Approved Character Erika Elster

[Sunny D]

Species: Nekovalkyrja 33A

Serial #: NSN 33-43-561241-252455-1

Year of birth: YE43

Organisation: Star Army of Yamatai

Occupation: SAINT Operative

Rank: Santô Hei

Appearance

Erika is 6’, generally towering over her sisters and has Nordic features. The smooth, fair skin upon her hourglass figure is drawn taut over her toned frame. What little body fat she has seems to be strategically placed upon her chest and hips. She has silver hair that extends to halfway down her back which she had pulled into a tidy ponytail, and her fringe has a set of bangs that frame her heart shaped face. A pair of round golden eyes are inset within, often wide, alert and shining with curiosity. Her voice is resonant, possessing a velvety quality and readily able to efficiently convey her emotional state. A scent of Eucalyptus seems to follow her around.

Personality

“I happen to be a blood crazed death dealing warrior who wakes up every day just hoping for the opportunity to dismember my enemies and defile their civilisations.” Erika said, a wide grin plastered across her face.

Erika is more irreverent compared to her other sisters, a veneer of bravado over most things she says. She seemingly goes out of her way to make minor social faux pas just to get under their skin of her fellow Nekovalkyrja, and its an explanation she’ll freely accept with a smug grin. The reality is deeply anxious about the nature of her existence and the additional procedures she was subjected to during her training, which, due to her nature as a constructed entity, has led to a fear that she might be defective. These small acts of rebellion help her assert her individuality.

Hobbies

Erika loves competitive sports. When the girls get together to play zero g laser tag, she’s quick to jump in. Despite the fact she’s got the handicap of having a larger silhouette Erika tends to do quite well. In the case of most other sports her stature is a boon rather than a bane.

Goals

An occasional image of an acreage floats up into her minds eye from time to time, a place a part where she can more freely exercise her independence.

Maybe take up cooking?

History

Proud batch of ’43, Erika attended her socialisation training, then basic. A 33A originally slated for ground forces, her instructors noted that she had keen observation skills surpassing those of her peers and thus recommended her for SELECT. She was shipped off to compete against other candidates at Black Sands. Built for the service with a sturdy psychological core, Erika managed to get through the ordeal and was given a ‘go’, though perhaps not without it taking a toll on her still developing psyche. Further training in utilising her innate observation skills to conduct analysis further exacerbated these developing eccentricities. The change in her personality was deemed as within tolerance.

Despite the negatives, there were certainly some positives. There was something akin to a hunt in information gathering and analysis that spoke to Erika’s engineered genes; stalking prey, waiting for the opportune moment.

Following graduation, (she was assigned to a SIFT unit to assist with their operations, specifically overwatch, analysis and communications. To better fill her role before deployment she was given additional training in Electronic Warfare.) Removable if the GM has an idea for how to fit this in first deployment.

Skills

Electronic Warfare

She has a demonstrated ability to employ these skills effectively in both defensive and offensive role. She is experienced with on lower powered man portable systems to be used in the field, but core concepts should be applicable to other scales of hardware.

Rogue

A core unit of her training, Erika is proficient in a wide variety of Trade craft skills. Social engineering, covert entry, interrogation, and encryption are just some of the concepts she’s been trained in.

Survival

A fair portion of her training was dedicated to field craft. Camouflage and concealment, first aid, navigation, and traversal. In particular, using terrain to transmit a signal while masking one’s location was a competency in her Signals unit. While she might object to some of the conditions, she found herself in, she enjoys the solitude of such scenarios. If in an actual life-threatening situation, the Standard Conditioning Package and her SERE training make her a monster to contend with.

Fighting/Physical

What she’s built for. Erika’s stature has both pros and cons. A larger silhouette makes of a more appealing target, while the increased leverage certainly has its benefits. Whilst she handily beat her standard type 33 peers in training at most hand-to-hand tasks, the number of times her instructors left her lying on her back upon a training mat humbled her. She’s a competent marksman and power Armour operator, with a particular talent for fast acrobatic feats.

Inventory & Finance
Erika has the following:

• A set of Standard Issue equipment
• An EM-J5-1a, purchased second hand and heavily modified, specifically the communications and sensors were upgraded to improve its SIGINT and EW capabilities.
• SA-CDLD-2 Covert Directional Listening Device
• Type 34 1b multi-function bracelet
• Type 29 Butt pack with assorted antenna and additional hardware related to her job, mainly Software Defined Radio equipment.
• Assorted civilian clothes, particularly fitness clothing.

Erika currently has 1000 KS (I’m guessing).

Character Will
In the case I become inactive (gone for more than a month):

• Can this character be used as an NPC by a GM or FM? YES
• Can this character be adopted after I'm gone for a year or more? NO

 

[Ametheliana]

What plot is this meant for?

I don't think "Electronic Warfare/Digital Warfare/Signals Intelligence" would be the core of their training, that's more of an information warfare specialist's job. It's included on the SAINT operative page in the context of someone that transferred to SAINT from another occupation, not a freshly made santo hei, but it really feels like that is the occupation you want. That said, re-wording it to say their primary interest lay in learning about those things wouldn't be wrong, but saying it's the core of INDOC is. I don't think she would specialize in Signals Intelligence and Digital Warfare, she'd likely be a SAINT information warfare specialist who in the future has prospects of being an operative. Or she'd just be an analyst with an interest and proficiency in that.

I again see them as more of an analyst than an operative. Blurring the lines between the two takes away from the uniqueness of both of them. I myself play operatives and analysts and my analyst gets the most play. She does everything you say your character is interested in and is a boon to her plotship because she's an analyst instead of an operative. Operatives are, honestly, hard to place in regular plotships.

I don't want to be nitpicky, but "The unit on physical security was only 2 days long" plays down how padded her Rogue section would be. The first field course "Survival, Escape, Resistance, and Evasion (SERE)" which would cover what you wrote is so important it's got its own acronym and is first on the list.

 

[Sunny D]

>What plot is this meant for?
I'm happy to make tweaks to better fit it in with anyone who'll take me on board.

A lot of these things I was thinking as I was typing up, but it was kind of hard to gauge where a genetically engineered cat girl with a semi digital consciousness would be on the scale of competency.

Lets break this down
what I want:
Kicking down doors

What I don't want:
Extended periods of sitting on my hands

What this was trying to achieve:
I think forward observer is the closest thing. I went down the rabbit hole on... certain recent developments that I found really interesting, whoch also lead me down another rabbit hole on sigint. Given how integrated Nekos are, spine connections, all sorts of things, they provide interesting avenues to apply current concepts I thought to be cool to explore. Like you could plug an antenna into one of the spine interface and do spectrum analysis whilst on the move. And whilst not explicitly trained for shipboard operations the core concepts are the same which would give her the ability to participate in on going operations between ground side deployments. Which by the way the wiki is a rabbit hole all of its own.

Having said that, certainly appreciate that such a suite of skills might take longer to develop. I could make the training phase longer or have an additional deployment, but I can certainly see some interesting development opportunities with an analysist wanting more time in the field.

>I don't want to be nitpicky, but...
My feeling is SERE is covered mainly as Fieldcraft, not Tradecraft. Fieldcraft is more covered under Survival in my minds eye while Tradecraft is covered under Rouge. I know SERE is a lot more involved and didn't mean to imply it was only a few days.

 

[demibear]

She honestly fits more as a Ranger than SAINT since I am definitely sensing a MARSOC or FSTer here. So Infantry with a Ranger qualification. More incentive to redo the old Ranger article. *wink wink*

Besides all that, the character looks great, just missing Star Army Common Skills on Star Army Space Roleplay and the starting KS is 3,000.

 

[raz]

Since I wrote all of the SAINT stuff, I can shed a little light on ironing out a few wrinkles here.

This character has a focus on SIGINT and EWAR, which as Ametheliana has stated is the occupational domain of Information Warfare Specialists. Soldiers who become Operatives straight out of creation and basic training would not be trained thoroughly in that sort of stuff. Fresh Operatives without any prior occupation are exclusively focused on gathering information in the field.

Of course, an Information Warfare Specialist can become an Operative after serving for some period until they get recommended for Operative Selection. And an Operative might receive supplementary SIGINT and EWAR training as is necessitated by some mission they get assigned to. But, as you yourself realized Sunny, having both skillsets at once would come after some amount of career development.

As for being a "forward observer." This duty is indeed carried out by Operatives attached to the Rikugun. These Operatives are the types who are assigned to detailed long-range reconnaissance missions on an individual, lone-wolf basis. Contrasted with Rangers who perform reconnaissance-in-force to probe the capabilities of enemy dispositions.

Hope this helps with adjusting the history some. It's mostly a matter of them being a fresh soldier who possesses two specialized skillsets that aren't really part of a simultaneous training pipeline (EWAR and Secret Agent).

 

[Wes]

I can tell you took time to read the wiki and make a solid character who fits the setting and I love that!

Character Approved (and this includes any modified versions of the character that take into account the suggestions above).

 

[Sunny D]

She honestly fits more as a Ranger than SAINT since I am definitely sensing a MARSOC or FSTer here. So Infantry with a Ranger qualification. More incentive to redo the old Ranger article. *wink wink*

Besides all that, the character looks great, just missing Star Army Common Skills on Star Army Space Roleplay and the starting KS is 3,000.

I think I could rewrite that in such a way. The way SIGINT technology has been developing, antennas have been improving and power supplies have been getting minatureised, along with the computers to preform advanced analysis I think you'll start to see RTOs taking on that role, or have a second person assigned if its deemed to be too taxing. Maybe make the Information Space more of a presonal goal, I dunno.

Since I wrote all of the SAINT stuff, I can shed a little light on ironing out a few wrinkles here.

This character has a focus on SIGINT and EWAR, which as Ametheliana has stated is the occupational domain of Information Warfare Specialists. Soldiers who become Operatives straight out of creation and basic training would not be trained thoroughly in that sort of stuff. Fresh Operatives without any prior occupation are exclusively focused on gathering information in the field.

Of course, an Information Warfare Specialist can become an Operative after serving for some period until they get recommended for Operative Selection. And an Operative might receive supplementary SIGINT and EWAR training as is necessitated by some mission they get assigned to. But, as you yourself realized Sunny, having both skillsets at once would come after some amount of career development.

As for being a "forward observer." This duty is indeed carried out by Operatives attached to the Rikugun. These Operatives are the types who are assigned to detailed long-range reconnaissance missions on an individual, lone-wolf basis. Contrasted with Rangers who perform reconnaissance-in-force to probe the capabilities of enemy dispositions.

Hope this helps with adjusting the history some. It's mostly a matter of them being a fresh soldier who possesses two specialized skillsets that aren't really part of a simultaneous training pipeline (EWAR and Secret Agent).

I did initally look into Rikugun, I'm not seeing it as too active at the moment. I'm here to write with other people. So what you see is my attempt to digest the wiki and create a character I think I would enjoy playing, who interfaces with the parts of the lore I found interesting, and who could also interface with a wide variety of plots.

So these a the ways I see forward
- I can rewrite as a Rikugun Ranger, probably an RTO or TAC. Maybe she's picked up the signals thing as a hobby if you disagree with my belief that those roles will likely be expanded to include in field signals analysis in the near future.
- I can rewrite as a Rikugun Forward Observer, something to that effect
- I can include some additional assignments and maybe a higher enlisted rank (But didn't want to suggest it because some RP forums are funny about that, but I'm suggesting an enlisted rank which most would be fine with)

Last one I kind of don't want to do because it defeats an objective of diegetically figuring this stuff out. The reason I was attracted to the Nekos in the first place is the simple fact that genetically vat grown cat girls for tactical operations is utterly hilarious, Rikugun is probably the best place for her. But am I going to be able to contribute to the plot in constructive ways often?

 

[Sunny D]

I can tell you took time to read the wiki and make a solid character who fits the setting and I love that!

Character Approved (and this includes any modified versions of the character that take into account the suggestions above).

'preciated.

I knew I wasn't done when I posted. Sometimes its better to throw it at the wall and see what what sticks.

 

[demibear]

Information Technology Specialist might also be the way to go. Loses the infantry side of things, but Yamatai has been known to throw anyone into an away team. I only suggested the Rikugun Scout since that sounds exactly what her current form sounds like.

 

[Ametheliana]

But am I going to be able to contribute to the plot in constructive ways often?

On SARP it doesn't matter what occupation you have, the GM will include you. I was discussing this the other day in Yamatai channel and is something I really like about the place. You'll have a role and be given the same opportunities no matter what your character does, so much as you show up.

 

[Sunny D]

I've thought about going the 33Y route to have my cake and eat it too. My thought is if she inherits her EWAR knowledge from her mother, I assume intel wouldn't be happy about that and probably get her to sign an NDA. Maybe if I go that route it might be better to have her mother be a science officer.

Thoughts?

 

[raz]

The issue with the bio as it stands is that she is an Operative but you say her training is focused on EWAR. A fresh Operative’s tradecraft training wouldn’t be truncated in favor of skills from an entirely different occupation (which is why operatives with extra skills are recruited from prior service in other occupations OR are given later in-service training as my above post states).

Basically you’re saying that she is an Operative but had her history and skills say she went to Information Warfare school. That is what is incongruous.

The easiest way to alleviate this would simply be to say her first Operative assignment after training necessitated learning EWAR stuff as an in-service training course. Or that her interest in EWAR during Operarive training prompted her to immediately take basic in-service courses on the subject. You wouldn’t have to do anything but re-word the part about graduating with a specialization in EWAR and say it was learned after she was fully trained, as well as bulk up her tradecraft (rogue) skill to the basic Operative standard. She would still be an inexperienced Santo Hei, and you could even make that first assignment needing a field EWAR Neko be whatever plotship you end up on rather than making up non-roleplayed history.

Such modification adds to her character sheet in minor ways so that it makes sense rather than taking large chunks out to re-write them. And it sticks closest to what Wes already approved. If you want to do full re-writes and change a ton that’s your prerogative but my two posts so far outline how Operatives work and ways this character would fit without much fuss.

Have fun. Finding a plot ship that can provide that fun for your character concept is the most important thing.

 

[Sunny D]

The issue with the bio as it stands is that she is an Operative but you say her training is focused on EWAR. A fresh Operative’s tradecraft training wouldn’t be truncated in favor of skills from an entirely different occupation (which is why operatives with extra skills are recruited from prior service in other occupations OR are given later in-service training as my above post states).

Basically you’re saying that she is an Operative but had her history and skills say she went to Information Warfare school. That is what is incongruous.

The easiest way to alleviate this would simply be to say her first Operative assignment after training necessitated learning EWAR stuff as an in-service training course. Or that her interest in EWAR during Operarive training prompted her to immediately take basic in-service courses on the subject. You wouldn’t have to do anything but re-word the part about graduating with a specialization in EWAR and say it was learned after she was fully trained, as well as bulk up her tradecraft (rogue) skill to the basic Operative standard. She would still be an inexperienced Santo Hei, and you could even make that first assignment needing a field EWAR Neko be whatever plotship you end up on rather than making up non-roleplayed history.

Such modification adds to her character sheet in minor ways so that it makes sense rather than taking large chunks out to re-write them. And it sticks closest to what Wes already approved. If you want to do full re-writes and change a ton that’s your prerogative but my two posts so far outline how Operatives work and ways this character would fit without much fuss.

Have fun. Finding a plot ship that can provide that fun for your character concept is the most important thing.

That's probably what I'll end up going with. thanks

 

[Sunny D]

Edits made to history and skills.

Kind of vague on how that first deployment would work. Will fully admit to being a civilian IRL, but the SASR barracks is south of where I live. Know a few operators but they're pretty tight lipped about how support elements work with them, however apparently they take their own cooks into the field so I'm pretty sure my idea isn't too out of left field.

I can tell you took time to read the wiki and make a solid character who fits the setting and I love that!

Character Approved (and this includes any modified versions of the character that take into account the suggestions above).

@Wes, I'll apply for the Resurgence if you'll have me

 

[Wes]

I'm glad to have her aboard!