"Admittedly," says Kaidan, switching to working out his other calf now that the first one's no longer complaining about the winter chill, "Modern military tech's worse than useless if you don't have the support infrastructure for it. You pay a higher cost in up-front training time and in attrition with what they have here, but they can get by with a blacksmith's forge, if they have to. Hard to do that with a tac cloak."

For all his philosophising, he's still acutely aware that, shorn of his armour, his tech and his biotics, he's much more likely to land in the 'attrition' category. There's a bit of fatalism lurking in his eyes even when he smiles and takes the offered hand. "Kaidan," he introduces himself. "And despite what I just said, I still really miss my sidearm."