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Name: Maria Stocking (new name, same basic character, really)
Gender: Female
Race: Terran
Age: 28
Height: 6'3"
Eyes: green
Hair: brown
Description: Pretty much your average Terran with the addition of some startlingly green eyes. Maria has two full cybernetic arms with various attachments for her medical supplies stored in her fingers and in compartments along her arms.
Background: She grew up on her parent’s ship an Axe class named The Shining Star. After they were killed in the line of duty after the first war, and she lost her arms at the tender age of 19, she decided to take a non aggressive approach to life. She made it her mission to help the wounded and became a Medical Officer on the Space Station "Brilliance"
Position: Medical Officer
Crew: She only has one crew member, a cook that had served her and her parents for years, and she doesn't have the heart to tell the kind old man that she can cook for herself. Besides, his cooking is wonderful.
Equipment: Medical supplies mostly. Tries to be non-violent when she can, doesn't like hurting people.
---SHIP---
Name: The Shining Star
Length: ~70m
Description: The Shining Star is a Gunship of the now discarded Axe class. It even looks a bit like an axe head. The ship has a generally elliptical form when looked down on. However one half of the ship seems to end directly behind the cockpit. Instead a short cylinder extends from the cockpit's rear wall. This holds the engine. The Axe class holds room for five people. The inside is richly furnished and extremely livable. The cargo bay holds food and medical supplies that she sometimes ferries from place to place
Weaponry: None at all
Unique Technology: A special shield upgrade, and a boost to her engines making it easy for her to get away from anyone who would do her harm. Again, non-violence here.
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Space reserved for a possible second Character
Name: Jonas "Fletch" Fletcher
Gender: Male
Race: Terran
Age: 36
Height: 1.98 m - 6'5"
Eyes: Green
Hair: Auburn
Description:
Jonas' physique is intimidating. Not only is he towering over the average Terran and even some Telarin, but his frame is broad, looking stout without coming off as fat. His long, auburn hair that falls down to his jaw in an unkempt mane and his thick, bushy beard do little to make him look more friendly. His most outstanding features are his eyes, however – piercing, green orbs that look so much older than the rest of him.
Fashion-wise, Fletch keeps things simple. As a fan of the times when humanity only had to worry about itself, Fletch dresses in denim, cotton and leather – vintage, honest to god dead animal skin, not that namby-pamby synth stuff. His standard outfit is a blue plaid west over a white short-sleeve shirt that's tucked into his blue jeans. The only things that firmly plants his outfit into these times are a baseball cap with the logo of the Terran Prime Tigers, Earth's premier Ultraball team, and a metal bracer on his right forearm with several buttons and dials that control the InvisiLeash for Lemmy.
Background:
Fletch was born on Tallin, a planet that managed the astonishing feat of being an important industrial center and a complete and utter backwater planet at the same time. Tallin's industry is focussed on mining and processing the planet's plentiful resources. Fletch took an interest into mechanics at a young age, but he ended up signing up to the military instead of pursuing a career in engineering because he "had to get the hell off Tallin like a fat man out of a veggie store." One month later, the war against the Ar Gora Pact struck, and Infantryman Jonas Fletcher saw his first ground combat not long after.
The horrors of war and the brutality of the Ashotur left Fletch traumatized. His waking hours are plagued with occasional visions of his fallen comrades, his nights are full of nightmares and the smell of fish makes him heave. The mere thought of firing a rifle has him freezing up and breaking out in sweat. Released from the military as unfit for duty with nothing to show for it but a miniscule monthly compensation, Fletch found his way into engineering after all. The steady, reliable work with gears, pistons and engines gave him something to focus his troubled mind on. Returning to Tallin, Fletch now runs a one-man ship repair and towing service. A stroke of particularly bad luck has him in dire need of money, however.
Position: Engineer
Crew members (if any): Lemmy is Fletch's pet Hrrshak, a predator stemming from Garik that is similar to a dog. He found the animal on Tallin one day, lying by the roadside and bleeding out. Rushing him to a vet, Lemmy could be saved – but whatever attacked him had shattered one of his jaws so severely it had to be removed. Fletch could've left Lemmy then, his live saved, secure at the shelter, yet forever crippled... but Fletch saw something in the wounded Hrrshak. He adopted him, gave him his name and paid for a jaw prosthetic.
As it were, however, Tallin is not known for its high medical standards – Lemmy's lower left jaw is made of plain steel, contrasting harshly with his dark fur. Also, due to Hrrshak not being native to Tallin, the prosthetic doesn't sit quite right, causing Lemmy to drool uncontrollably whenever he gets excited about something.
When Fletch is on one of his long tours, Lemmy usually sleeps in the back of the Mighty Quinn, enjoying the low hum of the engine as most of his species do. When Lemmy and Fletch go walking, the Hrrshak always wears an InvisiLeash, a choker that activates a shield wall in front of him if he gets too far away from Fletch, blocking his way.
Special Equipment:
Modded HIT suit – Usually, these semi-mech suits are worn by heavy infantry troops. Able to withstand averse planetside conditions as well as the cold vacuum of space and heavily armored, Fletch uses his own suit for zero-g repairs. The HIT suit multiplies its wearer's strength, allowing Fletch to do some very heavy lifting – or punching. The compartments usually reserved for ammunition and sidearms now hold various tools, screws and bits, while the rifle sheath on the back now is home to a enormous wrench with a built-in blow torch. If a situation gets hairy, Fletch doesn't hesitate to use it as a melee weapon.
Fletch also modified the suit to open up at the back, because getting screwed tight into it every time is a major hassle. "That's what she said." The suit, like his ship, is painted in a dark red reminiscent of blood, with white stripes running up his shins and forearms. His right shoulder pad is decorated with the painting of a bear wielding a machine gun.
---SHIP---
Name: Mighty Quinn
Length: ~ 30 m
Description:
Fletch's ship is a modded version of the now derelict Cestus class of TPD gunships. The Cestus's body only made up a small part of its length, being a short cylinder that holds the ship's powerful reactor. As such, living space inside the Cestus is cramped, barely enough for two people that know each other very, very well. The cockpit is short and rounded, completely unlike the slender shilouettes of newer fighter models. Towards the back, the body tapers into a slim rod that makes up two thirds of the ship's length. The two wings of the Cestus sit on rails running around its body and can be rotated freely around the entire ship. Usually, they curve back and almost touch the rod with their tips instead of spreading out sidewards like most TPD fighters. While some fighter pilots complained that the swiveling wings made them unable to feel the ship shifting during turns and dives, others found that it greatly increased steadiness of aim and made the ship's movement harder to predict for hostiles. The wings can be spread out from the body for atmospheric flights.
Fletch added a custom paint job to the Mighty Quinn. The standard TPD white was replaced with a a dark red colour. Two white stripes run along the body and then spread out to follow the curve of the wings along the upper side. In a tribute to old fighter pilots, a painting of a woman clad in a fur-lined hood and little else decorates the cockpit. Further additions include a winch underneath the cockpit and the removal of the co-pilot's seat for storage space.
Weaponry:
Though designated a gunship, the Cestus's weaponry could be considered sub-standard at first sight. It features 4 rapid fire cannons in total, each fixed on one side of the rotating wings. However, the RFCs only serve to soften or destroy a target's shields.
Unique Technology:
Ram's Head Shield - The real threat is the Cestus's secondary shield generator, made up from magnetic components in the wings and the rear rod. With the flip of a switch, a Cestus pilot can begin to rotate the wings around the rod very rapidly. This excess output in shield energy is focussed entirely towards the nose of the ship, making the shield nigh inpenetrable there – as it should be, because this iron-clad front makes up the Cestus's main attack and gives the ship class its name.
The Cestus was designed specifically to crash into enemy ships and live. You probably see why it's is no longer being built.
For safety reasons, the RFCs are locked down during rotation. Fletch, however, found a way to circumvent that problem. By slowing down the rotation speed (and accepting the decrease in shield boost) he managed to still get a sizable reinforcement to his front shields without sacrificing the ship's armament. He still can switch into full-on "assault mode," as it's officially called, when needed.
Towing Bubble – An alternative use for the shield output is the creation of a shield extension, latching onto another ship's shield (or creating one, should it not have any) and anchoring it to the Mighty Quinn so it can be towed off. Obviously, the Mighty Quinn could not drag away a dreadnought or something similar, as its engines have to drag two ships at that point.
Description: A typical Ingrali, Draven and his people are shrouded in mystery. No one knows the ages of the Ingrali, nor do they bother to keep time measurements like most other races. Very quick for his size, he is also a shape shifter of sorts, and his true form resembles almost a mist-like form. Draven generally prefers to blend in with other culture's, shifting himself to look like one of their own so as to study them. This is a large reason that no one has ever SEEN an Ingrali and known about it. The only things that have been heard anything about them are little more than simply rumors and folklore. Draven is as secretive as the rest of his race, however he is willing to help those in need, so long as it doesn't expose his true nature.
When first seen, Draven appears as a hulking armored creature with glowing red eyes and short black hair. Muscular by appearance, he would appear very intimidating to virtually any known race should he display aggressiveness.
Background: Draven is part of the high command of the Ingrali, and as such, is the fore runner in keeping tabs on all other races. Draven works alone on all of his missions, and is quite adept at both piloting ships, and in combat.
Draven intercepted a message regarding the Nnyarthall, whom the Ingrali had believed to have been wiped out. Taking a personal interest in the matter, Draven has answered the call, coming all the way from outside the galaxy to aid. Draven refuses to share the exact reasons why he and his people are so interested, only saying that they and the Ashotur made a mistake in trying to attack them a long time ago.
Draven, like all Ingrali, is capable of surviving in space without a suit regardless of his current form, and is VERY hard to kill in his natural form. However, once they take on the form of any physical being, they assume some of it's limitations on survivability. For example, if he shape shifted into a human, bullets would hurt but not likely kill, but an energy weapon on kill setting would probably drop him dead in a hit or two. He also has a belt that allows him in his natural form to retain his shape and not drift apart in low to zero gravity situations.
Personal Weapons:
Blaster Rifle: It is a powerful energy rifle that fires mid sized globs of red energy at incredibly fast speeds. The rifle has two settings to it, Stun and Overkill.
Stun Setting: Pretty much self explanatory, this setting makes the weapon fire it's energy bursts with a neruo disruptive energy that immobilizes it's victim, sometimes rendering them out cold. Very few species can take more than a hit or two, and the setting is utterly useless against an Ingrali.
Overkill Setting: Basically, this will kill almost anything it hits instantly. Some species, such as the Ingrali, are highly resistant to energy based weaponry and as such, even this setting requires several blasts to even stun an Ingrali. It would take a lot more to kill one in it's natural form. Against bulkheads or doors, enough shots probably could vaporize it depending on it's density and the material it was made from.
Blaster Pistol: Essentially the same thing as the rifle, just less potent shot for shot, sometimes requiring multiple shots to achieve the results of the rifle.
Crew members: None, Draven works alone on his ship.
SHIP
Name: The Deadly Mist.
Length: 36.5 Meters
Description: Similar to an Al'kesh from Stargate, with several differences, mainly to it's weapons, and added shields of good strength. Also, no ring transporters this time around.
Weaponry: Four direct Plasma energy beam emitters, enough Plasma bombs to start a small war and damage unshielded enemy ships or even destroy large chunks of surface on a planet.
The Beam weapons are designed to impact with a high yield at a low power cost, focusing on overloading a shield emitter rather than trying to cut through it in a single shot. So far, they have been devastatingly effective in their goal. They are also the primary weapons of the ship as they are only limited by being able to supply power. Against an unshielded ship, they are likely to cut through it's hull like it isn't even there.
The Plasma Bombs are mostly what you would expect, blasts of explosive plasma energy capable of obliterating almost anything they touch. lighting even the soil it impacts on fire in the presence of oxygen.
Defenses:
The Deadly Mist is equipped with powerful shields for her size, and can withstand a great amount of firepower before collapsing. It has been rumored a single ship can outlast even the most powerful of warships to escape into hyper-space.
The ship is also equipped with a powerful jammer field that prevents the interior from being scanned, and prevents any attempts to map out the technology inside.
Unique Technology: Cloaking technology and a special proto-type device called the shield eaters. The ship also comes standard with 4 tractor beam emitters, usually designed for towing large scale barge like carriers filled with materials.
Shield Eaters: These devices are proto-types and as such, there are a very limited number of uses for them. When faced with a ship with better shielding than it's own, The Deadly Mist may use these nefarious devices to try and even the score. Launching four of the devices, they will impact an enemy's shields and begin to eat a hole in them. Attacking the devices cause them to explode and open a gaping hole in the shields of the enemy vessel. The Deadly Mist carries a total of eight of these devices, allowing for two uses if they are not retrieved after use. As a proto-type, these devices have not been properly tested, and as such it is uncertain if they will function properly.
Cloaking Tech: The Dealy Mist is capable of becoming invisible both to the eye, and to sensor sweeps. While cloaked, the ship can't fire, but she doesn't need to as she can simply scout, or escape unimpeded to a safe enough distance to drop cloak and jump to hyper-space.
Power Systems: Nothing is known about the Ingrali Power Systems at this time, although rumors persist the Ingrali have found a way of extracting energy from space-time itself, providing a virtually unlimited supply of power.
Propulsion is achived in two forms. First are the sublight engines, which propel the ship at one quarter light speed for maneuvering and orbital paths. Second is the hyper-drive, which allows for faster than light travel. The drive is extremely advanced, and although the Ingrali keep it very secretive of just how fast the drive can propel a ship, it is rumored amongst the few that have heard of them that it is capable of leaving the galaxy in under a day.
At sublight speeds, because of her size, The Deadly Mist is highly maneuverable.
Description: Caitlin is fairly average looking, with hazel eyes, brown hair just over shoulder-length (usually tied back), paler skin, and a thin build with a total height of around 5'10", if she could stand. A tragic mishap in her teens left her without the use of her legs, leaving her confined to a motorized wheelchair. She has denied the use of cybernetic legs, saying that she prefers the wheelchair, it being more comfortable than walking everywhere. Usually friendly and an animated talker (when shes paying attention), she will quickly try to change the subject when asked about the cause of her paralysis, and when pressed becomes quiet and withdrawn, refusing to elaborate on it at all.
Background: Caitlin is every bit the scatterbrained scientist. She misses conversations she's taking part in, she doesn't realize when she's being addressed, she's constantly losing things, and so on. Once she does manage to focus on something, usually only something regarding her fields of study, the results can be impressive. At 24 years old, she's a newcomer to the science community, but already she's made two impressive breakthroughs. Unfortunately, she hasn't had the funding or staff to bring either to full fruition, and so spent effectively all she has on modifying an old gunship and fighter to use them, hoping to prove their worth and gain more funding.
The first breakthrough is in the field of propulsion. She has managed to harness the energy inherent in the universe to both power a ship and create a field similar to the 'buffer zone' of FTL drives, capable of manipulating or even negating the effects of certain physical laws around a ship, most notably gravity and inertia. The energy gathering and application is done completely by computer, needing almost no other equipment(effectively, the entire ship is the engine and the space around it is the fuel), but it has not yet been modified for FTL travel, so a separate engine is still required for any long trips. It can operate in atmosphere, but the required energy to compensate for the increased gravity that close to a planet increases dramatically. The maximum speed attainable is theoretically unlimited up to the speed of light, but as the ship remains in real space, about 35-40%c is the maximum safe speed, as past that avoiding debris becomes an issue. Maneuvering, however, is instantaneous and amazing, capable of doing 90 degree turns and complex maneuvers with no loss of speed, effectively limited only by the creativity of the pilot. She has named the concept, programs, and everything else related 'gravitic technology'.
The second breakthrough is what marks her as one of the most qualified people (or humans, at the very least) to study the space-faring spores that have started to appear. Caitlin has genetically built from the ground up a symbiotic life-form that can meld with a ship and give it and its pilot some significant benefits. It covers most of the outer hull of the ship with about a foot thick layer of blackish-green 'skin' and a multitude of sensing organs, giving it a very creepy organic look, but allowing it to actually heal from damage on its own. It also melds onto the pilot, becoming his/her flight suit, allowing her to interface with the ship directly as well as giving some protection and rendering her resistant to virtually all forms of radiation (think sorta venom-esque, but unintelligent). The process of creating the symbiont is enormously expensive however, as it must be created to match exactly the genetic makeup of the pilot in order to work properly. It also requires a fair amount of space to hold 'organs' and such, though it has no digestive track. Caitlin solved that problem with a clever bit of backwards thinking. It doesn't matter what you eat, all lifeforms eat to provide themselves with energy. She effectively 'cut out the middle man' and feeds the organism directly from the ship's power. This also means that the flightsuit needs to be in contact with the main entity at least every 8 hours, or the pilot runs the risk of needing to grow a new one, a week-long process that requires the pilot's almost continuous presence.
Crew Members: None currently (unless "Bob" counts), though a science team of 3-6 could live on the ship
SHIP
Name: Concordance
Description: About 115 meters from point to stern (including the extra bulk from Bob), this heavily outdated Halcyon class gunship was put out of service 30 years before the last war and recommissioned by Caitlin as a budget platform for her experiments. Although fairly slow and ponderous as well as much larger than most ships of it's class, the Halcyon class was best known for its massive ability to take a beating, there are records of ships of this class able to continue functioning even after 80% of the hull blown away and breaches on all three decks. The outer hull is honeycombed to make offending weaponry pierce multiple layers of protection at odd angles and there are support beams and emergency bulkheads all through the ship, sometimes even impeding travel in the halls. Caitlin calls the entire organism "Bob".
There are three main floors to the Concordance, as well as a small cargo area/launch bay in the back: engineering/research, crew quarters, and the bridge. The bridge was originally run by three people, although thanks to Bob Caitlin can pilot it alone from the overgrown center console. This floor also holds the captains quarters, where Caitlin spends her off time.
The floor with the crew quarters is also mostly overgrown, as this is where Bob has most of its internal mass. There was originally room for up to 15 people, but now only a single shared quarter remains, housing up to a half dozen people, if they are willing to be 'friendly'.
The engineering floor has been heavily modified, as much of the original engine and its components were completely removed, leaving only the Shaw-Fujikawa (FTL) drive intact. This was walled off and the remaining space has been turned into a near complete, although cramped, genetics lab. There is almost everything Caitlin needs here, with the exception of some of the larger facilities that can only be found planet side.
Weaponry and Shields: The Concordance still holds its original complement of weapons, with very few modifications. there are three turrets each on the port and starboard side, and two on every other excluding the front, all very small caliber and mostly for missile defense or harassing light fighters. the only armament worth calling a weapon is the Magnetic Accelerator System (MAS) running the length of the ship. The forefather of modern coilgun tech, this behemoth takes a three-quarter tonne tungsten slug and accelerates it to nine-tenths the speed of light out of the front of the ship. The drawback of the MAS is its exorbitant energy cost, requiring a nearly quarter hour charge time between each shot. This is also the only place where modifications to the armament has taken place. with a couple newer model capacitors, the MAS can fire twice in a row if the pilot completely dumps the shield energy into the second shot.
The shield has been replaced with a newer, albeit still outdated, model, capable of about 75% of the average strength compared to similar shields of its class.
Unique Technology: Just the gravitics and 'Bob', both of which I hope I've explained adequately The Pillar is a lumbering beast even with the gravitics, though it turns quite easily to line up a shot with the MAS. It can reach the 35-40% light speed maximum, but in combat averages around 10%, trusting to its ability to take hits and defend against lighter strikes.
SHIP
Name: 'Albert'
Description: A top-of-the-line Dagger F7 Light Fighter, engine replaced with Gravitics and a Symbiont grown on, affectionately named by Caitlin when she grew it. this ship actually cost her more than the Pillar to acquire, and has never seen combat. Caitlin uses it to showcase the Gravitics' maneuverability in a combat situation, as well as the increased perceptions and reflexes of a bonded pilot. This is also the ship she truly learned to fly on, never having the need before. She takes it out for fun frequently, whooping and hollering as she flies like a maniac around space.
Weaponry and Shields: Due to the increased energy capability, the RFC has been replaced with an older model coilgun, and the shields have about a 10% increase in regeneration rate.
Unique Technology: Same as the Concordance, Gravitics and a Symbiont.
Name: "The Wrecking Ball" Krell
Gender: Male
Race: Pan Kor
Age: 38
Height: 7'4"
Eyes: Brown
Hair: None.
Description: Krell, being a Pan Kor, stands at a height of 7'4", hunched over of course due to his body structure. He is generally seen wearing heavy armor fit for his species, silver plating over a black underlay, with a dark blue hexagonal mesh laying over-top of the outer plating, with a mechanism built into the right "shoulder" of his armor for holding a rather large warhammer he tends to carry around. In his "nose", he wears a rather large golden ring, not unlike cows of Terran past, engraved with the Terran word "Kill" on the outside. Reaching from just beside his right nostril and reaching back over his right eye down into his armor, is a rather nasty-looking scar, mere inches above his right eye. Most of the protrusions on the top of his head have the tips painted red, looking like he headbutted someone who didn't get back up. Over both of his shoulders in a cross-pattern are bandoleers which carry grenades for his grenade launcher, one bandoleer sporting red-tipped grenades and the other sporting blue-tipped grenades, as well as several more loops for grenades on either side of his belt, with special box-shaped dispensers for holding his revolver ammo situated in staggered patterns where the grenades don't fit.
Background: Krell's history is rather sketchy at best before he left his home system to make a living killing those NOT of his species. After leaving, he eventually found his way to a Terran world being pressured by the Nnyarthall. The Terrans asked him for help, and he decided to help them fend off the enemy on the ground, holding the line until the Terran fleet arrived, but not before a stray projectile from the Nnyarthall cut a nice gash along the right side of his face, leaving behind the scar he now carries to this day. Thanks to his efforts, casualties were kept to an acceptable level, and he was rewarded handsomely. Using that money, he began bartering his way across the galaxy, hiring himself out as a mercenary, and building his reputation for being "Messy but effective." Most folks who hire him do so because they don't care about collateral damage, they just want the job done. He has spent much time around Terran colonists and soldiers, and prefers to use their language over his own, considering how often he is hired by them. As of late, he's been doing more body-guarding and less straight-up fighting, which still pays well so he doesn't complain.
Position: Mercenary
Crew members (if any): None
Equipment:
KinAmp Hammer "Gor": A large Kinetic Amplifier-powered warhammer that Krell carries around on his back. To a Terran it would seem massively oversized, but to a Pan Kor, it's actually rather compact, and he often uses it with just his right hand. The hammer head itself is actually longer than it is wide, with the head actually running down the front of the handle. The kinetic amplifier built in is powered to a 3:1 ratio, meaning his hammer hits three times as hard as it would without the KinAmp module. There is a button in the handle for disabling the emitter, in order to save power when needed. The word "GOR" runs down the length of the hammer head on both sides, and glows red whenever the KinAmp powers up.
Flak launcher "Betty": A 60mm dual-magazine-fed grenade launcher fitted with a special targeting computer that can detect organic life-forms and alter fired grenades to explode in mid-air, causing fragmentation of the grenade, and generally raining death on anyone it explodes near. A toggle switch near the trigger allows for the launcher to switch between magazines flawlessly, though it takes several seconds to re-connect the shells to the computer. Both individual magazines have a capacity of 4 grenades, plus one loaded into the chamber. Printed onto the stock on both sides is the word "Betty" overlaying a picture of what appears to be a rather scantily clad Terran.
Revolver "Vane": Krell carries a large break-action revolver on his right hip, readily accessible to his right hand should he ever need it. The weapon itself fires a 25mm full-tungsten slug designed to kill others of his own kind, though he's more often than not forced to pull it on someone smaller and weaker than him. The barrel has the name "VANE" engraved on both sides, and is heat-treated to appear to be solid black at the end, slowly lightening into faded steel at the back of the action.
Hexweave Personal Shield: Krell, in addition to his thick combat armor and natural resilience, sports an old, outdated Hexweave-model shield overlay for his armor, which, while it lacks the level of protection of modern shields, the emitters can recover much more rapidly than an average shield, meaning more sustained firing patterns are required to keep the shield down.
----SHIP-------
Krell does not possess a ship of his own, and gets around via chartered cargo flights or by hitch-hiking aboard warships.
Name: Kars Rebek Tiivon Aetol Cete Guhnar Sard "The Kopak Space Devil"
Gender: Male Race: Kopak
- The Kopak -
A bipedal humanoid race standing at just under 4 foot tall. Quick to learn new things, and with varied personalities, overall their psychology isn't much different to a Human frame of mind. They are a social species with similar group hierarchies, social and family structures to Humans. Hairless, spare very fine hairs on their skin, much the same as human skin, with skin tones ranging from a grey tan to brown. Their shallow head curves back round, loosely comparable to a "bean" shape. Small dark eyes, and shapeless ears and nose hidden underneath their jaw.
Little is known about the Kopak or their origins. Seldom paid much attention by other races and factional powers as they wander through the stars in their small clusters of ships. They are an old race, having sometime long ago having had their culture destroyed or somehow broken apart. Any world that they once called their homeworld has been forgotten and lost. Now only a relatively small number remain, seemingly not too bothered by the state of their race. If asked about their past, the typical Kopak cannot answer much.
They migrate through the stars, trading and scavenging, sometimes taking odd jobs or mercenary work if it suits. A number have settled into the societies of other civilisations where they can fit in, but such populations tend to be very sparse. They tend to be fairly adept as engineers and pilots, purely because of their typical lifestyle. Clusters of Kopak are as likely split into two as they are to join others. They have gained the nickname of "Ranchers" due to the large space dwelling "whale" like creatures, called Emancipets, that they very frequently keep and farm as they travel. The method of how they lure and keep the Emancipets with their fleets is a closely guarded secret, and seemingly one of the few traditions they still maintain. They use the gaseous cocktails these solar powered creatures generate as a fuel source and for trade income, though it's also not uncommon for Kopak to actually try to steal Emancipets from another Kopak fleet.
Their technology generally comprises of whatever they can find, although some evidence of their own technological heritage does remain in their fleets, it is largely very comparable to current Teran tech levels. The majority of their preferred ships are infact those that are constructed by hand (and jetpack) within their own fleets, with some technologies and components apparently unique to the Kopak. Hand crafted Kopak ships are the most valuable thing to a cluster, and perhaps the most likely thing to unify some of them, since none of them want to leave the ship they helped build to another. Ships that they might acquire from other races are typically seen by most clusters as temporary tools and accommodation, as a stepping stone to building your own ship.
Age: 34 Height: 3'11 Eyes: Black Hair: None
Description: Of average height for his race, with dull brown skin. With their small blacked out eyes and alien faces it can be hard to tell where a Kopak is looking or what their expression is meant to mean. Kars spends most of his time with an unnerving grin on his face, numerous sharp pointed front teeth showing. Though generally no one sees it due to the space suit he wears near constantly. His suit is a common Kopak design, white with a wide blacked out visor over the front and top of the helmet, custom made for the wearer as with all Kopak space suits.
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Background: Kars has switched affiliation with various Kopak clusters an excessive number of times, constantly moving from fleet to fleet. Loose even for a Kopak. His name, in normal Kopak fashion, is a collection of the names of all the different clusters he has travelled with. Like a clan name. Only he has too many. At his age it would generally be a sign of being untrustworthy. Mistrust well placed. After spending just a year and a half with his last cluster, the Sard, he decided he was fed up again and through an elaborately thought out plan, which went to hell, he stole the Sard's prized star fighter the "Hell Strafer" and made for the depths of space.
An able mechanic, Kars had been spending a great deal of attention on the Strafer before hand, making a great deal of revolutionary enhancements to it. He moved from cluster to cluster following the craft, working on it at every stage. When he joined them, the Sards had thought that they had acquired an excellent new crew member, right up to the point where he blew out their hanger bay doors. From that point on he took fully to the lone wolf and free-spacer life style. Sticking to the roughest and least regulated regions of inhabited space, where the services of a multi functional fightercraft and a rogue gunman were always in high demand. His other skills include the use of firearms, explosives, piloting, dogfighting, creativity and unpredictability. He most at home in zero-G, especially regarding combat, where his small size is no longer a significant disadvantage. As a Kopak, he possesses two hearts, and a coincidental natural resilience against high g-forces, making him an ideal pilot. His mood ranges from deadly lazy, to dangerous enthusiasm. Kars underplays and hides his own slightly unhinged intellect from most he interacts with, preferring to maintain the image of a simple mercenary thug, and when possible, only showing his hand when he knows he's already won. He has built a mixed reputation among certain spacers and freelancers, dubbed by some a "space devil" that can't be killed, or just "that short bastard" by others. He doesn't keep count of his kills, and has faked his own death multiple times (resulting in much strife between bounty hunters and bounty offices). His dedication to any cause is tied to the pay check, and his mood at the time. He has taken everything from body guard and escort missions, to assassination and sabotage. If there is a way to swindle one side or the other for greater profit (or amusement) he will often take it. He detests being played for a fool himself, except on the rare occasion where he can admire the artistry of the dupe. Beyond anything else, he prizes his own freedom, and the spacecraft that grants him it.
Kars is a prime example of why the Kopak race is slowly fading away. While most still keep to themselves and try to lead a respectable life among the stars. Kars couldn't care less about either his past or future, and would rather burn a path for himself as the solar winds take him, living for the moment, and off the success of the more ambitious races.
Equipment: The most key part of Kars' gear is his personal space suit. Custom made and maintained himself, as is Kopak tradition. Kopak space suits are some of the best found in the sector, intended to become the wearer's effective home for the rest of their life. Tough but non bulky, designed for use both on-deck and in vacuum.
Kars' suit carries a few extra modifications and features honed towards the mercenary life. A souped up jetpack for zero-g manoeuvres, and also capable of short jumping bursts whilst within gravity. A few hours oxygen supply via small oxy-gel canisters, with the option of filters for use in atmosphere. Enhanced and extra helmet sensors and a combat HUD. A built in personal computer. A micro flamer weapon. And an arm mounted grapple tether launcher.
His other common personal equipment and arsenal includes a pair of low calibre machine pistols, a precision pulse laser pistol, a Garik special ops carbine, a 14mm anti material sniper rifle, a TPD Railgun with advanced electronic scope, a considerable assortment of grenades (His collection including, high explosive, incendiary, fragmentation, smoke, oxygen sapping, EMP, and disorientation), and of course, his pride and joy Kopak design "Personal Plasma Cannon". This hugely oversized plasma cannon is intended for use in vacuum either while magnetically tethered to a ship or with a jetpac. Though it can also deploy a tripod from beneath it for clumsy surface use, the fact that is weighs in the area of twice Kars' body weight, means that it's primary use is as a ship mounted or zero-g weapon first and foremost, and generally sees surface use only as a "siege" weapon.
One other item, is a cardio regulator and stim administration cybernetic that Kars had implanted. This small implant can manufacture and administer a few select naturally occurring chemicals such as adrenaline, either automatically or on demand. It monitors a variety of health related data, that Kars can track on his personal computer, and also carries a single payload of a powerful reanimation drug, that will restart Kars hearts if both flatline.
Position: Ruler of the Kars Galaxy / Admiral of the Kars Armada / Mercenary Dog / Violent Space Hobo Crew members (if any): Ko
Background: In short, Ko, has had it rough. Born to unknown parents somewhere in an area of lawless fringe worlds, she was first found by scrap salvagers in a barely functional and failing stasis pod, in a burnt out wreck of a civilian runabout vessel. The raiders having killed the rest of the crew, taken everything of immediate value, and left the tiny child behind in the void. The salvagers sadly, were no good samaritans either, and immediately sold her on to a slavers ring. During an attack on the slavers hold by a rival gang, Ko was able to make an escape, only to find herself on the streets. Begging soon turned to petty theft, which led her into the domain of a local thieves den. She learnt quite a bit in the company of these thieves and thugs, and made few friends, but managed to stand up for herself well enough to earn just enough respect to get by, and avoid being seen as an easy target. This didn't prevent the Nnyarthall from seeing the backwater planet as an easy target however. As the city crumbled, people ran through the streets, and she watched everything she knew (and mostly hated) burn, her attempts to flee found her cornered. The tiny rabble of resistance she had been fleeing with having all been picked off by the ten foot insect like horror that had been pursuing them. Coming to a dead end in a gloomy warehouse and with no where left to run, a sliver of a chance presents itself, when the power suited alien turns it's back on her during it's search. She seized the automatic rifle from a discarded body, took aim, and unleashed the entire magazine into the creatures back. When the gun clicked empty, the alien turned, unscathed as it's shield flickered, and regarded her cruelly. A sudden swipe from the Mantis Suit's long arms sent Ko flying back and to the ground. Rather than killing her instantly, it proceeded to then step on and crush her legs. Towering above and staring down at her coldly, the next thing that Ko sees, is a loud gunshot, and a spray of blood erupting from the aliens neck, followed by two more as the terrors knees go limp and it falls away. The last thing the young girl remembers before blacking out, is the figure of a white suited tiny space man with a large rifle, descending from the rafters on a cable, and standing over her.
When she awoke, it was at a black market cybernetics clinic on a deep space station some distance away, and some time latter. To her surprise, she discovers that she now had a new pair of cybernetic legs, and a new cybernetic heart. Replacing the one which had impaled itself on her ribs. To her surprise, her white suited saviour then hands her the bill. And that's how Ko met Kars.
For roughly the past year and a half, Ko has travelled with this strange short statured alien in the co-pilot slot of his tiny craft, trying to figure out what to make of it all. During this time she has learnt how to shoot, how to fly, how to maintain a live in space suit, how to prime explosives, how to drive an ATV, how to perform a choke hold, how to unjam a vulcan cannon, how to polish a shield manifold, how to milk an Emancipet, how to smuggle turquoise spice past border checks, which Garik mushrooms are fine for humans and which will make you blind, how to talk to a Marsoran arms dealer, how to sabotage an artificial gravity generator, where to shoot a PanKor to knock it out, how to cook and eat a solar fried omelette, and all sorts of other crap. She's mopped up blood, carried baggage, and been worked like a slave. But she's also been paid, and bought a shotgun for her "birthday".
Life is strange.
Description: Quite short for her age, but tough and well exercised. Sporting a pair of cybernetic legs that attach at the hip joint. The legs are clad in a durable and easy maintenance synthetic skin, that is flesh coloured but not accurately matched to her own, chosen for practically minded reasons rather than opting for full replica skin. Her bright hair is kept short in a rough self cut fashion, so not to obstruct helmet use. The vast majority of her time she wears her modified Kopak styled personal space suit. Her helmet is of a slightly strange looking design, being a custom modified blend of a commercial Terran brand helmet, and a reinforced Kopak combat helmet. The result is that it's not actually possible to tell from looking whether a Human or a Kopak head might be inside. A voice masking feature further masks her identity when desired. Indeed to the casual observer, when fully suited, she can easily be mistaken for a large Kopak male instead of a small Human female.
Equipment: One of the few humans in the galaxy to own one, Ko sports a Kopak design space suit, much like Kars' one. It is more basic than her "master's" suit, but she is working on it all the time. Lacking some of the refinements, but retaining all the key features. Her jetpack is of a more basic grade, unsuitable for use in gravity, and her sensor systems more limited. The life support supply is a little more bulky, but does actually store more than Kars' suit. She sports a similar grapple tether mechanism, although hers is located at the small of her back merged into the underside of the jetpack, and must be fired via a separate launcher tool. Her suit is capable of quickly separating and detaching at the legs, whilst remaining sealed in the top portion, allowing her to remove her legs at short notice. (something that is necessary for her to fit into the Hell Strafer's cockpit slots.)
Her signature weapon is a 'Serbex Super Shorty' pump shotgun. A very compact shotgun featuring a magazine size of two shells plus the one in the chamber. The primary advantage behind this weapon being the wide assortment of specialist shells it can fire, and the ease of switching between them. Ko has spent hours upon hours practising loading and changing her shells quickly and precisely. In addition to simple buckshot type cartridges, she also often carries a selection of slug shells, high powered discarding sabot shells, explosive shells, incendiary shells, flare shells, homing signal dart shells, sensor package shells, non lethal super expanding foam shells, shield disrupting chaff shells, and toxic polonium shells. The versatility of this weapon is put to good use in supporting actions.
A secondary weapon that Ko utilises when a little more punch is required, is her "
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", a single shot grenade launcher, in a tiny pistol shaped package. The short barrel means that the 40mm grenades do not fly to their maximum distance or at perfect accuracy, but does it's job of putting explosions into desired places at short notice admirably. For more direct fire fights Ko also has the option of a small SMG weapon, though such types of open and high risk combat are normally not part of her intended job description.
Lastly there is of course her cybernetic modifications/replacements. Her heart is a military grade model, featuring a near indestructible construction, and a smart system that will regulate circulation at optimal rates, as well as monitoring the status of the owners health and cardio. Her legs are externally a civilian model, but illegally modified with military grade components. Connecting to her semi modified reinforced hip, they are capable of outputting power and speed slightly greater than any natural leg, and can operate tirelessly. Their only drawback is in the limited localised power suply, which Ko must keep tabs on, since she does not possess a centralised cyborg power core. The combination of these two cybernetics also has the side benefit of making Ko highly resistant to harsh G-forces, which is a good thing, since she needs to be able to compete with Kars.
Position: 3rd in Command (The plasma cannon is the 2nd in command) / Ships Janitor / Downtrodden Space Orphan
---SHIP---
Name:
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Length: 6.8 / 9.7 meters
Description: Possibly the smallest (effective) multi purpose, long range fighter craft in existence. The Hell Strafer is small even for a fighter craft. Hand made, from scratch, by the finest Kopak hands as it was stolen from one cluster to another, each improving it in their own way before it finally came into the dubious hands of Kars. It is a true masterpiece of unintended Kopak collaboration. With the best parts of borrowed technology from a multitude of sources and races, all expertly spliced together in reluctant but perfect co-operation.
The Hell Strafer has two main sections, the front which carries the cockpit and all combat capability's. And a detachable rear section, housing storage, ammunition, fuel, life support replenishment for the pilots suit, an engine extension, and an amazingly compact subspace core. With the rear section attached it can make long distance journeys not normally possible for a fighter, and achieve a slightly greater forward acceleration, at the cost of a very significant amount of mobility, loss of correct vectored thrust, and posing a larger target. The miniture subspace drive allows for only very short jumps compared to most, resulting in a quite slow overall travel rate, but does also have the small benefit of recharging very quickly. It is enough to ensure that the Hell Strafer is never stranded. The cockpit and co-pilot slots follow the space saving design ethic. In that there is no seat or typical control panel as such, more just a space for limbs to slip into and a snug morphable area to accommodate the pilot. The heads up display and other information is transmitted straight into the pilots helmet. Also, there is no built in life support for the cockpit area. This is handled entirely by the pilots suit, which is fed and recycled from ship reserves whenever the rear section is attached.
The Strafers typical combat configuration is with the tail end detached, where upon it achieves some of the best manoeuvrability of any fighter craft seen. It is capable of vectored thrust sideways, up or down, at almost top speed. Keeping its four already turreted guns locked onto targets with ease. Even capable of flying backwards to a degree, or pivoting on the spot to face pursuers without losing the ability to evade. Making it an excellent dogfighter and very difficult to train weapons on. It is capable of effective planetary flight, at a slight loss of agility and considerably increased fuel consumption, lacking any allowance for aerodynamic qualities.
It's shielding is of an average standard, outclassed by some fighters, but more than enough in the hands of a pilot capable of making the most of it's mobility. It's shields are of a unique design however, running along the body of the craft rather than forming a field around it. This causes a little more strain on the shield generator leading it to fail a little sooner than it would otherwise, and resulting in the craft being a little more vulnerable to explosive weaponry, but makes the Hell Strafer an even smaller target still. And also has the misleading property of causing many typical and automatic scan methods to show the craft as having no shields or them powered down.
The top of the craft has a magnetic foot used for landing and latching onto larger vessels. It can launch a grappling tether to grab onto ships hulls and pull itself in quickly. Allowing it to hitch hike on faster craft with bigger hyperdrive cores. The only disadvantage of this, being that the Strafer must land upside down should it touch down on a planet. Easy for its drive system, but less convenient for the pilot.
Weaponry: The Hell Strafer's weaponry consists of four turreted weapon mounts which extend a short way from the main body on retractable arms. Each can be assigned separate tracking, though this requires the pilot to distract himself for a crucial second while inputting the commands. A magazine fed rocket pod sits atop of the craft, capable of firing up to six unguided or drunken rockets at a time, with a total magazine capacity of 24. And a fixed weapon mount on the underside, which Kars tends to mount his Personal Plasma Cannon on. The four arm mounts currently house four identical short barrelled 30mm rotary vulcan cannons, feeding from a special ammo system that can feed the guns from two different reserves. The most common rounds being high explosive rounds for maximum shield depletion and extreme damage to soft targets, and high velocity armour piercing rounds, for maximum penetration of hardened ship hulls. Alternative loads also include "FlashThunder" disorientation rounds, smoke screen rounds, and Hellfire incendiary rounds, largely depending on availability. Ammunition can be eaten up rapidly if all guns are fired simultaneously. The Tail part stores enough spare rounds to restock the front section reserves twice, which it does automatically upon re-docking. The Kopak Plasma Cannon is a powerful close to mid range weapon, capable of punching through smaller crafts shields and causing damage to even the most hardened armour. But, only carries a very limited amount of ammunition before it must be manually reloaded, via exiting the ship and doing so by hand.
The short barrelled rotary cannons biggest limitation, is their poor effective accuracy and projectile velocity, when regarding the scale of space combat. The Hell Strafer itself however shines best getting uncomfortably close to its targets, even to the point of paint scraping flight below the turret arc of many capital ships point defence. One particular trick the four turreted arms allow for in a ground attack role, is rhythmically "shaking" the arms to create a deliberately wide and inaccurate field of fire. Which when dumping the correct ammo type, can effectively create a carpet bombing effect.
Unique Technology: Everyone else's tech, put together with Kopak ingenuity, along with a tiny bit of their own. Special drive systems. Special shielding systems. The Strafers final and most advanced trick, is a twin set of devices of unknown origin, which allows it to manipulate it's appearance to sensors. Kars doesn't know the correct name, so dubbed it the "Deception Device" or DD. Depending on the effect desired, other ship systems and functions may need to be disabled or powered down, or risk breaking the deception. The magnitude of the effect will also determine power drain. A few possible uses include jamming, by making it's readings a mess of conflicting signals making it impossible to accurately pinpoint or scan. Masking itself as a collection of minerals, so to appear to be an asteroid without closer inspection. Seem to be venting a large amount of energy which doesn't exist. Or simply be invisible to passive sensor sweeps. Each section of the Strafer has it's own DD, enabling them to operate separately when detached. A signature trick of Kars is to fake taking a hit and using the DD to imitate an explosion, or damage he hasn't sustained, followed by a temporary system shutdown. Opposing pilots have had to endure what seems like an endlessly self resurrecting foe that refuses to stay dead. In reality, they never landed a hit.
Name: Annika Forester
Gender: Female
Race: Terran
Age: 32
Height:6 foot 2 inches
Eyes:Hazel
Hair: Black with hints of gray
Description:
Slightly tan skin, hair shows signs of stress and age and is long enough to be tied up in either a bun or ponytail for ease of work. Right hand is replaced by a false one, having lost hers in an accident. Has a few outfits for outside of work, but is commonly seen in her work attire of a single piece jump suit.
Background:
A child from a long line of industrial workers and weapon smiths, Annika was always raised to respect hard work, always prefering to solve issues herself then leave others to solve them for her. From the age of 14, Annika was working much like the other members of her family. Her families training was supplemented by a proper engineering education. However, unlike the other members of her family, Annika pursued to use her skills in the civilian world, helping to regular people, rather then putting her skills to use in the military. However, she is still proficient in weapons repair, seeing it as just another branch of her beloved work.
Married young at 22 to a soldier and had a daughter at 24 ,naming her Noel. Her husband however passed away a year later on active duty, leaving Annika with a one year old child to raise. From there, she took whatever odd job she could, eventually working at a ship repair dock for the better part of her time. During her time, she lost her hand in an accident, forcing her to get it replaced by a cybernetic hand. However, she saw the injury as just another challenge. She adapted the hand to allow it to be removed and replaced with any tool she sees fit, allowing her to work without risk of further injury. On top of this, she also began work on repairing a heavily damage Sword that she found during a routine work shift. When the call came out for skilled hands on the Dividing Line, the engineer just saw it as another challenge. Leaving her daughter in the care of her extended family (Her sister in law), Annika made her plans to relocate
Position: Engineer (Focus on internal repairs of the station, ships, and weapons.)
Crew members (if any): None
Equipment: Tool replacements for her hand
Weapon: Blaster Rifle
---SHIP---
Name: Edelweiss
Length:~18m
Description:
A modified Sword class fighter, the Edelweiss was found basically junked in the middle of space. It retained most of it's original systems, allowing for Annika and her fellow workers to repair the external damage to the ship. Annika retained the weapons and the major changes to the ship include changing the paint job and buffing the shield capacity somewhat. Beyond that, it's almost identical to the ones used by the TPD
Weaponry: The bigger generators allow the Sword to carry Coilguns both under each wing and as a main gun. These guns accelerate a projectile by magnetic coils and can bring them to a higher speed, but they have a slower fire rate than the RFCs of the Daggers.
Description: Being a cyborg, Talen can alter his appearance based on the requirements of the job; he has even used a female chassis before. The folowing description is based off of his standard appearance: Talen stands at 6'1", slightly taller than most Terrans. Due to his being cyberized, he looks to be in his late 20s but is actually probably closer to 50 or more. He is completely hairless and his skin is a warm, chocolate color. His eyes, which are a foggy grey, are usually hidden behind a pair of purple-tinted sunglasses. Though you normally wouldn't be able to see it, he also has a barcode at the base of his neck, just above his back. He is normally seen wearing a black Active Combat Uniform (ACU) with matching Load-Bearing Vest (LBV) and boots; standard issue for members of the ARTEMIS group. To him, casual means taking off the jacket.
Background: As a child, Talen studied martial arts at his father's school; primarily Tae Kwon Do and Muay Thai. This instilled in him a sense of mental and physical discipline that would serve him well later on. When he turned 18, he did his required two years in the military, showing exceptional skill as a marksman. After his required two years, he initially planned on returning to his father's school as an assistant instructor. However, he instead joined on with the ARTEMIS group - a private security firm and cybernetics think-tank*. Talen refuses to speak on why exactly he joined ARTEMIS, but it is known that his decision to join the group strained his relationship with his father to the point that they haven't spoken in decades. His natural skill as a sniper proved invaluable to the ARTEMIS group, and after a few years of simple infantry service, Talen was awarded the title of "Ghost," a special operative authorized to take on solo missions. With this title, he was authorized to use one of their prototype ships, a Vanguard-class light corvette designated "Laughing Rogue." Designed for mobility and speed over power, the "Laughing Rogue" was based off of an old design from a different time. It has been updated to use a Shipboard AI to maintain the ship in the absence of a full crew.
*Note on the ARTEMIS Group: The ARTEMIS Group is an independent organization formed from the remains of the R&D branch of a cybernetics company that went bankrupt. It operates in two parts: the first is a think-tank devoted to developing new technologies. They were the first to successfully create a process for full-cyberization. Former attempts often resulted in mental instability or death of the user - their brain rejecting the foreign parts. Nowadays, most cybernetic products likely use parts designed by the ARTEMIS Group. Unfortunately, as nothing outside of testing is produced in-house, quality may vary. The second part of the ARTEMIS Group is a private military firm. This branch is responsible for the "field testing" of their new products; hiring out mercenaries to various clients for "security and defense purposes." One of their most notable clients is the Admiralty, which often uses ARTEMIS soldiers to assist in securing new planets. However, any Terran with enough money could feasibly purchase the group's services.
Position: Infiltrator. A specialist in both long-range combat and electronic warfare.
Crew members (if any): Reno;Prototype A.I. Reno is an AI designed to function primarily as the ship's steward and co-pilot. Reno is capable of monitoring all of the ship's primary systems, and stepping in when necessary. Reno can also manage a team of remote-controlled drones. This allows her to manually conduct repairs, security operations, or interact with the crew. Her program can also be uploaded to a cybernetic body for off-ship functions. This body stand just over 5ft tall. It is a female type, with bright red, shoulder-length hair and silver eyes. Wears the standard ARTEMIS Group admin uniform - a crimson suit jacket and knee-length skirt over a white blouse and black tie. Being ill-suited for combat, she has a personal shield equipped. And since her arms have been modified for administrative and managerial puposes, she instead uses a standard pulse laser rifle.
Equipment: Custom McMillan Tac-50 Anti-Materiel (AM) Rifle, "Anya." Anya is a specially-designed AM rifle capable of rapid-fire; unloading all 5 rounds in under 30 seconds.
ARTEMIS Group Tactical Shotgun (TS-92 "Spacemaker"). Designed for cybernetic bodies by the ARTEMIS Group, the TS-92 "Spacemaker" shotgun is capable of being discreetly installed in a cyber-arm for more "intimate" operations. Limited to two shots before reloading. [In left forearm - left upperarm is used for ammo storage]
ARTEMIS Group Tactical Beam Rifle (BR-89 "Gorgon's Eye"). Designed for cybernetic bodies by the ARTEMIS Group, the BR-89 "Gorgon's Eye" is your standard-issue, forearm-mounted Beam Rifle. It is capable of sustained fire for up to 10 seconds, or 1 second-burst fire for up to a minute. At those points, the installed safety limiters will force-cool the weapon to prevent permanent damage. The ARTEMIS Group does not recommend removing the safety limiters, as doing so may not only cause severe damage to the user, but will also void your warranty. [In right forearm]
ARTEMIS Group Olympia Mk. VI Prototype Chassis, "Hercules." The Olympia Mk. VI chassis is the latest combat-ready chassis design by the ARTEMIS Group. Affectionately codenamed "Hercules," the Mk. VI provides the greatest level of protection yet. Some one using a Hercules chassis could suffer a direct blast from a fragmentation grenade and still fuction within accepted parameters. As is standard with the Olympia line, it is both temperature and pressure resistant - allowing to function in almost any environment, and resistant to most kinetic weapons. New with the "Hercules" chassis is the ability to fully absorb most energy from an energy weapon. CAUTION: Being a prototype, it may still fail explosively if an attempt to absorb too much energy is made.
Other Abilities: Arm has enough thrusting power to penetrate most light armors. Can also deal an electrical shock capable of disabling cybernetic or robotic systems.
As an infiltrator, Talen is also capable of hacking into most electronic devices with an I/O port. He must create a physical connection to do so, and as such is extremely vulnerable in this state as he is unable to react as quickly to external influences.
---SHIP---
Name: Laughing Rogue
Dimensions: LxWxH: 76x49x12 (in meters)
Description: The "Laughing Rogue" is a Vanguard-class light corvette based off of an old consumer model that is no longer in production. This model was built specifically for the ARTEMIS group and comes with a few non-standard modifications and upgrades. Standard to the Vanguard-class are powerful shields capable of surviving multiple sustained hits from a frigate and a state-of-the-art communication and sensors system (COMSEN). The "Laughing Rogue" specifically has been modified to support a unique Shipboard Artificial Intelligence, negating whatever performance loss might be caused by having a skeleton crew. The SAI is also capable of engaging electronic warfare with other ships, basically weaponizing the COMSEN. The curved, "hammerhead" design allows the Vanguard-class superior mobility over other light corvettes, as well as added protection against laser fire.
It has two main decks: The upper, or "flight," deck hosts the bridge, captain's quarters, lounge and kitchen combo, as well as providing access to the "maintenance" deck, where the SAI physically resides. The maintenance deck is also home to a mobile cybernetics workshop, allowing Talen to carry whatever tools he may need for the job at hand. The lower, or "cargo," deck is home to the medical bay, extra crew quarters, cargo bay, and engine/reactor room. The ship's main entrance is also on this level.
Weaponry: Two dual-laser cannon turrets, mounted on the port and starbord side of the ship. Capable of successfully engaging ships of equal or lower class. Not suited for use against frigates.
Custom-added anti-frigate railgun turret. Accessible through a hatch in the roof of the bridge. Manual operation only. Fires special defense-piercing munitions designed to deter larger vessels. Can also be used to snipe slow-moving ships from outside of normal detection range. Voided the warranty when Talen had this installed. He sometimes goes up here to relax, as its the only place on the ship Reno can't reach him.
Unique Technology: Reno, prototype Shipboard Artificial Intelligence (SAI). While technically genderless, commonly referred to in the feminine form, as is the ship. See above notes.
Name: Deelin
Gender: Male
Race: Klarr
Age: 100 Terran years (Taavan is slightly younger at 70)
Height: 6'4" (6'2" for Taavan)
Eyes: Green
Hair: Green
Description: Deelin is the dark orange one. Taavan in the lighter one. Bewareyaoi
Background: A General in the war he and Taavan were stranded on a planet at the edge of Ashotur space. They spent months hiding and raiding supplies until one of their own ships finally reeled them in. He and Taavan are in an illicit relationship. Not because they are both male, but because of their differing Castes.
Name: Meera
Gender: Female
Race: Klarr
Age: 80 Terran Years
Height: 6 feet even
Eyes: Green
Hair: Dark Red
Description:
Possesses dark red shoulder length hair, often tied up to keep out of the way of her work. Has a skin tone just shy of burnt orange. Possesses a pear shaped body, reflecting decades of study and education. Wears an outfit similar to her comrades but instead wears a long lab coat. ''
Background: The youngest child of a relatively important family, Meera often has to deal with the pressures of her families name and unlike her siblings, who work in various levels of government, she sought a more worthwhile goal in life and tried to find a profession that would help people. Given her planets need for skilled Hydrenic Engineers, Meera decided to work towards that path. Her education was long and grueling but she eventually achieved her dream and sought the opportunity to use her knowledge for the benefit of not just her people but others. When she heard word of a mission in Terran space requiring specialist, she had a feeling her skills might be of use. Borrowing one of her families ships, she made her way to Terran space. Is very optimistic, believing in the good of all the people she encounters.
Position: Hydrenic Engineer: Basically, a hydrenic engineer is someone who is better at water recycling and growing food with little watter more effectively
Equipment: Specialized Scientific equipment, standard ship equipment and a “stun gun” type weapon
---SHIP---
Name: The Haven
Length: Gorchak ~30 m long, 15 m wide, 18 m deep
Description:
Just going to cheat and say look at Chibi's description
Name: 'Paddy'
Gender: Male
Race: Unknown (Rule can change if he can come up with a fitting name. Based off of the
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from Star Wars.)
Age: Approx. 20
Height: 1 meter, when upright.
Eyes: Multicolored shifting.
Hair: Base white, shifts.
Description: Greatly resembling a Terran house cat in size and general shape, Paddy's most recognizable feature is his fur. White when calm, or asleep, it seems to shift colors depending on his mood. Although less noticeable, his eyes also seem to shift colors at times, usually matching the eye color of whoever his attention is on at the time. When not studying someone, they take on a nebulous, multi-colored aspect. Occasionally, Paddy will wear a leather strap in a fashion resembling a sash.
Study has shown the follow fur-shade meanings:
Red - Excited. (Note: If the red is very deep at all, RUN.)
Orange - Angry.
Light Blue - Attentive. (Or mocking, it's a little unclear at that...)
Black - Despair or Panic.
Background: Paddy's kind is relatively unknown to the greater galactic society. While they easily understand how machinery and such works, normally they have little to no interest in such things, and prefer to live in harmony with nature on their homeworld.
During the war, however, their homeworld was the site of a battle. While most of his kind went into hiding, something they excel at, Paddy became interested at what he saw... Particularly, the explosives. Eventually, he was found by one of the Terran soldiers. Initially mistaking him for a relatively cute form of local critter, Paddy was 'adopted' by the soldier as a pet. The unit realized that he was much smarter than initially thought, however, when Paddy managed to get his paws on some explosives, then proceeded to slip through and rig a number of enemy munitions to blow. The fact that he was found back at the base camp, giddy with glee as his handiwork revealed itself was the key moment in that discovery.
Eventually, the conflict moved on, and Paddy chose to leave with the soldiers. His presence was met with mixed feelings. On one hand, he made an excellent saboteur, often being able to slip into areas no normal expert could. And he could make just about anything volatile or powered explode. On the other... He seemed just a little too enthusiastic at times about his new line of work...
Position: Demolitions Expert. (Or mad bomber, depending on who's asked.)
Crew members (if any):
Equipment:
Modified HIT Suit.
While the suit appears to be roughly normal for a HIT suit, it's been modified. Most of the internal space for a normal body has been turned into ammo storage for a set of mine launchers mounted in the legs, as well as a pair of fully automatic, belt-fed grenade launchers mounted in the torso. The arms are rigged with control linkages and servos for manipulation. External Hardpoints exist on the back and shoulders for additional weaponry. Finally, the helmet has been modified into a sealed, and detachable, control module for Paddy, complete with tank-style hatch on the top, for entry and exit. Ammunition loadouts are determined and assigned by his assigned CO on a per-mission basis. Paddy has yet to return from a mission with any ammo left.
SHIP:
Paddy is either deployed to an area via modified cargo container, or is carried with someone else. Command doesn't exactly trust him with his own ship, due to mild concerns about his mental state.
((Some of this is open to modifications, Rule, particularly his armor and ship.))
Second Character:
Name: Victor Kharos; Nicknames include "Boar" and "Revenant"
Gender: Male
Race: Terran
Age: 37
Height: 2 m - 6'6"
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Dark Brown
Description:
Tall for a Terran, and broad-shouldered as well, Victor Kharos doesn't exactly look like the kind of person that most other Terrans would readily choose to annoy. Although normally covered by the uniform or armor he wears, most of Kharos' body bears more than a few scars. Only two are visible on his face, forming an "X" of sorts under and to the side of his left eye. When wearing his usual off-duty outfit of a simple t-shirt and pants, however, the network of scars on his arms are partially revealed.
Background:
Due to a reticence possibly born of classification issues, little is known about Victor Kharos' early life. However, it is well known that he enlisted shortly before the outbreak of the Ar Gora Pact War, and served with some minor distinction as a line infantryman. It was during this time that he earned the nickname of "Boar" from several of his fellow grunts, as he always seemed to get a rather devastating 'second wind' right when it seemed that he was completely worn out, and basically dead already.
By the end of the war, Kharos had ended up "transferred" into special operations. It was during several of these missions that he earned the nickname/codename of "Revenant", due to his ability to go into some of the craziest, most insane missions and walk away from them without needed cybernetic replacements. This is not to say he doesn't have permanent reminders of those missions.
In addition, Victor Kharos was selected to be a test pilot for the somewhat infamous Project Switchblade. However, after the attempted theft of project data and materials by a rogue agent posing as a team scientist, as well as the lead designer going a little insane, the project was officially canceled, and Kharos was returned to duty.
In actuality, Victor Kharos' understanding of the mechanics and other aspects of the project resulted in him taking it over, by order of Vice Admiral Finster. However, far more security precautions were being taken now. The project went from being Top Secret to codeworded, and any clearance into the project had to be made by joint decision between the admiral and Kharos. In addition, all reports or other data had to be hand-delivered. No transmissions of any kind were allowed, beyond notification of an incoming report.
Kharos almost never speaks of his home, {REDACTED}. What is known is that mysterious circumstances cropped up on a leave visit he made around the end of the war. Details of that visit have been classified, and he seems reluctant to speak of the matter, even to cleared personnel.
Kharos' home colony was known as Como (Named after a lake on the European continent on Terra.) to its local inhabitants. What very details are known about the mysterious incident point towards the discovery of what happened having been most gruesome.
Position: Former infantryman, current operative/technical specialist
Crew members (if any):
Equipment:
Modified Terran Rifleman armor - Modifications consist of altering the suit to include flightsuit functionality and additional vital monitors, in order to assist with Switchblade tests. Unit patch has a black background instead of normal background, believed due to whatever happened on his home planet during his last visit there.
Specialized "Viper" helmet - Designed as part of the codeworded Project Switchblade, the helmet contains sub-routines to assist the wearer in handling vehicles and ships with unusual control schemes. Also has an integrated compact fluid launcher, usually loaded with a highly corrosive toxic substance. The helmet itself, and Kharos' armor, has been treated to be resistant to the corrosive properties of the "venom".
Heavy Pistol
Assault Rifle, occasionally Sniper Rifle as mission warrants
---SHIP---
Name: "Switchblade"
Length: ~13m
Description:
The "Switchblade" craft is an experimental design, created with deception in mind. Its key system, the Dual Mode Conversion system, allows it to shift between two modes of operation. In the first, what is termed the "Observer Mode", the craft appears to be a lightly armed VTOL craft, much like might be employed by law enforcement personal for oversight. However, in its "Assault Mode", the craft shifts into a form reminescent of late 20th to early 21st century Terran fighter craft, deploying more, and heavier, weaponry. This shift is difficult for most pilots to handle, and as such, the "Viper" helmet was created with special assistance programs.
Weaponry:
Two modified Pulse Laser Cannons, mounted on either side of the cockpit. (Operate as normal in Observer Mode, switch to a more rapid-fire state in Assault Mode at the cost of a slight reduction in damage output.)
*Assault Mode only weapons*
Two Lasers, concealed in the landing struts
Retractable hardpoints for mounting rocket pods
Shatterpoint Bomb, concealed directly under the cockpit
Unique Technology:
Dual Mode Conversion system - Described above, allows sneaky surprises. Experimental.
Monotanium hull plating - Experimental material. Scatters most sensors, and acts much like the stealth materials used by Terran stealth aircraft in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
Shatterpoint Bomb - Anti-barricade ordinance. It contains two explosive charges. The first charge detonates and releases a cloud of hypercooled gasses over the area of effect to flash-freeze the blast zone. The second charge is basically a blank, creating a high-pressure wave designed to shatter the frozen objects. Intended for use in quickly removing barricades or large gates to allow a ground push to be made in its wake.
The Pillar is a lumbering beast even with the gravitics, though it turns quite easily to line up a shot with the MAS. It can reach the 35-40% light speed maximum, but in combat averages around 10%, trusting to its ability to take hits and defend against lighter strikes.
