CHARACTERs
(In order of appearance? I dunno, I'm too lazy to check ...)
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LINDA
Linda is an aerospace pilot who has strong opinions about ice cream (as she should). Linda is from the small, lesser-known planet of Hendros, where she was a pilot for many years before deciding to travel the universe. On all of her travels, Linda has carried with her a plush bear, which she considers her "copilot." She's been flying missions for the humans on Ee'ezzo for almost 9 years now.
SUNGLASSES :: Linda's sunglasses are from Kelfis Pyree, which is the only respectable place to buy sunglasses in this day and age. They are nearly indestructible -- having a famous 6-century warranty -- and thus have been known to be passed down through family and/ or enclave generations. Their comfort and pleasant weight ratio is renowned, leading to the common phrase that they "must be made of Mithril." They are also famously low-tech, having no electronics or advanced technologies of any kind. They are simply sunglasses. And they are the best god damn sunglasses in the universe.
ROACH
Roach (Eveline Gamal) is a human soldier who specializes in rescue and hostage recovery. She’s obsessed with ancient human pop culture, especially classic film franchises like Rocky and Mortal Kombat (and yes, she's seen all 86 Rocky movies, including all spin-offs and reboots).
Roach grew up in space, her family settling on the planet Betiota (Mega) when she was around 17 years old. She started doing search-and-rescue not long after that, soon transferring to the human military division, collaborating mostly with Betafgh and a few other high-profile nations. At the beginning of our story, Roach is recruited by Corif to become an A-9 and join the fight on Planet Ee’ezzo.
TATTOOS :: Roach has several tattoos, but one in particular on her right shoulder represents both her heritage and role as a soldier -- a skull on top of a lotus flower. Roach's family traces its roots back to the Egypt/ North African area of Earth, where Egypt's national flower was once the white lotus. This symbolizes vitality and rebirth, which contrasts with the skull, representing the fragility and dark absurdity of life. This tattoo and symbol can be seen as our profile picture, and is the main logo of the entire comic.
DR. ZAIUS
Dr. Evan Mozzibar Zaius is the creator of the A-9 cybernetics platform. He is far-and-above the most advanced pioneer in the field of “evomechagenetical” engineering, which combines synthetic nanoscience, genetics, and robots, among other high sciences. He got his start in the highly-secretive labs of YrIDOC, on one of the moons of Kelfis Pyree, working on evolutionary nanorobotics. He survived the Epic Disaster that swept through the labs, melting the minds of 99% of the complex (there were 4 survivors). If you ask him, he’s unsure how he survived, or even what exactly happened, but certain media outlets and conspiracy theorists have claimed that he was partially, if not directly responsible. His own theory, and the going explanation, is that a nanoparticle synthetic disease evolved and escaped containment. By that time, Dr. Zaius had already experimented extensively on his own genetics, which could explain why he was impervious to the alleged plague.
That said, there’s still a lot of secrecy surrounding Dr. Zaius. No one remembers how he came to be working with YrIDOC, and it is suspected that Dr. Zaius is not his real name (can't imagine why people would think that ...). Additionally, he is intimately familiar with several supremely-advanced technologies and sciences, some of which are beyond the theoretical limit of current human advancement, and others of which are only barely being understood. This would certainly imply a very storied past.
Soon after the Epic Disaster, Dr. Zaius emigrated to Planet Ee’ezzo, a choice which further mystified those familiar with him – Ee’ezzo was (and is) a backwater planet with only moderate technologies. And furthermore, Ee’ezzo continues to be very skeptical of the human species: only two nations (Bazi and Siboso) offer any kind of immigration program. But despite this seemingly sterile environment, Dr. Zaius was able to develop the A-9 platform – a symphony of robotics, cybernetics, and genetics.
GREG
Greg (Grok’sos) is a cubai person from the country of Siboso (on Ee’ezzo). He is young, but an incredibly skilled engineer/ technician who is obsessed with the human food hash browns (as he should be; hash browns are delicious). Although young, Greg’s skill has earned him a job working with Dr. Zaius to create A-9s, which an incredibly difficult process. Although skilled, Greg is very distractible and naïve (but in a benign way), rarely contemplating the gravity or potential danger of a situation.
IRWIN
Irwin Vino Broshgueevas is a human engineer originally from Planet Mega. He is a first generation Mega immigrant, his parents having been born in space.
On Mega, Irwin specialized in micro-robotics and defense tech, working for several years with a human-ploshan R&D lab in Braggens. This lab was the site of an infamous terrorist incident where Kilviosh extremists held Irwin and several others hostage for 6 days. The incident was resolved when a rescue team raided the lab and saved the hostages. Among the rescuers was a young, talented upstart by the name of Roach.
After the Braggins incident, Irwin moved to Planet Ee'ezzo. He worked with JEC -- basically Bazi's version of NASA -- for a few years before transferring to Dr. Zaius's organization to work on applied cybernetics. His talents were quickly apparent, and in recent years he's been working closely with Zaius himself on A-9 cybernetic transformations.
Irwin is fiercely protective of his Vittlits chips; no, you can't have any.
GERTIE
Gertie (Gesh’tisho) is a kizee person from the country of Bazi. She is obsessed with all martial arts. This is surprising since Gertie herself is extremely laid back, lax, and somewhat stubborn, even to the point of frustration. She is a classic "boozta veents" -- literally "lazy hands" -- which is someone with a strong body, but a perpetual attitude of ennui. Thus, it’s probably not a great idea that Gertie is an air traffic controller and military base aircraft coordinator. In the first part of our story, when Linda is about to crash, Gertie’s response is, “yeah, just crash closer next time. It’s much easier.”
Despite her aloof attitude, Gertie is very skilled at several martial arts, including the human art of karate. She also loves all 86 of the Mortal Kombat movies: 23, 24, and 46 being her favorites.