Skye was born in New Tarragon, Ufronia, on December 1st, 137 PS. Nathaniel, a retired Captain of the Pratal Federation Air Force, and a renowned Ace who participated in the Planet’s defense during the Proto-Legion Incursion, his TAC name was “Osprey”. He was also the Flight Leader of the 2nd Aerospace Division, 1st Orbital Defense Squadron, better known as Sheriff Team. It was also around that time where he met Olivia, who was an Engineer withing Morgan Robotics at the time, though she also contributed to the design of the F-02 Morpho, the first Pratal-born Starfighter and a joint collaboration between Morgan Robotics and Payne Walker, a major defense and aerospace company.
⊹ She came from an upper middle-class family, given her parents’ background, because “privileged” wouldn’t accurately describe her upbringing. She was no heiress of a company, or the daughter of a politician, but she still had enough status to get her into Templin Academy, one of the most prestigious, if not the most prestigious school in the state of Ufronia. Most people who graduate would eventually end up in high-ranking positons in the military or become political figures, be it state-level or federal.
⊹ Given the fact that her father was already a renowned war hero, people would often draw parallels from him to skye, and would have high expectations for her. It was the type of attention she hated the most, as she couldn’t stand being known just as “Nathaniel’s daughter”, or “Nathaniel’s kid”, instead of Skye. Maybe it was a desire to carve out her own identity, or to distance herself far enough from being known only as her father’s legacy, but the young sparrow grew a defiant streak. To her, rules were guidelines at best - something to be challenged than followed blindly. That rebellious nature often got her in trouble, whether it was sneaking off to abandoned sites, out-talking adults when she was caught or even getting into fights with neighborhood kids who fucked around and found out.
⊹ In a private school as prestigious as Templin, with her attitude, Skye was widely considered someone out of place, and those who really couldn’t stand her would go as far as say that she shouldn’t have come in the first place, because she didn’t belong here. No matter what people said about her, she didn’t let those words get to her, because she genuinely couldn’t care less. However, she still had a hard time making friends throughout her time in the academy, and managed to only have a tightly-knit group of friends that broke up after graduation.
⊹ Though around the final years in school, the delinquency would eventually catch up to her. It was the mounting pressure of expectations, the suffocating pride of culture that she didn’t feel like she was part of, and her own restless spirit pushed her to act out. It wasn’t exactly something drastic she did that resulted in her risking expulsion, but rather things that would be enough to build a long file in the Headmaster’s office - Cutting class, talking back to faculty, pulling pranks, and even getting caught more than once in fights or with contraband, such as a pack of cigarettes. It was nothing life-ruining, really, but rather a litany of small infractions. It wasn’t about causing chaos just for the fun of it - she just refused to let herself be shaped against her will just to fit someone else’s standards. However, that defiance had consequences. And so, the Administration issued her an ultimatum. Either she shapes up or be expelled.
⊹ Skye never was the type to beg for second chances, she was willing to die on a hill of her choice, no matter how stupid that hill might’ve been. However, before she was going to say something that she may have regretted later down the line, a teacher intervened. Miss Petrova, one of the Academy’s gym coaches, intervened. She saw Skye’s raw physical ability and coordination, whether it was in fights or detention laps, she had potential. If Miss Petrova had to describe the young sparrow, it would be an “extremely coarse diamond”. Skye was offered a compromise: if she joined and committed to the school’s gymnastics team, stayed out of trouble and showed effort, she could remain at Templin. Even though she was reluctant at first, she stook the offer, mainly because she wasn’t ready to lose her shot at graduation and be finally done with the academy.
⊹ And as Petrova would predict it, Skye got good - really good. Gymnastics gave her a place to pour her energy, frustration and anger into something physical and much more organized. Her daring nature and raw talent turned into real skill. That didn’t make her a model student overnight, but it kept her out of trouble, kept her moving forward, and gave her the first taste of what it meant to turn her raw edge into something useful. Her balance, coordination and that explosive movement would give her a good baseline in training further down the line. She even went on to earn a position on the podium for her graduation year’s State Championship, in 156 PS.
⊹ After graduating from Templin Academy, Skye was burnt out and half-lost - smart enough to go anywhere, but reckless enough to throw it all away. The defiant fire within her didn’t die after she was done - it just simmered beneath the surface, waiting for something. She'd grown up staring at the stars, dreaming of something greater, something far beyond Ufronia's rigid order and suffocating pride. The Aerospace Expeditionary Division (AED) looked like a ticket out. A way to chase freedom while still wearing a uniform. But reality hit hard. Onyx was humid, quiet, and dull. Seven months of empty skies, mind-numbing patrols and silence thick enough to choke on. It wasn’t war - it wasn’t anything. She wasn’t flying free. She was rotting in orbit. The dream cracked. By the time she returned, the sparrow knew she didn’t want to serve. She wanted to live. So when the offer came to join the Fixers - a life off-the-grid, self-governed and action-packed - she didn’t hesitate. For once, someone wasn’t telling her what to be. And that was all she needed. For the following month after she came back from Onyx, her future became clearer as time ticked by. She did go around her parents’ back to sign up to the Fixer Network, she just had to find a way to break the news to them. She was already 20, at this point. They couldn’t stop her. However, Skye felt the tension between herself and the parents rise steadily as days passed, and it was getting harder and harder to find a good opportunity to tell her parents about what she was about to do. But one day, that tension became a rupture. The moment she brought the fact that she was going to join the Fixers to her parents, everything went off the rails and an argument has erupted. They didn’t want to see their daughter die just as she was beginning her life as an adult, but their daughter could no longer stand the insurmountable expectations and pressure placed on her. Pressure she didn’t even ask for. Many cutting words were exchanged. Although none of the words cut as deep as when Skye told her parents that she’d rather die than pretend to be someone she isn’t. By the end, she grabbed the already-packed duffel and left for Ironside Station, not even once did she look back.
⊹ Soon after that, she found herself inside The Anvil’s terminal area. During her flight, she was met with the colossal structure that stood proud. It was like a guardian angel with iron wings, as it steadfastly watched over the Mox System. It offered Skye what nothing else did - reinvention. Here, she could be something else… someone else. ****She enrolled in the Network’s Elaboraration and Assesment Program (EAP) a grueling 18-month course designed not just to test combat ability and tactical skill, but mental resilience. The Fixers there were taught to operate in various environments, how to exploit them. They were operating on minimal rations and were even deployed in combat simulations and crisis scenarios that mirrored real-world conflicts. Only a small fraction of the applicants could successfully complete the Program. Skye excelled not through discipline, but by sheer instinct. Even though she lacked formal training, something a Fixer would usually have, she made up for it in her adaptability to difficult situations and grit, accompanied by a results-driven mindset. Sparrow was unpredictable, cunning, and reckless in ways the instructors couldn’t ignore. Around the end of the Program, she was recommended by her mentor for a supplementary mission that, if successful, would land her in Tier 2. Even though the proposal was first met with slight skepticism, they went ahead with the assessment. This mission was probably the most intense and brutal part of the Program, as she had to undergo a real-world contracts that would test her resolve. Only a few get a chance like this one, and most of them either fail or even die. It was a high-value target extraction in an urban warzone. Little did the Network know was that the situation escalated beyond intel expectations, with heavy resistance being given by the opposing force. Instead of retreating with the target when the mission called for it, she refused to leave people behind and push forward, succeeding. However, that did come with costly injuries that put her out of action for nearly a month before being ready for the fight. The mission was a success despite overwhelming odds, but it should be noted that her tactical restraint needed work.
⊹ Skye’s first few assignments as a Tier 2 Fixer were short, sharp, and quiet - simple jobs in remote systems that gave her enough room to breathe without drawing too much attention. She learned quickly that Fixer work was nothing like the AED. There was no command structure to hide behind, no clean bureaucracy to shield her. Every mission was a gamble, and Skye was good at reading the table. She made a name for herself as someone you could count on in a fight, but someone who didn’t play nice with authority. Her attitude often rubbed most senior Fixers the wrong way, but her results spoke louder than any reprimand. Somewhere along the line, that reputation caught the eye of another Fixer - Cayde "Wren" Pearson.
⊹ Wren was everything Skye wasn't. Charming, calculated, and deeply methodical, but he had a reckless streak buried beneath the surface. He was considered a “black sheep” within the Network. He was know for his Machiavellian approach during contracts, as long as he’d reach the end, all means are necessary, even if it meant screwing over people who don’t deserve it. Their partnership wasn’t planned, but rather it was out of necessity during an unfortunate contract on Karbold. A double-cross by a local syndicate turned a recovery mission into a firefight in which the squad Skye was part of was mostly wiped out, with her being not far behind if Wren hadn’t dragged her out of the hotzone. That act bonded them in a way that training never could. From there, their paths intertwined. They started running contracts together. At first, it was clean - salvage ops, bounty runs, security details. But Wren had enemies, and Skye’s name started appearing on lists she never signed up for.
⊹ Their slide into outlaw status wasn’t marked by one grand betrayal, it was death by a thousand cuts. It started with one of Wren’s old contacts turning and placing a bounty on him and Skye, in an attempt to cover his own tracks. They were deniable assets and have outlived their usefulness. Then an anonymous tip was sent to the Network to review the duo. That’s when they discovered all the off-the-books missions he took part of that breached the Network Conduct. It was transcripts severe enough that he was marked as a liability and was disavowed. Skye was unfortunate, as she suffered the same consequences. Now it was no longer about avoiding heat - but rather running for their lives. They were officially burned by the Network. Skye kept trying to find a way out while Wren, on the other hand, embraced it. He started leaning into the outlaw role, convincing himself - and trying to convince her - that this was their only true shot at freedom. But Skye knew better. She could feel the rot setting in.
⊹ As months went by, Skye got to take a glance of what kind of person Cayde really was - he was manipulative, and was willing do whatever it takes in order to see his vision through, even if it’s at the expense of his partner. He claimed to be a free spirit, but he was really a twisted reflection of what Skye wanted the most, herself. She was forced to make choices against her will and had blood on her hands, which took a great toll on her psyche.
⊹ That guilt and resentment festered inside of her as the year’s gone by. He was a sick animal that needed to be put down. It was the only choice she had for him. He has hurt enough people to just let him walk, so she bided her time until the opportunity came up. And then, there was one fateful contract that came along. The target was an abandoned blacksite residing in a planet’s asteroid belt, a blacksite that belonged to Alveare’s Eidolon Division, a covert research division studying reality-defying anomalies. They were tasked with retrieving a certain anomaly that was left behind after the containment breach that happened a long time ago. It was supposed to be an in and out mission, as the threats have died down by now. What Wren didn’t know was that Skye has tipped off the military - she fed them the location the two would be, and the conditions of surrender. When they landed on the station, everything was normal at first, though Cayde felt something off about Skye. Once the time was right, skye swiftly messed with the controls and jammed the doors shut, blocking their way out of the large, cluttered room. Finally realizing her intentions and confirming his suspicious, that tension which built up over the past months finally boiled over, as heated words soon turned into gunfire. They were moving from cover to cover to one-up the other person, all the while barking words of hatred with each other. Cayde manage to sneak up on Skye and force her into melee combat, though starting off with a stab wound that nearly hit her heart. It was a brutal knife fight, as both ended up seriously injured, but Cayde collapsed to the floor, leaving Skye barely standing. She sluggishly picked up her pistol and aimed it at her downed partner, breathing heavily. She didn’t say anything, but still let him have his final words.
« Hah… You chose to stab me in the back… Why? You told me that you desired true freedom. You wanted to live without anyone being able to chain you down, yet you chose to clip your own wings. Is it guilt? Is it spite? They were right about you, you know? Most of the time, you don’t even know what the fuck do you want. I know I fucked up, but I never stabbed you in the back. You chose to stick with me and got burned all the same, and yet you blame me. You shoot me and then what? You’ll be facing a firing squad as soon as that door opens. »
« I’m done with your bullshit, Cayde. We’re DONE. You hear me?! DONE! »
« Do you feel like a hero yet? I’ll let you have your fifteen minutes of fame… Even though you don’t deserve it. You try to claim the moral high ground, but don’t even have some goddamn courtesy- »
« SHUT THE FUCK UP! »
⊹ A rapid series of gunfire rang throughout the large room, Skye used that last ounce of rage to pump his chest full of lead. As the sound of shots faded away, only faint, desperate clicking could be heard. Realizing her gun was empty, she threw it on the ground before walking away. However, due to severe bloodloss and adrenaline wearing off, weakness set in, as the woman collapse several feet away from her ex-partner. She passed out from bloodloss, but the AED got there just in time to not let her die, having heard the gunshots just now.
⊹ When she finally regained consciousness, Skye found herself alone in a hospital bed, not thinking straight at first. Disoriented, numb, her body feeling like lead. She doesn’t remember what happened straight away, it felt as if she woke up from a bad dream. And then it hit her. Eidolon Station, her fight with Wren, his death… Her first reaction, stemming from sheer panic, was her trying to reach for a weapon, forgetting about her injuries as she moved too fast. But the more she though about it, more memories flooded back in. That feeling of the knife going in, and the look in his eyes before she pulled the trigger. A moment of clarity was enough for her to freeze into place. Staring at the ceiling, at her hands, as if trying to convince herself none of it actually happened. Then the grief kicked in. It felt like the air just got sucked out of her lungs. It started as her body tensing up to the point of shaking, followed by tears quietly slipping down her face at first, before going faster until her vision was completely blurred. And then she finally broke down, a choked, broken sob escaping her throat, followed by ragged and uncontrollable crying. It was as if she tried to cough up the grief suffocating her. As much as she wished to scream, her body was too drained to do so. By the time she finally stops crying, she feels completely hollow. She though killing Wren would be cathartic, that it would bring her relief, but it only left her empty.