Appendix: Personal Knowledge of ARKS

(For new readers, skip this one. This is more of an informational chapter inside an informational volume.)

Artificial Relict to Keep Species, or ARKS for short, is the military force of the Oracle fleet. They were created by the Photoners in order to combat Falspawns (Darkers in Japanese) and its masters, the Profound Darkness and its subordinates, Dark Falz(s).

Part of the reason they were made was due to the fact that the Photoners lost their ability to wield Photons. Hence, they made ARKS and the four races in them.

Within ARKS, there are four races that are a part of them:

- Human: known for their well-balanced capabilities and powerful Photon potentials. They're the initial foundation of ARKS. They're like us Humans from Earth, but can utilize space magic, if you wanna call Photons space magic. The other three races were all based off the Humans.

- Newman (or Neuman): has powerful Photon reception, but with weak physical capabilities. They're space elves.

- Dewman (or Deuman): created after a space-time distortion in which the studied remains of the Chrome Dragon, Haddred, was used to be combined with Humans. Their appearances are more aesthetical than denoting any sort of advantage. However, they are closer in performance to Humans when compared to both Newmans and CASTs. They're what some may sarcastically call as the typical example of Edgelords.

- CAST: androids that are created to house those with exceptional Photon potential, but their original bodies were unable to withstand their own potential. According to some testimony, CASTs generally tend to not remember when they were first created. Even if they did, reportedly, they couldn't associate themselves with them in the memories, being more like a different person.

According to recent history, ARKS had its major battle around 40 years ago (from AP 238). In AP 198, they faced the Dark Falz [Elder] on Naverius. They only managed to defeat and then seal him on the planet. To maintain the facade of victory, they claimed they managed to vanquish [Elder]. This is also to maintain morale, as ARKS paid a heavy price in their battle against [Elder].

Not long after, the Three Heroes (or the Trio of Heroes) were inaugurated for their leadership and capabilities that were instrumental in "defeating" [Elder]. Using the Trio of Heroes as the basis, ARKS created the Council of Six to govern most aspects of the organization. However, it's pretty much known for those in the loop that the real power that controls ARKS is Luther, the last Photoner, and the future Dark Falz [Luther].

Members of the Council of Six that are currently active are:

1. Regius, appointed into office on AP 198. Founder.

2. Maria, appointed into office on AP 198. Founder.

3. Casra II, appointed into office on AP 230, 10 years after the "death" of the previous Casra.

4. [EMPTY], has yet to be replaced since the death of the previous holder during the battle against Dark Falz [Elder] in AP 198.

5. Klariskrays III, appointed into office on AP 234, 6 years after the disappearance of the previous generation Klariskrays following the conclusion of her battle against Dark Falz [Apprentice] during the battle on Ship 128: Themis in AP 228.

6. Huey, appointed into office on AP 235, replacing the previous one that died 8 years prior.

0. Zelsius Quna, unknown time of appointment into office. She's a part of the Cipher Death Squads, AKA the cleanup crew for the mess that ARKS or the Void left behind.

Also, do note that the Council of Six itself are differentiated into two groups:

- The Trio Heroes, consists of Regius, Klariskrays and Casra. They're known as the Odd numbers.

- The Even numbers, or just the Evens. Consists of Maria, Huey and Quna.

The function of the Evens is to keep the Odds in check, and should the Odds ever go against what ARKS stands for, the Evens would be the ones to stop them.

By the time Episode 1 of PSO2 started, it was already the 3rd Generation of ARKS.

The 1st Generation, which Regius and Maria are a part of, were considered to be a mess due to the lack of understand in how Photons resonate with beings. Hence, a lot were turned into CASTs. Aside from Regius and Maria, not many from the 1st were still alive to this day (circa AP 238).

Meanwhile, the 2nd Generation had improved upon the weaknesses of the 1st Generation, and managed to fulfill niches called Classes with high consistency and power. However, they lack the flexibility to fully utilize their capabilities, and hence were limited to a single class. Also, the aforementioned Council of Six was created during the 2nd Generation.

The current generation (per AP 238) is the 3rd Generation. They were much more improved compared to the previous gens, so much so that they could utilize different styles and methods, with the process being known as Class Change. It was at this point that the differences between Humans and the other races were leveled out, and serves as more of an aesthetic matter.

Within ARKS, there are three divisions. They are:

- Research and Exploration Unit: Contains the majority of ARKS' military force. They're responsible for investigating and interacting with already-discovered planets. We're a part of this.

- Central Research Department: Responsible for improvements on quality of life and military research of ARKS. Also known as the Void Research Group (or just Void), they typically conduct inhumane and unethical experiments in the name of advancements and their own personal goals. Headed by Luther.

- Special Planetary Exploration Unit: What you'd consider as the forefront of recon, responsible for searching possibly-habitable planets to be investigated by Oracle. Also known as Alter, they consists of only a single ARKS ship, the Delta Variant.

Personal Remark:

Everything always has a hidden side to it. No way there's an organization that's extremely benevolent without some shady or even outright dark side.