Age of Rebellion: Lena Missa

“Through early morning fog I see visions of the things to be -

The pains that are withheld for me

I realize and I can see...

That suicide is painless

It brings on many changes

And I can take or leave it if I please…

I try to find a way to make all our little joys relate

Without that ever-present hate

But now I know that it's too late…

The game of life is hard to play -

I'm gonna lose it anyway!

The losing card I'll someday lay

So this is all I have to say…

The only way to win is cheat, and lay it down before I'm beat

And to another, give my seat

For that's the only painless feat

The sword of time will pierce our skins

It doesn't hurt when it begins

But as it works its way on in

The pain grows stronger - watch it grin...

A brave man once requested me to answer questions that are key

‘Is it to be or not to be?’

And I replied 'oh why ask me?'

'Cause suicide is painless

It brings on many changes

And I can take or leave it if I please

...and you can do the same thing if you please…”

Theme from M.A.S.H.

Commission from (updated: larger version)

Meet Lena Missa, as she limbers in some off-duty exercise between missions for the Alliance of Independent Systems.

Both Healer and Killer

“I’m a military paramedic. I can heal you or hurt you; which do you want?”

Lena comes from a good family on Champala; she was studying medicine at university when her people were attacked by Imperial forces, who desired to occupy the world for its mining and manufacturing operations.  Through a number of peace-treaties with the Mon Calamari, Ishi Tib and others, the Alliance of Independent Systems arrived to help liberate the planet, and after almost two years of fighting, the Empire was finally forced to retreat.  Champala was accepted into Associate Membership of the AIS, and a call was put out for Champala‘s native sons and daughters to serve with the Alliance.  There was quite a wave of patriotic fervour following their liberation, and many Chagrians enlisted, eager to defend their homeworld from the Imperium of Man, who had left non-human species in little doubt what their fate would be under their iron rule.  Her family and betrothed strongly disagreed; they argued and she stormed out, heading for an AIS recruiting centre.

Lena enlisted right away on a whim, hoping that she could save lives as a military medic or field doctor. After basic training, she found that she had a gift for rifle shooting, and they insisted she undergo training in the Marksman Corps of the Sector Forces.  Here she learned the patient arts of sniping and long-range takedowns, and also the use of heavier weapons, both man-portable and vehicle-mounted. She also took training as a battlefield paramedic, one who was able to fight her way through to the wounded and heal them even under heavy fire.  She found that she enjoyed the rush of battle, and while she has no particular love of killing other creatures, she very much liked the camaraderie of military life.

She does her best work from a distance, and that gives her a certain remoteness compared to other soldiers, a certain sense of distance – mentally as well as physically – from her targets.  She practises relentlessly until she can hit a target even at extreme range with pinpoint accuracy.  She has earned medals for both sniping and various evacuations using her medical skills.  She is prouder of the former, taking a certain pride in her ability to take out enemy targets with a single shot.  She has a particular knack for taking out even heavily armoured targets, able to find a weak spot in almost anything and strike hard to its vitals.  A few of her company have joked that she is some kind of Force-adept but she says it just comes down to training and instincts.  She feels that she is never more truly alive that moment before she takes the shot; when everything crystallises in an instant of purest focus.

Compared to that, doing emergency medical procedures on the wounded with TIEs and ATAT fire flying overhead is perhaps more fraught.  She is less enamoured with the chaos of the battlefield, having to fight her way to the injured, make emergency repairs and then evacuate.  It makes her well-liked by the troops, however, and she has a certain fondness for rugged human men.  While she is somewhat willowy, she is a capable fighter up close, as by their very nature, paramedics have to get up close and personal on battlefield assaults.  She is equally adept at healing back at camp, when she has the proper tools like bacta tanks and surgical equipment to mend the injured.  She is quite personable, with a relaxed bedside manner, and is well-liked by her patients.

She doesn’t see any dichotomy in her different areas of expertise  - as she sees it, she’s saving lives either way, whether she’s taking out an Imperial Officer at range,  bringing down an armoured enemy walker or putting her comrades back together under blaster fire.  She has mostly been fighting the Empire, an enemy she understands and completely loathes. She is concerned about being sent to face the Confederacy, as she knows that the Sith and the Jedi were considered heroes by her people… and fighting Force-sensitives is quite another matter to bringing down Interceptors and ATATs.

Although she writes occasionally to her family, they have yet to respond, and she considers it is their loss.  This is her life now, whether they like it or not, and she doubts she could ever return to work in a civilian hospital.  She works frequently with the Mon Calamari and the Quarren, especially on undersea missions, where their aquatic nature is immeasurably useful.  She is fascinated by other species who are similar to her own, especially the aquatic Nautolans, but also Twi’leks and Togruta, whose lekku and montrals are very similar to her own lethorns. Like many species, she finds humans especially appealing and likes working with them, as patients or comrades in arms.  

Like most Chagrians, she is steady, stoic and unhurried, strong-willed to the point of obstinacy.  Most Chagrians are slow and awkward when out of water, and this is something she has worked on long and hard since joining the AIS. She has worked to condition herself using gymnastics and athletics, until she is as supple and limber as any land-dweller.  She quite enjoys the grind of military life in Sector Forces, but of late, her kill ratios have prompted her officers to ask her about possible promotion to Special Forces.  She is wary about the prospect, but is presently considering her options. SpecOps get the best training and equipment, but also take the greatest risks, and regular soldiers often think them arrogant glory-hounds. Still, she feels it's tempting...

Chagrian Biology and Society

Civilization on Champala originated in long strips of coastline, where sea levels fluctuated wildly with the tides. Buildings in these ancient cities were entirely submerged at high tide, and Chagrians swam between them. Once the Chagrians made contact with other species, they constructed starports and trade cities on high plateaus accessible by aircar. 

Chagrians are born as tadpoles in clutches of three or more, and raised in tubs of water in a family's private home. During this time, their arms, legs, and air-breathing lungs develop, and their larval appendages slough away as they become fully bipedal. Adult Chagrians are truly amphibious, retaining their ability to breathe underwater while also able to function without difficulty in air.

Lena is tall and slender like most Chagrians, with a light blue skin tone that is common among her kind. Like all females, she lacks a second set of lethorns at the top of her head, as these are only possessed by males, who used them for ritual combats and to attract mates in simpler times.   Like all her kind, her tongue is long and black and slightly forked. Many humans seem fascinated by that.

Unusually for a sapient species, exposure to Champala's oceans left the Chagrians with a poor sense of taste.  Where most species enjoy the partaking of food and drink, Chagrians regard eating as a biological chore rather than a pleasure. As they have little interest in eating for its own sake, they prefer to consume nutritional substances to replace meals.

As a people, Chagrians are generally peaceful and law-abiding.  They are community-minded for the most part, and their governments ensure that every citizen is cared and provided for with food, shelter and health-care, so their general standard of living is high compared to many species, even for the poorest Chagrian.  Education is valued in their society and many Chagrians travel off-world for advanced university studies.  Most of their kind on Champala do not speak Basic, but they can pick it up quickly when they travel off-world.

Interestingly enough, although they are not a warlike species, they nonetheless have periods of their history punctuated by conflict and unrest.  To the ancient Chagrians, war was a heavily-officiated rarity that adhered to countless rules and codes. One such code involves the ‘colour of war’, a particular shade of red that denotes a combatant from a civilian.  Since the colour of the Systems  Alliance uniforms and ships is crimson, Lena finds this rather fitting, and assumes this is partly what led so many of her kin to declare for the Alliance military.

“I grew up with an old legend… that the great God-King Aram Acheron would one day burst forth from Logue Rock, and lead his faithful to victory over their enemies… It’s a nice story, but assuming he doesn’t show up, we’ll just have to fight for ourselves.  I’m doing my part and I’m proud of that.”