Veniczar B. Fontana

Veniczar B. Fontana
"You do not own PACT."
Gender	Male
Nationality	PACT
Occupation	PACT Leader
Rank	Veniczar
Family	N/A

Veniczar B. Fontana is one of the major antagonists in Sunrider.

Dark and secretive, Fontana serves as the director of PACT’s secret weapons research division. While ambitious in regards to climbing the ranks of PACT, Fontana has proven himself loyal to Veniczar S. Arcadius. Fontana may very well be considered the second most powerful man in PACT, and is widely viewed as Arcadius’ right hand man. Commanding a fleet of PACT’s most technologically advanced ships, he is regarded as a ruthless villain who cannot be underestimated, and is one of the most prolific of PACT's leaders next to Arcadius himself and Veniczar B. Cullen. However, in spite of this reputation, Fontata in person appears to actually be a good man at heart, albeit one that believes wholeheartedly in the cause of PACT. His Japanese Voice Actor is Oshita Kota.

Appearance

Fontana is a tall, lean and handsome young man who appears to be in his early-to-mid twenties, with even Asaga commenting that she found him attractive "for a Red." He is soft-spoken and has a refined tone of voice that matches his charismatic nature. He has long dark-purple/raven-colored hair that cascade in a series of locks that stops short of going past his shoulders, fair skin and intense sky-blue eyes. He typically wears a black gentlemen's long dress coat with gold trim and a maroon-red interior lining with a gold-chainlink fastener, accompanied by a red undercoat with ruffled sleeves that show from under the cuffs of his coat and a gold ascot with a ruby-inlaid fastener. Beneath this he seems to wear a high-band set of trousers or dress-slacks with dress shoes. In the Novelization he is revealed to carry a gold antique pocket-watch with a flip-open case that he periodically opens and examines, though whether this is a habitual quirk of his that stems from his aristocratic mannerisms or because the watch has a more practical purpose - such as a privatized war interface that he receives updates on - is unknown. His expression is generally serious yet courteous, but it can at times be replaced with seemingly malevolent bemusement such as during the Second Battle of Ongess when fighting Kayto Shields. He has something of a natural charisma, which compliments his courteous nature and general intelligence to earn him the unshakable loyalty of his men and much of PACT in general, and even his enemies tend to offer him a measure of respect.

Bio

NOTE: (WARNING - Spoilers ahead for Sunrider: First Arrival, Sunrider: Mask of Arcadius, Sunrider: Liberation Day, Sunrider Academy & Sunrider: The Novelization. Read at your own risk!!)

Early Life

Little is known about Fontana's past prior to his joining PACT and becoming a Veniczar aside from the fact that he was a slave boy when young, and sometime around this point he first met the being that would be known as Arcadius. it seems he knew, or was at least briefly acquainted with the original Arcadius, prior to serving under the current Veniczar Arcadius. He apparently served at a young age with PACT's forces after being freed from slavery, quickly climbing the ranks to become one of Arcadius' most trusted lieutenants. His dedication to the cause of PACT may likely stem from them having saved him from some unfortunate circumstance in his life, with their granting him freedom from his life of slavery being the most likely reason, but this is only speculation.

First Arrival

Escorting the Princess

Fontana was serving as the acting commander of the PACT super-dreadnought Legion when Veniczar B. Cullen arrived with the captured Ryuvian princess and Arcadius' pre-arranged betrothed - Asaga di Ryuvia. When going to meet them, Fontana discovered Cullen in the process of trying to molest Asaga and, disgusted by Cullen's actions, sarcastically remarked on Cullen "enjoying" himself before informing the two that Arcadius would be taking direct control of the fleet once they reached Ryuvia. He also takes the time to warn Cullen about trying to touch things that are not his, sending the disgruntled Cullen off on his way and commenting under his breath about Cullen's Imperialist nature being unchanged before politely excusing himself from Asaga's presence. However, he stops to reply to Asaga's acknowledgement of him once she recognizes him by name, with Fontana replying that he is sure they will be seeing each-other more often in the coming days.

After arriving at the Star Palace in orbit over Ryuvia Prime, Fontana personally welcomed Arcadus to Ryuvia and escorted him to the wedding hall alongside Cullen. Upon Cullen updating Arcadius on the neutral rim's conquest being almost completed and that five of PACT's best fleets are at the ready to invade the Alliance gateway world of Far Port, Fontana warns Cullen to be cautious, as the Alliance will be a more formidable enemy then the disorganized or understaffed militia forces of the rim worlds. Cullen however brushes this off as apparent incompetence or lack of formidable warships on Fontana's part, and Arcadius opts to humor Cullen by allowing the latter to lead the attack on Far Port. Fontana then escorts Arcadius to his private chambers, where Asaga is being kept.

Vanguard of the State Wedding

Fontana is present when the King of Ryuvia, Jaylor vi Ryuvia XII begins the ceremony to wed his daughter to Arcadius, standing quietly from the sidelines as Arcadius ultimately betrays the agreement he made to spare Ryuvia from invasion and orders his men to seize all present. He does not act as Arcadius murders King Jaylor in cold blood and has the proceeding guests captured, though it is unlikely he personally approved of the merciless action. However, when the Sunrider suddenly warps in directly above the Star Palace and lets loose its combat drones, Fontana takes cover with Arcadius to try and defend him, while Arcadius himself becomes angered by the interference one ship is causing him. During the chaos, Asaga manages to escape from Cullen by stomping on his foot (his hand in the Novel), being taken out of the wedding hall and back to the Sunrider personally by it's Captain, Kayto Shields. Arcadius, increasingly infuriated by the events, demands that Asaga be recaptured, only to be sniped with a rifle by the Sunrider's newest Ryder pilot - the long-lost Princess Sola vi Ryuvia, awoken from cryogenic sleep from a Ryuvian dreadnought two-thousand years after her supposed death. However, Arcadius' form flickers and re-solidifies around a portable automated projector, revealing that it was only an advanced hologram - Arcadius was never in the wedding hall himself.

In the wake of the Sunrider's raid, Fontana reconvenes with Arcadius and informs him that the ship is breaking for Ryuvia's first moon with PACT's forces already pursuing them. Arcadius, refusing to allow the humiliation of having Asaga taken from the alter of his own wedding to stand, orders Fontana to destroy the ship by bring Asaga back alive. However, in spite of the PACT fleet's best efforts, the Sunrider manages to succeed in escaping Ryuvia with Asaga, even managing to narrowly avoid the Legion's own destructive power on the way out.

Observing the First Battle

During the Battle of Far Port, Fontana was aboard the Legion along with Arcadius, observing the conflict at a distance while Cullen commanded the actual fleets and Arcadius gave an address to the ship crews to motivate them. However, during the course of the battle, Fontana watches as Cullen's command group is directly attacked by the Sunrider's forces, as Cullen, too focused on pressing his attack, has caused his two leading fleets to overshoot the Alliance forces and left himself wide open - a move that Arcadius admonishes, denoting he'd long suspected Cullen's incompitence. Fontana, in spite of his dislike for Cullen, requests permission to have the Legion assist them in order to save the crewmen serving with Cullen from presumably dying alongside him, which Arcadius allows - albeit by ordering that Fontana fire the Legion's main cannon at them, which would risk several of PACT's own ships being caught in the attack. Fontana hesitates at this, asking if Arcadius is sure, but Arcadius brushes off Fontana's concerns for their ships as irrelevant and orders the attack anyway, which Fontana dutifully follows, resulting in two of PACT's own vessels being destroyed by the Legion's cannon alongside multiple Alliance ships. The Sunrider then moves its ships further into the PACT lines, ensuring that the Legion cannot destroy them all without destroying many more of their own ships.

In spite of the Legion's attack, they are unsuccessful in preventing Kayto from breaking the back of the PACT fleet's chain of command as Asaga is able to remove the limiters on her Ryder's energy output and successfully control the power surge, vaporizing Cullen and sending the PACT ships in disarray as they are left leaderless. Stymied and unable to proceed with a coordinated invasion of the Alliance without their commander, the PACT ships are left lost and confused without orders as shortly after, Admiral Harold Grey arrives with the two-hundred vessels of the First Fleet, proceeding to decimate the disorganized PACT fleet in a resounding rout. Fontana, seeing the chaos, asks Arcadius if they should commit the Legion, but Arcadius turns down the suggestion as the battle has clearly turned against them, ordering that Fontana have all PACT forces retreat.

Mask of Arcadius

Fontana returns as a main antagonist in Sunrider: Mask of Arcadius, playing a far more central role in the story compared to the previous game.

Standing in the Veniczar's Shadow

Aboard the Legion, Fontana addresses Arcadius via hologram communication, informing him that the Alliance has been steadily pushing back PACT's forces since the loss at Far Port, explaining that their most powerful fleets are still in holding over Cera and Ryuvia, but that the rest are being attacked and driven out. He then asks Arcadius if it was a good idea to abandon Ongess to the Alliance, denoting that he doesn't like the idea of the Alliance setting up a permanent occupation and exploitation of the planet's resources and enforcing its laws on the long-oppressed population. However, Arcadius denotes that it is a necessary sacrifice, claiming that the Alliance will become divided by infighting born of greed and that they will attack when their enemies are fighting amongst themselves. Arcadius then remarks on how Fontana was just a slave when they first met, but that now he is the trusted chief lieutenant of PACT. Arcadius then gives Fontana a personal mission - the destruction of the Sunrider and the recovery of Asaga di Ryuvia, citing that he felt the Sunrider was becoming a potential threat and that he was to draw it out at Ongess. However, Fontana privately remains skeptical of Arcadius' plan, questioning as to whether the original Arcadius would have sat back and done nothing while innocent people were forced to conform to a doctrine of living they did not choose nor agree with.

After Kayto Shields and Lieutenant Kryska Stares escaped from Cosette Cosmos on Ongess, Fontana contacted her and gave her a plan of attack to follow, brushing off her remarks that PACT had abandoned them by citing this was a "personal mission," impressing Cosette with how unusually independent from the chain of command a PACT Veniczar was acting. When Cosette asks why she should help Fontana, he replies that he will give her exactly what she's been fighting for - Ongess' lasting freedom from the Alliance. Thoroughly enticed by the proposal, Cosette agrees to help Fontana, who sends out multiple scouting ships to keep the Alliance focused on Ongess borders instead of the colony to allow Cosette the time and opportunity to prepare.

Facing the Sunrider

After a week of sending scout ships to place the location of every Alliance vessel over Ongess, Fontana makes his move along with Cosette's pirate armada - assembled over the week from at least fifteen different crime rings in the largest unified outlaw force in recent history - and begins facing off against the Sunrider itself. Contacting the ship, Fontana personally introduces himself to Captian Kayto Shields and states his intention to retake Ongess and reclaim Asaga. However, Kayto refuses to cooperate with Fontana's goal, with Fontana citing that he will unfortunately have to force the issue. Kayto cites that Fontana has little chance of defeating them since Cullen couldn't do so in spite of the latter having twice the number of ships, but Fontana admonishes Kayto by denoting that Cullen was a coward and a fool, reminding the Ceran Captain that tactics are what make or break a battle instead of numbers. Expressing excitement at facing the famed "Vanguard of Far Port," Fontana engages Kayto in battle, launching a pincer attach with the pirate and PACT fleets toward a single point in the Alliance perimeter in order to draw them all in to a single point.

In the Novel, the game of strategies begins as Fontana unveils one of the products of his work in PACT's Research and Development section for his fleet - the PACT Support; a wetware-centric unit with a dedicated counterintelligence suite that can overpower and infiltrate even the best wireless systems if given the time, and he uses these to put Kayto immediately on the defensive as Kayto is forced to divert his sniper Ryder's focus on the supports. This allows Fontana to get his ships closer without bombardment by the long-range Ryuvian Ryder, then use his fleet as a cover so that the pirate ships of Cosette's force can close in and use boarding teams and salvage gear to tear into the Alliance ships on the other side of the defensive line. The Sunrider counters by cutting through the pirate forces while their heavy-bombardment Ryder blows away their battleships and their ace Ryder and melee Ryder cut down the PACT Mook's that make up the bulk of PACT's Ryder forces. The sniper then finishes cutting down the supports and blows apart the landing deck of the carrier with the Sunrider finishing the job, just in time for the rest of the Alliance ships making up Kayto's wing of the defensive line to form up on the surviving PACT ships.

When the Sunrider's forces decimates the two fleets, Kayto contacts Fontana again and advises him to retreat, but Fontana simply smiles and unconcernedly states Kayto is overestimating himself. He then starts commenting on how the Sunrider's flexible design - an assault carrier that has the speed of battlecruiser, the combat power of a battleship and the Ryder deployment capabilities of a carrier, capable of both quick attack raids and large-scale conflicts - was what won him the Battle of Far Port and many other engagements since. Fontana then states that the Cerans weren't the first to conceive of this novel concept and that he himself has adapted it, revealing the new breed of ship that makes up the core of his actual fleet - the PACT Assault Carrier, carrying over thirty elite Ryders and PACT Support Ryders into battle against their forces. This in turn reveals that Fontana used the two initial pirate and PACT fleets as bait to draw all the Alliance's focus onto one point, so that his core forces could effectively engage and occupy the entirety of the Alliance defenders in a single area rather then spreading them out, setting up the board for the next phase of his plan by working toward keeping Kayto on the defensive and not giving him any time to do more then respond.

In the Novel, the conflict begins anew with Kayto remarking that a replica of the Sunrider won't win Fontana the battle, to which Fontana bemusedly agrees and remarks that the single flaw of the Sunrider was that the Cera Space Force lacked the resources to produce more then one - a deficiency PACT does not have, leaving Kayto and the Sunrider crew reeling as an entire attack fleet of Assault Carriers warps in and begins deploying elite Ryders against them. Within seconds, the freshly-minted PACT Elites tear apart entire wings of Alliance Ryders and begin crippling the ships that had charged forward to annex the pirates, the Alliance having overextended themselves in the chase and left themselves vulnerable to the the sudden flank while the Assault Carriers provide missile and flak support. This in turn forces Kayto and the Alliance to commit the rest of their forces toward stopping the deadly push. Delighted at how quickly and easily he has put Kayto on the defensive and how perfectly the Sunrider's captain is falling for his ploys by rushing to regroup and push back, Fontana tells Kayto that this is his end in order to get Kayto invested in stopping his frontline attack - all to ensure that Kayto believes that the threat is coming from ahead, not from behind.

Continuing the scenes from the Novel, the Sunrider's Ryder wing faces the PACT Elites and the Sunrider promptly engages one of the lead Assault Carriers, skimming past it in a starboard-bound roll and pouring missiles into it to down the ship while the Sunrider itself takes moderate damage across it's entirety. The Sunrider then engages a short-range warp like what it had done during it's abduction of Asaga di Ryuvia from Arcadius' wedding, reappearing perpendicular to the PACT fleet's battle-line and firing it's Vanguard Cannon to cut a hole in the PACT assault by wiping out four ships in one shot. Admiral Grey's personal flagship then becomes involved, blowing away the last carrier in the formation while the rest of the Alliance focuses on pushing through the remainder of Fontana's line, working to overwhelming the new ships with brute force.

The Sunrider thus manages to defeat the ships in its immediate area, but the majority of the Alliance defense force is still occupied by the rest of Fontana's fleet. Kayto then moves the Sunrider to engage Fontana's command ships, telling him that the battle is over and he should accept his loss. However, Fontana, nonchalant and even slightly disappointed that Kayto still has not figured out the truth yet, instead claims that the loss is Kayto's before revealing his trump card - Cosette's pirate forces. Having consolidated their forces together in bomber units inside the space colonies themselves while the Alliance forces were distracted throughout the week by the PACT scouts and by the immense battle, Fontana's fleets had been a massive ruse to keep the Alliance ships occupied and clear the way for Cosette to attack the Alliance docks from behind their lines, launching from the assumedly-secure habitats.

Using his own command ships to keep the exhausted and damaged Sunrider occupied, Fontana ensures Kayto is unable to return to the docks in time and Cosette begins bombing the Ongessite docks and Alliance ports, destroying ship after ship with the first salvo and setting up for another. Fontana then begins to chuckle as he gloats over having completely outmaneuvered Kayto, telling the Sunrider's captain that Cosette's bombers will destroy the entirety of the Alliance's fleets by detonating the very stores of Ongessite they took the planet for - what he considers poetic justice as, like Arcadius had claimed, the Alliance's own greed had laid the foundations for their destruction. Remarking that he' is disappointed in Kayto's ability to command compared to his own, Fontana then begins to list the terms of surrender he wishes Kayto to acknowledge, including Asaga's return to his custody, and denoting he intends to put Kayto on trial for his role in the civilian deaths caused on Ongess during Kayto's rescue from Cosette by the Alliance.

Learning of War

However, just as Fontata makes his statement to have Kayto tried for "crimes against humanity," Admiral Grey interjects and contacts Fontana as well. Fontana rather confidently asks if Grey has come to discuss the terms of his surrender, but Grey defiantly retorts that Fontana is still only a boy and very young in the art of war, and offers to show the latter how a real conflict is fought. Shortly after, radiation charges are detected from the Alliance fleet, and Grey then finally knocks Fontana off-balance by revealing he's ordered his ships to arm nuclear warheads at Ongess, threatening to blow the entire planet's stores of Ongessite and render the world useless to both sides - which would in turn kill the forty billion people both on the ground and in the orbital habitats.

Fontana is stunned by the announcement, disbelieving that the Admiral would sacrifice the planet's entire population, but Grey pressures him on whether he's so sure of that, and Fontana's confidence fractures as he remembers how many civilians were killed in the crossfire during the Alliance's rescue of Kayto, finding that he cannot trust the Admiral's character enough to be sure he wouldn't actually do it. Grey gives Fontana until the count of three to withdraw both his forces and Cosette's before he gives the order to drop the nukes, while Cosette argues that Grey is bluffing and points out that they will never have another chance to take out the entirety of the Alliance's attack fleets, protesting that everyone on Ongess would rather die then live under the Alliance's imposed rule.

However, Fontana ultimately cannot risk dooming the people of Ongess simply to defeat the Alliance, and, realizing that his own overconfidence in taking on the Alliance has ensured his loss just as it did for Kayto against him, Fontana finally concedes defeat and orders his own forces to pull back, telling Cosette to do the same as there is no point to victory if everyone they are fighting to free is killed in the process. Livid as Fontana's fleets break away and rob her own forces of their cover screen so that the Alliance can re-converge and defend the docked ships, Cosette berates Fontana for throwing away their only chance to win the war here and now. Fontana in turn questions Cosette's dedication to her people, rebuking that if she actually does care about Ongess' populace - and was ever serious about freeing them instead of just hurting her enemies - then she will retreat and come back for them later.

Furious, Cosette curses Fontana and rages at Kayto on the comm, both that she will kill him and his friends slowly and painfully for having lost her everything a second time and that Kayto's siding with the Alliance will only result in every world losing it's independence, Cera included, before finally puling her forces out. All in all, the Alliance loses a hundred and twenty ships - almost 30-40% of the Combined Fleet - but ultimately retains control of Ongess. And with much of his front-line fleet either destroyed or damaged, Cosette's own immediate forces all but scrapped, Cosette herself driven from Ongess and the Ongessians ultimately abandoned by their only remaining defenders and likely morally broken as a result, the blow struck to the Alliance is relatively hollow in comparison. Thus, Fontana is left licking his wounds after having failed in both his assigned objectives of destroying the Sunrider and recapturing Asaga, and in his personal objectives of crushing the Alliance's massed war fleets and retaking Ongess - defeated not by superior tactics but by the very thing that drove him to try and retake Ongess; sympathy for the oppressed.

The Veniczar's Secret

Returning to the Legion in the wake of his loss to Admiral Grey, Fontana contacts Arcadius and apologizes for his failure, bitterly citing that if not for the Admiral's treacherous move that they could have won the entire war in a single stroke. Arcadius however is forgiving of Fontana's actions, denoting that Fontana is still young and idealistic and thus does not yet know just how far a depth people can sink to in the pursuit of victory and profit. Ultimately, Fontana was simply following PACT's creed, and Arcadius resolves not to punish Fontana simply for wishing to see that creed fulfilled or for his idealism in doing so when it has carried him so far, with Fontana thankful for the unexpected pardon.

Arcadius then reveals that he wishes Fontana to oversee the completion of a secret project he has been working on alongside him, surprising Fontana with the news that he has left the PACT capital of New Eden four days ago to meet him there as Arcadius has rarely ever left to observe something personally. Arcadius then questions if Fontana knows of the Paradox Project, to which Fontana correctly remembers that it was a project to create a black hole that failed and ultimately backfired, the spawned singularity destroying the planet of Diode in what is now remembered as the Diode Catastrophe. However, Arcadius rebukes that the project wasn't a failure but rather one of the greatest accidental discoveries ever made - the key to a superweapon that will all but guarantee their victory and make the Alliance submit to them.

Shortly after arriving at the Paradox Core's secured location in the remote Helion system, Fontana personally greets Arcadius himself, reporting that the Paradox Core is nearly completed and will soon grant them a weapon with power that rivals even the Ryuvian Emperors of old. Arcadius then exposits on how he had felt when first seeing the Paradox Project at Diode, denoting that the weapon will terrify all in the galaxy into complete submission, ending all wars forever and uniting the galaxy under PACT. However, Arcadius then states that in spite of this that their victory isn't yet an assurance, revealing that the Sunrider has discovered them and is in the system, confusing and surprising Fontana as they have not detected anything. However, Arcadius is certain of it and orders Fontana to defeat the ship and claim Asaga from it, promising Fontana that he will make the young Veniczar the successor to Arcadius as the future leader of PACT. Working with Cosette once again, Fontana's forces nearly succeed in ending the Sunrider by way of the Legion firing and heavily damaging the ship, but the vessel is once again able to elude both the PACT second-in-command and the pirate leader and regain warp capability just in time to escape Helion.

Taking the Crimson Banner

Not long after the Sunrider's escape, an Alliance fleet bears down on Helion in a massive operation to take down the Paradox Core before it can be completed and sink the Legion. After an immense battle between their forces, the fleets are left gridlocked as the Sunrider and the Legion face off once more. As the Sunrider's forces approach the Paradox core, Fontana warns Arcadius that they need to evacuate him, but Arcadius, fed up with the Sunrider's continued interference in his plans, leaves to engage it and personally Asaga in combat, revealing himself to be a collective consciousness made up of multiple identical individuals. But during the fight, Asaga's latent powers, passed down her bloodline as Ryuvian royalty, activate in the battle and allow her and her comrades to overcome all of Arcadius' Ryders, forcing the Veniczar into a corner, where Arcadius reveals to everyone's collective horror that he has already armed the Paradox Core to detonate.

But this time, he is stopped from within as, seeing Arcadius arm the Core with the intent of wiping out the system - including the amassed PACT and pirate fleets fighting to protect him from the Alliance - finally forces Fontana to acknowledge his past fears as true; the current Arcadius is indeed nothing like the original, as the true Arcadius would never have sacrificed his people so callously. Fontana then betrays Arcadius, shutting down the Paradox Core and publicly exposing to all - both Alliance and PACT - that the masked being before them is not the real Arcadius, simply referring to him now as "Prototype." Shocked and enraged at the betrayal of his most trusted lieutenant, "Prototype" rages at Fontana, only for Fontana to coldly retort that "Prototype" is the real traitor, undeserving of the name "Arcadius" and having spat on everything that PACT has stood for, citing that the only mistake the original Arcadius ever made was allowing the fake to join them.

Fontana then declares that he will be the one carrying on Arcadius' legacy, instigating a swift coup and taking control of PACT for himself, claiming that he will return PACT to the ideals it was founded on, and not the genocidal slaughter and mass enslavement that "Prototype" is after. Calling him a "twisted monstrosity of science," Fontana tears off Arcadius' mask, revealing a young blue-haired humanoid that bears a disturbing resemblance to the only known survivor of the Diode Catastrophe - Chigara Lynn Ashada - and explaining that "Prototype" is actually the given title for a race of artificially-created superhumans that share a collective consciousness which usurped their makers. This race of Prototypes betrayed their creators at Diode and were the cause of the Diode Catastrophe themselves, and many of the Prototypes are actually embedded throughout the galaxy as sleeper agents and covert leaders, bent on dominating and enslaving the human race as their self-appointed "rightful rulers." The "Prototype" claims its too late to stop them and that they already own everything, but Fontana denies this, declaring that they do not own PACT as he executes the former Veniczar S. Arcadius, shooting him in the head point-blank.

Liberation Day

Fontana as he appears in Sunrider: Liberation Day, standing aboard the bridge of a PACT Assault Carrier.

Fontana is confirmed to return in Sunrider: Liberation Day as the newly-christened leader of PACT, splitting the formally-unified faction between himself and loyalists still following the Prototypes. It is also likely that, with Veniczar Arcadius unmasked as a fake and as part of a race that is trying to enslave all humanity, Fontana has his hands full dealing with resolidfying PACT under his command, as the faction has begun to splinter and crumble in the wake of the chaos behind its leader's true identity and Fontana's coup dividing their leadership.

After making his claim as PACT's new leader, Fonatna's wardrobe updates slightly - he takes to wearing a black shoulder-cape with the same gold trim and maroon-red interior lining as his coat. His coat itself gains a set of four ruby-inlaid buttons on the hem of either side and also has prominent red cuffs. Additionally, he now has his own Voice Actor for the Japanese-voiced lines of the game, and is voiced by Oshita Kota.

(WARNING: The events listed here are taken from the Liberation Day BETA, and are thus subject to change during production until the final product is released. Canonicity is not guaranteed as this may be only one of several paths the game may take - as of now, this is the only one known.)

In the wake of his lynching "Arcadius", Fontana gathers what remains of the splintering PACT forces - additionally leaving Cosette to her fate when the pirate refuses to pull out and instead makes her self-proclaimed "final charge" - and attempts to scuttle the Paradox Core remotely to keep the inhumane superweapon from falling into Alliance hands, fearful of what they could do with such a weapon. He immediately assumes that the "Alliance Imperialists" will replicate the Core for their own use, but finds to his shock that one of the Prototypes is still alive and aboard the Sunrider, assuming that Kayto must have either captured one or brought one aboard his ship as it's hyper-brainwaves are blocking out their detonation signals, rendering it impossible for PACT to destroy the weapon. Fontana curses these events, denoting his fate and Kayto's seem intertwined while rhetorically asking if the Captain has realized the full magnitude of what he has just done. Fontana then retreats to Ryuvia Prime, claiming the ancient former Imperial capital as his stronghold and consolidating his forces there while the Prototypes focus the fleets loyal to them around Cera.

However, Fontana is likely left shocked - though perhaps not unrelieved - when Admiral Grey instead shows he shares Fontana's belief that the Paradox Core is too dangerous a weapon to leave in existence and orders it destroyed by the Alliance, likely improving his view of the man, if only just since it could also have been seen as a matter of practicality to destroy a weapon that was too dangerous as opposed to moral obligation or integrity. Fontana thus opens up talks with Admiral Grey as to the possibility of ending the war amicably in a short joint-meeting with both the Admiral and Kayto Shields, greeting both with respect and revealing that the Prototypes still command considerable loyalty in many of PACT's members even with the deception exposed. However, Fontana also remarks that many do not wish to see their ideals turn to ashes in a war that is anything but what the original Arcadius would have wanted, stating that when the Alliance "inevitably" collapses, it will be from it's own corruption and greed rather then the needless bloodshed of innocent men and women. Grey, while exasperated by Fontana's beliefs in the Alliance being corrupt, remarks that he hopes something can come of the peace talks with PACT's revisionist faction.

Fontana latter attends a joint-meeting with the leaders of PACT, or those who have joined him in the wake of PACT's division, to discuss terms with the Alliance regarding what shall happen next, with Fontana citing that PACT shall return to their pre-war borders and restore the Neutral-Rim worlds to their independent government states, provided the Alliance does not demand further reparation from PACT. However, Grey replies that this isn't enough as the damage PACT has caused these worlds in their invasions, added to the resource depletion and battlefield damages many worlds further suffered during the course of the war, has left few of the Neutral-Rim worlds in a state to become independent nations again if left to rebuild alone - they will likely fall into anarchy or become lawless pirate havens instead of returning to the civilizations or societies they once were.

Fontata states that neither side can have the neutral worlds align themselves with the two factions in a way that would influence their infrastructure or rebuilding cultures as this would violate the Treaty of Vespa, which PACT under Fontana's leadership is working to try and abide by once more. Grey however insists that, in order to keep the liberated worlds from falling into poverty and depravity with their ruined economies and thus prevent needless further civilian deaths, the Alliance will offer assistance in restoring the more unfortunate planets. However, what crosses the line for Fontana is when Grey states he intends to have Alliance representatives on the Neutral-Rim worlds to monitor their electoral process and ensure no corruption takes root, as well as military garrisons to maintain order and prevent pirates from taking advantage of the fledging governments while they are being rebuilt - a gesture which Fontana sees, perhaps accurately, as the Alliance restructuring the Neutral Rim the way they wish and effectively robbing it of true independence.

Fontana thus warns Grey that, while PACT will return the Neutral Rim worlds to their original populace's control, they will not however allow the Alliance to reform the Rim however they wish - the very thing the Alliance accused PACT of doing - to which Grey asks if Fontana would rather billions die without a safe government established or the support to ensure they even see their worlds returned to how they once were. Fontana, while likely rattled, retorts that all independence requires sacrifice, to which Grey retorts that the children of Ongess, many dying of sickness or starvation, did not choose to sacrifice themselves for independence so much as they had the choice and duty forced upon them - first by Cosette and then by PACT.

Fontana, disgusted by how Grey is blatantly ignoring the fact that the Alliance could be seen as doing the same thing - as well as how Grey is guilty of this exact crime himself when the Admiral threatened to detonate Ongess' stores of Ongessite and thus destroy the planet and it's population in the process - finally runs out of patience with Grey. He denotes that the Admiral's claims are just propaganda to dress up the fact that the Alliance is using the Neutral Rim's suffering and diminished state as an excuse to move in themselves and rebuild it in their own image under their own laws, hammering the point in by citing he remembers all-too-vividly what Grey told him during the Second Battle of Ongess. Grey, also becoming angered, warns Fontana not to call him a lier so lightly, before giving his own rather blunt threat - either Fontana abandons his claims to a moral high-ground in light of all the suffering PACT has caused, or Grey will have his fleet do so by force and finish the war that PACT themselves started. Realizing that Grey will not budge from his intent to have the Alliance "assist" the Rim in rebuilding - to Alliance standards at least - Fontana expresses the debate is obviously going nowhere fast and instead adjourns the meeting, leaving in a mix of anger and concern as to what the Alliance may impose on the Rim as well as what lengths Grey may go to in order to get what he wants.

Personality & Traits

Fontana on the battlefield is widely regarded as being as ruthless as he is brilliant in defeating and dispatching his enemies, not only in his relentlessness in defeating the enemy but also in the prices he is willing to pay for that - at the Second Battle of Ongess, Fontana had seemingly no qualms about using his entire fleet and all aboard as mere bait to draw the Alliance forces away from the shipyards, apparently considering the potential losses worth the freedom of Ongess itself. This also speaks to the idea that Fontana may simply breed an exceedingly strong sense of loyalty in his forces to the point that they are simply willing and able to make such a sacrifice of self for the sake of his plans, since his betrayal of Arcadius at Helion suggests he detests the idea of sacrificing soldiers callously or out of incompetence. His tactics are flexible and adaptive, and he rarely ever conforms to the conventional standards of combat, as proven when he spearheaded the design of the PACT Assault Carrier as the mainstay for his fleet. He is also known to mock his enemies when they are on the cusp of defeat - though whether from arrogance or psychological warfare in order to destabilize them is not known, though it could be a mix of the two.

Fontana also seems to have something of a malevolent side to his personality when facing down his opponents, as he was not above chastising Kayto Shields at Ongess and also has displayed some degree of arrogance in his character with how he proclaimed he would put Kayto on trial for "crimes against humanity" - though this last bit could also stem from a zealous faith in PACT's causes as much as it could stem from potentially being arrogant. Finally, Fontana was also not above more practical thinking, as he was willing to work alongside Cosette Cosmos in order to try and take Ongess from the Alliance, in spite of how little compatibility there would be between such different personalities. He is calculating and meticulous, able to even predict the unorthodox stratagems of Kayto Shields after studying his moves from a distance at Far Port, and he is also a very cautious sort, opting to strike only when he feels sure he can win.

However, despite his ruthless and at least partly self-superior nature toward his enemies on the battlefield, Fontana in person appears to be an affable, even-tempered and surprisingly good-natured young man. He stopped Veniczar B. Cullen when he was trying to molest the Ryuvian princess Asaga di Ryuvia, and later tried to advise him to not underestimate the Alliance, despite despising him (and having no problems abandoning him to suffer at the hands of his own incompetence when he ignored his advice at the Battle of Far Port). He was courteous to Asaga and offered her the respect befitting her standing of a princess of Ryuvia. In spite of his dislike of Cullen, he requested permission to try and assist Cullen's vessels at Far Port after the battle turned against them. In person, Fontana is generally polite and respectful, never trying to overstep his boundaries yet being honest with his opinions and beliefs. He has a natural sense of charisma and charm to him that easily lets him win the hearts and minds of his men, coupling with his overall sense of decency and duty to his fellows and the PACT cause and his intelligence and cunning. He respects fairness and equality, and his roots as a former slave make him easily sympathetic to the plights of those he considers to be oppressed, such as to the cause of freeing the Ongess populace from the Alliance, and he and did not approve of abandoning them to be occupied by the foreign power, going out of the way to launch an attack on the Alliance's holdings on Ongess himself to try and retake the planet when the only thing required of his mission was the elimination of the Sunrider.

Fontana is also willing to sacrifice in order to save innocents as he does not believe in senseless violence or in the needless death of noncombatants. During the Second Battle of Ongess, Fontana went so far as to abandon his week's worth of meticulous and coordinated planning with Cosette Cosmos to wipe out the Alliance fleets after Admiral Grey threatened to nuke the entire planet, unwilling to sacrifice innocent lives uninvolved with the conflict at hand to achieve his goals. He even called Cosette's own cause for fighting into question, citing that she couldn't let the planet's inhabitants be slain if she really cared about what happened to Ongess' populace as she claimed she did. Finally, at Helion, when Arcadius attempted to detonate the Paradox Core and wipe out everyone in the system - including the many PACT and pirate ships still defending the structure from oncoming Alliance forces - Fontana finally had enough with Arcadius' senseless bloodlust and turned against him, claiming leadership of PACT for himself. He even went as far as to publicly unmask Arcadius as a fake who had taken the original's place, unwilling to allow PACT to continue with its current corrupted versions of the original ideas behind it, even at the cost of potentially shattering the entirety of PACT's moral and unity, determined to have PACT fight for the actual cause it was created for - regardless of how painful it would be to restructure and revitalize in the wake of its leader's public lynching.

Due to this, it can be inferred that, while ruthless to his enemies and ambitious in his goals, Fontana is truthfully an intelligent, grounded, fair and sensible man who dislikes death and cruelty for only their own sake, and will not allow innocents or those who are not directly involved in the conflict to suffer on his watch, even if it costs him - if there is a good chance that people not involved in his war with the Alliance military will be harmed, he will not chance their lives. In some ways, Fontana can be compared to Lieutenant Kryska Stares, as like her, Fontana believes wholeheartedly in his faction's cause to the possible point of naïveté, having been effectively rescued and given a purpose by those that recruited him. Another similarity is that like Kryska, Fontana is arguably a good person at his center but also believes that his cause is truly the right thing for everyone in the galaxy, even to the point that he may not be able to see the flaws in his faction's goals; something that may very well have contributed in why he tolerated the bloodthirsty actions of the Prototypes who claimed Arcadius' identity for so long before he finally turned on "Arcadius" at Helion.

Relationships

Veniczar S. Arcadius - Fontana's ties with the Veniczar Arcadius is perhaps more substantial then anyone else in the whole of PACT, as he is proclaimed by Arcadius himself to be his right-hand man and the head of PACT's R&D Division. Fontana was one of the few, if not the only one who knew the truth of Arcadius' identity - that he was a replacement that had claimed the original's identity - and that Acradius was actually a member of the race of Prototype super-humans born at Diode. He even knew the truth behind the Prototype's involvement in the Diode Catastrophe as the actual cause behind it - something that perhaps even Arcadius himself did not know Fontana was aware of, as he had gone out of the way to question if Fontana knew anything about the Paradox Project that caused the Diode Catastrophe, seemingly unaware of how much Fontana had learned. This in turn insinuates that, in spite of being Arcadius' most trusted confident, Fontana actually managed to work behind Arcadius' back more successfully then anyone else, which brings into question how much of the truth Arcadius actually told Fontana and how much of it Fontana learned on his own.

Fontana had purportedly met Arcadius during the former's time as a slave, though whether it was the original or current Arcadius he met is unknown, as it is again not specified how much of the Prototype's past was told to Fontana as opposed to being something he learned himself. During the Prototype's rule of PACT, Fontana followed the new Arcadius' orders without fail when serving under him, even complying with orders he personally did not seem to advocate, such as at Far Port when he followed Arcadius' command to fire the Legion's main gun in spite of PACT's own ships being in the line of fire. However, as time went on, Fontana seemed to become more and more disillusioned with the current Arcadius' methods, from his murder of King Jaylor and sacrifice of ships at Far Port, to his abandonment of Ongess and development of a weaponized variant of the Paradox Core, going as far as to question whether "Arcadius" was truly fit to carry on the ideals of the original. Eventually, after Arcadius attempted to wipe out the Helion system and everyone in it - including his own fleets and retainers - Fontana finally decided enough was enough and finally came to the conclusion that the Prototype was not and never was fit to carry Arcadius' name, swiftly deposing him.

Fontana's loyalty to the name of Arcadius was so great that he had followed the new bearer of the title without fail, but when push came to shove he ultimately decided that it was the belief behind the name he had to uphold, not simply the one using the title, and not only turned on Arcadius but unmasked him as a fake and as part of a race planning to enslave all humanity. In spite of the potentially irreparable damage this may have dealt to the name of Arcadius - both past and present - and to the once unbreakable unity of PACT, Fontana respected Arcadius' name and cause too much to allow it to be corrupted, willing to endure any stain placed on it or whatever fallout caused by exposing the corruption if it meant ensuring that PACT would now and forever fight for the cause the original Arcadius founded it on.

Veniczar B. Cullen - Fontana's stance toward Cullen was rather one-sided on both ends, as neither shared the same view of their relationship that the other did. Cullen saw Fontana as a rival and post to measure himself against, while Fontana was outright dismissive of Cullen as a wasteful and self-indulgent fool. He was easily disgusted by Cullen's decedent nature and perversive tendencies, and shed no tears for when Cullen was outmaneuvered by his own pride and stubborn foolishness at Far Port. However, Fontana, putting his duties as a member of PACT first and foremost, still afforded Cullen the base respect of any other high-ranking PACT member, giving him fair warning not to underestimate the Alliance prior to Far Port and even going as far as to request permission from Arcadius to help save Cullen's struggling fleets after they began to fall apart - though this was likely out of a desire to save the poor souls under Cullen's misguided command rather then Cullen himself.

Kayto Shields - Fontana seems to hold a degree of respect for Kayto as both an adversary and fellow strategist. Like Fontana himself, Kayto is both young and charismatic, winning over people to his cause through both his personality and his skills on the battlefield, and is a gifted commander who does not conform to linear modes of thinking. However, Fontana was not above expressing himself as being Kayto's better as opposed to his equal, chiding Kayto with almost malevolent bemusement at how the Sunrider Captain was so thoroughly outmaneuvered by him at Ongess.

Asaga Oakrun - Fontana had relatively little interaction with the incognito princess of Ryuvia, having met her properly only once in person after Cullen captured her and brought her back to the PACT flagship Legion. Fontana intervened in Cullen's attempt to molest Asaga and drove the perverse older Veniczar off, and was generally respectful and polite to Asaga for the short time they spoke afterword. His courtesy was enough to leave an impact on Asaga, as were his overall appearance as she would later remember him to be "good lookin' for a red." It can, at the very least, be said that Fontana respects Asaga as Ryuvian royalty and affords her all the common courtesies associated with this.

Cosette Cosmos - The two have only worked together twice - once during the failed retaking of Ongess, and again when chasing the Sunrider at Helion. Fontana did not seem to think much of the bloodthirsty and borderline psychopathic pirate, but was able to respect her claims to fight for the sake of her people's freedoms - provided they were genuine. However, he seemed overall to be somewhat brief and even impatient with her, implying he did not particularly enjoy working with her more then necessary - he may potentially sympathize with her and her plight, but that does not necessarily mean he enjoys her company. Fontana was also not afraid to challenge Cosette and her cause when Admiral Grey used his ultimatum of destroying Ongess to force the two to fall back, telling Cosette that if she really cared about freeing her people as opposed to killing whoever was in her way, she wouldn't let them be slaughtered. Whether Cosette fell back because she did in fact care about her people or because Fontana pulled out his forces and left her own vulnerable is unknown, but she ultimately, if not bitterly, complied with Fontana's requests. Cosette would later work alongside Fontana's fleets to try and stop the Sunrider's escape from the Helion system, and her fleet was likely engaged against the Alliance forces during the Battle of Helion, though what Fontana's exact feelings for Cosette are at this current point are unknown, though they likely have not changed much since Ongess.

Admiral Harold Grey - Fontana and Grey have only clashed once, during the battle at Ongess, and the Admiral's actions that day have assuredly not left a positive impression on Fontana. While the Admiral is perhaps the most prolific military figure and strategist in the Solar Alliance, Grey's ultimatum of bombing Ongess and killing all forty billion on its surface if Fontana did not withdraw has left the young Veniczar with a firm distaste for him. He afterwords refers to Grey as being a "villain" and likely a portrait of everything that Fontana believes about the Alliance - namely that they will do anything to win, regardless of who gets trampled underfoot.