Mantissa "Issa" Argona

The best friend turned antagonist, fighting for what she believes in.

History
Her parents were both pilots, chosen for their genetic synergy. Issa was pushed into the Dragon and Space Combat Academy as soon as she was born. She was raised alongside Stevius, and he is her closest friend as well as her dragon.

Though she was raised inside of DRASC, Issa still had some contact with the outside world. She learned her religious beliefs from a combination of televangelists and occultists, leading to it being very warped.

When she and Voltaire "Volts" Donegue are captured for The Spartan Project, she has the AEU of the dragon they were riding, Stevius, implanted in her skull. This dragon was faithful to Oz, and is instrumental in changing Issa's sympathies.

Personality
Issa is deeply religious, practicing a bastardized form of Christianity. She tends to be shy and aloof, wary of other people. She deeply believes that the only partner she needs in her life is Stevius. She is still kind, and polite, but she does not go out of her way to be friendly and she never approaches people. But she cares deeply for the people she does have.

Because DRASC does not endorse any religion, Issa's practicing is done entirely in private. Religion is not against their rules, but there are no chapels on campus and no extra time is given so students may pray. Issa's beliefs and her stubborn insistance on always wearing a cross have made her an enigma to the other students, though bullying in the pilot's ranks is rare. Issa usually paints a cross above Stevius' heart, onto his scales, before any major mission. Though this is usually done with paint or leather oil, she has used blood before particularly important battles.

Though she keeps to herself, Issa is one of the kinder people on base. Her heart is larger than her head, she's frequently been accused. Being raised with a such a different sibling, as that's what she thinks of Stevius as, gave her a level of empathy foreign to most people. She learned to understand the struggles and thoughts of a create so incredibly alien, which improved her empathy overall.

Though she doesn't tell anyone other than Stevius, Issa despises hurting people, or dragons. She tends to be more towards the agreeable side when pushed, just wanting everyone to be happy and get along. The truth of the war, and how many people it hurts, rips her apart. In another universe, she never would've been a soldier. She prays to the stars everyday that the war will end, that the suffering will end.

However, because she is wary of her good nature being taken advantage of, Issa works out religiously. While she isn't given to vanity, she does enjoy the way she looks when she's extremely muscular. And it keeps people from approaching her, or bullying her for her quiet ways. And, of course, it's war-time, so being strong never hurts. Especially when you have to haul extremely heavy dragon tack all across hell's half acre.

Religious Beliefs
Because DRASC does not teach or endorse any religion, Issa learned everything she knows from televisions. Books on religion are not available in DRASC's library, so what initially piqued her interest was televangelist advertisements on TV. From there, Issa did her own research, building a belief set that borrows from many different religions.

This led to her discovering Astralism, a bastardization of Christianity based around stars. She follows this religion closely, as she already had to memorize the star chart to navigate through space.