12 years earlier

"Ensign Kane, please sit down" gestured the high ranking military official inside the large office. The Ensign strode to a chair in front of the large desk. He had dress blues on, with several medals and accommodations displayed on his uniform. The young officer took a seat and sat straight.

"How have you been, son?" asked the senior officer in a relaxed manner.

"Good sir, our squad just got done with a tour patrolling the outer planets, ensuring our colonies were fortified and trained."

"Good, good. Look, let's get down to brass tacks here. You have been in the Alliance military for three years now and have risen in the ranks quite fast" the senior officer said as he read from a file. "You have proved yourself an exceptional soldier, rescuing soldiers from behind lines, to dealing with smugglers and everything in between."

"Thank you sir" nodded Ensign Kane.

"The thing that concerns me however is that, in your record it shows that you employ a non-lethal method to combat, even in the direst of situations."

Casey did not say anything, simply nodding.

"But, even when all seemed up shit creek, you always complete the objective without a causality. That's impressive to say the least."

"Thank you, sir."

"Don't thank me yet. Can you explain to me why we should keep a soldier in the Alliance that is unwilling to kill when necessary for his species?"

Casey took a deep breath, "There are better ways to deal with enemies. Death affected my life in a way that I never want to see happen to anyone else. No one deserves to die. That is why I will not kill anyone. Ever."

"Yes, I know of the tragedy that took your parents away, I'm sorry son. But would you then consider yourself a pacifist?"

"No," quickly replied Casey, "Violence is necessary. Inflicting pain, either physical or mental, is the only way people understand what they have done. I'm not a pacifist, my record shows that. I will do whatever it takes to help others, but I will not kill."

The Captain sat back in his chair, thinking to himself. He stared at the young Ensign for a few seconds and then leaned back to the desk.

"Well, I've heard all I need to." The elder man stood up and put his hand out. "Congratulations."

Casey stood with the man and shook his outstretched hand, but had a confused look on his face, "Thank you sir, but for what?"

"Well I had to talk to you first before I approved you for N7 training. And although your methods are different, different may be just what that program needs. Good luck soldier." The military man then saluted and promptly dismissed Casey. After that Casey was transferred to the facility in Brazil to begin N7 training with the best operatives on Earth.

10 years earlier

Training at the Interplanetary Combatives Training facility is said to be one of the most grueling experiences for soldiers. There, they train for twenty hours a day with little food or sleep and are expected to perform difficult combat exercises. Those who excel earn N1 rank and then are put through more advanced training. This training includes zero-G combat, combat diving, trauma care for human and alien alike and the most intense combat instruction.

Only the most elite warriors earn N6, it shows that they have learned all there is to know and that the only way to learn more is through actual combat experience. This is the only way to earn the coveted N7 rank.

Casey had excelled in all his training and was among the top in his class. After attaining N6 rank, he was put on numerous combat missions, all of which he succeeded in with no enemy causalities. He became well known among the academy as the "Silent Knight" because of his methods of infiltrating areas and then not killing a single person. He worked alone on most of his missions, that way he made sure there were no casualties.

N6's were authorized to carry any equipment they thought was needed to carry out their missions. Casey always made sure to bring along smoke bombs, several double sided throwing knives, and an omni-tool set with electric capabilities. He was told that he only needed one more high profile mission to acquire his N7 rank, but he really didn't care, Casey just wanted to help people and make sure no one died in the process.

"Kane, I have an operation for you. We have a team in need of an infiltration unit for a dire situation" said the older Captain on the holo screen. Casey was heading back to Earth in a shuttle after dealing with an intel recovery mission on the outskirts of Alliance space.

"What's the problem sir?" Casey asked as he stepped closer to the screen.

"A few hours ago, five asari ex-commandos shot their way into the human embassy on Thessia. They killed six and injured twice that. They demanded two human hostages to come with them and so they left with one male and a female ambassador." Pictures of the two kidnapped humans appeared on the screen.

"The commando's former trainer and now matriarch has tracked them down and is willing to help us get the them back. She tracked them to a small facility in the system and has disabled their long range scanners, they have no idea we're coming."

Casey studied the screen, memorizing faces and information.

"The team is already on their way, so prep your gear and head to these coordinates a.s.a.p." the captain finished as the numbers flashed on the screen.

Casey punched the numbers into the autopilot and started to prep his equipment. He gathered his smoke bombs, throwing knives and calibrated his omni-tool. After everything checked out, he began to slip the sleek black armor on, piece by piece. Once the body armor was set, he picked up the recon hood of the set and slipped it over his head. The black weave, though thin, was still extremely strong and had two eye lenses for his HUD to show up on. With the armor complete a blue shimmer flickered from head to toe, indicating that the shields were online.

"ETA: two minutes" said the monotone virtual intelligence, guiding the shuttle. The small ship passed over two people huddled around a Mako vehicle. Casey had programmed the virtual intelligence to never land near a crowd and so the shuttle flew over a hill and landed behind it.

Casey took one last deep breathe, exited the shuttle and made his way over the grassy hill. As he strode towards the two, he recognized them from the briefing. For the sake of confidentiality, not only from listening parties on personal radios, but from each other, everyone was assigned a codename. The man ahead of him was "Golden Son", a born and raised military man, who was held in very high esteem with the Alliance. The asari standing next to him was the commando's former trainer as well as the liaison between the Alliance and Asari governments. She was given the codename "Blue Moon".

The man was the first to notice Casey; he turned around, "Kane, right?"

"Let's keep it to codenames, Golden Son" frowned Casey under his recon mask.

"Heh" chuckled the man before turning to the asari, "Blue Moon this is Silent Knight, one of our top infiltration units."

The asari faced Casey and seemed to have an aura of wisdom about her, one that can only come with the hundreds of years matriarchs like her live for. "Honor to meet you, sir Knight" she started smile, "I wish it was under better circumstances."

Casey studied her for a moment and then turned to face the human soldier, "How many inside?"

The stern faced man brought his right wrist up as his orange omni-tool flared to life. "We know that five of these commandos shot their way into the embassy and walked out with two people; one male and one female ambassador. They entered a Kiosk class shuttle which may or may not have been piloted by an unknown person and taken directly to this facility."

"So five, possibly six, commandos and two hostages. Anything you can tell me about this group?" Casey directed to the asari matriarch.

"They are highly trained in warfare; this squad is responsible for some of the most black op missions in the asari military."

Casey nodded, "I'll go in and disable the security and give you two a lay out of the building. You guys will move in and find cover. I will find the hostages and you will only engage if you feel it is absolutely necessary to, no exceptions, understood?"

The human and asari nodded their heads and readied their weapons. Casey turned and started towards the back of the facility. "Wait, don't you want to know why these commandos went rogue?" asked the asari behind him.

Casey stopped walking and turned his head over his left shoulder, "No."