Erika Ibrahim

Only daughter of Commonwealth admiral Satayesh Ibrahim, **Erika Ibrahim** is the top ace in the Commonwealth's air-fighter force, with 577 confirmed kills to her name. Her squadron, the **"Bastard Hawks"**, is considered one of the most effective fighter formations in Task Force Manticore, with pilots both human, Jir, Queptilium and Karthemas.

Born in Ortus in 2240/08/01, Erika did not always sought to become a pilot and even less so one of a fighter plane. After finishing her mandatory education, she studied to become a psychologist, yet left the career just one year before finishing for unknown reasons. Afterwards, she sought to become part of the Commonwealth's armed forces, yet did not pass the tests required to become part of the infantry or armored forces.

While she had many chances to try a career as an officer of one of the ships in Task Force Manticore, Erika refused each and every one of them. While the daughter of one of the highest-ranking members of the Commonwealth's military, she never tried to use her surname for advancement or to earn herself a spot in the navy. When she finally was accepted into the Commonwealth's fighter squadrons, it was only through her own perseverance and single-minded determination, a fact she made sure everyone, private and Commander alike, remembered.

While she has served in many space battles and skirmishes in the second half of the 23rd century, Erika and admiral Satayesh Ibrahim had a famously complicated relationship. Some say this is due to the admiral's cold and distant personality. Others point out Ibrahim never wished for her only daughter to join the armed forces and fought constantly for Erika to return to her career as a psychologist.

Fidelia Levassor, the admiral's right hand, argues that the answer to the matter is way more personal. During the Commonwealth Conquest of Yadra, CSV Starwolf, one of the few ships lost during the encounter, had Erika's father, engineer Fiodr Staneslav, as a member of the crew. Unable to flee from the ship, Fiodr tried to contact his wife several times, yet Ibrahim refused to answer each and every one of them. The fact that her own mother prevented Erika from hearing her father's last words is thus a possible explanation for the pilots constant attempts to remain as far as possible from Ibrahim's command ship.

Yet, whatever issues and second thoughts Erika might carry in her mind, she is still an effective squad leader and the last sight most enemy pilots witness before being destroyed by a well-aimed shot from Erika's guns. Known as the "**Ice Princess**", she is not known to waste her shots, always pushing her fighter onwards until she is close enough to her target to be certain she will not miss. While effective, this strategy has sometimes forced Erika to make landing, as burning remains from the destroyed, enemy plane came flying at her own vehicle. Nevertheless, thanks to her skill and training, Erika has always managed to land safely and without much harm, something few of her foes are able to do.

Erika's skills, both as a pilot and as a leader, have always brought attention to the great ace she became. Nevertheless, her prestige and recognition are rivaled only by one other pilot; *The Dagger of the Skies*, Veronika Bashirovka. Both inflated personalities, although popularly recognised as rivals and competitors when taking to the skies, uphold somewhat of a symbiotic relationship in ways of respect, pride, and even envy from both sides. Never have they actually met in person, the only exception being at the historical Battle of Aasha, where both the **Bastard Hawks** and the **Kosciuszko** squadrons fought alongside against the Imperials and their own space fairing crafts, in what later became known as the Ancestral War.

> *"[...] If I had gotten the opportunity of joining the CADW (Curacao's Air Defence Wing) when I was nothing but green, my numbers wouldn't be anywhere near the three digits… I'm sure that, if we [Erika & Veronika] were to duel by the void of space, neither of us would be coming home with another victory under our belts. Her style just dictates the true potential of a pilot, I am fortunate to have her alongside us during the battles. [...]”*
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While an ace-of-aces, Erika's true skill comes with the managing of her squad and its members. While she sometimes behaves in the same cold, calculating way of her mother, Erika spends most of her time surrounded by her fellow pilots and has been known to move heaven and earth to get one back if trapped behind enemy lines. This feeling is shared by the members of the squad, many of whom had gotten into fights with those who dared to talk badly about their squad commander behind her back.

After the conclusion of the Ancestral War - And many other conflicts against the Unbidden Invaders -, Erika, alongside many of her squadmates in the Bastard Hawks, came to form the elite Ortus' Air Defence Wing (OADW), a pilot training institute much like the CADW, but following different doctrines than its predecessor. She finds herself the leader of the OADW, and, along with such responsibilities, also works with psychology and other PTSD-related symptoms in the unit. Erika is, for many years to come, the most important, famous, and deadly ace in Human history, making her legacy a true legend for historians and air enthusiasts alike.