Sionis Sepher

Sionis Sepher was the first terran "Crusader" created by the Andromisa Space Federation. Sionis was designed to be the perfect soldier, raised to keep the terrans safe from the Koelshan Empire that fought against the Federation in The Great War.

Sionis would become one of the most popular soldiers in all the Andromisa Galaxy and the pride of the Andromisa Space Federation would rest on his shoulders until the end of the Great War.

He would again step into action when further discoveries pointed to an uncertain future that contained only one name; James Davis. Sionis took it upon himself to see to it that destiny was fulfilled and that the one known as James Davis was sought out and prepared for his task of defeating the threat looming over the galaxy.

Birth (50 BA)
Sionis Sepher was "born" as the first successful experiment in the Zeus Project. His birth came two years after Gregory Sepher's sperm was used to fertilize the egg from an alien being known as Keaira. The Zeus Project granted Gregory the chance to give a name to the engineered child. Gregory chose the name Sionis Sepher after Gregory's own father. From his "birth" less than a year later, Sionis Sepher showed amazing potential with his ability to do things that no other newborns could. His first years were spent entirely in a scientific chamber where he was watched over and studied for all hours of the day. The extremely long development period of his fetus proved to be lingering as Sionis aged at almost human speed, but showed no genetic deterioration of any kind. It soon became apparent that Sepher was going to live a very long life.

The Great War (21-0 BA)
When the Koelshan Empire attacked the Terran Outpost on Planet 7 of Resource System 407, the attackers had no idea that they were striking the hidden location of the Zeus Project, which had been operating in secrecy in order to create and train an army of super soldiers that would protect the Andromisa Space Federation from any undesired conflicts. The Battle at 407-7 marked the first move in a risky and bold campaign launched by a young Koelshan General named Gion Retorf. While the Space Federation had been suspecting the Koelshan military of preparing for action, they had not expected an attack to come so soon.

When the battle started, Sionis Sepher immediately took control of the situation and successfully evacuated the facilities while also maneuvering forces to hold off the brunt of Retorf's attacks. After the events had played out, the media threw Sepher's face across the news labeling him the "Defender of Terra Prime." The Space Federation had not intended for Sionis to be unveiled in such fashion but due to the events, the Zeus Project was given a stamp of approval. The method for creating the super soldiers was spread to new facilities and as the new soldiers came into the ranks, the Federation decided that the military should have a new branch where these soldiers could be grouped together. This idea gave way to the creation of the League of Crusaders and Sionis became the leading commander with the title of Supreme Crusader, three others were titled Grand Crusaders, and the remaining seven became standard Crusaders. While these soldiers were still a part of the Federation military, they were also considered a separate entity and were ordered to follow Sionis' command above all others. During the majority of the war, Sionis led his soldiers with a level of compassion and vengence that seemed too perfectly balanced to last. As the war pushed into its fifth year, it became apparent that Gion Retorf and Sionis Sepher had become arch enemies, colliding with one another on multipule battlefields and thwarting one another's secret attacks. As the pressure to halt Gion continued to grow, Sionis' leadership began to wain. During one such battle, Sionis risked his entire crew on the Ulysses, as he charged into Koelshan borders to destroy Gion Retorf's heavily damaged ship. Not only did his attack fail, but the Ulysses was so heavily damaged it was removed from the front lines of the war. Sionis became famous as the pilot of the White Dragon, an X7 Flyer that could spin circles around any ship the Koelshans could throw at the Federation borders. Eventually, the war turned in the favor of the Andromisa Space Federation and the Koelshan Empire was pushed back until they finally surrendered in 2279. Sionis Sepher would continue to take top secret missions to the Koeleshian borders well after the end of the war citing that he did not believe Gion Retorf had died in the final battles.

Keeping the Peace (0-7 YA)
The conclusion of the Great War greatly changed the way the Andromisa Galaxy functioned. Entire systems had become weapon producing warehouses that helped create ships and supplies to feed the Federation Military. With the major conflict over, problems with infrastructure began to create cracks in the Federation's supply lines. Economic downturns and political upheaval all across the galaxy caused great concern. The League of Crusaders, with Sionis Sepher, still in charge but under close watch from fellow Terran Crusader Michael Stanton, was tasked with the job of keeping riots under control and fighting to a minimum. While the majority of the Federation military was able to keep things under wraps, the Crusaders were used for special duty missions. In 2280, the Federation came through with a large restructuring bill that would allow for the creation of new jobs, the alleviation of pressure on smaller governments over larger ones, and that gave a large portion of individual power back to the people and away from the Federation Congress. The actions were taken in with grand applause and later that year the United Space Alliance was formed.

During these events, the Federation had left the war torn systems of the enemy to fend for themselves. In the first year of the Alliance, word spread that the Janolian Realm had started to recover from its economic collapse thanks to restorations efforts of their new President. A year later it was announced that the Janolian Realm was extending its power into the defeated Koelshan Empire.

By the third year of the Alliance, the Koelshan Empire and Janolian Realm merged together to form the Kujaen Empire. The Emperor, Gion Kujah, declared that the United Space Alliance was simply a new mask over the same biggoted governments that had destroyed the old Empire. He vowed that there would never be true peace in the galaxy until the Alliance was put in its rightful place.

Despite this rhetoric, the Kujaen Empire worked with the United Space Alliance to establish new post-war borders. During on meeting with Gion Kujah, Sionis recognized the Emperor as his old enemy from the Great War. Though he tried to convince the Alliance of the danger this posed, they had little to offer in return. He was the legitimate ruler of the Kujaen Empire and the Alliance was in no position to start another war.

Researching The Earth Disaster (8-18 YA)
Shortly after the Kujaen Empire established its borders it quit attending Peace Summits with the Alliance governments. Meanwhile, Sionis Sepher was approached by a Bermekan woman named Rosetta Theon, who convinced him to learn more about The Earth Disaster. It was at this time Sionis learned of the origins of the Bermekans, the Terrans, and the ancient woman named Keaira. Rosetta Theon risked a great deal pulling Sepher into the mystery of it all but doing so proved to be a worthy risk. Sionis soon learned of DNA under Keaira's fingernails that belonged to a Human. Additionally, Keaira had predicted the rise and fall of the Kujaen Empire and a human that would save the Alliance from Kujah's iron grip. Knowing that the Bermekans were keeping valuable secrets, Sionis Sepher used his knowledge as a bargaining chip to gain access to Earth, where he was now convinced the human hero was waiting to be discovered. Reluctantly, the Bermekans agreed.

Establishing the Earth Defense Agency (18-22 YA)
Sionis Sepher used hidden Bermekan technology called Space Manipulation Portals to reach Earth. His initial estimates that the human race were behind in technological advances proved to be true, but after witnessing the use of a Space Shuttle Transport System, Sionis became impressed with the United States of America. He contacted the Central Intelligence Agency and established first contact between the human and terran race. Ultimately, he was able to help humanity start on the path to self-defense and in exchanged, he was given the ability to test United States citizens to see if they had the DNA he was looking for. After realizing that the Earth was more divided than he had hoped, Sionis was forced to establish another method for testing human DNA. Fortunately, his efforts were not wasted, and soon found a match. It was a human boy living in the state of Florida with his mother and father. Sionis had expected to find a hero, but instead he found a teenager named James Davis.

Return to the United Space Alliance (23 YA)
After locating James Davis, Sionis determined that he could be taken back to the Alliance and trained there as a Crusader. Thanks to the Earth Disaster from millenia before, every human on the planet unknowingly carried DNA mutated by the Keaira Virus. Davis could be trained and conditioned to be a soldier, even if some of his youth had been wasted on Earth. When Davis' parents refused to give up their child, the terran was forced to take matters into his own hands. He authorized his men to forcibly take Davis. In the process of doing so James' father was wounded by gunfire.

The Kujaen Conspiracy (24-28 YA)
After returning to the Alliance and putting James Davis at the Bantari Crusader Training Academy, Sionis Sepher was informed that Rosetta Theon had been assassinated by Kujaen spies. Sionis grew concerned and worked with the Bermekans to investigate the Kujaens. They discovered in Rosetta's notes that a nomadic people once lived in the old Koelshan Empire. These Zetrani had spoken of a home in a distant galaxy, a promised land where they would someday settle their race. While many dismissed it as myth and legend, Emperor Kujah was confident that the galaxy existed, and had learned about Earth from Theon's own research. Suddenly, Sionis realized that the Kujaens wanted to secure the Space Manipulation Portals so that they could take over Earth. At the same time Kujah had put together that the legends of the ancient Keaira were also true stories and, through Rosetta, had learned that James Davis had been brought here based on an ancient legend about the rise and fall of the Kujaen Empire. Both sides came to understand that the time for waiting was over.

Keeping Davis Safe (28-30 YA)
When James Davis graduated from the Bantari Academy, Sionis had him stationed aboard the Ulysses with the mindset that he could keep the human safe from Emperor Kujah's prying eyes. During this time, James became a valuable asset to the crew of the Ulysses and had a large part in foiling several dangerous plots. It was during these years that Sionis realized how powerful a human Crusader could become.

The Kujaen War (30-31 YA)
When the Kujaens finally attacked the United Space Alliance in 30 YA, they hit hard and fast, unveiling a terrible space ship called the Invincible. The ship used an enormous energy weapon to fire light and heat down on the surface of a planet, wrecking ecosystems, and shrouding the planet in a blanket of ash and debris. Kujah's war machine marched through the Terran systems until a final confrontation took place in the Terran home system. In the fight the Invincible was finally overwhelmed and pushed back by Alliance forces, but not before Kujah successfully used the weapon to destroy Terra Prime. The Alliance authorized the use of their own powerful ships, called the War Bandits, and attempted a full assault on the damaged Invincible in an effort to remove it from the war. The effort failed and the War Bandits were pushed back. Feeling utterly defeated, Sionis made a calculated risk, flying to Bantari to release the woman named Keaira from her containment. Sionis assumed that Keaira would attack the Kujaens and wipe out their Empire, concluding that if she predicted the rise and fall she must have a part to play in it. He set out and began to free Keaira from her cell. When she seemed to wake, she clawed out at Sionis, deeply scratching his shoulder. In a final confrontation over the issue Tiffany Saranac, and John Stanton engaged in combat with Sionis but the three were quickly overwhelmed. As James arrived and attempted to diffuse the situation, tragedy struck when John Stanton was killed. Alone against Sionis, James finally gained the upper hand and thrust Sionis off a nearby cliff wall. Battered and broken, Sionis assumed that he was all but dead. He slipped into death willingly but was shocked when he awoke again, still at the bottom of the cliff, but seemingly unharmed. Taking this as a sign that his actions were correct, Sionis remained under this cloak of death and moved into the growing Kujaen borders to try and find Keaira so he could set her free.

The Keaira Virus and the Fall of the Kujan Empire (32 YA)

Sionis' hunt to find Keaira lasted for two full years before he finally stumbled across something he had not expected. A prisoner, James Davis, the boy he'd long sought to protect from Kujah had been taken prisoner after the fight on Bantari. With guilt consuming him, Sionis flew to the Alliance and delivered James' location to a group of people who were desperate for a hero and willing to penetrate the enemy forces to reclaim someone as famous as Davis. The Alliance responded by sending a full force of Crusaders to infiltrate and retrieve the human. The group was lead by Tiffany Saranac and though it took several casualties, they finally found help from Kujaen Resistance and were able to free Davis. Sionis was surprised to find that James did not leave the Kujaen Empire. Instead, the human decided to stay behind and help fight Kujah's power from within. This worked to Sionis' benefit, drawing Kujah's attention back to the stagnate war and leaving his other interests uncovered. The more careless Kujah became with his secrets the more Sionis learned about them. Soon enough, he had the location of Keaira; deep within the Invincible. Sionis once again waited for the right time to strike and that soon happened when the Invincible came to the Midronis System to investigate James' growing damages to the Empire. When the enormous ship docked with the Midronis Station, Sionis infiltrated the vessel and quickly hid away. Keaira's body was always guarded and Sionis started to wonder if there would be any way for him to free the woman without alerting everyone on board. Again, almost as though fate had a hand, James Davis attacked the Invincible and docked with it, causing the guards to rush to defend their ship. Sionis was easily able to slip into the scientific area and release Keaira's body. By the time Sionis was ready to make his escape he learned that James and his team had been captured by Kujah. The Emperor was going to execute them the next day as an example for the rest of the Alliance. Sionis knew he would need Davis to stop Keaira and thus decided it was time to let the woman loose. He woke her from her slumber and let her loose on the ship, making her promise to spare Davis and his team, as well as Kujah. She was groggy and weak so she agreed right away. The fresh soldiers would make a good wake up exercise. Meanwhile, Sionis also felt something awaken within him. The scar on his shoulder burned intensely and he realized that the infection of the Keaira Virus was rousing within him. He quickly followed Keaira as she tore through the ship, ripping soldiers apart and clearing a way to the top where Kujah waited. When they finally arrived, Keaira cut down the best soldiers that could defend the Emperor and then Sionis confronted Kujah. Their meeting was short, with only a few words shared between them, before Sionis tossed Kujah a sword and challenged him to a fight. The Emperor accepted but the match was unfair. Sionis had always remained as fit as he was during the Great War, while Kuja had started to let his power weaken him. He was impaled by Sionis and left to die. Sionis made a quick stop to unlock Davis' cell and then departed from the Invincible with the intention of releasing Keaira on Midronis until the Kujaens admitted defeat in their war and begged the Alliance for help. Unfortunately, Keaira was already taking control of Sepher's mind and she ordered him to help her find the location of the Zetrani Weapon. Something that had been built long ago to stave off her infection. She felt if she could take control of this device, no one would stop her. Likewise, Sionis felt that if he took control of it, he could make sure that the Alliance was never again in danger.

Sionis Sepher: The Enemy (32 YA)
The next several months were filled with Sionis and Keaira attempting to stay one step ahead of James Davis and his team. In the discovery that Keaira had been released, James Davis had taken the responsibility of stopping both Sionis, who he felt had betrayed the Alliance, and Keaira, who he knew could destroy it. Sionis worked his hardest to keep Keaira from his thoughts. He would defy her orders and commands just to make her angry, even when he thought she was right. It was his own way of reminding her that he was still on control. When Davis' group got ahead of Sionis, he quickly rushed to catch up and in doing so, caused a confrontation that he had not anticipated. Keaira had fun with Davis when she found him, taking a young woman named Sara and ordering James to shoot her. When James refused, Keaira demanded it again, adding that it would spare the girl the long and painful death Keaira would give. James lifted his weapon but could not bring himself to fire. Finally, Keaira raised up her gnarled claw-like hands to strike down Sara but before she could, Sionis pulled his own weapon and shot Sara, killing her instantly. In this moment, James saw that Sionis was still struggling for control of his mind and it may have been this act of mercy that allowed for Davis to seek a cure to the virus. Still, Keaira took the lead once again and rushed with Sionis to the Zetrani Nebula where they found the ancient Zetrani Weapon and activated it. Sionis had come to the point where he hoped to overthrow Keaira but when he tried, she revealed that she had only been playing games with him. She forced herself into his mind and quickly began to break him down. What she did not expect, was for her new weapon to be attacked by the Invincible, which fired twice and hit them both times. The damage was extensive and though the Invincible had nearly destroyed itself in the attack, Keaira knew her plans were ruined. She then locked the Zetrani Weapon onto Midronis and began full speed toward the planet. She would crash into the surface and when they came to retrieve her, she would wipe them all out. Soon after this, James Davis and his team assaulted the Weapon and made their way inside to face off with Keaira. James came equipped with a cure for her virus and used it on the suffering Sionis Sepher before he engaged in a final fight with Keaira and killed her. Finally, Sionis and James escaped the Zetrani Weapon while Cid Theon used a Zetrani failsafe plan to destroy the Weapon and save Midronis.

The RPU and The Aldimar Threat (33-34 YA)
James Davis and Sionis Sepher teamed up after the fall of Keaira and the Kujaen Empire in an attempt to find any SMP technology that the Kujaens might have, but once rumors of war spread from the Alliance, Sionis and James decide to return and rejoin with the Alliance military to chase down new leads while also investigating this new threat from within the Alliance borders. In the wake of the Kujaen War, terrible realizations began to surface of smaller governments being robbed of systems or even absorbed into other governments. The Alliance had been so strained focusing on the Kujaen lines, that they had not responded properly to other distresses in their own lands. Claiming that the issue was more than overbearing, many governments began to pull away from the United Space Alliance. As quickly as one war had ended, another was starting. The Republic of the People's Universe did not just pull away from the Alliance, but quickly lashed out and attacked it. Unfortunately, before the Alliance could gather their military, another attack came from an unexpected sector. An alien race, claiming to be the Aldiramar Clan that vanished shortly after the Bermekans arrived in the galaxy, had returned and attacked both Alliance and Bermekan targets. Suddenly feeling the pressure, the Crusaders were called into action. Helios Advares, who had taken Sionis' place as Supreme Terran Crusader, did not accept Sionis' offer of assistance, instead claiming he knew what he was doing. Sionis decided to back away from the main conflict and instead help the Bermekans with the Aldiramar Threat. The more he dug into the mystery of the Aldiramar's return, the more he started to make connections between them and the RPU. Finally, Sionis' own research crossed into that of James Davis, who was desperately tracking a Space Manipulation Portal Device that could lead back to Earth. The two realized that the Aldimar were in possession of it and that Earth was in severe danger.

The Battle for Earth (34 YA)
Sionis disobeyed direct orders from Helios Advares and gathered all the Crusaders who would listen to him over Helios. Gathering what little they could, Sionis and James prepared to attack the Aldiramar and put an end to their attacks. When they were finally prepared to face off against the enemy, the Aldiramar created a portal that lead directly to Earth and flew several ships through. Sionis knew that if the portal collapsed and no one got through, Earth would fall to just a single Aldiramar ship. He flew the Ulysses through with several smaller ships before the portal collapsed. Cid Theon's forces, as well as Sionis' Crusaders that had been left behind quickly went into battle with the remaining Aldiramar and effectively crippled their fleet in a great show of force. Over Earth, Sepher and his crew went to work fighting the Aldiramar. The attack was chaotic and confusing and many Aldimar were already heading for Earth's surface. Unable to help with the ground fight, the Ulysses did what it could in orbit, drawing the Aldiramar ships away from Earth's orbit and deeper into space. As the Ulysses was pounded over and over, Sionis decided it was time to act. He flew over to one of the Aldiramar ships and landed in their docking bay, fighting them off and working his way to the Engine room. The Ulysses held out as long as it could until Sionis gave the word to run. The Terran ship was faster than any Aldiramar cruisers and it took off as fast as it could.

Death (34 YA)
Sionis waited as long as he could but he finally overloaded the engines on the Aldiramar ship and hoped that the Ulysses had gotten far enough away. He sent a final message to James that let him know he had saved Earth and that his sins were forgiven. A moment later, the Aldiramar ships were consumed in a blast of pure energy as the Anti-Matter reactor overloaded. The Ulysses escaped the main blast but was thrown around by the shockwave. The crew sustained casualties from the blast but survived intact. After the Battle for Earth was won, the Earth Defense Force (EDF) built a memorial park in Shiloh, Florida in honor of the fallen. A statue of Sionis Sepher reaching toward the heavens was constructed at the center.

Personality and Traits
Sionis Sepher was always a man of action. In his youth, his impatience gained him popularity from the masses as a man who would not be blinded by the fog of war. Still, this quick action sometimes got Sionis in over his head and several times in the Great War, Sionis had to work to undo a mistake that his fast thinking had gotten himself or even his crew into. During the twenty years that Sionis took to seek the mysteries of Earth and the Legend of James Davis, the warrior learned how to sit down and think deeply on something before taking direct action. He also continued working on his own skills as a warrior. His aging was minimal and the time of James Davis approached, Sepher was still very young in appearance. Sionis was known for his fierce loyalty to the Terrans and Humans. He held true to the Alliance but would even ignore those commands if the Terrans or Humans were in dire need. Throughout his military career Sionis remained the best Crusader that there was. His name lived on for ages to follow and even with the dark years of his infection, people saw Sepher as a hero that the galaxy needed more of.

Powers and Abilities
As a Crusader, Sionis was gifted with enhanced cellular abilities. Among these were the ability to heal quickly compared to standard Terran terms, as well as increased strength and energy. The League of Crusaders issued swords to their new members as a symbol that they would wear into battle. While a few of these individuals took to these weapons, it was Sionis who cherished his own blade more than his other projectile options. He was also the only Crusader not to carry the Standard Issue Crusader Blade, opting instead for a weapon that was gifted to him by Michael Stanton.

A sword made out of a metal that was stronger than the titanium and was completely black with a silver hilt and two blue jewels that were placed in the hilt. The historians who studied it found it to date back to the early years of the Collective of Intelligent Beings and some even assumed, due to the sword's proximity to Keaira's location, that the blade and the mysterious metal had belonged to the deadly woman. Michael joked that being half related to her meant he was entitled to carry the Sword of Keaira.

As it was mentioned, Sionis Sepher was also an excellent pilot and used these skills to always give the Alliance an upper hand when in combat. By the end of the Great War, the White Dragon entering into the battle would immediately send ripples of fear through the enemy forces and even sometimes prompt a retreat. After the Great War ended, the White Dragon was put into storage but eventually passed down to James Davis.

Appearances
The Next Frontier - (Out of Print)

The Crusader Chronicles

The Flip Side