[hider=Character Sheet W.I.P.][table][row][/row][row][cell][img]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1269487054664892538/1269572827707736118/Smaller_Trace.jpg?ex=66b08d55&is=66af3bd5&hm=974c26323c85ca53e626934d733b0946048f79030aa618a9a03370a2fbdc5717&[/img]
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[b][code]B A S I C  I N F O[/code][/b][hr]
[b][code][Name][/code][/b] [code]Zhejiang Erica Teteh Almark Trace Aeolia Julianne Nova Trine Alzmille Lenore Chandra Ral Shagia Kycilia Lucille Jacqueline Agrippa Elysia Paraya Verlaine Haro Tieria Kelly Sune Stabity Drasso Visch Milla Romanof Rosso Christine Sys Lichtendahl al Mortuus-Orbitae LXXXV[/code]
[b][code][Callsign][/code][/b] [code]Cygnus[/code]
[b][code][Gender][/code][/b] [code]Female[/code]
[b][code][Age][/code][/b] [code]28[/code]
[b][code][Rank and Designation][/code][/b] [code]Stardust[/code]
[b][code][Place of Birth][/code][/b] [code]Niǎndào[/code]
[b][code][Official Statement][/code][/b] [code]"I am not here to give you pithy quotes for your highlight reels. Get me out there so I can drive 光辉虚空 into the hearts of our foes!"[/code]

[b][code]C O M B A T  A B I L I T Y[/code][/b][hr]

[b][code][Anti-Barrier Sword][/code][/b] [code]A.B. Sword 光辉虚空(Guānghuī xūkōng)/Brilliant Void[/code]
[b][code][Anti-Barrier Quotient][/code][/b] [code] 29%[/code]
[b][code][Physical Description][/code][/b] 
[i][code]Brilliant Void is an odd weapon for an AB sword. A long spear with minimal decoration along it's shaft, mostly the flowing aniconic designs common to the Mortuus-Orbitae trace themselves down it's jet black body, representing the planets and stars of the system where it's ore was found. These markings are marred by some odd discolorations that appear all along the weapon as if exposed to a fearsome heat, blemishing it's simple beauty. 

At base of the leaf-shaped blade, where in ancient antiquity a red tassel would be based to disoriented foes and absorb their blood, lays the marker of the 離(Lí)trigram. It serves as a stylized representation of it's Number among the many A.B. Swords the sword mother has made, but also as a symbol of Clarity, of Humanity's strength of will. To some whispered naysayers, however, the designation is an insult,as the AB material of the blade is made from the discarded run off of another blade that has been handed to the Hua Sect. 

An unwanted 'second daughter', a vapid black sheep. . . how fitting a weapon for it's current wielder.[/code][/i]
[b][code][Attributes][/code][/b]
[i][code]Brilliant Void, despite its simplicty, is a weapon deeply intwined with the anomaly of those descending from the Hua sect. When wielded by one of the Hua, it feels as light as the very air and strikes as quick as a cobra, like it knows where its blade needs to be before the wielder. So connected are the two that not even the illusion of distance can keep them apart, allowing the wielder to will the weapon to their hands with barely a thought regardless of how far away it seems to be.

When a wielder of Brilliant Void passes, it is said that the spear often vanishes from sight, rumored to even travel across the cosmos to appear before the last person their wielder thought of as the Void Mother closes her eyes on them one final time. A grim portent, and a somewhat troublesome aspect at times when it comes to the needed retrieval of the weapon to keep the true extent of the ar effort underwraps. Some have considered scrapping the rebellious weapon and repurposing the AB to a more compliant weapon, but the Mortuus-Orbitae argue desperately against such actions. After so much time on the frontier, a not insignifcant number of the A.B. swords lost in this war belong to members of their sect, so even a risky blade like Brilliant Void is considered to precious to give up.[/code][/i]


[b][code][Anomaly][/code][/b] [code]Void[/code]
[b][code][Origin][/code][/b] [code]Space-Between[/code]
[b][code][Phenomena][/code][/b]
[i][code]"The Mother grants those so blessed to walk in her domain, traveling distances both grand and small 
 as if they were not there at all. For in truth, there is no distance between things, only the belief in it's truth"

The Anomaly of House Mortuus-Orbitae is that of Void, allowing users to summon portals of various sizes, shapes, and properties into being with but a thought. The use of such a power in combat with Aberrants requires quick reaction time, decision making skill, and an ability to reorient oneself in an instant in three dimensional space in order to take full adavantage of the freedom of movement it gives them. For users of a scertain skill level, the very portals themselves can be used as a weapon to sheer through unwrothy flesh and bone, or to allow access to ur foes internals when their armor proves to thick to penetrate. Zhegiang has even heard tales of users who have opened up the Void Mother's true domain within the palm of their hands, a window to the pressureless depths of space, pressed right up against an abberrant's form. The results, if the stories ring true, are as impressive in effectiness as they are distrubing to witness. 

To compliment this ability, the Constellations of Mortuus-Orbitae tend to practice a modified form of Baguazhang, adapting the styles focus on evasive circular movements and redirections into a style that often excels when one is not bound totally to the whims of gravity, but allowed to travel freely in the fullness of three dimensional space. Known as the 虚卦掌(Xū guà zhǎng), or Void Trigram Palm, its practice tends to unleash a sense of uninhibited Thrill in its wielders, especially when in the midst of life-threatening situations. They report senses of heightened awareness of the space around them, better senses of coordination, improved reflexes, even improved control over their Anomaly. And through it all, they feel as if they are being watched over by a presence. . . just out of sight. Whether this is just a strange coincidence or truly the eye of the Void Mother watching over her most blessed of children is a matter of much debate within the family,but whatever the case, it is an attribute of the Void Trigrams that must be managed carefully. The thrill of battle is a dangerous siren to lose oneself to, after all.
[/code][/i]
[b][code][Limitation][/code][/b]
[i][code]Zhegiang herself has a long way to go from reaching such lofty heights of Anomaly Mastery. 

As she is currently, Zhejiang's only skill with her anomaly power is to walk the mother's domain and send non-living objects through it, though her formation of such portals is alarmingly fast for how recently she has gained her abilities. Taken to them like a fish to water, she can near effortlessly flit through the portals she creates, but due to her inexperience, they portals lack the stability to resist contat with living material, often causing them to disperse. POrtal dispersal launches both the offending organism and Trace if she is within one out of the Mother's domain with no small amount of force. That said such a limitation can be a benefit as she learns, making the act of slamming a half-formed portal into a foe an effective method of gaining distance. Still, it makes for a very clear weakness to her ability to escape from dangerous situations if properly accounted for.[/code][/i]
[/cell][cell][indent]


[center][h3][b][code]Profile[/code][/b][/h3][/center]
[b][code][Surface-level Impression][/code][/b]
[code]Proud.

More than anything else, Zhegiang is a proud person, to the point of flippant arrogance. In the face of any and all adversities or obstacles, her response is to take it head on and beat it into submission. She does not mince her words or hold her tongue around those who are, objectively, her lessers. Hers is a noble bloodline and thus, the only ones worthy of considering as equals are those of similar noble birth. . . or those who have proven themselves as worthy of respect.[/code]

[b][code][Personal History W.I.P.][/code][/b]
[hider=.][b][code]Broken[/code][/b] [code]

More than anything else, Zhegiang is a broken person. Perhaps she always has been, only deluding herself through naive youth that she felt as others felt, walked as others walked, could be as others could be. But her father, Dingxiang, never let her forget what she was. Ever since she stole his wife from him though the mistake of her birth, she was never anything more than an inconvient parasite. A thing, to be kept at a distance, a thing to be addressed only when necessary for the sake of propriety. Not a moment sooner nor a second longer.

It was Zhegiang, not her father, who pushed to enter the constellation program when the time came. While the readings of her Anomaly skill were somewhat low, in every other metric she seemed to excel among her peers. She never needed any assistance from her teachers, taking to the rigorous training with a fervor and a natural talent that left near speechless. . . and yet, it wasn't enough to let Zhegiang shine. For  with every accolade she tried to illuminate for the world to say, it merely made her elder sister Meixiu seem all the greater. 

Meixiu, the one born to her parent's in the traditional way through science and safe external gestation.

Meixiu, whose shining skill with her anomaly earned her the title of "the Mother's own hand".

Meixiu, who tried her best to make her little sister's life joyous despite their father's stern hand.

Meixiu, the reason that Zhegiang abandoned the constellation program after 5 years of serving as a vessel to heap further praise on her. She hated her sister as much as she loved her, and that thought made her feel dirty and sick. She had only been kind and descent to Zhegiang, yet when the younger sister looked at the elder, only stern judgemental eyes tared back. Not just those of her father, but her teachers. Her uncles, her cousins, everyone she had ever known in her life looked at her the exact same way. All saying the same thing. . . 

"Parasite"[/code][/hider][code]

[/code]

[hider=..][b][code]Blood[/code][/b] [code]When Zhejiang thinks back to that day, sometimes all she can remember is the blood, the screams, and the overwhelming panic that took her over that day. Running through the halls with a rifle in hand, trying to guide civilians and non-combat to evacuation points, barely hearing any of the questions they asked as the beating of her own heart pounded in her ears.

There had been no warning

No alert called to get the thousands of combat personel on the Hēi xīng Station to their battle stations, no warning that Aberrant forces had even entered the system yet from the patrols. One moment, her and Duccia had been catching up on old times when they were both constellation-trainees and Zhejiang's coming tests to become a Pilot only to be interrupted by a strange garbled music to start playing through the station's intercoms. Disjointed and arrythymic, it didn't sound like anything Zhejiang had heard before. . . and then, a voice dripping with excitement whispered out among the discordant notes.

We Have Come For You

Then the screams started. . . and even hours later, as Zhejiang tried her best to lead any civilians she came across to the safety bays as was protocol, she'd yet to hear them stop. In constellation training, she'd been taught to see pawns as little more than an annoyance to be swatted aside individually and only proved dangerous in greater numbers. Such thoughts seem arrogant now as she saw bio-metallic carapaces skittering behind every corner, hounding her flock like wolves no matter how much she tried to fend them off with rifle fire. Through some hallways, she could hear the tearing of metal and the crunch of meat and bone. Others held the scent of blood and dead flesh so thick it mad her and those following her gag. The sounds of fighting was all arounded her, and she'd lost count of how many of the pawns she'd managed to put down, but it was never enough. There was always another pair of eyes watching from the shadows. Waiting. Watching.

Hunting.

It was her final return trip, an attempt to get to a group of survivor's holed up in one of the habitation blocks, when she encountered that thing. It was in the large food hall where her footsteps echoed in the relative silence and stillness. She tried to ignore the blood and the bodies, rifle raised and head ona swivel. She was fully aware of her surroundings, ears open and eyes wide.

She should've seen it enter. Should've heard it cross the floor towards her.  But it wasn't until she felt those clawed fingers wrap around her throat ever so gently, that she noticed it standing over her. A towering shadow of nothingness cut against the backdrop of flickering lights stained red, as if her eyes were refusing to let any of the light that bounced off this monster to be properly observed. She couldn't move, so strong was her fear. Even as it slowly dragged the claws across her chest and dug them into her shoulder, the pain could not get her too move, as the knowledge that she was about to die to this [i]Monster[/i] gripped. It had come for her. This . . . was the end.

And yet, it was not to be.

A light to her side presede Meixiu, bursting through a portal to swing at the shadow, forcing it away from Zhejiang as Brilliant Void's blade sparked with dimensional fury. She would have fallen over entirely, her knees turned to jelly from panic, if not for Meixiu catching her. It was only now that Shejiang would realize that. . . she couldn't hear anything. 

What followed happened in a blur too fast to really comprehend, as Meixiu grabbed Zhejiang and tossed her through a portal sending her back the way she came towards the escape pods. As she looked at her sister the last time, Zhegiang could see that she seemed to mouth something to her before slamming a fist on the control panel near by, slamming the airlock doors shut as two more constellations appeared behind Meixiu as the three turned to face the lightless void of a monster that had brought ruin to their lives.

As she made her way back to the escape pods, collecting another ten civilians along the way to save, she tried to convince herself that everything would be fine, that there was no way that Meixiu would be beat. She was the best, she was the prodigy, the Constellation that everyone wanted to be. 

And yet, as she boarded and piloted the last escape vessel, her flock in hand, she heard something clatter to the floor by her side, followed by the now all to familiar iron smell of blood. But she didn't look. Not when the passengers started crying, not when the ship started to explode and burn around them while going through the flight procedues. Not even during the long travel to the nearest warp gate, now flooded with ohter escape craft from the doomed station. It was only when they were finally docked  and she was no longer in control of the ten lives aboard that she dared to look down to her side in the cockpit, seeing the familiar weapon lying there. . . with a hand still holding onto it.

The tears came freely and in great numbers that day, and for many days after that, as she finally realized what her sister had tried to tell her before they parted.

"I love you"[/code][/hider]

[hider=...][b][code]Void[/code][/b] [code]That was what left in Zhejiang's heart after the attack on Hēi xīng, amidt the blood and the horror that played themselves again and again in her nightmares. They might have taken he over completely, subjecting herself to the Cold Mother's touch if not for Duccia. In the months that followed, Duccia never left her side if she could help it, never stop giving encouragement, never stopped watching over Zhejiang. She was her guiding star, the one thing she coudl turn to for some source of stability, comfort, or compassion in a world of pitieous looks or hidden disdain. 

Despite getting a medal for her actions, saving a total of 40 people from that massacre all on that own, it porved a bitter comfort when the number of the dead rose was several thousands and the whole system had to be evacuated because the U.A.S. command in the sector could not figure out how the abberrant's had managed to bypass every safeguard. 

And while the bloody dreams and shadowy figure never left her mind in those dark cold knights where the woman by her side proved her one and only comfort, something else finally began to match it. It did not fill the void in her soul, it aggravated it. Filled her with an overpowering itch to *Do* something.

So, using her family's name and her actions as collateral, she reapplied to the constellation program. The fear hurt her badly, made her weak, made her struggle more so than she had ever done before in her life. She had come face to face with the horrid realities of death and it scared her to her core. . . But she chose to fight on regardless, even as her father sought to blcok her path.

But with Duccia's support, she made iot past every oobstacle, turning her fear into burning passion and desire to not only uphold her family's honor and name, but to avenge her sister. To make sure their sacrifice wasn't for nothing. As such, when she finally earned her place amongst the stars, it was Brillaint Void that she chose to be her weapon. To carry on her sister's legacy.

The irony was so bitter she might have choked on it.[/code][/hider]

[center][h3][b][code]Home World[/code][/b][/h3][/center]
[b][code][Planet Description][/code][/b]
[code]Niǎndào{The Imperial Passage way)

Rumored to be the first exploration vessel by their sect founder in the early days of Earth's expansion, the Niǎndào is a huge vessel from pre-civil war times that stands as a testament to the Mortuus Orbitae's ability to adapt and repurpose things to fit their needs. Home to millions of citizens, military ersonell, and the heads of the Family, it is a rather haphazard spacecraft, its hull covered in various repairs and structures to denote the many differing eras of Mortuus design philiosphies it has bore wtiness to, though the main design is an extremely boxy function over form design that still holds a somewhat rugged form to it.

Despite its. . . unconventional appearance, however, you'll find few spacebound structures in the U.A.S. more structurally stable or well-defended. Armed with the latest in energy-based weaponry and Core-power shielding integrated into old-earth kinetic weapon, holding in it's depths an untold number of crusiers, fighters, and artillery ships that it can unleash at a moment with it's standing battle force. A veritable flying fortess, it has always been the speartip of the Void Mother's faithful, and was one of the few spacecraft able to repel Abberant assault in the early days of the war, though not without extensive damage and loss  of life.[/code]

[b][code][Culture][/code][/b] 
[code]The Way of Void [W.I.P]
To walk this path is to know that your end is inevitable, but it is in the inevitability that the followers of the Void Mother find their reason to keep persisting anyway. For they know that despite the cruel indifference she shows to them with the face of the Cold Mother, she does love and care for her children. We must prove ourselves worthy of her gaze.

The followers of the Way believe in several aspects of Divinity:

 The Stone Father, who imbues the Universe with passion and crafts the planets to act as either examples of his genius or to serve as cozy Cradles for life(mainly humanity) to use while they figure how to wonder the stars.

The Vlid Mother, the principle figure of worship whose love surronds and coddles us so delicately. Yet this is a harsh love, for she does not offer guidance but the chances and struggles needed to show us how to become worthy of her gaze. She knows thst all life will ultimately end, but it is in that ending that kne cam find fufilment and joy.

And finally, the Cold mother. The second face of the Void, she is thr ceaseless vacuum, the creeping chill that boils blood and steals breath. She is the harsh death and disdain saved for.those who give in to.their fears, there sorrows,their woe. She who sets the Cold apathy on unworthy shoulders and forbids them the Void's kindness till rhey prove themselves worthy once more[/code]

[b][code][Warrior Family][/code][/b] 
[code]Mortuus-Orbitae

A "warrior" family that draws a direct connection the the Hua sect, most that do not make a habit of serving along the frontier have likely never heard of this most reclusve of Warrior clans. Believers in a fringe religion(sporting only a few million registered believers across the expanse of frontier space stations they contro), many find them a bunch of esoteric fanatics that the Hua sect should denounce entirely. To these voices, the Mortuus-Orbitae have accomplished no great accomplishments, have offered no boon to Humanity's empire, merely sitting in their celestial space stations and looking down on those who dare to live planet side where they belong.

Those who have a deeper knowledge of this sect, however, know that they form the very *foundation* of Humanity's expansion across the cosmos. From the early days of conquest, through the turbulent period of civil war, amidst the painful rebuilding of empire, and even during this most brutal of wartime struggle against the abberrant tides, the Mortuus-Orbitae have sought to expand the hand of HUmanity into the vast void. Like the main sect itself, they have fingers in multiple industries related to the goal of galactic expansion and space travel.They manage the maintaince and construction of Space lanes and warp gates, they test, refine, and improve the standard quality of spaceflight technology, help run both colonization and evacuation efforts, and boast perhaps one of the deadliest and most coordinated starfleet armadas among any organization.

To the family itself, however, these are not reasons for accolades. These accomplishments are, in fact, the standard and focus that all of humanity should strive for. To explore the stars in the name of the goddess they call the Void Mother, they throw themselves into the study of technologies to not only better travel her empty depths, but to better their ability to survive it. Strict controls over-reproductive rights, generational genetic manipulation to lower the energy and oxygen needs of their people, and many shifts in doctrine have led to a culture that faces death as not an end, but an inevitability to embrace and accept. 

They were the blacksheep of the Hua sect, and may have even been disbanded eventually despite their achievements . . . but then, the abberrants came. The first years of the war were blooyd and terrible, but for some, they praise the tactics and fearless bravery of the Mortuus for humanity's survival to the point where they could begin a counter offensive. In every engagement, the mortuus would never retreat, would never surrender, would never even waver in their formations. Fighters streakign across space to their deaths to buy escape ships just a few minutes more, troops, manning atmospheric rail cannons and firing down at invasion forces even as abberant troops breaking into the the sealed firing rooms, even turning entire space stations into nuclear bombs 
 to take out an invading swarm fleet. 

The Mortuus Orbitae was not afraid to put their everything in resisting the aberrant threat in every front they found themselves in. As such, many Frontier planets will often treat them with some level of respect, though their odd mannerisms and tendency to distance themselves from 'stonedwellers' as they called those living planetside continued to keep a barrier between them and those they fought to protect. And despite their efforts, the cost of their tactics has long sense taken a toll on the Family who has focused the bulk of it's forces along the frontier planets and galaxies. Of the many sects and sub-sects, none ould be said to have lost more than the Mortuus to the Abberant fleets, nor can the depths of their hatred and outrage towards the Swarm be over-stated.[/code]

[center][h3][b][code]Notable Contacts[/code][/b][/h3][/center]
[img]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1269487054664892538/1269574973513662567/Smaller_Roommate.jpg?ex=66b08f55&is=66af3dd5&hm=17d086ef8285e15b11453cccf177198bcade18244af6caa7b8e3b78043a149bd&[/img]

[b][code][Name][/code][/b]
[code]Duccia[/code]

[b][code][Relation to Subject][/code][/b]
[code]Duccia Is Trace's Voidbound, her true partner in life while she is legally married to a man she's never met who knows how many light years away for some political favor or the other. Her guiding star, the light which has brought her back from the celestial edge of Apathetic wasting, the one true death that awaits those who find life's futiltiy too much to bear.[/code]

[b][code][Analysis][/code][/b]
[code]A fellow constellation, albeit one of Main rank, Duccia is the hearth that tempers Trace's roaring flame of fanatical passion. Possessed of an infectious energy and enthusiasm for life in all it's forms and features, but possessing a warrior's honor through and through. Duccia proves to be a steadying hand against the baser desires that drive her Voidbound's self-destructive behavior.

In battle, she fights like a Knight of old, energy shield on one hand an a grand lance known as the Venusian Star granting her a control over intense waves of arid heat and superheated gases. Launching herself into the thick of battle, she maintains a more defensive style while exuding waves of heat to exhaust her foes, though 
 this does make her a hazardous ally to those ill-prepared to work with her.

Out of battle, she is a woman of a grand empathy for those with less, having become a true believer of the Mother's Kindess despite being from a seperate family entirely, the 3rd daughter of some fifth son. Unimportant in the grand scheme of noble power plays, which is more than fine by her.

Also, absolutely horrid with money and finances, and banned from handling their shared accounts by Trace after falling for a interstellar phone scam one time too many. Did I mention she's a tad gullible too?[/code][/indent][/cell][/row][/table]
[center][img]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1269487054664892538/1269573145111822418/image.png?ex=66b08da1&is=66af3c21&hm=00637be6401473f146735bb05e6e279d3b23ad731e659bdd08ae1deddc908e2e&[/img][/center][/hider]