Elijah Sidonis
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Full name Elijah Stockton Sidonis
Nickname: Eli
Born: April 17, 2176
Married: Dara Jaworski, October 28th, 2197; Serana Velnaran, February 2196, contract dissolved Oct. 7, 2196.
Species: Human
Gender: Male
Height: 6' 4"
Weight: 220 lbs
Hair: dark
Eye Color: Brown
Homeworld: Citadel
Rank: O3 and Spectre; courtesy title was "Agent."
Affiliation Spectre
Past Affiliation: Turian Fleet: MP and CID
Blood Type: O negative.
Description: Eli has dark, close-cropped hair, and dark eyes, a rectangular face, and a tendency to grit his teeth when irritated. Wears Magna Colony violet turian face-paint, mark of his family connection with Lantar Sidonis.
Squad name Tyr


Talents:

Class: Human Agent?
Weapon: Sniper rifle, pistols (Beretta main, Sig-sauer in concealed holster, usually) submachine gun, batarian vibrosword, and, eventually, Collector pistol.
Melee Specialization: Muay Thai
Abilities:
Diplomacy/Empathy: Eli can usually talk a jumper off a ledge, and can do it in three languages. He has an instinctive understanding of other species’ mindsets, and gains an automatic bonus when dealing with asari or turians.
After the events of "Rebirth," this ability became limited biotics—telepathy within visual range. It's easier for him when the other person is also biotic.
Law. . . : By the time Eli joins B-Sec, he’s spent 2 years in turian Military Police, giving him SWAT/combat experience and 2 years in turian CID (Criminal Investigations Department/Command, a step up from regular MPs). His SWAT/combat background makes him a very tough opponent in a fight, and since turians have no compunctions about shooting suspects, neither does he. Translates to a +4 bonus to all attacks, melee and ranged.
… and Order: Eli has a background in criminal investigation, some understanding of forensics, and highly acute observational skills, in addition to knowing local and turian laws and regulations backwards, forwards, and sideways. He can detect stealthed attackers, hidden doors, and concealed caches.
Languages spoken: English, galactic, turian (native accent, Macedyn/Edesssan), asari high-tongue, south sea accent, perfect fluency), tal’mae.

Armor upgrades: After the events of Death, part 1 and part 2, Elijah upgrades to Jormangund Tech armor, medium. It has extensive shields, and tech and biotic hardening. Eli has 3 mods applied: ablative coating, shield extender, and volus-grade thermal/environmental protection, which will keep him comfortable in environments up to Heat Hazard 2 and Cold Hazard 2. This renders his armor pressurized, unlike the vast majority of armor suits around him. After Terra Nova, Eli has his shield coated with rachni chitin to prevent vibroswords from cutting through.


Dossier:

Elijah was born and raised on the Citadel. His mother, Ellie, is an environmental systems specialist, and his father, Darren Stockton, was a bent cop in C-Sec, who got in too deep with Elias Kelham’s men, and paid for it when a turian gang killed him. Darren had also slept around with any number of asari dancers, which had given Ellie a nice case of the blue clap. Ellie had just been looking for how to leave Darren… and when he died, he at least left them a nice life insurance policy. Eli was devastated by his father’s death, but aware of the marital strife, too. And all the kids at school delighted in telling him how bent his father was.

Elijah had a slight case of hero-worship for the Spectres, down to a holo for the Battle for the Citadel movie on display in his room.

In 2187 or so, Lantar Sidonis came into their lives, escorting Ellie home to protect her from turian gang members who wanted to target the widow, thinking she knew something about her late husband’s business with Kelham. Elijah came to look up to Lantar, but even after his mother and Lantar married, did not call Lantar ‘Dad’ or adopt his face-paint until coming to Mindoir for Lantar’s Spectre candidacy.

Eli was frequently targeted on Bastion by hallex-heads and other schoolmates for having a turian father, a hybrid sister, and so on. He tried to fight back, usually poorly, and also tried to run. Rarely a week went by in 2190 without a black eye or a bloody nose. His life turned around when they left for Mindoir. He met Dara Jaworski underway, and immediately bonded with her. She taught him to ride horses, and together, they found a transmitter that the Adam and Eve Coalition (AEC) was using to find the location of the Spectre base. When they were kidnapped together, they worked together to escape captivity, and Eli stabbed a vorcha in the eye and Dara then blew its head off with a rifle.

Shortly thereafter, at the funeral for the Normandy’s slain crewmembers, Dara gave Eli his first kiss (hers, too). They were inseparable for several weeks, and when they discovered that his home on Bastion had been devastated by vandals, Dara comforted him as best she could.

When school began, Eli was distracted by the prospect of new friends and a general lack of being beaten up all the time. He got heavily involved in handball, and when he looked up, he realized, to his dismay, that Dara had drifted into the orbit of Rellus Velnaran, and was happy with the turian male. Eli did not fight this. Did not think it decent or right to try to make a play for Dara. Kella Aliir began flirting with him, and that went well… until Kella died at the hands of batarian mercenaries.

Kella died in his arms, sharing her mind with him… which left him with a legacy that has proven, over time, to be more than he knew. At first, it expressed itself only in language. Eli suddenly spoke asari high-tongue like a native of Thessia. As time has passed, Eli has come to terms with the fact that he thinks like a human… and like a turian, from his education with Lantar as his stepfather… and also like an asari. Roughly, he has the adaptability of a human and a relatively even-keeled temperament, but the honor and anger tendencies of a turian, and the aesthetics, poetic soul, and the openness in ‘sharing’ of an asari. Most people can only deal with one, maybe two of his aspects at once. Of all the females he’s dated, there are only two who can handle all of him at once.

Eli decided, after Kella’s death, that it was time to grow up. He didn’t put aside things that he enjoyed, like handball, trying to balance his life as best he could, but began learning pistols and rifles at the range, and participating in sparring. Eventually, Siara Tesala became interested in him, and she was his first mystery. He eventually discovered her history of abuse, and arranged to have her helped. They shared mentally twice before this discovery, which could have damaged him. They never shared physically beyond kisses. And when she did an injury to Dara, Eli broke up with Siara immediately.

Eli underwent the Rite of Clan Urdnot on Tuchanka, fighting klixxen and a Harvester (dragon), while wearing armor that had been given to him by Sam Jaworski. He then attended turian boot camp, and emerged from it an officer’s candidate in the military police. When he fights in gladiatorial style, he favor the retiarii style, which emphasizes speed and reflexes. Which is to say, he wears almost no armor. Only a loinguard and an armguard, which wrapped around the left side of his chest. In terms of weapons, he uses a three-pronged spear, a net, and a dagger. In sparring and close-quarters combat, he favors wing chun and muay thai.

Two years in the MPs were spent on Macedyn with his best friend, Linianus Pellarian, at his side. Lin had married Brennia Serinian, who turned out to have gang affiliations in the area of Agradavus where they were stationed, and wound up the victim of a hit ordered by the leader of the local gang, Stragos Emphillum. Stragos also turned out to be a local serial killer, focusing on married off-world females. Eli killed Stragos with two kicks to the head as the male was about to bite out Linianus’ throat.

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On Edessan, Eli moved from the MPs into CID, Criminal Investigations Command, and his courtesy title became Agent. There, he looked into murders, arms shipments that had gone missing, talked jumpers out of jumping, tracked the missing arms shipments into the hands of extremists, went undercover to try to win the trust of the extremists, and even interfaced with the Praetorian Guard. He was involved in taking out a compound of violent extremists with the rest of the SWAT team, and helped protect the Imperator’s motorcade from the last of the extremists, who were using stealth generators to try to stage an assassination.

At the time, however, Eli was deeply isolated and depressed, being one of maybe two hundred humans, total, on the populous turian planet. He was separated from all of his friends, and needed a little intervention. Serana Velnaran provided a good deal of that intervention, making her romantic intentions towards him very clear after her graduation from boot camp. They were plighted shortly thereafter, and married in March of 2196. Eli intended, firmly, to make this relationship work out. He decided he would do anything for her… up to and including ‘sharing’ her with a turian male, such as his best friend, Linianus, to ensure that estrus would never be a problem for them.

Unfortunately, the private lives of Spectres are rarely private. Eli and Linianus, both loving Serana deeply, and her loving both of them, came to an agreement. If either of them became a Spectre, Eli would step out of the way. Quietly. Gradually. And allow them to see if they loved each other enough for Serana to separate from Eli and marry Lin in his place.

In June of 2196, on the same day as being sworn in as Spectres, Eli and Lin took vows as blood-brothers. To defend one another to the death, to treat one another’s families as their own, and to take care of each other and those families until death or betrayal unbinds that knot.

Elijah and Dara,along with Siara, Zhasa, Dempsey, Fors, Seheve, and Shepard, went to the Citadel in an joint effort between the rachni and geth to awaken the Keepers there, and retake the Citadel for the betterment of the galaxy. This effort involved the memories of Watches-the-Gates-of-Ruin in his synthetic body, pouring through Dempsey (five generations of life memories) and being broadcast from him through the rachni queens Life-Singer and Bargain-Singer. When the Keepers awakened, a million years of captive memories, much culled by the rachni, poured back through Dempsey, and were taken and recorded by the geth, who could absorb the information from Dempsey's chip. The experience was eye-opening for all involved, but the consequences were most powerful for Seheve, perhaps.

Next, Elijah and Linianus and Dara, along with Kirrahe Orlan, Ylara Alir, Sam Jaworski, Siara Tesala, and Urdnot Makur spent the next three months on Omega, retaking it from the batarians who'd attacked, going to the aid of Ulluthyr Harak, current governor of Omega, and the NCAI Pelagia, who controls the station. In three months of constant combat, he grew much closer to Dara; they exchanged nightmares and vulnerabilities, and Dara frequently had to treat his and Linianus' wounds. He and Dara tag-teamed to rescue Siara from batarian slavers, and, in hand-to-hand combat with a noble-caste SIU operative, suffered a vibrosword cut to the right side of his chest, but disarmed and killed the agent. Like Linianus, who was fighting another noble-caste at that point, he took the batarian's sword, not as a trophy, but as a useful tool. Not only can a vibrosword cut through metal, but it does draw batarian attention to himself and to Lin, and away from more vulnerable squad mates. The final trap to take out the last SIU operatives was his idea, and involved getting Dara disguised as a batarian of lower nobility, and trying to turn over 'captured' Spectres in Siara and Ylara. The stratagem was successful, but still ended in a pitched battle.

Elijah was also designated the 'junior press liaison for the Spectres on Omega. The reasoning behind this, as Dara and Siara pointed out, was that he was the foremost symbol of unity that the Spectres had: the adopted human son of a turian Spectre, first-son of a turian clan, full Hierarchy citizen, fluent in turian… and also fluent and graceful in asari and someone who'd undergone the Rite of Clan Urdnot on Tuchanka. He didn't much like the appointment, but he has attempted to do his best with the press since then.

Directly thereafter, Eli, Lin, Serana, Dara, Kasumi, and Thelldaroon went off into deep space to try to recover rachni ships lost close to three thousand years ago, in the hopes of finding new queen eggs. Eli was horrified when the queen egg on the recovered ship essentially hatched on Dara, and the little queen latched onto Dara's mind. For the next two days, Eli was rarely far from Dara's side; he was the only person present besides Sky with enough biotic potential, courtesy of Kella's final gift, and his own genetics, to resist the queen's birth-song, if only in part. Though constant touch-contact with Dara, many of Eli's memories were drawn through her to Joy-Singer, the little queen, and they all left impressions in Dara's mind, as well. The birth-song awakened Kella's gift fully, and Eli became marginally biotic as a result. He can reach out and touch another person's mind if they are in visual range, but it is easier if they, too, are biotic; he cannot affect gravity or manipulate energy.

Eli, Dara, Linianus, and Serana were all on the Singing-Planet after bringing Joy-Singer to Life-Singer, and shared in Sings-to-the-Sky's mating-song with Life-Singer as a result. Lin and Serana's affection for one another could no longer be denied, and Eli and Dara's long-held, if deeply buried love became much more manifest—the more so when it became apparent that Dara's condition as a human-rachni hybrid meant that she needed to hear 'song'… whether from rachni or from another humanoid, it didn't matter. The mental contact made it impossible for them to hide the truth from one another any longer. Eli had already decided to release Serana from their contract; the experience finally allowed Serana to acknowledge that it was better and fairer for her to release him, and more quickly. Within weeks, their contract was severed, and Linianus had proposed marriage… and Eli had told them to make him the best man at their wedding.

In the meantime, Rel had been wounded severely on Shanxi. Eli set Rel straight on several matters, and assisted with his friend's physical therapy once the gene mod that Dara had helped create took over and allowed Rel to walk once more. Eli began to court Dara… but they agreed that they were going to go slowly. Because they didn't want to screw things up, both of them having gone much too quickly in their previous relationships.

Slowly was the only real option, as work and the war separated them once more. Eli went to Terra Nova next for another three months, this time with Rel, Dempsey, Thelldaroon, Fors, Siara, Makur, and Lantar. This was his first time fighting yahg, and he was also tagged with the unenviable task of baby-sitting a reporter, Lexine Elders, for much of his time there. He and Rel saved each others' lives on several occasions, and began to reach a sort of tentative accord once more. The more so after fighting the largest thresher maw on record together, with Eli driving their Hammerhead, and Rel on the guns. The bonds of friendship and pack spirit drew tighter when Rel checked in on Eli's mental state after his attempt at negotiating with "The Prepared," a local paramilitary group, failed, and the yahg attacked the human outpost, killing most of the people inside. Eli blamed himself for not having been able to convince them to leave and come with the Alliance and coalition forces, but Rel reminded him that he'd done his best.

Also on Terra Nova, Eli was accompanied by two of Dara's 'named workers,' 1812 and Wolfgang. Rel found this … disturbing… but they and Dempsey bonded much more tightly when the reporter, Lexine Elders, shrieked at the mere sight of the rachni. This was one of the few moments of levity in that grim three month period, which ended when Eli, Fors, Rel, and Makur, along with Lantar in their Hammerhead, wound up facing off against the regional yahg leader and his hand-picked forces. Eli suffered a grade 2 concussion in the fight and almost plunged over the edge of a cliff; Rel, of course, healed almost immediately from his wounds.

Their return to Mindoir was brief; they were next tasked with extracting Serana, Lin, Glory, and Valak from a compromised covert operation on Khar'sharn itself. They snuck into the heart of batarian space on the Estallus, with the Raedia in tow, and landed at Valak's estate. In the middle of the extraction, several turrets had Linianus and Serana pinned down; Serana took five or six bullets to the backs of her legs. Eli's team, including Dara, Rinus, and Makur moved up, and Dara moved Serana to what looked like safety and began medical procedures. At which point, a hacked turret recovered control, and fired on Dara, who threw herself over her patient to save Serana's life… and wound up taking a bullet in the lung and going into shock.

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Eli destroyed the remaining turrets, and began CPR on Dara, eventually carrying her back to the nearest ship, the Raedia, while Lin carried Serana to safety, as well. During the evacuation, the Estallus was destroyed, and after Rellus' lifepod was recovered, he came aboard and found Eli holding Dara's hand in med bay, telling her to follow his voice back, not to leave him, and that he loved her. Eli, on realizing that Rel had overheard, offered to fight a duel, if Rel really felt that was necessary; however, Rel had done enough growing in the past months, and had embarked on a relationship with Seheve Liakos in the interim… so he was able to reconcile with both Dara and Eli, and wish them well.

Shore leave with Dara on Bekenstein solidified the bonds between the two of them. They were appointed, with Linianus, the 'commanders' of the Spectre mission to Astaria and Bothros, which was complex and multipronged; they needed to muster enough support from neighboring systems, including negotiating with mercenaries, transport them to the Hekate system, remove the batarian presence, and then find the Lystheni base on Bothros… which turned out to be a derelict Collector ship, which they subsequently returned to Mindoir.

Elijah is currently working on his college degree, in his copious spare time; the degree is in Forensic Science, with a minor in Paleontology. He has already taken courses in xeno-psychology and ballistics.

Sky calls Eli, interestingly, by a very different name than anyone else: Many-Voices.
Zhasa'Maedan finds him the most complicated person to 'touch' besides Dara: "Layered. A slightly rough outer casing, dissolving into velvet and warmth inside, with almost electrical flickers and sparks snapping here and there. And under that, pure cold steel. Zhasa blinked, confused at the contradictory impressions." He is also aware of her touch.

Elijah Sidonis led the Spectres jointly with Dara Sidonis following the retirement of Lilitu Shepard-Vakarian and Garrus Vakarian.


Quotes:

Chapter 82, Recovery
"Oh… bite me." Dara had plainly figured out that she was going to be needled for the rest of the trip.

And realized only after she'd said it, what she'd said. And blushed, bright red. "Don't say it! Don't say it!"

"What?" Eli replied blandly, changing lanes. "That it could be arranged?" What a weird little trek down 'what might have been' lane this crazy ass trip is turning out to be, he thought, amused.

Double-handed finger-flicks. Eli just laughed and put his eyes back on the road.

Chapter 101, Tribulation
"You were doing fine until they jumped you with the death tolls." A quick, concerned glance. "You okay?"

A lump formed in her throat, and Dara quickly took a drink from her glass of water before replying, very quietly, under the cover of all the other voices in the cafeteria, "Feels like nothing I did was worth a damn. That Siara and I didn't make a difference at all." Rinus and Kallixta at least had a nice, clear win. One comet, bounced out of a solar system. She sighed. "I bet the other docs who're there now, or who've been there since the beginning, feel the same way, though."

Eli turned entirely to face her. Stared down at her for a long moment. And when he spoke, he kept his voice low. Just barely audible over the sound of the other voices all around them. Even a turian would have had to strain to hear him from more than a foot or two away. "Sai'kaea… of course what you did mattered. People lived who wouldn't have, because you were there. We're alive, because of you and Siara. You did what you could, for who you could, and that's the best any of us could do." He paused, putting a hand on her shoulder lightly. "And I know that they've got to be switching out medical crews by now. No one could have stayed in there from the first day on, not and kept their sanity. Body crews were ten days on, and then rotate out, at the very most. Same reason." Very intent now. "It's not your fault. You did help. And there's no damned shame in being here now, instead of there."

Dara smiled, faintly. "It's not just xenopsych you're taking, is it?"

"Never needed psych courses to understand you."

Chapter 118, Weal and Woe

Eli looked down, and saw an unnamed worker at their feet. "Wow. A worker with a first-person pronoun. You're … kind of odd, buddy. You need a name?"

I would like a name-song, yes.

Eli told Ylara, "Excuse me a moment, and bent down to pick up the worker. "Ideas?" he asked Dara.

"Zappa."

"That's not a name, that's a sound effect."

Chapter 143, Celebration

On the topic of Siara:

"Sky doesn't call her Pain-Singer for nothing," Eli agreed.

"And you used to date her?" [Rel asks.]

"I was young and stupid. Makur? I can only assume he's a closet masochist."


Footnotes:
top image: drawn by Ean Moody, see http://moodyillustrator.com/
2nd image: by DuetMaoim, aka Shinimegami7 see all her work here http://duetmaoim.deviantart.com/
3rd image by CalltheDarkness http://callthedarkness.deviantart.com/


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