@Deos Morran Oh so we're on the same page with that.
In the real US military, you go to officer training to gain an officer's commission. Hence why Lieutenants are young. But enlisted recruits wouldn't be a Lieutenant in a few years. It is incredibly rare for an enlisted to rise to a commissioned officer, especially so in such a short time. However that's the human military.
Everything we know about Turian ranks is that everyone joins at 15, and people who want to be officers train even longer than enlisted. They get promoted based on the recommendations of their peers and their superiors. So she would have been placed in training first, she wouldn't have been put into dangerous covert field assignments right away being so young. If she wanted to be a Lieutenant, the training would have been long and intense and she'd need to show command ability. And she'd still be a typical soldier, not an elite who gained the attention of the Spectres. So you'd have to come up with something that makes her stand out in her later career since you can't have a Reaper attack in her teenage years.
Yeah Aegon has a mexta. It's a turian sword, a family heirloom of his. Kind of like an officer's saber.
@MrDidact See that was kinda my thought on the officer thing and I was basically tying her lone infiltrator position as a sort of Warrant Officer tier or as like an officer of the Special Forces as in the real American Army... But of course this isn't the real world... or even with Humans... So maybe it would make more sense for her to be enlisted...
As for the early Reaper attack I was just kinda attributing that to it being an early attack effort in the start of the Reaper War. But even then I don't think the Reaper War lasted 6 years... So probably gonna have to adjust those time values to put her in canon constraints...
And as for her being seen by the Spectres it's what she did during the Reaper War that would put her in their sights. Using her hatred and efficiency to kick much ass in her unique way.
You could always have the incident be something that happens when she's already in the military after having more training. She's on leave at home when the war starts and the attack begins. It would also make more sense for someone who's already a trained soldier to survive such a situation.
I would also add that the Turian defensive forces wouldn't buckle and retreat so haphazardly. Doctrine states that they'd hold out as long as possible before attempting to withdraw in good order, covering the retreat with traps and a strong rearguard. It wouldn't be a everyone for themselves dash.
@MrDidact ITs funny you say that... I no shit was just typing how she was involved in the War of Taetrus as an Infiltrator where she dealt with splinter cells of the Facinus and once that mess was over she went back home when the Reapers attacked. I'm dead serious I'v already wrote...
"When Alria was 15 she went off to the military academy learning her way around in the Turian armed forces and honing her skills with a pistol and her own hands. While not exactly a conventional method of combat she proved to be exceptional at it which raised some attention to her skill. Upon placing her in an Infiltrator roll and assigning her to one of the many units that went to Taetrus to combat the Facinus separatist group.
Her skills and stealthy ability proving invaluable at taking out splinter cells located throughout the planet specifically working in Spaedar and Madra to weaken their fortified positions and damage their fragmented infrastructure.
However, due to her role as a ghost she"
AS for the panic I claimed the civilian element buckled. The soldiers held the walls faithfully to the end much as Alria's parents had. The only issue with their lack of retreat was that they were surrounded and essentially the attack was so strong and sudden on an outpost with a population of about 200-300 that it didn't leave much room for tactical planning.
@MrDidact See that was kinda my thought on the officer thing and I was basically tying her lone infiltrator position as a sort of Warrant Officer tier or as like an officer of the Special Forces as in the real American Army... But of course this isn't the real world... or even with Humans... So maybe it would make more sense for her to be enlisted...
Just as a bit of info, warrant officers are basically the top of the NCO food chain, they're the guys who went up from private and climbed the ranks. Most warrant officers are lifers who are middle-aged and are the guys lieutenants turn to for experience.
@DervishOh trust me, I'm tracking. I work with a bunch of them. That's why I was basically saying that she'd be more effectively a Warrant Office in the essence she is an office who actually does stuff. Age variances aside...
@Deos Morran If she was on Taetrus and if she was CQC she would most likely be part of the hastatim, those were the forces they used to clear buildings and fight insurgency. They're special forces as well. But they have a nasty reputation despite their essential role.
Civilians are former military though, they all know how to fight and serve as a militia in war. Not saying they wouldn't buckle eventually but they wouldn't panic like a human colony with mostly untrained civvies would.
@BlackSam3091Agreed wholeheartedly. Plus, it wouldn't make much sense for someone to be both a talented long range specialist as well as have special CQB capability.
To be honest, I'd like to see a up-close-and-personal infiltrator. We have a ton of snipers, but no assassins.
@MrDidact Wait so literlaly all Turians go through military training at age 15? I thought that was just an option they had... In that case I got some writing to do...
EDIT: Holy crap I just googled the Hastatim and that totally fits her too. Remember how I said that whole loyalist and ruthless feature she has about the collateral element? This is a reason she has that! I didn't even know the Hastatim was a thing but this is the best! Thanks for that pointer!
@DervishOh trust me, I'm tracking. I work with a bunch of them. That's why I was basically saying that she'd be more effectively a Warrant Office in the essence she is an office who actually does stuff. Age variances aside...
Yeah, it's just for the whole age thing a warrant's kind of an off example, since if those guys were officers, they'd probably be floating around colonel in terms of experience and what not.
@Deos Morran If she was on Taetrus and if she was CQC she would most likely be part of the hastatim, those were the forces they used to clear buildings and fight insurgency. They're special forces as well. But they have a nasty reputation despite their essential role.
Civilians are former military though, they all know how to fight and serve as a militia in war. Not saying they wouldn't buckle eventually but they wouldn't panic like a human colony with mostly untrained civvies would.
Those dudes are basically the turian Gestapo.
@MrDidact Wait so literlaly all Turians go through military training at age 15? I thought that was just an option they had... In that case I got some writing to do...
All turians are conscripted into civil service starting at age 15 and serve until they are 30, where they have the option of leaving their service. Most go into the military, but there's other stuff as well, like policing, medicine, administration, firefighting, etc.
Basically everyone does boot camp at 15 but serving in the military could literally be any job since the military and civilian sectors are the same thing in Turian society.
Standing at 6’ 2’’ and weighing in about 150 pounds Alria is a very lithe and thin woman who cuts a very strong and attractive figure. Her body is fluid and flexible and really the only blemish she has in a nasty gunshot scar on the left side of her hips.
Backstory:
Alria was born to a humble Turian family on their Homeworld of Palaven. Though very earlier in her life she found that she would grow up on a much more under developed planet as when she was only 2 her family was deployed as part of a security detail to Amber Horizon, a recently developed Turian colony that had been established just that year. It was supposed to be a good assignment for his soldier parents. Letting them serve the Turian people while still having a peaceful assignment from which to raise their young daughter.
Alria didn’t even remember Palaven really. In fact her only memory was of rolling mountains and valleys that stretched out against a beautiful rising sun. She couldn’t even remember where the memory came from as Amber Horizon was her new home and that was where she learned to walk, talk, and play with her fellow Turians, though she didn’t have many children to play with due to the colony’s relative new stature and utility purpose as a forward communications colony. This in turn left her to either her own devices which often led to adventures of running around the forests around the colony. Which in turn often led to several injuries and encounters with the local hostile life that made her parents get a little upset with her antics. Her other method of entertainment was to run around the colony and make friends with the locals, often trying to offer help to the communication technicians and engineers who made sure the colony ran straight. This ensured that she had many older friends who would even say kind greetings and pass her treats when her parents were both out on guard duty along the walls of the colony.
This was how her life turned out for the next decade, watching the world not change, but that was ok for her. This was a nice life and it kept her happy. Along that way she continue to help where she could and that in turn taught her some life skills such as how to set up and maintain communication relays as well as fly shuttles and dropship that were used to deliver and retrieve supplies and cargo around the planet. All by the young age of 14! Not to mention her own parents teaching her about the ways of war as well as how to be a right proper ass-kicker. Mostly so she could fend off those pesky boys as her Dad said. Yet with Dad jokes aside she was learning quickly to fight, shoot, and defend in the case of an attack.
When Alria was 15 she went off to the military academy learning her way around in the Turian armed forces and honing her skills with a pistol and her own hands. While not exactly a conventional method of combat she proved to be exceptional at it which raised some attention to her skill. Upon placing her in an Infiltrator roll and assigning her to the Hastatim that went to Taetrus to combat the Facinus separatist group.
Her skills and stealthy ability proving invaluable at taking out splinter cells located throughout the planet specifically working in Spaedar and Madra to weaken their fortified positions and damage their fragmented infrastructure.
However, due to her role as a ghost she was not credited nor awarded for her faithful efforts. Though this didn't bother her one bit as it meant the conflict was over and she could have a chance to return home, and that she did heading back to Amber Horizon and reconnecting with her family and friends. Once again she felt at peace as she went back to helping around the communications relay and adventuring around the forests.
This life was not meant to last though as the news of the Reapers coming back started to resurface which put the colony into overdrive. After all they were a communications relay that allowed for rapid and effective communications to the fleets and outposts near the front lines. However, this faithful service to the Turian people came at a grave cost. The Reapers had tracked down the relay signal and that meant that before long the skies went dark with enemy ships that deploy soldiers… no… monsters down on the colony.
As chaos set in every one of the guards as well as some of the technicians ran to the walls to defend a battle they could never win. Alria looked around for anything she could help with and while she wanted to take a rifle to the walls she was pushed away by her parents to help the technicians secure or destroy the equipment less it fall into enemy hands. Her knowledge of the equipment proving somewhat helpful as the defenses began to collapse around them. Husks, Cannibals, and Scions burst over the walls slaughtering all the Turians present regardless of if they were combatants or not.
Alria was terrified for her parents who were still fighting on the walls as far as she knew. So with everything around in chaos she took her chance to make it to the walls only to see the last moments of her parent’s lives. The monsters had them surrounded and she could only watch as they were shot down and lay still.
With tear filled eyes she turned around and ran, looking around with foggy eyes she watched and saw all of her friends die and something in her snapped. She ran from cover to grab an Avenger rifle to which she took aim at a charging Husk only to freeze at the last moment. She'd fought in war, against sepetatitsts and traitors who she had to kill in return, but this was different. It was like a true horror running from her nightmares to kill her and she froze. As the monster leaped to tackle her something else leaped to tackle it; it was her mother, still bloody from the walls. Struggling for her life Alria’s mother shouted out, “Shoot it!” To which the shaking Alria held up her rifle to empty the magazine into the Husk. Dropping it to the ground Alria ran up to her mother and bent over her, crying as she begged and pleaded for her to get up and flee with her into the woods. Yet she knew it was too late and so her mother said, “Please… I love you… so much… now run… run!” Alria let her tears fly free as she cried over her mother who gave her one last hug. Then as her last wish she gave Alria her pistol, a custom and special thing that she always intended to pass onto her daughter… just not like this.
Alria made it out of the colony and hid in the woods as her home was stolen from her and she was the lone survivor. Guilt and sadness eating away at her very bones she waited. Crying and praying that things would just go back to the way they were. And as the days passed by her sadness and grief turned into rage and hate. She hated those monsters for taking everything she had and that made her want payback.
Returning to her stolen home she found an occupational force guarding the communications relay that they tried to destroy during the invasion. They had to have been trying to splice into their network and really Alria didn’t care. She didn’t care that they were trying to steal secrets. She didn’t care that they were trying to take their things. She didn’t care that they wanted what her home had to offer. She only cared that she knew what they wanted and that she knew how to deprive them of it.
Sneaking like a shadow she returned home and using her mother’s Custom Silenced Reaver M-17 Pistol she started to wage a one woman guerrilla war to reap the reapers and as she snuck back to the relay she had several close calls which would certainly spell certain doom. But her determination lead her on and then into the relay she went. Slinking around the ducts and maintenance corridors as she made her way to the power supply knowing that she only had to put one well-placed grenade to turn the entire facility into a giant fireball.
Before long she snuck to her goal and had a chance, but she wanted more… It wasn’t enough to just starve the Reapers of this resource; she wanted to hurt them too. Taking the suppressor off of her pistol she started to shoot the Cannibals and make a real firefight engaging the monsters which in turn made more come to the relay to stop the threat. Just as she wanted and not thinking of her own safety she was shot in her hip. That turning point making her realize this was it. She took her grenade and threw it into the power supply letting the heavy electrical currents cook the metal of the casing in its entirety to give her more time to escape.
Limping back to the maintenance tunnels she crawled and ran as fast as she could before a solid thump could be heard radiating behind her. That in turn causing a chain reaction which made the entire place begin its death song. She knew her time was short and that meant she had to move fast if she was to survive long enough to hurt the Reapers again. As fires started to burst around her the exit showed and she used the last of her energy to run out as and escape at the last second. Still yet her task wasn’t done. This planet was doomed and she had to escape. Looking around as the Reapers had lost track of her she saw one of the intact orbital transports. That was her ticket out. Running for the ship she got inside undetected and then put her pilot’s training to use, firing up the ship and ignoring any and all protocols for takeoff instead to just take flight and launch herself into the stars and to safety.
Alria, 19, alone, and lost in the galaxy drifted wondering what to do unable to forget the nightmare she lived through on Amber Horizon. That was when she was found by a Turian fleet that took her ship and saved her life. It was in that moment she found her direction. Returning to the Turian military and offering her skills as an elite infiltrator she took to serving on countless missions requesting or even demanding assignments that put her against the Reapers. Her skills with stealth, pistols, and CQC skill proving to be incredibly lethal and effective while her knowledge of technology and piloting offering her a wider set of skills for sabotage and self-insertion.
This was her life, getting her payback on the Reapers and being good at it up until she was 20 and the Human Commander Shepard led his team on Earth to use the Crucible and end the war. Still serving in the Turian military she had a new goal. Return home and finally put her past to rest.
Psyche Profile:
Key Details from the dossier of Vicrinus, Alria Codenamed: “Angel”
Psychologically Vicrinus acts and behaves rather young and care free for her already rather young age. Often goofy and elated Vicrinus is often seen humming as she goes about her business. Regardless of her task she seems to enjoy it, from training, cooking, singing, or even dancing. Attributing factors to this may include her solitary lifestyle as well as a seeming love for freedom and whimsy... […Vicrinus has proven to be great with children due to the previously stated whimsical view of life…]
...Vicrinus has shown an almost obsessive view of her armaments treating them with the utmost care before, during, and after each mission. Eye witness accounts have stated that she has been seen talking to her pistol. Vicrinus wished to make no comment on the issue. Psychological impact of this behavior has been dismissed due to the lack of negative effects that it presents...
WARNING: Known trauma from the Amber Horizon Incident has left Vicrinus with a deep seeded hatred for the Reapers. Extent of this hatred has yet to be explored but it has proven to guide her.
...On mission Vicrinus has proven to be a highly effective member of a team, taking her orders and briefing to heart and committing her actions to swift and effective action. In fact this effect can be visibly and verbally noticed by the activation of her visor. Once her tactical readout has been engaged Vicrinus rarely speaks and often adopts a “kill or be killed” attitude...
...Vicrinus has proven to adopt very “loyalistic” outlook making actions to preserve friendly life and ruthlessly kill enemy presences. “Obstacles and Collateral Elements” as Vicrinus has previously stated are of no consequence and while she “Strives to avoid unnecessary death” has proven to “non-lethally subdue” previously stated elements even if it brings the subjects to a state of pain...
Specialty:
Alria specializes in assassination and sabotage. With her incredible skill with close-quarters combat and pistols as well as her eye and knowledge of finding weak points in enemy structures leave her with plenty of utility as long as she has the tactical advantage of surprise. Due to the Amber Horizon Event she has developed a special bravery that helps to guide her into ridiculously close ranges from which she takes down her foes. Her skill with a blade and her own hands is unrivaled, being able to fight off three foes at once with a bit of effort put in. Yet where she becomes the most lethal is when she gets the drop on her foes, unleashing a torrent of bullets from her pistol, while tossing her Omni-Daggers, and using her Special Omni-Blade for the finishing touches.
Beyond her combat capability she has spent weeks flying in varied environments leaving her as a very skilled and talented pilot. While not as good with capital sized vessels; fighters, transports, and small frigates or corvettes feel like home to her.
Powers/Skills:
Tactical Cloak
Incinerate
Armor-Piercing Ammo
Disruptor Ammo
Cryo Ammo
Decryption
Ace Pilot
CQC Mastery
Equipment and Resources:
Sticky Grenades
Flashbang Grenades
M-83-2 Infiltration Explosives
Custom Suppressed Reaver M-17 Pistol (Custom made and crafted by Alria’s mother this suppressed pistol mixed rapid rates of fire and low recoil with high stopping power for a highly effective sidearm.)
Twin Custom “Scythe” Omni-Blades (Physical Special knives that generates an Omni-field around the blade to give it a powerful and lethal edge.)
Omni-Throwing-Daggers (Generated from her wrist gauntlets these blades form the same holographic energy that most conventional Omni-Blades are made of. Though using a magnetic dispersion field they can maintain their solid shape and be thrown; existing for an extended period of time away from the source.)
Personally Owned and Modified XA-273 Long-Range Scout
Sample Post:
Palaven. Really Alria remember it much more differently, but that didn’t really matter much now anyway. The Reapers had been cruel to the Turian homeworld and that meant her one memory of this place was just that, a faraway memory.
Her mission was to assault an enemy position and remove the threat of artillery strikes that it posed. The Reapers had taken over a Turian artillery position and were now shelling their positions with their own munitions. That could not continue.
Alria had wasted no time in closing the distance to the site but then took a moment to inspect it. 12 hostiles, mostly Marauders who were defending the position while two worked the two remaining artillery cannons. Among them was 4 Husks that appeared to just be mindlessly wandering around, which left the 8 Marauders as the real threat. Timing was key and she didn’t have much time to wait for her opportunity as each shell could mean more friendly casualties.
Thankfully her chance arrived when Marauder on top of the ridge turned its back for some reason leaving the Husks unwatched. Dashing like a bolt of lightning the invisible Alria drew her knife and pistol and closed the gap to her foes. In the blink of an eye she slashed the first Husk becoming visible and taking its head off with the precision of her strike. In the next fraction of a second she took a swift aim with her pistol and depressed the trigger to turn the second Husk’s head into metal shrapnel. Before the two survivors knew what was going on and could shriek for help Alria already had her knife sheathed so she could grab a Omni-Dagger which was thrown with deadly accuracy at the flick of a wrist to strike a Husk in the body. Though that didn’t seem to kill it. Regardless she took aim at the unharmed Husk and turned his head to dust much as she had done to the last one. Then with the wounded Husk left she drew another Omni-Dagger and hurled it at the Husk to hit its head. That time it fell to the floor dead.
Not yet finished she cloaked again and both silently and swiftly made her way up to the artillery position. 8 hostiles left 2 working stations, the other 6 patrolling and as of yet unaware of her actions…. Perfect. Alria drew two Sticky Grenades and in her other hand her pistol stood ready. Rushing in once more her invisible frame threw the first grenade at the control panel of the artillery station making the Marauder question what just made a slight thunk against his cannon before it detonated in a small but very powerful explosion that turned him to paste… 7. From there she tossed the second and once again the second artillery cannon with his user were taken out of commission… 6.
In a flash Alria fired her pistol while cloaked disrupting her field but in the process putting two shots to the chest and one to the head of a Marauder… 5. Meanwhile her grenade hand flawlessly drew three Omni-Daggers that were then tossed one at a time to the second Marauder. The first struck his shoulder, the second his thigh, then the third his head… 4.
At this point her presence was known and the survivors turned to face and fire on her, but before the first shot could be made Alria had already closed the gap to one and drew her Omni-Blade shooting him once to open his flank before making two swift slashes, one to the side and the second to his neck, looking to strike vital areas… 3. It was then the bullets started flying and that made her use the corpse of the Marauder as cover so she could catch a moment to blink.
In response to their gunfire she dashed towards them looking to remove their ranged advantage and in doing so she took four shots with her pistol, all striking true into the chest of another Marauder… 2. With the gap closed one of the two surviving Marauders took a swing with its rifle looking to club her, but Alria almost seemed to expect this as she ducked and rolled under the swing to slash up at its arm cutting deep and long to make the Marauder drop its rifle. In that same instant she holstered her pistol and lashed out with her free hand to grab the Marauder’s arm to steady her movement, using that to swiftly stab up with her blade to hit under the Marauder’s jaw… 1.
For the last Marauder she rolled low towards him using her low position to essentially tackle his legs, reaching up to grab his arm and using her blade to cut at his waist. All this attributing to an overhead roll that put the Marauder on his back. Finally using this advantage she swung the blade back around to slam it through the Marauder’s eye, pinning his head to the ground… 0.
With the fight over Alria drew her blade out of the Marauder’s head and sheathed it, standing up and looking around to ensure things were handled before she reached up to her visor, activating her comms, ”Artillery position decommissioned. Returning to camp.”
Notes
She considers herself straight and has an affinity for Turians, Quarians, and Humans.
Due to her very active and rather turbulent life she can’t really claim to have much experience with romance. So much so that she can’t claim to have lain with another.
Also I really need to head to bed so if there are any more comments please say them and I'll try to take care of them tomorrow.
@Mega Birb That's a good question. Ellis has his small schooner, but it's three man vessel at best, and Ellis is the size of three men. I'm pretty sure one of the Quarians has their own ship too, as well as Sicaria, I believe.
Who knows, this could end up with everyone bringing their own ships and just forming some oddball convoy.
Oh, and @Rithy, Cerbs are always a death cult. They're crazy science freaks who are really, really racist. They're the KKK times One million. If you imagine the cops busting into a KKK weapons stronghold, it'd be very similar to to our group knocking on the door of a Cerberus Research and Development facility. Same zealotry, same ideals, same level of hate. They'd open fire on our group as soon as they noticed a non-human. To be honest, at this point, it might be wise to use our three humans to infiltrate and breach. With three humans, Anderson could keep an eye on Ellis, Salissa is there to provide good backup, and suppressive capability. And then you've got Ellis' talents, allowing you to create a large enough diversion that a Krogan in the base is the least of their worries.
That having been said, seriously, Ellis is not trustworthy. Not that he's a common traitor, but motives get skewed in his head. You gotta watch that guy.
Another cool idea would be to use the advance team as a diversion. If the advance team creates enough of a widespread chaos, the sneak team could get in easy. Right behind them, in fact. But the advance team would need to really make a huge scene. Something like... everything on fire would achieve that.
But I believe somewhere it was stated we'd have a base of sorts... I could be wrong, but maybe that's where those who don't go on missions will be, so that they can interact (or not) with each other? If that's the case, it could be where the various ships we have will be docked there when the time comes.
@MechonRaptor I think it'll be cool when some of our characters are out on missions, and the rest are at base on down time. It's gonna be some really interesting interpersonal development. I am amazed at how nonchalant everyone was about the gun-swinging xenophobe.
Will review the sheet when I have when I have more time.
Just a few quick comments, there will be a ship which the group will use to travel the galaxy. Sam and I are in the process of coming up with NPCs with which to populate it with. Many of them are almost as eccentric as the group we assembled here. You are of course free to suggest your own NPCs for the ship.
And Cerberus isn't always super racist, very often they are but not always, but they are very much pro-human. Remember all the nice non-racist Cerberus agents on the SR2 in ME 2? Suffice to say that we will expand on what this version of Cerberus is like generally.
@MrDidact It's a good point, as they are known to use aliens in a number of functions. That having been said, if anyone remembers Pragia, they did plenty of evil to fellow humans as well.
One more thing, though: Every officer on the SR-2 was specifically chosen because of their personality, to be the best possible match for the crew's captain. So, naturally, the more dangerous and prejudiced individuals would have been passed over for the job.
Cerberus has a bad rep, but their foreign policy seems to be incredible. They have a lot of alien operatives and informants, oddly enough. Plus, they let Shepherd hire an entire team of aliens. That right there was some of the best publicity Cerb could've ever gotten.
How do people feel about a loyalty mission involving Ja'Far? Possibly involving the murder of a former politician, or several, who have it for his head because the Legionnaires killed their children or something maybe? And their existence might be a liability to the mission because they're vocally against our Batarian's involvement in this squad and maybe have even sent assassins to kill him in the past.
I wanted to bring this up with everyone before proposing it. Just wanted some opinions :)
1x Laugh
