Celestar

*“I don’t like you shooting at me with lasers! Here, you can have some of them back!”*

*“I do not know if it has been to our great fortune, or their great MISfortune, that the Celestars have been born into this age of crisis. For the Celestars’ great power and illustrious lineage compels them to take a foremost position in the fight against our many enemies, mundane and infernal, in places and times such that foes’ numbers and weapons may overwhelm even the Celestars’ incredible powers and great prowess. I have no doubt that the Celestars’ destiny is to fill greater roles in our ranks, and in greater numbers, but the trials and attrition of our current struggles have kept their numbers small and stymied the growth of their population. But though the current fate of so many Celestar would seem to be short lives and violent ends, they are novas in our skies, terrible, powerful, yet beautiful. “*

*Avanar Windreader, Hawkmoon Seeress*

## Celestar

These rare, but powerful, Elite are believed to be the result of the Progen mating of Hawkmoon Celestials and Silvermoon Prism Warriors.

### Description

Celestars are physically beautiful cyberhumanoids that literally glow with power. They lack the androgyny of the Celestial parent, but retain some of the mystic abilities of that Elite type.

The most striking feature of the Celestar are the great crystalline wings sprouting from their backs. These wings serve as both aerodynamic control surfaces (flight is accomplished through an integral antigravity generator) and energy collectors, augmenting the gynoid’s internal nuclear fusion heart with gathered solar and absorbed laser energy. Further assisting their flight capabilities are two small plasma thrusters concealed in the trailing edge of the wings, that can propel the Celestar at missile-like speeds.

Celestars also possess other advantages; built-in laser weaponry, an integral forcefield, holographic projection abilities, and powerful sensory capabilities. They can also generate a protective forcefield that can be boosted by their energy absorption abilities.

### Deployment

Celestars are Elite warriors, often spearheading aerial attack squads and special ops units. They are equally at home in air or in space, wherever they have room to fly and energy to soak up.

Because of their mixed heritage, Celestars can be found in both the Hawkmoons and the Silvermoons, though the majority of them gravitate towards the Hawkmoon side of their lineage. Their inherent power means that they often fill the role of Warchief for many sub-Tribes in the Hawkmoons and Silvermoons.

## Abilities

Celestars can wear Warchief-style body armor with 150 MDC, frequently plated/studded in laser-reflective chrome or crystals.

### Sensors

#### Radar

4 mile range, can ID 36 different targets, and simultaneously track 16 targets as low as 700 ft.

### Special Systems

#### Plasma Booster

The trailing ends of the Celestar’s wings each have a small plasma jet booster that can be engaged, boosting speed and altitude by 50% for up to six hours, after which the system must cool down for an hour. Extend duration of power-up time by 50% if traveling in open sunlight. Note that while the Plasma Booster is engaged, the gynoid is ‘hot’, displaying an exhaust plume that is readily detectable by visual and thermal means (including heat-seeking weaponry).

#### Integral Forcefield

The Celestar can generate a protective forcefield with 180 MDC. If depleted, the forcefield cannot be reactivated for another 30 minutes unless jump-started/pumped by absorbed laser, ion, and particle beam weapons fire (see Energy Absorber Panels, below), with absorbed MD being reapplied as MDC point-for-point the next melee round.

#### Photosensitivity

The Celestar’s wings can detect changes in light levels around them; not as good as dedicated extra eyes, but enough that the gynoid can sense objects (provided there’s enough light for them to register), even approaching from behind. +1 to Initiative and +5% to Detect Ambush.

#### Energy Absorber Panels

These massive wing panels are composed of a crystalline matrix and conformal forcefield that actually absorbs and diverts weapons energy into re-tasked energy for the gynoid’s own systems. On a successful parry roll this system actually ABSORBS incoming enemy, ion, and particle beam weapons fire and reduces its damage by 75% (lasers do NO damage)...the next melee, HALF of the damage initially rolled is applied to one of the following:

* Forcefield MDC (point to point increase, and the additional MDC can be retained for 4 melees/1 minute);
* Running/flying speed (boost base speed by 25% effects are sustained only for 4 melees/1 minute);
* Leaping distance (by 50% for 1 melee)
* Or a bonus of +1 to dodge for 2 melees.

The system is ineffective against plasma, rail guns, and projectile weaponry, as well as magic (does FULL damage). The only other limitation is that it cannot handle more than 250 MD per melee (so a main battle cannon doing 1d6x1,000 MD per blast would do full damage with the overkill).

### Weapons Systems

#### Solar Laser/Laser Absorption

Instead of Parrying and redirecting laser fire, the Celestar can instead choose to absorb laser energy and reuse the energy to boost its own laser systems. For each laser strike absorbed (an absorbed shot CANNOT be parried/redirected), the cyborg can boost the damage of its own lasers (increase damage by 1 MD per 2 MD inflicted/absorbed and/or range by 100 ft per 1 MD of damage inflicted/absorbed, energy can only be held for 4 melees/1 minute or else re-tasked).

Alternately, the
cyborg can boost other stats as noted above.

#### Wing Lasers (2)

 Damage
 Damage2
 Rate of Fire
 Payload

Mounted on the ‘thumb’ joint of each wing is a small, but powerful, laser similar to that mounted on the Titan Robotics’ Flying Titan power armor.

#### ‘Light Storm’ Laser Barrage

 Range2
 Damage
 Rate of Fire
 Payload

The Celestar can choose instead to use smaller laser arrays to fire off an area of effect barrage of less powerful lasers from the tips of the pinion ‘feathers’ in the wings.

#### Eye Lasers (2)

 Damage
 Rate of Fire
 Payload

The Celestar’s gaze can BURN.

Bonus: +2 to strike (in addition to any other bonuses)

#### Arm Claw/Laser Gauntlets (2)

Identical to those carried by Shemarrian Warriors. The gauntlets are sometimes modified to carry a vibro-sword instead of claws, and often feature additional extendable blades along the forearm and elbow, allowing the Celestar to do damage with an elbow strike (1d6 MD) or forearm block/parry (1d4 MD).

Options

#### Silver-Bonded Ripper Blade (sword)

4d4 MD and poisons beings susceptible to silver.

Some Celestar’ have been known to substitute captured/acquired Juicer FIWS (Forearm Integral Weapons System) gauntlets with particle beam blasters in place of the Shemarrian laser-gaunts.

#### Strobe Attack

 Range2
 Damage
 Payload

The Celestar can generate intense blinding flashes and strobe them, blinding unprotected eyes.

Damage: Unless the victim(s) are wearing tinted goggles or other protection against bright light, they will be blinded (-10 to strike, parry, dodge, and roll) for 1 melee round after being hit. Duration can be extended by 7 seconds (half a melee) for every subsequent melee that the target is kept bombarded by the strobe attack until their eyes manage to adjust.

#### Sun Touch

The Celestar lacks the ability to produce Light Blades as the Celestial does, but the Celestar can still channel ‘true’ light into her limbs, making a touch equivalent to a beam of sunlight to beings vulnerable to sunlight, and empowering melee strikes with the power of sunlight. Add a +2 to damage if the Celestar has had the opportunity to soak up at least 2 hours of direct sunlight within the last 24 hours; the extra damage is good for 20 melees (5 minutes) worth of melee combat.

#### Optional Wing Blades

 Damage
 Damage2

Copying the Gargoyles of Europe, some Celestar further accessorize by adding blades to their wings.

### Programming/Skills

The skills of the EShemar Celestar depend on their origins and their level of experience.

Progen-born Celestar will start with the full base programming of the Shemarrian Warrior (see Shemarrian Nation, pg. 32) and can acquire additional skills as normal for an Ecotroz Neural Intelligence. They also possess the following:

Acrobatics (+15%)

Laser Communications 95%

### Combat

Body Block/Leaping Jump Attack

1d8 MD and has a 01-50% chance of knocking opponents of up to 1,200 lbs weight off their feet (lose initiative and 2 APMs getting back up)

Diving Attack (2
attacks)

This is a diving attack from high altitude that can allow the Celestar to reach speeds of 250 MPH on an attack. This adds +18 SDC/MD to melee attacks, and increases damage from thrown kinetic weapons such as spears by +1d8 MD. The downside is that the Celestar’s dodge bonuses are HALVED during the descent.

Psionic Abilities

EShemar baseline psionics Object Read, Telemechanics, Telemechanical Possession, Telemechanic Mental Operation, also have the following ADDITIONAL psionics:

* Sixth Sense (2)
* See the Invisible (no cost)
* See Aura (no cost)
* Sense Evil (no cost)

## Options

### Laser Propulsion

A low thrust propulsion system useful only in space, Laser Propulsion is available to Hawkmoons and Silvermoons engaged in space operations. Requiring only energy (such as sunlight) falling on the collector wings, laser propulsion is a slow way for individual Celestars to move across open space, when speed isn’t an issue, or no other means of propulsion is available. It is dismissed by most EShemar as having any use in combat, but Celestars on personal sabbatical have been known to use laser propulsion on month- to yearlong ‘cruises’ across solar systems. In a more dramatic incident, a group of Celestars managed to survive the destruction of their transport at the hands of a Splugorth attack group, and managed to use intermittent laser propulsion use to reach the shelter of an asteroid cluster, where they restocked on materials and remass, and then used their laser thrusters to cross to the moon where a Kittani listening post was sited, attack and seize it, and use the post’s own communications systems to summon a Shemarrian rescue party.

Speed: The laser propulsion system can only accelerate the gynoid at .1% of light speed per 2 weeks (or can only attain a maximum speed of Mach 3 in space, after 24 hours of continuous thrusting). On the plus side it only requires electrical power to operate.