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Xander
Xander's most prominent memory about Earth is the day when he was forced to leave it. He was just 16, and his family was suffering a tremendous tragedy. His father was severely injured by scavengers during their latest mission, and his body was permanently paralyzed due to a crushing blow to the back of his head. His cerebellum was damaged badly, and he lost most of his motor skills. Also, his father had a tracheostomy to aid his breathing, and that process made him unable to talk. Xander's mother lost her job at one of the local corporations since she had to spend a lot of time with her husband and failed to show up at work regularly. She developed psychological problems, mostly schizophrenia, and eventually she committed suicide. Then the day that changed Xander's life path forever came. He still remembers that day. He describes a grim, rainy day on the outskirts of Mount Denali in Alaska. His father, sitting in a semi-automated wheelchair, tried to say something but the tube on his neck did not let him. Shortly, a shiny, clean military shuttle belonging to Hoshi Ryū arrived on the scene and some armored, muscular, mean-looking people greeted his father. They had various military-grade cybernetic enhancements, and it was clear they respected Xander's father.
They took the boy away from the planet, leaving the old man behind. The only thing Xander got from his life on Earth was a small metallic box the soldiers gave him. Apparently, it was from his father, and it just contained a message and a pile of soil. The message was: "This soil is here to remind you whence you came from. Don't forget your roots, but don't get stuck either. Fight, survive and build a new life for yourself. We failed, you won't. Good luck kid." That's it. No further explanation. No emotional messages, no nothing. After some briefing from the leader of the soldiers, Xander realized the soil was also there because he would never see Earth again. For all he remembers, Xander's family was originally from the southern parts of North America. His father was a legendary merc, and eventually joined Hoshi Ryū as a field captain. They had to relocate to Alaska to fight against some rebels and scavengers there.
The only mistake he made, according to his father's own words, was refusing enhancements. He failed to catch up with the competition, became obsolete, and was eventually beaten. That's why he asked his former soldiers to convince Xander to become a cybernetic soldier. So Xander's destiny was set by his father, and while following in his footsteps, he was to avoid making the same mistakes. Xander welcomed cybernetic enhancements, for he suffered from being weak and was ready to sacrifice anything just to increase his survival chances. Thanks to his strong physiology, robust immune system, and iron-willed personality, he began a successful military journey. His body adapted to the enhancements well, which is not always the case, and complications can cause a painful death easily. His determination made him a robust soldier, and his discipline made him a loyal comrade. Over years, however, he began to change. He lost many friends, was betrayed by others, was forced to betray, and started to lose his idealistic worldview. Going into missions was no longer a chance to get some glorious victory, but a concerning, risky encounter that could cost another comrade's life or become just another tragedy.
One day, he led a group of SpecOps commandos and hunters to raid a pirate den. Nobody expected it, but they stumbled upon a crimelord and Xander had to blast the guy's head off to protect his squadron because he refused to surrender and even tried to blow everyone up, including himself. Repercussions were going to be drastic, however. The lord's sister didn't take the news lightly, and she found Xander's family. She captured his pregnant wife while Xander was away on duty. She killed the wife after tormenting her, split her belly open, grabbed the baby, and threw him into outer space. The worst part is, she had the entire thing captured and turned into a VR experience. The virtual experience was then sent to Xander under disguise. You wouldn't want to learn how Xander "experienced" it in virtual reality, and what happened next. Xander received the package when he returned to Nexus.
He demanded a vengeance operation, but command refused him. He begged for help from his comrades, but they were all terrified and didn't want to help. They also had families, after all. Disappointed and enraged, he resigned from Hoshi Ryū and applied to the Celtic Triquetra. He was welcomed with great joy by the CT military department. He was fool enough to believe the CT would help him get his revenge. In reality, CT management was just using him as a propaganda item, showing how top-tier heroic soldiers joined their ranks and how their competitors were failing even to protect their loyal employees' families. Xander realized the Triquetra would never actually act on the subject because he received an anonymous tip from an insider, who must have sympathized with him, and was informed that the pirate group was secretly being funded by the CT itself, to make their competitors' lives harder!
Ultimately heartbroken, lost all of his hope, and about to attack the pirate cove all by himself, he didn't want to go on his last mission sober. So he rushed into an infamous small bar in Nexus. By pure coincidence, Zarya "Aurora" Mólnija was also there. It was hard to miss her because four men were lying around her. Xander sat down at the bar and managed to convince Aurora that he was not there to grope her or anything, but just to drink. After some time, the talk got quite emotional since both parties had suffered some turbulence recently. Yet, Aurora's concerns were nothing compared to Xander's agony. Realizing this, maybe with some additional nudge from the excessive alcohol in her blood, Aurora genuinely offered to join Xander to help him exact his rightful vengeance. She insisted. Xander paused for a moment, put down his glass, and looked into Aurora's eyes seriously. Where many see a sexy doll, a short-tempered and even capricious young girl, or an agile killing machine, he saw something else. From Xander's perspective, there were two bright eyes, hiding their pain in the mists of aggressive tempests.
It became apparent she was weaving a deadly barrier around her sensitive and lively heart to protect it. So he made up his mind, and replied: "No, kid. I am not going to kill you, too. You will live. I failed, but you will not..." then he suddenly stopped. Remembered something. A message from a long-lost figure. Smiled for a second and continued: "Well, f*ck this all. Let's go somewhere else. Somewhere away from this reekhole." Aurora, with a big smile, said, "Now that's the mood. Can I bring someone else? He is a bit idiot but also a fun guy." This is how they met. Xander, Aurora, and Phoenix. Actually, in the beginning, it was hard to convince Phoenix to steal a ship from the ports and join their craziness. Then Aurora whispered something to his ear, and Phoenix turned 180 degrees and became super enthusiastic all of a sudden. Xander asked Aurora what the hell she said to him. Aurora replied: "No way I'm telling you, but someone gonna burn a lot of calories tonight."
