Red Brass Cannon
From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe
{{WIP}}
Devices
Leviathan Mastery
Center Brooke's chest is a special chamber that houses her heart. From the outside, it's perfectly easy to look into the chamber to see her beating heart pumping away within what seems to be an eternal chamber of white. Such is an illusion, the piece is actually as large as it seems from the outside. Inside is the white chamber, colorless except for the organ, and a few wires and pipes, working as an advanced stabilizer and pace maker.
Her left arm from the elbow down to the tips of her fingers, are cybernetic, made out of Red Brass, or Gunmetal primarily, although forms of steel are in place to help. Her skin seems to be welded into place along the ends of the cybernetics, with tendrils of flesh stretching across the metals. The skin is sensitive, but not prone to high levels of pain, thanks to injections to numb the pain.
Her right arm is entirely cybernetic, and has larger valves going through the limb, with a weaponized exhaust about her hand, with similar condition for her skin about the shoulder where the arm begins, as is found on her left arm. Cybernetics made out of same materials as her left, in larger and stronger quantities.
Currently, her right arm is the only weaponized system within her life support. In conjunction with her left arm, she is able to emit short bursts of steam to stably blast herself around during transit, or combat. While in combat mode, her bursts are stronger, while less stable.
Upon her back is a heavy tank of water, and steam generator, that supplies all the energy to her systems and her heart. It is supported by heavy metal supports linked to her shoulders, and flexible metal systems through her spine. The generator is fairly large, and can be seen shooting plumes of steam out at regularly from either exhaust port. While in combat, the steam plumes cease, as exhaust is rerouted through her arms, heating them up so that the combat systems can be used.
Both her legs, from roughly the knee down, have withered from her birth defects, and have since been, as with her arms, replaced with cybernetics. Made from the same alloys and materials as her cybernetic arms, they are powered through fairly basic systems surgically implanted into her normal legs along her bones, so that she still has roughly normal foot control to help with balancing issues. Currently, she has made requests for the feet to be made to use excess steam exhaust as a jump pack, instead of simply her arms for such a purpose.
Recently a large and blue hued rash has begun to spread from her left arm, where there was still flesh, and outward through the rest of the arm, and now into her torso. Around the edge of the rash, the skin is very dry, and light, flaking off in large sheets, while the rash area remains itchy only at the perimeter. The remainder of the rash is blue, and coarse, very rough and resilient, with a tendency to dull blows from blades and blunt force. The origins of the rash are currently unknown to Brooke, but are in fact the beginnings of a change into a form similar to the Coralax, after an encounter with one while in the Etoile Islands.
It has been recently revealed that Brooke is currently host to a psychic parasite of unknown origins. The parasite claims to have arrived in her as a host around the same time as the rash did, although this is not known for certain. The parasite is of magical origins, however does not register as something typically summoned by local magic associations, such as the Mu Mystics and the Circle of Thorns. It has made mention of a Parliament of Rook, however there are no records of such an organization existing. At least, in this dimension, or in many known dimensions. It is currently assumed that the Parliament of Rook is an order of demons from one of the various hells, from which the parasite resides, as it has claimed a demonic birth. None of its statements have been proven thus far. The most disconcerting statement it has made, is that it does not intend to cause any harm to befall Brooke, saying that when it arrived on her from a Coralax, that it saw great potential in her. As with all its other statements, this has neither been confirmed nor refuted.
Brooke is typically cheerful in the presence of her peers, if not absent minded, and silly to the edge ( sometimes crossing the line ) of stupid. This facade quickly drops whenever she's alone, or angry. During such times she has shown a trend of growing callous and cold to the criminals she originally sought out to cheerfully put behind bars. A soul crushing first day out is thought to be responsible for such a change.
While it has yet to be seen or documented by official persons, or any other hero, she has discussed such an occurrence with her Court Ordered 'tech guy', a former Nemesis Engineer by the name of Chuck. He has shown an understanding that has helped Brooke with her world view shift as she's become a hero.
As of yet, Chuck has not mentioned her attitude to anyone.
In the presence of her peers, Brooke seems to have a few personality quirks, including an obsession with manners, and learning everyone's names. It is not assured what she owes this to, as according to her private friends and family, she did not use to be as such. Unless distracted, upon meeting someone, Brooke will engage the person, introduce herself, and offer a hand shake.
During acts of 'unwarranted' aggression, or acts she views as such, she pretends to occupy herself in an almost self inflicted ADHD manner, seeking out shiny things to keep her attention, or turns her mind towards cute and fluffy animals, typically puppies and kittens. She has a tendency to move her thoughts in the same direction when uncomfortable or embarrassed. It isn't known if she is uncomfortable with 'needless' aggression, as her activities in the field would suggest otherwise, or if she pretends to be in order to avoid having to deal with it.
While Brooke is physically attracted to females alone in a sexual way, she does find men to be visually appealing as well, and is known to with either gender poke fun and flirt with them in a manner bereft of seriousness. When actually attracted to someone, she tends to treat them in a manner with more respect, and in a 'traditional' role of friendship, refraining from too many flirtations.
While her condition is visibly apparent, and in some circles would be considered taboo to speak about, for fear of 'hurting feelings' she is rather fine with her condition, and has come to grips with it. She is not embarrassed by her state, and is slowly growing fond of it, after repair and alteration meetings with Chuck, who she views as roughly a mentor, if not a hero one. More so in the line of a teacher, than a role model.
She does occasionally drink alcohol in Pocket D, as she is commonly mistaken for someone older than she actually is by first impressions alone. Normally she simply drinks juices or water, with a preference towards citrus drinks. Her favorite way to get drunk fast are Screw Drivers made with Citrus Vodka. Since becoming a hero, she has only been drunk once, after her first 'accidental' execution.
She is currently under investigation for the incident on her first day of hero work, after being reported by a young, and now former, Tanker, Danny. The report was anonymous, and she has yet to learn who reported her. Officially the investigation is psychologically based, although she claims it's based on the technology she is using for her hero work, citing that it's 'not as advanced or stable' as city officials would like.
Brooke Williamson was born with a degenerative muscular disease, that left her hospitalized for most of her life, and eventually had her end up on life support when she was ten years old. Due to the nature of the disease, the muscles of her extremities were withered and weak upon birth, and only worsened with age.
Her heart, however, was the real problem. Physical deformities caused muscle growth through hormones, meant to bring her limbs to a usable standard, instead caused her chest muscles to grow in their stead. This was not initially noticed. After a 'case of the common cold' when she was ten, her coughing led to internal bleeding, as her muscle spasms from the cough began to destroy the organs around her heart and lungs.
For years she was on a waiting list for Paragon City's variant of a Make A Wish Foundation, wanting nothing more than to be able to walk around, and enjoy life, instead of wasting away in a hospital bed. Eventually, for her 16th birthday, she got her wish. A 'reformed' villain, an engineer from the organization known as Nemesis, after either having been caught or turning himself in, was court ordered to make her dream happen. Initially, he claimed he wouldn't be sufficient enough, as his limitations were far too severe compared to the resources of the hospital, which he argued could easily have made her capable of leaving whenever.
They claimed funding was needed more for heroes who were injured in a fight, instead of a single withered girl in a bed, and that they had done all they were obligated to have done.
Spending countless hours, Chuck began talking with, and working on making Brooke's life a little better at a time. Over the course of months he built for her a mobile life support system, based initially off the War Hulks of Nemesis Infamy, however such designs and prototypes were confiscated by the hospital, for fear they were not for Brooke, but instead for his own use. He was told they were to be destroyed, but later discovered they were being studied as a working example of what War Hulks piloted. Again, a girl's dreams were dashed because it was more convenient to do that, than to let her be happy.
Down, but not out, Chuck began working on something he knew they couldn't construe as possibly dangerous, at least to the extent as his initial designs made them believe, although such belief is arguable. With blueprints done, materials gathered, and prototypes finished, he approached the city council for permission to do what he had been working on for years to complete. All for Brooke.
They said no.
Brooke's 18th birthday passed, two years of waiting after being told her wish would come true, and nothing had changed, except she was two years older.
The following year was filled with intense battles in courts between Chuck and various members who kept him from doing his first major good deed in years. He petitioned, he sued, he talked, he begged. A year of his life went into making another life possible, and he almost thought it was wasted. To the day, a year later, on Brooke's 19th birthday, his permission was granted, and he began his work.
Months later, and several upgrades along the way, Brooke is able to do most anything a normal girl can, and more. The weeks before obtaining her hero license were another uphill climb for her to get weaponry built into the suit. In the end, she was granted her newest dream, to help others.
• Currently has become capable of using the steam bursts from her right arm to launch herself about the field of battle. Currently requisitioning a more stable form of this from the ex-Nemesis engineer. He has yet been approved to even begin work on such a thing.
• Machinery will occasionally stop working well after prolonged use without refueling her water reserves.
• Excessive combat leads to similar conditions.
• During combat, her back pack system does not emit steam, and her metallic limbs become super heated, and are capable of forcing out large and continuous bursts of steam.
• As her water reserves run out, various functions will cease. First her left arm, then her right, her mouth, and finally her heart.
• Recently joined a Super Group.
• Still looking for a mentor.
• Has developed a condition about trying to learn everyone's names while remaining polite. Stems from her experiences on her first day.
• Does not think rape is funny. Personal experience.
• Anyone with access to medical records at the Galaxy City branch of Paragon's hospitals may be aware of her secret identity.
• Anyone part of Paragon City's variant of 'Make A Wish' may also be aware of her secret identity.
• Her condition that brought her to be as she is stemmed from various muscle failures through out her body, namely in the parts now replaced by metal. Her heart itself was not affected, but the tissue immediately around it was damaged by the same condition.
• Her back pack is exceedingly heavy. Her body has been modified with a series of support systems to help her stand up and move around more fluidly.
• Her center of balance is further back than a normal human's. Mostly because of the backpack.
• If removed, her emergency systems can provide back up life support for ten minutes before quickly dropping through the stages of fuel loss.
• Is still tender where the bullet went through her chest. Her daily pain medications for her modifications however have reduced the amount of pain she feels because of it.
• Her pack is not powered by coal, but instead a specially processed variant similar to coal. Clean burning, and capable of burning for a severely longer time.
• Her pack CAN run on coal if need be, however not as efficiently.
• Burning coal in lieu of her normal fuel causes her pack to emit amongst the steam, smoke typical of a coal fire. Not healthy.
After her recent stint in the Order of the Blue Flame, Brooke has decided to leave the group, without notice, in favor of the Abyss Empire, currently, supposedly, clueless to their nature and intent. While mentions of their goals have been made around her, she hasn't shown any sign of disagreement with them, and instead seems to have taken a liking to Labal, calling him in one instance, 'adorable' much in the way of a cute college professor. Much to her delight, he apparently is a college professor. Whether her time in the Abyss is a mistake she'll regret, or a decision she'll regret not having made sooner, is yet to be seen.
Stories about the adventures of Red Brass Cannon can be found here
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