Author's Note: The Mass Effect franchise is both the property of Electronic Arts and Bioware. Additionally, this is an alternate timeline and reality of the Mass Effect universe borrowing from the original canon of the established franchise.

Mass Effect - Secret Admirer 1

By

stan4us

It was another day for the Turian police detective named Garrus Vakarian working at the C-Sec Academy of the massive space station and capital city of the known Milky Way Galaxy, the Citadel. Walking into his office to start his day of work, he made sure that he had the door to his room locked by the control of his omni-tool. It was required of him as an order by the Council ambassadors for his participation of a top secret protect by the Citadel races; the first thing he works on every day before getting his normal police work started. Garrus was chosen to do this, and not some one within the military of the Turian Hierarchy on the home planet of Palavan, due to his skill in being one of the best detectives in Citadel Space, and his analytical skills combined with common Turian military way of thinking. What he was put in charge of doing was studying of another sentient species. A new race call 'Humans', recently discovered a few years ago, from a planet called 'Earth.'

Originally discovered through finding a collection of 4 Human wandering satellites that each carried a 'golden plaque' or a 'golden record' of data about themselves and their planet from an Asari deep-space exploration ship charting unknown space, the Citadel has kept their finding of the Human race and their planet a secret as they learn all about them and their civilization. They did this to see if it was worth making first friendly contact with them or not unlike the tragic mistakes of the past involving the Rachni, Krogan, and Yagh. If not, they would be left alone to their own existence and forgotten to the galaxy. It was also kept secret to prevent this new race being known to all beyond the control of the Citadel races so that the Humans would not be interfered with or harmed by others, like the Quarians seeking to settle on Earth by uplifting them before they were ready or the Batarians seeing the Human race as a resource for enslavement.

Garrus's task was clear to him in his secret duty for the Citadel on behalf of the Turian people. He would watch the wars and combat skills these Human's armies performed with vastly varying degrees of battle strategies, fighting techniques, and weaponry. This was due to his race's fundamental nature in being the galaxy's military talent. Unlike the Korgans who were just savage warlords that craved bloodlust and brutality, Turians mostly were honored soldiers that favored discipline and efficiency. Thus, the Asari and Salarians made them the militant third arm of the Citadel government to police the galaxy when the Turians were first discovered by them centuries ago. So, Garrus' task was to observe the military and law enforcement activities and strategies of this Human race through all the data the Salarian Task Group gathers on a weekly basis from hacking into the communication transmissions from Earth and visual footage from orbit via fly-by missions of the Humans themselves and their daily lives. The Salarians kept themselves busy focusing on Human technology and intellect while the Asari looked over their cultures, religions, and governments.

It was amazing and interesting to see such unique and differentiating combinations of sophistication and ingenuity in such many varying ways all within one race in how they lived, died, worked, played, thought, believed, governed, and fought. The only thing lacking in further study is their biology and history, but most of the data on that topic was provided by the Human's records they gave on those 4 satellites and from their broadcasts of television, radio, and internet via their planet-orbiting satellite networks. Just the amount of information from those sources alone without the actual observation reconnaissance efforts was overwhelmingly plentiful and astounding. In such a short time, these Humans accomplished some feats with ever increasing pace easily rivaling some other races of the galaxy who took hundreds or thousands of years to achieve. They even done, made, and thought of things that no one else had ever before in the galaxy, while still growing and progressing faster and harder the more advanced they become and each obstacle they overcome. This is all in despite of their many levels and types of divisions in geography and society, not even counting their genetics.

However, the most important thing to Garrus in all of it was actually not what the Turians or the rest of the Citadel races cared and thought about Humans so far. The first thing before even starting to do this top secret work on learning and understanding the Humans in regards of warfare on his computer for the Council ambassadors was a separate file he secretly created and personally gathered from any new data he received from the STG recon missions that had something about his particular interest. No one else but his and his alone. It was of a Human female.

Her name was Jane Shepard. A 'Military Police' soldier of the 'United States Army' who was deployed in the mountainous battlefields of a nation state called 'Afghanistan.' Although these Humans looked very similar to the Asari except for their dual gender of male and female, not having any blue skin color, and possess fur-like growth on their heads which Jane's was red, one might think they were not that anatomically unique and special. But, to Garrus, this particular Human female was something worthwhile in his eyes. Garrus sees this Jane like nothing else in comparison. Not to any Asari, or any female Turian even though she fights and performs as exquisitely as one being a soldier as well a police officer like himself. No. Jane was something entirely new. Something quite special. Something that only Garrus can understand in his heart. Something, in turn, his mind would describe as love, more so than respect as a warrior of honor and guardian of the law, for this beautiful and brave alien he has grown to watch over fondly more often every time being herself as an interesting and skillful, even fun and lively, person outside of combat.

Looking over the newest video material he found of Jane and collected in a digital album along with biographical information dug up through her planet's internet databases, Garrus watched her perform her duties and live life, both in good and bad times. As his mandibles flared in a Turian equivalent of a smile every time he sees her on any video, he just wished Jane knew she had a secret admirer amongst the stars...