Aelianus Vakarian

Aelianus Vakarian was born sometime in 2120 to Kasiel Vakarian and Iocasta Andromede. His parents died at a young age (somewhere between 5 and 7) and he was raised by his grandfather, Castis Vakarian, and Castis' second wife, Aerene Lyxenius. Like all turians, he entered into basic training in 2135 at the age of 15, where he would meet and become friends with future turian councilor Sparatus (Chapter 19: Highly Classified Everything), and he started his mandatory service in 2137. Some time during his military service, he would also become friends with future Primarch Fedorian. After completing his mandatory service, he moved into the tactics division in the turian military, where he would meet his eventual wife, Evadne Thalia Quirinius.

### **Courtship, Marriage, and Family**

Sparks flew between Evadne and Aelianus almost immediately: the two of them argued intensely in a tactics meeting over one of her plans, only to find her plan had worked flawlessly and later in the sparring ring later in that same evening was defeated by her. Aelianus thought of her as a firebrand, and shortly after meeting her, fell in love. (Chapter 51: Mother) Aelianus fought hard with his grandparents for the right to court and wed Evadne, and eventually succeeded in winning them over. To celebrate their official courtship, Aelianus gifted Evadne a knife. She would carry this weapon with her for the next forty years (Chapter 66: I'll Be Home For Christmas). The two of them were married in 2145.

Aelianus and Evadne's first child, Solana Vakarian was born in 2150, In late 2153 their second child Garrus Vakarian was born.

In 2160 Evadne was diagnosed with the fatal disease Corpalis Syndrome. Despite her diagnosis, Evadne continued working for a number of years, using her strategic brilliance in service to her people.

### **C-Sec Career**

In 2144 Aelianus left the military to join C-Sec. By the next year he began specialized investigative training and made detective by 2148. His career was impressive, and by 2155 Aelianus was promoted to be the head of the C-Sec investigative branch.

After completing his mandatory service, Garrus was offered the chance to receive specialized training in preparation for becoming a Spectre candidate. Aelianus strongly discouraged his son from accepting, and ended up pushing him into C-Sec. The two Vakarians were often at odds, with Garrus' strong sense of justice coming into conflict with the rules and regulations that were there (in Aelianus' estimation) to protect everyone involved in the judicial process.

In 2180, Aelianus retired from C-Sec and went into Cipritine politics.

## Mass Effect

#### Mass Effect

By the time of the events of the hunt for Saren Arterius in 2183, the relationship between Aelianus and Garrus had become quite strained. Aelianus had been trying to matchmake his son for some years, with no luck. Like many in the galaxy, he was dismayed at the Council's appointment of the first human Spectre. His initial impression of Commander Shepard was "that of entitlement and bravado", though we can only speculate about his feelings regarding his son joining her or even of the mission in general. After the Battle of the Citadel, he found himself impressed by her decision to sacrifice human ships to save the *Destiny Ascension* and the Council on board it, noting that he wasn't sure if he would have made the same choice if he had been in her place.

#### Mass Effect Post Game and Mass Effect 2

Shortly after the *Normandy* SR-1 went down, Garrus quit his job at C-Sec and disappeared entirely for two years. Then, out of the blue, Aelianus received a vid-call from his son- looking ragged and full of despair. Realizing that Garrus believed he was about to die, and to inspire and comfort him, Aelianus told him to finish up there and to come back home, so they can sort everything out. In return, Garrus told his father that he'd return when he can because "the odds just got a lot better." A mysterious invitation for Evadne to be treated at the prestigious Helos Medical Institute arrived some time later, which the family jumped on- though it meant Aelianus and Evadne would be separated.

#### Post Mass Effect 2

Like most people who heard the rumors of Commander Shepard's return and involvement with Cerberus, Aelianus was concerned and upset, even more so with the destruction of the Alpha Relay. Shortly after that disaster, Garrus returned home, utterly exhausted. After resting for thirty-six hours straight Garrus came to his father and laid out all the evidence on the Reapers. Though the story seemed impossible, in the end Aelianus found himself agreeing with his son. He took his concerns to his friend Primarch Fedorian, who was not as convinced but did allocate some resources to shore up Palaven's defenses.

#### Mass Effect 3

The Reapers hit Palaven hard. In the immediate aftermath, Helos went entirely dark, hoping to avoid Reaper notice. Some time after Garrus left with Shepard, Aelianus and Solana found themselves stranded on Palaven, fighting with Sol's unit and trying to hold out long enough for the krogan forces to break the line of Reaper troops and allow them to evacuate to the shuttles. During the encounter a charging Brute knocked a heavy statue onto Solana's leg, breaking it. Aelianus ended up sending her unit ahead toward the shuttles and rescuing Solana, despite him telling Garrus through the comm-link that he wasn't sure they were going to make it in time. When Sol told him to leave her and save himself, Aelianus told her "A father does not leave his daughter to the wolves. They'll have to go through me to get to you." (Chapter 110: In Absentia). Luckily the two of them were able to make it off world.

## Every One That Asketh

### Act One

#### Aftermath of War

After escaping Palaven on a scout ship from the *Acumen Ensium*, Solana got medical attention for her leg and then left to join her Blackwatch squadron. Aelianus got drafted into running logistics and writing reports, utilizing his C-Sec skills. During this time he received a promotion from senator to praetor, though technically he held both titles as one was military and the other political. He was part of the fleet that flew in the Battle of London, and like all survivors was stuck behind the Charon relay, with no idea if any of his family survived. Approximately one month after the conclusion of the war, he was contacted by the Alliance requesting assistance with Commander Shepard and Garrus' unborn child, given that Garrus himself was unreachable. This revelation was quite the shock to him, as not only was Aelianus completely unaware that Garrus and Shepard were romantically involved, but a human and a turian conceiving a child was a biological impossibility. Faced with the irrefutable fact that Garrus had not felt safe enough to divulge what must have been a important relationship in his son's life- and that he had reason to not feel safe - Aelianus committed to himself to re-evaluate his worldview. Then, to acquire the resources needed for the little one, Aelianus reached out to his friend Sparatus.

On May 14, four months after Aelianus discovered his impending grand-fatherhood, the SSV *Normandy* SR-2 successfully reactivated the Charon relay, bringing her crew, including Garrus, back. After seeing his son again, the two turians embraced and Aelianus brought Garrus to see the comatose Shepard and inform him that she was pregnant with Garrus' biological child. On May 28th, Aelianus asked Garrus about his relationship with Shepard. The two of them briefly argued when Aelianus demanded to know why Garrus never bothered with formally requesting bondship with her; Garrus exploded, telling his father that he didn't think it would matter how much he loved Shepard- nothing would make it possible for Aelianus to accept the relationship, given his known prejudice against humans and Spectres. Aelianus, recognizing how difficult Garrus' position was and how it mirrored his own difficulty courting Evadne, apologized for his behavior- both current and in the past. He told Garrus that it was his goal to build a strong relationship with Shepard and rebuild their own relationship.

On October 3rd, Aelianus got to hold his week-and-a-half old granddaughter for the first time, where he got to offer his congratulations on Garrus and Shepard's engagement, and give Shepard a crash course on turian naming traditions and to talk strategy in trying to move forward with repairing the damage to the galaxy at large.

Sometime around Octorber 26th the relays in the Annos Basin were reactivated by the salarian STG team, allowing passage of messages and people. One of those messages contained the news that while Evadne had survived the war, she wasn't likely to live for much longer and the Vakarians should make the effort to make it to Rannadril if at all possible. Aelianus immedately sent messages off to his two children and made it to the Helos Medical Institute ahead of them.

#### Evadne's Decline and Death

Aelianus refused to be parted from his wife in her last days. When Garrus and Shepard arrived at Helos, he honestly spoke in favor of bondship between Garrus and Shepard- but also pretty much spilled the beans regarding the existence of his and Evadne's new granddaughter. Together the two of them gave their blessing for Garrus to marry Shepard and for Shepard to be welcomed into the Vakarian clan. The next few days were filled with frantic wedding planning as Shepard's mental health took a turn for the worse, and Evadne continued for fade. When his wife became too weak to speak, he used his subvocals to continue to talk to her, as she died, he used them to pour love over her. He later told his two children that she had asked to be burred at the family home- where ever that ended up being, given the destruction of the Reaper War.

#### Primarch of Palaven

In November of 2187 Alelianus was named to be Primarch of Palaven.

### Act Two

#### Christmas of 2187

Aelianus surprised everyone by finding the time to spend the human holiday of Christmas with Garrus, Shepard, Viatrix, and Shepard's mother Hannah. He gifted Shepard the dagger he had given Evadne when he started courting her, reinforcing the idea of Shepard becoming a full member of the Vakarian clan.

#### Shanxi Orders and the Terraforming Capsule

In recognition of the wrongs done to the krogan people by the turian Hierarchy, Aelianus ordered that the lone terraforming capsule that had been discovered be given over to save Tuchanka instead of Palaven. At the same time there was a media storm where the public learned it was Evadne Vakarian who gave the orders to occupy Shanxi during the First-Contact War. Aelianus called Garrus to warn him of both, but Shepard was still caught off guard.

#### *Osereun* and Garrus Comes Home

Aelianus officiated the *oserun* that offically accepted Shepard into the turian Hierarchy, chose her citizenship tier, and created the clan of Shepard. The next day, Shepard and Garrus arrived at Palaven ahead of their Armax Battle Tour Match in Cipritine. That evening, Aelianus insisted that Garrus and Shepard take his newly acquired *Renata* for a joyride while he put Viatrix to sleep with a bedtime story.