Lightning Bug

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Lightning Bug
Player: @kenndar
QularrLB.jpg
Your fear is understandable, but no less annoying.
Class Focus: Understanding
Power Level: 40
Research & Development: Data
Personal Data
Real Name: Class Zero Energy Manipulator
Known Aliases: Lightning Bug
Species: Modified Qularr
Ethnicity: Buggy?
Age: Unknown
Height:  ???
Weight:  ???
Eye Color: Blue
Hair Color: None
Biographical Data
Nationality: Qularr
Occupation: Unemployed
Place of Birth: Unknown
Base of Operations: Unknown
Marital Status: Single
Known Relatives: Unknown
Known Powers
Energy Manipulation
Known Abilities
slightly superhuman physique, minor to medium knowledge of Qularr tech and culture, Enhanced Qularr sensory organs
Equipment
Qularr Energy Pistol, Class 4 Ice-Hound
I'm actually more akin to a crab...


History

Class Zero Energy Manipulator. That is my name. And yet, it is not.

Perhaps I should explain.

Awakening

My life started not in darkness, but in light. The hum of lab lights edged me into consciousness. It was a confusing awakening. I did not know where I was. What I was. Who I was.

But there I was, regardless. Standing in an illuminated lab, with devices foreign to me..and words. Strangely, I knew what the words meant. Instinctively or a memory? I did..still do not know. Not for certain.

Thankfully, there was power. One of the devices, a computer, was still active. It was the most accessible thing in the room. As such, I tried my luck at using it to gain some answers. I succeeded. I recall clicking my mandibles at the good fortune. It was a database, of some kind.

I learned many things from reading the reports. For that's what it contained: reports on numerous subjects. Subjugations, experiments, logs of eventful days....All served to broaden my knowledge.

I had concluded that I was a Qularr. I was mentioned in the reports, in fact. How did I know this? Simple. I had already noted the ability to project small sparks from my hands, when I got agitated. The anatomy graphs on default Qularr did not include this ability.

As such, I concluded I was Class Zero Energy Manipulator. However...There wasn't much else on me. Or at least, nothing I could access. I explored the facility after that, but quickly found myself locked in. The doors failed to open, and I did not have the required strength to pry them open.

It was a good thing that the room had a working air filtering system, and rations. My prospects would've been exponentially more grim. With my needs at least partially addressed, I immersed myself in the rest of the data. After all, what else was there to do, aside from experimenting with the devices?

The computer enabled me to learn numerous things. Parts of our history, our technology, our culture. Snippets, for the most part, as the logs mostly contained allusions to events or ideas. But if one read in between the lines...

The impending conquest of an alien planet interested me greatly. Earth. A backwater planet, technologically speaking, but with a lot of diversifications concerning abilities, such as mine. My interest was garnered from the fact that I was intended to be used in this conquest. In fact, I had been infused with human DNA, for experimental purposes.

Did I agree to it? I would be somewhat displeased if I hadn't. Still, it was nice to know that my purpose in life was not to sit in this room for the rest of my life. Another question surfaced: Where was everyone? What happened?

The computer failed to address this. As such, I....Well, I certainly did not panic. It took some time for me to collect myself, though. Which was probably simply because of my exhaustion.

As it was, I (eventually) resigned myself to my solitude. I could not get out: the walls proved immensely thick and/or strong, and some of my early attempts to breaching them resulted in damaged property.

So I simply kept myself busy, hoping that my people would get me out.During my time alone, I honed my powers, knowing that I would need to use them as soon as I was freed. Also, some of my time was spent learning the alien tongue known as English. The computer had an extensive study on it. One could argue why I'd bother, but frankly, If I was to enslave this inferior species, it was only civil to do so in their own tongue.

I also made lovely drawings on the walls, in-between.

Discovery

My time alone came to an abrupt end. I was in the middle of my self-composed musical number, using only my mandibles, chitin, and claws, when I heard loud thumps at the main door. And voices.

Sadly, I have to admit to being slightly confused as to what was making that racket, at first. But then..I heard the voices. Voices without any clicks. Lazy voices. ENGLISH-speaking voices.

I froze. Humans?! What were they doing here? Regardless of my confusion, I knew what I had to do. I could not let aliens have a hold of our advanced technology. As soon as the doors were opened (some grey-skinned fist barreled them open.) , I let loose the biggest electric wave I could, which short-circuited most, if not all of the machinery. The surprised screams were (at the time) delightful. Still, there was one thing that needed to be destroyed.

Me.


I could not let them have me intact. As such, I let loose my carefully prepared battlecry: 'Feel the fury of the Qularr, you inferior species!' and charged towards the opened entrance, energy arcing from my body. I was hoping that the knee-jerk reaction of these aliens would be to perforate me with their armaments, which would greatly reduce my value as a test specimen.

I did not expect the grey-skinned human to deck me in the mandibles. With his fist. It hurt.

Imagine my surprise and disappointment when I woke up, in a less roomier cell, with humans watching over me.

Caged

So began my life in the care of UNTIL. I later found out that I was on Earth, and that I had been living in abandoned lab of my people. Apparently, they were shocked at my ability to speak English. Some of these humans had thought us incapable of it. Heh.

My inner mandible scrunched up in embarrassment when I was told that my battle-cry was a little less perfect than I assumed: ' Feel my furry cool, you ignorant sprinkles!', indeed. Argh.

I remained rebellious, of course. Why would I betray anything of my people to aliens? That is, I remained rebellious...Until I found out that my people had attempted the conquest ( without me...).....And they failed. The notion of my people failing...It was....Hard to take. It sparked uncomfortable questions.

After all, we were supposed to be the superior race. Why did we fail? And If was to be an asset in the conquest, why wasn’t I used?

And the hardest question of all: Did I still wish to aid my people? After all, had they not abandoned me to my fate? Would it be more prudent to put my allegiance with these humans, if only outwardly?

As such, I have been…cooperative, to an extent. My compliance has made my stay more endurable. Several of my keepers helped me hone my English capacities. I have seen human movies, which were…Not bad. I preferred the Sound of Music. All movies should have that many musical numbers, in my opinion.

And recently, I had gotten a device, where other, superpowered or otherwise, entities converse. A show of trust, on their side.

Hopefully, I will be allowed out soon. I wish to gather more data. I will need to see and experience this planet. Only then, can I make an informed and reasonable decision.

Only then.

Powers, skills and assets, oh my!

Powers

Energy Manipulation

LB's main power is Energy Manipulation with an unknown upper limit, though it lies generally in the midtier range of 'meta firepower'. It manifests itself primarily as electric discharges, hence the codename 'Lightning Bug'. It's unknown if he's able to utilize other sources.

Known applications:

  • Shooting thunderbolts from his hands/claw
  • Creating spheres or columns of arc lightning
  • EMP blasts
  • Radar-ish sense of electrical streams and systems
  • Coating himself in an armor of suffused static electricity
  • Instantaneous lightningports

Super-Qularr

Lightning Bug is a super-qularr. That comes with certain advantages. The most obvious being his enhanced physique. It's not a major boost, (he's no Ironclad), but unlike regular people ( or Qularr, for that matter), he can actually endure the rigors and injuries of superhuman combat for an extended time.

The natural gifts of a Qularr are also enhanced. LB is able to pick emotions simply from hearing someone speak. Which is just as well, seeing as his eyesight is kinda crappy. His sense of touch is also astonishing: just by traipsing his claws against a surface can give him clues as to what it is, how it was made, ect... Of course, as a trade-off, he's REALLY lousy at distinguishing smells.

Skills

Qularr Knowledge

While he may not have been raised by Qularr ( or at least, he doesn't recall it), he's had an undetermined time to study the archives in the lab, before he destroyed them.

This gives him a major insight in Qularr technology and culture, unparalleled by anyone else the planet, save perhaps other Qularr.

Assets

Qularr Energy Gun

This piece of Qularr technology is a marvel, and one of the few things that survived LB's electric destruction. At first glance, it looks like something metallic, but closer inspection would reveal the outer layer to be chitin. The inner works are almost completely made out of organic components, which has had the UNTIL scientists baffled. The gun seems to be attuned to Lightning Bug, as he's capable of charging the gun's energy cells.

So far he's only been able to deduce four settings:

  • Stun : little shocks which disorient humanoids pretty effectively,
  • Paralyze : More pronounced shocks, which can incapacitate normals humans and minor superhumans,
  • Force: Similar to UNTIL's weaponry, only this seem to utilize a more cost-efficient method,
  • Disintegration: Very destructive explosive blasts. However, just one shot takes up a third of the energy supplies.

LB suspects it to have more gadgets, however....

Class 4 Ice-Hound

This critter was actually found in a room near LB's living space. It was kept in stasis, but prompted UNTIL to recover it for studies.

LB was allowed to meet the creature, where they almost immediately bonded. He has theorized that this was an intentional thing, genetically coded in the hound's DNA. Regardless, Class 4 Ice Hound (or Clifford) is a loyal companion to the Qularr, assiting him in combat with gales of frost and chilling bites.

Lightning Bug enjoys the kindred spirit, even if he doesn't talk much.

Questions and Answers!

Foreword

This is an OOC section of the database, where I'll address questions that might be raised with Lightning Bug. If you want a question answered, feel free to leave one, I'll get back to it as soon as possible.

Questions

Why a Qularr?

I always enjoyed playing freaky characters, and what's freakier than a giant bug-alien?

.....Okay, many things, but I've noticed very few people playing Qularr, so yeah. There's also the fact that Qularr tend to be nekkid on Earth. Alien Nudist, wooo!

Shouldn't he be racist? Or on the Qularr side of things?

Well, I'm assuming that the xenophobic tendencies of Qularr are a cultural thing. LB has only read about it. Which doesn't have quite the impact that Xenophobic parents, relatives and friends would have.

That, and the perceived superiority of his race has taken a hit in his mind, on account of the failings that the Qularr have had on Earth. If they are so superior, how did an inferior race manage to beat them back? Several times, even?

Also, the Qularr haven't done him any favors so far. They seem to have abandoned him to his fate, if the caved in lab was any indication. The rations and technology were there by good fortune, not anything planned on his race's part.

But UNTIL locked him in a cage!

Indeed. A Qularr task force would not have given the same mercy to a human captive. They'd have experimented on them, perhaps even dissected, if the reports were anything to go by.

Instead, they fed him, helped him attain a passing knowledge of English and other subjects, and given him a chance at integration. So far, this 'inferior' species is proving to be more benevolent.

So he's on Humanity's side?

...Not Quite. He's more leaning towards it, sure, but he'd like to see what his race has been doing. Seeing the world and interacting with his inhabitants is also a priority. Once he's gathered enough information, he'll be able to say yes or no.

But for now? Sure. He'll help humans, as he's working on his decision.


IC opinions

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