Nul DeGyerdi

Nul (Kielya DeGyerdi) is a tactician, pilot, and hand-to-hand combat specialist for the Starlight Brigade. Originally a soldier for the Void, Nul was responsible for the capture of Strive. Upon his success, Nul was revolted by the way the Moebian was treated and set him free, fleeing the Void at the same time.

Nul's reputation in the galaxy is mixed. Though most know him for his time before the Void as an interstellar conqueror, he is also known for his skill and grace at negotiation tactics, both with the Void and Starlight Brigade.

Appearance
Nul is a tall Delyri, standing at 6'4", with a toned physique and long, strong legs. His crystals are in the shape of diamonds. He has long, straight, dark pink hair that he wears as a long mohawk with the sides and back shaved. He has pale green eyes.

He is considered average of features by Delyrian standards, though he has been described as attractive by others. His face is angular with high cheekbones, narrow eyes, and well-manicured brows. He has very thin lips which give him a severe appearance. Nul's ears stand straight up, giving him the appearance of horns.

Despite his thin frame, Nul is still toned. His chest, arms, and calves are most noticeable, most likely the result of long hours spent sparring and playing competitive, athletic sports.

Though he changes clothing styles often, his signature boots are always present. Made of black matte leather, thigh length, with green bladed triangular heels, these are Nul's weapon of choice.

Personality
Nul is a cunning master manipulator. Skilled in the art of negotiation, Nul's abilities make bringing those around him to his side effortless. This, coupled with his ruthless nature when confronted with conflict makes him quite the contender. However, when outside of hostile situations, Nul has difficulty making up his mind. He has a habit of forming plans, thinking through them too critically, considering his possible failure, and falling into a defeatist state for a time. This causes him to rethink his strategy, and it can sometimes take hours or even weeks for him to come to a decision.

Nul is very competitive and athletic and enjoys sports and games. He takes his health seriously and is oftentimes found doing some sort of physical activity. He likes to teach people and is a patient instructor, focused on building his student's confidence before their skills. Sparring is one of his favorite activities, because it combines the two.

Nul's logical mindset, coupled with his impatience for failure can make him seem harsh, and his words often come off as biting or cruel. While he has the capacity to care deeply about those around him, it takes a lot to build up that kind of relationship with him. Once the walls are down, Nul can seem young, naive, and even playful. He likes to make jokes and tease others. He is loyal to a fault, sometimes to the point of being unable to sever that loyalty regardless of another person's actions.

Nul has a low sense of self worth that he hides behind a confident smirk, but when asked about his accomplishments, he will downplay them in favor of pointing out his flaws. He can become wistful and distracted by his memories and though he will openly display emotion, he doesn't like to divulge information about himself, including a reluctance to address his PTSD, deep seated depression, and suicidal tendencies.

He is deeply connected to his culture and people and regard their safety and well-being above all things, even to the point of self-sacrifice. He considers himself a secular person, but still holds himself to the tenants of his religion, despite not identifying as a Lyrian.

History
Nul was born on his home planet of Delyriam, shortly after the end of the Quinn occupation. The son of Gyerdi DeKianya, Nul was raised in an environment conducive to learning to navigate a political environment. His father, a leader of the Delyri people, groomed Nul to be his replacement. After this disaster known as the Collapse, Nul was responsible for his people's exodus from their home planet. He captured the other planets in his system and a third nearby before the Void heard of his abilities and contacted him, hoping he would be useful incapacitating Starlight Brigade. After his success in capturing Strive, Nul was promoted to cheif negotiator of the Void, however, upon seeing the treatment of Strive in captivity, he instead decided to free the Moebian. Nul defected from the Void and joined Starlight Brigade. He now is working to establish his peoples' rehabilitation colony and find them a new home planet. He also works as a negotiator and tactician for the Starlight Brigade.

Early Life
Nul was born as Kielya DeGyerdi on the planet of Delyriam after the removal of the Quinn population. Due to poor living conditions, Nul took nearly 18 weeks to sprout. As a child, Nul was schooled in the four arts of Delyrian society: social graces and negotiation, Lyrian religious studies, community development, and song and dance. Nul was also given lessons in a new art: that of combat, formulated just a few decades preceding his birth. Nul excelled at his studies, always eager to learn and close to his father's side. Gyerdi was preparing him to become the next Speaker, but due to the rapidly declining environment, he instead focused Nul's development as a negotiator, leaning into the emotional manipulation talents Nul displayed since early childhood, when he would force other children to play with him.

As a young teen, Nul and his father began working closely with one another. After the Collapse of the Southern Continent, it became clear that the Delyrian people would need to flee their home planet. During this time, Nul founded the Delyrian space program by learning how to build, engineer, and pilot discarded Quinn ships, using information salvaged from their abandoned wreckage. Over the next three years he personally oversaw the development and progress of the program and started putting together a plan for escape.

Conquest of Space
At 16, Nul led the first attack on a new planet, in an attempt to claim a new home world for his people. He knew the Delyri were ill-equipped for space travel and, therefore, could not travel outside of their system. Of the two other inhabitable planets in the Delyrian system, the more apt for their needs was Tellen. Nul's first move was to incapacitate the farther planet of Kezek by knocking out their transport hubs, therefore crippling their movement speed and destroying their ability to save Tellen from their onslaught. He made his way to Tellen, where he met with their military leaders and, using his abilities, forced their surrender and evacuation of their planet.

Despite his research and the Delyrian's efforts, Tellen proved to be an unsuitable planet for their long term colonization. A similar hostile takeover of Kezek proved the same. Instead, the Delyri would have to leave their system in search of a planet untouched by Quinn mining. Stockpiling their resources, the Delyri truly left their home in search of a new system. The journey took nearly two full years.

During the travel to their third planet, the Delyri ships ran low on fuel. In a rash decision, Nul asked for volunteers to sacrifice themselves to the engines. Few volunteered save for Nul's childhood best friend, Avex. Nul refused, but Gyerdi stepped in, stating that since Nul was the one to force their people on this journey, that he would have to lose something. After Avex's sacrifice, others followed suit and they managed to travel to the planet of Donadei.

Donadei put up more of a fight than the planets of the Delyrian system, thousands of Delyri lives were lost. Nul fought desperately against their forces and managed to get an audience with their leaders, once again using his powers of manipulation coupled with the turned tides of the battle to bring the planet under Delyrian control. Donadei proved to be a better colony for their people, but they were quickly chased out as the Donaderians recovered and razed the newly formed Delyrian villages.

During this time, Nul's infamy spread across the galaxy and word of his success as a conquerer reached the ears of the Void Prince.

Void
Shortly following the loss of Donadei, Nul was contacted by the Prince of the Void. He was told that if he allied his people with them, that the Void would keep them safe and well-cared for while they searched for a suitable new home. All they asked in exchange was for their enlistment in their armies and use of Nul's negotiation skills. The Prince saw Nul's abilities as a means by which they could capture Strive from Starlight Brigade, thus rendering them useless. Nul complied, and despite difficulty managed to get his hands on Strive. However, after witnessing the abuse and torment the Prince enacted upon him, Nul resolved to rescue him. Due to his questioning of the Prince's methods, Nul was imprisoned along Strive. During this time, Strive educated him on the purpose of the GUP, bringing light to the idea that Nul was misled, ultimately resulting in Nul wanting to break away from the Void. Nul broke Strive out and escaped with him back to Starlight Brigade, but the Delyri as a whole were not severed from Void control until several months later.

Starlight Brigade
After rescuing Strive and returning him to the Brigade, Nul narrowly escaped imprisonment by the GUP. After explaining his case to the GUP, the Delyri rehabilitation colony was erected. During this time, Nul sought out his father in an attempt to get him to pull their people out of the Void's control. Gyerdi refused, citing Nul's defection as a betrayal. After an altercation between the SLB and the Delyrian armies of the Void, Nul won back his people's favor and pulled them out of the Void.

Since then, Nul has worked as a tactician and negotiator for the Starlight Brigade, as well as a grounds combat specialist. He has also teamed up effort between the Delyrian science division and the Ambassador and Discovery programs of the GUP to continue their search for a new Delyrian home planet.