Korui Hoshiko (紅涙星子) is an infamous Commander of the Dìguó Jūnshì (帝国军事) best known for her brutal suppression of elvish 'rioters' on the Daqinren 'homeworld' of Tiāntáng (天堂), as well as her war mongering at the most recent International Summit of 2319 CE due to the Empire's disinterest in sending an actual delegate in the name of peace. She is an energetic, lively showoff with genuine skill and talent. Naturally, she uses this to support what she constantly espouses; Daqinren superiority. She was however, an Aos'Si, and is now the poster child of how 'anybody' can become a First Class Citizen. Never mind that she became Daqinren at an early age or was adopted by Zhùlǐ Dānwèi Sì.
It was only natural that this insecurity became a driving force for her, and is a fundamental part of who she is.
Personality
Best described as an extremely driven person with something to prove, Hoshiko is always looking for an opportunity to take and hold the limelight, showing her worthiness as a First Class Citizen of the Empire. Due to her drive, Hoshiko has very little regard for normalcy and even participates in deviant behavior if it furthers her goals of proving her superiority and improving her notoriety or fame. However, despite this, she will still adhere to traditional decorum, addressing her superiors properly and with respect. This does not damper her boundless amounts of energy and confidence, and she is always in search of something to take it out on. Though some of her strengths include being bright, intelligent and athletic, Hoshiko has very little wisdom. Worse, she is a blunt, bossy and insensitive individual who tends to bully those she believes to be lesser than her and in the way of achieving her goals. In general, Hoshiko expects people to either obey or submit to her superiority, and is often genuinely surprised when 'lesser people' do not bend their knee to her will. A stubborn individual herself, she will not admit her own mistakes and tend to blame others in her initial anger, but will inevitably improvise around the problem and find solutions to whatever the issue is.
History
Hoshiko was born on Tiāntáng (天堂) as an Aos'Si child named "Melethiril of Melethor" in 2285 CE. Just like many other worlds however, her own had faced catastrophic decline with the fading of magic, reverting her people to a medieval state of affairs. As a result, they were not able to collectively muster and respond to the encroachment of the Daqinren when they had arrived to establish their city, Xīng Luò (星落). Though apparently only to act as a foothold from which to gather knowledge of the world, many of the Aos'Si believed that this was only the beginning of a conquest, while others thought that these aliens genuinely wanted peace. Inevitably, this disagreement came to blows, and Melethiril's own city of Melethor was one of several that had lost the ensuing war for the soul of the Aos'Si on this world. Fortunately for Melethiril and her mother, their city was one of those who supported diplomacy and coexistence with the Daqinren. Fleeing to this alien stronghold in search of sanctuary, they soon found that the flood of war refugees had brought the city over its capacity to give aid, and that a shanty town had formed outside the armored walls. Though the daily dole of food from the Daqinren kept them alive, Melethiril soon found that it did not alleviate their suffering.
Their living conditions were as squalid as they were desperate, and eventually, Melethiril's mother was killed over food. This time alone was the darkest in her life, the memories uncharacteristically blurry, but fortunately for her, an accord was soon struck between the Aos'Si refugees and the new governor of the city, Zhùlǐ Dānwèi Sì (助理单位四) in 2290 CE. As one of the terms, The Daqin Empire would take in the children of the refugees, Melethiril included. For her, it was the most important day of her life. Instead of sending their machines, they came in person. She had never seen Daqinren or their Warriors, and not only was she seeing many of them, but they were sweeping through the shanty town looking for orphans and children who were being surrendered by their parents. It was captivating, seeing the tall, faceless warriors of the Empire who stoically nodded to her wave, but even in her young mind, their presence did not make sense. however, when Melethiril saw a woman with dragon horns and tail surrounded by the young and abandoned, she understood.
Someone important had come, and in that moment, their eyes met.
As Melethiril was "Processed", this woman was often present. Sometimes close, sometimes far and just watching. However, after they were bathed and dressed, the moment came when they would meet their new families. To her surprise, this woman chose her, and from then on, Melethiril was always by the side of Zhùlǐ Dānwèi Sì. Though initially uncertain, shy and even scared, Zhùlǐ was a constant source of reassurance and comfort for her. Melethiril found herself being spoken to by Zhùlǐ in her native language, cooked the same foods that she had grown up with, and allowed to play with the other Elvish children who shared their own stories with her. Soon enough, she came out of her shell, and began to ravenously devour knowledge in the way that only a child could, which Zhùlǐ gladly fed her. By 2292 CE, Melethiril agreed to undergo genetic experimentation, and became Daqinren proper at age 7, augmenting her already ravenous hunger for knowledge even further. Though her curriculum was well rounded, her sights were already set on what she wanted to be as though it were destiny.
Sent away from home to the smaller and less populated station of Yamatai (邪馬台) at her request, she came to know some of the more militant Daqinren who had descended "From the Land of the Rising Sun". Here, Melethiril met Sakamoto, a fellow classmate with whom she worked hard together as she underwent training and education with the aim to become a Zhànshì (战士) or "Warrior". Working together, they earned top marks, with Melethiril graduating as a full First Citizen at age 16 in 2301 CE. It was then that she took on the new name Kōrui Hoshiko (紅涙星子) and began her career in the Dìguó Jūnshì (帝国军事) as a junior officer. Though initially part of the bridge crew, she was fortunate enough to be promoted enough to take command of a small patrol corvette during despite the scarcity of promotion opportunities during peacetime. After gaining much wanted field experience with her own command however, her adoptive mother asked her to return to the city of Xīng Luò to act as an intermediary between The Empire and the local Aos'Si. The thought of returning was unpleasant, but she did so anyways and went to work with the hope of reconnecting with her roots.
However, she soon quickly found herself growing a distaste for what were once her own people. Hoshiko couldn't help but think of them as petty and crude, fighting over their own archeological treasures and artifacts to sell for profit. Far worse however, was how they treated her on being told who and what she once was, making an already difficult job excruciating given their disdain for her. Eventually, her posting at Xīng Luò came to an end and she departed for her new assignment, another corvette. However, shortly after arriving and leaving the planet's orbit, the city came under attack from "The Last Alliance of Aos'Si". Primarily a city meant for observation and research, the warriors and civil protection had only basic equipment and small reserves of ammunition to face off against the magical assault. Having mustered every last trace of mana they could over the last ten years while carefully learning and planning against the Daqin, the Aos'Si were successful in breaching the city walls and storming the interior. Hoshiko could only watch as the coordinated attack devolved into bitter urban combat, but on realizing that Zhùlǐ could not escape, quickly pushed her ship to its limits and brought it down through the atmosphere.
This act of rapid emergency entry heavily damaged the ship and several of its weapons, but this didn't deter Hoshiko in the slightest. Though she rapidly expended her corvette's remaining munitions and inflicted horrific losses on the Aos'Si host, it wasn't enough to deter their assault. Worse, the moment they realized she was out of munitions, those that remained in the field charged for the city. In one final act of desperation that came to be depicted as heroically resourceful, Hoshiko brought her ship low and hit the throttle, circling the city as her engines incinerated or blew away the clumping infantry and their war beasts. With that, Hoshiko lifted the siege and was promoted for her efforts. Though chided for the irreparable damage to her ship, she was given command of a newer and larger vessel before being sent out as escort to the Empire's mercantile fleet in 2305 CE. Touring the various star systems, she acted as a celebrity, exposing the beliefs, values and superiority of the Empire.
At the same time, she participated in several anti-piracy and anti-crime operations alongside local law enforcement alongside Ylfa Diadottr of the American Union. However, this was just as often to the benefit of one group over another, causing her High-Cyborg American acquaintance to become disillusioned with her home nation and its under-the-table friendliness with the Daqin Empire. Despite these successful actions however, they were all considered small scale peacekeeping operations where her direct superiors took most of the credit for. In between this however, she began to participate in more civilian activities, at the urging of Sakamoto Hina, a fellow graduate of Yamatai Station and member of its unique subculture. Frustrated with few opportunities to gain recognition or advance in rank, Hoshiko had started trying out VR game live-streaming out of boredom. She soon found that she enjoyed dressing up in various different cosplay and skimpy outfits or otherwise playing around with the 'hot tub meta' according to paying fan votes as well. However, things took a turn for the worse when Hoshiko tried using a vintage VR headset meant for regular humans. The scant outfit was paired with high heels, which broke during the process of putting it on. Hoshiko fell and broke her neck on live broadcast. As a result, she hates high heels with a passion, and the humans that had the 'brilliant' idea of using them as fashion items rather than as horse riding equipment.
Eventually, the Empire decided not to send a delegate to the International Summit of 2320 CE, and submitting her interest in doing so herself, was permitted to go and do as she saw fit. Hoshiko promptly committed violence on the likely hostile (and rude) new xeno-species that were almost literally just newly discovered a few weeks prior as well. She soon convinced several other commanders to follow her on an expedition to subjugate and research the new xenos, but was very much disappointed to find that they were literally stone-age. She had the empire chalk up their uplifting to Heram Wazu's reckless interference with the natives before moving on.
When the Empress herself was kidnapped during a peace meeting following the accidental instigation of hostilities between the Soyuz and Commonwealth, Hoshiko was on light duty within the Heaven Forged Republic's most hardened sector, Shen Zhou, as an infiltrator. During this time, the state went into high alert, when the typical bribery or subterfuge wouldn't work. Meeting up with other Daqinren who were otherwise touring the area covertly or were assigned to espionage, she soon assembled a team capable of infiltrating the Republic's logistics as it geared up for war against the Empire. Piggybacking on the humans' own transports, she and her entourage set off for Earth, where patriotic civilians had managed to redirect the escape of her captors.
It was here in the Super Luminal Engine's pathway towards Earth that Hoshiko and her motley crew did what everyone thought was impossible - attack and destroy enemy ships while in FTL, only to escape into the starry night as they exited the tight confines of the corridor. For better or worse however, the war was already winding down as the Empress was released by her mainland Chinese captors. These Republic forces felt that they were bearing the brunt of the oncoming assault due to another planet's own impulsive actions, and as a result were spared. With the Empress returned and the Republic divided and its rogue section of Shen Zhou a pariah, Hoshiko and company returned home to Pingqiong.
But their work was not done. The Empress had need of them, and they answered.
On the surface of the forbidden planet Tiantang, her merchant had gone missing. Cutting through bureaucracy and ousting the local governor for indecency, they soon made their way into the wilderness. Hoshiko and her crew soon realized that something was horribly wrong, as the merchant had left behind a trail of her dead Chongwu as she had apparently fled. And worse, eventually confronted the creature that had killed them all - an insectoid monster that could only be described as a "Unicorn". After fending off its incredible lightning attacks, one of their members succumbed to the ghost possessing him, but a tranquilizer dart later, and both the creature's carcass and the merchant were secure.
Appearance
