Crane

If the dark haired human female known as Crane ever had a last name, its relevance died with The Scream and her subsequent pulling herself from the wreckage of the colony ship on Gudrun's surface in its wake. Little is known of her life before The Scream, nor how she managed to survive the psionically destructive event that killed so many of her contemporaries.   One of the first to rediscover the lost art of Gaiapsionics, Crane was also one of the most powerful telepaths and metapsions in the Iron Stars by the end of her life. Prior to the doomed mission to Savita that saw her lose her life to the Undra Swarm Queen, Crane assisted in the Gudrun branch of the Psionic academy. A frequent sight with her raven companion walking the streets of Central, Crane was a quiet but warm presence upon getting to know her and many of the neighborhood children flocked to her during these outdoor excursions, eager to see her raven do tricks.   In addition to her impressive psionic talents, Crane was also a skilled administrator, and assisted Headmaster Fate directly with the employment and training of psychics upon reaching the Nova Academy. She also was the primary mover behind the construction and refurbishment of other academies across Gudrun, notably opening the first in the territories of the Taros Confederation by herself. Though Taros psychics remain few in number, those currently in Academy employ remember her fondly as a welcoming presence into two strange worlds- one of human culture, and the other into the world of a psionic practitioner.   Crane met her end at the age of 38 standard years on a mission to Savita. Charged with figuring out of the Undra could be tamed, and in determining how their psionic connection worked, Crane's mental will was overwhelmed and her mind was subsumed by the guiding Queen presence of Savita's swarm. Though her body endures, her mind now exists as a conduit for the swarm to communicate directly with those of other species. This control is not constant, but rather flickers and stutters as some small piece of Crane's mind tries to fight back.   It is currently unknown what the swarm's plans for this powerful psychic are, or if the deceased Crane is destined to be more than simply a vastly powerful communication tool.   Whatever plans the Undra had for Crane were interrupted when an elite rescue force from the Psychic Academy, drawn from the United Nations of Worlds attacked the nest on Savita in an attempt to rescue the captured psychic. The strike force arrived in September 2670 and after a fierce day of battle the group slew the Undra queen responsible for the planetary nest, and recovered Crane. Thus far Crane has become even more withdrawn and silent than before, and refuses to speak on what she saw during her time connected to the Undra.