Lien-Da


 * If you are looking for the Mobius: 25 Years Later version of Lien-Da, see Lien-Da (M:25YL).

Lien-Da is an Echidna soldier and the Kommisar of the Dark Legion. Powerful and ambitious, Lien-Da spent years scheming her way through the ranks of the Legion from the time she was a teenager, beginning with the assassination of her step-mother Mari-Su. After her great ancestor Dimitri's health took a turn for the worse, and her brother Kragok was killed, Lien-Da was in a position to become Grandmaster. Her rule of the Legion lasted less than a year however, as her nephew Remington eventually became a Legionnaire and separated the group into two factions, one under his rule, leaving Lien-Da as Grandmaster of only half the Dark Legion. Recently, Lien-Da and the Dark Legion had their cybernetic enhancements removed by the new Enerjak, forcing Lien-Da to take drastic measures to re-secure her position of power, forming an alliance with the Eggman Empire. Lien-Da was shocked to see that Dimitri had once again been given the rank of Grandmaster over the rechristened Dark Egg Legion, which she had hoped to rule.

Early Life
Lien-Da was born with her twin brother Kragok during their father Luger's tenure as Grandmaster of the Dark Legion. When Lien-Da and her brother were roughly eight years of age, the portal between Mobius Prime and the Twilight Zone opened, allowing the Dark Legion to escape confinement once again. However, when they emerged from the Twilight Zone, their mother became terribly ill. Despite returning to the Twilight Zone, their mother Merin-Da died from her ailments, scarring Lien-Da and her brother emotionally. (SSS: #11)

Several years later their father met and fell in love with Mari-Su when Lien-Da was about sixteen years of age. Shortly afterwards the two got married, which deeply upset Lien-Da and her brother, who not only felt her as a threat to their own ambitions, but someone trying to replace their mother. One year later, Mari-Su gave birth to Lien-Da's half sister Julie-Su, though Lien-Da and Kragok never accepted their half-sister, who completely ignored and even shunned Julie-Su. Some time later, Mari-Su met with an "unfortunate accident which claimed her life", with Kragok and Lien-Da believed to have been responsible. Not long afterwards, Luger mysteriously disappeared, and Kragok assumed command of the Dark Legion. Lien-Da and Kragok had Julie-Su's Memory Neutralizing Chip activated, deleting her memories so she would never interfere with their own agendas. (SSS: #11)

Dark Legionnaire
Lien-Da was second-in-command of the Dark Legion for numerous years, taking on the name (and possible rank) of Kommissar and working with her brother Kragok. The two constantly kept an eye on Julie-Su, but Lien-Da felt it would have been wiser to have had her assassinated instead. (SSS: #11)

When Enerjak returned to Mobius and revealed himself as Dimitri, Kragok turned over the leadership of the Dark Legion to him. Even after Dimitri had his power stolen by Mammoth Mogul and his age caught up with him, he maintained command of the Legion, as Kragok was captured by the Echidna Security Team during the Dark Legion's attack on Echidnaopolis and imprisoned. During the Dark Legion's attempt to seize control of the High Council via their cyborg agent Benedict, Lien-Da was responsible for apprehending High Councilor Pravda and having a computer chip installed in his brain so the Legion could control him. Lien-Da also had numerous Dingoes and Echidnas that opposed the Dark Legion rounded up and beat. (KtE: #7, #9, #22, #23)



Following their failed political agenda, the Dark Legion turned to banishing all life on Angel Island to the Twilight Zone and taking control. Lien-Da had Julie-Su captured and imprisoned with her foster parents Simon and Floren-Ca under the orders of Dimitri, though she and Moritori Rex expressed their desires to have the three killed. Lien-Da was on board the Battle Cruiser when it fired the Quantum Beam and sent all of Angel Island's inhabitants to the Twilight Zone except for Knuckles. (SSS: #14)

Following Knuckles' evolution to Chaos Knuckles, Dimitri managed to persuade him to join the Dark Legion. Lien-Da, on numerous occasions, was opposed to the idea, believing Knuckles to still be a threat. When Knuckles undid the effects of the Quantum Beam, Lien-Da was outraged that Knuckles had returned all life to Angel Island. Dimitri however reminded her of Knuckles untold power and warned her to watch what she said. Lien-Da's feelings of resentment towards Dimitri's leadership continued to grow, telling him Knuckles needed to be killed if he actually harboured such power. (StH: #100, #107)

When Dimitri attempted to make peace with the High Council and allow the two Echidna societies to merge peacefully, Lien-Da decided to take matters into her own hands. Believing Dimitri's plan to be a mistake, she bribed one of the Councillors to have Dimitri assassinated during the peace talks. The plan failed when Knuckles took the hit, and her would-be assassin was apprehended. Hoping to salvage the situation and prevent her hired gun from talking, she had Syntar prepare to snipe both him and Julie-Su, who arrived on the scene shortly to see if Knuckles was still alive or dead. Syntar was knocked unconscious by Lara-Su (Knuckles's daughter from an alternate reality's future) and the assassinations were prevented. (StH: #108, #109)



Not long afterwards, Dimitri's health took a turn for the worst, and Lien-Da took on the role of looking after him. Lien-Da was shocked to hear Dimitri tell her not to be her "usual treacherous self" and to let Knuckles make his own decisions whether or not to use his powers to save him. Lien-Da was concerned Knuckles would not save Dimitri, but the dying Echidna told her he should have died a long time ago, making Lien-Da promise to follow in his footsteps should he die, which Lien-Da did. Despite her promise however, Lien-Da was planning a back-up operation in case the High Council did not approve of the unification plan. (StH: #114, #115)

When Mammoth Mogul arrived on the scene and threatened to disconnect the dying Dimitri from life support, Lien-Da debated with Gae-Na whether or not to act. Although Knuckles arrived on the scene to save Dimitri, Lien-Da knew her late brother would never forgive her should she allow the Dark Legion to be indebted to a Guardian. However, she promised Dimitri she would not act against Knuckles. Thus, she waited to see what Knuckles would do first. (StH: #117)

After Knuckles attempted to defeat Mogul, Lien-Da rushed to the scene. There she was confronted by her nephew, Constable Remington (who had no memories of their relationship), but the Constable permitted Lien-Da to accompany him to the scene where Mogul and Knuckles had just engaged in combat. The two were shocked to discover Dimitri had survived while Knuckles had died. (StH: #118)

Rise to Power


During the year that Sonic the Hedgehog was lost in space, following the Xorda's failed attack on Mobius, Lien-Da assumed command of the Dark Legion, as Dimitri mysteriously disappeared. Unknown to her, the new Dark Legion techno-mage Dr. Finitevus had taken Dimitri and performed surgery to prolonging the ancient Echidna's life, removing his body in the process. (StH: #139, #183)


 * Writer Ian Flynn stated Lien-Da likely knew Finitevus had Dimitri and was aware of his experiments, but remained unaware of his plans to revive Enerjak, or her role as a potential candidate for the new Enerjak.

Lien-Da's responsibilities increased dramatically after the Dingoe Regime - now under the leadership of Kage Von Stryker and ally of the Eggman Empire - began their takeover of Angel Island. Lien-Da was entrusted with the role of protecting the Master Emerald by Locke, after the Brotherhood of Guardians mysteriously disappeared following their defence of the Master Emerald from Eggman's forces. Lien-Da had the Master Emerald moved to the Hidden Palace section of the island. As the Dingoes began to enslave the echidnas and send them to concentration camps, Lien-Da had the Dark Legion act as the defenders of the few free echidnas on the island. (StH: #138, #139)

When Knuckles arrived at Angel Island following a distress call from what was believed to be Locke, Lien-Da and a contingent of the Dark Legion assisted in Knuckles, Sonic and the Chaotix's efforts to liberate a concentration camp and free Locke from captivity. Although they succeeded in saving Locke, Eggman had dispatched Hunter to the island to locate the Master Emerald. Hunter was stopped when Knuckles transformed into Super Knuckles, but not before numerous echidnas, including Remington and supposedly Finitevus had been sent to the Egg Grape Chambers; the loss of Remington deeply upsetting Lien-Da. (StH: #139, #140, #141)

Power Struggle
Unbeknownst to Lien-Da, Dr. Finitevus had not been captured by Hunter. Instead, he escaped, and later rescued Remington from the Egg Grape Chambers, restoring him back to health and providing him with new memories (as his old memories had been lost). Finitevus then had Remington return to the Dark Legion, claiming title as Grandmaster, which resulted in the Dark Legion's civil war, with the Flame Legion still loyal to Lien-Da and the Frost Legion joining Remington. (StH: #165, #183)



Some time later, Lien-Da and Remington called a cease fire, after learning from Dr. Finitevus that ninety percent of all echidnas had been killed off. The two leaders were told that Finitevus could grant them the power to defeat their enemies via the Master Emerald, but this was merely a ploy to prevent them from opposing him. When Finitevus had Knuckles become the chaos-demigod Enerjak instead of Remington or herself, Lien-Da swore revenge against Finitevus. Both her and Remington had the Dark Legion attempt to defeat the new Enerjak, but instead had all of their cybernetic enhancements removed. (StH: #180, #181)

Lien-Da, appalled at Enerjak's "curse", refused to go to Albion with Remington and the few Dark Legion members who accepted being fully organic once again. Instead, Lien-Da sought out help from Eggman, hoping to receive new cybernetic body replacements in exchange for becoming his new ground forces, which Eggman needed following Enerjak's attack on New Megaopolis. Lien-Da accepted the alliance with Eggman under the agreement she would be the sole Grandmaster of the rechristened Dark Egg Legion. However, Lien-Da was outraged after the alliance was made when Eggman informed her Dimitri had been given the role. (StH: #181, #184)



During the Chaotix and Sonic's attack on New Megaopolis, Lien-Da commanded the Dark Egg Legion in their efforts to defend the city. When the Dark Egg Legion was failing drastically, she ordered their retreat, begging Snively for reinforcements. Distraught over the fact there would be none, Lien-Da briefly talked with Knuckles over his proposal for her to abandon their alliance with Eggman. Lien-Da told Knuckles that his ancestors always believed to know what was best, and refused to abandon the Eggman Empire, especially after Knuckles was responsible for robbing them of their cybernetic parts. She then ordered the Dark Egg Legion to fall back due to there being no back-up. Lien-Da was surprised to see Dimitri arrive on the scene with a new, massive robotic body. Dimitri informed her he was taking command of the operation, telling her he would not allow her to lead their people to failure. (StH: #189)

Lien-Da found opportunity to get back at Dimitri when he later revealed to her the presence of explosives in the Legion's new implants, placing the blame of the situation solely on Dimitri. However, he soon put her in her place and brought up her part in allying with Eggman. (StH: #192)

A short time later, while Snively was walking through the Eggdome, he noticed Lien-Da telling an anecdote to another Legionnaire. Instead of saluting him as a superior, the two laughed in his face when he ordered them to, informing him he was just as much a lackey of Eggman as they were. (StH: #194)

Lien-Da was later put in charge of defending the Eggdome against the Freedom Fighters and Chaotix, with unsuccessful results. Assistance later came in the form of Eggman in his new Egg Phoenix, almost killing the legion in the process. While she was out on the battlefield, Dimitri confronted Snively about his secret romance with Regina F as a bribe to make sure Lien-Da and the other echidnas were kept safe, but Snively proposed that if Dimitri kept this a secret, it could potentially benefit both of them, along with the rest of the echidnas. (StH: #198)

The day after, Lien-Da was acting field leader against the Freedom Fighters' and Chaotix's assault, ordering the Dark Egg Legion to build a barricade with a hole big enough to let Sonic in, while secretly preparing to put Snively's plan into action. She later reported into Snively in his room and told him about how the legion's actions were proceeding, but it was cut short when she caught wind of Snively's cologne, a gift from Regina. She was then ordered to tell the Dark Egg Legion to move on to phase two of the plan; retreat and let Sonic the Hedgehog have a clear path to Dr. Eggman. (StH: #199)

Personality
Lien-Da has a ruthless, femme fatale-style personality, and seems to care only for herself. She knows how to seize power and can be quite sneaky. Despite this, she actually cares deeply for the echidna people, and had once organized the Dark Legion to rescue and protect the Echidnas from the group of Dingoes who sold Angel Island to Dr. Eggman. Although she is clever, she knows when she is in need of assistance. One example is when Knuckles's father, Locke, entrusted the Master Emerald into her care before being captured by Dingoes, she enlisted Knuckles' help to rescue him. Nevertheless, she has little regard for life, and is willing to kill to further her goals, such as the assasination attempt on Dimitri by her hired gun Syntar. Her hatred of her half-sister Julie-Su seems to stem from the fact that her father showed more affection to Julie-Su than her. (StH: #109, #139, #140, #141, #142, SSS: #11)

Romance


Lien-Da has no apparent romantic interests. She is known to flirt with Knuckles, but has had no more success with him than Rouge the Bat. (StH: #139)


 * Many fans also believe Lien-Da to be involved at some point with Doctor Finitevus, and think that he may be Rutan's father due to the white tips of Rutan's dreadlocks. If this proves incorrect, it is unknown who her partner is in Mobius: 25 Years Later, as he never made an appearance or was mentioned.

Background Information

 * Lien-Da was initially only introduced and referred to as "Kommissar." Her name was inspired by fan Lien Nguyen, aka Chainspike.
 * Lien-Da's initial name of "Kommisar" is German for commissioner, which could be her rank in the Dark Legion.
 * Lien-Da's age was calculated using the ages provided in Sonic Super Special #11 and Julie-Su's SEGA data file. In the former, it stated Lien-Da and Kragok were seventeen when Julie-Su was born. In the latter, Julie-Su's year of birth was stated as 3221, making Lien-Da's year of birth 3204.
 * A sketch of Lien-Da and Kragok as kids by Spaz (right) was provided in StH: #115.
 * Lien-Da's name was mistakenly spelled "Lein-Da" on the intro panel of StH #198 and again on the fifth page of SU #3.