Veronika Bashirovka

> ***“The woman behind the professionalism of Commonwealth pilots. Manticore and our armies wouldn’t have gotten as far if not by her boys in shining boots up above.”***
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> **-General Marek Branicki, 2282-**
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## Further info

### Role/Jobs

Commonwealth Army Brigadier General, Military Advisor, Member of the Military Officers Association

### Family

Kuznetzov Goruachev (Father, Deceased), Klarizza Bashirovka (Mother, Deceased)

### Important actions

Battle of New Sajar, Reformation of CADW, Sunset of the Solarian Syndicate

**Veronika Bashirovka** is a female human residing and working inside the territory of the Commonwealth. She is mostly known for her leading efforts at Curacao's Air Defence Wing, but also shares some recognition for her outstanding service during the Aramathi Liberation War and the Battle of New Sajar, of the 2230s.

At present times, she leads the most important training unit for space and air Fighter-Bomber pilots of the Southeastern Galactic Quadrant, brutally expelling the newest recruits with little skills in Curacao's Air Defence Wing. These attributes later led to her nickname *“Dagger of the Skies”*, which she kindly adopted, as it would stick with her for the rest of her active service in the Commonwealth's Armed Forces. She is also known to pilot a personal Fighter Squadron, Kosciuszko Squadron, an elite force composed by the very best pilots of *CADW*. Finally, Veronika also has connections to the Extradimensional Combatant Agency as an aerial advisor to the organisation, maintaining relations with military officers of the Entente and amassing enough political power to help sustain the the agency's operations throughout the Galactic East.

## **Early Life**

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Veronika was born in September 17th. 2202, as the daughter of Captain *Kuznetsov Goruachev* (Commander of one of the few commissioned Akula Corvettes at the time, *CSV Gauntlet*) and Field Medic *Klarizza Bashirovka* from the ground army of the then called Ortus Defence Force. She had a very cheerful personality as a child, commonly playing with her parents and relatives, and, in some cases, terrifying them with her troubling and dangerous games that almost costed her own life. She was quick to make friends and adapt to new social enviroments as her parents had to travel to different regions, using chatter as her way to survive the constantly changing universe she lived in. Being born into a military family consequently raised many interests in the young child, she would later start optimistically planning for her adult life in the same steps as her parents did, coming closer and closer to achieving her ultimate goal of fame and prestige.

On her 12th birthday, Veronika asked her parents to be applied at Ortus Military Academy. This time, however, she wasn't joking like she always did. Her dreams of becoming a famous General, like the ones of old Earth, only grew as time went by, and along with it, her iron willpower, which became as flared as ever during those times. Her days of cheerfulness were over, the hard work was about to begin.

Two weeks later, she would enter cadet training, remaining at the academy for eight years more. During that time, she would spend most of her time speeding throughout courses and learning, with some difficulty, military training and tactics used for combat. It was during her eighth and last year of training, however, that she would become involved in a close relationship with another young Commonwealth officer, one by the name of Marek Branicki. It is unclear to this day what kind of relationship they held with each other, but it is certain that serious repercussions occurred because of it. In the end of it all, she was forced to leave the academy by order of her instructors, and was discharged from the Cadet School. The dream of greatness she once carried with herself had ended before it even happened.

Left without pride or any other place to go, her ambitions rapidly changed as a consequence of the discharge. She'd stopped being such a cheerful person after the incident, and had become much more soft and excluded, increasingly rash with her decisions. That change was noticed by anyone close to Veronika, that including her mother, who tried opening a spot for her at the regular army, inside the same unit she was posted upon as a field medic, in the 203rd. Light Infantry Division. Her idea was accepted by the unit, and she would soon take part inside the division as a common ground trooper. Veronika wasn't so thrilled with the affair, especially about the part of joining the same army she hoped to once command herself, however, after days of extensive arguing with her mother, she joined the force, maintaining distance from the officers and serving as a regular Private in the Division, only to be closer to her much more stricter mother in consequence.

## **Aramathi Liberation War**

During the mobilization of Human and Kithri forces during the Aramathi Liberation War, Veronika and Klarizza, her mother, along with the entirety of the Division, was relocated into the 1st. Assault Legion of Ortus, leaving the planet to later embark on the great crusade against the Zracon Union. It was during the Space Battle above New Sajar that Veronika's father, Kuznetzov, would be killed in combat, as the Corvette he commanded was critically hit in the reactors, detonating only moments later - One of the few Commonwealth spaceships taken down during the engagement over the planet. It would take months before Veronika and her mother to know about her father and husband's death, as both stepped out of cryogenic sleep and prepared to invade the Zracon controlled Aramathi planet. The news shook both, who strived to get revenge as soon as they landed in the planet.

Only days after waking up from the cryosleep, the entirety of the invading forces began to drop. Just after being struck with the news, they were landed in one of the major cities of the conquered Homeworld, making their way through battle hardened ruins and clearing paths to bigger and better armoured divisions heading towards Zracon Strongholds, it was there that Veronika would later be renowned for days worth of heavy fighting during the initial invasion.

The engagements, as reported by newly arrived green War Correspondents, were savage and brutal, sometimes even relying into hand to hand fighting. The Zracon were ready to defend every single building, every single street, every single park, every single inch of Aramathi soil. Casualties skyrocketed especially when both sides started deploying more and more reserves into the fray, turning the battlefield into a true meat grinder for attackers and defenders alike. Scouting sections, like the ones from the 203rd. Light Infantry, faired better than most others for their ability to move and relocate to better positions at a faster pace, making them one of the most effective forces during the taking of the city, despite their light weaponry.

It is to take note, however, that the 203rd. also suffered greater casualty numbers than most other divisions. One of those losses was no other than Veronika's mother herself, Klarizza Bashirovka. During the second week of fierce combat inside the metropolis, the Zracon contingent organized a mass counterattack, overwhelming most Commonwealth entrenched positions and encircling the scattered survivors of the initial attacks. Most of the 203rd. was hit during the enemy counteroffensive, and Veronika's platoon was left surrounded inside a apartment complex, defending their positions to the last bullet against rash Zracon attacks. On the second day defending the apartment, the commanding officer in question was killed during a artillery strike, leaving the post to the recently promoted Corporal Veronika, who at that point had proven to be a capable leader more than once during those two weeks. It was now up to her to organise a defence against the plantoid attackers in the coming days.

As each day progressed, attacks became more organized and more powerful than ever before, Zracon armoured columns prevented Commonwealth forces from reaching the complex, and the infantry invasions frequently pinned down Veronika's forces that tried realising a breakout. On the 7th. Day, however, it was time for the mechanised and armoured Zracon forces to organise a breach of the apartments. The attack was sounded with a artillery barrage, pounding the sieged region and pulverising the inner square inside the complex, which at that time found itself completely abandoned. Unfortunately for the defenders, part of the square sank into the ground below, burying the improvised medical centre and along with it part of the commanding headquarters of the human force. Casualties increased greatly as a result and Klarizza herself was later reported missing in action as the barrage ended. The true battle, however, would begin in the following moments.

Zracon armour rushed ahead covering the main mechanised infantry, the defenders had little to use against fighting tanks, so hand to hand combat and makeshift anti-tank explosives were used until the initial defences were finally overrun inside their own trenches. Fanaticism was crucial to incentivize both sides to keep fighting, when the Zracon tanks reached the buildings, it was ordered for them to ram the structures and use their weapons as turrets to exterminate anyone inside, in an effort to overwhelm human defences. As the attack intensified, Veronika put her counterstrike into motion.

Right after the trenches had been overrun, orders were relayed to every OCN unit to evacuate the complex, using the sewage system as a tunnel network to connect the entire complex and transport soldiers without exposing themselves on the surface. When the Zracon finally had reached the apartments, Veronika, who had ordered the placement of many explosives in said apartments before the engagement, gave the clear message for detonation. The outer apartment row disintegrated into ruins almost instantly along with all attacking enemy armour, the smoke caused by the combined explosions blinded the attacking mechanised infantry and slowed down their advance, which gave the opportunity in the meanwhile for the defenders to establish first contact with outside OCN forces, quickly requesting a artillery barrage from one of the Destroyers in orbit above New Sajar. The request went through, and was approved by the navy officers, moments later, the once powerful attack made by the Zracon was utterly and completely annihilated by a small resistance pocket supported by Task Force Manticore. The cracks of Zracon command were opening, it was only a matter of time before they would be shattered into total defeat.

After the famous *'Attack of the seventh day’* came to a close, it became clear that the Zracon offensive along the entire city was brought to a halt. Mere 2 days later, the OCN Army restarted their advances and finally linked up to Veronika's remaining forces still around the ruins of the complex, ending the brutal siege that ensued beforehand in the region. The defence was over. They were victorious, but paying at a high cost of life in the process.

## **Post-War**

Though the fighting had come to a close many months after the landings in New Sajar, it was the veterans who returned home that had the misfortune to carry with them the scars of the conflict. Crippled - Both mentally and physically -, broken, headed nowhere without any meaningful support from the government, these survivors had to deal with many of the problems faced for a nation unaccustomed to war, and the result was equally as uncalled for. Years after the war, the conflict had ended, but men were still dying as a consequence of it.

Ultimately it was clear that Veronika was not interested in fighting again. When the conflict came to an end, she, alongside many others within her ring of remaining friendships, resigned from the army and moved to Curacao, hoping to live the rest of her life in peace at the heart of the OCN once again. Though that life she hoped for, one of second chances, never actually came through the way she expected. Many of the memories she acquired during the war relentlessly haunted her, making life a true hell to endure and severely limiting her hopes for a different career. Without finding a proper place to settle definitively, it looked like her life was about to end in lonely despair, drowned by whatever crippling addiction which came first.

Things had taken a sharp turn in 2242, her condition worsened, and it seemed like she would move to Arvo and try her luck in the mining planet. All changed, however, when she was struck by an opportunity to clear her mind from the horrors she once saw at the second Aramathi Homeworld. One of her comrades who served alongside the 203rd. Light Infantry, one *Fujimura Sadako*, ended her life in abrupt suicide, despite appearing to be in recovery from her experiences from the war. In her letter, she delegated many of her belongings to fellow friends and colleagues still alive, one of them being Veronika, with one unique last gift. To Bashirovka, the news of her new belonging was as surprising as the death of her colleague; a jet aeroplane Sadako used in an air club in Curacao, now delegated to her for whatever the reason was. The so-called overseer of the flight club, an Aramathi who adopted the name of *Yú Huang*, delegated the message and came with a proposal to Veronika; An invitation to the club, to gesture a sense of gratitude and prevent something like Fujimura’s death from happening to her. It took some days of pondering, but in the end Veronika cautiously accepted the offer and started to dabble on flying as a leisure activity, whilst the money still allowed. By 2243, she would be taking her first flight to the skies of Curacao.

Her entry into the world of airflight was not as glamorous as some might expect. It was costly, but each flight came to bring a sense of life into the veteran, and her flight colleagues made sure to ease the blows when money became tight. Needless to say, flying quickly grew to be something glamorous and peaceful to her eyes - A therapy like no other for her.

Veronika’s skills were nothing short of excellent either. In 2245 she had flown through a thunderstorm and lost control several times until finally emerging unscathed, 3 months later the same had occurred albeit at a dangerously low altitude, without losing her aircraft once. Her deeds began attracting attention and even seemed to give out opportunities with them. Two years later, the Armed Forces had approached her with the offer of becoming a test pilot, one she promptly rejected even before terms were laid out. By 2248 though, she had managed to join one of the most known air groups of the planet, frequently known for their airshows and use of historical aircraft for public viewing and considerable sponsorship opportunities. Once a way to relax had then turned to be a source of income, protected by the sheer force her skills carried over time.

As her skills and notoriety grew among the people of Curacao, so did the persistence of the Commonwealth’s Army officers. In 2249, she began teaching flying herself, applying all of the knowledge she had absorbed during the last years and instructing novice enthusiasts with a certain degree of toughness only displayed by former veterans, no doubt gaining a reputation for her teaching methods. As time passed, however, she began taking notice that her former students would usually apply to the Commonwealth’s Air Force soon afterwards, effectively using her as a private instructor. Her suspicions would soon prove to be correct once a retired Colonel from the Military Officers Association knocked at her door, offering a position to command an air squadron soon to be formed and shipped for Yadrani. She once again refused the offer, but persistence ended up being a thing the army excelled almost above anything else regarding her skills.

At age 51, she continued her work as an instructor, accumulating a certain degree of wealth whilst reaching the top of the Air Club’s experienced cadre in 2253. It was around that time that Veronika received a message from a familiar face, and it soon forced the pilot to reconsider her offers from the military.

## **Curacao's Air Defence Force**

In 2253, Curacao’s Air Defence Force was a source of mockery throughout the Commonwealth. It was an entire wing of small-craft, designed for ground bombing and aircraft interception stuck at the core of the nation, unable to partake in any sort of engagement due to its deficient atmospheric aircraft. The offer Veronika received was the command of the unit, and it was a favour asked by General Branicki himself, the man who had lobbied for the formation of the Wing and shared a past with Bashirovka in the Ortus academy. It is not known what was discussed between the two, only the results it brought the following day - A new commander had assumed control of the unit.

To Veronika’s credit, she had not stood idly by whilst her students flew towards combat posts. Maintaining contact with many of her colleagues, she began a private study of military matters once more, all the while keeping contact with fellow pilots who had an amount of experience to share and enough competence to remain flying. It came as somewhat of a shock then, when on November 18th. of 2253 - Three Months after her instalment as leader of the unit - that the Wing began producing results previously unheard of in the Commonwealth’s pilot forces. The recruits which had survived her arduous training program started displaying skills of their own, and not long afterwards the army began toying with the idea of transforming the entire force into a dedicated training unit for both the planetary and fleet forces. In 2254 they had their wishes granted, thus finalising the creation of **Curacao’s Air Defence Wing** at last.

Throughout the following years, Bashirovka had near total control of the force, organising its structure and placing selected pilots as instructors as the rows of rookies matured and graduated. During those years, it was then when she received the nickname of ‘*Dagger of the Skies*’, for being not only strict with her students during airtime sorties, but also in the ground. In 2259, amidst the Great Southeastern War, the Commonwealth Admiralty commissioned the first ever Faust-class Light Carrier, allowing the Wing’s training process to finally prove itself, as the graduate pilots from CADW joined the ranks of *CSV Faust* and integrated with the elite Task Force Manticore. The wing continued to train pilots throughout the war, expanding the pool of recruits the Armed Forces could pull from and expanding the Commonwealth’s ability to strike at its enemies with small-craft.

In 2267, Veronika was approached with a request from authorities of Curacao and members of Task Force Ethereal, with perhaps the most unique execution in Commonwealth history. In that year, herself and four other instructors took off from their base at Yilanna Point to kill the infamous serial killer known as Kosciuszko, who had taken the lives of 36 citizens throughout the span of 24 years. The pretext for the mission would become the groundwork for the creation of the Kosciuszko Squadron, and its five initial pilots would become the tip of the spear for any air operation organised by the Commonwealth and its special forces in the future.

Over the next 40 years, Bashirovka would remain in the CADW to perform her duties. During that time, there were a myriad of events that marked her career and personal life. Amidst the aftermath of the 9 Month’s War and the following days after the Battle of Voice, she was informed, along with the majority of the Commonwealth’s citizens, about the battlefield death of General Branicki, triggering the only day in her duties to the wing where she clearly grieved and demonstrated her raw emotions. In early 2295, she contributed to the development of the Commonwealth Fighter Pilot course - The standard entry exam for cadets hoping to eventually become pilots. With the advent of more advanced artificial intelligence programs, the training process of cadets started to become faster, simpler and definitely more numerous. It seemed almost as if there was free time for Veronika, a matter which began to upset the instructor.

It was also around that time where the Air Force branch of the Commonwealth’s Armed Forces began entering a period of reform, similar to the Army’s restructuring efforts conducted after Voice. Under those conditions, Veronika undertook several projects to incorporate former aces and their tactics in the pilot’s standard manual, in an effort to increase unit cohesion and overall discipline during combat situations. In that context, she became acquainted with the daughter of Satayesh Ibrahim; Erika Ibrahim - The ‘*Ice Princess*’. The two would maintain a relationship of friendly rivalry throughout their careers, never going as far as to reach any verbal hostilities. In the end, as the turn of the century arrived, Veronika sported a pristine military record, adorned by commendations and several citations for diligence. It may have been due to all those accomplishments, however, that the now veteran instructor began searching for other lifestyles as an alternative to the task of teaching.

During several occasions, Veronika applied for transferring to other roles in the military - All of them ending up rejected due to her importance in the CADW. Ironically, despite expressing a wish to relocate her squadron to an independent force in the air force, her position came to somewhat grind all those efforts to a standstill. Following an end to the Commonwealth’s Intervention War against the Yaanari League in the 2300s, those feelings would only continue to grow, but the standstill of bureaucracy remained regarding her transference. It drained her patience and would be the lead-up to the consideration of resigning from her post altogether, if not for the events of April of 2305; the Last Light.

The attack on the Commonwealth changed a chapter in the nation’s history, and for its people it was no different. The troubles marked an influx of recruits and a new strain set upon the CADW. Once the terror of the light was then substituted by the Unbidden Emergency, the military command began to grow increasingly more desperate for alternatives to increase its military presence - Something which presented an opportunity to Colonel Bashirovka. In 2315, following the Eternal Empire’s declaration of war upon the Commonwealth, the Kosciuszko Squadron received enough independence to operate as its own separate entity from the CADW, sharing almost nothing but a symbolic affiliation and the same commander. It was under those circumstances that these pilots began making a name for themselves on a nation-wide scale, conducting missions to scatter Unbidden attention and training pilots to replicate the effects inflicted by the Void Vipers against the Extradimensional invaders.

## **Current Duties**

During the 24th. Century, Veronika and the Kosciuszko Squadron became involved with the fight against the Unbidden threat as well as the Ancestral War. The squadron was involved in several distraction sorties which attempted to draw away the attention of Unbidden fleets from Commonwealth planets, some of which almost resulted in the death of Bashirovka and her squadron-mates. They were present in some sectors of the Yadran sector of the Commonwealth, occupying the extradimensional invaders throughout the years of 2316 and 17, until being recalled to the CADW to assist in the training of recruits with the same tactics they utilised against the Unbidden. Such actions led to the formation of further units tasked with ‘*kiting*’ invading fleets, a matter which spared the infamous Void Vipers of many self-sacrifices and decisively saved the lives of citizens throughout the nation.

Years later, in 2325, the Squadron was recalled to Ortus, where it would act as a fighter defence for the planet for the upcoming Battle of Aasha. Veronika took part in the engagement, and saw active combat for the first time since the Aramathi Liberation War from 2238. During the fighting, she and her squadron-mates tallied up to 89 voidcrafts destroyed, a number only surpassed by Erika’s own ‘Bastard Hawks’ fighter squadron. After the battle, they once again returned to the CADW to pass on their knowledge to cadets and novice pilots, increasing the Commonwealth’s pool of reserve flyers for the upcoming counterattack against the Eternal Empire.

Following the end of the Ancestral War, the Kosciuszko Squadron was contacted by the Extradimensional Combatant Agency to form a ‘quick response force’ for the organisation and a picket for further Unbidden incursions. Despite this, Veronika remained in Commonwealth soil and did not participate in the Vanniko Campaign to put an end to the Unbidden Emergency once in for all. She became an aerial advisor for the *ECA* and helped the unit establish connections throughout the military factions of the Commonwealth, assisting the organisation in its growth and its ambitions to remove the Solarian Syndicate from the nation’s soil. In 2338, she took part in an operation that put an end to the criminal organisation; An event known today as the ‘Sunset of the Solarian Syndicate’.

Two years later, the Squadron was involved in minor action during the Yaanari Punitive Campaign. Veronika oversaw the Battle of Yaan from orbit, coordinating air forces as the battle was won by the Commonwealth. Once back home, she received a promotion to Brigadier General, but retained command over CADW and the leadership of Kosciuszko Squadron - A role which she has grown to accept, as suggested by her attitude when addressing her career.

Nowadays she attends to administrative business of the Wings of Curacao as well as advisory matters for the ECA. She has also voiced many of the pilot’s agendas regarding aircraft procurement for the Commonwealth, and has garnered a certain political notoriety throughout the Entente as a result. She is rarely present for actual instruction of cadets of the CADW, choosing instead to relegate those posts to the I.A.I. instructors or to the more prominent officers of the wing. Finally, despite having lived for almost 150 years, she has not maintained any official relationships nor familial businesses, preferring to not disclose any information about her personal life or the events which led to her discharge from the Ortus Military Academy, back before the Aramathi Liberation War. She remains with allegiances to the Commonwealth, working for its institutions up to present times.