Player name: Tengu
AIM contact: tengusaur
Alternate contacts: n/a (but you can reach me through the mod account)
Character name: General Hetepheres
Source canon: Swarms of Gods (OC)
Community tag: hetepheres
Do I want a HMD: I already have one.
Notes: I'm putting the mission list, enemy list and a few parts of character background into a separate post, since they're spoilers.
Hetepheres fought with other, aggressive alien races in the past. I will put up a permission post where people can write if she's familiar with alien enemies from their canons and to what extent (the default is no).
Background: Hetepheres spent most of her life as a warrior, fighting various threats to her home planet Geb. She started as a graduate of a military academy, a promising, but low-ranked soldier, but didn't take long to become an elite fighter, genetically modified and with a unique personal mecha. And, over time, she became a general, one of the few among Gebians.
Soon after the Divine Crusaders insurgency failed, Gebians rediscovered Earth, and two political forces emerges in the High Council. The Anti-Earthling Party believes that Gebians are a superior species and should conquer Earth and enslave its inhabitants. The Pro-Earthling Party believes in peaceful cooperation between the two races. Unfortunately, the AEP's propaganda-filled rhetorics made it much more popular, especially among soldiers - both experienced warriors and rookie volunteers started to flood its ranks. Hetepheres was one of the few military leaders who joined the PEP, and the highest ranked among them.
The Grand Vote, when the High Council would vote which path the whole race should take, was still far ahead at this point, and in the meantime both parties were free to do as they want. The AEP started to prepare for an invasion, while PEP had other plans. Its politicians stayed at home, to persuade the members of High Council and the populace that cooperation is the right way to take, while at the same time its most powerful warrior would be sent to Earth, technically as an ambassador, and practically, to warn Earthlings about the incoming threat and help them repel the AEP's attacks. This warrior was Hetepheres.
Original canon background: Thousands of years ago, a group of alien explorers from an insectoid species arrived on Earth. Here, they discovered a civilization that was already developed and culturally advanced for its age - ancient Egypt. The explorers knew better than to intervene with the locals, or to share their technology with them. Instead, they kept a low profile, limiting their interference to occassionally pretending to be the local gods in order to receive free food and resources as offerings. After a while, the explorers returned to their home planet, bringing extensive notes on the culture they found. Their species fell in love in this discovery, and Egypt became a cultural fad among the aliens - a fad that turned out to be surprisingly long-lasting, and survived as the main cultural trend even to this day. The aliens' planet became known as Geb in the meantime. Until very recently, both species didn't interact - until a stealth Gebian scouting party arrived on Earth not so long ago.
In their natural form, Gebians resemble one meter long beetles. Their engineering technology made remarkably little progress since they visited Earth for the first time (although they have invented stuff like the Noble Barrier or faster space travel in the meantime). The reason for that is something few Gebians are willing to admit - their species is simply not very good at inventing new things, with few scientists or great thinkers, or innovative artists (which might explain why so much about them is still so Ancient Egyptian). Where they made a lot of progress, though, is genetic engineering and cybernetics; most Gebians use them in medical ways, to counter various disabilities and ensure a longer life (it's not uncommon for members of the species to live past 100, twice their natural lifespan), but specialists also use them to increase their capabilities, sometimes by drastically altering their bodies. The best example of this are elite soldiers, who assume humanoid forms in order to pilot more advanced and powerful mecha. Unfortunately, Gebians mostly have experience with the biology of their own species, and it will take time until any of their medical advancements are of any use to humans.
Gebian civilization is focused on personal achievement. Personal ability is much more important than any kinds of connections (in theory, anyway), and raising from nobody to an important figure is possible for everyone - as shown by Hetepheres' example. Up until recently, when the Anti-Earth Party became to amass forces of barely-trained volunteers, Gebian military focused on quality over quantity, with the highest ranks being given to the most powerful warriors. Officers are expected to be more than just soldiers, but also educated and cultured - in a somewhat aristocratic manner, though it's been ages since Geb had actual aristocracy.
There is a single Gebian government, but it doesn't have a single leader. Instead, it has the High Council, whose members are democratically elected by the people and vote among themselves on various decisions. It is a fair, but also extremely slow and inefficient form of government, giving various organizations a huge leeway in doing whatever they want - as seen in the actions of the Anti-Earthling Party.
Personality: Proud, serious and dignified, Hetepheres seems to fit the archetype of a lady of war at a first glance. And while this perception is not inaccurate, there is more to her character than that. It is true that she doesn't project a very emotional image and doesn't raise her voice often (hot-blooded yelling? Maybe once in a blue moon), and having very limited facial expressions due to being an insect
and a cyborg isn't helping, but at the same time she's fond of elaborate expressions and larger than life actions - the kind of ham who chews the scenery without passionate yelling.
Hetepheres has great interest in human civilization, and is fascinated by its culture - but, even though she's well-educated about various Gebian matters, her knowledge of Earthlings is uneven. Combine this with the differences between the two species, her somewhat melodramatic approach to life and the fact that sometimes she just likes to mess with people, and she comes off as a rather eccentric individual at times. However, despite that, she's a serious and reliable leader, and can suddenly become very no-nonsense when needed. She's protective of her subordinates and younger and less experienced soldiers, and wants to make sure they survive.
In a fight, Hetepheres is very likely to go for the enemy leaders first - the ordinary soldiers are just listening to orders, but those who command them to their death should be ready to also face death themselves. Also, killing the leader often means routing the enemy and winning the battle while minimizing casualties on both sides - she is a professional soldier who is proud of her skills and deals death on an everyday basis, but at the same time wants to avoid
unnecessary bloodshed. It's also worth mentioning that "personal" and "important" are very different things for Hetepheres, and she is most definitely not one of those people who kill mooks en masse but try to reason with their rival. In fact, she has more sympathy for the common grunts, for reasons already mentioned.
There is a hint of regret and grimness in Hetepheres' determination at times. This is because her race is torn apart, engaging in senseless war that hurts both Gebians and Earthlings instead of trying to cooperate - but also because of mysterious past mistakes in her life, ones she doesn't like to talk about. But they are bound to catch up to her sooner or later...
Capabilities and Resources: Being a two-meter tall genetically modified alien cyborg with a lot of combat experience, Hetepheres is a very capable on-foot fighter, though not on the level where you can fight mecha without a giant robot of your own. She can survive in vacuum for a short period of time. She can also eat some things humans can without any ill effects (leaves of any kind, for example), while some human food has weird properties for her (mustard is borderline poison).
Type: Combatant/Commander
Unit Name: Scaraber
Unit Description: Scaraber is a highly advanced Gebian elite unit. Like all of their mecha, it's controlled through very precise motion control, and closely resembles the pilot - its core form looks pretty much like a slightly more robotic, giant Hetepheres with the visor permanently down. It's a versatile unit, with good evasion and armor. It also has a super mode called Scarab Power, possible to activate when the pilot reaches a proper mindset (in SRW terms: when Morale is high enough). When using Scarab Power, the mech is tougher and stronger, and its various weapons have extra abilities.
Equipment:
Laser staff - an adequate melee weapon, buts its main purpose is to fire
Ancient Egyptian Laser Beams beam attacks. This is Scaraber's main ranged weapon. When using Scarab Power, the staff can fire a gigantic beam, or create a giant laser blade for melee - but the latter option requires a 4-handed grip and is available only with Beetle Frame.
Khopeshes - Egyptian swords (or sword-axes), dual-wielded. Very sharp, and their shape makes it easier to parry and intercept incoming blows. With Scarab Power, the swords start to vibrate at supersonic speeds, becoming even deadlier in melee as they can cut through almost anything.
Noble Barrier - a special kind of force field that only Gebian elite mecha use. When activated, it periodically shifts on its own between two states (during mission this usually happens at the start of each round): when it's gold, it offers very good protection against physical attacks, when it's silver, against energy attacks.
Beetle Frame - a special frame that Scaraber can equip (even in combat), or ride around on like a Waverider (it can crash into enemies in melee). When equipped, it's a backpack resembling a beetle's thorax and some extra armor for Scaraber's body and limbs, all gold. The Beetle Frame has insectoid wings, and it also has two more arms, letting Hetepheres use the alternate mode of her staff or wield four khopeshes at once, to attack with a veritable storm of blades! The Beetle Frame makes Scaraber stronger in offense, tougher and with an improved barrier, but less agile, bringing it closer to a typical super robot. It also has a weakness - it's not very well balanced, and when Scaraber is knocked on its back, it will have a lot of difficulty standing back up without help!
Size: M (~20 meters tall)
Terrain compatibility:Air: No (Yes with Beetle Frame)
Ground: Yes
Water: No
Space: Yes
Favored terrain: Ground, Space
Upgrades: The first upgrade for Scaraber is an electro whip, which can be used to entangle and trip enemies, hit them with blunt force, zap them with electric charges - or all of the above! When under the effect of Scarab Power, it can be swung around rapidly to create a powerful electric tornado, either around Scaraber or in front of it, to be sent flying towards some distant enemies.
The second upgrade are Bitles - bit-like remote weapons shaped a bit like (you guessed it) beetles, which can fire small lasers at enemies. Normally four at once can be launched, with Scarab Power that number raises to 8 (which is how many there are in total). They can only be used with Beetle Frame, as they are nested inside of it.
The third upgrade is a whole new frame.
Unit Name: Crab Frame
Unit Description: An ancient weapon of an ancient warrior, the Crab Frame is different from modern Gebian mecha - unlike the more skill-based Beetle Frame, it relies on brute force and sheer ferocity. As expected, the frame is golden and crab-like in appearance, and it's very tough and strong - but at the same time, deceptively quick! Instead of Scaraber's weapons, it has its own, in-built ways of attacking. It's also much more stable and very hard to knock down, thus mostly negating the Scarab Frame's weakness.
Equipment:
Pincers - they fully cover Scaraber's hands in this form. Very sharp and with fearsome crushing power. They can also be fired like a rocket punch! When using Scarab Power, the pincers can rotate quickly, both in melee and when thrown, for even more offensive power.
Eye stalk lasers - Crab Frame's head is mostly covered by a golden helmet with two eye stalks, and unsurprisingly, these can shoot lasers. When using Scarab Power, the beams become much bigger. Overall this is pretty similar to the laser staff, but since it doesn't take arms, it can be used in combination with pincers for deadly combos.
Noble Barrier - like Scaraber. Unlike the Beetle Frame, the Crab Frame doesn't reinforce the barrier, because it wasn't invented yet when the frame was made.
Size: M (~20 meters tall)
Terrain compatibility:Air: No
Ground: Yes
Water: Yes
Space: Yes
Favored terrain: Ground, Water
Wingmen: n/a
Mission requirement: No.
Suggested Event List: Here. Lots of spoilers ahead!
Sample post: http://testrun-box.dreamwidth.org/92334.html 
