Epiphany
Proverbs 17:9
Neqel Amherst
Rank: Corporal
OCC: Tactical Corp (Recon Patrol MOS / Guerrilla Warfare specialist)
Level: 1
Alignment: Scrupulous
Race: Meltrandi
Sex: Female
Age: 78
Build: Athletic and fit
Height: 6'1"
Weight: 160 lbs
ME: 14
MA: 12
PS: 33 (+18 to damage)
PP: 20 (+3 to parry, +3 to dodge, +3 to strike)
PE: 22 (+14% to save vs. coma/death, +4 to save vs. poison/magic)
PB: 16 (30% charm/impress)
Spd: 27
Natural Aptitude Bonus: Quick Reaction Time. +2 to Initiative.
Hit Points: 28
SDC: 5D6 + 8 from OCC + 10 from Krav Maga + 10 from Body Building + 2D6 from Forced March + 1D6 from Running + 2D6 from Outdoormanship + 3D6 from Boxing).
Action Points: 5
Bonus Action Points: 0/0
OCC Bonuses: +1 to initiative, +1 to Perception, +1D6 (rolled 3) PS, +2 PP
Hand to Hand Combat:
Number of Attacks: 3Spartas Hover Tank Combat:
Damage: +20
Strike: +4
Parry: +5+5 with knife
+5 with energy pistol
Dodge: +5+6 with knife
Roll With Punch: +1
Pull Punch: 0
Initiative: +3
Critical Strike on a natural roll of 19 or 20 or from behind.
Automatic knockout on natural 20 lasting for 1D6 melees.
Number of Attacks: 4Abilities:
Damage: +1
Strike: +6 with guns
Parry: +9+7 with hand to hand
+8 with EU-11 Gun Pod.
Dodge: +8
Disarm: +3
Roll With Punch: +4
Pull Punch: +4
Initiative: +5
Perception: +2
Save Vs. Coma/Death: +14%
Save vs. Poison/Magic: +4
Spartas Hover Tank
M.D.C. by location:
Sensor Head – 85
Arms (2) – 150 each
Hands (2) – 50 each
Arm Shields (2) – 500 each
Destroying an arm shield renders the weapon housed inside it inactive and exposes the arm to damage.Legs (2) – 260 each
Main Vectored Thruster – 120
Outboard Thrusters (2) – 75 each
The outboard thrusters are only deployed in Transport mode. Destroying one reduces speed and bonuses to dodge in transport mode by one third. Destroying both reduces speed by 66% leaves the Hover Tank uncontrollable (-70% to piloting skill), and the vehicle cannot be operated in transport mode until the outboard thrusters are repaired or replaced.Main Cannon – 150
Triple Barreled Ion Cannon – 100
EU-11 Gun Pod – 100
Reinforced Pilot’s Compartment – 150
Main Body – 475
Destroying the main body renders the mecha completely inoperable.
Speed
Transport Mode: 100 mph (161 kph)
Tank/Guardian Mode: 8 mph (13 kph)
Battloid Mode: 70 mph (112 kph)
Leaping: 80 feet (24.4 m) straight up in all modes. 100 feet (30.5 m) lengthwise in Battloid and Guardian modes.
Flight: Can hover in the air up to 20 feet (6.1 m) high in Battloid and Tank/Guardian modes, and lands on its feet without damage when dropped from a height up to 500 feet (152 m). Typical altitude in Transport mode is 2-15 feet (0.6 to 4.6 m) off the ground, with thruster assisted “leap” up to 80 feet (24.4 m) high.
Statistical Data
Transport Mode
Height: 7.3 feet (2.25m)Tank/Guardian Mode
Length: 19.6 feet (6m)
Width: 9 feet (2.7m)
Height: 14.7 feet (4.5m)Battloid Mode
Length: 25.4 feet (7.75m)
Width: 7.3 feet (2.25m)
Height: 20.3 feet (6.2m)
Length: 6.5 feet (2m)
Width: 14.4 feet (4.4m)
Weight: 26.4 tons dry
Physical Strength: Robotic P.S. of 42
Cargo: Just enough for a rifle and survival pack
1. MCR-68A1 105mm Cannon
Mounted in a retractable housing in the right arm shield, the 68A1 served well as the main weapon of the Hover Tank for years. While it is recommended that this weapon only be deployed in Tank/Guardian mode, it can also fire in Battloid mode. Using the cannon in Battloid mode is awkward (no bonuses to strike) and requires the Battloid to be braced against the recoil It was eventually replaced by the HPW-125A1 Particle Cannon on the VHT-1A1 variant.
Range: varies by ammunition as described below.1a. HPW-125A1 Particle Cannon (VHT-1A1, VHT-1A3 variants).
Mega-Damage: varies by ammunition. The cannon can fire the following kinds of rounds:
Armor-Piercing Fin-Stabilized Discarding Sabot (APFSDS). A round that uses a dart made of depleted uranium or tungsten to pierce enemy armor.Rate of Fire: Twice per melee round
Range: 4 miles (6.4km)High Explosive Anti-Tank (HEAT). A shell with a shaped charge warhead.
Mega-Damage: 3d6x10 M.D.
Range: 2.2 miles (3.52km)Multi-Purpose Anti-Tank (MPAT). A HEAT round with an added proximity fuse to allow it to engage slow, low flying aircraft such as helicopters and for air bursts over targets.
Mega-Damage: 2d6x10 M.D.
Range: 2.2 miles (3.52km)Canister. A shell filled with tungsten shot that acts like a giant shotgun shell for use against building, dug-in infantry, and thin-skinned vehicles.
Mega-Damage: 2d6x10 to a 50 foot (15.2m) radius
Range: 2,500 feet (762m)High Yield Incendiary (Plasma). An extremely lethal anti-personnel round filled with super heated plasma.
Mega-Damage: 1d8x10 M.D. to everything within a 25 foot (7.62m) area up to half range, 1d4x10 to everything within 50 feet (15.24m) area at full range.
Range: 1.5 miles (2.4km)Smoke. These shells emit billowing clouds of thick smoke and are used primarily for cover and to mark target zones. They come in black, white, red, green, and yellow, and make a cloud big enough to obscure an area 100 feet (30.5m) across.
Mega-Damage: 2d8x10 M.D. to everything in a 25 foot (7.6m) area from the initial blast. Sets all combustible substances ablaze and continues to burn, doing an additional 4d8 M.D. per minute for 1d6+1 minutes.
Range: 4,000 feet (1,219m)
Damage: none
Payload: 48 rounds
This is the 125mm particle cannon that replaced the 105mm cannon in later model Hover Tanks. It fires a stream of charged particles over long distances and delivers a massive amount of kinetic, armor piercing damage. While not as versatile as the old cannon, the 125A1 performs extremely well against armored opponents. It also has the added advantage of not needing to carry ammunition, which reduces the operating weight of the Hover Tank. The main drawback of the weapon is that it is an energy hog, and reduces the Hover Tank’s speed by ten percent when active due to massive energy consumption.
Range: 8,000 feet (2,438.4m)
Mega-Damage: 2d10x10+20 M.D. per blast
Rate of Fire: Two times per melee round.
Payload: Effectively unlimited.
Note: The Plasma Cannon delivers a massive stream of particles. The gun hits like a wrecking ball, and any mecha under 50 tons hit by a blast has a chance of being knocked down. When hit, the pilot must make a roll on the appropriate mecha piloting skill to keep his footing. Mecha that are knocked down lose initiative and one attack while they return to their feet.
2. MIW-20 Triple Barreled Ion Pulse Cannon. The MIW-20 is a 20mm, rapid fire ion pulse cannon. It is hard hitting and very accurate over short distances. This weapon is used as a close defense weapon to keep infantry and other mecha at bay, and can only be deployed in Tank/Guardian mode.
Range: 1,800 feet (548.6m)
Mega-Damage: 1d6x10 M.D. per three blast pulse.
Rate of Fire: Each pulse blast counts as one attack
Payload: Effectively unlimited.
3. EU-11 Gun Pod. The EU-11 is a 30mm high-intensity, selective fire laser gun pod capable of firing a single shot or five round burst. It has an integral laser targeting system and a collapsible stock and is powered by an internal capacitor that is charged by the Spartas’ engine. This weapon is accurate at very long ranges. The weapon is fixed forward in transport mode and carried in Battloid mode.
Weight: 250 pounds (112.5kg)
Range: 4,000 feet (1,219m)
Mega-Damage: 1d8 M.D. per single blast, 1d4x10 M.D. for a five round burst
Rate of Fire: Each single blast or five round burst counts as one attack
Note: the EU-11 enjoys a +2 bonus to strike (in addition to other bonuses) thanks to its laser targeting system.
Payload: A fully charged capacitor is good for 140 single shots or 28 five round bursts. The capacitor charges at the rate of one blast every two minutes in its housing, and an empty capacitor takes over three hours to charge in full.
Hand to Hand Combat:
Restrained Punch/Forearm Shield: 1d6 M.D.
Full-Strength Punch or Shield Strike: 3d6 M.D.
Power Punch: 1d6x10 M.D. Counts as two attacks.
Tear/Pry/Crush with Hands: 1d8 M.D.
Stomp: 2d6 M.D. against targets less than 10 feet (3m) tall
Kick: 5d8 M.D.
Leap Kick: 1d8x10. Counts as two attacks.
Body Block/Ram: 2d6 M.D. per 20 mph (32km) of speed. Uses two attacks and has a 60% chance of knockdown against targets up to 50% bigger. Victims of a successful knockdown lose initiative and two melee attacks.
Systems of Note:
1. Radar that can track airborne targets to a range of 40 miles and ground targets out to 10 miles depending on terrain. The radar can track up to 25 targets at once.
2. Combat computer
3. Communications suite with a powerful encrypted military band radio. Has both wide band and directional signals with a range up to 200 miles.
4. Passive nightvision with a range up to 1,200 feet
5. Thermal imager with a range of 800 feet
6. Infrared sensor that allows the mecha to se in the IR spectrum. Range is 500 feet.
7. Tactical camera that can record up to 180 minutes of video
8. Motion sensor detects objects within 1500 feet.
9. Headlights that works in the visible light band.
10. Distress beacon with a range of 250 miles
11. Smoke dispenser that has six charges and make a cloud of thick, white smoke 60 feet across.
12. Chaff/Flare dispenser with six charges. Has a 75% chance to confuse both heat seeking and radar guided missiles.
MECT: +1 attack per melee at levels 1, 3, 6, 10 and 14.
+2 to initiative.
+2 to strike with ranged weapons.
+3 to strike (hand to hand).
+4 to parry
+3 to dodge
+3 to disarm
+4 to pull punch
+3 to roll with impact
Reduces penalties to piloting equal to character level
Character Bonuses
Add 1 to M.A.Techniques
Add 2 to P.S.
Add 2 to P.E.
Add 1 to P.P.
Add 10 to S.D.C.
Attacks per Melee: 2
Escape Moves: Roll, Breakfall.Level Advancement Bonuses
Basic Defenses: Parry, Dodge, Automatic Parry.
Advanced Defenses: Combination Parry/Attack, Power Parry (does damage), Multiple Dodge.
Hand Attacks: Strike, Power Punch, Backhand, Double Knuckle Fist, Fingertip Attack, Claw Hand, Elbow, Forearm.
Foot Attacks: Kick, Roundhouse Kick, Trip/Hook, Snap Kicks, Knee, Drop Kick (Combination Dodge/Kick).
Special Attacks: Body Flip/Throw.
Holds/Locks: Wrist Lock, Elbow Lock, Head Lock.
Weapon Skills: W.P. Knife. +1 to strike at levels 1, 3, 6, 9, 12 and 15. +1 to parry at levels 1, 3, 6, 9, 12 and 15.
1st - Critical Strike on a natural roll of 19 or 20 or from behind. +1 to Strike, +1 to Damage.
2nd - +2 to Parry, +2 to Dodge.
3rd - +1 Attack per round, K.O. on a natural roll of 19 or 20.
4th - Circular Parry, +1 to Initiative, +1 Body Flip/Throw
5th - +2 to Pull Punch, +2 to Roll with Impact/Breakfall.
6th - +1 to Initiative, +2 to Strike, and +1 to Damage
7th - Critical Body Flip/Throw. Death Blow on a Natural 19 or 20.
8th - +1 Attack per round, K.O. on a natural roll of 18 or higher.
9th - Critical Strike on a natural roll of 18 or higher.
10th - +1 to Parry, +1 to Dodge, +2 to Damage, +1 to Roll/Breakfall
11th - Critical Strike on a natural roll of 17 or higher.
12th - Death Blow on a natural roll of 18 or higher.
13th - Automatic Body Flip/Throw. +1 to Strike
14th - Critical Strike on a natural roll of 16 or higher.
15th - K.O. on a natural roll of 17 or higher. Critical Strike on a natural roll of 15 or higher.
Common Skill Set:
Language – Zentradi: 98% +1%
Language - English: 98% + 1%
Literacy – Zentradi : 98% +2%
Literacy - English: 98% + 2%
Computer Operation: 98% +3%
Mathematics – Basic: 98% +3%
Pilot: Automobile: 94% + 2%
Pilot: Hovercycles & Hover Vehicles: 98% + 4%
OCC Skills:
Body Building (+2 to PS, +10 SDC)
Climbing: 54%/44% + 5%
Forced March (Can march 5x as long as PE typically allows at 60% of Speed, +2 PE, +1D4 Spd (rolled 3), +2D6 SDC)
Military Etiquette: 54% + 5%
Running (+1 PE, +4D4 to Speed (rolled 8), +1D6 SDC)
Swimming: 64% + 5%
W.P. Energy Pistol (+1 to strike at levels 1, 3, 6, 9, 12, 15)
W.P. Energy Rifle (+1 to strike at levels 1, 3, 6, 9, 12, 15)
Recon Patrol Light Infantry MOS:
Camouflage: 54% + 5%
Intelligence: 56% + 4%
Land Navigation: 60% + 4%
Outdoormanship (+1 PE, +2D6 SDC, +5% Wilderness Survival)
MECT: Ground Veritech/Spartas
Pilot: Ground Veritechs (Spartas): 69% +5%
Prowl: 49% + 5%
Surveillance Systems: 49% + 5%
Tracking (People): 49% + 5%
Wilderness Survival: 54% + 5%
Hand to Hand: Krav Maga (upgraded from Hand to Hand: Martial Arts)
Supplementary MOS - Guerrilla Warfare Specialist:
Demolitions: 84% + 3% (+1 to Perception)
Detect Ambush: 59% + 5%
Detect Concealment: 49% + 5%
Field Surgery: 30% + 4%
Trap/Mine Detection: 34% + 5% (+50% when using special detection equipment for mines/explosive, +10% to locate other kinds of traps with detection equipment)
W.P. Paired Weapons
W.P. Handguns
Sensory Equipment: 34% + 5%
Weapons Systems: 44% + 5%
OCC Related Skills: One every level.
Boxing (+1 attack, +2 to parry, +2 to dodge, +1 to roll, +2 to PS, +3D6 SDC, automatic knockout on natural 20 lasting for 1D6 melees)
Military Tactics: 39% + 5%
Secondary Skills:
Cooking: 39% + 5%
Weapons:
M-35 "Ferret" - .45 semi-automatic pistol
Weight: 2.6 pounds (1.17 kg)
Range: 230 feet.
S.D.C. Damage: 4D6 with conventional ammunition.
Mega-Damage: 1D4 MD with LEAP rounds
Rate of Fire: Single shot, each shot counts as one attack.
Payload: 10 round clip.
4 magazines.
Optional silencer.
IPP-5H Heavy Ion Pulse Pistol
Weight: 7 pounds (3.15 kg)
Range: 600 feet.
Mega-Damage: 2D6 MD for a single blast, 6D6 MD for a three pulse burst
Rate of Fire: Single shot or three pulse bursts. Each counts as one melee attack.
Payload: 21 single shots or 7 pulse bursts per energy magazine.
4 magazines.
LAR-10L 7.62mm Heavy Laser Sniping Rifle
Weight: 7 pounds (3.15 kg)
Range: 3,200 feet.
Mega-Damage: 4D6 MD for a single shot.
Rate of Fire: Each shot counts as one melee attack.
Payload: 16 shots per energy magazine.
4 magazines.
Note: Optics provide 20x magnification with illuminated reticle, +1 to strike on Aimed Shots at 2,000 feet or greater.
Survival Knife
Damage: 1D4 SDC + 20.
Grenades:
DC-30 Cobalt Grenades (2)
Weight: 0.5 lbsSmoke Grenades (2) (Yellow, Red)
Mega Damage: 3d6 M.D.
Blast Area: 15 feet
Weight: 0.5 lbs
Damage: None.
Note: Properly placed and used, each smoke grenade can provide concealment for 30 seconds.
CBR Mk. 2E Light Armor
M.D.C. by Location:
Helmet - 35
Arms (2) - 18 each
Legs (2) - 30 each
Main Body - 55
Unisuit (underlining) - 25
Weight: 12 pounds (5.4 kg).
Movement Penalties: -5% penalty on skills requiring flexibility and mobility such as Swimming, Climbing, Acrobatics, Escape Artist, etc.
Bonuses:
+3 save vs. being blinded by flash, glare, bright light with faceplate.
Reduce laser damage by 25%
+4 save vs. poison, reducing damage by 40%.
Reduce fire damage by 75%.
Tactical Jump Pack
MDC: 35
Power Leaping: Jump leaping/running covers 60 mph, -3 to Perception rolls.
Range: 200 feet up or 450 across per jump.
Bonuses: +2 to dodge, +2 to roll with impact.
Carrying Capacity: 350 pounds. Anything over reduces jump range by 40%.
Miscellaneous Field Gear:
Flares: 4
Survival pack (includes 4 packs of Meals Ready to Eat or M.R.E.s and a 2-liter air-tight canteen).
Binoculars (small, compact)
Basic Military Field Kit (suitable for Field Surgery)
Miscellaneous Equipment:
Dress Uniform
Flight Suit
Duty Uniform (2)
Personal clothing and effects
Smartphone (Ringtone is 'Let It Go' from Frozen)
Hair ties.
Monthly Wages: $1,300-$1,800.
Personal Savings: $1,200 UEG Dollars.
1. Describe your butt. (Small? Flat? Round and healthy? Be honest!)
...Very well. My bottom is round and curved, as befits a female bred for battle piloting suits and ships that involve a great deal of sitting. I regret that the past decade of parenting has resulted in its increase. Though I've been back in training for three years and I've regained my fighting condition, bearing three children for Richard has left lasting marks on my form. Not that he ever minded in the least.
2. List your close family with a heartfelt description of each.
Richard. My husband, my lover, my world. Our first meeting was at the end of the First Robotech War. He was a Micronian Auxiliary Specialist as I understood it, an engineer interested in understanding Zentraedi power armor. When he placed his hands on my Queadluun-Rau Power Armor, he had this rapt look on his face. And when he insisted on shaking hands with me (or rather, him taking one of my fingers and shaking it with both hands), he looked at me the same way. It was unnerving, disquieting and the more attention he lavished on me in the weeks that followed, the more I felt the way I had when I first heard Lynn Minmei's music; moved in ways I wasn't made to be moved.
He pursued me. Courted me. Despite my confusion and ignorance, he fought his way past my defenses and won his way into my heart. He conquered me, something no male Zentraedi had ever accomplished. In the end, his victory was total. He seemed as confused as I'd been when I knelt at his feet and presented him my fighting knife, swearing myself to his cause. But he didn't need a warrior. He needed me.
That was 2012. The thirteen sweet, blissful years I had being his wife were the happiest of my life.
And I don't want to talk about them, or him. I can't. He died of cancer in 2025 and in the three years since, I still have no words large enough to encompass my grief.
I do have my children at least. Nathan is the oldest, thirteen years old and full of life. He has his father's analytical mind but he inherited my single-mindedness, my ability to wholly concentrate until I've completely accomplished what I set out to do. He'll be an engineer someday, like his father.
Joy is the middle child, my only daughter. Eleven years old, she resembles me more with the passing of time, until I can almost believe she was made in the same clone tank I was. She'd like to be Valkyrie pilot and a ballerina. Joy certainly has the physical gifts for both and though I would wish her to dedicate herself to the first, my memory of Richard makes me encourage her to hold onto her dream to be the second.
Eliot is my youngest, at nine years of age. He barely remembers his father, something that pains me because of how much I see Richard in him. Eliot has his father's gentleness, his quiet kindness, his empathy. And if his dreams are a child's dreams, there's no malice or harm in them. Of my three children, he's the one I understand the least for his calmness is utterly foreign to what I was bred to be. But he is his father's son and when I hold him, I almost imagine Richard is with me again.
3. Discuss your favorite mecha and why it is your favorite.
Without a doubt, my Queadluun-Rau. The Spartas is an admirable vehicle of destruction and I am pleased to take it up in service to the Micronians but it will never match my Power Armor's sheer speed, range of movement, flexible armaments and ability to deliver death in multiple theaters of war. It was made for me; literally. As I was literally made for it. No Micronian mecha however grand can ever match the synchronicity I experienced when I wore it.
4. Discuss our least-favorite mecha along with your reasons.
To say the Nousjadeul-Ger is my 'least favorite' implies that my hatred for the inferior pile of scrap is preferential. It's not. It is objectively an inferior pile of scrap. It's slower, less maneuverable, less well armed, genuinely inferior in every conceivable way. Including its pilot. Especially its pilot. If I were made to pilot my Queadluun-Rau to victory, the Zentraedi were made to pilot their Nousjadeul-Ger to their deaths, the negronta hajoca that they are!
5. Describe one of your favorite meals and why you like it.
Read the following with exacting attention or risk inferior turkey.
You start with a turkey. At least 15 pounds, to allow for Micronian family and company. It'll take about 3 days to defrost in the refrigerator, which you must do. Other thawing methods are inferior and risk contamination. Only remove it from the refrigerator about 2 hours before you intend to begin its cooking, to allow it to reach room temperature and cook more evenly.
Remove the neck and its insides and use the appropriate materials to make a gravy later.
Preheat the oven at 400F.
Now, apply lemon juice and salt to the interior of the turkey. Onion cut into wedges, parsley sprigs, several carrots and the tops of celery should be placed inside so that the turkey flavors properly.
Stitch the interior closed. Many use aluminum foil instead. This is Micronian laziness and produces an inferior turkey. Don't prepare your stuffing inside the turkey either. It may be foolish Micronian tradition but it delays the turkey and risks uneven cooking. Use turkey giblet stock for your stuffing to retain the authentic flavor without compromising the quality of your turkey.
Also, truss your turkey. It improves even cooking of the turkey and costs you nothing except a smidgen of effort which many Micronian cooks seem unwilling to make. Which is why they come to the Amherst house for Thanksgiving, for they know they will receive turkey the way it should be made, by the hand of a Meltran who will never compromise or risk inferior turkey.
Now, rub the exterior of the turkey with butter, salt and pepper. You may be told to use olive oil. The one telling you is wrong, and so are you if you do.
Before placing the turkey in the oven, you must turn it upside down. Many Micronians view this as strange, even nonsensical, because they embrace their foolish traditions. A turkey cooked upside down results in all of the juices settling in the breast; precisely where the turkey is the most at risk of becoming dry. Inferior turkey is unacceptable turkey.
You may add sprigs of thyme or rosemary if you wish. While it makes no difference to me, some Micronians swear by the end result and, most importantly, doing so does not harm the turkey so at most you'll only waste a fraction of time.
Cook at 400F for 20 minutes to brown it, then reduce to 325F for two hours. Then reduce until 225F for a variable period of time, from 30 minutes to perhaps an hour or two depending on your oven configuration, the exact shape and size of your turkey. In my experience, with my oven, it takes 37 minutes to finish cooking to maximize moisture while ensuring thorough cooking.
You may be counseled to turn the turkey at the end and brown it at 500F for 5 minutes. This is a mistake. You will overcook the breast, sacrificing flavor for aesthetics, resulting in inferior turkey.
You may cook with a thermometer for the turkey if you wish, though I find it unnecessary due to exact attention to detail. 165F in the thigh and 160 in the breast indicates a cooked turkey.
Remove the turkey from the oven and let it rest for 20 minutes. Then carve and serve.
...Oh, why do I like it? Because Thanksgiving is an important holiday in the Amherst house. My husband had treasured memories from his childhood and his parents raised him with elaborate feasts. I treasure seeing similar memories now in the eyes of our children. It is also the one day a year where my mother-in-law seems to tolerate me, even praises me, for she knows how seriously I take preparing the Thanksgiving feast. If I have any hope of softening the hearts of my in-laws and getting my children back again, a Thanksgiving turkey may be the mecha that will carry me into victory in that battle.
6. What was the last song you really enjoyed?
Music is Micronian frivolity, especially pop music. The fact that my children seem obsessed with it is a source of continual concern for me.
...I reluctantly admit that orchestral, instrumental music composed to inspire and incite warriors to victory has its place. Such as:
7. If you could visit anywhere in Florida, where would it be?
Disneyworld. For my children. My daughter Joy is especially fond of the Frozen Ever After attraction. ...No, it's just for her. ...There's no evidence I've watched Frozen more than the 79 times I've viewed it with my children.
Yes, Elsa's power over ice is formidable but she lacks the Meltrandi heart for battle, wasting her gift in undisciplined, frivolous displays of spectacular beauty and remarkable musical choreography. I mean, I'm sure a Micronian would describe her power as beautiful and choreographed. A Maltren cares nothing for those things. Especially given our isolation among fragile, judgmental people who don't understand us, who we constantly have to hide ourselves from. Don't let them in, don't let them see. How can any Micronian understand how Elsa really feels?
...I'm not a fan of Frozen, why are you looking at me like that? I'm not talking about this any more.
8. If you could get a kiss from anyone, anywhere, who would it be?
It is trite but true that another kiss from my husband Richard will always be my first choice.
If I were to indulge in idle Micronian whimsy and choose a celebrity, I suppose I would choose Scarlett Johansson. ...Why? She plays a number of compelling, engaging warriors in various films and she's quite lovely.
If you're asking for the completely hypothetical non-celebrity answer, I would ask a kiss from Admiral Lisa Hunter. I would experience for myself the passion of the woman who won victory from Meltrandi hands time and again, who rallied a million Micronians and championed the expedition to Tirol.
9. If you could mind-control all of the Malcontents, what would you have them do?
Kill themselves.
This isn't unreasoning prejudice. Of course I think they're inferior, emotional, impulsive, hopeless for use in the Micronian world. But a review of the past eighteen years proves they remain Earth's greatest threat. They continue to kill countless warriors, drain away resources Earth could have used to rebuild with, and they remain a great risk for civilian casualties. In every sense, the world would be better off if they were all dead.
I suppose a slightly more compassionate choice would be to command them to board a space-ship and fly themselves off somewhere else, never to return.
10. Write down whatever is on your mind.
Eliot's birthday is next week. I'm grateful that I was able to save enough to buy him a full set of the Cosmic Crusader graphic novels he's recently come to love. Hopefully they'll arrive in time at my in-laws. I wish I could see his face when he gets them.
My mortgage is due this week. Once again, it will take virtually everything I make to stay current.
Joy's ballerina lessons are due for renewal in a month. I don't know where I'm going to find the money. I may have to ask my in-laws if they'll pick up every other month, even if the admission hurts my chances of ever getting custody again.
I need to remember to bring Nathan the ASC Tactical Corp t-shirt when I have visitation this Sunday.
Next visitation, I need to make certain I have my white top back from the dry cleaners so it can go with that nice blue skirt Richard likes. I need to look my best to impress his parents, to help them see me as the mother of their grandchildren and not a Maltrendi enemy.
Is my skirt clean?
I miss my husband. This is so hard to do without him. Why did you leave me?
Neqel is one of the Meltrandi, clone-bred and tank-conditioned to fight as one of their Warrior Elite, with specialized training for asymmetrical warfare, reconnaissance and infiltration. She killed countless Zentradi in endless conflicts until the battle took them to Earth where they encountered the Micronians.
Her species choice to surrender and integrate with the people of Earth had lasting consequence, for it put her in touch with Richard Amherst, an RDF engineer. It was love at first sight for him, and possibly for her, though it took months of courtship for her to realize what it was she felt. They married in 2012 and by the time many Meltrandi chose to leave Earth behind, she was already pregnant with her first son, Nathan.
When her husband passed away in 2025 of cancer, Neqel had been a full time mother and housewife for thirteen years. Her in-laws immediately sued for custody of the children, as they'd never liked having a Meltrandi in the family and opposed one being the sole parent raising three 'human' children. The human-centric courts sided with them and Neqel lost custody, permitted only to have supervised visits on Sundays.
Left adrift with no income, no children to fill her time and no way to maintain the house she hoped to bring them back to, Neqel enlisted in the Southern Cross Tactical Corp. Thirteen years of inactivity had eroded much of her fighting form but her single-minded dedication during her two-year training program resulted in her placement in the Tactical Corp Recon Patrol Special Forces. A year of seasoning and experience in the field have brought much of her fighting ability back and there's great satisfaction in doing what she was literally created to do.
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