Skylance
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Contents
Affiliations
Skylance works exclusively with MCPD's Meta-S.W.A.T. division as their Lead Technician, coordinating maintenance of all ACES systems as well as being the primary line of technical inquiry (Technical inquiry usually extending about as far as "Hey, Ethan, I want to tack this shoulder-mounted rocket launcher onto my suit. Can it be done?" or "Ethan? I think I broke something...")
He also maintains close ties with the Millenium City Institute of Technology's administration and public relations board, occasionally performing speeches to new admissions.
Personality
Ethan being a genius-level engineer was always prone to being a bit of geek, however his generally cheery and accomodating nature along with quick, jovial wit means that few people find him to be an abrasive person to be around. He maintains a healthy work ethic, continually on the path to better himself as a mechanical and electronic artisan.
However, Ethan is a man who cannot abide arrogance. To him, perfection is an inachieveable goal, but a noble one nonetheless. Anyone who claims to be as such swiftly loses respect from him as in his opinion, once one obtains perfection, they may as well give up what they do, as there is little more to learn.
History
Past
Ethan Fredrick Halloway was born to a loving family in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The son of a Mechanic and a Registered Nurse, Ethan was at many times during his childhood forced to find ways to entertain himself while family friends or relatives looked after him. It was from these humble moments where his brilliant mind would begin to flourish. It was noticed early on that he had a quite amazing mechanical aptitude, though being the son of a Mechanic, this was potentially a no-brainer. It was when he began to delve into the electronic side of things at the tender age of six that people began to sit up and take notice.
From humble beginnings re-wiring one of his toys so a light would work again, to later on scratch-building a TV remote after his father had accidentally crushed it underfoot, people began to notice that this quiet, mop-headed boy had an amazing grasp of things that 'worked'. His early school marks were also an indication of such, Ethan completely blitzing every exam placed in front of him. Reccomendations came down from above and soon he was skipping grades and acing exams upwards of two years above that of his peers of the same age. Math and Sciences became a particular focal point as he began to mature, however the upheaval of skipping grades and leaving friends behind meant that along the same vein, his social skills began to dwindle somewhat.
Years passed and eventually, at the age of sixteen, he was contacted by Millenium City Institute of Technology in regard to a scholarship. Ambition led Ethan to take full advantage of his unique ability, taking up a dual-degree in both Mechanical and Electrical engineering. Within two years, he had achieved his Bachelors in both subjects, as well as another in the fledgling subject of Mechtronics, a field dedicated to the science of robotics. Further pursuits led him to baffle his professors and lecturers as he began his attempt at Master's Degrees in both fields, all before he turned twenty.
However, this made life difficult. Being the youngest of the batch, many took his brilliance for youthful bravado, and initially dismissed his ideas. This led to Ethan developing a very direct and sometimes blatant streak in order to get his point across, often having to belittle naysayers in to process. Safe to say, however, the efforts of people suffering from 'Tall Poppy Syndrome' had little effect on him, and at age twenty-two, Ethan was awarded his Degrees.
However, life at this point had some stark lessons to teach.
Immediately after leaving MCIT, he began an aggressive campaign of constructing unique prototypes for submission to America's best and brightest technology firms...only to have them knocked back every single time. It was either one excuse or another, excuses that he had absolutely no interest in.
As time wore on, and as prototypes began to drain his finances, Ethan began to sharply lose hope that he would ever land a successful job. Yet again, it seemed as though it didn't come down to what you knew, only rather WHO and how well you could interract with said people. Finally, at a crucial point where he lost all faith of ever finding his lucrative patent, or the engineering job with the six-figure salary, an idea dawned on him.
All of the designs he had created had worked. Brilliantly. He had built everything from armored jet-boots to higly complex, Wi-Fi interfacing PDAs, all the way down to a one-handed, multi-function, non-lethal weapon system.
Coincedentally, all of his devices functioned together quite well and so after a late-night, slightly dejected viewing of the Super News Network, an idea hit him like a ton of bricks: Heroes got financial subsidies for their assistance to the community and what better way to advertise his wares and ability to the greater public than being in the public eye?
With that in mind, he headed to register with UNTIL as 'Skylance', an unlikely hero rising from the ashes of defeat to streak across the skies like a gleaming bullet.
Recent
Recruitment
Ethan's original intention had been to attract the attention of someone looking for a skilled engineer to aid their company, however he could've never predicted the eyes he'd catch. John Wheeler, the head of a fledgling division of MARS was quick to take notice of the young genius and his remarkable talents, offering him a position as lead technician in MCPD's Meta-S.W.A.T.. Under his watchful eye, Ethan would be able to truly flex his mental muscle, reconditioning and customising the somewhat dated ACES Armor system. He immediately jumped at the chance, both for the ability to play around with some SERIOUS military tech, as well as being able to take his ability and use it for a truly noble cause. Since then, Ethan has come to love his job, each day providing him with new challenges, ideas and motivations to fuel his ever-hungry intellect.
"Lady, hear me tonight..."
A chance meeting with a newly discovered heroine by the name of Blazing Glory while in Northern Canada, would lead to some more than interesting results. While initially coming across as a complete dink, (Even getting into a scrap with Mr. Grimm over a bit of typical man-ish posturing), eventually Ethan was able to convince the young lady that he was actually a decent human being. He even managed to convince her to stomach a drink with him at Club Caprice, whereby more and more, Ethan was able to present himself as he was beyond the typical, brash pissing contests of men around a good-looking lady and finally speak for and of himself openly and honestly.
It was safe to say that despite the rocky start, the pair hit it off quite famously. Ethan had always carried a geeky sort of charm, but now it appeared that he had run across someone who genuinely appreciated it. Several less than normal events followed, including having both Zarp Draken and Seroyio the Hunter storm his apartment under the guise of mistakenly assuming Ethan to be in a situation of duress. Even when the blue-skinned alien had made a rather deliberate pass at the young lady, somehow fate, luck or whatever governing force behind their indescribable good fortune managed to prevail. Ethan said his piece, spoke his mind and won her affections from then on out.
The pair are now dating and for all his worth, Ethan has never been happier.
Rise of the Blood Moon
Equipment
Much of Skylance's equipment is derived from old prototype pitches. While ungainly on their own, cobbled together they are surprisingly efficient, allowing him to dispense swift justice on the criminals of the world. A brief rundown of his equipment follows:
The Arsenal
The Arsenal is a multi-funciton, non-lethal weapon system designed and created by Ethan Halloway and marketed toward DARPA as a potential design patent for peacekeeping forces overseas. However, due to its complexity and ludicrously expensive manufacturing costs, it was knocked back and became part of Skylance's repitoire of gadgetry.
The Arsenal operates with two primary functions: the first, a high-frequency sonic emitter designed to immobilize attackers with sub-sonic sound. The other operating mode is that of a high-energy synaptic overload blade. This function is designed to inflict little or no damage to the assailant physically, but trigger enough synaptic stimulus to encourage the brain to trigger a neurological override, a temporary shutdown of higher brain functions, causing unconciousness.
The R.I.G
The R.I.G, or Remote Interfacing Gauntlet is a triumph of super-technology and micro-engineering. Quite literally, the RIG is a forearm-worn PC with enough processing power and storage to make the standard desktop computer look like a sluggish clunker for the next fifty years. It can wirelessly interface with any Wi-fi compatable technology within a ten foot radius and can operate for several weeks with only one charge. Its holographic interface is amazingly efficient, in fact, the only reason this prototype didn't get off the ground was that Ethan turned down the contract offer as he thought he was being short changed.
'Gryphon' Advanced Tactical Helmet
Another piece of technical wizardry. This Plasteel-constructed helmet is equipped with GPS, multiple vision modes, optical magnification and a myriad of other intel-gathering and signal interfacing equipment to quite literally make it a super-computer wrapped around a person's head. I remains part of Skylance's kit as it was knocked back by Harmon Industries, claiming the design aesthetic was lacking...
'Sledgehammer' gloves
These unassuming but very snazzy-looking gloves are actually high powered energy casters. While their charge time is lengthy, the amount of raw concussive damage inflicted is phenomenal. Often, a single burst from these gloves is enough to floor a regular assailant, making them much more efficient and certainly much more cost-effective than any tazer available on the market.
'Chuck', the Energy Gatler
The affectionately dubbed, shoulder-mounted, energy-based gatling gun that Skylance carries is dubbed as it is due to is stopping power. Namely, it 'Kicks like Chuck Norris'. Operating on a similar, yet somewhat less powerful-per-shot system to the Sledgehammer gloves, 'Chuck' is designed for crowd control measures when taking out one target at a time is simply not effective.
'Oberon' Jet Greaves
One of Ethan's first projects, and a design he took with him after graduating from MCIT. These greaves are capable of immense levels of thrust, more than easily carrying a person fast enough to be a challenge for some of the world's fastest sports cars. While not designed to crack the sound barrier, they can certainly get you from A to B with little time lost.
The 'Harness'
Probably the single-most complicated piece of technology that Skylance has ever engineered thus far. The Harness is in fact a man-portable generator, operating on a singular hydro fission-fusion engine. It generates power by separating, then re-combining hydrogen and oxygen molecules to create a steady burn of chemical energy. It is able to be powered with distilled water and can operate for several days on a single refill.
Relationships
Meta-S.W.A.T.
Ethan's employment with Meta-SWAT as their Lead Technician was a boon opportunity for the young graduate, who at the time of his recruitment was very nearly destitute and about to give up all hope of ever finding a job to nurture his genius-level mechanical and electronic aptitude. Since his recruitment, he's come to thoroughly love his job, embracing both the technical, as well as law-enforcement aspects of his profession with open arms.
Allies
While there are many people Ethan considers allies, here are a few of the more notable ones:
- Blazing Glory: Ethan's partner and probably one of the few people who actually 'gets' him. Despite this, Ethan has incredible admiration for the young lady who's attitude, personality and approach to life mesh remarkably with his own. That, and she's smokin' hot. How could any man not appreciate that?
- Striker: As a commanding officer and team lead, there is no equal to John Wheeler in Ethan's mind. More than happy to go above and beyond the call of duty for a competent leader, under Wheeler's watchful eye, he will continue to work technological miracles in order to see that Meta-SWAT is kept in the fight.
- Psionistar: 'Doc', as Ethan has come to call him is another source of inspiration for him. His rational approach, careful, measured personality and calm demeanor are exactly the sort of characteristics Ethan looks for in a role-model.
- Seroyio the Hunter: Sero is an interesting sort of ally, having at one point very nearly sullied Skylance's opinion of him for making a pass at his Girlfriend. However, seeing beyond this and recognising the alien's cultural differences, the matter has become water under the bridge. They to this day operate as friends, Ethan even offering to vouch for him should he need a 'wingman' in the near future.
- Phalanxer Yellowjacket X: Anyone looking on, observing these two interract could swear they must have been frat-buddies during college, despite the fact they both attended different universities. A healthy admirer of the Jimmy's technical brilliance, its no surprise that these two hit it off as well as they did.
Enemies
While Skylance has yet to make any notable enemies, other than the plethora of criminals who hate him simply for being both a Hero and a police officer, someone is waiting in the shadows, bitter and angry at Millenium's Sky Knight. Ready to seek his pitiless revenge...
Say what you will...
(Has your character spoken to the Skylance? Do they have an opinion? Post it here!)
- "Class act, all the way. His dedication to his craft and ingenuity are what keeps us in the fight. We could not do what we do without Ethan and his team." -- Psionistar
Trivia
(WIP)
