Starhammer

Starhammer
General information
Race	Android
Faction	Advocates
First Appearance	The Engineer
Family

Starhammer was the head of the Advocates and one of the galactic threats Varic Vallenar saw during his ritual. After Varic and his crew nearly killed him on Carturus, Starhammer found the The Shadow Ark and became his guardian. Shadow Ark abandoned him after Starhammer began to turn against the Advocates. He is an android, a masterwork made by Mell. He was married to Leilari.

Appearance

Starhammer has a human appearance, with bright blue eyes, black hair, a chiseled jawline, and muscular physique. Starhammer takes good care of his appearance. He wears a golden cloak with minor spells to ripple even in the vacuum of space, and a white-and-gold costume with a big A on his chest. Underneath his synthetic appearance, Starhammer shares the same, singular eye that most of Mell’s Novabots have. He has fluid that looks like blood, and serves a similar function.

Biography

Creation

Starhammer was the first of Mell's Novabots, and masterwork Aethertech. Starhammer’s primary directive was to protect everybody, but especially Mell. She made Starhammer with romantic intentions in mind, though she did not program romantic feelings into him, only a protective impulse. Mell had wanted someone who would protect her and never forget her, a goal that Starhammer would never forget even after they parted ways and Mell began fighting against him. When they were still together, Starhammer triggered the Evolution Engine for the first time, though there was barely a change detected in the Aether.

Starhammer is notably paranoid of the galaxy finding out that he is an android, believing it could cause irreparable damage to the Advocates . After his sixth evolution, he kills the Advocate Aethertechnicians working on him in an attempt to hide evidence after Mell threatens to leak the information.

As an Advocate

Relevant Quote

"He got his name for crushing an astral dragon in one blow. He’s supposed to be invincible."

-Sola Kalter (The Engineer)

At some point, Starhammer joined the Advocates and quickly rose to be their leader. Not all agreed with his leadership and left the organisation, leaving no people left who would say no to Starhammer. Clockworker would work against Starhammer, believing him to be out of control. Clockworker freed and worked with the Priest of Night to stop him, but the Priest of Night went rogue and planted seven proton bombs on Starhammer’s home on Rythar. The Priest of Night sent a transmission to Starhammer, calling for his punishment by the Aether and threatening Leilari. On a mission at that time, Starhammer was unable to do anything. However, the transmission was interrupted by a wizard (a disguised Varic Vallenar), who had stopped the bombs and saved Leilari. Varic then killed the Priest of Night using his lagomorph contract. Relieved and thankful, Starhammer would begin to research who the wizard could be.

Evolution Engine

Starhammer has triggered his Evolution Engine a total of seven times. He first triggered the Engine when he was still with Mell. The fourth time was on the night he rescued Leilari. The fifth time took place on Carturus, when Varic, Sola, and Shyrax kidnapped Mell from her cell and nearly killed Starhammer. The sixth time took place after a battle between The Last Horizon and the alliance between the Advocates, Galactic Union, and Karoshan Alliance; Starhammer was nearly killed but was rescued by Shadow Ark. The seventh time occurred after Starhammer destroyed the Advocate headquarters and Horizon defeated him, though the Evolution Engine was stopped when Varic cast Absolute Burial on him. Each consecutive evolution had a snowball effect on Starhammer. His first evolutions had barely notable effects on the Aether, though by the time of the sixth event the effects in the Aether had dwarfed all other times, and was at least over 30x the effect of the first. Starhammer’s personality also has a notable change with each evolution, each time he becomes more focused on eliminating potential threats and his mind shifting in subtle ways. This is caused by the Evolution Engine trying to optimize Starhammer’s mindset as well as his abilities.

In fact, all of the problems he’d wrestled with for years had a very simple solution. He didn’t need to wait for permission, or convince the unwilling. If he wanted to save someone, he would save them. Whether they wanted to be saved or not.

In Varic’s Alternative Lives

In one of Varic’s lives, the Priest of Night’s attack was successful, and Leilari was killed. Mell tried to reach out to Starhammer, but was ignored. Six weeks later, the Advocates and Starhammer arrested and executed the President of the Galactic Union. Driven by his grief, though claiming otherwise, Starhammer attempted to root out any threats all at once. He forced the D’niss to summon Esh’kinnaar and the Iron Legion to create the Iron King, and killed an entire generation of the Perfected. The battle left the galaxy in shambles.

The truth of Starhammer’s creation eventually came out, though it made the situation worse. Eventually, Varic, who had been working against him alongside Mell at that time, was captured by Starhammer and taken in. Varic was interrogated for days by the Advocates, who were looking for Mell. Varic refused to give up her location until Starhammer tortured him in front of the Advocates. When Varic finally gave up the information, Starhammer executed Varic for his crimes against the galaxy. Unbeknownst to him, Mell was observing from the crowd, disguised in a Novabot.

Abilities

• Temporal Field: A product of an advanced piece of Aethertech that was integrated into Starhammer’s structure. It is a form of time manipulation, when activated, it slows time down around Starhammer, while Starhammer is still able to move at normal speed. Objects and people who come into touch with Starhammer at this time will move his speed, but slow down again at the loss of contact. The Temporal field solves most issues with moving at incredibly high speeds, meaning picking people up won’t hurt them and winds and shockwaves won’t be formed. With fast enough reactions and speed, people can still keep up with Starhammer during this time. The field only works for a limited amount of time.
  • After the Sixth Evolution: The Temporal Field stops the world entirely.

• Internal Subspace Drive: Allows Starhammer to warp himself into Subspace, though less efficiently than a real starship. Much like a normal Subspace Drive, a dive sucks in nearby matter.

• Evolution Engine: When Starhammer is pushed too far, the Evolution Engine calls on the Aether to evolve his systems to help overcome the current problem. Unnecessary functions are dropped and useful ones are strengthened. New functions can also form or be adapted from Aetheric signatures. The Evolution Engine also tries to optimize his mindset, though at the expense of his soul.

• Seeing through objects: Starhammer can choose to see through objects, ex. like armor.
• Optical Beams: When primed, the weapons in his eyes cause them to glow white. Starhammer does this to look better on camera.
• Self Repair
• Levitation
• Protective Magic: Located on his skin.
• Internal Alarm System: Warns Starhammer of any incoming attacks.
• Anti-intrusion Systems: Prevent intrusion of his mechanical parts.
• Scanners
• Personal Shield

Post Fifth Evolution

• Starhammer can release a spherical wave of white light, detonating incoming projectiles.

Post Sixth Evolution

• Diagnostic Systems

• Pathfinding Systems: Adapted by Varic’s Pathfinding Magic.

Alternative Life

• Invincibility: Caused by Starhammer figuring out how to lock his shielding in temporal stasis.