Ava Duran

Ava Duran was a female Arkanian Offshoot (Arkanian/Sephi hybrid) who defected from The Galactic Empire and later joined The Crimson Storm where she was known by the alias, Erin Mondare.  

History

Early Life

  As an Arkanian Offshoot, Ava didn't have parents. Her creator, Ormon Duran, was an Arkanian scientist who was obsessed with making the perfect combination of Sephi and Arkanian. A half-breed that was beautiful and had a long lifespan. He made many attempts and many of his kids didn’t make it, but Ava was perfect. He raised her like she was his actual child and she loved him. But she aged too quickly, if she truly had the lifespan of a Sephi she wouldn’t have aged as quickly as she had. He grew more and more disappointed in her as it became clear she only had the normal lifespan of an Arkanian. Better than an offshoot, but not perfect. He started going back to his work more and started neglecting Ava.
When Ava’s frustration reached a boiling point she asked him if he still loved her, and he said no. Desperate she asked if there was anything she could do to make him love her again, to make him proud. He told her she should make a difference in the world, make her name known, as he never wanted to hear about her deeds in person. She took this instruction to heart and signed up for the imperial academy at an incredibly young age. She became the youngest alien to ever be admitted.  

In The Empire

 

Education

  During her time at the academy, she was bullied a lot. She had been dealing with racism her whole life, but the pureblood Arkanians tended to be more subtle in their bullying. These people were loud and in her face. It became clear very quickly that any non-human's progress at the academy would be stunted here but nothing could deter her as she worked hard to become the best cadet. She started being sent out on scouting missions and field operations pretty early on in her training, not because she was favoured by any instructors but because she was undeniably the best slicer in the academy.   On one of her missions, she met Carand Tormen, a lieutenant commander in the Imperial Security Bureau. He took an interest in her. She showed fire and compassion and was wholeheartedly dedicated to her work. On the ship they talked about working for the ISB and she practically begged him to let her work there. Tormen got her into the ISB Academy where she trained for many years, eventually becoming an Agent and slowly pushing her way up the ranks of the surveillance department.  

The ISB

  In the surveillance department she had a job that was mostly office work, searching through transmissions and writing reports. But whenever a slicer was needed on a job she was the one they went to. Ava still experienced bigotry but in general, people respected her more in this position or at least pretended to. Nonetheless, she made a few friends in her office and settled into life as an ISB Agent. She worked for many years applying for every new promotion until about a month before Alderaan was destroyed.   Ava had a dream or a vision of Alderaan going up in flames and the empire being responsible. She had experienced weirdly prophetic dreams before and always chalked it up to deja vu but this one had stuck with her. At her work she began to dig into some of the empire's secret projects. She found plans for a device known as the death star, she couldn’t believe what she was reading and dug further. She then found information on project Unity and project Harvester. Frightened by what she had uncovered, and wrestling with her shaken loyalty, Ava spent weeks attempting to justify the empires activities. When Alderaan was destroyed and the empire explained it away with a mining disaster she knew she'd been lied to and there was no explaining it away. She packed her bags that night and made to run away. As she was leaving she was intercepted by Tormen. He read her face and knew she was leaving, he sighed, looked around and gestured for her to go. She didn’t have to be told twice. She smiled and nodded at him before fleeing into the night.  

Refugee Life

  After fleeing the ISB, Ava changed her name to Erin Mondare and spent several weeks changing her appearance and supplying herself with cloaking devices. She chopped her hair off and made sure she remained unseen. In the early days, she just made sure to hop between as many planets as possible to cover her tracks. After it was clear she would survive, that they weren’t looking for her, she started working as a mercenary slicer. She wondered how she would fulfill her father’s request now. How she would make a name for herself so he’d hear about her. But more importantly, how would she atone for the damage she caused by being in the ISB? She resolved to gain more information on the rebellion while working jobs on the fringes. Eventually, she wound up on Zeltros where she met the crew of The Crimson Storm while doing a job for Oren Nile.