Martin Burns

Chairman Burns is head of the Alliance Parliamentary Subcommittee for Transhuman Studies, whose purview most notably covers human biotics. Recently the Subcommittee held a vote on whether or not to pay reparations to L2 biotics with severe health problems, but Burns voted against (and presumably vetoed) the proposal. A group of L2 biotics wrote letters to the Subcommittee asking him to reconsider, but were ignored. Getting desperate and more angry, the L2s finally kidnapped Chairman Burns, took him aboard the MSV Ontario, and attempted to hide in the asteroid belt of the Farinata system.

The Normandy catches up with the Ontario before she can reach the asteroid belt, and Commander Shepard leads a rescue party inside. Burns is being held at gunpoint in the back of the freighter, begging for his life and claiming that he's changed his mind. The L2s are prepared to execute Burns anyway, saying he's had his chance already and blew it.

If pushed, the L2s will kill Chairman Burns before being killed themselves by the squad. Alternatively, Shepard can make the case that the L2s need Chairman Burns alive to make any real changes. If he survives, Burns claims he had no idea that the L2s were so desperate, and vows that the reparations will come.