Stone

Stone, also known as Agent X74996R, was a former Terran Dominion ghost whose psionic strength was potent enough that mind wipes and resocialization never fully erased his memories. A veteran of covert operations across the late End War era, he served alongside Nova Terra, was caught up in the schemes of the Defenders of Man, and eventually broke from the ghost program to discover who he truly was.

Classified origins#

Stone's date and place of birth were kept classified, as was his real name; "Stone" was simply a codename. It was known, including by Stone himself, that he was born sometime after 2471. His own memories of his life were hazy and reached back no further than his training in the Ghost Academy under the Terran Dominion. Because of the level of his psionic ability, the mind wipes and resocialization efforts applied to him often failed to fully erase his memories, a resilience that would shape the rest of his story.

The End War and a string of operations#

During the End War, Stone was assigned to investigate a Moebius Corps installation near several colony worlds. He found a massive battle station secured by mysterious technology, and on closer scouting realized that the xel'naga artifacts hidden within it could cause the station's systems to malfunction and explode. Knowing that failure would mean the station firing on the colony worlds and destroying them, he called in allied commanders to help remove all of the artifacts. When Moebius Corps began transmitting its weapons data, Stone directed the destruction of its outposts, and the operation succeeded in wrecking the platform before it could fire on Dominion colonies.

Stone graduated from the Ghost Academy in 2508 and that same year successfully carried out Operation Sudden Holiday and Operation Night Train. After the failure of Operation Livewire he was recalled to the Academy for further training, then returned to complete operations Flash Flood, Storm Chaser, Silent Runner, and Thunder Struck. Many of his missions were conducted against fellow terrans. During his time in the program he became close with Nova Terra, and the two often sparred together in training.

The Defenders of Man#

Years after the End War, Stone's official profile recorded that he had been sent to spy on a Defenders of Man installation. In reality he had been transferred with Nova Terra to help the Defenders of Man on the orders of the Terran Dominion. The two took part in an operation on Antiga Prime, where they were to place anti-zerg devices on the surface, only to discover the devices were actually psi-emitters. Stone noticed the mission files had not been scrubbed and could be used to expose what the Defenders of Man were doing, but before they could act both agents were captured, and Nova was mind wiped.

Later, after Nova broke out of a Defenders of Man facility in Sharpsburg, Stone was the first of her squad to reach her, telling her that her memories had been wiped. He helped her recover her C-20A rifle and pulse grenades and guided her as she rescued the rest of her team and escaped the facility. The squad split up on vulture bikes, with Nova and Stone fleeing along the Sharpsburg freeway while pursued by the Defenders of Man, fighting off outriders and a Warhawk on the way to the starport. When they reached it Stone insisted he would take the next ship, but Nova demanded answers; he urged her to leave before she was captured, and she escaped the planet, losing contact with Stone and the rest of the squad. Stone, Delta Emblock, and Theodore Pierce did not report back to the Dominion after Nova's escape.

Stone was later captured by the Defenders and had his memories modified to ensure his loyalty, given false memories that Nova had betrayed them and that they were loyal to Carolina Davis. When Nova infiltrated Davis's compound she found Stone standing guard outside her room. The two fought, but Nova, reluctant to kill her former squadmate, incapacitated him and ordered Reigel to send an extraction team.

Waking Dreams#

Recovered and brought aboard the Griffin, Stone still carried his false memories from his time with the Defenders. He woke in the ship's sickbay recalling the story of The Prince and the Pebble without knowing who had told it to him, and met Reigel, who explained his situation and the fallout of the Defenders of Man Insurgency, including the death of General Davis. Still loyal to Davis in his mind, Stone refused to believe it, and when Reigel would not wipe his false memories he grew suspicious that they had not been compromised at all. Feigning tiredness, he escaped his restraints and searched the ship's records, finding reports on Davis's death but convinced something was being hidden.

Moving through the Griffin, Stone overpowered Pierce and sealed him away, interrogated and knocked out an engineer named Oslo, and was warned that the deck he stood on would be decompressed. Carrying Oslo, he moved through the decks as more announced decompression, reaching an armory where he equipped a skinsuit and fitted Oslo with a spacesuit, only for the countdown to reach zero with no decompression. Outside the armory he met Delta, who told him of the memory wipes she had chosen, before Nova and Pierce arrived. Nova explained that she had been trying to help him navigate his false memories, that ghosts could now choose whether to keep them, and that he could suit up to make any fight fair. She told him the truth of Davis and the Defenders once more, and Stone was forced to accept it.

Choosing to accept his fate, Stone had his neural inhibitor removed, after which he could use his psionics more clearly, and Reigel assured him his memories would return in time. Deciding he needed to sort through them and find out who he was, Stone asked Nova Terra to drop him off so he could do what a ghost did best and disappear.