◆ Biography ◆
Fifteen years had ground by since the Invasion of the Hog left Budgieberg in ruins, a city forever marked by that nightmare. The scars showed everywhere. Towers patched with mismatched stone, streets where the ground still cracked underfoot from old blasts, nests abandoned high in the branches where families once huddled against the dark. Parakeet Talk had died out long ago, its signals lost to static and forgotten frequencies, the old broadcast hubs now just twisted metal skeletons rusting in the wind. The Blue Cage stood as a hollow shell, its communal halls echoing with silence instead of the chatter of young flyers learning their first maneuvers. Even the Battlestar Budgies had faded, their ranks thinned by time and loss, the once-fierce unit reduced to a handful of weary veterans whose wings dragged a little lower with each patrol. The planet Androvalis felt heavier, the air thicker with unspoken dread, as if waiting for the next catastrophe to strike.
In that shadow of despair, Luna rose like a storm breaking over the horizon.
She was no ordinary budgie from the start. Her feathers gleamed an unnatural green, streaked with sharp black markings that cut like shadows across her form, her face a vivid yellow mask that caught the light like polished gold. Such colors lived only in the ancient tales, whispered legends of the primordial Budgerigars who soared when the world was young and untamed, beings said to carry the essence of the planet itself in their blood. The elders gawked when she hatched, murmuring of signs and omens, some calling her a harbinger of doom, others a gift from the stars. Luna ignored the stares at first, the way flocks parted when she flew by, but the weight of their expectations clung to her like damp fog.
Then the Hoop of Power found her.
It happened on a moonless night, while she patrolled the jagged outer ridges alone, the wind howling cold through the canyons. The sky ripped open without warning, a streak of unnatural light slamming into the earth with a resonant boom that shook loose boulders from the cliffs. The artifact lay there in the crater, glowing with an otherworldly hum that vibrated in her chest, pulling her closer against her better judgment. She touched it, talons brushing the warm surface, and the power surged in like liquid fire. It tore through her body, muscles convulsing, bones grinding as they reshaped, feathers igniting in brief flares before settling stronger, denser. The agony was absolute, a white-hot forge remaking her from the inside out. When it subsided, she flexed her wings and felt the world bend slightly around her, the air parting as if in deference.
Felipe's gifts had let him shatter mountains with a single strike. Luna's could punch craters that plunged straight to the planet's crust, exposing rivers of molten rock that bubbled and spat like opened veins. He flew faster than sound, cracking the air with thunderous booms. She approached the speed of light, her form a streak that ionized the atmosphere, leaving trails of plasma that scorched the sky for miles. Demons that had tested Felipe in brutal, drawn-out wars? Luna ended them in moments, her talons folding their infernal hides inward with crushing force, bones snapping like dry twigs, their howls silenced as she ripped essence from form in sprays of dark ichor.
Power like that could break a soul, turn it cold and distant. But Felipe refused to let it. He approached her not as a legend, but as kin. One dawn he simply appeared beside her in the high crags, his blue feathers catching the rising sun.
"Show me." He said, voice steady and worn from years of command.
They trained relentlessly, hours stretching into days atop the windswept peaks. He taught her the nuances of combat, how to read the subtle shift in an enemy's balance before they struck, how to use terrain as a weapon, weaving through rock formations to turn speed into surprise.
"Strength alone wins battles," He'd say, circling her in mid-air, "but strategy wins wars."
She absorbed it all, her green wings slicing precise arcs that mirrored his own. Nights brought quieter lessons, perched on the remnants of the old broadcast tower, the city sprawled below like a wounded beast. He'd speak of Sofia, not the glory of her sacrifice, but the small things, the way her laughter cut through the tension of patrols, the quiet resolve in her eyes before a storm. Luna felt the stories settle in her chest, a warmth against the isolation her power bred. In time, he looked at her with that rare, soft gaze only battle-hardened survivors earn.
"Luna Lombardi." he declared. "Wear it if it fits."
It did, locking into place like a key in a long-sealed door. Their bond deepened, mentor and protégé forged into something closer to family. Word spread across Androvalis like wildfire through dry grass. The Legendary Super Budgie, they called her, a being eclipsing even Felipe in might, whispers turning to chants as flocks gathered to watch her train. Some bowed in awe, convinced she was a goddess cloaked in feathers, her green plumage a sign of divine favor. Others feared her, but in those uncertain times, fear mingled with hope. Perhaps a god was exactly what the planet needed.
The demons had retreated after Plush Tails' defeat, their rifts sealed in the wake of that blood-soaked victory.
But threats like that never truly vanish, they merely wait for the world to weaken.
One fateful day, the sky fractured on a scale that dwarfed any prior tear. A colossal shadow emerged from hyperspace, blotting out the sun with its bulk, engines rumbling like the growl of some cosmic predator. The mothership of the Shadow Federation loomed there, a fortress of dark alloy and throbbing energy shields, an empire that devoured worlds without remorse. Sofia's faded warnings echoed in the archives, of conquerors from the universe's depths, led by a warlord whose wrath unmade realities.
Chaos descended swiftly. Soldiers poured from the vessel in endless streams, black-furred bears, cloned from ancient stock, clad in humming exosuits that amplified their bulk. They struck the Outer Rim first, those wild frontiers crawling with titanic beasts. Plasma rifles seared through thick hides, vibro-blades carving deep into flesh that sprayed hot blood across the dirt. Massive creatures that had terrorized the edges for eons fell in heaps, limbs twitching as life ebbed away. Smaller settlements followed, outposts razed in barrages of orbital fire that turned stone to glass, screams lost in the roar of collapsing structures. Budgieberg ignited once more, alarms blaring through the streets as pods slammed down, bears emerging with weapons humming.
But resistance flared bright. Felipe rallied the remnants of the Battlestar Budgies, his voice a clarion call slicing through the panic. Luna joined him without hesitation, their auras igniting in tandem. She dove into the fray like a comet, talons extended, slamming through a squad of bears with force that crumpled exosuits inward, black fur matting with synthetic blood that gushed from rents in the armor. One punch shattered a dropship's hull, metal folding like foil, the vessel exploding in a bloom of fire that scattered charred limbs. Lasers glanced off her aura harmlessly, blades shattering against her feathers. She mowed through them relentlessly, bodies piling in her wake, the air thick with the stink of burned fur and ozone.
Felipe complemented her onslaught with precision, directing flanks that funneled enemies into kill zones, his aura blasts vaporizing clusters in flashes of superheated light. The army fought alongside, sharpened tools claiming kills, improvised charges scattering foes. Civilians were pulled from the rubble, order clawed back street by street. For Luna, it bordered on trivial, her power a tidal wave drowning the invaders, but such dominance invited escalation.
As the battle dragged into midnight's pitch, a unnatural hush fell. No more gunfire echoed, no cries pierced the dark. The air grew heavy, charged. A beam lanced down from the mothership, a pillar of cold light illuminating the central square like a judgment from above.
From its core stepped Vireya, the warlord herself.
She towered over the ruins, yellow fur rippling under her cape, eyes glowing with predatory calm. The last of the army and Battlestar charged in confusion, unleashing everything they had on her. It washed over her without effect, not a single mark on her body. She raised one paw, and energy surged forth, a wave of celestial energy that erased them utterly. Bodies disintegrated in mid-air, feathers flashing to ash, screams cut short as flesh vaporized. A vast chunk of the city collapsed, buildings crumpling in clouds of dust and flame.
Felipe and Luna arrived in a blur, hovering before her, auras pulsing defiance. Vireya regarded them coolly, these small flyers who dared stand close.
The clash exploded without any words. Felipe struck first, a calculated dive low to her flank, aura sharpening into a piercing lance aimed at her side. Vireya swatted him aside like he was nothing, her paw connecting with a thunderous crack that sent him tumbling through the air, crashing into a shattered wall. Bones snapped audibly, blood flecking his beak, but regeneration knit the damage as he rose, shaking off debris, eyes locked on her.
Luna wasted no time. She accelerated to near-lightspeed, a green streak slamming into Vireya's chest with planetary force. The impact detonated like a bomb, shockwave ripping outward, ground fracturing in spiderweb cracks that swallowed rubble. Vireya staggered back two steps, a shallow gash opening across her fur, blood welling dark and thick. She snarled, lips curling over fangs, and summoned the Starcleaver, a massive warhammer of celestial aura, glowing with trapped starlight. She swung it in a wide arc, space warping around the head, gravity pulling at the air like a black hole's edge.
Luna twisted away barely, the hammer's wake just barely yanking at her feathers, nearly dragging her in. Felipe flanked from the side, channeling an aura blast that lanced into Vireya's shoulder, scorching fur and drawing a hiss of pain. She roared, a sound that seemingly bent reality itself, light fracturing into prisms, the ground trembling as if the planet recoiled. Luna punched through the distortion, her fist connecting with Vireya's jaw in a crack of bone, teeth loosening in a spray of blood and saliva.
Luna circled at blinding velocities, her strikes a barrage of craters, her feathered fists hammering into Vireya's ribs until she felt the wet give of cracking bone beneath fur, internal organs compressing with each blow. Blood flecked the warlord's muzzle, but her regeneration sealed the wounds almost as fast as they opened. Felipe wove through the chaos darting in, aura blades slashing deep furrows across her arms, her blood hitting the ground.
Vireya adapted with terrifying speed. Her lasso she had summoned whipped out, chains of energy coiling around Felipe as he tried to dodge it, burning through his aura with searing heat. He gasped, muscles straining as the links tightened, bones grinding under the pressure. Luna blitzed in, her beak tearing at the whip, the celestial aura getting sliced. Vi retaliated with yet another backhand that caught Luna across the side, world spinning as ribs shattered inward, puncturing lung in a flood of hot blood. She coughed red, vision blurring, but forced herself airborne again, aura flaring brighter to staunch the flow.
Vi jumped into the sky, matching Luna's speed with bursts that cracked the air. Their collisions shook the continent. Luna's little punches landing like meteors, carving valleys into the landscape below, Vireya's sending aftershocks that toppled distant spires. Luna grabbed onto Vireya's tail, talons sinking deep into the flesh, and yanked with all her might. The appendage tore free in a gory fountain, muscle and sinew ripping with a wet schlorp, the tail thrashing on the ground. Vireya howled in rage, slashing with her claws as it managed to rake across Luna's back, feathers scattering in bloody clumps, skin parting to expose muscle that pulsed with pain.
They were on the ground yet again, and Felipe pressed the attack silently, diving low to strike at her thigh, aura blade sinking deep into the joint, bone splintering with a sharp crack. Blood poured down her leg, but she stomped down, shockwave erupting outward, hurling him into a hillside. Rock pulverized around him, his body embedding in the crater, his regeneration struggling against the mounting damage, feathers charred and matted.
They were tiring, wounds accumulating faster than they could heal. Vireya showed no such weakness, her power swelling like a storm front. She channeled celestial energy into constructs, spears of light that lanced through the air, impaling ruins and forcing evasive maneuvers. One grazed Felipe's wing, searing flesh to the bone, the smell of burned feathers thick in the air. Luna countered with a nova of her own aura, green fire exploding outward, punches raining like artillery. Each hit quaked the ground, but Vierya quite literally ate it, redirecting the absorbed energy in explosive waves that scorched the battlefield and sent Luna flying off.
Vireya focused onto Felipe, re-summoning her lasso, snaring onto him yet again, chains wrapping his torso, constricting until ribs cracked like brittle wood, blood bubbling from his beak. Luna screamed, blitzing to free him, but Vireya anticipated, swatting her off once again as Luna barely has time to even dodge. It connected with Luna's shoulder, pulverizing bone and muscle, her arm hanging limp as agony screamed through her nerves. Felipe broke loose with a final surge, talons severing the links.
In desperation, they unleashed a coordinated assault. Luna's aura blazed to its peak, her form a green inferno streaking toward Vireya's face, beak and talons aimed to gouge. Felipe flanked, his blasts synchronizing, piercing into her. Luna's strike landed true, her talons ripping into Vireya's chest, literally carving a cavity that exposed the wet thump of her heart, blood fountaining in thick arcs. Vireya bellowed and grabbed her swiftly, claws piercing Luna's sides, twisting deep into organs with deliberate cruelty.
Felipe gasped. He knew Vi was simply too strong. His final act was a silent, sacrificial charge, aura blade thrusting for her throat, ready to detonate the aura as strong as a nuclear charge. but Vireya seized him as well mid-air, her grip crushing down.
His bones snapped in a chorus of wet pops, his small body crumpling lifeless in her paw. She hurled the remains aside, feathers scattering like fallen leaves. Felipe was killed.
Luna's world shattered with grief and rage. She tore free from her claws, ignoring the gush of blood from her wounds, and raked Vireya's face with savage fury. One eye burst in a spray of vitreous fluid, Vi howling as she winced in pain. Luna punched with her good fist into the exposed chest, a literal shockwave leveling what remained of the city, but in doing so, her arm completely shattered, fragments of bone piercing skin. Vi was simply too durable.
Vireya, blinded in one eye and bleeding profusely, grabbed at Luna with her free paw yet again, her claws closing around the small bird's body in a vise-like hold that squeezed with crushing force. Luna's vision tunneled, air starving from her compressed lungs, the image of Felipe's broken body searing into her fading sight. With one last defiant surge, she mustered a punch straight into Vireya's enclosing hand, talons raking fur and drawing fresh blood, the impact cracking metacarpals with a muffled snap.
The warlord stared down at her captive through her remaining eye, a flicker of reluctant respect crossing her battered features amid the pain. Then, with a growl, she hurled Luna to the ground like discarded refuse, the impact cratering the earth and splintering more bones in the budgie's frame. Vireya then raised her Starcleaver high, the hammerhead blazing with gathered celestial might, and swung it down one final time. The blow connected with apocalyptic force, pulverizing Luna in a crushing explosion of feathers and blood that scattered everywhere, her small body erased in the detonation. The hammer's impact didn't stop there; It propagated through the planet's core, shockwaves fracturing continents, oceans boiling into steam, Androvalis shattering apart in a blaze of fire and debris as the world ended in the wake of their stand.
The entire planet exploded, as Vi began to float in the vacuum of space amongst it all, looking at her mothership. She smiled as her regeneration slowly kicked in ever so slightly as the ship approached to retrieve her. She had won, and she was delighted.
Alas, the story of Luna ends there. The legend dying with her beloved home, and the planet along with it.
