The last thing they needed was for a Spectre to become involved. Elite agents of the Citadel’s covert Special Tactics and Recon branch, Spectres answered directly to the Council itself. Highly trained individuals authorized to act above and outside the law, the Spectres had one simple mandate: protect galactic stability at any and all costs.
Maeko Matsuo: This is an unscheduled arrival. I need your credentials. Shepard: I'm a Spectre. My name is Shepard. Kaira Stirling: Load of horsecrap, ma'am. Maeko Matsuo: We will need to confirm that.
2012 June, Stew Wilson, “Mass Effecting the Thousand Suns”, in RPG Review[2], number 16, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 42:
Being considered for Spectre membership is a 2-point Benefit, as is membership in C-Sec, the Citadel Fleet, or a military, police, or mercenary organization. Being a Spectre is a 3-point benefit.
At the beginning of the opening game, Shepard becomes the first human Spectre, an elite operative given broad authority to neutralize threats to galactic order in the galaxy.
2022 July 12, Haley Perry, “The 6 Best Free PC Games From Amazon’s Prime Day Giveaway”, in Arthur Gies, Mark Smirniotis, editors, The New York Times[4], →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 12 July 2022, Wirecutter[5]:
The Mass Effect trilogy is a series of sci-fi role-playing games set in a future after humans have made first contact and are now part of a collective of species spanning the galaxy. You assume the role of Commander Shepard, the first human Spectre, who must investigate the disappearances of several human colonies.
2023, Jerome Winter, “"There Is No War, There Is Only Harvest": Diplomatic Realpolitik and Combat Gameplay in Mass Effect”, in BioWare's Mass Effect[6], →DOI, →ISBN, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 37:
In the first Mass Effect, Shepard first meets Garrus in the turian's capacity as a hard-boiled detective for the C-Sec Office; Shepard recruits the turian for the mission, as Garrus from the beginning suspects his narrative foil, another turian Spectre agent, Saren Arterius, of going rogue, despite receiving misguided protection from the Ctiadel Council.
