Member
R O H A N B A L T H I E R
◄ 27 ▎ MALE ▎ 6'0 ►
P R O F I L E
Mercenary work never came easy, but battle did. Rohan is a tall and sturdy man that has accepted his role as a fighter. Since he was young, Rohan was physically stronger than most of the people around him, he was poised and praised as someone who probably grow to become an athlete. He lived a relatively normal life up until his teens. He was sweet with a girl he used to study with back in his high-school days, the moment both turned 18 they were already making plans for the future and their fields of work, talking about marriage and moving to better pastures, sort of speak. Rohan was also versatile with it came to technology and like to tinker a lot with radio comms and building house hold items, mostly for quality of life stuff. He was never the talkative kind, he would rather show kindness that express it, similarly he'd rather display violence than express it. However, an accident happen where his now fiancee was killed in accident, turns out there was a car crash somewhere and she didn't make. This made Rohan a bit desperate, later he found out it was an organized crime gone wrong, all under the name of a particular crime syndicate. He then made strides to join a merc group, slowly delving himself to the underground, learning how to shoot a gun and fight. The natural gift that were prominent as a child were displayed perfectly here. Slowly he learned how good he was at this, and he grew confident... Slowly but surely he found and defeated the people responsible for the death of his fiancee, but he never left this side of him. He continued, after a few months he became adjusted to this atmosphere, the pay was good too... unfortunately, his lucky caught up to him. And Laurence Campo, a scientist who's only interest is the advancement of human soldiers came in contact with him after a hit was placed on his head.
After such he became a lab rat, wearing a suit of armor everywhere he goes, never exposing his face to anyone. He gained the nickname Livewire through his exploits in the battle field. He roams the world like any other merc. He grew colder, yet he's not sunk completely into disarray. He still enjoys the small things, but he's probably gotten too accustomed to this way of life.
D A Y S - G O N E
There's always a sense of solidarity that bathes the soul when doing all of this. The distant claims of people's wails of concern radiate the space, almost like the very stars that loom across the planet's surface. The world before us is torn, we all know this. Witnessing the people pace themselves in the slum of their own worries is to him like walking on dead pastures... Seemingly unfortunate, but equally unimportant. Men don't ask themselves how things came to be, but express their past in actions to inherently change the future. Perhaps this is why this sense of solidarity emerges? Killing a man requires a sense of disconnection, a form of indifference man cannot really find in their mind to halt. Convince yourself otherwise, then pull the trigger. Survival of the fittest, let the weak fester on their waning throes. But why solidarity through disconnection? Because... Perhaps this in itself is liberating? Water is a precious resource, thirst is a damning consequence, perhaps in these moments of thought he realizes that death might be a form of salvation. Their own haven in a time where everything seems to have halted.
The red planet, where nothing seems to ever make any sense. Where humanity attempts to continue surviving even when their timer has already long expired. There are few who clutch their hopes in an almost... desperate embrace. "We're about to start. You ready on your end?" The signal was delayed, scrimmage could be heard between the indentations of the connection, but it was enough to make out the details. "Copy that, just send the signal. Cut the line at the moment this transmission ends" "Solid copy." The final beep echoes across their visors. Sat on the edge of the building overseeing the enclaves most significant piece of architecture. A place they call 'Cathedral Hall' in the heart of Yuma-North. A young Rohan awaited orders from his superior. "Did'ya come to terms with yourself?" The man didn't bother to turn and look at the boy in his eyes, something told him they were gonna speak louder than any of his word ever will. Perhaps a common courtesy between Veteran and Rookie. But as expected, Rohan didn't say a word and instead opted to double check his gear again.
The older man had a couple of gray hair on his kempt beard, eyes of emerald staring into the city streets. "You can always call it quits?" Again, greeted with silence. The man turned, looked over his shoulder to witness a young man no older than 20 years of age. Attempting to steadily hold his weapon in his hand, a 'by-the-book’ grip and footwork. As if to convince himself he has done this before, a good mark of someone who's green. His features were hidden behind the clad of metal that was his helmet. "There's no need to grip your weapon like that. If you hold any tighter, you might just forget that you have to point it forward, instead that at your feet." That clicked, Rohan checked himself a second time, shook his shoulders a bit and relaxed his breathing. His natural stiffness seemed to have alleviated, even if it was moderately. The veteran placed his helmet of his own, sighed as he did hoping things would work in his favor. "Balthier, run by me again the objective of today's mission."
Rohan didn't seem keen to speak, the man began to double check his gear as well. Tightening any loose ends and straps. Checking the magazines, the number of bullets displayed a small LCD screen on the side. "That's an order." The demand held force, his tone displayed an inkling of impatience and annoyance. "Cathedral's Hall- We are to infiltrate it's facility and hold position on the second floor, where our designated target will be hosting a gathering for him and his men. Team one will divert attention, while we storm in and capture Laurence Campo. After that we sedate him and bring him to the contact. Our escape route has been set, there should be a 'back door' that should lead us roughly two buildings south-west of Cathedral's Hall. After such we board the getaway vehicle and proceed towards the target location. The mission will be considered successful after the contact has received the body. Alive." The veteran stare was unwavering, almost as if gauging his next move like a predator to its prey. "Get to movin' then, Kid. You're on point."
They began their move, proceeded to access a hidden elevator as specified in the schematics, entered the code and moved on to the second floor. There they were greeted backstage, a bunch of staff and men in suits flirting with the glitter girls, others prepping their suits and makeup and a couple of bouncers having a smoke and speaking nonsense to one another. Their presence was ignored entirely, anyone who used the elevator was immediately thought of as staff, and it didn’t seem to be much of a concern if a couple of armed men would barge in every once in a while. Today in particular, since the target seemed to be Campo himself. A little tighter security wasn’t necessarily out of the question. The two continued into the crowd, greeted with peach neon lights, blaring music, few girls and men dancing provocatively on a stage and surrounded by a relatively loud and hefty audience. Rohan proceeded to move his hands towards his helmet, pressing a few buttons causing his field of view to shift and create an augmented scan of the premises.
“Seems our target is in that VIP room. We can get to it via those ladders, but as expected there’s armed security there. We won’t be able to walk past it.” The veteran took out a smoke, Opened the hatch of his helmet and began to inhale the nicotine allowing it to burn his lungs before slowly exhaling the smoke with calm indifference. “Try to blend in, kid. You stick out like a sore thumb. Before you go assessing shit, wait for the goddamn signal”
A loud thump suddenly reached his ears, followed by a jab to his neck, everything went black and he found himself unconscious... Seemingly some time later, he awoken strapped into a chair in an unknown location. His weapons gone, only his helmet on a few men standing in front of him one with a bat in hand. His helmet began to ring, an incoming call... One the men approached and pressed the button to accept.
"Well, so much for that, kid. Number one rule, always expect the unexpected." The voice on the other side of the comms seemed familiar, the Veteran? Why was he calling? What was happening? "Did you really think we'd form and entire operation with a mutt like yourself? Posting a couple requests was enough to fill us with the right amount of outlaws for our cause. Now then, don't bother talking we've administer enough a dosage on you that it could probably drop 5 men. Honestly, I'm surprised you've lasted this long." He begins to snicker, the other members must've been caught too, this was a work from the inside... Campo was ahead of them all this time.
"You see, my job was to capture and eliminate the entirety of your group. Team 1 was already dealt with, but it seems you're a different story. Laurence has taken a liking to you, during your nap he did some testing, seems you're exactly what that crazy scientist wants for his lab rat experiments. So I have a proposition for you, don't die and he'll reward you handsomely. Deal?" The call immediately ended, the men approached the boy and began to pelt him with blows. Hitting him constantly, causing his cough and bleed through his mouth, his lungs felt the burning sensation of death course through them, his mind was going blank, but something sustained him. There was some sort of resolution keeping him alive through all the torment and pain. He didn't know how long it took, he knew that at one point the got tired and decided to take turns, he could feel his bones break, slowly and effectively hitting all the vital spots. This is how he was gonna die... All his efforts amounted to nothing.
But then... they stopped. He was still breathing and another man came into the room. A smirk on his face, glee peering from the look of his eye. "Excellent, your resilience is to be admired, boy. I'd like to say, your tolerance to pain is even greater than what I anticipated. Hell, even the drugs weren't enough to take you down that easily." He reached for his helmet, Rohan instinctively reacted and pulled away "You have enough strength to resist, too. My you are impressive. As promised, I'll cut you a deal. Work for me, or die."
A few years passed, the name Rohan was kept between him and a few of his contacts and he underwent by the code name: Livewire. A new target was chosen, an easy enough mission involving a runaway mafia too important to let loose. Said to have gone under custody for protections reasons among New Brazil. Simple enough, infiltrate the home where he was hiding and kill him on sight, the return back to the contact to receive payment. However, after completing the hit and fancying himself a getaway, his plans were foiled by a sudden terrorist attack. He got caught in the middle of it all, thrown at the wayside, now he had to figure how to get off this mess.
M E M O R I E S
Laurence Campo: A scientist who in charge of his suits performance. The only contact he knows and the one responsible for the past 9 years of conflict for Rohan. They share no familiar bond, nor friendship. The two are coinciding on each other's desires, one for the development of his prototype, the other as a means of survival.
Rush: Our meeting was brief, but our connection grew through our similarities. I'd call Rush a lot of things, but the most effective way to describe him would be a dosed-up-battle-junkie. We were paired up for a hit once, and we had a conflict of interests. He wanted to do it one way, and I wanted to do it the other. He utilizes some type of drug to enhance his performances in a fight. In contrast to myself, I am able to pace myself differently, however my dosage come from the suit itself. It's an antagonizing sense of poetic difference, like a unstoppable force meeting an immovable object. He wants a fight, I don't. But regardless, I still keep count on who has the bigger number in our headcounts.
Artemis: She's one tough nut to crack, if anything. Our relationship is different from the other's in the Association. I respect her more as a person that most of people here. She has a heart, or maybe more of a heart than most of the deviants in this blood-letter of an Association. We have been on a couple of mission before. She was as tactful as she was skilled. She's taken an interest in my abilities, perhaps due the suits enhancements. She tries to constantly convince me to ally with her group... I'm a dog chained to a wall, and my leash is pretty short. Campo would sooner cut my head off, but regardless. I fear that joining any group outside of the Merc would jeopardize their efforts. I'm a fighter, and unfortunately all her request end up in my immediate denial.
P O W E R S
Powers: Geokinesis
Rohan was born with the power to manipulate the minerals around him such as earth, soil, sand, dirt, metal and concrete. Although his affinity with this power are limited, thanks to the strength provided by the suit they can be enhanced further depending on the levels he's accessing at the moment. In his base form, he can only manipulate the earth up to the size of a
Powersuit: Livewire
Rohan has been mechanically altered to allow his physical attributes to be manipulated at will. With such, his strength, speed and precision are multiplied depending on the intensity he applies at the suit reaching to a maximum of 3 times his normal capacity.
Level 1: Removes mental inhibitors and the body's natural response to death. The user can manipulate the earth up to 300 pounds effortlessly, This gain him access to the suit ability: Barrier, thanks to enhancing his ability, the user can form a earth bubble, strong enough to withstand most bullet barrages.
Level 2: Increases the body's natural ability to repair it's muscle tissue, inhibits body's natural response to pain. The user can manipulate earth up to 600 pounds and run up to 27 mph without any signs of exhaustion. Barrier resistance is increased in the process. He gains the ability to create small stones that functions as projectiles, exploding on impact if desired. These projectiles can travel as fast as roughly 700 mph.
Level 3: Allow's the user a sturdier control of his joints and function of his muscles, increasing reaction time by roughly 20% it's original form giving him an even broader control of his Geokinesis. This however, takes a heftier toll on the body, responses are begging to wane and the user can only sustain this form for 25 minutes, before collapsing. Here he's able to access the skill: Earthquake, an ability that's just as it's name implies. He can cause a tremor beneath his feet, up to a magnitude of 7.0 in strength, however reaching this point would leave the user motionless and much of his mental faculties will begin to crumble if he continues pass the limitations mark.
Limitation: To access these forms the suit first has to recognize the threat level, meaning he cannot by normal circumstances choose which form he is allowed to use. For the most part, he can only access the first level, if he requires further assistance, he would have to personally bypass a security code. Depending on the level, it could take between 60 seconds, to 30 minutes.
Level 1: Basic faculties are sustained, increased degradation of stamina and muscle tear. Fatigue level are likely to increase by 10%, the user will feel as if he performed explosive sprint training for the most part. Common symptoms are exhaustion, breathlessness, and small loss of basic functions. I.E. arms and legs feel heavy until appropriate rest. Similar to any conditioning and strength program results.
Level 2: Mental Facilities are breached, Dopamine and Oxytocin production are inhibited by 50%, the user's sentience is still intact albeit his aggression levels are increased. He becomes much more of a cold-hearted killer in the process, however his 'self' is still dictating most of his actions. It requieres large concentration to sustain mental faculties, can still make distinctions between ally and foe.
Level 3: Mental Facilities are decaying, Dopamine and Oxytocin production are completely inhibited. The user's sentience has begun to deteriorate completely. Sustaining this form beyond the allotted time will result in critical losses. Mental state has become extremely aggressive, Psychopathic tendencies become apparent, muscle tissue is rapidly becoming torn, unable to repair themselves with level 2's enhanced recovery feature. Body is being pushed to 200% capacity, after-effects of this results in a 'scarred' reflection of reality, dopamine and oxytocin production will take a significant damage. The user might as well lose their sense of self if abused.
Weaknesses: Livewire feeds of the user's stamina, meaning that with each multiplier the body is exposed to mayor drawbacks when used exponentially. The first form will leave the user exhausted and out of breath. However, the higher forms will leave Rohan nearly incapacitated for a period of time, with the final form leaving the body in an almost vegetable state. Also, the function of the suit could be inhibited if a strong enough dosage of electricity bypasses through its circuits. The suit will enter a safe-mode, and shit down all its functions immediately until automatic repairs solve the problem.