Oni was born on December 26th, 3283 at the Founder's World in Shinrarta Dezhra.
His father, Hexi Iori, was an engineer -the best in the galaxy at his time- and the inventor of the Plasma Accelerator, a fixed mount weapon that would be one of the most powerful and widely used years later. He was also Chief Engineer at the Pilot's Federation Association being in charge of regulating and approving lethal inventions for them to become of legal use in the galaxy.
Iori's mother, Illudya Marys Iori, was a talented musician having been awarded many times throughout her life and performing on every corner of Founder's World.
Oni was the first and only child of his parents and as one of the luckiest people in the galaxy being born at the birthplace of the Pilot's Federation he grew up to become part of the elite society. He attended the Capital Federation Elementary School being described as a very distant and quiet child although a very intelligent one...
Being with his father all the time as his mother were always on tour he learned a lot about space combat, weapons, engineering and much more while watching his father at work and by being directly taught by Hexi who was very proud of his son and used to tell him he would certainly be a great pilot one day.
The Eranin War
On September 3300 the Eranin War broke out and the Federation sent personnel to the system on various operations to achieve the re-conquering of Eranin including Hexi Iori as a War Strategist as he was the single person to know everything about all the Independent equipment.
Hexi Iori was killed during an invasion on Azeban City, where Federation troops were located to receive medical treatment and ship repairs.
Years later it was discovered that the Federation never made the operations public and the widespread “truth” was that the conflict was caused by rebels and so being labeled as a Civil War. It was also made public that Hexi Iori joined the conflict in a traitorous act motivated by his intentions of testing his weapons on Independent population.
Alliance Ambassador Eliza Fernandez which, at the time, attempted to mediate the tension between Eranin and the Federation supported this version of the story, so she could maintain peace between the powers and profit from it as a good relationship with the Federation was much needed for the Alliance at the time.
Illudya and Oni had to move away from Shinrarta Dezhra as they were labeled traitors as well, and so mother and son departed from Jameson Memorial to the outer space on October 3rd, 3302.
By the year 3303, Illudya and Oni were pretty much space nomads, travelling from system to system fearing being recognized, which was rather plausible to happen as Illudya was a famous person -and even more after the Eranin War.
They happened to be in Imperial territory when the Nova Imperium rift with Emperor Arissa Lavigny-Duval reached its climax with the revelation of Hadrian Hengist Duval, putting Arissa's throne at risk while also being targeted by the terrorist organization League of Reparation.
While travelling in-system on an arranged Imperial Courier, Illudya and Oni were mistakenly interdicted by a wing of League of Reparation's scouts who were targeting the IISS Captain Niamh Seutonia who was conducting a hunt on all League of Reparation members as they were declared terrorists by the Imperial Internal Security Service.
The scouts opened fire immediately and Oni Iori, who was 19 years old at the time, attempted to escape by maneuvering the Courier trying to gather distance in order to exit the mass-lock zone.
The IISS squad rapidly noticed the presence of enemy ships and arrived at the conflict only to watch an unidentified imperial vessel barely making out in one piece against the scouts. Captain Niamh ordered all of her crew to engage against the League of Reparation members destroying all ships just in time to inspect the strange Courier to realize it had its canopy breached, power plant almost destroyed and life support malfunctioning.
She contacted the ship and was met with a desperate boy asking for help as his mother was shot and wasn't responding anymore. Captain Niamh Seutonia ordered the ships to connect and went down in person to evaluate the situation.
Shock was the word to describe the scene. She recognized Illudya in a blink, as well as her guards and stood still for a second while Oni screamed for help, tearing at his mother's already lifeless corpse, fighting to accept what just happened.
At one point, one of the guards shouted to his captain:
— “Captain! They are the Federation traitors. We must execute them on sight!”.
Oni froze in place.
—“Execution? Why... what is happening here now... aren't you Imperials?”
She crouched down, took a good look at Illudya and then gazed upon Oni.
—”Who taught you to fly, boy?” — She asked, gently.
—”I... I learned a few things from my father...”- said Oni, scared.
—”You have a combat pilot's vein... I saw you maneuvering against the scouts.”
—”Listen, as a political and military figure, I know a thing or two about what happened to you and your family and I suppose you are not fond of your home power now, are you?”- asked Niamh.
—”May the Federation and everyone who supports that government become space ash as they blow up just like they did with my father... they took everything from me... everything...” — raged Oni.
—”An enemy of my enemy is a friend of mine. I cannot do much for you but to give you some guidance: go to Shinigami, get in contact with the Imperial Hattori Clan. They are enforcers and assassins but also an example of honor and how the Imperial law should work. They won't care much where you are from if you are willing to fight against our enemies and they will train you, train you in the old ways of the assassins. Look for Hattori Seijuro, tell him Niamh Seutonia sent you and you should be good. What do you say, kid?"
Oni looked down at his mother's face. He realized that everything he experienced so far was just a tiny bit of a condemned life but for the first time in the past 2 years someone did not care who he was or where he came from. Someone was willing to show him a path. And so, after kissing his mother's forehead, Oni stood up and looked into Niamh's eyes: "Enough of hiding, I'm tired of it already, tired of losing. I gladly accept your guidance and I will give everything I have left for the Empire".
—”What is your name, boy?” -asked Niamh.
—”Oni... Oni Iori.”
—”Come in, Oni. You will need some preparations before heading to Shinigami”.
Life in Shinigami
The Hattori Clan have faithfully served the Empire from their home in the Shinigami system for the last 700 years. The clan's focus on bushido (the way of the warrior) have produced elite soldiers that often receive posts in espionage, special operations, or even as royal guards. The main families of the clan mostly descend from Terrarian-Japanese bloodlines, as can be seen in the clan's culture.
A sun-pacific (Japanese) based imperial group located in the Shinigami system that specializes in Tensatsuken martial arts. Known for their guerilla-warfare tactics and elite combat ability, the Hattori clan has been utilized by the Empire for many high level missions and have been assigned to many top ranked military positions. It is said that there are as many as five Hattori members assigned to guard the Imperial palace in Capitol.
Oni Iori, under the guidance of Grand Master Seijuro Hattori, undertook the intense Tensatsuken training and for 3 years he was a full time dedicated student having become, in Seijuro's words, "one of my best pupils to this day".
Nowadays
When the Guathiti strike ended and Emperor Arissa ascended the Silver Hunter Order as an official power within the Empire, the order began recruiting new members for their newest responsibilities.
As the Tanaka and the Hattori Clans were pretty close, Kenjiro Tanaka heard of Seijuro's prodigy pupil and grew interest in him knowing a skilled Hattori warrior would be of great help to the Silver Hunter Order in its newest affairs.
Almost a year after Oni finished his training with the Hattori at Shinigami, he was named an Empire citizen by the very Arissa Lavigny-Duval herself and was contacted by the Silver Hunter Order's High Lord Commander Kenjiro Tanaka to join the order in its task of protecting the Empire borders, fighting fiercely at the frontline which he promptly accepted.
CMDR Oni Iori far exceeded Kenjiro's expectations and, in recognition for his service, he became the Hunter Recon Division's leader at Silver Hunter Order as a specialist Assassin and Reconnaissance combatant using his father's invention, the Plasma Accelerator, as his primary weapon.
New horizons
On June 3306, Oni Iori officially announced his leave from the Silver Hunter Order. His motives, only a few people may know, but rumours say the order had lost it's purpose and might and over time it took away all of Oni's pride in being there.
In his official statement, Oni said he was not going to join any other squadron or faction right away, instead focusing on refining his skills in order to get ever closer to his goal.
