Alien Races Overview (Q Effect)

Here's a quick overview of the various alien races that appear in this story, for those of you who either aren't familiar with either Star Trek or Mass Effect, those who are familiar with one but not the other, or who are familiar with both but need a little refresher. This is not an in-depth guide, it's just the basics meant to serve as a quick at a glance guide. If you want more information about any of the canon races listed below, I'd suggest that you play the Mass Effect games, watch Star Trek, or visit the Mass Effect wiki for the Mass Effect races or Memory Alpha for the Star Trek races and look them up there.

The only races that I'll be doing more than a quick at a glance for on this page are any non-canon races that I personally created for the story.

## Mass Effect Races

### Council Races

#### Asari Republic

The asari, native to the planet Thessia, are a mono-gendered race with no concept of gender differences. Male and female have no real meaning to them and they don't consider themselves to be one or the other. Their bodies do take the form of what would traditionally be considered female, however, so to the other races of the galaxy, they're mostly viewed as an all-female race. Despite not seeing themselves as being one or the other, they do use feminine pronouns and refer to their children as their daughters, but this may have been done simply to simplify language translations for the galaxy's other races.

They can live for over 1000 years, generally passing through three life stages:

* **Maiden:** Beginning at puberty, this stage is marked by curiosity and restlessness, with a drive to explore and experience new things.
* **Matron:** Beginning around 350 years of age, this stage is marked by a desire to settle down and raise a family.
* **Matriarch:** Beginning around the age of 700, many Asari become active in their community as sages and councilors, dispensing wisdom from their centuries of experience.

Of course, the above life stages are only an approximate guide, as the ages for when each stage begins do not apply universally to every asari. Each life stage begins when a given asari feels they've reached the appropriate level of maturity, as they don't all necessarily feel the things usually associated with each stage. For example, there are maidens who feel no desire to explore, matrons who have no desire for children, and matriarchs who have no desire to be active in their community.

Asari reproduce through a form of parthenogenesis, although they are not asexual and do require a partner in order to reproduce. They can, however, reproduce with any species and any gender. Physical contact with their partners is not strictly necessary, as their reproductive process is telepathically-based, where they attune their mind to that of their partner in a process known as melding. They pass on two sets of their own genes to their offspring, only one of which is passed on unaltered. During the melding, the asari explores their partner's genetic heritage and desirable traits which is then used as a map to randomize the second set of genes. No DNA is shared, however, and thus all children born to an asari, even if the other parent is of a different species, is always an asari.

It was the asari who first discovered the Citadel in the year 580 BCE. Their first contact with another alien race, the salarians, came sixty years later and it was the asari who suggested to the salarians the formation of the Citadel Council, leading to the two races becoming the body's founding members in the year 500 BCE.

#### Salarian Union

The salarians, native to the planet Sur'Kesh, are warm-blooded amphibians with hyperactive metabolisms. Whether its thinking, talking, moving, or even sleeping (they only need one hour per day), they tend to do it far more quickly than other races and because of this most other races seem sluggish and dull-witted to them. A side effect of their enhanced metabolism, however, is that they tend to have relatively short lifespans, with salarians over the of 40 being rare.

Known for their non-linear thinking and observation skills, salarians have a particular aptitude for research and espionage. Many of them are constantly experimenting and inventing and it's pretty much accepted fact that they always know more than what they're telling you.

It was the salarians who were responsible for advancing the development of the primitive krogan species to use as soldiers during the Rachni Wars. They also created the genophage bioweapon that the turians deployed to quell the Krogan Rebellions several centuries later.

Salarians have no concept of romantic or sexual desire and derive no pleasure from sexual relations, which is viewed only for reproductive purposes. Salarian females, known as Dalatrasses, hold almost all of the political power in their society. Though males can rise to positions of authority in business, academia, or the military, they rarely have any input in political matters. One of the rare exceptions to this rule is Ridin Valern, the Salarian Citadel Councilor.

## Original Non-Canon Races

### Aaronaiens

The aaronaiens, native to the planet Aaronaia in the Gamma Quadrant, are a mono-gendered race with no concept of gender differences. Their outward appearance and anatomy is what most other races would consider to be male, but they don't see themselves as being male or female, for all that they do use male pronouns and refer to their offspring as their sons. Like many of the galaxy's races, they are remarkably human-like in their appearance and would be completely indistinguishable from a human were it not for two obvious differences: they all have two heads and a pair of large bird-like wings.

Aaronaiens are theoretically immortal and eternally young in that their homeworld has rings of concentrated metaphasic radiation, similar to that of the Ba'ku homeworld, which stops the aging process upon reaching physical maturity and heals any injuries they sustain and causes their cellular structure to be in a constant state of regeneration. Unlike the Ba'ku homeworld, however, the radiation of Aaronaia's rings is far more concentrated, resulting in it not being necessary for them to remain on the planet in order to benefit from the radiation. Strictly speaking, they only need to spend two to three weeks twice a year (so a total of four to six weeks) on the planet to benefit from the radiation.

Of course, for non-aaronaiens it's necessary to remain on the planet for at least five full years in order to build up enough of the radiation in their systems that they can go off-world and still benefit with only four to six weeks a year of exposure. There is a way around this, however, if one marries an aaronaien, as they can create a telepathic bond with their non-aaronaien romantic partners that allows them to share their built-up radiation exposure. This does, however, make it necessary for both to add an additional eight to twelve weeks of time spent on Aaronaia, unless they're making use of other means to prevent aging, such as the anti-aging serum invented by Vulcan Dr. Sethan Brel'Koth, who himself married two pairs of Aaronaiens.