Maisy Berke

**Maisy Berke**, known more commonly by her aliases **Holiday Milao** or **Iris**, is a human pilot and smuggler within the Brafe Cartel.

## Biography

Born on the planet Elatauf on the edge of human space, Holiday Milao, the alias of Maisy Berke, is the only child of former Alliance engineer Mason Berke. Native to the small industrial settlement of Ardent, Holiday grew up in an intrinsically poor environment; Ardent was a practically abandoned colony. Originally a promising location for mining, investors pulled out last minute, fearing that the planet’s close proximity to the Terminus Systems left it vulnerable to attacks. Attacks which were becoming more frequent as Alliance-Hegemony relations started deteriorating. It serves primarily as a fuel junction for starships looking to leave Alliance space, precisely where Holiday’s life begins. Like all others on the planet, Holiday and Mason were poor, with Mason using his skills as an engineer to provide for his daughter. As a single parent, Mason would often work night and day to give his daughter the life he never had. While he couldn’t offer much, the environment, mixed with Ardent’s struggling economy, would humble Holiday greatly. She wanted for nothing, because she had everything that mattered to her. Her father, namely.

Her relationship with Mason was an unbreakable bond. The two were inseparable whenever it was possible, with many noticing just how great of a father Mason was to the little girl. He served as her moral backbone, her navigator through the troubles she faced in her childhood. Mason’s character was unquestionable: he was as perfect of a father as he could possibly be. However, time was always an issue, with Mason having to venture to work so often. Ardent’s community was known to be incredibly safe and tight-knit despite initial fears; pirate raids were never a threat due to just how inconspicuous the colony was, which is why Holiday would inevitably spend so much time alone. As it stood, there weren’t many children on Ardent, with most of the colony’s population being older, industrious folk. Despite her happy childhood, she was increasingly lonely as time went by.

Naturally, in such a drought of attention, Holiday would begin to question aspects of her life. Specifically, she grew ever more curious as to the identity of her mother, someone suspiciously absent from her life. Whenever she would bring it up to Mason, his typical response was that he would answer later, or that he was too tired to answer. Respectfully, he had his reasons for being so coy; he was brokenhearted and the topic brought back sour memories. Holiday was never satisfied though, with the more she pried, the sadder her reality became. As the days drifted by, the little girl grew increasingly upset with her lonesomeness, but she never had the strength to present herself to the other children on Ardent - what few there were. She was inherently shy, and while Mason would push her to make friends, the attempts would always fall through.

Once she reached schooling age, things arguably became worse for Holiday. There was only one tutor in the colony, an older woman, who taught all the children, of which there were only nine. The new circumstances she was put under were frightening, and out of all students, she would be the only one who struggled in school. Education was the last thing on her mind; she had questions about her life, identity, and other things all at a young age. Needless to say, she would mature rather fastly in comparison to her peers. As her initial schooling years past, Holiday would distinguish herself as an intensely thoughtful child. Though she was struggling academically, her tutor saw genuine personal growth in the young child’s demeanor.

Once she reached her teenage years, Holiday would begin to care less about her mother - an image which was still unclear to her. She held up so much hatred for a face she couldn’t even picture. This would lead her to try and bury her mother from her thoughts entirely, something which wasn’t healthy, but at least helped her get on with her adolescence. However, the fact stood that she was lonely and troubled. This would all change when she was introduced to Jedediah Brafe. A child who was in a similar position as her, but who dealt with his troubles in much different ways. The two would naturally click with one another, which eventually helped Holiday get out of her self-imposed shell. Jedediah, who she would affectionately nickname “Jeddy,” would begin to influence Holiday’s personal life in ways Mason didn’t like.

Instead of retreating into an uncomfortable solitude like she had been doing, something snapped within Holiday. At times, she would disappear for days with Jeddy, going on wild tangents and wandering about Ardent, getting into all sorts of trouble. While Jeddy was a discernable bad influence, Holiday grew as a socially competent person, and the thrill of it all was like a drug to her. Never had she strayed beyond boundaries, questioned rules. It was all fresh and invigorating to the young girl, now at the age of fifteen. Eventually, this wave of excitement would come crashing down as her actions caught up with her. Mason would naturally be angry with Holiday, but couldn’t hold it in his heart to scold his only child. Instead, he looked beyond her behavior, trying to find why she was this way instead of vehemently reprimanding her.

Mason would hit all of the right notes. As a child who had troubles himself, it was easy to see his daughter’s struggle. She lacked an identity and more importantly a role model, which Mason had failed to be. Always busy with work, he couldn’t find the time to be. There came a point when Mason was sick of it; he wanted to be with his daughter and guide her. So he took less hours of work, which hurt them financially, but was invaluable to their relationship. Mason would probe her, answer her questions, and sooth her stresses; though he still remained coy as to the identity of her mother. He would allow her to be a lively, curious child. Though many would object, he even let her continue spending time with Jeddy, seeing as how he was her first real friend. He cautioned responsibility with Holiday, something that she took to heart. This would eventually play a role in Jeddy’s reformation as well, as she spread this train of thought to him as well.

Knowing Holiday’s inquisitive nature, Mason would begin taking her all across Elatauf, exploring and spending time with her. This would plant the seed that would eventually become Holiday’s love of exploration. Growing up, she watched as ships flew to-and-from Elatauf and she had a dream of becoming a pilot. Mason would encourage this passion while teaching her healthy ways to cope with the stress that life forced upon her, namely in writing and poetry, as Mason was an amateur poet. She would express herself in these ways, writing her feelings and sharing her insecurities with her father. Mason had left a considerable mark on her, and for the first time in her life, she was on a steady path towards success. She and Jeddy, although it took to convince him,  would enroll back in school and excel well past their peers.

Reaching the age of a young adult, Holiday grew into a cherished position in the community, becoming a familiar face with the denizens of Ardent as bright and artistic youth. Her and Jeddy would graduate and consider their next move, both understanding that Elatauf didn’t hold many opportunities for their future. However, Mason was growing sick, and as the days passed, he would eventually be diagnosed with early-onset cancer. Lacking the funds necessary for treatment, Holiday would try her best to crowdfund all she could to prevent it. She simply refused to leave his side, but he was adamant that she continue on with her life, to find herself. Though it took thorough convincing and a lot of tears, Holiday would be persuaded to leave Elatauf, giving her father all of the money she raised and promised to stay in touch. She and Jeddy would then book a shuttle to the Grissom Academy to further their education.

Holiday’s studies focused on galactic history and cartography, as she wanted to become an explorer. Jeddy on the other hand, had become an Alliance ROTC student, studying xenobiology. Both excelled well past their peers, and after years of dedicated work, they would graduate from Grissom Academy. Jeddy would convince Holiday to enlist with the Alliance as well, seeing it as a perfect opportunity for the both of them to ply their trades and join a research division. Holiday would enlist in the Alliance Flight Academy, with a focus on navigation and piloting. She would graduate with distinction, beginning her career with the Alliance.

She became a pilot in the Alliance’s RND division, joining the crew of *SSV William Clark*, an exploration vessel tasked with charting unknown territories. Jeddy would be assigned to this same ship as an officer. During these years, they became worthy additions to the crew, Jeddy’s leadership skills being praised as well as Holiday’s piloting.

They were both doing what they loved, but very early into their careers, they were tasked with exploring the Skyllian Verge. A notably volatile region of space, as human-batarian relations worsened. They, of course, followed orders and would venture into the verge. They would’ve been destined to become casualties in the Blitz.

However, they would be captured by a batarian vessel to be held as political hostages before they reached Elysium. The crew of The Clark, were unlawfully taken as prisoners of war, and would be hauled to the batarian world of Vragha, home to an infamous concentration camp that held batarian dissidents as well as the aforementioned Alliance hostages. Here, the crew would be robbed of what vitality they had, all in service to the Batarian Hegemony. The entire situation was a severe diplomatic incident, however, the Alliance had more pressing issues than the rescue of the crew, what with the attack on Elysium and their retaliation on Torfan. For a period of seven grueling months, Holiday and Jeddy would be worked to near death, with many of their crewmates eventually succumbing to the harsh conditions. Eventually, Jeddy would become the sole surviving officer of The Clark.

As such, he was subjected to brutal torture, grilled for information about the inner workings of the Alliance navy by the overseers of the Vragha facility. Overtime, Holiday would see the previous bright look in her best friend’s eyes significantly darken, hardly recognizing him as the abuse frequented. Holiday wasn’t spared either, though she wasn’t tortured like Jeddy. She was worked harder than almost anyone, however. Her “job” was sulfur mining. Jedediah began to preach that the Alliance wouldn’t come for them, something of which he’d be proven correct on. The crew was on their own, in hostile territory. Tensions in the Vragha facility would reach a boiling point. In time, many slaves and P.O.W’s would instigate an armed insurrection.

Jeddy was at the forefront of it all. Many of the Alliance P.O.W’s looked at him as a surrogate leader, even those of whom weren’t in service to The Clark. However, he was a loose cannon, but only Holiday could truly see it. In the end, she would help him anyway. They would seize batarian arms and munitions and unleash hell on their captors. Due to Vragha being relatively remote, help wouldn’t come quick for the batarians. In a few days, the prisoners would take control of the facility. Jeddy was a perceived hero to them all, but what he had the prisoners do next would define all of their futures. Especially Holiday’s. He issued the command to have the batarians be brutally executed, taking no prisoners, and then encourage the prisoners to defile their bodies. Flaying them, decapitating their heads and putting them on full display. Holiday would engage in the crime due to the anger she held towards her once captors.

After all was said and done, the smoke cleared with them all coming to their senses, realizing what they had done. Alliance soldiers committing numerous war crimes against the Batarian Hegemony. Fear gripped them all, knowing punishment would be harsh to them all, even those who were complicit. It would be Jeddy who encouraged them all to desert, instead of turning themselves into the Alliance. Holiday would follow, and as one of few remaining pilots, would hijack a batarian vessel and flee the scene. To this day, both Holiday and Jeddy are technically missing in action. They would leave all Alliance space for good, with Holiday failing to even check up on her sick father one last time.

Holiday would fly through the Skyllian Verge and attract the attention of Alliance warships due to their commandeered batarian vessel. Knowing they would give chase, Holiday ordered everyone to evacuate the ship, thinking they wouldn't survive a direct assault. She chose to stay behind to draw attention away from the escape pods. They heeded her word, and just like that, fled. Holiday too would escape, but her ship was damaged by her pursuers and was severely low on fuel. She went to the only destination she possibly could: Omega. Hoping only that the ship still had some life in it.

Once arriving on Omega, she scrapped what she could from the ship and sold it for a very meager sum. It wasn’t enough for her to book passage on any ship; she was trapped and destitute. She would wander Omega for the first few days, trying to find a quick job, but none would come. Using what little funds she had, she booked a small room in a motel and assessed her options, which were limited. All her efforts to contact Jeddy were for naught, as she had received no word since the jettisoned from the batarian ship. Appearing to be all out of options, she would eventually find employment as a bartender at a strip club in one of Omega’s most violent districts. She had it laid out: she would work for a few months, earn what she could, and book her way off Omega. The pay, however, was less than satisfactory.
Holiday would eventually be pushed to become a featured dancer. She had never considered herself much of a looker, but it was either that, or working starvation wages. It was the most humiliating thing she’d ever done; not a day went by that she wasn’t groped and called disgusting things. Holiday was there, not for months, but almost a full year. She hated her life, but was earning more than she possibly could as a bartender. It pushed her into dark places, but she would learn valuable lessons on Omega. That she was less than nothing. Or that she was to these people and to herself. Eventually Holiday would be called upon to issue a private dance to a client, her first ever. She would walk into a booth only to find Jeddy. She was greeted by the same lifeless eyes that she saw on Vragha. He told her that he had managed to track the ship she was on, but got sidetracked from trying to outmaneuver the law. Jeddy told Holiday he had a job lined up and needed a pilot, a job that would see them both off of Omega. She agreed without a second thought.

Jeddy had managed to secure a heist team, their target being a private prison convoy controlled by the Blue Suns. Holiday would act as their getaway driver. It was a simple, but lucrative job, one that Jeddy claimed would go to good use. While away, he had gotten himself and the prisoners of Vragha into organized crime. He aimed for the convoy job to launch them into a position of financial security and would use the funds to create an arms cartel. Jeddy would do exactly that. The heist ran smoothly, with the group carrying a haul of nearly four-hundred thousand credits, propelling them into criminal royalty. Using the money, they established an outpost and arms foundry.

Holiday had changed significantly, with the once bright-eyed young girl being seduced by a life of crime. Jeddy would establish the Brafe Cartel, making them instant players in a perpetual arms war with their rivals. She remains his top smuggler, being granted a ship she named The *New Helen*. For the past five years, this is the only life she’s known. Avoiding the law at all costs, Maisy Berke died when she was captured on Vragha. All that remains is Holiday, a pseudonym for a once-vibrant young woman.

## Personality

To say Holiday is enigmatic truly does a disservice to her persona. She is many things, but almost nothing people ascribe her as being. It’s her fallacy, her dystopia, that she isn’t read easily; her main mechanism for guarding her gem of a brain. By all means, she is a delicate, typically soft spoken woman with what some may describe as an ill temper. Underneath it all lays a sophist, unabashedly curious, with a vibrancy that rivals even the most exuberant of people. Passionate in every sense of the word, her younger self had aspirations that don’t match the world around her any longer. Trapped in reality, her passion turned from art to money. Unfortunately, this is the very brunt of her identity: a materialistic pessimist constantly clashing with her inner renaissance woman.

First, the obvious. Holiday has clear, irredeemable issues with her attitude - when she does manage to open up. It’s easy to mistake her for being purely rude on account of her icy cover, but those who know her personally get to see past this facade. If anything, it’s a guise to protect herself, as she is a naturally solitary person. One who's been hurt before and refuses to be hurt again. It’s truly her pessimism that makes it so evident. To many, she’s just brusque and rather terse when she manages to cobble a sentence together. Otherwise, it’s clear she’s the type to get lost in thought - airheaded - until someone manages to break her trance. She also has trouble, not in speaking, but in compiling these thoughts. Often when faced with challenging decisions, Holiday will elect to say nothing instead of organizing all that floods her and facing a consequence. However, in a casual sense and setting, she might come across as witty, adversely so, but nonetheless.

Holiday is, to say the least, good with her words once her taciturn demeanor has been broken. Being introverted, one could assume she would struggle in this regard, but it’s surprisingly the opposite. She has a certain set of skills that, when combined, make her particularly silver tongued. It’s the direct result of the rather rugged life she’s lived; she may not like her company, but she can surely coax them - a simple survival mechanism in her eyes. However, more often than not, she finds herself in plenty of precarious situations that she alone is responsible for. As someone who keeps way too much to themselves, she has the tendency to lash out in a way that has no filter. When she does indeed get verbal, the words are often painful and inordinately harsh. It doesn’t earn her many friends, truth be told.

Her materialism is another crutch. It stems from an inherent sentimentalism gone too far, with the more mercenary of her traits taking centerstage. Simply put, her end goal is almost always a paycheck, and while this isn’t a healthy attitude, it’s one that has gotten her far in life. To say she is selfish is one thing, but that isn’t the best way to describe her either. Holiday appears very apathetic, but when push comes to shove, she will typically default to the morals her father taught her, even if it forgoes a payday. Somewhere buried behind the greed is a woman who genuinely cares, and it shows. Even if she doesn’t exactly want it to. It’s here her softer traits surface.

Artistry always came natural to Holiday, as someone who has a deep appreciation for the universe, even if said relationship is iffy at times. There is a level of pretentiousness to it all: Holiday feels that people don’t deserve to know her mind, her personal garden of eden. This isn’t to say that she believes she’s better than others, but that she believes it’s best kept sacred. Truly, it’s her unrivaled intelligence others get to see, an artform in and of itself. While she certainly isn’t the most rational person, as her emotions usually take precedence, people know she is a valuable mind. She dedicates herself to artistic pursuits first and foremost, however; the only true outlet she allows herself to have.

Holiday has a love for life like no other. Where many see a tumultuous pessimist, given time and effort, they will find an eclectic young woman with an electric passion. She was sculpted this way by her father - the person she admires most in life. Holiday finds it a concerning point that her father wouldn’t approve of who she’s become, but she can count on the fact that he will understand. Her deepest insecurities are embedded in these thoughts; that she’s a failure or a fraud playing pretend. She has the tendency to get caught up in this destructive way of perceiving, but it is always the catalyst of something greater. A fuel to push on, instead of being dragged down. While she doesn’t always cope in positive ways, she recuperates ever stronger, moving mountains with an unparalleled amount of enthusiasm. It shows in her thrill seeking and sense of discovery; herself living by a mantra of using her time instead of wasting it. While this liveliness is radiant, one can’t help but feel that Holiday views herself as a star just waiting to go supernova. An intense spark, destined to fade into oblivion.

## Physical Description

As an entity, Holiday doesn’t stand out very much. Her make is just inherently non-conspicuous, being the exact picture definition of ordinary. In a way, this suits her very well, as she isn’t the type who craves attention. One look and most have enough of an impression to diagnose her with a chronic case of forgettable. As for her physical build, she’s a very lithe woman - not precisely athletic - but far from unfit; the benefits of her profession. Her skin is often described as being tan in color, blemished with an overabundance of freckles. Holiday carries herself with a thuggish finesse, adamantly uncomposed. This isn’t to say she cannot correct her posture to what befits her circumstance, but that, quite simply, she doesn’t care about how she’s viewed. She knows she’s just another face in a sea of others.

Carrying such things in little regard, Holiday doesn’t like to overdress. She isn’t particular when it comes to her presentation, finding a balance between professional glamor and casual happenstance. In fairness, Holiday doesn’t find any one style to be comfortable; in both, she’ll draw unwanted eyes which is precisely what she avoids. As a rule, she sticks to business casual dress, usually a tucked-in button up, dress pants, and slacks. She’ll style her thick brown hair in practical ways, quite often simply slicking it out of her face; presenting her brown eyes that either look feverishly vacant or flooded with intention. If there is one nameable trait about Holiday, it would be her eyes. To her, they’re the easiest representation to understanding her as a person. While she might not give too much away with her overall body language, her eyes do most of the talking for her.

As with other attributes, Holiday simply doesn’t do formal. She’ll wear makeup when it suits her, but will not cake her face in powder. Also quite prevalent is her coinable scent, a mixture of ship oil and cigarette smoke that clouds her in an unpleasant odor, but to others, an acquired taste. Others might note she’s quite fidgety and has trouble staying in place for too long, noticeably vulnerable in large groups. Highlighting another aspect to her personhood, she isn’t very emotive in general, but when hit with the occasional depression, her stature plummets into a sorry portrait of her likeness. She doesn’t always carry herself confidently, but in these states, it’s very apparent. It’s precisely in these moments that people may notice how vulnerable she is, her intense emotional guard withered.

## Armament

Holiday utilizes an M-6 Carnifex heavy pistol and an M-96 Mattock when in combat. Her omni-tool is equipped with the combat abilities Incinerate, Overload, Tactical Cloak and Sabotage.

## Appearances

* Faces, New and Old
* Depot Dowanubo