Bertharia Sabari

Art done by, and owned by sar

**Bertharia Sabari** is a freelance asari mercenary from Omega, and former soldier within the military of Serrice.

## Biography

### Birth and Childhood

Bertharia was born in Omega’s Kima District to her asari mother and krogan father. Only several months after her birth, her mother disappeared. Bertharia, only an infant of the time, didn’t notice, but as she grew older, her father explained it to her. He was never sure what happened; whether she died, was kidnapped, or simply fled from their life, but all he knew was that she was gone.

She grew up fairly impoverished, though her father did his best to always keep her fed, even if that meant he went hungry for a night. Though her father was illiterate, he still made sure she got an education through the form of a tutor that visited their small apartment twice a week. He didn't want her to be stuck on Omega as a warehouse worker as he was.

As a teenager, she had to learn how to grow up faster than many young asari. She worked odd jobs, the first of which was alongside her father. Eventually she switched to working at Omega’s shipping docks, putting her education to use reading delivery orders and making sure packages got on the right ship.

Though it wasn't an official position, Bertharia eventually became something of a security officer of the docks. She would chase would-be thieves out of the area, even engaging some of them in menial scraps. It certainly wasn't part of her job requirements, but Bertharia wasn’t about to let parcels get stolen from under her nose.

When she turned 43, finally out of her juvenile years in asari standards, she moved to the city of Serrice on Thessia with the savings she had acquired working on Omega. Her father bid her farewell, convinced she would not return due to how much nicer he believed Thessia to be in comparison to Omega. She assured her father that she would be back, and she only wanted to see the place that her people came from. Taking a shuttle off the station, she finally made her way to the asari homeworld. After renting a hotel, she worked on getting her Thessian citizenship from the embassy. It didn't take very long to get due to her asari heritage, and after that, she was free to explore the planet. She took odd jobs here and there to help pay for her rent, such as waitressing or working in the ports.

### Military of Serrice

On her misadventures through the asari city, she got to speaking with a group of off-duty huntresses. They commented on her large physique and asked if she had ever considered joining their military. She hadn’t, until that very moment. On a whim and with nothing better to do, she decided to enlist.

Basic training helped her hone her unskilled biotics into a useful, and even powerful tool. She learned about firearms and how to use many different weapons, as well as martial arts skills.

After her basic training, she was shipped to the asari colony of Asteria after there was an accidental release of a VI which turned hostile. To an asari militant squad, they didn’t pose much of a threat, but it was the first time Bertharia saw action. She found the position that best suited her was as a biotic frontliner. With her biotic aegis, she learned well how to soak up damage meant for her team. It was only a few months later that the VI mess was cleaned up, and Bertharia along with her squad returned to Thessia.

For the next 14 years, she stayed in Serrice, doing nothing but training and waiting for something big to happen so she would be shipped away again. Bertharia was incredibly bored with the lack of action, sometimes even causing trouble herself just to do something else. Not only that, but she hated the discipline and ‘righteousness’ of the asari on Thessia. She butted heads with many people due to her brash and brazen nature.

After her term was up, she resigned and packed up her stuff, returning to Omega without a second thought.

### Return to Omega

After her return to Omega, she was hired on as a bouncer at Afterlife. Out of curiosity, she enrolled herself in an online bartending course and was able to then swap over to being a part-time bartender at the club, still working the rest of her shifts as a bouncer. Romantically, she experimented quite a bit. There were turians, krogan, humans, three batarians at once, and even a vorcha (though she has to be at least five shots in to talk about that one). She found that she didn't really have a preference. She also didn’t mind relations with other asari, despite the stigma that came along with that. As long as they didn’t actually meld, there was no harm in a little fun.

During that time, she encountered many mercenaries from the Eclipse gang, who were fairly prominent in Omega. She learned more about them, and decided that 30 years at Afterlife were enough. She then joined up with Omega’s Eclipse sisterhood.

While it was mostly due to wanting a change of scenery, Bertharia had an ulterior motive as well. Her mother, the woman who went missing shortly after her birth, had ties to the particular gang. Perhaps Eclipse could give her a clue.

As an Eclipse initiate, she was required to commit a murder before she could even obtain her uniform. Bertharia had only ever killed synthetics before, so this was certainly something new to her. The target was someone of her choosing, and Bertharia made sure to choose someone that wouldn’t be missed - a sleazy turian she had many encounters with in her bouncer days. He was an annoyance to staff and patrons alike, harassing the dancers enough to get kicked out, but never enough to get banned permanently. There were many times Bertharia wanted to strangle the man due to his entitlement and snide comments. Now she would get the chance.

He was easy enough to track down. All she had to do was wait outside Afterlife for a few nights until she saw him get thrown out of the building again. She followed him into an alleyway, where she sprung her half-planned ambush. Evidently, he knew he was being followed and pulled a gun, but Bertharia was able to project a biotic aegis just in time, reflecting the bullets back into the man. He went down and she knocked the weapon from his hands with a biotic pull. As her hands wrapped around his neck, there was a moment of surprise and recognition before his lights went dark forever.

Did he deserve to die? No. Did it feel good? Fuck yes.

Bertharia delivered his head back to her Commander, and was then given her uniform. She did many things during her time as an Eclipse mercenary. From smuggling things and people to guarding officials in need of protection, and even the occasional assassination, there was never a dull day. Working under an ex-commando also proved to be beneficial to her continued biotics training. She also discovered a lead on her mother. One of the older members let slip one drunken evening about an asari that looked almost identical that came into the gang, which was coincidentally the year of her mother's disappearance. After she pressed more on the matter, Bertharia learned about a debt her mother owed, and how she fled to the Citadel under a new name - Mayala T’Vassi.

Bertharia stuck it out with the Eclipse gang for 40 odd years, finally departing to become an independent contractor.

### Independent Work

Becoming independent was one of the best decisions of her life. It had the excitement of being in Eclipse without any of the restrictions. She followed her own orders, and no-one else's.

### New Allies

To continue her independent mercenary work, Bertharia took the first contract that was available. Little did she know, this one would be unlike any other she had ever done.

It was a group mission. Bertharia, as well as several other independent contractors including the krogan mercenary ‘Vox’ were hired as part of an infiltration unit to assassinate a high-ranking Citadel official while he was on a diplomatic mission to Cyone. Unfortunately, during the ambush, they were discovered and engaged in a fight with a private security company - something they were not told about. After an arduous battle with the security team, only Vox and Bertharia remained as the rest of their infiltration unit had been gunned down. They found their skills complemented each other well.

Instead of abandoning the mission, Bertharia and Vox decided to go through with the assassination as they were so close to their goal. The official was hunted down, but he still had a final bodyguard with him. This one was highly trained, and even though he was eventually killed, he didn’t go down without a fight. Before the final blow was delivered, he pulled out a sword and sliced Bertharia open from chest to hip, critically wounding her. Vox completed the contract and went to depart, but instead of leaving Bertharia behind to die, Vox helped her escape back to their vehicle.

After receiving medical treatment, Bertharia made sure to thank the krogan in person, knowing he could have easily left her behind and claimed the reward all for himself. They got to know each other, and even agreed on a potential partnership in the future.

Bertharia and her new krogan companion often found themselves on missions together. Difficult missions that would have been impossible solo. She knew she could trust Vox, and wanted to make sure he knew he could trust her too. During one mission where they were hired to infiltrate a volus freighter and retrieve information, they took a hostage. It was a batarian by the name of Koros. Oddly enough, the batarian was compliant, and even assisted his captors with his own biotics during their escape off the vessel.

What was once a hostage turned into a potential ally, as he held no hard feelings towards his captors and even showed gratitude towards a supposed ‘liberation’ from the freighter. Vox was wary, but Bertharia was intrigued by the man. She wanted to know where a batarian got his biotics training, and he proved to be an interesting conversation partner.

With the new allies she now had, Bertharia looked forward to seeing what the future would bring.

## Personality

### Strengths

* *Excitable* - Her attitude and demeanor is fairly jovial and loud when it comes to daily life. She enjoys jokes and humor, and the lighter side of things.
* *Determined* - If she wants something done, it’s going to get done, regardless of the cost.

* *Curious* - She is very inquisitive, especially when she is interested in the topic at hand. She always wants to know more, and be included in the down-low.

* *Confident* - She is fairly comfortable in her own skin, possessing an uncaring attitude towards how poorly others may think of her.

### Fallbacks

* *Foolhardy* - Bertharia is recklessly bold and rash, quick to jump to action without realizing the bigger picture. Her carelessness has gotten her into trouble on more than one occasion.
* *Stubborn* - It can be quite difficult to change Bertharia’s position on something, whether it be a topic or a comfy couch. She can be headstrong, and difficult to persuade, especially if she isn’t particularly fond of the person doing the persuading.
* *Impulsive* - She is not much of a thinker, or even a planner. She prefers to decide on something and act on it in the moment.
* *Lazy* - While Bertharia is a hard worker while on the job, she more often than not would like to sit back and relax somewhere. Physical exercise is something she detests, though she does work on weight training at least three times a week in order to keep up with the physical demands of a mercenary.

### Quirks

* *Drugs & Smoking* - During her stay on Omega, Bertharia has experimented with a variety of different drugs. She occasionally partakes in the recreational consumption of Hallex, or even Minagen X3 and Red Sand when she wants a boost to her biotic abilities. She also smokes Cigarettes, a custom she picked up from human coworkers when she worked on Omega’s drydocks. Recreationally, she drinks Alcohol and enjoys getting fairly intoxicated, though it hasn’t become a real issue yet.
* *Less asari than a vorcha* - As her father would always say, Bertharia is a krogan stuck inside an asari body. She doesn't deny it. She is the opposite of beauty and grace - two key words that come to mind when one thinks of her species. She is as graceful as brick, and she’s built like one too.
* *Expressive* - While talking, Betharia speaks with her hands and is very animated in her body language.
* *Justice* - Revenge and justice are two things Bertharia absolutely loves. She believes in ‘an eye for an eye’, but without the whole ‘world goes blind’ part.
* *Shameless* - Somehow, Bertharia is able to brush off even the most embarrassing situations as nothing more than everyday life. Getting blackout drunk and ending up spinning around with her undergarments caught on a ceiling fan for an hour waiting for rescue? Not a big deal, probably happened last week too.
* *Physical* - She is very physical, whether it comes to affection or aggression. Hugs and headbutts are fairly typical in everyday life, and she very much enjoys roughhousing with companions. Rather than talking things out, Bertharia prefers brawling to solve an argument. When the fight is over, she holds no hard feelings towards her opponent, oftentimes gaining respect for them if she deems they fought well.
* *On a Mission* - She continues to look for her mother, someone who disappeared shortly after her birth. While she doesn’t even really know the woman, she still wants to solve the mystery, even if solely out of sheer curiosity.
* *Agnostic* - While she doesnt agree with the Siari religion followed by most Thessian asari, she won’t debate it due to the fact that she simply doesn't know all the facts. She doesn’t believe in the goddess, but she doesn’t deny her existence either.

## Physical Description

Bertharia is a brute of an asari standing at 6’5'' and weighing in at 243 pounds. She's big and she knows it. Bertharia isn't afraid to tussle with someone, even when the odds aren't in her favour. Then again, what else can one expect from someone raised by a single krogan father.

Several distinguishing features include white tattoos over her right eye, and a missing front tooth. Her nose is slightly bent out of shape and has a layer of scarring over the bridge from one too many misaligned headbutts. One particularly large scar is a slash mark from a sword that runs from her right hip to the underside of her left breast, effectively bisecting her through the middle. She also has several facial scars as a result of having her head put through a window during a bar fight.

Bertharia is muscular, though any bodybuilding physique she may have had is hidden under a layer of extra ‘padding’, particularly around her thighs and belly.

Her voice is on the deeper side for a female, and slightly raspy due to picking up the unfortunate human custom of smoking cigarettes.

Bertharia’s clothing consists of a ratty tank top and cargo pants. When on a mission, she dons a set of mismatched Sentinel Armor she received during her stay on Thessia, and a worn, scratched up Eclipse helmet.

## Armament

### Combat Arms

Bertharia utilizes an M-22 Eviscerator shotgun modified with a bayonet attachment and a shredder muzzle, as well as the Combat Abilities Tech Armor and Adrenaline Rush. Her biotics are honed to be used in combat too.

## Family

* BERTHARIA'S FATHER - *Father*
* BERTHARIA'S MOTHER - *Mother*

## Appearances

* Projections
* What Lies Beneath