Beta Three

Alias: Brother, Blade Brother Beta, Kil'klik
Race: Sand Sniper
Aspects: Body 11
Sex: Male; Ht/(Length): 6' 1"; Wt: 190 lbs.

"Life with my blood brothers was hard — fighting humans and Klik — but life with my blade brothers is infinitely worse."

Character Description/Notes: I lived as a hero among my brood, a blood-brother born to battle the worst of threats and overcome them. Humans presume we are thoughtless compared to them, only considering a creature that condescends to their language or presents attitudes and habits similar to their own. They cannot fathom the progressive growth of our brains, the secrets our minds have stirred from the dust of their own ruins, and I protect these secrets from their prying eyes… even when they finally caught me and turned me into one of their own. "Cranial Augmentation" and "Alternative Communication Conditioning" forced my thinking to resemble their own.

Even so — I never forgot my people or my home.

They caught me after Sergeant McGraw poked her foul red head into our home. We only wanted a few of her men to sustain us, and she wanted the living one back. Fair enough, yet our meal cost my brothers more blood than that limp larva was worth. Sarge blasted her way in, found the reactor room, and pushed her way into that infernal device. I followed after her, intent on making her pay for the spilt blood of my brothers… yet instead of rending her on my blades, I found myself swallowed in the same orange and blue light she vanished within. I fell into the foul waters of what I've since learned was Lake Michigan — almost worlds away from my brood.

The NAU had a schooner on patrol that witnessed my floundering crash from a burning rift — and they nabbed me swiftly with braided steel nets. I found myself thrown into a cell with a Krieg and two Gree Gree. Only the draconic fighter survived the first night of my hunger, capable of fending me off long enough for the guards to subdue me. The guards glued me to the wall, then disgraced me while I hung there before the Krieg with a terrible shame: they branded my cranial plating with a mark of guilt and stabbed me with a triple dose of "Cognizant Serum," crafted to make the mind malleable to their designs. I warred with the blurring images and blackness, fighting with my very being to retain my memories and identity. Blackness consumed me, or so they thought, but in the end I swallowed the shadows, embraced them, and expanded my mind in the surging darkness.

I awoke alone in a barren cell to a terrible shining light. Research Base Zulu's Isolation Ward was a nightmare: no darkness existed to rest my burning eyes. No earth or sand cushioned my rest. There were only unmoving walls of metal and those constant glaring lights. They renamed me Beta Three, or Blade Brother Beta — a twisted title to permanently remind me of my first night in their company. In those walls I slowly learned to understand these humans and their ways, to speak in a halting voice like them — an awkward language for the spiked mouths of my people. More than this, however, I also came to resent them, their arrogance, and their horrible ambitions and began to do something I had never conceived of before… I began to plot, my rage deepened by pride.

Surrounded by the strangeness of human thoughts, I came to accept silence and solitude; it was far easier to gather details and prepare ambushes in the manner of my people on my own than when working with the others. I still managed to find a few other "blade brothers" amongst the other races… ones who neither accepted human control nor forgot their homes. Together we, in our own tongues — a clack, a shriek, a feral yell — vowed to avenge our people once we were free. We learned the humans' ways and waited for our chance to strike. Instead we had an unexpected surprise; others were coming to pick a fight with the humans.

L'na also have a tendency to presume like the humans, only they make different presumptions. They thought we were helpless victims, and that they were next on the menu, so they came to "liberate" us. Those who had succumbed to human influence fought for their new masters to the last, and were "liberated" from existence. My sworn brothers and I did not join the fight, preferring to escape into the welcoming night. I parted from them there, promising to continue the quest on my own until the deed was done. I had no idea where I would go and how I would destroy those who would have called me their servant, but I am of a determined and calculating race. They would fall, one rent leg at a time, until all were like my people the day I was torn from my home… lost.

I have learned that my tribe of Sand Snipers, as my people are called by humans, lived Westward — beyond the flux. I burrowed and raced my way toward that goal, crossing blades with the horrors spewed from its electric haze. I was able to gaze upon the impressive curtain of clouds with my own eyes, beholding the terror and might of what humans termed External. As with all NAU experiments, however, there are tricks they performed on me of which I was never told. The transponder in my head blazed on their radio frequencies as it seared my skull with each wave of energy from their Klik-modified devices. I could not break its screaming pain, nor dig far enough to bury the awakened tormentor within my head. I had to return to their installation, unable to endure the torture within my mind. Crazed with pain, hungry from days without food, and exhausted from nights without rest, I crawled under the gates of Outpost FLW — where they restrained me and discovered my subjugation at Zulu. Far from my people, far from home, far from dignity, I was broken… broken at last… and I surrendered to this life branded into my soul by their callous hands. I would be their blade brother, at least for now. Know this, however — my rage will never surrender.

Tactics: Beta Three lives up to his Sand Sniper legacy, utilizing ambush to slaughter his opponents. His experience in Research Base Zulu taught him techniques that increased his range of surprise attacks and stealth movements, turning the desert devil into a terrible phantom of the night. Outpost FLW prefers to send him into areas where scouts disappear and veteran soldiers dread to go. His "expeditions" bring news that often surprises his COs for its uncanny depth and clarity. It's as if he could lurk in the personal quarters of the enemy.

Beta Three prefers to slip under an opponent and cut their legs from under them before quickly darting back into the darkness. If a foe prefers heavy weaponry the Sand Sniper will instead target that with its lightning fast claws — piercing the tool and rendering it useless. Beta Three is not afraid to tackle stronger foes using his power and speed, nor will he hesitate to disappear into the ground or shadows and pick a more-advantageous fight should the situation turn against him. This combination of lethal weaponry and lethal intelligence makes him a brutal and deadly fighter to all who might be his enemies.

(Click for Hooks)

Role-playing Hook
Beta Three, or Brother as he is mostly called, is basically your sulking avenger. With his sordid past, he has problems working with parties of humans and klik. but has learned to endure their presence grudgingly. A person playing him can decide whether this means he plots their demise or simply menaces at them through silence or broken, but bitter, words. He was created with the oppressed Native American mentality, with their long-suffering and insightful ways of dealing with outsiders. So, while he has trouble working with those not of his race, his burning drive and sense of secret privilege as a sand sniper can make him a good leader or strong support in difficult situations--but you can utilize his hard past and severe outlook in any way you want.

 

Sense Hook
A powerful way to involve Brother's unique personality (and unique problem of speech) is through SOUND, specifically, his hearing, as he has learned to "paint" his environs through even the slightest acoustics during his life under the earth. Have certain sounds--the subtle click of cogs in a tripod, the nervous chewing of gum by a careless grunt, or the gentle splash of a drop of rain on the hard soil--evoke memories from his painful past. In doing so, you can create a constant connection between the past and present, furthering the character's tribal identity to his home in a constantly colorful way.

Adventure Hook
The degenerate Churl tribes to the south are rallying and it looks like trouble--for they seem to have several combat-trained monsters in their midst. Beta Three was sent be Outpost FLW to recon and report his findings, but he has not returned, even after the signal on his transponder has been switched on. More troubling is that the tribes have begun to venerate their newfound allies, calling themselves both "Blade Brothers" and "Brothers of Blood." A taskforce is sent to deal with this rising menace and see where their wayward Sand Sniper has disappeared to.

Game Master's Hook
Beta Three is a great otherworldly perspective to pull on the players--neither Apoc, L'na or Klik, nor any of the common "sentient" races, he brings a totally unusual outlook and personality to the table. Getting his thoughts across on the other races through either careful speech or telepathy from the party will bring the world into a fresh, painful light of oppression, coercion and brutal survival--the reality of Beta Three is one of agony and overcoming. He is a wonderful surprise opponent, either working carefully to lead them into his thoughtful traps or suddenly ambushing them in the classic Sand Sniper way, forcing the players to be on their toes and utilizing more than the traditional ways to deal with threats--players with sensory skills, special powers for locating hidden foes, and even diplomacy may find an avenue in dealing with Beta Three by pulling on both his combative style and personality: Perfect for challenging the conceptions or misconceptions characters might have about their world, and giving you as the GM plenty of roleplay and activity fodder to generate through Beta's presence.

Battle Hook
Beta Three makes a great frontline combatant in Untold: Battle, utilizing his speed and strength to punch through enemies without taking as many hits in return. Having him use his techniques from Core Combat to disarm, trip or grapple an opponent (and then attack them) increases the lethal powers of this monstrous character!