Lil Kestrel

Lil was found by the crew of the Princess of Pele while stationed in the Ahti system dry dock for maintenance. Estimated to be somewhere around 1 years old, she was likely abandoned by her parents during an interstellar transit resupply stop. Lil grew up on the Princess of Pele, spending most her days in the underdecks raised by the mechanic crew.

30 years later, she has become a key member of the crew, taking part in most out-of-ship operations as Field Engineer. She’s a tough, strong-minded women, and one of the best Engineer the crew had for decades. Despite not being a formal combatant, she never goes anywhere without her trusted side arm, a heavy handgun embarking a wide variety of solid slugs.

During her growth, Lil has developed a strong bond with Darwin, following the traumatic ship boarding during which he likely saved her life. While she considers the mechanic crew has her (numerous) parents, she sees in him both a big brother and a mentor. She would sneak to visit him in his cargo bay at the first sign of inattention from her fathers, and spend hours observing his work, perched on his left shoulder. Over the years, she’d learn how to dismantle, repair and operate most Mankind and Scrap systems, allowing her to perform maintenance on Darwin’s secondary systems, should it be required. What started as game for Lil became her true calling.

As she grew into an adult, advanced prosthesis graft became possible. Darwin had designed and built what will become her signature physical feature. Although appearing manmade to the uninitiated, the prosthetic was of Scrap design, outperforming anything Mankind could access to at that time in terms of precision, strength and reliability.

Once Lil mastered her new arm, she became part of field operations as an engineer, enticing Darwin to join as a weapon specialist. From this point on, she would rarely do any sorties without the watchful gaze of her brother behind her to cover her back.

Despite her strong bonds with the crew, Lil remains a free soul, and while she has a deep respect for Bannock’s authority, she’d occasionally show a rather personal interpretation of instructions. While she’d never openly show insubordination, she’d often walk a grey area at the expense of the captain. He’d call her “the most reliable of his troublemakers” on more than one occasions and is well accustomed to political fallout she single-handedly caused.

Her skillset, both as an engineer and fighter are well respected by the entire crew, and while she may be still young, she had proven her worth many times over.

Art Direction: ForgeEnclave

Artwork: Vuong Le

Sculpting: Kateryna Hrytsyshyna