Captain Ventralis

Captain Ventralis is head of the military personnel assigned to the labs at Noveria. Commander Shepard meets him after taking the passenger tram to Rift Station.

Ventralis is manning the Rift Station perimeter against the Rachni that keep coming down the tram tunnels. As he explains, he and his men have been on guard for hours and they are exhausted, short on sleep and taking stims to keep going. A group of attacking Rachni interrupt him as he's speaking - Shepard is puzzled as to why they keep attacking this position as it's a natural kill zone, but Ventralis can't explain it. He talks a little about the facility and the situation but he doesn't know that much about the labs themselves.

When asked about Matriarch Benezia, Ventralis says the matriarch is in the hot labs and hands over a pass so Shepard can take the emergency elevator down there. He can also give Shepard permission to go into the quarantined medical bay to develop a cure for the sick scientists, with a warning that Shepard's squad must be scanned before they are allowed to leave.

If Shepard goes straight to the hot labs looking for Benezia, only to be mobbed by Rachni soldiers, the team will return to find Ventralis' post deserted. Ventralis is waiting for Shepard in the barracks. He apologises, saying he's under Benezia's orders and that he sent Shepard's people to the hot labs hoping the Rachni would kill them. He then opens fire and is killed.