Kahlee Sanders

Kahlee Sanders is a female human and First Lieutenant working for the Systems Alliance. Kahlee is one of the Alliance's top computer and systems technicians, and a known expert in synthetic intelligence. She is a major player in the events of Mass Effect: Revelation and Mass Effect: Ascension.

Kahlee is of average height and build; her most notable feature is shoulder-length naturally blonde hair, which, as a genetically recessive trait, has become a rarity by the 2100s.

Mass Effect: Revelation
Born in Earth's Texan Megapolis in 2139, to an unknown mother and Admiral Jon Grissom, Kahlee enlisted in the Alliance at twenty-two, just after her mother died. She was one of the technical staff at the research base at Sidon, on Dr. Shu Qian's team. The research base was conducting research on artificial intelligence, but Dr. Qian was also studying an unknown artifact that had been discovered near geth space, a study that was verging on an obsession. Kahlee discovered Dr. Qian's irrational behavior and decided to report him to her superiors in the Alliance. Kahlee, however, was afraid that her superiors could not be trusted and that they knew about the research anyway. She downloaded copies of data and Qian's research files, and fled to the planet Elysium.

When Kahlee heard that the base on Sidon had been destroyed, she realised she was in danger, and was almost captured by the Blue Suns before she could escape. She went to see her father, Admiral Jon Grissom, to ask for his help, even though they hadn't spoken in years. Grissom kept her hidden at his house, until they were attacked by the krogan battlemaster, Skarr. Lieutenant David Anderson - who'd come to the house asking about Kahlee - returned to rescue them from the krogan but it was eventually Saren Arterius who drove Skarr off, having tracked him to Elysium.

Saren questioned Kahlee about the research being conducted on Sidon, but Kahlee lied and claimed that it was biotics research. Saren didn't entirely believe her, but the lie was convincing enough to make him leave. With the help of one of her father's underworld contacts, Kahlee was sneaked off Elysium under a false identity with Anderson to protect her. Once she knew she could trust him, Kahlee gave Anderson an OSD containing the research she had taken from the base, and explained that Qian was the traitor who had caused the destruction at Sidon.

When she was being shipped off Camala, however, Kahlee was captured by Skarr and sent to help Dr. Qian with his research. Anderson and Saren stormed the refinery where Dr. Qian and Kahlee were being hidden - having argued with Saren about saving her, Anderson managed to rescue Kahlee just before Saren destroyed the facility and killed many of the workers in the process. After the conflict, Kahlee was promoted and transferred to a classified posting. Though she and Anderson were attracted to each other, they chose not to pursue the relationship.

Mass Effect: Ascension
Kahlee spent the next ten years working on classified projects for the Alliance before she eventually returned to civilian life as a consultant. After three years, in 2178, she was offered a position on the Ascension Project's board of directors, likely because of the Ascension Project's use of VIs in their new biotic implants. Living on the Jon Grissom Academy, Kahlee became devoted to the children of the Ascension Project, especially Gillian Grayson. She also began a relationship with a co-worker, Dr. Jiro Toshiwa, and made friends with the Academy's security chief Hendel Mitra, though they sometimes clashed over Paul Grayson's right to see his daughter.

After hearing of the geth attack on the Citadel, Kahlee wondered if there was a connection between Qian's artifact and Saren's flagship Sovereign, but she was more concerned with the welfare of the children at the Project, particularly Gillian after an incident in the Academy's cafeteria. When Jiro Toshiwa was revealed as a Cerberus agent, attacking Hendel when he tried to protect Gillian, Kahlee didn't hesitate to use her Alliance combat training to subdue Toshiwa and have him interrogated.

Not knowing Paul Grayson was a Cerberus operative as well, Kahlee agreed to let him remove his daughter from the Academy and take her into the Terminus Systems, on the condition that she and Hendel accompanied them. However, Paul Grayson was double-crossed by his old colleague, Pel, and Kahlee realised they were about to be sold to the Collectors. She was rescued when Lemm'Shal nar Tesleya launched an assault on Pel's warehouse, but didn't understand why the young quarian recognised her or how he knew her service history with the Alliance. Kahlee drove a stolen rover through the warehouse wall and helped Lemm to steal a shuttle to take them to the safety of the Migrant Fleet.

Along with Gillian and Hendel, Kahlee was quarantined aboard their shuttle on the cruiser Idenna until summoned to a meeting with members of the Conclave and Admiralty Board. She was asked about her expertise in synthetic intelligence, and about her history with Saren Arterius, but Kahlee couldn't tell them anything conclusive about Saren or the Reapers. She was also concerned that her actions at Sidon might have enabled Saren to attack the Citadel itself. However, as Captain Ysin'Mal vas Idenna told her later, even the possibility that the quarians could find a Reaper and use it to control the geth made Kahlee and the others a potent political symbol aboard the Migrant Fleet.

Kahlee was on the front lines when Paul Grayson and Cerberus attacked the Idenna, fighting to help defend the ship and to keep Gillian Grayson from harm. When the battle went badly, Kahlee went looking for Gillian, only to be attacked by Golo and viciously beaten while Paul Grayson watched. She appealed to Grayson's love for his daughter, telling him that Gillian had been happy aboard the Flotilla, and Cerberus was just turning her into a weapon to use against the rest of the galaxy. Grayson finally relented and killed Golo, saving the Idenna when he warned of explosive charges planted aboard the Cyniad.

Paul Grayson was given to Kahlee as a prisoner by the quarians, and she intended to return him to the Alliance for questioning. But while en route to Cuervo, Grayson overpowered Kahlee and took her stunner, using it on both her and Lemm. They woke up on the volus world of Daleon, unharmed, but Grayson was long gone. Kahlee asked Lemm to take her back to the Ascension Project; there were still children there who needed her help.

Mass Effect: Retribution
In the third Mass Effect novel, Kahlee finds out what is happening to Paul Grayson and contacts David Anderson to help save Grayson's life.

Trivia

 * In Mass Effect, Captain Anderson does not mention Kahlee when he tells Commander Shepard about his past with Saren.
 * Kahlee can be seen on the cover of Mass Effect: Ascension &mdash; the female figure at the bottom left &mdash; but appears only as a silhouette.
 * Kahlee may be a homage to Kaylee of the Firefly TV series, much the same as Captain Mal (Captain Malcolm Reynolds) and Gillian Grayson (River Tam), both of whom appear in the second Mass Effect novel