Name: Abigail Harlow
Species: Human
Age: 22
Gender: Female
Height: 5’2”
Weight: 116lbs
Personality:Abigail bears the tell-tale signs of a woman forced to mature too quickly. She fluctuates between being self-sufficient and sensible to acting like any other cheeky teenage girl would. Her sharp tongue and witty comments are more than enough to get her in trouble; it doesn’t help matters that she’s as stubborn as a mule and doesn’t hold back when she gets mad. Often restless and always fidgety, Abigail has a boundless amount of energy that spills into her everyday life and fuels her moments of irrationality, those famous “fuck-it-let’s-give-this-a-shot” ideas that every young adult has been guilty of before.
She enjoys debates and isn’t afraid to speak her mind, even if they devolve into shouting matches and sulking. Her sharp mind means that even if she couldn’t exactly avoid trouble, she was well equipped for getting herself out of whatever screw-up she inevitably lands herself in. Even if she acts like a smart-ass from time to time, no-one is more aware of their own frailty than Abigail. Almost everything she does is humbled by the constant reminder that she is younger, weaker and less experienced than most of the people around her. Yes, she is passionate and stubborn and will fight for her voice to be heard but there are some situations where Abigail can clearly see she is physically weaker than most. Abigail isn’t afraid of running away from fights she can’t handle and has a healthy amount of common sense that inhibits her impulsive behaviour from time to time.
History:Abigail’s earliest memories were on Telmurak. The planet was a ruined husk from a long-lost civilisation, recently inhabited by all manner of alien life hoping to make a profit from the tech they could scavenge. Her mother was some sort of hippie who travelled the stars with a sleazy entrepreneur who suffered from some serious commitment issues. The moment he found out Miss Harlow was pregnant, he made a break for it with the family’s small spacecraft and left the poor woman abandoned on Telmurak. Life was rough but manageable in the haphazard shantytowns; theoretically you could get whatever you wished for, provided you found the right type and amount of scrap to pay for it. Whores, medicine, drugs, food, clothing...you could buy it all.
Her mother had to take Abigail out from a very young age to rifle through rusty shells of metal and handfuls of old circuit boards, and whenever Abigail wasn’t scooping up scrap into a large burlap sack she was sitting around at home tinkering with whatever was too worthless to hand in. The job wasn’t too dangerous when it came to long-dead machinery, but the real threat were the mutants that lurked in the ruins; rabid and aggressive, many scavengers didn’t have the gear to handle them and had to learn how to get around or evade the beasts. Abigail’s mother was caught out by one of these mutants when Abigail was pretty young, but the kid settled into a routine fairly quickly; she knew what to find and where to find it. Since she was so small and skinny, she had the advantage of being able to squeeze into tight spaces to find the good gear. Navigating hostile territory, climbing unstable structures, hiding from aggressive beasts - it all became part of Abigail’s daily life.
Still, as Abigail grew up and matured, there was this nagging sensation that she could be doing something better with her life than risking it all for cheap processed food, old video games and painkillers. When she was 15, a group of GAHL hunters landed on Telmurak to deal with a particularly large rodent-like mutant known as the Scuttler Queen. Abigail saw how they paraded through the shantytowns with its severed head, showered with riches and rewards...and decided she wanted to be a part of that life. She crept on board their spaceship and became a stowaway.
It didn’t take long for the GAHL to find her and give her a stern scolding, but she guilt-tripped and pleaded the crew to at least stay on board for drudge work - anything to stay off Telmurak. This was 6 years ago. Although Abigail was initially seen as cheap labour and worked as a janitor on the SC Sirius, it only took a few months for her cheeky attitude and disarming smile to worm their way into the hunters’ hearts as she became an unofficial member of the crew. Some of the older members started giving her a patchy education (up until now Abigail remained illiterate) and became part of the team.
Unsurprisingly, she was an abysmal failure when she started training; she had enough strength to carry her own weight rather efficiently but was way too frail from her unhealthy childhood to ever reach the physique of a bounty hunter. It was Brooks who intervened after taking a particular liking towards the kid. He pointed out that his crewmates were teaching her ‘the wrong way’ and started personally training Abigail with emphasis towards her remarkable speed, stamina and agility. Six years, several cashed-in favours and a lot of reward money transformed Abigail from a grimy little waif into a unique (albeit reckless) Scout for GAHL. For the first 4 years Abigail’s new home became the SC Sirius - Brooks trained her during his spare time and she watched the fighting during the missions from the safety of the ship. She’s only been allowed to do field work for the past 2 years, and even though her technique is still a little clunky, she’s proven herself to be a useful asset for the hunters.
Weapons/Supplies:Gravalter Nanosuit: Custom-fitted and carefully made, Abigail’s suit provides waterproof, air-tight protection against the elements with its own supply of air and can withstand a fair bit of wear-and-tear. However, its primary purpose isn’t simply armour - a fragile (but thankfully easily repairable) gravity core allows her to change the effects of gravity on her body - she can make herself lighter and heavier, as well as shifting her gravitational pull to be able walk on walls or ceilings. She uses this in order to reach superhuman speeds and perform acrobatic feats that wouldn’t typically be possible, but it’s worth noting that even minor damage to the core can cause malfunctions. They’re usually harmless and it’s somewhat amusing to watch Abigail suddenly crash into a wall or float up into the ceiling, but given the right conditions these mishaps can be very dangerous.
ZeroG Boots and
AllSurface Gloves: Alterations to the gloves and boots of Abigail’s nanosuit allow her to move about on almost any surface, provided it isn’t incredibly slippery or fragile.
N0IZEMAK3R: Around the size of a baseball, these handy little spheres of scrap metal and wiring are instruments of pure chaos. They emit klaxon-like alarms, loud buzzes and screeches on all sorts of jarring decibel levels and create enough strobe-lights and flashes to disorient even the hardiest aliens if one looks at them for too long. Abigail knows how to make these things from scratch (much to everyone’s dismay) and keeps at least three on her person at all times. When activated, they also emit an SOS signal to the rest of the crew - useful if they aren’t in hearing range but otherwise completely pointless, since it’s VERY easy to track one of these nightmares down to its source.
MZk13 Helmet: If you’re going to be bouncing off of walls and running away from deadly monsters, a good helmet could mean the difference between life and death - and Abigail has a VERY good helmet. The gas filter ensures a healthy supply of air - the seal is watertight and the metal it is made from is capable of withstanding impressive amounts of force. Built inside the helmet is a scanner of Abigail’s surroundings and the UI display on the visor can be turned on and off at will. This helmet warns Abigail of incoming dangers that, in the thrill of the chase, she may not immediately notice.
Holopad: Abigail’s pride and joy. Connected to her nanosuit, the bioscanners provide detailed analysis of Abigail’s physical condition and the state of her armour/equipment (which, in turn, can be broadcasted to anyone else who’s hooked up to the system) and the scanner from the helmet creates a live map of the places she has been. Excellent for scouting out new territory and letting others know where she is, what she’s doing and how close she is to dying.
Abigail also carries some weaponry, but they are hardly anything of note - a
laser pistol rests in arms reach as well as a
holographic hunting knife for those tricky close-combat situations. She’ll also pick up some gadgets here and there depending on the situation - since her gear is lighter than most she always picks up a few more Aether Cans, Detox sprays and other medical equipment than your typical hunter.
Misc:Abigail has a very unique role in the team. Officially, she is a scout, and her skillset is tailored towards stealth, speed and agility for exploration purposes. In combat situations, Abigail goes from scout to ‘glorified bait’, using her noisemakers and her nanosuit to grab the attention of whatever monstrosity the team is up against and lead it to a place where the hunters can fight it on their own terms. She is by
NO MEANS a fighter and has to rely on others to keep her safe during combat (although she can be taught some weapons proficiency if anyone had the time and patience to help her).
