Rear Admiral Richard Barclay was a Systems Alliance soldier working in the Office of Alliance Territorial Hegemony. Following a colorful career consisting of multiple battle victories and the rescue of numerous company executives held prisoner by batarian extremists, Barclay was inducted into the OATH.
Being a soldier representing the idea of human dominance, he quickly became a contender for the chairman's position of the entire organization. His momentum was inhibited by a career devestating cover up, that Barclay was wrongly accused of, involving the assassinations of current OATH operatives. Although he was cleared of every charge, his status was forever damaged and any hopes of becoming chairman quickly evaporated.
However the incident helped him recognize the origanization is a hotbed for controversial programs, and the only method of protection was blackmail. Barclay became deeply involved with numerous projects, securing himself on many fronts within the OATH. As a result, Barclay became very informed of most programs, which garnered him the necessary "black book", containing the corrupt employees and their deeds.
In 2184 CE, Barclay was slated for arrest by the Systems Alliance, after a review committee conducted investigations into Project Valkyrie. They discovered the horrible treatment of Alliance personnel, and charged Barclay with treason. However, the admiral managed to escape after witnessing the arrest of his fellow OATH cohorts. He disappeared to Omega for the next year.
Barclay was tracked down by Nyles Gersch, the chief science officer in command of the facility orchestrating Project Valkyrie. He was kidnapped by Madelyn Farris, a biotic assassin under the control of Gersch, and held prisoner as a test subject. Horrific experiments were conducted on Barclay, before he died of exposure from Element Zero, in 2185 CE.