Epsilon Nine
From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe
| File:X.jpg | |
| Vanguard Operative | |
| Epsilon Nine | |
| Player: @ZenSolstice | |
| Origin: | Science |
|---|---|
| Archetype: | Scrapper |
| Security Level: | 50 |
| Personal Data | |
| Real Name: | Meri |
| Known Aliases: | None |
| Species: | Engineered Human |
| Age: | 5 |
| Height: | 5' 11" |
| Weight: | 167 lbs |
| Eye Color: | Blue-Gray |
| Hair Color: | Blonde |
| Biographical Data | |
| Nationality: | American |
| Occupation: | Vanguard Soldier |
| Place of Birth: | Crey Labs |
| Base of Operations: | Rikti War Zone |
| Marital Status: | Single |
| Known Relatives: | Epsilon Series, deceased Epsilon One - gene-mother, deceased |
| Known Powers | |
| kinesethia, regeneration, hyper-endurance | |
| Known Abilities | |
| melee combat (claws) | |
| Equipment | |
| power claws, melee claws, visor lasers | |
| No additional information available. | |
Epsilon Nine
Epsilon Nine is the second character ZenSolstice has taken to 50. Part of The Justice Guard, she conducts operations in Peregrine Isle and the Rikti War Zone.
Contents |
Personality
Nine has undergone extensive psych-conditioning to believe that she is nothing more than Product, a highly trained, valuable piece of equipment, yet equipment none the less. Her conditioning included an overiding protocol that Persons (non-Epsilons) always came before Product, even if it meant that Epsilon's destruction. In addition, omega-option codes were included as part of her personality profile, key phrases that would paralyse her limbs and shutdown her engineered physiology.
For the most part, she has overcome this conditioning. Though she still retains a strong outlook of 'Person before Product', she has some instincts for self-preservation. Her own unique mindset, coupled with psi-induced counter-conditioning (a parting gift from her gene-mother, Epsilon One) has changed her from a combat drone, to a Hero willing to lay down her life for the people of Paragon City.
Lately she has been developing her 'non-combat procedures', under the tutelage of Glacial Seraph and Mighty Jo Yung, including an appreciation for different types of music and reruns of classic TV shows.
Powers
Her primary Power Sets include combat-training in the use of melee claws (both powered and non-powered) and gene-engineering and psych-conditioning to reinforce both body and will.
Claws
Nine's claws are not part of her physiology. They are retractable combat claws, built into gauntlets and forearm guards. She has been issued with Vanguard powered claws, though these are only sanctioned for use against Rikti, or within the Rikti War Zone.
Willpower
Nine's strength of will and fortitude is nothing short of miraculous. Able to withstand and recover from the most hideous of injuries, she can shrug off most forms of mind-control. A side-effect of this conditioning is that she requires very little (if any) sleep.
Other Powers
Heightened kinaesthesia allows her to temporarily enhance her reaction time and hand-eye co-ordination to super-normal levels. Dense muscle fibers and long, resilient ligaments and sinew grants her extraordinary leaping abilities. Recently, Vanguard have developed lasers fitted to her visor and energy emitters for her gauntlets, giving her limited ranged offensive capabilities.
Abilities
Nine has been extensively trained in operations against Rikti. She well understands their tactics and capabilities...and their weaknesses. Her work in Paragon City has given her insights into other villainous organisations, though none so much as Earth's Alien invaders.
Weaknesses and Limitations
Although a fierce combatant, Nine is hampered by her very strengths. Her enhanced physiology grants her impressive physical abilities, yet because of it, she will not live to see her thirteenth birthday. Her narrow training-set gives her insights to Rikti combat tactics and incredible melee skills, yet blinds her to the marvelous opportunities life has to offer, almost constraining her to a role of Product, rather than Person.
In addition to this is the very real possibility that her omega-option codes are still active within her. Although extremely sensitive and classified information, if someone was able to obtain them they would easily be able to subdue Nine.
Equipment
Although she can function with minimal equipment, Nine does use some additional firmware and gadgets to support her in the field. Her visor is equipped with vision enhancement, rangefinder, battle-cam, freq-coded comms and field-grade lasers...the entire suite sustained by an intuitive micro-computer.
Battledress consists of either form fitting ablative armour for most Ops, or cerametal combat plate against Rikti and other hard targets. Energy emitters are fitted into her gauntlets, allowing her to fire off a sweep of accelerated protons, capable of damaging multiple targets.
Primary equipment are her claws. Unless cleared otherwise, she will use standard retractable cerametal combat claws. Against Rikti or other authorised target she will use her Vanguard-issue powered claws, capable of slicing through the most unyielding armour the Aliens have to offer.
Character History
Family and Childhood
Born and bred in Crey Labs underneath the Rikti War Zone, Nine was engineered to the Epsilon series of enhanced meta-humans. Her progenitors included the catastrophically failed Alpha and Beta series in the 80s to the refinements of the Gamma and Delta series in the 90s.
The entire meta-human program was designed to create a single perfect clandestine operative. Epsilon One was used as a template to beget Epsilons Two to Seventeen, the copies having some of the abilities of the Prime, each used to trial experimental aspects of the original. Epsilon Two was a Tactical Operative, possessing pre-cognitive abilties. Thirteen was an Assassin, trained in stealth and granted hyper-regenerative talents. Nine was designed for a pure combat role, with her animalistic nature encouraged during developmental stages.
Childhood consisted of a brutal training regime, a series of growth accelerants and cruel psych-conditioning. Forced physical development and early training Ops led to the demise of Epsilons Two and Seven, occurrences that initiated Nine's own doubts about the infallibity of her creators.
Espilon One encouraged this small spark of defiance, using her powerful telepathic abilites to both protect and obscure it from Crey Trainers.
Escape from Crey Labs
The Epsilon series was the pinnacle of Crey meta-human development, the last testing stage before the culmination of the Program's directives - to create a single, devastating Operative to further Crey's interests. Ancilliary benefits included the creation of a small army of expendable, controllable super-powered beings.
The autonomy inherent in Epsilon One was both her greatest asset and her most dangerous liability. Knowing the fate in store for her more pliable gene-sisters, One staged a violent escape from the Labs, scattering her charges in a vain attempt to throw off pursuit. Although the escape cost One and most of her sisters their lives, Nine managed to escape into the War Zone, albeit dangerously weakened after being partially subdued by her inherent omega-option codes.
Vanguard
Weakened from her control codes, wounded from her escape, Nine did her best to avoid confrontation within the War Zone. Despite her caution, Nine's own psych-conditioning betrayed her as she witnessed a group of Vanguard soldiers about to be ambushed by a Rikti war group. Eschewing stealth, she attacked the Aliens, buying time for the Vanguard troopers, nearly at the cost of her own life. Critically wounded, Nine was med-evac'd to a nearby fire base for emergency treatment.
Debriefed by senior Vanguard personnel, she was granted asylum, with temporary status as both a citizen of the United States and a Hero under international law. In return for Vanguard's protection, Nine was tasked with recovering her abilities and assimilating with a registered Super Group.
The Justice Guard
Thrust into 'Civilian' life, Nine was startled by the variety, diversity and determination of non-military Heroes. One Super Group in particular captured her attention. Dedicated to training nascent Heroes and inducting them into an operational Hero Group, it seemed to her to be a perfect environment for her to both relearn her skills and provide her a replacement for her lost coterie of gene-sisters.
A meeting with the Hero ArchStrike confirmed her assumptions. Inducted into the Academy and Graduated to the Guard, she strives to reacquire her abilities, learning the new skills associated with independence and training her fellow Students and Guardsmen, finding great satisfaction in passing on her talents and insights. One student in particular has been Bloodreaper Kane, a fellow Scrapper she has taken into training.
Trivia
Nine enjoys listening to Jazz music, much to the glee of Glacial Seraph and the exasperation of Mighty Jo Yung, two of her fellow Guardsmen.
One of Nine's most vivid experiences after escaping Crey Labs was seeing the sky for the first time. The feelings associated with this have made her wonder if she is more Person, than Product.
Nine was never given a name, just a designation. She took the name 'Meri' after saving an older woman in Steel Canyon - Merry Wainwright. Ms Wainwright was later killed by Vahzilok in retaliation for Nine's work against them.
