Post by nicholas on Nov 5, 2011 16:19:04 GMT -5
Advance note - while this character was made by Spartan291 (Nicholas's player), he does not intend to play as said character, and as such the cbox name, nickname, and main account fields are being left blank for whichever player picks up the character as their own - I will edit them to match when said character is picked up by a player. Once accepted, please move this character to the site's Character Adoption center so someone can claim it.
As for anyone wanting to take her as a character, a word of warning - YOU MUST STAY ACTIVE. Preferably two to three posts a week, but at least one post a week will do as per the site standard. If you fail to meet the criteria without giving advance notice, I reserve the right to let someone else who might want the character and who will prove to be more active have a shot at playing her.
Cbox Name: RESERVED
Nicknames: RESERVED
Main Account: RESERVED
Who else do you play?: RESERVED
How did you find us?: RESERVED
Category: Original Character
Name: Erica
Alias: Erica A114, Sierra A114, Spartan A114, DEFENDER 3
Age: 31 (subjective age of 28)
Ranking: Anti Hero
Physical Appearance: Quite a bit smaller than any of the Spartan IIIs from Alpha Company in large part due to her Japanese heritage, Erica stands at a still impressive 6' 7" outside of her armor, and 6' 11 when encased in it. With black hair and very dark brown eyes that may appear black to many at first glance, her heritage made her rather unique among both the Alpha and Beta Company Spartan IIIs, and even the original Spartan IIs. Nearly as pale as Zachary but with a bit more color to her skin, Erica by far sports the most scars out of any of the Spartan IIIs, although oddly enough only a large handful of them are on or above her neckline, with the vast majority of them on her arms, legs and torso.
Her Mk. VI MJOLNIR armor is a faded russet brown red color, with brick colored trim, and sports the heaviest armor plate out of DEFENDER Team as a means of complimenting both her roles as the team's heavy hitter, CQC combatant and explosives specialist, with an EOD helmet, EOD chest, grenadier shoulder pads and knee guards carried over from her Mk. V suit, and at any given time a large number of grenades, 40 mm explosive rounds and other forms of ammunition can be found attached to her armor's hardpoints or otherwise strapped, taped or tied on to her form.
Personality: By far the most volatile individual to be assigned to DEFENDER team, Erica's level of aggression was beyond the pale, even among the other Spartan IIIs who were typically unmeasurable among standard means of psychological measurement. If it hadn't been for Erica's sheer brutality and effectiveness at getting results when absolutely needed, she would very likely had been dropped from the Spartan III program altogether. While such aggression had originally resulted inLeeroy Jenkins berserker tactics during many of Alpha Company's early training exercises as well as many losses due to her rather self centered concept of winning, it also made her one of the deadliest as she slowly learned to direct and control her aggressive tendencies. Another problem with her rather egotistical nature is that Erica does not mix well with non Spartan personel, or even Spartans outside of DEFENDER team. When forced to speak to soldiers who are not part of DEFENDER or who do not equal or outrank her, Erica is often described as blunt, irritated or otherwise rude - as far as civilians go, they will be lucky if they can get her to speak at all, and often times her words will be scathing, to put it mildly. Above all Erica respects strength and the ability to get results, and if you aren't willing to improve yourself as she did to obtain what you can't currently achieve, you are worse than dirt in her eyes - it is for this reason she barely respects the rank and file UNSC soldiers.
Among her "siblings" in DEFENDER, however, Erica is slightly more respectful, although it hadn't been that way in the beginning. While she will follow orders without question or would take a hit to protect a teammate without hesitation, she still tends to be blunt and short with her words, although more as a habit than anything else - much of the sarcasm and bite in her usual speech is absent among her brothers and sisters.
Powers/Abilities:
Spartan III: While all Spartans received the training to match the best shock troops and commandos from any military, their true strength comes from the augmentation procedure performed on them towards the end of their training and at the onset of puberty. While the process was excruciatingly painful and a large percentage of the Spartan IIIs were either killed or crippled by it, the survivors were transformed into the ultimate soldiers, living weapons without peer among other humans. Their perception, reaction and movement speed was incredibly enhanced, and their bones were made virtually unbreakable thanks to the ceramic carbide bonded to their skeletal structure. Finally, their eyesight was enhanced to the point at where they could essentially see in the dark, and their muscle density, already twice the human norm due to their training, was further increased - even without MJOLNIR, the average augmented Spartan II was capable of lifting upwards of 1000 pounds. While Erica prefers close quarters or heavy weapons combat, she, like all Spartan IIIs, is brutally effective at any range, and is incredibly skilled with any firearm or melee weapon as well as hand to hand combat.
Equipment:
MJOLNIR Mark VI Powered Assault Armor: Incredibly durable, the armor not only increases his already astounding physical strength by a factor of five, but it also boosts a Spartan's reaction time, already less than 20 milliseconds under controlled situations, to near uncharted speeds that may appear to almost border precognition to the uninformed eye. The armor itself is a marvel of engineering, and is composed of several overlapping layers. The armor plates, made of a unique, incredibly strong non reactive alloy that isn't magnetic, also have a refractive coating capable of dissapating light energy attacks and lessening the impact from heavier strikes. Underneath the plating is a lightly armored bodysuit, which is completely sealed, protecting the user from both toxic environments and vaccuum. Underneath this is a gel layer capable of reactively changing it's density, and protects the user from either environmental pressure, G forces, rapid temperature changes or ballistic weapons. Between this and the inner layer composed of moisture absorbing cloth is a network of reactive metal liquid crystal, which while responsible for the user's enhanced strength is also capable of transporting a ship class smart artifical intelligence - it is also this layer that is responsible for the user's reaction time when combined with the suit's neural interface. Finally, the Mark VI version of the armor is equipped with both a UNSC developed second generation shield system and an automated biofoam injection system, which allows the user to keep fighting even after taking wounds that would kill any other soldier, also in turn preserving their lives until proper medical treatment can be administered. It also features several external clips, magnetic holsters and pockets for carrying gear, leaving the Spartan's hands free at most times. The armor does have some disadvantages, though - first of all, it cannot be used by normal, unaugmented soldiers, as they both lack the reflexes and increased perception rate needed to harness the armor without killing themselves. Also, a fully armored Spartan III weighs roughly 1000 pounds when equipped with a MJOLNIR suit, not counting the other gear they may be carrying at the time. Erica's armor is also equipped with one of the many experimental bubble shield emiters that were issued to most of the remaining Spartan teams during and after the Battle of Reach.
M90A CAWS Shotgun: The UNSC's resident close quarters weapon and favored by boarding parties and other assault teams, the M90 had remained unchanged for 27 years prior to the Battle of Reach, and is rivalled only by the Army's M45 Tactical Shotgun in terms of lethality at ranges of less than 10 meters. By far one of the oldest weapon concepts still in use by the UNSC, the M90 is well known for its durability and ease of use. Utilizing old fashioned iron sights, the weapon can hold six 8 gauge shells in its magazine at any given time, and must be manually reloaded - while a slow and arduous process for many, a skilled operator can reload the weapon in anywhere between three to five seconds.
M319 Grenade Launcher: Among, if not the, oldest weapon design in service to the UNSC, the M319 was adopted for use in 2263, and has remained completely unchanged since its introduction to the UNSC armed forces. While not as heavy hitting as many of the UNSC's other heavy weapon systems it is arguably the most versatile, capable of performing a variety of different functions and performing in any number of different roles, from support to anti armor. A break action grenade launcher, the weapon can hold and fire one 40 mm high explosive round before needing to be reloaded, although that one round is more than enough to deal with most threats. A 40 mm HE round, while not packing enough punch to kill targets such as Hunters, shielded Brutes or heavy armor is more than enough to kill a single Elite with a direct hit, and can clear a room of unshielded hostiles with a single well placed round. What the grenade doesn't kill, however, it usually leaves stunned, and given the very quick reload time in the hands of a skilled user (as little as 2 seconds), such an opening usually proves lethal as any infantry able to survive one 40 mm shell will not survive a second, especially if it is a direct hit. If used correctly, this weapon can render cover useless, as the round can be fired in an arc, bounced before detonation, or detonated over, behind or to the side of said cover to pepper the entrenched enemy with shrapnel.
While this would normally prove a dangerous tactic to employ against armor or aircraft, the weapon has a second, far more flexible firing mode, one that creative operators can wield to great effect. When fired in the second mode, the user can detonate the round at any time of their choosing, with the detonation of said round generating a localized EMP (electromagnetic pulse) capable of frying shields and disabling any unprotected electronics within a ten meter radius of the detonation. It is this second mode that makes the weapon dangerous to armor and aircraft - while the tank or heavy vehicle is still recovering from the EMP (assuming it wasn't permanently disabled), the user has more than enough time to reload and fire another round, and in the hands of an armored Spartan a single EMP can prove fatal should the super soldier manage to get close enough to board the disabled vehicle, even for a moment. When used again aircraft, a single EMP is usually enough, as the vehicle will usually destroy itself upon impact with the ground.
M7 Submachine Gun: Typically used by the Marines and ODSTs when the MA5 series rifles are either nor available or otherwise not the best tool for the job, the M7 series SMG is devestatingly powerful at close quarters, capable of unloading every last one of its standard 60 rounds per magazine within the space of a handful of seconds, earning the weapon the moniker of "bullet hose" among many UNSC personel. Usually loaded with 5 mm caseless rounds, the weapon is still perfectly capable of chewing through shields and armor with startling effectiveness, and its compact size has made it a favorite among many soldiers. While its rather quick reload speed makes up for the rate at which it burns through ammunition, the weapon's recoil is another matter - when fired in full auto, the gun's muzzel tends to walk upwards when not carefully controlled, and the gun's accuracy suffers at anything beyond close quarters when not fired in carefully controlled bursts.
Combat Knife
Psychological Flaws: While Erica is far more suited to fighting on her own than most of the other Spartan IIIs, she is also presented with a different set of problems. While she has, for the most part, managed to shed her berserker tendencies, Erica can and will lose herself to simply killing her opponents unless kept in check and on task by a superior, and should the controller prove to be someone she does not deem worthy of her respect, may not listen at all - a fact that nearly resulted in her washing out of Alpha Company on several different ocassions. Nevertheless, even while on task Erica has rarely been anything if not straightforward, rarely showing any talent for subtlety unless directly ordered to exercise discretion.
Physical Flaws: While she herself is in perfect physical condition and beyond what most people would consider humanly possible in both speed and strength, Erica is still only human when seperated from her armor - for all of her strength and skill, anything that would prove fatal to a normal human will kill her just as quickly. While her bones can't be broken, her flesh, tendons and organs can be, and there are very likely mutants and non humans out there easily capable of matching or surpassing her physical strength and speed.
While she is very well protected in her armor, the suit isn't perfect, and comes with yet another set of drawbacks. Erica is much, much heavier when encased in her MJOLNIR, and as such cannot be supported by many physical objects, and her sheer size makes moving in cramped quarters difficult, if not impossible, a problem further exacerbated by her shields when they are active. The armor itself is also vulnerable to a number of different environmental threats, which while not capable of destroying or breaching the armor itself, are capable of disabling or reducing certain key components or systems (the motion tracker, for example, could be rendered useless if the sensors in the shoulders are exposed to salt water for too long, as the salt will encrust on the sensors and disable them until they are cleaned). Yet another problem is that while the ballistics and gel layer are extremely resiliant, they do not protect the user from all kinetic energy - while potentially survivable, a drop from a plane would likely result in relatively severe injuries, and drops from low orbit are still incredibly dangerous in the Mark VI armor without specialized equipment. Finally, the shields themselves, while very resiliant against kinetic weapons and attacks, are rather vulnerable to energy weapons, and quickly depleted by them, and cannot recharge as long as the suit is taking fire from any form of attack, and while the Mark VI suit's shields recharge much faster than the Mark V's, they are slightly weaker. Large moving masses, like fast moving cars or objects of similar mass and size, also pose a sizable threat to the armor. In addition to the energy attacks and environmental weaknesses, the suit's motion tracker, while usefull, is far from infallible.
While it detects most moving objects within a 25 meter radius of the user, it will not detect slow moving or stationary objects, and does not provide detailed information beyond the size and distance of the object (does not provide exact elevation relative to the user, for example). The other problem is that unless an object or being is carrying a FOF tag, the tracker cannot distinguish between friend, foe or random objects - in locations where there is constant motion such as rainforests, the entire display will be covered in red, and it is possible to jam the tracker through similar methods. Finally, the motion tracker does not work in vacuum. Yet another weakness to the armor is the HUD's VISR system, although it can be turned on and off. More or less a low visability mode for the HUD, the user can be blinded by bright light or flashes that occur within their line of sight while the system is active, although said weakness can be countered by turning the system off, and it is partially negated by the reactive polarizing viewplate of the MJOLNIR armor, unlike the ODST variant of the technology.
The suit's bubble shield, while impervious to anything beyond detonating a very large, very powerful bomb directly over it, does have a few drawbacks as well, first of all the size and duration of the shield. The shield itself only covering a spherical area of roughly a 4 meter radius, which while more than enough to fit an entire squad or normal troops comfortably is rather cramped for 3 to 4 Spartans, and the shield itself only lasts for a short time before dissapating on its own (lasts 2 posts with a 3 post recharge). Another problem is that while it deflects all forms of heat, energy based attacks or projectiles, it does not distinguish between slow moving objects - the very trait that allows users to freely enter and leave the confines of the shield will also allow enemies to enter of leave it as well, and relatively slow moving objects such as vehicles or large pieces of debris will pass through it without any resistance.
Other Flaws: None that I can think of off the top of my head.... I think I got them all above.
Brief History: Born on Bliss on December 11th, 2522, she lived a normal childhood until Bliss was destroyed by the Covenant in 2526 – she was separated from her mother, father and younger brother in the chaos of the evacuation, and they were assumed dead after their names were not listed among those who managed to escape off world from the Covenant. She spent the next 3 years in an orphanage on Eridanus II before she was located by ONI and inducted as a candidate into the SPARTAN III program. Whithin months of arriving on Onyx Erica quickly displayed a remarkable intuition with explosives and heavy ordnance, and was transferred out of Alpha Company to with the intention of finishing her training in the HEADHUNTER program alongside SPARTAN A197 after she learned how to channel her aggression into an effective weapon. After new protocols were enacted, however, she and A197 were transferred out of the SPARTAN III program entirely along with several other recruits with the intent of saving at least a small portion of Alpha Company from the meat grinder. She and A197 were both given MJOLNIR Mark IV armor in 2535 upon graduation, and after performing several missions they were both transferred into DEFENDER Team, which was formed along with SPARTAN A291, with A291 commanding the unit from 2535 to 2545, with A291 again assuming command in 2551 and during the Battle of Reach in 2552, with Heidi B206 taking command of the unit upon arrival at Earth on October 20th, 2552 when A291 was declared Missing In Action a month later.
As the war drew to a close Erica would remain part of DEFENDER Team, with the squad seeing deployment to multiple theatres during the Covenant occupation of Earth – namely the Battle of Columbus and several skirmishes in Australia and northern Africa, and after the war officially ended on March 3rd of 2553, DEFENDER Team was among the few Spartans who could still be accounted for. Without an actual war to fight anymore and with the Jiralhanae otherwise occupied with their internal wars and conflict with the Sangheili, DEFENDER Team was more or less diverted to peace keeping and security roles, typically sent in ahead of colony ships to clear out worlds that had been previously held by Covenant forces, more often than not encountering little more than rogue Jiralhanae or Kig Yar groups gone pirate. It was en route back to Earth again from one such mission that their ship, a Mako class corvette, suffered a malfunction with their Shaw-Fujikawa drive, a result of improper maintenance. While the ship remained intact and suffered no more than a few system overloads, the ship itself was dropped out of slip space travel, although the ship’s crew and compliment of Spartans and Marines would have yet to realize exactly where – or when - they were.
Reason for being on AM: I'm more or less going to go with Slip Space accident - it worked for Nicole in Dead Or Alive 4, and forced her back into the 21st century. Technically not Halo canon anymore given all of their retcons (and the rather ambigous Spartan II count), but it was considered such at one point, and theoretically possible given the time and space bending properties of the slip space drive - they've been likened to man made singularities without gravity fields when malfunctioning in Ghosts of Onyx. Given the way the things work, it's entirely possible that a malfunctioning one could transport someone into an alternate reality.
Sample RP: RESERVED - an audition for the character would be appreciated, just to make sure that you are playing her well.
Theme Songs:
As for anyone wanting to take her as a character, a word of warning - YOU MUST STAY ACTIVE. Preferably two to three posts a week, but at least one post a week will do as per the site standard. If you fail to meet the criteria without giving advance notice, I reserve the right to let someone else who might want the character and who will prove to be more active have a shot at playing her.
Cbox Name: RESERVED
Nicknames: RESERVED
Main Account: RESERVED
Who else do you play?: RESERVED
How did you find us?: RESERVED
Category: Original Character
Name: Erica
Alias: Erica A114, Sierra A114, Spartan A114, DEFENDER 3
Age: 31 (subjective age of 28)
Ranking: Anti Hero
Physical Appearance: Quite a bit smaller than any of the Spartan IIIs from Alpha Company in large part due to her Japanese heritage, Erica stands at a still impressive 6' 7" outside of her armor, and 6' 11 when encased in it. With black hair and very dark brown eyes that may appear black to many at first glance, her heritage made her rather unique among both the Alpha and Beta Company Spartan IIIs, and even the original Spartan IIs. Nearly as pale as Zachary but with a bit more color to her skin, Erica by far sports the most scars out of any of the Spartan IIIs, although oddly enough only a large handful of them are on or above her neckline, with the vast majority of them on her arms, legs and torso.
Her Mk. VI MJOLNIR armor is a faded russet brown red color, with brick colored trim, and sports the heaviest armor plate out of DEFENDER Team as a means of complimenting both her roles as the team's heavy hitter, CQC combatant and explosives specialist, with an EOD helmet, EOD chest, grenadier shoulder pads and knee guards carried over from her Mk. V suit, and at any given time a large number of grenades, 40 mm explosive rounds and other forms of ammunition can be found attached to her armor's hardpoints or otherwise strapped, taped or tied on to her form.
Personality: By far the most volatile individual to be assigned to DEFENDER team, Erica's level of aggression was beyond the pale, even among the other Spartan IIIs who were typically unmeasurable among standard means of psychological measurement. If it hadn't been for Erica's sheer brutality and effectiveness at getting results when absolutely needed, she would very likely had been dropped from the Spartan III program altogether. While such aggression had originally resulted in
Among her "siblings" in DEFENDER, however, Erica is slightly more respectful, although it hadn't been that way in the beginning. While she will follow orders without question or would take a hit to protect a teammate without hesitation, she still tends to be blunt and short with her words, although more as a habit than anything else - much of the sarcasm and bite in her usual speech is absent among her brothers and sisters.
Powers/Abilities:
Spartan III: While all Spartans received the training to match the best shock troops and commandos from any military, their true strength comes from the augmentation procedure performed on them towards the end of their training and at the onset of puberty. While the process was excruciatingly painful and a large percentage of the Spartan IIIs were either killed or crippled by it, the survivors were transformed into the ultimate soldiers, living weapons without peer among other humans. Their perception, reaction and movement speed was incredibly enhanced, and their bones were made virtually unbreakable thanks to the ceramic carbide bonded to their skeletal structure. Finally, their eyesight was enhanced to the point at where they could essentially see in the dark, and their muscle density, already twice the human norm due to their training, was further increased - even without MJOLNIR, the average augmented Spartan II was capable of lifting upwards of 1000 pounds. While Erica prefers close quarters or heavy weapons combat, she, like all Spartan IIIs, is brutally effective at any range, and is incredibly skilled with any firearm or melee weapon as well as hand to hand combat.
Equipment:
MJOLNIR Mark VI Powered Assault Armor: Incredibly durable, the armor not only increases his already astounding physical strength by a factor of five, but it also boosts a Spartan's reaction time, already less than 20 milliseconds under controlled situations, to near uncharted speeds that may appear to almost border precognition to the uninformed eye. The armor itself is a marvel of engineering, and is composed of several overlapping layers. The armor plates, made of a unique, incredibly strong non reactive alloy that isn't magnetic, also have a refractive coating capable of dissapating light energy attacks and lessening the impact from heavier strikes. Underneath the plating is a lightly armored bodysuit, which is completely sealed, protecting the user from both toxic environments and vaccuum. Underneath this is a gel layer capable of reactively changing it's density, and protects the user from either environmental pressure, G forces, rapid temperature changes or ballistic weapons. Between this and the inner layer composed of moisture absorbing cloth is a network of reactive metal liquid crystal, which while responsible for the user's enhanced strength is also capable of transporting a ship class smart artifical intelligence - it is also this layer that is responsible for the user's reaction time when combined with the suit's neural interface. Finally, the Mark VI version of the armor is equipped with both a UNSC developed second generation shield system and an automated biofoam injection system, which allows the user to keep fighting even after taking wounds that would kill any other soldier, also in turn preserving their lives until proper medical treatment can be administered. It also features several external clips, magnetic holsters and pockets for carrying gear, leaving the Spartan's hands free at most times. The armor does have some disadvantages, though - first of all, it cannot be used by normal, unaugmented soldiers, as they both lack the reflexes and increased perception rate needed to harness the armor without killing themselves. Also, a fully armored Spartan III weighs roughly 1000 pounds when equipped with a MJOLNIR suit, not counting the other gear they may be carrying at the time. Erica's armor is also equipped with one of the many experimental bubble shield emiters that were issued to most of the remaining Spartan teams during and after the Battle of Reach.
M90A CAWS Shotgun: The UNSC's resident close quarters weapon and favored by boarding parties and other assault teams, the M90 had remained unchanged for 27 years prior to the Battle of Reach, and is rivalled only by the Army's M45 Tactical Shotgun in terms of lethality at ranges of less than 10 meters. By far one of the oldest weapon concepts still in use by the UNSC, the M90 is well known for its durability and ease of use. Utilizing old fashioned iron sights, the weapon can hold six 8 gauge shells in its magazine at any given time, and must be manually reloaded - while a slow and arduous process for many, a skilled operator can reload the weapon in anywhere between three to five seconds.
M319 Grenade Launcher: Among, if not the, oldest weapon design in service to the UNSC, the M319 was adopted for use in 2263, and has remained completely unchanged since its introduction to the UNSC armed forces. While not as heavy hitting as many of the UNSC's other heavy weapon systems it is arguably the most versatile, capable of performing a variety of different functions and performing in any number of different roles, from support to anti armor. A break action grenade launcher, the weapon can hold and fire one 40 mm high explosive round before needing to be reloaded, although that one round is more than enough to deal with most threats. A 40 mm HE round, while not packing enough punch to kill targets such as Hunters, shielded Brutes or heavy armor is more than enough to kill a single Elite with a direct hit, and can clear a room of unshielded hostiles with a single well placed round. What the grenade doesn't kill, however, it usually leaves stunned, and given the very quick reload time in the hands of a skilled user (as little as 2 seconds), such an opening usually proves lethal as any infantry able to survive one 40 mm shell will not survive a second, especially if it is a direct hit. If used correctly, this weapon can render cover useless, as the round can be fired in an arc, bounced before detonation, or detonated over, behind or to the side of said cover to pepper the entrenched enemy with shrapnel.
While this would normally prove a dangerous tactic to employ against armor or aircraft, the weapon has a second, far more flexible firing mode, one that creative operators can wield to great effect. When fired in the second mode, the user can detonate the round at any time of their choosing, with the detonation of said round generating a localized EMP (electromagnetic pulse) capable of frying shields and disabling any unprotected electronics within a ten meter radius of the detonation. It is this second mode that makes the weapon dangerous to armor and aircraft - while the tank or heavy vehicle is still recovering from the EMP (assuming it wasn't permanently disabled), the user has more than enough time to reload and fire another round, and in the hands of an armored Spartan a single EMP can prove fatal should the super soldier manage to get close enough to board the disabled vehicle, even for a moment. When used again aircraft, a single EMP is usually enough, as the vehicle will usually destroy itself upon impact with the ground.
M7 Submachine Gun: Typically used by the Marines and ODSTs when the MA5 series rifles are either nor available or otherwise not the best tool for the job, the M7 series SMG is devestatingly powerful at close quarters, capable of unloading every last one of its standard 60 rounds per magazine within the space of a handful of seconds, earning the weapon the moniker of "bullet hose" among many UNSC personel. Usually loaded with 5 mm caseless rounds, the weapon is still perfectly capable of chewing through shields and armor with startling effectiveness, and its compact size has made it a favorite among many soldiers. While its rather quick reload speed makes up for the rate at which it burns through ammunition, the weapon's recoil is another matter - when fired in full auto, the gun's muzzel tends to walk upwards when not carefully controlled, and the gun's accuracy suffers at anything beyond close quarters when not fired in carefully controlled bursts.
Combat Knife
Weaknesses
Psychological Flaws: While Erica is far more suited to fighting on her own than most of the other Spartan IIIs, she is also presented with a different set of problems. While she has, for the most part, managed to shed her berserker tendencies, Erica can and will lose herself to simply killing her opponents unless kept in check and on task by a superior, and should the controller prove to be someone she does not deem worthy of her respect, may not listen at all - a fact that nearly resulted in her washing out of Alpha Company on several different ocassions. Nevertheless, even while on task Erica has rarely been anything if not straightforward, rarely showing any talent for subtlety unless directly ordered to exercise discretion.
Physical Flaws: While she herself is in perfect physical condition and beyond what most people would consider humanly possible in both speed and strength, Erica is still only human when seperated from her armor - for all of her strength and skill, anything that would prove fatal to a normal human will kill her just as quickly. While her bones can't be broken, her flesh, tendons and organs can be, and there are very likely mutants and non humans out there easily capable of matching or surpassing her physical strength and speed.
While she is very well protected in her armor, the suit isn't perfect, and comes with yet another set of drawbacks. Erica is much, much heavier when encased in her MJOLNIR, and as such cannot be supported by many physical objects, and her sheer size makes moving in cramped quarters difficult, if not impossible, a problem further exacerbated by her shields when they are active. The armor itself is also vulnerable to a number of different environmental threats, which while not capable of destroying or breaching the armor itself, are capable of disabling or reducing certain key components or systems (the motion tracker, for example, could be rendered useless if the sensors in the shoulders are exposed to salt water for too long, as the salt will encrust on the sensors and disable them until they are cleaned). Yet another problem is that while the ballistics and gel layer are extremely resiliant, they do not protect the user from all kinetic energy - while potentially survivable, a drop from a plane would likely result in relatively severe injuries, and drops from low orbit are still incredibly dangerous in the Mark VI armor without specialized equipment. Finally, the shields themselves, while very resiliant against kinetic weapons and attacks, are rather vulnerable to energy weapons, and quickly depleted by them, and cannot recharge as long as the suit is taking fire from any form of attack, and while the Mark VI suit's shields recharge much faster than the Mark V's, they are slightly weaker. Large moving masses, like fast moving cars or objects of similar mass and size, also pose a sizable threat to the armor. In addition to the energy attacks and environmental weaknesses, the suit's motion tracker, while usefull, is far from infallible.
While it detects most moving objects within a 25 meter radius of the user, it will not detect slow moving or stationary objects, and does not provide detailed information beyond the size and distance of the object (does not provide exact elevation relative to the user, for example). The other problem is that unless an object or being is carrying a FOF tag, the tracker cannot distinguish between friend, foe or random objects - in locations where there is constant motion such as rainforests, the entire display will be covered in red, and it is possible to jam the tracker through similar methods. Finally, the motion tracker does not work in vacuum. Yet another weakness to the armor is the HUD's VISR system, although it can be turned on and off. More or less a low visability mode for the HUD, the user can be blinded by bright light or flashes that occur within their line of sight while the system is active, although said weakness can be countered by turning the system off, and it is partially negated by the reactive polarizing viewplate of the MJOLNIR armor, unlike the ODST variant of the technology.
The suit's bubble shield, while impervious to anything beyond detonating a very large, very powerful bomb directly over it, does have a few drawbacks as well, first of all the size and duration of the shield. The shield itself only covering a spherical area of roughly a 4 meter radius, which while more than enough to fit an entire squad or normal troops comfortably is rather cramped for 3 to 4 Spartans, and the shield itself only lasts for a short time before dissapating on its own (lasts 2 posts with a 3 post recharge). Another problem is that while it deflects all forms of heat, energy based attacks or projectiles, it does not distinguish between slow moving objects - the very trait that allows users to freely enter and leave the confines of the shield will also allow enemies to enter of leave it as well, and relatively slow moving objects such as vehicles or large pieces of debris will pass through it without any resistance.
Other Flaws: None that I can think of off the top of my head.... I think I got them all above.
Brief History: Born on Bliss on December 11th, 2522, she lived a normal childhood until Bliss was destroyed by the Covenant in 2526 – she was separated from her mother, father and younger brother in the chaos of the evacuation, and they were assumed dead after their names were not listed among those who managed to escape off world from the Covenant. She spent the next 3 years in an orphanage on Eridanus II before she was located by ONI and inducted as a candidate into the SPARTAN III program. Whithin months of arriving on Onyx Erica quickly displayed a remarkable intuition with explosives and heavy ordnance, and was transferred out of Alpha Company to with the intention of finishing her training in the HEADHUNTER program alongside SPARTAN A197 after she learned how to channel her aggression into an effective weapon. After new protocols were enacted, however, she and A197 were transferred out of the SPARTAN III program entirely along with several other recruits with the intent of saving at least a small portion of Alpha Company from the meat grinder. She and A197 were both given MJOLNIR Mark IV armor in 2535 upon graduation, and after performing several missions they were both transferred into DEFENDER Team, which was formed along with SPARTAN A291, with A291 commanding the unit from 2535 to 2545, with A291 again assuming command in 2551 and during the Battle of Reach in 2552, with Heidi B206 taking command of the unit upon arrival at Earth on October 20th, 2552 when A291 was declared Missing In Action a month later.
As the war drew to a close Erica would remain part of DEFENDER Team, with the squad seeing deployment to multiple theatres during the Covenant occupation of Earth – namely the Battle of Columbus and several skirmishes in Australia and northern Africa, and after the war officially ended on March 3rd of 2553, DEFENDER Team was among the few Spartans who could still be accounted for. Without an actual war to fight anymore and with the Jiralhanae otherwise occupied with their internal wars and conflict with the Sangheili, DEFENDER Team was more or less diverted to peace keeping and security roles, typically sent in ahead of colony ships to clear out worlds that had been previously held by Covenant forces, more often than not encountering little more than rogue Jiralhanae or Kig Yar groups gone pirate. It was en route back to Earth again from one such mission that their ship, a Mako class corvette, suffered a malfunction with their Shaw-Fujikawa drive, a result of improper maintenance. While the ship remained intact and suffered no more than a few system overloads, the ship itself was dropped out of slip space travel, although the ship’s crew and compliment of Spartans and Marines would have yet to realize exactly where – or when - they were.
Reason for being on AM: I'm more or less going to go with Slip Space accident - it worked for Nicole in Dead Or Alive 4, and forced her back into the 21st century. Technically not Halo canon anymore given all of their retcons (and the rather ambigous Spartan II count), but it was considered such at one point, and theoretically possible given the time and space bending properties of the slip space drive - they've been likened to man made singularities without gravity fields when malfunctioning in Ghosts of Onyx. Given the way the things work, it's entirely possible that a malfunctioning one could transport someone into an alternate reality.
Sample RP: RESERVED - an audition for the character would be appreciated, just to make sure that you are playing her well.
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