Anika grew up on the rim planet of Prophet with her mother and her brother. They lived a simple life, farming to get food, trading to get goods, and so on. Her mother was one of the teachers in their small village, and taught Anika and her brother, Arav, how to read and write. They kept to themselves and no one bothered them. They lived the first 8 years of her life in peace.
That peace was taken away abruptly when Anika's village was ravaged by raiders. The violent thieves stole many goods in the village and killed many people, including Anika's mother. While going through grief, Arav and Anika managed to stay strong. However, that didn’t last long either.
Without a source of income, the two orphaned children succumbed to poverty, unable to feed and provide for themselves. With the brutal attack on the village, many of the others were too preoccupied with their own troubles to provide for others.
One day, two men in uniforms that they had never seen before came up to the children and asked how they were doing. The men said that they had food and water in their ship and that they could come with them to get it. That presented the children with a choice, join with the strange men, or die. They chose the former.
After getting on the ship and taking off, they were informed of what was happening. They were to live at an institute for learning sponsored by the Alliance, and they would be given food and water. Arav and Anika were young and hadn’t learned much about the Alliance, so they readily complied (even though it’s not like they could say no).
They arrived at the dreary institute and stayed there for many years. Both Arav and Anika were taught hand to hand combat, as well as fighting with a variety of weapons. They were taught to speak both English and Chinese fluently, as well as how to act in front of certain people. Both Arav and Anika were told one thing while they grew, that they were to become Alliance operatives and great ones at that. They had no reason to protest, they hardly knew what an operative was.
During their training, Anika was taught healing skills by many doctors, most of which worked on the premises, doing experiments and the like. They taught her how to heal with the items around her, and most often she was taught while working, like when other operatives came in with stab wounds and bullet holes.
Other operatives carried out their training, demonstrating various fighting styles. By age 14, both of the siblings were able to go on missions. Their assignments varied, some were seduction and espionage, others were assassinations.
They carried out these missions in a monotone and uniform manner, and they completed all tasks assigned to them, as they had been instructed.
This had been going on for many years, but the nature of their assignments changed when the siblings were around 45. A new war had started, the higher-ups called it the “Unification War”. Suddenly, their assignments became more sabotage based than ever before. The siblings raided bases and destroyed valuable data for the enemy, and assassinated important figures. They were never told much about the war, but they didn’t particularly care either way. Their job was to complete assignments and that was it, no questions asked. Near the end of the war, her brother was sent on an assignment without her. It was strange, but it wasn’t questioned. He didn’t come back. For the first time in over 30 years, Anika asked a question. She asked where he was, she read the mission files.
He wasn’t supposed to come back. He didn’t.
Little did the people in command know, but take away one sibling, you ruin the other. Arav’s death destroyed Anika's perception of her commanders, of the people who had indoctrinated her into their cause. She had no purpose, no reason to exist anymore. It was an unintended side effect of raising them together, they had an extreme codependency. Without one, the other ceases to obey. She broke out the night she learned of his death. They lost both of their operatives that night.
She spent the next three years adjusting to life on the outside and dealing with her grief. The new concept of choice was liberating, but it was also terrifying. There she was, a 55-year-old woman who had trouble picking out what clothes to buy. It was difficult, to say the least.
Anika began to use her skills as a medic to assist others or anyone who needed it. She also learned of the world through the common people’s perception. It was alarming. Her missions didn’t help as many people as she grew up to believe.
While wandering through Persephone, she saw a beautiful ship, the Aurora, and the captain who ran it. Eager for knowledge, she joined the ship as their medic, wanting to learn more about the people she once fought against, and maybe atone her many sins in the process.
(fixed now)
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