Mystery of Notes: Search for Kurogane Akihiro(Working Title)

Okay... Revisions to make him slightly less bland as a character complete enough for submission purposes.

Second try.

Note: I didn't know if someone would be squicked out by a description of the scars from the procedure and the interfaces for the armor along his spine (hence why he wouldn't pass for normal without a shirt), so I played it cautious and left it out.

• Name: Riktor Thomas
• Age: 26
• Gender: Male
• Appearance: Without his combat suit, Riktor could just about pass for normal, as long as he wore a shirt. His hair is straight and jet black, and his eyes are a dull gray. Riktor has a slender build that belies his strength, and demonstrates good posture, whether sitting or standing. Though his clothing changes by the day, he makes good use of large coats to conceal his armor.
• Personality: For someone with his upbringing and occupation, Riktor is rather laid-back. Though calculating, he's far from cold, and can be surprisingly friendly, even towards enemies. As he puts it, "today's target is tomorrow's client. Why let hatred bog that down?"
  That said, everyone has sore-spots, and Riktor is no different. One such gap in his friendly persona is his equipment; he's reluctant to allow others to handle his weapons, and is defensive of them, displaying irritation if mocked or misidentified. This extends especially to his sword, likely a combination of his personal connection to it and his distaste for the stereotype identifying all single edged blades with an "eastern" feel to them as "katanas."
  Friendly or not, though, Riktor's number one priority at all times is the mission. Keeping cohorts at arm's length comes naturally to him, and however many times he might remark on liking a particular partner or employer, he knows full well he might be working against them on the next job, so doesn't get overly attached, though as a courtesy he might try to avoid excessive collateral damage.
  Riktor displays a relatively high level of enthusiasm, seeing what he does as being no different from what he'd have done if his earlier plans hadn't fallen through. He takes neither joy, nor pride in the kill, but regards it as necessary for peace, and that most of his missions advance U.S. provides quite a bit of motivation.
• Backstory: Named by his mother, a U.S. marine, Riktor was raised to be 'strong'. His name is not, in fact, indicative of any particular national herritage- His mother's side of the family was actually Canadian, and his father, an accountant, hailed from Chicago. Instead, his name was given to "balance" his less aggressive sounding last name. Riktor grew up in a military family, and he was largely raised to continue the trend of military service with soccer, hunting, basic karate before he proved too unsuited for the discipline it required, and numerous camping trips with his mother when she'd return from duty. For his part, Riktor enjoyed it, though he sometimes wondered why he needed to learn this stuff when he was too young to really understand what was going on. In the end, he enlisted (or rather, tried to) straight out of high school.
  To make a long story short, someone stamped his forms incorrectly, leaving him branded 'unfit for military service'. Devastated, he returned home, and spent the next three years studying medicine, considering it a personal failing on his part. Eventually, though, he realized that his greatest fear in life was dying in a desk-job, and so set about finding some way to get himself onto the battlefield.
  His dream came true in the form of his current employer, Tarsen Security Solutions. Though his mother was appalled at the thought of her son becoming one of the "dogs of war", for Riktor, it was his chance to prove himself, and make up for lost time.
  During his three year career, Riktor functioned as a psychological life-raft for whatever team he was assigned to; although at first his easy demeanor was looked on as a potential liability, and a source of endless irritation to the instructors, his employers soon discovered that his attitude had a way of infecting the others in his squad, helping them carry on through difficulties where morale might otherwise fracture. It was this ability that made him one of several candidates for cybernetic augmentation- his ability to soothe others greatly aided his fellow cyborgs in adjusting to their enhancements, and assuaged the guilty consciences of the development team, some of whom had feared the process would result in a loss of "humanity" on some level.
  Despite his occupation, Riktor is surprisingly psychologically healthy. Though not immune to the stresses of his occupation by any stretch, his proactive approach to dealing with the adverse effects has spared him the worst of it thus far- Stopping by the therapist's office when needed, spending time with one of the ferrets said therapist keeps, feeding the fish in the lobby, and taking up origami have given him ways of dealing with the stress in healthy, constructive manner.
  Despite his usual detachment from others, over time he's developed a close bond with Rita, a member of the dev. team responsible for his augmentations and the subsequent upgrades. Rita was also particularly involved in the creation of Riktor's blade, which sometimes becomes a point of tension between the two, as she regards it with a mix of pride and shame- pride at how well it works, shame at what it's meant to do.
  Riktor's presence in Tengoku is no accident. Being a corporation, TSS is always looking for opportunities to make money. And the "notes" event is a gold mine as far as they're concerned. Rather than trying to gain and use the clues, they intend to recover as many as they can for the purpose of sale to interested parties. To this end, Riktor is authorized to act as a sales person or hire himself out as help as long as the company gets its cut, and Riktor is happy to oblige.
• Abilities:
  • Physical Improvements: Given his cybernetic enhancements, Riktor is stronger, faster, and more durable than most humans. Coupled with his history of Urban Exploration (Free Running) and training, Riktor is a dangerous and mobile opponent, even when unarmed.
  • Magnetization: Riktor's armor is capable of magnetizing, allowing quick and convenient storage for weapons that he doesn't wish to properly holster. The design is compartmentalized for practicality so that he can store a weapon on his back without picking up every paperclip on the desk he's sitting at, or (more severely) wiping out all data on a disk he's handling. Originally, when he requested it, the dev team insisted on a stronger field to enable climbing metal surfaces. Riktor rejected the idea, pointing out that his own climbing skills were already more useful, both for their versatility, and the distinct advantage of being able to choose what was a handhold and what wasn't.
  • Combat Shielding: Though the armor itself can protect against small arms fire to a fair degree, the best defense is always not getting hit. To that end, the suit is capable of projecting what amounts to an invisible force pressing outwards from the armor. This field stops or softens direct impacts and deflects glancing blows, and can be turned on or off. Due to the draw on Riktor's cybernetics, the shield is intended for heavy hits, rather than battles of attrition, and when on, it only reacts to objects approaching past a certain velocity.
• Equipment: Given his status as an operative of TSS, Riktor, in theory, has access to hardware and equipment that the general public would be hard-pressed to acquire. However, the nature of the mission dictates that some level of subtlety be excercised, and that the operation remain as low profile as possible. Thus, Riktor has restrained himself, and carries only what he considers essentials.
  • The first, and most important piece of equipment at Riktor's disposal is his Semi-Powered Combat Unit, a suit of armor designed to interface with his cybernetics. Semi-powered because, unlike a true powered-armor system, it lacks a power-source, relying on the cybernetics Riktor possesses for that. The armor, in a sense, is less a suit than an external upgrade. The armor itself consists of multiple glossy, black plates backed by a matte black body-suit. Though strong, the suit is also relatively thin, and only increases his profile a small amount.
  • A ninjatō-pattern HFDO*
    High Frequency Driven-Oscillation
    -blade- (English- a short sword that vibrates very fast to help it cut).
  • M1911 pistol- Chosen for its stopping power, easily concealed profile, and simple reliability.
  • FN F2000 S- Light and compact, the F2000 S rifle is features a bullpup design and selective fire capabilities, and is fitted with a scope.
  • Modified Desert Eagle- A gift from Rita, given to Riktor with the words "stay safe". Though initially reluctant to use what he derided as a romanticised movie weapon, Riktor has slowly warmed to the gun after realizing his cybernetics make the weight and recoil much less troublesome than it would normally be, and its status as a gift from Rita gives him a personal attachment to the sidearm. Typically, though, as much as he appreciates the stopping power, it ends up left behind in whatever "safe" area he's currently using, unless he knows ahead of time that a problem will need a .50 to solve it.

edited 3rd Sep '13 2:23:29 PM by Dragon573

I think the best way to sum up the reason I don't like this character for the RP is... he honestly reads and feels like a Metal Gear Solid character. Reading his backstory and everything, that's honestly immediately what I think of.

For some reason, I get the same vibe without ever having played the games.

I think I'm taking the setting too seriously or something. Sorry...

The setting isn't entirely not-serious, but... honestly, if you want to go for power armor, try going for something that's crazier. Also, feel free to go into laser territory with his weapons.

This isn't a silly, non-serious setting, but characters shouldn't feel like they're from Metal Gear Solid, eh-heh.

... I'm honestly kind of surprised you've never played them, since High Frequency Blade is actually something from them. I'm honestly almost impressed that you managed to make a character who fits so well into that setting by complete accident for something totally unrelated to it.

edited 3rd Sep '13 6:01:49 PM by AnnoR

I've made some changes, a better explanation for his appearance and some more power, although I'm not sure whether I've gone too far with the later.

Well... I don't have a full idea of what to say yet, but one thing I know is that I'm really not sure about that transformation thing.

I played the Demo for Revengeance, and one of my friends tried explaining the general plot of the others, but really, but no first hand experience otherwise (I didn't even know the blades were High-Frequency. I actually got the idea from Star Wars. "Vibroblades," they're called)

Crazier... I can do crazier.

I think this is the craziest power armor I've ever done, come to think of it.

• Name: Melissa Hark
• Age: 27
• Gender: Female
• Appearance: Hark has long brown hair, typically pulled into two braids (loose hair gets caught in the helmet- not fun). Her green eyes are typically hidden behind the black visor of the armor's helmet, and are always framed by a pair of wire-frame glasses. When not wearing her armor, Melissa favors sweaters and khakis, the mixture of comfort and generally "nice" appearance appealing to her nature. When in her armor, however, she'll often wear large rain jackets, rubber boots, and gloves. Though it makes her look like she's continually expecting rain, it attracts less attention than walking around shining.
• Personality: Hark can come across as scatterbrained at times, due to her repeatedly performing multiple tasks at once where most people would set one or the other aside. She displays sensitivity towards others as a general rule, and is well mannered, unless irritated. In situations requiring the suit's more... aggressive features, however, she becomes colder, and doesn't hesitate to strike as some might, realizing that she is likely competing with people who would quite literally kill to obtain their goal.
• Backstory: Melissa had always been intelligent. Top of her class in Math, Science, and English (though never doing particularly well in Wellness or Foreign Language, and with one incident where an impassioned argument with the instructor in Government resulted in a week-long suspension) all through high-school, though not through college. Her thesis on artificial intelligence (and its application in terms of transhumanism) resulted in a fiasco, due to her professor's distinct bias against such ideas. Eventually, due in large part to Melissa threatening to file a lawsuit, the professor was dismissed, and her paper reevaluated. Though she didn't graduate top of class, this incident and the subsequent media attention portraying her (inaccurately; she just wanted a fair grade) as a visionary struggling against an institution seeking to suppress new ideas landed her a spot on a project dubbed "EVE", with the long-term goal of complete conversion of a human subject to digital/mechanical entity via gradual replacement of areas of the body. Unfortunately, the project's funding was pulled, leaving her without a job, and with a lot of time on her hands.
  Moving from place to place frequently, taking postings at various corporations (and jokingly remarking on having sold her soul to them each time) which inevitably ended soon after, whether due to layoffs or simple termination of the programs, Hark eventually landed a job at a Chinese corporation, working on the original incarnation of her current armor. Once more, however, misfortune struck, and the company was bankrupted after a massive series of lawsuits involving severe injuries related to use of their various "home and workplace defense" products (their turrets had a hard time distinguishing between "guest" and "intruder").
  The sudden nature of the company's demise left multiple squabbling investors trying to figure out what exactly was their intellectual property- who owned what, in essence. And, short on funds and seeing that no one had claimed the suit's design, she decided to follow that oldest of phrases... "possession is nine-tenths of the law." Making a physical copy and wiping the database, she cleaned out her workspace yet again.
  Packing up and moving once more, she headed to Germany and promptly sold the designs to one of her former employer's competitors, and finally managed to stay in one place for more than a year, working on bringing the lifted designs to life, and eventually giving birth (figuratively) to the CAA-200 Powered Armor System.
  The system, unfortunately, proved unpopular, as most users reported feelings of nausia or disorientation when trying to make use of the combat features of the suit- the human mind had difficulty coping with having additional limbs. Having been one of the testers, however, Melissa proved more than capable of handling the strain, and retained one of the CAA-200 suits "for research purposes" as they began moving on to the next generation- this one supposed to incorporate an autonomous prehensile tail to counter-balance an alarming amount of firepower situated on the shoulders and arms... the project isn't going well.
  Hark came to city not long after the notes incident. Not out of any desire for personal gain- rather, scientific woman that she is, she seeks to take the legendary hero up on his offer- She's after his secrets, and fully intends to make them public (after seeing what she can do with them herself, of course).
• Abilities: Hark's abilities, for the most part, are those of a determined scientist- Which is to say, blinding intellect and single-minded focus on her goal. Her real power is in her armor, though her long use of the armor allows her to multi-task in ways beyond the normal person- holding a conversation in person while also talking on the phone, reading a newspaper, and drinking tea would not be outside of her reach, though it might cause odd looks.
• Equipment:
  • CAA-200 Power Armor- Just ignore the tentacles.- Hark is outfitted with a CAA-200 Powered Armor system. The suit is made up of two major components, the first being the actual armor. Comprised of sleek, silver plating backed by a layer of gel, the suit is designed to prevent penetration and cushion blunt force trauma, and the helmet allows for simple sight, night-vision, or even thermal imaging. On detection of incoming objects, the plating stiffens in the projected area of impact and the gel layer expands to form a sort of cushion, with the rounded edges of the armor serving to protect against piercing impacts (such as stabs or gun-shots). The suit also comes equipped with a pair of projected-energy weapons located in the palms, and a high velocity chakram launcher mounted on the right wrist. Out of combat, the visor of the helmet slides down into the area over the mouth, which in turn slides down across the wearer's chest, while the sides and top of the helmet fold back behind the user's head.
    The second part of the CAA-200 is a harness, attaching to the armor and connecting to the users nervous system through the armor. Attached to the harness on the user's back are the "Combat Assistance Appendages"- A set of eight metalic tentacles, boasting similar defensive properties to the armor itself. The tentacles start about as broad as a man's arm, and taper to needle points. Though typically as long as Hark's body, the tentacles are capable of extending to extreme lengths, and have a system of sensors allowing Hark to "see" what the tentacles can see. The tentacles are strong enough to crush armored vehicles, and dextrous enough to pour cups of tea (a feature which Hark exploits to the fullest).
    Also, just for fun (and for slicing her enemies), she's modified the tentacles with what amount to the world's deadliest laser pointers.

I removed the transformations.

Okay, I'm not ready yet, but I'm going to look into the bios more in-depth soon.

Um... sorry it's taking so long. I'm just having trouble coming to a final decision.

Edit: I'm leaning towards acceptance on Melissa, at least.

edited 11th Sep '13 8:27:24 AM by AnnoR

Take your time. I've spent weeks looking over Bios before.

Okay, I've finally come to a decision. She's accepted.

Awesome!

Name: Takahashi Ryuji

Age: 25

Gender:MANLY!

Appearance: like this, but typically in a nice suit◊

Personality: Ryuji's strongest trait is his loyalty to the Crimson Dragon Syndicate and to Akane in particular. But while he can be as ruthless as his boss if the situation calls for it he prefers being friendly and civil to those he interacts with even in deadly or violent situations, occasionally even offering a diplomatic solution if the mood strikes him. He also has his own particular sense of honor, despite being an admitted criminal. That said, those that disrespect him, his boss or the Crimson Dragon Syndicate as a whole aren't likely to get away easily

Backstory:

Abilities: As one of the highest ranking members of Akane's Crimson Dragon Syndicate it's become increasingly necessary for Ryuji to deal with supernatural opposition on a daily basis and despite being a human with no magical abilities to speak of Ryuji's extraordinary skill when it comes to both martial arts and swordsmanship enable him to carry out his duties with frightening efficiency. He also has some skill with firearms though he dislikes them intensely, and even has a working knowledge of explosives if more desperate measures are needed. Finally, as befitting his occasional role as a bodyguard and manservant he can drive or pilot a wide range of vehicles and has become a half-decent cook.

Equipment: Like Akane he has a criminal smuggling network backing him up, though most of the time he prefers a trusty katana or other assorted blades, if he decides an enemy is worth anything more dangerous than his bare hands.

Accepted so far!

So, um... is anyone still interested?

I'm here. I've just been waiting for a start.

Unless you were asking if anyone else wanted to sign up, I mean...

I'm also still interested.