Entry tags:
STE Application
OOC Information:
Name: Ken
Are you over 15? Yep.
Contact:![[plurk.com profile]](https://plurk.com/favicon.ico)
mugennoken, PM to ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
mugennoken, and Infinity Greymon on AIM are all viable options.
IC Information:
Name: Pre: Neil Dylandy (Codename: Lockon Stratos), Re: Neil DylandyHe has enough names
Canon and medium: Mobile Suit Gundam 00, Anime series
Age: Pre: 24, Re: 31
Preincarnation Species: Human.
Preincarnation Appearance: Here!
Any differences: Hair's probably a bit shorter, but more or less the same.
Preincarnated History: Gundam Wiki on Lockon/Neil.
Neil Dylandy was born in Ireland, along with his twin brother Lyle. As a child, Neil's mother, father, and little sister Amy were all killed in a terrorist bombing set forth by the organization known as the KPSA. The KPSA was a militia stemming out of the Middle East, lead by a war monger known as Ali Al-Saachez. While Lyle and Neil both survived, Neil become separated from his twin by the tragedy, time, and an all consuming thirst to rid this world of the same horrors that stole their family from them.
That last part came into play when when was recruited by the then-secret organization known as "Celestial Being." Scouted for both his hatred of what war and terrorism brings to the world, as well as his amazing marksmanship, Neil was given the codename "Lockon Stratos." He was also given the highly advanced Mobile Suit the Gundam Dynames, becoming a "Gundam Meister." Together with Setsuna F. Seiei, Allelujah Haptism, and Tieria Erde, in 2307 AD they launched a campaign of "Armed Interventions" against the powers of the world.
Anywhere armed conflict sprung up, Celestial Being would intervene, often putting an end to it by decimating ANY factions firing on one another. They took no sides in their interventions, attempting to send a clear cut message that if you promoted war or terror, the Gundams would be there to stop you. This created very many enemies, all the while forces that seemed to support them also worked against them in the background. Those forces would eventually initiate Team Trinity to take action, a team of three supposed other Gundam Meisters who, with their Gundam Thrones, took far more aggressive actions against the world governments. The Thrones would start attacking military bases without any justification, and one of them even slaughtered countless civilians at a wedding party.
Seeing them as threats to the world, Setsuna, Tieria, and Lockon engaged them in combat. There it was revealed to Lockon that Setsuna had been a member of the KPSA, leading to a tense confrontation where Lockon very nearly puts a bullet in the kid's head. What he does learn is the identity of the KPSA's leader, Saachez, whom they had been fighting this whole time without Lockon realizing it as he had been hired as a mercenary by one of the world governments to combat the Gundams.
It becomes obvious that something is interfering with the master program that dictates all of Celestial Being's actions, VEDA, and their programmers are forced to come up with a new "Stand Alone System" to operate the Gundams under. This comes at the worst time, as the world governments had received a series of GN Drives much like the ones that powered the Gundams, and united with a squadron of new state of the art Mobile Suits called the GN-X to hunt them down. The Meisters try to fight this opposition force off, but the one manipulating VEDA shuts their Gundams down. Though the aforementioned programmers are able to get the Gundams running again shortly after, the battle becomes chaotic, and Lockon is gravely wounded protecting Tieria and the Gundam Virtue. Refusing to stay down long enough to repair the damage, he loses use of his dominant eye.
Shortly after this, Saachez kills two members of Team Trinity, and steals one of their Gundams. In confronting them, Setsuna unlocks the "Trans-Am System" in the Gundams, which actually poses to give them a fighting chance against their enemies. However, another attack is launched against Celestial Being in space when Setsuna isn't there. While Allelujah and Tieria sortie to defend the ship, Lockon joins them against better judgment.
There, he fights a losing battle against Saachez's stolen Gundam, driven by want of revenge. While he is able to remove Saachez and his Gundam from the playing field, enough that his friends - at the very least - don't have that to contend with in the next series of battles to come, he is unable to kill him. Saachez would return, but Lockon would never know this.
Because he did this at the cost of his own life.
Reincarnated History: [His reincarnated history is designed to give him a twin brother, but I will be leaving his identity or whereabouts mostly vague for now, because I want to give any POTENTIAL player of a Lyle Dylandy some wiggle room for whether or not they want to be this Neil's twin brother. For the record, his little sister here is a character someone I know will be playing in Season 2, but I will also leave her vague for now.]
Neil hails from a family who, several generations prior, immigrated to the United States - and specifically, Locke City - from Ireland. He and his twin brother were born to their parents when they were just out of High School. Neil led a fairly normal, city dwelling childhood, and as he reached the end of his teenage years, his parents had a daughter. Due to the significant age gap, and Neil being plenty self sufficient at that point, he helped where possible in taking care of that little sister in her early years. His family ran a bar nestled downtown, founded by his grandfather and passed down to his father.
Since his grandfather's generation, the men of the family had taken up a history of military service. Growing up, he'd taken to resisting this - the idea of choosing to fight for his life as a child frankly, terrified him. He didn't see why it had to be him to do that, or why he couldn't choose his own path in life instead of having it laid out before him by family tradition. He picked up a general interest in mechanics, and threw himself into that as a teenager. By the time he was 18, he could pretty much dismantle and fix a car engine, most of it self taught on account of being so desperate to provide another career path for his life.
Then the September 11th terrorist attacks hit. In spite of his reservations, and without prompting from his family, he enlisted. Neil would find himself eventually in the US Army Rangers, and as much as he threw himself into learning to be a mechanic, he did the same to become a soldier. He was among the earlier boots on the ground in Afghanistan, and later was deployed to Iraq. It was in the later campaign, a few years into his military career, that a fellow soldier had the misfortune of stepping onto a landmine. While that poor soul lost his life, Neil took shrapnel to the leg.
The injury was fairly severe, and enough to put him out of commission. He was let go honorably, returned home in time, and left to figure out what the hell to do with his life as his leg recovered. School happened, degrees happened. He opened his own auto repair shop. His father passed away from a heart attack, and while that left his mother to run the family business, it also left him as the oldest man in the family. (Having beat his twin brother out by a couple minutes.) So, he did as one would expect someone in his position, and tried his best to help take responsibility for his family and help his mother as best he could, particularly with his younger siblings, of which some had a significant age gap to him.
Try as he might, Neil just pushed on in an attempt at a normal life.
Then he had an encounter with the Blood Keys shortly before they suddenly dropped off the radar completely, and everything changed.
First Echo: Neil got a call to help out a regular customer whose car had broken down near the Dead District at the very start of February. There, he got accosted by Blood Keys. Old war wound or not, he was able to fight them off.
What suddenly flashed into his head besides the Numbers was simple. It's him sitting in a cockpit of some sort that looks quite highly advanced, a red light flashing in front of his face.
"Disengaging GN System repose. Priority pass to Lockon Stratos." [This is a phrase used by SETSUNA, with his own code name, several times to activate the locked down or hidden Gundam Exia. Given how Celestial Being is set up, and how uniformed the Gundams are designed, one can only assume the same applies to all four Gundams. They all have the retinal scanners, but one can easily assume that every one of them would have the same lockdown procedures given that all of the Gundams are shown to be designed in extremely similar fashions beyond their base, specialized capabilities. So learning the unlock phrase would eventually be ESSENTIAL.]
Preincarnation Personality: Lockon Stratos is at once an incredibly honest man, and yet one who is also very disingenuous to those around him.
What he puts forth is a seemingly light hearted, casual, occasionally devil may care attitude. He appears to be one of the most grounded, down to Earth members of Celestial Being and he probably was. Around his comrades he is quick with a smirk, playing off their grave and important mission with a shrug or a laugh as he kicks back in his Gundam and snipes a target with minimal effort. He is one of the Meisters most likely to just sit around and talk to you like a human being, no matter how much he may be rebuffed by the overbearing seriousness of Tieria or Setsuna. Most the other Meisters could be seen treating their allies in a way that either kept them at arms length, or considered them with nothing short of outright suspicion. Lockon wasn't like that, at least not openly.
He really did seem to care about the members of Celestial Being genuinely, at least. He'd pat a sad young girl on the head, comfort her, even go as far as to reveal classified information about himself in order to make her feel better. He could manage to reach someone as stoic and emotionally repressed as Tieria just by talking honestly. These things shouldn't be much of a surprise - Lockon lost most of his family in a horrible tragedy. He was the oldest Meister. It's probably not much of a stretch to think that he considered them as something of a surrogate family, constantly looking out for those that really needed it - be it a child like Setsuna, whom he always seemed to watch the back of, Feldt, who much like him had lost her family, or Tieria, who was literally someone who had nothing except VEDA and Celestial Being, far more than Lockon ever realized. He will look out for those whose weaknesses shine through clear enough to be seen, and especially those younger than him, and he will not hesitate to do this for even an instant.
Such as when he took a hit for Tieria that cost him his dominant eye. Lockon could have underwent treatment that would have healed it, had he done so immediately. But... he chose not to. Putting the ship down one Gundam would have been severely detrimental to their survival at the time, facing the legion of GN-X units. His kindness outweighed his own self interest and ability to properly pilot his Gundam at the time - probably, it was that kindness that got him killed, in addition to his anger, which I shall get to. But he wouldn't leave his friends to fend for themselves - had he done that, and they had died he never would have been able to live with himself. All told, it probably would have been like losing his family all over again.
Where he is dishonest is his own pain and anger. He will hide loneliness and sulking over his lot in life by calling the ship back with fake audio of women talking in the background, all while he sits alone in his car, just to make his crew think he's this casual guy without a care in the world. That's the image he wants to put forth to them, but it's not how he really is. His anger towards the deaths of his parents and sister drives every action he takes, in the long run. That, and his hatred of terrorism can become all consuming with the appropriate trigger. It can become (haha) almost blinding. When he discovered Setsuna was apart of the KPSA, he nearly put a bullet in the poor kid's head, and there was definitely a moment where it seemed as if he may do so. Still, his better judgment and obvious care for Setsuna won out - it usually did, up until he had to face Saachez himself. Then the anger and rage and sorrow genuinely WAS blinding - he acted without ration or reason, seeking only Saachez's death. He even probably recognized this, but knew he would never be satisfied so long as one of them was still drawing breath. That he could be so consumed by nothing more than the act of wanting revenge is entirely the reason he died, and yet he seemed to find it justified all the same. Once he found out that the KPSA's leader was among their direct enemies, nothing could stop him until he did something - nothing would rest.
Such is the tragedy of his death, really - he got stupid because he got angry, but still thought he was doing what needed to be done.
His hatred of terrorism marks a bitter irony for him, and he recognizes how much of a hypocrite he is. The Gundams are perceived by the world as tools of terror themselves. He goes out in the Dynames, killing people and robbing yet more families of their loved ones. But such is the all important gamble he casts by being part of Celestial Being - one last ditched effort to rid the world of all wars.
He didn't terribly get out much, beyond being a Meister. While as mentioned, he would want people to believe he was out partying, he would instead be back in Ireland at the sight of his family's deaths. Or at their graves. Those instances alone make it very, very clear that when he wasn't shooting down targets in Dynames or helping those within Celestial Being, everything about him was towards that goal of one way or another avenging that family. Even to the point where he cut off his own brother - the only time he sees Lyle in canon is when he just misses his twin at a graveyard. And even then they do not meet - he only sees him from afar, and walks away. He did send money to him, trying to help where he could, but that was the only thing close to communication he would hold towards him. He sought to not involve his brother in his war, all the while unaware this was already underway.
Any differences: The clearest difference between Lockon and STE-Neil is that Neil's family is not dead. Well, not all of it. His father has died of natural causes by the time he enters, but that's something of a whole other order than having your family ripped away from you by a terrorist bombing. His extended family is large - lots of aunts and uncles and cousins - and he was raised in relative normalcy. This does affect him in some significant ways - his warmth and kindness are not necessarily a mask for his anger and grief, though perhaps they are now masks for other things. Not that such things are not genuine for either Lockon OR this version of Neil.
Neil knows war, but not the way Lockon did. He knows it from the opposite end, that of the soldier, the grunt on the ground, the one who has the gun in their hands but has someone whose command they must obey as to who he's shooting at. While Lockon had someone commanding him, he was someone who saw fit to judge the world and its people for how they engaged in war. Neil, however, was one who engaged in that war. He did it because he thought that's what he needed to do at that time, not driven by sorrow, but a sense of duty.
A duty which got friends around him killed, and himself critically wounded. Even thought he body may heal, and it has been many years, he still carries the emotional scars that come with that sort of trauma. Seeing people as young or younger than him die, regardless of their opinions, beliefs, or even what side they may have been on... That is something which has stuck with him. It's something he does not discuss, not with his family, not with his friends. In that way, he and Lockon are similar, but the perspectives and reasons come from opposite ends of the spectrum.
He has none of Lockon's aspirations for world peace, at least not yet. There are seeds that could be sprouted in that direction, perhaps, but they have not flourished. They have not been given the reason to - engaging in conflict and combat brought him pain, and he's not even sure where he stands any longer on the world's issues or wars. He just wants to live his life, but that clearly isn't going to be easy anytime soon.
Abilities: [Note: As an Army Ranger, reincarnated Neil is a trained soldier and thus has considerable combat training already. He also retains an old war wound from taking shrapnel to his right leg; much has healed or been fixed via surgery, but there is still some residual issues from time to time.]
Marksmanship - It's one thing to be able to shoot a gun. It's a whole other thing to be able to do with a giant robot moving at tremendous speeds through the air, or snipe something in space from the surface of the Earth. While Neil is trained in gun combat and sniping, Lockon's aim borders on godlike and will be its own ability to be earned through Echoes.
Piloting Skill - How do you fly a giant robot? Lockon knows this, though he is often assisted by...
Haro - Seen here, Haro was Lockon's mechanical companion through his battles as a Gundam Meister. Haro helps with Gundam maintenance, and acts as Lockon's co-pilot in the Dynames; Haro can pilot the Gundam on its own while Lockon is busy using the machine's sniping system. Additionally, it can pilot a small mechanical suit called a Karel to preform repair duties on the Gundams. All told it probably has any information on maintaining the Gundam in its programming than Lockon would ever echo back on his own. While Haro's intelligence is rudimentary outside of its duties, speaking ever only in extremely simple terms, it's also quite a smartass. [NOTE: Celestial Being has many different Haros it employs, but Neil and Lyle Dylandy both use the same Haro, since Lyle takes over for his brother after his death. Should we ever get a Lyle, obviously we'll have to eventually figure some IC workaround there due to the "no duplicates" clause on echoes. I realize this doesn't affect much off-hand, but it feels worth noting that I am aware of it.]
GN-002 Gundam Dynames - Seen here. Gundam Dynames is a 18 meter giant robot known as a "Mobile Suit," the most commonly used weapon of war in the era from which Lockon Stratos hails. It is powered by a GN Drive, which in addition to having a nearly infinite output of energy - provided the Gundam is not overtaxed and exhausts what energy is currently there - the GN Particles it emits enables the Gundams to achieve flight and even can shield them from the heat of atmospheric re-entry. As an actual unit, the Dynames is specially designed to take full advantage of Lockon's skills as a sniper. While armed with standard armaments of two Beam Pistols and two Beam Sabers, its primary weapon is a GN Beam Sniper Rifle. It is further complimented by an assortment of missile launchers in its skirt area, and later a "GN Full Shield" that provides additional armor to compliment Lockon as he's sniping. Generally, the GN-00 series is built much tougher than most Mobile Suits of its era, able to withstand hits even from weaker beam weapons where other mechs would be unable to do so.
Super Substratospheric Altitude Gun - Because this deserves its own entry. Used only once, it is effectively a really giant gun with its own power supply that Dynames used to snipe falling debris from beyond the atmosphere while on the surface of the planet. It is as ridiculous as it sounds.
Trans-Am System - This gets a bit tricky. A link here. Effectively, the Trans-Am system kicks the GN Drives into overdrive and super powers the Gundam for a limited amount of time. They are able to move at a blazing speed, and everything from their weapons to their overall strength output is increased by large margins. The problem is: Lockon never used it, in the TV series. Not this Lockon. He did, however, use it in the revised special edition compilations for the first season. It's also been used by him in video games. Gundam Dynames is fully capable of using the Trans-Am System, and it was fully activated in his machine before his death, as the Special Edition is a testament to. However - he just simply got stupid and didn't use it at a time that would have been best for him to. As the effect of Trans-Am carries over pretty similarly from Gundam to Gundam, with the exception of Setsuna's later suits, that he should be capable of utilizing it isn't even head canon - he very well should be.
GNR-001D GN Arms Type-D - Seen here. When you absolutely, positively have to annihilate everything in sight, accept no substitutions. The GN Arms Type-D links with the Dynames and compliments its long ranged skills with absurdly powerful beam weapons and a ridiculous amount of missiles. It is capable of generating a GN Field for considerably higher defense to make up for its lack of quick mobility, and with the Dynames docked in it can even take full advantage of the Trans-Am System. Needless to say, as an obscenely armed weapons platform it will probably be awhile before we get to see this in full action.
Of special note is the VEDA-Based Operating System. It won't be a factor when Dynames is echoed back here, as I will be bringing it with the Stand Alone System implemented in Dynames shortly before Lockon's death.
Roleplay Sample - Third Person:
Normally, Neil wouldn't be doing this. Riding out into the outskirts of the dead district in the middle of the night? That was just asking for trouble. Still, this was a regular customer. "Larry," he thought his name was. Older guy, and a former vet too. He'd gotten the call just as he was about to close up shop for the night about this guy's car being broke down, and...
Eh. Sometimes he thought he was too nice for his own good, but away he went. The drive wasn't long from the auto shop, but what he saw when pulling up on the directions he had been given... Some other guys probably would have turned right back around.
Indeed, there was his customer slumped against his car on the ground. He hoped he was just unconscious, because there were two thugs now looting through that car. He grit his teeth. He should call the cops, but... How long would that take them? This guy could be injured or already dead, and... Well. They'd already noticed him pulling up, evident by them starting to move from the car towards his truck.
The thugs wore sunglasses, and it was nighttime.
"Blood Keys," he muttered. Spend enough time hanging around the city lately, and you've probably heard the name or description.
Moving mechanically and methodically, Neil reached into his truck's console and pulled out a handgun. He opened the door and stepped out, slipping the gun into the back of his pants while it was still hidden by his open door. He also reached down, gripping his right leg. There hadn't been anything beyond the normal pain there that he'd sort of gotten used to for a little while, but this would be the worst possible place for it to act up if it was going to chose to do so.
That would be about his luck.
He shut the door to his truck firmly, and held up his hands to show he wasn't holding anything them. He gave half of a cocky grin.
"Howdy, boys. How're you doing this fine evening?"
One of them moved on him, then. It was much faster than he ever would have anticipated possible out of a human being. The distance he cleared in seemingly one movement was incredible, and Neil's learned instincts couldn't carry him fast enough to dodge.
The Blood Key grabbed him by the throat, slamming him up against his own truck. His grip was like a vice, also stronger than he felt like a human of this guy's size should even be capable of. He gurgled and tried to choke something out, staring up at him...
And suddenly was overtaken by a hollow feeling. It felt as if he was empty inside, before... information began to fill that void. Numbers danced in his mind, as well as... a memory?
What the hell kind of name is "Lockon Stratos?!"
But oh, right. His life was in danger. He pushed past that for the time being, head reeling and only the instinct to live driving him otherwise. He brought a hand up, smashing his fist into the thug's skull, followed by a kick to his side from Neil's good leg. The gang member loosened his grip and Neil shoved him back, before bringing up his good leg again to slam his boot into the guy's stomach.
He quickly brought that leg down, stumbling a bit as he both tried to catch his breath and felt a jolt of pain dance up his right leg from supporting his weight so suddenly and completely. Before the Blood Key could react further, or his friend could join in, Neil had drawn his handgun. The weapon's barrel took aim for the thug's skull, and Neil gave a visible sneer.
"You both get the hell out of here. Now! Don't think for a second I'm afraid to blow your goddamned head off," and just to make this point, he cocked the gun's hammer back. His hand didn't even shake.
It wasn't a thing to be proud of, but it wouldn't be the first time he'd killed someone.
It didn't take long, really. The Blood Keys took off like bats out of hell. Neil groaned and leaned against his truck as they did so, and wanted to stay right there, massaging his neck. It felt like that guy was going to snap him like a twig...
But staying wasn't something he could really do. He went to check on his customer, and after being satisfied he was still breathing, but completely out of it, he called 911 and slumped down to sit beside the unconscious Larry until help arrived.
As he sat there, he tried to think. Figure out just what the hell that feeling was when the Blood Key had him pinned. It was such a vivid thought, but not one he would expect when he's about to die. Without even thinking of it, as he pondered all of this, he started to idly type those numbers into his phone...
Roleplay Sample - Network:
I've really gotta ask, how do you deal with a pulse that's both really annoying and kind of necessary?
[A small, mechanical voice pipes up in the background.] YOU'RE ANNOYING! YOU'RE ANNOYING!
[He's just going to ignore that.]I mean. It'd be one thing if I could just stuff a sock in his mouth, but he doesn't really have much of a mouth, and I can't go ripping stuff out of him without being sure he won't work anymore. I'm a mechanic, but all of this future tech is way beyond--
TRY SUCKING LESS! TRY SUCKING LESS!
Look, you! I'm trying to talk here. How's about you go find a basketball hoop to jump into? [Okay, he's clearly no talking to the Network for a second here. He then sighs.]
Okay, so he's not really that bad sometimes. And I sort of need him, because damned if I know how to fix a giant robot from the future. Still... sure would've been nice to get a less mouthy little assistant.
Any Questions? I think I'm good~
Name: Ken
Are you over 15? Yep.
Contact:
mugennoken, and Infinity Greymon on AIM are all viable options. IC Information:
Name: Pre: Neil Dylandy (Codename: Lockon Stratos), Re: Neil Dylandy
Canon and medium: Mobile Suit Gundam 00, Anime series
Age: Pre: 24, Re: 31
Preincarnation Species: Human.
Preincarnation Appearance: Here!
Any differences: Hair's probably a bit shorter, but more or less the same.
Preincarnated History: Gundam Wiki on Lockon/Neil.
Neil Dylandy was born in Ireland, along with his twin brother Lyle. As a child, Neil's mother, father, and little sister Amy were all killed in a terrorist bombing set forth by the organization known as the KPSA. The KPSA was a militia stemming out of the Middle East, lead by a war monger known as Ali Al-Saachez. While Lyle and Neil both survived, Neil become separated from his twin by the tragedy, time, and an all consuming thirst to rid this world of the same horrors that stole their family from them.
That last part came into play when when was recruited by the then-secret organization known as "Celestial Being." Scouted for both his hatred of what war and terrorism brings to the world, as well as his amazing marksmanship, Neil was given the codename "Lockon Stratos." He was also given the highly advanced Mobile Suit the Gundam Dynames, becoming a "Gundam Meister." Together with Setsuna F. Seiei, Allelujah Haptism, and Tieria Erde, in 2307 AD they launched a campaign of "Armed Interventions" against the powers of the world.
Anywhere armed conflict sprung up, Celestial Being would intervene, often putting an end to it by decimating ANY factions firing on one another. They took no sides in their interventions, attempting to send a clear cut message that if you promoted war or terror, the Gundams would be there to stop you. This created very many enemies, all the while forces that seemed to support them also worked against them in the background. Those forces would eventually initiate Team Trinity to take action, a team of three supposed other Gundam Meisters who, with their Gundam Thrones, took far more aggressive actions against the world governments. The Thrones would start attacking military bases without any justification, and one of them even slaughtered countless civilians at a wedding party.
Seeing them as threats to the world, Setsuna, Tieria, and Lockon engaged them in combat. There it was revealed to Lockon that Setsuna had been a member of the KPSA, leading to a tense confrontation where Lockon very nearly puts a bullet in the kid's head. What he does learn is the identity of the KPSA's leader, Saachez, whom they had been fighting this whole time without Lockon realizing it as he had been hired as a mercenary by one of the world governments to combat the Gundams.
It becomes obvious that something is interfering with the master program that dictates all of Celestial Being's actions, VEDA, and their programmers are forced to come up with a new "Stand Alone System" to operate the Gundams under. This comes at the worst time, as the world governments had received a series of GN Drives much like the ones that powered the Gundams, and united with a squadron of new state of the art Mobile Suits called the GN-X to hunt them down. The Meisters try to fight this opposition force off, but the one manipulating VEDA shuts their Gundams down. Though the aforementioned programmers are able to get the Gundams running again shortly after, the battle becomes chaotic, and Lockon is gravely wounded protecting Tieria and the Gundam Virtue. Refusing to stay down long enough to repair the damage, he loses use of his dominant eye.
Shortly after this, Saachez kills two members of Team Trinity, and steals one of their Gundams. In confronting them, Setsuna unlocks the "Trans-Am System" in the Gundams, which actually poses to give them a fighting chance against their enemies. However, another attack is launched against Celestial Being in space when Setsuna isn't there. While Allelujah and Tieria sortie to defend the ship, Lockon joins them against better judgment.
There, he fights a losing battle against Saachez's stolen Gundam, driven by want of revenge. While he is able to remove Saachez and his Gundam from the playing field, enough that his friends - at the very least - don't have that to contend with in the next series of battles to come, he is unable to kill him. Saachez would return, but Lockon would never know this.
Because he did this at the cost of his own life.
Reincarnated History: [His reincarnated history is designed to give him a twin brother, but I will be leaving his identity or whereabouts mostly vague for now, because I want to give any POTENTIAL player of a Lyle Dylandy some wiggle room for whether or not they want to be this Neil's twin brother. For the record, his little sister here is a character someone I know will be playing in Season 2, but I will also leave her vague for now.]
Neil hails from a family who, several generations prior, immigrated to the United States - and specifically, Locke City - from Ireland. He and his twin brother were born to their parents when they were just out of High School. Neil led a fairly normal, city dwelling childhood, and as he reached the end of his teenage years, his parents had a daughter. Due to the significant age gap, and Neil being plenty self sufficient at that point, he helped where possible in taking care of that little sister in her early years. His family ran a bar nestled downtown, founded by his grandfather and passed down to his father.
Since his grandfather's generation, the men of the family had taken up a history of military service. Growing up, he'd taken to resisting this - the idea of choosing to fight for his life as a child frankly, terrified him. He didn't see why it had to be him to do that, or why he couldn't choose his own path in life instead of having it laid out before him by family tradition. He picked up a general interest in mechanics, and threw himself into that as a teenager. By the time he was 18, he could pretty much dismantle and fix a car engine, most of it self taught on account of being so desperate to provide another career path for his life.
Then the September 11th terrorist attacks hit. In spite of his reservations, and without prompting from his family, he enlisted. Neil would find himself eventually in the US Army Rangers, and as much as he threw himself into learning to be a mechanic, he did the same to become a soldier. He was among the earlier boots on the ground in Afghanistan, and later was deployed to Iraq. It was in the later campaign, a few years into his military career, that a fellow soldier had the misfortune of stepping onto a landmine. While that poor soul lost his life, Neil took shrapnel to the leg.
The injury was fairly severe, and enough to put him out of commission. He was let go honorably, returned home in time, and left to figure out what the hell to do with his life as his leg recovered. School happened, degrees happened. He opened his own auto repair shop. His father passed away from a heart attack, and while that left his mother to run the family business, it also left him as the oldest man in the family. (Having beat his twin brother out by a couple minutes.) So, he did as one would expect someone in his position, and tried his best to help take responsibility for his family and help his mother as best he could, particularly with his younger siblings, of which some had a significant age gap to him.
Try as he might, Neil just pushed on in an attempt at a normal life.
Then he had an encounter with the Blood Keys shortly before they suddenly dropped off the radar completely, and everything changed.
First Echo: Neil got a call to help out a regular customer whose car had broken down near the Dead District at the very start of February. There, he got accosted by Blood Keys. Old war wound or not, he was able to fight them off.
What suddenly flashed into his head besides the Numbers was simple. It's him sitting in a cockpit of some sort that looks quite highly advanced, a red light flashing in front of his face.
"Disengaging GN System repose. Priority pass to Lockon Stratos." [This is a phrase used by SETSUNA, with his own code name, several times to activate the locked down or hidden Gundam Exia. Given how Celestial Being is set up, and how uniformed the Gundams are designed, one can only assume the same applies to all four Gundams. They all have the retinal scanners, but one can easily assume that every one of them would have the same lockdown procedures given that all of the Gundams are shown to be designed in extremely similar fashions beyond their base, specialized capabilities. So learning the unlock phrase would eventually be ESSENTIAL.]
Preincarnation Personality: Lockon Stratos is at once an incredibly honest man, and yet one who is also very disingenuous to those around him.
What he puts forth is a seemingly light hearted, casual, occasionally devil may care attitude. He appears to be one of the most grounded, down to Earth members of Celestial Being and he probably was. Around his comrades he is quick with a smirk, playing off their grave and important mission with a shrug or a laugh as he kicks back in his Gundam and snipes a target with minimal effort. He is one of the Meisters most likely to just sit around and talk to you like a human being, no matter how much he may be rebuffed by the overbearing seriousness of Tieria or Setsuna. Most the other Meisters could be seen treating their allies in a way that either kept them at arms length, or considered them with nothing short of outright suspicion. Lockon wasn't like that, at least not openly.
He really did seem to care about the members of Celestial Being genuinely, at least. He'd pat a sad young girl on the head, comfort her, even go as far as to reveal classified information about himself in order to make her feel better. He could manage to reach someone as stoic and emotionally repressed as Tieria just by talking honestly. These things shouldn't be much of a surprise - Lockon lost most of his family in a horrible tragedy. He was the oldest Meister. It's probably not much of a stretch to think that he considered them as something of a surrogate family, constantly looking out for those that really needed it - be it a child like Setsuna, whom he always seemed to watch the back of, Feldt, who much like him had lost her family, or Tieria, who was literally someone who had nothing except VEDA and Celestial Being, far more than Lockon ever realized. He will look out for those whose weaknesses shine through clear enough to be seen, and especially those younger than him, and he will not hesitate to do this for even an instant.
Such as when he took a hit for Tieria that cost him his dominant eye. Lockon could have underwent treatment that would have healed it, had he done so immediately. But... he chose not to. Putting the ship down one Gundam would have been severely detrimental to their survival at the time, facing the legion of GN-X units. His kindness outweighed his own self interest and ability to properly pilot his Gundam at the time - probably, it was that kindness that got him killed, in addition to his anger, which I shall get to. But he wouldn't leave his friends to fend for themselves - had he done that, and they had died he never would have been able to live with himself. All told, it probably would have been like losing his family all over again.
Where he is dishonest is his own pain and anger. He will hide loneliness and sulking over his lot in life by calling the ship back with fake audio of women talking in the background, all while he sits alone in his car, just to make his crew think he's this casual guy without a care in the world. That's the image he wants to put forth to them, but it's not how he really is. His anger towards the deaths of his parents and sister drives every action he takes, in the long run. That, and his hatred of terrorism can become all consuming with the appropriate trigger. It can become (haha) almost blinding. When he discovered Setsuna was apart of the KPSA, he nearly put a bullet in the poor kid's head, and there was definitely a moment where it seemed as if he may do so. Still, his better judgment and obvious care for Setsuna won out - it usually did, up until he had to face Saachez himself. Then the anger and rage and sorrow genuinely WAS blinding - he acted without ration or reason, seeking only Saachez's death. He even probably recognized this, but knew he would never be satisfied so long as one of them was still drawing breath. That he could be so consumed by nothing more than the act of wanting revenge is entirely the reason he died, and yet he seemed to find it justified all the same. Once he found out that the KPSA's leader was among their direct enemies, nothing could stop him until he did something - nothing would rest.
Such is the tragedy of his death, really - he got stupid because he got angry, but still thought he was doing what needed to be done.
His hatred of terrorism marks a bitter irony for him, and he recognizes how much of a hypocrite he is. The Gundams are perceived by the world as tools of terror themselves. He goes out in the Dynames, killing people and robbing yet more families of their loved ones. But such is the all important gamble he casts by being part of Celestial Being - one last ditched effort to rid the world of all wars.
He didn't terribly get out much, beyond being a Meister. While as mentioned, he would want people to believe he was out partying, he would instead be back in Ireland at the sight of his family's deaths. Or at their graves. Those instances alone make it very, very clear that when he wasn't shooting down targets in Dynames or helping those within Celestial Being, everything about him was towards that goal of one way or another avenging that family. Even to the point where he cut off his own brother - the only time he sees Lyle in canon is when he just misses his twin at a graveyard. And even then they do not meet - he only sees him from afar, and walks away. He did send money to him, trying to help where he could, but that was the only thing close to communication he would hold towards him. He sought to not involve his brother in his war, all the while unaware this was already underway.
Any differences: The clearest difference between Lockon and STE-Neil is that Neil's family is not dead. Well, not all of it. His father has died of natural causes by the time he enters, but that's something of a whole other order than having your family ripped away from you by a terrorist bombing. His extended family is large - lots of aunts and uncles and cousins - and he was raised in relative normalcy. This does affect him in some significant ways - his warmth and kindness are not necessarily a mask for his anger and grief, though perhaps they are now masks for other things. Not that such things are not genuine for either Lockon OR this version of Neil.
Neil knows war, but not the way Lockon did. He knows it from the opposite end, that of the soldier, the grunt on the ground, the one who has the gun in their hands but has someone whose command they must obey as to who he's shooting at. While Lockon had someone commanding him, he was someone who saw fit to judge the world and its people for how they engaged in war. Neil, however, was one who engaged in that war. He did it because he thought that's what he needed to do at that time, not driven by sorrow, but a sense of duty.
A duty which got friends around him killed, and himself critically wounded. Even thought he body may heal, and it has been many years, he still carries the emotional scars that come with that sort of trauma. Seeing people as young or younger than him die, regardless of their opinions, beliefs, or even what side they may have been on... That is something which has stuck with him. It's something he does not discuss, not with his family, not with his friends. In that way, he and Lockon are similar, but the perspectives and reasons come from opposite ends of the spectrum.
He has none of Lockon's aspirations for world peace, at least not yet. There are seeds that could be sprouted in that direction, perhaps, but they have not flourished. They have not been given the reason to - engaging in conflict and combat brought him pain, and he's not even sure where he stands any longer on the world's issues or wars. He just wants to live his life, but that clearly isn't going to be easy anytime soon.
Abilities: [Note: As an Army Ranger, reincarnated Neil is a trained soldier and thus has considerable combat training already. He also retains an old war wound from taking shrapnel to his right leg; much has healed or been fixed via surgery, but there is still some residual issues from time to time.]
Marksmanship - It's one thing to be able to shoot a gun. It's a whole other thing to be able to do with a giant robot moving at tremendous speeds through the air, or snipe something in space from the surface of the Earth. While Neil is trained in gun combat and sniping, Lockon's aim borders on godlike and will be its own ability to be earned through Echoes.
Piloting Skill - How do you fly a giant robot? Lockon knows this, though he is often assisted by...
Haro - Seen here, Haro was Lockon's mechanical companion through his battles as a Gundam Meister. Haro helps with Gundam maintenance, and acts as Lockon's co-pilot in the Dynames; Haro can pilot the Gundam on its own while Lockon is busy using the machine's sniping system. Additionally, it can pilot a small mechanical suit called a Karel to preform repair duties on the Gundams. All told it probably has any information on maintaining the Gundam in its programming than Lockon would ever echo back on his own. While Haro's intelligence is rudimentary outside of its duties, speaking ever only in extremely simple terms, it's also quite a smartass. [NOTE: Celestial Being has many different Haros it employs, but Neil and Lyle Dylandy both use the same Haro, since Lyle takes over for his brother after his death. Should we ever get a Lyle, obviously we'll have to eventually figure some IC workaround there due to the "no duplicates" clause on echoes. I realize this doesn't affect much off-hand, but it feels worth noting that I am aware of it.]
GN-002 Gundam Dynames - Seen here. Gundam Dynames is a 18 meter giant robot known as a "Mobile Suit," the most commonly used weapon of war in the era from which Lockon Stratos hails. It is powered by a GN Drive, which in addition to having a nearly infinite output of energy - provided the Gundam is not overtaxed and exhausts what energy is currently there - the GN Particles it emits enables the Gundams to achieve flight and even can shield them from the heat of atmospheric re-entry. As an actual unit, the Dynames is specially designed to take full advantage of Lockon's skills as a sniper. While armed with standard armaments of two Beam Pistols and two Beam Sabers, its primary weapon is a GN Beam Sniper Rifle. It is further complimented by an assortment of missile launchers in its skirt area, and later a "GN Full Shield" that provides additional armor to compliment Lockon as he's sniping. Generally, the GN-00 series is built much tougher than most Mobile Suits of its era, able to withstand hits even from weaker beam weapons where other mechs would be unable to do so.
Super Substratospheric Altitude Gun - Because this deserves its own entry. Used only once, it is effectively a really giant gun with its own power supply that Dynames used to snipe falling debris from beyond the atmosphere while on the surface of the planet. It is as ridiculous as it sounds.
Trans-Am System - This gets a bit tricky. A link here. Effectively, the Trans-Am system kicks the GN Drives into overdrive and super powers the Gundam for a limited amount of time. They are able to move at a blazing speed, and everything from their weapons to their overall strength output is increased by large margins. The problem is: Lockon never used it, in the TV series. Not this Lockon. He did, however, use it in the revised special edition compilations for the first season. It's also been used by him in video games. Gundam Dynames is fully capable of using the Trans-Am System, and it was fully activated in his machine before his death, as the Special Edition is a testament to. However - he just simply got stupid and didn't use it at a time that would have been best for him to. As the effect of Trans-Am carries over pretty similarly from Gundam to Gundam, with the exception of Setsuna's later suits, that he should be capable of utilizing it isn't even head canon - he very well should be.
GNR-001D GN Arms Type-D - Seen here. When you absolutely, positively have to annihilate everything in sight, accept no substitutions. The GN Arms Type-D links with the Dynames and compliments its long ranged skills with absurdly powerful beam weapons and a ridiculous amount of missiles. It is capable of generating a GN Field for considerably higher defense to make up for its lack of quick mobility, and with the Dynames docked in it can even take full advantage of the Trans-Am System. Needless to say, as an obscenely armed weapons platform it will probably be awhile before we get to see this in full action.
Of special note is the VEDA-Based Operating System. It won't be a factor when Dynames is echoed back here, as I will be bringing it with the Stand Alone System implemented in Dynames shortly before Lockon's death.
Roleplay Sample - Third Person:
Normally, Neil wouldn't be doing this. Riding out into the outskirts of the dead district in the middle of the night? That was just asking for trouble. Still, this was a regular customer. "Larry," he thought his name was. Older guy, and a former vet too. He'd gotten the call just as he was about to close up shop for the night about this guy's car being broke down, and...
Eh. Sometimes he thought he was too nice for his own good, but away he went. The drive wasn't long from the auto shop, but what he saw when pulling up on the directions he had been given... Some other guys probably would have turned right back around.
Indeed, there was his customer slumped against his car on the ground. He hoped he was just unconscious, because there were two thugs now looting through that car. He grit his teeth. He should call the cops, but... How long would that take them? This guy could be injured or already dead, and... Well. They'd already noticed him pulling up, evident by them starting to move from the car towards his truck.
The thugs wore sunglasses, and it was nighttime.
"Blood Keys," he muttered. Spend enough time hanging around the city lately, and you've probably heard the name or description.
Moving mechanically and methodically, Neil reached into his truck's console and pulled out a handgun. He opened the door and stepped out, slipping the gun into the back of his pants while it was still hidden by his open door. He also reached down, gripping his right leg. There hadn't been anything beyond the normal pain there that he'd sort of gotten used to for a little while, but this would be the worst possible place for it to act up if it was going to chose to do so.
That would be about his luck.
He shut the door to his truck firmly, and held up his hands to show he wasn't holding anything them. He gave half of a cocky grin.
"Howdy, boys. How're you doing this fine evening?"
One of them moved on him, then. It was much faster than he ever would have anticipated possible out of a human being. The distance he cleared in seemingly one movement was incredible, and Neil's learned instincts couldn't carry him fast enough to dodge.
The Blood Key grabbed him by the throat, slamming him up against his own truck. His grip was like a vice, also stronger than he felt like a human of this guy's size should even be capable of. He gurgled and tried to choke something out, staring up at him...
And suddenly was overtaken by a hollow feeling. It felt as if he was empty inside, before... information began to fill that void. Numbers danced in his mind, as well as... a memory?
What the hell kind of name is "Lockon Stratos?!"
But oh, right. His life was in danger. He pushed past that for the time being, head reeling and only the instinct to live driving him otherwise. He brought a hand up, smashing his fist into the thug's skull, followed by a kick to his side from Neil's good leg. The gang member loosened his grip and Neil shoved him back, before bringing up his good leg again to slam his boot into the guy's stomach.
He quickly brought that leg down, stumbling a bit as he both tried to catch his breath and felt a jolt of pain dance up his right leg from supporting his weight so suddenly and completely. Before the Blood Key could react further, or his friend could join in, Neil had drawn his handgun. The weapon's barrel took aim for the thug's skull, and Neil gave a visible sneer.
"You both get the hell out of here. Now! Don't think for a second I'm afraid to blow your goddamned head off," and just to make this point, he cocked the gun's hammer back. His hand didn't even shake.
It wasn't a thing to be proud of, but it wouldn't be the first time he'd killed someone.
It didn't take long, really. The Blood Keys took off like bats out of hell. Neil groaned and leaned against his truck as they did so, and wanted to stay right there, massaging his neck. It felt like that guy was going to snap him like a twig...
But staying wasn't something he could really do. He went to check on his customer, and after being satisfied he was still breathing, but completely out of it, he called 911 and slumped down to sit beside the unconscious Larry until help arrived.
As he sat there, he tried to think. Figure out just what the hell that feeling was when the Blood Key had him pinned. It was such a vivid thought, but not one he would expect when he's about to die. Without even thinking of it, as he pondered all of this, he started to idly type those numbers into his phone...
Roleplay Sample - Network:
I've really gotta ask, how do you deal with a pulse that's both really annoying and kind of necessary?
[A small, mechanical voice pipes up in the background.] YOU'RE ANNOYING! YOU'RE ANNOYING!
[He's just going to ignore that.]I mean. It'd be one thing if I could just stuff a sock in his mouth, but he doesn't really have much of a mouth, and I can't go ripping stuff out of him without being sure he won't work anymore. I'm a mechanic, but all of this future tech is way beyond--
TRY SUCKING LESS! TRY SUCKING LESS!
Look, you! I'm trying to talk here. How's about you go find a basketball hoop to jump into? [Okay, he's clearly no talking to the Network for a second here. He then sighs.]
Okay, so he's not really that bad sometimes. And I sort of need him, because damned if I know how to fix a giant robot from the future. Still... sure would've been nice to get a less mouthy little assistant.
Any Questions? I think I'm good~