Real Name: Chlo'zel Elzak
Aliases: Galvanic, Lady of Lightning, Woman of the Future, The Spacefaring Samaritan
Born Lor timemark 316.3 (1993 in Earth reckoning) on the planet Tempest.
Species: Tempestian
Disclaimer to reader: While this publication strives for as accurate detail as possible, Elzak hails from Tempest, a world which is largely isolated from the Republic. Though it is a member, we only know a limited amount about this planet.
Chlo'zel Elzak was born on the planet Tempest, an isolated world just outside of the Syl'n system, at some time around timemark 316.3. Her parents were farmers some distance from a major city on Tempest's eastern continent. Noted as a gifted child, she managed to get a great education, earning numerous scholarships. She holds the equivalent in doctorates in climatology and geology from the most prestigious in Tempest's relative handful of institutes of higher learning. She has two published papers and appeared in one interview of the popular Republic publication Tomorrow's Galaxy.
Eventually the planet's Senate made a decision. One project, run by the industrialist Dr'oham Darrat, would be jointly run by Senate representatives and employees of Darrat's company, with one aim: lessening the constant and furious storms that scour Tempest's surface, making it one of the harshest worlds in the entire Republic. Elzak was appointed to the project by the Senate, despite being a noted critic of the feasibility of the project. It is known that Elzak's appointment infuriated Darrat, with Tempestian diplomats having commented on the matter that Darrat believed she wished to see the project fail. Elzak has no comments on the record on her views on this perceived feud.
The Cloudbreaker Device, as it was dubbed, aimed to project a directed ionic pulse into the cloud layer, dispersing it through the clouds by simple conduction. This pulse would be calibrated to disrupt the storm clouds that permanently wreathe the atmosphere. This would hopefully lead to more reliable interstellar travel and trade. However, the build-up of energy meant it had to be discharged at a certain point after the reactor had begun to charge, or risk detonation. The window of time between which the terraforming device was charged and the reactor detonated was incredibly narrow, and this is what caused the much-publicised tragedy. Conventional wisdom seems to hold that Darrat's schedule had been disrupted as the date that discharge had to happen to be effective fell in the path of one of the greatest storms in recorded history. Elzak and Darrat reputedly fought, with her advocating to discharge the reactor and just charge it again; saying it would add several months to the project but avert disaster, Darrat refusing and believing this was sabotage. When the storm fell upon the Cloudbreaker Device, even with the extensive countermeasures built into the structure at exorbitant cost, it wreaked havoc upon the structure, leaving the reactor unstable, spewing destructive energy around and below instead of up into the clouds. With most of her colleagues fleeing, Elzak plunged into the structure in an attempt to activate it, discharging the weapon skywards to drain it of energy and prevent it from causing a tectonic event. The activation destroyed the Cloudbreaker Device, but succeeded in preventing tragedy.
For a brief time, it was believed that Elzak perished in the blast, but she had taken a dose of the experimental ion radiation. This had caused incredible changes to her genetic make-up, allowing her to fly forth out of the debris, lifting it aside with strength far in excess of any Tempestian alive. Her powers are discussed in more detail in their own section below. There is a period of time Elzak is unaccounted for, with communication difficult in a decentralised planet, tales of a flying woman spread slowly. It is not known what occurred to her in this time.
She resurfaced around the time Darrat, previously assumed deceased in the Cloudbreaker Device's destruction, surfaced and attempted to force the Senate to grant him the resources for a second attempt. It seems he too had been affected by the blast, allowing him to use absorbed electrical energy to increase his physical might. Worse, it allowed him to leech the lightning out of a Tempestian, in some cases reportedly killing them in the process. Darrat's notable proficiency with technology meant that in addition to his personal might, he had the resources and equipment to hold off the military forces in the area.
At this time Elzak appeared, dropping out of the clouds around the city of Ionus (site of the Tempest Senate). With her formidable power, she was able to fight through to Darrat and in a prolonged and intensive fight managed to bring him into custody. Darrat's later escape is documented elsewhere.
Elzak soon became a local celebrity, the first true case of superpowers on Tempest in generations (even Mentats are rare there). She took on the costumed persona of an adventurer, in a dashing long gold-and-blue coat, wearing ostentatious boots and fighting minor threats like local megafauna, scientific accidents, and the occasional petty crime. Taking on the name of Galvanic, she was soon living a fairly uneventful life once more. Tempest is a peaceful world, with very little war and crime. She began to use her powers to journey from world to world, helping out in incidents upon them.
After the destruction of Lor-Van by the Communion, Elzak joined efforts to fight the then-unknown threat. She was present upon the Nomad when it encountered pirates raiding the merchant craft Aphelion, a skirmish soon interrupted by the arrival of a small Communion force. Reports indicate that after engaging their fighter craft in the void, she penetrated their cruiser and fought to the heart of it before detonating its reactor.
She was later present during the gathering of Coalition forces in the Repiuk system, a gathering forcibly evacuated due to an assault by the Communion-enjoined Kinan Khan. Alongside Paradigm and Rock, she went into battle with the formidable warlord, the four combatants unleashing incredible power in their struggle, before finally Elzak delivered the finishing blow, helping bring the Khan to justice for his crimes.
During timemark 1482.4, Galvanic helped calm riots instigated by the appearance of a Khanate war cruiser at CoVic Station, on the day Ambassador Draan Raal announced to the Republic that Kinah Khan was seeking to reunite worlds once part of his Khanate, now in Lor space. It is known that at some time after this, Galvanic joined the Praetorians
Galvanic was present when Terrans transported to CoVic station, pursued by kidnappers, caused an altercation. Paradigm and Galvanic intervened to protect the Terrans.
During timemark 1881.7, Galvanic was part of a team of Praetorians investigating an anomaly in the Ardor asteroid belt. During an encounter with temporal anomalies, she was transported back into the past but managed to return using unknown technology.
Physiology & Powerset
Chlo'zel Elzak is a Tempestian mutated by the irradiated ion pulse emitted by an experimental terraformer; as such her abilities differ significantly from a baseline Tempestian. In addition to conferring unusual abilities upon Elzak, her mutations enable her cells to store significantly greater reserves of electricity, and correspondingly discharge it at greater voltage. Known feats include discharging enough electricity to injure Broan warriors,
Elzak possesses phenomenal strength, exceeding her species baseline by an exponential degree. Her musculature isn't especially visibly enhanced, but her muscle fibres are extraordinarily strong, giving her prodigious physical power. It is believed she can lift around 8000 weightgrade above her head unassisted. Known feats include beating unconscious a wounded, but Communion-enhanced Kinan Khan, punching open the cargo bay of a pirate frigate; she possesses sufficient strength to tear open the hull of a Communion spacecraft.
Elzak's physiology also makes her incredibly durable. Seemingly tireless and able to survive even spacecraft-grade weaponry, Elzak is able to supplement this by putting her electric reserves to work either fueling her cells to prevent suffocation or environmental hazards, or to deflect energy-based weapons away from her. She has survived cosmic weaponry employed by a Communion-enhanced Kinan Khan and being rammed by a Communion fighter craft,
By some unknown mechanism tied into the same mutation that gives her her great strength, Elzak is able to propel herself unassisted through the air at speeds comparable to in-orbit fighter craft. In order to further bolster this, she is able to convert the matter of her body into electrical energy, eschewing the problems of friction and drag to propel herself at truly exceptional speeds beyond the mundane eye, able to cross solar systems. In limited circumstances she's employed this incredible speed in battle, able to rapidly strike multiple targets in rapid succession to destroy them in a single blow.
Publications
The Terraformer's Journal, dissemination #472 volume #23, "Mapping A Maelstrom: A treatise on the perceived inability of current technology to predict the weather patterns upon planet designate Tempest."
Atmospheric Physics Forum, dissemination #392 volume #11, "Standing Tall: A geological analysis of mountain ranges on Tempest and their resistance to the climate's persistent level of erosion."
Tomorrow's Galaxy, dissemination #322, "Terraforming Tempest: Two Voices In The Debate"
In-Character Appearances
Incursion: Opportunists and Opposition
Revanche: At The Point Of A Sword
