Sonja was born on the planet Kestrel. Not the richest planets in Davion space, but her family had more than survived while ruling the majority of the planet on the Davion's behalf, like most good noble families. However, her father was more ambitious than most others in the Kornakova family line.

Marco cared for nothing but more power, and was wiling to step on almost anyone to do it, even his own brother, Ivan. This move sparked a plan for the future that would see a certain measure of revenge played upon Marco, while giving the kind of life to Sonja that she craved.

As expected, Marco send his daughter, Sonja, away to preparatory school, and that opened the door that Ivan was waiting for. Marco had forgotten that his brother had sworn to pay him back in full, and that was his mistake. Ivan had not planned to use his niece as a pawn, it just happened that way. However, before Uncle Ivan made his play, Sonja rode out her time at Annia's Private School for Girls. In fact, she made the most of it, earning a reputation for being able to get just about anything for anyone, anytime, provided the cash was right.

During her last year at Annia's Private School, her Uncle Ivan made contact with her, befriending her, earning her trust. In a bold move, and an excellent measure of timing, within seconds of Sonja completing her last final exam, Ivan scooped her up and took her back to his home. Marco, Sonja's father, was furious! He had everything arranged, right down to the wedding dress and honeymoon, but when he got the news that someone had already picked up Sonja, he had visions of his rise to even more power, fade on him.

Marco Kornakova was not stupid by any means. He knew right well what had happened, but he also knew that his brother Ivan had Mercenary connections that would prevent him from extracting Sonja from Ivan's grip. He had to come up with a cunning plan to get her back if the arranged marriage was going to take place within the time frame he was given.

Sonja had a high degree of intelligence herself, so she knew that the move that saw her living with her uncle was not just for her benefit. However, Ivan was willing to let Sonja pursue her own passions, and he found his niece to be of a kindred spirit in some ways. For starters, both of them, very much to the dismay of Aunt Gene, had a profound liking for just about anything that involved explosions. Bombs, grenades, you name it, if it went "BOOM", they liked it. Again, much to the dismay of Aunt Gene, this brought out the kid in Ivan.

Over the course of the year she spent with her aunt and uncle, she learned about her uncle's time with a mercenary unit, and that he was once a reputed Mechwarrior. Ivan knew that it would send his brother right over the edge if his daughter attended a Mechwarrior academy, he chose the War College of Goshen, as Sonja displayed a strong liking for some aspects of the Combine society. His intension was to merely allow his niece to go in the direction she wanted instead of having her life decided for her, but Ivan could not resist in sharing the news of Sonja's attendance at a Mechwarrior academy. While his revenge had been fulfilled a year ago by interrupting Marco's power play, this was a double helping of icing on the cake.

Sonja excelled at her studies on Goshen, so much so, that she trained for both Infantry duty and as a Mechwarrior. On her uncle's dime, she went as far as she could go, making him rather proud. She completed Special Forces training, which was a step further than he went. Slowly, over the time that she spent at War College of Goshen, Sonja become the daughter he never had, mean while, Sonja came to think of uncle Ivan more as a father. Many times she wished to have had uncle Ivan as a father instead of the one she got.

With her training completed, she signed up with House Davion Military, and was rewarded with duty in the outback. Not the kind of assignment she desired, but she could only speculate what kind of life she would have had things not gone the way they had. At this point, Sonja was still unaware of what her father had planned, and nearly executed, without her consent. Ivan had no desire to totally turn her against Marco, and also saw no value in totally destroying any good images and feelings Sonja might have for her father.

Her second tour of duty with the Federated Commonwealth was far greater than the first, as this time she saw action, and lots of it. When the dust had settled, a Silver Sunburst was pinned to her chest. The first person she shared the news with was good old uncle Ivan. While it had been years since they had contact, Sonja sent word to her father, letting him know what she had been up to those past years and ending with her most recent achievements. Marco was the most surprised that she sent it, as he had given up on ever getting her back in any way. Though his power play had been ruined, he could not, and did not, blame her for what never took place. With the years of silence between father and daughter, he come to realize a number of things, one of them being what an asset Sonja had become. Silver Sunbursts are not handed out like candy, nor can they be bought, they are earned.

Marco understood that her life as a Mechwarrior was the one she wanted, and there was nothing he could do to change that. Rather than fight it, he accepted it, and requested they meet. The look on Sonja's face was priceless when she read the message the ComStar Acolyte handed her. To say it was the last thing she was expecting from her father was like saying that Tharkad was a bit cool in the winter.

After achieving such a high honour with the Commonwealth, Sonja decided to follow more in her uncle's footsteps. Floating from one job to the other, Sonja chose to join a unit, rather than continue as a freelance mercenary. That brought her to the attention of Tom Kurtis who was recruiting for the newly formed Pale Horsemen. Sonja's Silver Sunburst helped pave the way to her acceptance, by Tom, into the unit. Tom has always lived by, 'Never judge a book by its cover.' However, had he, she still would have been accepted, because she is his type. They are both aware of his attraction to her, but will be constantly reminding himself of his age, and hers. While Sonja had only intended to apply to the unit, she found herself looking at Tom in a similar fashion, not right away, but once she realized that he was attracted to her, she put a little thought on the matter and decided that he just might be her type as well.

This page was created by: Copyright December 30, 2004.