Kudaal Chorak

**Kudaal Chorak** is an Operative in the Council Recovery Corps. Growing up as a farmer in the Batarian Hegemony, Kudaal eventually became part of Fifth Pillar and took part in uprisings on Erszbat during the Batarian Civil War. His group was chosen by Fifth Pillar leadership to assist Council forces, and he subsequently joined the CRC.

## Biography

Kudaal Chorak was born into one of the several rungs that make up the “Worker” caste in the ladder of the Batarian Hegemony. His ancestors were slaves that bought their way up, bit by bit, and Kudaal’s family at the time was able to take advantage of the opportunities, limited though they were, that had been granted by effort generations in the making. His father worked as a low-skill miner, pulling low value but high demand materials from Erszbat’s mountains and hills. His mother was put to work on a state-farm, working in the storage areas, ensuring that things did not spoil. Up until the age of six, his life was relatively normal, he played with the other children his age, helped with chores around the family’s apartment, and watched state-approved children’s programming on the holo-vid.

Once he turned six in 2167 he was shunted into an occupational learning center. It was here where he would learn basic things such as reading, math, low-level sciences and the history of Erszbat and the Batarian people as a whole. This was also where he would begin to be tested for his aptitude for various jobs within his caste’s allowance. The schooling wasn’t that hard for Kudaal, he had a good mind and applied himself well enough to not be called out as an example of poor performance at least. His life continued for some time without incident at the learning center, he went to class and performed various small tasks while also assisting at the housing block so that his parents would have more time to relax between their jobs.

It wasn’t until he turned twelve in 2173 that things began to take a slight turn of interest for Kudaal. It was during this time that he met Jera Vorsal, a girl that had been moved recently with her family with a new group of laborers, and as such, she was enrolled in the learning center with Kudaal’s class. As it so happened, the two of them had an aptitude for some of the same things and were frequently grouped together. This eventually moved them on from classmates to friends, with Jera’s parents allowing her to spend time after school with Kudaal, and vice-versa for the boy. The two continued to grow closer through their learning time, which transitioned from standard education three years later in 2176.

As it happened, this also happened to be the year that the Skyllian Blitz was launched against the planet Elysium. Reporting on the attack within the Hegemony was surprisingly condemning of the attack in the aftermath of its failure. However, they did make it very clear that the human colony should not have been there in the first place. The whole affair though had very little effect on Kudaal and his community, other than a topic of discussion around the dinner table.

From 2176, Kudaal and Jera were both assigned to work at the same state farm as Kudaal’s mother, however instead of monitoring bins, they were assigned to growth and harvest. Kudaal worked mainly with the seeding and ground preparation, while Jera worked with harvesting. Of course, starting out their tasks were simple, low skill and under supervision much of the time to ensure that things weren’t done improperly. During this time, Jera and Kudaal continued to grow closer, eventually starting to court each other properly at the age of 16.

The two were married two years later in 2178, a small affair with only immediate family able to attend due to the working schedules that were being pushed at the time. Kudaal had been promoted from working in the basic positions to now operating the larger machines that did the majority of the planting and plowing on the farms, and Jera had been given a small pay increase while taking over additional duties due to a labor shortage on the farm. Despite the additional work, and other hardships on the farm, they both were content to live that life. It was relatively peaceful for the next few years, their work was consistent and they were waiting simply for the opportunity to start a family, something that lower castes like themselves were not given as a right.

However, in the middle of 2185, amid an uptick of production quotas that Kuudal and at that point, his team of workers were meeting despite a slough of equipment failures, the couple were granted the privilege of starting a family. It was not just them however, as it seemed that several others in their area had also been granted this opportunity, despite typically low allowances for their particular caste section. Of course, Kudaal and Jera got to the business of preparing and planning out their coming family. They may not get another chance at one after all, so they were doing all they could to get it right the first time. However, by the end of the year in 2185, they were ready. It took a bit to get the time and correct circumstances to get the ball rolling, but on April 17th, 2186 Jera announced her pregnancy to Kudaal and their respective families.

A week later the Hegemony and its allies declared war on Citadel Space.

Kudaal wasn’t terribly surprised as it happened, though he had hoped that his guessing had been wrong. There were plenty of signs that were there to look at, and framed with the hindsight of a war declaration, made perfect sense. An increase in production demands for food and other plants that go into both medicine and rations, an increased allowance for birth to ensure the next generation, and though it was a slightly less noticeable, the town had seen a very slight up-tick in military traffic, though it wasn’t uncommon for there to be sudden military drills in this less urban area of Erszbat. Now though, it was a war, and Kudaal was unsure what that would bring for him and his soon to be family.

There was almost immediately an increase in the quota expectations, moresoe than what had been in place before. Kudaal and the others at the farm were working themselves nearly around the clock to reach the demands made by the overseers of the farm. There was a lot that went into trying to keep up with these sorts of demands, mainly keeping up with the plant and harvest schedules. To ensure a constant supply, fields were planted at different times. When one was just ready to harvest, another was being seeded, the harvested products were sorted out and processed. Some were stored in general bins, others were reduced down and sent to be made into ration blocks, some was given to the workers as a portion of their pay, but the majority of it was loaded onto political shuttles and flown off to go into the private vaults of different members of the Hegemonic ruling castes. Now, normally nobody cared much that the higher castes taking their cut, it was how things were. However, it didn’t take long for things to start going...wrong.

It started when the quotas went up again, Kudaal knew that he couldn’t make those under him work harder than they already were, most were running on the bare minimum of sleep and that was even with them working in rotating shifts. Not only that, but the machinery wasn’t putting up well with the increase in pace. He went to the head office with a few other section leaders and tried to bargain for either a reduction in the quota, or some kind of assistance in meeting it. They needed new harvesters, planters, new conveyor systems for the storing and processing sections, even just more hands to work the machines would be appreciated. Kudaal and his comrades were threatened with state punishment and told to get back to work.

Next came the “pay” cuts to the workers. There were new mandates for how things were to be distributed. The issue was, there was a reduction in the portion that went to the workers, which put many in a bit of a bind with their own food, most relied on it for at least one or two of their meals a day. It wasn’t listed in the manifest, but most of the food that was being taken from the workers was going into the political elites' personal stores either off in the planet capital, or off-world. This did not sit well with most of the workers, and although Kudaal was able to talk them down from doing anything entirely rash, even he knew that things were starting to take a bad turn

It went on like this for months, cuts to their already limited freedoms, increased workloads, and now as the unrest began to make the lid on the metaphorical pot rattle, Internal Security Forces were sent to try and ensure a state of order. As the war went on however, things grew beyond what could be contained by Kudaal and other team leaders trying to placate their workers. Workers began to meet between shifts to discuss their problems, not simply to vent but to try and think of a solution. Soon meetings during breaks were banned, and then a stiff curfew of sorts for those that were not working at the time. The state did not want workers speaking to each other, and began to enact strict measures for those that broke it. Workers began to steal food to support their families, even Kudaal quietly portioned away a small amount, as Jera would need the extra food. That became an offense that was punishable by death within the first week of discovery. 15 out of the 150 workers were executed in a single day on October 15th, 2186. Over the next month, 10 more would be executed, 25 imprisoned following brutal beatings in public.

Kudaal wanted to do more for his workers, however he also needed to keep his wife and child protected. Stepping a toe out of line could mean a forced abort of the pregnancy, and further punishment was likely. Kudaal couldn’t risk that. On November 17th, 2186 however, that issue was somewhat lessened. Jera gave birth to a pair of twins late that night in the farm’s medical building. Two boys, one named Tahrkan and the Solov. Kudaal was able to witness the birth, but barely had time to appreciate the moment before being sent back to work. However in that brief moment, he seemed to come to a resolution. The state of things was not sustainable, the workers were near to rioting, the guards would kill them all without a doubt if people stepped out of line half-heartedly. People were not satisfied with how things were, but unless they could be convinced to fully commit to this, there would be no hope of change, only death.

It started out small, a passing comment out of earshot of the guards to one of his workers, a note carefully passed around the fields. Notes turned into coded bulletins that were posted to public boards. Within a matter of months Kudaal and others had managed to organize themselves in secret. He knew that the majority of the remaining workers were willing to follow him. However if others gave it away too soon….then it would all be for nothing. Kudaal needed to pick the right moment to start making proper preparations instead of simple organizing, do it too soon while the guards were still alert and there could be discoveries and that could cause problems. If he waited too long, people would think he was not being sincere.

Their moment came suddenly, when a worker’s riot took place in February 25th, 2187 at his father’s mine. It was a doomed attempt, but it pulled the internal forces out of their farm till it was fully quelled. Kudaal of course, lost his father in this riot, though investigations at the time put him down as a simple collateral casualty and not involved in the revolt himself. Grieving though he was, Kudaal did not take much time to dwell on this tragedy, he had his own to prevent. Still, with Internal Forces being moved away, gave his group time to make plans, to prepare somewhat without being under such close guard. Another boon wasn’t discovered until the Internal Forces returned. The three oldest members of the detail assigned had pulled Kudaal to the side, and instead of putting him up against a wall expressed their intentions to assist this little revolt. These were men who were nearing retirement, who had spent decades killing men like Kudaal and their families. Unsurprisingly he was wary, and kept them out of the loop until one day one of Kudaal’s trusted members was caught stealing food. One of those three men prevented an execution, and managed to keep the worker from being beaten too badly. Similar things happened with the other two, and Kudaal decided that they could be trusted.

As it happened, these three were not only sympathetic to Kudaal and the farm worker’s plight, but they were part of a much larger movement. It was one that spanned multiple planets, but was separated into several different cells. Erszbat was its main operation area. The group called themselves the Fifth Pillar and had been working towards a change in the system for decades. Kudaal’s ideals aligned with their own, and things began to be put into motion for a much greater change than even Kudaal imagined. It was determined that they would need a way to keep anyone from immediately finding out that the farm had been removed from direct state control, and that a way to move the workers and families quickly should it be needed would also be required. Weapons weren’t a great issue, most of the ISF was armed lightly, and the workers outnumbered them greatly, some even had access to outdated, but usable firearms that were used for pest control in the outer limits of the farm. These weapons were counted out, as well as the weapons belonging to the members of the Fifth Pillar.

Their plan was enacted in conjunction with a known uprising that would take place on Camala. On August 27th, 2187 Kudaal and his men stormed the main office at 0300. There was minimal fighting, the guards had been unprepared for such a large attack, and an hour later the main uprising on Camala took place. Attention was everywhere but that farm. Kudaal would have preferred it to stay that way, however even as the families enjoyed their first unrestricted meal in months he was sitting with others of the Fifth Pillar and they were explaining to him what needed to happen next. Kudaal was hesitant to go further than this, but it didn’t take much convincing for the Batarian that if they didn’t keep pushing, there would be no peace for them.

It would last as long as it took for an elite caste member to miss their shipment of grain or spice before forces were sent. They needed to prepare for longer than just a single night of fighting. Kudaal had made the decision to see this to the end, for the good of his family. Even if he was fine if things just went back to how they were a couple of years ago, they couldn’t do that anymore. If these events went poorly, it was unlikely there would be a future for his family at all.

Other officers from the Fifth Pillar arrived eventually, with weapons and objectives. It started with the nearby town, where a small garrison of troops were deployed. Nobody outside of the farm knew what had happened yet. Most of the farmers were still working, sending out shipments still to ensure that nobody got too suspicious too quickly. They were on a timetable though, until the next state shuttle arrived to pick up the next shipment. There was a plan to deal with the shuttle when it arrived, but it would still alert someone to the disturbance at the farm. So the Fifth Pillar forces, which Kudaal and others were now “enlisted” in, began putting their plans into action. The first attack came at the town, destroying communications to the other cities first, then attacking the military personnel at large within the area. The fighting here was much harder, but Kudaal and his men did their jobs and soon the city was added to the list of controlled territories. More Fifth Pillar support arrived, but it was made known that support would be sparse in this area from then on. The majority of resources were being dumped into the Capital, supporting actions there.

Soon Kudaal, made a Lieutenant in the Fifth Pillar, was leading his men in patrols around the town and the farm. The state shuttle had of course come, been grounded, and alerted the Hegemony to yet another revolution that was happening on the planet. Small as the town and farm were in comparison to others, the response was still sent. Attacks were light at first, small skirmishes in the rainforest and hills near the town mainly. However by the start of 2188 the attacks had started to wear down on Kudaal and his troops. They were running out of ammunition, and able bodies to fight. Even with those in town that were willing to help, they were not well trained and were taking heavier and heavier casualties. By March, things were at the breaking point. Fifth Pillar couldn’t devote more resources to that area, still fighting hard to wrest control of the Capital. Kudaal decided that the best option would be to move back to the farm, and defend that smaller area.

They relocated without too much issue, taking the salvaged weapons and whatever else would be useful and set about fortifying their position. Attacks continued to assault their position, but with a smaller area to defend, and a bit of a larger home-field advantage, they were able to hold out for longer. Luckily they eventually saw a reduction in attacks as the Hegemony was stretched thin by the continuous fighting across their planets and while fighting against the Council Races. Kudaal and his group of partisans still faced attacks, but they were suffering fewer losses and managing to make raids into Hegemony camps to steal supplies and information. The latter was sent to other Fifth Pillar groups, but most places around the planet were stuck in a static battle of attrition.

In 2189 Council sponsored support began arriving, Kudaal’s group was given instruction by a Salarian STG Captain by the name of Timo Shohari. He trained Kudaal directly, and Kudaal in turn assisted Timo in teaching the rest of them. Primarily they were trained in infiltration and small-unit tactics. How to slip in undetected and hit hard and fast. How to work around fortified positions and destroy them from unexpected angles. Kudaal was noted for taking to this set of tactics very well, and being a skilled instructor in his own right. Their first operation was to assist in taking the Capital of Erszbat, which was an active and dynamic battle once again with Council support involved.

Kudaal and his group, with Timo’s direct support as well, helped to break the stalemate in the city by destroying a series of anti-air and ballistic missile sites around the city. The fighting continued across the planet for the remainder of the year, with Kudaal’s forces being moved around to various battles to help break down defenses. It earned him the nickname of “Hammer” from those that saw him, or heard of him leading the attacks. However, it couldn’t all go well, and Kudaal eventually faced a true consequence of embarking on this path. One of the raiding parties sent by the Hegemony-in-Exile had come to exact revenge on this planet, a lightning strike against the farm saw his wife Jera killed in a bombing run. His children were alive, staying with Jera’s mother in town, but he was still now without someone he had spent most of his life with.

Kudaal was not one given to tears, but he did not hold back his grieving upon finding out. Many men in his unit had lost someone as well, and trying to hold it in would not be needed. They all shared in each other’s grief, which helped them recover to some degree, though they were still devastated as a whole, it helped to drive them to ensure that this war ended soon, and to their favor. Kudaal entrusted his children to Jera’s mother and father of course, and his own mother moved to help support them as well. He was soon though given an assignment that would take him off of the planet. In an agreement with the BPG at large, The Fifth Pillar leadership had agreed to assist Council forces in an attack on Khar’Shan, and they had chosen Kudaal’s group among many others to be the attacking force. Kudaal had the time thankfully to perform proper burial rights for his wife before departing, dropped via pods into the capital city, where the space elevator was being assaulted by CRC forces. He now fights to help accomplish the goal of taking control of that engineering marvel.

## Personality

Kudaal, in the most basic of terms, is a very patient, hard-working, and despite the stereotypes against his people, a caring individual. As anyone may do, he can have his outbursts, but he is very controlled in where and when he has them. He tries to make sure that nobody gets caught up in his bad moods and does his best to ensure that nobody is going to be getting the brunt of his mood that doesn’t deserve it.

Kudaal is familiar with failure and with disappointment. He is well aware that things rarely work as intended, or that is his experience in life so far, and as such is very good at formulating new ideas and workarounds to problems that cannot be solved in a conventional manner.

Despite being a rather ruthless fighter with the Militia, Kudaal comes off as exceptionally approachable, very much a ‘man of the people’ sort of air about him in the way that he speaks and acts. He cares deeply for the welfare of his people, especially those that worked with him on his farm and is not afraid to step into the spotlight to highlight areas of need.

### Exceptional Skills

* Honest Work: Kudaal was not a soldier for most of his life. He worked on a farm, and as such he is skilled in the raising of plants, repair of vehicles common to the farm, and other skills that might be required for the success of a farm.
* Barnyard Brawler: Hand-to-Hand fighting came quite naturally to Kudaal even before he received additional training from the BPG militia group. With this training, he is now a rather dangerous opponent to face unarmed.
* Amateur Dirt Detective: Kudaal is fairly experienced at picking good soil for planting in. He also has a good eye for what soil and softer-earth will do when certain things happen to it: Explosions or shock, and water-based erosion. He isn’t an expert, but he could probably engineer a decently focused rock-slide if you put him to it.
* Fast Learner: Kudaal picks up on new things quicker than most people his age, able to take instruction and information and retain both relatively well. He won’t be learning to fly a fighter in a day….but he could probably make a survivable landing in a Kodiak.

## Physical Description

Kudaal is large, even for a Batarian, with broad shoulders and a stocky, muscular frame. He carries his size very well though, despite being more than a few pounds over the average, he can move lightly on his feet and is able to maneuver different parts of his body with surprising dexterity and agility.

On a smaller scale, he has the body that has seen both the toil of the crop-fields and the battlefields. His hands are rough, calloused from hours working with outdated equipment. Kudaal has several small scars up along his arms from different accidents and recently has acquired fresh scars from explosive shrapnel and glancing slugs.

### Armament

* Phaeston
* M-560 Hydra
* Type-18 Harpoon Submachine Gun

### Abilities

* Tactical Scan
* Shield Boost
* Barricade
* Stimulant pack