Tekk

Powers
An entirely normal young woman with little exceptional about her, the one thing about Elizabeth Ann Masters that truly stands out is her brilliant mind. As intelligent and quick-witted as one can be whilst not being qualified as a metahuman, Liz has a staggering 250 IQ.

The rest of Liz's so-called 'powers' stem not from her, but from the technologies she has invented and included in the 'Tekk' powered armor suit. It should be noted that with the exception of its actual base defenses (Armor), all other functions of the suit depend upon its internal power systems, which are present within a visible 'backpack' like extension of the suit. This system can be targeted in combat, and if it is disabled, all other functions of the suit will cease to function. The suit itself cannot be removed in combat, but can be removed by someone outside the suit if the pilot is rendered helpless, as there are concealed external releases. These are actually a safety mechanism enabling possible medical attention to the pilot should the pilot be disabled or harmed, but also represent a vulnerability in the event of capture.


 * Armor - The Tekk Armor itself is composed of advanced poly-ceramic-infused alloys, making it an exceptionally damage-resistant barrier to most forms of harm. Against advanced metahuman-grade threats, this armor is not impervious to harm, but it is certainly far more resistant than anything on the common market, and most of what is available even for special military contracts such as the UEMS.
 * Pilot Enhancement Systems - Capable of making the average non-combatant a significant battlefield threat commensurate with mid-grade metahumans, the Tekk Armor has multiple onboard integrated systems which assist in this process on multiple levels.
 * Targeting Systems - The Tekk Armor has automated target-assist systems which greatly increase the accuracy of its pilot's attempts to target and compensate for the environment. This affects everything the pilot does while in the suit. But if the suit's power systems are damaged or it is otherwise rendered without internal power, these systems will be inoperative until power is restored.
 * Defensive Compensation Systems - The Tekk Armor has similar systems which monitor the combat situation and help to both alert the pilot to those threats and then move to compensate, attempting to avoid threats when possible. This affects everything the pilot does while in the suit. But if the suit's power systems are damaged or it is otherwise rendered without internal power, these systems will be inoperative until power is restored.
 * Combat Reaction Augmentation - The Tekk Armor's systems provide enough simplified data and minimized action response that a non-combatant pilot is actually capable of combat reactions two and a half times greater than normal (5 actions in 12 seconds, rather than 2). This affects everything the pilot does while in the suit. But if the suit's power systems are damaged or it is otherwise rendered without internal power, these systems will be inoperative until power is restored.
 * Pilot Shielding Buffers - The Tekk Armor has multiple integrated systems which shield and sustain the pilot against external threats, enabling the pilot to maintain operation despite damaging attacks and environments. Shocks to the system are minimized, and the pilot's body is manipulated with minor electrical interfaces and drug infusions to sustain against such threats. This affects everything the pilot does while in the suit. But if the suit's power systems are damaged or it is otherwise rendered without internal power, these systems will be inoperative until power is restored.
 * Reflex Augmentation Processors - The Tekk Armor's systems include processors which anticipate the pilot's needs and responses and speed up that process, making the pilot faster to respond in combat and more agile. This affects everything the pilot does while in the suit. But if the suit's power systems are damaged or it is otherwise rendered without internal power, these systems will be inoperative until power is restored.
 * Microfusion Generator &amp; High Capacitance Energy Cells - The Tekk Armor includes both a very powerful microfusion generator and a very small series of very high-capacitance batteries. In standard operation, these systems are sufficient to keep the suit functional almost indefinitely. In high-stress combat situations, this is still measured as sufficient to maintain operation for most combat engagements, though the system may be exhausted for longer engagements and require downtimes to recharge. The microfusion generator and batteries are located in a small 'backpack'-like protrusion in the shape of the suit at the back. While contained within the defensive armor of the suit, these can be targeted and if so could be disabled, rendering nearly all of the suit's systems completely inoperative without repairs. (In game terms, attacks on this 'backpack' protrusion are a called shot, with attendant penalties, and must do 10 Body in excess of the 4 PD/ED defenses. After 10 Body damage has been done, the power systems are fused and all of the systems of the armor are rendered inoperative, save for the actual armor itself.
 * Pilot Support Systems - The Tekk Armor is a completely sealed system, capable of sustaining the pilot in almost any known environment. It has systems capable of scrubbing and recycling internal atmosphere indefinitely so long as power is available, and while inside the pilot is completely protected against extremes of pressure, environmental radiation, temperature extremes, and all known poisons or diseases. The biological interfaces for the system can also supply sufficient nutrition for the pilot for seven days, and keep the pilot awake, alert and high-functioning for seven days as well. But if the suit's power systems are damaged or it is otherwise rendered without internal power, these systems will be inoperative until power is restored.
 * Automated Control Systems - The Tekk Armor includes automated systems to assist the pilot in a wide variety of situations, enabling the pilot to react and operate in ways the pilot herself has never been trained to accomplish. These are advanced 'expert systems' with large volumes of data on a variety of scenarios capable of then selecting the closest match and then causing the suit to react appropriately.
 * Breakfall - The Tekk Armor's automated control systems enable it to react to uncontrolled falls and flight by proper inversion or rolls.
 * Combat Piloting - The Tekk Armor's automated control systems enable it to guide the flight of the suit in combat with skill equal to highly trained military fighter pilots.
 * Tactics - The Tekk Armor's automated control systems enable it to offer tactical analysis and suggestions on the fly to various scenarios to benefit the pilot in conflict engagements.
 * Aerobatics - The Tekk Armor's automated control systems enable it to fly with pinpoint precision and grace, performing aerobatics (aerial acrobatics).
 * AutoNavigation - The Tekk Armor's automated control systems enable it to guide the pilot to most locations with ease by reference to known guidance beacons, geospatial navigation networks, and space exploration charts.
 * Sensor Arrays - The Tekk armor includes highly advanced sensor systems for use in the field in a variety of situations. Because these arrays determine what data is being fed to the pilot's head's up displays inside the helmet, they can only be activated one at a time; synthesizing the volume and detail of data available is currently beyond the computer systems onboard.
 * Communications Array - The communications array onboard the Tekk Armor is highly advanced, capable of sending and receiving across any known radio band (but not sub-space). These systems can perform burst transmission and decoding at nearly 1000 times standard compression ratios, perform detailed analysis of signals received, and track signals back to their source locations on the fly.
 * Hyper-Radar Array - The onboard radar array for the Tekk Armor is equally exceptional and advanced, capable of perceiving and tracking in every direction simultaneously, picking out and analyzing targets with detail and differentiation, with accuracy at extreme ranges.
 * Thermal Imaging Array - The onboard thermal imaging array can even enable the pilot to see through walls and other obstructions that do not constitute heat-reflective shielding, with detailed analysis of targets, and the ability to track heat signatures and footprints.
 * Hyper-Visual Array - The visual sensor array onboard the Tekk Armor is capable of full nightvision visualization, with detailed analysis and identification of targets, with both extreme range and microscopic accuracy, and can analyze incoming visual data at 100 times normal speed.
 * Advanced Propulsion Systems - The Tekk Armor has been outfitted with prototype propulsion systems that are all highly advanced. These systems are independent. For safety and power concerns, they have been configured to operate only one at a time.
 * Anti-gravity Flight - With multiple emitters throughout the suit, the Tekk Armor has been configured with advanced anti-gravity flight propulsion systems, capable of acceleration up to world-record-setting speeds in atmosphere in excess of Mach 14.4 at standard cruising altitudes of 60,000 feet (angels 60). This flight profile is far more agile and adaptable than standard atmospheric flight systems and leaves the pilot immune to inertia.
 * Transwarp Spaceflight - Pursuant to the desire to explore space and deal with potential space-borne threats, the Tekk Armor has been outfitted with a very advanced and stable high-speed transwarp space flight propulsion system capable of speeds approaching 32 million light-years per year. This equates to 4 light years per second. The system uses the same gravitic systems used by the anti-gravity flight systems to create gravitic energy lenses, through which a charge is fired to surround the armor with a small subspace field and 'squirt' the armor in subspace jumps, covering between 8 and 12 lightyears depending on the length of the 2- to 3-second charging period. The onboard computers then recalculate and fire another jump, repeating this process until the destination is reached. This means that Tekk is capable of reaching the Andromeda Galaxy from Earth in under a month of travel, making the Tekk Armor propulsion system one of the fastest FTL systems known to exist, including among alien species.
 * Magneto-Impellor - The Tekk Armor also includes a revolutionary magneto-impellor system for underwater propulsion, capable of speeds in excess of 1,000 knots (nautical miles per hour), making it one of the fastest things at sea.
 * Charged Plasma Weapons Array - The Tekk Armor's offensive systems capability is largely based on its charged plasma array. While not yet the strongest such systems available, they are commensurate with mid-grade metahuman capabilities and far exceed most of what is available in reproduction-capable powered armor systems.
 * Canons - The charged plasma canons fire bursts of charged blasma as standard energy blasts with minimal kinetic impact. These are not cutting lasers and are not intended as lethal weaponry.
 * Shield Generator - The broad-spectrum plasma emitters can create a field of charged plasma as a semi-translucent barrier that can be maintained. The shape of this field can vary, but is generally 10 meters in length and three meters high, sufficient to create a dome around the armor with others inside, or seal off a large corridor. The field is capable of repelling most standard firearms or energy weapons, but is not impenetrable. It can be maintained without being attached to a surface, used in flight as well, and is sufficiently opaque to sight that most sight-based attacks will prove ineffective at passing through the field. Once penetrated, the field collapses and must be re-initiated.
 * Band Traps - The armor has the ability to launch small spheres with their own portable charged plasma emitters. These spheres strike a target and create bands of charged plasma to ensnare the target with as much strength (resistance to damage) as the shield generators. While these would generally prove only minimally effective against mid-level metahuman powers, they would be nigh-impenetrable to standard troopers.
 * Punch Augmentation - The armor's gauntlets can be charged with the energized plasma, capable of delivering punches with force sufficient to rupture reinforced steel and armored walls.
 * Strength Augmentation - The Tekk Armor can redirect the charged plasma to specialized tendril fibers throughout the armor, causing a visible 'glow'. This augmentation enables the suit to lift or hold massive weights far in excess of the pilot's own strength. Currently, Liz can lift just over 100 tons while this power is active.

Skills
NB: The skills listed as Armor Control Systems are covered in Powers above.

Though highly skilled and certifiably brilliant, Elizabeth's strength is in the application of scientific skills. She really has no combat training, self-defense skills, or even any knowledge of languages outside those of computers.

She has an extensive education, and has achieved multiple doctorate-level degrees in engineering, physics, materials research, energy states, electrical engineering, computer science and mathematics. There are frankly few hard sciences that she isn't versed in, though in some she is better than others.

She has studied accounting and business, and is learning her way through handling people, which will be necessary if she's to maintain her leadership of the company. But her true gift lies in her creative genius and invention skills.

Liz has also made it a point to know her competition, studying known superhumans, supertech, super-scentists, hackers and alien technology. She's not necessarily the world's greatest authority on these, but she definitely knows a great deal more than the average man - or woman - about town.

Though Masters Technologies, Inc. is quite literally a multi-billion dollar company making staggering amounts every day in profits, Liz herself has only assigned herself an annual income of one million. This is far more than the legendary Apple Computers CEO Steve Jobs with his $1 annual salary, but it is far less than she would honestly be entitled to through profit-sharing at her level as CEO. Nevertheless, Liz is currently making this 'sacrifice' to see money re-invested in the company. She really doesn't need anything more, so why take it?

Through Masters Technologies, Inc., Liz has access to a great deal of information that is classified and would be inaccessible to most other folks. She even has access to data from the UEMS. There are levels of access beyond her own, and she does not have 'back doors' into these systems to violate their security for her own purposes. But her level of access is also far higher than the average project manager, which is owing more to her very hands-on status.

Liz is not staggeringly gorgeous or anything, but she is definitely 'cute' enough to get attention for her looks, though she downplays that a good deal much of the time.

Liz herself has a perfect memory. This also reflects the fact that the Tekk Armor records all of its sensor data constantly, and burst-transmits this data back to secure backups for later review.

Liz can do calculations as quickly as many of the computers she uses, without ever typing them in. This, combined with her education, is part of why she's such a brilliant scientist, inventor, and programmer.

Complications

 * Social Complication: Secret Identity - Liz has no intention of letting anyone know that she is the force and the face behind the Tekk armor and those heroics. She may at some point be forced to reveal that Tekk is associated with the company, but she'll be doing everything she can to make sure no one knows who is inside the suit. For now, no one knows of any connection between Tekk and Masters Technologies, Inc. or Elizabeth Masters and she'd like to keep it that way. After all, her parents are still alive, and then there'd be the risk to all of the folks who work with her and for her. Bad news.
 * Social Complication: Company Obligations (Common, Minor) - As CEO and one of the lead development researchers for Masters Technologies, Inc., Liz has a lot of obligations. She has to go to functions held by the company. She has to go to meetings of the Board of Directors and to contract negotiations with other companies and government agencies. When she misses these things, she get an earful from Darian Valdorn, and sometimes from her parents or other members of the Board, and it can cause real problems for the company if it's serious enough, like drops in stock prices. She can't afford to get a reputation as a flighty, undependable playgirl, no matter how brilliant she may be.
 * Social Complication: Famous (Common, Minor) - Liz is famous. She's not necessarily as easily well known as a supermodel or something, but almost anyone who follows business or technology has heard of her, and most of those can also identify her on sight. She attends all sorts of high society functions, and has for years. This can be inconvenient at times. But that's life.
 * Social Complication: Still a Kid to Most (Uncommon, Minor) - Liz may be brilliant, and CEO of her family's company, and one of the most respected names in scientific research and development in the world. But she's not even old enough to drink legally. She's a kid in the eyes of most, and that can get in the way. It's not really enough to be worth points, but it's still true and will come up.
 * Watched by the Company (Less Powerful, Easy to Find, Frequently, Watching) - Because of her obligations to the company, and because of her importance to the overall reputation of the company, Liz is pretty much always being watched by agents of Masters Technologies, Inc. This can and does include everything from her driver to the research assistants at her lab to private investigators hired to follow her around and report back to Darian Valdorn or others. This should come up at least once every other scene, and may at times put her secret identity at risk.
 * Hunted by VENOM (also ACRO, Sovereign) (Infrequently, More Powerful, NCI, Kidnap/Imprison/Enslave, etc) - Frankly, both Liz herself and Tekk are wanted by VIPER. Given her acknowledged technological acumen, and her substantial personal and business value, Liz is a kidnap target of high value. In addition to this, VIPER also has an interest in any technology as clearly advanced as the Tekk Armor, and they'd love to nab it and/or the pilot. In general, this should come up every 5 scenes/plots or so, if not more.
 * Hunted by Unknown Aliens (Infrequently or less, More Powerful, Kill/Destroy/Mindwipe) - Due to the highly advanced transwarp spaceflight propulsion system Liz has designed for the Tekk armor being such a dramatic improvement over even tech available to alien species, it makes her a target. Should certain aliens learn of this technology, she will be hunted with the intention of destroying the armor, the technology, all notes of it, and any chance it might ever be re-created, including the mind of the inventor herself. Since no one outside of Liz currently knows about her development of this technology, this complication is slated at 0pts and will remain so.
 * Psychological Complication: Code vs. Killing (Common, Moderate) - Liz has never had to face the choice to end another life. She would prefer to save lives and never kill. But having never faced this decision, she really has no idea what she would do if pushed to it, and won't until it occurs. As such, she only as the Everyman 0pt version of this psychological limitation.
 * Psychological Complication: Driven to prove the worth of her inventions against others (Common, Strong) - Liz has a real need and urge to prove herself to others, and this has come into focus as an urge to see her inventions proven against other inventors and other technologies. It is this drive which has pushed her to create the Tekk Armor and take her inventions into the field. It also drives her to continue to create better and better technologies for the company. She will openly and somewhat aggressively compete with other tech-based heroes or villains, and push her company to compete against other tech companies.
 * DNPC: Darian Valdorn (Normal, Useful, Unaware, Infrequently) - Darian Valdorn is the elected chairman of the Board of Directors for Masters Technologies, Inc. He has much of the business- and people-acumen that young Liz lacks. Backed by Liz's parents, he has stepped in to help her run the company while she learns the ropes of the things she didn't learn in school and can't learn from books. While he is not her best friend and confidante, Darian wants Liz to succeed and wants the company to succeed. However, if forced to choose between those two, he would protect the company and its legacy over Liz. Nevertheless, he is someone Liz cares about, and someone she would strive to protect if he were in danger. Given his connection to her, and to the company, that is quite possible.
 * Reputation: Brilliant young CEO & inventor (Frequently) - Part of Liz's fame is as a brilliant young inventor who has revolutionized many of the technologies used by her company to provide goods to their clients and to consumers, and her fame for being placed into the position of CEO at such a young age as her father stepped down. This reputation does not actively hurt Liz, but it does not help her either. It is merely a fact of life. It is the reason for her fame, and her hunteds.

Origin
The origin of Tekk is relatively simple: Elizabeth Ann Masters, adopted daughter of Erik Allen Masters and his wife Veronica Deltrin Masters, a brilliant and exceptionally-educated young woman, became an inventor of storied skill. To test and prove the worth of her inventions, she developed in secret the Tekk Armor, combining and integrating many of her inventions together into a single whole with the intention of first using it to explore, and later - inspired by the heroes which have long been a fixture in Colonial Bay - to act as a powered armored heroine, competing directly against metahuman threats and natural disasters. And so, Tekk was born.

Personality

 * Quiet - While not painfully shy, Elizabeth has never quite been the bright and shining extrovert and blazing people person of either of her parents. She likes people well enough, but she is just as content - some might say moreso - in a quiet corner with a book or a digipad. She grew up in the limelight to an extent thanks to her parents' positions and reputations, and she does her best with it. But she rarely has a great deal to say herself. She tends to let her actions - and her inventions - do that for her.


 * Brilliant - Elizabeth isn't just bright. She's not just a genius. She's bloody brilliant, and nearly beyond the bounds of qualified super-genius. She devours knowledge, and synthesizes the kinds of leaps and conclusions that stagger others. There may be some metahumans out there who are smarter, but they're few and far between.


 * Hard Science over Soft - At a very young age, Elizabeth knew the history and legacy of Masters Technologies, Inc. And she knew that legacy was her legacy, that she had been chosen by her parents especially to be their daughter and the inheritor of that legacy. So she focused herself. She studied, wanting to learn about what the company did and how it did it. And that led her into the study of the sciences that govern the technologies that are and always have been the driving focus behind the company. So Elizabeth has a strong focus in the hard sciences. The softer sciences - psychology, sociology, archaeology, etc. - have never had nearly as much interest for her. She won't sneer at them: she knows enough to know they have value. But they aren't her focus and she has little interest in knowing more about them.


 * Proud to be a Masters - Elizabeth is fiercely proud to be a Masters and a member of that family and that legacy. She was told from a very young age that she was adopted. But this did not leave her with a feeling of being second-best, or abandoned. She had always known love and support and kindness, and was taught that being adopted meant she was special and precious, specifically chosen by her parents for their love. She will defend the family name and legacy, and the company's reputation, because to her that is all part of being a Masters.


 * Proving Herself - Though Elizabeth herself would never put it in these terms, she is always out to prove herself worthy of the honor she bears as the inheritor of the Masters legacy. She wants to be the best of the best at what she does: science, invention, creation. She wants everyone to know that she's the best, and she wants it to be real, not just lauded honors. So she's out to challenge herself and challenge her inventions by testing them against the best - or the worst - that's out there. In the end, that's the urge that has driven her to create the Tekk Armor, and to take it out into the field herself as Tekk, the powered armored heroine.


 * Always Improving - Elizabeth understands that it is rare, if not unheard-of, for one to simply create out of whole cloth a new invention that is the best it can possibly be. Everything can be improved. Everyone can get better. Others can stand on the shoulders of giants, and reach that inch farther. So Elizabeth is always looking to improve herself and her designs. Nothing is ever 'good enough' for eternity. Only for now.


 * Bigger Than I Am - Elizabeth has a strong urge within her to be part of something bigger than she is. Until now, she has largely identified that with becoming part of and contributing to Masters Technologies, Inc. and she still does. But she has begun to see something more in this. While she understands herself unsuited for anything like the military or police service, taking Tekk into the field of superheroics is a way to contribute, to be a part of something greater than just her own abilities and to try to bring improvement to the lives of others. She may never serve in the military like her great, great grandfather once did. But she can do her part.

Introduction
The story that explains the birth of a heroine named Tekk starts not twenty years ago, nor thirty, but over one hundred and thirty years in the past. For to understand who is Tekk, where she comes from, how she exists, one must understand the world into which she was born and the legacy to which she is the inheritor.

Anthony Masters &amp; Masters Technologies, Inc.
To begin, we start in an era of great economic upheaval. The economies of much of the world boomed in the years following the First World War - at that time, merely the Great War - as the soldiers returned home and the manufacturing processes which had been turned to wartime production of materiel for battle instead turned themselves to building homes and machines and the trappings of success. But soon thereafter, the economic instabilities created by living on the edge of credit and debt finally brought low that surging growth, and a Great Depression swallowed the land. This affected not just the United States, but the entire world. And so too, laid the foundation for yet another upheaval: the rise of the Nazi party in Germany and the seeds of the Second World War.

At the same time, other seeds were planted as well. Some saw the forthcoming unrest abroad, and considered what should be done about it. Some even considered investing in the means of production to prepare for what they saw as an inevitable eventual conflict. One such man was a Chicago native by the name of Anthony Masters: 'Tony.' A very young veteran of the first World War, he watched what was coming and he decided that his country was going to go to war again. When that happened, he rather assumed he would not be fit for duty on the front lines. He would not contribute as a soldier. But perhaps he could assure that those sons that did go to war would go with the best that could be provided, equipped to end the conflict before too many had to die.

With his experience and his vision, Anthony Masters drafted plans for a wide array of equipment meant to serve the battlefields of the future. Better engines made of lighter alloys to drive airplanes across the sky in battle. Machine-driven turrets for canons on land, on sea and in the air. Better, faster and deadlier firearms. Helmets to protect the soldiers' heads. Jackets with metal strips in them to protect the soldiers' bodies. And more.

Armed with his visions, Anthony Masters sought those who had the money, power and resources, even in the collapsed and struggling economy of that dark time, to fund his ideas, to share his vision of what could be. They were few, and admittedly hard to wrangle for long. But Masters persevered, and founded Masters Technologies, Incorporated in the spring of 1936. Aided by federal programs trying to put people back to work and jump start the lagging economy, the company struggled but sustained, when many did not.

WWII
And then the war came. With the invasion of the Rhineland in 1936, it became clear to most that it would only be a matter of time until war broke out. Whether or not the United States would become involved was an open question, and one that would decide the next election. But policies were put in place to fund the building of necessary stockpiles of materiel to prepare for war. And countries in Europe began looking for sources as well. Masters Technologies, Inc. was there, and the foundations of a legacy were laid.

The success of Masters Technologies, Inc. throughout the 1940s made the company a lynchpin of the post-war 'military industrial complex', a position it enjoyed healthily. The company expanded, as many did in those years, into consumer goods, and continued its efforts in research and development of new technologies to expand the human frontier. But throughout Anthony's leadership of the company, the focus remained firmly on better equipping the men, and later the women, who would serve to protect and defend the American way of life.

Marcus Masters &amp; 1970s
That chartered course would change in the early 1970s. The military had become unpopular, and companies viewed as supporting the Vietnam Conflict became targets for the aggression and dissatisfaction of the rebellious counterculture. Several Masters Technologies facilities were bombed or otherwise threatened by the protest anti-war movements. Heartbroken by the loss of good employees and the seeming 'betrayal' of the very American people he had sought to serve all of his life. Anthony Masters retreated from the public eye and from running the company. Instead, his much younger son Marcus Masters would step into the role, and provide a new focus and direction for the company, making some very high-profile and very visible charitable contributions, then establishing the Masters Foundation to manage their ongoing charitable efforts.

The company's shifted focus to peace-time consumer goods allowed them to weather the storm of public sentiment, and the decreases in military spending that would follow for much of that decade. Investments in research and development started to focus on the causes and issues of the day, including concerns regarding a need for alternate fuel sources to wean away from legacy fossil fuels, and better energy storage and transmission systems to increase the effectiveness and portability of energy generated by existing technologies.

Of course, with the latter part of the 1970s and the 1980s, military industrial programs were on the rise, and Marcus Masters was too much his beloved father's son to fail to return strongly to that arena, though a point would be made to focus these efforts as much on technologies to aid and improve the soldiers. Of course, with time these lofty ideals would erode once more, and the natural extension of such programs would once more see Masters Technologies in the forefront of advanced weapons systems research by the mid-1980s.

1990s &amp; Andrea and Victor Masters
The mid-1990s would see the progressive hand-over of the business concerns to Anthony's eldest grandchildren. Andrea and Victor Masters made a very effective and charismatic team, working in tandem to continue throughout the seemingly ever-changing landscape of the 1990s and early 2000s. Masters Technologies became one of the backbone providers of components and systems for the Advanced Warfighter projects as the modern battlefield decentralized, becoming more focused once more upon the individual soldier's capabilities rather than on large units supported by massive vehicles and hardware. Masters Technologies also invested heavily in the advancement of space-based industry and satellite communications systems.

2020s & Darren Kelso
In early 2021, Masters Technologies would transfer leadership again, this time into the hands of Andrea Masters' much younger widower Darren Kelso. Though it would be seen as a rather rocky transition, Kelso proved to be an excellent manager and a devoted leader for the company. Unbeknownst to most of the public and much of the company's investors, Kelso made a point in investing company resources into the service sector of military operations, eventually expanding to become an international leader in 'for hire' military operators - mercenaries. This diversification would help Masters Technologies to survive the very lean years of the early Neo-Luddite years. But when it is revealed in 2029 that two of the VIPER teams that swarmed over South Africa and established the nation of Zu were in fact aided and supported by teams of Kelso's soldiers, the scandal nearly crushes the company. In the midst of the Congressional Oversight Committee hearings, Kelso is ousted from control of Masters Technologies, Inc. and replaced with Victor Masters' grandson, Erik Masters.

2030s & Erik Masters
Erik and his wife - socialite Veronica Deltrin - would lead Masters Technologies and the Masters Foundation through some of the most difficult years of its history, striving to clean up the company's image from the ground up, shedding many of the shadier projects established over the last several decades, especially those closely tied with Kelso and his push into mercenaries and 'services'. They would also face the neo-Luddite movement and transition from being a major contractor largely with NATO and the US to becoming one of the first leading contractors with the United Earth government agencies.

Despite their many professional and public accomplishments, Erik and Veronica would face one very private and personal challenge that would nearly destroy their strong partnership and loving marriage. For many years, despite their best efforts and the aid of the best doctors and medical technology the world had to offer, they would find it impossible to conceive a child. As they faced the middle of their fourth decades on Earth and the revitalization of the company on the back of President Purvis' strong military and defense spending initiatives, they also faced the very real thought that they may well never have a child of their own. Deciding to share the wealth and wonder of the Masters family with some worthy child, they managed to salvage their marriage despite the stressors of the last several years and arose to adopt a baby girl they would name Elizabeth Ann Masters.

Elizabeth Ann Masters
Provided with the best of everything, Liz Masters would want for very little in her young life. Growing up in an age after the Neo-Luddite 'revolution', surrounded by the fostered brilliance of Masters Technologies, Liz threw herself into learning at an early age, encouraged and supported by her adoring parents. Always well aware that she was special and precious, 'chosen' to be their daughter rather than a mere biological byproduct of their love for one another, Liz grew up with all of the privileges of the wealthy, and all of the drive of the lower middle class, lacking any of their hopelessness.

Liz fell in love with science and technology, and saw within those pursuits all of the hopes of the future and the very destiny of her family and her company. For Liz knew from a young age that it was her parents' dream and her own destiny to lead Masters Technologies into the future that had not even yet been imagined.

Her drive and brilliance would propel Liz to a very bright future, graduating from MIT at the tender age of 16 with a Masters in Computer Science and an Engineering degree. She then moved immediately from Boston to Colonial Bay, moving into a position in the Research and Development department there for Masters Technology. Her continued hard work would see a plethora of developments in everything from advanced sensor systems and pattern recognition algorithms, to improved micro-fusion power generators, hyper-gel power storage batteries, advances in anti-gravity propulsion systems, biophysical response systems, pilot-assistance computer systems and programs, and more. In just two years, Liz had built a reputation few could argue with as a master inventor with a surely bright future for the company.

In the face of their daughter's successes, Erik and Veronica made the decision to hand over the authority of running the company to Elizabeth, naming her the CEO of Masters Technology, Inc in 2058. They then supported the election of a new Head of the Board of Directors, Darian Valdorn, providing a strong support for Liz with greater experience in the daily wheeling and dealing necessary for a company of MTI's breadth. Together with Elizabeth's notoriety and genius, the company looks to be facing a true golden age of the future.

Tekk
What currently none know is that Elizabeth's continued efforts in invention have turned back the clock a bit, looking at the efforts in space exploration and the old Warfighter projects of the early 2000s. She has been developing something inspired by the storied traditions of heroism that surround her in Colonial Bay: a suit of Powered Armor, a man- -- or in this case woman- -- portable combat suit. Into this suit she has placed prototype systems which make it more advanced than anything she has revealed to anyone else at the company: in-atmosphere flight systems capable of Mach 14.5; what tests are showing is a stable hyperspeed space-warp system; advanced sensors and communications gear; and an entire new suite of energized-plasma weapons subsystems.

Though inspired by the superheroes of Colonial Bay, Elizabeth's original intention was not to join their ranks, but to simply build an advanced platform for the testing and development of her biggest ideas, perhaps with the hope of someday exploring space on her own or other 'wild' and 'out-there' concepts. Working on the project gave her the freedom to use every iota of her brilliance and her company's resources for a project that - since it was so secret - she need never fear seeing on the battlefield. And it became the way Liz could finally understand some of what it must be like for those men and women the company serves: the soldiers that protect the country and the world.

But what Liz has come to understand is that Tekk - the suit she has developed and continues to advance - also presents her with a unique opportunity to prove her technology to the world, and at the same time to make a contribution not just to the men and women in uniform, but also to everyone else. She can potentially save lives.

Thus far, Tekk has made her public debut without openly declaring any connection with Masters Technology, but it is only a matter of time.

Liz
Elizabeth Ann 'Liz' Masters:

Shorter than average and not very exceptional, this young woman blends into the crowd pretty easily. She's cute without being awesome, with mostly chin-length soft brown hair and hazel eyes that mix brown with a bit of stormy grey. She looks young, either latest teens or early twenties.

Dressed in what most would deem a conservative style, perhaps more expected of a thirties- or fourties-year-old businesswoman but not unfashionable, she's wearing a slim a-line hunter green skirt and a matching short single-breasted dress jacket, along with a soft pink button-down blouse with a bright white silk scarf as a ruffle tie about her throat. Sheer hose cover her legs, with simple roan penny loafer flats on her feet. Her one concession to youth seems to be the light grey backpack she wears over one shoulder rather than some stodgy leather briefcase. Light, nearly rimless glasses rest on her nose and cover her eyes, sometimes shading to a dark, obscuring grey as they apparently double as HUD for some digital device or another.

Tekk
Tekk:

Still a bit shy of six feet tall, this figure is a cleanly articulated suit of mostly dull grey poly-ceramic alloy armor. Here and there along joints and necessarily flexible bits, a dark blue color shows through, along with bits of cabling or circuitry, and a few rather subtle nodules, along with one visible 'backpack'-like bulge at the back. Energies emitted seem to be variations on a shade of purple. The suit walks softly and moves with smooth, elegant grace despite some bulk to its frame.