Metal Walker
From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe
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| Metal Walker (II) | |
| Player: @SeijiTataki | |
| Origin: | Technology |
|---|---|
| Archetype: | Blaster |
| Security Level: | 20 |
| Personal Data | |
| Real Name: | Michael Richards |
| Known Aliases: | None |
| Species: | Human |
| Age: | 19 |
| Height: | 5'10" |
| Weight: | 165 lbs. |
| Eye Color: | Brown |
| Hair Color: | Black |
| Biographical Data | |
| Nationality: | American Citizen |
| Occupation: | Confidential |
| Place of Birth: | Troy, New York |
| Base of Operations: | Paragon City, Rhode Island |
| Marital Status: | Single |
| Known Relatives: | Alexander Richards (Father) Meili Zhang Richards (Mother) |
| Known Powers | |
| Flight, Energy Blasts | |
| Known Abilities | |
| Genius level comprehension of technological devices | |
| Equipment | |
| Metal Walker Armor; primarily Suppressor Cannons | |
| No additional information available. | |
(For Metal Walker (I), Please See: Amanda Walker)
Contents |
Biography
Not So Simple Origins
Michael Richards was always exceptionally bright, so it was no surprise that his inquisitive nature and intense fascination with machines and electronics quickly developed into a super genius-like understand of everything mechanical and electronic. If it moved, turned, or ran on some form of engineered energy source, Michael wanted to take it apart and put it back together again.
In terms of academics, Michael performed admirably, but his grades stayed average at best. This wasn't to say that Michael wasn't intelligent - in fact, one could say that he might have been astoundingly brilliant - he simply didn't care. He was a boy with dreams of heroics and an interest and understanding of the latest and greatest technologies that man kind could offer. Having been born and raised in a small town, he was left detached from everything that interested him, separated from even the general day to day bustle of New York City. His inquisitive and constantly expanding mind labored over electronics, engineering, physics and mathematics, drawn by the allure of stories of technologically powered super heroes, and everything taught to him seemed mundane in comparison.
When the Rikti invaded, Michael was still a child - but the horrors of the invasion, and the stories he heard about the defeat of hero after hero at the hands of these invaders cemented in his mind a single vision: he was going to become a hero. After all those who had died gave up their lives so the world could live theirs, he was going to thank them by filling in the ranks where they had fallen.
To Be A Hero
But things were far more difficult than Michael could have ever predicted. It was one thing to have the understanding of the technology, it was another thing, entirely, to put it together. Other super powered heroes had access to funding and technology out of the reach of a small town boy, and the larger tech companies like Crey had seemingly endless budget and researchers available to them. For Michael, the 'simple' goal of creating a working set of crime fighting equipment seemed like a challenge that could take a life time.
Michael was not physically strong, or unusually fast. He did not possess herculean strength, nor did he have an assortment of mutant or magical abilities at his disposal - his gifted intellect gave him great technological and strategic insight, but offered him nothing in regards to defending himself from the criminals of the streets. To deal with this, his first goal was to create a weapon which could dispatch criminals quickly and efficiently - and from this goal were born the first bits of 'suppressor' technology. An early prototype, the first generation suppressor beam used magnetic fields to expel ionized particles at variable speeds. This early prototype ion particle cannon was able to quickly deal with thugs on the street, and the electrical nature of these charged particles could be used disrupt electronic devices.
Fly Before You Run
Once Michael had created the technology he needed to combat crime, he felt he needed some way to get from location to location. It wasn't very heroic, after all, for a teenage boy to come charging around a corner out of breath. Like many people, Michael had the dream to fly, and his original designs for the "Super Armor Version I" went through many redesigns. Wings, rocket packs, complex gyrocopters and fantastical designs that went as quickly as they came found themselves tested in some form or another. It was much to his parent's dismay, no less, as these various tests often wound up with him bruised or broken in some way.
Flight was his dream, but the reality of it escaped him. Many working designs were too expensive or drastically impractical for a teenage boy to use or construct, and others had been patented or were already in heavy use. Inspiration struck, however, when frustration sunk in - so dejected was a young Michael he was ready to just jump on a skateboard or into a set of roller blades. And from that he achieved his breakthrough discovery - if he could not hover, he would glide. Taking his designs to heart, he began working off mag-lift concepts, attempting to come up with a way to float himself from the ground. The 'Hover Boots', his first form of travel technology, was the result of six months of exhaustive researching and testing. Their performance was sub par, at best; they could not achieve flight, and they were only able to lift him less than an inch from the ground, 'floating' him on a cushion of ionized particles. But they gave him almost frictionless movement, and greatly increased his ground mobility. With these completed, he was finally ready to take on street crime. Or, at least, that was his thought.
A Paragon Call
By the time Michael had finished his earliest prototypes of what would become the Metal Walker armor he was nearing his high school graduation. What had been a difficult venture now seemed to be infinitely more difficult; if he wanted to be a hero, he would need his parents good graces. They wished for him to be a scientists, or a doctor, or something else 'of worth', rather than throwing his life away to an otherwise thankless profession as Super Heroics.
Making promises for a brighter future by applying for colleges, a fresh out of school Michael took up moonlighting as a part time hero. He found quickly, however, that small towns in upstate New York were hardly bustling with super crime - he was often hard pressed to even find so much as an act of vandalism to thwart. If he wanted to live his dream of grandeur, then he would have to find a city that cried out for heroes - and Paragon City was just the kind of city he was looking.
To his credit, he was truthful when he convinced his family to allow him to move out to Paragon - as the center for all things heroic, the city was naturally the center for all sorts of scientific and medical developments. It presented a robust opportunity for his future, in academics, career, and in his dream for crime fighting - although he would never admit to the last. Stepping out into the city with confidence and more than a little bit of optimism, he searched out for all that he hoped for.
A Rose By Any Other Name
Reality is often something that steps in the way of dreams, however, and this was nothing new to Michael. The Citizen Crime Fighting Act had made it such that if Michael was going to act out his dream, he would need proper registration. Up until this point, the fighting was all that he had in mind - a proper name was not something he had ever planned for. He didn't want to be running around known as Michael Richards, either - on the off change he should ever make the papers, his parents would immediately pull him back home. Struggling for a name, he remembered reading about a former Super Hero that went by the name of 'Metal Walker', a cyberneticly enhanced woman who had 'hung up the cape' and retired her name, traveling from school to school teaching children to avoid turning to a life of crime. Curious as to if the name had been taken up again, Michael attempted to register as such - and so, the second Metal Walker hit the streets of Paragon City, a fully legally recognized Citizen Crime Fighter.
Starting small, Metal Walker roamed the streets of Atlas Park, clearing up packs of Hellions and other small time thugs. It started small, at first, catching muggers and small time break ins, eventually entangling him with a minor Clockwork plot. The Department of Advanced Technological Application contracted Walker to deal with the bust, and he was able to quickly clear out the hijacked warehouse that they were occupying. From this, he eventually found himself catching the attention of the organization known as DEPUTY.
Meeting The Legacy
DEPUTY, or as it was sometimes simply referred to as; 'The Department', had taken an interest in Michael's technical abilities and his inventions, especially his Suppressor Beam technology. Surprised by what he managed to do on what amounted to a child's allowance, they were ready to offer him a large amount of research funding in order to refine and finish his newest 'Metal Walker Armor' design. After spending a number of years scrounging for parts, an enthusiastic Michael signed up with DEPUTY in an instant.
Once his assignment had become official, Michael was surprised to be introduced to the one responsible for his recruitment - the original hero to carry the Metal Walker name; Amanda Walker. She had been recruited as part of DEPUTY's crime prevention initiative, not only going out and speaking publicly to children, but also acting as a liaison to various Super Hero organizations and occasionally moonlighting as a hero. Her retirement had not been entirely by choice - her cybernetic enhancements had come as a result of research and development by the Crey Corporation, and their 'release' of her when the project collapsed had left her severely weakened. The enthusiastic Michael was more than willing to assist, and has since been spending time attempting to get her abilities back to full strength, while at the same time improving his Metal Walker design.
Metal Walker Suit
Although each Metal Walker armor design is inspired from the one previous, occasionally recycling and reusing previous components or technology, each armor is effectively a unique and stand alone design, integrating improvements and changes as Michael continues developing his technological skills.
Mark I
The Mark I armor was the simple suppressor cannons and hover boots that he arrived in Paragon City equipped with. The Mark I armor was designed with a limited operating budget, and was never intended for extended combat usage. The lack of body armor, and the basic structural design of Titanium Composite alloys meant that it could not withstand hand to hand engagements. Small arms fire could, theoretically, be deterred through the arm gauntlets; but it was neither practical nor suggested. The standard features of the Mark I armor included:
- Suppressor Cannon Mk I - The Mark I Cannons used an internal power source. They were not particularly power, and would drain quickly.
- Hover Boots - Boots which allowed 'gliding' on a cushion of magnetized particles, creating a low friction surface.
- Hover Boots (Mk. II) - Improved version of the Hover Boots later included a limited flight thrust component.
- Utility Belt - A belt containing a number of small pockets and devices. Lock picks, radios, electronic chips, energy cartridges for the suppressor cannon and a first aid kit were among the things carried.
Mark II
A significant improvement over the Mark I armor, the Mark II armor was designed with the purpose of dealing with more aggressive threats on the Paragon Streets. Including a full body suit composed of Impervium-Titanium Composite, it could withstand much greater impact, absorb a certain amount of explosive and elemental damage, and stop small arms fire. The weapon and flight capabilities of the suit were greatly improved, and it was now using a converted Rikti power module to provide the energy needed to keep all systems operational. The improvements of the Mark II armor are as follows:
- Suppressor Cannon Mk II - The Mark II Cannons draw power from the converted Rikti power cell. Additionally, the system draws, ionizes and stores particles from the surrounding air as an 'ammunition' source, storing it in magnetic containment in a chest mounted array.
- Metal Walker Boots - Effectively Hover Boots Mk. III, the Metal Walker boots retained the gliding ability but also used an ion particle thruster system to maintained sustained flight. Maximum flight speeds have yet been untested.
- Tactical Helmet - The utility belt has since been replaced by a multipurpose helmet. The helmet includes a thermal and infrared mode, 30x zoom, and computer assisted targeting mechanisms. Additionally, on board radio and communications devices are able to tap into local radio and microwave communications, and has limited capability to access satellite uplinks, generally used for GPS navigation.
Mark III (Havoc Suit)
A major improvement over previous versions of the armor, the Havoc suit is currently incomplete. Designed for full-out wartime combat, specifically in regards to dealing with the Rikti and other high powered threats to Paragon City, the Havoc Suit has been designed to withstand tremendous amount of damage. Rated for withstanding all forms of explosives and penetrating rounds, the armor is cast from impervium, the hardest metal in the known universe. The weapon systems are designed to be modular, scaling in power from dealing to small time thugs all the way to being able to penetrate Rikti armor plating and defensive systems. A full listing of modules and improvements is currently not available.
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