Luka

Luka was adopted at a young age by Gabriel Castello, the head of the wealthy Castello family and a shrewd businessman who had political aspirations. Seeking to boost his own reputation, the man took in five war orphans after his wife passed away without leaving him any children.

Gabriel Castello was not a particularly nurturing father, preferring to leave his children in the care of his nursemaids and housekeepers, rather than tending to them himself. But in general, he always gave them whatever they wanted, particularly when it came to material goods. As a result, Luka and his siblings grew up rather spoiled.

As the eldest among the children, Luka had to shoulder part of the responsibility of taking care of the younger ones. In turn, Gabriel Castello would come to rely on him the most and he was named the Castello heir.

When he was six years old, Luka encountered a young Feilin at a fancy gala attended by their parents. They became fast friends, and Luka would frequently demand his father to invite Feilin over for play dates. Luka adored Feilin, the only friend he had  close to his own age that wasn't one of his siblings. However, their friendship would not last as Feilin was taken away from Adelphi by his father, who did not want his son to grow up on a war-torn planet. No matter how many tantrums little Luka threw, there was nothing he nor his father could do to get his friend back.

At the age of fourteen, in response to the growing Sercaprian threat, Luka was enrolled into the military academy by Gabriel, who wanted his son to become a successful military officer and bring more prestige to the family. Luka had no inclinations towards any career path, so he went along with his father’s wishes.

Not wanting to disappoint Gabriel, he worked hard to earn a spot at the top of his class. Despite his unfriendliness, his stellar results allowed him to garner a sizeable following, as many sought to befriend him be it for his own prestige, or for that of his family’s. Within his first two years at the academy, Luka became the undisputed “prince” that no one dared to defy.

However, at the start his third year at the academy, he was confronted by an underclassman for monopolising the practice battle simulator. To his shock, that underclassman turned out to be none other than Feilin, his long lost childhood friend. Feilin challenged him to a tactical battle on the simulator, a challenge that Luka accepted, to everyone’s surprise. And to even greater shock, it was a challenge he would then go on to lose.

As it turned out, Feilin had no recollection of Luka, while Luka still thought of him as a dear friend. Despite this, Luka sought to reconcile their friendship. To him, Feilin was the only person who did not seem to be afraid of him, never mind that Feilin was the only person who had nothing to fear from him.

Luka never attempted to conceal his reputation as a tyrant, but he was, by his own standards, particularly gracious towards Feilin. And despite some initial apprehension towards his intentions, Feilin was happy enough to befriend him again.

As they spent more time together, Luka’s soft spot for his childhood friend evolved into a crush. Yet, he chose to keep it a secret, not wanting to ruin the friendship he had tried so hard to earn back.

Hence, even as the rumour mill surrounding their relationship churned on, they never actually became an item throughout their school years. And they would be separated again as Luka graduated from the academy two years ahead of Feilin.

Upon his graduation and subsequent excellent performance in a few key battles, Luka was quickly promoted through the ranks of the Adelphian navy. He attained the rank of Admiral at the age of 21, merely three years after his graduation, although his record as the youngest Admiral to have ever been instated would be broken by Feilin in the subsequent year.

For several years, his relationship with Feilin did not develop beyond that of colleagues and occasional drinking buddies. They flirted sometimes and enjoyed each other’s companionship, but Luka never dared to broach the subject of a serious relationship.

And all too soon, a power struggle between Feilin’s family, the Herschels, and the Castellos would tear them apart once more.

After the Castellos briefly gain the upper hand, Luka was enraged to discover that his father had Feilin exiled to the other end of the galaxy. Desperate to protect Feilin, he allied himself with Ilse Herschel to overthrow his father.

Soon enough, Gabriel Castello recognised that he was fighting a losing battle. In order to salvage the family’s reputation, he acquiesced to his son’s demands put an end to the in-fighting. He agreed to surrender control of the Adelphian Council to Ilse Herschel in exchange for a peaceful retirement. A truce would also be established with the Herschels, which would be symbolised by an arranged marriage between the respective heirs of the two families.

It was in this unexpected manner that Luka found himself engaged to Feilin. Yet as he set off to bring Feilin back to Adelphi, more bad news struck — Feilin had been captured by a Sercaprian general.

For the next two years, Luka took up countless assignments on the frontlines, hoping that against all odds, Feilin would still be alive and that he could find a way to rescue him. However, after a small fleet of scout ships he sent out was captured by the enemy as well, he called off the search, unable to deal with the guilt of sacrificing more men to a helpless cause.

To his astonishment, two weeks later, the scout ships returned with none other than Feilin in tow. Ecstatic to be reunited at long last, Luka confessed his feelings to Feilin. Feilin was taken aback by his words, but agreed to be wed to him in the end with somewhat forced enthusiasm.

Their troubles did not come to an end even after their return to Adelphi. Feilin was put under probation for his involvement with the Sercaprians, although he was cleared of most suspicions in recognition of the role he played in helping the crew of the captured ships to return safely. Yet, it was deniable to Luka that Feilin had changed.

While Feilin appeared to be the same composed and charismatic leader outwardly,  Luka bore witness to his bouts of despair and his frequent nightmares. But he loved Feilin all the same, and he was happy above all else that Feilin reciprocated his love, even if he couldn’t tell whether it was genuine.

Luka tried to free Feilin from the war, often volunteering for missions in his stead, or making arrangements for them to go on joint operations together. Yet all his efforts would be in vain when a Sercaprian fleet managed to evade all of their defenses and launched a direct attack on Adelphi while he was away on a mission.

Once again, he arrived too late and this time, Feilin was truly gone, having sacrificed himself to destroy the Sercaprian fleet.

Unable to accept Feilin’s death, Luka, together with Ilse Herschel, sought to bring him back in the form of a genetic clone. Thus began Project GENEsis, an initiative to preserve and clone selected genetic templates to create a new generation of superhuman soldiers. The caveat was that the clones had to be created as children, before growing into adults at the same pace as a regular human. They would also not possess any memories of the individual they had been cloned from.

Luka was tasked with raising the first clone of Feilin, a little boy designated as B1. While he was well aware that the clone was in no way some sort of reincarnation of his beloved, he adored the child like his own son. Yet in another cruel twist of fate, a defect in the child’s genetic template caused him to fall ill, and he did not survive past his seventh birthday.

The second clone of Feilin was designated B2, and like his predecessor, placed in Luka’s care. Once more, Luka devoted himself to looking after the boy. B2 was healthy enough, but he was no different from a regular human boy, and thus, he was killed in an accident during a particularly harsh training session before his twelfth birthday.

After the death of his second ward and having witnessed the cruelty that the clone child had been subjected to, Luka was incapable of associating himself with the project any longer. He cut off all ties with it and went on to serve in the Adelphian navy for a few more years.

When his younger brother, a talented pilot, was killed in action as well, Luka became disillusioned with the war and resigned altogether. He took over his father’s businesses and helped to managed the family’s finances for some time, before retiring for good.

50 years later, he rarely leaves the Castello family home and is occasionally visited by his grandniece, Nathalia Castello.