Difference between revisions of "Rook"

A trained sniper and former member of a special forces unit, Rook and his team mates were betrayed by one of their own; the armored powerhouse Black Queen. Left bloodied and presumed dead amongst the bodies of his fallen comrades in the Canadian wilds, Rook survived thanks to the ministrations of a local native tribe's shaman. Unfortunately he was unable to fully heal Rook, resulting in the loss of his left eye. Rook subsequently retrained himself to use his right eye for targetting.

Returning to civilisation, Rook left active duty with the canadian military and was seconded to the UK, and became a member of the MOD sponsored Valiant supergroup. During this time he turned his attention to tracking down Black Queen. He has been distracted from his mission by requests from local authorities and the Champions to assist with capture of other fugitive villains.

Beginnings...

Warren was born on June 30th 1976 at White Horse General Hospital on the banks of the Yukon River to Lucas and Elizabeth McKenzie. Lucas McKenzie was a Corrections Officer at the nearby Wolf Creek Juvenile Corrections Centre, while Elizabeth (a US Citizen by birth) was a Primary School Teacher. Warren's childhood and teenage years were mostly uneventful except for the death of his father in a traffic collision.

Warren and his father were returning from a weekend hunting trip when their truck was sideswiped by a logging trailer causing their vehicle to tumble off the narrow road into the surrounding woodland. Warren escaped the wreck with only minor lacerations. This narrow escape and the loss of his father caused Warren to retreat into himself, becoming something of a loner. He found it difficult to make and maintain close friendships for fear that he would experience more loss.

The events of July 1992 - destruction of Detroit and partial destruction of neighbouring Canadian city, Windsor - had a major effect on Warren. Shaken out of his melancholy by the damage and loss of life on such a grand scale, Warren made a decision that would change the course of his own life forever.

A Soldier's life for me...

At the age of 17 (and with his mother's permission) Warren applied for and was accepted into the Canadian Military. After showing a natural aptitude with firearms during basic training, Warren was earmarked by an unknown officer for deployment to the Special Weapons Detail.

Due to his outstanding results at training, Warren was encouraged to continue his formal education alongside his military training in order that he could gain a commission in the future. Following the advanced weapons training with the Special Weapons Detail; Warren was assigned to Joint Task Force-2; Canada’s elite anti-terrorism unit (the equivalent of the US Army Delta Force or the British SAS).

Warren continued to show an almost preternatural ability with weapons, and was soon topping the ratings in the JTF-2 firing range. His unknown benefactor continued to influence Warren's career behind the scenes leading him to be co-opted for several overseas operations.

Operations of JTF-2 are still classified and so have been redacted from public records of Warren's service history.

Operation Checkmate...

While in Afghanistan in 2001, Warren was approached by a Major General Brock. Brock had been charged with forming a covert team of military specialists to fight the growing menaces which were appearing in Canada almost daily it seemed. Whether super powered villains attracted to Canada by the likes of VIPER and ARGENT or alien invaders, the Military was not willing to leave the defense of the nation to the handful of so called Super Heroes which called Canada home. Intrigued by this new challenge, Warren readily agreed to join the team. Strings were thus pulled and Warren soon found himself stationed near the small Manitoba town of Churchill on the western shore of Hudson Bay.

Fort Churchill is an Arctic site on Hudson Bay with a rail link. It is near the point of maximum auroral activity. This combination of circumstances made it ideal for far-north sounding rocket launches. Initially used by the Canadian Army in 1954, construction of more elaborate facilities in support of the International Geophysical Year began in 1956. The range was closed again in December 1958 after the IGY program ended. It was reopened again in August 1959 by the US Army as part of its network of sounding rocket stations. This allowed use of the site by other groups over the years. In late 1960 a fire largely destroyed the facilities at Fort Churchill. When the United States decided to end its activities at Churchill by June 1970, the Canadian National Research Council took over operations to support the Canadian Upper Atmosphere Research Program. The Canadian military also found the site useful for characterization of the ionosphere for military communications.

By the 1990's the facility was inactive and various attempts to revitalize it failed. It was at this point that the Canadian Army chose to use the site as a base for several of it's covert projects. The majority of the new base was built underground with only several small structures at ground level to give any indication of habitation. The movement of people in and out of the site was explained as chemical and fallout testing due to the checkered history of the site. In late 2000 use of the site was allocated to Major General Brock for Operation Checkmate.

Brock began his monumental task by setting up his operations team and tasking them with reviewing the best and brightest that the Canadian Military had to offer, alongside collating as much information on threats to Canadian soil as they could beg, borrow or even steal. By the end of the year Brock was ready to begin assembling his first team.

All members of the team were supplied with equipment suitable to their role, including an advanced battle armor customised to each person's skills. For example, Rook's armor provided him with advanced stealth capabilities, while Queen's flight suit allowed her much greater agility than any plane she had flown.

Initially the team proved to be successful working together well to uncover and remove several VIPER bases. Shortly however it seemed that VIPER began to anticipate their moves, and so each time they arrived at a targeted location they found it empty. Although Brock conducted an intensive investigation no evidence of infiltration of Checkmate by VIPER operatives. Details of missions were nevertheless restricted to senior personnel and to the team itself. As the string of failed missions continued to run on, tensions between team members began to rise. Despite not wishing to distrust their comrades each began to suspect one of the others of inadvertently or deliberately letting details of their operations slip.

The situation came to a head finally in the summer of 2001. After arriving at what appeared to be yet another in a long series of suspiciously empty warehouses, the ground team were attacked from the air by a volley of anti personnel missiles. Missiles which had been specifically tailored to pierce the Checkmate armor. Always quick on his feet, Rook had managed to shield himself somewhat but as he lay battered under the bodies of his fallen team mates, his sight blurred by blood from his own wounds he caught a glimpse of their attacker before slipping into unconsciousness. An attaker wearing a rather unique Checkmate Flight suit.

Some days later, Rook awoke in a small hide covered tent. Raising his hand to his aching head he found the left side of his face bandaged tightly with heavy padding over his eye. His right eye was unimpeded however and he began to take in his unfamiliar surroundings as a deep growl of a voice behind him said gruffly "We found you crawling in the forest at edge of our hunting grounds. I have done what I can for your wounds." Rook struggled to turn around but found his body refused to budge more than a few inches, and he was forced to reply to the disembodied voice, "My Team Mates?" he asked, dreading the answer. "We found none alive. We buried them near where they fell to prevent animals disturbing the remains. When you regain your strength perhaps you will be able to tell us what happened." The speaker returned to a position in Rook's line of sight, and the injured soldier was shocked to learn that his saviors were in fact Sasquatch, creatures he had long ago dismissed as myth.

Feeling that he was no longer fit for military service, Rook perhaps remained in Chiyetanka longer than was necessary for physical recovery. The quiet routine of the Sasquatch appealed to him. Over the next few months as Rook recovered from his wounds, he lived and worked with the Sasquatch in their hidden village in what he learned was called Chiyetanka Bluff. Although the majority of his wounds healed leaving only light scars to indicate any damage had been done; his left eye was gone, lost to shrapnel from the attack. Despite this obvious disability the Sasquatch encouraged Rook to accompany them on hunting raids. The monotone surroundings and drifting snow meant Rook's lack of depth perception was less of a hindrance than he thought it would be and he soon learned to compensate sufficiently that he was rivaling his hosts' best hunters.

The Valiant Few...

Going Home...

Coming Soon...

Skills: Almost preternatural aim and ability with weapons. Given Code Name for ability to sit on sidelines and shoot directly on targets a long distance away. (All team members were named for chess pieces)

Rook maintains a large stockpile of weapons and equipment in his base. His current standard field kit consists of the following:

S.T.A.S.H. (Subspace Transportation And Storage Handler):
Created by Professor Zack Zapperoni, this small device creates a subspace pocket into which large items can be stored and retrieved. Rook uses it to ensure he has an adequate supply of weapons and ammo in the field.

2 x Modified Browning 9-mm Pistols:
The Browning 9-mm pistol is a personal protection weapon used mainly in close-quarter combat. The pistol is semi-automatic, recoil-operated, and magazine-fed. It is equipped with a magazine safety, an applied safety catch, and fires 9-mm x 19-mm ammunition. The Browning is use by those who require a sidearm that can be rapidly drawn and fired, even in confined spaces. The pistol consists of a barrel, a slide, a breech block, a frame, and normally a 13 round magazine. Rook's 9-mms have been modified to accept a 20 round magazine with quick release/reload mechanism.

Modified C8A3 Carbine Rifle
The light-weight C8A3 is air-cooled, gas-operated, and magazine-fed. It can easily be disassembled for inspection and cleaning. The C8A3 is an evolutionary or mid-life program upgrade from the C8 carbine variant. It is equipped with ambidextrous controls, low infrared signature furniture and an extendable butt to better fit personnel wearing protective equipment. The C8A3 can also be fitted with a bayonet for close combat. Its primary sighting system is the holographic sight which is designed for close combat. The holographic sight is supplemented by an adjustable front and backup sight. Much of the furniture has been replaced with composite materials to further reduce the weight.

Modified C3A1 Sniper Rifle - 7.62 mm
The C3A1 sniper rifle can deliver highly accurate fire at a target up to 800 metres away. The variation of the C3A1 that Rook prefers consists of a one-piece McMillan composite stock with an adjustable butt and cheek piece, as well as a handstop with an attached bipod. Rook's C3A1 has been modified to reduce it's weight.

Modified C9A2 Light Machine Gun
The C9A2 light machine gun (LMG) is primarily used as an infantry support weapon. Equipped with an adjustable bipod, it is normally fired from the prone position and is solely capable of full automatic fire. The C9A2 is air-cooled, gas-operated and equipped with a rotating bolt locking system. Designed with a dual feed system, it fires from a disintegrating link belt of 200 rounds. In emergencies, a 30-round rifle magazine can be used instead. The primary sighting system is an optical sight. The C9A2 has a low infrared signature, a foldable and extendable 4-position butt, a cover with a longer rail mount and adjustable rear sight assembly and a short barrel assembly with folding handle. Rook has again modified this C9A2 to lose a significant amount of weight while retaining it's other specifications. Most if this weight loss has been achieved by use of composite materials. The loss of weight allows Rook to use this weapon more comfortably while on the move. The C9A2 can maintain a high sustained rate-of-fire due to its two interchangeable, quick-change barrels; the disintegrating belt feed system and the open breech firing system, which prevents cook-off.

Grappler
On Rook's left forearm is concealed a dual barrel microfilament grappler. This device allows Rook to easily scale vertical or near vertical surfaces in order to reach strategic vantage points. In addition to this the device can be used to swing himself onto otherwise unreachable locations. Utilising a dual cable system with quick retract mechanism, the Grappler can be fired quickly in succession allowing Rook to swing further than a single length of microfilament would allow. Each cable is tipped with an diamond sharp micro dart. These darts are designed using a nanomesh of memory metal, by applying an electrical charge along the microfilament the darts form a barbed shape to embed within whatever surface they have penetrated; releasing the charge reverts them to a streamlined needle allowing them to release their grip and retract into the Grappler. If the barb cannot be released for some reason the entire cable magazine is ejected from the Grappler to prevent Rook getting tangled in a lost cable.

Fire Ant

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  Revised Checkmate Armor

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  After being thrown back in time, as in 1960s Canada.

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  Returning to Canada

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  Exoskeleton (built by iRun Man)

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  Out of Costume

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  Urban Spec Ops

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  Urban Spec Ops (Turnaround)

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  Arctic Spec Ops

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  Arctic Spec Ops (Turnaround)

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  Aquatic Spec Ops

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  Night Spec Ops

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  Night Spec Ops (Turnaround)

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  Desert Spec Ops

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  Desert Spec Ops (Turnaround)

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  Jungle Spec Ops

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  Jungle Spec Ops (Turnaround)

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  Mac exercising at a local Gym

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  Mac back in White Horse (with his truck in the background)

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  Mac working with UNTIL as a Security Consultant

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  Nicole Rueben aka Black Queen

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  More to Follow...

One of Rook's favorite places to relax is Hurricane Harry's Bar & Lounge in Midtown, VB.

Fun Fact? - June 30th 1976 - Canadian Parliament votes to abolish the death penalty

Original Concept: Rook's original concept was a homage/combination of Punisher (Marvel), Nick Fury (Marvel)/ John Lynch (Wildstorm) with a bit of Wolverine (Marvel) thrown in. His name is in fact derived from Punisher > Frank Castle > Castle also called a Rook > which led to the chess concept in the background story.

Fort Churchill, Manitoba

COMMENTS & IMPRESSIONS If you have a connection with or an anecdote about Rook, please leave a comment below. (Note: Seperate comments with a <hr> tag)

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