Niles Oron

Niles Oron is a kugraw mercenary, and the captain of the Manta. Despite initially appearing to be gruff and uncaring, Niles maintains a loyalty to those under his protection beyond what others would expect of him.

Early Life
Not much is known about Niles' early life. The most the kugraw has been willing to talk about it is in reference to how he and Quix met.

Mercenary Work
Niles began his career as a mercenary in his early twenties. Accepting any and all jobs that were offered in order to quickly make a name for himself, he ended up agreeing to an assignment where he and a group of other mercenaries would eliminate an exodeist that was being targeted as an undesirable.

During the following hunt for the exodeist which took place on a backwater space-station out in the Edge, Niles and the others had to keep track of their target while simultaneously evading the many traps and defenses that she left behind for them.

After two days of playing cat-and-mouse, Niles finally cornered the exodeist. He hesitated to kill her, however, instead asking the contractor of the mission why she was being assassinated. The contractor revealed that she was a political enemy of more traditionally-minded individuals who believed her progressive ideals to be dangerous. Upon realizing the truth, Niles turned on them and killed both the contractor and one other mercenary before the last two retaliated and nearly beat him to death. They were only stopped by the exodeist who killed one with Niles' fallen weapon, causing the last survivor to flee. Instead of killing Niles, she offered him her hand and introduced herself to him. From that point on, Niles and Quix would be each other's only friend.

The Mark of Eden
Niles was contacted by Note through the shadow-market after the Cell's attack on Jantii. Agreeing to meet with her and her companions at a restaurant on the Mercantile, he arrived at the meeting point first and awaited them. When they did eventually show up, he was surprised to find himself face-to-face with an undocumented alien. Introducing himself as Val, the so-called "human" told Niles about the plight faced by him, Note, and an Irvagaleni named Ten.