Byran Kale
| Full name | Byran Kale |
|---|---|
| Pronouns | He/him |
| Species | Unknown |
| Role / occupation | Spaceship technician |
Byran Kale is a spaceship technician selected for the five-person SYMMETRY intercept mission in 7354. Unlike the scientists drawn from the Royal Research Guild lab, Byran was assembled directly at the Royal Palace for the mission briefing — Tomas Lithe first encountered him there. His expertise in keeping vessels intact was considered essential for a rushed deep-space mission with barely 30 minutes of preparation.
Physical Appearance
Approximately 45 years old, possibly slightly older than Tomas Lithe and Kristopher Yette. No other physical details are established.
Personality
Byran is independent-minded, guarded, and harbours deep hostility toward the Empire — views that go well beyond the quiet Imperial dislike common among ordinary citizens. He is capable of careful, methodical planning in secret while projecting casual indifference. Under pressure he becomes dismissive and aggressive, deflecting scrutiny with contempt rather than explanation. His defection plan reveals a genuinely idealistic streak: his stated goal was not personal escape but collective freedom for the entire crew.
Background
Byran had prior experience working on the class of ship used for the SYMMETRY mission, though the nature and duration of that work are not established. He was not part of the Guild research team and arrived at the mission assembly independently. He brought specialised equipment with him — including an audio filter device — suggesting he had anticipated and prepared for an opportunity of this kind before the mission was announced.
Relationships
Tomas Lithe — fellow mission member; planetary geologist; first met at the palace assembly.
Mera Serenol — fellow mission member; orbital mechanics expert. Byran expected she might share his desire to defect.
Kristopher Yette — fellow mission member; theoretical exobiologist. Byran's primary target during the attack; addressed as "Sylvian bastard" and "Dronehead" after his imprisonment.
Miryana Dorense — fellow mission member; astronomer. Byran's apparent collaborator in the course sabotage. His final word before losing consciousness — "Why?" — was addressed to her, revealing he expected her loyalty and was surprised by her physical intervention against him.
Story Arc
"All I wanted was a better life — for all of us. Somewhere else, where they can't get to us."
Year 7354 — SYMMETRY Intercept Mission
Palace assembly: Byran was not part of the Guild research team and arrived at the mission assembly at the Royal Palace independently. This was Tomas's first meeting with him.
Surveillance sabotage: Shortly after launch from Lukyr Prime, Byran installed an audio filter in the ship's communications console that restricted the surveillance feed to ambient noise only. His justification was personal autonomy — if the Empire was going to send him on a sudden mission without consultation, he reserved the right to operate on his own terms. He immediately used the privacy to express extreme hostility toward the Empire, alarming Tomas and prompting a sharp challenge from Kristopher over how he knew to do this and why he had the device with him. Byran deflected the challenge dismissively; the crew reacted with varying degrees of discomfort, with Mera Serenol urging them to finish the mission before addressing grievances.
Suspicious activity: Later in the journey, Tomas found Byran alone in the storage room working with storage boxes. Byran was visibly skittish and redirected Tomas to the cockpit without explanation. The nature of what he was doing remains unconfirmed, though it is consistent with preparing for a course diversion.
Dismissal of spatial disruptions: When Tomas called a team meeting to present evidence of spatial distortions affecting the storage room, Byran was hostile and dismissive from the outset. He could not provide a useful count of the shelves and refused to engage with the evidence during a group investigation of the storage room. He became progressively more aggressive under Tomas's pressure — calling Mera derogatory names and dismissing Tomas as a geologist unqualified to interpret what he was seeing — before withdrawing to the living quarters. Notably, when asked which aisle he had been working in, he pointed to the second aisle from the left — the original, not the newly materialized one.
Course sabotage: While the crew was occupied in the medical room following the duplication of Mera, Byran and likely Miryana Dorense reprogrammed the ship's course to Gamma Eona and erased the mission parameters. When caught on the bridge, both claimed to be verifying approach vectors Mera had already computed. Kristopher Yette's Sylvian Contingency Override cut the engines and prevented the course change from taking effect.
Armed attack: Immediately after the Sylvian Override activated, Byran entered the medical bay and opened fire with a real weapon — not a tranquiliser — directly at Kristopher, striking him in the shoulder. He continued firing while evading Mera's tranq shots. Miryana intervened physically, but her causal loop condition caused her to reset on a short rhythm; Byran eventually predicted the pattern and deflected her. He was ultimately stunned by one of the two Meras then present. His final word was a single question directed at Miryana as he lost consciousness, expressing surprise at her turning against him.
Treason trial: On waking restrained, Byran refused to acknowledge Kristopher, forcing Kristopher to reveal his Sylvian Order membership. In his formal hearing, Byran bypassed Kristopher and addressed Tomas and Mera directly, arguing that the Empire was inhumane and that his sole motive had been defection — taking the entire crew to Gamma Eona to live beyond the Empire's reach. Both Tomas and Mera declined; Tomas cited Alex Prane on Lukyr Prime as reason enough, while Mera noted that one refusal was sufficient to end the plan, and that loyalty could not survive an attempted murder. Byran appeared genuinely saddened by their refusal.
Imprisonment: Kristopher formally revoked Byran's citizenship and pronounced imprisonment by imperial authority, then used his Sylvian neural interface to freeze Byran's body — locking his expression to neutral and leaving him motionless except for eye tracking. He was strapped to the medical bed to prevent floating during maneuvers. Byran was the only qualified ship technician aboard; the crew's ability to manage the vessel without him remained uncertain.
Return to Lukyr Prime: After the mission concluded, Byran remained imprisoned. Alex Prane relayed to Tomas that Byran had been "locked up" — consistent with his treason, attempted defection, and attack on Kristopher. Whether he remained in Kristopher's neural-interface hold or was transferred to a conventional form of custody was not specified.
Open Questions
- Where was Byran before the palace assembly — why was he not in the Guild lab?
- What is his background in spaceship maintenance, and on which vessels had he previously worked?
- What was he doing in the storage room — hiding equipment for the planned defection?
- Was he acting entirely alone, or did he have a contact who encouraged or informed the plan?
- He told Tomas and Mera that he "knew for a fact" they would understand — what information about them led him to believe they might defect?
- Who revealed Kristopher Yette's Sylvian identity to Byran? (Kristopher implied someone "would have probably told" him.)
- What exactly is at Gamma Eona? Was it a planned meeting point, a free society, or simply far enough from the Empire?
- Was Miryana Dorense a willing accomplice or coerced? Why did she ultimately intervene against him?
- Will Byran ever be released? The crew may still need his technical expertise.