Ksad Ishan
From FABT
Biological information | |
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Born: |
February 5, 61023 BCE |
Died: |
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Physical information | |
Species: |
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Gender: |
Male |
Height: |
6.9ft |
Hair: |
None |
Eyes: |
Lime green |
Political and military information | |
Affiliation: |
Prothean Empire |
Command(s): |
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Rank(s): |
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Era: |
Prothean Cycle |
- "Our Empire is dust. Our people are dust. Our great civilization, and all those within it, have been methodically wiped from history. Nobody will know what happened to us...just as happened to the inusannon before us, I think. We were the strongest, just as the Cosmic Imperative willed it, but now we have been toppled and ruthlessly annihilated. If we are to be remembered, if we are to rise again and destroy the Reapers...we must give our successors the tools and knowledge to beat them. They must be warned. Vigil will be their guide and I, even in death, will live on long enough to be the seed that breaks apart the threads that bind together the cycles. The Empire will be victorious...and we will have our time again."
- — Ksad Ishan's speech to his scientists, shortly before enacting the project to break the Keeper signal.
Master Sage Ksad Ishan was a pre-eminent Erudite scientist of the Grec Ol Impera Minadante, a former member of the Combined Imperial Starfleet, and technically one of the last living protheans to survive into the asari cycle. Born on Malantor, Ksad was born into the Warrior caste and was therefore deemed, by prothean law, destined to become a soldier. His father ignored Ksad's more intellectual traits, wanting his son to follow in his footsteps and become a warrior just as the rest of his family had, refusing Ksad's request to undergo Caste Arbitration. Ksad did as his father wished, and following his training, was selected to join the Imperial Starfleet as a naval officer. Ksad eventually went for re-evaluation of his case and called for Case Arbitration, where his intellect and skill were measured and deemed to be more fitting of an Erudite station. He was therefore transferred to the Erudite caste and joined the Grec Ol Impera Minadante, doing so just before the outbreak of the Metacon Wars. He rose through the ranks quite rapidly, and his mentor, Nkan Pel, was extremely impressed by his knowledge of inusannon technology. Of particular interest to the Ministry, and later the Warrior Congress, was his theories on mass relays, which caused them to enlist him in the Conduit project on Ilos, with a promotion to Master Sage. Ksad's knowledge and expertise expedited the project immensely, and within years, a working prototype of a miniture, prothean-made mass relay was developed, with Ksad himself risking his life to test it, and subsequently ending up on the Citadel to the surprise of many civilians nearby. Ksad was ecstatic, and his request for more funding to improve upon it was hastily approved.
Ksad never got a chance to use the funding. In 60101 BCE, the Reapers attacked and overwhelmed the Citadel, beginning a war with the Prothean Empire that would lead to its downfall. Ksad and his team were only informed after Vigil had already put the entire Ilos facility on lockdown per emergency contingency. Years passed as Ksad, his team and the military personnel waited for the all clear, but it never came, and they were left unaware of the progress of the war beyond the scant few information Vigil supplied them. Ksad eventually came up with the idea to put all personnel into stasis, instructing Vigil to awaken them when the all clear was given. Ksad awoke centuries later, only to find that all the military personnel had died in stasis, and only a quarter of his original science team survived. Ksad rightly concluded that his species was doomed to extinction, and hatched a plan to use the Conduit to get onto the Citadel and sabotage the Keeper signal. Before leaving, Ksad imprinted himself onto Vigil, which was illegal underneath the AI research laws of the former prothean empire. Vigil retained all of Ksad's memories and knowledge and personality, who he hoped would be able to pass this on to the next cycle, warning them of the Reaper threat. He then departed through the Conduit, and upon completion of his task, was believed to have died from exposure with the rest of his surviving team a week later.
Due to his imprint on Vigil, it can be argued that Ksad is one of a few protheans to survive into the asari cycle: the other being Javik Ple and the survivors of the Black Ark. However, with Vigil's deactivation in late 2183 CE, Ksad can be officially considered deceased entirely.