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Early Years:
Nesota Kynnovan was born in the Kabray city of Anatola, 28 years before the Purge, as the daughter and oldest child of KDF-Officer Wain Kynnovan and his wife, the Scientist Selena Kynnovan. Due to the ambitious nature and full-time professions of both her parents Nesota spent a lot of time with Miss Arroyo, a nanny hired by her mother to look after the baby.
With a father that was away 10 out of 12 months and a mother that only came home during the evenings the young Nesota leaned towards Miss Arroyo most, developing a strong bond with the seemingly cold nanny that almost suppressed the bond she had with the person she felt to be her mother.
Having two women around her that continually looked after her was very confusing at first for the young Nesota, and it wasn’t until the age of 3, when she started with Primary School, that she got a slight feeling of “Mommy is my mommy and Miss Arroyo is my second mommy.”, separating the two women in her mind and now finally starting to develop the bond between her and her mother.
Primary School:
The first few years in primary school weren’t specifically hard for the toddler. Although slightly drawn back when in the group due to not being used to that much people of her own age, she was known to react cheerful and happy when approached on her own. After the months passed Nesota slowly got more used to being in contact with people of her age, and it wouldn’t be long after that moment that she would start interacting with her young classmates in the same cheerful, happy way she acted when approached by a teacher individually. However, being confronted by a group still made her extremely nervous and caused her to make mistakes she otherwise shouldn’t have made.
When the years passed, Nesota gradually became more comfortable with her classmates and even joined in the so-called “group forming”, something in which she had always refused to participate in the past. Unfortunately, with the classmates problem out of the way, another problem presented itself to Nesota… a phenomenon called “homework”. While she wasn’t the only one to have problems with it, her newly-found friends managed to pull themselves through with the help of their parents. Unfortunately for Nesota, her mother wouldn’t come home during the evening, in which Nesota herself was already too tired to make homework, and Miss Arroyo reacted very cold with an “we had to make it by ourselves when I was still young” and didn’t made a single effort to really help the girl. And as a result the pile of homework became bigger and bigger and her grades more and more worse.
After a while, the teacher and school board came to the conclusion there wouldn’t be any improvement in the current situation. The teacher, feeling there had to be something that caused her lack of attention to her homework, pled for some extra time to the school board. Extra time he received in the form of an ultimatum. If Nesota’s grades would rise again within a month she could stay at school. The other side of the medal was that Nesota would be expelled if her grades wouldn’t stop falling. The teacher, realising very well that being expelled on a planet as Kabray meant the end of a child’s school-going career contacted the Kynnovan residence in the late hours of the evening, trying to talk to mrs. Kynnovan directly.
And the results of his call wouldn’t go unnoticed. The next day, when Nesota was free of school, she woke up with a very pleasant surprise. Instead of waking up with the usual voice of Miss Arroyo that told her to help with the work in and around the house she woke up by the friendly voice of her mother and the smell of pancakes. Burnt pancakes, but a friendly gesture nonetheless. At first, she was confused why her mother hadn’t left for work yet, but upon seeing her outfit, a pink nightgown and fluffy pink slippers, it became clear to Nesota that she wouldn’t leave for work at all.
That day was a day Nesota would remember for the rest of her life… for the following couple of months at least. The day started with something very memorable… she had breakfast with her mother. During the breakfast they even had the time for a normal conversation. Nesota actually expected her mother to be angry when the topic “school” was mentioned, but to her big surprise her mother showed some understanding… and quite a bit of it as well. It even went that far her mother told the young Nesota she hadn’t been a star either in school when she had been Nesota’s age.
Oh, her mother had been angry with Miss Arroyo later on for not notifying her about Nesota’s homework problem, but Nesota never experienced any of her mothers anger nor the result of it. The only think she really noticed was the slightly colder way of how Miss Arroyo treated her. But the day wasn’t spoiled by her mother’s anger against Miss Arroyo… not at all. The most memorable thing still had to come. Oh, and it was an experience Nesota still remembers the day of today… the experience every Anatol youth experienced at least once… the annual Gualaar chariot races at the Anatola Ring. It was also the only time when Nesota witnessed her mother betting on something as “ordinary” (like she put it herself) as Gualaar chariot racing.
Yes, it was a day Nesota still partly remembers today as one of the only days her mother really spent time with her. The extra attention from her mother did had it’s results though, because the teacher and school board saw sudden changes in her grades which were slowly, very slowly climbing back up again now Nesota had this air of happiness about her, knowing her mother, now a Scientist, was once a bad student in primary school as well.
Nesota would eventually pass primary school, despite all things that had happened along the road, maybe the most shocking one, the one that almost made her fall back into her old habits of slacking and not making homework being the birth of brother Nivian Kynnovan when she was 8 years old.
I wanted a Tuggle, no baby brother:
Nesota remembers that cold, rainy night in the winter months of the year. Her mother’s belly had been big the last months, and Nesota was told she’d get a baby brother or sister soon. At first, Nesota had liked it, but when her mother took her pregnancy leaves from work she soon became jealous about the amount of attention the unborn baby received from her mother. As far as she knew her mother never took a day off for her. She couldn’t even remember if her mother took free of work when she was in her belly herself.
Her jealousy, a feeling that was only increased by the lack of attention she now even got from Miss Arroyo, reached it’s boiling point when her baby brother Nivian was born. Her father, an officer in the KDF, got home a few days earlier, just to see the baby and his pregnant wife. The fact that his shift had ended and that he came home for his two-month shore leave didn’t came up in the mind of the young Nesota. It was allright that he came home, yes, but the lack of attention she received from her father, a hero in her eyes because he was an officer in the KDF, made her reach her boiling point. That stupid baby brother got all the attention while she was left in the cold. And she didn’t even want a baby brother… she wanted a Tuggle.
The months that followed the birth of her brother weren’t very easy for the young Nesota either. Her parents only paid attention to the baby while they left Nesota without any attention (at least, in her eyes). Even Miss Arroyo, that had been acting quite cold since the talk she had with her mother, seemed to almost completely ignore her by now.
Oh, and she had tried to like the baby boy, she really did, but it just didn’t worked out between the two of them. Nivian could only cackle, cry, eat and sleep. And between those activities he stared at everything with a look in his eyes like he saw water burning. From that moment she actually felt a deep dislike for the boy that seemed to take her place. Not only by the fact that he claimed all the attention from her parents but the sore spot really was the fact her parents and nanny, HER parents and nanny, gave so much love and attention to that insolent thing that had barged into her perfect little world.
And then, completely unexpected, the last shock came. Her mother never returned to work again. From her mother’s perspective it was to pay more attention to her two children (her job just couldn’t do anymore with two children sitting at home), but Nesota was deeply hurt because of it. It seemed just like her mother loved Nivian so much she stayed home just to be with him… something she’d never done with her when she was young! Oh, the feelings of disgust, jealousy and rivalry that awakened in the young girl can’t be described, but from that moment she started making connections in a way only an 8-year old can do. Her mother once took a day off from work just for her when her school was bad… if she would do it again, would her mother stop looking after that heap of Kabray that had barged into their life? Most definitely…
Luckily for her the teacher, knowing she had a new baby brother, noticed the sudden drop of her grades in time and called her mother to notify her of the current situation. And Nesota would know it when she came home from school later that day. While her mother wasn’t really angry, she wasn’t happy at that moment either. Together they shared a long talk in which Nesota eventually told the reasons behind her recent behaviour to her now slightly emotional mother. Her mother in turn told why they were giving more attention to the baby, trying to make Nesota understand. While the girl didn’t understood or wanted to understand, the apologies she got from her mother and the promise to look after her a little better did made things better.
After that, an immediate improvement was noticed in her schoolwork and her grades. Nesota Kynnovan would pass primary school 5 years later without any real problems.
Anatola City High School:
The Anatola High School had four levels of education and a student, based on his or her primary school performance and grades would be sorted in either Basic, Standard, Advanced or Master levels. Nesota Kynnovan, now a 13-year old girl, or young woman as she preferred it, got sorted into the Standard level of the Anatola City High School. Her class, SY1-C3, consisted of several of her primary school classmates but also several new students from different other primary schools scattered across Anatola. With so many new people, the forming of groups wouldn’t stay out for long and after a week most social standings and groups were decided.
Nesota, despite being part of the group forming almost immediately got the social standing of a shy, silent person that only spoke when being spoken to in the class and her level of activity within a group mostly depended on the size. The smaller the group the more enthusiast and talkative Nesota was.
The first few years of the 4-year school program went just fine according to her opinion. Her classmates left her alone and she left them alone in return while her grades weren’t bad either. No surprise though, seeing the mistakes she’d made during primary school. After learning of her mother’s primary school career she had the dream of graduating with at least an Advanced degree. No… Nesota knew what she wanted with her life. She would graduate with an Advanced degree and start a career as a KDF-Officer in the Kabray Defense Force, just like her father.
Unfortunately, that road would turn out to be a road full of disappointments and refusals. When she graduated at the age of 17 she had a talk with the school’s student advisor to discuss the various career paths that would be available for someone with a Standard degree. Much to her surprise, the man couldn’t restrain a chuckle when she told him of her desire to become an Officer in the Kabray Defense Force. Nesota, already displeased by his total lack of attention became even more displeased when the student advisor brought her the news, not even trying to make it sound less harsh.
It would be the first disappointment in her military career, and it hadn’t even started. The student advisor told her the Kabray Defense Force wouldn’t allow females to the Officer Academy unless they had a Master degree, which was very unfair seeing men needed Advanced degrees to enter the Officer Academy. The second disappointment would come immediately after the first. After Nesota told the student Advisor she would just go for her Master Degree then, he told her it was impossible. Kabray law regarding education insisted female citizens should be ready and start working once they would be 20 years old and unfortunately it would take 4 more years to complete Master degree.
Nesota, very disappointed at that point, told the student advisor she didn’t cared, and decided to go for her Advanced degree anyway, planning to graduate with that degree at the age of 19 and proving the instructors of the KDF Physicals that she would be good enough to become an Officer even with an Advanced degree.
Nesota eventually graduated with an Advanced degree two years later and applied for a job in the Kabray Defense Force the same month.
The Kabray Defense Force:
As expected, life in the Kabray Defense Force wasn’t easy. Her parents, while both having mixed feelings about it (father told her not to go to the Kabray Defense Force and mother was proud she put it through) she eventually went to the Academy for her physicals.
The physicals were, although gone completely fair, very hard for Nesota. While her mindset was good enough and her physical health was good as well she almost failed on her strength. The only thing that made her pass anyway was the strength she had in her legs to compensate for what she lacked in her arms.
So with her physicals passed and a fresh paper in her pocket a very happy Nesota was sent home with the message to pick up her uniforms and report for duty two days later. Her parents, both home when she returned from her physicals, responded with mixed feelings. Her mother was very happy she made it through, while her father became slightly aggravated to hear his daughter made it through, something which her mother responded to by becoming angry herself because father lacked the enthusiasm and happiness for his daughter. The uneasy atmosphere would remain until Nesota departed for the Academy two days later, in which the atmosphere was only made worse when her father’s genuinely was questioned by her mother when he wished her a good time in the Academy, something that started an argument that made Nesota quickly run towards the nearest taxi stand.
Unfortunately enough the trouble hadn’t stopped by just running away. It turned out she was still right in the middle of it the moment she picked up her equipment. The quartermaster, a man that came over to her as a grumpy man had told her in a very annoyed way how he had to turn the entire magazine inside out to find a uniform for someone of her gender and her sizes. Although she mostly ignored it and just went to a changing booth to change into her uniform, reason enough for another sadistic comment from the man, Nesota now started to realise it could’ve been harder than she’d originally expected now the comments had already started during the first five minutes in the KDF”s service.
The rest of her training, as much as she hated to admit it, wasn’t very rose-coloured either. Although she had a lot of mental support from Liora Solon, a recruit she’d met during the early days of her training. Without the mental support she had from her, and Nesota had the feeling it was mutual, she wouldn’t have made it through all the sadism and discrimination.
Although Nesota and Liora both graduated, the annoying time she had during training wouldn’t be over. No… it was about to begin. It happened just after the graduation ceremony. Nesota had received her orders to report to the KDF Sub-Officer Training for further training, and she immediately told Liora about it, happy to spend more time with her friend until they had to be separated. Unfortunately, the separation came much earlier than they’d had expected. It turned out, much to their grief, that Liora wasn’t going to Sub-Officer training but would go to the field instead, just because of the difference between the Standard and Advanced degrees on which they had graduated. Nesota would be alone all again in a sadistic, hostile environment meant to get her out of the military.
And the following three months pushed Nesota to her limits. The sadistic bullying of her male instructors and students had become even worse in Sub-Officer Training, and without a soul mate that lends you the necessary mental support and helps you through everything it proved to be even more stressful.
Luckily enough it was over before Nesota really got a breakdown, and she noticed her instructors, despite their way of hiding it, were quietly impressed with her shown ability to handle the extreme stress of being bullied every day. And she was finally done… no more stress, no more bullying and no more training. It was time for the real work now.
The real work:
Nesota got assigned to the Kabray Defense Force’s 92nd Platoon as the Commanding Officer of the Beta Squadron. While her superiors mostly looked down upon a female CO (something that was often demonstrated through the inspection results she received), she nonetheless persevered, refusing to allow that to be a barrier to her progression.
The first weeks as the CO of Beta Squadron proved to be most interesting. The soldiers under her command, be it only 10, showed quite some trouble following the orders given to them by a female CO, someone they probably saw as inferior. At first, Nesota never really bothered much. They checked every order with Corporal Kinnsley, her Second-in-Command that wasn’t really friendly towards her either, but the orders were done anyway, be it not directly, but they were done.
The real shock came when the inspection arrived again, only to find the men under her command very displeased with her command capabilities. While she had expected support from her Platoon Lieutenant, she was utterly shocked when she found herself called a bad commander in front of her own troops, who found it very amusing to find her reprimanded in such a way. He pushed her over her limits when he also demoted her back to the rank of Private in that same furious rant, something that made her barge out of the conversation holding back her tears. Ex-Sergeant Nesota Kynnovan sent her resignation letter to the KDF Headquarters that same day, not wanting to be in an Army like that any longer.
Back home:
Her father couldn’t really hide his pleasure or relief too well when he heard Nesota had quit the KDF and was back home again. It was something that made her mother immediately disconnect the holo-transmission to him with a furious look being the last thing he saw. Her military career with the KDF hadn’t lasted for a year and it had driven Nesota into a huge depression the moment she returned home, her biggest dream destroyed.
Her mother, feeling sorry for Nesota, approached her with another offer. A new Embassy had just opened in Anatola, and it turned out they had a large army as well, probably even bigger than the army of the KDF. Nesota, first not wanting to listen was eventually persuaded by her mother to pay a visit to this new Republic Embassy anyway, and so she went to the Embassy complex the following day, still not feeling slightly comfortable after weeks of depression.
Strangely enough the Republic Military Personnel she encountered weren’t sadistic towards her at all. Quite the contrary, they came over to her as very friendly, polite and even respectful. They only stopped her to ask for her business on the Embassy grounds, and to her big surprise they didn’t even laughed at her but allowed her to visit the Republic Ambassador to direct her questions to him personally.
The Ambassador was a friendly man who took the time to listen to her story and questions. Much to her surprise, he didn’t laughed but even admitted her felt sorry for the way she was treated in the Kabray Defense Force. She felt slightly toyed with when the Ambassador promised to relay the question (permission to join the Republic Army) and story to the people who could help her. She went home, realising she probably wouldn’t be called back by the Ambassador anyway. She had left her address in the hope he would keep true to his word, but knowing politicians…
It was quite a shock for Nesota when a Republic Soldier arrived at her house a few days later to notify her of the good news. The question had been relayed to the proper people and they had accepted her on the condition she agreed to come to a planet called Carida where their Academy was located. If she would approve she would even be picked up by a Republic ship headed in that direction that same afternoon. At first she thought it was just a cruel joke on their part, the reality somehow not coming through to her. It was when her mother hugged her when she realised what was really being said and what was about to happen.
And yes, after saying goodbye to her mother and displeased father she was on her way. It was very strange at first, being on a Republic warship filled with both men and women that worked together as equals and to be welcomed with such enthusiasm by the crew command staff. It was differing so much with the KDF that she already loved the Republic after five minutes.
The Republic Military:
The Caridan Military Academy was so different than the Kabray Academy. The students and instructors were nice to her, to begin with, and she was allowed a fair shot at the Sub-Officer Academy without being bullied by everyone and everything that was male. She even developed a friendship with male Sub-Candidate Travis Fyaar, something that was supposed to be impossible or very inappropriate at the Kabray Academy.
Nesota now passed the physicals, Basic training and Sub-Officer Training with easy and without stress, something that never happened in the Kabray Defense Force. With her new papers fresh in her pocket she was transferred to the Delta Squadron of the 3rd Platoon, again as a CO. Her troopers were now very nice to her, and, surprisingly enough her Corporal now turned out to be Travis Fyaar, the Sub-Candidate that failed his final test and seemingly ended up as a commissioned . But how strange it was to finally have a Second-in-Command that didn’t tolerated any disobedience towards the Sergeant he held in very high standards.
For the first time Nesota was in love… in love with the Republic Army she’d found. The Republic Army she’d serve for many years with a career that didn’t seemed to stall. She would continue to serve in the 3rd Platoon, eventually reaching the rank of Staff Sergeant.
Changing of the guard:
Nesota’s career suddenly stalled for the next years, leaving her a Staff Sergeant in the 54th Platoon. She actually didn’t mind though, seeing as Travis Fyaar had become a Sergeant finally and was still working very closely with her and the friendliness of the Platoon were so great she didn’t want to get a promotion to Lieutenant, Officer School and a new Platoon.
Her big opportunity came completely surprised. It was when message of the Republic’s fall reached the Platoon, telling them they were now serving an Empire. A shock went through the Platoon, and Nesota, in love with the Platoon, actually didn’t knew what to do or think of it. The way she grabbed her chance came as a reflex though. It was when Lieutenant Varon Thont, the leader of the 54th Platoon approached their platoon, telling them they’d form up against the Empire and take their chances to restore the Republic now the Empire was still weak.
It happened as a reflex actually. Realising the Empire was the current government and betraying them would be treason, she had unholstered her sidearm and pulled the trigger before she even realised what she’d been doing. It would take the Platoon some time to realise, but when the lifeless body of the Lieutenant hit the ground the Platoon would be standing against each other, weapons drawn and aiming at each other. Pro-Imperials and Pro-Republic. Nesota hadn’t been Anti-Republic at that point, but seeing as how she’d shot her Commanding Officer she knew there was no way back to the Republic she once loved so much.
And so, the Second-in-Command that practically everyone had been staring at, walked towards the Imperial side of the platoon, followed by Sergeant Fyaar that abruptly left the Republic side, slowly followed by the people of his Squad. With the sudden turning of the tables the Squad remaining threw down their weapons rather than fighting their friends. The battle between friends had been solved by 1 reflex shot… and the Empire had another Platoon that had joined them in their cause.
Consequences:
Despite having shot her Commanding Officer, the career of Staff Sergeant Kynnovan suddenly made another leap forwards and she soon found herself on Carida again with her biggest dream coming true. She would become a Lieutenant. Although she had sacrificed her other dream of staying with her platoon, she felt happy. The new regime of their leader Josdon had brought them nothing else than joy and happiness so far.
The Imperialised version of the Caridan Academy was much more strict though, but Nesota blamed it on the usual strictness of an Officer School which was only made more tense by the sudden change of government. No doubt the same issues she had was happened between the instructors and students here as well. She didn’t really had a bad time there as well, the only thing that really troubled her was the thought she wouldn’t see her 54th Platoon again.
That’s why the shock was so big when she received her transfer orders after her graduation three months later. She was to be transferred to the 3rd Platoon, where a certain Staff Sergeant Travis Fyaar was leading the place until a Lieutenant would be available.
The new Lieutenant Kynnovan almost ran towards her shuttle after the graduation ceremony, and re-established contact with her Platoon a couple of days later. Lieutenant Nesota Kynnovan is currently still leading the 3rd Platoon and were last seen on Kabray where they assisted in putting down riots around the Imperial Embassy.
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