K A R M M "S U L L Y" S O L
⟁ 47 ⟁ Male ⟁ Krogan ⟁ Engineer
A P P E A R A N C E
As krogans go, Sol's up there with being both intimidating and scary at one go; Sol stands 8' 4" tall and weighs roughly 375 pounds, making him a giant bruiser of a krogan. The main colouring of his plating and hump is a faded shade of pale blue with several equally faded orange stripes in some sort of pattern across his hump. There is a pale blue stripe diagonally across his face, from top right to bottom left, as if someone painted his face blue and he just left it that way. His eyes are a light yellow-brown, like most krogan, and there are several light scars across his plating as well; bullet holes that have healed over, scrapes and slashes and cuts that criss cross his chest, face and arms. His face is almost in a permanent weary scowl, one frown away from an actual grimace or growl.
Sol carries himself in a neutral manner, despite his size, not betraying aggression or any sort of negative behaviour unless warranted. His armour is often accented by a custom made gear rig and harness, from which hang several different types of tools, big and small, used to repair anything from FTL capable ships to cleaning robots. His armour's gloves are also often covered by a thicker pair of fireproof work gloves, but he leaves them off and clipped to his harness when he's not using them.
B A C K G R O U N D
Sol, better known as Sully among the shipwrights and mechanics of Omega, is an old soul in a young body. Hailing from Tuchanka, Sol spent three decades on the krogan homeworld, his hands blackened and slick with engine grease and soot. His clan, Karmm, were and still are, machinists and mechanics, serving the bigger, wealthier clans who own the huge land trucks that trundle across the planet's surface, along with fixing any incoming or outgoing ships in Tuchanka's only space port. The Karmm clan served and continue to serve to this day, being the quiet mechanics working behind the scenes to ensure everything always runs on time.. Sol spent his years on his home world honing his talents in fixing things and getting his hands dirty. The young krogan learned how to defend himself early on, as all krogan do, and also learned the many ways that he could use his tools to maim and kill.
His family weren't mechanics like he was, but they were a close knit family. The lower "caste" krogan families were often shoved into these subservient clans, and his were no exception. Sol grew up the son of a retired veteran soldier and a farmer, and didn't take into being either. He was a curious kid who used to tamper and meddle with just about anything he could get his hands on, and it drove his parents mad trying to find things to keep him occupied with, as he would inevitably disassemble it as fast as they could put it back together. That, however, clued them into what he would become known for later on in his life. When Sol came of age, he was immediately sent to clan Karmm to learn the ways of the mechanic. And for a while, that was a life he enjoyed. Taking apart the massive engines of krogan trucks and working on their chassis was a life he took to heart.
But life on Tuchanka grew boring rather rapidly for Sol, even with every new challenge that presented itself. Already an expert at fixing pretty much every land vehicle the krogan could build and field, Sol yearned to see more. For years, he'd heard of shuttles and other passenger craft landing on Tuchanka, bringing delegates from the Alliance, or mercenaries from off-world looking for a tough krogan to hire. Over the course of a few months, Sol made plans. He learned the schedule for a particular shuttle that always brought mercenary captains looking for fresh hires from a faraway station called Omega, packed his things, paid the entry fee in credits and booked a seat on his very first space voyage. The mercenary leader he'd paid to get him a spot aboard the shuttle had one condition: Sol would be the muscle for a job he was running on Omega in exchange for the trip.
That was how Sol began his journey across the stars. The shuttle brought him to Omega, where he began selling his work by the hour, fixing shuttles and repairing droids for easy credits. The merc that had brought him to the station came first, as he needed Sol to just be dumb krogan muscle for a simple business deal. That was how krogans were treated on the station, which was a rather big shock for him. While on Tuchanka, his work was valued and appreciated. But out here, on Omega? He felt like just another piece of equipment for people to flaunt, and occasionally that was the way it went. Sometimes his clients would ask him to hold a big gun and look menacing while they conducted "business", which earned him a hefty paycheck that went towards paying rent and buying new tools to replace his old ones. But the feeling that came with it wasn't pretty. Sol didn't feel great, being treated like "merchandise", just there to look and act tough while credits were passed between hands, and it took some getting used to, but eventually Sol settled into life on Omega.
Always learning, always improving, Sol went on the hunt for bigger, more exotic things to fix. He would often spend his spare credits from both his day job of repairing passing vessels and his other job of being dumb muscle buying junked vehicles to see if he could restore them, practicing and honing his craft on other vessels that weren't just the same giant krogan trucks day after day after day. The krogan gained a reputation from his near-constant status of being in the station's docking bays, offering his repair services to any and all pilots and captains on Omega. Over the years, his skills grew and soon he became one of the more prominent mechanics of the Omega docks, gaining a small following of loyal customers who always brought him new ships or hover vehicles to fix.
But it was through these years that Sol also learned how to fix other things, for it wasn't always machines that people brought to him for fixing. Word came through the grapevine that Sol was a dab hand at repairing just about anything, so it wasn't long when a gun landed on his work bench. So would begin his slow descent into the dark underbelly of Omega, but he didn't realise it was going to be as dark as he knew it to be. The only thing Sol saw was another challenge waiting to be conquered. He didn't let his first few failures bog him down; anyone that dared threaten him often backed down because of his sheer size and bulk. Soon he had repaired his first gun, and it wouldn't be the last. Orders came in from all over the station; small time bounty hunters looking to get a rifle tuned, smugglers wanting an engine replacement on their ship, or even bigger mercenary companies looking to calibrate new weapons for their stock. Sol, now with a more human nickname of "Sully", was a mainstay of the Omega marketplace as a repairman and gunsmith. His little stall always saw a healthy amount of business, and soon he had more than enough credits rolling in to justify bigger purchases, like an actual set of guns for himself now that he was drawing attention, both the right and wrong kind, but mostly to deter any would-be scam artists that tried to rip him off of a job. He also managed to pay for a custom-made set of armour, specifically for his build, and to mount a harness on top of to hold all his various tools and gadgets.
It was during this heyday that he met his first contractor. Someone who needed his skills on the regular and would pay him handsomely to just show up and act tough. So he did. He took his guns, went with this man, a human ex-Alliance soldier who had put a crew together to fence some stolen merchandise to an interested party, and stood there and attempted to look tough. Which went swimmingly well, for a deal made on Omega. The man, Nicholas Cole, roped Sol into his crew as big dumb muscle, although that didn't stop the krogan from showing off his actual skills in fixing just about any machine the other mercenaries threw at him. The crew ran several low-key missions, mostly hunting bounties throughout Omega and using the credits to restock on supplies, food and other necessities. It was through these experiences that Sol learned to defend himself, training himself in the use of what firearms he'd bought to make sure he wasn't being a burden on the team. He also learned how to fix drones through the team, particularly the other engineer on the team: a turian soldier who was also a whiz at electronics and programming, who taught him how to set up his own drone from a shell. Over the next few weeks, Sol constructed his own drone from the same shell he'd started out with, naming it Kezzik after the turian that had taught him. He outfitted it with tools to help him with his mechanic work and a small SMG for self defense.
Sol spent close to a year working with Cole and his team, getting to know them individually and hanging out with them during their free time. It was a different experience, something he'd not felt before. Back on Tuchanka, work teams were formed out of sheer necessity and members barely socialised or got to know each other, even though most workers were from the same clan and knew each other well enough to warrant the silence. Here? It was different. Cole, Kezzik and the others were almost like family in their bond. Over drinks, Cole told Sol that they'd been a small-time mercenary outfit for just about two years, operating out of Omega but stuck within the Terminus systems because they had no money to fix their ship's mass effect drive. With Sol's help, they'd managed to earn a sizable portion for themselves, enough to maybe fund a replacement drive or to fix the problems with it. And that struck Sol. He offered to fix the drive for them, an offer which Cole initially waved off with a nervous laugh. Since when was a krogan able to fix a mass effect drive? Especially on a vessel of human make. The krogan merely shrugged and left it at that, but the human's curiosity got the better of him. Sol spent a week sequestered within the ship's engineering bay, and when the week was over, he'd fixed their drive with spare parts and some new ones that he had to buy from the Omega market. Cole was flabbergasted, but Sol merely answered his questions with a smug smile and a shrug of his shoulders.
And like all things, the partnership was not meant to last. Once their mass effect drive was fixed, the crew spent another week on Omega before they bid Sol farewell as they left the station for greater ventures, but not before bringing him on a joyride around the Terminus systems, one last job that inadvertently set the krogan on a new path. He followed Cole and his crew on to a distant planet where they were hunting a small-time slaver gang that was wanted by the Alliance. The job itself was simple; smash and grab, recovering the slaves and cuffing those who put them in chains. And, in the end, it was. Sol had his time to shine; using his talents as a mechanic, the krogan sabotaged the slavers' ship while Cole and half of his team distracted them. Then when they tried to escape, their ship didn't start and out popped Sol and the rest of Cole's crew, the krogan holding part of the ship's engine manifold in one hand and his big Carnifex pistol in the other. The rest of the job went by like a breeze, but Sol had reservations about following Cole to Alliance space to turn in the bounty. Cole understood enough; Sol was apprehensive about taking his first steps into the wide open universe and he got that feeling. So he did the next best thing: Cole took Sol back to Omega and dropped him off there with his cut of the payoff and a souvenir; a brand new omni-tool that had Cole's own omni-tool signature registered on it. The man told Sol that if and when he was ready to journey into the galaxy proper, to send him an email and he would come back for him. Or, if he found a new crew, he was more than welcome to keep in touch. Sol accepted the omni-tool gratefully and bid Cole farewell with an ache in both his hearts.
After his return, Sol had another repair job to busy himself with, trying to piece together a rickety wreck of a volus-made cargo transport, brought in by some shady salarian bringing together another bounty hunting crew for some job involving death and more death. Not being able to leave for real stung, even for a krogan, but work was work and he had a ship to fix. The credits he'd earned through the contract were enticing...very enticing indeed. Enough to get him a new set of tools and then some. But...something was missing. After the Borealis was fixed enough to be space-worthy and the crew of the ship had paid him and left, Sol took a few days off work to ponder about that feeling. It was a strange emptiness that haunted him during his time off, but as soon as he went back to work, he found out what that feeling was: a taste of adventure and of togetherness. Cole and his crew had shown him what it was like to work with like-minded people. Not like on Tuchanka where teamwork was born out of necessity, but a true team that worked together and played together simply because they could. Almost like family. And working on Omega just didn't have that same thrill for him. Sol realised that, in order to truly scratch that itch, he'd have to get off Omega. To leave behind the business he'd so lovingly built up, trust his instincts, and go on a real adventure, not be stuck on some backwater space station for the rest of his life.
Sol began to make more plans. To leave Omega with a crew just like Cole's and see the galaxy proper. To that end, he kept up his repair work, but scoured the Omega intranet for job listings that would take him off-world. That was how he stumbled upon Nikolai Tsoi. An ex-Alliance soldier, just like Cole, but the difference being that Cole had a crew. Tsoi didn't. But Tsoi had a ship and he was looking for a crew. Sol took one look at the clunker, a turian patrol cruiser the likes of which he'd seen about once or twice before, and signed on the dotted line. He didn't have to move much, considering that his apartment was by the same docking bay that Tsoi had left his ship. With his belongings packed, Sol decided that a second chance to find fortune and adventure elsewhere laid in this man's hands. And he'd see about getting that ship fixed up, too.
S K I L L S
Engineering and Mechanics
Sol is, first and foremost, an engineer. He has the technical know-how to fix almost all manner of ship and vehicle that comes into his shop, along with the finesse and steady hands that come with having years of experience handling delicate pieces of machinery. He isn't so experienced where he can instantly tell what problems a ship has as soon as it lands, but if you give him a few weeks with it, he'll gladly fix all of its problems. Same goes for any sort of land vehicle or even smaller things like air scrubbers or an omnigel dispenser. If Sol has the parts and the time, he'll fix anything within reason.
Electronics and AI Programming
Another skill that Sol picked up on Omega, courtesy of Kezzik, was the fine art of electronics and programming. Even more fine, delicate machinery to play with. Soldering, wiring, circuit boards and microchips, programs, AI behaviour, voice commands and facial recognition, oh my. The year that Sol spent with Kezzik, working on drones and learning how to code their behaviour, you'd think that he was a salarian stuck in a krogan's body with how fast he picked it up. Sure, Sol's drone does have a few moments where it glitches out, but for the most part it works just as he made it. Of course, if there were someone that were even better at programming drones than an ex-navy turian, Sol would love to learn from them.
Weapon Maintenance and Upkeep
The last skill that Sol had to pick up on Omega, because ships weren't the only things he fixed. Mercenaries and bounty hunters often came to him to get their weapons fixed or recalibrated, even though Sol never advertised himself as a weaponsmith. It was through this that he picked up some experience in meddling with guns. It didn't make him the best around, but he knew what parts went where and how to adjust things to make sure a weapon shot straight and functioned at 100%.
Brute Strength
And of course, krogans are known for their blood rage and sheer strength, and Sol is no exception to this rule. He is big, strong and chunky when it comes down to it. Not fast or fancy, but if you need someone to bash down a thin wall with his shoulder, Sol's your krogan.
E Q U I P M E N T
Kassa Fabrications M-6 Carnifex
Sol's go to pistol. Everything else was too small for his hand and he needed something with an oomph to it. Something that screamed "mess with me and you're not walking away without a few extra holes". A Carnifex was the best choice. Sol managed to get his off the black market, in exchange for having to work on the dealer's hoverbike for two weeks. It's got a few scratches and dinks, but a pistol is a pistol and his Carnifex, so far, has not failed him.
Kassa Fabrications M-12 Locust
At Cole's behest, Sol did get something slightly bigger for himself. The Locust was a sub-machine gun that fit his large hands and did an impressive job at keeping would-be dealbreakers off Cole's back during jobs.
Jormungand Technology Hazard Armour
The very first, and so far only, suit of armour that Sol has. Bought when he was running off the first profits of his mechanic business, it was more for necessity to him. He needed something that could handle a tool harness and also that could reasonably soak up some bullets. The suit itself is a plain gunmetal grey, with light blue highlights, and is chipped and worn in places where he's scuffed elbows or taken ricochets from shots aimed at him. The helmet's visor also has a custom setting for macro zoom in the right lens, to aid Sol with fine, precise detailed work.
Combat/Mechanic Drone - Kezzik
The drone that his former crewmate of the same name helped him build. Kezzik is a simple, barebones drone with both combat and utility functions. It is a slightly flattened sphere shape, with a small, compact SMG housed within. Three slender arms are tucked away in the bottom of the drone that are able to hold tools or devices that Sol needs for his work, and in the front is a simple camera and scanner duo that has simple facial/omni-tool recognition and scanning capabilities to help the krogan identify problems within the infrastructure of whatever he needs to fix.
Elkoss Combine Cipher Omni-tool
Can't go wrong with an omni-tool. Elkoss Combine made theirs cheap but didn't skimp on quality. Sol uses his to perform more detailed analysis on anything he needs to repair, combining Kezzik's visual scanning capabilities with the omni-tool to pinpoint precisely where the problems are.
Tool Kit
A simple fabric toolkit that hangs from Sol's belt. Contained within are a few wrenches of various sizes, screwdrivers, pliers, wire cutters and other assorted mechanic tools. A B I L I T I E S
- Overload
- Combat Drone
- AI Hacking
- Incinerate
Positive- Dedicated
- Loyal
- Fast Learner
Negative V I C E SGambling
Unfortunately for Sol, he has a bit of a risk-taking streak when it comes to credits, and games of dice or cards are often where he loses some of the money he earns as a mechanic. He knows not to "go big or go home" as the humans call it, but a few credits over a game of poker tempts him to spend better than food does. And never bet that Sol can eat something disgusting, that's just mixing both his vices together. Bad times for him all around.
Food and Cheesy Holovid Soaps
And another unfortunate vice for Sol, he loves to eat. He knows never to let anything he eats get near to the things he works on, but one of the things he just has to do to relax or de-stress from a long day of work is to sprawl out on his bed and watch cheesy dramas broadcast on the holovid app on his datapad with a bowl of munchies on his stomach. Nothing appeals to him more than chowing down to relax.
Fixing his Drone
This is what takes up most of Sol's free time. Fiddling with the innards of his drone. There's always something to improve on or a new feature to test in his drone, and SOL doesn't disguise the fact that Kezzik is his life's work and one of his few crowning joys of being an engineer. He takes much pride in it, even with the imperfections, and he spends much of his free time hunkered over it on his workbench, busy working on a new feature or trying to fix old problems that he's never figured out how to solve.
H A U N TThe Engineering Bay
The engineering bay is Sol's haunt. He's furnished it sparsely, with a few small shelves to keep his tools and his own workbench from Omega, on which he usually has Kezzik, with its guts and electronics stripped down and the krogan sitting over it, glowering at something through his helmet. A small weapon rack adorns one wall where his SMG and pistol are mounted, and the place is generally in a mess. An organised mess, he calls it. Things piled on tables and shelves haphazardly, but the krogan always knows where to get what he wants out of the clutter. A terminal sits on another bench, where the krogan keeps tabs on the ship's many systems, making sure nothing is wrong with the air scrubbers or artificial gravity.
In stark contrast to this, the engine room and mass effect drive bay that are attached to the engineering bay are spick and span. Mounted on walls within each room is a panel with tools on little hooks, and a data pad containing live readouts of the statistics and variables of both the engines and the drive. These help Sol make sure that the most important parts of the ship are running smoothly and without any deviance from norms. After all, a ship without engines isn't a ship, it's just a fancy hunk of metal with a rudder and wings.
D R I V EFinding a crew and an adventure worthy of tales to be told centuries later on Tuchanka, when he is old and grey. He does get homesick, and so uses that as a driving force to seek out as many stories he can get himself involved in for when he eventually returns to mentor the younger generation in the art of fixing things. Sol also seeks that feeling of unity from being in a team, combined with the spark of adventure that enticed him ever since he met Nicholas Cole and his crew.
Nytefall
Punished GN