Nyx Nightingale

Nyx Nightingale is a member of the Department of Mary Sues. During the Reorganisation, she was briefly transferred to the Department of Internal Security and was instrumental in bringing it down, but then fled the PPC and operated independently until the Crashing Down crisis. She is written by Huinesoron.

Name
Nyx's name at birth was Нікс Соловейко, a Ukrainian name which can be transliterated as 'Niks Soloveiko'. Her forename was Greek, perhaps hinting at an ancestry from that region; her surname is a Ukrainian word for nightingale.

When she joined the PPC, the translation spell she was given (Universal Translators not yet being available) was defective: it left her given name alone (apart from transliteration), but translated her surname as "Nightingale". By the time she learnt enough English to remove the spell, the name had stuck. She has since come to prefer the English version, but will occasionally use the Ukrainian when her country is suffering oppression.

Appearance
Nyx has pale skin, blue eyes, and long straight dark hair which is fading to grey with age. Since her years away from the PPC, she feels the cold quite strongly, and will usually wrap up warm.

Personality
In her younger days, Nyx was a fairly standard Angry Assassin, but during the Reorganisation she became increasingly bitter and untrusting. Her years in exile mellowed her somewhat, and she came to view the PPC more fondly, perhaps, than she had before she left.

In the years since her return, she has become even more reflective and introspective, though she does occasionally fall into grouchy, too-old-for-this behaviour patterns.

Recruitment
Нікс Соловейко ('Niks Soloveiko') was born in 1974 in a village named Drabiv in Donetsk, Ukraine. (This means that her Drabiv cannot be the town of that name, but another unrecorded village.) She grew up with her cousin Tia and her Granny Else, and eventually worked in Granny Else's fabric shop.

In 1989, a pair of Assassins brought a Suvian named Princess Aubergine of Alinsenee to Drabiv to dispose of. Possibly due to their third partner being ill, they arrived in the wrong timeframe; it is unknown when they were aiming for; Donetsk has been devastated by war on several occasions, any of which might have been seen as a suitable disposal site.

During the ensuing confrontation, Нікс helped the Assassins to capture the Suvian, and in appreciation, they recruited her to the PPC. The translation spell she was given transliterated her forename, but translated her surname into English, leading her to be recorded as Nyx Nightingale.

Early Career
Nyx was trained up and became an Assassin with the Department of Mary Sues, working in one of the then-standard trio teams; she seems to have always worked the Star Wars division. Like everyone in the PPC, she was caught up in the events of the Mysterious Somebody's takeover of the PPC: she lost one of her partners during the power cuts (possibly to a portal malfunction, or if the later Blackout is anything to go by, to canonical monsters invading HQ), and the second during the Affliction, the madness brought on by the Somebody.

In the aftermath, the Sunflower Official, newly the head of the DMS, reassigned her to a two-agent team, giving her a newbie partner: Jared Calinson.

Nyx's only return to Drabiv likely came in this period, between 1992 and 1999.

Reorganisation
By 1999 HST, Nyx was one of the Sunflower Official's longest-serving, favourite, and most loyal Assassins. With this in mind, he asked her to visit DIS Central to investigate rumours about ex-Assassin Tango Dioxide. However, on arrival, she found herself press-ganged into the Department of Internal Security.

To say Nyx did not enjoy her time in the DIS would be an understatement. She attempted to return to her old department, but the SO insisted she remain with the Guards; and her only friend in the DIS, Dassie Hyrax, was mind-controlled by the Mysterious Somebody. In attempting to free him, Nyx brought about the downfall of the Mysterious Somebody and the DIS, but found herself distrusted by the rest of the PPC and, with the injured Dassie, left HQ.

Exile
For the first three years of her exile, Nyx would have been busy caring for the critically injured Dassie. During or after this time, the pair were found by the DIS, now reformed as the Black Cats; for the rest of their time in exile, they were almost continuously hounded by the ex-Guards. Their only respite was in 2004, when they spent most of a year travelling around Star Wars universe by spaceship. During this time, they had a run-in with a possible future PPC,, and had a daughter, Tia Hyrax. Ultimately, Mkellin tracked them down, and they had to leave Tia behind with retired Spy Treak and flee across the multiverse again.

Crashing Down
When the Black Cats began their invasion of HQ in the Crashing Down crisis, Nyx and Dassie were in Middle-earth. They found themselves caught up in events when they stumbled across the critically injured Agent Salamander, who had been tortured by the Cats. Dassie nursed him back to health, and when his partner came to find him, Nyx brought her up to speed on the Black Cats and their activities.

Unable to let the Cats win, Nyx and Dassie returned to HQ. They fought their way to the Sunflower Official's side, reconciled with him, and led the counterattack against the Cats. Nyx personally killed the Bracket Fungus, though staying as far from single combat with him as possible.

Return
In the aftermath of the war, Nyx and Dassie both chose to rejoin the PPC. Nyx returned to her old Star Wars division in the DMS, partnering with Tango Dioxide, while Dassie transferred to Medical. A year later, they returned to the Star Wars 'verse and collected their daughter.

Nyx quickly settled back into the social life of HQ, attending a farewell party for Dafydd Illian and Constance Sims, and participating in seasonal festivities. In 2010, she and Dassie had their second child: Malcolm Hyrax.

Since at least 2014, Nyx, Dassie, and their children have been living in a small house in New Caledonia. Their house is named Менегрот (Ukrainian for 'Menegroth', home of another Nightingale), and is located on the Rue Ella Darcy in the American Quarter.

Timeline
For the author's recommended reading order, see .


 * Before the PPC
 * 1974
 * Born as Нікс Соловейко in the village of Drabiv, outside Donetsk, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union, World One. Relatives include her grandmother, Granny Else, and her cousin, Tia.


 * 1989
 * 'Nyx's Backstory' - Recruited by two unnamed Assassins.
 * Is trained up as an Assassin and joins the Star Wars division.


 * DMS
 * 1992
 * Loses one partner to the Blackout, and another in the Affliction.
 * 'Lofty Skies', Chapter 10 - Repartnered with newbie Assassin Jared Calinson.


 * May 1999
 * Hears rumours that Tango Dioxide has gone on the run.
 * 'The Reorganisation', Chapter 4 - Assigned by the Sunflower Official to investigate the rumours.


 * DIS
 * May 1999
 * 'The Reorganisation', Chapter 5 - Pressganged into the Department of Internal Security, and immediately forced to arrest Agent Palaver and taunt Penny Smith in the Cafeteria.
 * 'The Reorganisation', Chapter 6 - Tasked by the SO with being his agent in the DIS.
 * 'The Reorganisation', Chapter 7 - Discovers that her only DIS friend, Dassie Hyrax, has changed for the worse.
 * 'The Reorganisation', Chapter 8 - Assigned to go on patrol with Dassie.
 * 'The Reorganisation', Chapter 9 - Discovers that Dassie has been mind-controlled and begins investigating.
 * 'The Reorganisation', Chapter 10 - Attempts to inform the SO of the Mysterious Somebody's identity.
 * 'The Reorganisation', Chapter 11 - Confronts the SO with proof of the MS' treachery.


 * June 1999
 * 'The Reorganisation', Chapter 12 - Helps provide medical treatment for Dassie.
 * 'The Reorganisation', Chapter 13 - Visits Blue Photon in prison.
 * 'The Reorganisation', Chapter 14 - Is accosted and imprisoned by the DIS.
 * 'The Reorganisation', Chapter 15 - Escapes, saves the SO from assassination, and is present when he announces the abolition of the DIS.
 * 'The Reorganisation', Chapter 17 - Leads a strike team into DIS Central, and is arrested by Alex Orange.
 * 'The Reorganisation', Chapter 18 - Exonerated by the SO.
 * 'The Reorganisation', Chapter 19 - Agrees to run away with Dassie.
 * 'The Reorganisation', Chapter 20 - Leaves the PPC with Dassie Hyrax.


 * Exile
 * ca. 2002
 * When Dassie is killed on Abydos, Nyx resurrects him with a Goa'uld Sarcophagus.


 * 2004
 * Spends the year in the Star Wars verse.
 * Has a daughter with Dassie: Tia Hyrax.
 * 'Ghost's Story' - Has a run-in with a possible future PPC.
 * Located by the Black Cats and is forced to flee. Tia is left in the care of Treak, a retired Spy and old friend of Dassie's.


 * Crashing Down
 * May 2006
 * Escapes from the Black Cats with liberal use of explosives, and winds up in northern Middle-earth shortly after The Hobbit.
 * 'Crashing Down', Chapter 1 - Walks 900 miles across Middle-earth to Lake Town.


 * June 2006
 * 'Crashing Down', Chapter 5 - Encounters Agents Salamander and Kayleigh Leonard in Lake Town.
 * 'Crashing Down', Chapter 6 - Learns of the imminent invasion of HQ.
 * 'Crashing Down', Chapter 7 - Resolves to return to PPC HQ.
 * 'Crashing Down', Chapter 9 - Portals into HQ with Dassie, Kayleigh, and Salamander.
 * 'Crashing Down', Chapter 11 - Skirmishes with Black Cats in HQ.
 * 'Crashing Down', Chapter 13 - Heads for the Sunflower Official's office.
 * 'Crashing Down', Chapter 14 - Is reunited with the SO.
 * 'Crashing Down', Chapter 15 - Reconciles with the SO and begins planning the counterattack against the Cats.
 * 'Crashing Down', Chapter 16 - Learns of the Mysterious Somebody's simultaneous invasion (and trolls the SO).
 * 'Crashing Down', Chapter 17 - Joins up with the DIA. Kills the Bracket Fungus.
 * 'Crashing Down', Chapter 18 - Witnesses the death of Blue Photon.
 * 'Crashing Down', Chapter 20 - Rejoins the PPC as an Assassin.


 * Returned
 * July 2006
 * 'Winding Down' - Attends Dafydd Illian and Constance Sims' engagement party.


 * 2007
 * 'Return Ticket' - Collects Tia from Treak and Elisa, and bring her back to HQ.


 * 2008
 * 'Lofty Skies', Epilogue - Pens the poem Lofty Skies, reflecting on her years in and out of the PPC.


 * October 2011
 * 'Ghost's Story' - Tells a spooky story for Hallowe'en.


 * April 2014
 * 'Buds & Sprouts' - Helps get her son Malcolm to go to Buds.


 * September 2014
 * 'Euromaidan' - Reacts to news of the civil war in Ukraine.


 * April 2015
 * 'Driftwood: Clipboards' - Trolls Kaitlyn Jackson.


 * September 2018
 * 'Talk Like 15 Pirates' - Takes her son Malcolm to Buds.

Appearances
For a chronological list of all appearances, see .


 * "Agent Nyx's Backstory"
 * The Reorganisation
 * Crashing Down
 * "Return Ticket"
 * "Ghost's Story"
 * "Euromaidan"
 * "Driftwood: Clipboards"