Reilalia Markov's Backstory

Reilalia Aviondalia Markov was born during the tail end of the Great Plasidian War to Amelie Daliah Markov, the Heir Princess of Markovia, and Malakai Avion Markov, a Markovian knight known famously throughout Plasid as the "Lord of the Crimson Earth." Even though Amelie cared for her children dearly, she could not be as involved in their upbringing as she would have liked due to political and military obligations during the war. As such, Reilalia and her siblings were raised primarily by the royal family's servants until the Markovian Queen realized the potential of Reilalia's Myst abilities.

When Tetra Reila Markov, the Queen of Markovia, learned about Reilalia's abilities, she took Reilalia away from her siblings. Tetra made Reilalia focus on training her abilities to support her father on the battlefield. Malakai could crystalize and manipulate blood, allowing him to weaponize any blood around him. While this ability was already quite effective, it would be devastating if he could pair it with Reilalia's abilities.

At 13 years of age, Reilalia was to participate in a weekly bloodletting process to soak arrows in her blood for use during battles in the war. Tetra's goal was to utilize Reilalia alongside Malakai, allowing Markovia to break out of their endless cycle of defensive tactics to survive and lash out at their enemies with overwhelming force.

Despite her age, Reilalia quickly earned the title of "Princess of the Crimson Rain" due to her ability to manipulate thousands of arrows in the sky, and rain accurately targeted destruction against the enemies of Markovia. Once her arrows reached their target, Malakai, who took control of her blood in the arrows and weaponized it on-site, quickly wiped out any survivors.

Thanks to the combined power of Reilalia and her father and the tactical leadership of Amelie, the nation of Markovia took back crucial territories during the war. By the time Reilalia was 18, Markovia had become a considerable war force and was now considered one of the Five Great Nations of Plasid.

Queen Tetra, however, was not satisfied with the recent war events. As the Five Great Nations of Plasid were now beginning peace talks, she was planning another invasion, something Amelie was firmly against. That was when Reilalia broke down and cried to her mother for the first time, begging her for help.

Growing up, Reilalia had enjoyed the special treatment and benefits of being one of her grandmother's favorite soldiers. She initially feared the bloodletting process but now participated in it proudly and dutifully. However, as the war dragged on, Reilalia grew bitter about the war and her grandmother's ruthless rule. She was tired and excited for the peace talks, but she knew her grandmother wouldn't let the war end unless Markovia took over all of Plasid. Reilalia feared that Tetra would overextend Markovia's strength, and she was beginning to crumble under the pressure of being one of Tetra's favorite weapons, something she was once so proud of.

Amelie saw this as an opportunity to end Tetra's push for conquest. Amelie told Reilalia about Ilian Tetranio Markov, Tetra's first-born child, who had been the heir before her. Ilian, however, never got along with his mother, and the tension between them eventually led to Tetra exiling him and wiping any information about him out of the nation's historical records.

However, Amelie and Ilian were very close as siblings, and the two had secretly stayed in contact since his exile. Amelie decided to sneak Reilalia out of Plasid and join her uncle in exile.

Amelie waited until Tetra's attack to enact her plan. Amelie expertly manipulated both armies so that both sides witnessed Reilalia's death. During the battle, Reilalia suffered a painful attack that would sever both of her wings and cause her to fall into a chasm. Inside the chasm, however, an open portal awaited her, closing as she fell through.

Amelie, distraught by the loss of her daughter, became less effective on the battlefield after that day. The loss of Amelie's effectiveness and Reilalia's strength on the battlefield led Tetra and the Markovian army to shift their strategies to take a more defensive stance in the war. With Tetra no longer having the means to initiate devastating attacks against her enemies and needing to focus more on defending her new territories while quelling internal rebellions, she finally accepted the invitation to participate in peace talks with the rest of the Five Great Nations of Plasid.

When Reilalia arrived at the other end of the portal, she found herself in the arms of a large older man inside a dim room. Ilian had been expecting her due to communications from Amelie and reacted quickly upon seeing the portal open precisely where planned. Reilalia passed out from her wounds, and Ilian began treating her wound just as the portal closed. Hours later, Reilalia would wake up and find herself in a brightly lit room on a bed held by a frame made of a material she did not recognize, combined with some metal parts here and there.

A repetitive, high-pitched sound pulled attention to a curious box in the room. The box displayed some lettering on the front, but she couldn't make sense of the symbols. A loud hissing sound made her attention snap to a doorway as she saw a strange man enter the room. Ilian introduced himself officially to Reilalia and began to explain her new situation.

Reilalia was now in a nation called Aquis on a planet separate from Plasid named Chiera. Ilian explained to Reilalia that the people of Chiera looked like Plasidians with some notable variations, namely a lack of wings, horns, and tails. Once she had made it through the portal, Ilian had finished surgically removing Reilalia's wings, leaving her with two scars on her back. He also reshaped her bones slightly to better match the shoulder blades of the Chieran people. When Reilalia asked why she still had her horns and tail, Ilian explained that the Chierans were fond of something called Cybermodding.

Cybermodding was a process where they would undergo surgical procedures to alter their bodies with enhancements called Cybermods for various practical, medical, or aesthetic reasons. Aquisian Chierans, notably, were known for their passion for aesthetically motivated Cybermods, and horns and tails were not uncommon.

Ilian had made his life in Aquis as a successful mob boss. Aquis was a city with giant, monolithic buildings and highly advanced technology. Reilalia had never been exposed to any technology from other worlds or encountered a non-Plasidian race, but she adapted quickly and found her role in helping her uncle. She developed an interest in firearms while living in Aquis and began making a name for herself as a capable killer due to her use of her abilities to give her near-perfect aim with a gun.

When Reilalia was around 22 years old, she encountered a strange man. A business associate of her uncle had paid to eliminate a developing talent in the Aquisian underworld. Because of this, Reilalia found herself sitting in an abandoned apartment, staring down the scope of her favorite rifle and waiting for a distant target to reveal itself.

When she saw him, she immediately knew he was the target. The description they had given her barely made sense until she saw it with her own eyes. The young man was tall and had gray skin across his entire body. He had vibrant golden eyes that stood out even at this distance. Reilalia paid five random thugs to lure the man out and give Reilalia her shot, but before she took her shot, she wanted to see how capable he was. She couldn't hold back her smirk as the man dominated the fight. How he moved reminded her of the days she would watch her father take down entire militias. This man fought with the ferocity of a Plasidian, and it excited her.

Her bloodthirst drove her as she became hyperfocused on the perfect shot. She licked one of her bullets, giving her control over the Mystic Particles around it as she loaded it into her bolt-action rifle. She lined the shot up, and just as she pulled the trigger, her heart sank. Something was wrong. She saw something strange as she pulled the trigger, but it was too late to stop. She had missed for the first time since she had discovered her powers.

As she tried to shake off the shock of the situation, she licked a second bullet and reloaded her rifle. She adjusted her crosshairs once more and, this time, saw the man's golden eyes staring right in her direction. Everything in the situation told her that there was no way he could determine which building, let alone which floor, she was on, and yet her hands were already moving as if out of instinct. She avoided taking the second shot and hurriedly began dismantling her gun to put it away in her case.

Whenever Reilalia was out on the job like this, Ilian required that she bring some backup to look out for her while she was busy sniping.

She instructed her unit to evacuate, but no one seemed to feel the dread filling her. They watched her, confused and concerned; one of them asked her why she was smiling, and she dropped her gun case. Just as she realized she was unknowingly smiling, one of her unit's members flew through one of the fragile walls of the neglected building.

The man had arrived and was tearing through her men. Something drove her to take her knife out and call out to him. His wicked, blood-splattered grin echoed her blood-thirsty smile. The two fought viciously until, by the end of the fight, the man was holding her down by her throat while she had her legs wrapped around his waist and her knife against his neck. She wasn't sure if she could slit his throat before he could crush hers, and he didn't seem confident that he could crush her throat before she slit his.

That was when he spoke. Reilalia expected a threat, an insult, or hostility, yet all he said to her was, "This was a lot of fun. Truce? I'd like to fight again sometime."

When she realized that this had been a game for the man, that he had been having fun this entire time, she felt her anger and desire to kill him begin to boil over. She had been fighting for her life; her body was coursing with adrenaline, and this bastard had simply been having fun the whole time. She tried to slit his throat, but her hesitation gave him the opening he needed to slip out of her leg lock and put distance between them.

She screamed at him, yelling insult after insult as she continued attacking, but he dodged or blocked every one of her attacks before jumping out of a window.

Reilalia was left furious. She went to her uncle, demanding that he acquire more information about this man and why there was a hit out on him. Ilian had never seen Reilalia so fired up. The woman had barely shown emotions since she came through the portal. Reilalia's reaction to the situation sparked Ilian's interest, and he obliged her demands.

Ilian learned that the man's name was Aries Villanite. He was an enforcer for a minor gang in the area, and it was thanks to Aries that the gang was gaining more notoriety.

When Ilian learned about the man's accomplishments and his rapid growth in the criminal underworld of Aquis, he decided to recruit him instead. The day he told Reilalia this news, he ensured he had a few guards in his office. Once Reilalia heard Ilian's plan, she jumped out of her seat. Two men put their hands on her shoulders, trying to calm her down. Both of those men were immediately on the ground with broken ribs. The others continued trying to restrain her, doing their best to avoid severe injuries as she fought back.

Reilalia finally stopped when she saw Ilian's bloody horn on the ground. Instantly, memories of her life on Plasid filled her as she stared at the bloody horn. She remembered a lesson from her childhood: The History of the Rite of Blood Protection. When a member of the Markovian royal family tore their own horn off and invoked the Rite of Blood Protection, fighting would stop. It was a way for that royal to identify a specific person and ensure their protection from the wrath of the rest of the royal family.

The guards trying to restrain Reilalia panicked, asking Ilian if he needed medical attention. He yelled at them to leave. Only Reilalia and Ilian remained in the room.

Ilian then told Reilalia that the protected one would be Aries. Reilalia asked her uncle why he would do something like that for a stranger. He told her he wasn't doing it for Aries but refused to elaborate. Instead, Ilian reminded Reilalia that the royal family had disowned him. In terms of tradition, even if he invoked the rite of protection, she had no reason to oblige the request of a disowned royal. The two sat in silence before Reilalia got up and walked out.

A week later, Aries Villanite became an employee of Ilian's, and Reilalia had a new partner for her work.

Reilalia did not like Aries at first, but she couldn't deny that he had begun to distract her from her memories of her past. The two of them regularly sparred, though it was often started by Reilalia attacking him first. Whenever they fought, she would find herself smiling, but if anyone ever mentioned it, they risked waking up in a hospital.

Despite Reilalia's apparent disdain for the man, she often accompanied him whenever he went out. She spent most of her time criticizing his actions and doing all she could to get under his skin. Over time, the desire to torment him faded, and she found amusement in his airheadedness and aloof approach to life.

About two years after meeting Aries, an unfortunate incident led to the death of Reilalia's uncle. Upon his death, Reilalia pulled Aries aside to warn him about what would happen next.

Despite Ilian's exile, the royals still had a way to know whether he was alive or dead at all times. Exiled or not, due to the political situation on Plasid, the death of a royal was something that Tetra could not ignore. Plasidians would soon be visiting Aquis, and it was very likely that they would find her, too. The two had only a few hours together before portals began throughout Aquis. Tetra had no intentions of making this a covert operation.

Reilalia and Aries fought off several Markovian Plasidians before a spear of crystalized blood impaled Aries. Reilalia turned to see her father attacking Aries. Though Aries was landing attacks on Malakai, the difference in their strength was evident.

Fearing for Aries' life, she screamed out, demanding that her father stop and leave him alone. She swore she would return to Plasid willingly if the fighting stopped. Despite Reilalia's demands, however, as Malakai tried to oblige, Aries attacked Malakai again; this drove Reilalia's father to nearly kill Aries before she invoked the Rite of Blood Protection by removing her right horn.

Upon arriving back on Plasid, Reilalia was immediately put under arrest in the palace and tortured by Tetra. After a month of this, however, Tetra seemed to lose interest, her rage fading into distrust and dismissal of her granddaughter. Tetra stripped Reilalia of her royal status, but Amelie appealed to Tetra and requested that Reilalia be allowed to stay in the palace as Amelie's servant.

About a year later, while running errands in the city, Reilalia encountered the sudden appearance of a portal. When she saw Aries walk through the portal, her face lit up, but her heart broke simultaneously.

Guards immediately surrounded the two and apprehended Aries. He fought as much as he could to get himself and Reilalia through the portal and leave Plasid, but the guards wouldn't let him. The guards arrested Aries. Shortly after, Reilalia learned that Tetra was planning to execute Aries as an intruder from an enemy nation. Reilalia's rite was no longer in effect due to her stripped royal status.

During Aries' trial, just before Tetra passed her ruling, Reilalia's father dropped onto his hands and knees. He slammed his head into the ground, bowing to Tetra in the same motion that he would use the ground to snap off one of his horns.

Reilalia's father declared that keeping Aries alive could greatly value Markovia. He cited the number of guards Aries took out on his own and that when Aries fought him, Malakai could see that if he trained this young man, he could become a monster on the battlefield. Tetra agreed to let Aries live as the squire to Malakai.

While adjusting to his new life, Aries began training with Malakai, facing some of the most challenging and harsh training he had ever undergone. Reilalia was rarely able to spend time with Aries; if he wasn't training with Malakai, he was recovering for the next training session.

One night, Malakai informed Aries that training would be postponed for the day, finally giving Reilalia and Aries time to catch up; however, when they realized that both Malakai and Amelie had given them strange explanations about why they would not be available that day, they grew suspicious of Reilalia's parents. Despite the suspicious nature of the situation, Aries seemed to want to mind his business. Unfortunately for him, Reilalia had no such inclination. Reilalia dragged Aries along as they snuck into her parents' room and began rummaging through their things.

Just as their search reached an exhausted and fruitless end, they rushed to quickly return things to normal and find a place to hide as Amelie returned to her room without Malakai. Much to Reilalia's annoyance and Aries' joy, Amelie proceeded to disrobe and coat her nude body with exotic oils. After a few minutes, Amelie casually called out to the hiding pair, revealing that she had known they were there the whole time.

After a short argument, during which Amelie revealed that she enjoyed Aries' eyes on her, Reilalia began pleading with her to put some clothes on. Amelie questioned their sudden desire to look through her things, which eventually led Amelie to reveal her plans for a coup.

While Reilalia was in Plasid, the situation with Tetra and her relationship with the other Five Great Nations of Plasid had become sour. Both Amelie and Malakai had begun to fear Tetra's warmongering rule. She had been damaging their relationships with the others of the Five Great Nations and was on the cusp of making them all enemies of Markovia. Because of this, they had slowly and carefully begun planning a coup to take the throne from Tetra. Unfortunately, this would be no simple feat. Tetra had taken the throne from her grandfather many years before and had established several safeguards to prevent the same from happening to her. Tetra still had many loyal servants and followers who shared her desire for war and conquest. They would need to plan the coup out very carefully, and it could quickly become very violent.

Upon hearing of the situation, Reilalia immediately volunteered to assist with the coup, claiming that Aries would help, too. Aries never bothered arguing; the situation motivated him to focus on his training with Malakai.

Reilalia did what she could for the next few weeks to support Aries in his training while helping her mother gather the forces necessary for a successful coup. Only a month after learning about the coup, the plan went into action, revealing how meticulous and crafty Amelie was and the terrifyingly effective results of Aries' time training with Malakai.

At the end of it all, Tetra's rule ended, and Markovia's internal political situation fell into disarray. Reilalia and Aries became active parts of Amelie's new military, leading several skirmishes against Tetra's loyalists and opportunistic nobles attempting to take the throne before Amelie could officialize her new rule. Eventually, however, Amelie's crowning ceremony took place with an announcement that the Five Great Nations of Plasid all recognized Amelie as the new ruler of Markovia, a big step in repairing the damage Tetra had caused.

During her crowning ceremony, Amelie reinstated Reilalia as a member of the royal family and invited Aries to perform the Markovian Royal Awakening Ritual in front of the entire nation. In Markovia, all 13-year-old children participated in an Awakening Ritual to awaken and document their abilities with Myst. The Royal Awakening, however, was a unique version of this ritual for people born or married into the royal family. To have a non-royal, let alone a non-Markovian, participate in the Royal Awakening was unprecedented.

Reilalia wasn't particularly surprised by her mother's actions, nor did she protest against the idea. Reilalia was already annoyed enough when it came to Amelie and Aries, as she had recently found out that Aries had been sleeping with her mother and that her father knew about it and didn't seem to mind. Reilalia never entirely understood why Aries was able to survive the ritual, nor why the ritual changed his eyes how it did; at this point, she had stopped trying to understand anything that pertained to Aries.

After about a year of living in Plasid, Reilalia and Aries decided to leave. The political situation within Markovia was stable, and neither of them had much interest in the politics between Markovia and the other nations of Plasid. They requested Amelie to allow them to leave, and she granted their request without argument. Amelie seemed excited to have them go out and establish their new lives. After exchanging tearful farewells, the pair entered a portal and left Plasid, arriving in Sauless, another nation on Chiera.

The entire political and economic situation on Sauless was tumultuous at this time, giving them an easy opportunity to establish new lives under the radar while avoiding any ties to their criminal histories in Aquis. In need of money, Reilalia and Aries eventually took advantage of their relatively unknown and undocumented identities and histories and joined the Pelazian Privateering Association, beginning their careers as privateers.

For the time being, Reilalia took on the role of Navigator, and Aries acted as the Vanguard. After they reached some success as capable privateers, Aries pressed Reilalia to find them a mission that would put Aries to the test. Reilalia found a three-star mission that involved clearing a warehouse out of rogue defense bots. As the mission revolved primarily around destruction, she felt this would be a good option for Aries to let loose, and the two began planning the operation.

During the mission, something cut off their communications, and Reilalia was left wondering if Aries was alive or dead. About an hour later, Aries burst out of the facility, accompanied by an explosion and a strange new suit on his body. Aries seemed satisfied with his new toy and the discovery of the AI that came with it named AURA. Reilalia, however, felt the suit and the mission seemed suspicious and began to look further into the origins of the mission and the facility.

In search for answers about the suit and the facility they had dealt with, Reilalia learned that the facility initially belonged to a man named Mickail Sidson, a government official from the Pelazian Galactic Senate. Mickail was campaigning to become one of three senators overseeing the colonization and the planet of Ki'Ti. At this time, he was running with a positive reputation for taking collaborative and considerate approaches to resolving political issues. The public considered Mickail the favorite candidate for the election, as his only opposition in the running was widely known to be heartless and violent in his colonization methods.

Aries and Reilalia attended a gala hosted by Mickail in the pursuit of questioning him about the origins of the suit and AURA. Thanks to her time with her grandmother and mother, Reilalia knew how to handle these events and gather information. Things were going well, and she was rather proud of herself after securing a meeting with the senator-to-be. Reilalia's heart dropped, however, when she heard gunshots in the gala and then saw Aries holding the gun in the air with one hand and the throat of a short woman in the other.

The woman was named Kiwei, a Kitian sent by a group of Kitians who opposed Ki'Ti joining the Galactic Senate. She was there to assassinate Mickail. Despite Reilalia's hard work in scheduling a meeting with Mickail for the following week, she found herself sitting inside the man's office, with Aries and the would-be assassin between them in handcuffs.

Mickail wanted to thank Aries for capturing Kiwei and requested their presence while he questioned her motives. After the group sorted out Kiwei's situation, Reilalia took the opportunity to question Mickail about the facility, the suit, and AURA. Mickail informed them that there were seven facilities throughout Sauless that all once belonged to him. Mickail had heavily involved himself in the politics and growth of Sauless. However, he abandoned the facilities when the Senate began to build their mega-prisons in Sauless and plunge the nation into financial ruin. He focused on politics, intending to prevent the situation that led to Sauless' collapse from happening anywhere else.

Mickail convinced Kiwei to help him peacefully colonize Ki'Ti and offered Aries and Reilalia a new, high-paying job. Mickail wanted them to clear out all seven of his abandoned facilities, as it seemed someone had infected them with a dangerous virus. The facilities all had fully automated systems and had sealed themselves off from public scans. To the general public, these facilities looked like abandoned facilities. Based on what Aries and Reilalia told him about the day they found AURA, though, he now feared that all of these facilities were quietly creating armies of dangerous military drones and automated weapons.

From a political standpoint, if his facilities had become the origin point for such violence, whether or not someone else was behind this wouldn't matter; it would ruin his career, and Ki'Ti would end up involved in a violent war if his political opponent won the race.

After explaining the situation, Mickail knelt and begged Kiwei to help. He swore to her that he would pursue only the most peaceful and collaborative avenues to Ki'Ti's colonization.

Kiwei agreed to help; Aries and Reilalia took the mission and welcomed their new Kitian team member.

Reilalia quickly got along with Kiwei, and the two did their best to support Aries during the new missions. Kiwei was a talented pilot, allowing her to be a distant Rearguard for Aries on missions. AURA became a very effective Navigator for Aries thanks to Kiwei's ability to keep an active bird's eye view of the mission locations. With the Navigator role now taken by AURA, Reilalia could better utilize her sharpshooting skills as another Rearguard on the field with Aries, though still within sniping distance.

After dealing with Aries' injuries one too many times, Reilalia recommended they hire a medic for their crew. They met Tamica, who joined them as a medic, though she preferred staying at their base or on the ship with Kiwei.

Clearing out Mickail's robotics facilities allowed the team to develop a very effective cohesion on missions, and Tamica even joined in as a field medic near the end. When the group finally finished clearing out the last facility, they received a hefty compensation package from Mickail, who had been elected officially as a Senator.

Reilalia was satisfied with her life, rarely finding herself missing Plasid. However, one thing continued to eat away at her, and the more time she spent with Aries, the harder it became to ignore. Reilalia preferred women; this was something she and Aries had discussed several times, and no matter how many times he would try to flirt with her or seduce her, Reilalia would quickly turn him down, often quite brutally. Despite this, however, her love for him was undeniable. Aries was her best friend, and sexual or romantic feelings aside, she saw him as her absolute favorite person.

Reilalia and Aries had a unique relationship. They had seen each other naked several times and had even shared sexual partners. They both had similar tastes in women, and it wasn't uncommon for them to seduce women together. Reilalia enjoyed watching other women be with Aries and knew he loved watching her. Despite this, Aries and Reilalia never engaged directly with each other, much to Aries' chagrin.

Reilalia had spent the better part of four years of her life with Aries at this point in their friendship, and yet, for her, it felt like an entire lifetime. She had realized it a long time ago, but her romantic feelings no longer aligned with her sexual preferences. At this point, she had been battling with her feelings for Aries for quite some time.

One night, when Aries was out, Tamica, Reilalia, and Kiwei were all hanging out drinking and talking. They all knew that Tamica and Kiwei were occasionally sleeping with Aries; Kiwei, in particular, had been occasionally sleeping with Reilalia and Aries, often as a group. Due to this relatively open dynamic, they all felt comfortable complaining about Aries or discussing their unique struggles in dealing with him, especially when drinking.

Kiwei and Tamica knew all about Reilalia's feelings at this point. However, Reilalia seemed particularly troubled by her feelings on this particular night. She complained out loud in frustration and, as a joke, wished that Aries had been a female, as that would have made things easier for her. The three of them laughed about this.

Talking things out with the other two gave Reilalia the encouragement she needed. A few days later, she finally decided to tell Aries how she felt and what she wanted from their relationship. She knew he would be in Tamica's lab that day, as Tamica had been extensively researching him and his body to understand better what Aries was.

When she entered the lab, she stopped cold, and her heart began racing uncontrollably. In front of her sat Tamica, asking questions and running medical checks on a female version of Aries. Tamica looked excited, never even noticing Reilalia until the female Aries pointed out her presence. Tamica's eyes snapped up, and she offered a broad smile to the Plasidian, announcing that she had figured out how to turn Aries into a woman.

Reilalia was lost for words, stumbling over nonsensical sounds before suddenly collapsing and passing out.

Reilalia needed more time to process Aries' new identity as Arielle, but Mickail's situation with Ki'Ti had developed out of his control, so he asked the crew to help. Over the following year, Arielle led the crew to quell the Kitian rebellion and restore Mickail's control over the situation. During this time, Reilalia eventually found herself buckling to Arielle's seduction.

Around the time that the Kitian rebellion came to a close and peace was restored, Arielle found herself reverting to her male body. Aries had realized he could switch back and forth between Aries and Arielle at will. While he spent most of his time as Aries, he did switch to Arielle when Reilalia asked him to.

For the next few years, Aries and Reilalia continued to lead the privateering crew and build their reputation with contracts of all kinds. Due to their relationship with Mickail, there were some struggles in the team gaining access to four-star or five-star missions. The political weight of certain senators who disagreed with Mickail's slower but peaceful methods of colonization would often impede the crew's access to higher-paying jobs. It wasn't until about three years after the events of the Kitian rebellion that they were able to access four-star jobs. Another three years later, they gained access to five-star jobs.

After having success with a couple of five-star jobs, the group gained access to a unique set of five-star missions kept out of the public job rotation. They were almost all government-funded and rarely paid enough to compensate for their dangers. As many other crews had attempted these missions without any success, the members of the privateering association often considered these missions suicidal.

Aries brought one of these dangerous jobs to Reilalia and the others. Aries rarely selected jobs for the crew; he often left it up to Reilalia and the others to decide what jobs they would do. Aries also seldom seemed so serious about anything at all. Reilalia asked him why this was so important to him, and that was the first time Reilalia learned about Aries' true origins.

Reilalia agreed to take the job. The task was to invade and clear out a space station. The station belonged to Idris Hadi, a disgraced scientist and ex-senator of the Galactic Senate. When Mickail learned that the crew would take on this dangerous mission, he asked his guard, Kuransagi Kiriko, to join them as well. Reilalia had always suspected Aries and Kuransagi had some history, but they both seemed to avoid the topic if it ever came up. After Aries told her everything, she knew Aries and Kuransagi grew up and came from Idris' space station. They were both experiments of the scientists, and they both had their reasons to want him dead and that space station destroyed.

At the beginning of the mission, things went smoothly. Reilalia's planning and tactical decision-making had grown comparable to Amelie's, especially when supported by AURA's data processing capabilities. Kiwei stayed on the ship with AURA, hiding her presence after dropping the team off. The on-site team consisted of Aries, Kuransagi, Reilalia, Tamica, and several other crew members recruited over the years.

A few hours after the operation started, Kiwei's voice broke through the comms, announcing that something was wrong with AURA. A virus had attacked AURA, corrupting her code, and her defensive processes couldn't keep up. The attack revealed Kiwei's location, and she was doing all she could to fight off the drones that the space station was sending after her.

Reilalia called to abort the mission, but Aries contested her call. While the two argued, a collection of defense drones surrounded the crew, and the crew found themselves caught in a firefight. An overwhelming number of defense drones began attacking the crew, forcing them back. Reilalia called for the team to split up before the drones could completely corner them. Most of the crew spread out to find somewhere safe to hide and regroup, but Kuransagi and Aries charged forward, forcing Reilalia to follow them as support. The space station began going into lockdown, with heavy iron shutters splitting certain sections from others.

Reilalia, Aries, and Kuransagi tore through the defense drones and broke through to their target. They found themselves in a large room with massive columns spread throughout. A gap in the columns down the center of the room led to a large, dark metal throne.

A white-haired man was sitting on the throne with a wicked grin. The man seemed to welcome the group, but Aries charged the man without letting him finish. Just a moment later, Reilalia felt a wet warmth against her stomach, followed by pain. She looked down to find a long blade sticking out of her stomach; she then felt her body lift. As the blade lifted her body into the air, she saw a glimpse of the person behind it. A tall, muscular man stood behind her, holding the pole of the spear that was now piercing her stomach. She heard Kuransagi scream out in a rage, but before she could look toward Kuransagi, Reilalia's body was suddenly whipped into one of the large columns.

The pain of the impact overwhelmed her. Reilalia blacked out for some time. She woke up eventually, feeling weak and cold. When she opened her eyes, she saw darkness all around her. An endless abyss of unsettling darkness surrounded her before she suddenly saw them. Aries' eyes. Those golden, glowing, beautiful eyes of his. She could feel his arms around her. She adored that feeling more than she had ever let him know. She saw an unimaginably painful sadness in his eyes that broke her heart. Tears filled her eyes as she smiled at him. She reached up to rest her hand against his face and reminded him that she loved him more than anyone else. Then her eyes closed once more, her body finally letting go and finding peace for good in his arms.