Name: Sam Houston (A blatantly patriotic nom de guerre assigned to him upon his joining of U-ARM)
Age: 40
Sex: Male.
Appearance: 
Source ImageHistory Type: New Age Renaissance Man: Sam, is to put it quite simply, a polymath, which is somewhat of a surprise to those who usually assume anyone associated, previously or not, with the term “U-ARM” are raving psychopaths such as General Washington. While it is true that Sam was heavily indoctrinated with the beliefs of U-ARM, all that indoctrination was no match for the freedom he gained after his first sip from the founts of knowledge. Of course, it wasn’t an easy process to break free of such indoctrination, but Sam persevered. In addition to his already gifted aptitude for technology, Sam possesses considerable knowledge of most intellectual matters, ranging from the nuances of philosophy and economics to the fundamental tenets of medicine and psychology, allowing him to more easily converse with those “enlightened” peoples such as himself. However, as a result of such intelligence, he has little time for the hoi polloi of this grand New Age, and due to his affiliation with U-ARM, is also distrusted by the rulers of Bunker Chicago, who he could consider equals if not for their close-minded ways of thinking. Finally, one must consider the hatred that U-ARM’s leadership harbors for him as a traitor to the cause, hatred that manifests through orders to U-ARM soldiers to focus their attention upon him in the event that he is involved in an engagement against them.
(Bonuses to using and adapting advanced or foreign technology, as well as conversing with other “enlightened” individuals (read: intellectuals). Penalties to dealing with the hoi polloi of the New Age as well as Council of ADAM members. In addition, U-ARM forces focus their attentions on him during combat engagements)
Biography: Kill the mutie. Fuck the tyrants. Free the oppressed. These are the words that Sam once lived by, words that were so completely ingrained within his mind that they were more of a prayer to him at one point rather than the U-ARM slogan that they were. Born on the outskirts of Bunker Chicago, to parents whom he’s since forgotten, Sam was seemingly destined for a life of suffering and poverty. That is, until the United-American Resistance Movement got its hands on him as a youngster.
U-ARM gave Sam a cause to believe in and a life beyond the pitiful existence he’d lived on the edge of Bunker Chicago. His eyes were open, and he could see the future rebirth of America as preached by the U-ARM’s leaders. Hour after hour, day after day, Sam trained with his brethren in order to better Hour after hour, day after day, Sam trained alongside his comrades in arms in order to better serve the glorious American cause. As time passed by, his superiors began to notice Sam’s aptitude for technology of all kinds, and assigned him to one of the precious few mechs left in U-ARM possession. Sam couldn’t have been happier.
Quickly adapting to the unfamiliar technology, Sam became adept at piloting the mech, making use of its inherent functionality as an engine of destruction in order to lay waste to the enemies of America. His superiors heaped praise upon praise onto him for every successful action he was involved in, even ones where he wasn’t even involved. It was during that period when he first discovered the truth about the New Age and took his first steps towards enlightenment. He had been on leave after a successful mission for the cause when, while scavenging for useful parts with which to improve his mech, he came upon a collection of texts from before the nukes launched. Curiosity took over for Sam, and he began to go through the texts, which turned out to be nothing more than some old pre-nuke educational textbooks, but it was too late, he’d tasted the fruit of knowledge, and wanted more.
From that moment on, Sam sought to learn more knowledgable information, of any kind, whenever the opportunity showed itself. He even went out of the way during missions for the cause if there was even a thought that he could find a suitable source of knowledge, something that caused no end of frustration for his superiors. Eventually, his personal collection of knowledge included pre-war texts on a range of diverse topics, from textbooks on medicine and surgical procedures, to books detailing the finer points of psychology and sociology, as well as dusty tomes explaining the intricacies of various pre-nuke philosophies and economic systems. With each book he read, his mind grew broader, and he begin to quietly question the methods used by the cause to achieve their goals of a new America, but he suppressed these thoughts as nonsensical notions. As he learned more about the philosophies of old, one philosophy in particular stuck with him, the philosophy of Enlightenment (and the Age of Enlightenment that it had accompanied).
Enlightenment preached that men should rely on reason and rational thought to dictate their actions, rather than relying on faith or dogma. In addition, it preached that the intellectually superior (or enlightened) should rule over the lesser peoples (or hoi polloi), in order to properly guide them on the path to enlightenment, because all enlightened know that the hoi polloi cannot possibly form the proper frame of mind (without the aid of the enlightened of course) in order to rely solely on reason and rational thinking without resorting to crude ideas such as faith or dogma, thus preventing the enlightened from bringing forth the grand New Age that’s in store. Sam latched onto this philosophy like a babe to a teat, realizing that U-ARM was getting in the way of the tree of the enlightened’s labors being able to bear the fruit of the New Age. So he did the rational thing to do in his situation: he defected to Bunker Chicago, intent on eventually eliminating both U-ARM and the Thirteen Colonies (because, like he’d realized with U-ARM, he’d also realized that the Thirteen Colonies were standing in the way of the enlightened bringing forth the New Age), in order to bring the hoi polloi under the heel of enlightenment, and usher in the New Age, through any means necessary. For Sam, this goal is above all others, with the ends truly justifying (in Sam’s mind, at least) the means.
Technical Information: This information is your character’s skill sets and inventory.Career Path: Pilot: The pilot is someone who has specialized themselves towards vehicles in general, ranging from aircraft to mechs to jeeps and tanks, they also tend to pick up mechanical skills and have the tendency to understand foreign technologies quicker than anyone else. As a benefit, they can also pass this knowledge onto others who might better benefit from certain technologies than the pilot would.
Pilots start with a small mech and simplistic personal equipment. They replace Civilian Clothing with a Mechanical Jumpsuit that offers them all the tools they need to do small time repairs in their mech in their pouches. This jumpsuit also protects them from certain elements, such as acid, but loses its stealth enhancing qualities. They also replace the First Aid Kit with a Technical Kit--they can use this to do more extreme repairs, and to analyze foreign and outright alien technology to unlock its secrets for the squad... Or for themselves.
Pilots can equip any unlocked modifications for their mech outside of a mission, but further slots are only unlocked through missions themselves, such as in analyzing enemy technology with the Technician’s Kit or bringing back scavenge for the Council to examine.
Designation: Enlightener
Size: Small.
Occupants: One.
General Description: An all-rounder, standing roughly 15-20 meters tall with a clean paint job. The pilot is typically located at the core of the machine for maximum protection.
Equipment:
--Heavy Armor
--Pilot Chamber. (Cannot be replaced!)
--Ammo Pack
--Ammo Pack
--Reinforced Ammo Feed
--Standard Scanning Package.
Inventory: Your character’s inventory. You may add as many miscellaneous items as you wish, within reason. There are some things added here already: You get to keep these unless they’re replaced by a different item based on your career path. (ex: Pilots would replace Medkit with Technician Kit.)
Combat Knife: The standard army combat knife. A design over a century old still more than effective enough to carry on into the future.
Standard Issue Council Pistol: Your standard issue, eighteen shot clip pistol provided to nearly everyone in the bunkers and on most homesteads, to both civilians and armed personnel alike. This is based off of the glock-18 model, with some near-future modifications.
Standard Issue Council Rifle: Your standard issue, thirty shot clip semi-automatic rifle, based on the M16AR2 of old with some near-future treatment to make it a little more effective.
Mechanical Jumpsuit
Light Armour: Standard issue armour. It's light weight and looks like it might be able to defend against a kitten assault if you hold it just the right way. Needless to say, this armour won't stop anything from harming you, but it may at least lessen the damage you take.
Technician’s Kit
Radio: A simple radio for contacting others.
Frag Grenade: A small hand held explosive. Pull the pin and throw it into a small room for maximum effect, as it isn’t all that effective in a large area with several pieces of cover... Each character starts with two frag grenades.
Flashbang: A non-lethal version of the Frag Grenade, this weapon’s purpose is to cause a bright flash of light and a loud bang, blinding and deafening opponents. Each character starts with two flashbangs.
Anything that is just excess fluff in most situations, like dog-tags, or a watch.
Collection of Texts: Sam’s ever-expanding hoard of tomes, including such works as Leviathan, Candide, The Canterbury Tales, The Odyssey, The Illiad, and many others.
Dog-Tags: A way to identify your horrible mangled corpse. Congratulations! At least you won't die forgotten mister... Uh... What was your name again?
Standard Watch: Your standard wrist watch, likely powered by gears and springs as in old clockwork, only compartmentalized to fit on the wrist.
Flash-Light: Useful in dark places. Often mounted on a shoulder or duct-taped to a weapon.
Signature: I, Zed, agree to the possibility of dying in the process of bringing the New Age into existence.
Oh, and Vlad has camoflauge.
Marik