User talk:Bossmuff

Daphne 2.0 Protosheet

Name: Dominating Powerhouse Negotiator (Daphne)
Concept: Combat-Maid
Exalt: Alchemical
Caste: Soulsteel
Motivation: Battle and defeat the champions of the Realm, and prove Autocthonian superiority in Creation
Intimacies: Leaf, cigars, the Autocthonian Expeditionary Force, the Leaf Group

Stamina: ***** ** (+2 from Charm)
Manipulation: ****
Perception: ****

Strength: ***
Dexterity: ***** *(+2 from Charm)
Appearance: ***** * (+2 from Charm)

Charisma: **
Intelligence: **
Wits: ***

Athletics: ****
Awareness: ***
Dodge: **
Martial Arts: **
Melee: ****
Resistance: **
Integrity: ***
Larceny: **
Linguistics: **
Presence: **
Performance: *
Socialize: ***
Stealth: *** (Ambush)
Survival: *
Bureaucracy: *
Craft (Fire): *
Investigation: **
Lore: **
Medicine: **

Virtues:

Compassion: *
Conviction: ***
Temperance: **
Valor: ****

Backgrounds:

Allies: ** (Hess, Moonsilver Alchemical)
Artifact: ***** (Beam Grand Daiklaive (3m commit, 5 mote activation))
Artifact: *** (Essence Capaciter (gives three motes/h, 1 mote commit))
Artifact: ** (Precision Goggles)
Artifact: * (Flaw Scanner)
Artifact: *** (Victorious General’s Galea, Soulsteel)) (4m Commit)
Class (3 Free): ***
Eidelon: ****
Familiar: ** (Monitor)
Savant: *

Charms
Dedicated Slots (16)
Fourth Dexterity Augmentation (1m)
Fourth Dexterity Augmentation (0m)
Fourth Stamina Augmentation (1m)
Fourth Stamina Augmentation (0m)
Fourth Appearance Augmentation (1m)
Fourth Appearance Augmentation (0m)
Integrated Artifact Transmogrifier (1m) (Loom Server Migration, Essence-Muting Baffles, Deep Cover Mode)
Husk-Shaping Apparatus (2m) (Voice Modulator Field, Essence-Warping Anatomy)
Aim Calibrating Sensors (1m) (Inward Focus Refractor) [Array: Aggressive Engagement Suite]
Recursive Fractal Targeting Calculations (1m) [Array: Aggressive Engagement Suite]
Magnetic Joint Bearings (1m)
Auxiliary Essence Storage Unit (1m)
Subcutaneous Armour Plating (1m)
Exoskeletal Armour Plating (1m)
Transitory Invulnerability Engine (Valor) (1m) (Sustained Invulnerability Engine)
Body Reweaving Matrix (1m) (Pattern Restoration System)

General Slots (4)
Manifold Transhuman Implants: (Terrifying Mane, Claws [on the hair-tips, retractable], Wolf’s Pace) (1m)
Personal Gravity Manipulation Apparatus (1m)
Pain Suppression Nodes (1m) (Emergency Damage Compensators)
Alloyed Reinforcement of Flesh (0) (Death-defeating Processors)

Panoply:

Strain-Resistant Chassis Modification (3 -2 health levels) (1m)
Rogue Cell Isolation Protocol (0m) [Array: Interrogative Engagement Suite]
Transcendant Brutality Programming (1m) [Array: Interrogative Engagement Suite]
First Manipulation Augmentation (1m) [Array: Interrogative Engagement Suite]
Fifth Strength Augmentation (1m)
Hydraulic Musculature Reinforcement (1m)

Essence: 5
Willpower: 6

Personal: 21m (4m after install)
Peripheral: 51m (41 after commit)
Installed: 17m
Committed: 10m

Pool:
Personal: 4m
Peripheral: 41m

Bonus Points: 15 + 20 (Bonus from FBH)
Essence 3 (10 BP)
Alloyed Reinforcement of Flesh (1 BP)
Magnetic Joint Bearings (1 BP)
Artifact to 5 (Beam Grand Daiklaive) (2 BP)
Eidelon to 4 (2 BP)
Artifact 3 (Flaw Scanner, Precision Goggles) (1BP)
Artifact 3 (Victorious General’s Galea, Soulsteel) (1 BP)
Specialty (Stealth: Ambush) (1 BP)
Auxiliary Essence Storage Unit (1m) (1 BP)
Strain-Resistant Chassis Modification (3 -2 health levels) (1m) (1 BP)
Rogue Cell Isolation Protocol (0m) (1 BP)
Transcendant Brutality Programming (1m) (1 BP)
First Manipulation Augmentation (1m) (1 BP)
Fifth Strength Augmentation (1m) (1 BP)
Hydraulic Musculature Reinforcement (1m) (1 BP)
Fourth Appearance Augmentation (1m) (1 BP)
Subcutaneous Armour Plating (1m) (1 BP)
Exoskeletal Armour Plating (1m) (1 BP)
Transitory Invulnerability Engine (1m) (1 BP)
Body Reweaving Matrix (1m) (1 BP)
Recursive Fractal Targeting Calculations (1m) (1 BP)
Fourth Dexterity Augmentation (1m) (1 BP)
Fourth Stamina Augmentation (1m) (1 BP)
Fourth Appearance Augmentation (1m) (1 BP)

XP Total: 250
XP Spent:
XP Retained:

Essence to 4 (27)
Essence to 5 (36)
Dedicated Slot (4)
Dedicated Slot (4)
Dedicated Slot (4)
Dedicated Slot (4)
Dedicated Slot (4)
Dedicated Slot (4)
Dedicated Slot (4)
Dedicated Slot (4)
Dedicated Slot (4)
Dedicated Slot (4)
Dedicated Slot (4)
Dedicated Slot (4)
Submodule: Loom Server Migration (2)
Submodule: Essence-Muting Baffles (4)
Submodule: Deep Cover Mode (3)
Submodule: Vocal Modulator Field (5)
Submodule: Essence-Warping Anatomy (3)
Submodule: Emergency Damage Compensators (6)
Submodule: Inward Focus Refractor (4)
Submodule: Death-defeating Processors (6)
Submodule: Pattern Restoration System (6)
Submodule: Sustained Invulnerability Engine (6)
Array: Aggressive Engagement Suite (2)
Array: Interrogative Engagement Suite (3)
Dexterity to 4 (9)
Manipulation to 4 (9)
Stamina to 5 (12)
Athletics to 4 (6)
Awareness to 2 (2)
Awareness to 3 (4)
Martial Arts to 2 (2)
Melee to 4 (6)
Integrity to 2 (2)
Integrity to 3 (4)
Larceny to 2 (2)
Linguistics to 2 (2)
Presence to 2 (2)
Socialize to 2 (2)
Socialize to 3 (4)
Stealth to 2 (2)
Stealth to 3 (4)
Investigation to 2 (2)
Lore to 2 (2)
Medicine to 2 (2)
Valor to 4 (9)

Cassandra Reinhart Possible Statistics

Character

Template: Seraph: (+2 Physical, +2 Aleph, +1 Smarts, +1 Education, +1 Charisma)
Class: Lictor (+1 Pilot, +1 Charisma, +1 Rank)

Pilot: 7 [6+1] (21)
Aleph: 8 [6+2] (21)
Physical: 3 [1+2] (1)
Smarts: 5 [4+1] (10)
Education: 5 [4+1] (10)
Charisma: 7 [5+2] (15)

Specialties:
Pilot (Melee) 2 (3)
Charisma (Cute) 1 (1)
Education (Medical) (1)

Rank: 1 [0+1]
Command (Mecha Squadrons): 1 (1)
Conspiracy (Seraphim): 3 (6)
Tuneup (Crack Pilot): 4 (10)

Traits: Blademaster

Advantages: Type Master (Newtypes) 3

Disadvantages: Adventurous -3

Aleph Powers (18):

High-Level Control (3)
Limit Break X 2 (4)
Spatial Awareness (2)
Empathic Detection (1)
Newtype Flash (2)
Inspirational Aura (6)

Mecha: Oceanid

Rank: LV2 (10 + 4 (Tuneup))
Melee: 4
Firepower: 1
Defense: 2
Speed: 4
Special: (3) Alpha Edge, Aleph Matrix, Aleph Bits

Nexus Nation: Shard

(Work in Progress)

History

The Everpresent: The End of History

Humanity doesn’t always win.

Good does not always triumph over evil. Entire species succumb to heartless natural forces, alien despots, and their own hubris, their histories ending in blood and tragedy. Sometimes, the mad scientist succeeds, or the evil god enacts its vision upon the world. And sometimes, transhumanism does, in fact, lead to monstrosity.

In one version of the universe, civilization was destroyed by the hubris and dark otherworldly powers that other universes stave off or stamp out. In this particular facet of existence, there was no heroic holdout – not one that’s made a difference, anyway – and there’s no thrilling redemption in sight. Then again, it’s difficult to tell when virtually every instance of organic or synthetic life has been consumed by a monolithic, ever-growing entity.

The God that overtook the universe has had countless names given to it. Most of the civilizations that would have named it have long since been subsumed, or have given themselves to it in sacrifice. Amongst its own components, there is no need to refer to it, as it is eternally a part of each of its components. It is a part of their identity and their body, for it is Everpresent within them. This is as much of a name as they can give it; and in some part of their individual brains, they refer to this binding entity as such.

Very few creatures exist in its universe that are not a part of the Everpresent; aside from a handful of small post-singularity fragments, all organic and inorganic matter has been assimilated by the god’s body. It has grown so great that the stars themselves are its flesh, its protoplasm filling the expanse of space with intricate caverns of living and synthetic tissues. Entire worlds exist within the folds of its body, with new life and civilizations rising and falling within cavities, and cities forming of thousands of entities of every bizarre configuration. Everything it has assimilated is blended and transfigured, assembling components from many life-forms and even devices to form new life, all mentally subsumed to the giant, eldritch mind that governs the entire universe. The rebels swim amid these canyons of fat, desperately seeking the few yawning voids that exist in this universe, knowing that anything they find is a part of the titantic force that would consume them, reducing them to component parts.

The Extrusion: Exploration and Loss

Perhaps when the portal opened into the Nexus, it was curious. Perhaps it wanted to plunder a new universe, seeing an opportunity for new resources to break the monotony of its own creations. Perhaps it was merely reflexive, lashing out at something outside of itself as it had done to the few dwindling rebellions. At any rate, an extrusion was crafted from the surrounding fleshscape, extending through the gate in a tentacle composed of thousands of varied organic, inorganic, and synthetic compounds. The extrusion filled the gateway, forcing itself outward in a gigantic mass of bluish matter.

It’s not clear exactly what burst free of the biomass, tearing at it from the inside; it was most likely a rebel faction that had found its way to the area where the portal opened, desperate to escape its dying universe. The fish-like, tendrilled creature attacked the extrusion mercilessly, tendrils slicing huge rents in it while streaks of fire launched from its midsection, blasting apart the mass. It did tremendous damage before the thousands of monstrous arms seized it and crushed it, and the ragged appendage retreated so hastily that a sizable portion of it tore free, toppling through foreign space as the Extrusion and its attacker returned to their world. Seconds later, the portal imploded amid flashes of multi-coloured energy, no doubt forcibly sealed by the Everpresent. All that remained was a colossal slab of myriad matter, breaking apart as it toppled through space.

It was only a day before the damaged systems came back online, the fleshy mass quickening to life. Soon after, it began to fragment violently, sections peeling back to reveal small, buzzing forms rising from it. It was only as they escaped the fleshy mass that they were revealed to be ships, each bearing within it several different entities – all once symbiotic parts of the alien whole, now freed from the Everpresent subsuming their consciousness. They were no longer part of their god-body; they were free, a shard of amalgamated matter floating in an unknown see of emptiness.

They were, for the first time in their known history, alone.

Shard: Coping with Freedom

Without the Everpresent to guide them, the extrusion quickly separated into its component minds. Their second shock came from the realization that they WERE individual entities – the god had not dissolved their consciousness, but had rather overwritten it, manipulating it directly as an extension of itself. What’s more, they remembered their captivity perfectly, as well as the knowledge they learned through their psychic communication networks, and the experiences they accrued in their lives. Many understandings were fragmentary, contained with several different entities, but at least the wayward souls were not blank shells, with no understanding of anything.

Fortunately, due to the myriad and composite nature of the Everpresent, most knowledge was decentralized. The Shard, as they came to call it, was effectively full of organic computers, containing historical and technical records of civilizations long past. Even as stable individual minds separated, components that did not possess strong autonomy remained whole, and the general biomass did not disperse entirely. What remained with tough, vacuum resistant hide, containing natural life support and biomechanical supercomputers. Many remembered how to access these machines, and were allowed to, thanks to the survival of their most valuable component resource – the synergy paste. This substance, despite its innate ties to the Everpresent, remained stable, if inert, and could be quickened by the application of lesser minds.

It didn’t take long for the Shard to organize themselves into hierarchies. Individuals that acted as sub-controllers in the Everpresent hive-consciousness were given priority, due to their optimization towards leadership and direction, as well as their possession of the vital Control Cysts. The most sentient individuals appeared to be creatures derived from human templates, though nearly all were tremendously altered by their stay within the Everpresent; other entities, such as vessels or as war forms, ranged from low artificial intelligence to full sentience. Experimentation and debate led to a preliminary government, and to a decision to take the name ‘Shard’ as their special designation, as well as their national identity.

The cast-off mass managed to reach a star-system before the damaged worsened to fatal levels. Through the efforts of their scientists, the Shard managed to convert the mass into a more stable form, using its control relays to shape it into a spherical shape and to stabilize it. The result robbed it of its flexibility and much of its ambulatory systems, but effectively healed the damage, leaving it as an artificial, living planet in stable orbit around their star. The Shard immediately sent out to the surrounding worlds, eager to use their resources to build other settlements and to stabilize their position in this new world.

Decision hasn’t been made on what to do if any alien life-forms are found; the old Everpresent attitude of assimilation or destruction does not seem valid anymore. If life exists in this wide gulf, it is certain that it will be alien – as alien as the derelict that has been dropped into its tides.

Technology

Synergy Paste

<recovering data>

Statistics

Population: 2 (3)

Transhumanism: 4 (6)

Infrastructure: 2 (1+1)

Growth Potential: 3 (2+1)

Military Support: 2 (2)

Space Fleet: 2 (2)

Diplomacy: 1 (1) [-1 Rank with nations of Transhumanism Rank 1 or 2]

Espionage: 2 (2)

General Advancement: 1 (4)

Unique Technology: 3 (4+1)

Emergent Technologies: 3 (6)

Magic: 2 (2)

Magnate Nation

The Myriad Collective

In the Longshot colonies, manpower was always in short supply. Immigration being nonexistent and planetary environments often hostile, settlers needed as many people as they could get to fulfill their needs. Producing children was paramount, but incapacitating the female populace for extended periods - and waiting for the child to come to term - was simply not acceptable. A year could mean the death of a people, and the loss of a colony. No one could be wasted, and they needed more - human nature was their greatest enemy.

For colony that would become the Myriad Collective, it was necessary to change. The planet they landed on - dubbed Angrboda, in a bitterly ironic move – was host to dozens of bizarre monstrosities, harrying expansion and troubling the populace. The fearsome predators prevented anything but the most careful expansion, and made agriculture troublesome at best. The need for defense limited manpower in other areas, and the already-meagre labour pool shrank. Couples with the attrition rate with the local wildlife, extinction was a consideration.

Faced with a hellish world and total isolation from Earth and its other longshots, the geneticists decided to undertake a daring alteration. Using dozens of volunteer test subjects, the colony separated the female reproductive organs into a separate entity, designing a being solely tasked with producing children. The end result was a new life form - a non-sentient, living human womb, designed to produce scores of new members for the race. The population fears faded; the colony had its manpower, thanks to the first Genesis.

It wasn't long before the scientists began to refine their process, upgrading production and improving genetic stock. Inevitably, they turned their attention on themselves and their offspring, as well; conventional childbirth was, after all, no longer necessary. Leaps and bounds were made in genetic theory and development, fuelled by new discoveries on their monstrous world and greater attempts to study the wildlife.

When it was found after the Breakdown, by a Minkowski-crewed exploration vessel, Angrboda's people were barely recognizable. The Myriad Collective stretched across the planet, build around their sprawling Factories – where hundreds of thousands of their kind where bred, teeming out into space.

The Claves

The Genesis

The quintessential creation of the Myriad Collective, these strange creatures are the mother of all its members. Yet, they can barely be considered human - fleshy globes the size of a small hut, lined with folds that extrude the children for collection by Drones or other attendants and placement into nurseries. These creatures are completely nonsentient - they're little more than immobile baby factories.

Geneses are fed through dozens of mouthes on their underside, which are often hooked to feeding tubes by the engineers. Breeding factories contain hundreds of Geneses, attended by Drones and by Mainline Engineers. Children are collected by Drones and deposited in nurseries for proper education (or in other areas as noted below). A Genesis produces tens of thousands of children over its life-span, before succumbing to a menopausal condition that leaves them inert, and they are euthanized.

Geneses are entirely reliant on the rest of the Myriad for survival. However, they are physically resilent, protected by toughened skin and layers of ablative fat, and are capable of communicating their desires through a series of bellowing howls (which all members of the Myriad are conditioned to understand). Damaging a Genesis is a capital crime, and it unthinkable to most members of the society. Nonetheless, the factories are some of the best-guarded facilities on Angrboda.

Mainline

The vast majority of the Myriad population are Mainlines. They fulfill most of the roles of a sentient society;

Mainlines are surprisingly human-like, outwardly. They are universally lithe, even the most muscular appearing wiry, with angular features. They even have apparent males of females – however, these differences are merely cosmetic. No mainlines possess reproductive organs – they don't need them, because the Geneses and Drones handle breeding. Sexual dimorphism tends to be much more limited, and varied – traits are more assorted, with muscular women or effete men more regular. Their organs are more compact, their nervous and circulatory systems more efficient.

Mainlines develop faster than baseline humanity, reaching physical and mental maturity at 16. The average Mainline lives as long as most humans, and remains fit up until the end of their lives. Mentally, they are similar to regular humans, with similar wants and needs. They can even love and have relationships, which are identical to most other places in the Sphere, except for the lack of reproduction.

Drones

A Genesis has several dozen wombs, all constantly being fertilized and bearing children. Each birth consists of 5-10 children; out of these, one is always a Drone, containing the genetic information of its siblings.

Drones are the non-sentient breeding stock of the Myriad collective. They spend their lives nesting in the factories, moving from Genesis or Genesis and fertilizing them to maintain production. They are quite clever, able to understand complex commands and able to warn engineers when something is wrong with the Geneses or with their nests.

Drones are humanoid, strangely bulbous figures, standing at seven feet all with a hulking gait. Most notable is their lack of mouth, instead feeding through a prehensile tube hanging form their chin. They have short, broad fingers, designed for climbing.

If somehow the factory is damaged or shut down, Geneses can emit a low-key bellowing noise, demanding food. Drones instinctively respond to this, and can scavenge and even hunt for animals and plants to feed their matrons. Engineers train Drones to find food, cultivating their instincts – the Drones actually contribute greatly to the care and health of the Geneses.

Drones are well-treated, often given comforts for their necessary role in the growth of the Collective. Killing a drone is a capital crime, and harming one is more serious even than harming a Mainline.

Finally, Drones also possess an ability to incorporate DNA from mainlines, to add them to the breeding pool. Mainlines send genetic samples to the factories to be incorporated into a gel that is fed to the Drones, allowing unique or desirable mainline qualities to be carried on through the drones. Dead Mainlines are often recycled and added to this pool.

Factors

Factors, or 'Queens', are Mainliners who have been genetically modified to take a direct role in managing the Factories and the breeding stock. Through a mix of cybernetic and genetic fixing, Factors gain the ability to direct the Geneses and Drones on a level that other mainliners cannot.

Factors use a combination of complex pheremones, harmonics, and Aleph abilities to directly command the nonsentient clades. They can even convey complex orders to their charges, coordinating them to tasks they could never manage themselves. They can even control what genetics drones transmit and influence what qualities Geneses imbue to their children – their control reaches the level of mind control ,and even influences the cellular level.

Factors resemble the Mainliners they once were, except for the bulbus sack-like organs mounted on their backs, and large cybernetic fins extruding from their shoulders. The sacks contain their pheremones and the chemicals that encourage their Aleph abilities, and the fins broadcast harmonics. They are also implanted with large flight-capable glider units, attached to their backs, which protect the sacks and allow them to fly about.

There is generally one Factor per every fifty Geneses, tasked with monitoring it in conjunction with mainline engineers. In emergencies, a Factor can manage a factory alone, relying on the drones to keep efficiency. Factors are often derived from especially competant engineers, or Aleph-sensitive individuals, or both.

Minor Clades

Aside from the main body, several other nonsentient 'variants' of humanity have been produced for various reasons.

Guardians

The guard dogs of the Factories, these creatures are constructed from human DNA spliced with that of a vicious bear-like predator native to Angrboda. These hulking monsters patrol the factories, responding to distress calls from the Geneses with violent reprisal to anyone caught harming them. They also serve as assistants to law enforcement, and bodyguards for Factors.

Cognits

The data center of the Collective, these creatures are essentially giant cybernetically-enhanced human brains re-purposed into computers. Most operate as weak or even strong AI, managing the information networks and analysis software of their Mainline operators.

Skitters

Skitters are a combination of human DNA and a native beetle, designed as symbiotic custodians for the Geneses. They keep their charges clean and hygenic, removing dead tissue and filth; if the host is threatened, they can even swarm the attacker and sting them with poisonous bites. Skitters are about the size of a rabbit, though much flatter. They are popular pets, especially for Queens who can actually control them using their innate abilities.

History Paths

Exploration Era
1) Hell World: Adapt (Radical Morphological Change, +150 PIP, + 50 CIP)
2) Limited (+ 150 dust, + 5 SP)
3) None (+ 60 population, + 100 Wealth)
4) Nano-Factories (+ 100 Fabers, +100 PIP)
5) Backwater (+ 100 PIP)

Colonization Era
1) Longshot (+2,500 military, + 100 PIP, + 100 CIP, + 20 SP, +5 to SP limit)
2) Outer Expanse (+ 60 population, + 100 PIP, + 50 CIP, + 100 Faber, + 25 SP, + 20 transgene)
3) Pod People (+ 180 Population, + 300 Wealth, + 100 CIP)
4) Idealists (+ morale)
5) Civilian Government Sponsored (+ 60 Pop)
6) Whoever we could get (+60 pop)
7) Natural Disaster (+ morale)
8) Na'vi Attack (+200 Wealth, + 2,500 military)

Breakdown Era
1) Stability! (no modifiers)
2) Go Weird (+ 40 Transgene, + 100 CIP, +4 Logistics, 10,000 military)

War Era and Aftermath
1) "I'm a Magnate!" (+100 CIP, + 15,000 military, +20 SP, +5 morale, Magnate Tech Paradigm)
2) "We come in sixpacks" (+ 180 Pop, + 150 PIP, + 100 CIP, + 100 Wealth)
3) The Science of War (+20 transgene, + 1 logistics, ++ doctrines, + morale)
4) Future Government (+2 Morale, +20 Transgene)

Totals:

Radical Morphological Change
Pop: 600
Transgene: 100
Military: 30 000
Logistics: 5
PIP: 700
CIP: 600
Fabers: 200
Dust: 150
Wealth: 700
Morale: 10
Doctrines: 2
SP: 70

Glories Nation: Lotusgrad

Name: Lotusgrad (formerly Galava) Concept: Manufactured Paradise for Delusional Superweapon

History: A rich but poorly-militarized nation, Galava leaped onto the Glory bandwagon, pouring billions into magical and technological research. They developed quickly, no doubt due to superior funding, and rumours abound that the established black market provided them with several 'lost' research logs or procedures. And while they developed their rituals and picked their candidates, they started to experiment with other abilities that could be achieved using this method; when their first Glory, Dominika Slaputin was completed, they began to conduct tests to determine what other abilities could be achieved. One scientist Olga Frulvish, became fascinated with psychic development; she made waves when she used drugs to allow Dominika to read basic thoughts. Her experiments took time, as the product head, Mikhael Federov, refused to allow her to use the two subsequent Glories. She finally got Federov to allow

Dramatis Personae

Princess Lotus, Guardian of the Elven Pasture

Real name: Sonja Dotzevii

Princess Lotus was born under the name Sonja, to a wealthy trader based in Galava. She was the fourth Glory to be created, and was gifted with an experimental power - wide-range telepathy and mental manipulation, allowing her to conjure illusions and affect thoughts. This power allowed her to take control of entire armies and drive populaces insane with imagined horrors. What they did not expect was that it would affect her own sanity, as well.

Virgil Corvid SD version

The Virgo Wing made its name in the System Wars, like most famous examples of that era, by dying. Before their fatal emergence, they were an elite squad of combat suits, specializing in brutal, heavy-hitting tactics. They were mostly known for their teamwork – both their impressive coordination in battle, and their extreme personal dysfunctions outside of it. Conflicts ranging from petty rivalries, political differences, and romantic competition over the team’s single female member (who, complicatedly enough, eventually became squad leader) were thought to translate into deadly tactics, killer instincts, and the occasional act of merciless violence.

The wing consisted of Valerie Haven, the only female member and its eventual leader, a dutiful and charismatic soldier; The educated and reasonable Henry Kay, a sound tactician and the team’s liason to the brass; brash scrapper Diarmud Wilson, a hotshot with a strong affection for Valerie; pilot and mechanic Leroy Spears, Valerie’s on-and-off boyfriend; and the troubled Nathan Short, who specialized in hard-hitting close-combat.

Their act of fame, however, came from their final mission, where they were sent to prevent a devastating doomsday strike by League officer Lucille Vachelli, the pilot responsible for the war’s first colony drop. The resulting conflict – later referred to as the Wells Conflict - ended with the narrow aversion of utter destruction, but also in the mutual destruction of both Vachelli and the entire Virgo Wing. Only Haven and Spears survived, but both were severely injured in both mind and body. Valerie never recovered from the accident, and slipped into a permanent coma after three months in a mental health facility, after which she was euthanized. Leroy, not wishing to be near his damaged lover, took retirement to Earth’s Great Britain due to permanent injuries; he was found dead not six months after Valerie, stabbed in his home by a League sympathizer.

And that is where the pilot’s stories ended, with little fanfare. Their names were recorded on the Geneva Icon of Peace, the war monument in the capital; a statue was build in Diarmud’s hometown of Copenhagen in his unit’s honour; a thesis or two were written by International Relations graduates for their doctorates. But Virgo Wing had another act to play out, behind the curtain.

After the Wells conflict, the pilots’ remains were collected by the Sol-Fed military, and transferred to a group of scientists who had been monitoring the group’s missions. Their funerals were closed casket, with the official line being that there were no remains found. Valerie’s remains were turned over to them as well, and with Spears looking to live a long if sedentary life, was quietly assassinated with evidence planted to implicate League agents. His remains were finally brought to a remote facility, where the scientist had gathered all of the remains and implants left of the Wing – and their recorded brain-scans, kept from early on when they were selected for the project.

Over the course of years, the Scientists used the DNA, scans, augments, and even whole limbs in an intensive and unprecedented reconstructive process. Using cutting-edge technology and other samples collected from a wide range of pre-selected subjects, they generated something new – a single, sentient entity, composed of the genetic material of over a dozen individuals, and data from Virgo Wing’s brain-scans and cranial implants coupled with various combat algorithms. The subject – dubbed ‘Virgil’ as an ironic joke – was completed five years after the death of the last Virgo Wing pilot, awakening to sentience in a cold laboratory surrounded by his creators.

Given the last name ‘Corvid’, after the late director who authorized the project, Virgil was put through an intensive education and development regimen, to evaluate his mental and physical potential. Tests were promising – he showed complete human intelligence, capable physique, and standard empathy. Even more remarkably, tests showed an unusually high Aleph capacity, resulting in abnormal predictive and perceptive ability. However, they also noticed several troubling personality traits: bouts of emotional intensity, unusual speech quirks, and a troubling ability to forcibly override his own instincts and emotions for no apparent reason. A few of his handlers noted a possible echo of the Wing’s internal conflicts and tendencies for brutality, but this was deemed within limits.

Virgil completed his final training normally, at the Mars War Acadamy, where he graduated with distinction as a Suit pilot. His heavy genetic augmentation and cybernetic implants placed him in the S-Class category, and a cover story of him being the son of a wealthy starship magnate placed him out of suspicion to most. His early missions showed promise, and he was quickly commissioned to the counterterrorism unit INTACT.

Virgil appears to be a Caucasian man in his late twenties, with thin chestnut-brown hair, and dark blue eyes. He also has what appears to be a form of chimerism – while his face is largely unblemished, his skin is a slightly lighter shade along his upper right jawline, running down his neck. His torso is a barely-visible cross-stitch of several subtle shades of skin. Like the condition, different parts of his body have different DNA – but rather than two fraternal patterns, Virgil consists of several, altered by modification to prevent organ conflict. He has one visible implant by his right eye, which resembles a small, metallic knob protruding from the skin just above it. He is a small-boned, wiry-looking man, with a long, smooth face extended by a slightly receded hairline – he further accents this by combing his hair back, making him look slightly unsettling. His long fingers and six-foot-five height further add to this. He has a precise, gentle voice, that raises to a firm clarity.

Virgil is aware of his nature, and can’t really see how it would be a problem. He is fascinated by humans and the kinship he has with them – he considers himself one of them in most senses, noting only a difference in ‘the configuration of the mind’. An educated man, he nonetheless revels in his eccentricities – commenting blithely on various minutae that catch is interest. He is profoundly curious, to an almost oblivious degree at times. In combat, he tends to develop strange fixations on opponents, and favours a quick, unrelenting brutality.

Spending a short time as a test pilot, Virgil joined INTACT as a xeno-specialist and analyst, as well as an Aleph pilot. He is known for his acute fascination with alien artifacts, to the degree that he has recalibrated the ship's communications and sensor grid to detect alien signals. His quarters and laboratory are littered with crystalline samples from alien sites that he studies, as a part of his placement as field analyst. This unsettling behavior only amplifies the rumours of Virgil using Aleph- and drug-assisted interrogation practices on prisoners, a controversy that began early in his INTACT career. While no formal charges have been laid, his presence tends to unsettle security officals and human-rights activists alike.