Six
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Contents
Known Origin
Power changes hands quickly in VIPER. When the leader of a nest in Armenia was deposed and replaced, the new management discovered a warehouse full of strange artifacts. One of these artifacts was a heavy stone sarcophagus with a symbol carved into it resembling the number six. When the sarcophagus was opened it revealed a human in some kind of torpor but very much alive. The new nest leader initiated the Elijah Project and began experimenting on the strange human immediately. Six, as he came to be known, was carved, stabbed, injected, burned, and whatever else was necessary to learn from and develop him. Through use of developed chemical and electronic technologies, Six's remarkable reflexes and coordination were put to use as a high-level assassin completely under remote control by VIPER scientists. The Elijah Project proved highly successful, and Six carried out dozens of high-risk assassinations.However, Six was eventually caught and confronted by a superhero named Lightning Bug. Lightning Bug's electrical powers had the unintended effect of interfering with his signal from VIPER. Unable to receive a signal, Six shut down long enough to be apprehended by the anti-VIPER group Genesis League and brought back to their headquarters.
Under Genesis' guidance, Six began to learn English and reacquire some sense of self-determination. However, he is still reflexively a killer. Six attempts to channel his killer instincts by focusing them on his one known enemy: VIPER.
Six's memory is almost non-existent, but through guidance of mystics he is slowly regaining memory of his secret origin...
Secret Origin (Spoiler Warning)
Six was once a young man named Khatum, the greatest warrior in his clan among the Mongol tribes around 900AD. It is likely because of this that he was chosen by the ancient serpent Nama. Khatum found himself compelled to travel over the mountains west until he was brought to a peak where five other warriors were waiting.This sextet formed The Six: Marzun the Magyar, Hrodgeir the Viking, Lorthir the Frank, Shaleik ibn Malut of Cordova, Kashir al-Shahar the Aghlabid, and Khatum the Hun.
Nama spoke to them through the campfire and charged them to unite Asia and Europe and bring order out of the chaos of the Middle Ages. He gave each of them a powerful sword which would wield control over one of the last dragons, Bludrinkig. Each of The Six could summon him on command. With their own legends and their new draconic power, the Six amassed separate armies and began their conquest of the known world.
In desperation, the Byzantine emperor sought out a legendary dragon slayer named Erloin the Mighty. As dragons had not been seen in decades, Erloin had long since retired. Despite now being in his fifties, he accepted the quest to find and defeat Bludrinkig. He succeeded.
With The Six's greatest asset gone, several of The Six immediately lost much of their armies to desertion. Several others had their first losses on the battlefield. Almost overnight a coalition poised to conquer Europe became a squabbling collection demoralized vandals. Unable to challenge the empire, the Six turned on each other. The emperor only had to watch while they tore each other apart.
Most of the Six are believed to have been killed in the process of the infighting. Among the survivors was Khatum. Like the others he had spent many hours in counsel with Nama which had an apparent affect on his longevity. He did not seem to age for many years, but slowly he began to feel a heavy sleep overtake him. Before he succumbed completely, he ordered his clan to store him in a sarcophagus with the seal of his clan carved into the lid. This symbol is a spiral representing eternity (it resembles a six only by coincidence). Khatum slept underground for thousands of years. His sarcophagus was discovered by the early modern day VIPER around World War II. However, so were many ancient artifacts and he was merely stored away into a warehouse until his recent discovery...
Basic Personality Profile
Powers and Abilities
Nemesis
Six learned long after his defection from VIPER that he was not the only one recovered and trained in this way. In fact, he was one of six persons conditioned both mentally and physically through the Elijah Project, a program that sought to create highly efficient supersoldiers.
Upon learning of Six's disappearance, VIPER sent another Elijah subject, Three, to recover him. Three expected Six to come willingly, and instead encountered resistance. The battle ended in a stalemate, and Three regrouped in order to attempt another recovery later. Upon VIPER's orders, Three approached the Genesis League in order to form a deal: hand over Six and VIPER will hand over the League's greatest nemesis, Lord Venom. The offer was rejected.
(Spoiler warning) During the negotiation, however, much was revealed about both Six and Three's past. Three was, in fact, a survivor of the ancient Bludrinkig war like Six. When Six was known as Khatum the Hun, Three was known as Kashir al-Shahar the Aghlabid. Unlike Khatum, who returned home when Bludrinkig was destroyed and infighting amongst the Six began, Kashir relished in it and slew several others of the Six. Kashir considers VIPER the direct descension of Nama and serves it willingly, thereby needing much less mental conditioning and thus retaining most of his memories.
Three considers Six unfinished business; the last of the Six left alive. He therefore pursues him aggressively and incessantly.