Aleksa Sisters

**The Aleksa Sisters** (Full name being Aleksandrowicz) were a pair of female mech pilots who served in the army of the Commonwealth and, later, took part in Project IVA, being related as the first and only to pilot the biggest mech ever created in human history. Although the nickname is attributed to their sister status, both shared a far less compatible lineage, as their actual relation fair as half sisters instead of what the title suggests. Both were enlisted in the Commonwealth army and together they joined General Branicki’s mech battalion, serving throughout the entire war against the Biluans and fending off Yadran terrorist attacks during the later occupation. Later they would also join NERU Industries and end their pioneer legacy in 9 Month's War, at the invasion of Voice.

## Further info

### Family

Courtman Family (Deceased)Katsumi Family (Deceased)

Aleksandrowicz Family

### Important actions

Battle of YadraniIVA Project Development

Battle of Voice

## **Childhood Years - Abandoned by Destiny**

As the Aramathi Liberation War came to a close, so did many lives of soldiers who had risked themselves in the fields of battle during those long years. Among those fallen in the conflict, there was the family of both young girls, Lily **Katsumi**, whose parents were lost aboard *CSV Gauntlet* during the space engagement above New Sajar, and Erina **Courtman**, having both her father and her mother perish at the first few hours of the landing on the planet’s surface. The death of the families from the girls left the guard of Erina and Lily for the government to take care of and, as one was born in Curacao while the other was born in Ortus, they spent their childhood years isolated in orphanages of each respective world they inhabited. That was born to change, however, as, when the war ended, and many civilian prison camps were liberated, a female Aramathi survivor from the Zracon atrocities who adopted the name of Nadiya **Aleksandrowicz** travelled to the Commonwealth’s capital to live and work in small business, all to leave the terrible past she had seen behind. In Ortus, she would meet and soon adopt Erina, while little time later, during a travel to Curacao, she’d also take Lily to live with her. With the two united, the registered sisters took the name of their Aramathi mother and lived with her until adulthood, when the career in the military would finally rise up.

Nevertheless, during their initial times together, both girls interacted minimally towards each other, as life in the orphanages made social actions extremely difficult to bear as a growing child. Later in months, however, the girls would increasingly become more and more close, transpiring those actions as their talks became more open and accessible for their mother to interact with. With the passing of time however, their bond was concreticized by a strong psychic relationship, making both apt for far more efficient cooperative tasks than before, from the simplest to the hardest. Their time spent together had paid off as a help for their daily tasks, and they would use those skills with great excellency in the fields of battle as a result in coming years.

## **Born to Fight**

Their joining on the army came right before the Commonwealth declaration of war against the Biluan Mind, in 2245, another so called ‘Liberation War’ this time to aid Karthemas in conquered worlds of the Mind. Most don’t know the reason for both deciding to enlist, but some speculation revolves into the deaths of their families and the incentive of their new mother in the brewing liberation war against another genocidal regime, something she openly criticised and condemned ever after she herself survived the Aramathi Liberation War conducted by the Commonwealth. As for their roles in the army, both were initially chosen to enter in as members of the 37th Regiment of the Vanatori Light Infantry, as results of the cooperation they inducted during training exceeded most others and quickly got them into one of the most respected units of the Army. The stage was set to begin, when the war finally arrived, they were shipped along with the entire army to the dangers of death in Yadran soil. Yadrani was the target they seeked, and it was there where they would initiate their path towards becoming ultimately famed.

## **Pact of Blood in Yadrani**

As soon as the first bombardments of the planet began, most knew this battle wouldn’t be an easy fight. To ease the initial engagements, General Branicki organized a experimental group of newly added Battledroids, Minervan Spiders and Mech units into the mix, a move that would inevitably pay off very well, as the initial Biluan drones were inevitably slaughtered and the experimental invading force cleared the way for the main army to land safely as a result. The role of the 37th. Vanatori Light Infantry was simple, but not easy, since their respective tasks were involved in mountainous engagements along with securing old Yadran strongholds located there, a task not usually taken by common foot infantry, instead accepted by more specialized forces. The orders were rallied, the fight was about to commence, the liberation of Yadrani was about to begin.

The landing, as tough as it was, wouldn’t be their hardest moment during those two months. Both girls, although working on the same unit, not always fared together in the same missions, Lily was posted on a heavy weapons team, while Erina, on the other hand, got the assignment to lead a scouting team, a move that would oftenly separate both during the frequent engagements they took part in. The last fights proved to be the harshest, however, since the most stubborn mountain drones held on their positions until the last breath, taking many of the Commonwealth soldiers along with them and inflicting much damage to the 37th. in the process, it was a victory, but a costly one, nonetheless.

Now, a new mission stood ahead of them, holding the planet, a task that wouldn’t even be needed if the Biluan Attack Swarm had not appeared, and as a result, a tough choice needed to be made. In the final verdict, General Branicki, along with part of his Mech Command and General Telaviin, ordered his troops to evacuate Yadrani and retreat to the safe wings of Task Force Manticore, leaving behind whoever volunteered to defend the planet, assist the Kartheman survivors and train their newly formed militias of the liberated Yadran groups. Erina and Lily chose to stay and defend Yadrani, along with most of the 37th. Vanatori Light Infantry Regiment. They would inevitably hold the line against the incoming Biluan hordes and await the return of Branicki’s force. The Siege of Yadra would soon commence.

It was not long before the Biluan Armada arrived at the orbit of Yadrani. Curiously, however, the fleet dropped it’s forces at the planet and left to chase Task Force Manticore without even bombarding the hastily constructed defensive positions, a move that would be later revealed crucial for the survival of the defenders in the planet, as it provided enough power to hold off the invaders for much longer. Needless to say, however, the fight was even tougher than in previous months, but the struggle gave enough time for forces on ground to manage their organisation and dig in to slaughter the swarms at every choke point they could find. The fight for both girls was equally difficult as well, losing comrades left and right as the defences fell one by one, the 37th. was forced out of the mountains, along a massive group of refugees who headed to the nearest Commonwealth controlled town in sight, one containing the few Mech Groups who decided to stay and defend the planet. During the retreat towards the city, however, the chaotic state of the commanding defenders ordered a artillery strike to hit the incoming Biluan swarms tailing the civilians headed for the city, a move that would almost cost Erina’s life, as a artillery fragment pierced through her helmet and cut directly above her left eye, forcing Lily to carry her unconcious sister out of the combat area and also head, among with the rest of the civilian population, to the Commonwealth controlled town, hoping to find medical assistance and carry on with the fighting there.

If the way towards the militarised complex wasn’t hard enough, the scramble to find a able medic willing to treat her wound would be even harder. Only after two hours of intense search did Lily stumble upon a combat medic who accepted the request of taking care of Erina, the medic was no one else than the young girl named Iva Kobayashi, who at the time was a volunteer soldier of the Mech Army and the prominent heir to NERU Industries, it was thank to her efforts that Erina survive the fatal wound she had sustained at that time. For Lily, however, the situation also looked dire. Not only had she abandoned her unit to take her sister inside the city, but she also had no idea to where they could be at, were they still holding the line? Were they destroyed? She didn’t know, and, as the swarm closed in, it became clear that she needed to join the fight once more to help alleviate the civilian evacuation, and as a Mech unit became unoccupied right after its pilot was considered killed in action, she unauthorizedly decided to step in to take action.

Being a common ground trooper didn’t provide any training for Mech combat, however, and although the initial steps were sloppy, she rapidly adapted to control the vehicle while also receiving instructions by Iva, marching with it towards the frontlines to assist the ground troops that were fighting in the area. The controls only became more complicated under combat though, but as bullets flew above the unit and more explosions detonated around the Mech, she managed to fire the first shots against drones and assist the Commonwealth defenders into holding the entry to the city. Only mere minutes afterwards, even before she herself had noticed however, the Mech had ran out of ammunition, rendering it basically combat ineffective as the slaughter raged on in the battlefield, there was nothing more she could do, so Lily once more retreated to the medical center of the city where Iva and her sister were located, hoping to rearm there and skirmish again into the defense of the town.

Personal notes related both by Iva and Lily herself stated her return at the center and skirmish in the outskirts of the Yadran city around twelve times during the raging battle. In the next week, her use in the same unit was well known already by many at the city, and she became quite famed during the defense, proving a good morale boost at the field and a encouraging factor for those recovering from wounds in the military hospitals, so much so that, when Erina finally regained consciousness and managed to walk with her own feet again, she insisted on helping her sister at whatever means possible in hopes to also get her in a Mech unit. That plan didn’t caught the attention of anyone though, so she revised another idea: Join Lily in her mech and act as a supportive force for her while in battle, which, after some time of convincing Iva and her sister, she got the chance to partake in combat too, fighting, with help of Iva, inside the modified two pilot version of the Mech unit Lily had taken at the beginning of the battle. This only increased their personal bond along with their combat performance together, while also sparkling a fiery idea for Iva, who adopted many of the two pilot modifications she had created during those days into later Mech projects of her life.

After months of heavy fighting, Branicki’s forces once again landed on the surface of Yadrani, chasing off and eliminating any other trace of resistance in the planet. Later in the war, Task Force Manticore also took the initiative to hunt down the weakened Biluan Armada, finalising the conflict in Yadrani for good. Victory was finally achieved, and with it, ultimate peace was also restored into the Commonwealth. Now, the victors would return to their ordinary lives, return to their families and return home, not Lily or Erina though, they had decided to once again stay and help the General with the hunt for the remaining drones left by the Mind, soon being reassigned into the Mech Battalion and joining the force as a result of their deeds during battle. Together, they would help finishing off the last Biluans in Yadrani, as well as fending against any terrorist action conducted by Kartheman groups.

## **War on Terror**

The life in Yadrani wasn’t easy though, the native population of the old Yadran capital weren’t very enthusiastic after their planet had been invaded several times by other nations, and, although they were considered “Liberated” by Commonwealth officials, the regime they served under fell under those same broadcasting against the nation that had conquered and integrated them, a move that deeply angered many Karthemas living there. The first terrorist attacks happened shortly after the last Biluan drone was hunt down, and with it, began the famed “War on Terror” in Yadrani soil. The forces under Branicki, although instructed not to take aggressive posture, didn’t stood idle at those times, and soon many anti-riot groups were formed as result of increasingly growing Kartheman posture. Many of the soldiers posted in the old Yadran capital worked around in a system named “**Tour**”, a year of military service in the designated area and six months returning to life in the Commonwealth, which worked as a way to both train new recruits and keep up army morale, while also assisting with the rioting problem in the planet.

The sisters served under Seven complete tours, only abandoning the eighth one when the Great Southeastern War blew up and the Commonwealth was dragged into another conflict involving its own border disputes. Neither Erina nor Lily saw combat, however, as both travelled to Curacao by a work proposition sent from their old friend in NERU Industries, Iva Kobayashi, now the leading face inside the company.

## **Together with NERU**

Their initial times at NERU weren’t the most prosperous ones, however. The moment in which they had joined, under Iva’s personal invitation, was at the company's’ most dire situation, the decline would only be halted afterwards, when their new contracts with the military during the war had provided enough funds to get NERU’s industry afloat again. The Sisters’ real motive behind working on with NERU was not because of the paychecks they received, but because of the proposition Iva had made them at the time they joined, that being, both together would pilot a newly experimental Mech unit baptized as IVA, bigger than any other ever created in human history. The dual piloting system was ideal for them, as previous tests in the army had already proved their competence in the field together, while in addition, Iva had chosen personally the pilots by knowing their true potential in Units during the Siege of Yadra. The road was paved for their legacy, it was only a matter of time before they could prove themselves in battle once more.

Initial prototypes, ones including only a single seat were usually piloted by Iva herself, taking notes at every single design flaw to better improve performance in later versions as she tested the early Mechs of the Project. The first real piloting act of the sisters came at the 27th. unit, one that, after many initial mental struggles, managed to spark great advancements in their research project. **Unit 27** revealed the dire need for a mental bond including both pilots in a way only psionics could achieve, something that fortunately the sisters shared between themselves, that need was reasoned to better coordinate movement inside the large mechanical body and also for better management of combat weaponry and stance. Later stages of the project also included **Unit 44**, one that upgraded the psychic bond even further, as it included the integration of a damage system simulating hits inside the pilot’s brain nerves themselves, a move that, although considered somewhat dangerous, proved to better formulate reflexes of the pilots and extent their capabilities in combat simulations. For more than 20 years of work, the sisters helped formulate the magnificent beast they would formally pilot, and years later, with the construction of **IVA 001** coming to a finish, that help would inevitably pay off, as the biggest Mech humanity had ever made came out of production and was shipped to the Biluan border, and they would be the pioneers to pilot such beast to glory.

As soon as the IVA got in hands of both, the sisters reached the decision to name it *‘El Crusader’*, a name in honour of a Kartheman knight leading a levy unit who had fought alongside them during Yadranis’ liberation, many decades ago. But to say IVA 001 was a flawless unit was a considerable mistake however, because as soon as both pilots began their initial trials in the Barren Moon close to the Biluan border, it is noted that, in result of such a colossal unit being connected directly with the pilot’s neural systems, the mental and physical strength needed to pilot the Mech grew substantially more, forcing the sisters to undergo more vigorous lifestyles, normally sleeping 17 hours each single day or applying stimulants to maintain themselves conscious to partake in evermore training combat situations. As each day from the invasion brewed closer, more was demanded on the backs of both, something that, as the psychological checks for the pilots showed lowering every day, proved almost catastrophic as in form of the ‘**Crusader Breakdown**’.

What began as a quick depressive thought inside the mind of Erina soon destabilised the readings of both sisters into a breakdown. In a matter of seconds, the beast found itself without any support, and with the pilots knocked out of the controls, IVA 001 entered in a emergency stage known as '**Rebirth**’, the most dire of emergency procedures to be made in a unit. Reports of the breakdown described the Mech behaving similarly to a animal, crushing everything in its path and creating havoc in the surface of the Moon, other readings also indicated the increase in psionic power, not from the sisters, but from the IVA itself, and overseeing the situation getting out of control, Kobayashi ordered the shutdown of all energy sources connecting the unit, hoping that it would rapidly run out of power as a result of its extensive use during the rampage. Fortunately, the plan eventually worked out, and after two hours of constant chaos in the surface the IVA lost its consciousness and completely hibernated, returning to its initial form in sequence. Although the pilots were evacuated with life from the Mech unit, it took them two entire months to finally wake up from a coma that involved their bodies, and when they finally did wake up, neither of both bothered to listen to the details of their medical stance, as they calmly claimed to already know what happened to them and their unit, something that deeply concerned the scientists and doctors treating both of them. Since the Breakdown, the psionic readings of the sisters almost tripled, and as a result, they became even more reclusive to others, but not to themselves, however. And, although trying to dig in deeper to understand the anomalies with the IVAs, no scientist managed to uncover why the Breakdown took such a extraordinary effect on the machine or their pilots, even though they clearly saw the results of it, like the possessing of the Mech with temporary sentience of his own or the increase of the psionic bond of the sisters in the end.

The Crusader Breakdown was deeply classified in secrecy, and as the 9 Month's War was coming closer and closer, they once again commenced their preparations in training (Although with much more carefulness) to premier their Mech in the field of battle on Voice.

## **The Last Trip to Hell**

In 2288, days after the declaration of war against the Biluan Mind, the IVA, along with the sisters and some maintenance personnel, were all shipped along with the Main attack force towards the Biluan homeworld of Voice, the main target of the enormous offensive carried by General Branicki and General Aspinaca. The journey wasn’t like the previous in which they had embarked upon, this time they would exterminate an entire race off from the Galaxy, and along with it, an entire planet full of beings too. The transport was cryogenic like any other ground troop, thus the journey onwards to Voice was significantly reduced, they rested well and prepared for the upcoming battle in the planet, a battle that would up being their last one forever.

Chosen to be dropped on the Southern pole of the planet to make havoc on it’s own and get evaluated as a combat unit, ‘El Crusader’ received only one order from Attila’s High Command, being it: “Blow ’em all to hell”. Soon enough, it departed to the closest ruined Biluan metropolis to gather attention from the drones and scatter them from the closest digging sites bound to blow up the planet. The fight was on, now they were left to fend for themselves in the hostile ground.

The first contact appeared shortly before the IVA had landed, and along with it, came wave and wave of Biluan attacks. Laser weapons holstered by the unit soon burst into the avenues, many times resulting in the destruction of several buildings, only to destroy the century old city ruins even more than before. For more than Three years the sisters had trained to star in the conflict, and as combat stimulants started to be applied, their skills truly started to shine in consequence. During the initial invasion, more than 60% of the city was laid in ashes or ruins, but more blood would once more be spilled in the coming days, the last days of Commonwealth occupation were coming to an end, and the Biluans initiated their last counteroffensive, leaving all but said blood on its path to retake their homeland.

In a matter of hours, the fight that was supposedly already won, rapidly turned into a even more brutal slaughter. The Biluan attack crushed most unguarded Commonwealth units in minutes, while the most ready could only last few hours, this move forced what was left of Branicki’s and Aspinaca’s forces to fend for themselves and begin a evacuation of the planet. For the sisters however, such orders would never come. The counterattack was also felt in the south though, and in few moments the Mech was also being swarmed by thousands of drones. Firing every salvo of laser barrages, the weapons of the Mech soon either overheated or ran out of power, making the IVAs weapons systems rely on its large melee equipment, a move soon to be proved fatal to fight against such small sized enemies, as the ones that weren’t hit could easily bypass the Unit’s defence and attack it at close. Disaster struck an hour later however, when, as reported by Erina in her last received voiced message, Biluan drones that managed to crawl up on the IVAs metallic body were critically damaging the Unit’s communications system, eventually succeeding and cutting coms with NERU’s personnel moments later. After that, they were alone to fend themselves, with no established communications with leading staff officers, the Mech was expected to fall quickly, but instead it fought with feral behaviour until all status were lost with it's command.

The fight, in contrast, was not over for them. After a desperate scramble, Kobayashi, who was personally in orbit relaying orders to the IVA, managed to contact Task Force Ethereal and ask for support in the tracking of her Mech. After few tense minutes, the request was patched in and finally accepted, and, moments later, Ethereal operatives would access the battlefield where the IVA was located, only to encounter the wrath of Unit’s 001 second and much more powerful procedure of ‘Rebirth’. The situation, as it seemed, had escalated from terrible to critical, and it would only get worse as time advanced.

Reports coming from Ethereal agents described the psionic readings not originating from the sisters themselves, but from the mech in which they piloted instead, and with even larger increasing strength than before. Moreover, neither one of the pilots showed signs of mental activity, a clear indication that their lives suffered from grave danger in levels similarly to the times of the Crusader Breakdown, though, unlike before, along  with a fierce enemy force swarming their Unit. Apart from that, not much information could be encountered beyond the atmosphere, and with every possible shuttle coming down to the planet in order to evacuate personnel, it was certain that no vessel would be spared for further observation of the IVA, nor would they be detached to contain the Mech and retrieve its pilots. In the following minutes none that would matter however, as the order to blow up the surface of Voice was dispatched and the remaining soldiers, those bravely still standing in the planet would meet a fiery embrace, those numbers included General Branicki along most of his Mech Command, millions of ground troops from multiple races of the Commonwealth, and finally, IVA 001 and her two only and most skilled pilots.

Within less than 15 minutes, all life still located on the Biluan planet was engulfed in magma and exterminated from existence. As Task Force Ethereal operatives later reported, the IVA had fought until her last breath until the explosion ravaged the surface where it fought in. The battle for Voice would later be considered the first military disaster from the Commonwealth, and with it, a series of reforms that changed the way war was waged in the ground would be implemented in order to try preventing further catastrophes. In the end, although labelled as a promising newly built Mech design, Project IVA was scrapped and Iva abandoned the Commonwealth for Thadrakos lands. For the Aleksa Sisters, whilst their lives were abruptly ended by war, their legacy still carried on, and as military documents from the battle were released to the public over time, much commotion and speculations rose up as the years passed, making their Pioneer endeavour very well known through and even outside of the borders of the Commonwealth’s systems.