Soshika Lypha

Description

Born on Hekshano and native to North Tek, Soshika is a lightly built, short female Hekshanian with long course hair. This is a recessive genetic trait in Southern lander Hekshanians. Both she and her brother, Kyotoshi Lypha, share it.She is often seen wearing dark, baggy clothing. As a result of spending too much space, her eyes have weakened with star blindness and she must wear glasses.

She is a member of the Rulerist Resistance and has been working for them as a medic for close to one year. Although fairly adept at field medicine, her demeanor leaves much to be desired.

Her parents were killed in the massacre, and shortly thereafter she had a falling out with Kyotoshi as a result of his excessive drinking. She is ill tempered and generally quite racist, going to great lengths to deny the truth in order to place blame on someone or something.

She has a phobia of guns.

Personality

Soshika is quite young and naive, with a quick temper and stubborn demeanor. This makes it very difficult for her commanding officers to control her or deal with her. She will frequently argue with her superiors, forgetting her place. Although she may firmly believe she is right, this is very rarely the case. She can be very sarcastic.

Despite her chosen occupation, Soshika can be quite panicky when initially confronted with an injury. However, she quickly suppresses her initial panic and is usually able to function once she has done so. Kyotoshi only recently appears to have shown he shares this coping mechanism.

Soshika has a crippling prejudice against Humans, blaming the entire species for both Rulerism and the massacre. She goes so far as to treat Grey like a dumb beast, being both physically and verbally abusive.

Like her brother, Soshika places herself in deep denial about many issues. One of these is Kyotoshi himself. Since joining the resistance, she adamantly swore she had no living family. She refuses to believe that her brother's actions might have stemmed from a need to cope with the situation he found himself in and clings blindly to the idea of "He broke his promise."

In spite of her apparent loathing of her brother, Soshika kept a journal full of notes and entries which were all addressed to Kyotoshi for the year she spent away from Hekshano. In truth, she misses her brother and wishes she could restore their bond, but can not work past her own pride and beliefs.

Despite her difficult personality, Soshika is quite intelligent. She is an excellent analytical thinker. Once she manages to move past her emotions and opinions, she very often is able to come up with a viable solution or series of facts.

History

Soshika was the youngest child of her parents, Kyotoshi being her older brother. She grew up in what would be considered an average middle class family. Both of her parents worked, her brother sometimes teased her, but all in all they were a loving and stable household.

Soshika went through high school with high marks, and was beginning to study on Hekshano to receive nursing certification. Then, tragically, the massacres struck. Soshika and Kyotoshi's parents were shot in the family kitchen by a group of Rulerist military police for association with the company Naitec. The two siblings remained in the room, trying to avert their eyes while their parents lay dying.

From that point, life took a harsh downturn for both Soshika and her brother. The two remained living in their family home, as both were over the age of 18. Soshika attempted to continue her nursing studies, but began to grow resentful and angry. A social worker would occasionally check on the two siblings, but there were many similar cases to the Lyphas and the social worker's resources were limited. Although her brother had initially swore to her that he "wouldn't change" after what had happened, the trauma made change inevitable, and he began to drink. Being busy with her studies, Soshika at first did not notice.

When Kyotoshi began drinking more and more heavily, Soshika confronted him about it harshly. After a heated argument in which Kyotoshi swore he could not handle what had happened to them without drinking, Soshika swore she would leave. After a few weeks of preparation, she had arranged for a spacer to smuggle her off world. She dropped out of school and prepared to leave, pausing only momentarily to give Kyotoshi a cursory good-bye. It was at this time which Kyotoshi gave her a journal and asked her to write in it. As she left, she also took a large replica sword the family kept on display in the house.

Once off world, Soshika almost immediately joined with the Rulerist Resistance, finding an outlet and a target resulting from what she felt was a broken life. Her small stature made her a poor candidate for battle, but her preliminary medical training made her indispensable on the front lines.

During a battle on a small moon, Soshika became trapped in a bombed out bunker and huddled, convinced she was going to die. It was at this time that Solla Flint came to her rescue, and the two escaped together. In repayment, when Solla was admitted to the medical tent later in their travels suffering from radiation poisoning, Soshika made it a point to be the Animarian's nurse.

Soshika was selected for the mission to retrieve Grey from Ando due to her medical knowledge, although she did not know it at the time. She would have likely refused to go along, if she knew that she was going to deal with a Human.

First Appearances

• War Buddies, Page 1
• Main Comic, Page 1

Trivia

• Eventually, Soshika will be completely blind due to star blindness.
• Soshika has two nicknames - Soshi (which the Jester X crew calls her) and Lyika (which Kyotoshi calls her). The first is a lazy shortening of her first name. The second is an endearing Hekshanian way of making nicknames - Combining the first syllabal of the last name with the last syllable of the first name.
• Although she has a great deal of wrath, Soshika seems incapable of lashing out in physical anger.
• Soshika views Ro Koji as a father figure, and often finds herself hiding behind him.
• Despite being a medic, Soshika hates psychology. Treating psychological maladies is her least favourite thing.
• Soshika has no idea her brother attempted suicide, dated Zara Nikko, or may be a father.
• She talks to herself when frustrated.
• Until Ashido appeared topless, Soshika had no idea Ashido was female.

Behind the Scenes