Blue Suns

The Blue Suns presented themselves as a private security organization, but in reality they were a mercenary outfit operating across the Skyllian Verge and the wider Terminus Systems. They held a reputation for being both discreet and ruthlessly efficient, charging sizable fees to match. The company ran protection rackets, pirate raids, and prison ships alongside legitimate security contracts, and over the years it grew into one of the largest mercenary forces in the galaxy. It would clash repeatedly with Commander Shepard, most memorably during the hunt for the vigilante known as Archangel on Omega.

Origins and the founders' feud#

The Blue Suns were founded in 2160 CE by Zaeed Massani and Vido Santiago, with Zaeed leading the fighting men while Vido handled administration. The partnership fractured over the inclusion of batarians in the ranks, and a power struggle by 2165 CE ended with Vido seizing sole control and nearly killing Zaeed in his expulsion from the group.

With Zaeed gone, Vido hired as many batarians as he wished and named the batarian Solem Dal'Serah his head of operations, while publicly demoting himself to "Co-Executive Officer." The maneuver was a calculated piece of theater, meant to placate his batarian backers and draw fire away from would-be assassins. It worked, and the arrangement endured for years: Solem was known to the public as the company's founder and leader, while only a handful of trusted mercenaries knew Vido existed at all. From these beginnings the Suns grew into a fearsome combat force spanning dozens of systems.

Identity and recruits#

Blue Suns mercenaries often bore a tattoo of a blue sun somewhere on the body. During high-risk jobs the tattoo would be removed with an acid wash so the bearer could not be identified, then reapplied once the work was finished. The company drew most of its strength from batarians, turians, and humans, and on occasion fielded mechanized support in the form of YMIR, FENRIS, and LOKI mechs. Two of its troop types carried Roman legion ranks, Legionnaires and Centurions, a possible mark of turian influence given that turian culture drew on Roman models.

Early operations in the Verge#

In 2165 the Blue Suns were hired by Edan Had'dah to raid the Systems Alliance research facility at Sidon and to provide security for Had'dah's less reputable dealings. Taking the job forced them out of an arms deal, which drew the attention of the turian agent Saren Arterius, who killed several Suns in the course of his investigation. A contingent under the krogan mercenary Skarr was dispatched to capture the Alliance officer Kahlee Sanders, succeeding in taking her to an element zero refinery. The refinery was later destroyed, killing Skarr, Had'dah, and most of the mercenaries assigned to them.

The Suns also brushed against larger schemes. In 2183 a band of them attempted to sell a group of captive humans to the Collectors aboard Omega, only for Aria T'Loak to interrupt the meeting and kill everyone present. After the destruction of the SSV Normandy that same year, the company was hired by the Shadow Broker to recover Shepard's body from Alchera and deliver it to Omega, a task that drew Liara T'Soni and Feron into a deadly pursuit.

Omega and the siege of Archangel#

By 2185 the Blue Suns controlled the Gozu District on Omega, running protection rackets among the slums. When a Collector-engineered plague struck the district, the Suns' non-human members began to weaken and lose ground to the immune vorcha of the Blood Pack. Believing the plague to be of human design, the Suns sent a squad to burn down the clinic of Dr. Mordin Solus for sheltering humans, only for Mordin to kill the entire squad and display their bodies as a warning.

The greater threat to the Suns on Omega was a turian vigilante known only as Archangel, who with a team of twelve waged a relentless campaign against the gang's operations. The Suns' Omega commander Tarak forged an uneasy alliance with the leaders of the rival Eclipse and Blood Pack syndicates, and the three groups together schemed to overthrow Aria once Archangel was dead. After a teammate betrayed Archangel's location, the vigilante barricaded himself in his base and held off wave after wave of mercenaries. During Shepard's recruitment drive, the Commander posed as a freelancer to reach the vigilante, who proved to be Garrus Vakarian. With Shepard's help, the three syndicates and their leaders were broken and Tarak's gunship destroyed.

Purgatory, Korlus, and Zorya#

The Blue Suns also ran the maximum-security prison ship Purgatory under Warden Kuril, holding many of the galaxy's most dangerous criminals and selling prisoners to those who could pay. Shepard traveled there to recruit the biotic Jack, whom Cerberus had purchased from the Suns. When Kuril tried to imprison the Commander, a riot erupted and Shepard killed the warden and freed Jack; Purgatory was later reported destroyed, costing the Suns another piece of influence.

On Korlus the company was hired by the krogan warlord Okeer to fund and protect his work breeding the "perfect" krogan, with a Suns officer named Jedore assigned to assess the rejects as potential troops. Friction between Jedore and Okeer ended in violence when Shepard arrived seeking Okeer; Jedore killed Okeer and was herself slain. On the Terminus world of Zorya the Suns were the de facto rulers, working a seized refinery with near-slave labor. There Zaeed Massani sought out his old partner Vido Santiago, and depending on Shepard's choices Vido could escape or fall to Zaeed.

The Reaper War#

During the Reaper War, Shepard could win the allegiance of the Blue Suns for the war effort with the help of Aria T'Loak. Darner Vosque, who led the Citadel branch of the Suns by 2186, had been raiding shipments of weapons bound for C-Sec with Aria's blessing. After Shepard negotiated with the disguised Vosque among the refugees on the Citadel, the mercenary committed his veteran soldiers to the fight against the Reapers.