Special Tasks Group
The Salarian Covert Operations Arm
The Special Tasks Group was the salarian espionage organization, deployed by the Citadel Council or the Salarian Union for counterterrorism, infiltration, and assassination. Its wartime effectiveness provided the template for the Council's Spectre program.
The Special Tasks Group, commonly abbreviated STG, was the salarian espionage organization, usually deployed by the Citadel Council or the Salarian Union. Its operators worked in independent cells, carrying out dangerous missions of counterterrorism, infiltration, reconnaissance, assassination, and sabotage. Brutally practical and devoted to completing their objectives regardless of cost, STG agents formed the field arm of a salarian military built around gathering complete intelligence before striking, and their effectiveness during the Krogan Rebellions provided the template the Council used to establish the Spectres.
Role and organization#
The STG formed a large part of the salarian military, reflecting the salarian focus on gathering thorough intelligence before committing to action. Its operators were used to monitor developing situations because they drew less attention than more prominent figures such as Spectres, and the same discretion let them quietly handle troublesome individuals. They were brutally practical and devoted to their missions regardless of the cost to others or themselves, yet highly flexible, accustomed to operating on minimal resources and adapting their tactics as circumstances changed. STG records were sealed and even the greatest agents were known only by codenames, among them the Ever Alert, who held armies at bay with hidden facts, and the Silent Step, said to have defeated a nation with a single shot. Operators who showed exceptional skill were among the first Spectre candidates, and when seconded to the Council the STG served as Infiltration Regiments, a complementary but separate arm to the Spectres that enjoyed better funding.
History and operations#
One of the earliest known STG operations was the hunt for the rogue intelligence service called the League of One, conducted shortly after the formation of the Citadel Council in 500 BCE and considered complete when League-related incidents ceased. In Commander Shepard's era, the STG 3rd Infiltration Regiment was deployed to Virmire during the search for the rogue Spectre Saren Arterius; the regiment located his base and attempted to alert the Council, which received only an empty transmission. When Shepard arrived to investigate and the base was ultimately destroyed, how many of the operatives survived depended on the course of the operation.
The genophage question#
During the Reaper War, an STG facility on Sur'Kesh conducted research on the genophage and on uplifting other species. After a former agent's work toward a cure, the STG retrieved the surviving krogan females from Tuchanka and brought them to this facility. While the last female was being moved through the base, Cerberus forces attacked, having been fed information by STG agents who opposed the cure's development, and Shepard extracted her amid the assault. The STG had also sabotaged the Shroud on Tuchanka after the Krogan Rebellions to prevent any future cure from being dispersed, a complication for Shepard's effort to win krogan support against the Reapers. Whether that sabotage was repaired, and whether a genuine cure was disseminated at all, depended on the decisions made during the war, and various STG elements could be drawn into the Allied effort based on Shepard's prior actions.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the Special Tasks Group?
- The Special Tasks Group, abbreviated STG, was the salarian espionage organization, usually deployed by the Citadel Council or the Salarian Union. Its operators worked in independent cells, carrying out missions of counterterrorism, infiltration, reconnaissance, assassination, and sabotage.
- How was the STG organized?
- The STG formed a large part of the salarian military and worked in flexible independent cells, accustomed to operating on minimal resources and adapting their tactics as circumstances changed. Its records were sealed, and even its greatest agents were known only by codenames such as the Ever Alert and the Silent Step.
- What was the connection between the STG and the Spectres?
- The STG's effectiveness during the Krogan Rebellions provided the template the Council used to establish the Spectres. Operators who showed exceptional skill were among the first Spectre candidates, and when seconded to the Council the STG served as Infiltration Regiments, a separate arm to the Spectres that enjoyed better funding.
- What was the STG's role on Virmire?
- In Commander Shepard's era, the STG 3rd Infiltration Regiment was deployed to Virmire during the search for the rogue Spectre Saren Arterius. The regiment located his base and attempted to alert the Council, which received only an empty transmission, and how many operatives survived depended on the course of the operation.
- How was the STG involved in the genophage question?
- During the Reaper War, an STG facility on Sur'Kesh conducted research on the genophage, and the STG retrieved surviving krogan females from Tuchanka to that facility. The STG had also sabotaged the Shroud on Tuchanka after the Krogan Rebellions to prevent any future cure from being dispersed, complicating Shepard's effort to win krogan support against the Reapers.
Sources
- WikiSpecial Tasks Group — Mass Effect Wiki entry
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Jondum Bau
Jondum Bau was a salarian Spectre and Special Tasks Group agent who investigated the possible indoctrination of hanar officials during the Reaper War, enlisting Commander Shepard to root out an indoctrinated diplomat on the Citadel.
Kirrahe
Captain Kirrahe was a salarian Special Tasks Group officer whose covert regiment uncovered Saren Arterius' breeding facility on Virmire, a brave and inspiring commander remembered for the speech he gave his men before a near-suicidal assault.
Maelon Heplorn
Maelon Heplorn was a salarian geneticist, former Special Tasks Group operative, and student of Mordin Solus who helped modify the genophage. Consumed by guilt over what he came to see as cultural genocide, he later defected to the krogan and pursued a cure through increasingly brutal experiments.
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Mordin Solus was a salarian geneticist and former Special Tasks Group operative who helped modify the krogan genophage and later sought to undo it. Recruited by Commander Shepard against the Collectors, he wrestled with the consequences of his work until the end.
Padok Wiks
Padok Wiks was a salarian Special Tasks Group scientist who commanded the research base on Sur'Kesh and devoted himself to curing the genophage, driven by a conviction that his people had wronged the krogan by manipulating their evolution.
Salarian
The salarians of Sur'Kesh were warm-blooded amphibians with a hyperactive metabolism, fast-thinking and short-lived, renowned for invention, espionage, and non-linear reasoning. The second species to join the Citadel, they uplifted the krogan and later engineered the genophage.
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Scorpion: Salarian STG Heavy Pistol
The Scorpion was a heavy pistol originally issued to the salarian Special Tasks Group so small units could hold off far larger forces. It fired low-velocity, squash-head projectiles that stuck to whatever they hit and, when planted on a surface, turned into proximity mines.
Spectre
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Spectres
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