Name: Ruozheng "Rory" Zhao
Age: 31
Species: Human
Augmentations (Cybernetic): Class 3 augments for both arms. Right arm contains built-in 5.56 mm automatic rifle, left arm contains short vibroblade capable of shearing through steel and concrete. Both arms possess strength and flexibility in excess of Human baseline. Skeleton is not reinforced so arms cannot be used to full capacity in lifting or striking.
Augmentions (Genetic): None
Bio: His parents were "Mountain Masters" (Dragon Head, i.e. crime boss) of the Bak Long (White Dragon) Triadsóa powerful Chinese criminal syndicate in the city of Lanthae. His parents wanted him to have a normal life ó and get a college education he could further use to help the White Dragon Triads. He never had much of a taste for school and spent his youth cutting class, fighting, commmitting petty crimes and doing ó or dealing ó drugs. He is eventually expelled from school after attacking another student. Drifting between menial labor jobs, he is eventually sentenced to prison for fatally shooting someone in a street fight. Even though he is guilty, his parents bribe the judge to rule it a justified self-defense shooting.
He is released and his parents eventually decided to formally induct him into the White Dragon Triads as a 49er (rank-and-file member). He got augmented after a group of Augment street thugs beat him into a coma in the process of robbing him as he felt it would be necessary to ensure his safety.
He rises through the ranks and eventually becomes a "Red Pole" (enforcer) where he specializes in black marketeering ó specifically in drugs and counterfeit electronics.
After Lanthae's destruction, the Bak Long Triads relocate their operations in Corona where they have now added working as mercenaries for corporate interests in addition to drugs and counterfeit electronics.
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Name: Doctor Tsing "Thomas" Jiang
Age: 44
Species: Human
Augmentations (cybernetic): total ocular replacements that grant him zoom-in capability and ability to see outside normal Human visual range (UV and infrared). Both hands are class 1 augments with fingers capable of changing size and becoming magnetized at will. Processors in the hands eliminate hand tremors.
Augmentations (genetic): More efficient detoxification pathways in liver and kidneys, resulting in heightened resistance to drugs and poisons.
Bio: Born to a wealthy Chinese immigrant family who had a stake in Tsun Wan Industrial Electronics ó a Chinese electronics megacorporation, he had the best education available. He graduated high school and college with the highest honors possible. He eventually earned his Ph.D in neuroscience with his thesis on brain-machine interface for remotely controlling vehicles. He then went to medical school where he earned his Cy.D (Doctor of Cybernetics, licensing him to implant, remove and repair cybernetics).
However, he operated in Palladia and was not authorized to implant class 3 augments. One day, his greed and curiosity overtook him and he agreed to implant a class 3 arm for three million creds. As was the law, he told the augmentee to come back after twenty-four hours and then schedule an appointment.
The next day, he was shocked to find several cops waiting for him at his office. It turns out he had gotten caught by a sting operation to find and shut down illegal implanters of augments. Facing several years in jail, he forfeits his entire operation and license to the Palladia PD in exchange for a jail sentence.
He then flees to Lanthae where he opens a back alley augmentation clinic. Despite it being called a "back alley clinic", it is just as clean and professional as a legit augmentation clinic. However, unlike a legit clinic, he doesn't care if the augmentee is licensed to possess an augment before he implants it ó or for that matter, if the augmentee legitimately obtained the augment.
Upon Lanthae's destruction, he fled the city to whereabouts unknown. However, it is rumored that he found work for a less than reputable company as their in-house cyberneticist.
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Name: Muyee "Marion" Wu
Age: 38
Species: Human
Augmentations (Cybernetic): cermet lacing on bones rendering them nearly unbreakable, class 3 augments for both arms (left arm: modular weapons hardpoint; right arm: plasma cutter hidden inside forearm; both limbs are superhumanly strong), class 2 augments for both legs (superhumanly strong, can reconfigure into a "hoof" for fast running, retractable grappling claws/cutting spurs on the feet)
Augmentions (Genetic): None
Bio: Her parents (both of them former military) immigrated from Shanghai when she was child. She was an average student through high school and college. She eventually earned a Master's degree in mechanical engineering and she briefly worked at Shockley Electronic Works, a small augment repair shop in the edges of Corona. One day, while she was on her lunch break, some unknown suspects bombed the store, killing all six employees inside. The damage was so severe that the owner could not afford to replace all the losses. Desperate, she worked several menial labor jobs ranging from janitor to stevedore at the docks.
One night, while unloading cargo at the Corona Port, one of her co-workers (who was slightly tipsy at the time) begins flirting with her. Refusing to take "no" for an answer ó and fueled a few too many beers ó the worker eventually gets quite aggressive. In desperation, she takes a swipe at him. Unfortunately for the man, she is wearing a powered exoskeleton intended for moving very heavy loads. The blow connects with his head, crushing his skull and instantly killing him. Horrifed, she calls the police.
Even though it is ruled a justified act of self-defense and she is cleared of all charges, she loses her job at dockyards (no one wants to work with someone who just killed their coworker). She eventually finds a job teaching a vocational training program at a local college.
After a few years as an instructor, she is approached by some recruiters from Zaloga Cybernetics and offered a job as a quality control technician at one of their factories. Attracted by the job, she agrees to an interview.
She gets the job and is quite happy with it. A year into her job, a tragedy occurs. Unbeknownst to her, she attracted the attention of Serami Heavy Industries ó in a bad way. A small strike team is dispatched to take her out and they plant a bomb in her car.
When she starts up the motor, the bomb detonates. She manages to survive but loses all her limbs, the majority of her bones are broken and she is severely disfigured by the burns. She opts for cybernetic limbs instead of vat grown limbs from her own cells.
At the hospital, surgeons and cyberneticists quickly work to repair the damage sustained from the bomb. Her bones are repaired and strengthened via an injection of nanomachines. Her limbs are replaced with basic class 1 augments. Cosmetic surgery manages to repair the most severe burns but it is not perfect; despite being in her early 30s, she looks like someone in their mid 50s.
After several months of physical rehabilitation, she returns to work as a show of defiance. Later, her boss tells her about a lucrative promotion in the company ó corporate security trooper. The pay is nearly quadruple that of her current job. Enticed, she accepts.
The next year involves licensing for class 3 and class 2 augments, classroom time, training and live fire exercises. At the end of it, she becomes a member of Zaloga Cybernetics's Company Security Squad.
As of now, she has served with the squad for three years.
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Name: Soren Almaya
Age: 35
Species: Human
Augmentations: None
Appearance: Medium build. Brown eyes, black hair, tan skin, almost always dresses casually.
Biography: A cyberneticist by day, but an avid tinkerer by night. He makes his living repairing and modifying external augmentations like artificial limbs. Ironically, despite being so intimately familiar with augments, he refuses to get one himself as he is afraid of surgery.
He had heard of "The Purifiers" before, but he dismissed them as obnoxious cranks. That all changed when his workshop was looted and everything in it destroyed. He immediately knew who was guilty thanks to the cracked gear emblem scrawled on the wall.
Having served a vital role in the destruction of the Purifiers, he lost everything he had with Lanthae's destruction. Upon moving to Corona with his new roommates Rose, Marie and Marita, he opened an augment repair shop in the shared apartment.
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Name: Aaron Geasbrecht
Age: 41
Species: German Shepherd
Augmentations: None
Appearance: A tall and very solidly built German Shepherd. He has brown eyes and tan fur. Almost always dresses in flannel and blue jeans.
Biography: A former construction worker who had his job replaced by an augmented person. Despite protests, he was let go. It was this moment that he felt resentment towards the augmented, feeling that they were taking jobs from honest, hardworking unaugmented beings. What finally drove him over the edge was that his own son had announced that he was going for augmentation surgery. Fuming, he severed all ties with him. Later that night, he read an article about a anti-augmentation protest by "The Purifiers". This eventually leads him into the ranks of this organization.
When he was with the Purifiers, he served mainly as a low-lever operative. His claim to fame was when he partnered with Marcus and raided Pelvanida Cybernetics for the parts required for the powerful EMP bomb that the Purifiers detonated in Lanthae. He escaped Lanthae's destruction but was later lynched by a group of irate Pelvanida employees. The suspects were never brought to justice.
