((Put this together over a couple of hours surfing the forums late at night. It's my first time putting all my background concept down in detail in words, and it's not my best work, but here it is. This is a repost from the Virtue server boards.))
The Star Lancer
The Man: Jayce Jystal was born in Seattle, Earth. But it was not this Earth. In Jayces universe, there were no superheroes, except for the vids and holo-stories. Over a century ahead of the world where he would one day find himself, the humans of his Earth had spread out into space, and by the time Anjuren and Celia Jystal had their first child the Stellar Confederation, formed from Earth and her colonies, controlled fifty star systems.
He had a fairly unremarkable childhood. Like just about every other middle-class kid, he lived comfortably, if not luxuriously. Jayce performed above average in his schooling, but was far from a genius. When he decided, as many others his age were, to seek adventure out exploring the cosmos and join the Confederations Star Forces, his application to the Stellar Fleet Academy was rejected, and he just barely made the cutoff for an appointment to the Star Lancer Academy on Aryss IV.
To add insult to injury, the adventure seeking Jayce ended up sitting out the most excitement the Confederation had seen in twenty years. Halfway through his first year in the Academy, the dimension raiding Rikti launched an invasion of Earth. Though caught by surprise (unlike the heroes of Paragon City, the Stellar Confederation had little more knowledge of dimension travel than a few radical quantum physics theories), the Confederation forces quickly struck back. They didnt have the heroes that saved Paragon City and its Earth, but they did have technology comparable to the Rikti. Faced with stiff opposition, the Rikti withdrew less than six months after their initial strike, but it was still the first real war the humans had fought in decades, and the victorious warriors became instant celebrities, much to Jayces chagrin.The Rikti would, however, have a profound impact on his life.
As the scientists of Paragon City later would, the Stellar Confederation intently studied the Rikti technology captured during the war. Most of it was based on technology the Confederation already possessed, but the portal technology was something completely alien. Reverse engineering of the designs was given top priority by military leaders, and after three years the first human system based on Rikti portal technology was ready for trials. The human teleportation systems were still extremely primitive, and much more bulky than their Rikti counterparts, so it was decided the prototype unit would be an improved drive system for a starship. Instantaneous travel across stellar distances seemed like a dream come true for both the Fleets exploratory and military missions, and being stationed aboard the experimental test ship, the SCSS Goddard, seemed like the chance for glory that the newly commissioned Second Lieutenant Jayce Jystal had been dying for since the end of the Rikti War. In a way, it was.
The Goddard launched with great ceremony and much celebration but, despite the encouraging results of the lab tests and simulations, the first space jump was a spectacular failure. The portal destabilized rapidly and very little of the Goddard ever materialized at the target point. The vessel was declared lost with all hands and the systems were taken back to the drawing board but, in reality, at least one member of her crew had survived.
After going unconscious during the reality-warping, mind-bending chaos of the failed experiment, Jayce woke up in a back alley in the Argosy Industrial area of Atlas Park, along with a few pieces of bulkhead and decking from the Goddards barracks. Injured, disoriented, and with his armor badly damaged, he wandered aimlessly until a couple of heroes from the Freedom Corps noticed him and picked him up. He spent almost a month in a Freedom Corps infirmary recovering and learning about this new world. At first, he could think of nothing but finding a way home but, in time, his uncharacteristically enthusiastic AI, Alyssa, convinced him that, as a Star Lancer, he had a sworn duty to use his advanced technology to protect the innocents of humanity, regardless of the dimension.
Now, Jayce nominally works with the Department of Advanced Technology Application as the hero Star Lancer, though he is always on the lookout out for any leads on a way home.
The Machine: The Aegis Technologies Minerva Mk. III Powered Infantry Combat Armor is the standard issue power armor for the Stellar Confederations Star Lancer Corps. Designed to be as versatile as possible without sacrificing combat efficiency, the armor is based around an artificial quantum singularity energy reactor that powers gravity control systems that can be adapted for various functions.
Primary armament consists of dual, arm-mounted plasma pulse cannons capable of several firing modes. Defensive systems include a crystanium alloy armorweave outer shell, and variable configuration energy fields providing both deflection and camouflage. Locomotion is provided by servo-assisted walking/running or the LeviGrav flight system. Control systems are based around a direct neural interface link, but manual control is possible in emergency situations.
Deus Ex Machina: SLTacAI-098198517f Alyssa is a standard issue Tactical Artificial Intelligence. All Star Lancer officers are provided with a TacAI to assist in situational awareness, threat assessment, and general command and control functions. Jayces AI, Alyssa, resides in a memory core module stored in a cybernetic implant in the lower rear area of his head, just behind the ear. Generally very thoughtful and conservative, she makes an interesting partner to the impulsive Jayce (who often refers to her as mother, which annoys her greatly). In a strange role-reversal, since their arrival in Paragon City Alyssa has heartily embraced the hero role (possibly due to her strong moral imperative), while Jayce remains largely ambivalent about the idea. Though she usually communicates directly with Jayce through his neural interface, she is also capable of holo-projecting herself and takes the form of a young woman with shoulder-length auburn hair wearing the black and gold uniform jumpsuit of a Star Lancer.
((Put this together over a couple of hours surfing the forums late at night. It's my first time putting all my background concept down in detail in words, and it's not my best work, but here it is. This is a repost from the Virtue server boards.))
The Star Lancer
The Man: Jayce Jystal was born in Seattle, Earth. But it was not this Earth. In Jayces universe, there were no superheroes, except for the vids and holo-stories. Over a century ahead of the world where he would one day find himself, the humans of his Earth had spread out into space, and by the time Anjuren and Celia Jystal had their first child the Stellar Confederation, formed from Earth and her colonies, controlled fifty star systems.
He had a fairly unremarkable childhood. Like just about every other middle-class kid, he lived comfortably, if not luxuriously. Jayce performed above average in his schooling, but was far from a genius. When he decided, as many others his age were, to seek adventure out exploring the cosmos and join the Confederations Star Forces, his application to the Stellar Fleet Academy was rejected, and he just barely made the cutoff for an appointment to the Star Lancer Academy on Aryss IV.
To add insult to injury, the adventure seeking Jayce ended up sitting out the most excitement the Confederation had seen in twenty years. Halfway through his first year in the Academy, the dimension raiding Rikti launched an invasion of Earth. Though caught by surprise (unlike the heroes of Paragon City, the Stellar Confederation had little more knowledge of dimension travel than a few radical quantum physics theories), the Confederation forces quickly struck back. They didnt have the heroes that saved Paragon City and its Earth, but they did have technology comparable to the Rikti. Faced with stiff opposition, the Rikti withdrew less than six months after their initial strike, but it was still the first real war the humans had fought in decades, and the victorious warriors became instant celebrities, much to Jayces chagrin.The Rikti would, however, have a profound impact on his life.
As the scientists of Paragon City later would, the Stellar Confederation intently studied the Rikti technology captured during the war. Most of it was based on technology the Confederation already possessed, but the portal technology was something completely alien. Reverse engineering of the designs was given top priority by military leaders, and after three years the first human system based on Rikti portal technology was ready for trials. The human teleportation systems were still extremely primitive, and much more bulky than their Rikti counterparts, so it was decided the prototype unit would be an improved drive system for a starship. Instantaneous travel across stellar distances seemed like a dream come true for both the Fleets exploratory and military missions, and being stationed aboard the experimental test ship, the SCSS Goddard, seemed like the chance for glory that the newly commissioned Second Lieutenant Jayce Jystal had been dying for since the end of the Rikti War. In a way, it was.
The Goddard launched with great ceremony and much celebration but, despite the encouraging results of the lab tests and simulations, the first space jump was a spectacular failure. The portal destabilized rapidly and very little of the Goddard ever materialized at the target point. The vessel was declared lost with all hands and the systems were taken back to the drawing board but, in reality, at least one member of her crew had survived.
After going unconscious during the reality-warping, mind-bending chaos of the failed experiment, Jayce woke up in a back alley in the Argosy Industrial area of Atlas Park, along with a few pieces of bulkhead and decking from the Goddards barracks. Injured, disoriented, and with his armor badly damaged, he wandered aimlessly until a couple of heroes from the Freedom Corps noticed him and picked him up. He spent almost a month in a Freedom Corps infirmary recovering and learning about this new world. At first, he could think of nothing but finding a way home but, in time, his uncharacteristically enthusiastic AI, Alyssa, convinced him that, as a Star Lancer, he had a sworn duty to use his advanced technology to protect the innocents of humanity, regardless of the dimension.
Now, Jayce nominally works with the Department of Advanced Technology Application as the hero Star Lancer, though he is always on the lookout out for any leads on a way home.
The Machine: The Aegis Technologies Minerva Mk. III Powered Infantry Combat Armor is the standard issue power armor for the Stellar Confederations Star Lancer Corps. Designed to be as versatile as possible without sacrificing combat efficiency, the armor is based around an artificial quantum singularity energy reactor that powers gravity control systems that can be adapted for various functions.
Primary armament consists of dual, arm-mounted plasma pulse cannons capable of several firing modes. Defensive systems include a crystanium alloy armorweave outer shell, and variable configuration energy fields providing both deflection and camouflage. Locomotion is provided by servo-assisted walking/running or the LeviGrav flight system. Control systems are based around a direct neural interface link, but manual control is possible in emergency situations.
Deus Ex Machina: SLTacAI-098198517f Alyssa is a standard issue Tactical Artificial Intelligence. All Star Lancer officers are provided with a TacAI to assist in situational awareness, threat assessment, and general command and control functions. Jayces AI, Alyssa, resides in a memory core module stored in a cybernetic implant in the lower rear area of his head, just behind the ear. Generally very thoughtful and conservative, she makes an interesting partner to the impulsive Jayce (who often refers to her as mother, which annoys her greatly). In a strange role-reversal, since their arrival in Paragon City Alyssa has heartily embraced the hero role (possibly due to her strong moral imperative), while Jayce remains largely ambivalent about the idea. Though she usually communicates directly with Jayce through his neural interface, she is also capable of holo-projecting herself and takes the form of a young woman with shoulder-length auburn hair wearing the black and gold uniform jumpsuit of a Star Lancer.