Omake for Ophelia! Because she's still cool after passing trials and all, even if she needs work on her control and combat stats.
Decennial Performance Evaluations
Ten years. Ophelia could hardly believe that it had been a full ten years since she had passed through her first crucible in order to become a full sanctioned psyker. It felt like only a year or three ago she had been caught up in the desperate rush to develop her control over her vast powers before her trials began rather than the decade it had been in reality. Not that she had been slacking at all in further developing her control in the subsequent years, as even at her current level it was bad enough that entire sections of the various psychic disciplines were effectively barred from her. True, further developing of her control would improve the skill with which she could wield all of her powers as well as allowing her to bring the full measure of her power to bare without risking burnout or the like, but honestly speaking the desire to be able to actually make use of the entire breadth of the disciplines she had labored so greatly to learn drove her more.
Of course, right now she had other concerns. Not coincidentally, today was also the day of her first decennial performance evaluation as a sanctioned psyker, and she was currently waiting in the hall outside of the conference room like a child waiting to be called into a meeting with the principle. Or at least she assumed that was how it felt, as she had not exactly had a traditional schooling experience. No one at Unseen University really did have a traditional schooling experience (well, outside of those whose psychic potential wasn't discovered until later in life), but she was willing to bet good money that hers was the least traditional so far. Not only was she effectively the adoptive child of legends who took a substantial amount of time to impart their skills and wisdom to her and the first alpha level psyker trained on Avernus, but she was also the first person trained as an omnimancer on Avernus. The sheer quantity of individual instruction, experimental curriculums, and diversity in subject matter ensured that she had very little time in 'normal' classes.
Fortunately the intercom went off calling her in before she could work herself up further about the results of the evaluation. While at least intellectually she knew that she had performed very well since her ascension to Elite Primaris, emotionally she was far less certain. The flair and grace with which her adoptive parents could use their powers despite their scope was far beyond her reach, and she was terribly aware of just how lacking she was compared to them at both direct combat and keeping a leash on her powers.
Inside the conference room Ophelia got to see a veritable who's who of the Avernus branch of the Astra Telepathica. Ridcully, Tamia, and Gerald were there of course, as were Aria, Odysseus, and, rounding out the bunch Colombo Ryers. The exact membership and makeup of the board was hardly a surprise, as she had been tested by each in the practical application of her powers within their field as well as having worked on certain projects under some of their direction, but the raw might and skill it represented still made her self conscious. Fortunately for her she wasn't going to need to argue her case or anything in front of them—she was strictly here to get a summary of their assessment of her skills and progress, as well as a 'suggested' outline of what areas she should work on going forward.
She had barely made it to her seat when a telepathic communication from Tamia telling her to "stop acting like you're walking to your execution with dignity, you did well," which prompted an internal sigh and eyeball roll. Parents. Still, it did relax her more than a little bit, although whether it was due to the contents of the message or the familiarity of the situation she couldn't say. Seating herself with dignity (not stiffness, no matter what Tamia might jokingly imply later) after a cursory check for hostile fauna on or under her chair, she settled in to hear her evaluation.
Naturally Gerald was the first to start, as he was both the lead of her current project as well as the evaluator or her primary specialization, at least on paper. Despite his aptitude for hiding his emotions, though, she could see hints of both his 'proud father' face (relatively rare but highly valued) as well as a trace of 'I know something you don't' (common but nearly universally feared, especially on the training field).
"First, a quick summary of my take on Ophelia's project performance in our fleet warding initiative. As the leader of the only long-term project she has been part of since her graduation, this is the only section of this performance evaluation that will focus on her assigned projects."
Directing himself now towards her, he continued. "Overall, I am extremely satisfied with your contribution to the initiative. While your warding work is below the quality standards needed for the flag ship work, it is more than sufficient for the basic warding of the rest of the fleet—an impressive accomplishment for someone who does not have a main specialization in warding, and especially so for the level of psychic control you currently have. More, the quality of the wards you have produced has improved noticeably over your tenure with this initiative, and I would expect with dedicated practice and study on the subject it would be possible to reach the quality threshold needed for flag ship work within a reasonable time frame at your current skill level."
"Far more impressive is the scale and rate at which you have done the warding work. Your ability to place wards on entire escort ships at once has greatly accelerated our time frame for completing this initiative as well as freed up a large number of our more finesse-oriented warding artisans to focus on flag ship work. The budget impact, while far less significant, is not to be underestimated either, and the information gleaned and weaknesses identified in single-cast large scale wards have prompted a number of minor innovations in both warding theory and procedures."
"In terms of work ethic and the like I have no complaints, although I would appreciate it if you were more willing to voice observations or concerns as well as potential improvements—while you are not particularly senior in experience and somewhat lacking in your ability to utilize your theoretical understanding of the subject, you are actually one of the best individuals in the Trust when it comes to the mechanics and theoretical understanding of warding and related psychic phenomena. Otherwise your leadership of your assigned work teams has been good, if not particularly remarkable."
"Now, on to your psyker skill competency evaluation. Due to your unique situation," and here he smirked, "we have here specialist evaluators from all six general fields. As Pyromancy is your primary field if by a hair, I will cover your skill evaluation there first."
"Since your last evaluation at the Trials, your Pyromancy has advanced noticeably in both the skill with which you can generate or manipulate flames as well as the competency in using them. The first is currently limited by your relative lack of control, so I would strongly suggest extensive control training before attempting to push yourself further in flame generation or manipulation. The later, on the other hand, is not, and would probably be a good idea to practice going forward to cover your relative lack of personal combat ability. Overall, unless there is a significant threat to the Trust in the near future I would recommend you focus the majority of your attention on subjects other than Pyromancy and when training Pyromancy to seek instruction in how to better and more easily use said abilities rather than attempting to extend them."
Signaling to Odysseus that it was his turn, Gerald sat down. Quiet and taciturn, Odysseus stood up to give his evaluation.
"On a theoretical level, your understanding of Biomancy is good, if not particularly remarkable for a specialist. On a practical level, however, most if not all of your abilities are either held back or largely useless due to your relative lack of control and experience. Offensive Biomancy targeting enemies and either sapping vitality or mutating them is least affected, as even though efficiency might suffer somewhat due to lack of finesse your power levels more than make up for it. Personal Biomancy targeting the self is substantially affected, and I would strongly encourage you to continue to only use it at absolute minimal power levels, as your natural resistance to warp mutations and the like brought by virtue of being a powerful psyker should shield you from negative side effects until you get a better handle on it. Support Biomancy and healing should not be used at all outside of extreme situations, as it is highly likely to result in significant mutation or complications."
"I would strongly encourage you to focus a significant portion of your personal training time on developing your offensive Biomancy, as it should synergize very well with your overall goal of improving your control, and should do so with at most minimal risk to yourself or others. I would also encourage you to practice support Biomancy on animal targets, as it should both help you progress in self-enhancement Biomancy without the inherent risk of mutation as well as the direct options wildlife enhancement provides, especially on Avernus. Direct self-enhancement training is also recommended, although with teacher oversight to minimize risk of mutation."
Evaluations went on like that for a while, and generally were without surprises. Good marks on Telekinesis and Telepathy, at least for unsubtle uses, and noticeable if not particularly significant progress in Divination. A surprising degree of advancement in self-directed Daemonology powers (such as blinking and phasing) and an excellent report on her theoretical knowledge there, but with the admonishment that until her control improved she should avoid using any of the Daemonology she knew at near her maximum power, as "that's how Warp rifts happen". Which she already knew, due to her excellent theoretical understanding of Daemonology.
The offer at the end was a surprise, though. She certainly knew about the offensive that had been planned in a few years' time, but hadn't really expected to be a part of it except as strategic support. Alas, the newly-revealed sadistic bastards in front of her (and now she knew exactly why Gerald had been making the 'I know something you don't' smirk) felt that it would be an excellent opportunity to 'develop her direct combat and command skills in a less dangerous environment' and 'gain experience with her powers on a less Warp-touched world' and even 'receive personal training and mentoring during campaign pauses' (or, as she translated it, 'when we don't have anything pressing to do we'll be putting you through the wringer 'for your own good'').
Still, she was an Avernite through and through, and she knew exactly what she had gotten into. The reward for surpassing expectations was raised expectations, and the consequence of a job well done or a task complete was another one. Even if the next decade or so promised to be a challenging one by anyone's measure, it was heartening to see concrete evidence that her efforts were being noticed and appreciated and that the people she valued and respected so much valued and respected her in turn—for, as Avernites, they would never be willing to put so much time, trust, and effort into her if they thought she was anything less.
