Aetias Malphas

**Aetias Malphas** is a character in Leviathan Lore. The sister of Aaeron Malphas, Aetias is a former Army Ranger turned mercenary who used to operate in Task Force 6 and was a close friend of Echo before she severed ties and created a team of her own.

## Biography

### Early life

Her origins are unknown, though judging from her American accent and mild understanding of Spanish, Aetias could possibly be Mexican-American, but this is yet to be seen. At some point, she joined the US Army as part of a tradition of her family, who all served in the military. Her skills were unmatched by her peers, and she was prompted to join the Army Rangers. She was known in the Army as the "Red Death", owing to her extremely intimidating combat skills. However, at some point she left the Army. A few months after, she meets Echo, a heavily masculine woman who identifies as male, at a bar. Sharing common interests, they quickly became friends. However, Aetias grew attached and eventually, became attracted to Echo, though Echo made it clear that he doesn't want a relationship, which prompts her to leave. At some point, she comes across Esner, whom was bested in a fight and was wounded. Echo showed up and scolded her for injuring his friend, with Aetias telling Echo she never touched them and that she found them like this. Although reluctant at first, Echo believes her and leaves with Esner.

### Task Force 6

Aetias never heard from Echo again until a few months later, to which she was invited by the latter to join Task Force 6, his mercenary group. Eager to join so she can be close to Echo, Aetias accepted his invite. Upon entering Echo's safehouse, she meets half of its members, including Esner, from who she encountered before, Riko, Camus, and Ophelia. Aetias immediately recognized Ophelia as the one who stole her boyfriend from her in high school and assaults her, but the fight is broken up by Echo before it escalated. She then states that she and Ophelia will never be friends nor allies as Aetias storms off, upsetting Echo, whom follows her and attempts to comfort her, only for Aetias to push him away. Distraught by the way Ophelia makes Aetias feel, Echo decided to briefly dismiss her so that she wouldn't be a hindrance to Aetias.

### First mission and aftermath

Task Force 6 soon embarks on its first field operation: to capture a HVT who has potential information on Task Force Zeta. However, as the mission progressed, it turned out to be a trap the entire time, as Task Force Zeta was already expecting them and Task Force 6. The HVT was then revealed to be Abraham Morningstar, Echo's long lost brother, shocking and confusing Echo, with him denying that Abraham is even there and he's just a delusion. In the ensuing chaos, Aetias was wounded alongside Esner and Riko, with the rest of Task Force 6 surrendering and agreed to leave the area in exchange for their lives. After the mission, Aetias nearly left Task Force 6 due to Echo's recklessness, but was stopped by the latter and told her that they needed Aetias around, as her skills are unmatched by anyone else, making it impossible to replace her. However, Aetias instead decided to go off the grid for some time, much to Echo's chagrin. Aetias eventually returned a few years later, with Echo apologizing to her for not acknowledging her feelings for him, but rejected her once again. Aetias then decided to completely leave Task Force 6, despite Echo's pleas not to.

### Return to the States

At some point, Aetias formed a nationalistic guerrilla force out of former US Army Rangers such as herself after returning to the United States, with the only goal of protecting it from invasion. Esner managed to locate her and told Echo to catch a flight, which he did. Upon arrival to the United States, he eventually stumbled across the group's hideout, with several fighters confronting him. Aetias immediately recognizes Echo and tells them to stand down. She then promptly tells Echo that he's lucky she decided to spare him, and if she didn't still care about him, she'd have him impaled on a stake. Echo tried to convince her to rejoin Task Force 6, though she strongly opposed this and told him that he's wasting his time and she'll never come back to Task Force 6. However, she tells Echo that she'll always associate herself with it, regardless if she's a member of it or not and, having more pressing matters to attend to, leaves. Two fighters then proceed to escort Echo out despite his pleas. Echo then proceeds to contact Esner, and tells them that Aetias isn't coming back anytime soon, but still considers them an ally. They then proceed to teleport him back to the safehouse. After this, Aetias is never seen again.

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