"I don't dislike the Quarians. Quite the opposite really. I rather admire them. Their tenacity and will to survive in spite of the odds continually being stacked against them is worthy of praise. The Council thinks we're brave and hardy? Hah. They haven't met our neighbors..."
- Vice Admiral Mitth'raw'nuruodo, Chiss Expansionary Defense Force. 2146.
The Quarians
Driven from their home system by the Geth nearly three centuries ago, most Quarians (Vun'zan'ah ch'un'ifn, meaning "suited monk") now live aboard the Migrant Fleet, a flotilla of fifty-thousand spaceships all running on the Quarians' own version of the slipspace drive.
The Quarians are, like the Chiss and Humans, a mammalian species with primate characteristics, though they are generally shorter and slimmer than either species. They have skeletal systems, facial structures, and sexual dimorphisms are identical as well, though basic similarities end there. Quarians are dextro-amino based, a trait only shared by the Turians of Citadel space, and thus find foods eaten by other races to be inedible or at worse times, poisonous. Physically speaking, Quarians have three fingers on both hands which include a thumb, an index finger, and a long finger, as well as three toes on each foot, though male Quarians seem to lack a third toe. Instead of hair or scalp crests like the Asari, Quarians have three fleshy, triangular flaps on their heads, which lack any visible ears. Sprouting from the bases of these flaps area number of quill-like cilia that grow in length with age and can be stylized similar to hair. Quarian legs also bow back significantly, giving them an almost digitigrade appearance. Quarian skin color generally ranges from pale white to dark purple, and their eyes are a bright, bio-luminescent white.
The most distinguishing feature of Quarian biology, however, would be their weak immune systems. The Quarian home planet of Rannoch has no insect life and very few pathogens, and what few microbes and viruses that were native were actually beneficial to Quarian biology in the long run. This led to the Quarians developing a sort of symbiotic relationship with their environment.
History
Early History
The Quarians first evolved on Rannoch, an arid planet with minimal ocean coverage attributed to the planet's close proximity to its star, Tikkun. The Tikkun system is located on the edge of the Bakchou Arm, the nearest spiral arm to Ettarue where the Chiss and Covenant species reside. So far, the Quarians are the only sapient organic species to be encountered in Bakchou, which has been minimally explored by other civilizations.
The prehistoric Quarians were discovered by the Chozo tens of thousands of years ago, and apparently took an interest in the species, setting up an outpost on the planet Adas, the third planet from Tikkun.
Since the beginning of their recorded history, the Quarians have always been a technologically capable species. The became spacefaring in 1770, shortly thereafter discovering the Chozo outpost on Adas which had long fallen into ruin. The ruins, though, held blueprints for an older variation of the slipspace drive. The Quarians were able to decipher what they could from the blueprints and used it to develop their own version, making them the only species besides the Chiss and the Covenant races to develop slipspace as their original means of FTL travel. Their slipspace capabilities are not quite as advanced though, as their drives generate less microjumps within a single slipspace transition to measure the dilation involved in a jump, ranking them behind the Covenant and the Chiss in terms of effectiveness.
Despite this technological success, Quarian expansion was not overly successful itself. The Quarians' immune systems and dextro-amino biologies made colonization of other worlds incredibly difficult. Before the Geth uprising, only about seven worlds were successfully colonized, including the four other terrestrial worlds in the Tikkun system as well as three extrasolar worlds: Haestrom, Ke'tosh, and Jirali.
The Geth War
This is the piece of Quarian history that the species is most renownedly known for throughout the galaxy. The Geth War, one of numerous titles bestowed, was a short but savage war between the Quarian people and a synthetic race of their own creation called the Geth. The Chozo outpost on Adas revealed to the Quarians they were not alone in the galaxy, and the species knew that contact with another civilization was inevitable. However, in the event of hostile contact, the Quarians were uneasy. Well aware of their own biological fallacies in the face of threats, the Quarians conceived the Geth as an army to be used as a deterrent against hostile extraterrestrials.
Construction of the Geth began in the late 1800s. The title "Geth" translate from the Quarian language of Khelish as "servant of the people". The Geth were formerly unintelligent machines that, similar to VI programs utilized by the Citadel races, bore very little intelligence other than programmed task vectors. But due to modifications made by the Quarians in an attempt to perform more complex tasks, the Geth developed a sophisticated neural network. With this change, the Geth gradually became more intelligent and unpredictable, and began questioning the nature of their existence to their Quarian handlers.
This development terrified the Quarians for a number of reasons. One was that the Quarians had created an artificial intelligence, something which they had no prior experience in, and were unsure of the consequences. The biggest fear here was that an artificial intelligence with the ability to learn would quickly surpass any organic species and become beyond their control. But another great reason for the Quarians' fear, was that the very existence of the Geth was a violation of Quarian religious beliefs. Ancient Quarian scriptures show that slavery is considered to be the most heinous of crimes and is highly reviled in the Quarian society. By obtaining sapience, the Geth had effectively become slaves to the Quarians.
Faced with this dilemma, the Quarians attempted a total shutdown of the Geth network. This failed, as the Geth had long adapted past this, and the Quarians had no choice by that point than to declare martial law. Taking up arms, the Quarians engaged in a mass military movement against Geth units, but severely underestimated the power and sophistication of the Geth's neural network. The Geth adapted to defend themselves, and with their opponents taking up arms themselves, the Quarians were slaughtered.
Less than 1% of the Quarian population survived. A few million escaped and left the former Quarian-occupied space in a large fleet, fully expecting the Geth to pursue them. But, they never did. Apparantly convinced of their safety, the Geth chose not to pursue the Quarians.
The Geth War was an outright disaster for the Quarian people. The Quarian immune systems had already made colonization difficult, but with the limited resources of a refugee population, it became impossible. Multiple generations aboard sterile ships compounded this problem even more, forcing the Quarians into permanent protective suits for survival. For nearly three centuries, the Quarians traversed across Forn Gorek in the Migrant Fleet, as it came to be called, taking what resources they could find from multiple worlds they came across to sustain themselves. They even retain hopes of someday reclaiming Rannoch from the Geth.
First Contact
The Quarians made first contact with the Chiss in 2093, shortly after the start of the Insurrectionist movement. The Quarians came upon the system of Balmorra, home to a large industrial colony on the planet Nevoota. Initial attempts at contact between the two sides was difficult at first due to the language barrier. Things did not go much better when official negotiations took place, largely due to the revelation that the Chiss used artificial intelligence in everyday life, something that the Quarians revile and see as a danger to the galaxy as whole. What followed was a shouting match between the Quarian Admiralty Board and the Chiss delegation, culminating in the Chiss ending negotiations and kindly requesting that the Quarians vacate the system.
Despite these failed negotiations, the Chiss and the Quarians maintained a lukewarm relationship with each other. The meeting between the two races opened new realms of interest for the Quarians, including technology and resource exchange. Some Quarians who had long given up hope on reclaiming their homeworld even took up residence on Chiss worlds, while Quarian youths on their pilgrimages would often find themselves in Chiss employ. Some Quarians even hope that the Ascendancy, with the CEDF's large fleets and military, could one day help them get Rannoch back, even if the possibility is unlikely.
The Migrant Fleet
The Migrant Fleet is home to approximately 17 million Quarians. It consists of various clans, sometimes spread over several ships. Each individual ship has long been retrofitted to house as large a crew as possible. Conditions aboard every vessel in the Migrant Fleet are extremely cramped. Space is at a premium because of the sheer number of Quarians living aboard. Captains are also keen to increase the size of their crew, as this increases their status in Quarian society. Living space is therefore a priority; the cargo holds of freighters, for example, are converted into small compartments for individuals to live in, often lined with colorful fabrics to make it an individual space and reduce noise.
Quarians also serve volunteer rotations aboard the three Liveships which form the heart of the Fleet. Enormous vessels which are recognized as being incredible feats of aerospace and agricultural engineering, the Liveships provide much of the food for the Migrant Fleet. If even one of these vital ships was destroyed or damaged beyond repair, millions would starve. For this reason, they are positioned in the center of the Migrant Fleet and heavily defended by the Quarian navy. Little more is known about the Liveships, since only Quarian ships are allowed to enter the flotilla.
Everything the Quarians do must help to ensure the continued survival of the Migrant Fleet. Because of the limited resources, each Quarian must go on a rite of passage known as the Pilgrimage when they come of age. They leave the fleet and only return once they have found something of value they can bring back to their people. The Pilgrimage forms a large part of maintaining the fleet's survival, as well as being a safeguard against inbreeding. Since making contact with other races, the Pilgrimage has also given Quarians a chance to explore galactic society and appreciate their own people back on the fleet. Young Quarians are prepared for their Pilgrimage by having lessons in life outside the Migrant Fleet, receiving gifts to help them, and being treated for immunodeficiency before they are allowed to leave.
Apart from their Pilgrimages, quarians typically spend their entire lives living shipboard and contributing to the Migrant Fleet. In addition, Quarians do not normally welcome outsiders onto the Migrant Fleet, because visitors carry an unacceptable risk of contagion; taken together, these factors mean Quarians tend to be quite insular, caring little about the galaxy outside the fleet.
Government and Military
Quarian society is technically still under the same martial law as it was during the Geth War, meaning that the captain of a ship has final say in disputes. However, in practice, they are largely democratic.
Every Quarian vessel has an elected civilian council that the captain defers to for judgment. Representatives for each ship serve on the Conclave, the democratic civilian government of the Migrant Fleet that makes the day-to-day decisions about fleet business: collection of resources, the current course of the Flotilla, policing and so on. The Conclave itself is overseen by the Admiralty Board, five Quarians who can override the Conclave's decisions only if said decisions could potentially threaten the survival of the Quarians. Such a thing has only ever happened four times in history, and each time ended with the Admiralty Board members being forced to step down from their posts, letting new Quarians take their places.
The Quarian Migrant Fleet is comprised of five groups, each one commanded by a member of the Admiralty Board.
The Heavy Fleet is the Migrant Fleet's main military force and is led by Admiral Han'Gerral vas Neema. It features several heavy frigates and an advanced fighter squadron, as well as the Migrant Fleet Marine Corps, the Quarians' military arm and police force.
The Defense Fleet, commanded by Admiral Rael'Zorah vas Idenna (who is most famously known as the Quarian admiral who routed an attempted Covenant attack against the Migrant Fleet in 2145), is charged with backing up the Heavy Fleet in combat.
The Patrol Fleet manages navigation, internal security, internship conflicts, and crimes. It is currently headed by Admiral Shala'Raan vas Tonbey.
The Civilian Fleet commanded by ADmiral Zaal'Koris vas Qwib-Qwib comprises the Quarian civilian ships and the majority of the entire Migrant Fleet.
Finally, the Special Projects arm of the Migrant Fleet, representing the minority, is a collection of small research vessels responsible for numerous scientific breakthroughs utilized by the rest of the fleet. Compared to the other groups, it is relatively new, founded and currently commanded by Admiral Daro'Xen vas Moreh.
Despite the distinctions, almost every ship in the Migrant Fleet is more than capable of fighting against threats. Most weapons used by Quarian infantry forces are designed to counter synthetic forces like the Geth, including the Adas Anti-Synthetic Rifle and the Reegar Carbine. However, the Quarian armament selection does include typical, primitive bullet-based weaponry, though they are not widely used.
Diplomatic Relations
While their relationship with each other is somewhat cordial, the Quarians have a rather mixed relationship with the Chiss, their oldest political associations. The Chiss tend to see the Quarians as a nuisance due to the negative impact their fleet has when it enters a system and are rather critical of how they handled the Geth's rise to sentience. The Quarians, in turn, are extremely divided on the Chiss. As stated before, Chiss worlds and ships are ideal ventures for Quarians on their pilgrimages, and the SSR has taken in a number of Quarians as strategic consultants. But the issue of AI is something that the Quarians dislike immensely about the Ascendancy solely because of historical precedence. However, unlike the Quarians and the Geth, the Chiss and their AIs learned to fight together, and are quite comfortable with the other. Naturally, the Quarians find it insane that the Chiss' AI are even allowed to aid Chiss in matters of technology and genetic engineering.
When the Covenant launched their great war against the Ascendancy, the Quarians were understandably terrified. In the Covenant, the Quarians were met with a force more numerically and technologically superior to them in every way, possibly even more so than the Geth. For a time, the Quarians were largely divided on their stance in the war. One one side, they actually do sympathize with the Chiss and believe that when the Covenant have dealt with them, they will more than likely attempt to absorb the Quarians forcefully into their empire if not eradicate them outright. On the other, the Quarians are unwilling to endanger their fleet in war against the Covenant. The Covenant, in turn, were rather indifferent to the Quarians, not seeing them as being worth their time.
This changed in 2145, when a naval skirmish broke out between the Migrant Fleet and a Covenant battle fleet under the command of Shipmaster Juko 'Nracamaiee. The Covenant had been pursuing a Chiss force in the Vodilux Star Cluster. Survivors of the attack sought refuge aboard the Migrant Fleet, who were in the area at the time. When the Covenant learned that the Quarians were harboring the Chiss they sought to kill, they demanded they surrender. What followed was an intense verbal altercation between Shipmaster 'Nracamaiee and Admirals Rael'Zorah and Han'Gerral, escalating into a full blown naval battle. The Covenant fleet, significantly outnumbered by the entire Migrant Fleet, was decimated, but the Quarians themselves lost several vessels, including two Liveships. This cemented in the Quarians a deep hatred for the Covenant and a desire to bring them down at any cost.
The Citadel Council and Terminus Systems have no political relations with the Quarians because the Migrant Fleet has not yet passed through any area of space connected to the Mass Relays. Council military forces, though, have worked with Quarians in various naval and infantry battles against the Covenant in space outside of the Mass Relay network. Due to similarities in biology, Turian and Quarian romantic couplings have become a surprisingly common sight.