Kay Vortash
From FABT
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Born: |
9 April 2151 CE |
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Died: |
1 August 2185 CE |
| Physical information | |
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Species: |
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Gender: |
Male |
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Height: |
7.0ft |
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Hair: |
Black |
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Eyes: |
Green |
| Political and military information | |
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Affiliation: |
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Weapon(s): |
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Equipment: |
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Rank(s): |
Corporal |
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Era: |
Asari Cycle |
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Battle(s): |
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- "Omega's one big sewer, and boy do we need a huge plunger to get rid of this shit."
- — Kay Vortash.
Corporal Kay Vortash was a former marine in the Systems Alliance Marine Corps, a freelancer and a member of Archangel's Omega Squad. Born on Earth in Wales, Vortash was abandoned at the age of 3 and forced to live in an orphanage in Cardiff for most of his childhood: during this time, Vortash would get involved in a gang operating in Cardiff where he would spend much of his adolescence, learning how to survive on the streets and growing up as a criminal, with the gang enlisting his assistance in a series of robberies, shakedowns and beatings. Vortash's activities with the gang would land him in hot water on numerous occasions, and Vortash would be arrested several times, doing jail time on each occasion: when Vortash expressed his desire to get out of the business and join the Alliance marines, he was told to complete one last mission before the gang would let him go: this mission proved to be Vortash's last in organized crime, as it resulted in the murder of a store clerk when the robbery went dicey, and Vortash was caught afterwards. Given his previous criminal history and likelihood to reoffend according to the judge, Vortash was sentenced to 17 years in prison with a chance for parole in 10, and Vortash, feeling guilty for what he had done, accepted the sentence meekly, angered by what he saw as a betrayal by the gang, suspecting that they let him take the fall and that they would attempt to have him killed in prison to finish him off. Vortash was correct, and when the guards were paid to seal Vortash in a cell block and allow several prisoners to shank him, Vortash surprised them all by fending off and killing his would-be murderers using a makeshift shank of his own. Despite the incident, which Vortash successfully got off on with a self-defense plea, Vortash was able to serve his 5 years with good behavior and was deemed remorseful enough to be let out on parole. During this time, Vortash was approached by the South Wales Police and agreed to having his probation automatically completed if he helped them take down the organization he was part of. Initially hesitant to return to his old life, afraid he would slip, Vortash ultimately accepted so he could join the marines sooner: rejoining the organization, no suspicion was placed on Vortash despite the attempt on his life, with Vortash pretending he did not know who was behind it and successfully gaining their trust. By the end, Vortash provided the police with names, home addresses for major gang members, proof of their criminal activities, and all the evidence they needed to bring them down. Once the organization was brought down in a series of arrests, the police were true to their word, wiping clean Vortash's parole requirements and rendering him a free man. Now free to pursue his new life, Vortash signed up to the marines the next day, and shipped off to begin training on Shanxi.
Completing his marine training, Vortash was assigned to the 63rd Infantry Company, and deployed by the 14th Carrier Patrol Group with the rest of his unit during the Sack of Mindoir in order to save the beleaguered colony from batarian slavers. His company suffered heavy losses during the battle, and like many marine survivors of the doomed rescue effort, Vortash suffered PTSD as a result of the defeat and the horrific atrocities he witnessed. After the Mindoir abduction, Vortash requested a transfer to another unit and was reassigned to the 41st Mechanized Infantry Company, where he fought during the Skyllian Blitz at the First Battle of Torfan. Following the war, Vortash would continue to serve in the marines until 2181 CE, where he decided upon early retirement, no longer finding military service as fulfilling as he previously hoped. From 2181 CE to 2183 CE, he used what funds he had to pay the Shadow Broker for information he could use to hunt down batarian slavers and kill them, having never forgotten what he saw on Mindoir. He ruthlessly hunted down and murdered these slavers, and his activities brought him into the Terminus Systems, where he would eventually arrive on Omega, searching for a particular slaver who he had identified as being one of the batarian lieutenants commanding the forces responsible for Mindoir. Before he could kill him however, Archangel beat him to it, and the two of them had a brief confrontation due to Vortash being angry at having years of revenge stolen from him. As they talked however, Archangel explained his motives, and Vortash explained his, eventually persuaded to join Archangel's team and wage war on the crime across the station. During his time on the team, Vortash became close friends with Caity Monteague, and viewed the team as the family he never had: offering up his knowledge of criminal operations and his deep-seeded hatred for slavers, Vortash was merciless in combat but conversational off-duty, a mix of personality that Garrus appreciated and many on the team found agreeable. Vortash was open about his criminal past, but believed that if he had a chance to do it all over again, he wouldn't change anything, as his actions ultimately led him to where he was today, right where he needed to be to make a difference. When the team became divided on whether to continue their war or cash in and call it quits, Vortash sided with the former, driven by a need to finish the work that he saw as vital.
In July 2185 CE, Kay Vortash was in the team's headquarters of the Suri-Kara Hotel with the rest of the team (except for Garrus and Sidonis, the former of which was investigating a lead and the latter doing a supply run) talking with Kaklu Dreon in regards to beefing up the security of the building when the Blue Suns and Blood Pack launched a surprise raid on their base, having captured and tortured Sidonis into giving up his team and leading Garrus away on a false lead as bait. Detecting Blood Pack forces moving up through the tunnels before the attack even began, Vortash engaged the mercs while Kaklu tried to warn the rest of the team, only to learn the Blue Suns had already attacked upstairs. Vortash doubled back with Kaklu once their position was in danger of being overrun, trying to help their comrades upstairs, only for Vortash to be surprised by a vorcha pyro and burned alive before he could raise his weapon. Kaklu killed the pyro but was forced to leave Vortash to his fate, unable to help his friend and the enemy already advancing. As if to avenge his grisly demise, Vortash's agony was cut short as the flames enveloping his body detonated the grenades on his belt, causing a series of explosions that vaporized him, but killed several vorcha around him and delayed the Blood Pack advance long enough for Kaklu to retreat. Upon returning to the hideout to find his dead squad, Garrus was unable to recover Vortash's body, and was only able to confirm his death when he found chunks of his charred armor downstairs, surrounding a charred crater in the dented floor where the strong stench of smoking meat could be smelt. Garrus later scratched Vortash's name, along with the names of the rest of his squad, into his eyepiece in an effort to remember them.