Hadrian Jasper

Security, Code Nine
Border Corps Division
Grounded at HQ #WV3200
Omega Corps, 12th Division
Assigned to the "Scarlet Nemo"
"Hyades Class" Galactic Defense Unit
Corporal 1st-class, Rapid-Response Team #132 ("Red Towers")

Description


~An adult male of rugged values, Hadrian Jasper depicts a futuristic blend of ethnicities. More than that, Hadrian stands at 6'1" and 185 pounds, quite well muscled and primed. He carries himself with the sort of laidback swagger that comes off as "tough" and "cool". Hadrian almost comes off as military, especially with the smooth and bare scalp. Little to no hair covers his head or the strange bar design tattoo on the back of his neck. Sometimes, but often not, sunglasses might cover a pair of eyes that radiate cold, hard purpose. Short, rugged boots tread over the earth at a pace that depicts Hadrian's curiosity with the very ground, stopping often so he can inspect what lies at his feet. Typically, he just sees his dark cargo pants and the various survival pouches strapped to a web belt around his trunk. Unless it's cold, he won't bother with his suede jacket. Only a black wife beater was slid over his marvelously formed torso, baring plenty of tan skin. This also exposes ridge-like tattoos that run from his elbows, down his forearms, and to the end of his knuckles. Alert and fearless, Hadrian stalks a soft planet quietly, staying too low-key to hover on other people's radars for very long.~

OOC: Appearance 2; Cloaking 4

"Am I the best of the best?"

"No, I'm just the luckiest of the stupidest."

History


Shard of Normalcy

Beyond the Barrier but not quite into the depths of Space, the Solar System spins. Where lesser men have yet to even send a manned flight beyond Earth's moon, the secret Technocracy long set up bases throughout the solar system. One of their furthest and most prominent bases was located not on Saturn but one of its largest moons, Triton. There on the North Pole a military-like institution kept an eye on its surrounding system, ready to defend it and distant Earth from alien horrors from Deep Space. Like any military base, it was filled with soldiers…and some of their families.

So it was not uncommon at all that children be born, even in this sterile and Spartan compound designed for combat readiness, not pre-school. Branford "Bran" Jasper was a brave space marine forced behind a desk after suffering injuries too bad for even advanced medicine to mend fully. He fell in love with his attending nurse, Winifred "Winnie" Tasker. They married and had a son in 1971 (Earth time), naming him Hadrian.

Hadrian was raised with only a couple other children his age, but they made the most of their young life together. They played indoor sports and horse played whenever they could. This was quite a sci-fi world, this outer space base, but they grew up knowing it as their normal home. Neither Bran or Winnie were big on religion, but they did their best to institute common ethics and morals in Hadrian. A base tutor helped Hadrian and his two buddies learn academic affairs. But more than anything else, Hadrian was taught to fear aliens and their traitorous consorts -- traitors to humanity, these "Reality Deviants" were just as dangerous if not more so for their subtleties. As the Void Engineers, the Convention that maintained that base warned, they were all deemed threats to mankind.

And Hadrian bought it. He saw what happened to his father. He heard horror stories of what pilots and ship crewmates encountered beyond the relative safety of Triton North. His father made sure Hadrian knew fear, because the boy would one day have to face it. That may be why the youth seemed to stand out in any crowd. He always seemed less upbeat, less nice, and more...mean, even angry. Yet Hadrian commanded a sharp mind, and he stayed "ahead of the class", particularly in applied mathematics. Ballistics, trajectory trig, and general military science seemed to be his fortes. All of that Hadrian could boast. But he never mentioned his dreams. Nebulous and fearsome clouds always darkened his dreams, no matter what else might occur in his rest.

Outstanding

Of course, Hadrian did not get to rest long. When he turned thirteen, he began space marine training. It was arduous on the mind and body. The first year of training, he demonstrated normal aptitudes, keeping up with his peers. His test grades were exceptional, but nothing genius-level. But when the second year arrived, and live-fire drills were executed, Hadrian just "turned on". He destroyed all of the plastic dummies that sprang up with an almost sociopathic efficiency. One bullet to each dummy, straight between the eyes, surprised his trainers and peers. It was brushed off though as luck. It wasn't until a couple months later, during another live-fire drill against "flesh" dummies that his nature was observed and noted as unusual.

However, Hadrian gave the Border Corps Division seniors a real display of what he could become that day. Where the other young marines blasted their bloody way through the dummies, Hadrian saw right to the truth of the drill's purpose. Accuracy and caution was not the goal -- that was tested in the first drill. Using this synthesized flesh and blood, the Convention wanted to test the cadets' ability to stay focused in the face of flying gore. So Hadrian decided to prove himself fully. He discarded his rifle…and used his combat knife. Throats were slashed, bellies hara-kiri'ed, hearts pierced. Hadrian was a vicious youth, and finished the drill soaked in blood…and grinning ear to ear. "I'm ready." He boasted.

And indeed Hadrian was. The next six years included standard training for all space marines. It included hardcore basic military training topped off with Special Forces and astronaut ops. Hadrian had to breathe nothing but intergalactic war for his entire adolescence. And he loved it. He grew tougher and meaner, always at the top of his small but ardent class. Hadrian still held a disturbing interest in knife fighting, instigating duels with his classmates or even tough space marine grunts. They always came out of the fights more injured than he (if he was cut at all). So he suffered corporal punishment and subtle psychological re-conditioning, neither of which impacted Hadrian much.

Perhaps that was because Hadrian knew he was more than just a grunt. While that didn't go to his head, the youth wasn't content to be cannon fodder. He proved he was more with how well he understood and demonstrated inherent ease and confidence with hypertechnology -- devices and theories alike. Clearly, Hadrian was much smarter than his brutish attitude suggested. Thus, despite his behavioral problems, the BCD graduated Hadrian Jasper from the marine academy with honors, placing him at the rank of private first class. He was ready for action.

Triton South Defense Squad

Hadrian's first tour assigned him to the Triton South Defense Squad, a rapid response team of space marines based out of a small and hidden bastion on Triton's south pole. There he participated in a lot of emergency situation training -- more training than action, actually. Donning space suits with internal heaters, he and his twenty teammates often explored the polar region for fun. He made loose friends of his more veteran comrades actually. And because the BCD never did, Hadrian never knew or cared to differentiate between Empowered space marines -- like himself -- and non-Empowered marines, like most of the rest of the TSDS. Only the leader of the outfit, Captain Finn Aquinas, was Empowered like Hadrian. Finn kept a close eye on Hadrian, and was pleased that the young marine worked well with and respected his teammates (despite warning reports of behavioral issues to the contrary). Even when, during the course of training missions, Hadrian began to surpass the vets, he only showed respect and military discipline.

So Hadrian was soon promoted to the rank of lance corporal, putting him on par with the bulk of the crew. Only a few were non-commissioned officers and the rest were tested and blooded corporals. Hadrian just waited for his opportunity to shine. Perhaps he could win his promotion to corporal or even sergeant before this first four-year tour was even finished.

His first real mission was only in his second year of touring with the TSDS. A spacecraft of Sons of Ether -- blithe explorers of Deep Space, traitors to the Technocracy, and purveyors of false "weird" science -- were flying too close to Triton. They had to be discouraged. So Hadrian strapped in with his crewmates and they blasted off in their LOBS (Limited Orbit Battle Shuttle) to intercept the Ethernauts. The mission was to merely dissuade the Ethernauts from wandering too close to Triton's orbit. A brief dogfight, in which even Hadrian found himself gripping his seat in anticipation, resulted in a damaging of both crafts. The marines had no choice but to make an untethered EVA (extra-vehicular activity) assault on the Ethernauts' ruined vessel. The "brave" Ethernauts decided to do the same thing!

Laser blasts and hydrogen-propelled harpoons tore through the floating debris of Triton's high altitude south polar atmospheric region. It was ten marines versus six Ethernauts; the battle was short and terrible. Hadrian calculated that both teams would nearly annihilate each other, and had a sudden clear realization of what he had to do. He cut off his plasma rifle's counter-buoyancy measure, aimed behind him, and fired, letting the weapon blast him at high speed right into the Ethernauts' flank. A laser blast seared his arm, but it didn't stop him from plunging a knife right into his enemy's facemask. It didn't pierce deep enough to stab the man in the head, but Hadrian watched the man gasp when his suit was depressurized. Hypoxia quickly claimed the Ethernaut. His surviving comrades witnessed this frenzied act of aggression and knew their enemies were too tenacious to overcome. The marines were able to storm their vessel and capture them before they could mount a daring escape through hyperspace travel.

That victory gave Hadrian his early promotion to Corporal. More than that, he recognized how his aggression could drive him further than he ever imagined. And at the very least, it would help him survive. Captain Aquinas personally commended the young marine, and even the veteran marines showed Hadrian greater respect. Corporal Hadrian "Balls of Titanium" Jasper is what they called him.

Solar Rain

Though Hadrian was pleased to serve the TSDS, he did not have the option of remaining with them after his first tour was done. He was needed elsewhere, and quite frankly he knew deep down serving with the TSDS would never get him far in the corps. He said good-bye to the squad, good-bye to his parents, and became one of many marine troopers on a BCD battlecruiser, a large ship of the Hyades Class (twice as big as an Earthly nuclear-powered aircraft carrier). The ship was affectionately called Old Bessie; it was one of the first of its series. The Hyades Class battlecruisers were the BCD's main policing vehicles in the solar system. Thus, they saw the most action by far, clashing with Reality Deviants who held their own secret bases throughout the planets, and alien horrors from beyond.

And for the next four years, Hadrian saw plenty of action. They were constant attempts to breach the Solar System Barrier System (often referred to as the Solar Wall), a strategic defense method that the BCD instituted using countless satellites, lunar batteries, a fleet of warships, and an army of devoted men and women all to stop the Nephandic traitors from bringing their alien masters to Earth, as well as deal with other threats. At least the wide circuit of patrol that Old Bessie made allowed Hadrian to view Earth from outer space for the first time. This was his race's home planet, and he couldn't help but admire it. At the same time, he knew how soft Earth was, and how incapable its defenders would be if it weren't for the BCD keeping these monstrosities out.

Life on Old Bessie was simple, offering few if any comforts. Hadrian smoked cigars with his comrades and drank liquor when he was off-duty. He found himself a nice girlfriend in the crew -- a nurse, no less. That he found amusing (but secretly hoped he didn't end up much like his father). But moments of rest felt like moments, even if they were days or weeks long at a time. The violence he witnessed was so intense, the horrors from Beyond so mind-boggling, that it dwarfed everything else. This was the stress all space marines faced. And Hadrian seemed to swallow it well. He fought Nephandi and their gigantic monsters; Old Bessie tended to take care of those with her huge cannons and missiles. But when the Nephandi or their smaller, diabolic minions managed to bypass the ship's hull -- which was more often than anyone liked -- it was left to Hadrian and his comrades to face them in the long corridors. His leadership and pluck earned him the rank of sergeant before his tour ended. As before, he impressed his comrades with his aggressive lack of conscience when it came to getting up close and personal with the enemy. As often as Hadrian blasted plasma into his enemies, he cut off tentacles and slashed open "dark wizard" throats with equal glee.

But none of that could equal up to the ultimate battle Hadrian witnessed not far from Venus not long before the end of his tour. A Reality Deviant of the Marauder Class had summoned a dragon-like monster from the depths of space. The alien was nearly as big as the Hyades battlecruiser, and the fight was terrible. The ship was battered and terribly damaged. The dragon was slaughtered, but Old Bessie was critically damaged. The crew had no choice but to abandon ship. Hadrian and his teammates leaped into their assigned escape pod and blasted off with everyone else, aiming to land on the harsh surface of Venus and await rescue.

While the dragon was slain, its summoner was not. She summoned up a storm the likes of which Hadrian never saw. The sun flared out, and suddenly it was rained solar superplasma down on the jettisoning pods! Many were consumed and turned instantly into ash, incinerating everyone on board. Hadrian saw countless comrades die (and held no hope for his girlfriend's safety). His own pod managed to evade a direct hit, but it too was critically damaged. Most on board were killed. The crash landing made sure of that. Hadrian himself was on death's door, lying in a mangled mess of metal and plastic and blood. He managed to apply advanced first aid training to himself, at least long enough to keep Venus' strange moldy, corrosive environment from speeding along his demise. Luckily, Hadrian wasn't the only survivor. There were few, however. The Technocracy rescued them all, and they were taken to Earth for medical care. Hadrian lapsed in and out of consciousness during the whole trip, well aware that his body was broken and seriously burnt. He didn't get to see Earth nor the lushness of the forest that covered the Catskill Mountains, where the Void Engineers' medical facility on Earth was currently hidden. There he was locked up until he recovered, too weak to even want to explore where he was anyway.

The Black Tigers

While Hadrian lay in the hospital, he was offered inclusion into a new and secret BCD program. It would black list his name but place him in a unique division of the Convention, one that suited his talents measurably. The offer was based on his military record as well as the extent of bodily damage he suffered. To be a part of this new division, dubbed the Black Tiger Program, he would have cybernetic enhancements implanted in his body. Why fix his body if they would be tearing it back down to rebuild it even better? Hadrian consented readily. The nature of this Black Tiger Program was simple: he and several others would get a chance to prove that humanity was superior in all forms of combat. He would be a proto-type warrior designed for close combat with even the most horrible monstrosities.

So Hadrian underwent the arduous and agonizing process of his implants, ranging from the skeletal enhancement to the G42 Vibro-Blades -- claw-like weapons that were capable of shredding anything, the least of all mere alien hides. During the process, Hadrian was psychologically monitored to insure he didn't go off the deep end. But he suffered in silence, letting his already brutal nature level him against any mind-shattering after-effects of the physical punishment that the implantation incurred.

For the next few years, Hadrian recovered from the enhancement procedure and trained with the device. He returned to outer space to train with his five new teammates, all of who had a liking for close combat and blades, and were considered "bad asses of the universe". Most were space marines like Hadrian. In the course of training and reevaluation, Hadrian had to readjust a few scientific field Procedures he learned way back, but soon adapted all of his tactics well to the inclusion of the deadly, retractable Vibro-Blades. By 2003 (Earth time), the Black Tigers were ready for anything.

The Titan Disaster

So the Titan Mission was underway. The Black Tigers were flown to Saturn's moon and parachuted down to the icy plane with full arctic gear and air supplies. It was meant to be an exploration mission of a moon as of yet even the Void Engineers knew little. But it quickly turned ugly. The six-man team was attacked within a few hours. Giant centipede-like monsters burst out of the methane ices and fell on the team with massive, corrosive mandibles. Those who managed to evade the monsters' biting maws were wounded by a surprise -- when their Vibro-Blades cleaved the monsters' chitinous hides, the blood was like red-hot magma, melting their arms, leaving them defenseless. The monsters ate none of them. They simply tore the soldiers apart.

The Black Tigers fought as hard as they could. But one by one they fell, outnumbered and probably outclassed by these train engine-sized beasts. Hadrian helped slaughter more than a half-dozen of them himself. He learned from his comrades' mistakes, slashing open his enemies' necks and torsos with hit'n'run tactics to avoid the incinerating ichors. So terrible was Hadrian's solitary counter-attack that the alien insects abandoned the fight, leaving the team more or less intact as they lay. They were all dead unfortunately, save Hadrian who suffered terrible injuries that disabled him once the adrenaline of the battle was gone.

As Hadrian lay there near death again, he had a revelation. Survival was only partly about toughness. No, luck had a lot to say in the matter...more than anyone would care to admit. Some said human potential was limited by imagination. Surrounded by corpses and fleshy chunks of his comrades, Hadrian knew the simple fact about that: human potential was limited solely by lifespan. Fortunately, the BCD rescued Hadrian before the insects returned.

Recalcitrance

Hadrian was rehabilitated on the orbiting blackcraft assigned to the Black Tigers. There his superior officers interviewed him about the encounter. They hoped to get anything out of the man, tactical perspectives if nothing else. But Hadrian was utterly disgusted. He told his officers to fuck off. He called them idiots for even thinking the Black Tiger Program would work. And Hadrian called himself an idiot for buying into their humancentric propaganda. "Reality bites", he snarled, "And all we can do is bite back."

The Black Tiger Program was cancelled. For his defiance, Hadrian was demoted to corporal and place on common guard duty on the next Hyades Class battlecruiser to pass by Saturn. Hadrian continued to be rebellious nonetheless. He drank more and more alcohol, brushed off the corporal punishments inflicted on him for the drunken brawls he started (he never used his Vibro-Blades on anyone at least). Nothing seemed to tame the man. Imprisonment on the bridge, loss of privileges, and forced to do shit janitorial work could not faze the man. A psychiatric evaluation revealed no physiological anomalies at least. Hadrian was just too angry.

Thus, Hadrian was forced to accept medical leave. He was dispatched to Earth. The Void Engineers selected a random, relatively unimportant Technocratic base to assign him to: some place that wouldn't need his space marines skill at all. They ended up choosing the Symposium of Kansas City, Missouri. There Hadrian could soak up as much alcohol as he wanted until he got tired of dwelling in a disheartened stupor. There Hadrian could be watched and, if necessary, properly contained. And maybe, just maybe, he would learn how to get a life. Forced socialization was indeed one of the Convention's goals for Hadrian. He wasn't enough of a loose cannon to just terminate. Hadrian Jasper was a valuable commodity in a division where the toughest of the tough were the only ones who could survive. Hadrian would be needed later. For now, there was a brave new world for him to acclimate.

Significant Other


Hadrian met Mai Reizei in early 2006 not long after he was "grounded" at the local base. They got acquainted at a bar, where Hadrian's attraction to Mai's sharp and disciplined attitude, contrasting with her urge to drink herself, was piqued. He idly followed the Japanese-American woman home and a good thing he did, too. She was accosted by a rapist, from whom Hadrian saved her. He discovered more about Mai after that, learning she was a MP who possibly witnessed "reality deviance" while stationed in Iraq (and the very least, beheld the horrors of war) and was drummed out of active duty. Her situation was not unlike his: a soldier who "seen some shit". His compassion over Mai turned into passion and desire. They linger together out of a mutual want of relaxation, fun, and unassuming sympathy. Mai also finds herself wondering what secrets Hadrian holds and how she can craw them out of the man. She knows he's a marine, but he's still managed not to tell her what planet he was stationed on yet...

Mai

Weakness
Pride of Charles Darwin


Hadrian survived unlikely clashes with alien monsters. But it made him half-psychotic, and he's too brutal and cruel even for space marines. Deemed too dangerous even around his allies, it seems the Void Engineers made the mistake of taking a natural born killer and turning him into a highly trained super-commando.

Likelihood of Corruption


High.

Despite regular screenings and conditioning processes, Hadrian remains too bloody and vicious to really care about the Union's mission. When he kills now, it's for the joy of killing and little more.

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