Lady Magnetar¶
Domains: Life, Sun
Captain Kalisdrossa was the leader of Sword Squadron an elite cadre of legendary UNISOL fighter pilots. Her crew believed unwaveringly that with Kalisdrossa as their leader, though one or two may perish in battle, the squadron would always come home.
In the legendary Battle of Cassiar IV against Grotenhulk the Evolver, flagship of the protean fleet, the protean mutate-commander Oruth-phor intended to break Sword Squadron's winning streak, and from the body of PCS Grotenhulk, a giant swam of living drone-sprites, each specially evolved to seek and destroy UNISOL Arrestor-class ships, spawned.
Sword Squadron's meson repeaters were too imprecise to target the tiny drone-sprites. Not only were the pilots unable to carry out their orders, they were being picked off one by one. Many privately believed this was the final flight of Sword Squadron.
When one of her pilots dropped his countermeasures and temporarily distracted the swarm, Captain Kalisdrossa had a flash of insight. Seeing an opportunity to destroy the swarm, save her crew, and give them a fighting chance to complete their mission, she ordered Sword Squadron to ignore the drone and proceed with their attack on the protean flagship.
Her wingman sent back, "The drones will kill us before we're halfway there!"
"No they won't," she responded—and then sent her last message. "Squad, you have your orders. First lieutenant Vachsimnatta is in command. Kalisdrossa out."
As her squad peeled away to begin their final run at the protean capital ship, Kalisdrossa dropped all her countermeasures and flipped on her turbothrusters, believing the overheating engines would ignite the metal sensor-chaff she had jettisoned.
Her instincts were precise and correct. The resulting chemonuclear reaction generated so much light and heat—the entire swarm of drone sprites turned to pursue Sword-1.
There was only one place to lead them. The surface of Cassiar Prime was a boiling sea of plasma condensate powerful enough to rip planets apart. "It should make short work of these drones," Captain Kalisdrossa thought.
Sword-1 plunged into the fermionic sea, the hull boiling away moments before impact. A million drone-sprites followed into oblivion. Commander Oruth-phor howled his fury into empty space and ordered his ship to envelop the UNISOL capital ship, literally swallow it whole. Grotenhulk the Evolver understood the command and knew it was suicide, but the ship was compelled to obey.
Watching the great maw of the living changeship open to swallow an entire flagship struck terror into every memonek in the fleet.
Then, crackling across every signal unit, a voice. "COME FORTH LADY MAGNETAR, CHOSEN OF THE MOTHER OF STARS." And out of the blue plasma sea that was the surface of the star Cassiar Prime arose a figure, humanoid, made of solid boiling plasma.
It was Kalisdrossa, still wearing the helmet that marked her captain of Sword Squadron, holding in her hand the blue-topaz Fusion Rod—a powerful artifact that would serve as her weapon, and the symbol of her office as Herald of Nebular.
Lady Magnetar flew across the void of space at lightning speed, evaporating protean fighters as she went. Until finally she faced Grotenhulk the Evolver, his maw poised to envelop the UNISOL capital ship.
She punched a hole right through the hullskin of the changeship and battled her way, deck by deck, toward the heart of the beast. Though a thousand protean soldiers stood in her way, none could touch her or slow her relentless progress.
The memonek officers and soldiers of UNISOL watched the bleeding changeship convulse, then explode as brilliant shafts of blue light tore the ship apart. Ending the Battle of Cassiar IV.
Lady Magnetar is the Herald of Nebulon the Star Mother aiding those who fight in the cause of light and life and order. She is invoked whenever a great sacrifice must be made. "Lady Magnetar, let my sacrifice not be in vain."