Backstory

Real Name: S/Sgt. Aaron Desinger (ret.)
Age: Born 2039)
Faction: Unaffiliated (former North American Federation Army)
Current Allegiance: Unknown

Aaron Desinger was born in the waning years of American strife, just before the wars and economic collapses that would fracture North America. Raised in a once-suburban Seattle arcology that became militarized following urban unrest, he learned early how to operate in conflict zones. His father was a field engineer, his mother a translator for a UN agency that dissolved before he was a teen.

Early Bonds, Brotherhood Forged

As a teenager conscripted into a junior ranger program, Elias formed two lifelong friendships—Nico, a tech specialist with a talent for drone networking, and Rafi, a born scout with a sense of humor that survived firestorms and betrayal. Together, they entered the NAF Army at 18, posted to forward operations along the Denver Divide during the American Dissolve of the 2050s.

They became known as “Ash Squad,” fancying themselves as akin to special forces, named for a mission in the ash fields of Boise where they saved a civilian convoy under enemy fire. Their bond went beyond duty—it became family.

Medal for Valor – Silver Star

In 2061, Elias received the Silver Star, a rarely awarded medal for personal valor. During the failed extraction of a diplomatic science envoy from the Nevada DMZ, Elias led a solo infiltration to rescue four wounded operatives pinned under a collapsed mag-rail bridge. The mission became legend—highlight reels used in recruitment drives. He hated the attention, but it gained him prestige across tactical and command circles. Among other tacticians, his name still carries weight.

The Wrong Love

At 27, while stationed in the Eurasian Border Deployment Initiative, Elias fell in love with Dr. Syra Velin, a geneticist working on the controversial Adaptive Soldier Reprogramming Trials—biotech experiments based on the Aranda Resonance Principle, skirting the edge of war crimes. She was brilliant, intense, and morally complex.

His squadmates distrusted her. His friends warned him. Even his COs quietly advised against continuing the relationship. But Elias wouldn’t leave her. She made him believe they were fighting for a cleaner future.

That belief would cost him everything.

The Fall – Betrayal and Fugitive Status

In 2071, Syra disappeared—taking classified files, neural interface schematics, and compromising data from Elias’s own command logs. Two weeks later, federal investigators claimed Elias had abetted her escape and implicated him in the Kalimar Cluster Incident, a black-site facility breach that left 23 dead and dozens of test subjects missing.

His romantic past became a weapon. Syra’s betrayal wasn’t clean—she left encrypted messages hinting at a plan far beyond Elias’s understanding. But by then, the damage was done.

The North American Federation branded him a traitor. A high-value warrant was issued for his capture. Bounties were placed on his head across multiple provinces. Civilian contacts went dark. Old comrades stopped responding. Only Ash Squad stayed loyal—until Nico was killed during a data heist in Portland.

The Hunter

For nearly a decade, a relentless paramilitary contractor named Commander Ruttel, backed by NAF intelligence, has pursued Elias with personal vendetta. Ruttel lost a limb during the Nevada operation and blames Elias for its failure and for “going soft” on a traitor. He's tracked Elias through Panama, Edmonton, and into the Cascadian Free Zone.

Stalemate

As of 2080, Elias lives in the shadows of the Olympic Peninsula, working under the name “Ash,” coordinating resistance operations against corporate-backed enforcement groups. Though wanted and wounded, he has become a symbol—equal parts myth and mentor. His old unit patch is scorched and pinned to the wall of a half-buried command shelter.

His relationship with Syra remains unresolved. No one knows if she’s alive—or if she’ll return again to finish what she started.

His war is no longer about nations. It’s about people—those caught between corporate feudalism, fractured governments, and the edge of a deeper war no one is ready for.