Kimmalyn

Kimmalyn
by Jill Andersen
Aliases	Callsign: Quirk
Profession	DDF pilots
Homeworld	Detritus
Universe	Cytoverse

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“We can do this. Just take a deep breath. Reach up. Pluck a star. That’s what the Saint says. ”

—Kimmalyn meeting Spensa for the first time

Kimmalyn (Callsign: Quirk) is a member of the DDF and pilot number six in Skyward Flight. She hails from Bountiful Cavern, is the daughter of current DDF AA gunners, and the great-granddaughter of the assistant quartermaster from the old Antioch gunship in the Defiant Fleet.

Kimmalyn initially chose the callsign Quick, however, she changed it to Quirk after it was misremembered by multiple members of her flight.

Although she initially quit the DDF flight program after the death of Hurl, Kimmalyn is reinstated as a full pilot following the Battle of Alta Second.

Appearance and Personality

“Kimmalyn had the soul of a smart aleck, but the upbringing of a polite society girl. ”

—Description of Kimmalyn by Spensa

Kimmalyn has tan brown skin and long, curly black hair. She spends time on her appearance and is in general, a very neat person.

She has a slight accent, that is likely common to her home cavern, Bountiful Cavern, and has a tendency to use old fashioned turns of phrase, likely with the intent to confuse others. She has a relaxed and unhurried way of speaking and sounds naturally happy, even when delivering insults. She has a good poker face and can be hard to read, which she uses to her advantage when teasing people.

“'He thought she’d given up', I realized.

Instead, puffy eyes and all, Kimmalyn raised her chin.

Cobb nodded toward her seat, and she strode over—a model of Defiant poise—and sat down. In that moment, she seemed more like a warrior than I’d ever been.”

—Kimmalyn refusing to leave the DDF after the death's of Morningtide and Bim

She is a very energetic and excitable person, who can sometimes come across as silly to others. She is not shy with physical affection even with people she does not know, and is a cheerful and friendly person. Kimmalyn enjoys life's small pleasures and is perky and upbeat. She is quick to follow orders, even from those who do not necessarily have authority to give them.

She is genuinely kind and considers others well-being as much as her own. She will willingly decrease her comfort of living to help increase another's, so that they do not have to carry discomfort themselves. She is perceptive about her friends and will specifically check in with them if something seems wrong, and will do what she can to help. She does not shy away from bringing up sensitive topics, however, is sympathetic and empathetic when discussing issues.

Despite this, Kimmalyn does not always recognize when she enables bad behavior. She frequently uses the phrase, bless your stars, however, the intention behind her comments can range from fondness to mockery. Kimmalyn uses subtle and confusing language when insulting others, so they do not catch on to her intention. This is a trait she has picked up from living in Bountiful Cavern where it is considered rude to be overtly insulting, but acceptable if veiled with politeness and obscurity.

Kimmalyn's confidence is shaken during her time at flight school. Despite her talents in long distance sniping, her poor performance in flying leads her to repeatedly criticize herself to her classmates, even when they are praising her improvements. The death of Hurl further erodes Kimmalyn's trust in her abilities, as she believes her friend's death was because her own failure, ultimately leading her to leave the DDF. Hurl's death fueled Kimmalyn's feelings of inadequacy leading her to question her sniper skills and cause distress when asked to make another difficult shot. Despite this, Kimmalyn is proud of what she achieved as a cadet. Kimmalyn's confidence in both flying and shooting likely improved following the Battle of Alta Second as she rejoins the DDF and becomes a full pilot.

Religiosity

“What a lovely view of the sky we have! As the Saint always said, ‘Good thing it’s light during the day, otherwise we wouldn’t be able to see how pretty daytime is!’ ”

—Kimmalyn trying to distract others from realizing she slipped food to Spensa

Kimmalyn is religious and often makes up sayings, attributing them to the Saint. She justifies a majority of her actions through these sayings and also uses them to obscure insults. Though offered suggestions by her fellow cadets, she does not consider using them. Kimmalyn vehemently disagreed with the suggestion she use the callsign: Saint, when it was suggested. She will also call out others for using the Saint's name in vain, though may be doing this in a joking manner.

Abilities

“Kind of like trying to hit the floor with a rock, sir. They aren’t even moving. ”

—Kimmalyn when asked to demonstrate during target practice

Kimmalyn is highly knowledgeable about piloting and starfighters, having achieved the rank of pilot. Following the Battle of Alta Second, Kimmalyn is placed in a specialized team made up of Skyward Flight members in the position of sniper.

She is an expert shooter who specializes in long distance snipping of moving targets, a result of being trained on the DDF anti-aircraft guns prior to flight school. Even as a cadet, she was far more skillful with destructors than a majority of DDF pilots due to her ability to target and destroy moving objects, with most other pilots only having used the guns long range against stationary units. She is aware of her skill with shooting, however, is either not used to praise from others or just unsure as to how to accept it.

Kimmalyn is not a strong flyer, however, has improved over time. She has trained to fly in both atmosphere and a vacuum. As with her flying skills, her dogfighting skills have likely improved with practice.

History

Kimmalyn is from Bountiful Cavern and the daughter of AA gunners. She was trained on the smaller AA guns by her father prior to flight school, though it is unclear when she began her training. Part of her father's training involve a mushroom that resembled a squirrel.

She did not plan to take the entrance exam for flight school but was approached by DDF recruiters who wanted to see a demonstration of her weaponry skills. Once seeing her abilities, they encouraged her to apply for the DDF and sit the entrance exam. After passing the exam, Kimmalyn was placed in Skyward Flight under the tutorledge of Cobb. She was roomed with the other female members of her flight, with the exception of Spensa, who was denied accommodation. Before it became known that Spensa would not be rooming with them, Kimmalyn offered to switch out sleeping arrangements with the other girl every second night so that Spensa would not have to always sleep on a cot instead of a bed.

On the first day of flight school, Kimmalyn ran into, and befriended Spensa, shortly after leaving the elevator from Igneous. The two girls were the first to arrive at the classroom, introducing themselves to their classmates when they arrived. When Jorgen arrived and ordered Skyward Flight to attention, Kimmalyn immediately jumped to action, however, in her excitement, she saluted Jorgen with both hands while also standing on her toes. Jorgen harshly criticized her, leading to Spensa jumping to Kimmalyn's defense. Kimmalyn, while initially hurt by Jorgen's comment, was pleased by Spensa's response.

“I’m just gonna sit tight here, snug and happy I didn’t crash into anyone. As the Saint said, ‘Ain’t nothing wrong with being a little wrong once in a while.’”

—Kimmalyn during their first virtual training session when asked to fall in line with her fellow pilots

Like many of the other members of Skyward Flight, Kimmalyn crashed her mockpit during their first lesson by accidentally misusing her control sphere. When the lesson was interrupted by a Krell attack, Kimmalyn, along with the rest of Skyward Flight, were ordered to take to the sky and line up close to the battle to deceive the Krell into thinking there were more pilots ready to join the conflict. When Krell attacked the group, she maneuvered herself away from her flightmates so that she could line up a clear shot with her destructors, firing upon and destroying the Krell that had targeted Jorgen. Once back at the DDF base, the other members of Skyward Flight praised her on her shooting, though she did not know how to react to the compliments.

The next day, when Kimmalyn noticed that Spensa did not seem to be leaving with the group during lunch, she attempted to stay behind to see what was wrong. She was stopped by Cobb who explained to her the situation. After Cobb mentioned to her that the other women had forgotten her lunch Kimmalyn, snuck food back with her from the mess hall to pass on to Spensa. When the class resumed, the cadets began testing out the weapons functions on their mockpits. After allowing the cadets to attempt to shoot targets with their destructors, Cobb ordered Kimmalyn to demonstrate how effectively the weapons could be used. When the class attempted dogfighting after her demonstration, Kimmalyn's mockpit was destroyed almost immediately.

During the light-lance ring game Kimmalyn crashed on the first round, on the fourth ring, being the second person to lose out after Bim. Following the lesson, Kimmalyn returned from getting a drink just in time to hear that Spensa was the daughter of Chaser. Although initially shocked, she approached Spensa the next day to talk to her. Kimmalyn was not put off by the revelation and admired Spensa's courage in standing up against the backlash she had received because of her father's actions.

A few days later, Skyward Flight was once again sent into battle against the Krell, this time fighting alongside full pilots. During the battle, Kimmalyn attempts to help Morningtide by sniping the Krell that were chasing her, however, was ultimately too late and by doing so left herself exposed to Krell attack with no wingmate nearby. Although Spensa initially wanted to go and help her, Jorgen ordered her to help Bim, going to help Kimmalyn himself. Kimmalyn survived the battle, however, lost two of her other flightmates: Bim and Morningtide.

by Hitori Maron

The next morning, Kimmalyn arrived late to class having stopped in the bathroom on her way to the classroom. Having likely spent the time crying and considering if she wished to stay with the DDF, Kimmalyn eventually made her way to the classroom, taking her seat with the intention of eventually decided to proceed to the classroom where, to the surprise of her teacher, she continuing the program.

After exploding during a training exercise, Nedd prodded Kimmalyn, teasing her about the crash and provoking a polite but moderate response from the woman. Later, during her solo run, Kimmalyn successfully managed to IMP a Krell ship without crashing. Despite the praise she received by Spensa, Kimmalyn was focused on the negatives of her flying until Spensa managed to successfully distract her through a discussion about insults.

Later, Kimmalyn and Skyward Flight took to the sky in their Poco's for a debris tagging exercise. After doing her run with Arturo, Kimmalyn shot down several pieces of debris that had been ignored by Nedd and FM who were up next, earning her a warning from Cobb about showing off. When the shipyard began falling, Kimmalyn, Nedd, and Spensa accidentally split from the rest of the flight, with Spensa picking up a tail. Kimmalyn and Nedd helped destroy and scatter Spensa's tail before the three went to try and rejoin the others. When Nedd peeled away to chase his brothers into the shipyard, Kimmalyn left Spensa to chase him, not confident in her ability to navigate inside the shipyard.

The next week, Kimmalyn, along with FM and Hurl, devised a plan to sneak Spensa into their dormitory for the evening. Following the day's lesson, Kimmalyn and FM retired to their bunks before dinner, claiming to be unwell. Kimmalyn lead Spensa to their room, meeting up with FM near the door and smuggled Spensa inside where she found blankets piled as a makeshift bed and food waiting for her. As the girls waited for Hurl to return, Kimmalyn teased FM about her ramblings about the militaristic Defiant culture. The four friends chatted as the night progressed, coming up with, and naming, silly flight patterns.

After a later training session, Skyward Flight was called to action to help defend against a Krell attack. The flight took up position near one of Alta's AA guns away from the main fight to wait as backup. After the flight was given the green light to engage, Kimmalyn found herself being swarmed by Krell and called for aid. Despite the best efforts of her teammates, the Krell kept locking onto Kimmalyn even after being driven away, causing the cadet to panic and fly erratically to try and lose them. Spensa managed to draw the Krell away from Kimmalyn, leading them to chase her instead. Free from her tail, Kimmalyn maneuvered herself above the fray to get out of range. In an effort to save Hurl, Kimmalyn tried to shoot down her persuers, however, missed her target. Moments later, Hurl's wing was destroyed by destructor fire and her ship plummeted for the planet, leading to her death.

““I failed Hurl,” she [Kimmalyn] said softly. “I’ll fail the others.”
“No. The only way you fail, Kimmalyn, is if you’re not there. Be there. ”
”

—Spensa encouraging Kimmalyn to go with Nedd and Arturo and help the overwhelmed pilots during the Second Battle of Alta

Following the battle, Kimmalyn went to Cobb, expressing her wishes to leave the cadet training program. After spending the night thinking over her decision, at Cobb's insistence, she reaffirmed her decision the next day in front of the rest of her flight. Although they tried to convince her to stay, Kimmalyn stayed firm in her choice. When she went to clear her dorm room of her possessions, she did so chaotically, leading to some of her things becoming lost and being left behind.

Later that week, Kimmalyn met up with her fellow Skyward Flight members, as all active members had been given a week of medical leave. After meeting with the group, Kimmalyn asked if FM would be able to fetch a necklace that she had left in their room before departing. When FM returned with the necklace, she brought Spensa with her, whom she had found on her way back to the restaurant. After retrieving her necklace from FM, Kimmalyn and her friends spoke of Hurl, remembering their friend and reminiscing about their time in flight school. When Arturo's girlfriend, Bryn, went to the bathroom, the members of Skyward Flight talked briefly about the strangeness of Krell tactics and the DDF's hesitancy to talk about these things.

Following the Skyward graduation, Kimmalyn and the former members of the flight met up at a restaurant in Alta Base to listen in to the battle at the shipyard on Arturo's family radio. Hearing the desperation of the battle, the friends discussed potentially stealing the Mendez private jets to provide aid. Kimmalyn protested Spensa's suggestion that she accompany Arturo and Nedd on the mission, believing it would just be another opportunity for her to fail. After some encouraging words from Spensa, Kimmalyn went with Nedd and Arturo to steal the starfighters and help the overwhelmed DDF pilots.

Having successfully stolen the Mendez family starships, Kimmalyn, Nedd, and Arturo went to join Spensa in defending Alta Base. The group arrived shortly after Spensa was shot down, with Kimmalyn immediately wanting to go to her aid. Ironsides, however, ordered Kimmalyn and the others to attack and destroy the bomber as they were too far away to be of help to Spensa.

After Spensa rejoined the fight in M-Bot, she ordered Kimmalyn to hang back and, once the ship's defenses had been deactivated, shoot the bomber so that the bomb would drop without detonating. Kimmalyn protested, not believing herself good enough to make such a shot, however Spensa disagreed, reminding the other woman of how they met and the encouragement she had given Spensa on that day. On Spensa's orders, Kimmalyn shot at the bomber, hitting the clamps that held the lifebuster to the ship and destroying them, cutting the bomb free.

“A line of red light pierced the battlefield. It passed between Krell ships, went right over Jorgen’s wing as he overburned away from the bomber. And damn me if it didn’t spear the exact spot between the bomber and the bomb, severing the clamps.”

—Spensa commenting on Kimmalyn detaching the lifebuster from it's carrier ship

Following the battle, Kimmalyn rejoined the DDF as an active pilot taking up a specialized piloting role in the reformed Skyward Flight. She accompanied Spensa, FM, and Sadie into battle against the Krell shortly before the arrival of the Superiority battleships. After returning to base, Kimmalyn waited with Spensa who had stayed behind to speak to Jorgen. The pair chatted with Sadie as they waited, who looked up to both women. When Jorgen arrived, Kimmalyn abandoned Spensa to face Jorgen's wrath alone.

After receiving a message from Rodge about a recording, recovered from the Platform Prime databases, Kimmalyn quickly returned to fetch Spensa and Jorgen and head to the Library to see what had been uncovered. When Spensa spooked at the recording, Kimmalyn tried to assist her.

When Alanik appeared outside of Detritus' atmosphere, heading towards the ground and being badly damaged by the orbital platforms, Kimmalyn and Spensa took chase to rescue the unknown ship. After the damaged ship was successfully saved and grounded by Spensa, Kimmalyn and the other girl went to investigate, finding the alien woman inside. Spensa tried to open Alanik's cockpit, despite Kimmalyn warnings about the unknown internal atmosphere, however, she was not quick enough, and soon the two friends were doing what they could to help the alien woman. At some point following Spensa's sudden departure for Starsight, Jorgen explained to Kimmalyn and the others about her mission.

When Spensa returned from Starsight, Kimmalyn was the first to speak with her, radioing in shortly after she appeared near Detritus. Kimmalyn met Spensa in the hangar dock, thrilled to see her friend again. Their reunion, however, was cut short when the Defiants were called to arms, with Kimmalyn departing to face the Superiority forces and participate in the upcoming battle.

Relationships

Spensa

“'Remember? The first day we met? ...You told me to take a deep breath, reach up…'
'Pluck a star,' Kimmalyn whispered.
”

—Spensa encouraging Kimmalyn during the Battle of Alta Second

by Jill Andersen

Kimmalyn and Spensa Nightshade

Kimmalyn and Spensa are close friends. Kimmalyn is not put out by the other women's strong personality, or her temper. She will follow Spensa's lead, including Spensa's bullying of Jorgen. Kimmalyn sees no issue with Spensa's actions against Jorgen in the light-lance game, praising her for her conduct. Spensa was not sold on the callsign, Quirk, and considered talking to Kimmalyn about it, though it is unclear if she ever did. Spensa finds the look of Kimmalyn in a space helmet strange, as it fully contains Kimmalyn's voluminous hair.

Kimmalyn is aware of who Spensa's father and has heard the stories about him. Although she is, at first, shocked to find out Spensa's parentage, she does not treat Spensa differently after the revelation, nor does she shy away from the topic or Spensa's anger. She is impressed by Spensa's ability to stand up against the rumors and admires Spensa's courage. She sees Spensa's fears of being weak as natural and encourages her to share her feelings with her teammates and rely on them. Kimmalyn may be aware of some of Spensa's fears surrounding her cytonic abilities, however, Spensa is not always willing to share her feelings.

Spensa is protective of Kimmalyn, jumping to the women's aid when she is harshly criticized. During flight school, Spensa is aware that Kimmalyn is nervous about her poor flying ability and uses silly jokes and humor to help lift Kimmalyn's spirits. Spensa feels angry on her friends behalf, irritated that Kimmalyn so often is made to feel like a failure for her flying ability, when she is so naturally talented at shooting. She believes in Kimmalyn and her abilities, even when the other woman loses her confidence, and consistently provides support and encouragement to help Kimmalyn combat the lack of faith she has in herself.

Following the Battle of Alta Second, the pair begin to live in the same barracks, where Spensa attempts to draw Kimmalyn into silly contests. Kimmalyn and Spensa are often paired together when sent on missions, and work in tandem, with Spensa chasing enemies back towards Kimmalyn so she can shoot them down. While away in Starsight, Spensa sorely missed Kimmalyn and wished for her company.

Hurl

“I got her killed, Spin. You know that as well as I do... The one shot that mattered. That’s the one I missed. ”

—Kimmalyn explaining her departure from the DDF to Spensa

Kimmalyn and Hurl are friends and share a dorm room with FM during flight school. While rooming together, the three would come up with silly flight maneuvers they could name after each other. At some point, Hurl taught Kimmalyn wall-ball, though Kimmalyn seemed to prefer watching her friends play than participating.

Kimmalyn believes she is at fault for Hurl's death as she was unable to shoot down Hurl's pursuers. She is strongly affected by Hurl's death and following the battle requests to be dismissed from the DDF. Kimmalyn's confidence in her abilities is shaken following the incident and she becomes anxious and unsure when faced with another situation where her shooting could change the tide of battle.

Nedd

“Nice explosion, Quirk. Seven out of ten. Try to spin your wreckage a little more next time you fall. ”

—Nedd teasing Kimmalyn during training

Nedd is aware of Kimmalyn's nervousness about her flying abilities during flight school, and would deliberately tease her so she could channel her stress at someone to let off steam. Nedd believes Kimmalyn is uptight, particularly during times of stress.

Sadie

“You did wonderfully, dear. But never try to be who you aren’t; you don’t have nearly enough practice to pull it off. ”

—Kimmalyn giving Sadie a backhanded compliment, disguised as a quote by the Saint

Sadie idolizes Kimmalyn and has a habit of recording her fake Saint quotes, not knowing that they aren't real. Kimmalyn enjoys the attention and likely is highly pleased by someone recording her sayings.

Trivia

• The phrase 'bless your stars', commonly used by Kimmalyn, is likely based on the southern US phrase, 'bless your heart'. Both phrases are used in a variety of circumstances to convey expressions that range from sincerity to mockery.
• Kimmalyn is queer.

Notes

This article is still missing information. Please help The Coppermind by expanding it.

This article was complete and reviewed prior to Sunreach, but now needs to be updated.