Arkan Rillix

Image drawn by Huskymaru. Owned by Talias.

### Education

Hierarchy Officer Corp - Specialized in xeno social science and localized crisis management

## Physical Description

### Identifying Marks

* Blue Facial Markings
* Healed over burn marks on his neck and the back of his head
* Several minor cuts and damages to his carapace

## OOC Info

### Status

Active

**Arkan Rillix** is the Hierarchy Colonial Outreach Officer within the Council Recovery Corps, serving on the PAS Millika Auxiliary Cruiser.

## Biography

Arkan’s story begins in much the way one would expect a child of military lineage, with both of his parents leaving him on and off to work as servicemen on different turian naval vessels. His mother Alixa Rillix had long served as a medical officer on the hierarchy dreadnaught PAS Heroic in the 4th fleet, where she had met his father Ekran who was reassigned to the ship as a gunnery sergeant. While the two did spend the first year and a half of Arkan’s life on parental leave, they both rejoined service on the Heroic shortly thereafter. Thus resulted in most of his time as a child was spent with his grandparents on his mother’s side, Cesta Rillix his grandmother who used to be a navy officer in the 2nd fleet, and his grandfather Helion Rillix a former drill sergeant stationed at the boot camp in Apparitus on Digeris. He grew up on the stories of the space battles of the Rachni war, fights spanning entire planets during the Krogan Rebellion, and all manner of acts of Heroism of ages past.

While his parents were around, it was only for short periods of shore leave, usually for special events such as birthdays, but even that was far from a given. His grandparents became his de facto caretakers, offering their own take on parenting. Helion was and still is a firm and strict man, yet fair if you put some effort into your chores and do not break the house rules. Cesta was much the same, but seemed to be quite smitten with Arkan, and had a tendency to spoil him every now and then. Despite their care his grandparents still did not fill the same shoes as actual parents would have, Arkan often missed them when they were not around, asking his grandparents to set up regular VR calls with them. Sadly VR calls simply do not carry the same weight as a living breathing being, and while Arkan would later come to understand why they did what they did, as he came to understand civic duty, he never quite forgave them for not being around for much of his childhood.

At the age of seven Arkan took their first steps towards what would eventually become his future career when he shipped off to Palaven to start at a military boarding school on the turian homeworld. Truth be told, at first, it was not much of a change, moving from a strict military household to a strict military center of education. Dinner in the mess hall at 0700 hours, sharp, first classes began at 0800, math, language, physical exercise, then as the years went on it moved to interstellar geography, xeno-biology, military history, physics. Despite the many children around him, Arkan was often one to keep to himself, more than satisfied with his own company. He did however found the basis of some long-term friendships, his boyhood crush Cassia Titus, who Arkan still considers the one that got away, and Ellenia Flaccus, arguably his best friend, who would later serve with him on the PAS Liciton. As time went on, the military nature of the boarding school began to show, most of the kids were in martial arts clubs, multiple times a week most of the pupils would compete at the shooting range. It often annoyed Arkan that he was not a better shot, no matter how much he practiced, the other kids were always better than him with a gun. His hand-to-hand fighting would however go down to become one of his great passions, his favorite workout and pass time, all in one.

In 2174 when Arkan finally reached the age of 15, he did as most - if not all - other turians do, he joined up for military service. Boot camp came as natural to him as breathing, while the exercise was excruciating and the drilling relentless, there was an enjoyable simplicity to it, a clear goal, and the only thing standing in his way was his own resolve and endurance. He still was not the best shot, the best runner, the best fighter, no, where Arkan flourished was when it came to the sheer force of will, that willingness, eagerness even, to push on towards his goal no matter the obstacles put against him. As his year of basic military training came to an end, Arkan was assigned to the patrol frigate PAS Eskala in the 3rd fleet as a yeoman, handling interfleet communications, under the command of Captain Makkas Nillien, an older man nearing his retirement age. While it was not the most glamorous position, mainly just patrolling outer council space, chasing off the occasional pirate vessel, and doing cargo inspections, it did offer up a good bit of experience in fleet movements, and some insight into the life of a hierarchy navy officer.

While most of his service period aboard the PAS Eskala was quite uneventful, the other servicemen Arkan served with made the voyages memorable. Especially Captain Nillien. While he was not the most engaging individual in his day to day, he carried himself with a certain air of authority, he recognized people's skills and knew when to challenge them for them to grow into more than just enlistees. Arkan came to view Nillien as quite an idol, his duties as the ship's yeoman meant that the two ended up spending a considerable amount of time together, dealing with reports, and incoming communications. As Arkan’s service period went on Nillien took it upon himself to start mentoring Arkan, apparently seeing something in the young man. In the end, it was this mentoring that inspired Arkan to apply to the Cipritine Naval Academy on Palaven at the end of his two-year service period, with the aim of one day coming to captain his own ship.

Arkan was granted leave to end his service period aboard the PAS Eskala two months early, in order to be able to reach the 2177 enrollment call at the Cipritine Naval Academy, as a fleet officer. Studying to become an officer seemed to his liking, instead of rudimentary military issues, he was finally asked to consider the larger picture, how his command was to play into a larger military strategy, how to lead, how to handle whatever issues may come up. Despite his military heritage, Arkan opted out of a traditional military career, choosing instead to specialize in localized crisis management, as well as xeno social science, hoping to be able to enter into one of the turian outreach programs, aiding fringe colonies with security, handling operations which could be overseen by a single frigate, and other assignments where he might have to operate autonomously from the rest of his assigned fleet command.

His desire to serve in crisis functions led Arkan to an assignment with the 6th fleet, first as an officer-in-training and later on - after his graduation - as a junior-officer, serving in a peacekeeping role within council space, a role in which his specialization in xeno social science could really come into play. After two years of serving minor assignments on a number of different ships, he was finally stationed as first-officer on the frigate patrol-craft PAS Liciton, a lightly armed frigate, but still with enough firepower to make most pirates think twice before entering into a possible engagement scenario. He served under Captain Vellistra Hallion, a firm and strict leader, pragmatic to the core of her being, a woman for whom the mission always came first. Working under Captain Hallion taught Arkan many lessons, but one stood out amongst them, as she spoke this one directly to Arkan; *“War is a numbers game, if your only option to save ten men is sacrificing five, you do it.”*

While the first period of his service as a first-officer in the turian navy was fairly uneventful, things quickly changed as political tensions started flaring up along with the Coffee Shop Massacre, the formation of G.U.A.R.D.I.A.N., and later the curing of the genophage. The 6th fleet being a peacekeeping fleet was amongst the first to see the effects of the rising tensions, pirates became more daring, cargo inspections became more frequent, and people seemed more on edge than Arkan had ever encountered before.

It was not until 2186, that Arkan saw true full-scale military action when the Terminus Confederacy formed and declared war on the Citadel Council. The PAS Liciton was one of the vessels - along with much of the 6th fleet - assigned to Outer Council Space and parts of the Attican Traverse, with the directive to guard the frontier colonies from any incoming threats. It was at this time that Ellenia, one of his best friends, was assigned to the ship as chief navigator, offering the two a chance to reconnect after not having spoken much since bootcamp. The greatest test of his skills came during an engagement in the Ismar Frontier, word had come down from the Hierarchy brass that League forces were gathering in the cluster, preparing to raid into Council Space. The 87th and 115th flotilla - among which the PAS Liciton was counted - were ordered to do a preemptive strike against the raiding group, to ensure it could not strike out against council supply lines and other lightly defended targets. While the operation was a success, the Liciton did sustain major damage while serving as a screening ship for one of the cruisers of the 115th flotilla.

The frigate remained grounded for three months awaiting repairs, and some refits, bringing the aging ship up to date with modern standards. The PAS Liciton was finally ready to rejoin active service on November 16th, 2186, immediately returning to outer council space to rejoin the defense of the homefront. The crew of the Liciton had some minor engagements the few remaining months of the war, leading up to the arrival of the reapers.

The PAS Liciton continued its duties with the 6th fleet throughout the beginning of the reaper war, doing what they could to keep the reapers out of council space. They were however quickly reassigned to the defense of Invictus, along with the rest of the 115th flotilla they were to try and slow any invasion efforts by the reapers, so they would not have an unhindered landing, and the potential to overwhelm the defenders before the fighting even got started surface-side. For three days the flotilla held in space, tensions aboard the ships were high. The training room aboard the Liciton had never seen as much activity as it did those three days, Arkan oversaw sparring matches in the mess hall, ensuring that the fights did not get out of hand, he would even join one or two himself.

The fight in orbit was unlike any Arkan had ever witnessed before, and one that would likely come to shape the rest of his life. The reapers came in overwhelming numbers, the orbit force knew that it was both outmanned, and outgunned, but they also knew both their duty, and what was at stake for the ones who were waiting on the surface below them. Fighting was hard, the PAS Unbroken the cruiser carrying the command of the 115th took heavy fire, and began a retreat to the surface to carry on the fighting on the ground. As it descended it became clear that it would not make it unless someone covered its retreat. The PAS Liciton moved in and shielded the Unbroken, letting it retreat to the surface, at the cost of heavy damage. By the time the Unbroken had finally reached relative safety, the Liciton had lost all engine power, life-support, and major internal explosions had killed a considerable number of its crew, amongst them Captain Hallion. By the directive of the Hierarchy in the case of the death of a commanding officer, the second-in-command took command of the vessel. In this case, this duty fell on the first-officer, and at that moment Arkan came face-to-face with death in a way he had never truly done before.

The ship was dead in space, unable to move, and only capable of serving as a target for the Reaper forces. Arkan ordered the ship to evacuate, in the hopes that what remained of the crew would be able to join the resistance surface side. Of the Liciton’s seventy-three crew members, only twenty-four made it to the surface, of those twenty-four only nineteen managed to regroup. Under Arkan’s command, the remaining crew joined up with the 27th legion and fought with them until the victory at the Omega-4 relay brought an end to the reaper war. Only eleven members of the Liciton’s crew managed to survive the war, thankfully Ellenia was amongst those who survived, but she took the experiences of the war rather hard, and ended up leaving shipboard positions in the Hierarchy navy, opting instead for a position on Palaven where her experience with navigation could come into play.

Following the war Arkan was forced to go on a period of medical leave, having sustained some considerable wounds during the defense of Invictus. It took him about a year before he was once again declared fit for active service, after which he rejoined the turian military. During this year he spent time in post traumatic treatment, along with so many others who had been impacted by the Reaper war. To avoid going crazy due to the sudden increase in free time, he began collecting music, human vinyl LPs became of special interest, and what had started as simply a thing to keep him busy grew into quite the love for xeno music.

Due to his specialization in crisis management, and his understanding of xeno society, he was finally assigned to his prime occupation as part of a turian military outreach program. He was assigned as the Colonial Outreach-Officer to the PAS Millika, an auxiliary cruiser built for light combat and medical support. Their directive was to aid in the defense of recovering colonies following both the Reaper war and the following batarian civil war. It was this work that led him into contact with the Council Recovery Corp, which he formally became associated with in October of 2190, after having worked with them on a few operations following their formation a few months earlier.

## Personality

In his personal life, amongst friends, family or loved ones, Arkan is most at ease, while there are still some boundaries, largely relating to his rather socially reserved nature. When he is around people he cares for, he becomes far more willing to break with general decorum and the social expectations generally associated with a member of the officer crop. There are however only a handful of people who really get to see this side of him, consisting largely of people who have come to accept his somewhat withdrawn nature and personal boundaries. It is not uncommon that there are months in between communication between him and his near friends, however, one of the prerequisites for becoming one of those near friends is accepting this, and simply enjoying the time they have together.

Arkan has always found general civilian life to be quite excruciating, the lack of goal-oriented tasks to direct one's actions, and the personal connection to ease meaningful interaction, just leave that middle ground where you might fall to awkwardness and other such unpleasantries. He still suffers through it however, opting to simply take it in small doses whenever there is a situation that calls for it, or when some of his friends decide that he needs to get out a bit during shore leave, so they drag him to a party.

While working within professional functions Arkan is truly on his home turf, there is no better peace of mind than working towards a clear objective, the challenges along the way are as much a reward in it of themselves as is the end goal. The stress of a critical mission can give a certain clarity of mind that is hard to replicate, and there is honestly no greater ecstasy than accomplishing a difficult task. The firm and socially distanced nature of professional life also falls to Arkan’s liking, it is the one setting where his reserved nature becomes more of a gift than a burden.

No matter the situation Arkan carries many of his military mannerisms with him, when having a conversation, he can often come across as commanding, or otherwise. At times he may even unintentionally place expectations on others, simply by the tone of his voice, and his choice of words, a fact that has at times made him out to be somewhat off putting to be around. All of this can often make him come off as cold or uncaring for others, and while there are times where that may well be the case, there are many more where it is not. Deep down he cares for his crewmates, his people, his family, his friends, very much being of the mindset that it is his civic duty to serve and protect the Turian people and their interests.

Despite his relatively young age, there is no doubt that he carries some demons with him, the result of his deployments, especially during the Reaper War. Like so many others who were on the front line of the battle, he faced atrocities as few had ever seen before, and they left their mark. While some might have been frightened from ever entering combat again, Arkan was not truly hit by the trauma until the war had ended, and he had time to start recovering from his wounds, and at that moment, there was no place he would rather be than back in action, wishing to have a goal, and a purpose once more, instead of free time which too often only results in the peace of mind needed for flashbacks and stress. If this is truly healthy, only time will tell, perhaps the war will catch up with him soon enough.

### Skills & Hobbies

* *Martial Arts* - While most of his military service has been within the Hierarchy Officer Corp, Arkan was still afforded the standard military hand-to-hand combat training common amongst turian servicemen. While it may only have started as a part of his military service, the martial arts became a hobby as well, serving as a prime form of stress relief after high tension situations, and prior to important missions.
* *Xeno Music* - While he cannot play himself, Arkan has a profound love for music of all sorts, from the classics of the human renaissance to the dark techno common to the bars of Omega. Music that conjures feelings of intensity or serenity is of special interest, as they serve as a tool during workouts or mindfulness sessions.

## Physical Description

Arkan stands as a fairly strongly built Turian, tall and well built, as would be expected as a part of the military hierarchy. His skin is a dark grey, standing in sharp contrast to his almost whitish grey carapace, and ocean blue colonial markings. Most of his physical features are marked with scars, either from burns, cuts or bullets, judging by his age likely acquired during the reaper war.

One of Arkan’s most notable features is however his eyes, specifically their color, at an almost platinum grey they easily come across as white unless you look closely. Many have noted that they take great displeasure in maintaining eye contact with him over prolonged periods, finding the “emptiness” of his eyes unsettling, a fact that Arkan has often found quite amusing if perhaps a little inconvenient at times.

In his day-to-day Arkan prefers to dress in what he has come to refer to as business casual attire, keeping a sense of quality of dress, yet keeping it comfortable and practical. He usually keeps to cooler colors, so as not to clash with the color of his carapace, eyes, and markings. Clashing somewhat with the business casual style he prefers to keep up, he has taken a liking to the human clothing element commonly referred to as a “leather jacket”. During his time on the Cipitrine Naval Academy he had one custom made on earth, to make sure it would suit the turian figure, it is one of his most prized possessions.

Arkan’s voice comes across very matter-a-fact, a trait he adopted over the scope of the Reaper war, along with his scars and whatever demons he might carry with him since those days. He speaks clearly, and to the point, and has issues continuing small talk, preferring to go for conversations where the subject matter is a bit meatier.  A good conversation is one that leaves all participants informed, changed, somehow enlightened, or atleast feel like they have something to take away from it.

### Armament

* Phaeston-Class Assault Rifle
* M-3 Predator
* Modified Krysae-Class Sniper Rifle

### Abilities

* Energy Drain
* Concussive Shot
* Fortification
* Tactical Scan