Azazeal's archive

[Azazeal849]

I need to go back and look at Girls Night Out. It was probably going to end up feeling very much like the start of the Citadel DLC. . .

PM me if you have any brainwaves. Like I said, I've thought about it once or twice but drew a blank as to what conversations and background plot would be covered.

And I would be honoured if you put Kally through the test!

Aye-firmitive!

Spoiler: Kally Sonder 

1. Kally forged her own path up through the underhive, and it was very much her own choice to stay with the inquisition (despite what it had done to her) so she could be there for her friends. Given her reckless streak, I strongly doubt that she wouldn't have made a break for it if she had really wanted to. There are some sections where she is tossed about by fate, but not much more than some of the other characters. 1/1

2. We know that she enjoys working out, as well as some rather extreme music. We also know from her conversations with Solvan that she wonders about what her Blank nature means from a religious point of view, but if Kally has real faith in anything, it's her team-mates. Plenty to go on. 1/1

3. Kally can be both extremely cold and extremely warm, depending on the person and the situation. We see plenty of both across the series. Once you earn her trust, it's practically unbreakable. Her combat skills are consistently deadly, and regular human enemies rarely slow her down, although she struggles against experienced or superhuman foes, showing that there is an upper limit to her abilities. She's also given to some slightly reckless stunts (like hanging out of a flying grav-car to shoot out someone's windshield) which keep things entertaining. 1/1

4. A battered hiver with almost nothing naturally in her favour, but who takes on everything the universe throws at her with sheer willpower - she cracks but she never breaks. 1/1

5. She didn't really have a love life until Prophet (apart from a no-strings pass at Tomas and a brief, unrequited interest in Marc), but even though her former friend-with-benefits Crenshaw is back in the picture in Penitence, any influence he has on her is advice taken rather than anything she feels compelled to do. So even though she's one of the few characters on the team who's regularly shown to have a sex drive, it hardly defines her character. 1/1

6. When we first see Kally in Pembroke, she's actually rather cheerful. This becomes rarer later, but that's perfectly understandable given what she goes through. She also casts off her old ganger hair dye and adopts a more businesslike demeanour. The development from Pembroke to Replicants is the main change we see her go through - while we do learn new snippets of her past in later stories (usually, that it was awful) the arc is generally her going through something horrible and ultimately rising above it. 0.5/1

7. You could potentially count Kally's stimm habit as a weakness, but her major drawback is definitely her temper. People who hit particular buttons almost always elicit violence from her, and this has landed her in trouble with team leaders several times, or directly impacted her ability to complete her mission. 1/1

8. She does get captured to drive the plot once, though that was my fault rather than Dakkagor's. Her incarceration with Strelilov might count. Normally however, she is at the forefront of the action and proactively suggesting solutions to current problems, or else readily interacting with teammates. 0.5/1

9. The mentally-scarred badass is traditionally a male character, so no worries here, especially since Kally is more than just "mentally scarred" and "a badass". She frequently relies on other characters for support, but I'd argue that's a human trait rather than a feminine stereotype. 1/1

10. To some degree, Kally falls afoul of the sheer size of the cast here. That said, the only female regular we haven't seen her sit down and talk with is Ella (although, from some sharp words she gave to Josiah, she seems to have something of a protective instinct towards her). Her chief wingmen are Vincent and Marc, justified since she met them first, but she is good friends with Sapphira and Kelly (even if, as noted above, the "off work" aspect of their friendship could use more screen time). She has an uneasy relationship with Alia, as she does with most authority figures. 1/1

Total: 9/10 - PASS!

Kally is a Strong Female Character, and can now start appropriating Chuck Norris memes.

[dakkagor]

9/10!!! I would have been tempted to knock her down a half point on hobbies and another half on consistency, myself, but I won;t argue with a pass mark!

[Azazeal849]

Working out is a hobby, and I've just realised I forgot to add "drinking with Vince and Marc" and "going out on the pull with Sapphira and Kelly". Storywise, they tell us that she enjoys simple, earthly pleasures, and her fitness habits tell us that she hates feeling weak or vulnerable.

What would you have marked down for inconsistency?

[dakkagor]

Hmm, I suppose its a personal thing. I'm just constantly paranoid that none of my characters are actually very 'consistent', because I find such things very hard to judge, and I want all my characters to have a distinctive voice, and I'm never sure I actually manage that. And because Kallys character is very much 'high and low' (to nearly manic-depressive levels) I am always concerned that I'm not nailing the right moments for a high or low.

[Azazeal849]

Hmm, I suppose its a personal thing. I'm just constantly paranoid that none of my characters are actually very 'consistent', because I find such things very hard to judge,

Yeah, it can be very difficult to examine how characters look outside your own head, which is part of the reason I look for feedback on this thread.

and I want all my characters to have a distinctive voice, and I'm never sure I actually manage that.

That's something that most writer's struggle with, I think (even look at ASoIaF - great series though it is, almost all of the POV characters use very similar word and thought patterns). I've tried it a couple of times myself, though with the exception of Marc and Kelly's on-again off-again Edinburgh brogue (and maybe the Welsh characters from Succession) it's probably too subtle too make much difference - some characters speak slightly more or less formally; Raechel is like Crenshaw in that she never uses contractions etc.

Speaking of Crenshaw, PaintSerf seems to be particularly good at distinctive character voices (Gavin, Merle and Gerry all spring to mind) so it might be worth asking him for ideas.

And because Kallys character is very much 'high and low' (to nearly manic-depressive levels) I am always concerned that I'm not nailing the right moments for a high or low.

I wouldn't say that Kally is manic-depressive; more like "normal and low", where the low / anger can be an abrupt switch and is often provoked by a trigger. That sounds a bit like depression to me, based on what I've witnessed first hand. Depressed people can often be happy for periods when their particular thought-cascades aren't bothering them (in addition to simply faking happiness when they're feeling shit).

Though if Kally was depressed, you might also expect to see periods where she just feels flat and apathetic (for want of a better word, feeling "meh"), so perhaps her symptoms align somewhat better with PTSD. When her PTSD is being treated / in remission, we see her acting considerably more like her "normal" self than in Replicants and Penitence.

[dakkagor]

Paint does seem to be able to nail distinctive voices very, very well. Total inspiration in that department. I also think you sell yourself short a bit: Kelly and Marc especially work really well as a brother-sister team, and you totally get Vince everytime you NPC him. Both the interrogators have fallen out in very different ways, even with limited screen time between them.

As for Kally's high and lows, PTSD definitely fits better for symptoms presented and her past (both in and out of game), so I should go away and do some research on that to better represent it.

[Azazeal849]

Both the interrogators have fallen out in very different ways, even with limited screen time between them.

Yeah, I still occasionally think it was a massive wasted opportunity not to throw interrogator Jango Fett and interrogator Alia Atreides into a single scene together. Perhaps one day, though I don't currently have plans for any more prequels, and I think to resurrect replicant Schafer a second time would be kind of cheap (even if it would be amusing to go the full Captain Scarlet and have Schafer's replicant rejoin the good guys).

As for Kally's high and lows, PTSD definitely fits better for symptoms presented and her past (both in and out of game), so I should go away and do some research on that to better represent it.

Good plan. I used both read-ups and people I know to inform Kelly's symptoms, but I still feel like I'm on thin ice as someone who hasn't experienced it personally, and might be triggering / insulting a reader who has.

[Azazeal849]

THE SKAARJ

And here's a case of me becoming a victim of my own ambition. Just when I was gearing up to set myself the challenge of a second GM job, along comes a RP called Galactic Empires with several of my favourite things: Dakkagor's writing, design-your-own machines and space combat. Despite knowing I probably wouldn't have the time to join, I couldn't resist throwing a few notes together. I already had a semi-solid concept in my mind to reimagine the Skaarj from Unreal (one of my favourite old PC games, as you can perhaps tell from the "849" in my username), as my friend Death of Korzan had recently pitched a similar RP idea.

While the Skaarj in DoK's RP would have been new players on the galactic stage, hungry to carve out their infamous empire, the setting of Galactic Empires gave me a rather different idea. Given that any "new" races would have to be subordinate to the five big players, I thought it might be interesting to play a reformed Skaarj empire that had had their imperial tendencies unceremoniously slapped out of them by a larger but more benevolent enemy. While I did like the potential of exploring the ruthless but honourable tendencies of the Skaarj in this new context, along with remaining undercurrents of racism with their former slaves (probably with modern-day subtext), I couldn't nail down solid ideas for individual characters - and without engaging characters, the idea would be dead in the water, which was the final reason that convinced me to sit this RP out.

Hence in the profiles below, there are a couple of character names but little else, even if the actual history and technology seem to have fallen into place rather easily. I'm posting this just for interest, and to possibly resurrect and reform it in some other relevant RP down the line. Enjoy!

Trivia: You may notice that one of the character's surnames is "Jaar". I am of course planning to reference a certain other character as her brood ancestor.

Spoiler: THE SKAARJ (pronounced "scar") 

Type: Rim power (23 garden worlds)
Government: Federal Superstate with individual states broken down along hive lines.
Economy: Former oligopoly / slave economy, reformed into a regulated ordoliberal model by the Kel'Cyre.
Military: Defence orientated due to terms imposed by the Kel'Cyre.
Racial Speciality: Genetic engineering, tarydium*

*Tarydium is an unusual formation of carbon and trace elements, forming a blueish crystal with hardness and thermal properties several times superior to diamond. It is abundant in the region of the Skaarj garden worlds and the key to several Skaarj technological breakthroughs, providing a material hardy enough to line fusion reactors, construct rails for EM weapons, and focus military grade laser weaponry.

The Skaarj are a race of reptilian aliens with an unusual two-stage lifecycle and an almost hive-like social structure. Highly intelligent and expansionistic, after discovering FTL they rapidly carved out an empire among the nearby worlds and enslaved several other sapient species. However, two hundred years ago they bit off more than they could chew when they attempted to attack the Kel'Cyre, not realising that their enemies were an established power who not only held a significant technological edge, but also outnumbered them approximately 10 to 1. A humiliating defeat and occupation quickly followed; although this proved to be a blessing in disguise for the Skaarj as the Kel'Cyre brought with them massive injections of aid money, and a liberalisation of the Skaarj social system (however, due to their unique hive structure, they did not think it practical to impose a democratic model on the Skaarj as they had with their former slave-races). Alongside the political reforms, the Kel'Cyre broke up large concentrations of industrial power, redistributed land, and empowered organised labour. Large amounts of slave-land were confiscated and sold back to the slave races at minimal prices, thus ending the Skaarj-dominated oligopoly.

The occupation of the last Skaarj planet formally ended 46 years after the surrender, and the Skaarj have since proved a productive and relatively placid client race, even extending some of their strong honour code to their Kel'Cyre allies. Indeed, it was largely a sense that Kel'Cyre honour had been grievously slighted by the Lyran attack which caused the Skaarj to contact vice admiral Yinlynn, and lobby hard to be allowed to participate in the joint Concert response. As a minor power (and one whose military redevelopment is still legally restricted), the Skaarj cannot field the same kind of force as the Concert heavyweights; nevertheless they have sent one of their most powerful flagships to augment the Kel'Cyre contingent of the allied fleet.

Spoiler: Further details 

Physiology: Frequent ice ages in the distant past of the Skaarj homeworld seem to have created strong evolutionary pressure for metamorphic lifecycles, where larvae and adults do not compete for the same scarce food sources. This tendency is strongly conserved across all phyla on the Skaarj planet, from insects to reptiles and even mammals. At some point, the ice ages gave way to higher temperatures and increased atmospheric oxygen, which allowed some of these metamorphic species to grow extremely large. The most successful of these species was the Skaarj, which outcompeted most of their natural predators to extinction (although they remain vulnerable to diseases carried by biting insects and parasites passed on through prey species).

Scaly and humanoid in profile, adult Skaarj resemble Terran lizards but cannot truly be classified as such. They are warm-blooded, and tend towards high metabolisms and heavy musculature rather than a more energy-conserving body profile. Formerly arboreal, they retain claws and short, vestigial tails which are less necessary for balance now they have evolved to stand upright. Skaarj senses are extremely well developed, including tapeta lucida in the eyes which give them excellent night vision (and incidentally, make them glow when reflecting light, much like a cat's). They also have a vestigial network of electroreceptors across their skin, which at close quarters can double as an extra hunting sense (although it is often saturated in industrial environments). Their scale colours vary through green, yellow and blue, and are often conserved within hives. Visually, there is little to distinguish Skaarj males from non-queen females, though the dreadlock-like display spines that grow from a male Skaarj's head (similar to the proto-feathers found on some Terran dinosaurs) are usually absent in females.

Spoiler: A typical adult female 

Lifecycle: Skaarj have a two distinct life stages, larval and adult, and organise in a system that resembles Terran hive insects, though the analogy isn't perfect. All Skaarj in a particular "hive" will be spawned from a specific female, whose title is usually translated as queen. A queen Skaarj is significantly larger than a normal adult female and has several morphological differences such as a bony frill around the head and an elongated tail. Approximately once every 18 months, a queen is capable of being fertilised by one or more male Skaarj, after which the sperm is stored internally and used to produce up to 200 eggs. In the modern day, Skaarj queens chemically suppress their egg cycles until a convenient time, while elaborate honours and trials determine a male Skaarj's right to act as consort for a particular spawning and to have the honour of his name being borne by all children of that brood.

Fertilised eggs produced by the queen hatch into larvae after a short incubation period. Skaarj larvae are markedly different from their adult forms; apart from being significantly smaller, they are quadrupedal, non-sapient and omnivorous (whereas adult Skaarj are obligate carnivores). They feed using large mandibles, which are retained as vestigial tusks on almost all adult Skaarj. After growing to approximately 1.5 metres in length over the course of about 12 months, the larvae undergo an extended pupation lasting up to 5 years before emerging as adult Skaarj. Newly pupated adults grow quickly to their full size and require a lot of food to do so. In the absence of certain pheromones exuded by a Skaarj hive queen, a pupating female larva may spontaneously develop into a queen itself. However, most females will develop into sterile adults physiologically similar to Skaarj males, and while they can be mated, will not produce any offspring.

Nowadays, Skaarj larvae are reared in industrial creches and fed with specially-tailored nutrient drips, which also include substitutes for a queen's suppression pheromones to prevent the development of any new queens unless required. Since the Skaarj appear to lack the ethical hang-ups of some other races regarding modifications to their genetic baseline, they still practice manipulation of their young during the pupa phase to optimise some of them for military roles. The most famous of these are the Skaarj warrior caste with their hightened agility, optimised senses and longer tails for superior balance, though the hulking Brutes which they use as shock troops run a close second.

Spoiler: Skaarj larva 

Psychology: Once pupated, Skaarj adolescents are fast learners and naturally excellent problem solvers. There appears to be a statistically significant bias towards Thinking / Judging personality types in Skaarj, and their hive-like social structure can often lead to a somewhat tribal mindset. It is theorised that this psychological tendency (along with the pressure of a rapidly-expanding population) was what allowed the Skaarj to advance from the bronze age to a spacefaring imperial power in the relatively short timespan of 2000 years. Because of this same cognitive bias, art and religion are relatively alien concepts to many Skaarj. A high proportion of Skaarj also display strong senses of loyalty and tribal honour, which perhaps unsurprisingly often takes the form of strong loyalty to the hive queen. Many of the oldest recorded Skaarj laws reflect this fact, with attempted regicide being consistently the harshest punished crime throughout Skaarj history. The day-to-day running of Skaarj industry and government is controlled by normal adults, and the queens' autocratic power has been somewhat ameliorated by Kel'Cyre reforms to the (previously very stratified) Skaarj hierarchy. Still, the instinctive loyalty that a queen evokes often leads her to develop narcissistic or even megalomaniac tendencies.

Society: The reforms mandated by the Kel'Cyre occupation significantly liberalised the Skaarj economy, freeing their former slave races and smashing the monopolies owned by many large Skaarj conglomerates. With the aid of development money and limited access to advanced Kel'Cyre technology, the Skaarj economy enjoyed a rapid return to pre-war production levels and significant normalisation of living standards between the rich and the poor. Laws enshrined by the Kel'Cyre permit the former slave races free travel throughout the Skaarj planets and forbid any form of discrimination against them, though in practice old prejudices are taking some time to die away and true equality remains elusive. Some former slave races opted to entrench in their own enclaves rather than integrate (and remain generally hostile to any Skaarj who do immigrate to their worlds), though others such as the Krall are almost ubiquitous across Skaarj space.

Though still not at the tech-level of their Kel'Cyre occupiers - now allies since the formal end of the occupation 150 years ago - the Skaarj industrial base is a powerhouse for its size and shows a particular aptitude for bio-technology (possibly due to Kel'Cyre influence, although Skaarj genetic engineering was well established even before the Kel'Cyre war). Though they do engage in trade beyond their own garden worlds, the Skaarj remain very protectionist of their own industries. A frequent point of contention to the Kel'Cyre are the high import tariffs that the Skaarj use to limit the presence of Kel'Cyre supercompanies on their planets (or, as the Skaarj put it, preventing the Kel'Cyre economic juggernaut from flooding and outcompeting all of their own market players).

Spoiler: Former slave races 

Krall: A species of warm-blooded reptiles, similar to Terran dinosaurs or birds. They are characterised by a humanoid body profile, with four-fingered hands and powerful digitigrade legs (two-toed, with vestigal third and fourth dew claws). Their heads are spade-shaped and vaguely snake-like, and their skin is brown but gradually loses this pigmentation with age, eventually fading to pale grey. Krall are omnivores whose plains origins led them to develop long running legs, good body-temperature control and excellent eyesight. Their social groups were originally structured around communal nests in which eggs and juveniles were supervised by designated caretakers, freeing up more of the mothers for hunting. Krall reproductive cycles occur approximately twice a year and are centred around a single egg, which is fertilised internally and then gestated for around 90 days before hatching. Like most sapient species, Krall brains have evolved with few natural instincts but a large capacity for learning, which allows faster egg growth but a significantly longer juvenile dependency period. The Krall lifespan is approximately 50 years, and after going through a human-style adolescent growth spurt they are sexually viable from the ages of about 10-45. Krall culture has been irreversibly affected by the Skaarj, who conquered their home world when they were still in the equivalent of the early bronze age. However, the Kel'Cyre emancipation brought an explosion of Krall influence, both on their now heavily-industrialised homeworld and on the other garden worlds where they were employed as the Skaarj's premier assistant race. Although the Krall have been officially emancipated for nearly 200 years, significant passive discrimination against them still exists within Skaarj society.

Nali: A species of four-armed, tan-skinned humanoids, originally of primate descent. Their homeworld of Na Pali is rich in tarydium, which made it a prime target for the Skaarj. The Skaarj occupation was made easier by the fact that the Nali world had previously been plagued by several devastating rounds of war and disease, which not only retarded the development of their medieval society but gave rise to a highly pacifistic religious cult, which put up little resistance to the brutal Skaarj rule. Despite several isolated uprisings and a mysterious incident involving rogue Terran elements, the Nali were not fully emancipated until the Skaarj were defeated by the Kel'Cyre. Possibly due to the deep scars of the occupation, or perhaps as a side effect of the Kel'Cyre encouraging their pacifist, introverted religion, the Nali surprised the galaxy by electing not to utilise the resources now under their control for interstellar trade. Instead, they opted for a policy of planetary isolationism, much to the irritation of Skaarj and Kel'Cyre trading cartels.

Izarians: A species of blue-skinned, blue-blooded simians with four clawed arms and a hunched body profile. Similar to the Nali, they are thought to have evolved from arboreal primates, where their extra limbs provided a climbing advantage. They have an unfortunate psychological tendency towards sadistic behaviour, but are not unintelligent, and after successfully achieving interstellar travel they enslaved two inhabited garden worlds before being conquered themselves by the Skaarj. In contrast to the successful rehabilitation of the Skaarj and Krall races, the emancipation of the Izarian enclaves has proven problematic for the Kel'Cyre, with violence constantly flaring up and a permanent security presence required even after nearly 200 years. A variety of complex economic and social problems have prevented the Izarians from being widely represented in the reformed Skaarj empire.

Spoiler: Skaarj Heavy Cruiser 

(Ship is shown with turrets and cooling vanes retracted - note that the radiator strips which can be seen glowing)

Ship Name: Vigilance
Ship Class: Vigilance class war cruiser
Role: While it is the largest warship the Skaarj have produced to date, in galactic terms it is classified as a heavy cruiser. The Skaarj have plans for an even bigger ship which will replace the traditional railguns and missiles with nuclear powered casaba howitzers. This would truly elevate the Skaarj's military place on the galactic playing field, but the design is currently stalled at concept stage due to an ongoing debate among the Kel'Cyre as to its legality.

Primary armament: One dorsal and one ventral turret, each mounting two 13 MW railguns. The turrets are retracted within the hull outside of combat (taking approximately 60 seconds to deploy) and have a 360 degree firing arc with 90 degrees vertical traverse. Thus they can be brought to bear in any direction, though the preferred tactic is to align on a plane with the target to allow both turrets to shoot simultaneously. Each railgun accelerates a 10 kg penetrator to 3.43 km per second. Given standard starship manoeuvring speeds, this limits its effective range to approximately 100 km, but a single hit is capable of blasting through over 60 m of tungsten - sufficient to core out a frigate or to do significant damage to a ship of a similar size and class to itself.

Secondary armament: Four flank missile tubes, firing long-range anti-ship missiles. The missiles have an optimum range of 75 km or less, and are designed to defeat the CIWS-heavy defences of enemy ships by breaking into 12 separate warheads as they approach the target. Each warhead has its own guidance system and manoeuvring thrusters, and carries a shaped charge equivalent to 500 kg of TNT. These missiles pack a fierce punch, but are statistically less likely to hit the target than a railgun round, hence their relegation to secondary weapons. The Vigilance carries 40 of these missiles and can fire a volley every 20 s.

Defences: Boron carbide armour playing, an aggressive ECM / ECCM and jamming suite (although this is used judiciously, usually against fighter-heavy enemy fleets, as ECM beaming presents an excellent target lock to a capital ship's passive sensors).

Vulnerabilities: The preference for missiles over conventional autocannon renders the Vigilance susceptible to fires and explosions if a magazine is targeted.

Craft: As a rule, the Skaarj don't field void fighters or mechs, electing instead to bypass the fuel, life support and range issues by equipping missiles. However, the Vigilance does carry a number of shuttles for crew transfer, EVA rigs for outer hull repairs, and unmanned sensor drones which it deploys to increase its AEWAC net before and during combat. The drones are vulnerable to attack, but are rarely considered priority targets. It also carries 240 orbit-to-surface lifeboats.

Power plant: Two tarydium-lined fusion cores, one of which is generally idle outside of combat. The core plasma provides direct thrust for the ship's engines, as well as producing power for the ship through a number of steam turbines.

Engine: Core plasma can be ejected through the main vents at the back of the vessel, or routed through a series of jets running down either flank. As well as allowing fast "sidestep" evasive manoeuvres, this also provides a somewhat effective close-in defence, washing any missiles or fighter craft within a 3km radius with several GW of nuclear fire.

Manoeuvring: Chemical retro rockets.

Cooling: During normal flight, the ship can extend radiator vanes to manage its energy output more or less indefinitely. In combat these vanes must be retracted to prevent damage to the large, fragile arrays, and in these cases the ship relies on radiative hull stripes and heat sinks containing aluminium-tarydium composite. These heat sinks are generally good for about 3 hours of combat level energy output before the ship must disengage or suffer damage, although in extremis the overheating composite can be vented overboard, buying a little more time at the cost of permanently affecting the ship's performance.

Crew: 5,100 - large for a ship of its size. This is partially down to a Skaarj aversion to large, centralised computer control, and partially due to a significant marine complement consisting of Skaarj, Krall and Brute warriors.

Notable characters: Queen Es'Rakei (ambassador), First Eye Susja'Rath (captain), First Talon Taji'Jaar (marine commander)

Notes: Railgun calc from https://www.5596.org/cgi-bin/kinetic.php - assumes 10 cm radius, 1 s burst and 1 shot in 20 s.

Spoiler: Skaarj missile frigate 

Ship Name: Dominator, Vindicator
Ship Class: Enforcer class missile frigate
Role: With the new Vigilance class optimised for direct combat with enemy capital ships, Skaarj fleet commanders have recognised its lack of smaller point defence missiles to deal with incoming enemy ordnance. To cover this weakness, the Vigilance is to be escorted by a pair of space superiority frigates.

Primary armament: Four long range missile tubes, capable of launching long-range scatterpack missiles. When approaching the target, the missiles break into four independently targeting warheads before engaging enemy fighters and missile waves. Target lock is achieved by the Enforcer's advanced scanner array, although due to the leisurely warning period for most space combats (and the massively increased target profile of active over passive scanners) these arrays are only activated in combat. Total missile complement is 36 scatterpacks, with an optimum launch range up to 75 km and a refire rate of approximately 10 s.

Secondary armament: Four turreted point defence missile launchers, capable of launching up to eight missiles per volley with a 10 second reload delay. Total missile complement is 72. The missiles are heat and radar dual-sensor AAMs with an optimum launch range of approximately 20 km. While the missiles include a vectored thruster and correctional air jets, their limited fuel supply means that the chance of re-aquiring and intercepting a target after missing a first pass is only around 20% (on the other hand, in most recent combat scenarios, a first pass kill was achieved for more than 85% of missiles).

Defences: Boron-carbide armour plating, multi-spectral ECM and ECCM.

Vulnerabilities: Like the larger Vigilance, the missile stores are a potential explosion risk. Due to its reliance on a powerful active-scanning suite, it also has a massive sensor profile for its size - while its own missiles make it relatively proof against missile and fighter attack, it relies on the Vigilance's jamming fields to foil the targeting of direct fire weapons, and of course has no way of spoofing passive sensors.

Craft: Two orbital shuttles, 40 orbit-to-surface lifeboats, repair EVAs, sensor drones.

Power plant: Single tarydium-lined fusion core, which provides engine thrust and main power.

Engine: Vectored torch drive, which like the larger Vigilance class can be directed aft, port or starboard, but also through dorsal and ventral ports for significantly improved evasive manoeuvres.

Manoeuvring: Chemical retro rockets.

Cooling: Radiator fins (retracted in combat), radiator strips, aluminium-tarydium heat sinks (due to the missile-based armament and lower power requirements, the Enforcer can last in combat for 5 hours compared to the Vigilance's 3).

Crew: 850.

Notable characters: First Lesser Eye Essa'Rath (captain, Dominator), First Lesser Eye Ferak col TorHrang (captain, Vindicator).

Notes: None.

[Jarms48]

I was also thinking of joining Dakka's new RP. I'm really intrigued that you were going to play the Skaarj from Unreal. I'd probably just join as some human faction, because hey, that's me. :P

[Azazeal849]

So this was originally in a PM, but I thought I would make it public since it's another character test request!

I genuinely feel terrible for everything that's happened / going to happen to Sapphira, and I shudder to think how poorly she'd do on that female character assessment, as she's become something of a punching bag this game.

Spoiler: Let’s see shall we? 

1. Shaping her destiny is subject to the caveat you pointed out that many people in 40K don’t have that luxury. She stays on with Javid and then with Alia out of duty, similar to Ella, so I will give Sapphira the same half point that I gave her. 0.5/1

2. Sapphira’s beliefs are well showcased. We don’t see her off duty much, although we know that she spends private time with Glabrio and social time with Kelly and Kally (and although the latter mostly dictate what the three of them do, this is consistent with Sapphira’s personality). 1/1

3. Sapphira “mellows out” across the stories, but the compassion and the hatred of heretics that make up her core personality do not change. 1/1

4. A compassionate but uncompromising healer, who nevertheless struggles to reconcile her duty to her sisterhood with her duty to her friends. 1/1

5. Her love life doesn’t particularly influence her beliefs – more the opposite. And while Glabrio is obviously important to her, she’s hardly thinking about him 24/7 (and, from Penitence IC post #9, she considers helping Kelly to be more important than her own relaxation). 1/1

6. We definitely see her grow – in Replicants she is friendly but professional; in Prophet she is more relaxed; and in Penitence she is trying to deal with what has happened to her friends along with all the other shit that is rapidly going down. A definte “mellowing out” arc, without (yet) losing her sororita steel. 1/1

7. Her weakness is probably her occasional tendency to go into sororitas “rage mode”, which sometimes works in her favour (Replicants) and sometimes doesn’t (Prophet). 0.5/1

8. Like Kally she’s usually front-and-centre in driving the plot forward (although the “spying on the team” subplot in Replicants was something that probably could have been executed better, that was more my fault than yours because I only gave it one scene, at the end of which Kally basically tells Marc and Vince to stop being stupid). She does get briefly taken hostage in Prophet, but I won’t dock a point for that because it’s a product of her own mistake rather than a simple plot driver. 1/1

9. I suppose you could argue that “compassionate healer” and “defrosting ice queen” are somewhat stereotypical roles in principle, but both are handled sensitively so I will award half a point. 0.5/1

10. If anything, most of her interactions are now with other female cast members. Yes, some of her chats with Kally and Kelly are boy talk – but a girl’s allowed a sex drive, and there are plenty of other, deeper interactions between them as well. Sapphira is a very important support pillar for Kally (pre-Replicants) and Kelly (Penitence) at incredibly vulnerable stages of their lives. 1/1

Total: 8.5/10. PASS! What were you so worried about?