I'm going to add one more charrie, then we can begin. I think I'll make a post tomorrow, but anyone is welcome to post before me.

Name: Varjo Nayemnik

Occupation: Intergalactic Council guard/mercenary/soldier

Species: the Cien (pronounced 'Chen'), a race of very human-like aliens who are known as skilled warriors and operate best in low-light conditions.

Home Planet:  T'idi (pronounced tuh-eye-dee), a planet covered in trees so thick hardly any light reaches the surface, and with extensive cave systems under every inch of the planet's surface.

Abilities: Skilled warrior, exceptional hearing, night vision. Can also sense the energies of people, making it difficult to hide from him. Can also cause markings to glow at will.

Appearance: Tall, with broad shoulders. Eyes are so dark they nearly appear pitch black, perfectly matching his short hair. Pale skin, with bioluminescent markings on skin, most notably around his eyes and on the back of his hands. They glow purple. His ears are slightly pointed, and are located slightly lower on his face than a human. Usually wears a grey uniform with white, gold, and silver markings, and black boots.

Personality: Surly and defensive, logical. Seems very cold and rather emotionless on the outside, though he does have a softer side--he just doesn't show it. He doesn't quite believe he's fighting for the right side, but he's never really questioned it very much--he's never really had a reason to. 

Gender: Male

Age: 29, which is about the same in human years.

Alliance: Intergalactic Council...for now

Weaknesses: Can be a little too set in his ways. Overthinks things sometimes. Bright light and loud noises affect him much more negatively and harmfully than it would to most other species.

Other: Open to shipping, preferably with girls but I don't really mind.

@Sybill, wouldn’t it be interesting if we shipped Varjo and Artemis? I’m fine either way, if you don’t want to ship them then maybe they can be friends who are unfortunately on opposite sides

I’m just gonna make her a fleet admiral cause idk what she should be called but that’s the highest rank in Star Trek lol

Artemis~

I stared in the mirror, smoothing down my hair and exhaling shakily. The day had started out rough, with reports that were supposed to come in from Order spies missing, and from that point on we had to deal with the rough parts of leading a somewhat rebel organisation. After visiting a site where a recent skirmish had taken place between Council soldiers and Order fighters, my stomach sat uneasy for the rest of the day. According to reports, the soldiers had stopped the fighters without reason, and after discovering they were from the Order, the only thing left of them was their Order badges. It was a murder. And it was also a warning. 

I took a deep breath before my silence was interrupted by the Vice Admiral, Phillip. 

“Admiral, we’ve gotten word back from our spies in the Council. It’s...not good.”

My eyes widened and I quickly followed him, our hurried pace soon matching as we arrived right at the command room. 

“What’s going on?” I immediately asked, directing my question towards those standing around the holographic table in the middle of the room.

The room suddenly became quiet and the air chilled. 

I looked around, giving everyone a questioning stare. “What’s happened?”

Finally a captain stepped forward, awkwardly clearing his throat. 

“We’ve lost them, Admiral.”

My heart dropped. “‘Lost them?’ What do you mean, ‘lost them?’”

He couldn’t make eye contact. “They were compromised and now...presumably dead, ma’am”

The room was solemn and my hand twitched. “How can you be sure?”

The captain looked up at me. “Luckily, they sent out one last transmission and attached all the information they hadn’t already sent to us these last few months. The message itself is pretty frantic but the information is still intact. We sent out a bounty hunter to retrieve the information at the post point, and she ran into a little trouble but she made it back here okay.”

I nodded and clasped my hands behind my back. “I want the names of the spies and for their next of kin to be notified immediately.” I then turned to the rest of the room. “This is a huge loss, and we will treat it as such. The moment we start treating our rank and file more like numbers and less like members of our team is the moment we lose. Get to trying to work more people back in, but do it in smaller numbers this time. We need to have at least one person on the inside at all times, but we don’t want to risk too much. That’ll be all.”

There were scattered, “yes Admirial’s,” before the room rose back up to a chatter and everyone proceeded with their tasks. 

Right as I was about to make my way out of the room, the captain came up to me. 

“Admiral, the bounty hunter who retrieved the information, Aigith Rim, just notified me that she’s outside. Apparently she saw something that she needs to tell you about, and only you. She was quite insistent.”

I tilted my head but thanked him for telling me before I walked out of the command room and down the elevator to the main lobby area of the building. 

I noticed the green Selieth that I had hired personally right away, standing out in the bright, empty area.

“Aigith,” I said, and she turned towards me, a serious look on her face.

“Admiral,” she replied. “I saw something when-”
“Wait a second,” I laughed. “First, how are you? Did you get away from that rendezvous point okay?”

She paused for a moment before nodding. “Unscratched, ma’am. Although the spies weren’t as lucky.”

My smile faded and I diverted eye contact for a second. “As I’ve been notified.”

Aigith cleared her throat. “Anyway, I saw something that I figured I should only tell you. See, I think there might be a mole in the Order.”

“What?” I asked, shocked. 

“When I was at the rendezvous point, I noticed that the information had already been scanned once. When I ran the scanner, which took some work, the address traced back to here. There’s someone here staying one step ahead with the information, and who knows if they’re relaying it back to Jainnen Tuuli to tell him what we know?”

I cringed at his name. There weren’t many people who could get under my skin, but the sound of Tuuli’s name made me want to scour planets until I could destroy him.

Nevertheless, I took a moment to consider what Aigith had brought up. “Keep this between us. Right now nothing is clear, but I don’t want this to spread to unfriendly ears. Thank you for letting me know.”
“Of course, Admiral.”
She proceeded to walk out of the building, and once I checked to make sure I was alone I let out a large exhale and leaned against a column. 

That’s the third group of rebels we’d lost that month. Every attack, every murder was all carefully planned out by Jainnen Tuuli. Even though most of the time we were successful in carrying out missions and attacks, or planting agents, I took every loss personally. Phillip had always warned me to not let Tuuli get to my head, but I couldn’t help it sometimes. I couldn’t comprehend how somebody could be so evil and lie to the public about what they’ve done with a smile on their face and an olive branch in their hand. It disgusted me. And now Tuuli would once again get away with killing two of our spies, although I doubt he ever got them to talk, as spies have a certain cyanide fail-safe in case they were ever caught. I wasn’t really for the idea in the first place, but Phillip pushed it. Phillip had used to work as a spy for the Council, and even though he had hated every moment he advocated for the effectiveness of silencing yourself before your enemy could. Besides, to most of those in the Order they’d rather die by their own hand than by the Council’s. So I had no worries about our spies revealing any information. 

To me, every loss of life in the Order was just sad. I felt a responsibility to bring them back safely, and now I had failed.

Just some exposition stuff

Artemis~

I looked out the window to the city spread out below. Life was so abundant, life that I felt I had a duty to look after and protect. Flying cars zoomed by and around all the buildings without a care in the world, not knowing of the galactic conflict at their heels. Although the city was shrouded in darkness because it was almost always night time on the planet, lights from holographic projections on buildings and in the skies throughout the city lit everything up. Sounds of factories in the distance, traffic, and people down below on the streets talking made the nighttime city the city that never actually slept. Many people wouldn’t think of moving to this planet, and a lot of people who lived on this planet didn’t want to be here. But I didn’t mind the technological cityscape that lacked the presence of nature. Most of the time, planets with too much of a natural setting reminded me of Tambour, and Tambour is a place I wouldn't mind forgetting. 

Before I got too lost in thought, I heard my office doors slide open and saw Vice Admiral Phillip’s reflection on the window. 

“You ever sleep?”

I smiled without turning around. “If they don’t sleep, I don’t sleep.”

He wordlessly walked up next to me, looking out the window as well, into the busy city below. The office itself was silent, but you could hear the booming noises from the holographic advertisements and the flying cars zooming by. 

After a couple of moments, he spoke up. “I think you should. Everything’s fairly quiet right now, and I’d prefer a Fleet Admiral who isn’t half dead.”

I paused. “You know, the full-blooded Zendi on my planet only need an hour of sleep a week to function? The only thing is, they meditate often, so some, like the elders, seem to always be asleep anyway. But some can get by with one hour of sleep a month and regular meditation, because when they meditate this thing is recharged,” I said, tapping the crystal on my head. “And they can draw knowledge as well as strength from it, strength they would otherwise be lacking from the scarce amount of sleep.”

Phillip hummed. “And can a half Zendi do this, Admiral?”

I shook my head. “No. I’m afraid the human genes took over there. Although I can function longer than the average human without sleep. The last time I slept was four days ago.”

Phillip sighed. “Then I insist you rest. I’ll look after everything.”

I looked down for a moment and then back up at the city. So much life. 

I turned to Phillip, looking him in the eyes. 

“Do you think we’ll win, Thaddeus?”

Phillip opened his mouth to answer but then closed it, hesitating to answer. He was truly contemplating it. It was a difficult question.
Finally, he spoke. 

“I don’t think it’ll be as easy as winning and losing, ma’am.”

I sighed, nodding my head as I turned back to face the window. 

“It never is.”

Phillip silently agreed and began heading towards the door. 

“Go home to your family, Vice Admiral,” I said before he could leave.

He opened his mouth to protest, but I held my hand up, turning around.

“I know you’ve been sleeping in your office, because one of the ensigns spotted the blanket and pillow. Go home to your family, Thaddeus. I’ll stay here. I don’t think I can stay anywhere else these days anyway,” I added with a smile.

Phillip’s body language showed hesitation but his eyes showed relief. “If you say so, Admiral. Have a good night.”

“You too.”

With that, he left, and I turned to look at the city one more time before I moved to the small quarters that were attached to my office through another door. The quarters were meant more for nights when we had to stay at the building, during a certain attack or a spy’s game changing message. But now I had stayed here for the past couple of months. Nothing waited for me at my old apartment anyway, and if anything ever happened I would be right here to help intercept it.

After getting ready for bed, I settled into the window bed that overlooked the city. If the lights were too bright and distracting, I could press a button that would darken the glass, but I preferred to look out onto the city before I slept. In an odd way, I felt like they had my back as I slept in case something were to happen. 

~

There was complete darkness, which felt familiar. I don’t dream.

Then I felt something cold hit my face, and I frowned. I held out a hand as something landed on my palm, and upon closer inspection, I realised it was snow.

Snow?

“Hello, Admiral Zygo.”

I jumped and turned around, suddenly finding myself in a snowy landscape with Jainnen Tuuli standing in front of me.

“Cold?”
I shook my head firmly, then forced a smile. “You’re not real.”

He grinned. “I think you'll find that I’m very real.”

My smile faded.
He took a step towards me and I didn’t move. Jainnen inched closer and closer until we were only a few inches apart.

“You will fail.”

And then, without warning, he pushed me and a yell escaped as I felt myself falling, falling, falling-

~

I woke up with a start and immediately worked on regulating my heart beat using Zendi breathing methods. Zendi rarely ever dreamed. The closest we usually got was visions during meditation, nevertheless having a nightmare. I’d never had a nightmare before.

I felt a tear slip down my cheek, much to my shock, and I quickly wiped it away. But then more tears started to come and I couldn’t hold them back as I sobbed quietly and folded my knees up, wrapping my arms around my legs. 

His words echoed in my ears.

“You will fail.”

After a couple minutes, I eventually calmed down and sat up, looking down at my hands, glaring at them as if I could see his face.

“No. No I won’t.” 

I'm doing Aria's narratives in third POV because she's an android? also forgive me if some of this dialogue is long and boring, I usually write fantasy and I was having a lot of fun doing something different. I've taken one or two liberties with @Quill's character, Aigith Rim, so please tell me if I should do something different. I've also been trying to use the names of planets people have come up with instead of inventing new ones. 

I'm doing Aria's narratives in third POV because she's an android? also forgive me if some of this dialogue is long and boring, I usually write fantasy and I was having a lot of fun doing something different. I've taken one or two liberties with @Quill's character, Aigith Rim, so please tell me if I should do something different. I've also been trying to use the names of planets people have come up with instead of inventing new ones. 

Ora--

I took a sip of my energy drink, eyes glued to my handscreen. Only three days into my job, and already my parents were trusting me with secret communications! I clamped down on the excitement. It would be no good if I ended up being caught.

However, it was hard not to let myself smile a little at this note. It told of the capture and deaths of two Order spies who had somehow infiltriated our ranks, much as I had infiltriated theirs. Well, the spies probably hadn't been posing as lowly mechanic girls. But the message was clear: we were winning. And I was helping, with every communication I sent, with every closed door I peered behind.

I tossed the drink into the tiny trash receptacle and stretched. With three minute break over, it was time to return to the dimly lit, cluttered tech level, full of shouts and various machine noises. The upper halways were much nicer, I thought, filled with windows and art and... was that a Zendi muttering to herself?

I surreptitiously backtracked down the hallway. Yes, there was a Zendi, appearing deep in thought, but then she looked up, and I realized she looked surprisingly human.

Of course. This was Artemis Zygo. 

She might have valuable information! I had to say something. Ask her about what she was saying, if she was okay. But I couldn't! She could probably see right through me. Then she turned, catching sight of me, and my heart started pounding. The leader of the Order of Light, staring straight at me, nowhere to turn, nowhere to run...

Nowhere to go but onward. "E-excuse me?" I stammered. "I'm a little lost... how do you get to the tech level?" 

Artemis~

Phillip had just received a transmission from a station in the outer port of the planet Jodias, so I naturally stepped outside of the meeting room to think through our plan. If we could arrange a deal with the Jodian government to supply the station, then they could send much needed resources to us to further our progress against the Council.

I stood in the main hallway, unaware of my muttering until a couple people passed with questioning looks. Most of the time, those in the Order didn’t bother to walk by me because they felt shy (or maybe I just looked intimidating), so I flushed a bit in embarrassment as the hallway once again became empty. 

Or so I thought.

I suddenly became hyper aware that someone else was in the hall, and I looked up to meet the eyes of a Gnax. 

She shyly stepped forward and her eyes darted. 

“E-excuse me? I’m a little lost...how do you get to the tech level?”

I smiled. “Oh, if you go down this hall and then to your left and continue down, eventually there’s an elevator that will bring you straight there.”

“Oh okay, thank you!”

She quickly started scampering past me, but I stopped her.
“Sorry, what’s your name?”

She looked surprised. “Ora, Admiral.”

“Sorry,” I quickly repeated, afraid I’d made her uncomfortable. “I try to make it a habit to know the people I work with. It’s nice to meet you, Ora. Have a good evening, and let me know if you need anything else. The base gets easier to navigate the longer you’re here.”

She still looked a little confused, but smiled and nodded her head rapidly. “Thank you, Admiral.”

Ora walked down the hall and then turned left, and I decided to walk back into the meeting room.

“Any new developments?” I asked Phillip as soon as I walked in. 

He was exactly where I left him, standing slightly hunched over the holodesk, trying to complete the possible transaction of resources on Jodias.

“Now we just wait,” he replied, looking up.

His stare lingered a little longer, and I furrowed my eyebrows in response.

“What’s wrong?”

He hesitated and then switched off the holodesk, making his way towards the other side of the table before leaning against it.

“You know....I mean, you know I would never read your emotions involuntarily, right?”

I nodded, still a little confused. “Right….”

“But some things...Well, some things I can’t just switch on and off, and I’d be lying if I told you I didn’t sense great emotional disturbance coming off of you this morning.”

I paused and then sighed, giving a half smile. “Yeah. Didn’t sleep too well. Maybe that’s why I like staying up for days, so I don’t have to sleep.”

He hesitated once more but continued. “If you don’t mind me asking, what happened?”

“I had a nightmare,” I replied and then stopped for a moment. “It...Jainnen Tuuli made an appearance.”

Phillip shifted.

“He told me I’d fail, and then he pushed me down this, this, chasm of some sort, but whatever it was I couldn’t sleep for the rest of the night. I just...I know you say I shouldn’t let him get to me, and I honestly try, I really do, but after all he’s done, and the way he just tries to tear me down, tear the truth down....I don’t know, Thaddeus. Maybe I’m just not cut out for this-”
“Don’t say that,” he interrupted. “Don’t ever say that, please. There’s no one else more fit for the job.”

I offered a smile. “Thank you. But he just seems so much stronger and more equipped. I feel like he’s always one step ahead, and no matter what I do we just fall behind. I feel like I let down everyone in the Order. They’ve all sacrificed so much, and I just feel like I’m leading a losing battle.”

Phillip sat silent for a moment. “You’ve started something that no one has ever had the courage to do. Tuuli is corrupt, and he continues to spread his corruption like poison through the ranks of the Council. No one else would have stood up for him, but you gathered people and said that it was time someone made a stand. Like I told you last night, I don’t think it’ll be as easy as winning or losing, and I still stand by that. But I genuinely believe that no matter what happens, in a way we’ll always win. We’ve planted seeds in peoples’ minds, and someone has finally stood up against them. We may be the first group to do this, but if we fail we certainly won’t be the last. Once a flame like rebellion starts, even Tuuli with all his power and glory will have a hard time putting it out.”

I nodded, and then I sighed in fake irritation. “How come you always know what to say?”
“Well,” he chuckled. “I’m an empath and I’m wiser than you.”
I gasped then sneered. “Right, whatever old man. You just have slightly more experience is all.”

“Riiight,” he drawled.

I gave a light laugh, and looked down. I realised that good people were around me everywhere, and our chances in my head just got a little higher. 

~

Sorry, a little corny at the end ik XD