Name: WhisperWraith

S.C.O.R.P.I.O. Special Agent

WhisperWraith
Agent of S.C.O.R.P.I.O.
Player: @PhotonForce
SCORPIO Intel
Division:	Special Agents
Rank:	Operative
Origin/AT:	Tech/Blaster
Security Level:	50
Agent Personal Data
Real Name:	Zane Sheppard
Known Aliases:	Wraith (Praetoria & Primal)
Species:	Homosuperior
Age:	26 (Born 1986)
Height/Weight:	6’0" / 165 lbs
Eye/Hair Color:	R-white L-blue / White
Citizenship:	Praetorian
Current Residence:	Talos Island
Marital Status:	Single
Known Relatives:	Deceased
Known Powers
Archery / Energy Manipulation / Munitions Mastery
Training / Abilities
Espionage / Tactician / Detective
Equipment
See "Equipment"
Footnotes
Resistance Covert Ops (Warden div.)

Overview

Work in progress. Please be patient. Thanks!

History

Born in 1986 in the Founder’s Falls neighborhood of Paragon City, Zane Sheppard was the quintessential “child of Paragon.” His mother, Dr. Carissa Day, was a prominent Paragon City scientist and a lead dimensional rift engineer at the scientifically advanced, research and development company, Portal Corporation. His father, Marc Sheppard, was the costumed superhero/archer (and Portal Corps Security Associate), The Whisper. His early childhood was remarkable in it’s normalcy, complete with loving parents and a bright future. Soon this would all change. Early in 1990, The Whisper vanished, last seen investigating a minor break-in at a Portal Corps warehouse near Independence Port. Though rumors of an ambush by the secretive para-military Malta Group have surfaced over the years, no hard evidence was ever found.

The Whisper was never heard from again.

Six weeks after the mysterious disappearance of The Whisper, Carissa Sheppard and her young son were abducted from their Founder’s Falls condo in a clandestine kidnapping by Imperial Defense Force operatives from the mirror dimension of Upsilon Beta 9-6, better known as Praetoria. Dr. Sheppard is forced to continue her work on dimensional rift containment structures for the Praetorian Government. The IDF used her young son as a pawn to coerce her cooperation.

Living fearfully under the omnipresent eye of Praetoria’s Seer Network, years pass as the Sheppards give up hope of any rescue from their home dimension. With severe restrictions placed on his freedom by Praetoria’s totalitarian government and specifically, his IDF handlers, Zane develops into a rebellious teenager with a chip on his shoulder and a healthy distrust of “official” rules and regulations. At puberty, Zane begins exhibiting the uncanny aiming ability and superior physical prowess of his father. Carissa finally tells Zane about his father’s secret identity and cautions him to keep his own talents hidden from their Praetorian handlers. At age 15, Zane develops a friendship with a young member of the Praetorian Resistance movement. She teaches him how to avoid detection from the Seers, and soon he is sneaking out at nights to participate in Resistance rallies and meet other youth members of the Resistance. Resistance leaders are quickly made aware of Zane’s unique talents. Zane is considered a top priority recruit.

Praetorian Resistance

Late one night, as Zane is returning from a Resistance meeting, his family’s apartment is rocked by a combination of concussive and chemical explosives. Detonated just as the teenager had begun climbing through an open window, the force of the blast hurled him onto the rooftop of a lower neighboring building. His mother, asleep in her bedroom, was killed instantly. Fellow Resistance members, hearing the blast, came hurrying back to investigate. Finding Zane near death on the rooftop, they contacted Resistance leaders and had Zane transported to the nearest Resistance mobile combat hospital. The apartment was essentially vaporized and mother and son were presumed dead to the frustration of the Praetorian government. Praetorian development of a mobile, field-deployable dimensional rift portal is set back years, maybe decades.

Resistance surgeons were able to stabilize the boy, but the damage to his right side was severe. Zane survives, but loses his right arm and eye. He spends nearly six months in intensive care. During his recuperation, the pigmentation of his skin begins to radically change. His doctors believe exposure to one or more of the chemical compounds used in the attack is the catalyst, but are unable to reverse the mutation. Within six weeks, his skin is charcoal grey.

Now an orphan, with no family to turn to, Zane embraces the Resistance movement completely and begins rigorous combat and intelligence training. Using his formidable technical expertise (by way of his mother), and with the help of Resistance medical and tech development teams, Zane modifies Praetorian clockwork technology to develop cybernetic replacements for his missing right arm and eye. Zane is given the tactical code name, Operative Wraith, as a nod to his near death experience.

Zane also begins intensive research into Primal Earth, Portal Corps and the exploits of his father, The Whisper. While the apartment bombing and murder of his mother were “officially” linked to the Syndicate, a powerful organized crime group in Praetoria, Resistance intelligence believe the attack was carried out by assassins from Primal Earth, most likely from the Malta Group, for reasons unknown.

Zane spends the next few years, honing his natural (possibly mutant) abilities and working for the Resistance as a covert operations agent.

Late in 2008, as cross-dimensional chatter and forays between Praetorian factions and Primal Earth meta-humans and assorted government and para-military groups increases, Resistance leadership becomes interested in monitoring relationships the Praetorian government may be cultivating with Primal Earth organizations, such as Arachnos, Malta Group and the Knives of Artemis. During a covert intel gathering raid on a remote Malta Group black ops center on Primal Earth, Resistance operatives (with no connection to Zane) bring back a surprising cache of data - an old, encrypted data store of digitized files stolen from an early Portal Corps office. The data files are blueprints, schematics and technical specifications detailing the unique bows and trick arrows developed by Brian Webb and wielded by the MIA superhero, The Whisper. Now in his mid-twenties, Zane feels compelled to return to his birth dimension and unravel the mystery behind his father’s disappearance and the assassination of his mother.

WhisperWraith is born.

Resistance Operations:

Operation: Liberty

Objective: Rescue Resistance leader "Oliver" from Powers Division HQ

Operation Lead: Operative Fox

Operation Summary:

Technically classified as a Warden “super” within the Resistance, Zane was chosen along with other meta-human operatives for a high-risk operation code named, Operation: Liberty.

Organized and led by the Resistance psychic, Operative Fox, a unit comprised of both Warden and Crusader supers made a brazen frontal assault on Powers Division. Zane was chosen to lead Black fire-team, tasked with infiltrating the base quickly and finding the location of the captured Resistance leader Oliver. Once the target was located, Red fire-team fought their way through the unprepared PD, successfully reaching and freeing Oliver. During the escape, even the coordinated might of Fox’s two teams was unable push through the regrouped Powers Division. They only escaped due to the unexpected arrival of non-powered Resistance members from both factions. Inspired by Liberty's strike team, they fought fearlessly breaking down the PD defenses and allowing the Liberty Team to escape with Oliver.

Operation Notes:

News footage of the escape later aired on TPN, showing Operative Fox and the others fighting their way out. Luckily no images of Zane ever made it to air, and the Praetorian government continued it’s belief he had been killed in the apartment bombing years earlier. Operative Fox, on the other hand, was branded a traitor to the Empire, and is now a public enemy with her face plastered all over the network.

Operation: Glowball

Objective: Stop Metronome's ascension to power

Operation Lead: Operative Wraith

Operation Summary:

Following up on leads from a Neuropolis contact name Aaron Walker, Zane is psychically contacted by institutionalized Penelope Yin, daughter of Wu Yin, Mega Corp titan, CEO of Yin Corp and Syndicate leader. With Penelope passing info psychically, Wraith was able to disrupt the work of Metronome, a pawn for the Praetorian criminal group The Syndicate.

Operation Notes:

During this assignment, Wraith came in contact with the Dark Watcher, a Vanguard advisor from Primal Earth, who was following the trail of a renegade Malta Group operative. During their work together, the Dark Watcher briefed Zane on the Malta Group, a Primal Earth para-military group who seek to wipe out super-powered beings. Zane was aware from stories his mother told him, that the Malta Group was rumored to be responsible for his father’s disappearance.

S.C.O.R.P.I.O.

(Strategic Command Objective for Research, Protection + Interdictive Operations)

WhisperWraith was contacted by a woman known as Dame Destruction, when he made his intentions of returning to Primal Earth known to one of his Praetorian contacts: Penelope Yin. Zane worked with Ms. Yin on Operation: Global. Months later, when Resistance agents on assignment in Primal Earth discovered credible evidence linking Malta to the Whisper, Zane felt a renewed urgency to return to Paragon City and learn the truth behind his father’s disappearance. He sought out Penelope Yin to reconnect him with the Dark Watcher, but instead Yin introduced him to Dame Destruction. While Zane pleaded his case for returning to Resistance leaders, Dame arranged for Zane to contact another Praetorian expatriate who now works for S.C.O.R.P.I.O., Livia Masters, aka Psychic Fox. Coincidentally, Fox had been a Resistance unit commander Zane knew well and worked under for a time (see contact story Empty Grave).

Recruitment File:WhisperWraith

S.C.O.R.P.I.O. Operations:

work in progress

Personality

WhisperWraith is an intense young man with a sarcastic sense of humor and a generally suspicious view of the world that often leads him to see conspiracies within conspiracies (who wouldn’t given his background - see history). Gifted with a brilliant, scientifically-disciplined mind, he often displays a cool tenacity surprising for someone of his age.

Equipment

Compound Bow w/ Laser Sight:

WhisperWraith and a team of Resistance combat technicians and scientists modified Brian Webb’s (Primal Earth) original bow and arrow designs with advanced Praetorian technology, developing a unique, technologically sophisticated, archery-based covert-ops weapons system.

• The Compound Bow utilizes a binary cam design with a titanium riser; the limbs are constructed from composite materials, designed to be collapsible, in order to be concealed and carried easily. The strings are made from high modulus polyethylene.
• Laser sight: modified Praetorian version of the Contraves GmbH LLM01 (Laser Light Module 01). Offers the following "lighting and/or sighting" options:

• White light flashlight, 250 or 500 lumen beam from a xenon incandescent light bulb - bright enough to temporarily blind and disorient a person by impairing his/her night-adapted vision;

• filter options for red (night), blue (blood trail) and infrared (night vision compatible) use;

• Laser Sight: the visibility depends on the environmental light conditions, suited for quick shots. At dusk the red laser dot is visible just over 150 m;
• Modulated Infrared (IR) laser: visible thru Scorpio synchronized HUD IR night vision system, standard IR night vision equipment will not detect the presence of the LLM01 IR beam.

• WhisperWraith’s cybernetic eye can also synchronize and track the IR beam if HUD is damaged or malfunctioning;

• Infrared Target Illuminator: maximum range of up to 10 m;

Cybernetic Arm:

• Close Range Pulsed Energy Projectile

• At hand to hand range, WhisperWraith can release a energy pulse which, upon contact with the target, ablates the surface and creates a small amount of exploding plasma. This produces a pressure wave that stuns the target and knocks them off their feet; also releases a burst of electromagnetic radiation that affects nerve cells causing a painful sensation.

• Scorpio Comm Unit:

• SCORPIO communications unit, developed by Singer Defense Systems for SCORPIO Agents, was incorporated into the Cybernetic Arm through modifications by WhisperWraith and SCORPIO tech lead, Professor Klunk. Unit is a highly advanced computer capable of tracking mission data, interfacing with satellite scans and collected intelligence, providing a communications interface.
• Unit acts as a basic datapad, able to store and retrieve data from robotic systems/androids/etc., the SCORPIO database, other computers (via a direct link or wireless transceiver), comm signals, and standard datacards.
• Allows WhisperWraith to arm bombs and traps, detonate explosives, open base and teleportation portals, receive signals from his surveillance gear, and to summon and direct his Power Drone.
• Areas with strong electromagnetic interference render the unit's radar useless and communications systems unstable. SAR and FASTCOM drone arrows can alleviate interference issues in some circumstances.
• Allows communication and control with SAS arrows (see below).

Cybernetic Eye:

• Head-Up Display (HUD):

• A transparent display that presents data without obstructing the user's view.

• Spectrometer
• Biocyber-Link with combat suit’s Threat Detection System for tactical identification, friend or foe (IFF) threat analysis and targeting system visual reference.
• Advanced Facial/Object Recognition System. Scorpio C2 can upload specific image details that the AFOR system can scan for and indicate even if WhisperWraith has never seen the object or person previously.
• Visual relay link to SCORPIO C2

Powered Combat Suit:

Modified SCORPIO uniform:

• Lightweight, insulated fabric interwoven with Kevlar under 8-ply Kevlar paneling (able to withstand ballistic impact up to .45 caliber bullets)
• Thermoregulation System
• Threat Detection System - Photosensitive threads and radar receiver cells that detect snipers' lasers and radar search and lock-on mode frequencies. Biocyber-link with cybernetic eye (see above)
• Hydration Bladders
• "Atlex 5" a fire-resistant material that withstand temperatures of up to 1500 degrees Fahrenheit
• Outer surface imprinted with advanced meta-material for partial cloaking ability (designed and manipulated at a molecular level to interact with and control electromagnetic and sound waves)
• Powered Exo-Skeleton based on Praetorian Clockwork technology for enhanced movement and endurance.

MediPort Beacon:

• Monitors vital signs in the wearer and prompts a teleport to the nearest hospital in case of an emergency. Can also be activated manually.

Arrows:

Offensive:

• Incendiary
• Armor Piercing
• Concussive
• Explosive

Defensive:

Support and Surveillance:

• Support and Surveillance (SAS) arrows are highly specialised. They are very short, so that the point of the arrow is inside the arc of the fully drawn bow, requiring a support projecting back from the bow towards the archer to keep the arrow in position. Also, the carbon fiber shafts are 'barreled', tapering towards both ends from the middle, to reduce air resistance. Arrows can be launched to a height of up to ½ mile unassisted and can be equipped with various self powered drones depending on the situation. Dones are cloaked with meta-material and modified VeraTech Phantom Sentinel technology -

- Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) - low flying/variable speed drones for tracking moving targets and changing scenery.

- Silver Fox - minituarized drone equipped with infrared sensors and built to keep tabs on a specific roads or paths.

- Yellow Jacket - minituarized robo-copter drone will follow — and keep watch on — a vehicle, beaming what it sees to the operative and/or C2.

- Forward Airborne Secure Transmissions and Communications (FASTCOM) drones - cloaked pods provide a secure mobile 3G cellular network over a given area (flying cell towers).