James McAllund

"people keep telling me that my style of sword fighting is “ornamental”. What the hell does that even mean?”"captain James McAllund is the head of the McAllund rogue trader dynasty and captain of the battle cruiser "centerfold". as a rogue trader, his job is to find adventure and to operate outside of the normal boundaries of imperial law, for the good of all mankind. in james' sense, this includes providing economic support of worlds in need of relief, raiding tech-caches, and occasionally providing military support for the imperium's armies. however, he also enjoys a more casual take on life in his spare time, including partying, socializing, and going on wacky adventures.

to say the least, james is young for what he's accomplished. he was given command of the centerfold shortly before his 16th birthday. since then, he's made a standing in the rogue trader community for himself as a young, swashbuckling maverick with the fast ship, an even faster hand, and a silver tongue. while no doubt a gentleman in every sense of the word, james is known to… *ahem* “get around”, with a long history of courting women, though sometimes this gets him in hot water.

perhaps his closest friend is his bodyguard, delphi-73, the skitarii equivalent of a temple assassin, created from a kaskrin stormtrooper sergeant left for dead. (for more information about this, see his page.) this is ironic, because it's debatable if he even has emotions. regardless, "del" was extraordinarily seasoned in all forms of combat even before his augmentation. it wouldn't be a stretch to say he has the strength and speed of a space marine, often using these to save james' life on countless occasions.

personality

one rarely forgets an interaction with james, due to his sunny, eccentric disposition and incredible social skills, a must in his line of work. while he may hide it behind a laid-back exterior, james is an incredibly kind and caring person with an unmovable moral compass, not afraid to stand up to authority figures and punish subordinates who undermine him. most notably, relations between him and the inquisition are especially sour. this isn't uncommon for rogue traders, since inquisitor's jobs require them to suspect everything for what matches their definition of "heresy", whereas rogue traders operate far from the norms of imperial policy, all but encouraged to freely interact with xenos. another factor is that in terms of authority and freedom of action, inquisitors and rogue traders are almost identical, answering only to high lords of terra and the emperor himself, so the chain of command is an absolute mess.

however, most of the time he has a very peasant disposition, often starting random conversations with his crewmembers to keep relations quaint.

hobbies

while james is no doubt extroverted and enjoys loud parties, he's not opposed to sitting on a worn couch, with a glass of amasec in arm's reach, listening to music. he frequently wanders around the centerfold, chatting with his crew when he's not in his quarters or training. another major aspect of his character is his reputation as a "playboy", infamous for his string of one night stands. despite this reputation, james is known to be very chivalrous and kind to his female associates.

wargear

physical description: james is a caucasian male with green eyes and short, spiky, sandy blond hair that 's longer on the top. he's approximately 5'9'', with an athletic build. his face is youthfully handsome, with an incredible smile and no facial hair.

one of the most defining characteristics of his character is his aviator's jacket, which he's probably spent at least one fifth of his waking life wearing. whereas most nobles of his rank wear long flowing coats, colorful military uniforms, ornate suits of unaugumented-compatible power armor, or even all three, james' attire is much more utilitarian, while still incorporating aesthetic: an aviator jacket with a white undershirt, thick cargo pants, a utility belt with a waist harness, and metal-soled work boots. though not the very same articles of clothing, if james is wearing clothes at all, he's wearing this, or at least some variation.

aside from the obvious pristine state it's in, it looks relatively unremarkable, appearing to be made of quality leather and thick, soft fur on the inside, with a simple zipper on the front and a few pockets. this, however, is only half the truth. custom-made by some of the finest tailors in the imperium, the jacket is worth as much as a space marine thunderhawk. the leather itself is actually made of a synthetic compound indistinguishable from animal leather save from it being almost impossible to pierce and with a melting point in excess of 5,000 degrees celsius, while the fur on the inside was individually crafted, strand by strand, to ensure perfect comfort while being breathable in the heat and insulating in the cold, able to store excess body heat and disperse it when needed. sandwiched in between is a flexible, impact-resistant padding that can stop an autogun shot without piercing the first layer, an assault cannon round without causing debilitating injury, and even a bolt will damage the coat and leave that section mangled, but will not cause fatal injury to the wearer. the faux-leather outer coating is flame-retardant, and can weather a standard lasgun shot with minimal burning. the coat also has several pockets and lanyard mounting points. it can be washed with pretty much any liquid, and never loses its softness.

his cargo pants are flame-retardant, has armored knee-plating, and contains several pockets. his belt is made of flexible leather with several equipment attachment points, as well as incorporating a waist harness that can be used to suspend james from the belt buckle. on his belt he stores his mini vox-slate, which combines a data slate, a vox, and a miniature hologram projector, accessed by both his fingerprint.

on any given day, he usually carries his archeotech laspistol on his person, as well as a combat knife sheathed horizontally on the back of his waist, and a smaller knife in his boot. in addition to those, he wears a digi-weapon containing the equivalent of a one-second melta-pistol burst, and a watch that in addition to transforming into a set of adamantine brass knuckles, is remarkably stylish. if he takes to the field during a combat deployment, he may carry his master-crafted power sword or his custom-made hotshot lascarbine.

his archeotech laspistol

originally discovered in the vault of an adeptus mechanicus sect that isn't around anymore, this laspistol looks unassuming enough, with the sights, barrel, grip, and magazine all brushed metallic grey, with a military olive-green plastic-composite frame. however, the simplistic design belies its true performance. capable of firing out ruby lines that, when impacting a target, vaporises the target on contact, with enough power to burn straight through space marine armor. in addition to its incredible power, it's also reliable to a fault. completely waterproof and weather-resistant, the artificers james has consulted with have stated it could theoretically fire submerged in mud, but firing a lasweapon in a liquid is a bad idea due to it tending to boil everything in a 10-foot radius. it sports 3 tactical rails, one on each side and one on top. it seems to be compatible with some brand of energy pack produced in an out-of-the-way backwater, which only matches a few lasgun patterns still in service.

talents and skills

it would be easy for someone in his position to talk big game and then get someone else to follow up with his words, but james believes that being a leader is an additional privilege, not a job in and of itself. to this extent, he isn't afraid of getting his hands dirty, and throughout his life he's picked up several niche talents to utilize for this. first and foremost, his piloting skills are without par. able to fly most imperial aircraft better than most imperial naval pilots, his skills in a cockpit are nigh-unprecedented among humans. however, he rarely fights armed conflicts in a cockpit and prefers to be on the ground. secondly, as an offshoot, his reflexes and hand-eye coordination have been honed to near perfection, which he often uses in tandem with his gunslinging skills to fire three neat holes through his opponent with his pistol before they even realize they're in a fight. by all accounts, james' skills with a good pistol are on par with many commissars, able to fire fast and accurate enough to survive in warzones with only his pistol and a power sword, which he is also trained in. not uncommon with imperial nobility such as himself, james started training with a sword since he was a toddler. even to this day, he practices his technique an hour a day. apparently, many swordfighting experts claim the style he practices is "ornamental" and "flashy" which hurt him a bit, since he's been practicing the style since before he could count to 100. though he's incorporated some more utilitarian evades and ripostes into the style, he still gets rather butthurt over it. additionally, he's also proficient in unarmed combat, able to easily handle a good old fashioned tavern brawl, though anyone more skilled than an infantry rifleman is a bit unmanaageable. among his other assorted skills are card games involving betting, drinking contests, and running for