Kansas Vantara

Personnel File

Overview

Kansas Vantara (also known by her married name Kansas Smith) is a former member of the eldevian chapter of the Coalition of Assassins. From 3188 to 3194, Vantara, along with Lewis Auznarr, worked for Prime Minister Margaret Croft and the Omicron Government as a bounty hunter. She played a huge part in ending the Allegiance War.
Reveal Spoiler

In 3213, she was named admiral of DOMAIN, taking the place of General Robert Henson.

Early Life

Vantara was born in Britharr, a small village just outside of Enmarn, the capital of Eldev. Her father, Robert Vantara, was a historian at the Enmarn Academy and a professor of history at the Enmarn College of Philosophies. Her mother, Elizabeth Braynarr, was a doctor at Enmarn Medical. Vantara has one sister, Alex Vantara.
When Vantara was seven years old, not long after she began at the academy, a group of Black Hawks set fire to her family's neighbor's house. The fire spread engulfing two other homes including the Vantara's. Robert Vantara was killed and for years it was suspected that Elizabeth and Alex had perished as well, though their bodies were never recovered. Vantara, with the help of the Headmaster of the academy, Threl Maxarr, was placed in the care of an eldevian woman named Colinda. Colinda raised Kansas as if she were her own daughter, and Vantara never fell out of contact with her.

Career

Academy/Coalition Days

Like all eldevian children, Vantara took the academy placement test at the age of seven along with her sister - who was allowed to take it at the same time as her sister so they would enter the academy at the same time - and, as it was discovered later, scored high in all three sections: government, military, coalition. This score was unprecedented and the academy did everything they could to cover that up, going so far as to say that there was a mix up on the tests which sent Vantara off to train as an assassin and her sister off to the military, even though her sister should have also been sent to the assassins.
Vantara did well enough in school to keep herself in the coalition's good graces, but she did little beyond that. While she excelled in some areas - namely in the subjects of history, early ship systems, and stellar-cartography - she gave her other teachers grief. She was often late, her attire never quite met dress code, and she had the reputation of getting into fights with bullies. One teacher wrote in his evaluation of Vantara in regards to her dress code violations, "I'll never understand it. She comes in with her shirt untucked and tie loose, but her shoes are always in perfect condition." Many of her teachers would have seen her expelled from the academy or at least more severely disciplined, but Headmaster Threl Maxarr always ended up smoothing things over as best he could. By the time Vantara graduated from the academy in 3159, she had made quite a name for herself among her people, both for good and for bad.
It was clear from early on in her training that Vantara was destined for the Coalition. The Coalition decided that they would recruit her early so they could begin special training. So, in 3155 at the age of 14, Vantara was officially accepted into the Coalition, making her the youngest in the Coalition's history to ever be accepted. She was not allowed to go out into the field until she was 18 and had graduated, but she received highly specialized training which put her at the top of the pecking order. After proving her training was a success in 3159, the Coalition began sending her on some of their most dangerous and militaristic advantageous missions, tasked with taking out some of the highest members of the silhadox government and military.

Coalition of Assassins Competition 3163 by R. H. Stevenson

In 3163 at the age of 22, Vantara was sent to the Annual Coalition Competition. Due to the Millennium War, the eldevians had not participated in decades, but in an attempt to bolster morale and showcase their best, the Coalition decided to send Vantara to compete. The competition that year was being held on Merekus who was mired in a civil war at the time. The creagan government assured the Coalition that the war would not interfere with their competition, but this ended up not being the case. During one of the final matches, the competitors were caught in the crossfire of two rival creagan factions. The human and aketian competitors were killed. Right after that, the creagan government shut down the planet, letting no one come or go. Vantara was stuck on Merekus for seven years. While there, she befriended Lieutenant Robert Henson and a creagan named Korvax. She, along with her new friends, helped the creagans where they could, as Henson was a marine sent there with his squad to help ease the violence.
Vantara returned to Eldev in 3170 where she continued her work with the Coalition. It was during this time that she did more to undermine the silhadox than anyone on the front lines. The silhadox went so far as to contract the Black Hawks to catch and, if necessary, kill her. In 3185, her first mission after her son was born, she failed to take out her target. The Coalition did not approve of or accept her reasoning, so they expelled her from their ranks, disgracing her and making it where no one on Eldev would hire her.

Bounty Hunting

Three years after her expulsion from the Coalition, Vantara was contacted by Prime Minister Margaret Croft to work for her as a bounty hunter. Vantara and Lewis Auznarr worked for Croft and the Omicron Government for six years. They were very prolific during their time and became known throughout the Main Sector. Vantara was captain of ONSS Star Chaser at the time, though her title was self-given.
Spoilers for Book 2

The Allegiance War

Vantara played a huge role in the Allegiance war, both on the front lines as the leader of the Blue Squadron (where she helped DOMAIN forces take back DOMAIN Headquarters) and as one of the three key players for ending the war along with Auznarr and Queen Ellishora Kellison. Vantara was the one who brought the tearers back for the military to use, giving them the upper hand against the texlors for a time. She helped remove Theodore Beasley from office and get in Royal T. Flush. Flush made Vantara and Auznarr his personal guards for a time before their duties took them elsewhere. At Flush's inauguration, he made Vantara a full-fledged captain, no longer a self-imposed title.
Vantara helped the eldevians set up their base on Felrev in an attempt to keep tabs on the texlor/sil encampment there. This was also where Vantara found Croft who was being held captive by the texlors. They were experimenting on organic lifeforms in an attempt to turn them into texlors without having to create separate bodies for their brains. When the texlors failed in this, they began using dead soldiers' brains, creating a seemingly endless army. This led to the Battle of Yalren, where Vantara and Auznarr found the locations of all texlor conversion plants. Vantara was fatally wounded during this battle by Veta Montgomery. Her body was later stolen by Montgomery and who brought Vantara back to life, only to then be kidnapped by the Black Hawks. Vantara was thought to be dead until John Wolfe led a team to an old Black Hawk base on Jrek III where they found Vantara working with Damon Slade.
Not long after Vantara was rescued from the Hawks, DOMAIN Headquarters was attacked by a huge texlor fleet. The regalan fleet arrived just in time to help defend, but the texlors still proved to be too much. Vantara saw that the only way out was to take out the lead texlor ship, so she flew a fighter into the ship's engines, blowing it up and saving the regalan fleet. Once again, Vantara was presumed dead. Six months later, her body was found in a texlor lab with her brain hooked up to a machine that was remotely controlling various cells of texlors. She was being kept alive by this machine and was eventually able to be revived. Not long after this, in 3197, the final push was made against the texlors, and Vantara, Auznarr, and Queen Ellishora successfully stopped the texlors, ending the war.

Spoilers for Book 3

The Time Agency

In 3205, Vex Dumar began altering Earth's history. Prime Minister Croft requested the help of Vantara and Auznarr once again. They traveled throughout Earth's ancient history to stop Dumar. The plot was revealed to be led by Teller Rane, known during the Millennium War as TR, who wanted physical access to the Valnuir. Vantara and those involved were successful in stopping Dumar and Rane.
During one of their excursions to the past, Vantara and Auznarr failed to stop Dumar and were sent to an alternate reality where the vlanns won the regalan/vlann conflict and had taken over the quadrant. The other versions of themselves were very different. Auznarr's alternate self was a traitor and they were tasked to stop him lest he destroy the resistance and their chance at overthrowing the vlanns, while Vantara's was cold and ruthless in her approach to things.

Spoilers for Book 4 and Beyond

Admiral of DOMAIN and After

Vantara rose quickly through the ranks after being made commodore in 3205. Once she was promoted to full admiral, she took the place of General Robert Henson as the head of DOMAIN in 3213. Most of her duties kept her either at DOMAIN's Headquarters or on Eldev where she was allowed to reside with her family, but in 3223, she embarked on a mission to help a young bozarian girl named Emma. ALL REPORTS OF SAID MISSION ARE CLASSIFIED.
Vantara remained admiral of DOMAIN until 3285, a year before John Wolfe's death. During her tenure as admiral, the allied planets thrived with the help of DOMAIN forces that were used not just to peaceably resolve conflicts, but to help with the building and preservation of infrastructure. Vantara had DOMAIN work closely with Chancellor Flush to ensure the allied planets were well taken care of and looked after.
In 3416, when ship design and FTL engines finally allowed for travel beyond the Zetaron Veil, Vantara came out of retirement to aid the ONSS Odyssey in their reconnaissance mission into Sector K-16B.

Personal Life

Vantara met Rensharr Smith in 3146 at the age of five. The two remained friends all throughout their days at the academy, along with Veta Montgomery and Morren Grastominus. Two years after her return from Merekus, in 3172, Vantara married Smith. They had a daughter, Lora, in 3180, and a son, Jamie, in 3184. Vantara lost all three of them to the silhadox at the end of the Millennium War.
Reveal Personal Life Spoilers

During her time at the academy, Vantara met Veta Montgomery. Vantara was being considered for the Coalition at the time, of which Montgomery was already a member. Montgomery, two years Vantara's senior, acted as a mentor of sorts during Vantara's early Coalition days before she was ever sent out on an official mission. Because they worked so well together, the Coalition often sent them on missions together. After a spike race in 3160 that left Vantara blind, the two began seeing each other romantically. However, when the Coalition found out, they quickly put an end to their relationship, making them swear not to see each other any more. In 3163, Montgomery was exiled from Eldev, and Vantara did not see Montgomery again until 3194. They rekindled their romance during the Allegiance War. Right after the war ended, Vantara and Montgomery became engaged. However, due to Montgomery's unstable genetic engineering, they never actually get married. Vantara stayed with Montgomery until Montgomery's death in 3206.
Right before the beginning of the Allegiance War, Vantara and Lewis Auznarr saved the crew of the Red Chaser whose captain was John Wolfe. The two did not initially get along due to Wolfe being a former Black Hawk, but the longer they worked together, the closer they became. The two began dating in 3206 and married in 3209. Less than a year later, they had Montgomery Wolfe. Vantara and Wolfe went on to have three more children: Robert, Julia, and Erith.

Vantara's eyes were originally blue, but after an accident during a spike race, she was left blind. She underwent experimental surgery to restore her vision and the end result was her eye color changing.
Reveal Personal Life Spoilers

Due to extensive injuries to her right leg over the years, she began to experience pain starting around 3223 which progressively got worse and worse as time went on. She had the option to undergo surgery, but the chance of losing her leg was very high, so she refused the treatment. Instead, she started injecting herself in the leg with painkillers which led to her developing a dependency on them. While aboard the ONSS Odyssey, she accidentally overdosed on the pain medication, forcing Doctor Johansen to perform the surgery she had avoided. Vantara ended up losing her leg and had it replaced with an artificial one.

Relationships

Work in progress!

Kansas Vantara

Parents

Robert Vantara

Elizabeth Braynarr

Parents (Adopting)

Colinda

Spouses

Siblings

Species

Eldevian

Year Born

3141

Height

5'7"

Occupation

Assassin, Bounty Hunter, Reveal Spoiler

Leader of Blue Squadron, Admiral of DOMAIN

Marital Status

Married to Rensharr Smith (3172-3193) ; Reveal Spoiler

Married to John Wolfe (3207)

Affiliation

Coalition of Assassins, Omicron Government, Omicron Military, DOMAIN

Sibling(s)

Alex Vantara

Children

Lora and Jamie (both deceased), Reveal Spoiler

Montgomery, Robert, Julia, Erith

Other Relatives

Reveal Spoiler

Danrath Vantara (uncle)