Fiction:Val'So'Ra

Such is the way of the Empire that even the most skilled and dedicated of its Legionaries may never ascend beyond the rank of Warrior. To assume that this makes them any less than one of their more celebrated brethren in the Knights, or the feared Phantoms, would be a grave error. Many are the Warrior Exemplars who have ascended beyond the common notion of armed warfare, taking their style of combat to its limits and further. One such Exemplar is [name], grandson of the Blademaster Hel’Bre’K Ce’So’Va. A hybrid of pureborn and Ce’So’Va bloodlines, the destructive tendencies of the bloodrage have instead manifested themselves as an intense focus to which Val’So’Ra attributes many of his otherwise unfeasible feats of valour.

Early Life
Contrary to the alien norm, Val’So’Ra grew up without the shadow of his illustrious grandfather over him. While he had been born of a potent bloodline, he was one of dozens, possibly hundreds who could make that same claim. Indeed, he was not even told of his ancestry until Hel’Bre’K himself noted it upon presenting the honour of Exemplar. So’Ra was thus forced to carve his own place from the Empire, just like all other Fordanta. When he proved naturally proficient at wrestling his fellow hatchlings to the ground, and developed a predilection to disabling his classmates with well-thrown rocks or the occasional hatchling, he was referred to the military academy at Va’Si’La’Ko to train in the art of the Warrior.

At the age of five, he passed the first set of trials and was accepted into the path of the Warrior, under the tutelage of one of the stricter Exemplars. Although he would not find out until much, much later in life, the Exemplar was well aware of his lineage, and knew of the Ce’So’Va line’s natural physical superiority. So’Ra’s training consisted of drills with plasma casters, martial arts, and battlefield tactics and strategy, as with any other Fordanta. However, at the end of every training session, the Exemplar ordered his students to attack him until he could either fight them all off, or passed out in the attempt. Though the training process was demanding and often humiliating, he persevered for a full six years before he was finally given a deployment.

Career
As a Warrior, So’Ra’s first mission was a planetfall. The leading Exemplar placed him in the first wave assaulting a starport, which it was believed carried navigational information to several rogue element hideouts. By this time, his Ce’So’Va heritage had made itself distinct; he was broader in the shoulder and a good foot taller than his fellows, and his unusually hard training regimen had fortified his strength to the point that he could heft an enhanced plasma caster with the same ease his fellow Warriors carried their own weapons. As the squad made planetfall, he found himself hyperventilating and convulsing. His Exemplar had written him off as a crater, but within seconds of the point of no return, he snapped back into awareness. With mechanical precision he fired his thrusters, righting himself and bringing his weapon to bear. The caster spat clean volleys of plasma fire, each catching its target square and true. His kin joined him at the front line, but there was little work left for them. Even his Exemplar was left awestruck at the methodical, efficient murder taking place before him.

So’Ra was nominated for half a dozen honours in the wake of the battle, and none of the Exemplars who attended the battle could deny his proficiency at arms, or question his individual lethality rating – his score alone brought the squad average to above that attained by Warriors with a full decade’s experience more. Thus it was that he was to receive his first battle honours on the ashen ruin of the world he had just helped invade, the ceremony presided over by none other than the Blademaster himself. As he ascended to the makeshift stage to receive the awards, Hel’Bre’K told him of his ancestry, and offered to honour-name him Ce’So’Va. So’Ra returned a look of cold disgust, as the pieces locked together in his mind. His accelerated training wasn’t due to any natural ability he possessed, formidable as it was, instead he was favoured because he carried some of the Blademaster’s genes, and so would prove physically superior to his fellow hatchlings if trained well.

This struck him as a hammer blow as he found himself face to face with the man responsible for what he perceived to be a childhood biased against him. He rejected the name, an act which surprised everyone present, except Hel’ himself. After the ceremony, Hel’ met with him on the drill ground to talk. As was so common in Fordan society, Hel’ had met barely a fraction of the children he had sired, and even fewer of his grandchildren or great grandchildren. All he could say was that he regretted not being able to call So’Ra by the name of his birthright, and that he was proud beyond measure of his grandchild’s achievements. Hel’ raised him to the rank of Exemplar, and then left before So’Ra could respond.

The Guardians
So’Ra continued on like this for two decades, perfecting his aim and style, while Artificers continually modified and upgraded the heavy caster he preferred to better suit his needs. His rank, however, remained constant. He stubbornly refused to adopt any path other than that of the Warrior, and as his skillset lay in murder rather than leadership, there was nowhere for him to go along that path. As time went on, he found himself becoming more and more distant from the Guild. His devotion to the Empire was strong and unwavering, and so he continued to strive against his enemy with every ounce of his being, constantly seeking a new foe to challenge him.

When the Empire came into contact with the Draconid Imperium, So’Ra was in a rare state of elation. Here he had found an enemy that could match the Empire for power, and one that assured him a true challenge. It crushed his spirit to hear of the alliance when it formed, and of the Empire’s joining the AGC. What gave him pause, however, was the enigmatic position of Guardian. He was among the first group of Fordanta issued invitations to join this military outfit, a galaxy-spanning brotherhood within which he could find a more pure expression of war. Here the ties to the Empire were weak- not gone, as this was utterly impossible for the Fordan psyche- but weak enough that So’Ra could embrace the art of death fully, fighting innumerable foes on countless battlefields, the steely precision of his own unique blood curse becoming the stuff of legends in its own right.

Within a year of his assignment to the Guardians, So’Ra was deployed to the space ship by the name of the New Dawn, a multi-species vessel on a constant mission into the galaxy, as a part of reinforcements to the security compliment on board.

Appearance and Personality
So’Ra shares the typical broad shoulders and bulkier muscles of the Ce’So’Va bloodline, however still keeping the elegant lines of a pureblood. He is often considered to be the model of a physically attractive Fordanta, however his personality and reputation prevent him from forming too many close friendships or sexual relations. His scales are a lighter green than the typical Fordanta, shining a brilliant emerald in the sunlight. Onto these scales he has had Old Fordan runes inscribed in psychoreactive ink, so that when his battle focus comes on his skin is traced by flashes of red curses and maledictions of old. His head is slightly elongated compared to the norm, and his eyes are a deep amber common of pureblood Fordanta. Decades of combat have left his skin scarred across his body, the worst of which extends from his shoulder to his hip, however he has sustained no major injuries throughout his career.

In terms of personality he is very reserved, speaking only in brief and pointed terms and avoiding contact with others wherever possible. Though on the outskirts of society from the beginning, long-term separation from the Empire has left him somewhat of a lost soul, as he has no-one he can fully confide in, and no way to quickly relieve the stress that builds up rapidly in a Warrior. While over the course of his service he has taken several of his fellow Fordanta as lovers to deal with most of his job’s stress, this is only ever at the end of long deployments and so his mental state is slowly degrading. Over time, he has come to understand the madness that must have gripped his ancestor Hel’Bre’K, and long ago resolved that if he ever met the Blademaster again he would apologize immediately, but he is still bound to the Guardians until such a time as his service was no longer needed.

Equipment
Ever since his time with the Warrior’s Guild, So’Ra has used a plasma caster of some variety. While he had used at least five main variants during his time as an Exemplar, such a weapon was originally unavailable to him as a Guardian. When his initial combat reports returned a significant reduction in his overall lethality, an exception was made for him. The core design used to construct his favoured caster was modified by the Guardians’ weapon smiths using their own technology, resulting in an overall more efficient weapon that he uses to this day. Aside from this, he draws his equipment from the Guardians' armoury, utilising the standard equipment modified to suit the Fordan body.