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, Mass Effect: Ascension, and Mass Effect: Retribution.

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 22nd century.

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 coerced with the threat of torture to 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 and their families 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 Mass Effect: Retribution, three years have passed since the events of Ascension. Kahlee Sanders is still working with the Ascension Project at the Grissom Academy. Kahlee has remained in contact with Paul Grayson since he was forced to go into hiding on Omega and provides him with updates about his daughter Gillian once a month. Shortly after a conversation with Grayson, Kahlee receives another communication from him marked urgent which includes a pre-recorded message. The message informs her that Grayson has been captured by Cerberus. Attached to the message are all of Grayson's files on the human-survivalist organization. She takes the information to Admiral David Anderson on the Citadel for help. Deciding that informing the Systems Alliance, which has been infiltrated by Cerberus operatives, would be too risky, they turn instead to the turians. Orinia, the turian ambassador on the Citadel, agrees to use turian forces to take down Cerberus.

Later, Kahlee and Anderson receive word that a turian force had raided a Cerberus space station and recovered Grayson. Worryingly, however, the turian troops have not made any further contact. Orinia assumes that Grayson betrayed the turians, but Kahlee defends him, asking to go to the space station herself to learn what happened. Kahlee, Anderson, and an escort of turians travel to the station, where they learn that Cerberus has been experimenting on Grayson with Reaper technology. The station then comes under attack from Aria T'Loak's henchmen, who kill the turians and take Kahlee and Anderson to Omega as hostages. Aria had been asked by the Illusive Man to aid in the hunt for the escaped, Reaper-controlled Grayson; Aria had readily agreed, believing Grayson to be behind the death of her daughter Liselle. Kahlee is forced to a make a fake distress call to Grayson to lure him out. Grayson arrives and finds Kahlee, but the Reapers controlling him realize they've fallen into a trap and Grayson is able to fight his way out. Afterward, Kahlee and Anderson are offered a ride off Omega by Kai Leng, a Cerberus assassin who has also been tracking Grayson. They refuse to aid Cerberus and fight Leng, but Leng overpowers them and makes a second offer, this time claiming that Grayson's condition can be reversed if they would help Cerberus find him. They accept this time, but at the shuttle bay Anderson is able to incapacitate Leng. Taking Leng's shuttle and securing Leng aboard it, Kahlee and Anderson set a course for Grissom Academy, Grayson's destination.

At the Academy, Kahlee and Anderson leave Leng behind and split up. Kahlee goes to find the space station's guards while Anderson heads toward the labs; meanwhile, Leng breaks loose and enlists the help of an Academy student, Nick Donahue, to take out the station's "attackers". Kahlee, Anderson, Leng, and Nick encounter Grayson and fight him. Kahlee is almost indoctrinated in the battle. Eventually, Anderson and Leng kill Grayson using a shotgun and pistol. In the aftermath, Anderson explains to Kahlee that he wants to study Grayson's remains in the hopes of discovering something to use against the Reapers. Anderson asks Kahlee to join his research team. She accepts, and kisses Anderson.

Mass Effect: Deception
''This section features material from the first edition of Mass Effect: Deception, which BioWare has acknowledged contains discrepancies with other Mass Effect lore. Once revised editions of the book are released, this section will be updated.''

In Mass Effect: Deception, Kahlee Sanders is on the Citadel with David Anderson and Nick Donahue to present evidence to the Council that the Reapers were behind Paul Grayson's attack on Grissom Academy. Even after being shown Grayson's Reaper-mutated body, however, the Council is unconvinced and argues that Cerberus may be the sole culprit. Afterward, Sanders and Anderson discover that Nick has gone missing and may have become involved with a biotic supremacist group known as the Biotic Underground.

Mass Effect 3
During the war with the Reapers, Kahlee sent out a communication to have her students evacuated from the Academy before it was overrun by the Reapers. Initially, a turian cruiser responded, but after Samantha Traynor aboard the Normandy SR-2 under Commander Shepard examined the signal, she found that it was fake and that it had the same false signatures that lead Shepard into a Collector Ambush the previous year. Traynor says that it is in fact a Cerberus Cruiser heading for the Academy.

Should Shepard choose to act on Traynor's information, upon arriving at the Academy, the Normandy finds the cruiser and a dozen fighters blockading the Academy. Kahlee contacts the Normandy and tells them that Cerberus has taken over the docking bays but she can get a cargo hatch open so Shepard's team can board to save her and her students. Joker pulls the Cruiser and fighters out of position and allows Cortez flying one of the Normandy's Kodiaks, and the squad to enter the Academy.

After entering the Academy and eliminating the Cerberus troops in the hall, Shepard manages to reach the room she has taken shelter in and after forcing the door open, the Commander tells Kahlee it's safe to leave her cover. Kahlee begins working on a computer in an attempt to locate any remaining students in the Academy while filling in Shepard on their latest efforts to create a Biotic Strike Team composed of their most talented students. Throughout the remainder of the mission, she aids Shepard via comm messages with directions for how to escape the station. At the conclusion of it, she thanks Shepard for the help. Kahlee also voices her opinion that the students, having proved themselves in their recent combat, may be ready to take on more than simple support roles.

When mentioning Anderson, Kahlee expresses a sense of deep caring and concern for the Admiral and his safety. Later, Shepard can read a message Kahlee sends to Anderson from Liara's terminal, stating that he better stay alive and stay safe, for her sake.

Trivia

 * Before Mass Effect 3, Kahlee was only seen on the cover of Mass Effect: Ascension as a silhouette. Mass Effect 3 marks the first time her face is ever seen.

Kahlee Sanders