Tyrak Karstag

The bodyguard to Reichard Dynatius himself, Tyrak Karstag is an intimidating person with a lot of baggage. Hardened by the events over the course of his lifetime, he comes across as cold and dark-mannered to most people; he doesn't speak much unless it's stern, curt commands, and he always looks as though he's glaring at those around him. He is very sharp and observant, although it is involuntary to some extent; after what he's been through, he refuses to let himself be caught off guard anymore. It makes him an impeccable bodyguard, but when he's not working, it starts to behave almost like paranoia and can be very exhausting. Despite his strong first appearance, he carries some heavy mental illnesses (depression, PTSD) and is wracked with guilt, so refuses to allow himself to become close to those around him, and has damaged his friendships and familial relationships.

Born to a great military family, Tyrak spent most of his childhood training to become part of the military to follow in his mother's footsteps as she wished for him to. He was never particularly captivated by the idea of becoming a soldier, but he was raised with the expectation that he would carry on the family legacy and so never considered any other options. Eventually, he would leave home and join D-SEC, where he would be assigned to Squad 6 with the people who would become his closest friends - David Hollow and Riveta Kite. They would serve the military well and become heroes for a time, but during the eventful Shuttle Sabotage seven years prior to the beginning of the main story, Riveta - who he had recently been wed to - would get killed in the line of duty. After that day, Tyrak became Reichard's personal bodyguard as a means of escaping Squad 6.

Tyrak is the protagonist of the side story Time of Death: Still Breathing, although that story takes place 16 years prior to present. In Time of Death, Tyrak serves as the eyes of someone close to Reichard but with different worldviews; in addition, he still has room to grow as a person, so part of the story is dedicated to him reacting to the events unfolding around him.