Spacedust
The female fighter pilot with an "odd" sence of humor. Created by Skycat
Name: Spacedust - "call me Dusty."
Faction: Maximal
Type: Beast Warrior
Beast Mode: Dingo
Affilation: Darkblades, though currently independant.
Rank: NA
Size: 7'8" (Medium)
Function: Fighter Pilot
Gender: Female
Description
Beast Mode: Spacedust's beast mode is a tall, lithe dingo. Her fur is short, silky smooth and mainly a reddish brown colour, darker along the spine and getting lighter down the sides. Flecks of silvery white fur are dusted over her head and all down her neck, shoulders and back, while her underbelly, throat, tail tip and all four paws are the same silvery white. Dusty's tail is about half as long as her body and slightly bushy. Her ears are large, pointed, and permanently upright, her eyes are a deep brown flecked with gold and amber, and her muzzle is long and narrow.
Robot Mode: Dusty's bot mode is slim and flexible, mainly made up of eye-pleasing curves with few sharp angles. She carries herself gracefully and with quiet confidence, and almost always has a slight smile on her face, as if privately laughing at some joke of the universe. The total effect is rather striking, and usually attracts more than just a casual glance.
For starters, her optics look like black opals; totally black, with flecks and tiny veins of colour that flicker between green, blue, purple, red and orange, depending on the angle of the light. If she's angry or upset, red and orange dominate over the other colours. Her face is silver and slightly narrow, framed with a black helmet that has a copper visor, cheekpieces and overlarge pointed metallic 'ears', with her dingo tail coming out the back like a ponytail.
Her upper torso armor is black, though an inverted triangle of silvery white fur is on the top half. This continues back past her neck, changes to the reddish brown colour with dusting of white, and continues halfway down her back. The top point of another triangle of white fur, this one right way up, meets the bottom point of the inverted triangle and covers the bottom half of her torso armor. Dusty's stomach is silver, while her sides and back below the torso armor are a coppery colour. She has a 'belt' of sorts, which is just a number of small, glossy black storage compartments that encircles her waist. Hanging from this belt are two flaps of fur, one front and one back. The front one is silvery white and slightly shorter than the back one, which is the dark reddish brown of her beast mode's fur along the spine and also dusted with flecks of white. Both flaps are as flexible as most material, but are practically impossible to tear.
Dusty's arms and legs fold out of her beast mode's legs, and are mainly silvery white. A strip of furred armor runs down her forearms and shins, and these widen and wrap around to form her elbow and knee armor. On her left upper arm is a long rectangle of copper with two bands of black, which is just the holder for Dusty's battle staff. A black metallic band goes around each hand; Dusty wears these so she can safely catch her boomerangs (see Weapons.)
Statistics:
Strength: 7
Speed: 7
Skill: 8
Aim: 8
Discipline: 6
Stamina: 8
Intelligence: 7
Firepower: 6
Luck: 6
TOTAL: 63
Skills:
Piloting: Spacedust is, first and foremost, a starfighter pilot. It's something she loves doing, and she's happiest when flying or tinkering with her Whiplash (see Equipment.) Intense training early in her life, combined with a natural skill and her love of piloting makes her a deadly adversary to go up against in a starfighter.
Navigation: Astronavigation. When flying through space, it's usually a good idea to have at least a vague notion of where you're going and how to get there. Dusty is capable enough to navigate on her own, but addmittedly her Whiplash's nav-puter normally does most of the actual work.
Technical: Ship repairs. Dusty's training didn't just include how to fight and fly, it also included how to maintain, repair and upgrade her starfighter. This is an essential skill for a fighter pilot; you can't always depend on being able to get your craft back to the support crew, or even having a support crew. Not that Dusty lets anyone else but herself mess around with the Whiplash's guts anyway. In a pinch, she can effect repairs on other vessels, though not with as much skill as with her own fighter.
Firearms
Melee Weapons: Staves
Hand-to-Hand Combat: Spacedust is fast and agile, and though she's not what one would call very strong, she knows the places to hit where it hurts the most. Her style is an unpredictable mismash of various moves she's picked up over her lifetime from innumerous sources, along with a few tricks of her own and a good ability to improvise with whatever might be at hand.
History:
Spacedust was originally brought online as a civilian, but a love for flying and a strong desire to pilot spacefighters saw her eventually joining the Maximal Military for training. It was found that she had a real aptitude for flying the small single-person spacefighters, and went through her training surprisingly quickly. It wasn't all sunshine and roses though; Dusty was constantly getting into trouble with her superiors. She wasn't normally an actual troublemaker, far from it. Rather, Dusty was just extremely stubborn with a strong sense of independance. She disliked being ordered around and wasn't afraid to tell her superiors precisely that in no uncertain terms, along with what exactly to do with said orders.
It was only a few days before final graduation when there was a rather unfortunate incident involving Dusty, a dare from one of her classmates, Dusty's battle staff, and a rather unpopular officer's skidplate. This was the final straw in a string of Dusty-related incidents, and as a result Dusty was expelled without officially passing her training, despite being one of the highest ranked trainees in the year group.
That didn't bother Dusty in the slightest though, since the strict military-style training had totally put her off actually joining the Maxy Military anyway. Her training had not only been with spacefighter piloting, but also basic armed and unarmed combat, and she felt she could hold her own in any situation. At first Dusty drifted from job to job, picking up odd bits and pieces of close-quarters fighting styles along the way. One day she met a bot called Nightstrider who was also a fighter pilot. Through him she landed a job as a pilot in a Maximal trader group's escort squadron, and spent the next several stellar cycles escorting various freighters between systems. Dusty and the rest of the squadron soon became a very tight-knit group, close friends who were always looking out for each other, and Nightstrider became something like an older brother to Dusty. On numerous occasions the squadron drove off pirates or Preds trying to hijack the freighters they were escorting, and they gradually earnt a reputation as a formidable team. As a result, attacks on the trade group's freighters became noticeably less frequent.
For reasons of their own, rivals of the trade group Dusty worked for plotted, then finally succeeded, in driving the trade group to bankruptcy, and suddenly the squad found themselves out of a job. They weren't totally at a loss though; the trade group had given them all ownership of the starfighters they'd flown, partly out of gratitude for their service, partly because the bankruptcy had left them with no other way to pay the squad pilots, and partly to spite the rival groups by keeping the vessels out of their hands.
The squadron, led by Nightstrider, decided to stick together, and Dusty found herself holding the position of second in command, much to her surprise. By mutual agreement, the squad became the core of a mercenary group called the Darkblades, hiring their services out to the highest bidder. Dusty revelled in this new environment, which provided a lot more action than the occasional pirate group they'd fended off during their escort days. Free time between jobs was spent at various bars, pubs and taverns, though Dusty herself hardly ever actually drank anything, preffering to keep her wits about her. Especially since fights would often break out between rival merc gangs, and Dusty's earlier combat training along with some inherent skill came into good use in the ensuing lively brawls, which she greatly enjoyed. Bar fighting quickly became one of her favorite pastimes, and she developed a unique fighting style which was a blend of everything she'd picked up along the way combined with a few tricks of her own.
Things remained this way for a number of years, and Spacedust became an extremely skilled pilot and close-quarters fighter. She had her close friends in the Darkblades, she enjoyed her job, and basically Dusty thought life couldn't get much better. So of course, the universe decided to screw things up. The Darkblades were hired for what at first seemed to be a relatively easy job; guard an overly paranoid bot and his family while they travelled from one system to another. However, when the Darkblades emerged from their space jump, the cruiser they'd been accompanying wasn't there, but several dozen hostile fighters were.
The Darkblades had been set up and were now hopelessly outnumbered, and they knew it. So instead of staying to fight a doomed battle, Nightstrider gave orders for the squad to scatter and flee as best they could. Dusty wasn't sure exactly how many of her team were shot down in those few intense moments, but she knew it was too many. She barely made it out herself; a blast pierced her fighter's shields and hit the main drive just before it made the jump to hyperspace. The damage also affected the hyperdrive systems, which caused Dusty's fighter to drop back into realspace a lot earlier than it was supposed to. She was left adrift with a partly crippled fighter, no idea where she was, and totally alone.
Spacedust tried to raise any of her squadmates on the comm, but received no answer. With no clue as to whether any of them had even survived, she forced her emotions to the back of her mind and concentrated on the situation at hand. Finally, Dusty managed to coax her damaged fighter into an inhabited system where she could carry out repairs and refuel. She then started the search for answers to the question of who had set up the Darkblades in the first place, and also for any trace of her squad members that might have survived...
Personality:
Spacedust, or Dusty as she preffers to be called, is a cheerfully cynical kind of bot. She refuses to take anything in life seriously, always has some cynical or sarcastic remark to toss off, and doesn't particuarly respect anyone. At all. Dusty's sense of humor has been described as 'odd', 'weird', 'way out there', and 'downright insane'; guess which one's closest to the mark. She's fiercly independant and stubborn almost to a fault, and hates it when people try to order her around. The best way to get Dusty to do something is either ask her or suggest that it might need doing. As soon as it sounds like she's being ordered, Dusty will dig in her heels and flat-out refuse, and so far no power in the universe has been found that will force her to do anything once she's dug her heels in.
Dusty enjoys a nice friendly fight as much as anyone, and isn't adverse to starting one if she's bored and it doesn't look like one's going to start any other way. Unlike a lot of other bots involved in a good free-for-all brawl, Dusty doesn't waste her breath on insults or slurs. Rather, she just grins. Irritatingly. It's like an "I'm better than you but couldn't really give a damn" superior kind of smirk, and works just as well as any taunt, if not better. One thing about Dusty; she's way too stubborn to give up in a fight. Ever. Even if it means she'll be leaving the area in a bodybag... not that that's happened yet, luckily.
Dusty is extremely loyal to those she considers friends, and will stand up for them against anything. She has a habit of cheerfully teasing people close to her, mainly because she knows that they know she's just having fun, and not to take her seriously. People who don't know her well though can sometimes take offence at her casual teasing.
Dusty's one true passion is flying, and as a result she's extremely protective of the Whiplash, her starfighter. Stars help anyone she catches even looking at it funny, and not even the stars would be able to save anyone she finds messing around with the Whiplash's innards.
Recently, she's been prone to short bouts of depression, triggered by the fact that she hasn't found any clue yet as to whether or not any of the other Darkblades survived the ambush. These bouts don't hit very often or last too long, mainly because of her normally cheerful nature, but when they do hit, they hit hard.
Weapons:
Boomerangs: Dusty carries a number of boomerangs made of a metal alloy that looks like steel, but is a lot stronger and can cut through most substances if thrown properly. When thrown properly, they spin around parallel to the ground as they whiz through the air in a path that curves out and around, and finally head back to the point they were thrown from, if they've missed their target or haven't hit anything else. Both inner and outer edges of the boomerangs are razor sharp, and are more than capable of taking off the fingers, or even hand, of someone trying to catch them. Spacedust wears a black metallic band around each hand that uses a magnetic charge to slow down the boomerangs enough for her to catch them safely. The maximum range of these boomerangs is about 100 meters, and they impact with just as much force on the way back as they do on the way out. Dusty doesn't normally use these weapons much, but she's skilled with their use and highly accurate with them. They're stored in a compartment in her back.
Battle Staff: When not in use, Spacedust's battle staff resembles a somewhat thick black metal rod about a foot long with a copper band around the middle, which she keeps attached to her left upper arm. When fully extended it's about six and a half feet of glossy black metal that tapers to a point at either end. Copper-coloured metal covers the middle third of the staff. With a touch on certain trigger points in the copper part, a long bluish-white energy blade snaps out of either end of the staff, and these blades can cut through most materials with ease. Many a bot has been fatally surprised by these blades suddenly emerging out of what might otherwise appear to be a relatively harmless weapon. Dusty is extremely capable with this weapon, as it's the one she uses most often, mainly in bar fights and other close-quarter fights. Though normally used with both hands, it's light enough to be used one handed, and superbly balanced either way. It is also extremely strong and very hard to break. Even without the blades extended, the pointed ends of the staff are sharp enough to deal a fair amount of damage. The energy blades are powered by small batteries, and Dusty keeps spares in her waist belt compartments.
Twin blasters: Compartments on both outer thighs holster these blasters when not in use. They're somewhat shorter than her forearm, and coloured a matte black with copper inlays on the stock and barrel. Power packs are slotted into place just behind the barrel and are good for about 50 shots each before having to be replaced. Dusty keeps spare packs in some of her waist belt compartments; she can have an old pack out of her blaster and a new one in its place in just under two seconds, slightly longer if she's using both blasters at once, which she normally does. The blasters fire blue-tinged bolts of energy that are effective against most light to medium armor, and somewhat less effective against heavier armor. They have a range of about 500 meters; after that, the energy bolts rapidly start to dissipate and lose their force. Dusty is a decent enough shot with her blasters, even over longer distances.
Beast Mode:
Dingo teeth
Dingo claws
Both teeth and claws are razor sharp and quite capable of shredding light armor, seriously damaging medium armor, and at the very least giving bots with heavy armor something to think about.
Equipment:
The Whiplash: Dusty's own personal starfighter, which she's tinkered with and upgraded over the long time she's had it. A small, single-person astral and atmospherical fighter craft, armed with dual laser cannons and capable of carrying up to eight homing torpedos. It's extremely fast and agile, mainly because of its relatively light armor, and shields give it some added protection. The Whiplash is equipped with hyperdrives, which allows it to travel between systems without having to rely on larger vessels for transport. This made this type of starfighter ideal for escort duty, as no time would be wasted launching them from the vessels they were escorting in the event of an attack. The Whiplash was extremely energy efficient to start off with, and Dusty's tinkering and upgrades have made it even more so. Compared to conventional fighters of similar size and design, the Whiplash can go nearly twice as far on half the fuel. It's coloured a dull black with blue and silver markings along the fuselage and over the wings. (I'll have a better description once I've drawn the derned thing...)
Quotes:
"Stay away from my starfighter, unless y'want t'be intimately introduced t'my battle staff's finer points!"
"Nope, I don't particuarly intend t'listen t'ya, so y'can just go an' shove yer orders up y'tailpipe!"
"Hmm, hey what?"
Graphics Provided by Riboflavin
