Anastasia Radzlova

**Anastasia Radzlova** is the heiress of the Devereaux Industries fortune and a human courier for hire and biotic mercenary.

## Biography

From a very early age, it was clear that Anastasia was gifted in more ways than one. Born to eezo baron Dmitri Radzlov and social magnate Claudia LeChance, young Anastasia was given every luxury her parents could afford her - and there were very few luxuries they could not afford. Chief among these was certainly the myriad of private tutors the child had access to starting at the age of three, offering her lessons and instruction throughout her life in every subject ranging from tap dancing to quantum physics. Though Claudia wished her daughter to grow up in a manner similar to her own upbringing - focusing more on raising her status in high society rather than intellectual pursuits - Dmitri saw the expansive intelligence his daughter displayed and quickly began grooming her to be the heiress to his mining empire.

As one might assume, Anastasia was forced to grow up very quickly to meet her father’s expectations. Though she attempted to make friends her own age at every opportunity, she found it quite difficult to maintain a relationship of any kind due to her studies and extracurricular activities. If she wasn’t studying, she was attending business meetings with her father, going over technical reports, or - her least favorite - taking lessons on social etiquette from her mother. Anastasia often dreaded a day full of schooling followed by learning business tactics firsthand, but the days she hated most of all were those spent at balls or galas Claudia insisted she attend. The older Anastasia became, the easier it was to see that her mother was rarely ever honest - with herself or anyone around her. Likewise, the people who attended these high society functions seemed equally as ignoble. After a while, Anastasia learned to simply grit her teeth, bite her tongue, and smile politely when spoken to. Doing so ensured a quick end to any conversations that may have otherwise become long and drawn-out, and had the unexpected but quite welcome effect of making Claudia think that Anastasia was ill-suited to be seen at her side. For a social butterfly such as Claudia, the worst imaginable thing in her mind was having a daughter that would tarnish her distinguished reputation.

In time, Anastasia attended fewer and fewer regal events, preferring instead to focus on studying and consuming knowledge. By the age of fifteen she had become infatuated with politics, economics, and the intriguing scientific research being done with element zero, so much so that she didn’t much mind how hard her father was pushing her. In fact, she began volunteering for any task that would teach her more about eezo mining, production, purification and experimentation. Her desire for knowledge became so insatiable that Dmitri began allowing her semi-regular visits to his eezo mining stations in the Arcturus belt and the Argos Rho clusters. For this reason, and with Claudia having realized that her daughter was not meant to inhabit the world of high society, Anastasia was allowed a more permanent residence apart from her parents on Arcturus Station.

It was only when she began living on her own that Anastasia realized how much she was truly missing by staying in Alliance Space. Having spent the majority of her life on earth surrounded by humans, taking her first step into the larger galaxy was like going outdoors for the first time. Though still a human-centric hub, there were often visitors of various Council races, including asari, turians, and occasionally a volus or salarian. It was then that Anastasia realized she had learned something from her mother after all; she didn’t want the people she met to know that she had been living the life of a dedicated student since she was able to speak, or that her family was so vastly wealthy and devoid of any true ambition. So she lied. Any time matters of her personal life made their way into conversation, she told anything but the truth. Anastasia wasn’t necessarily ashamed of her life, she simply found that fabricating a new one in her head was far more enjoyable for both herself and whoever she had the pleasure of speaking with. After all, where most individuals could go on for hours about themselves, all Anastasia could truly say was that she had spent thirteen years with her nose in a book. Therefore, deception proved a much more interesting story.

That is, until the day that Anastasia began suspecting her fascination with dark matter was more deep-seated than she originally believed. On her father’s request, she visited an asteroid mining station at the edge of the Argos Rho Cluster where the foreman believed they had stumbled upon a section of eezo dust mixed with the raw element. Sensing the volatility of such a thing, as eezo dust and tangible element zero reacted quite differently, Anastasia ordered the miners out of the area while she determined how best to proceed. Unfortunately, little did anyone know, Anastasia was one of the many children exposed to element zero in-utero due to her father’s business, and that particular day was when her abilities manifested for the first time. In one chaotic instant the element ignited under stress from a negative electrical current, forming a microsingularity, and the next instant it had imploded. The effect cascaded throughout the entire station; singularities took small chunks of material in so many areas throughout the mine that it crumbled from the inside. It was only due to Anastasia’s caution and intuition that all personnel were safely evacuated.

Following the event at the mine, Dmitri used his power and influence to place his daughter at the top of the line for biotic amp implantation and hired every biotic instructor he could find to help Anastasia acclimate to her new abilities. She stopped studying economics and politics altogether in favor of focusing on learning all she could about biotic and dark energy manipulation. Very rarely was Anastasia ever alone, and this only increased her desire to leave Alliance Space. Whether it was learning meditation and fortitude from her asari instructors or discipline and strength from the turians, Anastasia found herself enamored with their culture and history. She had often thought about life on the Citadel or an alien homeworld, and she quickly found that she now had the perfect reason to leave Arcturus. All it took was a single message to her father, explaining that her current tutors weren’t good enough and that she wished to be sent to Thessia or Palaven to study under the best biotic mentors in the galaxy. Dmitri would never allow his daughter to be placed in such a risky position, but as a successful businessman, he knew when a compromise was in order. He allowed Anastasia to travel to the Citadel, where she would live - accompanied at all times by a private security team - and attend university when she finished her primary education.

If finding freedom in Arcturus Station was a blessing, moving to the Citadel quickly became like a direct gift from God. Anastasia met with wisened asari matriarchs, hardened turian cabals and veteran soldiers, and even managed to find a krogan or two who didn’t mind passing on what they knew - provided they had been supplied with ample amounts of ryncol. By the time Anastasia began college, she knew as much as a human could possibly know about biotics. Putting that knowledge to practical use was another thing entirely, of course, and something that required much more practice, but Anastasia valued the information much more than the ability to use it effectively.

Perhaps equally as liberating, however, was the freedom of interaction Anastasia grew to adore living on the Citadel. She would often wander the Presidium in search of unique and fascinating individuals, engaging them in conversation simply to learn. The habit she acquired on Arcturus never dissipated - in fact, it only grew more and more prevalent - but this seemed to please her father, who believed his corporate rivals would give anything to know where Anastasia made her home. For this reason she was regrettably not allowed to visit the Ward arms, but this fact didn’t bother the curious young intellectual too much. The Presidium was, after all, where the “elite” of the galaxy gathered, and there were plenty of intelligent conversations to be had with its inhabitants.

When Anastasia began attending college in 2174, it was actually a bit of a relief for her. Compared to the amount of coursework and studying she had been doing all her life, the first few years of university work was somewhat less of a burden. That’s not to say that Anastasia began taking it easy, of course. She continued her own studies, returning to a focus on the galactic financial markets and Council politics now that she had amassed several years of study on biotics. When these subjects came up in her normal coursework, professors of even alien races were startled at Anastasia’s comprehension. It was rare enough for a human student to attend a Citadel college, let alone involve themselves in a thorough understanding of alien politics and economics. However, her primary interest remained dark matter theory and quantum physics, and it wasn’t long before she had settled on pursuing her doctorate.

What started as mere curiosity ultimately became an obsession. Anastasia began questioning what lay on the other side of a black hole, and it didn’t take long for her to begin designing experiments to answer that question. Using her own biotic abilities, the labs on hand at her university, and a handful of similarly ingenious students, she began opening micro-singularities in a contained environment to study dark matter manipulation as well as the effects of mass entering a singularity. What none of the students realized was that the containment fields weren’t meant to restrict man-made biotic singularities, but rather those generated by a mass effect core. As a result, one stray ion charge sent the singularity into overdrive and eradicated the containment fields. The effect was similar to what had happened on the eezo-rich asteroid years prior; except in this case, it wasn’t a series of micro-singularities. It was a single fully developed singularity that swallowed half the lab and two students before imploding. Anastasia barely had time to process what had happened when the fallout came crashing down around her. She was immediately expelled, was expected to face a criminal inquiry regarding the experiment, and her parents had sent word that she was to be returned to Earth immediately whether C-Sec liked it or not.

Frantic, scared, and thinking altogether too quickly for her own good, Anastasia siphoned all the credits she could from her father’s account before he denied her access. She knew that he would have his security team bring her back home, and gods take her if she would ever allow herself to fall prey to such a fate. Reckless impulse had found her a small ferry ship headed for the last place on earth Dmitri would be able to find her - Omega - and she booked passage without a second thought.

Hiding from her father didn’t prove difficult, as it seemed Anastasia was such a disappointment that her parents thought it best that she simply remain as far from them as possible. What did prove difficult was lacking money and having to generate income for the first time in her life. Dmitri’s stolen credits lasted long enough to find a cheap apartment and keep Anastasia fed for a few weeks before she realized she’d need a steady job. Seeing as it was Omega and the only viable choices were joining a gang or working in one of Aria’s clubs, Anastasia shortened her name to Stasi and chose the lesser of two evils. It took a bit of convincing in order to get selected as a bartender rather than a stripper - during which Stasi excessively flared her biotics quite often - but ultimately the club manager saw the wisdom in such a decision.

Unfortunately, tending bars was as dull a life as any Stasi could imagine. Naturally she had known that fleeing her family and civilized space would ruin any chance at maintaining her unquenchable desire for knowledge and becoming an esteemed expert on dark matter research, but she hadn’t imagined ordinary life to be so bland. She didn’t know what to do with herself. Any attempts at continued study or research were limited by her lack of resources; she no longer had her father’s connections or facilities provided by a university with which to conduct experimental research. It was maddening. After several months Stasi began to think that maybe she *would* end up joining a gang, or working directly for Aria, simply as a way to alleviate her boredom.

But as luck would have it, there was another option. Tending bars was an altogether painful profession that earned Stasi no shortage of drunken stories and irate patrons to feed to the bouncers (both figuratively and, occasionally, literally.) Stasi often overheard plans between mercenaries, pirates, and even career criminals that would have been worth a fortune to certain individuals. What truly caught her attention, however, was one particular night when a completely floored krogan began yelling to his batarian partner about the weekly shipments they had coming in: raw element zero, assorted biotic amps, and defunct omni-tools.

Seizing the opportunity, Stasi snuck her way through one of Omega’s private docks and found the shipment in question. It was precisely what she had been dreaming of: a way to continue experimenting with eezo manipulation and the science behind dark matter. Slipping out with everything she could carry, Stasi returned the items to her apartment and began tearing apart the amps and omni-tools. Though she still didn’t have quite the space that she would like for proper research, finally getting her hands on resources again made her feel as excited as she had on her first day at college. It didn’t take long before she was spending entire days and nights tinkering and experimenting, missing work and quickly burning through what she had stolen. When the next week’s shipment came around, she snuck down to the dock and snatched more. Then again the next week.

As with all good things, however, this too had to come to an end. The recklessness brought on by comfortability and lack of resistance finally caught up to Stasi when the krogan who had so brazenly spilled the details of these shipments came to oversee them himself one day, having noticed their loss of merchandise after two weeks of stolen items. Stasi had never seen a person look so enraged as that krogan, seeing her telekinetically carrying a load of element zero across the dock. Once the shock wore off, however, it wasn’t vacant facial expressions coming her way, but a succession of bullets, curses, and the odd explosion. Thinking of no better option, Stasi simply ran as far as her feet would take her, through parts of Omega she didn’t even know existed. At some point she became vaguely aware that she was no longer being chased, but she didn’t care. Still she ran, until her legs finally gave out from under her and she fell, crying right there in the street for reasons not even she knew.

Three days later she made her way back to her apartment and found it completely turned over. The pirates, if that’s what they even were, had evidently been able to find her name after seeing her face, and that meant Omega was no longer safe. Gathering what little she had left - eighty-six credits, a toothbrush, and her omni-tool - Stasi left her apartment and headed onto the streets looking for whatever would help her run again.

Unfortunately, as was becoming somewhat of a theme in Stasi’s life, running proved to be the wrong decision. Associates of the krogan she’d so casually stolen from had stayed behind to watch her apartment in the event that she returned, and didn’t have nearly as much trouble cornering the young woman while her mind was preoccupied with frantic thoughts of escape. Having learned her name, they also learned of the sizable reward her father was offering for her return. It wasn’t long before she was shipped off Omega, headed for a prison barge until Dmitri paid for her safe passage back to Council space. Anastasia, of course, had different plans. She had sworn she would never return, to her father or to the Citadel, and she intended to maintain that vow under any circumstances.

## Personality

It’s often said that one’s intelligence plays a great factor in determining who they are as a person, and that is certainly true with Anastasia - for better or worse. Though not as shrewd and practical as her father, or as cunning and conceited as her mother, Anastasia acquired a certain predisposition for intellectual pursuits that borders on obsession. She would blame it on her parents’ desire for her to achieve greatness, but in truth she enjoys taking some vain amount of pride in being one of the smartest people in any given room. In her youth this began as a simple craving for knowledge and enjoyment in knowing all there was for her to know. In her adulthood, however, she began to realize the usefulness of all that her intellect allowed her. Being smart was one thing; having spent her entire life amassing knowledge on a plethora of subjects was another, essentially making her invaluable to anyone with a shred of intellect. That providence of self-worth means everything to Anastasia.

Having grown up under the iron fist of a stoic businessman and a whimsical socialite, Anastasia is not prone to flights of fancy, but neither is she one to conceal her feelings. She is, unfortunately, a bit socially awkward due to the fact that her only friends growing up were her various mentors; however, all things considered, one might find her rather normal in an average conversation. It’s only upon digging further into topics that truly fascinate Anastasia - the most poignant being the scientific research on dark matter - that one realizes how passionate she is when she wants to be. There is very little that Anastasia would not do to pursue her goals, even if it gets her into trouble.

The same can not be said of her acquaintances. Having abandoned a real childhood to further her studies, Anastasia never cultivated a true friendship with anyone, and there was seldom anyone who played a part in her life for more than a few months at a time. The only constants in her life were her parents; one of whom she hated, and the other who she tolerated mostly due to his usefulness. This lack of stability proved to Anastasia that she couldn’t count on anyone to stay around for long, therefore there was no point in attempting to build a long-lasting relationship. She does hope that one day the evidence changes to prove her wrong, but doubts it will ever happen. In the meantime, especially on Omega, this frame of mind is an easy way to keep her out of trouble with the wrong people.

## Physical Description

Anastasia takes after her mother in most respects, which is quite fortunate for her considering that her father is rather short, plump, and not the most magnetic man in terms of appearance. What she did inherit from Dmitri is his wide-set blue eyes, which in the right light almost look a brilliant, deep purple. Everything else, however - from her long, thin legs to her thick, brunette hair - is a direct inheritance from Claudia. Growing up, Anastasia’s mother often complimented her looks, and it may have been the only time the woman ever did so sincerely. She often said that the combination of Dmitri’s eyes with her pronounced cheekbones, thin jaw, slender nose, and full, pouting lips was a luxury most women had to pay for.

Anastasia, on the other hand, could hardly care about her appearance as it did nothing truly notable to assist her. More often than not it proved a hindrance, when people would show interest in her for no other reason than because they thought she was pretty. To that end, she does her best to appear exceedingly normal. Anastasia doesn’t neglect her image, nor does she try to bury it; she simply does her best not to draw attention. Her hair is grown out long, well past her shoulders, and her bangs are cut only long enough to keep them out of her eyes. Her makeup is almost boringly minimal, if in fact she remembers to put any on at all.

The state of her body is the one thing she does pay attention to - not because she wants to remain in peak attractive shape, but because she knows the value of keeping one’s tools in good working condition. Anastasia’s biotic training also has a bit to do with it, given that repeated exertion shapes a body similarly to exercise. She is more lean than muscular, but it’s clear at first glance that she has just a bit more muscle mass on her than average for someone her size.

## Armament

Stasi is a biotic, focusing on using her mental abilities while in combat. Her omni-tool is equipped with the Combat Abilities Energy Drain and Decoy.

## Appearances

* Faces, New and Old
* Depot Dowanubo