Basta Sekmet

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“

Of course you could easily bypass that entire system...if you don't mind going through Skeaver space.

— Basta casually pointing out a shortcut

”

Basta Sekmet is an Altaic aboard the ship Dawn Voyager acting as it's navigator and on-board bartender.

History[]

Early Life[]

Basta was the third of four children, and the only one daughter in her family. Growing up in a family of space cartographers, Basta was expected to learn the family trade, but while she learned the entire galaxy's layout, she was more focused on finding the quickest way from point A to point B. This obsession with shortcuts began to irk his family, but things became worse when Basta's family arranged a marriage for her without his knowlege.

Desperate to escape, Basta turned to her childhood friend Priap who was able to smuggle her out on a frieghter. Destination didn't mean much to her as long it was going anywhere that wasn't there. That 'anywhere' wound up being Ord Melul where she managed to get a bartending job in a dingy pub called Shezmu's Blood

Bartending at the Shezmu's Blood[]

Basta's vast knowledge of galatic shortcuts paid off as she bartended. Between laying bets with customers and helping out convoys, Basta was able to get a little extra pay. In turn, she kept her job for several years, mastering her drink mixing abilities to the point where she was making his own signature drinks. While Basta knew that shady business deals went down in the bar, the way she saw it, she wasn't paid enough to rat anyone out.

Joining the Dawn Voyager[]

Basta's life changed when Jack Yorke came into Shezmu's Blood looking for a pilot for his ship. Despite slinging drinks, she was keeping an eye on the card game that the Synthetic was playing that ended in said Synthetic killing his opponent when accused of cheating.

In order to prevent any more bloodshed, she grabbed her shotgun and fired a warning shot into the air that stopped everyone flat. After a few curt, sharp words, she calmed the bar down. After getting a tip from the Synth who was going by 'Mr. Duster', she filled up a pitcher to offer a drink to the human who was now chatting with the Synth...only to make a check her mouth couldn't cash.

Basta made a bet with Yorke that she could get his ship to it's destination faster than anyone else on the planet due to her extensive knowledge of shortcuts.

Mission One: Salvage Op[]

While Yorke, Har-Bak, and BOB-5 went on-board the deralict Flame of Ares, Basta stayed behind with the others and returned to old habits as she waited for their return, namely mixing a new drink. While sharing the new concotion with the other crew mates, they were blindsided by mercinaries.

Panicking, she and medic Stefan Kanoff made a break for the bridge where they hid and watched the monitors, only to watch as their teammates defending the ship get decimated, particularly the horrific death of Itslthmis Rh'ka at the hands of a BROS-EX Cyborg.

Following Stefan's plan to prevent more of the crew dying, Basta cautiously manned the plasma cannons as Stefan distracted the cyborg into the firing line of the cannon where she made sure that the gun was pointed at the BROS-EX, and blew it up.

Mission Two: The Missing Ships[]

Aftering being told that the crew was heading to the Skeaver-infested Anser station, it was a given that Basta would stay behind again.

Realizing that she had no clue how to properly use her shotgun, she went to Har-Bak for firearm training. Despite the gun having reduced recoil for Altaics, she had a hard time properly aiming after each shot due to the kick. Realizing this, Har-Bak offered her a choice of three other guns: a rifle, a SMG, or a machine pistol.

Choosing the slower, yet farther shooting rifle, she began to slowly get the hand of firing the bolt-action. Little did she know, she'd be defending herself and her crew with that same rifle shortly.

After the boarding party returned with their medic in critical condition, her target practice was put on hold, but things only got worse when BOB-5 decided to go through with his contract on Abram Abakumov. Before she could fully register the sudden death of her crewmate, the ship was attacked by a Skeaver raiding party. Being one of the few remaining crew members who wasn't in need of care, Basta took point as an impromptu sniper, incapacitating Skeavers before BOB-5 chided her into her first headshot.

Eventually finding her way to Yorke, the two of them lobbed Needle Grenades at them, only for her to get grazed by a bullet across her arm. While Har-Bak and BOB-5 tried to push ahead, things fell apart for them as they all were incapacitated and taken aboard the Anser...

Eventually waking up in the room surrounded by Skeavers, Basta found herself panicking. She knew that they'd kill the others, but the things they'd do to her would make her wish that she was.

After Yorke broke them free, Basta gave Yorke directions to the communication room before shutting her and Stefan into a janitorial closet to hide from the Skeavers.

When Yorke returned for them, ready to get off the ship, she directed her, Yorke, and Stefan through the smaller cooridors to a side entrance to the hanger.

Mission 3: The Escort Mission[]

TBW

Skills, Weapons, & Abilites[]

Skills[]

Accomplished Bartender: After five years behind the bar, Basta has heard about and made virtually every drink imaginable, as well as inventing some of her own
Skilled Navigator: Having grown up in a family of cartographers, Basta pretty much memorized the known universe and all of it's shortcuts.
Pugilist: Bar room brawls were no stranger to the bar she worked at, and when needed, Basta jumped into the fray. She doesn't like to talk about it, but she's won a few prize fights when challenged.
Bar Room Games: Working in the bar, Basta is no stranger to games such as Darts, Pool, Liar's Dice, and Poker. While capable of hustling a game of darts or billiards, she tends to stay away from poker due to a lack of skill and inability to bluff.

Weapons[]

Horus Arms Omallery 78 Shotgun: The gun that Basta kept within arm's reach behind the bar at all times in case shit went down. When boarding the 'Dawn Voyager', she grabbed the gun as a momento of her time on his planet. Double Barrelled Shotgun, break action. After getting training from Har-Bak on it, he took it away pointing out how she couldn't handle the kick, despite the reduced recoil.
Heckler & Colt Model N Field Rifle: A bolt-action human weapon, holds a 15-round box magazine. Despite having a slow reload, it's a powerful option in comparison to the other weapons offered her. Har-Bak gave her the rifle to use during their target practice.
Horus Arms Shespet Pistol: A small flechette pistol she asked for as her mission 5 reward. It shoots small darts at sub-sonic speeds, but it has low recoil and is nearly silent. This makes it a good choice for a sniper.

Relationships[]

Jack Yorke[]

Basta has trusted Yorke since she stepped foot on the Dawn Voyager, but during the second misson when Basta was forced to leave behind her people's best and brightest scientists, she wasn't exactly pleased with his choice. Despite that, she still respected him as a captain, but hopes he'll never put her through that kind of scenerio again. In tense situations, she will follow his orders to the letter, not wanting to fall into disfavor with him

BOB-5[]

Despite having known him as a regular at Shezmu's Blood, Basta isn't entirely a fan of his 'shoot now, never ask question's tactics. She knows though (thanks to his stories) to stay out of his way since once he's started since he won't stop til everything not on his team is dead.

Stefan Kanoff[]

While Basta is able to able to work with him, she doesn't enjoy his comments on her drinking and hopes that he doesn't stick a needle in her ass like some human feline. Conversely, she knows that he'll be the only one to control her once she goes into heat.

Har-Bak[]

Out of all the crew members, Basta looks up to Har-Bak the most since he doesn't belittle her for lack of combat experience and is willing to help her get better at using firearms.

Drink Menu[]

“

Liquor, the nature's own therapist. Doesn't judge you and it costs a hell of a lot less!

— Basta on drinking in compared to going to a therapist

”

One of the things that Basta does whenever they land on a non-hostile planet is to go out and stock up on booze. While working in the canteena, Basta had a wide array of liquors and alcohols to work with, while on the Dawn Voyager she wound up improvising with other kinds of alcohol, causing the drinks to either be stronger than intended, better than the original, or flat-out undrinkable.

Most of the drinks were taught to him by her mentor, Hutts.

Blackout: A powerful cocktail that is one of Basta's classics.
Bloody Tears: One of Basta's more 'quiet' drinks, he tends to replace the normal fruit of (his planet) with some of the more exotic and edible fruits native to other planets.
Articuno: One of the drinks that Basta came up with on his own, it also became a bar favorite due to it's light blue color.
Kaneda: Known as her 'cure all', the Kaneda is a spicy drink that tends to clear the sinus of most species. Whenever one of the crewmates falls under the weather, this is the first drink she makes for them.
Gae Bolg: Drink she serves to the tired mercs who walk in, the citrus burst seems to have an effect on them, restoring thier energy.
Karma Moment: Basta uses this drink as her way to test someone's personality, and has been right 83% of the time (or at least according to her); Good personalities tend to pick a blue flavoring while those of malicious intent pick red.
'?': The first and last drink Basta made aboard the Dawn Voyager.

Trivia[]

Enjoys all manners of games and puzzles, shown by the fact that her favorite channel is the Game Show Network
- Secretly has been trying to get onto ((ES equivelent of 'Deal or No Deal')) for the last few years
- To relax, she will do sudoku or cryptograms.
While not in direct contact with her family, she keeps in contact with her old friend Priap back on Altiacia. He feeds information to her family about how she's doing.
Heavily implied that Basta enjoys sampling her own concotions as much as mixing them.

Quotes[]

“

First person who jokes about me and an earth cat won't see liquor for a month.

— Basta making sure slurs won't be thrown at him

”

“

You know...if you get me the right ingredients, I could turn a cocktail into a lethal drink. Best part of all, have him drink enough booze and it'll look like he died of the alcohol, not the actual poison.

— Basta on how to kill a prisoner

”

“

I have a word for a person who you pay to get all touchy-feely with. It's called a bartender. Do you know how many shitty lives I had to listen to while I was tending back on Ord Melul? If I got paid half as much as that quack they wanted me to see, I would've quit bartending years ago!