Thanos Morchavian

"Politics, how tiresome."

- Thanos Morchavian commenting to his aide on the council decision to hold off force deployment to Jungaram during the Alamanian Civil War.

Thanos Morchavian was an anti-human turian soldier and ambassador who fought during the First Contact War and became the Alliance's first alien POW in history. After being released at the end of the war, he was made an ambassador to the Council, and became well-known for his contributions to the construction of the Citadel Fleet and other military issues. He was targeted by the Office of Alliance Territorial Hegemony, however, and was assassinated by one of their operatives on March 15th 2172 CE.

Biography
Thanos was born and raised on the turian colony of Alserda, a colony known for its mining production. He was at a young age a skilled biotic and as well as intelligent. Like all other turians, he enlisted with the Turian Hierarchy military at the age of 15. He became a well-respected member of his squad, the 316th Turian Infantry Division, working as one of the military's few biotic soldiers. He fought for four years in the Morelov Campaigns, in which the salarian shipyard planet Morelov was overrun by rebels. The turian military stepped in, as the Hierarchy had used one of Morelov's shipyards as a base for constructing one of their dreadnoughts, and feared that the rebels would capture the dreadnought, and through it, gain access to classified technology that the Hierarchy need in order to maintain military dominance.

Afterwards, his squad was sent to aid in the First Contact War, or the Relay 314 Incident, as it was called by the turians. He fought in it for three weeks, killing over 23 humans before being shot in the leg by an Alliance sniper, Jack Helderson. He was captured and beaten by the Alliance before being brought to their operating base, where he was interrogated and tortured. At one point, he attempted to escape, using biotics to kill two guards. He was stopped, but not before gaining the fear of his guards who now referred to him as a jedi, a reference to an old human science-fiction movie series, Star Wars.

He was tortured for the next six weeks, and had gained a profound hatred for humans by the time the war ended and he was released to the turian fleet. Because of his refusal to say anything, he had been tortured to a point of nearly physical handicap; it was noted by doctors that had he been with the humans for another week, he would have died of his wounds. He suffered over eighteen broken bones and became paralyzed in his left arm.

Political Career
Upon returning to Hierarchy space he was summoned by the Primarchs and praised as a hero with courage beyond description. Normally a turian of such praise would be made into a general or admiral. However, due to his injures he was appointed an ambassador to the Council. While never one for politics he was honored and accepted the position.

Upon arriving on the Citadel he was welcomed by the turians and purchased an apartment on the Presidium, overlooking the Mass Relay monument. He quickly started allying himself in military issues the first of which was the Alkarian Convention which was debating the construction of the Citadel Defense fleet.

The Alkarian Convention
In the Alkarian Convention a proposal was made by the Salarian Unions to take a bigger military role in which they would have a larger 46% percent of the new fleet salarian, an act which would greatly increase their naval power. Morchavian protested strongly, citing his experiences in the Morelov Campaigns. He stated that if the Salarian Unions were to undertake a role of 46% in the Citadel fleet, then it would only endanger the galaxy, seeing as their core shipbuilding world was politically unstable and prone to rebellion. He also cited the resources and security the Turian Hierarchy had as a means to produce more ships faster. The argument sunk in and the turians gained a 54% share in the new fleet while the salarians took only 13%.

The Alamanian Civil War
Morchavian also played a role in the Citadel intervention in the Alamanian Civil War on Jungaram, in which the volus-led government broke apart. Morchovian strongly supported the deployment of Council peacekeeping forces to quell the growing rebellion. The Council opposed it initially, claiming that the rebellion was a problem for the Turian Hierarchy and Vol Protectorate to work out for themselves. The Council was also concerned about thirty-six asari commandos who'd been taken captive by volus rebels, who threatened to kill the hostages if the council took action. Morchavian responded by bringing up the economical importance that Jungaram posed to the turian military, stating that without Jungaram's shipyards, the Hierarchy would be forced to withdraw a large number of its ships from the Citadel Fleet in order to provide adequate security to Hierarchy space. After two weeks of debate, the Council agreed to deploy forces to retake Jungaram.

Death
In 2172 CE, Morchavian's success attracted the attention of Alliance Admiral Yong Sudoko. Sudoko, the increasingly-paranoid head of the Office of Alliance Territorial Hegemony, was convinced that the anti-human Morchavian was a serious threat to humanity, and thus ordered sniper Jonah Richardson to kill him. On March 15th, 2143 CE, Morchavian was invited by the current asari councillor to the Citadel Tower. As they walked towards the tower, Richardson snuck onto the balcony of Morchavian's apartment and fired a shot from his sniper rifle, killing the ambassador with a single incendiary round.

Legacy
Morchavian received a burial in which the council attended and gave him a commemoratory speech. On his home planet his body was taken and laid to rest where he received a memorial and statue. He also was awarded the Medal of Heroism for his actions in the first contact war. After his death the Alliance issued an official apology for his torture and the turian navy named a frigate, the Morchavian in his honor. He was also credited by historians as the organizer of the Citadel defense fleet and praised as historians predicted had he not played the role he did in the Alkarian Convention then the fleet could not have held out long enough for the Alliance to come during Sovereign's invasion of the Citadel.

Controversy
Morchovian was criticized for multiple acts in his career. Mainly his anti-human beliefs that were mainly expressed in an interview for Citadel News where he described humanity as "an unintelligent group of brutes", as well during the Alkarian Conventions he reportedly punched Alliance Admiral Hackett in the face when he attempted to talk to him.

Behind the Scenes

 * Morchovian's main quote is a reference to the infamous Prophet of Truth in Halo 2, who said the same thing when dealing with the possibility of resignation from the Covenant by the sangheili after the Prophet of Regret's death.