(Characters/Fluff) Lady Seras Hykonan

Age: 23
Rank: Lady of House Hykonan, Lieutenant-Colonel within the Imperial Guard

Biography:
Seras is the hot blooded, charismatic leader of the 17th Adventus Light Rifles. While only 23, she has a great gift of leadership, having the ability to rally the beleaguered to her and to motivate men to great feats of heroism. Her voice can be heard, ringing clearly over the din of battle with that of her second in command, Major Konin... She is not without her faults though, and her age is her biggest enemy. Still so young, her emotions can often get the better of her judgment. This leads her sometimes to dive blindly into the fray, caught up in the moment and rush of combat, her ancient sword or twin pistols making her known. Many Imperial commanders also look down on her for her age, either ignoring her or waving her away. This has led to a good deal of scuffles at briefings she is a part of. Luckily for her, Major Konin is always at her side, restraining her or calming her down.
She grew up in war, born around the start of the Fall, she has had a weapon in her hand since she could walk. At the age of 10 she killed her first enemy while on a training mission with other new recruits. Her squad was attacked by a small unit of cultists. Instead of running, the young recruits, barely 10 to 11 years of age, opened up with their lasguns on low strength, thinking it part of the exercise. When Seras suddenly saw her friend’s chest explode from a cultists bolt round, she and the rest knew otherwise. Turning their weapons up, they began shooting to kill. They lost 5 of their friends that day and Seras never forgot them.
At 12 she was a private under the esteemed, then First Lieutenant, Telmar. Under the tutelage of these senior soldiers and veterans, she learned the abilities and uses of stealth and precision shooting. She also became a close friend of the Major Kris Konin at this time, the man seeing her almost as the daughter he never had. Konin was a soldier and man without peer. All men in the regiment looked up to him for his steadfast attitude, and unerringly straight moral spirit. The Major trained Seras in an ancient form of swordsmanship that had been passed down for generations among a few families, both noble and common called Zel’Karev, or what many called Singing Edge.
At 18 she received command of her first squad of new recruits. This happened at the same time of the Siege of Hykonan Prime. As the two year long siege happened around them, she and her squad utilized all she had learned to help them survive. In the years of the siege, the squad became known for their comedic, yet genius, tactics. One well known tale was the confirmed kill of two ancient chaos terminators that were wreaking havoc on the regiment’s lines. Using their superior speed and knowledge of the terrain the squad lured the enemy into a tight side street and from concealed ledges above dropped sheets and bedding over the terminators helmets to obscure their vision. This allowed Seras to place two demolition charges at the feet of the terminators. As the terminators finally ripped the sheets from their helmets, the charges detonated, destroying them and the alley.
The Siege of Hykonan Prime also granted her the Blade of Advent. This ancient power blade was held by a mutated chaos captain of Slaneesh. In a show of swordsmanship still spoken of today she confronted the captain and beheaded him, taking the ancient artifact.
At 20, her father Lord Taren Hykonan, head of the House, and her brother were slain at the defense of the Water Gate, the main gate to the island city. Her father was dragged from the combat during the retreat and lived long enough to tell something to Major Konin before he passed away from his wounds. The leadership of the House was passed down to young Seras Hykonan. With no one else from her family alive, she became the last one and defacto leader of the regiment. Not ready for this responsibility, she leaned heavily on Major Konin for guidance, which he gave. The two became inseparable. None know what Lord Taren said, but since that day, Major Konin has never left sight of Seras.
For several more months, the fight raged for the city. Chaos and loyalist forces fought tooth and nail, day and night with everything from Lasguns to rocks. With dwindling man power and resources, they were simply trying to buy time for what was called Project Life Blood. A project begun by Seras’ father in the earlier years of the war, it was a device created to do one thing, to destroy the planet of Adventus. It used a massive electrical charge to flash melt the ore still in the planet of Adventus. The ore line beneath Hykonan Prime was massive and reached all the way to the core and branched out to cover a full third of the planet. Advent ore is very pure, even in the ground and could conduct a charge with very little resistance. With the project nearing completion, they only needed a short amount of time for the device to charge up.
That is when Inquisitor Hector Krugor of the Ordo Hereticus arrived in the system with a full battle ready fleet and more than 400,000 Imperial Guard regiments, supported by 4 full companies of Space Marines of the Salamanders, Ultra Marines, Space Wolves, and Lamenters Chapters. He had planned on regaining the planet until he saw the extent of corruption. The planet was blackened with chaos taint. He had no choice left but to issue Exterminatus. That was until he saw a brief glimpse of light among the dark that was Hykonan Prime. He immediately ordered the deployment of the Salamanders via drop pod to secure that area.
Upon the surface of the planet, the fight raged in the streets and upon the last walls and bastions of the city. They only needed 24 hours for the device to fully charge. Every man, woman and child had a weapon and was fighting. Seras herself was saved by a shot from a 9 year old girl and her 11 year old brother. The girl survived, but her brother was ripped apart by a Chaos Defiler. A death toll that equaled that of the entire war rose in this last fight. That’s when the sky suddenly lit up with the descent of drop pods breaking the atmosphere. The heavy machines slammed into the perimeter and city like cannon balls, disgorging the company of Salamanders, flamers blazing as they burned back the forces of Chaos, spearheading a counter attack.
Seras was stunned; she hadn’t expected to have help. Konin managed to coax her into helping counter attack. Leading a charge of the remnants of her regiments, with Konin, she led a counter attack, pushing the enemy away from the second wall. By this point the regiment contained only around 1000 to 1500 troopers compared to the millions of Chaos cultists with Chaos Marine support from the Emperors Children and Thousand Sons. During a brief two hour lull in combat, Inquisitor Hector Krugor took his Thunderhawk to the planet’s surface. Protected by a squad of Sisters of Battle from the Order of the Bloody Rose, and a Canoness, he met with Lady Seras Hykonan, and several of her soldiers. He saw a faith stronger than most units he had come across, a faith strong enough to shield them from the influence of Chaos for the most part. He saw a use for this, and wanted to hold onto this resource he had found. Announcing this news, the Fleet Command and Lord General were astonished. Taking a unit from a Chaos infested planet was suicide, they could spread the disease like a plague. Some could have already turned and be waiting for such an opportunity!
Inquisitor Krugor was not to be denied though, and over the course of 10 hours ferried the surviving elements of the 17th and their supplies and vehicles from the planets surface under the watch of the Salamanders acting as rear guard before they too were teleported or ferried from the surface of the planet.
Finally, after years of constant fighting, Seras could rest for a moment. She knew many of her men were close to death from exhaustion alone, hate fueling their spirit. The Lady herself had to be dragged unconscious from the Thunderhawk upon landing due to falling unconscious from lack of rest and food. Waking up almost two days later in the medical bay of Krugors Black Ship she walked among her men. They had lost many to malnourishment and exhaustion, their bodies unable to continue on. Over the next few weeks, their unit remained in quarantine. She had to personally execute around twenty of her own soldiers because the taint of Chaos had wormed its way into their mind. She had mixed feelings about this, hate and sadness. She knew the men she killed, and she knew that it had to be done; it was not any easier though.
The following months saw radical changes to Seras. The constant fight turned her into a seasoned commander, competent, and confident. Konin continued to stay by her side though and give suggestions or advice while holding the regiment’s colors high. She led the men and women of the 17th Adventus into numerous wars against the forces of Chaos. Her faith, and devotion through the events of Adventus and after drove her onwards and the men began thinking her a Saint, many following her devotedly, thinking her protected by the Emperor himself. At times even Inquisitor Hector Krugor has thought this himself. Too many coincidences in the field that has led to her and her units survival. He is still reserved, but he watches closely. This strength of faith though has become a link in her close friendship with Canoness Taliin of the Order of the Bloody Rose, the Canoness, and a few of her Sisters, often found on the field supporting Lady Seras.
Now, three years after The Fall of Adventus, she has become a beacon to her regiment, motivating them towards great acts. Their service record speaks for her at briefings with more seasoned commanders. She is confident, strong, and protective of the men and women under her command and often is found among them, partaking in games or contests. She is still a child though, and Konin is still always watching her.