Ace

Ace Vanguard, later to be known as Ace Novosad, is the adoptive daughter of Gwen Vanguard. The name Ace was given to her by Gwen when she was pulled from the streets of an unknown frontier town while on death's door. Ace later adopted the last name Vanguard and took possession of the Vanguard Family fortune as its only legitimate heir after the death of Jane Vanguard at the hands of Trent Doyle and the Aggregate Mind. She and her sister Julia Vanguard are the only remaining members of the Vanguard family until Ace's death.

## Early Life

It is unknown who Ace's biological parents are; however, she later came to live on the streets of an unknown frontier town. Though timid by nature, she would result to violence when her life was on the line. One especially bad week when she was unable to get food to survive, she resorted to attacking the next pedestrian she saw with a glass shiv in order to get the money she needed for something to eat. By luck or by some curse the next person she saw was Gwen Vanguard, who easily subdued the weak girl. Gwen saw spirit in Ace's eyes and decided to take her own as her personal apprentice, though she didn't tell Ace this until much later leading Ace to the assumption that she had been kidnapped.

Ace is privately tutored by Gwen, who teaches her everything she needs to know to complete Gwen's vision of the perfect world, which is a vision Gwen is unable to achieve while she still lives in the Inbetween. Her skills include a high proficiency in programming, basic survival skill, self defense, and a surprising knack for sharpshooting which surpasses even Gwen's. As a sort of graduation present, Gwen gives Ace her old glasses, which Ace proudly wears as a trophy. As a parting gift, Gwen leaves Ace with Vangaurd Units.

## Ace Novosad

Ace Novosad is the name most commonly used to refer to the original Ace Vanguard. After Gwen Vanguard's death, Ace returned to the Vanguard Family's estate. By this time most of the Vanguard sisters have disappeared; however, Jane Vanguard is still living on the estate with the remaining servants. Ace and Jane live together for some time and become closely bonded. Ace begins using the programming skills taught to her by Gwen to work with the Doyle Family, specifically Trent Doyle, to make "a better future." This future involves the advancement of artificial intelligence so that it my better serve the peoples of the Inbetween; however, Trent is also secretly working to uncover the Vanguard's secrets just as his father Nero Doyle and grandfather Cadman Doyle had done before them. It is during Ace's and Trent's time working together that the Vanguard Safe is broken into and Unit Beta-Gamma is stolen. Ace is unable to determine how this happened, as only someone genetically related to the Vanguards can open the safe. Shortly after Beta's disappearance, Trent updates the servant network with a new patch allowing the whole network to function much more smoothly as a whole. Months pass without incident, until Ace and Jane are detained by a police force bribed by Trent. Ace and Jane are taken to Trent, where he reveals that he is the one who organized Beta's acquisition, though even he does not know how the girl he hired broke into the safe. Upon activation, Beta-Gamma convinces Trent that its vision of the future is the only true future for the Inbetween. This future would require that the 2 polar forces are put under its control. With the Dark put into a deep slumber by the Vanguard Family, Trent would need to awaken it to gain its power. This feat would require a large burst of dark energy, which Beta-Gamma obtains by draining Jane of all her power, killing her. With the Dark in hand, and the Light awakened to fight its eternal foe, Beta-Gamma is able to capture the power of the 2 polar forces and assumes the title of Aggregate Mind. With no further need of Trent Doyle, and with control of the entire servant network through the patch Trent had installed a few months earlier, the Aggregate Mind is able to create Kindergartens where life inside is untouched by the progression of time.

With the rise of the Aggregate Mind and the Kindergartens, people flee to the frontier to avoid being detained by the servant army and forcibly being put in the Kindergartens. The Aggregate Mind does not submit Ace fully into the Kindergarten, allowing her to keep her free will. Ace spends 10 years with the Aggregate Mind as its pet. Ace is eventually rescued, along with Unit Delta, by the Liberation League. Ace joins the crew of Captain Cooper to fight the ever spreading control of the Aggregate mind. Despite being more than willing to help, the other members of the Liberation League refuse to trust Ace, as it is a commonly held belief that the take over of the Aggregate Mind was caused by Ace. With the help of Ace and Unit Delta's immunity to the Aggregate Mind's takeover, the Liberation League is able to start successfully pushing back against the Aggregate Mind's takeover. With greater success on the Heart front of the Servant War, Admiral Takis moves his forces to help the Liberation League, pushing the advantage even more.