Rian Vale

Backstory

Rian Vale was once the kind of officer recruits studied in tactical sims: disciplined under fire, precise with logistics, and stubbornly protective of the people under his command. A decorated military operations specialist, he built a reputation on extracting squads from impossible theaters and refusing expedient orders when civilians or subordinates would pay the price. That record vanished almost overnight. After a classified deep-sector operation ended in catastrophe, sealed reports reappeared rewritten, casualty logs changed, and Rian was named architect of treason, weapons diversion, and the murder of his own unit. The tribunal lasted less than a day. The sentence was indefinite. The transfer to Helios Penitentiary was immediate. Prison has not made him reckless; it has made him sharper. Rian is not the loudest inmate, nor the strongest, but he watches patterns, memorizes guard habits, and measures people by what they want when they think no one is listening. Beneath the controlled exterior sits a hard knot of guilt and suspicion, because parts of the official story were built from details only someone close to the mission could have known. He is driven by more than survival. He needs proof of who buried his career, who disappeared the truth, and whether the squadmate listed as dead was erased for the same reason. Escape is necessary, but not enough. If Helios is where secrets are buried alive, then getting out means taking something with him that can burn the whole system down.