Ranger

Ranger AKA Griffin Freeman is a former Army Ranger put through a super soldier program over 50 years ago. This process altered his genetic structure granting him the ability to absorb large amounts of energy which he can use to energize his body granting him superhuman abilities. He is a duty-driven Good Samaritan by day & by night, and down to earth kind of guy who tries his best to see the best in everyone & has a knack for making civilians feel safe.

He also operates as part of the clandestine group Zero Division



Description
Griffin Freeman is six foot four, broad-shouldered & muscular with dark brown/black hair & a dark caramel complexion. He perfectly fits the description of 'tall, dark and handsome.' His physique is well-built, and he has a sturdy appearance. Despite his good looks, he is generally oblivious to his attractiveness, and never seems to have much vanity or concern with his appearance at all. With his the beard & wildling lifestyle, he seems the posterchild for 'rugged good looks'. (+1/+1d6 Striking Appearance vs. all characters)

Griffin's irises emit a bright golden glow. Beyond his good looks & statuesque frame- he stands out because his irises emit a bright golden glow which varies in brightness depending on his current stored 'charge' and his emotional state.

Often seen wearing what those in Military or Prepper circles might call a 'greyman uniform'. A plain grey shirt beneath a black canvas carhartt-styled jacket, dark blue jeans and steel-toed 'hiking' boots (that are rated for battle conditions). This 'style' is supplemented hiking/outdoors gear, but does wear the occasional BDU when going out 'on mission' or out on patrol as seen in profile pictures. If not in his Battle Dress Uniform, he is usually wearing functional outdoors clothing. To conceal his glowing irises he often wears dark yellow tinted lenses- in darkness you can still tell they are glowing (though it appears fainter), but under normal lighting his eyes look quite normal.

His style is one of necessity & function- durable, tough, reliable. Utility & function are key features when he goes shopping. He's used to living out at the edges of civilization, and his wardrobe shows it.

Background & Origin
Griffin grew up in the SE corner of Alaska. Outside Ketchikan. His father was a wanted felon and eventually moved his family to the bush far North. There he grew up in the quiet fury of nature. He thrived there and grew into a fine man. Remembering the life they left behind, Griffin thought to strike out on his own. He decided to serve his country instead of run from it like his Father had done all his life. He joined the Army, passed RASP (Ranger Assessment & Selection Program), & then attended Ranger School at Ft. Benning Georgia. There he set a top time on the 'Darby Queen' obstacle course. While most struggled through Ranger school, he pushed on- used to the rigorous training from his days surviving with his family as an Alaskan homesteader. He remembered a few winters when their provisions didn't get them all the way through the winter. To fight off the hunger they hunted well into the nights- in the cold, the rain, and the darkness. There there was real danger- other predators. He pretended to be back home in Alaska taking care of the homestead- fighting for his life- fighting for a new life. He forgot about the 2hrs a night of sleep, and the hunger & occasionally even the drill instructors inches from his face. He refused to be broken, he refused to be beaten, instead he just focused on his duty and put one foot in front of the other. 55 days later he was an Army Ranger in the 75th Regiment. 45% of applicants dropped out of Ranger School on average- Griffin finished within the top 5. Not 5%- The Top 5 individuals of that Graduating Class. This put him at the leading edge of the 99th percentile. One of the youngest ever to be made a member of the US' Premiere Shadow Force.

He became a soldier with a service record matched by few- even got higher than Top Secret clearance. He loved his job- protecting his country and the people he loved. But at the same time he longed for his life in the bush of Alaska. He decided to do his duty but eventually return to Alaska to make himself a home.

Years later on a cross training exercise with the SAS he was recruited to be on a top secret black ops team. He thought it Delta Force. On the way to the secret black site, Griffin was briefed on what this group of Commandos were- they were the best of the best- a meta-powered strike force thanks to Project E.N.G.I.N.E. Each member bestowed their abilities by cutting edge medical science. He would go through a number of procedures, culminating in a chemical bath, intravenous electrodes would provide a steady current to his body, and then finally he'd be stuck in cryogenic animation for 6 to 9 months under intense radiation. The Agent- now calling himself Broderick, promised he'd be briefed on the day to day routine on the other side of the bath, as well as a full Honorable Discharge- as their activities would be disavowed if captured.

Each process was more painful than the last & pushed him to the brink of breaking but he pushed on eventually making it to the cold sleep chamber. Every nerve in his body was on fire- caused by the constant current running through his body interacting with the charged particles in the chemical bath.

As they put him under, the doctor said, "Hopefully this one survives the process- he's doing better than most- but I don't think that will help his odds. 7 to 1 against at least." The darkness enveloped him before the fear could, and it seemed like only moments later he awoke to a completely different scene.

A round short little man with thick glasses was inspecting him from the other side of the glass like some kind of treasure. Once released from the cryogenic chamber, the man explained that he was the son of a former Chairman who died some years back. He found his files on this defunct program and came to see what still was here. He said he never agreed with what his father did, once he found out when he found himself employed by the same group, and he hoped to make up for their work.

The report said the place was destroyed. It hardly looked like it through. Just forgotten and disused. The man introduced himself and also mentioned he was a electrical engineer, and former neXtgen weapons designer. He was a man with a grudge and a story to tell.

Personality
Favorite Quote: “ I hated every minute of training, but I said, 'Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion. '" - Muhammad Ali

Griffin is incredibly driven & willful, so he's unlikely to give up easily. Despite no longer being enlisted he is still a soldier through and through. He has a high level understanding of survival skills, both primitive and modern. Because of these traits he's happier out in the bush than in the cramped confines of the city. He stays in the city to learn what's changed in the past 54 years, & to use his abilities for the good of others. When he borrows a tool, he returns it cleaner and sharper than he received it. Same for a camp site, or any interaction he has. He is always trying to 'give back'.

This is evident as Griffin is almost always mission ready, and more so depends on his relentless training to get through tough situations. Flipping that switch is nothing to Griffin Freeman- heat is 'business as usual'.

Griffin is not always the most sociable of people- in fact, he finds few people trustworthy & calls fewer people friend. Despite this, he treats all people with respect and compassion. He also carries a positive and optimistic view on humanity & thinks people strive, on the whole, to be noble beings. That said if there is an innocent life at stake, a bully to be put in their place, or something worth fighting for Griffin is a strong and steadfast ally to all people. This mentality is clear in his professional life, where he served as a Tier 1 Operator & US Army Ranger, Bounty-hunter, and currently as a Hero-For-Hire with heart of gold. He is no fool though & he will charge all the traffic will bear; for hard luck cases, the little folks with big problems, often he'll charge $1 and forget to collect the dollar. The bigger the client, the bigger the fee. But no labor is too big or too small for Griffin Freeman.

He also has been told many times that he seems to have a hero complex and that he often does good, selfless acts without any thought for himself.

The most important note about Griffin is his sense of duty and responsibility. He is highly motivated, both to the completion of their mission (has a serious a "can do!" attitude) and in the fact that the "Rangers take care of their own—no matter what." As such Griffin will always try and pick up any slack. Like any true Ranger, he will drop mission objectives, ignore orders, & even risk his own life to retrieve someone left behind or captured.

Griffin loathes the idea of taking a life in most situations, but he will readily admit that as a soldier he acknowledges that 'there are evil people in the world and sometimes they need to be dealt with handily.'

The Super Solider also considers all First Responders and Military Personnel Brothers/Sisters-in-Arms and treats them with the utmost respect while still remaining casual. He's been heard comparing them to family. He does his best to protect & assist them because it's their job to protect & serve everyone else.

Despite of or maybe because of these traits, Griffin Freeman does have a temper that is easily enflamed by putting the people he loves and cares about into danger.

Skills & Abilities
Combat Experience: This honorably discharged veteran has military combat experience on the front lines, in tactical & strategic planning, observation/recon, special operations (working in small teams to carry out high-priority objectives with minimal room for failure in high pressure situations), and is highly proficient in the use of conventional firearms. He is also able to learn how to use most weapons quickly. Griffin is known to utilize fairly extensive knowledge in hand to hand combat which adds to his herculean meta-human abilities and is complimented by all-terrain acrobatics. His hand to hand training is a mixture of Army Hand to Hand training and a specialized form he picked up in his off time; the 'Keysi Fighting Method' which specializes in taking on multiple assailants methodically and efficiently. He generally makes a practice of studying any fighting styles that he can. He is always trying to stay at the tip of the spear.

Possibly due to his military background, Griffin trains constantly insuring his tactics remain cutting edge and reflexive.

Frontiersman: Having spent his formative years in the wilds of Alaska, Griffin is a top notch tracker, hunter and all around outdoorsman. His military training only honed his survival skills to the point that he can survive in some of the harshest climes without his superhuman powers.

Paramedic/Field Medic Training: Combat medics are military personnel who have been trained to at least an EMT-Basic level (16 week course in the U.S. Army), and are responsible for providing first aid and frontline trauma care on the battlefield. They are also responsible for providing continuing medical care in the absence of a readily available physician, including care for disease and battle injuries. Combat medics are normally co-located with the combat troops they serve in order to easily move with the troops and monitor ongoing health. Griffin has taken this to a whole new level- having completed further Advanced EMT Training. Now- during his adventures he is capable of providing medical care to anyone anywhere regardless of environment.

Often, Griffin can be found on the scene of medical emergencies before the EMTs & other first responders can make it to the scene. He stabilizes & assists where he can, keeping people safe & as healthy as he can until they arrive.

Equipment
CommandBracer - Images/Utility Review - The CommBracer is a vambrace-style computer developed originally as a multi purpose communication and computation terminal for individual use by members of a proposed space expedition crew. The CommBracer is what allows hardsuit wearers to access the full suite of systems within their suit and despite the availability of voice-activated systems prevalent in aircraft, StarTech ultimately decided that a unit with a physical interface to be of greater reliability in the greatest number of negative scenarios.

The units are also waterproof and flexible. Each unit is equipped with a flexible cover that shields the screen and haptic projectors when not in use. A small clock is embedded in the underside of the wrist portion of the device to appear visible to the operator even when holding a weapon. Each one fitted with two haptic projectors that can operate in the visual and infrared ranges, allowing allied, non-hardsuit wearers to observe data, or to prevent enemy combatants seeing the projections, both for purposes of maintaining covertness and COMSEC. The primary projector allows data to be observed and manipulated more easily by the wearer. The system can access maps, video and voice recognition, signal analysis and decryption, and when linked to NetOps, encyclopaedic data on any number of subjects. Each unit is further equipped with hardline and remote physical interface devices, allowing the operator to hack into networks protected by signal firewalls.

Unfortunately for the crew, and the designer/contractor of the CommandCuff technology- the (faux)Guild complicated matters and got the project scrapped. Griffin was given a prototype version in exchange for some 'light' Hero-For-Hire work. The device was then enhanced by his contact (Peter Milosz Chrominski-Electrical & Mechanical Engineer) so that it could stand up to Griffin's rough and tumble lifestyle- and its interface simplified to better support the time-marooned Super-Soldier.

Damocles CGC-3: Mark 3 ContraGrav-(para)Chute - Unit Controller Image/MEDkit Integrated Unit - A slightly more advanced (but still simple) gravnull module capable of nullifying a portion of the individual’s mass (but not providing motive power, as with a full Gravitronic system) is worn as part of the chute harness (Griffin's is integrated into his belt) utilizing basic grav technology, the grav-chute is a compromise between the expense of antigravitic equipment and the basic problems of regular parachutes. Because the grav module can alter the effective weight of the jumper, it can be used to reduce the distance required for chute deployment by a factor of roughly three-fourths (thus chute deployment is not necessary until an altitude of about 50 meters for a baseline human). Griffin's enhanced strength and durability decrease this even further- able to land without harm from a height of 13m. Varying the grav setting can also be used to alter the rate of descent, which is a particularly useful ability when staging a military strike. Unlike the Mark 2; which used a few reloadable/replaceable capacitor cartridges to store the energy necessary to power the device, the Mark 3 used by Griffin is a unit with a single reusable capacitor with a slightly larger capacity. The larger size gives Griffin's EMF manipulation 'room to operate' and thus maintain an extended charge. Note: The grav chute cannot fully offset body weight (normally) and certainly cannot provide lift; the (still very) small size of the capacitor and the nature of the simplified grav module itself will not permit this. Combined with Griffin's ability to maintain its slightly larger charge indefinitely- the module can be used nigh-indefinitely. Extending the length of his fall exponentially, if the situation calls for it.

Medical Kit: - Med Kit Image - The Medical Kit is bolstered by three trauma packs, which are each designed to stabilize someone in critical condition using a massive infusion of high grade medical nanobots, liquid stitches and other top of the line medical supplies.

It also contains a dual function portable lamp, that recharges using integrated photovoltaic materials, a sterilization lamp that uses a variety of low spectrum radiations such as ultra violet light, regulated by an internal control chip to annihilate bacteria and microbes without harming the tissues of the patient.

Finally the kit contains six auto Anti-Venom Injectors, each injector contains a single shot cartridge of anti venom base materials, and a tiny blood sample analyzer, which identifies poisons and venom's in the blood stream and formulates the most effective anti venom possible with the contents of the base materials cartridge, which it then prompts the user to inject.

Powers
Energy Absorption: Griffin's body is surrounded by localized bio-energetic field that twists and converts a large amount of energy into something that can be stored or used by Griffin's biology. Normally, the cells of a normal human body convert energy from foodstuffs into a form of energy usable by the body. This energy is stored through converting molecules of adenosine diphosphate (ADP) in the cells into adenosine triphosphate (ATP); the energy is released when necessary by breaking a chemical bond in the ATP molecules, converting them back to ADP.

After the NITRO process his cells were transformed into veritable organic batteries that absorb and metabolize energy in all its forms. In outer space this ability is amplified.

Energy is absorbed and redistributed by his bio-electric field before it is processed in his cells through the same, or a similar method as common biological processes. He can release this stored energy when necessary and utilize it to further augment his own super-strength, speed, invulnerability, energy projection, & other powers. Extremely high-energy attacks may eventually (or in some cases immediately) overload Griffin's absorbing ability.

Extrasensory Energy Perception: Griffin can sense the presence of energy and possibly gain detailed understanding about what they are sensing, including the amount/size/density of the energy they are sensing and whether it is hidden. This allows Griffin to perceive the world around him as patterns of electromagnetic energy, including the electricity & magnetic fields around living beings, as well. The entire electromagnetic spectrum or most of it is apparent to the user and he can "tune" himself to interpret the various ranges of the energy. The user can also see the energy flowing through power lines and technological objects (can tell if they are active or not). They can tell if a radio transmitter is 'on' and if it is sending signals.

Energy Projection: Thanks to his unique physiology he can convert stored energy into beams of highly concentrated thermal energy which can reach temperatures comparable to those produced by stars. He can use these eyebeams to burn, heat, melt, weld, etc, targets.

After his transphasic energy exposure, this thermal energy has been 'shifted' into cosmic energy. Instead of all of Griffin's energy being output into heat, it is a unique sort of 'cosmic' energy. The effects are much the same, though greater in magnitude.

EMF Manipulation: EMF or Electromotive force is what tends to cause current (actual electrons and ions) to flow. Manipulating EMF will make a change in voltaic cells, thermo-electric devices, solar cells, electrical generators, transformers, and even Van de Graaff generators, ceasing them or overloading them. Electromotive Force is similar to a magnetic field. In layman's terms; one can use this to manipulate batteries, making them dead or causing them to overload. He does not have control over the Magnetic Field, just a certain electromagnetic force.

Superhuman Stamina: Griffin’s musculature produces less fatigue toxins during physical activity than the musculature of an ordinary human. He can go for at least 24-48 hours before fatigue toxin build up impairs him. He can use stored energy to function for long periods of time without tiring or straining himself.

Superhuman Speed & Reflexes: After his super-soldier modification, his physiology has been enhanced on multiple fronts. Metabolism, enhanced quick twitch muscles (muscular speed), and nervous system (reflexes) have all been granted a speed that is much greater compared to that of a baseline human. Boasting reaction timing sharp enough to either dodge bullets or deflect them (even at close range), Griffin's reflexes are second to few.

In addition to his already amped up physiology, he can redirect the energy of his bioelectric field to give him a type of superhuman 'hyperkinesis'. This allows his nervous system to process movement at a much faster rate than before. This allows him amazing athletic feats of timing, superhuman reflexes and perfect accuracy with firearms or thrown objects and also allows him, for example, to predict trajectory by eyesight.

After being exposed to Transphasic Energies he can use the absorbed energy to enhance his speed and reflexes. This makes him able to run at supersonic speeds or enhance his reaction speed.

Putting all of his energy into his speed he is capable of being anywhere on Earth within 14 minutes. This means he's capable of running at approximately 17,000 MPH, but will often take the long to avoid sonic booms from effecting populated areas.

Accelerated Perception: Griffin's mind and senses process information at such speeds that time appears to have slowed down, allowing them to perceive what would normally be moving too fast to see and respond accordingly. This allows Griffin to perform amazing feats like aim dodging.

This is likely a side effect of his hyper-accelerated speed after Transphasic Energy exposure.

Enhanced Agility: Boasts physically superior coordination, dexterity, balance, and body motion. Griffin can perform acrobatic feats matching the finest human athletes and combined with his speed can easily evade bullet-speed projectiles.

When amped up into 'Hyperkinesis' Griffin becomes near impossible to hit, track or keep up with.

Superhuman Durability: Bodily tissues are vastly enhanced and superior to even the most robust human specimens, Griffin's skin and mass is highly durable and can deflect most small caliber artillery, explosives, fires, electricity, and physical damage. His natural energy absorption ability allows him to withstand high capacity energetic blasts of almost all types. Unlike a baseline human, his body has more than simple cohesion and adhesion holding his tissues together. The bio-electric field that surrounds him is also infused within him at a cellular level. This field has a set tolerance for how much stress occurs before it reacts energetically in opposition to the external force being applied. The tolerance for how much stress occurs before his tissues counteract it varies according to tissue type. His bones allow virtually no compressional or tensional strain (deformation in shape) and his fleshy tissues remain supple under soft pressure, but under stress react to restrict any further deformation in shape.

He can also channel the stored energy to make his body extremely durable allowing him to take numerous blows of internal or external assaults before succumbing to the effects.

Superhuman Strength: He can channel stored energy to enhance his strength to great levels. Without 'super-charging' this ability, Griffin is capable of lifting almost 4 tons. At his highest he is able to lift over a 100 tons with great ease, currently maxing out at twice that weight.

Limitations

 * He can overload from absorbing too much energy which may kill him
 * He can only channel cosmic energy to enhance one ability at a time
 * Using more power than stored may exhaust him
 * Psionic attacks