I would like to plot with Vay and some others who would be familiar with shifters to forge some character bonds from the get-go
Character Sheet
Name: Drake Nagasayda
Age/Origin: Near two centuries now, planet no longer applicable
Sex: Male
Race: Master Shifter (Former Wererat)
Physical Description: Drake usually appears as a six foot lithe humanoid with bat-like ears, a long whip-like rats tail and four clawed fingers on each hand. One arm is distinctly cybernetic to the shoulder, the only part of the shifter he cannot transform. He is well toned, scarred from constant conflict aboard the station. He keeps his hair short and the only thing to never shift with his transformations is his eye color, a vibrant green.
Job/Occupation: Pirate Lord of the Shifter Legion, occupying Hanger D3-D10 and some of the recreation facilities, minor foothold in medical section. Current operation of one Gravi-tram.
Personality: Drake is a driven individual, posessing a strong moral compass much diluted with hatred and betrayal. It's hard to measure what the Pirate Lord will do, as his behavior oscillates between merciful and merciless depending on both the situation and the people involved. Overall he is a survivalist and a leader, giving order to a people strongly wronged.
Strengths: Martial master- Drake has always prided himself on being deadly with his fists and other weapons. By far one of his most impressive abilities, the Wererat has honed every inch of his body with vibrant destructive force. Without his promise not to slay, this makes him nothing short of frightening.
Shifting- Drake has transcended shifters, unlocking the complete mutagenic ability of his condition. Rather than just his wererat transformations, Drake can transform his body to mimic other shifters or even other people. The only thing that cannot change is his cybernetic arm. As a shifter, his strength, speed, and senses are roughly thrice as strong as any normal human. These changes shift depending on the form he takes.
Shifter army and territorial awareness: Shifters know the tunnels and corridors of Moonwings best, living and surviving there themselves. They know how to hide, what to watch for, and some of the horrors that lurk the halls. While there isn't a crushing number of Shifters, there is enough to make them a potent force to be reckoned with.
Weaknesses: Silver. As always, a shifter's weakness seems to be held within that specific metal. Not only does it burn flesh, but so long as a shard of silver is lodged in a shifter, they are unable to transform.
The Edict of Diana- The Shifters owe Diana one favor, one that must be carried out to the best of their ability. Should someone know of the agreement and invoke it with a symbol of the Queen, the Shifter must comply with the best of their ability.
Cybernetic arm- The problem with shifting is that it only applies to organic parts. His cybernetic arm cannot transform with him and although outfitted with complex holographic technology, there are ways to tell. Likewise any strong enough electronic burst can restart the arm or even deactivate it completely.
Equipment: Most of Shifter resources are already on board. The fabled transformation gun is a farce. Instead, rather than shooting a ray that just transforms an individual, the gun fires a dart with a highly mutagenic virus, warping flesh and bone as the body tries to reconstitute hundreds of new genetic strands and variations. Most changes for a non shifter are permanent, creating ugly and most likely, dead, mutants. Drake also travels with a folding laser rifle, high tech optics for ranged shots, and a side arm using spent Uranium shells from material on the Space Station. Two vibra-knives, utilizing a swiftly oscillating engine within the hilt to make the six inch blades act much like a high powered saw, Fibra-weave body armor with flexible features for transformations, and finally, the Omni-gauntlet, hosting a series of tools for precise operations including wire cutters, plasma saundering, adhesive gel, an onboard AI for basic hacks, a comprehensive holographic function, and a force weave function for offensive capabilities.
History/Backstory: The Shifters were never from one planet, no. They spanned multiple worlds in a genetic condition that was almost, but not quite, a disease. These shifters were either kings or pariahs in their respective cultures so many found life outside their homes the best. Changelings, as they had come to be called sometimes, shifted with the time serving as militia and high paid spies for the highest bidder. Before, when Diana ruled, she promised the Shifters a planet of their own…the peaceful world of Lycan. Unfortunately, the resulting wars and the rebellion had the planet expunged of resources and turned into little more than a floating derelect husk. Without a planet, the Shifters could only be Void-born, wandering nomads with no home or land to call their own. In the Iwaku Alliance war, the Shifters worked as assassins and betrayers for the Alliance, promised similar rewards as Diana had promised should they abandon their morality for the good of the empire. Drake, a former general of Jack Shade, took these shifters and turned them into a loose confederation of pirates. Jack did not have the political clout or resources to promise the shifters what they needed and so Rory and Shade decided that they were the unfortunate martyrs of the new age. The campaign launched against the c Seen now as scapegoats, reputed as supporters of rebellion and ruin, Shifters have routinely been blocked from many space ports…shot on sight in others. The MoonWings space station gave them a home…and they use it to stage bloody raids on unwary travelers, mercilessly living without venturing further into the darkness of the station. Among the denizens sane enough to speak with aboard, the shifters know the tunnels best, and charge high prices to escort others through the shadows.
Drake's own mottled history has him as a small warlord in a no-name system before he found work with Jack Shade. He served in wars with Iwaku, besides the legends. He knows their darker sides, he has seen and bled with them in far off worlds or in the void of space.. When A.R.C broke away from the Iwaku Alliance, there was an offer for Shifter resources. Their abilities could be of great use, after all. However, Drake closed an iron hand of control and cut off communication with A.R.C, tired of his people being used for the agendas of others without care or concern. There is some animosity between Drake and Asmodeus, but the details are shrouded in a bloody past, one that has not been awakened in some time.
Why are you here?: Money enough to buy a planet, anger enough to keep the Alliance and A.R.C from it.
Horror/enemy creature/Object to Encounter: Crawlers- Ranging from the size of a fist to a mastiff, Crawlers are a constant problem for deep space vessels, especially those that sit long enough in one place without maintenance. It takes a while for an average Crawler spore to develop, roughly ten years. But when hatched, the Queen Crawler immediately beings producing more eggs with quicker incubation time. Capable of surviving in the vacuum of space, these spider-like creatures consume the metal making up the hull of the ship. Once breaching defenses, either by exhaust port or boring through the hull, Crawlers will consume anything alive within before turning back to consuming the ship. They roughly take the shape of metallic spiders, hundreds of black eyes across their body and a mouth full of gnashing teeth. For smaller Crawlers, a particularly frightening ability is host control. The smaller Crawlers make an incision while someone is asleep, integrating their body into the bio organism. Within the next few days, the spider releases chemicals and highly specialized neural strands from its body to control its host. Once controlled, the host can only be distinguished by an advanced state of control…silver veins in his eyes and tics as the host fights for control. These parasites are easy to manage usually, burning up in atmospheres…but so long as the spores are allowed to hatch, they can become a mounting infestation for any crew. The Moonwings Space station is home to a few small colonies of these creatures, rendering certain areas of the ship highly dangerous to venture into.
