Comet

The Halleans

Comet's race of people, she is now among the last remnant of their existence, as their home planet was destroyed by the Rogue Saint Ehori six years ago during The Scourge.

Halleans were known for never leaving their home planet, many opting to stay put. This has led to their culture and language essentially being wiped from existence during the Scourge.

Due to how few surviving Halleans are left, it is expected that everything they were will soon forever be erased from memory, and die alongside the last members of their race. The estimated number of Halleans left, is around 25 or so.

Before the Scourge

Comet managed to survive the Scourge by sheer luck of not being on the planet during it's destruction, she had ran away from her planet in a fit of rebellious anger towards her parents, only for their last argument to be the last time she ever saw them alive. "Comet" isn't even her real name, the true name her parents gave her in the Hallean tounge is "El'aiy-nnah" (pronounced the same as Helena in the Universal language).

The reason for their argument was due to the fact that Comet had long dreamed of venturing the stars. Gazing up at the skies at night had filled her head with the idea of visitng different planets and star systems, though her parents being very traditional, forbid her from doing so at all. The only Halleans that ever left the planet were diplomats or scientists, neither of which Comet was interested in becoming.

The more she dreamt of leaving her home, the more she wished someone would just wisk her away into the cosmos, to just leave everything behind and journey through space. Well it was on Comet's 18th birthday, that she had finally made her decision, to go behind her parents backs and take a space vessel into the cosmos. She spent a few months planning this, down to the route she'd take, she had heard rumors about a planet full of half-cybernetic people with huge cities that was located only a few lightyears away, she figured that would be a suitable first stop on her grand adventure.

Once night had fallen, she tried to sneak out of her home, but was caught by her parents, and the confrontation quickly became an intense argument. Comet complaining that she was too tied down to their traditions, she wanted to be free. Her parents were having none of it, and in anger, Comet stormed out, running to the spacecraft she had stolen, and with tears beginning to well up in her eyes, Comet blasted off into the great frontier. Little did she know, that she had just saved her own life.

It all happened so fast, the moment she had exited the pull of the planet's atmosphere, it was destroyed, imploded by the Rouge Saint Ehori through a mad cult ritual that had taken place within the planet. Comet witnessed her planet break apart and be swallowed by a black hole, and then in the very next moment, there was nothing left, it was as if the planet never existed to begin with. She was speechless, dumbstruck, terrified. She couldn't make a single noise, she just stared at the dreadful vacancy in horror, as the tears from before came in streaming like waterfalls down her face. For a long while she didn't know what to do, she simply floated in the void motionless. Until she ran out of fuel and needed to be rescued by a freighter vessel.

The Aftermath

After being rescued, she would be placed onto a new planet in a refugee camp, at the very least, she had finally set foot onto another world, she took that small victory as a comfort, but she knew that from here on, nothing would ever be the same. She spent countless nights staring at the night sky, just as she used to, but in the privacy of these late hours, she'd cry to herself, remembering her friends and family, the mother and father she had childishly yelled at before running off. "I should have been there with them" would be the loudest words running through her troubled head, but she tried her best to keep her chin up and press onward, as difficult as that was.

There were other Halleans with her in the camp, though only five, and while this seemed to be a good way for her to reconnect with the home she lost, she found it painful to remember it. Even speaking the Hallean language would flash images of her loved ones in her mind, and nearly cause her to breakdown. She had never learned to speak the Universal language either (she could only read and comprhend it when it was spoken to her), so she couldn't even try to abandon her native tongue. Instead she kept speaking to a minimum, and eventually just decided to never speak again. Many tried to communicate with her, and others tried to teach her the Universal language, but each attempt only caused Comet to close herself off more. She began spending most days alone, sitting at some rock gazing longingly at the sky.

After a while, people would stop approaching her, leaving her be, except for one person in particular. One night, as Comet was doing her usual star gazing, a young man joined her, he introduced himself as Astryn Carinae. Astryn didn't say much else, he had most likely known of her vow of silence, and instead, he just sat next to her and stared up at the sky as well. For some reason, Comet felt drawn to Astryn immediately, he was meek, slightly nervous but his voice was kind, he didn't press her for any sort of response either, he just- joined her in the silence. Comet didn't think it possible, but had she fallen in love at first sight? "No that's not it, it can't be" she would think.

The next day, she ran into Astryn again, and upon seeing him, she felt her heart skip a beat, and once again, was drawn to the Sinkorovan. He would spend hours telling her about the Astral Goddess, and how she could comfort anyone going through dark times, Comet didn't really buy any of it, but she was happy to just be near Astryn, to see his passion as he spoke, to see the kindess he would show others, it was all so... magical to her, like he was the one she dreamed would take her away into the galaxy, the one who would take her away from everything. Well she wouldn't be wrong about that, as one fateful day, Astryn had asked her if she would follow him back to his home planet, just the thought of travelling to another planet with Astryn brought back Comet's adventerous spirit, and with an excited nod, she agreed without a moments hesitation. Unfortunately, she was about to relive the nightmare once again.

Astryn had told her so much about his planet, his excitement was infectious, and with every word he spoke, the more she fell in love with the young priest, that happiness she felt from him would be brief however... like fate was playing some cruel joke on her and Astryn.

It all happened so fast, it all happened again, upon reaching the edge of the planets atmosphere, Comet would watch in horror, as Astryn's home world was torn apart and swallowed by a black hole. The sight was visceral, and it brought her right back to that moment she lost everything, again she stood motionless, not able to let out a sound, there was a deafening silence aboard that vessel, as everyone there was forced to watch that planet sink into nothingness and vanish. The silence lasted for what felt like ages, until a loud thud was heard, Astryn had fell to his knees and he began to scream in sorrowful terror. He broke down, he was inconsolable, wailing and sobbing uncontrollably. Comet quickly ran to him, holding him close, trying her best to calm him, but it was no use, Astryn would continue to be hysterical like this alongside the many other Sinkorovans on the space vessel.

Eventually, they returned to the refugee camp, where Astryn would still be a total wreck. He'd cry himself to sleep every night and wake up screaming. Comet was always there to calm him down, sometimes even crying with him, as she relived the memory of her own planet being lost to the void. This would bring them even closer together, they only had each other now, and Astryn would come to describe her as his "beam of light across the dark sky", she had never told Astryn her real name, so Astryn gave her a new one, "Comet" a name she was more than happy to recieve, especially from him. That night they had officially become lovers, and would never be apart from each other.

Two years passed, and day by day, Comet would begin training herself to fight, to survive, she had tried to have Astryn join her in this training, but he was still too downtrodden, he never really saw himself as a fighter either, so Comet trained even harder, she knew she had to protect Astryn no matter what. This led her to pursue a dangerous line of work, but one that could provide for the both of them.

Comet decided she would become a Bounty Hunter.

The Silent Hunter

Bounty hunting is a high risk, high reward business. One would constantly be putting their life on the line for the sake of huge payout. Comet was resolved to do this, but Astryn feared for her, too worried about the danger bounty hunters face. Rivals, criminals and all sorts of unsavory individuals composed most Bounty Hunter Guilds, and he was worried that Comet would be seen as a high value target herself, considering how rare seeing a live Hallean was now. But Comet never did like being told "no" to her ambitions, and she managed to convince her lover that she was more than capable of handling herself in the galaxy. This also served as a good excuse to travel the stars and see what the universe has to offer.

A year passed, and Comet had begun proving herself to the bounty hunting world, building up a ruthless reputation, at first, she tried her best to bring in bounties alive, but eventually she realized she needed to stop pulling her punches, she couldn't risk any harm befalling her, for Astryn's sake. Speaking of Astryn, he had told Comet that he believed the answer he was seeking had finally shown itself, Saint Juni. Comet was there to see Astryn summon the Saint and take on the "Warrior's Trial" she couldn't believe that he Saints were real, and that one had actually come to visit Astryn. What this Warrior's Trial was, was a mystery to her, so she just sat back and watched... as Astryn failed the trial, over and over again, he would attempt to appoach the Galaxy Saint, only to be repelled back by some magical force. Saint Juni had seen enough, and departed, leaving Astryn with parting words that Comet couldn't quite catch.

Regardless of that however, Astryn was finally done. As he sat there, Comet saw a spark in his eye, a spark that quickly grew into a blazing fury, Astryn, for the first time, was angry. Comet went to his side, but he didn't seem to acknowledge her, at least not for a while, he simply looked up at the sky with a burning fire in his heart. Comet realized that he had changed, he was no longer the timid man she had met three years ago. In that moment, a new Astryn was born, an angry man who no longer put his faith into the Goddess. Comet welcomed the newfound independance and aggression, but she knew that the Saints rejection hurt Astryn deeply, so she would begin spending even more time with him, only leaving to chase a bounty whenever they needed extra cash.

More time would pass, and Comet would grow to become even deadlier, she stopped bringing in bounties alive, it was easier to haul a corpse around than someone still breathing and resisting. She grew numb to the thought of killing someone, it was just a natural part of her now, she still held on to some semblance of humanity though, her kindess towards innocent or otherwise good people never wavered, and she never let her dark line of work affect how she carried herself. Though if you ask her fellow bounty hunters, they'd say that this only made her even more terrifying to be around, it felt as if anything could set her off on a killing spree. As for her relationship with Astryn, the two still loved each other just as much as before, if not even more than that. Astryn would tend to take some time alone however, leaving for long spans of time, Comet respected his privacy and moments of contemplation, so she thought nothing of this, and so three years would pass once more, as Comet would truly become the Silent Hunter that everyone feared, "beware the woman with stars in her hair" would be a phrase she'd begin hearing a lot of, but she didn't mind, she started to enjoy this line of work.

That is, until the Cosmic Heretic appeared.

One day after bringing in another bounty and settling down at a lounge, she would start to hear murmuring around her, people gossiping about some new rumor about an insanely large bounty. This piqued Comet's curiosity, and she began listening even more attentively, talk of a madman kidnapping and murdering 20 people in one night in some psychotic ritual were making the rounds. It was predicted the bounty would be at least 500,000 for a crime of that severity. Now Comet had really started to pay attention, just has her interest was at its peak, it was announced, a new high value target was pinned down on all the Bounty Boards across the galaxy. A bounty for one BILLION. Comet couldn't believe it, one billion!? Just who was this lunatic, and why were they worth that much? She didn't hesitate, she quickly ran to the Bounty Board to see who the target was.

Her heart sank, she stood motionless...

WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE FOR THE CRIMES OF KIDNAPPING AND MURDER

ASTRYN CARINAE

REWARD: 1.000.000.000

She had to be dreaming, no not dreaming, this was a nightmare, it had to be! Astryn? A criminal? She had to know for herself, so Comet quickly ventured back to her and Astryn's home, a hideout on a little planet. It was there she saw the man she loved, covered in blood, but glowing with a wicked radiance that felt similar to that Saint she had once seen. He spoke, explaining the ritual he had conducted and claimed he had finally achieved the answer he was looking for, he started going on about how he could fix the galaxy, and return everything that they had lost. All Comet saw was a bloodsoaked monster gloating about how he had killed innocent people and raving about killing the Goddess, this was no longer the man she loved. Astryn was angry before, but this, this was insanity. Worse yet, is that he lied to her, lied about where he was going, what he was doing. Comet felt tears well up in her eyes, she couldn't bear the sight of this Astryn anymore, she was terrified, betrayed and heartbroken all at once. All she could think to do, was run.

Once again, she found herself running from a loved one after an argument, and racing off into space, with no destination in mind. She wanted to get as far away as possible from Astryn. Eventually she stopped in her tracks, floating in space, her thoughts and feelings a complete mess. Here, in the vast lonliness of space, she would breakdown in tears, she had left the only man she had ever loved, and had once again lost everything. Yet, despite what he had become, deep down, she still loved him. She believed that Astryn's inner pain and torment had reached a fever pitch, causing him to lash out in the worst way possible. She believed that there was still hope, hope that Astryn still had his pure heart, the pure soul that she had fallen in love with. She's the only one who ever understood his pain, the only one who could calm him down. He never moved on from the tragedy of that day, he never let go of the past, Comet knew this, and she knew that she could return Astryn to normal, she could help him through his heartache, just like she helped him back then.

Her resolve was set, she dried her tears and was determined to save Astryn from himself. The only issue now is that every Bounty Hunter in the galaxy and beyond is going to be after him. She won't allow any of them to hurt him, and if Astryn is truly lost, if he can't be returned to his normal self...

Then so be it... if Astryn has to die, Comet will be the one to kill him... but can she? After everything, will she be able to take the life of the man she loves?