| Tal Ravis | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Tal Yahalom Ravis | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Better known as just Yahalom, he is considerably more serious than his distant relative, Tal “Underscore” Ravis. While the two maintain a similar sense of duty and honor, Yahalom does not partake in most of the jokes or foul language that the other Tal ( Tal Ravis ) does.
Special Skills
- Special Operations Training/Scout Sniper School Training
- Extensively trained in the use of firearms, from pistols to rifles and AT launchers. Exceeding agile under combat load relative to other human beings, with high endurance in the field.
- CIA SAD/SOG Training
- Is a fully-trained intelligence case officer, possessing clandestine skills to collect human intelligence. To maintain plausible deniability in the event that he is exposed, the Central Intelligence Agency has provided him mostly with foreign or domestic readily civilian-accessible equipment.
- Combat Lifesaver Training
- Tal is equipped with two infantry first aid kits, consisting of compression bandages, hemostatic agents, two nasopharyngeal airways, and two tourniquets, with an additional tourniquet in a special pouch on his plate carrier marked "TQ". He is fully capable of using any of these items on himself or others even while under duress.
Special Abilities
- Telekinetic Resistance
- Trained as part of the supernatural investigations unit, Tal possesses an unusually high degree of telekinetic resistance to prevent probing or control. With strong mental fortitude, he is capable of filling his mind with clusters of thoughts irrelevant to his mission, making discerning his intentions considerably more difficult.
Equipment
- Crye Precision Jumpable Plate Carrier 2.0 w/ Level III SAPI plates
- A lightweight, minimalist armor vest designed for maximum mobility, flexibility, and weight savings, featuring exchangeable front panels with support for MOLLE interfaces. For low-visibility operations, it comes in a Ranger Green finish. It is fitted with Level III SAPI plates that protect against up to .308 (7.62x51mm NATO) ammunition. Loadout is mission dependent, although it typically features a subdued/IR-color US flag patch on the upper chest for identification and pouches for at least five magazines: 3 in an open-top triple shingle on the front, one stacked on top of the triple shingle in an ITW Fast Mag, and another in a flap pouch on his left-hand side. Various types of bags can be attached or strapped to the rear of the JPC, which has a total load capacity approaching 400 pounds.
- M4A1 SOPMOD Block II
- SOPMOD Block II is an unofficial moniker for the latest iteration of accessories for M4-pattern rifles in United States Special Operations Command service. Typically, like Tal's, they are built from M4A1 carbines, the fully-automatic variant of the ubiquitous 5.56-chambered M4 carbine, and feature a longer tan-colored Daniel Defense M4A1 RIS II quad-rail handguard with matching tan NWC crane stock. Mounted on the top rail are a set of Knight's Armament Company backup iron sights, along with an Elcan SpecterDR 1-4x dual-role optic. Towards the business end of the rifle is an AN/PEQ-15 Advanced Target Pointer/Illuminator/Aiming Laser (ATPIAL), which is mounted slightly behind the flip-up front sight. On the right side of the weapon is a Surefire Scout Light, hooked up to an Insight Technology pressure switch on the other side of the weapon. This switch is mounted on the top rail behind the AN/PEQ-15, allowing for easy access by the off-hand while holding the KAC forward (vertical) pistol grip. Attached to the muzzle of the 12.5-inch barrel is a KAC Quick-Detach flash suppressor, along with a KAC QD NT-4 sound suppressor. To help cope with the weight of the weapon over long periods of time as well as assisting in rapid transitions to the secondary, Tal has opted for a Frank Proctor WOTG sling.
- Owing to the RIS rail system, the design is fully modular with a wide set of optics ranging from dedicated close combat optics to fixed 4x optics, as well as most aftermarket grips, bipods, and weapon lights. There is no one "true" setup for every situation, and Tal will swap or replace attachments to suit mission needs, especially considering the weight of the weapon when fully kitted-out.
- Glock 19 MOS
- A compact handgun firing 9x19mm Parabellum pistol rounds, issued to members of USSOCOM. Acts as his backup, fitted with a pistol light and taller tritium-illuminated iron sights. Mounted under the barrel is a well-worn Surefire X300U weapon light in tan, which protrudes slightly past the end of the barrel. Owing to the modular nature of the Glock platform, he can easily fit it with a pistol-sized red dot (Trijicon RMR/Leupold DeltaPoint) as well as several different barrel devices, including compensators and sound suppressors. For storage, Tal uses a Safariland 6354 holster mounted at hip level on his Emissary gun belt.
Background
Born in a middle-class suburb on Staten Island, New York, Tal was reasonably competent as a schoolkid and was told he had “great potential” in the future as an engineer. At the age of 18, he forgoed attending a technical school despite his parents wishes and instead enlisted in the United States Marine Corps, becoming a Critical Skills Operator with the Marine Raider Regiment.
While he missed out on the initial invasion of Iraq, he’d be constantly deployed to both Iraq and Afghanistan over the course of the next 10 years, eventually deciding on staying in the Corps for the long-term as there wasn’t much else he wanted to do at the time. During his tenure in the military, he got a bachelors degree in industrial engineering through the Post-9/11 GI bill program.
His shining performances while part of MARSOC led to his selection by the secretive CIA Special Activities Division to become a Paramilitary Operations Officer, whereupon he was assigned to the Special Operations Group as part of the supernatural investigations unit. Essentially, he acts a CIA liaison in the supernatural world, although his cover story is that he's a freelancing normal dabbling in the supernatural.