Amara Nassar

Amara Nassar (callsign Dagger Four) is a member of the Vanguard.^[2]

Biography

Sigma Program

Early Years

Amara was born to Julian and Lila Nassar. A year after her birth, she and her parents were in the Amazon, as part of excavations carried out by Sigma-6. When their helicopter touched down, Amara stared at Dr. Clive Cullin intently. For a moment, Cullin thought she could sense his internal struggle, but a moment later, Amara broke free from her mother and skipped away in glee.^[1]

After the conclusion of the Amazon dig, Sigma-6 traveled to the Arctic Circle. Cullin suspected that Lila had instructed Amara to stay away from him, as by this point, she had her own suspicions. After the team drilled down into the ice, Amara hugged her father's leg before he descended into the cavern. On the surface, Amara and her mother listened to the 'song' of the artifact that her father had been sent down to investigate.^[1]

Two years after Sigma-6 arrived in the Arctic, Sigma Polar was constructed around the artifact. The older Amara got, the more curious and impetuous she became. It was a regular occurrence to find her holed away in some forbidden wing of the facility, taking apart a robot to see how it worked or leading Major Carl Barclay on a chase to track her down. When Amara was seven years old, Project Stormgate Mk. I was initiated, but Amara's mother was killed in an apparent act of sabotage.^[1]

The Opening of the Stormgate

Three years later, with Amara nearly ten years old, Project Stormgate Mk. II reached its activation point.^[1] However, something went awry, and alarms sounded across Sigma Polar to evacuate. In her room, Amara contacted her father, who told her to stay put. Not long afterwards, the stormgate was fully opened, unleashing the Infernal Host on Earth.^[3]

The Resistance

Amara survived the Infernal breach at Sigma Polar, though the Infernals took everything from her. She joined the Resistance, operating under the callsign of "Dagger Four", She dedicated herself to killing Infernals, and was good at it.^[4] She became the head of the Warhawks dagger team. She led the Warhawks into numerous gray zones to rescue other survivors and strike back against the Infernals.^[5]

Into the Fire

Twenty years after the start of the Second Invasion, now 29/30 years old, Amara continued to mourn her father's death. While aboard the Raptor One, T.R.I.P.P. informed her that he'd intercepted a distress call from Ten Towns, requesting aid. Amara told him to tell the people they were coming—she refused to signal HQ for reinforcements, as she didn't want to be bogged down by risk analysis. Afterwards, she was approached by Captain Carl Barclay, her second-in-command, who told Amara that she missed Julian as well. Still in grief, Amara told him that they'd mourn her father's death when the war was over.^[5]

The Raptor One headed to the villages, but five minutes out, there was still no contact, and the distress call continued to loop. T.R.I.P.P. read multiple heat signatures, indicating fire and potential hostiles. Amara gave the order for the op to proceed. The Raptor One touched down, only to find Ten Towns in flames. Ryker discovered a Scavenger weapon. Amara proceeded into the town on foot while the Raptor One remained on overwatch. As she proceeded, oddities began to stack up—the town's crops had been left untouched, and while she couldn't find any survivors, she couldn't find any bodies either. This didn't fit the Scavengers' M.O., as they never took prisoners. She got her answer at the town's exit, as they saw wagon tracks. Clearly, the Scavengers had taken prisoners. Further ahead, she and Barclay observed Scavengers working with Infernals, as the captives of Ten Towns were hauled off. An enraged Amara ordered the enemy to be eradicated.^[5]

Further ahead, Amara and Barclay came across a wagon that had become stuck. They eliminated the Scavengers there and freed the villagers, who joined them in the op. After wiping out a Scavenger force with Ryker's help, he noticed that there was a split in the tracks. The heavier tracks (i.e. the wagons) had headed north, while a lighter group had gone south, presumably to their base camp. Ryker suggested taking out the Scavenger camp to prevent a similar raid as the one Ten Towns had endured, while Barclay suggested that they needed to rescue the villagers taken north. Amara was left to decide the group's COA.^[5]

Plot branch: The Resistance heads north.

Amara decided to head north after the prisoners, and the group headed into the desert. After hours of trekking, they found and saved the prisoners. One of them, Dorothy, explained that the Scavengers had been abducting people across the Range for days, but that despite their calls, no aid had come. She didn't know where the people had been taken, but Ryker procured a Scavenger prisoner. Amara ordered him taken into the Raptor One's hold for interrogation.^[5]

Plot branch: The Resistance heads south.

Amara decided to attack the Scavengers' camp, and led the group into a bog. After hours of trekking, they attacked and wiped out the remaining Scavengers. In the aftermath of their strike, Barclay was uneasy, stating that it didn't feel right to attack their fellow human beings, but Amara pointed out that they were still fighting for humanity; that the Scavengers had chosen the wrong side. They picked up a Scavenger prisoner, and Amara ordered him taken into the Raptor One's hold for interrogation.^[5]

Gameplay

Amara is a hero unit in Stormgate and is selectable in Co-op.

Passive traits

Traits

Abilities

• Shadowstep: Instantly teleports to a nearby target location.
• Molten Shot: Adds 100% bonus fire damage to Amara's attacks for 5 seconds.
• Death Spiral: Spins in a circle, dealing 60 damage to enemy units around her and slowing them down by 25% for 3 seconds. Passive: Nearby enemy units killed by Amara reduce the cooldown of this ability by 1 second.
• Temporal Reflection: Amara becomes stealthed, leaving behind a ghostly reflection of herself at the current location, and taunting nearby enemy units for 5 seconds. The reflection wields her SMGs and will target any unit she targets.

Development

Amara was playable in early builds of Team Mayhem, but will not be playable in the mode's alpha playtest.^[6]

Personality and Traits

As a child, Amara was a bundle of energy. She was very close with her father. The older Amara got, the more curious and impetuous she became. Clive Cullin noted that she was not a normal girl, and by the time Amara neared her tenth birthday, he noted that Amara was "difficult"; as willful as her father, and as opaque as her mother.^[1]

In her adulthood, harrowed by two decades of war, Amara was much more jaded.^[5]

Trivia

• In the opening cinematic, Amara can be seeing holding a Frost Giant plushie. The same plushie can be seen in her locker in the intro cutscene for "Into the Fire."
• Both Amara and Julian are seen with a small crystal around their necks alongside their dog tags.^[4] It is possibly the same crystal, as Julian is implied to be deceased by the timeframe of Stormgate.
• Amara has been nicknamed "'Mara" by at least one developer.^[7] Barclay nicknames her "'Mar."^[5]
• Through her father's side, Amara has Arabic or Latin American ancestry.^[1]

Character Development

• With Early Access and the release of the game's campaign, Amara was largely negatively received. While a common complaint was lack of character depth, Amara was singled out in this regard. In response, the developers stated that between Early Access and full release, some of Amara's lines will be rewritten and her VO re-recorded. In response to the complaint of familiarity, the developers stated that many hero's journeys look similar at the start, and that Amara is at the start of hers in the context of the Prologue and Vanguard Chapter 1 campaigns.^[7]
• Similarly, Amara's design will be revised between Early Access and the game's full release.^[8]

References