Name: Niko
LJ:
nikoshinigamiE-Mail: niko.ford[at]spectrumvoid[dot]com
IM: NikoYG
Character Name: Catalina
Series: Space Cases
Timeline: "On the Road to Find Out", season one finale
Canon Resource Link:
Series Fan Site|
Series WikiCharacter Background: Once upon a time in a school in outer space there was a class of misfit kids from all around the place. They snuck aboard a mystery ship, which soon slipped through a spacial rip, and now they're stuck on a long strange trip (best.
expository end theme. ever.)
Catalina is from the Saturn moon of Titan sent to Starcadamy to learn to become part of a space vessel's crew. She was orphaned at a young age at which point she found and began speaking to her "invisible" friend Suzee. Suzee is a girl from a parallel universe (a world called Yensid) whose brain is on the exact same sonic frequency as Catalina's, allowing them to see and talk to each other. The amount of people who believe Catalina's friend Suzee is "invisible" and not "imaginary" is close to zero, with Harlan only admitting to keeping an open mind and not thinking Cat is completely crazy at the end of the first season. Despite everyone's objections to her existence, Catalina continues talking out-loud to Suzee and asking for her assistance.
Before sneaking aboard the Christa, Catalina was part of the misfit class of star cadets at Starcadamy who had just had their first real training mission canceled due to their poor performance in the classroom. Catalina was the most resistant to sneaking on board the strange ship but tagged along the whole way, continuing to lecture to Harlan and the group about it being a bad idea. On the Christa, though, Catalina (and the others) got to prove that while they may not be the best scholastically, they can operate in the field as a crew just fine. Catalina is made the ships engineer where here and Suzee, both self-proclaimed engineering geniuses, help keep the Christa flying towards home after being thrown a seven year journey away from Starcadamy.
Catalina is snarky and a bit of a know-it-all. She's sarcastic and self-assured but shows moments of doubt in her abilities when compared to Suzee's greater knowledge. While she genuinely cares about her classmates, her attitude can be off-putting and distancing. In the Space Cases universe it seems the further from the sun a species comes from, the more pessimistic that race is with Rosie (the Mercurian) being a complete optimist and Bova (from Uranus) as a flat out pessimist. As a Satunian, Cat exhibits a somewhat darker but much more realistic perspective on events but never seems to pass up a chance to roll her eyes at the others. That said, she does get along with them all to varying degrees, her and Harlan butting heads often but also hiding the more confusing, romantic feelings that have developed between them.
In the final episode of the first season, Catalina is stuck on a ship set to self destruct with the evil Warlord Shank of the Spung Empire. Thanks to Suzee pulling her through the dimensional rip caused by the explosion, Catalina was saved but traded placed with Suzee and ended up stuck in Yensid. I take her from when the ship explodes.
Abilites/Special Powers: As a Saturnian, Catalina can fire sonic vibrations/waves from her vocal cords which have a wide variety of uses from knocking people and things away to disrupting mechanical frequencies and more. If she uses this ability too often, however, she can strain her vocal cords and lose her voice for a time.
Third-Person Sample:
When the ship blows up, it'll tear a hole space, creating a dimensional rip. Don't worry, Cat. I'll pull you through and you'll be fine!
"Suzee, that's crazy! You're talking nanoseconds between the time of the explosion and--" The ship shuddered and the lights flickered as the engine was primed to overload. Catalina could hear the whine of electronics shorting, feel the tremble of the ship as her hull seemed ready to throw herself open for the ensuing explosion. The Warlord Shank had abandoned her in order to escape. She was going to die alone--alone except for Suzee.
Cat looked at the airlock, almost waiting to hear Harlan's voice calling to her as he had in the Luff Prison, coming in just the nick of time to save her. But before the control panel had lit up like the lights of the Rejoicing Festival, it had said there was no longer a ship docked beyond the spiral eye of the airlock. The Christa and her crew had left for their own safety.
First there would be a fiery explosion, Catalina reasoned. If it was a large explosion then she would die quickly. If it was just enough to tear the ship's hull she'd asphyxiate. Or worse. She felt tears on her cheeks as the trembling of the corridors became stronger, the whine around her growing to a piercing screech.
Don't worry, Catalina. Trust me. You're going to make it.
Catalina nodded but could not shake the disbelief from her heart. She closed her eyes as her pulse raced with dread.
At least she'd given Harlan that kiss. She should have told him how she felt but... at least there was that kiss.
The explosion tore the ship apart, spreading it out like space dust across the black void.
First-Person Sample:
Suzee! You did it! I'm alive! Suzee--! Suzze?... Wait, where am I? Where are you? This isn't.... Oh grozit. Suzee...? I am alive... right? This isn't funny. Come out and speak to me right now! I'm warning you! If you continue to ignore me I'll.. I'll never speak to you again!.... Suzee? ...I'm scared