Agnes-Eris Ala-Ziva Volfram

Unnamed Nadezhdan bounty hunters (formerly)

Argonauts (formerly)

**Agnes-Eris "Stolas" Ala-Ziva Volfram** is the pilot and partner of ZIVA Ο-3 Orthrus-Zmei, formerly a scholar of the Dodonan Tribunal before defecting, later a freelance mechanic and pilot operating in Nadezhdan territory, and finally a member of the Argonauts before going rogue.

## Appearance

Despite the Dodonan society's general preference for genetically-modified scholars and researchers, Stolas is a "wildtype" human, and thus doesn't sport the same lengthened proportions as most of her peers. Roughly 5' 3" (160 cm) in height, she has pale, freckled skin and dark brown eyes, and wears her messy, copper-colored hair in a pair of large, chest-length pigtails. Her sharp grin features a set of small braces, and she wears a pair of large, round-lensed glasses.

Her usual attire brings to mind a classic aviator, and was made to facilitate her tenure in the Nadezhdan colonies, having as a centerpiece a furred, brown leather pilot jacket sporting various logos of her own, with its hood featuring decorations akin to an owl's crest and four curved horns, a pair pointing up and the other pointing down. Combined with a large pair of goggles and a face mask adorned with a jagged pattern resembling a beak or sharp teeth, Stolas's otherwise unassuming face is usually obscured, giving her an air of menace. She also sports black leather gloves, baggy black pants, a pair of boots made of the same leather and fur as her jacket, and a leather bag which hangs on one side of her hips. The entire outfit features a pattern resembling the spots of a snow leopard.

## History

### Origin and Defection from the Tribunal

Stolas, original name unknown, was originally a scholar operating in the core of the Dodonan territory, and a believer in the Tribunal's ideals much like her peers; however, specializing in theoretical physics, she was always more dedicated to her studies than to any of the Tribunal's causes, to the point of developing certain personality quirks related to her work, such as an obsession with the concept of infinity (including fractals and infinitely growing numerical sets), and a nihilistic (though not pessimistic) philosophy based on universal entropy.

When met on occasion with distasteful comments about her nature as a "wildtype", her reaction was a determination to prove herself as an intellectual. As she turned her research towards more practical ends, aiming for it to become immediately useful to the Tribunal, however, she became more and more aware of the latter's shortcomings, and her perceived inefficiency of the "tree" model that governs its territory. Believing that all things invariably come to an end, Stolas deemed the Tribunal's practices of homogenous materialism as not only stagnant, but ultimately pointless in the grand scheme of things. In turn, this would also mean all the cultural subjugation and exploitation of colonies performed by the Tribunal would not be justified.

Becoming disillusioned with the Tribunal, and radicalized by the sheer volume of counterproductive propaganda she now perceived around her, Stolas came to hate the Dodonan rule (even equating its figure of a tree to a parasitic plant in a series of personal ramblings). In need of a way to make a living outside the Tribunal space, she endured a final year in her homeworld learning the basics of spacecraft mechanics (a secondary interest of hers) before ultimately defecting. Due to her previous activities, Stolas was considered a traitor, possibly harboring dangerous intelligence about the Tribunal, and thus sought refuge in Nadezhdan territory, opening a small workshop in an obscure colony world and offering her services as a mechanic to a local group of outlaw bounty hunters in exchange for protection.

It is known that Stolas's unusually long name is a combination of several epithets she accumulated during her time as an outlaw, the first of which being "Volfram", due to her new Nadezhdan associations.

### Acquiring Orthrus-Zmei and Origin as a Pilot

It was during a particularly large (and dangerous) mission by these outlaws that they came under possession of a Shatterglass mech, one of a series of one-of-a-kind specialized units meant for specific members of the Tyranon elite. This specific mech's designation was unknown to the outlaws, though it was capable of taking the form of either an aircraft or a humanoid mech. Some members of the group intended to sell the unit or salvage its parts, due to the incredible rarity, and thus value, of Shatterglass mechs; however they were soon convinced by their teammates to instead attempt to bypass the restriction built into all Shatterglass units, which only respond to their chosen pilots, in order to harness the mech's power for their own cause. This task was entrusted to Stolas, but to the shock of all involved, the mech responded to her right away, accepting her as a pilot. Even so, Stolas insisted on working on the mech, as she could perceive its "will", and concluded its current "body" was much too restrictive: it was created to be a mechanical predator, free, but built as a soldier in service to the Dynasty. Over several months of work, Stolas would modify the mech to her own (or its own) specifications, and though it would eventually make its original name, Gungnir, known to her, Stolas gave it the designation of ZIVA Ο-3, Orthrus-Zmei.

Immediately after the completion of the new mech (which Stolas would instead call her partner, and in general treat as a person), the outlaw group forcibly recruited it and Stolas into their ranks, against several of the latter's warnings. After a disastrous mission that almost resulted in casualties for both sides of the conflict, however, the group deemed the mech too dangerous for both themselves, as well as their business and reputation, and reversed their decision, further prohibiting Stolas from interfering with their work. She would then maintain her workshop as her main source of income, as well as to fund her new tendency to go on independent missions as the pilot of Orthrus-Zmei, both taking odd jobs outside the territory of her affiliates, and acting on her own to interfere with Dodonan expansion efforts.

### Joining the Singing Canopy

Her actions garnered enough of a reputation that Stolas was eventually approached by the Singing Canopy, an old Dodonan faction formerly in charge of the colony world of Breached Lock: Garden, before the planet was locked off from the rest of the Pearlescent Expanse by the Coalition for reasons unknown to the people at large. The faction was currently under attack from the Dodonan expansion force known as Epektasis Canopy, and thus fighting a secret war to protect their populace, the residents of the Songship/City of Argo. With their own forces no longer being enough to hold their ground, the singing Canopy then formed a team of off-worlder pilots, the Argonauts, with Stolas among them.

Stolas' time working under the Singing Canopy was by all accounts tumultuous, primarily because of her rebellious streak, acknowledged by herself on various occasions in which she would declare she works against the Dodonan Tribunal, and not necessarily for the Singing Canopy. She would also staunchly refuse to be called a soldier, despite her current employment, even wielding the term with disdain on occasion (though she also admittedly lacked military training, not knowing the proper titles to address her superiors with, or even how to perform a proper salute). She nevertheless proved to be a valuable, if not reckless, ally during the missions she participated in, consistently pursuing and scrapping enemy mechs, as well as piloting the team's only flying vehicle.

During the first mission of the Argonauts, they team encountered and apprehended a civilian spying on the events of the mission, an underground journalist known as Wednesday Bloom, who had been reporting on the secret war occurring in Garden, yet hidden from its people, on a publication known as the Garden Tribune. The team originally intended on keeping the journalist quiet, and although Stolas was the one to present the biggest threats in the most careless manner, she was also the one who ultimately struck a deal with Wednesday, due to both liking her rebellious attitude and Stolas' own distrust for her employers. Wednesday would be released and allowed to secretly report on her observations, and in return, would be available as an informant for the Argonauts.

Overall, during her time in the Argonauts, Stolas would form an amicable relationship with her teammates, if not awkward due to her lack of social skills. The team's direct superior, Akilles Red, on the other hand, would often be kept on edge due to the complications presented by Stolas, though she herself had no qualms with their leadership, believing their heart was in the right place, though she may think otherwise of their allegiance. She would also develop an enthusiastic relationship with Wednesday Bloom and the Garden Tribune, with Stolas' willingness to question or outright ignore the rules making her relationship with the journalist less turbulent than those of most of her teammates.

### Growing Tensions

Stolas' faith in the Singing Canopy, minimal as it was, would further waver due to her correspondence with Wednesday, who informed her of the situation of the Garden populace, kept in the dark about the war and the Canopy's own actions in it. This distrust would reach a boiling point during a mission where the Argonauts were instructed with collecting supplies from a Taimu farm, seeing as one of the hydroponics facilities which supplied food to the Argo had been taken by the enemy. Stolas was dissatisfied with this information, a feeling that only grew stronger once this farm was revealed to be located in a small Taimu village, which only cultivated enough for their own subsistence and had not formed any kind of deal with the Singing Canopy. Stolas was mostly uncooperative for the rest of the mission, instead spending her time learning about the village, while the other Argonauts struck a deal with the village, trading supplies for military protection (something the Canopy had not agreed to, with team leader Savannah "Salt" Halite acting on her own to accept the deal).

The Epektasis squad Spearhead would then attempt to raid the village, though they were repelled by the Argonauts. Though Orthrus-Zmei entered a berserk state, tearing one of the enemy pilots from their cockpit and almost killing them, only resisting through a great effort by Stolas, the only casualty of the battle, and the first in any of the Argonauts' missions, was another Spearhead pilot, at the hands of team leader Salt, with the other enemies who did not retreat being taken as prisoners. After the battle, Stolas attempted to stand her ground, reasoning that since no deal was struck regarding the Taimu supplies, the Singing Canopy would not be able to tell the difference if the team only brought back half of the haul, also arguing that they had no right to take even that amount. Although fellow Argonaut Tezok "Ol' Steady" Pyrite attempted to assist Stolas by sabotaging the connections on one of the cargo vehicles, team leader Salt ultimately used her authority to ensure the full haul was taken to the Argo. Stolas would be disgusted at this action, now seeing her leader, who she previously thought of as a reliable presence, as nothing more than another soldier, who believes following orders excuses one's actions.

This would lead to a massive internal tension within the Argonauts, with Stolas becoming convinced that her stay with the Singing Canopy was indeed temporary much like the other alliances she's held over time, and that this one was nearing its end as the Canopy's operations were proving less useful to Stolas' own goals of standing against Dodonan imperialism. To prepare for such an event, Stolas made one last visit to Wednesday's Garden Tribune headquarters, doubling down on their alliance by discussing other means of acting in the war on Garden besides the Singing Canopy, as well as establishing a channel of secure communications between the two rebels through which Stolas could provide incriminating information about the Canopy to the Tribune.

### Abandoning the Cause

The internal tension within the Argonauts would lessen to an extent as all members agreed to mobilize without the knowledge of the Singing Canopy, along with ally fireteam Aegis Branch, to investigate the Hydroponics facility that had been taken by Epektasis forces. Though Stolas agreed to participate, even ensuring an alibi for the team through Wednesday, she did not expect to find anything that would raise the credibility of the Singing Canopy, and indeed when the team arrived they were faced with several mysteries. The location was abandoned, a ghost town, and the only enemy occupation was a small team of mercenaries, Minos Graft, a rival squad who the Argonauts had defeated by themselves multiple times in the past. Minos Graft was then joined by the aerial team Memento Mori, whose leader held a grudge against Steady, though Stolas managed to almost single-handedly dispatch them while the rest of the Argonauts battled Minos Graft. Upon freeing the facility, however, the team found it completely unharmed, including the crops within. Stolas was incredibly suspicious of these crops, wishing to investigate them and the facility further, however internal tensions returned when the rest of the team, including the leader of Aegis Branch, instead pressured Stolas into supplying the Argo with the recovered crops, arguing the ongoing food crisis.

Stolas begrudgingly agreed, however, the complications and the tense resolution they led to resulted in her effectively washing her hands of managing the Argo's situation, deciding instead to focus on directly combating the Epektasis Canopy, and the Dodonan Tribunal's forces in general. She ultimately withdrew from the Canopy's facilities with Orthrus-Zmei during the night, before using her secure connection to Wednesday Bloom to inform her of all the suspicious details of their expedition into the abandoned hydroponics facility, no longer caring about whether the information would incriminate herself, or the Argonauts, in the eyes of the Singing Canopy. Currently, Stolas operates as a rogue agent against Epektasis Canopy and an unofficial informant for the Garden Tribune, putting her effort into investigating the secrets held by either side of the war, intending to contribute to the toppling of both.