Raxs 'Gatakurr

"A lot of money, and a couple of ill-placed people with the right mindset, can get you out of any situation."

- Raxs 'Gatakurr

Raxs 'Gatakurr, formerly christened  ' Riogatakurree prior to the Great Schism, is a prominent Sangheili businessman and Silent Shadow operative of the defunct Covenant. Devoid of the conservative upbringing that most Sangheili have, Raxs is instead impulsive, flamboyant, and strongly resistant to authority. Although a decent warrior, his capitalistic values and ruthless, often illegal approach to business have made him a powerful economic force in the former Covenant sphere. His spouse is Hela 'Zufam.

Early Life
Raxs was born into the clan of Akurr, who lived within a small village located on the edge of one of Khael'monthka's vast desert valleys, and a vassal to the regionally-powerful Trenna Keep. He lived with his mother, an assembly forge worker by the name of Tala 'Akurr, and an elder grandfather called Rin'tall 'Akurr, who proudly traced their ancestry two generations back to the first ruler of the colony. In spite of this fact, none of Raxs' immediate family were particularly skilled or educated, trading on long work-hours in menial labor jobs, in conditions that would not look out of place for slaves. The stress meant that both the carers neglected the youngster's needs and failed to show any affection for him. He often starved for extended periods, and pressure to work as a servant from a young age drove him away from the household for hours at a time. At first, he used the time to play with the other children in the streets, although he slowly fell in more and more with juvenile gangs. By the time he was seven, he already had a substantial criminal record for stealing, inciting violence against elders, and vandalism.

Had Raxs lived out the rest of his life here, he likely would have been killed well before he reached adulthood. Instead, at aged seven, Raxs was one of several youths purchased while imprisoned by a traveling merchant named Grasan 'Dralkamee, who quickly took them offworld aboard his freighter to become his apprentices and adopted sons. Here, they were essentially treated as servants in broadly slave-like conditions, with education, clerk work, and physical tasks taking over everything they did in their lives. Stepping off the ship was strictly prohibited, and those that accessed areas they weren't permitted in were badly punished. Acts of loyalty towards their mentor and the superiors charged with watching them were rewarded, although this created a strict competitive environment where the children were expected to undermine each other for maximum gain. The reason for such an upbringing was simple - Grasan desired to create a small core group of advisors and workers that were nothing less than fanatically loyal to him, willing to do anything to improve his status.

It was in an environment like this that Raxs excelled, although not immediately. During his early years, back-talking, escape attempts, and inciting unrest in his peers were not uncommon complaints from him. However, he eventually bidded his time, exhibiting an art for economics and scheming that few of his brothers had. At first, he would lose almost every physical brawl he was forced into, and only able to return vengeance in subtle ways. However, through experience, practice in his free time, and bribing the security officers for lessons, he would quickly grow incredibly skilled in the art of combat. His intelligence did not end there, and his initiative at finding whatever means he had to maximize profit and costs would see Grasan being given increasingly more attention from his surrogate father. He would command his first ship at the age of 14, a small stardrive-equipped Ideogram dropship. He was supposed to use the aircraft as a minor delivery vessel, but his skill at negotiating contracts would see him personally meeting with clients that Grasan had little time for. Indeed, many of these early connections, including the future Despot of Kalozzn and pirate Warlord Kak Nenn, would remain close friends and clients for him decades afterwards. Only Survan 'Dralkamee - another favorite of Grasan - would successfully oppose Raxs' rise, and both would engage in an intense rivalry.

It was in 2506 that Raxs would experience his first brush with death, when his crew mutinied against him. Already slighted by his young age, the crew were constantly infuriated by Raxs' inability to split the profits and con them out of as much pay as he could. One night, armed with restraints, and the access code to his quarters, they overpowered the sleeping shipmaster and robbed him of everything he was worth. When they were finished, they fired him off the ship in an escape pod and quickly departed the system. Although Raxs would later blame Survan for this incident, it was never determined if he was directly involved, or if the crew was operating entirely of their own accord.

Military Service and Redeemer Career
Raxs was found in a significantly weakened state several days later, when a passing merchant freighter responded to his distress call. They allowed him to heal between the time it took to arrive at their next port of call, Seraphim Ramparts. With almost no money, contacts, and unable to get anything other than the most basic of jobs because of his lack of a military suffix, he eventually enlisted into the Covenant's Ministry of Resolution as an officer in late 2506. He was only able to do this by fabricating his date of birth.

Although Raxs passed training, he was widely regarded as the black sheep of the Telnnor Nu warrior crèche. His lack of discipline saw him making enemies with many of his peers, particularly those that hailed from traditional backgrounds. As a result, his time was troublesome and he was reported to the legion's commanding officer, General Arkis 'Chakamee, multiple times. He first saw action during counter-piracy operations in Sublim's Passages, where he and his unit took part in ranger operations to capture their ships. He was one of the few not to be promoted to Major during this campaign, as he reportedly tried to kill his commanding officer; an incident that Raxs has fervently denied since. Despite their general dislike of him, he did earn some form of respect during the Washed Hands terror bombings on Triumphant Decree. Here, his cunning tactics and willingness to create bonds with the locals proved remarkably efficient at rooting out the rebels, compared to the blunt way his colleagues preferred.

After being promoted to Major in mid-2508, Raxs was moved to the 782nd Dragoon Legion. His career took a turn for a better, where he was noted to be well-liked (if somewhat untrustworthy) by most despite his poor reputation. The dragoons saw most of their service on the border of Kig-Yar space, where the dragoons routinely conducted piracy suppression, reaffirmed the Covenant's religion, and more mundane actions such as maintaining order and disaster relief. It was here that he began building his connections, both among influential Kig-Yar officials and in the Covenant military. His closest ties were those within the T'Vaoan paramilitary organizations, where he earned the friendship of Lawmaster Jal Hok, though he also worked with various smugglers to establish an information network.

Appearance
As a direct result of his need for attention, Raxs has taken a lot of care with his physical appearance. Belonging to the Subanese race, he stands at 241 centimeters tall and weighs about 149 kilograms. He shares his phenotype's major traits, such as their light-grey skin, slightly-smaller mandibles, and larger scales on average. His stockiness is not as prominent as on other individuals, and his mandibles are a little thicker than the norm, which suggests that his heritage also originates in the Yermo region of Sanghelios. Although not as heavily built as other Sangheili, Raxs is still fairly muscular, which is concentrated evenly around his body. He is born with complete heterochromia, with his right eye being yellow and his left eye being green. Occasionally, he may choose to cover them up with heads-up display contacts, although he will quite often leave them visible. He has fairly soft and youthful skin for a Sangheili of his age, with minimum wrinkling, and he has only a few small white speckles dotted over his body. To hide impurities and maintain his youthful appearance, as well as to exaggerate certain features of his body, he will occasionally apply certain treatments of makeup. This can either exaggerate his intimidating qualities, or leave him more attractive than he otherwise could be.

Raxs' infiltration harness is iconic, and distinctly unique from other types of armor currently in service. The base design is similar to that used by other Silent Shadow operatives, and its capabilities are largely identical. It retains the advanced active camouflage emitter built into the armor, as well as the RADAR-resistant design, and impressive shielding unit. The surface is designed to change its coloration according to the local environment, but Raxs has elected to keep a bright tundra camouflage scheme during most fights. Dotting the Armour is a collection of precious gemstones, such as topazes, emeralds, and diamonds, whose purpose is to separate him from the rank-and-file. For formal meetings with important personnel, Raxs has a second harness that is plated with platinum and gold, as a visual representation of his ambitions.

Personality
"If I cannot take a moment to enjoy myself, I fail to see the point in living."

- Raxs 'Gatakurr

From the outset, Raxs is an arrogant, self-serving individual, with an easy-going and playful demeanor that make it difficult for him to take things seriously. As an attention seeker, Raxs thrives most when he feels someone else watching him, and carefully maintains his public persona. He will keep up a very confident, slick act, and takes the light-hearted approach whenever possible. Instead, it is his belief that standing out in the most outrageous way possible is the best way to get it, leading to ill-advised incidents that can reach regional news. He finds it easy to get along with people, especially those who are less-fortunate than him. He resiliently bounces off even those that try to insult him, making him difficult to anger and hard to dislike. Thanks to this positive approach to life, he will enthusiastically try new things, and continue on if he proves clumsy with the activity. It is sometimes stated that Raxs is very lenient with who he places his trust in, although this is an illusion; although he will welcome others around him, only a select few individuals within his inner circle are granted access to the many secrets he possesses. He is also a notorious drinker, being fond of the cheaper varieties of beers and lagers but has a lot of experience with stronger, more expensive forms of alcohol.

Raxs is hardly an infallible person, and his drawbacks are many. He has a lack of discipline and patience, which often leads to him rushing into situations without thoroughly considering the consequences. This has led to him getting dangerously hurt, and he arrogantly created enemies with powerful officials, as he believed they could not seriously harm him. In particular, he deliberately disrespects high-class Sangheili from influential families, as he ironically considers them arrogant and an enemy to their meritocratic society. Unfortunately, his charisma also means that he is prone to seducing women from all walks of life, including the wives of very powerful governors and commanders. In addition, his willingness to engage in activities considered dishonorable, such as bribing and eliminating his enemies through discreet means, ensures that he is disliked by almost his entire species.

In his private life, Raxs is a somewhat different person. Although he enjoys the spotlight, on many occasions he will gladly take shelter in more budgeted establishments, where he associates the most with the worker-class Sangheili and Kig-Yar. He is quite open with the other races, and is especially interested in humanity because of their recent discovery and much more libertarian culture. He finds himself requiring constant stimulation, and is attracted to activities with a degree of risk to them. It is for this reason that he enlisted and eventually joined the Silent Shadow. His confidence gives way when he is pressed on certain topics; he is resistant to discussing subjects regarding his early past and the morality of his dealings, even in the presence of those he trusted.

Even as merchants go, there is a very deep connection Raxs has with acquiring as much wealth as he can possibly grasp, and a need to show it off to those around him. This obsession is borne from his poor upbringing on his homeworld, and he still bares emotional scars from the constant fighting for food and feeling of defenselessness. This has gone so far that he has elected to keep his lineage visible in his badge name, partially as a reminder to never again be caught in such a hopeless position again.

Skills
Easily Raxs' greatest asset is his business mindset. Despite his immaturity, he is dedicated in his goal of acquiring more wealth and an able negotiator who could use his position and influence to almost-always achieve his desired outcome. He has experience in almost every aspect of his business, from manufacturing to marketing to the politics in the top levels of his corporation. He has an eye towards exploiting faltering ideas that few will pay attention to, and pairing them with the right marketing approach to achieve success. This is one of the pillars of his corporate doctrine: while focusing on a single line of products can lead to incredible short-term gains, he can use that success to bring attention to a number of smaller, more niche services he also offers. In the past, he used to be dangerously bent on reducing costs no matter the moral implications. However, in recent years he has urged his executives to improve the quality of life for their workforce, including upholding the workers rights that were historically disregarded.

To complement his economic talents, Raxs also had a number of connections to criminal elements and has experience as an information trader. His strategies often utilise many methods frowned upon, including bribery, assassination, fraud, and sabotage. In many ways, he buys protection by encouraging - or secretly sponsoring - attacks on his competitors. Similarly, he constantly assesses his underlings to determine who may be loyal, and who may be a threat. He tries to keep some blackmail on many of his managers and associates, although he is easily able to fabricating it if necessary.

Raxs' combat style is centred around making as much of an impression as possible, even if it is not as effective as some more covert techniques. He has a lot of experience with wielding weapons that pack a heavy punch and make an immediate impact on the battlefield, such as the fuel rod guns, plasma launchers, and concussion rifle. Using these, he makes every entrance he makes as eyecatching as possible, both for psychological warfare purposes to more quickly break their will as well as to draw their attention. He is not above using dishonourable weapons such as Jiralhanae firebomb grenades to burn his targets, although they are typically used to draw them out of cover. Although he is a good shot with his preferred armaments, he has shown an appreciation for killing them through indirect manners. He will often blow the supports of a building apart to crush those within, or launch heavy boxes and vehicles to squash the unfortunate soul who is in its way. His love of showmanship extends to swordfighting as well, where he will use overly-elaborate techniques to impress the audience.

Raxs is a talented artist, equally capable of a number of different styles, from stylistic character-chores, to abstract minimalist pieces, and highly-detailed realistic objects. He was first taught the skill before he left his homeworld, and it is because of this personal connection why he is reluctant about showing it to anyone but those he intimately trusts. Although he stores most of his completed work and sketches on a dedicated holographic storage device, his preference for painting on paper means that much of his best work is physically framed, hidden away in purpose-built rooms within his private residences.