Name: Aster Rei Elionzvie
Callsign: Golden Phoenix, derived from her nickname/title, the Golden Phoenix of Elion.
Age: 19, almost 20.
Birthsign: Aries
Appearance:
Aster stands approximately five foot eight, a fairly average height. With a fairly developed, albeit rather slender build, and somewhat tanned skin, Aster has a clearly military air about her, evident in her rigid posture, disciplined manner, and rather serious countenance, her pale lips rarely graced with a smile, her gleaming white teeth almost constantly hidden behind pursed lips and a frown. Her azure eyes have a piercing, determined gaze, matched only by the determination that echoes through every timbre of her voice, the willpower that is evident with her every stride. The feature that makes Aster stand out the most, however, is not her determined gaze, nor her military precision and discipline. No, those are fairly commonplace in the Hellward division, as is the green uniform jacket and pants she wears, as are her well polished black leather boots. Aster's most distinctive feature is her short-cropped, spiky red hair, which easily points her out among a crowd of countless other soldiers like herself.
Behavior: Aster, as mentioned above, acts very serious nigh constantly, having been rigidly drilled into a military mentality since her youth. The only times at which she is not perfectly composed, disciplined and stoic are on the battlefield and when embarrassed - and you'd have to go to great, great lengths to humiliate her enough to lose her composure. On the battlefield, however, she shows an uncontrollable fury against the enemy - an understandable fury, to be sure. There are very few people who don't know the tragic story of the Elion colonization disaster, and of the Golden Phoenix who emerged from that debacle as a powerful warrior.
History: Aster Rei Elionzvie was an unknown to most of Humanity until a rather recent date. How she joined the Hellward Division as one of its newest pilots, and how she learned the skills that got her in that position, however, are now a very well known tale.
In the year A.D. 3995, Humanity sent a colony ship to a mineral rich desert world known as Elion. Its objective was simple: establish a profitable mining settlement on that world. The plan was for regular supply ships to be sent with food and water, which would serve to keep the colonists alive during the initial stages of development. Once a settlement was established, terraforming would begin, and once the miners could become self-sufficient, Elion would rise and stand on its own two feet. Little was known about the planet, so a squadron of four Hellward operatives were sent with their machines - mass production units known as Golden Knights - to protect the colonists.
The Golden Knight used by Aster during the Elion massacre, now known as the Venganza:
Needless to say, things did not go as planned. During atmospheric entry, a breed of Exomachina capable of absorbing, liquifying, and controlling metal (pictured below) - the perfect warrior on such a mineral-rich planet - appeared and attacked the colony ship, sending it plummeting to the surface below.
The Hellward operatives did not survive the crash, and many of the colonists died with them. Those who were not killed, however, were given the keys to the Golden Knights by a dying Hellward operative, and given brief instructions on their use. Four of the lucky few who escaped the crash without injury, consisting of two brothers, the elder named Alric and the younger named Rayne, and Aster and her twin sister Rose, were given control of the four Knights. They fought desperately to cover the escape of the colonists into the dunes, retreating a little father each day to protect the fleeing colonists. Alric - a charismatic, energetic young man - took command of the squadron, claiming a customized red unit for himself.
Lowest, Alric. Upper left, Rayne. Upper right, Rose:
The others reluctantly followed his leadership, as he was the oldest of them, and thus seemed justifiably to be the wisest. The Exomachina paid dearly for every inch of ground they took, shot down in the dozens as the descended upon their prey. For a while, the fates of the colonists and the four golden warriors seemed hopeful. The Exomachina had them on the run, but they had already eliminated countless foes. The grew more experienced and more confident with each passing day, and, although they each had a few close calls with death, they believed that they could still survive. However, each battle also took a toll on their machines, on their supply of ammunition, and on themselves. They had little time to rest, and were growing more feeble by the day. Their machines were battered, cracked and scarred, and some were on their last legs. Those that weren't were fast running out of fuel, and their weapons could hardly have been said to be loaded.
And then, tragedy struck. Rayne, running out of ammo, drew his machine's sword, and attempted to cut down an enemy. However, to the entire squadron's shock and horror, his sword simply dissolved into the enemy's body, and it grew larger, dragging him in slowly and consuming his crippled, helpless machine. Rose had fallen in love with Rayne during their time together, and, panicking, leaped into the fray, desperately attempting to blast the monstrous golden beast off of the one she loved. Her efforts, while valiant, came at a great price, for although she saved the cockpit of Rayne's machine - hurling it to safety in the hands of Alric's Neurosuit - her Knight was crippled, its legs ripped off by an enemy attack, and she was quickly overcome by countless enemies. Giving a final farewell to her comrades, Rose did the last thing she could: she self-destructed, destroying both herself and her killers in a colossal fireball.
The remaining pilots were devastated by the loss of Rose, whom all of them cared for. Rayne, having suffered many injuries during his brush with death, died from internal bleeding and grief soon after, leaving only Alric and Aster, each crushed by the loss of their siblings. The colonists were dying of starvation, drought, heat stroke and disease, and those who were not killed naturally died at the hands of the overwhelming Exomachina. Soon, there were almost no survivors left. These few survivors knew their fates were sealed. There was nowhere near enough food or water for them all, and they were too exhausted to continue running. They gave in to despair, and handed over all of their food and water to Alric and Aster. Signing their own death warrants, they rushed into the desert, ordering their last two protectors to flee, so that they might live long enough to see the supply ship - and, by extension - their rescue arrive. These survivors died almost immediately, annihilated by their monstrous otherworldly pursuers.
Alric and Aster fought on the run for months, barely surviving. Trading out their melee weapons for large pointed stones, they used these makeshift spears, weapons which could not be absorbed by the Exomachina they fought, to hold off their enemies with the fury of those with nothing between them and death. They were hunted by a seemingly endless number of foes, they had few weapons left with which to defend themselves, and they were slowly running out of supplies. Their machines would run out of fuel - having only lasted so long thanks to a recharge mechanism which was now finally succumbing to damage sustained in battle, which, through careful use, had allowed one to rest while the other guarded their encampment - any day now, and then they would die. They despaired of being rescued, and, having grown close over their time as comrades, decided to admit their feelings to one another as a final act to bring peace to their minds and momentary joy to their hearts. Surrounded by the enemy, they powered up their Knights for one last battle, the last Golden Knight fighting side by side with its crimson counterpart on the edge of a deep precipice, their backs to the seemingly bottomless pit below. As their final battle raged around them, they swore final vows to each other, promising to protect each other to the last. They accepted their deaths, and it seemed like it would all end with them together, fighting their nameless, horrifying enemies until the bitter end.
Little did they know that rescue had already arrived. Called to the desolate world by distress beacons triggered during the crash of the colonization vessel and the destruction of Rose's Knight, the Hellward division was already tracking them down to rescue the final survivors of the Elion massacre. They descended from the sky like angels on judgement day. But they were too late to save both of the warriors below, for just then, Aster's Knight ran out of power, and collapsed, leaving only Alric standing between her and death. Alric's spear soon broke upon the oncoming mass of enemies, and his Neurosuit's leg was torn from its socket. The Golden Knights were older models of Neurosuit, and did not have dampers on the pain their pilots felt. Alric, overcome by waves of horrific agony, collapsed, and began to be consumed by the Exomachina. However, in his dying moments, he saw the transport descending, and so he turned, crawled beneath the weight of countless enemies piled on top of him, picked up Aster's crippled machine, and hurled her to the transport, where she was caught by a Hellward machine waiting to save her.
And then, she watched from inside her broken machine as Alric, defiant to the last, triggered his Knight's self destruct mechanism, and hurled himself into the pit below, dragging countless enemies down with him. The last Aster saw of her once-comrade, once-lover, was a fiery blast of light before his wrecked machine fell down, down, down into the darkness far below, his tearful voice echoing out over the communications channel right up until the end, delivering his last words to the group on the transport above. They have been recorded as follows.
"Aster... I'm afraid that this is the end of the line for me, love. I can barely move... I can barely breath. They're crushing me. B-but you... You can still make it. I promised to p-protect you t-to the end, d-didn't I? And that's... exactly... what I'm going to do! Go, Aster! You have to... you have to live! For everyone that died, you alone have got to live. So don't you dare cry for me, Aster. That's right... I'm just... fulfilling the promise... I made you."
"Heh. Guess I was an idiot right up to the very end... Later... love."
After the tragedy was over, Aster was the sole survivor of the thousands who had been sent to colonize Elion. The entire debacle was covered up until the truth finally came to light in A.D. 4004, when the Exomachina became a public threat as opposed to a hidden one. Aster, meanwhile, had spent this time training under the Hellward division. She jumped at the chance to join the division, and, with her Golden Knight rebuilt, repainted, and upgraded - now christened the Venganza, meaning vengeance, something which she intended to wreck upon the Exomachina - she became a full fledged member of the squadron. A tragic hero in the eyes of the public and a figurehead for the tragedies caused by the Exomachina, not to mention an incredibly skillful warrior for the Hellward division, she has become one of the most well known faces of the war, and of how great its price can be...
{Neurosuit}
Name: Venganza
Appearance: The Venganza is a densely built Neurosuit, almost Knight-like in appearance. Repainted bright crimson on bronze and gold to honor her fallen comrade, Alric, this winged red knight strikes a dynamic image on the battlefield, its gleaming red targeting sensors in its bar visor burning like the fires of a damnation waiting to inflict itself upon the Exomachina. With a symbol of a golden phoenix emblazoned on both its shield and chest, the Venganza symbolizes the death of Aster's childish innocence and naivete, and the birth of a vengeful warrior from the ashes of those innocent days...
The Venganza:
Weaponry: The Venganza commonly carries with it four weapons: the first is its rifle, seen in both of the pictures above. This rifle works on a similar principle as a railgun, propelling large shells at high velocities. The difference between the Venganza's rifle and a normal railgun is that the shell is surrounded by bursts of ionized plasma, melting through energy fields and metal alike, making it capable of utterly decimating a target in just a few shots. This rifle is suitable for both close combat and sniping from a range, although Aster prefers the latter.
The second weapon is the Venganza's shield and lance package, also shown above. This shield contains on its underside a powerful energy field generator, making it highly resistant to both physical and energy attacks. However, this is not the only purpose served by this generator, for it can also be used to concentrate energy in a powerful set of beams from the end of the lance, allowing it to be used as a melee weapon as well as a shield. In addition, the end of the lance can be split open, revealing a powerful cannon also fueled by this energy field generator, allowing the Venganza to fire a devastating energy barrage into a target. The back end of the shield also has a rocket booster attached to it, which can be activated to increase the strength of a swing or lunge greatly.
The third weapon is a simple broadsword, as pictured in the Golden Knight image in the history section - although much less battered. This sword contains oscillating particle fields of energy, allowing it to slash through energy fields with ease, as well as protecting it from metal-assimilating Exomachina such as the ones on Elion.
The final weapon is the pair of cylinders mounted on the Venganza's back. These cylinders contain energy in a stable state, as well as the means to disrupt this energy, causing a violent expansion through a concentrating lens and out of the end of the tube. They also possess joints, allowing them to be swung up between the Venganza's wings and over its shoulders, allowing them to fire an overloaded barrage of energy once. They can then be detached, as they are useless after one shot.
Unique Gear: The Venganza's unique gear consists of its lance and S.M.W.Cs (Shoulder-Mounted Wave Cannons), as well as its wings and a few other systems. These wings release powerful fields of energy from the Venganza's high-end reactor systems, allowing it both atmospheric and space flight capabilities. It is also airtight, so Aster won't die if she pilots in space.
Other such unique systems include its rather outdated - albeit refitted - synchronization systems. Aster refused offers to upgrade the piloting systems to less painful ones, under the guilty feeling that all of the other pilots on Elion had suffered that same pain, and she should be no exception. These systems have, however, been upgraded to match those used in other Neurosuits at the present day.
Its final unique system is its shielding. A simultaneous particle and energy field surrounds the Neurosuit, meant to dampen the effects of enemy attacks upon the Venganza. They are quite potent, ensuring that small arms fire does not get through, and that more powerful attacks are rendered non-fatal by the field they have to go through to reach their target.
More may come with time and upgrades to the suit.