Desmond Rowe

Dossier
Desmond Isaiah Rowe is a member of the RIFT fireteam stationed in the Abrudas Wing. Desmond is analytical, charismatic, and respectable. He does his best to see the good in people, despite their actions, and attempts to reason with them to diffuse the situation to avoid conflict. He puts on a happy face, but there are times where he finds difficulty accomplishing it, due to the loss of his fiancé. He believes in mutual respect, no matter the circumstance. He’s an optimist who never believes there’s a single way to do something. He always searches for an alternative, regardless of the situation.

Standing at a height of 6’2(or 1.9 meters), Desmond is not one to be underestimated. His intimidating stature contrasts with his disarmingly friendly smile. His broad shoulders and muscular torso are the result years of experience in the field. His hands are calloused, and his face yields a dignified appearance due to his age. Despite being in his late 30s, Desmond keeps himself in shape, as well as maintains his facial hair. As a result, despite his maturity, he often is mistaken to be much younger.

Desmond is a part of the RIFT fireteam. He goes on missions for the fireteam, and acts predominantly as a combat operative in these missions. The skills he’s developed for RIFT include but are not limited to diplomacy, close-range combat, long-range combat, and minimal medical training. As a result of his more combat-driven skills, he’s been stationed in the Abrudas Wing.

History
Desmond Isaiah Rowe’s family had a military background dating back to the First Civil War of the United States. It was his father, Edward, who broke tradition and joined the Seattle Police Department, but even he had some military service in his background. He was simply the first to not devote his whole life to the military. Through his line of work as an officer, he met Janet. She’d later go on to marry Edward and mother his child. The only clear memories Desmond retained from his childhood was of their ginger Pomeranian, Sydney, or when they went to various movies and restaurants that he’d never remember unless he walked past them. The rest of his childhood was a blur, with his father being the ‘guardian’ of the household. He wasn’t away for too long when he worked cases, which meant more time was spent at home as a family. They lived a happy, quaint little life in Seattle, Washington. The only real concern they had was an occasional reported mugging, or a rare store robbery.

He was raised in a household that demanded respect. From age five and beyond, his father was strict within reason, correcting his son’s disrespectful behavior. Whenever his father was working overtime on a case, his mother took a more endearing approach in raising her son. During Desmond’s elementary schooling, the First Contact War with the turians brewed up. It didn’t come to affect his family directly, with only a slight increase in crime. The crimes typically consisted of muggings, burglaries, or some store would be held up by a lowlife, all of which dictated Edward’s presence. It wasn’t as different from before, and started to die down as time went on. The rest of his elementary schooling consisted of repetitive, but fun work that he has no memory of to this day. As he entered sixth grade, however, his father started teaching him minor self defense lessons, brought on by burglaries in neighboring houses. He was easy at first, avoiding the extremely difficult stuff due to Desmond’s age and physique.

Middle school studies rolled around, and Desmond managed to keep straight A’s, as well as balance his self defense sessions with his father. He started requiring him to eat healthier and work out often, primarily because Edward wanted his son to follow in his footsteps and maybe one day become a police officer. As he moved to eighth grade, his father started tutoring him on the various articles of the police code of conduct to further this goal. The boring, monotonous nature of the lessons weren’t too encouraging, but his father constantly assured him that it’d be worth it in the end. Desmond’s studies moved to the high school level, and his father’s self defense lessons got gradually harder, and his tutoring more in-depth. He attended the local high school, where he met Graeson. The two were fast friends, and during sophomore year, he introduced Desmond to his sister, Yvette, who had entered her freshman year. The three grew closer and were eventually inseparable through the rest of high school. After wrestling with his feelings for her, Desmond finally asked Yvette out near the end of senior year.

While Desmond was in college, his father decided it was high time to retire. Having saved up a retirement fund, Edward decided that he needed a change. His parents moved to the Citadel, requesting that he join them when he concluded his studies. Majoring in criminology and minoring in psychology, his ultimate goal was to learn how criminals operated, how everyone operated mentally. His goal was to become a detective, and to do this he needed to hone his observational skills. Edward retired from the police life and got a desk job to keep himself and Janet supported.

Desmond graduated with a masters degree a year before Yvette graduated, and they agreed that he should move to the Citadel for many reasons, the primary one being that his parents were there, but also so he could apply to Citadel Security. When he got the chance to explore, Desmond was astonished at the differences between life aboard the space station and his life back home. The view, for one, was much more brilliant and beautiful, as was the racial diversity. After living with his parents for a year to get some money saved up, twenty-one year-old Desmond made the decision to apply to Citadel Security. The Preliminary process was one of the hardest things Desmond’s ever had to do. Months of stress with a small amount of luck and an even smaller amount of ease. But despite the challenges he endured, he got past the preliminary process. Shortly after, he went into the academy. The twenty-two weeks of training consisted of vigorous physical conditioning, arms training, obstacle courses, written examinations, and Desmond managed to come out in the top five of his class. Not perfect, but exemplary enough to get him into the Enforcer Division of C-Sec.

Shortly after this, he turned twenty-two. He was assigned a partner, a more experienced, slightly older turian officer by the name of Maxivus Sylcolus. He’d served with C-Sec for the last ten years. The first year they were partnered up, they worked mostly small cases, like a debate that was getting too heated, or a domestic dispute in the Presidium’s apartments. Whenever he wasn’t working, he’d take some time to visit his parents, as well as spend time with his high school sweetheart, Yvette. After purchasing an apartment, his girlfriend moved in with him so they could spend more time together. However, he developed less and less free time as the years went on.

Maxivus and Desmond would occasionally go to the Wards for a more hands-on case, but they spent a good majority of the first year in a less criminally active section of the Wards, where they had the occasional domestic dispute or shop robbery. Nothing ever escalated beyond that during their time there. The second year was where things got interesting, as they moved to more active parts of the Wards. The cases they’d find in these sections of the Wards were greater in the sheer amount, as well as the severity of them. Desmond rarely had any time to take a break. They’d even be the first responders to a few murder cases, but the investigator division would eventually sink their teeth in it before Maxivus and Desmond could get themselves more involved in it. They’d just stay there and wait for forensics to arrive, answer a few questions, and then dismiss themselves from the area.

The third year with Maxivus was full of more of the same kinds of cases. They’d catch a burglar here, break up a scuffle there. The two had grown to be close friends, even grabbing drinks when they weren’t working. He’d eventually introduce Maxivus to Yvette and Graeson, bring him into their group of friends. Since they’d last spoken, Graeson had moved to the Citadel and gotten a job at Kassa Fabrication to support himself. The fourth and fifth years would’ve been monotonous, if not for the blooming friendship he’d developed with his partner. While there were fewer rare, unique cases, they enjoyed what they had. The other bonus was the time they’d spend late at night with Graeson and Yvette. The four were fairly close, and Yvette finally got a job at Huerta Memorial Hospital. By the time his fourth year concluded, he knew the streets of the Wards like the back of his hand.

His fifth year was full of stressing over the upcoming exam for the investigator division, as well as a lot of minor crime with few standout cases. Whenever they came across a standout case, Desmond would coordinate with the detective who arrived, offering some insight as to what he thought happened. The exam crept closer, and he spent the majority of his free time preparing himself, pulling many all-nighters. When it rolled around, he managed to pass it with flying colors. As a celebration, he, Maxivus, Yvette, and Graeson went to a nice restaurant to end his fifth year on a good note.

After Desmond was assigned to the Investigator Division, he remained in contact with Maxivus, as well as Graeson. He even made a point to occasionally visit his parents, who hadn’t gotten to see him much due to his work schedule. Now twenty-seven, Desmond was promoted to detective and assigned a partner. His partner, a turian by the name of Caisius Aleril, whose sense of humor was snarkier than Desmond’s, and whose age was somewhat close to his own. Caisius’ demeanor, despite his sense of humor, was harder than what Desmond was used to. It took a while before he started to grow on Caisius. They weren’t the closest of friends, but they’d occasionally share a drink together. Desmond solved a handful of smaller cases, such as muggings, small burglaries, and assaults. His first murder case involved a man by the name of Mathias Hewitt was found dead in his apartment with three shots to the chest. It turned out that he and his friend had a disagreement, which led to a scuffle. After learning the identity of the killer, Harrison Stoff, tracking him down was an easy task.

On his twenty-eighth birthday, he introduced Caisius into his group of friends, bringing their total amount of people up to five. As for investigations, Desmond’s life was going rather well. He’d been dating Yvette for years at this point, and he was finally in a stable enough position that he felt confident about proposing to her. They practically lived like a married couple as it was, plus he was best friends with her brother, so he didn’t have any obstacles in terms of approval, aside from her parents.

The four men of the group worked together to plan the night perfectly. Graeson scheduled a lunch between his parents and Desmond, so he could ask permission from Yvette’s father. Maxivus, who had been happily married for a while now, helped him plan the night out. Caisius helped him pick out the ring, already getting Yvette’s size from Graeson. He got permission from Yvette’s father, and he purchased the ring. The night he’d dreamed about slowly crept up on him.

Desmond called up Yvette, and told her to meet him at a small restaurant on the Silversun Strip, as she always mentioned how mesmerizing the lights were, after he finished his shift. However, as she left the Huerta Memorial Hospital, she was mugged. The mugger was armed with an M3-Predator, and when she tried to flee and get help, he shot her twice in the abdomen, and stole any valuables she had while she was bleeding out. Thinking he’d been stood up, he called her many times before Graeson contacted him, breaking the news that she had passed away, and it shattered Desmond.

Yvette’s funeral was held a week after she had passed away, which didn’t help Desmond’s already fragile state. He managed to get through it without breaking down. Under the advisement of his friends, who were also mourning her loss, Desmond took a few weeks off of work, primarily due to grieving and funeral planning. In his absence, an officer that Desmond was unfamiliar with took charge of the investigation, but they couldn’t get any leads. Desmond didn’t celebrate his twenty-ninth birthday when it rolled around. His whole style of humor, the very look in his eyes changed completely. He chose to go back into work four months after her death, underestimating just how mentally sound he was. When he learned that they’d closed the case two months after he left, he went off on his own to investigate it further. Caisius reluctantly delivered their case files to him, and Desmond took a break from work for a month to ‘cope with his loss,’ or in other words, investigate the murder. When he resurfaced, he’d gained more information on the case. He even gained a lead on the suspect’s location. He reported all of his findings to C-Sec, and didn’t take it well when he was instructed to not go after him. Without informing his superiors, Desmond went off fueled by rage and adrenaline. He found the murderer, and something changed in him. He’d built up in his head all the torturous things he wanted to do to this man. But he couldn’t bring himself to pull the trigger, nor deliver the final blow when the killer was cowering before him. Instead, he knocked the man out and delivered him to C-Sec. He’d go on to face proper justice, and Desmond was suspended for disobeying an orders.. Desmond started to feel closure, but Yvette’s loss still weighed on him, so the suspension worked in his favor for coping with the loss.

With his work done, Yvette’s death started to hit him harder. He started to miss her more and more. Everything seemed to remind him of her. He’d wake up and expect to find her next to him. He slipped into a deep depression, during which he drank heavily, despite Maxivus and Graeson’s requests that he stop. The therapy didn’t help him as much as it should’ve. Desmond was a mess. It wasn’t until Caisius found him unconscious in his apartment that he had to cut back on his alcohol, under the close eye of his friends. After that, his friends slowly, but surely helped him turn his life around. Shortly after his thirtieth birthday, he started meeting with a new therapist, who proved to help him through this time more so than his previous one. He was allowed to come back into work for minor cases. He started setting his own alarms, then he cut down on his drinking problem, hoping to overcome it. He contacted his parents and sought out their help. His father started visiting his apartment daily to keep him in shape when their schedules allowed it. C-Sec started to feel less appealing. Aside from minor cases, he worked more at his desk, and felt wrong with it. He departed from C-Sec, and lived off his last check while looking for a new job. Nothing seemed appealing. He wanted to investigate at his own pace, and he felt he’d outgrown C-Sec, so he decided to do it on his own.

He set out to start his own private detective agency. He applied for a license to do so, and Caisius vouched for him, as well as Maxivus. He was granted his license after a mental evaluation, and the following year was spent on planning. He renewed his license to carry firearms and used some of his money to purchase a Carnifex. He saved up what he could from the Kassa Fabrication job, and shortly after he turned thirty-one, he quit his job and opened his agency for business. As expected, business didn’t bloom at first. His only clients were occasional attention-seekers, and some men and women who wanted their spouse followed due to suspected cheating. It wasn’t much, but the pay was decent.

The second year was when business started to kick off. With a few small cases, he started to make a name for himself. Now thirty-two, he and his friends started to drift apart. Maxivus retired and settled down with his wife, while Graeson climbed the corporate ladder of Kassa Fabrication. They all realized they weren’t the same without Yvette, and that they were outgrowing each other. They gathered for one last drink before going their separate ways. As a parting gift, Maxivus had framed a picture of them, the group, all together. It was offered to Desmond, who took it home and hung it on the wall. He was later was consulted by C-Sec for his first murder case, and he seemed to be making a bigger name for himself than he originally thought.

By the age of thirty-three, Desmond’s paychecks were relatively high. He’d hired a secretary to take calls and write down client names. He’d made a name for himself in the Citadel. He had everything he wanted, but he wasn’t happy. He’d walk past restaurants he once ate in with Yvette, and come home to furniture she once sat in. Desmond needed a change, so he sold all his furniture. After calling in a favor from Graeson, Desmond purchased a Tempest, as well as his own armor. Then, he left his old home. He went back to his home town and used his last paycheck to purchase his own apartment. He used the money from the furniture he sold to purchase new furniture. His business was getting back on track in Seattle, and Desmond finally felt like he was moving on from his past tragedies.

He spent the next four years of his life doing cases, making new friends, and living the best life he could with what he had. He befriended a few locals, and started hanging out with them more often. Amongst them was an asari named Sayasha, who would occasionally attempt to be alone with him. Out of his own guilt for Yvette, he never accepted the offer. Attempting a relationship was something he never considered. That was, until the Reapers attacked. When they got to Earth, Desmond was forced into a struggle for his life. He joined up with a local groundside resistance, and fought alongside them for months. He watched a few friends die, and thought he’d join them until a transport was sent to pick up as many operatives as they could. Desmond was amongst those who departed, due to most of their numbers having dwindled in the battle. When he was taken aboard an Alliance ship, he shortly received a message regarding an organization called RIFT. All he knew was that he’d be fighting for a greater cause, and avenge some friends in the process. He accepted and didn’t look back.