Liberty Torch
From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe
Contents |
Affiliations
Liberty Torch was once a member of the Honor Battalion, but had left to finish his degree in Applied Electronics. On his return to paragon city, he joined a loose association of heroes knows as The Independents (part of Paragon Universe)
Character History
Born Maxwell MacKeon-Slone, to Grace and Mack MacKeon-Slone in 1981 in Philadelphia, PA, Max grew up oblivious to the fact that both his parents were super-powered heroes. Having retired before he was two, they had decided that to keep their children safe, it would be the wisest course of action to remove themselves from costumed crime-fighting. It wasn't until he was 11 did he find out his parents were actually Liberty Torch and Jackhammer Mack. It was then that he, along with is his younger sister, were kidnapped by the assassin, Dark Jyhad, who had been imprisoned due to the actions of Liberty Torch in 1978. Having been the one who murdered Dr. Hammish MacKeon (also known as the hero Old Guard)and in turn causing Grace to take up the mantle of hero, he desired revenge against the woman who had spoiled his imfamous career. Tracking Dark Jyhad and their children to an abandoned military bunker in the Pine Barrens of New Jersey, they split up, Jackhammer in search of Maxwell and Elaine, while Liberty Torch confronted Dark Jyhad. Having found the children, Jackhammer lead them outside, hiding them in an old guard shack, and then speed off to aid his wife. Young Max, overcome with curiosity, left his sleeping sister and followed his father back into the complex. Hiding in the shadows, he watched in wonder as his mother and father fought the arch-villain and his minions. The battle raged and it looked like once again, Liberty Torch and Jackhammer Mack would save the day, when tragedy struck. While defending herself against Dark Jyhad, Liberty Torch noticed her son hiding in the shadows. The distraction was brief, barely a fraction of a second, but that was all it took. Seeing her moment of preoccupation, Dark Jyhad plunged his sword in her chest. At the sight of his wife's crumpled body, Jackhammer went berserk, smashing everything in his path to get to her and her attacker. Catching up to the murderous Dark Jyhad, Jackhammer hit him with his full strength, snapping Dark Jyhads neck and ending the villains life in one blow. But by then it was too late, Liberty Torch was dead. While his father grieved over his fallen wife, Max sneaked back out of the complex. Finding his sister still asleep in the abandoned guard shack where he had left her, Max waited for his father to come for them both.
These events changed all of the surviving MacKeon-Slone family. Mack Slone became adamant that natural humans had no place as costumed crime-fighters, feeling that their weakness made them a liability, and a tragedy waiting to happen. Elaine started having night terrors of the event, and eventually required hospitalization and therapy. With Max, the death of his mother and the guilt associated with being the cause of her death drove him into a deep depression, one that caused him to almost attempt suicide at times. His relationship to his father grew more distant over time. It was on his 21th birthday, that both he and his father received a shock that drove a final wedge between them in the form of a large crate addressed to Max from D.A.T.A. In it was a video disk and a footlocker sized chest. The disk, when played, was of his mother, explaining what happened to his grandfather, his invention, how it worked, and the story of his mother, the superhero. A story his father had refused to talk about.
"If you are watching this, the you have turned 21 and I am no longer with you. In the case you find a suit like mine, it will tailor itself to you after you put it on, and then it will work for no one else but you. I am giving you this not to make you into what I was, but to give you a choice, just like I had. If you decide to not take it, just call the number on the slip and they will come to collect it, and know I would be proud of you. But if you do decide to keep it, then know that you are taking up a great responsibility, and in what time I have on this disk, I will try to share what I have learned over the past ten years..."
Mack Slone was furious, he forbade Max from even thinking of following in his mothers footsteps, but in the end, it was the guilt max held for his mothers death that lead him to his decision. He felt it was his fault that his mother was dead, and that if he couldn't bring her back, then he would have to take her place. That night, he packed his things, wrote a letter to his father explaining the truth about what happened the night his mother died, and drove off to Paragon City.
Once there, he threw himself into the role of hero, eventually joining the supergroup Honor Battalion. A little over a year after his arrival, he was convinced that he should return to school to finish the degree he had abandoned when you took up the identity of Liberty Torch. In June of 2008 he received his Bachelors Degree in Computer Science from Penn State University. This done, he has since returned to Paragon city to once again follow his mother's legacy.
Personality
Soft spoken and somewhat shy, Liberty Torch usually feels out of place in the hero community. Whether this is due to the constant exposure to his fathers opinions on "normal" heroes, or due to the guilt he holds due to his mothers death is unclear. When actually fighting villains, he is bash and almost reckless in his methods, relying on luck, and in the worst of cases, the city's emergency teleportation system, to see him through.
Powers
Fused Latent Ionized Plasma Field Generator
Invented in 1974 by physicist Dr. Hammish MacKeon, the Fused Latent Ion Plasma Field Generator, or FLIP Field for short, creates a energy field that, while looking and behaving like normal fire, burns at a much cooler temperature (about 40-45C/104-113F). This energy consumes most inorganic material at a rate conversely proportional to its density (i.e. plastic is consumed faster than steel would be) as long as the field is applied to the subject. Once the item is removed from the field's area of effect, most matter will continue to be consumed for a few seconds before the energy matrix decays and the effect ceases. The field neither consumes nor affects organic matter. However, it does have a curious effect on carbon based life with a developed nervous system. The field seems to overload the nerves of a subject, in a manner described as "the way it feels right after you burn yourself badly, but right before the burn actually hurts". If the field in consistently applied to a subject, they will eventually go into shock and fall unconscious. As only the nerves close to the skin can be effected, the FLIP field poses no danger by disrupting the autonomic systems of an individual.
While the FLIP Field generator would appear to be the ultimate in non-lethal weaponry, there have only been eight of the devices built before the death of Dr. MacKeon. and every attempt to construct the device since the has failed. Of these eight, two were donated to D.A.T.A in hopes of recreating the device, two are in use by the current Liberty Torch, and four are held in reserve by D.A.T.A for the MacKeon-Slone family.
Additional Powers
He has put himself through an intense physical regimen, giving him greater speed, stamina, and endurance.
Abilities
Basic hand-to-hand. BA in Computer Science.
Weaknesses and Limitations
While affording some protection against small-arms fire and human-strength melee attacks, the suit does not give much protection against heavier attacks, making Liberty Torch's best option not to be hit in the first place.
Equipment
The FLIP field suit. Liberty Torch also uses a wide variety of weapons and items to augment his suits combat capacity. These include targeting drones, specialty grenades, explosive devices, and cloaking shields.
