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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Davies" data-source="post: 8842217" data-attributes="member: 30538">Naharuk<img src="https://photos.smugmug.com/My-First-Gallery/i-cDXBJW3/0/59fb51cd/M/naharuk-M.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />As has already been mentioned, first contact between the Vaask Hegemony and the Technate occurred in 1987, when the TSV Adventure, under the command of Arlan Hayez, first fought against and then allied with the HSS Pahant, under the command of Naharuk. Over the next decade, Hayez would have several other encounters with his opposite number, sometimes under less than friendly terms but more often in situations where they were required to resolve their differences in the name of mutual survival. In the years since then, Hayez has often wondered what happened to his rival, usually imagining that he has risen to a similar position in the Vaaskorium as that which Hayez himself now occupies.Nope. While it is recognized within the Hegemony that these encounters helped to establish the cautious peace that exists between these two stellar powers, the Vaaskorium does not reward its officers who achieve diplomatic victories. It likely did not help matters that Naharuk, rose to command the Pahant under somewhat suspicious circumstances -- specifically, he assumed command just a week* before the encounter with the Adventure, following the death of its previous captain. Naharuk claimed that the other Vaask died in an accident, but the former captain had politically influential friends who whispered a rather different narrative.Ironically, had Naharuk claimed to have killed his former superior, as long as the tale was told in a certain way, he might have won more respect from his peers than he did through his insistence that it had been a simple misfortune. While this sort of promotion is only supposed to occur in highly ceremonial duels, there have also been many examples of the elimination of incompetent or corrupt superiors leading to promotion, with the irregularities being overlooked. Naharuk faced a number of these sorts of challenges during his time in the Vaaskorium, and prevailed each time, but such triumphs could not erase the stigma of his insistence of innocence in that first episode.The truth was that he really was innocent. Naharuk had joined the Vaaskorium without any ambitions of martial glory, but out of a genuine desire to see as much of the universe as he could. While as competitive as any Vaask, he took no real pleasure in mortal combat, preferring to have to opportunity to demonstrate his talents to the opponent -- whether fellow Vaask or foreigners -- over and over again. He was also reflective and given to original thinking; the phrase with which he agreed to work with Hayez, "None but fools do battle in a thunderstorm," was of his own coinage, not a proverb.So it was that, after fifteen years* in the Vaaskorium, Naharuk finally accepted that he was never going to rise any further and separated himself from the service. He spent his accumulated prize money to purchase a civilian exploratory vessel and outfit it with a small crew, then started working as a private scout in the Unclaimed Regions, which has kept him busy for the last two decades*. His voyages have been profitable, both financially and in the sense of expanding the knowledge of the Hegemony. He sometimes broods on the likelihood that what he has learned and reported back home will someday cause harm to the planets that he has visited and their various indigenous species, when the Vaaskorium seeks to subjugate them.Recently, he intercepted a hyperspace messenger drone of Konan manufacture that, when its messages were decoded, spoke of a startling defeat suffered by a Konan battlegroup in an obscure planetary system. Interesting news -- extraordinarily interesting! Naharuk wonders what else might be going on there ... and whether it would be worth it to visit.Naharuk -- PL 8Abilities:STR 3 | STA 4 | AGL 2 | DEX 3 | FGT 5 | INT 4 | AWE 3 | PRE 3Powers:Claws: Strength-based Damage 1 - 1 pointHide: Impervious Toughness 2 - 2 pointsAdvantages:Assessment, Equipment 22, Fearless, Improved Initiative, Leadership, Multingual, Power Attack, Teamwork, Well-informed.Equipment:Blaster Rifle (Ranged Damage 8), Body Armor (Protection 4), Starship (see below) and 13 points of equipment as needed.Skills:Athletics 2 (+5), Close Combat: Unarmed 3 (+8), Expertise: Galactic 7 (+11), Expertise: Military 5 (+9), Expertise: Philosophy 6 (+10), Insight 8 (+11), Intimidation 7 (+10), Investigation 4 (+8), Perception 5 (+8), Ranged Combat: Blaster 6 (+8), Stealth 4 (+6), Technology 3 (+7), Vehicles 5 (+8)Offense:Initiative +5Unarmed +8 (Close Damage 4)Blaster Rifle +8 (Ranged Damage 8)Defense:Dodge 7, Parry 8, Fortitude 6, Toughness 8, Will 8Totals:Abilities 54 + Powers 3 + Advantages 28 + Skills 29 + Defenses 15 = 129 pointsOffensive PL: 8Defensive PL: 8Resistance PL: 7Skill PL: 6Complications:Discovery--Motivation. Competitive. Responsibility (crew.)Kavrholat-class Exploration Vessel - 79 points<img src="https://photos.smugmug.com/My-First-Gallery/i-tzgDFPP/0/a0e01cc1/S/909924-lady_luck-S.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />Size Gargantuan; Strength 14; Speed 14 (32,000 MPH; air/space); Defense 6; Toughness 13Features:Autopilot (+4), Communications, Computer, Living Space, Navigation System, Remote Control.Powers:Hyperspace Drive: Movement 2 (space travel 2) - 4 pointsSensor Gear: Variable 1, Limited to senses - 6 pointsWeapon Systems: Array (24 points)<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Blaster Cannons: Ranged Damage 12 - 24 points</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Pulsar Torpedoes: Ranged Burst Area Damage 8 - 1 point</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Tractor Beam: Move Object 14, Limited to moving towards or away from ship - 1 point</li> </ul>Character based on ideas from Voltron64.</blockquote>

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