Section 2: Dark Side of the Galaxy
Chapter 7: The Warlords
What follows is a list of the major warlords of the Terminus, excluding die Waffe and T'Ravt who have their own chapters. The current era has fewer of such individuals than were operating even a century prior, as the Blue Suns absorbed several medium sized groups in their early years, and T'Ravt has made it a policy to do the same whenever possible in order to supplement her high-end forces.
While the Warlords of this chapter are the premier powers in the Terminus, Traverse, and Dark Rim, their control is not as absolute as that of the Citadel Governments. With one partial exception, all of them rely heavily on a network of smaller gangs, warbands, and independent corporations in much the same way as a feudal lord might have relied upon vassals and knights errant. For the most part these vassal groups simply provide tithes of credits or materials taken during their raids, in exchange they're allowed to use whatever facilities their warlord possesses and have the safety of that warlord's protection.
The system quite naturally breaks down on a regular basis as hotheaded ship captains or gang leaders do things that cause their nominal protectors to abandon them, or their 'allies' to turn on them. This is obviously more common on more remote planets, as Warlords such as Aria or T'Ravt typically move with extreme alacrity to punish any attempt to buck their rule.
Additionally, these are only the largest commanders, there are dozens of minor pirate leaders who command anywhere from a handful to a few dozen vessels for their own operations.
Aria T'loak
Species: Asari
Sex: N/A
Age: Unknown, believed to be between 500 and 800
Not caring about fancy titles, Aria T'loak is widely considered to be the most powerful of the Terminus Warlords thanks to her iron-fisted control over Omega and the Sahrabarik system. While her personally fleet of warships is minimal compared to some of the others, Omega's defensive systems could easily stand off entire battlefleets. Its location allows her to demand massive tithes from the innumerable ships that traverse the system and dock to discharge, and its massive eezo stockpiles ensure a large enough flow of credits to make her one of the wealthiest beings in the galaxy.
In terms of personal power, she is considered to be one of the top five or six most powerful biotics alive, and the current Citadel consideration is that it even a dozen Spectres with support would be unlikely to eliminate her and her personal guard. If she could be said to have a weakness it is in her own arrogance and temper, along with an unwillingness to delegate that leaves many of her subordinates loath to take initiative.
Region: Terminus
Capital: Omega
Troops: Most of Aria's forces possess highly modern Asari patterned weapons purchased from Illium, and have extensive training in their use. However, as she mostly relies on Omega's native gangs for thugpower when required, her personal retinue is relatively small in number.
Fleet: Aria's Black Fleet is relatively small, but like her personal army is extremely well armed and equipped with the latest vessels from die Waffe's Stormwall yards.
Jona Sederis, Mistress of the Eclipse
Species: Asari
Sex: N/A
Age: 626
Widely regard as insane, at one time Sederis was considered the darling of the Republics media after her small mercenary band rallied Illium's defenses against raiders, standing off several raids before she personally dealt with the Warlord leading the attack. Her popularity and apparent dedication to providing 'honest' mercenary work provided a wealth of recruits and even options to purchase decommissioned Republics equipment.
It all came crashing down when a Blood Pack Warlord and his krannt killed everyone close to her in a daring raid on Nos Astra while she was away on business. Heshena T'Laria, who was both her best friend and mind healer, along with T'laria's bondmate and most of her children, drove the already unstable Asari insane with rage. The final nail in her mental coffin was the lose of her bond-mate and her favorite daughter in the fighting that followed, leaving her a mental wreck that retained her position only thanks to her prodigious personal power. The Eclipse waned over the following century, their fortunes rising when she was lucid, and declining when she lashed out at perceived slights.
Her near capture at the start of the Blue Suns war began a shift in her, coinciding with the stunning news that Trena T'laria, Heshena's youngest daughter, was still alive and have avoided her for the past hundred years. The combination saw her drink herself comatose, leaving her vulnerable enough to be ambushed by her own daughters. Sick of their mother's issues, the pair of them forced her to start taking medication as well as begin seeing a new mind healer, an action she has not forgiven either of them for.
While still unstable, she is now sane enough to properly direct the Eclipse once again, successfully directing them to several victories during the Blue Sun war and dealing with several traitors who hadn't expected her to recover her faculties.
Region: Terminus
Capital: Nos Irrail, Illium
Troops: Originally consisting of Asari and Salarian recruits only, though now also allowing humans entry, the Eclipse focuses on combined arms in their main formations. Large numbers of combat mechs are often used to supplement their troops, while elite commando formations are held in reserve to eliminate critical targets.
Fleet: After Sederis's rampage, the Republics predictably ceased all sales to the Eclipse, but by that point they had a core fleet of highly advanced warships at their disposal, though many are now very dated in comparison to modern Republics designs. They continue to purchase vessels from corporate yards on Illium, as well as from T'Ravt's on Xentha and die Waffe's Stormwall station.
Ganar Yulaz, Emperor of the Krogan in the Terminus, True Warlord of the Blood Pack
Species: Krogan
Sex: Male
Age: 865
Self proclaimed as the only 'True' Warlord in the Terminus systems, Ganar Yulaz is the de-facto head of the Blood Pack by virtue of the fact that he controls the largest warbands. Like most Krogan in this age, he lives for himself and his legacy, and yet only has the roughest grasps of the long-term consequences of his actions. To date he has managed to avoid several pitfalls that would have killed a lesser being solely thanks to his own prodigious biotics and personal skill at arms.
Where once he was fairly content to simply expand his slave pens and enjoy conflict amongst his own kind, the war against the Blue Suns seems to have lit a fire within him. Something that his contemporaries are rather worried over. Infighting amongst the Blood Pack has hit an all time low as he has brought 'lesser' Krogan leaders to heel, going so far as to execute those who performed poorly in the conflicts to seize the newly available territory.
Seeing Aria falter during the Blue Suns War saw him begin to start his preparations to once again see a Krogan ruling Omega, uniting the entire Terminus in the name of a new Empire to replace the one brought down by the genophage.
Region: Terminus & Traverse
Capital: None
Troops: Most Krogan are assigned dozens to hundreds of Vorcha as their own personal troops, organizing and equipping them however the individual Krogan sees fit. Each of those Krogan then owes their allegiance to a more powerful Krogan, and so on and so forth. Individually Blood Pack Krogan are amongst the most elite warriors in the galaxy, fortunately for everyone else they are usually equally as arrogant and proud and coordinate poorly.
Ships: Yulaz personally despises space combat, preferring to kill his enemies up close and personally. He does have a moderate fleet of ships patterned on Krogan designs that were built for him by the prior owners of the Stormwall Yards, along with a few newer ships built by die Waffe. They are largely crewed by enslaved Asari forced to wear biotic nullifiers and Terminus Quarians to staff the engines and run maintenance, and their effectiveness would likely be limited to escorting his troop ships.
Gormack, the Aged Specialist
Species: Salarian
Sex: Male
Age: 39
A thirty nine year old Salarian and former freelance mercenary, Gormack was able to amass his own personal empire largely by happenstance. Starting out with just himself and a few like minded Salarians, their efficiency and successes quickly snowballed as he began to bring in more freelancers to expand his operations. As the money rolled in, other small groups had their loyalty purchased outright, and eventually entire gangs were swearing allegiance to him.
Rather than emulate Aria or the Eclipse, like so many others, Gormack maintained his group as a fairly decentralized affair. While this worked extremely well for him in terms of maintaining his income, it became a problem during the Blue Suns war. The vast majority of his forces had little experience working in large group operations, leading to atrociously high casualty rates.
Once of one of the premier leaders in the Terminus, the aging Salarian has now found his back to a wall, desperately fending off his former allies as they eye his weakened forces and vulnerable territory. His own injuries suffered in the war has made a bad situation worse, and he has quietly contemplated retiring to Illium to live out the rest of his life with what fortune he has left.
Region: Terminus & Traverse
Capital: None
Troops: Gormack's 'army' consists largely of squad sized units, allowed to utilize facilities he owns to rest and repair their equipment in exchange for modest cuts of their pay. The Blue Suns War saw many such groups either die off or disband, greatly weakening his overall strength.
Ships: Like his ground forces, Gormack's fleet largely consists of nominally independent warships that pledged their loyalty to him in exchange for access to his facilities. His personal war-fleet is centered around a single Krogan-patterned dreadnought that he seized in his younger days during a daring commando raid, though the battered ship is currently docked in the Stormwall yards for repairs.
Battlemaster Zaen, Master of Asari
Species: Krogan
Sex: Male
Age: 476
The second most powerful member of the Blood Pack after Ganar Yulaz, Zaen's warband is smaller than his fellow Krogan's but is unarguably more efficient. Part of this is his location. Zaen's territory spans several star clusters near the Perseus Veil, including a few worlds that were once Quarian colonies. Lacking the strength to control the planets outright, and always under threat form the Geth, Zaen has been forced to make deals with other Warlords and smaller gangs to maintain his place.
Personally he is highly intelligent, and more willing than most Krogan to delegate to persons with more knowledge than himself. Having been born long after the Rebellions, he doesn't see the point in reclaiming an Empire or blaming the Salarians and Turians, preferring instead to build his own legacy regardless of what species he happens to be.
Another source of his strength is his particular sexual preferences when it comes to Asari, making his the only known major Blood Pack group that includes members of the species voluntarily rather than by slavery. Many are relegated to 'lesser' roles in terms of administration and organization, but despite their low numbers their presence is more than sufficient to markedly decrease the levels of graft and corruption usually seen in Pack groups and heavily increase the coordination between the various warbands.
His relatively remote location on the far side of the Terminus from the Traverse largely has kept the bulk of Zaen's forces uninvolved in the Blue Suns war. This lack of action is worrying to many of the other warlords, who are unsure of which way Zaen will go if Yulaz attempts to make any moves.
Region: Terminus & Perseus Veil
Capital: Teagan City, Redcliffe
Troops: Similar to the typical Blood Pack organization, Zaen's forces add the additional wrinkle of Asari usually trained as assassins to supplement their standard straightforward tactics. Their stealthy appearance and sudden strikes usually take their opponents entirely off guard, providing a threat far beyond their limited numbers.
Ships: Unlike Ganar Yulaz, Zaen possesses an actual warfleet, largely at the insistence of his bondmate who acts as his Admiral. Most of his many daughters have been raised from birth to captain starships and are certifiably skilled at doing so.
Pirate King Ashak ul Tirravan
Species: Batarian
Sex: Male
Age: 47
The most powerful warlord remaining in the Traverse, Ashak ul Tirravan was exiled as a young teenager for killing a midcaste merchant during a heist gone wrong. He quickly found himself a home in one of the many Batarian pirate crews that lurked in the Traverse, working his way up the ship's leadership ladder thanks to his quick ability to analyze whether or not a potential target was actually worth attacking based on small clues and limited information.
Eventually jumping ship when it was clear that he wasn't going to take over the vessel he was aboard, he had little difficulty in seizing an unwary merchant on Omega and reconfiguring it as a Q-ship and recruiting a crew of fellow Batarian exiles. His first move was an audacious cruise into the Skyllian Verge not more than a year after the verge, seizing several human ships by acting as though his vessel also needed a drive discharge and landing nearby to give them the illusion of safety in numbers.
Escaping under the nose of the corsairs, his last seizure was an five hundred meter eezo hauler the made him wealthy enough to modify his ship into a proper raider and also bring several other captains under his command with the hope of more profits to come. Successful attacks on the Salarian Union's outer colonies were followed by an attack on the Hegemony that had exiled him, each success bringing more independents to join him for their own share of the loot.
Careful never to rely on the same trick twice, Tirravan prides himself on being unpredictable and being one of the few pirate leaders to have fought off Corsair counter-attacks. Despite not being formally allied with either, his fleet often puts in at Xentha to unload their cargo, and most of his actual warships were built by die Waffe.
Region: The Traverse
Capital: None
Troops: Whatever freelancers are hired for specific missions along with the crews of his various ships. Quality and equipment varies wildly as one might expect.
Fleet: Varies as he prefers to bulk up or cut down on his armada depending on what targets he currently has in sight. His personal fleet of actual warships is fairly small but their crews are veterans from several brushes with governmental forces attempting to stop their raiding and pillaging.
Cessa, the Dancing Blade
Species: Asari
Sex: N/A
Age: 547
Formerly the Captain of an Asari light cruiser, she and her crew went rogue after the Spectre they were assigned to set them up to take the fall for a failed operation in Salarian space that left nearly a thousand dead. Not wanting anything to do with the Citadel, but not feeling as if they would fit in in the Terminus either, they instead made for the Dark Rim, which was then largely uncharted.
Initially setting themselves up as explorers, they spent most of a century being paid to open Relays and explore the resultant systems for wealthy highborn on Khar'shan hoping to find garden worlds or eezo rich systems. But as the Hegemony grew poorer and less able to pay for under-the-table exploration, and with few others willing to pay their fees, they increasingly turned to raiding nearby pirate groups for the supplies they needed.
By luck or good judgment, Cessa will not admit which it was, their initial targets were a pair of Batarians generally loathed by their competition. As they conducted their attacks they increasingly found themselves joined by both pirates and smugglers tired of the local warlord's actions, and more than willing to follow the experienced Asari's lead.
Cessa's ragtag fleet grew in size and strength as they continued to raid the raiders, eventually culminating in a series of battles near the edge of the galaxy that saw her firmly established as the premier war leader in that region of space.
The eighty years since then have seen her primary focus shift slightly, her unusual warband both working to colonize some of the world's she discovered while also fending off the Hegemony and other attackers. While still not quite willing to go after targets in Citadel space, she is more than happy to send her ships out to strike at the Batarian colonies in the region. In a spectacular showing of poor judgment, members of the Corsairs once attacked one of her fleets on their way back from hitting a Hegemony world. Attempts at reparations have been met with gunfire and raids on human colonies in the Traverse.
Region: The Dark Rim & Traverse
Capital: Greenwater
Troops: Her small colonies raise militia as a matter of course to help defend against counter-raids, but as with most other small warlords she heavily relies on her ship's crews as combatants.
Fleet: Possessing very few actual warships (only her now outdated cruiser and what few Hegemony ships they've captured), most of her fleet is converted merchantmen and other irregular vessels. While not the best equipped, their crews are very skilled at the kind of hit and run warfare that dominants this remote region.
The Warrior
Species: Batarian
Sex: Male
Age: 33
A truly massive Batarian, The Warrior's actual name is known only to himself, even his longest companions have only ever known him by the nickname that he chose for himself after his exile. How he made the money required to purchase the loyalty of several raiding groups is equally as unknown.
What is known is that he seems to personally loathe humanity on a level that is extreme even for a Batarian, and particularly relishes slave raids against both Alliance and independent colonies in the Traverse. He is responsible for nearly ten percent of the slaves from that species that end up on Omega and Xentha, and his capture or death is one of the top priorities of the Corsairs.
His forces typically operate out of the Dark Rim, often from Hegemony colony worlds that give his group succor in exchange for whatever incidental goods his people acquire during their raids. He and Cessa have an on again off again rivalry that can occupy their entire forces for months at a time as they fight over what portions of the small region each controls.
Region: The Dark Rim & Traverse
Capital: None
Troops: A mixture of professional pirates and troops that obviously received Hegemony combat training at some point, though they are not of the highest quality. While more than capable of suppressing colonial militia and civilians, their track record against professional forces (both Alliance and Mercenary groups) is rather poor.
Fleet: Much like Cessa, The Warrior's forces are largely compromised of typical pirate and slaving vessels, centered around several motherships which move from system to system to avoid being tracked while they resupply and take on the 'cargo' returned from his fleet.