Brutra Taninus

* Scar going from the bottom of his jaw to the edge of his right mandible in a curved line
* Several cracks caused by bullets in his carapace

## OOC Info

### Status

Active

**Brutra Taninus** is a weapons enthusiast and a member of the Council Recovery Corps. He previously served in the 27th Legion in the turian military.

## Biography

Brutra Taninus was born in 2161 to Xetus and Sablet Taninus in a small community around 25 miles away from the planet’s capital city of Sarlik. Xetus, his father, worked as a farmer. Cultivating food that would be shipped off-world to turian legions. His mother Sablet was a veteran, who had served in the First Contact War before settling down. Growing up, Brutra heard all manner of accounts from Sablet depicting humans as irresponsible warmongerers. He would hold this view himself for most of his formative years.

As a child Brutra was a happy, excitable sort. The kind that would make friends just by randomly going up to them. He found school difficult, but mainly academically. Out of both his parents he had the best relationship with his father, who he spent a lot of time with whilst his mother handled documents at the nearby garrison. Xetus could tell from a young age that Brutra wouldn’t be satisfied with life on Oma Ker forever, so he would tell his son stories about other worlds and cultures. Hearing these stories would always be the highlight of Brutra’s weeks. His relationship with Sablet was more complicated, she had a great deal of pride in her son, and was very protective of him. But he rarely saw her outside of her day job as a file clerk. Brutra wanted to live up to her expectations in him, and so from an early age, vowed to serve the Hierarchy as she had. Xetus wasn’t so excited to see his son go down the same path Sablet had. While he loved her, he knew how a life of war had affected her, and feared Brutra would end up the same way.

In 2176, at the age of 15, Brutra signed up at the local turian military garrison to fulfil his mandated public service. He shipped off-world after a tearful goodbye to his proud mother and saddened father. He was taken to Palaven to start his training, making friends quickly among the other recruits due to his outgoing and upbeat personality; out of these initial recruits he would know three turians named Tacitus Aciltis, Banlea Stracus and Aubus Bardros the longest. Life on Palaven was full of surprises for Brutra, as he was essentially a fish out of water going from a sparsely populated colony world to the centre of the Turian Hierarchy.

At the start of boot camp Brutra found it as hard as most other recruits did. He wasn’t used to being pushed so hard, but eventually he found himself getting used to it, even supporting those having a harder time adjusting like Aubus, who struggled being away from home initially. This helped the unit overall and strengthened its resolve. He was deeply distressed when Tacitus ended up being thrown out of the camp due to repeated disorderly conduct brought on by excessive stimulants. Despite being troubled by Tacitus’ fate Brutra carried on and passed the first phase of training with little difficulty.

During phase two of boot camp Brutra found he had an affinity for marksmanship, at one point pulling off an incredible shot involving a ricochet after he and Banlea were put together for a competitive shooting exercise among other impressive feats. Physical training wasn’t too hard either, and Brutra found he had a liking for explosive exercises. He again passed his final test in this phase and finally graduated from boot camp in 2177.

After this Brutra took some brief time off before he had to begin mandatory service, and took a transport back to Oma Ker to visit his parents and friends. To his great surprise, the whole neighbourhood had banded together to throw him a party, and he had one of the best nights of his life reminiscing with everyone. It was only in the late evening at dinner he found out Xetus had had an accident, in which he lost his footing and tripped foot first into a piece of harvesting equipment whilst working on the farm a couple of days before Brutra came back, and seriously mangled his leg. It would be a few weeks until a prosthetic replacement arrived and Sablet was now working overtime to cover for both of them. Brutra was shocked and offered to spend his mandatory service working on the family farm instead of receiving more military training, but both Sablet and Xetus convinced him not to do it. They insisted that the neighbourhood would look out for each other as they always had, and they didn’t want the most important part of their lives feeling shackled down. With great reluctance, Brutra left the planet a day later, promising to keep in contact now that his allowed communications were less limited.

To continue military training he next moved to a specialised course for recon deployments based out of Taetrus. It was here, at Kasatum Fortress, he met a captain named Akios Optimar. Akios took a special interest in Brutra due to what he saw as untapped potential and gave him extra hours of training as well as access to special equipment. However, Akios was extremely harsh on him. Expecting the best, after a while he began punishing anything less with physical and verbal violence. Brutra grew to dread these training sessions, but feared his instructor's response if he were to reject the help.

He met with Banlea again around this time, as she had also decided to go into military service. Brutra was happy to see a familiar face, and they spent a lot of free time watching cheesy old turian action films, including the classic ‘Last of the Legion’, a favourite of hers. She also informed him about the fates of Tacitus and Aubus. The former had left Palaven, seemingly for good, having disgraced himself so thoroughly. Meanwhile, the latter had signed up for medical training instead of going forward with the both of them. Whilst Brutra was happy for Aubus he couldn’t help but pity Tacitus, wondering if he’d really deserved what he’d gotten.

The arrangement with Akios culminated when Brutra snapped at him on one of these additional training sessions after being ridiculed one too many times, he angrily exclaimed he’d never wanted any of this, only really wanting to succeed on his own merits. Akios’ only response was to beat him down and rant about things Brutra couldn’t even hear anymore. He woke up a few hours later, and aside from Banlea nobody would hear about what happened, writing off his wounds as a training accident. He did his best to forget it all himself, as he still feared the old turian’s wrath if he were to report him, but couldn’t help involuntarily getting tense when circumstances reminded him of the event.

After that his training went back to normal, aside from being overseen by a different instructor, and Brutra spent the next year and a half learning the ins and outs of almost any piece of turian military equipment he could be expected to find. From Armax Arsenal armour to Haliat Armoury pistols. In 2179 he and Banlea graduated once again, qualified for specialised military roles. Not long before they left the fort Akios was mysteriously arrested, while Brutra didn’t know it, Banlea had talked. Relieved nonetheless, he said goodbye to his long time friend and caught a shuttle off the planet.

It would be a little while before he rejoined the military, however, as he once more found himself returning to Oma Ker afterwards. Over the two years Brutra had been gone his fathers health had deteriorated more from overworking himself in secret hoping to take pressure off Sablet, and Brutra felt he couldn’t stand by any longer. He went home and took up a temporary job farming in Xetus’ place. During this period he spent more time with his mother, who he had many long talks with, she apologised for how distant she’d been to him when he was younger, admitting the uselessness of the First Contact War still haunted her all these years later. In the end, Brutra understood, and whilst they still weren’t as close as he would’ve liked, it was good enough for the moment.

One year later in 2181 Xetus unexpectedly died in his sleep, his death was ruled as a heart attack. Brutra was inconsolable, he attended the funeral but ran off soon after.  He spent a long time alone in the fields, reminiscing on the stories his dad had told him, and all the memories he had of him. He finally went home late in the evening, utterly ashamed of himself for leaving his mother alone to mourn. The two of them were at their most open that night, and they truly reconciled, both apologizing for their mistakes.

It wasn’t long afterwards that Brutra returned to the military after this extended leave of absence, his home would always be precious to him, but for the time being it held too many bad memories. Sablet chose to enter into local politics, speaking up for the workers of Oma Ker in Xetus’ name. Her voice would become a minor but persistent one in the political landscape of the planet and the hierarchy as a whole.

Brutra was then placed into the turian 27th Legion, based out of turian cruiser Malleo at the time, he proved to be highly competent during their hunt for a group of pirates hijacking cargo vessels on the borders of hierarchy space. They finally caught up to this group in the Esori system, finding them halfway through ransacking a volus ship. The legion managed to initiate a boarding maneuver, but found the ‘pirates’ were far better equipped than they had anticipated. Together with a weapons specialist, Sarik Narkkin, he helped turn the tide by tactically blowing a hole in the side of the vessel to vent a vast amount of the pirates into space. He was given a promotion for this, and helped Sarik analyse the pirates equipment after the battle, they found nothing that could tie the equipment to any larger organisations, and the few prisoners they took all committed suicide. Based on later information and discoveries, it is highly likely this group was a Cerberus cell.

Sarik and Brutra hit it off with a shared love of guns, and Sarik gave him one of the pirates' weapons for field testing. This would become one of Brutra’s most prized possessions, a modified M-96 Mattock known later as the “Harrier” type. It was also around this time the two of them started a casual relationship, kept discreet so as not to disrupt the unit. He used the Harrier to great effect whilst serving with the Legion, customising it to suit his tastes so much over time it was eventually barely recognisable from its original form.

His service in the 27th Legion was unremarkable for a while after that, mostly consisting of patrols and occasional pirate hunts, none as dangerous as the first. This lasted until 2185, when the turian councillor famously declared he would cure the genophage. The need for peacekeeping forces exploded overnight, and the 27th Legion found themselves deploying back into inner hierarchy space to help control pro-genophage protests and extremist actions. He found himself agreeing with his superiors, the genophage had always made him feel uneasy just as a concept, nevermind what it had done to the krogan. And on a less practical note, the Taetran Insurrection types annoyed the hell out of him with their bigoted yelling.

Things got their most violent right after the Coffee Shop Massacre, and the 27th was put to the test fighting Insurrectionist forces all over the Apien Crest. Brutra was impressed by the formation of GUARDIAN, seeing real action in response to the growing threats around the galaxy, and most of all the daring rescue of the Primarch.  When total war broke out the 27th Legion spent most of their time patrolling the borders of council space, but when GUARDIAN broke away from the Citadel Council Brutra lost all respect he had for the organisation, he saw them as just a group of rogue agents grasping for power in the chaos of it all aided by desperate humans.

By 2187 Sarik and Brutra put their relationship on hold, staying close despite this. Brutra was deeply disturbed by the knowledge of the Reapers when GUARDIAN revealed their existence. Like no enemy that had existed in history, in the months before their invasion he trained harder than he ever had before. And when the Reapers struck Invictus, the 27th Legion met them there. The majority of their operations involved protecting civilians, and they assisted a small Spec Ops force in doing this led by none other than Banlea. They held out against an overwhelming force until at long last the victory at the Omega Four Relay ended the Reaper threat across the galaxy.

After the war Brutra took a leave of absence to catch up with his friends, joining the mass celebrations on the Citadel. Sarik, Banlea, Aubus and even Sablet. Sarik and Brutra spent one particularly romantic night on the Silversun Strip, rekindling their relationship after they had survived together through hell. The two of them helped with the rebuilding efforts on Invictus before Brutra rejoined the 27th Legion, Sarik decided he was tired of it all, and had seen too much. He received an honourable discharge from the military and took up a job on the Citadel as an Armax Arsenal weapons salesman.

Eventually when the Council Recovery Corps were formed Brutra found himself intrigued, whilst he had mixed feelings about the ex-GUARDIAN elements, overall it sounded like it would suit him. He got in contact with Aubus, who had found a place as a medic within the organisation, and he formally requested turian command for permission to transfer into the CRC. After a brief period of waiting he was accepted, and with the freedom now to move where he was needed, he moved in with Sarik on the Citadel.

## Personality

Brutra is more than a little overconfident. Whilst not quite cocky or arrogant, he tends to put a lot of pride in his abilities and to a lesser extent his appearance. Due to this, his ego can be harmed when he is proven to be less skilled than an opponent. To his credit, instead of moping about this, he uses it as motivation to improve himself.

Brutra doesn’t react well to being berated, as it reminds him of the beatings he used to receive from an abusive instructor. Additionally, this may subconsciously be a reason he seeks to be better than others, as a way devised by his mind to avoid something like that ever happening again.

Whilst he would be unlikely to admit it himself, Brutra has a somewhat prejudiced view of humanity. From stories told by his mother about the first contact war to their neutrality in the Confederacy/Council War, he subconsciously sees them as quite irresponsible and brash. However, this is starting to change in the wake of the Reaper-War, seeing just how much humanity helped the galaxy has weakened his belief in this world view.

The Reaper-War changed Brutra’s life in a multitude of ways, he became estranged from most of his friends not involved in the military, losing contact with them in the chaos of it all. This has partly had the effect of convincing him that the military is one of the only things he can contribute to anymore, as well as the fact that he met not only his best friends but the love of his life there. This raises questions about what he will do with his future, but Brutra tends to not try and think too far ahead when making life decisions.

Brutra places a lot of faith in his superiors and those he trusts, and this can lead to him being manipulated because of it. But if a person breaks his trust, he can become very vindictive and is unlikely to forgive or forget easily.

He keeps an upright posture most of the time, and when entering a new environment Brutra tends to spend a minute or two observing things before he makes any moves. While it has been tempered over the years, at heart Brutra is good-natured. He has a desire to help people achieve their best, and to those he truly considers close friends, he would sacrifice almost anything.

### Exceptional Skills

* *Green Thumb -* Brutra has a basic knowledge of farming, from his childhood and early teenage years on Oma Ker. Since moving in with his boyfriend Sarik on the Citadel he’s applied this knowledge to various potted plants, which he has cultivated quite well, even entering a local gardening club.
* *Weapons Enthusiast -* Since boot camp, Brutra has had a fascination with weaponry and frequently tinkers with what he is given. This hobby was at first frowned upon by his commanding officers until they recognised that often after he did this, the weapon would have a small yet noticeable improvement. Since then he served as a weapons engineer in the 27th Legion alongside his role as a field combatant. He can tend to go into long monologues about his favourite guns, especially the Harrier, which he has a reverence for that borders on excessive.
* *A Need For Speed -* He has a passing interest in sports, particularly racing events, born from a desire as a child to go into the profession himself. While the want passed eventually, his fascination never left. From high profile Illium skycar tournaments to somewhat sketchy vorcha ‘destruction derbies’ he enjoys all forms of a blood pumping race to the finish.
* *Dress to Impress -* Brutra has amassed a closet full of extravagant outfits from a variety of different cultures which he wears for special occasions, or whenever he feels like it. Custom fitted for turian physiology, from human suits to salarian courting wear, there’s one for every occasion, and he keeps them in great condition

## Physical Description

Brutra is quite tall and slim like most turians, standing at 6”7”. His skin colour is a dark brown, contrasting his light grey plating. His eyes are ocher, the same as the coloured portions of his armour, a bit of vanity on his part. A scar incurred by a bladed weapon goes from the bottom of his jaw to the edge of his right mandible in a slightly curved line. Several small cracks caused by bullets are scattered across his carapace. Additionally, his horns are a little bit shorter than the average turian. He tends to keep his facial expressions neutral whilst walking around but quickly reverts to a smile when meeting with people.

When dressing for any occasion he tends to veer between two extremes, either picking the most comfortable clothing available or choosing something far more lavish. In combat, he wears a slightly modified yellow and grey suit of turian armour produced by Armax Arsenal made for increased manoeuvrability.

As a ranged specialist Brutra tends to try and not get too close to his opponents, if going for an offensive action he will usually attempt to flank his opponent while remaining at range. He is able to stay calm under fire with several omni-tool programs to keep his shields up, and melt cover with a well placed incineration attack. He can also survey his opponents weaknesses with a tactical scan, showing him the perfect place to fire for maximum effect. Whilst it isn’t his area of expertise Brutra can still hold his own in CQC. Utilising his turian strength to disable an opponent with a variety of throws, pins and slams.

### Armament

* Modified M-96 Mattock [Harrier Type]
* M-9 Tempest

### Abilities

* Incinerate
* Shield Boost
* Tactical Scan
* Energy Drain