Serena Romana

*"If you are determined to go through with that, you will have to commit yourself to being Sidh by all one hundred percent. It means you will not have room to think of yourself as anything else than just Sidh. Because there are no male and female Sidhae, no white or black Sidhae, no gay or straight Sidhae - there are just Sidhae. And everyone else. The sooner you learn to accept this simple truth and condition yourself to think that way, the easier the conversion will be for you."*

~ Serena, to Mildred Boughton

## Introduction

**Serena Romana** is a Judicator Abbess in the service of the Imperium of Sidhae. A dangerous individual by any standard, she is an expert soldier and also demonstrates herself as astoundingly cunning, proving a worthy scheming opponent even for the Chthonian Drakolich.

## Background

Fabricated on Eridanos IV, Progenitory 256 in 2546, Serena dreamt of becoming a soldier literally almost from birth, enlisting just a year after awakening. With the outbreak of the Reconquest Wars in 2549, she spent the next several decades on the frontlines, battling the Imperium's enemies. Her military career came to an abrupt end in 2583, when her unit was captured by the Skargh. Serena turned up as the sole survivor after spending over a year in Skargh captivity, subjected to extreme torture and sexual abuse at the hands of her captors and their human servants. The experience left permanent scars on her mind, leading to medical discharge after she was rescued. Serena spent two years in rehabilitation, before a Judicator took note of her and recruited her to the Order. After serving as an apprentice to Judicator Visari for a number of years, she was promoted and given lead of her own Judicatorial cell, consisting of Alain, Halko and Olhon. Since then, Serena has spent her days hunting down enemies of the Imperium at home and abroad, bringing their lives to abrupt and gruesome ends.

## Personality

Serena has a reputation of ruthlesness, rarely if ever shying away from cruel actions if they advance her mission or the interests of her kind. At the same time, she harbors no illusions about her people's ways and especially those of Sidhae in her line of work. She generally maintains a cool and level-headed face, rarely if ever being upset enough to lash out at someone out of mood. This is especially evident in her interactions with Elena Trotskaya during *Flight of the Polunochnaya*, where she generally remains the voice of reason, keeping her cool where others don't.

Despite her ruthless reputation, Serena is known to also have a soft side. She is fiercely protective of the few she deems her friends, and her own people, the Sidhae, in general. While Serena will normally always prefer her own kind to any outsiders, she also maintains a strong sense of justice, renouncing those compatriots (such as Alain) who have betrayed her ideals of loyalty to the Imperium and Sidh interests.

Devoted to the Emperor's teachings, Serena is among those Sidhae who have elevated his veneration to literally religious level. She believes that religious faith fulfils a fundamental psychological need and does not contradict Sidh teachings which formally denounce religious superstitions, arguing that Jesus Christ too did not become a major religious figure during his lifetime, much like the Emperor, yet his teachings became the fundament of the greatest civilization of Old Terra.

## Notable appearances

* Serena is the primary antagonist of *Access Violation*. She also remains a core component of the narrative in *Access'*s sequels.