Characters #

The Laika Brothers #

The story of Duck and Keres Laika is one of privilege, competition, and boredom. Born into the lap of luxury on Arlion Prime, the home world of the UEC, the brothers are the offspring of a C-suite executive from a mid-sized corporation. This executive is part of a minor religion with polyamorous beliefs. As a result, Duck and Keres were born to two mothers within a span of two months and raised together. Both brothers demonstrated above-average intellects and received the finest education money could buy, though they developed sharply different interests. Duck was drawn to the sciences and scholarly pursuits, while Keres had a penchant for languages and the liberal arts.

Keres #

Age: 30

Best Skills: Languages, Investigation, Deception, Recon, Stealth

The marginally older of the two, Keres ventured into academia, majoring in communications and studying several languages. A prank, conceived in jest during his time at university, nearly ended his academic career. Only his father’s influence saved him, but the incident sowed seeds of enmity with the dean, dashing any hopes of pursuing further graduate studies.

Keres’s linguistic prowess caught the attention of the Arlion Security Intelligence Service (ASIS)—a covert organization dedicated to maintaining the prosperity and stable market environment within the UEC’s jurisdiction. Despite average to below-average scores in basic training, Keres’s intellect, education, and social standing made him an ideal candidate for undercover operations. His first mission involved infiltrating a pirate group, leading to a crucial communication that facilitated a Navy rescue, spearheaded by Dayton Freeman, an enlisted man who became Keres’s friend.

His second term was marred by growing disenchantment with the UEC and boredom with societal norms. The distinction between allies and adversaries blurred, with Keres finding unexpected kinship among the outlaws. A mandatory cybernetic enhancement, intended to boost his capabilities, instead diminished his connection to the UEC, plunging him into a crisis of identity and concern over losing his essence. The term was further complicated by the outage of Ron’s regional navigational beacon, which disrupted the UEC’s communication and trade across a large region. Amidst the ensuing chaos, and particularly after the UEC lost control of their largest trade route to the outer reaches—a development ripe with opportunities for those of a morally ambiguous nature—Keres decided to forge his own path and escape the monotony of conventional life. Armed with a career’s worth of contacts on both sides of the law, Keres sets out with his brother to carve their own fortune.

Duck #

Age: 30

Best Skills: Medic, Art, Persuade, Flyer

Duck, unlike his brother Keres, wasn’t born with an innate intellectual gift but inherited his mother’s work ethic and an a taste for STEM disciplines. While Keres pursued academia, Duck was accepted (with a bit of assistance from his father) into an Ivy League technical university. There, he initially struggled, managing only average grades thanks to his diligence. It was only upon discovering a pre-med course that Duck found his true passion, eventually excelling and graduating as a general practitioner.

However, Duck’s satisfaction with his chosen profession waned as he became disillusioned with the medical industry’s complexities. After four years of successful practice, he liquidated his savings and secured a loan to purchase a ship, with the intention of serving as the crew’s doctor alongside his brother.

Physically, Duck is tall and slender, a trait accentuated by his frequent work in low-gravity environments. His attire, while of good quality, is selected for comfort and utility over fashion, highlighted by a small hip pouch he carries at all times, filled with essential medical supplies. Despite his somewhat gruff demeanour, Duck is fundamentally eager to please others. Although technically the ship’s owner, he tends to defer leadership to others, choosing to assert himself only when his personal interests are involved.

U’tong Terrason #

Age: 50

Best Skills: Stealth, Persuade, Gambler, Pilot(Spacecraft)

U’tong Terrason’s early life on Arlion Prime provided him with a privileged background. Not part of the elite, his upbringing in this bustling economic and political hub afforded him numerous opportunities for a comprehensive education. This sector, a vibrant nexus of commerce, exposed him to captivating tales of exploration, igniting his interest in scouting.

Upon enrolling in a well-regarded university renowned for producing skilled pilots, Terrason’s expectations of adventure quickly gave way to feelings of boredom and apathy. In search of excitement, he eventually fell in with the wrong crowd, applying his scouting knowledge to operate an illegal gambling ring. These dubious connections persisted into his courier career, which began promisingly. However, a misguided involvement in a drug deal led to his unjust arrest and conviction, a situation Terrason insists was a setup.

Incarcerated, Terrason encountered significant barriers to parole, compounded by the warden’s personal animosity towards him. Armed with a keen intellect and a wealth of knowledge—both academic and from life’s hard lessons—he strategically navigated the remainder of his sentence, bolstered by connections cultivated over the years. During this time, he took under his wing a young inmate, Jaxen Vireo, in whom he saw a younger version of himself. Now free, Terrason, feeling disenfranchised from society, is determined to seek retribution for the years unjustly taken from him.

Dayton Freemon #

Age: 34

Best Skills: Turret, Pilot(Spaceship), Electronics, Turret

Jill #

Age: 30

Best Skills: Streetwise, Art, Medic, Melee (Unarmed), Carouse, Gamble

Jill’s life was a whirlwind of glamour and chaos, her presence a spectacle that never failed to captivate. Known widely as the “Wild Child of Ariden,” she leveraged her mother’s gubernatorial status to bask in the limelight from a tender age. By sixteen, her soirees were the talk of the elite, drawing in the progeny of the sector’s most influential figures. Her antics, however, soon saw her whisked away to a boarding school, a brief interlude in her tumultuous journey. Despite the discipline of academia, Jill graduated by the skin of her teeth, her academic performance too lackluster for even the most lenient of university admissions.

Undeterred by the setback, Jill embraced the nomadic lifestyle of a social butterfly, her fame as an heiress her passport through the sector’s most exclusive circles. Her foray into acting, propelled by her notoriety, offered a glimpse of stability, but her penchant for gambling soon eclipsed her budding career. As the years slipped by, Jill remained blissfully oblivious to the sector’s upheavals, her privileged upbringing a buffer against the harsh realities that unfolded.

Now, with the UEC’s downfall reshaping the galaxy, Jill finds herself adrift on the wrong side of the corridor, her once boundless resources dwindling. Cut off from her trust fund and faced with mounting debts, she eyes the burgeoning world of influencers as her salvation, her last-ditch effort to reclaim her place in the spotlight and fend off her creditors. Despite the odds, Jill’s resilience and her knack for navigating both high society and its underbelly may yet see her through, as she embarks on this new chapter with the same fervor that once made her the darling of Ariden.