Post by nicholas on Oct 27, 2011 12:31:12 GMT -5
Cbox Name: Spartan291
Nicknames: Slate
Main Account: Nicholas
Who else do you play?: None
How did you find us?: Advertisement on Through The Gates
Category: Original Character
Name: Nicholas
Alias: Nicholas-A291, Sierra-A291, SPARTAN-A291, all of the above, but with only the number suffix "291"
Age: 34 solar years (subjective age of 27, with 5 years spent in cryo sleep in the 24th century, and another 2 spent in the 21st)
Ranking: Anti-hero
Physical Appearance: Outside of his armor, Nicholas would be all but unremarkable except for three simple things, but things that set him apart from the vast majority of the human race - his height, build, and number of scars, although he bears fewer of these than most of his brothers and sisters did. Standing at exactly 7 feet tall outside of his armor due to the augmentation process every Spartan candidate went through as a final test meant to make them into the ultimate soldiers, Nicholas towers over virtually everyone else, with only a few humans and other species actually standing taller than him, and usually not by much. While his choice in clothing usuall tends to hide it as well, Nicholas is also in what many would consider peak physical condition for any normal human, another desired effect of the augmentation process as well as the brutal training he underwent during his early years. In terms of distinguishing markings, Nicholas bears a small number of facial scars, usually no more than any other professional soldier or mercenary, although the rest of his body are covered by them. Nicholas has dark brown hair, worn about as long as military regulations would allow out of habit, and brown eyes, with a light complexion.
Inside of his armor Nicholas is much more intimidating, standing at a full 7' 4", and his weight increased from 297 pounds to 728 while encased in his jet black Mark V MJOLNIR armor. The armor itself is still in near pristine condition, with only a scuff mark here or there or a spot of scratched off black paint or two to show that it has indeed seen use since Nicholas obtained it. The visor itself stands out in sharp contrast, a gleaming gold color compared to the jet black of the armor plating and matte black of the lightly armored undersuit, and several pockets are attached to the chestpiece, along with a larger softcase attached to the armor's left thigh and yet another softcase attached to the back of the armor's waist.
Personality: Extremely laid back for a Spartan even from the start, Nicholas likely won't have many problems adjusting to civilian life beyond having an extremely specialized skill set. Unfortunately, however, the very upbringing that made him into what he is also makes him highly unsuited to casual interaction with the general populance - his usually rather blunt and to the point when interacting with others will probably prove to be a bit much for most people, and as a Spartan he'll prefer to speak only when needed unless with other soldiers and military professionals. Another one of the side effects of his training, however, is his need to belong, to work in a group - while he is perfectly capable of working on his own, Spartan IIIs were trained from the start to view the other candidates as their brothers, their sisters, family, and encouraged to work with them rather than alone. While his abilities and skills are the envy of virtually any combat oriented group, his behavior in combat makes many people wary of working with him, as he shows a brutal, meansured aggression and ruthless behavior in combat that few sane, balanced individuals are capable of, and when combined with his rather intimidating appearance most people, even professionals, tend to avoid him when possible.
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 Nicholas prefers mid to long range combat, he, like all Spartan IIs, is brutally effective at any range, and is incredibly skilled with any firearm or melee weapon as well as hand to hand combat.
"You don't win unless your team wins.": More or less an extension of the above, but when made to work with a group, Nicholas, like every Spartan, adopts the "No man left behind" policy, the first thing to be drilled into every Spartan to counter their aggression and turn them into an effective fighting force. If you are lucky enough for him to consider you an ally, he will make damn sure that you make it through whatever is encountered alive. If there's an enemy you don't see or can't fight, they will be dealt with. If you are about to take a hit that you wouldn't be able to survive, he will either move you out of the way or take the hit himself, and if you can't move quickly enough to keep up with the group, he will drag or carry you to the finish line. Never let it be said that Nicholas wasn't a team player, regardless of the fact that his best work was done alone.
Equipment:
MJOLNIR Mark V Powered Assault Armor: First and formost is his armor, both one of Nicholas' sole personal possessions as well as the signature symbol of the SPARTAN IIs and the few SPARTAN IIIs good enough and lucky enough to be chosen. 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 V version of the armor is equipped with both a UNSC developed second generation shield system. 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. Nicholas' armor is also equipped with a officer issue tactical pad on the left wrist, although without the UNSC's B-Net and tactical satellites it is, for the most part, useless.
SRS 99 Anti-Matériel: A high grade sniper rifle produced by Misriah Armories and used by the UNSC's Army and Navy, this weapon utilizes 14.5 calibre, armor piercing sabot discarding rounds. Equipped with a Oracle scope and night vision capabilities (which are redundant given the MJOLNIR's VISR mode), the weapon is capable of tearing through both armor and enemy soldiers with vicious ease. The smart linked scope, in addition to allowing both long range combat and range finding, also features a built in electronic compass. The weapon itself is limited by both large size and low ammunition capacity, able to fire only four shots before needing to be reloaded.
BR55HB SR Battle Rifle: A multipurpose rifle employed by many branches of the UNSC, this weapon can be fired in single shot, triple shot, or full auto mode, and features a 36 round magazine. Equipped with a smart linked scope mounted on the weapon's optics railing, this weapon is capable of both long range and close quarters combat in addition to the optimal mid range scenarios. The weapon's accuracy suffers slightly when fired in burst mode while moving (which tends to splinter each shot in the group), and due to recoil the weapon's full auto mode is highly inaccurate unless used in close quarters.
M6C/SOCOM: An upgrade to the standard M6 series sidearm employed by the UNSC, this variant is virtually exclusive to the UNSC's Special Operations and NAVSPECWEP divisions, namely the ODSTs and Spartans. Equipped with a integrated sound suppressor, muzzle brake, x4 smart linked scope and an extended 12 round magazine typically loaded with 12.7 mm armor piercing rounds, this weapon is quick, silent and lethal. While highly accurate and capable of long range combat, the sidearm lacks the sheer offensive power of most other weapons - it is more powerful than most pistols, but no match for a rifle unless used at far range (and assuming the rifle is meant for CQC).
Combat Knife
Psychological Flaws: Trained from childhood to work in a group, Nicholas tends to get nervous when working on his own in enemy territory - while it doesn't impact his combat performance much, it does make finer, more specialized objectives more difficult for him to achieve as he is aware of this weakness and as such diverts most of his attention to keeping an eye on his surroundings and armor's motion tracker, detracting from the attention he can pay to what he can focus on. Another problem is that while ruthless and brutally efficient in combat, Nicholas is not used to working with individuals who aren't Spartans, and while he will trust them with technical or logistical work, for the most part he will tend to view them as weak links in combat until proven otherwise. While not a true limitation on his part, it does mean that Nicholas will be wary to leave them on their own in dangerous situations, and as such will be possibly even more nervous and singularly focused on one thing at a time than he would be if working alone.
Physical Flaws: While he himself is in perfect physical condition and beyond what most people would consider humanly possible in both speed and strength, Nicholas is still only human when seperated from his armor - for all of his strength and skill, anything that would prove fatal to a normal human will kill him just as quickly. While his bones can't be broken, his flesh, tendons and organs can be, and there are very likely mutants and non humans out there easily capable of matching or surpassing his physical strength and speed.
While he is very well protected in his armor, the suit isn't perfect, and comes with yet another set of drawbacks. Nicholas is much, much heavier when encased in his MJOLNIR, and as such cannot be supported by many physical objects, and his sheer size makes moving in cramped quarters difficult, if not impossible, a problem further exacerbated by his 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 severe or possibly fatal injuries, and drops from low orbit are out of the question with the Mark V armor. 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. 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.
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 March 3rd, 2520 on Earth, Nicholas soon moved to Harvest with his family as part of the colonization effort in 2522. When the world was attacked 3 years later by the Covenant, Nicholas was the sole survivor of his family, having witnessed his parents cut down by Brute infantry at the spaceport as his evacuation shuttle lifted off of the planet. After wandering around UNSC controlled space by stowing away on various cargo ships and having displayed a natural knack for survival, is noticed by an ONI operative conducting one of several searches for SPARTAN III candidates in September of 2531. When offered a chance to get back at the Covenant, Nicholas at first hesitates. After several hours of thinking it over, he accepts the offer, but out of curiosity, not a thirst for revenge as the ONI officer had expected. Nicholas began SPARTAN III training on December 7, 2531, as part of SPARTAN III’s Alpha Company. Over the next 4 years, Nicholas displayed a natural instinct for stealth, and was noted by trainers for having a nasty habit of being able to move without a sound in every terrain that he trained on, even without SPI armor, which was only aided by his slim build. He also displayed a remarkable talent for combat knives and long range weaponry, hitting targets as far as 3 miles away with long ranged sniper and anti vehicle rifles, as well as an incredible tactical ability that ensured that his team always won during training exercises. Just before Alpha Company graduated in 2536, however, Nicholas was transferred out of the company along with a handful of other SPARTAN IIIs who also matched the SPARTAN II genetic template. All of the SPARTAN IIIs who were transferred out of Alpha were given MJOLNIR Mark IV armor to replace the cheaper, inferior SPI Mark I models. Nicholas is transferred to ONI’s Spec Ops division, and over the next 15 years performed upwards of 1,000 missions against Insurrectionist and Covenant forces, with roughly 700 of said missions performed solo. Despite his SPARTAN III training and natural preference for working as part of a team, ONI almost immediately recognized that Nicholas worked best alone. In 2551, the Mark V armor entered service. On his third mission using the armor in early December of the same year, Nicholas got caught in an Insurrectionist ambush due to faulty intelligence provided by ONI, and his armor’s shield system is pushed to the point of overload by a blast from a Lotus antitank mine. He survived the ambush, and upon mission completion, is recovered by ONI forced and returned to the UNSC’s Songnam facility on Earth on December 14, 2551. His Mark V armor, rather than being scrapped, is repaired and overhauled to meet the standards of MJOLNIR Mark VI armor which was currently under development at the facility. Upon completion of the repairs on December 20, Nicholas reentered active service. During the Battle of Reach, Nicholas grudgingly escaped to Earth under orders to evacuate Reach’s ONI personnel from the main facility in New Alexandria alongside ECHO team, rather than stay and fight as he would have preferred. Managing to escape from Reach in one of the few military transports that managed to survive the battle, Nicholas would meet with misfortune yet again as the slip space drive, for whatever reason, malfunctioned, teleporting the entire ship to oblivion… or so the UNSC would believe from the lack of physical evidence. In reality the space bending properties of the malfunctioning Shaw-Fujikawa drive instead sent Nicholas back to the 21st century, although this would not be of much help to him – still kept in a cryo pod as much of the ship’s crew was during the slip space jump, Nicholas was the only survivor, his armor protecting him from the system overload that killed the rest of the cryosleep trapped crew and the vacuum that killed those who weren’t sealed in one of the pods – the ship, while for the most part intact, suffered a hull breach as well, venting most of the atmosphere. Stuck adrift and still encased in his pod, now running on emergency power, Nicholas can do little but wait for something to find and wake him.
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:
Theme Songs:
Machines and Might
Apocalypse
Tip of The Spear
Lone Wolf
Gun Pointed At the Head of the Universe
Mombassa Suite (Broken Gates)
Mombassa Suite (Encounter)
The Last Spartan
Delta Halo (Wage)
Unyielding
Ghosts of Reach
Follow Our Brothers (1:35 onwards)
The Menagerie from 2:40 onwards (On The Prowl)
Desperate Measures
High Charity Suite 2
Fortress
Nicknames: Slate
Main Account: Nicholas
Who else do you play?: None
How did you find us?: Advertisement on Through The Gates
Category: Original Character
Name: Nicholas
Alias: Nicholas-A291, Sierra-A291, SPARTAN-A291, all of the above, but with only the number suffix "291"
Age: 34 solar years (subjective age of 27, with 5 years spent in cryo sleep in the 24th century, and another 2 spent in the 21st)
Ranking: Anti-hero
Physical Appearance: Outside of his armor, Nicholas would be all but unremarkable except for three simple things, but things that set him apart from the vast majority of the human race - his height, build, and number of scars, although he bears fewer of these than most of his brothers and sisters did. Standing at exactly 7 feet tall outside of his armor due to the augmentation process every Spartan candidate went through as a final test meant to make them into the ultimate soldiers, Nicholas towers over virtually everyone else, with only a few humans and other species actually standing taller than him, and usually not by much. While his choice in clothing usuall tends to hide it as well, Nicholas is also in what many would consider peak physical condition for any normal human, another desired effect of the augmentation process as well as the brutal training he underwent during his early years. In terms of distinguishing markings, Nicholas bears a small number of facial scars, usually no more than any other professional soldier or mercenary, although the rest of his body are covered by them. Nicholas has dark brown hair, worn about as long as military regulations would allow out of habit, and brown eyes, with a light complexion.
Inside of his armor Nicholas is much more intimidating, standing at a full 7' 4", and his weight increased from 297 pounds to 728 while encased in his jet black Mark V MJOLNIR armor. The armor itself is still in near pristine condition, with only a scuff mark here or there or a spot of scratched off black paint or two to show that it has indeed seen use since Nicholas obtained it. The visor itself stands out in sharp contrast, a gleaming gold color compared to the jet black of the armor plating and matte black of the lightly armored undersuit, and several pockets are attached to the chestpiece, along with a larger softcase attached to the armor's left thigh and yet another softcase attached to the back of the armor's waist.
Personality: Extremely laid back for a Spartan even from the start, Nicholas likely won't have many problems adjusting to civilian life beyond having an extremely specialized skill set. Unfortunately, however, the very upbringing that made him into what he is also makes him highly unsuited to casual interaction with the general populance - his usually rather blunt and to the point when interacting with others will probably prove to be a bit much for most people, and as a Spartan he'll prefer to speak only when needed unless with other soldiers and military professionals. Another one of the side effects of his training, however, is his need to belong, to work in a group - while he is perfectly capable of working on his own, Spartan IIIs were trained from the start to view the other candidates as their brothers, their sisters, family, and encouraged to work with them rather than alone. While his abilities and skills are the envy of virtually any combat oriented group, his behavior in combat makes many people wary of working with him, as he shows a brutal, meansured aggression and ruthless behavior in combat that few sane, balanced individuals are capable of, and when combined with his rather intimidating appearance most people, even professionals, tend to avoid him when possible.
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 Nicholas prefers mid to long range combat, he, like all Spartan IIs, is brutally effective at any range, and is incredibly skilled with any firearm or melee weapon as well as hand to hand combat.
"You don't win unless your team wins.": More or less an extension of the above, but when made to work with a group, Nicholas, like every Spartan, adopts the "No man left behind" policy, the first thing to be drilled into every Spartan to counter their aggression and turn them into an effective fighting force. If you are lucky enough for him to consider you an ally, he will make damn sure that you make it through whatever is encountered alive. If there's an enemy you don't see or can't fight, they will be dealt with. If you are about to take a hit that you wouldn't be able to survive, he will either move you out of the way or take the hit himself, and if you can't move quickly enough to keep up with the group, he will drag or carry you to the finish line. Never let it be said that Nicholas wasn't a team player, regardless of the fact that his best work was done alone.
Equipment:
MJOLNIR Mark V Powered Assault Armor: First and formost is his armor, both one of Nicholas' sole personal possessions as well as the signature symbol of the SPARTAN IIs and the few SPARTAN IIIs good enough and lucky enough to be chosen. 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 V version of the armor is equipped with both a UNSC developed second generation shield system. 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. Nicholas' armor is also equipped with a officer issue tactical pad on the left wrist, although without the UNSC's B-Net and tactical satellites it is, for the most part, useless.
SRS 99 Anti-Matériel: A high grade sniper rifle produced by Misriah Armories and used by the UNSC's Army and Navy, this weapon utilizes 14.5 calibre, armor piercing sabot discarding rounds. Equipped with a Oracle scope and night vision capabilities (which are redundant given the MJOLNIR's VISR mode), the weapon is capable of tearing through both armor and enemy soldiers with vicious ease. The smart linked scope, in addition to allowing both long range combat and range finding, also features a built in electronic compass. The weapon itself is limited by both large size and low ammunition capacity, able to fire only four shots before needing to be reloaded.
BR55HB SR Battle Rifle: A multipurpose rifle employed by many branches of the UNSC, this weapon can be fired in single shot, triple shot, or full auto mode, and features a 36 round magazine. Equipped with a smart linked scope mounted on the weapon's optics railing, this weapon is capable of both long range and close quarters combat in addition to the optimal mid range scenarios. The weapon's accuracy suffers slightly when fired in burst mode while moving (which tends to splinter each shot in the group), and due to recoil the weapon's full auto mode is highly inaccurate unless used in close quarters.
M6C/SOCOM: An upgrade to the standard M6 series sidearm employed by the UNSC, this variant is virtually exclusive to the UNSC's Special Operations and NAVSPECWEP divisions, namely the ODSTs and Spartans. Equipped with a integrated sound suppressor, muzzle brake, x4 smart linked scope and an extended 12 round magazine typically loaded with 12.7 mm armor piercing rounds, this weapon is quick, silent and lethal. While highly accurate and capable of long range combat, the sidearm lacks the sheer offensive power of most other weapons - it is more powerful than most pistols, but no match for a rifle unless used at far range (and assuming the rifle is meant for CQC).
Combat Knife
Weaknesses
Psychological Flaws: Trained from childhood to work in a group, Nicholas tends to get nervous when working on his own in enemy territory - while it doesn't impact his combat performance much, it does make finer, more specialized objectives more difficult for him to achieve as he is aware of this weakness and as such diverts most of his attention to keeping an eye on his surroundings and armor's motion tracker, detracting from the attention he can pay to what he can focus on. Another problem is that while ruthless and brutally efficient in combat, Nicholas is not used to working with individuals who aren't Spartans, and while he will trust them with technical or logistical work, for the most part he will tend to view them as weak links in combat until proven otherwise. While not a true limitation on his part, it does mean that Nicholas will be wary to leave them on their own in dangerous situations, and as such will be possibly even more nervous and singularly focused on one thing at a time than he would be if working alone.
Physical Flaws: While he himself is in perfect physical condition and beyond what most people would consider humanly possible in both speed and strength, Nicholas is still only human when seperated from his armor - for all of his strength and skill, anything that would prove fatal to a normal human will kill him just as quickly. While his bones can't be broken, his flesh, tendons and organs can be, and there are very likely mutants and non humans out there easily capable of matching or surpassing his physical strength and speed.
While he is very well protected in his armor, the suit isn't perfect, and comes with yet another set of drawbacks. Nicholas is much, much heavier when encased in his MJOLNIR, and as such cannot be supported by many physical objects, and his sheer size makes moving in cramped quarters difficult, if not impossible, a problem further exacerbated by his 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 severe or possibly fatal injuries, and drops from low orbit are out of the question with the Mark V armor. 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. 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.
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 March 3rd, 2520 on Earth, Nicholas soon moved to Harvest with his family as part of the colonization effort in 2522. When the world was attacked 3 years later by the Covenant, Nicholas was the sole survivor of his family, having witnessed his parents cut down by Brute infantry at the spaceport as his evacuation shuttle lifted off of the planet. After wandering around UNSC controlled space by stowing away on various cargo ships and having displayed a natural knack for survival, is noticed by an ONI operative conducting one of several searches for SPARTAN III candidates in September of 2531. When offered a chance to get back at the Covenant, Nicholas at first hesitates. After several hours of thinking it over, he accepts the offer, but out of curiosity, not a thirst for revenge as the ONI officer had expected. Nicholas began SPARTAN III training on December 7, 2531, as part of SPARTAN III’s Alpha Company. Over the next 4 years, Nicholas displayed a natural instinct for stealth, and was noted by trainers for having a nasty habit of being able to move without a sound in every terrain that he trained on, even without SPI armor, which was only aided by his slim build. He also displayed a remarkable talent for combat knives and long range weaponry, hitting targets as far as 3 miles away with long ranged sniper and anti vehicle rifles, as well as an incredible tactical ability that ensured that his team always won during training exercises. Just before Alpha Company graduated in 2536, however, Nicholas was transferred out of the company along with a handful of other SPARTAN IIIs who also matched the SPARTAN II genetic template. All of the SPARTAN IIIs who were transferred out of Alpha were given MJOLNIR Mark IV armor to replace the cheaper, inferior SPI Mark I models. Nicholas is transferred to ONI’s Spec Ops division, and over the next 15 years performed upwards of 1,000 missions against Insurrectionist and Covenant forces, with roughly 700 of said missions performed solo. Despite his SPARTAN III training and natural preference for working as part of a team, ONI almost immediately recognized that Nicholas worked best alone. In 2551, the Mark V armor entered service. On his third mission using the armor in early December of the same year, Nicholas got caught in an Insurrectionist ambush due to faulty intelligence provided by ONI, and his armor’s shield system is pushed to the point of overload by a blast from a Lotus antitank mine. He survived the ambush, and upon mission completion, is recovered by ONI forced and returned to the UNSC’s Songnam facility on Earth on December 14, 2551. His Mark V armor, rather than being scrapped, is repaired and overhauled to meet the standards of MJOLNIR Mark VI armor which was currently under development at the facility. Upon completion of the repairs on December 20, Nicholas reentered active service. During the Battle of Reach, Nicholas grudgingly escaped to Earth under orders to evacuate Reach’s ONI personnel from the main facility in New Alexandria alongside ECHO team, rather than stay and fight as he would have preferred. Managing to escape from Reach in one of the few military transports that managed to survive the battle, Nicholas would meet with misfortune yet again as the slip space drive, for whatever reason, malfunctioned, teleporting the entire ship to oblivion… or so the UNSC would believe from the lack of physical evidence. In reality the space bending properties of the malfunctioning Shaw-Fujikawa drive instead sent Nicholas back to the 21st century, although this would not be of much help to him – still kept in a cryo pod as much of the ship’s crew was during the slip space jump, Nicholas was the only survivor, his armor protecting him from the system overload that killed the rest of the cryosleep trapped crew and the vacuum that killed those who weren’t sealed in one of the pods – the ship, while for the most part intact, suffered a hull breach as well, venting most of the atmosphere. Stuck adrift and still encased in his pod, now running on emergency power, Nicholas can do little but wait for something to find and wake him.
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:
Loosening his tightened grip on the sniper rifle, Nicholas decided not to take another shot from his current location. It'd been years since she'd ever been in such a position, and the lack of a spotter had further delayed his sniper training from kicking in, but one of the fundamental rules of sniping were to never let the enemy know your position. Either you killed or incapacitated your target with the first shot, or you moved immediately if you missed. It a detail that the instructors had relentlessly drilled into the Spartan candidates from day one of sniper training and a rule Nicholas was now painfully aware that he'd forgotten. Folding up the rifle's bipod, Nicholas lifted it and swung it back over his shoulder to lock onto the magnetic clamp that served as the armor's rifle holster on the back of the torso. Edging backwards and once again thankful for the camouflage unit on his armor, Nicholas stood only once he was sure that the enemy in the street wouldn't have a clear shot from his position in case he had a ranged weapon, only for something to slam into the side of the building. Crouching down instinctively with his M6 sidearm already drawn and aimed towards the open ledge he'd been shooting from, Nicholas saw that the entire area had now been frozen over. Remaining still for several more seconds, Nicholas watched for a follow up attack before standing again, but this time keeping the sidearm in his right hand and ready to fire as he turned to the stairwell behind his and began slowly and cautiously climbing down again. While he doubted that the attack that had hit the building would have so much as scratched his armor, let alone breach its powerful energy shielding, it would still be a headache to deal with. It may have been incapable of harming him alone, but it would make getting a clear shot nearly impossible if his opponent decided to use it again. While the sniper rifle could be used at close range if someone was skilled enough with it, Nicholas wasn't one of those people, at least not one who could guarantee a kill shot in the middle of a four way brawl, and it was yet another reason in Nicholas's mind for his to simply walk in and end the fight there and then with steel rending strength that his augmentations and armor allowed him. He resisted the temptation, though - he'd give the rifle another chance before he decided to get well and truly involved. More than anything he wanted to maintain a low profile, and that would be next to impossible if a super soldier over seven feet tall and clad in powered battle armor simply walked into a fight and joined a brawl at random. Still, this job was what was going to pay for his next month's worth of meals, equipment, lodging and maintenance, and if it went south his reputation would as well. Reaching the bottom of the stairwell, Nicholas switched the silenced pistol to his left hand and pulled a fiber optic probe from one of the pockets on his armor. Edging it around the door, Nicholas panned it around while watching through his HUD, pocketing it and putting the pistol in his right hand again before exiting into the back alley only when he was sure the coast was clear.
Theme Songs:
Machines and Might
Apocalypse
Tip of The Spear
Lone Wolf
Gun Pointed At the Head of the Universe
Mombassa Suite (Broken Gates)
Mombassa Suite (Encounter)
The Last Spartan
Delta Halo (Wage)
Unyielding
Ghosts of Reach
Follow Our Brothers (1:35 onwards)
The Menagerie from 2:40 onwards (On The Prowl)
Desperate Measures
High Charity Suite 2
Fortress
