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March 1, 2015 51 Pegasi 50 light years from Earth 51 Pegasi is an LV-type star, the kind of small yellow dwarf utterly undistinguished except for the simple accident of longevity and luminescence that means they are, by a wide margin, the stars most likely to support Lor-type life across the galaxy. 51 Pegasi does have one novelty - 51 Pegasi B, the gas giant trapped a little more than 4 million miles from its home star. 51 Pegasi B is a burning hot world, wracked by storms and super-heated winds that make the planet one of the most hostile in Lor space. Even so, the scientific research station on 51 Pegasi Ba, the single asteroidal satellite of the planet, has always been something of a backwater. The fluid dynamics of superheated gas giants is a vigorously debated scientific discipline, but one with few practical applications. The team from Ohtalv University arrived for their year-long assignment five and a half months ago, a few weeks before Ohtalv University and the rest of Lor-Van was atomized by strong-nuclear suppression from the Communion. A routine scientific posting had suddenly become a refuge, but also a cage - the picket ship usually assigned as their rescue vessel was called away for convoy duty months ago and they have nothing on the base rated to so much as leave the shadow of the asteroid. Of the five person team from the University, their world gone and families dead, supplies dwindling more and more every day, four are still alive. It's a sad story, but a story repeated again and again the Lor Republic. Nothing out of the ordinary here. Until recently. As he sat in the station's control center, Narab Zober watched what would have been the career-making discovery of a scientist a year earlier play out before him with calm interest. Only the cool discipline of his Hephestian martial heritage kept him here, kept him working, and kept thoughts of home, family, and all he had lost out of his mind. Lives had ended - but life went on. "...from deep neutrino scans, the entity has reached the rocky core of Pegasi 51b and has begun what can only be described as _feeding_ on the heavy metals and other materials within." He watched the rippling clouds, gone chaotic in recent days, and raised a long feathered eyebrow, his padded fingers folded on the table in front of him. "To survive at the heart of a super-heated gas giant, the Gorgon's energy and matter absorption abilities must be even greater than previously estimated. Fascinating. At current rate of consumption, I estimate that within seven standard days, Pegasi 51b will have lost its gravitic cohesion and begin breaking up." And then plummet into the burning heart of the star - along with this station. "This is Dr. Narab Zober of Lor Science Station #0047, ending this rotation's report. Tomorrow Dr. M'Kelley will offer her report on the fluid dynamics of a gas giant in the process of core destruction. End transmission." When he was done, he stared at the communications terminal, as if willing a reply by sheer force.

The OOC

I think it might be best if I shelve Ana; I feel very little connection to the character and no real desire to start any new threads with her. Sorry to any current or future members of the Voidrunners, but I think it's worse to keep playing a character you don't enjoy writing than to quietly retire them. AA, feel free to NPC her for the rest of Interstellar.

Outer Edge of the Lor-Van System 17 Hours After Destruction of Lor-Van The previous solar cycle's worth of hours had been among the worst in the lives of either Seikahi’ino or Ana Plonsky. On shore leave from the Xeno, the human woman had chosen to spend it on the shining crown jewel of the Lor Republic with the more worldly Kahi'iru agreeing to tag along as a favour to their mutual acquaintance to make sure she didn't get herself into any trouble. There was no way either of them could have been prepared for the Communion's sudden, merciless attack on Lor-Van. There was no way anyone could have been prepared. They'd been among the lucky ones, making it to a spaceport and squeezing their way onto a mid-sized cruiser just as the bay doors closed and it made for orbit. They'd sat on makeshift benches formed from empty cargo containers while a panicked young man had asked over and over if anyone had seen his sister among the crowd and a frail grandmother had been unable to stop an infants plaintive wailing for even a moment. They'd been in the windowless hold when word had filtered down that the Star Knights had arrived in force, a moment of sudden hope and relief before learning that the armor clad champions had sacrificed themselves to give them and the other fleeing vessels time to break orbit. They'd been there when the air had begun to taste just slightly stale and those familiar with starships had begun muttering that the engines didn't sound quite right. There when a crewman had let slip that they'd fallen behind the rest of the extant fleet and wouldn't be able to jump to FTL until repairs had been effected. There when the panicked young man from before had to be restrained before he could hurt himself or anyone else. There when someone asked aloud what was stopping those terrible silver sliver ships from coming to finish them off. On the ship's bridge, Samran-86 ran a hand through her tightly shorn red hair and reminded herself to keep her breathing calm and steady. The Lor officer had assumed command of the vessel from it grateful owner, a cargo hauler with no experience with emergency situations. The clone mentat known to her fellows as Eject was beginning to think he'd had the right idea. "Any friendly vessels, this is the freighter Either Ore. We are venting plasma and require immediate assistance. Repeat: we require immediate assistance. Is anyone out there listening?"

As requested, the OOC.

Aboard the Solar Dawn The Parrin system, between the Lor Republic and Stellar Khanate Situated in an expanse of unclaimed space between the Lor Republic and the Stellar Khanate, the Parrin system was home to a native civilization that did all they could to retain a position of neutrality with both major space powers. The Parrin engaged in trade with both, had envoys with both powers and had treaties with both powers. Among the ways the Parrin worked to stay on good terms with both powers was by offering services to passing ships from both the Republic and the Khanate. One of those included the Solar Dawn, a casino situated at the edge of an inner system asteroid belt which ringed the system's large red sun. Positioned on the outer edge of the asteroid belt, the Solar Dawn had breath taking views of the belt set against the blazing light of the star. But of course, most who came here paid little attention to the views, focused instead on the various games of chance that were available. But Oskar Otto was not one of those. Today the displaced human was on the Solar Dawn to meet Nerrit H'aan, one of his old contacts about a possible job. Otto's involvement with Nerit went back to when he was still working for Zaul Zeno, and the trader had maintained his connections with Otto even after Zeno had disappeared. Otto had made his way through one of the main casino floors, crowded with beings from all over the parsec. He had even spotted a group of Lor soldiers in a dice game with a group of Khanate troops in the crowd. Climbing a staircase, Otto reached a restaurant/bar area overlooking the casino floor he had just passed through. The area was up against one of the walls of the station, which was made of tall transparent alloys that allowed for a clear view of the asteroid field, the Parrin star sitting beyond, its red light casting an unusual glow within the station. The communication for Nerrit indicated he would be waiting for Otto in a booth on this level. Elsewhere on the station Ana Plonsky had spent a bit of time since their arrival at the Solar Dawn looking to see if she might be able to obtain some spare parts for the Xeno. But while the station did have some basic facilities for ships docked there, it was far from a full service repair facility, and had little in the way of parts suppliers aboard. So, it had not be long before she abandoned her search and instead made her way to one of the bars aboard the station....

OOC for thread.

Player Name: Heritage Character Name: Deep Freeze Power Level: 9/11 (150/169PP) Tradeoffs: None Unspent PP: 19 In Brief: Cryokinetic engineer wearing an armored suit of her own design. Alternate Identity: Ana Kristina Plonsky Identity: Public Birthplace: Flint, MI Occupation: Engineer Affiliations: Ship's mechanic aboard the Xeno. Family: Caroline Plonsky (mother), Jurek 'Jack' Plonsky (father) Description: Age: 28 (DoB: July 14, 1986) Gender: Female Height: 5'5" Weight: 128 lbs. Eyes: Ice blue Hair: White-blonde Ana is an attractive young woman with a number of unusual physical attributes; her skin is extremely pale and noticeably cool to the touch, her blonde hair is so light that it's practically translucent, and she's typically surrounded by an aura of cold, at least when she's outside her 'snowsuit'. Normally she dresses in dark colors and shades, such as black, charcoal gray, eggplant and deep maroon or burgundy. She's very self-conscious about her pale skin, so she tries to cover it up with sleeveless coveralls and long-sleeved tops; she has to be very comfortable with a person to wear a T-shirt or halter top in front of them. Normally she wears lightweight, non-slip steel-toed boots. Her white and black 'snowsuit' is an armored protective garment of her own design, a modification of the one she developed for NASA; Ana's custom suit is lighter, more durable and built from the ground up to work with her cryokinetic powers. The full head helmet is constructed so that it can automatically fold up into a storage area between the shoulder blades. History: Ana grew up in the economically depressed town of Flint, Michigan; her father was a former employee of General Motors, who currently works as a car mechanic, and her mother is a grade school teacher. From a very early age she was fascinated by how things worked; she loved to visit her father at work, where he would explain what he was working on to her. He also brought home pieces of junk that he found, like old toasters and VCRs, that she would take apart and put back together again. Both her parents encouraged young Ana in her studies and she did very well in school, though she was shy and didn't make friends easily. With money in short supply, her family did a lot of shopping at Goodwill or the dollar store to make ends meet. Once in high school, Ana threw herself into her studies, intent on getting an academic scholarship to MIT or Cal-Tech; though her grades were excellent, she was still unable to gain admissions to either school, so she settled on Kettering University in Flint, where she obtained dual B.S. degrees in industrial and mechanical engineering. By the time she graduated, her academic performance allowed her to apply for and receive a full scholarship to Cal-Tech's graduate program. While there, Ana's designs for lightweight, impact-resistant protective gear caught NASA's eye, and by the time she received her Master's she was working for the space agency full time. She even had the privilege of being selected to go up to the International Space Station as a mission specialist to monitor field trials; Ana trained vigorously for two years for her mission and was very excited for her first Soyuz flight. However tragedy struck aboard the ISS; due to a mathematical error and a series of unforeseen events, Ana and two crewmen became trapped in a damaged airlock after an EVA. Realizing the mistake had been her own, the young engineer advised her fellow astronauts on how to escape while she stayed behind to fix the problem, which endangered everyone in their section of the station. After several hours of work which was tensely monitored by Mission Control, Ana discovered there was no way safe out; in a final radio message, she calmly explained what she'd done wrong and how to avoid such disasters in the future. She praised the crew for all their hard work and professionalism, and was in the middle of saying good-bye to her parents when the airlock explosively decompressed, hurling Ana and her experimental suit out into the depth of space. The crew believed her to be dead, but while several portions of the suit were destroyed, including the communications and biometric systems, most of the suit remained intact. Knocked unconscious by the force of the blast, Ana drifted further and further from Earth as her suit gradually lost power and grew ever colder... But she did not die; instead Ana slipped into a deep cryogenic sleep, sustained in a near-death state by the suit's damaged power cells operating at a mere 1% efficiency. Ana would have died for sure if she hadn't been picked up several months later by the Xeno, a space yacht operated by Oskar Otto, better known as 'Starshot'; he used the ship's infirmary to slowly revive her, which took several days. He quickly discovered her mutated body needed to stay below freezing or she would soon die! By the time she was conscious, it had been almost a year since the accident. Back on Earth, Ana was hailed as a hero; her junior high school is now named after her, Kettering now offers the Ana Plonsky Engineering Scholarship, and her parents are starting a new life thanks to the generous donations of the American people. On some level, Ana feels she's done more good dead than alive, at least back home. But now she has a new life in space; just think what she can accomplish out here! Personality & Motivation: Prior to her transformation, Anna was a fairly normal young woman, if a bit guarded; nowadays, the walls are definitely up. She doesn't make friends easily, but is fiercely devoted to them once the bond is created. Her sense of humor is fairly dark and sarcastic, and she's more likely to tease someone she likes than say it outright. She enjoys reading (mostly books on scientific subjects), tinkering, watching old movies and a spirited game of ping-pong. Powers & Tactics: Physically Ana is not very imposing, which is why she typically wears her snowsuit if she thinks there's going to be trouble; it allows her to take some fairly solid hits without fear of injury so she can focus on taking down her enemies. Her cryokinesis gives her several ways to drop a foe, trapping them in ice or striking them with icy blasts being the two most common. She can also whip up a localized ice storm to blind and confuse large groups of assailants. If Ana is forced fight outside her armor, she often creates cover with her cryokinesis to offer some protection while she continues with her ranged attacks or unleashes her arctic fury as a storm. She also uses her durable ice to create objects for casual use, such as furniture or backup tools; since cold has no affect on her, using these items is not a problem. Complications: "I thought you were dead!": As far as everyone on Earth is concerned, Ana died during the ISS accident; she has done little to challenge this version of events. The Big Chill: Her altered physiology doesn't make close personal relationships impossible, but it does make them much more challenging. "I'll have the salad.": Ana can no longer consume hot food or beverages; she does, however, get very creative with salads, sandwiches and cold soups, and eats lots and lots of leftovers. Low Battery Warning: While her snowsuit can function independently for days of moderate use, the internal batteries do not last forever; a poorly-timed power outage could be deadly. Abilities: 0 + 4 + 0 + 10 + 4 + 0 = 18PP Strength: 10 (+0) Dexterity: 14 (+2) Constitution: 10 (+0) Intelligence: 20 (+5) Wisdom: 14 (+2) Charisma: 10 (+0) Combat: 6 + 16 = 22PP Initiative: +2 Attack: 3, Melee +3, Ranged +5, Cryokinesis +9 Grapple: +4 Defense: 8, 4 Flat-footed Knockback: -8 (-0 without Suit) Saving Throws: 6 + 6 + 6 = 18PP Toughness: +10 (+0 Con, +10 Protection), +0 without suit (+0 Con) Fortitude +6 (+0 Con, +6) Reflex +8 (+2 Dex, +6) Will +8 (+2 Wis, +6) Skills: 92R = 23PP Bluff 0 (+0, +4 w/Attractive) Computers 10 (+15) Craft (Electrical) 14 (+19) Craft (Mechanical) 14 (+19) Craft (Structural) 10 (+15) Diplomacy 0 (+0, +4 w/Attractive) Disable Device 5 (+10) Drive 3 (+5) Investigate 5 (+10) Knowledge (Eidetic Memory) 0 (+5) Knowledge (Galactic Lore) 5 (+10) Knowledge (Physical Sciences) 5 (+10) Knowledge (Technology) 10 (+15) Languages 2 (Galstandard, Polish) Medicine 3 (+5) Notice 3 (+5) Pilot 3 (+5) Feats: 6PP Attack Specialization 2 (Cryokinesis) Attractive Eidetic Memory Improvised Tools Inventor Powers: 31 + 6 + 36 = 72PP Cryokinesis 14 (28PP Array, Feats: Alternate Powers 3) Base Power: Create Object 8 (8 10-foot cubes, Toughness +8, Lifting Strength 40 [Heavy Load: 3 tons], Extras: Duration [Continuous], Feats: Precise, Progression 2, Subtle) [28PP] AP: Blast 9 (Extras: Penetrating 6, PF: Improved Critical 2, Precise) [1PP] AP: Environment Control 6 (Cold 2, Hamper Movement 2, 250 foot radius, Extra: Selective Attack, PF: Precise, Flaws: Range [Touch]) [1PP] AP: Snare 9 (PF: Obscure Sense 5 [All Senses], Reversible) [1PP] Immunity 6 (Cold Damage, Cold Environment)[6PP] 'Snowsuit' (Device 9 [45PP], Removable) [36PP] Feature 5 (Buys off Weakness) [5PP] Flight 3 (50 mph) [6PP] Immunity 9 (Life Support) [9PP] Protection 10 (Impervious 6)[16PP] Radio Communication 4 (Range: 1 mile) [4PP] Super-Movement 1 (Wall-Crawling) [Limited: In Zero-G only ][1PP] Super-Senses 3 (Direction Sense, Distance Sense, Radio, Time Sense) [4PP] Drawbacks: (-4) + (-5) = -9PP Vulnerability (Heat, Frequency: Common, Intensity: Major [+100% DC]) [-4PP] Weakness (Heat, Frequency: Common, Intensity: Major, -1 drain all abilities per 5 minutes [50 rounds]) [-5PP] DC Block ATTACK RANGE SAVE EFFECT Unarmed Touch DC 15 Tough Damage Blast Ranged DC 24 Tough Damage Snare Ranged DC 24 Reflex Snare Abilities 18 + Combat 22 + Saving Throws 18 + Skills 23 + Feats 6 + Powers 72 - Drawbacks 9 = 150/169 Power Points