknown clan affiliation, scientist who bred Grunt. Died on Korlus at the time of Grunt's retrieval.

Chapter 26:

Heplorn, Maelon (salarian): Doctor, Unaffiliated Ex-STG, former assistant of Mordin Solus, did initial research on genophage cure in 2184–5.

Chapter 31:

Sanders, Kahlee, Ph.D., A Director at the Jon Grissom Academy, temporarily attached to the science fleets, friend of Admiral Anderson, top computer scientist, involved in undoing various Cerberus plots in the late 2170's and early 2180's, and Reaper artifacts since the 2160's.
Grayson, Gillian, biotic, last known location on the quarian craft Idenna, possibly the strongest human biotic ever born, autistic, protegée of Kahlee Sanders.
Mitra, Hendel, bodyguard, former head of security at the Jon Grissom Academy, last known location on the quarian craft Idenna, protector of Gillian Grayson.

Chapter 33:

Urdnot, Bakara or Eve (krogan), shaman, shaman and leader of the female clan Urdnot, only survivor of the research for and source of the synthesized genophage cure, currently trying to co-ordinate resistance in a temporary stronghold in the outskirts of the ancient, ruined city of Marokh-Kai.
Raik, Agot (krogan), child, member of the female clan Raik, runner and errand boy in the makeshift Urdnot-Raik-Jorgal stronghold.
Jurdon, Etrak (krogan), mercenary, freelance mercenary and clan Jurdon outcast, veteran merc, currently under clan Urdnot authority, was not able to join the krogan troops bound for Palaven and other battlefields on time.
Raik, Amak (krogan), elder, elder of the informal female clan council, leader of the female clan Raik, currently co-ordinating resistance with Bakara.
Jorgal, Nise (krogan), clan leader and communications specialist, leader of the female clan Jorgal, currently co-ordinating with Amak and Bakara.

Chapter 37:

Napassa, Lilani (asari), architect, daughter of Matriarch Aethyta and Mykenares of Kahje, mother of two, last known location Thessia.
Mykenares or Mykenares of Kahje (hanar), Spectre, peace officer and preacher, best-known for his role in dismantling a terrorist plot to destroy the Citadel between 1825 and 1827 CE. Died in 1832 CE, and was posthumously granted the title of Spectre—the first non-council species individual ever to earn it.

Chapter 39:

Propokov, Erven, rear admiral, Systems Alliance VI Research Centre, Chief of Staff SA Research, old friend of Kahlee Sanders, currently coordinating efforts to restart the geth and EDI.
Amirai, Bine or Bine'Amirai nar Taw (quarian), VI research apprentice, Quarian Admiralty Board Pilgrimage Coordination, a young quarian resuming his previously interrupted pilgrimage, currently working as assistant to Kahlee Sanders, son of Inan'Amirai.

Chapter 43:

Hareei, Sienni (asari), Huntress, Asari Third Fleet, one of the guards assigned to protect Commander Shepard's cabin on the Tiber

Chapter 47:

Te Earun, Onais or Matriarch Onais (asari), Matriarch, Asari 1st Fleet, Chief of Security of Destiny Ascension, Matriarch Lidanya's head of security.
Vehea, Hilla (asari), Huntress, Asari 1st Fleet, Destiny Ascension Ground Operations, Strike Team 34, CO/commando. Leading the evac for Kasumi and Jack
Risa, Irilin "Iri" (asari), Commando, Asari 1st Fleet, Destiny Ascension Ground Operations, Strike Team 34, commando.
Aven, Maniia "Mii" (asari), Huntress, Asari 1st Fleet, Destiny Ascension Ground Operations, Strike Team 34, commando, sister of Lyssa.
T'Vi, Rilann "Rinn" (asari), Commando, Asari 1st Fleet, Destiny Ascension Ground Operations, Strike Team 34, medic/commando.
Aven, Lyssa (asari), Pilot, Asari 1st Fleet, Destiny Ascension Ground Operations, Strike Team 34, shuttle pilot, sister of Maniia.
Carann, Tienni "Tai" (asari), Commando, Asari 1st Fleet, Destiny Ascension Ground Operations, Strike Team 34, commando/shuttle gunner.

Chapter 48:

Zaranesc, Sesta "Zar" (turian), Lieutenant, Citadel Security (C-Sec), C-Sec Tayseri Ward, a sector chief and VIP manager.

Chapter 49:

Uska (asari), a very young asari girl still hiding out from Reaper forces a week after the end of the war with her yet unnamed baby sister. Parents' whereabouts unknown.

Chapter 52:

Matsuo, Aki: Medical Doctor, Hospital fleet, gynecological and colorectal surgeon on SSMV Danube.
Ji, An: Medical Doctor, Hospital fleet, plastic and cybernetic surgeon on SSMV Danube.

Chapter 55:

Arili, Malla (asari): huntress, independent commando unit assigned to the Shrike Abyssal, ACO of unit, acquainted with Linesse Alene

Parysac, Iules (turian): C-Sec officer, Tayseri ward, victim of murder.
Varela, Zara: C-Sec officer, Tayseri ward, victim of murder.

Chapter 59:

Rabal, Chorban (salarian): self-proclaimed scientist who in 2183 studied the Keepers and uncovered some significant details about them. Whereabouts unknown.