Orion

EARLY LIFE ON ATON IV
Orion was created on Aton IV, in the Hilvetian Confederation in the late winter of the year 1799 A.S. Built in order to become one of the top performant soldier Cyborgs in the Hilvetian Confederation, Orion was intended to become a machine of war.

However, during the first tri-outs, it soon became clear that something in the programming of the cyborgs had gone wrong as Orion and its brothers and sisters were all capable of emotions. Disappointed with the results, the creators of the advanced cyborgs closed down the project and destroyed almost every single one of them.

During the process of destruction of the cyborgs, one of the officers in charge miscounted the lot he had to destroy, allowing a handful of the cyborgs to end up in the garbage dump. There, scavengers retrieved the Cyborgs and dismantled them to sell their parts on the black markets of Aton IV. Per chance, in the early spring of the year 1812 A.S, Harrion Malik discovered Orion in a scavenger's hut and decided to buy it.

The Malik Family was very poor, working in the mines of Aton IV in search of sapphires, silver, copper and gemstones. Strong and resistant, Orion would become a great help for the Malik Family and befriended the eldest son, Dorian Malik. With the help of Dorian, Orion would become more accustomed to living among a society he did not fully understand.

The relationship between Orion and Dorian Malik grew stronger during the years until they both realized they felt something for each other that was beyond mere friendship. Orion became more and more conflicted about the nature of his feelings, knowing all too well that Cyborgs should not feel and just be tools in the hands of organic and intelligent living beings. Dorian, on the other hand, knew all too well that his attraction to men was something his family and the society of the Hilvetian Confederation would not tolerate but it would be even worse with a Cyborg. Despite the difficulties, Orion and Dorian could not escape the love they had for each other.

But as the years went by, Orion's conflict with his feelings were becoming more and more impossible to bear until both Orion and Dorian began feeling it to be a burden for their love and decided to end things. Dorian Malik left Aton IV a few months later, in the summer of the year 1825 A.S to enter the Academy of Noble Arts of Anoda in the Sulirien Empire.

Dorian's father, Harrion, could not face the cost of Orion anymore and decided to sell him to be able to pay his son's tuitions. On the first day of the auction, Orion caught the interest of Cid, a Bounty Hunter from the Temple of the Bounty Hunters of Selrig. The man bought Orion from Harrion Malik and took him under his wing to bring him to the Temple back at Selrig with the intention of turning Orion into a Bounty Hunter himself.

TRAINING AT THE TEMPLE OF THE BOUNTY HUNTERS
Orion arrived in Selrig City on the year 1825 A.S in a confused and nervous state of mind. He was brought to the Temple of the Bounty Hunters as a new recruit with a group of ten people. Offered a new room and new garbs, he was brought to the Council Chamber at the top of the main structure.

Facing the council members, Orion made a great impression to them. Emotions could be easily seen on Orion's visor and a heated debate ensued. Many Bounty Hunters were against the presence of cyborgs in their ranks but three members of the council spoke up in his favor : Cid, the Bounty Hunter who brought Orion on Selrig; a young Bounty Hunter answering by the name of Alphonse of Selrig and a Cyborg named Bankalv who supported any new cyborgs coming into the Bounty Hunters Guild.

So after being accepted into the ranks of the Bounty Hunters, Orion met some of his fellow companions which included two young Hilvetian women named Aphrodite Saragoss and Talya Dantes as well as a Ulrichien female named Farlarya Garelnidor. When the first trials came, Orion showed exceptional skills in piloting ships but didn't make a good impression on most of the council members. As the students got chosen by the different council members, it seemed more likely that Orion would be left on his own until he was the last one to be chosen. During a swordfighting lesson with Bankalv, Cid observed the progress of Orion who suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of the master at arms. But the resolve and determination that Orion showed during the fight decided Cid to break his own rule and take Orion as his personal student.

Orion was granted the rank of Apprentice under the teachings of Cid. He joined another fellow student named Desmond Pyllar who was finishing his training years and getting ready to join the Council as one of the best bounty hunters in the galaxy. The relationship between the two students was based on mutual curiosity and interest. Desmond grew to become friends with Orion and help him in the different trials that Cid would put on the cyborg's shoulders. Under Cid's guidance, Orion learnt the craft and art of blaster shooting, swordfighting, starship piloting, tracking, hunting and all of the skills required to become a great bounty hunter. It became clear that Orion was showing great abilities in these fields.

Among the other friends of Orion, he had a special relationship with the Ulrichien Apprentice Farlarya Garelnidor. She was one of the two apprentices of council member Alphonse of Selrig and was part of the same group of recruits of Orion. During that time, Farlarya and Orion grew closer as being two outsiders in an Academy full of Hilvetian Humans and as the first year passed by became very close and intimate friends. This relationship was encouraged by Cid and Alphonse of Selrig to create bonds between the different teams of the Bounty Hunters. Orion felt more confident and free around Farlarya who seemed to be able to understand his struggle with his emotions and supported him to be himself despite the bullying from other Bounty Hunters and the constant remarks of council member Bankalv. A few months later, in the mid-spring of the year 1826 A.S, Orion took his courage in hand and asked Farlarya on their first romantic date, which she accepted. The situation caused a heated debate in the Council Chamber for Bankalv didn't approve of the emotions showed by Orion, as a cyborg must not show feelings but efficiency in battle. The argument erupted into the whole Academy until Cid ordered the matter to be closed, arguing that this was a personal matter between two students and not a crisis of the whole Academy.

The relationship between Farlarya and Orion was a very happy one. They grew to become competent Bounty Hunters over the two years that their relationship lasted. Desmond Pyllar became a member of the Council Chamber on the year 1827 A.S which made Orion the sole and unique apprentice of Cid. In the summer of 1828 A.S, Farlarya Garelnidor was sent on a special mission with a few more experienced members of the Bounty Hunters Guild to investigate on slave traffic on Selrig. Under the command of Bankalv and Alphonse of Selrig, the group went to the Southern islands of the planet to investigate more. Orion stayed behind at the Bounty Hunters Temple in Selrig City awaiting the return of Farlarya.

A week later, Orion discovered the horrible truth. A battle had erupted between the bounty hunters and renegate slavers. Many of the bounty hunters had been killed in the assault as they had been surrounded in a surprise attack. On the fifty Bounty Hunters, twelve of them came back but no sign of Farlarya. Orion, falling into panick, could not believe that she had died until Alphonse told him what had happened. The funeral ceremony was performed and Farlarya was buried under the Temple of the Bounty Hunters. For Orion, this was one of the most devastating blows in his life. For a full year, Orion was like an empty shell despite Cid's and Alphonse's best efforts to support him. In 1829 A.S, Orion decided to marry his rival Hellya-Gharlion Barrm in a ceremony that stunned and surprised Cid to the highest point.

THE MEETING OF CARIBEL
In the year 1832 A.S, Orion was sent on a secret meeting alongside Brandiven Chancey to the planet Caribel, at the heart of the Sulirien Empire. They were brought into the meeting room of the Palace of Elders, an ancient Elennien ruin in Hartown, the capital of Caribel.

There, Orion met very different people that would become his members of the Constellation crew. Ryvvierra Ruravrevzi, a female Ulrichien shaman sent to represent the Ulrichien System; Valoor-Nuun Dorkan, a male Chronogian serving as Inquisitor of the Church of the Faith, representing the Sulirien Empire; Trephor Minerva, a male Hilvetian Human working as a mechanical engineer, representing the Hilvetian Confederation and Mahrden Mahrazoo, a male Xzaffen working as a saboteur, representing the Vega System.

Three speakers were gathered to explain the situation to the team. Cid, representing the Hilvetians interest, General Rhaynis of Anoda, representing the Sulirien Empire and Vragln, representing the Ulrichien people. The three dignitaries talked to the group and informed them they had been chosen to form a team that would help the four factions of the galaxy against an evil that had started to strike blindly against all of them. They would become an undercover team whose task would be to identify the threat and help neutralize it before more people get murdered by them. This mission would be known only by those in the room to avoid the spread of panic if civilians came to know of the gruesome details of the murders.

At first Orion had difficulties trusting its new companions. Given a mission of such importance, he was taken aback by it but complied anyway, trusting in the judgment of his master, Cid. Their first mission led them to the Asteroid of Krayk, on the border of the Sulirien Empire to the Unknown Regions, where a mining settlement, the Mirage Base, had been attacked and destroyed. The group then set out from Caribel on an Imperial transport ship towards the asteroid and begun their first investigation.

THE INVESTIGATION OF MIRAGE BASE
After two days of travel from Caribel to the Asteroid of Krayk, Orion and his companions arrived at the site of Mirage Base, situated in the northern part of the rock. There, it became quickly apparent that the facility had been attacked by a massive force that wiped out the security forces and mining crew of the place.

As they investigated, the group discovered that the people had had their eyes removed by a strange weapon replaced by a bizarre red jelly that was not blood. Mahrden, the Xzaffen, decided to taste the jelly and concluded it had a strong cherry taste, which puzzled the group even more.

Interrogating the soliders present with them on the site did not help much as none of them were there when the fightings happened. The squad had been sent from Olinder and Naering a few days ago to pacify the place and start the recovering and identifications of the bodies. When Orion and his group arrived, they were already processing the burning of the bodies. However the soldiers informed the group that they did had not managed to pacify the entire base annd that most of it was still dangerous to go into, due to the prowling of several wild Gaerlings that had been feasting on the flesh of the dead for the past few days.

Deciding to take matters into their own hands, the group promised the soldiers to open a way into the base by hunting down the Gaerlings and either driving them off or killing them. They then discovered evidence through a working note that the shipments of the Mirage Base had been attacked several days before the destruction of the mining operations. The miners seemed to have believed this to be caused by Vegarel pirates and had sent several squadrons scouting the area to no avail.

Choosing to move into the facility in order to investigate further, the group entered a massive refinery courtyard where tanks of oil and explosive liquids were stored. Two Gaerlings jumped out of the darkness and proceeded in attacking the group. In the battle, a crane was destroyed by a clumsy throw of grenade, causing it to crash down on the group and the Gaerlings, taking both Orion and Valoor-Nuun Dorkan under its weight. Fortunately none of the two warriors were seriously wounded by the event. Then, Brandiven Chancey misfired his bazooka, throwing a rocket into one of the explosive tanks. The massive explosion that followed quickly provoked a gigantic fire that spread into the courtyard, forcing the group in retreating fast into the entrance of the base and condemn the way into the courtyard by closing the blast door. They had no choice but to change directions and enter the Mirage base through the pumping room.

The Pumping Room
The group had entered the Pumping Room after the disaster of the courtyard, having no other choice but to push through directly into the facility. A Gaerling was feasting on a corpse that had suffered severe tortures and burns. Acting more strategically, the group quickly incapacitated and killed the Gaerling and proceeded in investigating the room in search of any clues to help their mission.