The story will be fine either way. We can get a new character, or we can have a noble death. From the way you described her, both options seem to be possible. I really like her motivating features, since she seems to have no sense of either duty or honor, but instead is driven by her desire for glory and the conflicting desire for personal freedom. Both are self-centered motivations (and, BTW, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that, as characters with such motivations can be extremely fun), and as such either one could wind up driving her actions. I can write the script either way, so I was going to leave the choice to you.

As for your judge character, present it, but I can't give you any guarantees. While I like the idea of recurring NCPs who never join the team but just pop in on an acquaintance level (like Boken from Shining Force). But you're right, I'm not sure that would work with the new, more involved version of the judges. So, supply your views on the character, and I'll look over it, but that one might not make it in.