Salarian

Salarians are noted for their high-speed metabolism, which allow them to function on just one hour of sleep a day.  Their minds and bodies work faster than most sapient races, making them seem restless or hyperactive.  The drawback of this active metabolism is a short lifespan of around 40 human years.

The Salarians are amphibian haplo-diploid egg-layers; unfertilized eggs produce males and fertilized eggs produce females.  Once a year, a Salarian female will lay a clutch of dozens of eggs.  Social rules prevent all but a fraction from being fertilized.  As a result, there is one female for every nine males.

Salarians have photographic memories and rarely forget a fact.  They also possess a form of psychological “imprinting”, tending to defer to those they knew in their youth.  Salarian hatching is a solemn ritual in which the clan Dalatrass, isolates herself with the eggs.  The young salarians psychologically imprint on her, and for the most part, defer to her wishes.

During the hatching of daughters, the Dalatrasses of the mother and father’s clans are present during the imprinting.  This ensures the offspring have equal loyalty to both clans, ensuring the desired dynastic and political unity.

The Salarian government is called “The Salarian Union”.  It is a labyrinthine web of matrilineal bloodlines, with political alliances formed through interbreeding.

In many ways, the Salarian political network functions like the noble families of Earth’s Medieval Europe.  Structurally, the government consists of fiefdoms, baronies, duchies, planets, and marches (colonization clusters).  These are human loanwords, as the original Salarian terms are unpronounceable by the human tongue.  A single Dalatrass, matriarchal head-of-household similar to the role of Asari’ matriarchs, rules each area.  Each Dalatrass represents an increasing amount of territory and prestige within the Salarian political web.

Due to the psychological imprints, Salarian’s tend to be loyal to their families.  Through interbreeding, a socio-economic caste of loyalty emerges.  This caste can be divided into five circles; however, Salarians’ photographic memories allow them to recognize all their myriad relatives.  Salarian loyalty is greatest to their first circle and diminishes from there.

In principle, the Salarian military is similar to the Alliance, a small volunteer army that focuses on maneuver warfare (revamped version of Attrition Warfare used in the trenches of WWI).  What differentiates the Salarians is not their equipment or doctrine, but their intelligence services and rules of engagement.  The Salarians believe that “…war should be won before it begins”.

Conventional wisdom holds that the Salarians know everything about everyone, which is not far from the truth.  In war, the unquestioned superiority of their intelligence services allows them to use their small military to maximum effectiveness.  Well before fighting breaks out, they possess complete knowledge of their enemy’s positions, intentions, and timetable.

In every war the Salarians have fought, they struck first and without warning (ex. Virmire).  The code of the Salarians that says, “To know an enemy plans to attack and to let it happen is folly. To announce your plans to attack is insanity.”  They find the human moral concepts of “Do not fire, until fired upon” and “Declare a war before prosecuting it” incredibly naïve.  In defensive wars, they execute devastating preemptive strikes hours before the enemy’s own attacks.  On the offense, they never telegraph their intentions with a declaration of war before attacking.

Biotics are virtually unknown in the Salarian military.  Those with such abilities are considered too valuable to be used in battle and are assigned to intelligence services.

While capable of defending themselves against most threats, the Salarians know that they are small fish in a universe filled with sharks.  As a point of survival, they have cultivated strong alliances with larger powers, particularly with the Turians.  Though the relationship between the two species was rocky at first due to the Krogan takeover fiasco, the Salarians go to great lengths to keep this relationship strong enough that anyone who might threaten them, risks Turian intervention.

Before they joined the Citadel Council, the Salarians’ most potent military tool was a small reconnaissance team known as the League of One.  Their primary training was in espionage and assassination.  They maintained only twelve in all; the team was adept at infiltrating the tightest defenses and eliminating all the necessary obstacles.  Only a few top members of government and military were privy to the League’s identities.  League members wore no distinguishing garments, and held no particular rank.  The only evidence of their participation in the League was a small medallion presented to members upon induction. This secrecy was maintained until the formation of the Council.

 In an effort to dispel rumors and appease their new Asari partners, the Salarian Union released all classified documents pertaining to the League.  The League of One, shortly after, was exposed and in danger of being hunted by enemies of the Salarians (possibly the work of the Shadow Broker).  Before any harm could be done, the team mysteriously disappeared.  Most assumed this was a convenient lie to help hide their identities, but a few months later, the inner cabinet was murdered.  Though there was no incriminating evidence, it was assumed the League was responsible.  Realizing the threat posed by this rogue outfit, the Special Tasks Group (STG) dispatched a team of hunters.  When they did not return, the STG dispatched ten of its brightest operators with broad discretionary powers.  Only two returned; they reported no evidence of the League.

No further incidents were reported and it was assumed the League was wiped out.  Some recently declassified documents however, have suggested there might have been a thirteenth member who eluded the Salarian military.

Salarian intelligence field agents are grouped into an organization called the Special Tasks Group.  STG operators work in independent cells, performing dangerous missions such as counterterrorism, infiltration, reconnaissance, assassination, and sabotage.  They developed as a result from the League of One going rouge, and in some ways, replaced its directive as the government’s main counterintelligence bureau.

The STG is a proactive organization, puncturing worrisome trends before they become movements.  At any time, a dozen groups are operating covertly within the lawless Terminus Systems, sowing dissent among the various fractions.  Civilian analysts also note how troublesome “hinge point” individuals in Terminus frequently meet unexpected deaths.

STG operators are feared throughout the galaxy for their clear-eyed, remorseless practicality.  They are willing to do whatever it takes to achieve their mission, even if it requires collateral damage or results in the team’s destruction.  In many ways, they are akin to the Council Spectres, however having much less authority.

Recently, a number of STG cells have been redeployed from Salarian Union. It is assumed they are in the Terminus and Attican Traverse, investigating reports of Geth activity beyond the Perseus Veil.