Aira

**Key Features** | »Arkraitak pattern human power armour»Verkil pattern high-grade weapons suite»Extensive genetic and prosthetic refitting and rebuilding»Awakened but poorly controlled Psychic abilities»Portable computer filled with pictures and videos of Adorable Dogs (For Morale reasons)

*"The Ecumene's cruelty is manifest in the monsters they make out of the kindest souls."*

-Preamble of the Talon dossier on Aira

## Tactical Information

* **Visions of a Dark Future:** Project GYAIRA was a horrific experiment to see the weaponisability potential of the human species by the Ecumene's research divisions and organisers. Most died in horrific conditions or proved unable to psychologically handle the augmentations; with every single adult proving uncontrollable or outright dying without a significant slowdown in augmentation and implantation that was unacceptable to the Councils. Children were taken instead, with more success. The result was a mating of many fields of science and weapons design to create living psychic weapon able to be directed by her handlers like a bomb, armed with shifter weapons and a morphic battlesuit rated for the ecumenical military that have far greater effectiveness than the observational fleet's equipment. It means she is able to attack just about everything and between her armour, her shields, her augmentations, her regeneration and self-repair; she is extremely hard to incapacitate and seemingly impossible to actually kill.

* **Pained Screams!:** While her control over her psionics is still a work in progress to put it delicately, she is able to release wide area screams that cause everyone who hears them to instantly break their morale while also scrambling most every form of targeting, leaving the enemy unable to fight while men and women abandon their positions in a mindless panic and equipment refuses to acquire targets properly.

* **Madness beneath:** Aira, like all the creations of project GYAIRA is a fundamentally broken person who was torn apart and rebuilt again and again like a model kit. Her weapons get more lethal the closer she is to her target, so she does need to get close for her maximum effect, but most concerningly if her morale ever gives way; old memories relapse and fight their way to the surface and she goes berserk until her morale has fully recovered, attacking the Ecumene's troops preferentially as she remembers all that was done to her by them, requiring her to be immobilised and contained until she cools down and her programming reasserts itself.

* **Primordial Fear:** When Aira has killed enough in a particular battle, her psychic presence acquires an immense undertone of unreasoning terror that makes it hard to maintain one's courage when looking at her, nevermind aim properly at her. At this point, her psychic scream also produces a shockwave of psychic electricity that heavily damages anything caught by it, especially if they are already panicked by her aura.

## Unit History

### Order Report

**Order of Saint Dominic**

**Official Report To: The most holy Triumvirate**

**Subject: Excerpt of copied Ecumenical documents regarding "Aira", translated from the Tarskah script for your reading**

...

Subject 2442023 of project GYAIRA has shown more than satisfactory response to augmentation procedures listed under Proposal Modification ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha despite the escape of her older siblings (Count: Gamete Donor, Gamete Receiver[1]) in the Breakout Incident of Ecumenical Date Era 142.8756 (Refer to report "Concerning Order of Talon operations amidst abducted population" with the attached link), if anything the removal of the older siblings from the variables allows for greater control of the subject, named Tasha Faber (As per protocols memory of birth name has been erased during Neural Reformatting) and subject 2442022; "Jack Faber"; as the complication of familiarity no longer threatens neural formatting. We have seen further progress in conditioning after separating subjects 2442023 and 2442022 onto the Gas Giant 1[2] primary military station, and on GG1-Ice Moon 1[3] base primaris. However, we are aware that your superiorities are uninterested in such minor details and instead wish to know of the weaponisibility report.

It is thus our pleasure to dispense with the formality of context and show that in simulated battles with local indigenous military captives that Subject 2442023 has demonstrated overwhelmingly satisfactory performance. Against test variable 5 ("Imperial Japanese Army 331st Mecha Regiment") Subject was able to achieve 100% casualties within 84032 Rels[4] without any substantive damage even when variable 5.121 (Superheavy Mechanical Combatant "King Oni", 3 units) were introduced to the test upon Gas Giant 1 Prime Anticyclone[5] station Karatalak. Follow-up tests against variable 6 (Remainder of "Peacekeeper 333rd Brigade" leftover from prior Yarghul infiltration tactics drill) did demonstrate some vulnerability to Cryogenic weapons meant to reduce subject mobility, but ultimately it was able to break the thin ice containment and effect 100% casualties. Hesitation shown when medic in the unit attempted to negotiate in her original language was problematic, but this flaw seems to have been corrected following termination of remaining medic.

Variable 7 test (Soviet 301st women's armoured regiment) showed intriguing and innovative counters to attempts to immobilise with tesla and magnetic weapons and successful usage of audio-blockers to filter out attempts to surrender by captured personnel. Simulated tests with its neurology have shown a possibility of reformatting failure if placed under extreme stress, and given the circumstances of Subject 2442023's alterations, it is likely it will attempt to attack its handlers until reformatting reassertion. To counteract this, psychic personnel are recommended to stay near subject 2442023 to ensure a constancy of neural programming and to regularly return Subject 2442023 to Neurowiring facility to maintain integrity of programming. Attempts to verify containment procedures were denied by Experimental Overseer Ixatarak unfortunately, and will thus remain hypothetical for the time being.

Please refer to attached documents for technical details on variable testing, though Overseers will likely be pleased to note that the subject has show performance that would allow for recruitment into regular military special forces and organizer squadrons for further enhancements. Given our more limited means at the present, this is highly encouraging and shows that the human species has significant potential as a resource if subjected to similar processes. Given the complication factors introduced by their family units, we recommend destroying memories of these in subjects so that subjects may partake in their duties with clear minds. However the forms to release the Organizers' hesitation removal surgery technology have yet to be approved, so for the time being Subjects are only within standard indoctrination degrees of compliance. We would like to, again, request the expedition of the approval of these forms though are understanding that this is an Organiser matter.

...

Variable 519 test ("James and Patricia Faber") is successful despite introduction of Subject 2442022 to test cooperative potential. Subjects showed no recognition of gamete origin point and when given proper sensory alteration, were able to proceed with orders to terminate. Attempt by Variable 519 to appeal to familiarity when Subjects were asked to prolong termination to demonstrate full loyalty were successfully resisted despite Subject negative emotional response. Requesting Neural data purge to strengthen conditioning.

Variables 519 were committed to digital formatting for possible re-use.

...

Field Test of Subejct 2442023 showed unacceptable hesitation with carrying out order to terminate research obstacle designation "Nomad"'s immature population (See Living Document: Mongolian Migration), Organisers were required to finish population reduction as ordered by Amarani Llektor. Disciplinary measures requested by rejected by Experimental Ethics Council, as such we request your override of the Council's unreasonable rejection if we are to see this experiment through to completion.

...

Disciplinary measures after approval allowed for removal of calming implements including CI-13 ("Teddy Bear"), mandatory reflection, and forced participation in further termination tests. Memory alterations have shown further improvements and it has been decided to block Subject memories of incidents that are potentially traumatic or problematic for Subject commandability.

...

We are honoured to accept your Superiority's approval to move Subjects into Observational Military formation command, and look forward to participating in many further experiments upon the local populace as is commanded by your genius.

- The universe is cruel; it's sad but true.

[1]To our knowledge your holiness, Gamete Donor is their term for "Male" and "Gamete Receiver" is their term for "Female", having no concept of maleness or feminity amongst themselves.

[2]Their preferred means of referring to the planet Jupiter.

[3]This is the moon of Europa, where they are busy in a protracted conflict with the native Ssekmarakh beneath the moon's ice floes.

[4]Roughly 36 minutes.

[5]The Great Red Spot.

### Project GYAIRA

Project GYAIRA is a product of the Ecumene's true malice, raw and naked. With every new species encountered by the Ecumene starts a dreadful process, where they seek to determine all the possibilities of a species, physical, mental, social. A cruel series of experiments over decades where they will tear apart people, communities, even whole cultures simply to see how they can rebuild them towards the Ecumenical "Civilised Sophont" ideal. Nothing is sacred, nothing is forbidden to scientists and often simple sadists with a habit of taking down notes in charge of the research divisions. Humans are no exception, as one of the many species in Orluk's region of responsibility spanning an eight-kiloparsec sector centred around observational armada 413-AS headquarters around Jupiter they are already deemed property of the Ecumene to be toyed with as they see fit.

Humans were deemed a figure of "prime interest" due to their physiological and genetic similarity to the intergalactic fugitive known as Kane as well as to ancient depictions of the long-dead Hyksos, especially when so close to what had been the capital of the great Hyksos Commonwealth so long ago. Experiments to find what humans could be under the right conditions were approved almost immediately and decades of some of the most horrible experiments imaginable were commenced. Abductees of every age, nationality, gender, or state of health were taken, broken down and remade. Many did not survive, particularly in the early phases where their knowledge of human physiology was...crude. The logs of those early experiments are the stuff of the darkest nightmares, and very often were done purely to satisfy basal sadistic urges by crank scientists who simply wanted new toys to break.

But there was clear promise, clear potential, within what seemed at first to the primarily Ukrazol scientists in charge of the project to be a stupid, weak, short lived, ugly, and psychically dull species in truth had the seeds of greatness within. Seeds that if properly nurtured, would give humans a great place of honour in their alien legions as they found that mankind had tremendous potential for psychic power and physical might. Perhaps because they had some deeper connection to Kane and the Hyksos than was first realised, perhaps by pure coincidence, but it would take less work to create Category Aleph supersoldiers out of humanity than with a great many species already serving as bedrocks in the Alien legion. And with their physical similarities to the Zeelich who had definitely demonstrated great prowess of mind and body, this only further intrigued the head of the Biological wing of the Militant Research Division; Zolgiro Joshii.

With approval from the supreme observational command Yrodakh; or "superior council" in their language; project GYAIRA was conceived of, named for an Ecumenical legendary spirit of storms. GYAIRA would go through millions of subjects stolen from their homes, purpose-bred or grown for experimentation like white mice sold in bulk to laboratories, or taken from the arms of screaming parents who had children aboard the craft of Orlukk's fleets as a result of being crammed into what amount to human terrariums stripped of garments and basic privacy. The failures were innumerable and often horrific, but they made progress. And in the midst of world war two the Faber family would be dragged into these horror fleets, plucked from their home in Oregon in the midst of the "battle of portland" where the on alert anti-air gunners of Oregon's largest city spotted ecumenical aircraft emitting strange lights in their EM shield mode.

While the anti-aircraft weapons were distracted by the odd lights, stealthed aircraft would descend much lower and steal fresh subjects for the needs of the research division, targeting neighbourhoods farther away from the air defence stations. James and Patricia Faber, urging their four children to stay near them for protection, but the powerful abduction rays simply dismantled the house to take them with it. Within the large abduction craft, they were restrained, divested of their possessions and itemised under the auspices of their Ukrazol leaders along with many others who had been taken during the raid. While the Ritecaluns were mostly just curious as always, the Ukrazol leadership aboard the craft were cold at best, outright demeaning and mocking at worst, their mechanical a organic guards and the state of the prisoners ensuring nobody would be capable of escape even with being allowed to roam around the "menagerie" at will.

As toddlers, Tasha and Jack were perhaps the calmest about their situation once they got used to their bizarre surroundings. Their twin older siblings; Sarah and John; did their best to try and remain calm for their younger siblings even as their parents were in the midst of a breakdown. Everything about this was a nightmare, an impossibility, and the fact that the aliens could communicate with them but would generally simply choose not to added a greater anxious uncertainty to interactions with them than if they stayed entirely silent. Tasha and Jack however, were too young to have learned to fear their captors, even the towering Drakuls who would occasionally descend into the menagerie to do a check on the prisoners, drawing the notice of Security Commander Arkulka who made note of their lack of fear to the Saucer commander; Kalza. Project GYAIRA was looking for those who could retain...some level of courage, and there was a merit reward for providing subjects.

As the craft docked with a larger vessel known as the Zazzarax, beyond the orbit of the moon, a "medium" sized vessel six kilometres long by three kilometres wide by one and a half deep that was one of many such ships that served as motherships for forces on excursion. The Zazzarax would be an even less welcoming place, as the abductees taken from different parts of the world were driven naked, confused, and afraid, not all of the abductees were even human, many being animals, many being other things entirely, but unless their physiological needs precluded being mixed with the humans they were all thrown in together anyway. All save for the Fabers who would be pulled away from the general masses being processed, with the mustard highlights of the Militant Research Division's armour marking their adjutants as they steered the Fabers to a separate quarters with other GYAIRA candidates.

Questions would be asked, personal, invasive, sometimes professional, often insulting, some with false friendship. Tasha would be offered a toy herself, the Ukrazol scientists wanting to first see how the toddler would respond. Though James at first tried to stop her from taking it, Sarah would push her father's hand away and give the gift to Tasha, where each of them showed some ability to manipulate the psychoplastic even without psychic enhancement. Proof then, that they would be well suited without preliminary augmentation; a worthy prize worth a substantial reward. And once the captives were transferred onto the mobile research station *Shalgak* kept in the Van Allen belts of Jupiter the true nightmare would begin.

The entire family was tested and experimented on, their bodies altered through means genetic, surgical, femtomechanical, psychic, cybernetic, and often outright esoteric. James and Patricia were deemed to be of relatively minimal value as subjects, but the children were of more interest. Particularly the youngest who were easy to alter towards their needs. Sarah and John were however, committed to helping their younger siblings healthy and sane, working to keep them smiling through torturous augmentation processes and tests, to try and keep them from fully succumbing to Ecumenical ideology, trying to use what psychic gifts they had to keep their memories alive. An annoyance that eventually lead to the order to separate the family that came just before the Talon staged the great breakout with assets slowly seeded in the Ecumenical fleet over the course of years by select volunteers who had intentionally let themselves get abducted; often as gladiators in the Ecumene's bloodsports.

Sarah would try to take advantage of the situation and her augmentations to save her family, now a young woman herself. The great breakout, coupled with a skirmish in the orbitals of Jupiter with their rivals; the Zeelich; had caught the Ukrazol masters of the cruel fleet off guard, and the Talon's operatives had ensured many soldiers be reunited with weapons and armour, and came to the decision to help Sarah try to save her family from the clutches of project GYAIRA. However, Nuffari had now taken a personal interest in training them to his standards, and with sector command's ruling leaders present, he wasn't going to let this embarrassment unfold any further. While the escapees were brave, overpowering many guards and seizing multiple long distance shuttle and strike craft, when Nuffari himself arrived with a detachment of his elite hunters and the Organizers, there was a massacre.

Sarah saw her sister Tasha one last time as Nuffari personally came down to interrupt her raid on the GYAIRA prisoners. Many Talon champions died before they could blink once Nuffari started killing them, a Japanese Swordsmaster who had slain dozens of aliens with a stolen power sword was dead in a heartbeat, a mystic and accomplished psychic's brain burned out when they tried to assert their will upon the all-consuming egotism of the great traitor. With tears in her eyes, Sarah had to be pulled away by the actions of many, with only her twin brother in hand while Tasha and Jack reached out futilely, unable to help as a Soviet Cyborg by the name of Zatisev gave his life with a weapon taken from a fallen Zeelich Justicar buying the precious few seconds with the aid of a conscience-stricken Arkulka inspired by the honour with which Sarah was fighting to save her family; needed to escape aboard the last of the stolen shuttles to get away.

After killing the last of his opposition and dumping Arkulka's lifeless reptilian body to the ground, Nuffari was furious, but Orlukk stayed his hand; the removal of Sarah and John was a good thing; he had been personally reviewing the project and had come to the conclusion that Tasha and Jack had wonderful potential that could be unchained without the moral leash of their siblings.

### Man and Monster

With Sarah's interference gone, Tasha and her brother underwent further changes, nerve stitching and stapling to rewire their memories, the way they thought, and the way they saw the world to the Ecumene's desires. Broken apart and put back together again and again, put through thousands of tests, thousands of experiments, matching them against one variable after the other, making full use of their combat suits and augmentations. Nuffari in particular would decide to add to Tasha and John's training, though much of their rearing fell to Arkulka's sister; Yrgula as punishment for not seeing her brother's treachery earlier. Yrgula would instruct her in the ways of honour and duty, and out of some resentment for the Ecumene, widened some of the gaps in her programming, making her interact a little more with her own kind when she could.

Tasha was a problem child to be sure, a fundamentally damaged person who was barely holding herself together through what she was put through, but she was able to heal enough to have a coherent sense of self, even through the various memory modifications. Given the name Aira, her hands were stained with blood in tests and arenas before she had ever achieved puberty, all too often at the end of her test days she would be standing boot-deep in the remains of the dead. But some stubborn spark of humanity remained, kept alive by a few and her continued link with her brother and parents.

She would eventually however, be forced to terminate James and Patricia, rewired once again and made to cut the dead weight that was deemed a negative influence on her performance. Jack was too valuable, and would remain in Ecumenical service; but it was decided the two would only rarely be permitted to see each other due to the risk of "memory contamination" fighting against the amnestics and neural reprogramming that was keeping them on a leash, a leash that whenever slipped, would generally lead to dreadful destruction amidst the Ecumene.

Her first rampage when her nerves frayed under a particularly stressful live fire exercise until her memories flooded back and her controls broke saw thousands of Ecumenical troops killed before Nuffari put her back in her place, the flailing, screaming twelve-year-old howling with rage even as Nuffari restrained her. But it certainly did much to convince the project overseers that they can created something wonderful, especially as long as they could keep her or her brother's stability in check. Experiments in pairing them with others of similar age to encourage loyalty through social rewards in addition to punishment also produced further encouraging results. As much as the Ecumene generally despised communal and cooperative sources of strength such as friend circles, keeping their attack dog leashed was important enough to override their stance of "the strong are strongest alone" for now.

Finally, she was deemed ready on her thirteenth birthday, and deployed on Earth under Observational Command to deal with a CBURA cell that had captured the remains of an Avalanche Carrier that had been shot down in a skirmish with another alien power. Landing without the aid of a drop pod, grav-chutes, cavourite packs or parachute from the near vacuum like a comet, her power armour clad form seemed almost like that of some manner of monstrous revenant, but her sheer speed and violence would give most little chance to study her in detail as she responded to the curious scientists approaching her with question by bisecting him with retractable wrist claws before unfurling and extending a strange gun from femtite canisters in her suit.

More died, more and more and more, with either animalistic fury and violence or chillingly cold precision. Nothing would be allowed to stop her, nothing would be allowed to slow her down, and when there was nothing left to kill, she simply sat down with her legs hugged to her chest, scratching at the ground with a gauntleted finger in absence of further orders until she was picked up again. When her helm was removed, her expression was distant, almost vacant but still clearly alert of her surroundings. It would be a stunning success that would encourage even further usage of her as the years shifted and the third world war began.

Now a young woman like her sister was when they were separated; she has stabilised for the most part. However her brother and herself have shown signs of incomplete indoctrination, seeming withdrawn rather than enthusiastic about the Ecumenes ideals and goals, not showing any signs of genuine belief that they will find a greater place in it. Aira herself would in particular cherish her free time rewards more than anything else, and mostly spend them playing games or keeping what company she could instead of absorbing the glorious history and ideals of the Ecumene, while Jack focused more on fraternisation with fellow GYAIRA products of his age group. And there were still incidents where she slipped control, but it the practice for keeping her in check was well-honed by this point.

However, Tasha Faber can still feel something is missing. That there was a whole she was once part of. In particular, whenever she reviews oppositional data on the Network, and particularly the "Third Eye", when she hears that modulated, disguised voice, there's something familiar. Something saddening yet nostalgic. And she wants to know why and what.

## Recorded Activities

- When Protectorate forces in Antarctica were threatening to overrun the Ecumene's Mt.Vinson base she was dropped in to resolve the situation. While her dropship was shot down by Protectorate Starkiller Anti-orbital artillery, she simply jumped out and landed on her own two feet. Within twenty-four hours all protectorate activity had ceased on account of there not being any usable mainframes left.

- Caused the crash of the Contingent's first ever space-capable craft as the OCSS (Oceania Contingent Space Ship) *Matilda* on its second-ever orbital mission after boarding from a dropship, redirecting the craft into a fatal collision with the Atmospheric Command Ship *Gallipolli* while Demon Class Starfighters shot down the Achilles torch-craft sent to monitor the launch to spark both a major diplomatic incident and slow the Contingent's space related plans.

- Was the first ever person to destroy an Annihilator Cannon facility, dispatched with a strike team into the midst of the Atomic Chinese base and destroying the cannon's containment systems to let the anti-matter detonation do the rest.

- Has one of the most impressive win-to-loss ratios of any contestant in the arenas of Io since her debut.

- Successfully unnerved a hardened OSS ambassador holding talks with an Ecumenical representative she was selected as a bodyguard for in secret negotiations between the Unionists and the Ecumene held at Area 51 with nothing but her red-eyed stare. Noted to be "honestly creepier without her helmet".

- Broke into an allied experimental science laboratory in the final period of WW3 and killed Werner von Braun, ripping Captain Rocket in half after shooting his hands off to disarm him and leaving his body to bleed out.

- She is the unfortunate source of the "Banshee of Tennessee" cryptid legends and ghost stories and many similar myths across the united states; fatalities amidst Network investigators of these legends continue to rise as running into Aira nearly invariably ends in a messy demise.

- Left a Daitya that tried to read her mind in the midst of an Ecumenical assault on an Indian facility studying a shot down Ecumenical ship retrieved from China catatonic within seconds from the feedback.

- It is considered Taboo to speak Aira's name out loud in the circles of the Talon dedicated to fighting the Ecumene.