A member of the Protectorate for half a decade,Phalanx has proven themselves to be a decently capable robotics tinker, with a Greco-Roman theme. (which has suited them well as far as merchandise sales are concerned.)
Phalanx began their career as one the few capes stationed at the Devilfish field office, before a promotion saw them stationed in Minneapolis, after serving there for several years with distinction. They have recently been transferred back to Devilfish, having volunteered to help out with the rapidly shifting and growing cape-scene in their hometown.
Civilian: Jasper Newchapel is a deceptively thin, but startlingly athletic person, called a twink by their friends, this is not necessarily an inaccurate description.
Jasper is 5 foot 9 inches in height, weighing 150 pounds. With a head of thick black hair, and light brown eyes.
Costume: Phalanx wears a distinctive golden suit of armor. This suit is more protective than that worn by PRT Troopers, but with a much better range of motion, as well as a built-in cooling system, that makes them the envy of many of their spandex and armor-clad compatriots.
Phalanx wears a full-face helmet, with highly-emotive blue-LED eyes. Although this helmet has been shown to have the capability to open, allowing unaided sight/breathing/speech. A bright-red helmet ploom sits atop the helmet, which conceals a couple small antennas for the radio’s powerful built-in radio.
While Phalanx has a number of weapons load-outs, the piece of equipment they are best known for is their Roman Parma (round shield), that they tend to carry with them regardless of other load-out choices.
Mundane Equipment and Resources
Wealth Level: 7
Primarily lives at the Protectorate HQ, but has a well furnished/stocked Apartment that is seldom used outside of family visits, or the storage of miscellaneous belongings, that aren’t used enough to bother keeping at HQ.
Has a slightly-higher than average Tinker budget, to account for expensive-but essential components in his Robots CPUs.
PRT-issue Radio
PRT-issue Medical Kit
Zipties
Set of Handcuffs
Multi-tool
Police Truncheon
Skills and Specializations
Understanding of Government bureaucracy
Understanding of criminal and conspiratorial behavior aka basic level criminology.
High speed pursuit vehicle training
Basic first aid
Understanding of basic human intelligence gathering.
Basic Forensic Knowledge
Understanding of laws and legal procedures
Navigating his way around quickly with maps, charts and tables, orienteering, instruments, or dead reckoning.
Searching a room, vehicle, or person for weapons and contraband.
PRT Self Defense training in unarmed combat
PRT Self Defense training with PRT weapons
Skilled Use of Antiquated weaponry, and associated tactics.
Basic PRT/Police Squad Tactics
Customized Squad Tactics (Devised by Phalanx for himself and his AI)
Can play the Piano.
Is a pretty good Dungeon Master.
Mentality
Jasper is a relatively jovial person, enjoying the company of their Protectorate coworkers, their PRT compatriots, and having a healthy respect for the Junior Heroes in the Wards, even if they feel a bit weird working with children and teenagers. Unlike some parahumans, they have little trouble making civilian friends
Jasper has changed since their trigger, having mellowed out oddly enough, compared to the more serious person they had been when acting as a PRT trooper pre-trigger.
Heroism is not just a job for Phalanx, they are genuinely called to be the best they can be, and while heroism is a major part of their life, they consistently endeavor to not let it consume them, or to let it be the sole focal point in their life.
Power
Trigger type: Single Natural Trigger (Controller Tinker)
Phalanx is first and foremost a robotics tinker. Phalanx’s robots, or Droids as Phalanx prefers to call them, are one-half Hardware (Positronic Brain) and one-half Software (Learning Algorithm) without the two-halves combined the Droids are non-functional.
Phalanx can design these Droids to fulfill many specific tasks, but has spent the majority of their tinkering efforts on combat-capable law-enforcement droids, although this is not the limits of their power, simply what has been explored thus far.
The Hardware component of their Droids, the Positronic Brain, is extremely detailed work requiring maintenance (and somewhat pricey materials) to meet safety standards, thus Phalanx can only keep a small number of them in an optimal working-condition at a time.
Typically The number of Positronic Brains that can be maintained at one time is six (6), as any more than that risks Phalanx being unable to keep up with Maintenance for their other Inventions, or the unintentional sabotage of Phalanx’s responsibilities in the Protectorate, and as a civilian.
Phalanx is capable of designing his Droids, with various levels of intelligence, sentience, and sapience, and may choose to include emulated-emotions if they are deemed warranted for function. Typically Phalanx’s Droids are Near-human in intelligence, but this is not always the case.
Phalanx is capable of synthesizing several Meta-materials that are of use in his Inventions, the most ubiquitous of which is dubbed ‘Elysian-Steel’ used in both the Positronic-Brain, Armor-plating, and the construction of simple weaponry,
Like many Tinkers, Phalanx can build weaponry and armor, even if it is not their primary specialty. Armour designed by Phalanx is typically similar in construction to a simple Droid-Frame in structure, albeit hollow, and typically of lesser capabilities as a result.
Weapons designed by Phalanx are rather simple for tinker-tech. With their power allowing greater versatility when designing Melee weapons, as opposed to those of a ranged variety. Typical Melee armaments may include things like, swords forged from meta-materials, bludgeons with a shock-element, or small Hard-light Knives.
Ranged armaments might include a simple ballistic weapons, magnetic dart launchers, or low-powered Laser pistols (High end of what he can build)
All of the Droids designed by Phalanx possess a distinctly alien mental-architecture, meaning that while capable of passable social interaction with humans they come off as somewhat socially incompetent, this means they may only be utilized to their fullest potential by Phalanx, who possesses an intimate-familiarity with their thought-processes, and technical-specifications. Only achieving maybe half effectiveness at best when supervised by others.
Superficially resembles Gold, but dull, and non-reflective.
Abilities
A relatively simple Tinker-Meta Material, that many of Phalanx’s designs incorporate.
The Majority of its physical properties (Durability & Tensile Strength, etc) are akin to high-grade steel. However It is notably Non-conductive (Akin to Glass or Ceramics)
This makes it Ideal for Phalanx to insulate and armour delicate components in His Robots Positronic Brains.
Elysian Steel is also highly resistant to rust.
Must be produced in special batches by Phalanx, meaning it is not viable for large-scale use outside of Phalanx’s inventions, and perhaps local allied Tinkers.
Phalanx's Armor is durable enough to stand up to bullets (IIIA) and is fairly resistant to EMP's and attacks of an Electrical nature, because of Elysium Steel Shielding over sensitive components.
The armor allows Phalanx to strike with the force of a super-heavyweight Boxer, and to exert a lifting strength of roughly 700lbs before damage is done to the Suit's servos/hydraulics.
Designed to balance out the actual weight/encumbrance of the armor, allowing Phalanx to run at the speed they would outside the suit, but provides no benefit outside of canceling its own weight.
The helmet has a built in gas mask, as well as 2 hours of bottled oxygen stored in a well-armored tank located near the small of his back. The Helmet has Infrared and 6x zoom optical settings. In the event of necessity, Phalanx can manually open panels on the faceplate to allow unimpeded access to the mouth and/or eyes.
The suit has a high powered (and nearly silent) cooling system, mostly for comfort rather than to avoid mechanical overheating.
Contains a folding blade (6 inches usable) and a folding baton in both the left and right forearms.
This is a slight improvement of his prior armor, and is frankly scraping the upper limits of what Phalanx’s power will allow him to make as far as armour is concerned, and is one of the more maintenance heavy inventions as a result.
standing at 3ft tall, spherical body on three legs, each leg ending with a wheel
Abilities
Possessing a spherical body, and a single central eye in the center. This main bulk can swivel 360 degrees not unlike an owl. The chassis is made of Elysian Steel but its plating isn't particularly thick in order to reduce weight.
Right below the eye is a panel that can open up revealing a spot for Zipdash to install one of his projectors. as well as two small manipulator arms.
It possesses a pair of three (3) legs each ending in a wheel. The Zipper-bot's top speed is 35mph. Its legs providing exceptionally good maneuverability, managing to make relatively sharp turns.
Their main usefulness is that their housing can be outfitted with one of Zipdash's cores, allowing them to emulate Zipdash's Rig in regards to its ability to leave behind a trail, albeit with the various effects (example 'Barrier core') reduced in size based on their own limited stature.
Mental Abilities: The Zipper-Model Robots are a dumb-AI, possessing neither sentience, sapience, nor emotions. Its learning algorithm allows them a level of decision making approximating that of a sled dog.
They can be given orders via encrypted comm channels or via verbal commands given by either Phalanx or Zipdash. And can be trained in maneuvers either by manually practicing, or programming maneuvers by hand while they are offline.
Their names are Zippy and Dasher, their names helpfully and lovingly hand-painted on their sides.
Worn underneath the armor, but on top of their under-suit.
Abilities
Not Phalanx's best work, as its borderline for their specialty, this Arm-brace is based on the design for shock-absorbers built into the limbs of Phalanx's androids.
Her armor has been adjusted to feature a shield mount that utilized an extremely strong clamp. This arm-brace is made to allow Good Samaritan to catch objects moving at high-speed without dislocating her arm, using either her hand, or with the shield mount on her armor.
When the shield is in its mount, the arm-brace helps absorb the shock from hits impacting the shield. And allows her to punch harder without hurting her knuckles, wrist, elbow, or shoulder.
This pistol has a power cell that enables it to fire 25 shots. The beam is a scarlet red. A single shot can cause 1st degree burns (pain and reddening of the skin) and ignite flammable materials
While consecutive shots in the same general area can cause 2nd degree burns (pain, redness, swelling, and blistering.) and can ignite less-easily-flammable materials.
It comes with a laser sight They have an effective range of 60 meters. These pistols have no impact and work solely on heat
Meanwhile the use of high-grade armor provides significant Ballistic protection (3A) (on par with a PRT Trooper). As well as considerable Insulation from attacks of an electrical nature (See Elysium Steel) As well as a nearly unimpeded natural range of motion.
While the suits Servos, allow Phalanx to punch as hard as a heavyweight Boxer, and to lift double their bodyweight (300lbs)
Servos balance out the actual weight/encumbrance of the armor, allowing Phalanx to run at the speed they would outside the suit, but provides no benefit outside of canceling its own weight.
The suit has a high powered (and nearly silent) cooling system, mostly for comfort rather than to avoid mechanical overheating.
The helmet is fully enclosed, with an expressive set of blue LED eyes, that allows Phalanx to express some emotion. The helmet also has rudimentary filter system (about as good as a police issue gas mask)
In the event of necessity, Phalanx can manually open panels on the faceplate to allow unimpeded access to the mouth and/or eyes.
The helmet possesses a powerful radio (Antennas hidden in helmet plume)
POWER SUPPLY & CHARGING:
operates for up to 24 hours of extensive use on one full battery charges
Takes Half an hour (1/2) to charge to full via special high-power charger in Phalanx's lab.
Takes Three (3) hours to charge to full via emergency/Field-use charge cables, off of the city power main.
This is scraping the upper limits of what Phalanx’s power will allow him to make as far as armour is concerned, and is one of the more maintenance heavy inventions as a result.
The Centurion-Model Droid contains an Artificial Intelligence possessing a near-human intelligence, possessing an IQ of 120, with regard to technical knowledge, but functionally much less with regards to social interaction.
This Model's Learning Algorithms, allow it an unprecedented level of decision making, with more in common with the capabilities of a human, than a simple Markov Chain.
While this Model does not possess the ability to experience emotions, it does possesses the ability to recognize the emotions of others with relatively high degrees of accuracy.
This Model Like all droids designed by Phalanx possess a distinctly alien mental-architecture, meaning that while capable of passable social interaction with humans, they come off as somewhat socially incompetent, this means they may only be utilized to their fullest potential by Phalanx, who possesses an intimate-familiarity with their thought-processes, and technical-specifications. Only achieving maybe half effectiveness at best when supervised by others. (Mentioned in the Power section of Phalanx's sheet)
Possesses a number of hard-coded Morals/Values that it must acknowledge, including the value of human-life, the value of Law and order, limited self-preservation, among others.
Possesses a functional understanding of skills and databanks of technical knowledge deemed pertinent to the AI’s function as an assistant to a Protectorate Hero. (Functionally this means that this model possess roughly the same set of skills as Phalanx does on his character sheet, albeit with a less defined and robust understanding of the subjects compared to their organic creator.)
Phalanx allows a somewhat limited degree of free-will, but has hard-coded verbal administrator commands, that compel the following of direct orders from himself or temporarily designated individuals. This is useful for allowing temporary command to allies, or to force compliance in the event of a software malfunction.
PHYSICAL CAPABILITIES:
The highly advanced Servos in this Frame, allow an unprecedented range of movement (360 degree joints) and a significant amount of strength. Testing shows this frame can hit as hard as a super-heavy weight boxer, and can lift 500 pounds without damaging the Servos.
This Frames Servos allow sprinting up to 15mph for extended duration
Meanwhile the use of high-grade armor provides significant Ballistic protection (3A). As well as considerable Insulation from attacks of an electrical nature [(See Elysium Steel)]()
The Torso is the most protected location (where the Positronic brain is located). The joints while well-made and designed to be resistant to damage, are still one of the more vulnerable spots on the Frame
All systems/devices within are shielded from electromagnetic pulses, energy surges, or short circuits. Though use of Mundane Shielding and Elysian-Steel.
This Frame possesses advanced (cybernetic-grade) pressure and temperature sensors, allowing a near-human level sense of touch. Additionally this Frame is equipped with three vision modes: Human spectrum, Infrared, and 6x zoom.
POWER SUPPLY & CHARGING:
operates for up to 24 hours of extensive use on one full battery charges
Takes Half an hour (1/2) to charge to full via special high-power charger in Phalanx's lab
Takes Three (3) hours to charge to full via emergency/Field-use charge cables, off of the city power main.
The Centurion Frame possesses no wireless components, to avoid hacking attempts and sabotage from enemy tinkers.
The Software component of the AI is regularly backed up by Phalanx into an offline/disconnected network located in his Tinker lab, it is via this disconnected network that, all of Phalanx's coding is done.
This can only be achieved via a direct wired connection, as this model of Positronic Brain has no wireless components.
Backstory
Like many children, Jasper wanted to be a Hero when they were a kid. Things didn’t work out that way though. But a successful career in the PRT was rewarding in its own way. Jasper would even argue that putting your life on the line to help others meant more when you weren’t a bullet-proof Modern-day Demi-god.
This wasn’t just a job for Jasper, it was a life-calling. But on Earth Kaff, all good things must end in tears. During one fateful operation Jasper and his squad was disabled by a potent emotion-manipulator. To this day Jasper is uncertain why it affected him so much more than his squad-mates (not that they didn’t have a rough time too).
The others took sometime to recover from the long-term negative effects, perhaps a month of downtime on average. Power-induced PTSD was no joke after all, but it seemed that the effects wore off with time with minimal lasting effects.
Not so for Jasper though, perhaps Jasper was simply more inclined towards Agoraphobia, but the PTSD had left Jasper a grade-A agoraphobe and Insomniac. They were able to tough through things at first, so they returned to active duty (barely passing psych checks) but their performance quickly dropped. His comradery with his co-workers fizzled out, and their combat effectiveness was hampered. The PRT discharged Jasper, putting them on reserve, so that Psychiatric help could be given.
Months passed, with minimal progress, Jasper isolated themselves from civilian friends, and family, video calls with their Therapist continued, and Jasper found some solace in the form of digital media, but things remained stagnant, and alone. Efforts to improve were continually met with setbacks, this continued for months.
TRIGGER
The PRT Therapist was alarmed when Jasper ceased communications, concerned that Jasper had taken their own life, they called the police, and the paramedics.
Jasper was not dead, but had simply dismantled every electronic device he owned in a fugue-state, having constructed most of a Bipedal Robot. Jasper remained unresponsive to the Police and Paramedics in his home, and the PRT were dispatched when it was clear this was a parahuman matter.
Their Trigger had left them different, they still had agoraphobia, but something had fundamentally changed, that allowed a gradual recovery. Legally they were now a member of the Protectorate, and while it took over a year and a half of concerted self-improvement to recover to the point that they were allowed on active duty. Jasper flourished as a protectorate hero.