Name - Tara Taa'l (pronounced Ta-ah-el).

Age - 47 Adolescent. Lifespan varies depending on the host species but general rule of thumb is multiply host lifespan by five. In this case the host was 34 at the time of merger so now would be considered between 10-11 if human years were to be expanded out to the new lifespan.

Species - Or'Taleen. More widely known colloquially as Body Snatchers, the Or'Taleen are a collection of sub-species. They are few in number and tend to be somewhat reclusive. Born by infecting a host with their parasitic offspring the larva attempts to bond with the host. Not all species are compatible and some take easier than others but the success rate bonding is rather low at roughly 1/50. Failure to bond usually results in death while successful bonding causes the host to enter a chrysalis stage for metamorphosis. Each metamorphosis results in a unique Or'Taleen but they usually retain some physical and mental traits of the host. It is customary to retain the host's first name and append the clans last name. This has led them to often be mistaken as different species even though they are all from the same base strain.

Traditionally the Or'Taleen developed from a warrior culture. Their ability to defeat another species by genetic assimilation drove them to seek stronger foes to continuously evolve. Becoming space faring several thousand years ago their adaption of various genetic abilities expanded greatly. As they have assumed more and more sentient species into their fold the more barbaric methods of host selection have subsided. Many species found such methods of reproduction to be wrong and inhumane. Thus since their conquest had been quelled by force and the Or'Taleen returned to hunting. But now it was for criminals and low lifes. It's a little easier to get away with stealing a body when no one cares if they're alive or dead.

Bounty hunting turned out to be a good fit for them tough. Having diversified into different sub-groups (or clans) each Or'Taleen clan had different specialties that allowed them to seek out dangerous and tough criminals that could be used to further strengthen the next generation. However not every host is picked because they have desirable genetic traits.

Role - Bounty Hunter.

Gender - Female

Appearance -

Personality - Unlike most of the Or'Taleen, Tara is partially dual-minded. It is the result of Tara having volunteered herself as a host, in which part of the host's mind has a chance to survive and develop alongside the new Or'Taleen. Because of this she has a lot more human mannerisms and a preference toward humankind over her new species. Inheriting her host's snark she is a lot more sociable that most of her kind. Eventually the two minds will merge but for the time being she will appear distant on occasion as she "converses" with her host.

Despite the above Tara is a bred warrior and assumes a serious tone when her job is concerned. Still extremely young she understands that what she does is a part of her heritage. She must train, grow stronger, and survive if she wishes to continue her species. Nevermind that that will take another hundred years or so. Fearless in battle if she believes that she can overtake an enemy she will take a hit to do it.

History - Tara has only been a Or'Taleen for 13 years. Unlike many species they don't have to go through an extended period of extreme vulnerability. They are born fighters and mentally develop rapidly. Taking from a host they are already physically capable of functioning on their own.

But we're getting ahead of the story. Before Tara Taa'L ever was there was Tara Hadart. A pirate in command of her own small ship, part of a larger fleet. She was wanted for numerous crimes by the UGPC and other factions alike. Perhaps not just her specifically, but the whole group of pirates had a price on their head.

Most of the bounty hunters they came across they were able to either evade or fight off with numbers. That was until they crossed paths with the Or'Taleen. While not numerous their ships were pretty equal in defenses and fire power. What makes an encounter with an Or'Taleen fleet different is they will jump in and launch their boarding crew in pods before all the enemy ships get the chance to run. The battle then becomes not only one ship to ship, but also on board the defending ship. Add to their ferocity and physiological variation it is hard to account for every kind of Or'Taleen.

This was just such a happening with Tara's ship. It was boarded and eventually taken along with one other ship that got separated from the main pirate fleet. She knew that one of two things were going to happen were she turned over to the UGPC. Either she was going to be executed or put in prison for the rest of her life. Neither sounded particularly inviting. However she had heard rumors that willing hosts of the Or'Taleen survive the transformation. It didn't work exactly that way but rumors aren't always accurate. Any chance to cheat death sounded like a good chance at that point.

It took some convincing that she was even worth becoming a Or'Taleen. Humans, while compatible, did not have many physical traits that warranted the effort. Eventually though one in the Taa'L clan saw use of the human's mental capacity and vouched for the idea. That particular clan, while tough and densely built like all the others, specialized in low level telepathy. Nothing so amazing as mental communication but they could make slight pushes to influence weaker and untrained minds. It was one reason that clan often had the task of raising new Or'Taleen and guide them in their ways. But more applicably they have been developing technology for some time that responded to their mental commands.

Tara Taa'L proved to be a difficult one to handle. Her human host's mind had survived more than would have been liked. Still she was teachable even if she acted oddly. After more than a decade in the care of her kind she began to long for her former kind. There were no rules against such a thing so she was permitted to go find a group that she felt comfortable with. Even if that group wasn't necessarily comfortable with her.

Equipment - As with most Or'Taleen equipment, hers is bioorganicly engineered.

Ship - N/A

Activity - I am on call so my schedule is sporadic throughout the day. But I usually have the evenings to post if I haven't already during the day. If anything specific comes up that would prevent me from posting for an extended period I'll let you know.

Extras - The Or'Taleen's ganetic makeup is largely borrowed and selected to make them stronger, faster, and tougher. Over time they've incorporated many of the traits of the more common species found in their sector so they have a fairly high tolerance to many environmental conditions, diseases, and toxins. Not to say they are entirely immune, but would last longer in harsh environments. Despite looking rather thin Tara's physiology makes her pretty resilient. Having rather dense muscle tissue and skeletal structure means she can take harder hits and survive them. While not exceptionally strong she can deadlift around 200lbs.

Ship Classification - Assault/boarding craft
Ship Role - Pirate/Freelancers
Crew size - 3
Description - A fast, heavily shielded corvette designed to punch holes in enemy shields and dock with them. Originally used for taking enemy ships, it has been refit for raiding them of valuables.

Power: Main: Artificial singularity generator, direct mass conversion. Overpowered for a ship this size, and prone to instability if it takes damage.
Secondary: Fusion, Deuterium. Reliable, but barely makes enough power to run the ship under non-combat situations.

Weapons: Particle beam cannons: For when they need to destroy ships or parts of them. Adjustable output.
Pulse burst: Charged weapon that tears a hole in shields large enough to fly the Talon through.
Point Defense: Multiple small particle beams on the hull of the ship.

Defenses: Aligned Plasma shields: Good at taking large attacks, but can take less damage overall than a standard shield. Can usually take only one solid hit from a medium sized ship.
Conduction/absorption armor: Spreads kinetic damage out over a larger area to minimize damage, and absorbs many forms of energy, including plasmas, low and mid level photonic weapons, many radiation types (alpha, beta, gamma (partially), charged protons), and many scanners. Used for stealth.

FTL: Hyperdrive: The ship moves along extra-dimensional corridors, making it impossible to track without hyper-space capable sensors. It is difficult to control where you emerge from hyperspace, so it is used for jumps of no more than a few AU except in emergency situations. Thankfully, you almost always emerge near a gravity well of some kind, whether a planet, star, or black hole.

Special: Quantum shift teleporter: Can shift an object or person up to about 20 meters through solid objects (depending on the material's density). Allows them to board ships without breaching the hull. Necessary, because their hull blocks many forms of teleporters.
Gravitic grapple: Four gravity generators on the bottom of the ship can grab onto whatever they land on. They also have a launcher that can shoot one which is tethered the Talon at an enemy up to 100 meters away. Tractor beams can be disrupted, but grav fields are harder to disrupt and tethers have to be cut, which makes them prefer this to a standard tractor beam.

Name - Mark Briggs

Age - 32

Species - Human

Role - Pirate/Freelance

Gender - Male

Appearance -
5'8" skinny, pale skin, black hair, blue eyes.

Personality - Loves learning about science and advanced tech. Is currently obsessed with the idea of Transhumanism.

History - When he first came to space he got a job working for his cousin, Christopher Briggs. There he met Halla, who was the first officer. When they were caught smuggling Psionic Activators (drugs which grant psionic abilities, usually temporarily) through customs to avoid the outrageously high tariffs and restrictions on them, Christopher took credit for it, claiming that his crew only knew about the food concentrates they were hauling as a cover story. Christopher was arrested, the ship impounded, but Halla and he were the only ones willing to help pay for his defense in court. They did this by taking jobs as mercenaries for the UGCP. When he was found guilty and sent to prison, Halla and Mark continued to work as a team, eventually buying a surplus boarding ship from the military. When it became time to renew their contracts, they turned it down, but got a Privateer license from their former CO. As long as they only attacked criminals and the enemy, the UGCP would leave them alone, and may even buy their stolen goods.

Equipment - Technopathy Implant: Allows his higher brain functions to interface with a computer, allowing control or possession of the device. Usually used to "become" the ship or one of his robots. He can usually use it at his level for about 18 hours, but intense use, such as combat, stresses him faster, shortening this time.
Battle droids: Various models, built by him and based on old sci-fi shows. B1, B2, and Droideka from Star Wars, "Squidy" from the Matrix, and several "replicator" bugs from Star Gate for recon, but they cant reproduce without using manufacturing equipment.
Androids: Two based on old Sci-fi, Romie from "Andromeda" and the T-100 from "Terminator".
Weapons and Armor: For his androids, though he does have a basic military body suit and rail rifle for himself if he has to use it.

Ship - Talon

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Name - Halla

Age - 36 (her species has an average lifespan about equal to humans)

Species - Hibros

Role - Pirate/Freelance/Bounty Hunter

Gender - Female

Appearance -
7ft tall cat person, brown with white stripes, green eyes, fangs.

Personality - Her people believe it to be dishonorable to fight with borrowed strength, so everything she uses in battle relies on her own strength. (The psychological and mental habits of your character and adversely their species if they have any particular personality quirks that they inherit from their kind.)

History - She grew up on a space station made from hollowed out asteroids, learning to hunt in the wild, paraterraformed areas of the station. She got a job with one of the freighters that came through the station, and loyally followed that captain, Christopher Briggs, until he went to prison. She even helped his cousin fight for his freedom, but they failed. They then worked together to earn money to buy a ship and upgrade it, and continue to fight together.

Equipment - Rail Bow: A spring is compressed when she pulls a plunger on the weapon. When she pulls the trigger, the spring is released, transferring the energy through magnetic coils into a rail gun attachment. She can replace this with a particle beam weapon, but rarely does.
Personal Force-field generator: Draws power from the nervous system of the user to charge a capacitor which powers a force field emitter. She got it off of a human murderer that didn't understand the fact that the device would eventually put its user into a coma before the safety feature activated and the device deactivated. It was easy to capture him for the bounty at that point.
Ceremonial blades: Two foot long fang shaped blades, one for each major like event. She carries the one denoting her becoming a privateer into battle.

Ship - Talon

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Name - Qo

Age - 67 (His species has an indefinite lifespan, but he appears to be a young adult)

Species - Sesuna

Role - Pirate/Freelancer

Gender - Sesuna are Hermaphrodites

Appearance -
(the closest picture I could find)
Blue, bipedal, roughly humanoid. "He" applies hormones to the top of his head to grow leaves to simulate hair. He has yellow flowers during flowering season, but wears a pressure suit when pollinating to prevent it from effecting the crew.

Personality - Likes to learn about science, especially biological sciences. Will only harm someone in self defense or defense of others.

History - His people are pacifists, but when his people were attacked he subjected the attackers to a paralyzing agent, allowing them to be placed on their ship and sent back to their home base. His people considered this to be a violation of their rules and sent him away.
He got a job on the Talon when they were looking for another crew member. His only speculation was that they not kill anyone except in self defense or defense of others. They agreed.

Equipment - Various hormones for altering his shape, knock out grenades, EMP grenades, stun pistol, standard armor
Proficient with most science equipment.

Ship - Talon

It's a scout bike for Nova, mostly for speed with one onboard gun for weapons. Something to keep up with the mech.