Armando-Owen Bailey

Armando-Owen Bailey was a human officer of Citadel Security Services stationed in the Zakera Ward of the Citadel. A blunt, no-nonsense lawman who valued results over procedure, he rose from a neglected beat officer to a captain and ultimately a Commander overseeing security for the Citadel Embassies. Over the years he crossed paths repeatedly with Commander Shepard, aiding investigations across the Wards and standing among the defenders when Cerberus struck the station during the Reaper War.

A neglected officer#

Bailey served in the Systems Alliance Navy before settling into police work. Having grown tired of life aboard ship, he joined Citadel Security to remain in one place and spend more time with his family, though his long absences had left those relationships strained. For years he was an unremarkable officer, overlooked in a force whose senior ranks were overwhelmingly turian. That changed after the geth assault on the Citadel, when the heavy losses C-Sec suffered forced the organization to begin hiring and promoting more humans. Bailey was among those who rose in the aftermath.

By the time of his postings in the Zakera Ward, Bailey had built a reputation as a competent and impartial officer who cared more about results than rulebooks or idealism. He called his beat a rough and tumble precinct, likening the work of policing the Wards to policing a sprawling Earth city, and held that serious crime there demanded hard methods. He was comfortable beating suspects, accepting bribes, and tolerating formality only until it got in the way of the job. He preferred field work to a desk, distrusted politicians, and, though he enjoyed life on the Citadel, missed the food of Earth, lamenting in particular the lack of sockeye salmon aboard the station.

Dealings with Shepard#

When Shepard returned to the Citadel after a long absence, Bailey proved a useful ally. With the Commander officially listed as dead, Bailey was able to cut through the resulting bureaucratic tangle by quietly altering the records, sparing Shepard days of administrative delay. He offered his services on the Commander's investigations, including clearing civilians from any area where Shepard was working a case. During Garrus's pursuit of a betrayer, Bailey pointed out a forger who had been exploiting the C-Sec system, and he later provided a lead to Shepard and Thane Krios as they searched for Thane's son.

Commander of the Embassies#

Early in 2186, Bailey was hoping to take leave to visit his child on Earth when Councilor Udina summoned him, claiming that C-Sec had been compromised and ordering him to investigate Executor Pallin, who had been seen in his precinct. Bailey tracked Pallin to an office building, found two dead officers inside, and confronted him. Pallin denied the charges and, when told to explain himself to the officers who would arrest him, attacked Bailey instead. Pallin was killed and Bailey was wounded in the shoulder. Though Bailey reported his misgivings, noting that Pallin had seemed genuinely surprised by the accusations, Udina dismissed the doubts and promoted Bailey to the rank of Commander, putting his leave on hold.

In his new post, Bailey oversaw security for the Citadel Embassies, a position he came to regard as more administrative than law enforcement, leaving him feeling like an assistant to the Council. Like many humans on the station, he had family on Earth when the Reaper invasion began, and he lost contact with his children once the communication network failed.

The Cerberus coup#

When Cerberus launched a surprise assault on the Citadel, Bailey was wounded attempting to retake C-Sec Headquarters, but Shepard's arrival drove off his attackers. He then set up a backup network so his fellow officers could coordinate a counterattack, and uncovered a warning that someone on the station had betrayed the Council to Cerberus. Bailey helped Shepard race to reach the Council before the assassin Kai Leng, after it became clear that Udina was the traitor, and arrived in person to force Leng to flee. With the coup broken, Bailey reflected ruefully that Udina had always rubbed him the wrong way and that he felt made a fool of, but he was grateful to Shepard for saving his life, remarking that without the Commander's help both Udina and Cerberus would have been dancing on his grave.