Ryla Arrentiel
From Chosen Space V2 Wiki
Originating from the Solian planet Mirnok, Ryla has always been at home in a spaceship. Ever since she was a young girl, Ryla had always been told stories by her father about the adventures he used to have in space and it was inevitable that she would soon long for the same. Her will to become a space pilot drove her through her education and she came out in the top 5% of her school, well above the line to enter the Space Fleet Academy.
Her days at the Academy were not the easiest as, try as she might, she could not adapt to the militaristic nature of the school and whilst she passed piloting exams with honours, she soon left the academy resulting in her being disgraced in front of the school - for Academy students, to drop out was to consitute cowardice, a trait not well respected on Mirnok. Undetered, she started advertising her piloting qualifications. However, it was hard for her to find work, as nobody wished to hire a drop out from the school lest it be a mark down for their organisation.
To pass time, Ryla entered a medical school and stayed for 4 years, emerging as a qualified doctor and, by then, she was able to find work in a local hospital for a couple of years. It seemed to her family and friends though that her dream of taking to the stars was slowly becoming forgotten, lost in the busy, routine life Ryla now lived.
It all came rushing back to her when, after a busy day at work, she was approached by a man on her way home. Introducing himself as Reece Golas, he offered her a position as a pilot on board his spaceship, a V2 Class Mining Vessel named Radiance. Stating his reasons - I need a medic and a pilot and since your pretty damn decent at both, seem like my best bet - he was straight to the point, something which Ryla liked yet she initially refused the offer, it seemed too good to be true. However, Ryla did not procrastinate long on the issue, her dreams of reaching for the stars burst out of their bubble and she soon contacted Reece to take him up on the offer. She left quickly and so she took to her spaceflight days. Ryla was not initially in charge of the Radiance, instead working under the close supervision of Reece as she piloted the vessel on its trading runs. However, her high spirits, caring personality and ability to make decisive decisions soon proved a hit among the crew who quickly came to both love and respect her.
After piloting the Radiance for over a CE, tragedy came aboard with an explosion in one of the fuel tanks; Reece, who was working on an improvement to the engines, was critically wounded in the blast and was rushed to the medical bay. Ryla was now faced with an immense decision, being the qualified medic on board, her expertise could maybe save Reeces life yet the loss of the engine had sent the mining vessel careering out of control, dangerously close to the asteroid they were mining. It was the Captains life or the ships and Ryla knew the decision she had to make, even though the memories would haunt her for many years afterwards. Giving orders to keep Reece stabalised, Ryla seized control of the ships flight systems and for a tense 30 minutes struggled to bring the ship under enough control for the co-pilot to take over again. Hurrying to the medical bay, Ryla was grieved to find out that Reece was beyond saving. Tears streaming from her eyes, she leant down to hold the man who had brought her dream to life and, in his dying words, he named Ryla as captain of the Radiance.
In one short, brief moment, Ryla had fufilled her vow to emulate her father and captain her own vessel yet it was a bitter victory for her and it was a quiet journey back to Mirnok for the funeral of Reece Golas, his body ejected from the hold to burn down like a comet through the atmosphere of his homeworld. Turning the ship around, Ryla headed away from her world and never looked back.
Present Day
Since leaving Mirnok, Ryla has joined with the Alliance of Avalon and pledged herself and her crews full support behind Corwin. She is still a resolute miner and likes nothing better than finding a juicy untouched asteroid and has thrown herself into supplying ores for her factions shipyard. Ryla is a complete pacifist and believes fighting leads to little gain in the galaxy as a whole and, whilst she accepts it happens, Ryla would never fire her ships weapons in anger and instead prefers to maintain a support role behind the scenes. Currently she has invested in a Miniac MKII Deluxe to aid her mining efforts and hopes to upgrade again as soon as possible