Victoire (pneumatic French military-surplus pixie)

    | ATTRIBUTES
 20 | Bod 7
  * |   Mov 9 [1]
    | Mnd 5
  * |   Per 7 [2]
 20 | Ref 7
  * |   Agl 9 [1]
  * |   Spd 9 [2]
 14 | +2 Bod:Mov & Ref:Agl [1]
 10 | +2 Mnd:Per & Ref:Spd [2]

    | ADVANTAGES
  4 | +4 Attractive (9)
 20 | Flight 24, limited (wings, full action to activate)
  3 | Natural Armor +0 (7)
  2 | Natural Weaponry +0 (7)
  3 | Night Vision +3
  2 | Fast Healing (-1 time increment)

    | SKILLS
  8 | Gun Combat +4 (shoot 11/dodge 13/fix 9)
  6 | Hand-to-Hand +3 (12)
  3 | Aerobatics +3 (12)
  6 | PS: Military Scout +3 (sneak 12/tactics 8/spot ambush 10/fly dirigible 5)
  6 | Nexan +3 (8)
  2 | General Education (Victorian) +2 (7)
  4 | Business +2 (7)
  1 | Charm +1 (likes girls 10/doesn't like girls 6)

    | DISADS
- 5 | Phys: Fast Metabolism (occasional/mild)
- 5 | Phys: Small Size (occasional/mild)
- 2 | Stigma: Venus' Curse
- 6 | Psych: Pacifist/Won't Initiate Violence (infrequent/moderate)
- 5 | Psych: Curious/Nosy (frequent/mild)
- 6 | Psych: Adores Jane (infrequent/moderate)
- 5 | Player Contribution

    | BALANCED TRAITS
    | Harmless-looking 2

    | TAGS
    | Pneumatic French military-surplus pixie
    | Violet/indigo coloration
    | Thinks spandex is the greatest invention ever
    | Only drinks wine, not beer

Appearance
----------

Victoire is only the size of a human child (140cm (4'7") tall) and
fairly slender, but definitely not built like a little kid. The wings
rooted at the small of her back are rather like stiff flower petals of
violet tipped with indigo; relaxed, they're carried folded down her legs
and reach her ankles, but when fully extended they're each as long as
her own height. Extending the wings requires a pneumatic display and a moment
of concentration, filling the intercellular spaces with compressed air.
There are matching winglets at her ankles; her legs are enlongated to
give them a better moment arm. She has air intake slits, rather like
gills, on the sides of her neck, and outlet slits low on her sides.

Viki's "hair" (really a feathery growth like the inner parts of flowers)
is the same colors as her wings, with the indigo a spot at her brow, and grows
naturally in a fluffy, rounded style that goes well with her valentine
face and enormous black eyes. 

She normally wears a lycra halter and tights: a bare midriff is
necessary for proper breathing, and decollegate is excusable vanity, but
bare legs are just plain indecent! She carries her stuff in a pack
across her shoulders (to avoid fouling her wings), and usually wears
sturdy sneakers. On duty she carries her trusty 8mm rifle with bayonet,
and she always has a service revolver.

Physiology
----------

Viki looks quite human, with a few obvious exceptions like wings and
breathing slits, but is primarily a combination of insect and plant
biology, carefully melded by advanced Victorian-era biological science
(it involved a lot of electricity). Despite inhuman physiology such as
the huge lump of insect flight muscle in her lower abdomen and the
pneumatic wings, though, her physical needs are relatively standard: air,
water, and food, all in large quantities to support a metabolism capable
of flight. She particularly needs air (hence the high-capacity
respiratory and air-cooling system); she can stop breathing long enough
to immerse herself in a bath, but can't really function for more than a
few seconds without air. Despite other obvious anatomical features, she
doesn't actually have anything equating to fat: all her energy is stored
as raw ATP, so she has access to it all at need, but hasn't the reserves
to withstand protacted starvation like a human. She eats mostly sugar
and protein; vitamin-equivalents are produced by photosynthesis, so for
proper health she needs to be in sunlight at least a few hours a day (but
this does *not* produce enough energy to keep her alive, even in a coma).
Normally, she sleeps or lies about during the day, outdoors, but
gro-lamps will do.

The point of all this, of course, is flight: Viki can fly 85 kilometers
an hour and turn on a decifranc piece, making only a surprisingly quiet
hum. Most of the maneuverability comes from careful adjustment of wing
angle and stroke, with the ankle fins used only at high forward speed.
She can hover in place, but cannot glide worth mentioning.

As a side effect, the physical structure and metabolism necessary for a
flying creature even as large as Viki is amazingly tough and strong for
her miniscule weight, and her reflexes are suited to full-speed
aerobatics, all of which translates to impressive speed even on the
ground and a devastating punch.

History
-------

Soldat Ae'rien d'Infanterie 387 of Unit 127 (Victoire) was made by the
Rational Government of France to serve as a military scout in the war
against the Monarchist/Papal alliance. She served well, but even the most
dedicated soldier can only see so many dead civilians before she
questions whether it's worth it. Years of faithful service kept her from
a court-martial; instead she was given a medical discharge for
psychological unsuitability and pensioned off.

Although she was glad to be out of the war, being a civilian was almost
worse. Even in Nice's turbulant war-time economy, legitimate employment
for a fighter was scarce, and usually required intimidation skills
beyond those of a 140cm pixie. Feeling completely useless, she lapsed
into squandering her pension on strong drink, fast men, and unfaithful
Lady Luck. The safe money was on her not lasting another five years.

Then one night, moping home from a card game where she had lost all her
money and watched her chosen beau fall to the charms of someone taller,
Victoire ran across a young lady being assaulted by a gang of
alleybashers. Not yet so sunk in depression as to be incapable of doing
the right thing, she demonstrated why the Rational bioengineering
program deserved every bit of its budget.

The grateful and wealthy young lady paid Viki to walk her home, a simple
task that turned into a stunning revelation when Viki stepped out of a
grubby Nice alleyway into the Square of Seraphim and saw Nexus spread out
before her.

Personality
-----------

Victoire is a reasonably good person, although given her past, she
doesn't believe it herself. Still, she tries to do the right thing
instead of the expedient thing or the thing that's been ordered. In
particular, she won't be the first one to use force: she'll threaten and
even fire a warning shot, but she won't strike the first blow. Once the
fight does start, though, she'll use all her training to end it quickly.
Honorable foes get honorable treatment, but anyone picking on the weak
(especially soldiers attacking civilians) is likely to be left in
pieces.

Despite the lease on her killer instincts, her other built-in compulsion
is still fully operational: nothing pleases her so much as going
someplace she's never been and seeing something she's never seen before.
Nexus is enough to chip her devout atheism.

Viki is eternally grateful and devoted to Jane for taking her out of the
wreckage of her life and bringing her to paradise; she doesn't believe
she can ever repay the debt.