Chapter Text
The Catalina family, Bartoz, Persephone, and Lyra, fled the Drar'ek homeworld of Gothard, as the Triumvirate Council advanced ideologies that were to the Council's benefit rather than the society's. Persephone and Solan had been more than a little outspoken against the new policies, laws, and regulations, which painted a target on the family. Solan had been killed as they made their escape. They fled to a distant planet, one which the Drar'ek had once considered for invasion and colonization, but had decided the war with the natives wasn't worth the concentration of resources.
When they fled their home system, Lyra was too young to grasp the enormity of the enmity her remaining parents faced, but agreed with them, in general. And the prospect of seeing another planet? That sounded AWESOME to her! When they arrived on Earth, almost a decade later, they worked hard to fit in. Lyra being more adaptable, had few Drar habits to unlearn. But she doesn't want to catch the attention of any Drar'ek.
Earth and Gothard shared a common genetic ancestry, when the various worlds were seeded with the foundations of life. That's why humans and drar'ek can exist on the same planets. But the development of Earth's system differed enough from the Drar'ek system that Lyra has found herself with what Earthers call Super Powers. Her parents might have developed them as well, but they had long since finished puberty, when such bodily changes might have occurred.
Another major biological difference is the human’s technically binary physiology. Drar genetics requires a triad for reproduction – male, female, and wodehl; Solan was wodehl (the wodehl parent is called 'Nabi' by the offspring). Humans and Drar’ek can not create offspring at all, as the Drar require that third set of genetic material. Drar society has no taboo against multiple partners, but public displays are about on par with Human societal expectations. Friendly, casual, discreet.
Lyra gets frustrated that she doesn't understand some of the social customs, and sometimes, her temper gets the better of her. Things wind up broken. Or burnt. Or she'll remove herself from the frustrating situation with all speed, but that's cowardly, and Lyra is no coward! Thus, she gets even more angry, and the breaking and yelling and carrying on.
When the transport the Catalina family was on it's approach to Earth, they applied for political asylum. Persephone and Bartoz were first directly interviewed by Vanguard representatives, and then evaluated by Numina, due to the powers that now late teen-aged Lyra was exhibiting. It was agreed that Persephone and Bartoz would cooperate with Vanguard in upstate New York, cataloging and working with Drar’ek artifacts left from the attempted invasion in the 1970s. Lyra would attend university in Steel Canyon, in Paragon City, and be trained in her powers by Longbow, in order to join their ranks upon graduation.
In the three weeks prior to her starting classes, Lyra had English installed into her consciousness by one of Longbow’s psychics. While the language is in place, she has trouble with the grammatical structure and pronunciation of some words. She will occasionally misinterpret what she’s heard, or makes the wrong connection with words or phrases that have multiple meanings. When she speaks, her cadence and drawl resembles what many people believe to be a Russian accent. She does not speak Russian, but her native Drar’ek does sound vaguely Slavic, especially if she speaks quickly.
Shortly after Lyra started attending classes at university, it was time for Spring Rush, along College Row. Wanting to fit in with her fellow students, to get more immersed in human and collegiate societies, Lyra attended the parties, saw and got seen at various sororities, and found herself tapped for Lambda Chi Nu (ΛXN).
For several weeks, things were going great for Lyra. She was keeping up in her classes, able to get some assistance and explanations from her sorority sisters, as well as her professors, and several of the people working with her in Longbow. She contacted her family almost every day, either by cell phone or face-chat. Her powers training, however, was quickly outstripping everyone else’s expectations. Lyra pushed herself hard, wanting to master these potentially dangerous abilities her body was encapsulating, so she wouldn’t hurt her new friends by accident. Once she had her basic abilities mastered, and she was cleared to register as a super, she took the name of a comet that once came in view of Earth, Arend Roland (a hyperbolic comet discovered in 1956, and will never again be seen by Earth observers).
Following leads from City Hall, when she wasn’t studying for classes or working out with Longbow, Arend Roland quickly became another name on the streets of Paragon City, even on Peregrine Island. She rocketed forth, bursting through the Incarnate wall, and is not an uncommon sight when battling back the Rikti in the Warzone.
Arend Roland will be the first to say that she is no sort of leader. She has no love for Clockwork, and takes a vicious delight in turning them into scrap metal, or “making ready for recycling,” as she likes to put it. It was during a rescue she was assisting with in Skyway City when she had been separated from her team, and she was overwhelmed by Clockwork, who came within inches to killing her. The flash of her power burst, released just before unconsciousness struck, caught Voidmaster’s attention, bringing him into the fight as well. He then used his mystical powers to resuscitate Arend, and that was the start of their friendship – two aliens bonding over a common enemy. Clockwork.
Arend Roland began learning tai-chi and meditative techniques from Voidmaster, in his dojo somewhere in the Rogue Isles. She does not discuss this aspect, as there are doubts regarding his existence. He’s real enough to her, and he seems content to leave others’ uncertainty in place.
But then, she disappeared from Paragon City, literally overnight.
She got a message from a contact, to meet them in Independence Port, where she was ambushed, knocked out, and taken to Mercy Island. She was dumped in an abandoned apartment, implanted with a tracker, with a new super-suit, that had an attached headset, and was instructed to perform a series of tasks, or else her identity would be released, as well as her parents, and the fact that they are members of the alien race that tried to invade Earth almost fifty years earlier. And to ensure compliance, the voice also threatened her friends, proving their seriousness by having a mugger knife the girl in the dorm room next to her own, on campus. The neighbor was not seriously injured, but it cowed Lyra into compliance. She did not want her friends hurt, did not want her parents endangered. She didn’t know who had done this to her, or why, but she would bite her tongue and do as directed. She managed to attend her classes remotely, from the library computers in the Rogue Isles, and briefly, Praetoria, as she was dispatched there for her handler’s amusement.
But Longbow is quickly making the connection with the new Incarnate prowling the Rogue Isles, with the occasional foray into Paragon City to cause mayhem, and the missing alien asylum seeker. They are working extra hard to capture this new villain, to either prove or disprove the current working theory. The urgency was increased after Cacophony failed to prevent the mysterious woman in the purple suit from robbing the bank in Independence Port.
While performing errands for Tavish Bell in Grandville, Arend Roland found herself facing Synapse, a member of the Freedom Phalanx. This was especially troubling for Lyra, as she'd been studying Longbow history, and in her studies, came across some very interesting lore, which manifested with her Incarnate abilities: the spirits of two fallen Longbow occasionally come to aid her, even in her villainous state. They understand what she's going through, and have helped her not fall into complete despair over her situation.