Augustine, Kathan

Post by Kathan Lee Augustine on Jun 10, 2013 18:59:35 GMT

Basic Information

Full Name: Kathan Lee Augustine
Alias: Talos
Age: 37
Gender: Male
Nationality: originally from England
Occupation: Freelance Bodyguard, Retired Needle, Ex-Surgeon, Retired professional fighter
Faction: N/A

Mother: Eliza Jill Augustine (Maiden name: Everly)
Father: Jack Jay Augustine {deceased}
Siblings: N/A
Spouse/Significant Other: N/A
Other Important People: Catharine Everly {aunt}, Adelaide {ex-employer and current friend}

Attention to Detail

Appearance: Kathan is a large man, standing at 6’1” and weighing in at nearly 200lbs. He is muscular, yet trim as opposed to overly bulky. He has short light-brown hair with some natural highlights that give the illusion of being blonde, and soft brown eyes to match. He has a very expressive face that can brighten up a room with an almost boyish grin, and freeze you to the core with an arctic glare.
His usual outfit tends to consist of black jeans with a plain leather belt, a pair of classic Converse All Star high-tops, and a matching T-shirt tucked in. But, depending on the weather you might see him in his tan, cotton, work jacket with a custom lining. The lining of this simple jacket is made up of patches he’s torn off of enemies during missions while he was a Needle.
Play-By: Jason Dohring


Equipment & Items: Backpack with clothes and various items.
Set of throwing knives with leg strap holsters.

What Makes You Tick

Likes:
Music, mostly Metal, Punk, and Jazz
Fighting, especially for money
H7 gummies
Wise-cracking
Dislikes:
All The Powers aside from Rarity
R.A.C.E.
Eyes faction
Getting too close/involved with people
Poor grammar
Mindless Followers
Personality: Talos is a bit cocky, and isn’t afraid to let it show. His years of training and his heightened intellect have made him a pretty confident guy, and not the type of person to back down from anything. However, if he sees no point in the task/challenge he isn’t slow to dismiss it and go on to something he deems more worthy of his time. He thoroughly enjoys fighting, and is always looking for ways to challenge himself in combat, whether that means restricting himself to only punches, or sticking to a specific beat during battle.
He can be a very kind man, and downright endearing, but if he feels like he’s getting too close to somebody he will immediately start distancing himself from that person. After the death of his father at the hands of an assassin sent for him, he is now afraid to get close with anyone, fearing they too will get caught in the cross fire and end up dead.
He has an intense hatred for Eyes and Clear Sight, blaming them for his dad’s death, and he would not hesitate to physically attack a known member of either group if he were to come into contact with them.
However, Kathan is a very talented actor/liar, and can make people believe just about anything, so getting to know his true character can be a challenge.

Strengths: Kathan has a strong mind, not only making it hard for telepaths to invade his thoughts/attack him mentally, but he is also able to separate himself from a situation and analyze it objectively to make the best (impartial) decision. His IQ and processing speed is also notable, giving him an edge on most adversaries.
His physical prowess is obviously a strength, as he is both highly skilled and quite powerful, as well as being able to adopt a nearly invulnerable state.
Weaknesses: His confidence is probably his greatest weakness, as it causes him to take unnecessary risks. He loves excitement, and sometimes he pushes things too far in battle, and even goes so far as to pull back his powers so that he is at a disadvantage.
Like many birds, Kathan is sensitive to thunderous sounds, and can even be stunned if a noise is too loud.

When Everything Changed

Powers & Abilities: Master Combatant – Besides being highly skilled in boxing and karate he was also trained in various forms of close quarter combat designed specifically for killing.
Stealth Expert – During his time at H.E.A.L.L. and Rarity International he was taught all the tricks of stealth by some of the finest assassins in the world, and eventually surpassed them.
Deception – Part of his training at H.E.A.L.L. and as a Needle was how to go undercover for extended periods of time, thus Talos became a very good liar/actor, and also learned how to speak in several different accents and dialects.
Enhanced speed, agility, endurance, and strength - due to gene splicing with hawks, he can run at a maximum of 60MPH for up to 10 minutes before becoming exhausted. He can also lift 1-ton over his head with both arms and throw it approximately 50ft from a stationary position.
Superhuman sight & hearing - due to gene splicing with hawks, Kathan can see even small objects such as a cup, dollar bill, or a small ball from 2-miles away. He can also hear, with surprising clarity, a whispered conversation from 500ft off.
High Level Telepathic Resistance – due to experiments run on him by CalliopE, Kathan can block out even some of the most powerful telepaths in the world with much effort.
Bronze Body – Talos has the ability to produce a metallic coating over his skin that makes him fire resistant, blade & bullet proof, and incredibly hard to hurt. Because of the color of this unique alloy his comrades nicknamed it Bronze Body, and occasionally “beach bod”. However, this form does weigh him down, but due to his superhuman speed and strength he is still able to move at normal athletic speeds.
Location During the Boom: Natal, Brazil
Current Residence: He has a house in Natal and another in England, but he’s constantly travelling.

Before & After

History: Kathan Lee Augustine was born approximately 20 years prior to The Boom, on February 10th. His father, Jack, was a middle-weight champion boxer, and his mother, Eliza, was an heiress to the Everly fortune. So, Kathan spent his early years without a care in the world. He went to the finest elementary school in H.E.A.L.L. territory, and always came home to wonderful mother who tended to his every need. His father, though a fighter by profession, was very kind and gentle, but also enjoyed teaching his son how to box like a champ. Little Kathan was spoiled, but not rotten.
He didn’t have too many friends, and his only close friend was Daniel Hendricks, the great nephew to one of the founders of H.E.A.L.L., which is basically how the two of them met. Eliza’s hosted a party one night for her uncle and his friends, who happened to include Mr. Hendricks, who in turn brought his nephew and his nephew’s son, Daniel. The two boys were the same age, almost to the day, and became quick friends. Their favorite thing to do was sit up in Kathan’s room and read comic books while the adults had their boring gatherings.

At age 10 Kathan was grabbed just outside of his school by Saikou intelligence agents and taken to Japan where he was held for ransom. However, the ransom wasn’t simple money, but company secrets, which H.E.A.L.L. had no intention of revealing. After a month of being tortured on camera so that the CEOs of H.E.A.L.L. could see they decided their adversaries to be heartless, and scratched the operation. However, the men in the genetic testing division had use for the boy, and decided to use him as a guinea pig. After weeks of painful testing, trial and error, and keeping the lad locked up like an animal, Saikou successfully spliced Kathan’s DNA with that of a hawk. But, before he could be field tested, the first prototypes of what would one day be called “Surgeons” stormed into the facility, retrieved young Mr. Augustine, and brought him back to England. Their first stop was H.E.A.L.L. headquarters, where he was given a full diagnostic. The doctors noted some irregularities, and decided to give him a full stress test, which turned into a physical performance test. After that, Catharine Everly, his aunt, came in and asked if he would be up to doing a little training there after school each day. She said to him, “When we’re through, you’ll be able to fight just like those superheroes you adore so much.” He couldn’t refuse.
So, every day after school Kathan rushed to H.E.A.L.L. HQ, and learned to battle from some of the deadliest assassins in world. However, his training wasn’t entirely physical, it was mental as well. They warped the boy’s mind, but also strengthened it at the same time. Before he was even 11-years-old he was one of the most dangerous members of H.E.A.L.L.’s private Black Ops group called Surgeons. Catharine had turned this once kind and innocent child into an assassin, and his parents were none the wiser. After a couple months with the team he was doing operations throughout Africa, China, and even Japan. But, during his second solo operation he was brought down by a small team of Wires; mentally enhanced soldiers of CalliopE Communications. They tried infiltrating his mind to find any secrets about H.E.A.L.L. that he might know, but he was never told more than he needed to know. So, instead they tried to wipe his mind, remake him, and enhance him. Their plans backfired. After installing the nigh microscopic hardware needed to increase the power of his brain, giving him faster processing, a slightly higher IQ, and incredible telepathic resistance, they prepped him for a memory wipe. But, instead of permanently erasing his memories all they did was surpass his human side, and brought out the animal…the bird of prey.
The boy went wild, attacking everyone in sight, killing most of them, and destroying the machines they planned to use to control him. When he left the facility he was bloody and confused. He found his way to the ocean, and eventually found himself in H.E.A.L.L. territory again. After a couple days he instinctively found his way home, but hadn’t the energy to make it inside, and merely passed out on the road. When his father came out that morning he found his only child unconscious on the street, and then rushed him to the hospital. Once there, Catharine Everly was notified, and she showed up within the hour. The instant she stepped foot in Kathan’s room Jack shot up out of his chair and screamed at her, “What have you done to my son?!”
Her reply was cold and calculated. “Calm down, Jack. I haven’t done anything but make your son better.”
“He was a bloody mess when he got here!”
“Please… He was a bit waterlogged, a little worse for wear, but considering what he endured I’d say he was in remarkable shape. Really, you should be happy, Jack. After all, who wouldn’t want their little boy to be nigh invulnerable?”
“What’ve you been doing to him, Catharine?”
After she explained what had been going on, how ever since the kidnapping he had been undergoing training and even doing H.E.A.L.L.’s dirty work, Jack was sickened and enraged. He couldn’t believe that Catharine would put her own blood, her nephew, through something so horrible. But then, she put the final straw on to break the camel’s back…she told Jack she could make him “even better”. Upon hearing that he backhanded her to the floor and warned that if she or her company ever came near his son again he’d hold her responsible and the penalty would be death. Catharine had known Jack a long time, and she could tell he wasn’t exaggerating. She picked herself up, wiped the blood away from her mouth, and simply said “Fine,” and then left. Kathan spent the next few days in recovery, but thanks to his genetic enhancements his recovery was a quick one.

Ages 11 – 13 were mostly spent in the dojo or gym training. His school was a breeze thanks to CalliopE’s installment, so he had plenty of free time on his hands. By age 14 he was competing in black belt tournaments, and thrashing the competition. It wasn’t long before he drew the attention of one of the other four Powers. Saikou, Rarity, and CalliopE seemed to overlook his amazing fighting abilities, but Clear Sight had been keeping a closer eye on him. After one of his fights one night a couple men from Clear Sight came into the locker room and approached him about becoming a part of their elite group of Meta Soldiers called Eyes. They offered him 10 billion dollars, which he laughed at saying, “What would I do with ten billion dollars? I’d die of old age before I could use that up. Besides, my family’s loaded, and I’m makin’ a fine living myself in the fighting circuit. So, I hope you have more to offer than mere money.” The men from Clear Sight were stunned, but not unprepared. They offered him the next best thing they could: power. They knew what he was, and they knew they could improve him. But Kathan could get an upgrade any time he wanted by visiting his aunt at H.E.A.L.L., so there was really nothing these men could offer him that he didn’t already have. He sent them back to North America empty handed and with their heads hung low. However, this did not stop Clear Sight from trying to get him on their team. Over the next couple years they sent one agent after another to try and kidnap him, but there wasn’t a Meta Soldier alive with the level of power and skill that Kathan possessed. Even so, one agent did manage to do some damage, though not to Kathan’s body. A prototype of the Eyes attacked him at home late in the night. The battle was furious, and naturally woke Jack & Eliza. Jack’s protective instincts kicked in when he saw his son was in danger, and he tried to help him, but the Meta Soldier was far too strong, and after just a few strong blows to the head… Jack flew across the room, his head gushing blood. Kathan, at the sight of his dying father and best friend, completely lost it. He went after the Eye with everything he had, literally tearing him limb from limb. The day after his dad’s funeral he decided it would be best for him to leave the country so that no one else got caught in the cross fires.

He took up residence in Natal, where he got hired as a bodyguard for a big time dress designer at Rarity International. Adelaide was a comely woman in her late 20s of Brazilian descent, and had hand-picked Mr. Augustine to be her personal bodyguard. Kathan wasn’t sure why at first, but after a few weeks with her he became quite aware. Adelaide was a fight fan, and had followed his career closely, so it was sort of a fantasy come true to have him so close to her all the time. The two became friendly, but not quite friends. They shared things with each other, made each other laugh, but were always careful not to get involved.
After a year of serving Adelaide with no major threats to speak of, Kathan wondered why this woman would pay so much for an over-qualified bodyguard she didn’t really need, but then, with just a few simple words it all made sense. “You know, a man of your talents could be making a lot more money working for some of the higher-ups in the company.” Again with the money pitch; Kathan wondered when these suits were going to realize that there were more important things in life. The young bodyguard made it perfectly clear that he had no interest in joining some Meta Soldier program so that a bunch of lab coats could run tests on him and stick him with needles night and day just to make more cash. Adelaide was both confused and worried, and then Kathan realized he had made a terrible mistake. She wasn’t scouting him, she was honestly looking out for him, and what’s worse is that she had no idea what Augustine was talking about. Adelaide was not a high ranking member of the inner workings of the company; she was just a big deal on the surface.
Things were awkward between Adelaide & Kathan for a while, and then she finally came out and asked him about his past, and what he meant when he spoke of scientists and human experimentation. He was hesitant at first, but after a few minutes he made his mind to lay it all on the table even if she did think he was insane. He told her about the kidnapping, the training at H.E.A.L.L., the operation in Africa and the implant from CalliopE, and the agents from Clear Sight including the man who killed his father. It was a lot to swallow for a fashion designer, but she had never had any reason not to believe Kathan, and he had been her loyal protector and companion for more than a year. Thus, she believed him, and vowed his secrets would be safe with her.
In October of that same year Adelaide was offered a job designing clothes for almost 50% more than she was making, but the catch was she would have to relocate to Hong Kong, as her new employer would be none other than Saikou. She accepted the position without thinking, and when she told Kathan to pack his things and get ready to head for China all he could do was hang his head lowly. When she asked what was wrong he explained that he would have to resign because he couldn’t enter Saikou territory without risking being attacked or possibly abducted again, and thus he would only be putting her in more danger by being with her. Their parting was swift, but sad nonetheless. Mr. Augustine was quickly snatched up by Rarity International as a hand-to-hand combat instructor for their security guards in the Brazil HQ. He was approached by a Colonel in Rarity’s black ops military division after only a couple months on the job, and asked to join his department. With no friends and no family around, and no real reason to go on, he accepted. He hoped the excitement of the job would spark something back to life inside of him, and it did. The thrill of the fight came rushing back to him, and he felt like his old self again. These men and women he was working with were like him—Meta Soldiers. Albeit they were all at least seven years his elder, but nobody minded. Before their first mission they were all given call names, Kathan’s was Talos after the giant bronze guardian in Greek mythology. Maybe it was supposed to be ironic because he was the youngest member, but then again it could have been because he was the tallest member standing at 6’1”. Of course, there was always the possibility that it was totally random. Whatever the case, Kathan liked it.
The team returned unscathed, but a few days later one member fell ill and never recovered. It would later be revealed that he died due to a vitamin deficiency that was an unforeseen side effect of the process used to give him his powers. Several weeks later another member would die from the same cause, leaving only Talos and two others. Rarity halted Meta Soldier experimentation on humans until they could perfect the process. Meanwhile, Talos found a hobby… He found that fighting to a beat, or a specific rhythm made matches far more interesting. So, whenever the team went out on assignment he always had his com in one ear, and an earphone in the other, which was attached to an MP3 player on shuffle. He hit a few bumps along the way, but in time he mastered this style of combat he called “beat brawling”.

A couple years went by, and the Needles (as they had been officially named) were fairly inactive until quite suddenly in 2011. In July the Needles acquired eight new members, all of them Meta Soldiers. Talos was given two rookies and orders to infiltrate one of Clear Sight’s underground facilities, terminate the human test subjects, and bring back any files they could get their hands on. The operation was going fine until one of the rookies tried to steal a hard drive and tripped the alarm. Talos managed to get his team out alive, but he took two bullets protecting them—one to the leg and another to his left shoulder. Once they got to the extraction point the medic onboard started tending to his wounds. He was out of commission for several weeks, and it was almost November before he was put back into active duty. He was given a similar assignment, but this time he requested to go alone instead of having to babysit a couple of new kids with no sense. The Colonel permitted it, and the operation went off without a hitch. He came back with detailed files on Clear Sight’s serums, and he had not only terminated the test subjects and scientists, but a couple of Eyes who were guarding the place. Even so, after all this, when things got really heated in December he wasn’t deployed, but instead he was assigned to guard duty. He couldn’t believe it. He was the most outstanding member, perhaps aside from the Colonel, and he was being pinned to the bench. But little did he know that the person he was protecting was actually one of the highest ranking members of Rarity International. Several attempts were made on that person’s life, but it was nothing Talos couldn’t handle; he even got to listen to some tunes while he fought.

Then one day everything changed… He was on his break one afternoon, and was out in this fancy courtyard the Brazil HQ had out front, when quite suddenly there was a burst of light in the distance. Then he heard security guards behind him mumbling into their communicators and trying to remain calm. His super hearing allowed him to hear the person speaking in the ear piece, and they just kept repeating “We’ve been hit! We’ve been hit! The Meta Soldier factories just exploded!”
With hardly any warning a burning wave of radiation washed over the city, destroying homes, melting steel, and changing lives forever. The big bronze statue that was clearly abstract was lit on fire, melted, and burst every which way. The liquid metal almost completely covered Kathan, and the areas that weren’t covered by bronze were sinking into the liquefied cement and marble. He had been through a lot in his short 20 years of life, but he had never felt pain like that before. He could feel his entire being shifting, his molecules going in and out of a state of flux and seemingly merging with the various materials. After about ten minutes he passed out and when he awoke nearly three hours later he saw his skin had become some sort of flexible alloy similar in appearance to bronze. He didn’t know what was going on, but he knew there would be one place that was safe in the whole country. He grabbed his charge and rushed to the Needle base underground, clanking with every step he took.
The next year of Kathan’s life was spent in labs as doctors and geneticists tried to find a way to turn him back to normal, or at least as normal as he was when they got him. You see, Kathan was a stealth and assassination specialist, and being made of metal made his job rather impossible. After almost 16 months they found a way for Kathan to naturally suppress the “bronze body”, and bring it out any time he wanted. By using the implant CalliopE installed they were able to input a command that would shift various cells, chemicals and vitamins in Kathan’s body allowing him to change his skin back and forth between normal and alloy at will.

Once he was stable again he was put onto clean-up duty, which basically meant making sure no Yami or Wires were lurking anywhere. The years crept by, and chaos ruled the world. The Powers were going mad, and the prisons were a joke. It didn’t take the convicts long to figure out that there weren’t too many people who could really stand in their way now that they had superpowers. That’s when R.A.C.E. came into play. 2015, Rarity allied herself with Clear Sight and signed over several Needles to R.A.C.E., but Kathan wouldn’t have any part in it. He blamed Clear Sight for his father’s death, so he retired at 23 and moved back England. His life after the boom was mostly comprised of wandering. The Powers still found him intriguing, and all but Rarity International were still trying to get their hands on him, so going back to the home he grew up in was out of the question. He knew mom would be taken care of by H.E.A.L.L., even if they were a bit corrupt. So, he travelled… He never really needed to worry about money; Rarity sent him handsome checks monthly for his years of service as a Needle, so he went wherever and whenever, and did whatever he pleased. Only trouble was he didn’t like much aside from a good fight, great music, and a splendid sandwich before the boom ruined the meat. So now he just wanders, looking for something better, helping where he can.

Sample RP: England, the land of his childhood. It had been a long time since he had been back, and even in that moment he was wondering why he came. There was nothing for him here—just a grave and a mother he dared not visit. He knew where his mum was; H.E.A.L.L. headquarters under the protection of his aunt’s Surgeons. He also knew that if he so much as came within three-hundred feet of that place they would unleash every Surgeon and agent they could spare on him, and try to brainwash him. He missed his mother, but he just didn’t want to risk it. It was true that he was one of the best Surgeons H.E.A.L.L. ever made, but he knew his limits, and that limit was around ten Surgeons at a time, and he was quite sure they had more than thirty Meta Soldiers at HQ. So instead he popped into a convenience store and started glancing around for postcards.
The clerk looked up from his newspaper for a moment to see what walked in, but then turned back to the article. However, only a few seconds later he was following Kathan with his eyes, and carefully examining him. He noted the man’s approximate height at 6’0”, and weight around 200lbs. There was nothing special about his clothing—just some black jeans, a black t-shirt, and a pair of high-top shoes. The jacket, however, did catch his eye, but more specifically the lining. He barely got a glimpse, but he knew he saw a patch that belonged to an Eye. He had seen the patch once before when a few agents from H.E.A.L.L. came in bragging to each other about their “trophies”. They thought he wasn’t listening, but this old clerk always had his eyes open and ears ready for some juicy info. “Are you from H.E.A.L.L., too?”
Kathan froze, and then turned and stared the man right in the eyes. “Pardon me?” He asked in a thin, mid-west American accent.
“Your jacket… I’ve seen those patches before. Some agents from H.E.A.L.L. had ‘em.” He said in a surprisingly thick Cockney accent for this part of England.
“You don’t say?” He asked, sounding a bit interested. “Would you believe I picked this up at a surplus store back in Indiana? Now how do y’figure it got there?” He said with a grin, now leaning on the counter in front of the clerk.
“Wouldn’t know. It’s an odd piece for sure, though, that jacket. Think it may’ve belonged to an agent?”
“I reckon anything’s possible.” Mr. Augustine replied, still smiling. “Boy, where are my manners? The name’s Clem, Clem Jackson.” He said as he extended his hand in greeting. The man took his hand and introduced himself as Alfred. “Say, I’m tryin’ to pick out a postcard for my mama; you got any suggestions?”

The clerk suggested a nice one, surprisingly—it had the image of a little boy peeking through a thick patch of flowers and tall grass. He wrote the address quickly, and then a short message on the back side: Dear mum, I miss you greatly. I would love to visit, but you know how things go. I’m doing well. I’m not starving. I’m actually living off a handsome retirement, so don’t fret. I love you. ~Kathan Lee Augustine~

He dropped the card in the nearest post box, and went along his way.

Behind the Mask

Your Name: Sin
Your Age: 22
Roleplay Experience: 10 years
Other Characters: N/A

Password: Serenity