Ace

Like her one-time partner Jest'liana Warren, Anastasia Rathgard has shunned her birthname for a monosyllabic moniker. Those that know her simply know her as Ace, and little information exists to link the two identities together. Her history is a tangled and colorful tale of war, betrayal, scandal, and ultimately glory.

Lady Midnight

Rathgard is the name of a distinguished family on Resilience with a long history of military service, and if the few fragmented chunks of data that predate the catastrophic end of the Boromov regime can be trusted, their daughter Anastasia was no exception. Though the scant existing documents seem to indicate that the pedigreed soldier maintained a clean and exemplary service record, the exact nature of her "service" to those in power remains largely a mystery.

During the time this particular Anastasia was doing her patriotic duty, stories of an individual of the same name were whispered in the Rock's dark corridors. According to legend, when some fool had fallen out of Lord Boromov's favor, and all other options had been exhausted... she would pay that unlucky soul a visit, and the time for talking was over. Polunocnica -- a demon, they called her, one of the crime lord's most trusted associates.

The swirl of rumor and myth was swallowed up in a torrent of flame when the Nall attacked, and charred remains later identified as Anastasia's were found among the smoking ruins. Much to the shock of the Ungstiri people, the name would appear in headlines again in 3002, when the ex-militiawoman was named in the shooting of Ambassador Katya Innokentevna in the Resilience loading bay. However, questions still remain as to whether or not it is the same woman or someone who has simply taken on the identity of the late Anasatasia. Ace, however, has never once referred to herself as Anastasia and corrects people who use it.

Two Ungstiri

So what happened between the fall of Boromov and the alleged assassination attempt? The first emergence of the "Ace" persona appears in 3002, when the terms of Kula's Peace would see the release of Ungstiri prisoners held in labor camps on Lebal. A badly burned, scarred, and disfigured woman identifying herself by that name alone disembarked from the shuttle, and following a series of odd jobs in the rowdy bars of the nightlife district, found herself in the employ of Syeryloshat Couriers.

Ace was hired on as a bodyguard for the adventurous and fiery Katya, taking up residence on the Gray Horse itself and joining the courier on her many travels around the Orion Arm. Those that knew the pair claimed that they were as close as sisters and it is also rumored that Ace was a close friend of Katya's brother, Dmitri, who did not survive his imprisonment on Lebal.

During this time, the Gray Horse worked hand-in-hand with the newly christened Athena, occasionally running across the Faux in its travels during which she made an enemy of Volari after he mentally controlled her in Rockhoppers on Ungstir. It was later discovered that Volari was plotting against Sanctuary, and all three ships went there in pursuit only to have their crews end up trapped within the infrastructure of the colony ship when Volari and the Nall took it over. Later, as part of the agreement with the Nall made by Governor Danvers of La Terre, the Athena and the Gray Horse went to Nocturn where Ace was part of the team that re-opened the Nexus gateway.

All of this casts a bizarre and unusual light on the shooting, an incident that remains largely unexplained and is never spoken of by Ace herself. Ultimately, the controversy surrounding the crime earned the former bodyguard the unenviable status of social pariah and led to her exile from Ungstir itself.

On the Run

Ace was next seen on Tomin Kora where she was offered employment with Grim by none other than her nemesis Volari. Ace declined by putting several blaster shots into Volari's midsection and fighting off several of his crew before disappearing into the night. She later re-surfaced on Luna in the employ of the mysterious Albatross, one of the three men behind the rebuilding of the Guardian Fleet and the restoration of the Sol System after she helped to retrieve a Moebius device from Earth. She served as Cerebus to Albatross, his personal bodyguard, until he mysteriously vanished a few months after Sol was made whole again.

The Laughing Fox

Luckily for Ace, she had connections. She had forged a strong friendship with the then-captain of the UKT Faux, Jest, and was graciously welcomed on board as its chief of security. Shortly after the Faux retrieved her from Luna, Ace led a crew that consisted of Jest, Snowmist and Jasra on a mission for the newly reformed Sol government. On board the GSV Legacy, a submarine that was dropped from orbit into the oceans of Earth, they re-established contact with the shattered world's people who now inhabited cities beneath the sea. There they met with President Blade and established a teleportal between the underwater city and Luna. It was during this mission that Albatross vanished without a trace and Ace the horrible scars that marred her face and body, all traces of injury miraculously vanishing without any trace of surgery having been performed.

Following this, Ace was cleared of all charges on Ungstir as evidence came to light of a hidden assassin who had threatened to kill Katya Innokentevna if Ace did not pull the trigger. Although this person was tracked to Tomin Kora, his or her identity has never been uncovered, nor have the reasons for the incident ever come to light.

Ace returned from exile and had literally set foot on her homeworld for no more than five minutes before she volunteered to pilot a rescue mission to find the lost waystation DSAO DSV where she helped thwart a terrorist attempt to set off a coreseeker on Ungstir.

She returned to the Faux where she served her best friend Jest as second-in-command. On one of their many trips to Quaquan, they came across a young Castori named Raz Blackpaw who they discovered had been sold into slavery following the deaths of his parents. He was taken aboard the Faux where later Ace formally adopted him as her son. It was on Quaquan during a return visit that the Faux was attacked by an unidentified vessel while it sat on the landing pad. Jest was seriously injured and Ace formally assumed command of the Faux, which she still captains to this day.

Not long after Ace assumed the captaincy, she befriended Mika Tachyon and helped fund the purchase of the Jackal which became a sister ship to the Faux. Known as the 'Foxes and the Hounds,' they embarked on several adventures not the least of which led them to become privateers in the service of Demaria. With Letters of Marque, the two ships hassled the Nall and discovered the remains of the G'ahnlo fleet in deep space. They were also key in restoring the defenses to the Junkyard as it, too, became a target of the Nall, getting the station's defunct weaponry back online just in time to decimate the attacking Naliese vessels.

When the Birthright War began, Ace felt that Ungstir should break her neutral stance and help the rest of the Orion Arm since Ambassador Innokentevna had lit the spark by returning Nalia to her people. When the Ungstiri declined, Ace changed the registry of the UKT Faux to Demarian, joining the Demarian militia as a privateer and rallying the fringe elements of Ungstir to form the Lucky 13. With the Faux taking point, Ace led these dozen ships into the Battle of Nalhom where the Faux destroyed the Nall mothership using one of their own coreseekers against them. Her crew then joined in on the ground assault that resulted in the Nall fleeing into the Nexus, and in thanks for their service, the Faux was allowed to retain the DMV designation as a reserve ship in the Demarian militia.

Shortly after the war, Ace was involved in an incident on the asteroid of Avalon in the Ungstir system during which the habitat it contained was badly damaged and a woman named Isabella Nekovich was killed. Ace stood trial on Ungstir where it was revealed that Nekovich was an underworld figure trying to re-organize the criminal underworld in the system. She was acquitted of all charges and asked to assist in the rebuilding of Avalon which she gladly did.

Over the next several months, events occurred that drove Ace into seclusion. Mika vanished and not long after, Jest passed away of a brain aneurism, leaving everything, including the Faux, to Ace. Eventually she discovered that Mika, along with 3000 other citizens of the Orion Arm, had been taken by the Nall during the Birhtright War and were being held on a prison asteroid within the Nexus. She set out to rally support for a rescue mission, and though many said they would help, the red tape of OATO became so tangled that the Nall moved the base before action was taken and all 3000 people were given up for lost. During this time, Ace began to build the Faux's crew back up to full strength, eventually adding Swiftfoot, Ailith, Nixkamich, Stars and Sinopa to the ship's roster.

Shortly after the rescue mission fell apart, several of Ace's friends were taken prisoner by Terry Fitzgerald and the rogue military faction on New Luna called PANL and Ace went undercover to infiltrate their ranks on Ghost Chime Isle. There she became a vital source of information for the NLM, feeding them information on troop numbers, gun emplacements and facility locations. More importantly, though, she revealed to them a split in their ranks as well as uncovering the existence of a rail gun which PANL had been using to destroy ships around Deepcrest Island. She single-handedly sabotaged the rail gun just as it was preparing to fire upon Deepcrest itself and later led the NLM through the jungle to PANLs hidden base.

Upon the completion of the mission, Ace had a run in with Captain Norton who, for some reason, she knocked unconscious with a blow to the jaw. A court date was set but before Ace ever got the opportunity to go to trial, a warrant was obtained by the NLM to search the Faux based on three month old vid footage taken on Hancock Station. During the search, Battleclaw Silvereye of the Demarian militia and Ace stood by the Faux as a military vessel, claiming it was an illegal search and seizure. During the boarding by the NLM, both were shot and stunned and taken into custody. The search uncovered the Nuaono Brick, an artifact that had been stolen from G'ahnlo four months earlier, and two crates of cargo which New Luna declared to be illegal. Ace and Silvereye were both released and the Faux was allowed to leave New Luna but was banned from returning along with her kapitan and first officer Swiftfoot, who was accused of aiding in the theft of the brick.

As a result, the Faux was no longer welcome by the Demarian government as a military vessel and her registry changed to a Demarian civilian ship. Later, Ace would take evidence to G'ahnlo showing that the Faux had nothing to do with the theft of the brick but had come into possession of it on Hancock station when someone there apparently threw it onto the Faux's ramp. Following this revelation, the G'ahnli refused to press any charges against Ace, Swiftfoot or any member of the Faux crew.

The Faux would again change its registry when Ace took employment as a diplomat for General Savant following his violent takeover of La Terre. Traveling to New Luna, Mars, G'ahnlo and Sivad on his behalf, the Faux's crew negotiated with various planetary officials to attempt to forge alliances with La Terre. In the end, though, it was revealed that this employment had been a sham, the Faux crew having gone undercover in order to assassinate the rogue General which was accomplished in tandem with Jack Weindrbac, Captain of the Artemis. Shortly thereafter, they returned the ship to its former and proper DCV registration.

Ace's Friends, Family and Associates

Ace has no known blood relatives, but she is known to be engaged to Joshua Kravos, chief engineer of the Faux, and has adopted the Castori nicknamed Raz Blackpaw as her son. She considers the Faux crew to be her family and even officiated over the wedding of her pilot Swiftfoot and cargo master Stars, and she has been offered a place in the tribe of her crewmates Nixkamich and Sinopa, though she has yet to accept the gracious offer. She has also been asked to be Godmother to the daughter of Dr. Freysinnet and Remy LeBeau, who she considers to be among her closest friends. Jack Weindrbac and she have also been romantically linked in the past and are still close friends.

Also very dear to her is Silvereye, the Battleclaw of Demaria who she often confides in and consults with regarding the Faux's work. The Jackal's Captain Torr is also a highly valued friend and ally, and she counts Rathenhope, Newt, Gennadiy, Fulton, Hezekiah, Volidana and Aisrya among her close friends and associates.

Her many adventures have left her with contacts and associates throughout the Orion Arm including those within Vanguard from her time working with Albatross, the RNS who she worked closely with during the Birthright War, the NLM she assisted during the PANL uprising, the Demarian military, and on her homeworld of Ungstir where she rallied the Lucky 13. Her connections also extend into the darker side of the galaxy including Tomin Kora, the Junkyard and U-999. In addition, she is also the contract owner of the GMF Athena and part owner of the IND Jackal.

Relatively Unknown Tidbits

Very few people know that Ace is Anastasia Rathgard and it is very difficult to connect one to the other as it has been mentioned only in passing as unconfirmed in a few news items over the years. She has never used the name and is legally registered as a trader, ship owner and ship's captain as simply 'Ace.' Upon her return from Lebal, there were no existing records that matched her DNA or fingerprints and so she chose the name of Ace as her own. All holdings, bank accounts, PDA accounts and property are registered under this name.

Anastasia Rathgard joined the Ungstiri militia in 2967 at the age of 16 and was a Captain when she joined Boromov's organization in 2977. She served as one of his lieutenants until she was killed during the Nall invasion of 3001. A body was recovered and the Rathgards cremated the remains and held a full memorial service in her honor.

In reality, she was caught in an explosion and taken prisoner by the Nall, a total amnesiac as a result of her injuries. She spent 18 months in a prison camp on Lebal where she was given the name Favsta by other prisoners (Note - Unless you were a prisoner in a Lebal camp during this time, you would not know this name at all)

The connection between Ace and Anastasia Rathgard was made by Katya Innokentevna when she took a DNA sample of Ace's to the Ungstiri militia in order to obtain a weapons permit for her bodyguard. The card issued came back in the name of Anastasia Rathgard who the system still listed as being on detached duty to Alexi Boromov. Ace has never used this permit as a method of identification and continued using the name Ace for reasons she has never revealed.

When Ace shot Katya on Ungstir, her connection to the military was inexplicably severed. She was neither honorably or dishonorably discharged nor court martialed but merely dropped as if she had never resurfaced. Even after all charges were dropped and her name was cleared, she and the military did not reconnect.