Rayes'Xum nar Yaron, a Quarian born in 2164, being aboard the Yaron along with his parents and several kin. His father was mainly aboard the Patrol Fleet, while his mother was a researcher focused on the Special Projects arm of the Migrant Fleet. Both were fearful of the health and protection of their child, and as such never dared to expose their child to the world outside of the migrant fleet. They were scared of their son’s curiosity, whom at the time knew relatively nothing of the world and was eager to learn. They did their best to fill that void once their son got his suit by flooding him with information that a young Quarian could understand. And when he wasn’t meant to be studying, often he would wander around the migrant fleet, listening to stories that they loved to tell. Stories of Rannoch, their beloved homeworld which was lost to them due to losing control of the geth, an artificial intelligence that they never intended to create that way. They’d speak of Quarian dancers, and their seemingly lost love for music. Little Rayes would soak in as much information as possible that he could from these stories, even if some of them weren’t actually true.
This desire for knowledge helped in his teens, as he focused a majority of his time then into doing what his parents did. From his father, he could study various navigation paths in the galaxy, and to a little further extent ship layouts and the engineering behind them. From his mother, he could further his knowledge of technology and understanding of the geth, something his mother believed that every Quarian should have a base knowledge of, to which most do. Instead of being a fighter, Rayes expertise began to shine in how to handle technology and repair or destroy it, noticing flaws in systems that would otherwise take a more trained eye to catch, and exploiting it. Exploitation came in the form of hacking, which while he was limited to certain objects on the migrant fleet, those he often did stumble across were heavily safeguarded beyond his skill comprehension at the moment, leading him to only want to become more invested in it. These skills would become vital when he could begin on his pilgrimage.
Naive, young, and somewhat confident in himself, Rayes didn’t listen to his fellow Quarians when they insisted that he go off towards the Citadel, a place where things would be the least likely to cause him harm or vise versa. They made sure to give him several parting gifts as incentives for him to listen, such as a Sirta Foundation Omni-Tool, various medical stimuli to keep him healthy should he become sick, along with Medi-Gel that a Quarian could use should he ever become injured. But instead of listening to their advice, Rayes felt bold. It was his first true experience away from the Migrant Fleet, and he wanted to make it memorable. The Citadel didn’t seem like a place that would suit him, believing it to be the easy way out of his pilgrimage. Instead, he went to a place that he believed could be exciting, Illium.
Oh boy, was in he in for a rough time there. Immediately upon arrival after transferring through several ships, the young Quarian landed in hot water and was thrown into the frying pan. He was easily kidnapped by Asari who had a multitude of ‘indentured servants’ , and thus easily sold to a faction of the Eclipse on Illium due to his prowess with technology, something the Eclipse loved to use and subsequently broke. He was forced into repairing the Eclipse’s weaponry and and technological equipment, acting as a kind of repairman for the criminal organization. And while the situation seemed hopeless as it felt like he was always under constant discrimination and surveillance, he believed something good was bound to happen. And until then, he’d have to endure with the choice he made. The discrimination came from the various Humans and Asari stationed on his section of Illium, who thought of Rayes as a cheap punching bag for their enjoyment. He often found himself having to scan the measly portions he was given, and on several occasions couldn’t eat it due to his body not being compatible with the food. Most likely some sick joke, or maybe they wanted him to get sick. He didn’t know nor care, instead doing his best not to make any sort of scenes. He played the role they wanted him to, a seemingly malleable and easily pushed around slave.
A year went by, and the Quarian had not contacted his family to inform them of his pilgrimage. In fact, to the Eclipse, they began to see the usefulness of Rayes. While he had started off small, eventually he had begun to repair the Eclipse mechs, and sometimes was forced to repair damages done to spaceships if he was given the right schematics. And if they were desperate, he’d be escorted to various terminals or infiltration operations, where his hacking skills could be put to good use. They never gave him a gun on these rare occurrences though, believing he would still try to escape if an opportunity arose. And while all was forced labor, at least, in his eyes, it was something that he liked and could vastly improve on. He got to work with weapons and mechs he had never seen before, hack systems that wouldn’t have been available on the Citadel, and even repair some of their ships, all of these encompassing new technology that the Eclipse managed to get their greedy hands on. Working with technology of this caliber wouldn’t have happened on the Citadel, however… He also wouldn’t be in an extremely dreadful situation. He wasn’t going to lie to himself, he was just a pawn, and if they ever felt he wasn’t useful, he knew they would dispose of him. They didn’t watch him as much anymore, but they still treated him like he was just a tool, and as such he was placed into terrible conditions on the off chances he would get proper rest. Often, he found himself questioning the pilgrimage, seeing this more of an eye opener than a proper trip to bring something valuable to his family… Something valuable… Surely the Eclipse, he thought, would have something. Having been in close quarters with them for so long, he had noticed they were lax around him, not being perceived as much of a threat anymore as he’d been around for well over a year now, and he would have to use that to his advantage if he ever wanted to see his home again. He knew he couldn’t beat them in a gunfight, there were simply too many and too skilled for his relatively poor gun expertise. All that time repairing their weapons, and he probably couldn’t even properly handle them himself.
Another year, and he missed the Migrant Fleet with all his heart. There was no engine on Illium, only a cage and despair. There was no bond, no loyalty, only grief and deception, and Rayes believed he’d have to use that to his advantage. As they continued to bring him on several operations for his hacking expertise, he began leaving traces that he had been there, and while he would comply with their needs, he also began saving the data for himself. The Eclipse had grown soft around checking his Omni-Tool, as two years of nothing made them feel he was at least somewhat loyal to them. But he had already started to record the technology he worked on, documenting every detail he could about their supposed latest and greatest thing that busted. While it was often not substantial at first, and generally followed with a return to working on something they had planned, eventually he began to steal more, hacking with efficiency only a Quarian could. Surely there’d be some sort of information he could use to escape? A way to send a message? Surely, he felt, someone would find and put together the clues he had left behind... He had learned of awful things that he missed in his absence from some of the information he had kept, such as the citadel being attacked by something called a reaper, the supposed death and revival of a human Spectre named Commander Shepard… It was hard to swallow how much time had past… And how much trust the humans were getting. The ones in the Eclipse were dreadful, and were the most cruel, twisting the stories he had heard from his kin on the Migrant Fleet. Hopefully this Shepard was better, but he was extremely doubtful.
A chance of escape came one day as he scoured through some stolen Eclipse files on his omni tool, being allowed to wander the cargo terminal the Eclipse had decided to occupy, only for the silence to be broken upon the sound of gunfire becoming vastly apparent. He noticed Eclipse Gunships in the area, several of which he wondered of if he’d repaired before, only to be shoved to the side by an Eclipse Engineer, forcing Rayes to take cover. There was a conversation at first, but then the gunfire soon continued and Rayes hid as far away as he could, allowing the firefight to pass as it went downward towards the Cargo Terminals, and his former “employers.” He took this opportunity to slowly but surely follow the conflict until the group in front of him took an elevator towards the docks. That elevator was his escape, but an escape towards what? He had no money, no credits to go anywhere… Until, as he wandered in the shadows of Illium, he heard of an information broker who potentially could help him. With all other options gone, and little time to waste before the Eclipse would notice him missing, he hastily made his way towards the supposed broker.
He sold all the information he had stolen for a ticket to the citadel, but made sure to keep it for himself as well, and along with several credits for the info. Sure, it was a dangerous gamble to allow her to copy his data, but surprisingly she understood his desire to keep it… and things got better from that day. He had managed to find a place that hired him as a repairman for weapons and technology, and once he had enough credits to fly home, he immediately did so. He had had enough surprises on his pilgrimage to last a lifetime, and they accepted his data on the Eclipse, the technology he had worked on, schematics he recorded, and importantly weapon details, and accepted a role on board the Fowal. His family was astonished by how much he endured, furious that he had not listened to them, but ultimately glad that he had survived. He adapted a much more suitable appearance to commemorate his return from a grim situation, and began working immediately on the Fowal, just months before the reapers return. In this short span, Rayes became known for his improvements to weapons to be used for the fleet and against the Geth, along with his research on potential environmental suit improvements, something that he had become inspired to make due to the harshness of Illium.
The Fowal was a ship dedicated to the research of expanding Quarian technology, investigating new weapons and the study of the Geth, an enemy that, once he learned the admiralty board soon declared war on them, Rayes was rather skeptical about it all. He didn’t believe the Geth were necessarily in the wrong for their actions, and while he longed to see the fabled homeworld of Rannoch, destroying something more advanced and sentient than the simple mechs he had repaired seemed… awful. But he knew better than to question his superiors, and at first, it seems the modifications he had worked on seemed to bolster the Quarian’s power against the Geth… Until they accepted Reaper help.
But hope wasn’t lost, and while many ships suffered casualties, things started looking up once they learned Commander Shepard would help. A name that Rayes became all too familiar with when he first returned to the Migrant Fleet, having heard of his exploits and helping the Quarian Tali’zora Vas Normandy, someone Rayes slightly remembers growing up around with. With their help, they did the impossible, stepping foot on Rannoch as the Battle for Rannoch began. To Rayes, it was frightening, being inexperienced in combat, but he made up for it with his insights against the Geth, providing support and cover fire, and doing his best to hack the enemy barriers and shields. It felt like forever, but ultimately, it seemed like the Quarian's would win, but instead came an agreement to coexist with the Geth. Rayes was rather pleased with this idea, not only due to how it was peaceful, but also because it would allow him to greatly study the Geth and get information from them while they were still active. While it was fun to study a piece of technology that was broken, studying an active sentient Geth would be amazing.
Rayes was not selected to go and join the fight with the reapers, he was instead sent to go and help build the crucible, something he took immense pleasure from upon arrival as they saw his technical prowess as an excellent edition. He helped make great strides into it’s creation, being able to offer suggestions in an environment he never thought he’d see. On Illium, he was treated like scum, a simple object meant to be manipulated, but he here, he was wanted, appreciated even… And, everyone was working together. This wasn't about species or race anymore, it was about survival, and to think, a human had started it all, with the help of an asari prothean expert. Maybe... the Eclipse were just an oddity, just like how some Quarian's were oddities in their own right.
So when it was eventually complete and fulfilled it’s purpose, he came home proud that he had helped defeat the reapers in his own way. He helped in the process of colonizing Rannoch, and ultimately in the construction, with the help of the Geth, of upgrading the Quarian Fleet. Currently, Rayes is on Rannoch, studying the reapers with the help of Geth information and looking for a way to utilize the technology that had been scattered across the galaxy when the reapers were annihilated. Maybe, he thought, it could be used to create better protection for the future. The Geth have already helped him make immense strides in Quarian environmental suits, and he believes they can be utilized for much more than their original purposes or what the reapers had for them.
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