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Leo is a Jearan, a reptilian species of bipeds who still retain several vestigial traits from before their ancestors migrated to land. A prevalence of genetic modifications means that even those traits are not constant however, and there is no “norm” for a Jearan to conform to biologically. Leo in particular possesses no overt modifications to his appearance, he has an overall very fit and athletic body, a somewhat long tail that can drag on the ground if he is not conscious of it, and a skin tone that alternates between a light grey and a dirty white. The most distinctive markings are a collection of old scars all across his face and a single cybernetic eye, when asked why it is a different color from his natural eye he will provide a different story each time. Jaerans, and thus Leo, also possess a well developed digestive system capable of filtering most natural toxins, giving him an impressive resistance to poisons and any drug that must be ingested, which is somewhat fortunate given his alcoholism. His Left eye is cybernetic and a muted red, right eye is a light bluish green
Equipment
- Custom “Bruiser” heavy powered armor, derived from a Tecarian superheavy infantry frame, this 7 foot tall suit is environmentally sealed, contains integral and modular weapons, as well as a personal shield and thick armor, designed for close quarters combat at Leo’s request
- Alloy combat knives, with a preference for getting up close and personal Leo asked Karse to supply a generous and versatile stock of combat knives that he keeps across his person, engineered with extremely durable alloys and sharpened to a fine edge, with enough force they can penetrate even most modern body armor.
Major Modifications
- Tissue regeneration: Although not worthy of a superhero, Leo’s body is able to recover from injuries faster than most, and from injuries that would be crippling to most, cutting weeks of recovery to days.
- Senses: Leo’s various senses, although never deficient by any means, have been shored up to the limits of what is naturally possible from them
- Implants/cybernetics: Leo’s left eye, lost to an unspecified event, was replaced with a mismatched but otherwise very functional prosthetic eye, he has resisted all offers to replace or change it to match his natural eye. To properly control his armor Leo also received a small nervous interface implant at the top of his spine, though refused to receive any more implants that would extend the functionality of his armor.
- Metabolism: Although the genetic modifications to his body are by and large a boon, the price is that his body tends to burn through calories much faster than normal, and Leo will consume 25-50% more rations than a normal individual of his size and fitness.
Personality
Leo is an inherently impulsive person, for a time in life he simply gave himself over to those impulses, accruing an impressive streak of crimes for which he narrowly avoided punishment, and a fair deal of shame over the whole affair. At present Leo strives to temper that impulsiveness and, if nothing else, channel it towards something productive. Very physically active Leo does not take well to idleness, often occupying himself with exercises, that sometimes come at the detriment of others, or with copious amounts of alcohol, which either keeps him subdued or exacerbates his willingness to jump to violence when provoked. The worst of Leo’s habits and tendencies are usually kept in check by Karse.
Background
Leo’s early life, although unfortunate, is not an exceptionally rare story. Kidnapped at a young age and sold to an underground lab, illegal R&D facilities that conduct dramatic genetic experiments and modifications at the behest of criminal organizations and less reputable militias who often employ the survivors. Leo was lucky enough to not become a statistic before he reached maturity and his usefulness as an experiment ended, even more lucky that before he was sold off to be hired muscle the local police raided the lab, arresting the doctors and freeing the experiments. In the care of the government Leo was finally afforded a basic education, but most of their efforts went into helping him recover from years of isolation and abuse. At first Leo took to this rehabilitation well, excited for a chance to make a life of his own in spite of everything, however because the government could not undo the experiments conducted on him and the various enhancements forced upon him, they did the next best thing and offered him a job in the police force where they would help him to excel. It was all downhill from there however.
Leo had been intended to be as much of a “super soldier” as possible, he would have been highly sought after by any criminal organization or militia, but there were consequences to the sheer number of modifications imposed on his body. The most noticeable and problematic of these changes was to his body’s adrenal response, the idea was that adrenaline was a powerful and potent natural stimulant and painkiller, but in practice the tendency to produce an adrenaline rush in response to relatively minor stimuli simply made him seem violent and impulsive. He would commonly and rapidly escalate otherwise controlled situations, and after a few serious injuries and at least one fatality due to his lack of control, the police simply let him go.
Although the police had been thoroughly dissatisfied a recruit like Leo was still appealing to the local militia, who eagerly took him in. They found out even faster than the police that they were not going to be able to temper his lack of discipline effectively, and also released him back into the civilian world. Leo wasn’t quite beaten, though he did not fully understand his situation yet, so he sought employment by more conventional means, but at every turn he found himself escalating situations to violence with minimal provocation. After going through nearly a dozen careers in a tragically short span of time, Leo felt thoroughly defeated by himself, not understanding this jarring lack of control on his part, and so he decided that there was still one route he could try where a tendency to wanton violence could take you far.
Leo wasn’t much of a killer, he didn’t even particularly enjoy hurting people, but he seemed to keep finding himself in fight or flight situations where he couldn’t just bring himself to back down. That was ostensibly a good thing as a mercenary though, and it was all mostly legal, his ability to respond swiftly and decisively where others might try to deescalate wouldn’t be a problem, as nobody in their right mind sent mercenaries to try and win hearts and minds. The mercenary life was more Leo’s speed, he didn’t enjoy it particularly, but it suited him well, and the adrenaline was, well, a rush. A rush that Leo was quickly getting addicted to, it made his world so simple, just action, reaction, and more action, no introspection or trying to keep his impulses in control. Leo didn’t begin his mercenary career as a killer, but he ended as a combat junkie, often starting fights with strangers and allies just to get himself worked up, and drinking heavily when off-duty, to the point where his list of bar brawls, murders, and friendly fire incidents was too much for any halfway reputable employer to overlook. Resigned to dying hungover in a gutter somewhere, Leo happened upon Karse, or more accurately, Karse found him drunk in an alleyway. Karse quickly reviewed Leo’s record and made him a simple offer, shelter, weapons, and all the alcohol he could ingest, if he would agree to be on retainer as Karse’s personal enforcer.
Drunkenly accepting Leo was rather unceremoniously dragged along as Karse returned to his hideout, there the mercenary was provided with everything offered to him, his own quarters, new custom weaponry made by Karse himself, and a steady supply of beer to drown himself in. Leo served as Karse’s debt collector so to speak, making bloody examples of anyone who opted to simply not pay for the weaponsmith’s premium services after collecting their gear, for a time Leo delighted in it, the stakes were so high it was a miracle he was never killed. On many occasions Leo would barely return, drenched in both his own and others’ blood, thoroughly exhausted, but every time his body bounced back and he made a full recovery, eagerly returning to the field to claim more victims.
After a time Karse had had enough of Leo’s tendency to come home half alive, and offered to create a suit of powered armor for him. Hesitantly accepting some measurements were taken, and over the next few months Karse slowly pieced together a suit of armor to rival anything that any military could field, nevermind deadbeat criminals. The armor served its purpose, a little too well however, the graduation from a Jaeran assassin to an armored juggernaut as Karse’s enforcer was enough to end anyone thinking they could cheat him out of gear or money and live. Leo didn’t take well to the sudden drop in activity, the constant state of near-death had bothered him less than being alone with his thoughts, and he eventually drank himself so far under the table that even his robust systems could no longer take it.
A week later he was still alive however, Karse had spared no expense in keeping him alive, his doctor hastily cloning and transplanting replacements for Leo’s failing organs. Leo wasn’t thankful to be alive though, if anything this just made him think even more, the difference was he didn’t try to stop himself this time, he didn’t completely stop drinking, but he dialed it back heavily, and ultimately decided that if Karse wouldn’t let him he die, he would return the favor.