#biotics

We’re told that biotics abilities are performed by using gestures that activate the nervous system.

However, even within a species I highly doubt that the gestures themselves are universal.

It’s far more likely that there are ‘common’ gestures that are good enough for the majority of biotics in a species. These most likely become the ‘standard’ system taught to new biotics.

But invariably there will be branches (or completely different schools) from the standard system. Some biotics will thrive in some of these styles and do miserably in others.

(Some biotics will only be capable in these other styles – whether or not they’re ever exposed to them is a dice roll!)

For species that have had biotics for a long time there will be specialty branches. Besides combat, there are also branches specializing in mining, zero gravity, sports, medicine, etc.

It will also be common for worlds to have their own systems.

The asari by far have the most diverse systems; it’s common for a single asari world to have many competing ones. The asari are also unusual in that there is no one standard asari system, but most asari republics do have a standard. Huntress units often have their own combat specialized style and new recruits are expected to learn their unit’s system from their teammates when they first join.

Turian worlds have fought tooth and nail to retain their unique systems. The Cabals require all of their biotics to learn the Hierarchy’s standard system to ensure unit cohesion but normally turn a blind eye to the use of other systems so long as military operations do not suffer. Even outside the Hierarchy most turian biotics learn both the Hierarchy standard system and the one dominant in their region.

While the salarians have an official standard system, each family also has their own and that’s the style family biotics will prioritize. It’s treated as a closely guarded secret, which can cause it’s own problems when a family may go generations without a biotic and then the new biotic has to learn the style from books and videos left by their predecessors. The standard salarian style is provided to ensure all biotics have some functional system to learn from and so biotics will use their abilities publicly without fear of their family style being ‘stolen’.

After first contact, the Systems Alliance prioritized teaching their biotics combat abilities as part of catching up with the rest of the galaxy. One of the reasons biotics struggled so much at Jump Zero is because biotics are normally taught a broader range of skills first so they can become more comfortable with their abilities; going straight to combat skills meant that they did not have the foundation that combat abilities are normally developed from. Think of attempting to learn calculus without knowing basic arithmetic.

“Oh that darn paperwork

Wouldn’t it be better if it all just…..blew away?”

*Hacket voice*

“Don’t let it happen again”