Darshana Deol grew up as the middle child in a GEO military family. As a military brat she dreamed of her mother’s exploits, while she and her siblings dutifully followed her analyst dad’s advice and went to school. But Darshana was her mother’s daughter, and more interested in the physical side of life. She also developed a keen sense of justice, often daydreaming about old stories of truth and the strong protecting the weak. Rambunctious, athletic, and having a hard time sitting down and studying an academic life was never in the stars for her. But the stars were.
More or less drifting along the path that was open to her, Darshana did well. Her five-year GEO military career led to an offer by Anasi, who were looking for well-trained soldiers. And they offered her genetic modification, to be precise the rather novel Postnatal Herpetogenetic Enhancements treatment. PHE is meant to give the carrier some advantages based on lizard physiology. A variant of many hybrid genetics programs that had recently entered the high-end market, PHE is a bit less extreme and meant to make the carrier more durable, stronger, and more dexterous. Ideal for a soldier or guard, in other words. In exchange, Darshana would have to be willing to fly to Poseidon and help protect Anasi personnel and assets. Shane, as her peers called her by now, really liked the idea - working to protect settlers of the last actual frontier was a dream come true, and the genetic modification - usually far out of reach for someone with her financial means - was only the cherry on top. It did help that she had heard that Poseidon had many, many hybrids, and far less prejudice against them. Modification went very well, and 6 months after the first needle poked through her skin, Shane walked onto the shuttle for the next step of the journey. When she looked into the mirror her face was partially tinged blue, as were other parts of her body, and she had developed scales. She had already mastered controlling her more substantial strength, under careful supervision - the medical facility had taken excellent care of her. Anasi was clearly where she was meant to be. She noticed that no one else sported such modification, and sometimes idly wondered if Anasi had plans for her. Going above and beyond on behalf of her benefactor seems ok with her, though, and she trusted that she’d have ample opportunity to pay them back.
Once underway Shane made friends quickly, and she even befriended a French researcher, a slightly klutzy Marine Ecologist we already know. It was very obvious that Neva would need someone to protect her, and at one point Shane admitted to herself that she got a slight tingly feeling in her stomach at these thoughts. But she is a professional and was determined to do her job and make her parents proud.
Once in Haven, the job turned out to be more monotonous than she had hoped for, although she always knew that it wouldn’t be as exciting as her favorite stories. Lots of guard work, patrolling, checking equipment. Still, the air was cleaner than any she had breathed before, and when you went out for a swim there was always this intoxicating feeling of being whole. It was her favorite place to be. Every once in a while, someone needed to be handled, a thief or someone a bit too enthusiastically yelling anti-corpo slogans. Nothing bad, really, just normal guard stuff. And then there was the announcement of a prospecting trip, as they happened from time to time, and that she and another new guard would join a larger team of more experienced guards. Neva had specifically requested her presence, and Shane would protect her and a few prospectors as part of a small team. No issues were expected, but she did notice that the general loadout was a bit heavier than seemed appropriate. The older guards were also weirdly stand-offish, obviously bothered by her inhuman features. Once on location, her team was sent to a location at the border of the village to set up some sensors. They were nearly there when the engineer with them asked to go back - he had forgotten some equipment. Halfway back they suddenly heard weapons fire. Based on the sound, the first shot wasn’t fired by the locals. Shane steered Neva and the engineer who was with them into a smaller, easily defensible side street. Then she turned and saw one of her fellow guards gun down a fleeing, unarmed family. The guard noticed her, and barked orders - the locals ‘were all terrorists’, they had run ‘into an ambush’, and she was to indiscriminately “defend” herself against the locals.
She shot the murderer. Then she grabbed the wailing teenager who had survived the attack, grabbed Neva and the engineer, and worked to save as many innocents as she could.
Shane is a hero. She saved eight people that day and killed two more murderers. She managed to get all eight far enough away from the village in a stolen boat and managed to keep them alive until rescuers from another island arrived. And she is filled with a purpose she didn’t have before - Shane finally knows precisely who she is, and why she is here.
Let’s stat up Shane.
She didn’t realize it at the time, but part of the reason she was chosen was her charisma and appearance, the ideal person to roll out and tell a story about all the good things the company does - pale, tall, with long blonde hair and a good if cost-efficient fashion sense, and charismatic in a slightly self-conscious way. During her time on Poseidon, she has developed a strong tan, her hair tends to be a bit wild and kept in a strict ponytail to stay out of the way. Clothing-wise she goes with whatever is practical, something that comes easily to someone with the amount of field experience she has. People who meet her tend to like her immediately, and she has an assuredness in her manner she didn’t have before. But some also see her other side, the one that comes out when she has had enough, the nasty, take-no-prisoners side. There is little middle ground.
She is angry that she believed the lies she was told and wants to find and punish those responsible. On a larger level, she has no idea how to protect Poseidon and is too aware of how monumental that task is. But something has to be done, and she can’t look away anymore.
Reputation-wise, few people in the frontier know of her. Some know she switched sides, but many do not. Those who do not tend to see her as a harmless egghead with dangerous bosses.
Attributes
Shane will be fit, but maybe not quite as good with people. How about Cognition -1, Psyche 0, Coordination 1, Physique 0. As an exceptional person, she also adds one rank and increases Psyche to 1. The PHE genotype adds another +1 to Coordination, and +2 to Physique. Physique now exceeds baseline human maximum; Shane is extremely strong. For her focus attributes (which are +1 higher than base, one of them +2) she gets:
- Cognition -1 -> Focused 0 Humorous 1
- Psyche 0 -> Easygoing 1 Gutsy 1
- Coordination 2 -> Explosive 3 Fast 3
- Physique 3 -> Fit 4 Unassuming 4
Note that the PHE also means that she gets -1 on social maneuvers. Not a direct attribute malus, but it does affect her rolls.
Strain
There are mental and physical strain. These are not hit points, but points that can be used to indicate additional effort, and therefore can be spent to either slightly nudge a target number or reroll a failed roll. With Psyche -1 she has 1 Mental Strain, and Physique 3 means 3 Physical Strain. PHE adds another point to Physical Strain. Shane will also heal in half the normal time.
Skill sets
Her six skill sets will be:
- 4 GEO Combat Training -> Small Unit Tactics -> Hand-to-Hand Combat
- 4 Incorporate Free Zone -> GEO Liberation Facility -> Urban Survival
- 3 Newcomer Culture -> GEO Culture -> Incorporate Survival
- 4 Stand-Up Gal -> Social Butterfly -> Friendly
- 3 Media Buff -> Conviction -> Sense of Justice
- 2 Poseidon Corpo Guard -> Anasi Culture -> Driver
Tags
Shane has two tags
- Aches for Justice (+2 to rolls when directly dispensing such)
- Born Romantic (easily distracted by love and relationships)
Tracks
She also gets one track, with the group track TBD. I will give her Loyalty, a suggested example track that I think fits - Shane is sure Anasi are bad people, but she is also not quite sure yet that the insurgents are necessarily better. The stages are:
Would Die For You +4/-4, Got Your Back +2/-2, On the Same Side 0/0, Mistrust -2/+2, Knife In Your Back -4/+4
Ties
Her ties are:
- Ken Garret Ally Protect
- Stargazer Friend Emotional support, blowing off steam
Ken Garret is another escaped Anasi employee, the engineer who was with Shane when the attack started - he is a non-combatant, also a lot older. Stargazer is a young dolphin who is part of the insurgents. Shane and he got along immediately, they have a similar outlook on life
Biomods
Biomods for hybrids cost 25% more, the hybridization itself doesn't cost.
- Defensive Subdermal Plates (+1 to protect hand-to-hand-maneuvers)
- Rib Covers (Armor +1, in addition to other sources)
- Night Vision
All of these are pretty low in cost (the total for Shane is < 22k) and seem fitting for an elite guard that is already primed for hybridization, which itself costs 10x more. Note: Yes, Anasi had plans for Shane that she does not know about.
As before I will skip Gear, Weapons, Armor, and will link to the Google Doc for Shane.
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