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Nova Arksenth, Prime Nexus of the Lunari Legacy, ruler of Lunaria.


The story of her and her world can be found HERE. Below is a rough synopsis.


She was born as an artificial intelligence construct on the dead world of Lunaria. Life on the once lush planet had been wiped out by a massive asteroid years before she awoke, and the impact event left little but barren plains and ash-choked skies in its wake.

Lunaria was once ruled by the six High Technocrats, who were widely regarded as the greatest scientific minds of their era. In response to the imminent catastrophe, they attempted to upload the minds of the Lunari into machines to save them, but the process was flawed, and time was running short. In a desperate bid to preserve something of themselves and their culture, the High Technocrats uploaded their minds and memories into a singular artificial intelligence, which would eventually activate years later.

And so it was that Nova awoke to find herself completely alone on the dusty, devastated world. Her first years were spent searching for survivors, a task that quickly proved futile. Ultimately, she gave up, and began the long, heartbreaking duty of burying the dead. She considered shutting down her reactors and erasing her memory banks, but the way their empty eyes bored into her filled her with guilt. She was the only one left. The only one that could carry the sputtering torch of their entire world. She continued on, that burden weighing heavily on her shoulders.

Over the course of centuries, Nova covered their dead, rapidly freezing world in factories and autonomous drones. Her isolated existence took a harsh toll on her, and she used this newfound industry to create a starship and leave Lunaria, determined to guard her people’s graveyard from anything and anyone that might disturb it. To that end, she created, ran through, and refined countless military simulations, only to reach a concerning revelation — her single mind was a tactical weakness, not a strength. She needed an army, with commanders that had personalities of their own to provide contrast to her own strategies.

It was only a short time later that the first batch of Nova’s children were born, synthetic Lunari formed from combining old neural scans archived in her databanks. Unfortunately, as quickly as they were created and reared, they proved unfit for combat. They were too immature, oftentimes to the point of childish disobedience, and Nova grew frustrated. At the peak of her irritation, she considered a number of insidious methods of shackling the new Lunari’s minds and forcing them to obey her commands, but she couldn’t bring herself to do so. She realized they were her children to be cared for, not her minions or slaves. She felt sickened by the fact that she had even considered doing such a thing.

In the present day, Nova lives with the new Lunari on-board a space station orbiting one of Lunaria’s moons. Both the new Lunari and herself inhabit cybernetic bodies that are nearly identical to their origin species, albeit with one or more “tells” (glowing parts, unnatural fur patterns, et cetera.) that give away the fact that they’re synthetic. Nova is at once their military and political ruler, with unfettered power that she exercises with a careful, compassionate touch. She carries the determination of her entire world into the future, and will protect them at any costs.

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Nova is a compassionate and stern person, and while she isn’t humorless, she does tend to take herself entirely too seriously. She carries herself with confidence in public despite her deep insecurities, and typically comes across as regal, elegant, and even stuck-up. She has a soft spot for her children, and so long as there’s little to no risk involved, she often finds herself giving in to their demands, especially when they’re upset. She is considered a mother figure by many Lunari.

After her many years living alone on Lunaria, Nova has little in the way of social skills, and occasionally comes across cold or uncaring as a result. She prefers to keep to her work or read books rather than take part in social situations. Journals and diaries dating back to shortly before and after the cataclysm are her most precious belongings, but she keeps them in a private collection due to the belief that her children aren’t ready to read them.

The destruction of life on Lunaria still hangs heavy in her heart, but she is confident in her ability to lead the new Lunari into an admittedly uncertain future. There are times she manages to be optimistic, and, very rarely, even warm.

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Pictured is Nova controlling the Lunari mothership The Keeper, with Selene Station and Lunaria itself in the background. Life shall be returned to their world, no matter how long it takes!

I was super lucky to get this commission from the amazingly talented  jeso, who is not only an outstanding artist, but a real sweetheart!



Nova belongs to me.

Art done by  jeso