41 ⟁ Male ⟁ Turian ⟁ Soldier
A P P E A R A N C E
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Image property of Archangel7021 https://archangel7021.deviantart.com/favourites/64102932/Turian-MarkingsSabinus is a typical turian in height and stature, standing at 6’05” (182cm) and weighing around 208 pounds (94 kilograms), he maintains a strict military-style fitness regimen where he exercises every day, schedule permitting. As such, under his brown-grey carapace is a fit and lean individual that can still keep up with soldiers two decades his junior.
Compared to other turian facial markings, Sabinus’ tattoos are much more subtle being of a white-grey colouration that covers the entirety of lips and a rectangular patch on his chin up until the bottom of his nose and the start of his cheeks following along the length of the fringes on either side of his head, and the entirety of his nose branching off into a trident on his brow, and unmarked eye sockets. Within the light colouration nest a distinctive pair of intelligent and thoughtful sea-green eyes peer out like ponds on a sandy shore. His metallic carapace is pitted and cracked like most turians, giving his body a very rough appearance in contrast to other species, barring krogan.
A distinctive feature of Sabinus’ face is the bottom portion of his right mandible is missing, a stark reminder of the dangers of combat as he received the wound from a sniper while on deployment. He also earned another bullet scar inches from his heart from the same engagement
H I S T O R Y
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Born in 2143CE on Palaven to Quinnus and Atia Tannyx, both professionals in decidedly different fields. His father was a historian for the 16th Legion and his mother a member of the hastatim, the anti-insurgency “execution squad” that enforces order across the various turian colonies. As such, it was drilled into Sabinus from birth an appreciation and respect for both the proud history of turian civilization and the paramount importance of civic order, prompting him to apply himself in his studies as a youth to prepare himself for a climb up the meritocracy, honing both his body and mind in anticipation of his 15th birthday where he would begin his period of conscription.
While admittedly average in most fields, Sabinus’ dedication and innate ability to grasp concepts and be flexible in his approaches prevented him from getting stuck in the same stagnant rut as some of his peers and rivals attempting to position themselves for a favourable future. While not a particularly popular child, Sabinus maintained an air of levity and a good-natured approach to life that nevertheless endeared him to his peers and made him a well-liked team member across the numerous team exercises that the turian children were often drilled in.
Sabinus was only 14 when the Relay 314 Incident occurred, alarming the young turian, who was just about to enter the service. This was the first contact scenario since the turians were brought in to fight the Krogan Rebellions, and before that, the Rachni Wars that had in turn brought the krogan into galactic civilization. Although neither of his parents were called into active service due to both the short duration of the conflict and their respective positions within the Hierarchy, a very real concern had taken hold of Sabinus about being sent straight from training into war with these new aliens.
While his fears never materialized and a peaceful resolution was reached being the Citadel Council and humanity, Sabinus nevertheless found equal parts intrigue and fear about the humans that had given the turian fleet a bloody nose with a shocking defeat. He resolved that he would study the newcomers and prepare himself for being the vanguard against their future aggressions. With a new resolve and that goal in mind, Sabinus set his sights on joining the special forces and headed into his period of service with renewed vigor and determination.
After a rather typical basic and infantry training course where Sabinus had managed to cross the threshold into the top third of his class, he was attached to the 17th Marine Legion as a fresh recruit into the ranks where he was a model soldier, never complaining and maintaining a high level of initiative, prompting his commanding officers to recommend him for leadership training. It was around this time that Sabinus’ resolve in the meritocracy had begun to see its first cracks when word of violent suppression by Hierarchy forces lead to high civilian and suspected rebel casualties on some of the more troubled colonies in protest of the human menace.
Disgusted to find that his own mother had been responsible for being one of the pivotal figures in the crackdown on Oma Ker, Sabinus felt there had to be a better way forward that wasn’t so severe. It was one thing to study turian military history and see casualty numbers and percentages in the text, presented as something to be proud of, but seeing it put into practice against people who may have been grossly misguided but nevertheless still citizens put down mercilessly left a pit in Sabinus’ stomach. Turians were known for being prideful to a fault, but at what cost? He resolved he’d find another way and lead by example.
During the leadership training, Sabinus was criticized for being overly cautious and electing to commit to a fighting retreat and regroup in a fireteam on fireteam training exercise that had prompted him to prolong the skirmish for several hours, ultimately losing two of his ten squad members while utterly defeating the enemy fireteam, which pressed the attack when they felt they were at the advantage. While Sabinus’ team was ultimately victorious, his commanders were torn on his methodology; outside of the evident victory, he could have secured it prior to his retreat at greater risk, but it would have prevented the enemy from regrouping under a more experienced officer.
Defending his actions, Sabinus declared that wasting lives left less soldiers for the next fight, be it a new offensive or securing the position. He refused to commit troops to a battle that would all but guarantee heavy losses if a better alternative existed, and that those under his command deserved better than to be expended like game pieces. It wasn’t a position that was widely appreciated by those up the chain of command, but it was one that endeared his fellow candidates to him when operating under Sabinus’ command.
Deciding that a life as an infantryman wasn’t going to work out and he wasn’t likely to see the promotions that would enable him to begin making changes at a regimental level, Sabinus finished off his leadership training and quietly applied for a transfer to the military police, which was accepted without much fanfare and within a few short months was posted to Digeris, finding police work to be much more in line with what he wished to see out of the Hierarchy, although it itself wasn’t without its problems, but it was something he could work with.
While his concerns about humanity lingered, enough problems persisted on Digeris that demanded most of his attention, and the focus on peacefully resolving conflicts and minimizing loss of life appealed to Sabinus, who quickly rose through the ranks until he became a sergeant in one of the capital’s precincts, his combat arm training eventually lending itself to becoming a member of the city’s emergency response unit. Commendations came naturally with the job and Sabinus earned a reputation for being a calm and reasonable voice that could defuse salvageable situations and a hard hitting, no-nonsense strike leader in situations where decisive tactical maneuvers were required, such as bomb threats and hostage situations.
One such situation became a pivotal moment in the turian’s life, and nearly the end of it, when a vacationing group of humans were taken hostage by the same sort of anti-human malcontents that Atia Tannyx, his mother, had put down years before, putting Sabinus in a situation that required him to attempt to rescue the same people he’d grown up wary of at the best of times, and deeply concerned about the rest. When negotiations fell through, Sabinus’s team assaulted the resort, killing the hostage takers and beginning to extract the human hostages. While escorting them to the safety of the armoured vehicles that had acted as a barricade, a hidden sniper’s shot rang out, piercing Sabinus’ helmet and ripping part of one of his mandibles from his face.
Scrambling to cover the humans, another shot entered through his back, missing his spine and his heart, but puncturing one of his lungs in the process, incapacitating the strike leader but ultimately saving the hostages’ lives before the threat was neutralized. Quick acting medical personnel saved Sabinus’ life, although it was a long road to recovery, even with the best of asari and salarian medical expertise, forcing the turian to endure multiple trips to several state of the art medical facilities to save his collapsed lung and regrow the lost tissue.
For the next six years, Sabinus remained on modified duties behind a desk until the clock passed his 30th birthday, completing his mandatory civil service period. Retiring from the force in 2173CE, Sabinus was left without a clear purpose or direction in life as he recovered from his near-fatal injury. Deciding to make the most of his time at home to keep his mind busy, he turned cleaning into a military-like discipline and began to develop something of a green thumb as gardening became a major hobby of his. While he did his best to keep his mind occupied, his separation from the service had begun to take his toll; being outside of a unit and without a clear sense of purpose, the turian suffered through a bought of depression and listlessness that robbed him of a sense of self-worth and drive, a lingering animosity lingered towards his injuries.
It was perhaps fortune or fate that a message arrived in his terminal from the very people he saved during the hostage rescue, stating that they had looked for Sabinus for years without much luck due to the government’s insistence of protecting the identities of their operatives. This remained true for the couple until contact was made with Sabinus’ former commander who pointed the family in the right direction, making a decision off of the official channels due to his belief that the request was genuine and that Sabinus probably could use some reminder that what he did was honourable.
Wishing to thank him for his sacrifice and giving them a second shot at life, the humans invited Sabinus to Elysium to their estate to at least try to give some measure of thanks to the turian that saved their lives. Having nothing holding him back and a sense of obligation, Sabinus accepted Marshal and Lucy Lamond’s invitation and chartered a ship to the alpine human colony out in the Attican Traverse. Little did Sabinus know at the time, but his month stay would end up being a defining moment his life and far more meaningful than he would have ever expected when he agreed to the offer.
Without knowing what to expect from human culture, at this juncture in Sabinus’ life his suspicions of humans had largely eroded in light of field experience and shifting political climates towards the galactic newcomers, who seemed to adapt readily to just about everything; it was only about a decade since they made first contact with another alien species and now they were regular fixtures on the Citadel and making the most of their new connections. Parts of humanity reminded Sabinus of the Volus thanks to their shrewd business-minded acumen and abilities to work around imposed restrictions to turn their circumstances to their advantage.
Sabinus was certain that whatever politicians offered several Traverse worlds for colonization thought they were making a clever joke given how dangerous the region was, but humans jumped at the opportunity with alarming enthusiasm, somehow both defying expectation and enraging the Batarian Hegemony in one shot. One of the crown jewels of these new colonies was the one Sabinus was invited to and there was a certain amount of trepidation about visiting a human world after a lifetime of distrust and apprehension of the species. What he wasn’t expecting was that he’d enjoy it to the point he would move there to start a new life, finding the break from the Hierarchy that he didn’t realize was stifling him.
Receiving gratitude for actions that had simply been expected for being a turian was a novel and slightly uncomfortable sensation for Sabinus, but he was nevertheless appreciative of the opportunities he was offered, the Lamonds using their networks to get him a security position at the city’s spaceport, which was in need of alien officers to deal with the increasing traffic from Citadel space. He maintained a close friendship with the Lamonds during his time on Elysium and he found the human populace to mostly be kind and agreeable, as well as being far more even handed with how they handled trouble. Workplace promotions and bonuses were something he had no idea existed, and it was clear that humans on the whole tended to value individuals more so than the collective, which required something of a shift of perspective for Sabinus. A few sour encounters with prejudiced humans only helped him to finally erode what lingering distrust he had for humanity as he could see the person he used to be in those individuals and he understood now how irrational and petty it was.
After hearing about the geth and Sovereign’s attack on the Citadel and the subsequent fallout, Sabinus decided to the closest thing to active duty he could manage. While Elysium was comfortable and his security position had enough interesting situations to keep his mind sharp, he found himself missing the structured and disciplined turian lifestyle and a sense of adventure began to take root. Sabinus felt that he needed to prepare for a war that might be coming to defend the homes he’d grown to love, and he needed to understand the threats that had struck the biggest blow to galactic stability since the Krogan Rebellions. He had been around for 4 decades and yet there was still so much of the galaxy that was unknown to him. It was perhaps fate or good fortune that the name Caelestis crossed his desk, a chance to venture off the beaten path and find out what was out there. Deciding that it was a risk worth taking, Sabinus reached out to Naryxa Kesir to offer his services as a chief security and intelligence officer.
P E R S O N A L I T Y
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Sabinus is an agreeable individual and an effective leader, caring about those who serve with him and his friends and their physical well-being. He is a flexible individual who looks at the big picture and tries to find the best way to accomplish his goals while minimizing risk, to which end he often will seek council with his comrades to count on their experiences and knowledge to fill in the gaps he may not have considered. Having something of a hybrid turian and human perspective on life, he carries this over into any job he takes on where he combines the flexibility and adaptability of human doctrine with the rigid discipline and overwhelming show of force of the turian doctrine to handle situations where diplomacy has failed. He is willing to change tactics and approaches to situations if one way doesn’t work, preferring to use his team like a toolkit to find what works rather than a blunt instrument.
Maintaining a friendly and compassionate personality, Sabinus cares greatly for his team and mission, and as such maintains an air of optimism and determination that acts as a reassurance for those whose hope may falter in light of several months of bleak survival and diminishing supplies or other seemingly insurmountable obstacle. He leads by example and takes pains to understand those he works with, only exposing them to areas outside of their comfort zones if all other options are extinguished. His turian training shines through in the darkest of times, and his unflappable disposition under fire and ability to make split-second decisions is an inspiration to his fireteam. It’s important for him that everyone makes it home at the end of the day.
Recreationally, Sabinus is a gardener and he likes to work with his hands on big projects with the eventual goal to build T himself a home by hand using the wilderness’ natural resources and grow a garden with seeds from back home. He isn’t much of a drinker, limiting himself to one or two drinks at a time, and he is still an avid sportsman, keeping himself physically active and immersed in the community where possible. He isn’t one for getting involved in the politics and despite his personal opinions, he thinks everyone has a role to play in making things work, even if they can’t exactly agree on methods. So long as people stay in their lane and don’t try to micromanage his job, he’s more than happy to extend the courtesy.
A B I L I T I E S
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• Concussive Shot
• Fortification
• Cryo Rounds
• Adrenaline Rush
• Fragmentation Grenade
E Q U I P M E N T
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M-55 Argus Assault Rifle
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Lieberschaft 2180 “Evicerator” shotgun
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Elanus Risk Control Services M-3 Predator Heavy Pistol
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Kassa Fabrication M-23 Incisor Sniper Rifle
S T R E N G T H S & W E A K N E S S E S
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• Disciplined under pressure
• Empathetic leadership
• Martial outlook and conditioning limits consideration of other options
• Limited technical ability
G O A L S & R E G R E T S
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• Goal: To understand the nature of the threat the galaxy faces, Sabinus does not believe the attack on the Citadel was an isolated incident.
• Regret: Giving so many years of his life and sacrificing his body to a government that viewed individuals as expendable, and himself for having a part of himself that misses it.
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