Kutera Riy'az

## Overview

Kutera is part of Skala's special ops squad. Her dads Bo Riy'az and Takeda Riy'az help out with the Starfire rebels doing lab work and machinery and weapons maintenance respectively. Her aunt Yelena Riy'az is a mole in the enemy people and reports to the leader of Starfire. Kutera is the descendant of the previous earth Starseed Jorah Riy'az, so she has the family name Riy'az. She's a vast mix of species, but looks mostly human aside from her pointed ears. In the current timeline she's part of Skala's special ops squad.

## Profile

### Skills

* Dual weaponry: either short swords, daggers, or handguns
* Small throwable weapons like knives and the occasional grenade
* Can transform her Crystal into daggers or dual short swords
* Knows how to take care of weaponry
* Knows how to repair machinery; she's the designated mechanic for Skala's squad
* Occasionally uses her good looks but refuses to specify what for

### Personality

* headstrong, doesn't like doing things if they don't seem worth it, very confident in her own skin (stripping), kinda lacks a filter (says things that come across as insults without the intention of insulting)
* more of a cat-type personality
* strips too much during down time
* has a potty mouth
* dark humor
* has a problem with most authority, deliberately picks fights with or is disrespectful towards superiors; has no qualms with being informal to nobility or royalty even if it's supposed to be a diplomatic venture
* becomes a chaos gremlin with Farren

### Personal history

Kura's dads and auntie are part of the rebels, so Kura was kind of an army brat w/o the moving around. Ages 4-6 she spent her time running around the base, asking fighters if she could try their weapons (they loved it). Ages 7-8 she started learning about equipment, how to repair machinery and care for weapons. She also started learning fighting skills from Yelena and the other rebel fighters. Ages 13-15 Kura started getting more focused on her fighting practice, and is taught about the rebels and the villain's horribleness. She finds it all way too long to sit through, and decidedly concludes that the enemies are "a bunch of corrupt cocksuckers who should just shrivel up and die", much to Bo's disappointment but to the great amusement of Takeda, Yelena, and the rebel fighters.

Around age 16, Kura started being tasked with a small support role in teams with lower risk missions. This didn't go well, so she was pulled from that job fairly quickly. Kura then got antsy and bored, so she decided she wanted to leave the base and travel on her own. Her dads let her go once she turned 17, ensuring she got the heirloom tattoo on her back first. After getting her tattoo, she traveled alone for a few years. At first she works various odd jobs, including helping at an armory shop, a shipyard, and moving boxes for a small transport crew. Around age 18 she gets into a rather bloody street fight with some strangers who tried to mug her. Impressed with her skills, a shady individual scouted her for some bodyguard work. During her time with this job, Kutera happened to meet a number of underground folks like gangsters, information brokers, and salespeople in the black market. Since she was kid on her own, with little to no money, and who happened to have high level skills, she very quickly became involved with underground work on various planets. Around this time it became clear that 2 or 3 of the individuals involved in the street fight had died, so Kura was blacklisted from ordinary sorts of jobs.

During her time working underground jobs, Kutera gets experience as a hired mercenary, which exposes her to a wide array of unfortunate imagery. She's able to see the impacts that those in power have on ordinary folks, the petty feuds between low-level noblemen, and the dirty pastimes and habits that were hidden from the public eye. Her time as a hired sword earned her the nickname "Night Demon", which was in reference to her preferred method of taking someone out during the night and with particular ruthlessness. In order to make additional cash, she starts getting involved in bounty hunting work. As Kutera becomes more desensitized to murder, it's decided that unless she can be put under guidance, she could potentially become a major threat to public safety.

At age 20, Kutera gets recruited by Starfire and is assigned to a team with fairly standard missions. She constantly causes problems because of her refusal to respect her superiors, and her unconventional methods put other team members in regular danger. After a short sabbatical, Kura is transferred to Commander Skala's special ops squad along with Eve at age 22. After their first mission together, Skala gives Kura her stripe tattoos.