Application for Singularity
Player Information ;
Your Nickname: Varis
OOC Journal: offensive
Under 18? oh god no.
Email/IM: unknowngoddess[at]gmail.com / hardertokill
Characters Played at Singularity: none~
Character Information ;
Name: Kaidan Alenko
Name of Canon: Mass Effect
Canon/AU/Other Game CR: Canon
Reference: http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Kaidan_Alenko
Canon Point: post ME2
Setting: Mass Effect is set in the magical place called ~the future~ where humanity is one of several major sentient races that have pioneered themselves out into the stars. There's a council made up of the three oldest space-faring species, the Asari, Turians, and Salarians, with other species big and small (volus, batarians, hanar, elcor, etc...) all vying for their place in the council. Humans ended up joining the Council after the battle of the Citadel in which the efforts of Commander Shepard's team (Kaidan included) stopped a galactic crisis. Granted before all this, Humanity was kind of a late bloomer compared to all the other Council-recognized species, but they made up for it by being quick to pick up on everything the galaxy had to offer them. Not that this always made them the most popular with the other species, as they were also known for being brash and hurried. Still, humanity saved their asses, so they were begrudged to give the humans their due.
Beyond the galactic structure, futuristic devices became commonplace, holographic interfaces making personal computers appear on your arm, computers wired into armor, kinetically generated shielding to protect from projectiles, and of course, the ability to manipulate dark energy into deadly force.
This is where Kaidan more or less sits. He's part of the minority of kids who were accidentally exposed to Element Zero (a very valuable element for generating Faster-Than-Light travel in the ~future~ as well as a stimulant in dust form that strengthens or encourages biotics in some species) and instead of developing terminal brain cancer, he developed biotic potential. There were programs set up to test out biotics on humans, and help the kids who were exposed get the training they needed to adjust to their power. He was brought into a program out on the Gagarin station called Biotic Acclimation and Temperance Training, where he learned how to control his abilities. Ultimately, the program was shut down, but what was never directly stated on record was that Kaidan was the reason they were shut down. Their instructor, a turian named Vyrnnus, was a harsh individual who Kaidan disliked immensely. When Vyrnnus punished a girl named Rahna, whom Kaidan had feelings for, for not using her biotics to pick up a glass of water because she was thirsty, Kaidan lashed out at him. Vyrnnus reciprocated, and without thinking, Kaidan reacted with a full biotic kick, and snapped Vyrnnus's neck, killing him. Kaidan disappeared off the military radar for a few years after that, needing to sort out all that happened to him.
Now, each species also had their own governments and militaries. Humans became a more unified force instead of segregated over nations and countries. They formed the Systems Alliance, and it's this military group, that Kaidan as well as Shepard belonged to. After his training in biotics, the military was just about the only place he fit, so he eventually joined up, instead of becoming one of those crazypants biotic radicals. He was Lieutenant under Commander Shepard, and after Shepard died he was promoted to Commander himself, likely for his "heroism" in getting the majority of the Normandy's crew to safety.
Personality: Kaidan is a blink-and-you'll-miss-him kinda guy, and he likes it that way. While underneath the seemingly mild-mannered personality is an interesting man who has lived a hard life, he's not really the type who volunteers information about himself without prompting. He's career military and is careful to keep that kind of professionalism about him at all times, though that is, at least in part, due to the headaches he has frequently. He doesn't want to offend if his head killing him makes him duck out of a conversation early.
That being said, if you get him talking it can sometimes be hard to get him to stop, and if something strikes him during a conversation he can go wildly off-topic (IE: whenever he talks to Shepard, it starts out as a debrief and then just kind of spirals into details about his life before the alliance or ~feelings~) He likes human companionship, he's just kept to himself out of necessity. Once he warms up to a person he's very personable, provided he likes you. He tries to give everyone a fair chance, but there are just some people that will rub him the wrong way, mostly arrogant assholes who remind him of Vyrnnus. He'll do what he can to avoid those kinds of people, but he can butt heads with the best of them when headbutting situations aren't avoidable.
One thing about Kaidan is he can be very stubborn when he wants to be. Growing up the way he did he learned how to be guarded, and his belief system is very plainly laid out in black and white. Serving under Shepard he learned a little more about the overall gray of the world, but if something pulls too sharply on his morals he'll pull right back. For example, the group Shepard joins after her apparent death, are known for experimenting on human biotics, rachni, messing with thorian DNA, and a sundry of other horrible terrorist things. Kaidan has trouble dealing with that, and pretty much flat out rejects Shepard when he finds out she's joined up with them. He's also a little bit hypocritical in this sometimes, because he will get defensive and stubborn, while at the same time accusing others of being blind to the possibilities. His heart IS in the right place, even if his head sometimes doesn't always make a connection between the two. And if he is in the wrong, he'll recognize it and apologize. Eventually.
Kaidan with people can be interesting, as he is usually very professional, but when he's around someone he's attracted to, he kind of degenerates into a bit of a goof. You can see a little more of his off duty personality in the guy who is smitten than the serious business biotic marine. He is aggravatingly cautious when it comes to matters of the heart, though, because he was deeply scarred by Rahna's rejection of him, despite him saying he's come to terms with everything that happened during Brain Camp. So as obvious as he may be, stumbling over words sometimes, accidentally letting a word of affection slip he may not have meant to, he always tries to leave a way out for the other party, and is very upfront about not wanting to complicate things. He will however sometimes have a ridiculously roundabout way of saying it. Contradictions, all over the place. Kaidan's personality is a juicy starburst.
Mentally, Kaidan is a RELATIVELY stable person. But to get a relative view you have to look at all the nutbars he's surrounded by. He's stable, and he HAS come to terms with killing Vyrnnus, but there's a lot about that and many other things that haunt him. He is very prone to survivor's guilt, and it hits him hard when Jenkins gets killed early on during the Normandy shakedown on Eden Prime. From there out he's more aggressive with his biotics (he mentions to Garrus once that he used to hold back on his full potential out of fear of injuring someone, but after seeing everything that happened on Eden Prime, he stopped holding back) and this is likely another reason why he's a little more willing to open up and talk with Shepard about his past. When Ashley dies on Virmire, he gets pretty vindictive against Saren, and though he had no real clue who the enemy was that killed Shepard and ripped apart the original Normandy, he obviously has trouble dealing with that as well, and as a result seems to become more bitter, though he's still functional.
Abilities and Weaknesses: Kaidan is a human biotic, which is SORT'VE like telekinesis, though in the Mass Effect world it's explained by the ability to manipulate the otherwise imperceptible dark matter in the air into deadly force or protective shields. He has the basic talents, pulling, throwing biotic spheres, lifting people and tossing them about, being able to create a biotic barrier to fortify his kinetic shields, making him that much harder to kill. In addition to his biotic talents, his specialization class is designated Sentinel, which makes him not only an adept biotic, but a skilled technician as well. He's pretty good at hacking and decryption, can arm himself a mean nuclear bomb, and other...tech nerdy kind of stuff. He's also a trained marine, and has weapons training with basic sidearms, and... assault rifles, probably. Otherwise he wouldn't be toting one as his primary weapon on Horizon.
There are, of course, a sundry of drawbacks to being a biotic. Kaidan is unlucky enough to be fitted with the very controversial L2 biotic implants, necessary for controlling his powers, but also largely unstable. The L2 implants are known to cause a variety of mental illnesses in people implanted with them, ranging from insanity to crippling physical pain. Kaidan just gets crippling migranes sometimes. He's also, obviously, still a human, and if something penetrates his shielding, he can die just like anyone else.
Beyond his physical weaknesses, he's also got a tendency of allowing his emotions to cloud his better judgment. When he's feeling betrayed, he'll overreact, when he's worried for someone he cares for, he'll overreact. He'd do anything to protect someone he feels for, and in this sense, despite being of strong character, he can still be manipulated.
Inventory: standard pistol, universal cutscene assault rifle, and omni-tool, plus his sexy medium armor.
Appearance: Kaidan, like many of the people of the future, has a very obvious mixed racial appearance to him, though he's got a subtle Asian tilt in his features. He's a sturdily built man who has a career as a marine to thank for his strong physique, and genetics to thank for his dark hair, eyes, and tan skin. He's not an overly tall man, probably standing about 6' (roughly, he's only a few inches taller than Shepard) but he's about average.
Age: 34
OC/AU Justification ;
If AU, How is Your Version Different From Canon, and How Will That Come Across?
If OC, Did You Run Your Character Through a Mary-Sue Litmus Test?
And What Did You Score?
Samples ;
Log Sample:
Kaidan could feel a headache coming on, but for once it wasn't due to his biotics. He was standing in front of a vid screen aboard the Alliance transport vessel that had picked him up on Horizon after the rudimentary cleanup was complete, listening to a middle-aged man rail into him about leaving in the middle of the job. This was the man who has replaced Lilith, who had been taken by the Collectors, and he wasn't nearly as respective to the Alliance as Lilith had been.
"I hear what you're saying, Kenneth, but I'm getting pulled back to the Citadel," Kaidan replied once the angry man stopped for air, with a calm he wasn't feeling. "They've already got a work crew heading to your location to help rebuild, and with the defense towers online you're safer from a Collector retaliation than anyone." The man on the other end of the line scoffed, and it was all Kaidan could do to keep his gaze level at the screen.
"Yeah, 'cause we were so safe when you showed up. Whatever, we don't need you anyway," and with that the line went dead, and Kaidan let out a heavy breath, relaxing the stiff posture he'd maintained through the call.
"Nice talking to you, too," he muttered, rubbing the back of his neck before moving across the cabin, picking up the datapad that contained a copy of the report he'd sent to Alliance Command as well as the Citadel Council. He knew it all, Collector presence confirmed, he had recovered samples stored in the cargo hold. Officially he'd stated there were no ties to Cerberus that he'd been able to confirm beyond Shepard's presence, but off the record, he was still stinging from that encounter. The woman he knew, while she sometimes did things that confused him, never would have worked for a group like Cerberus. It seemed irrelevant to him through his frustration that she'd feel like she owed the terrorist group anything for bringing her back. She'd shut them down once, she should've done it again. It was bad enough that they'd killed Kahoku in cold blood, this almost seemed like an insult to the woman Shepard had once been. Or at least, the woman he thought she'd once been.
Groaning, Kaidan tossed the datapad back on the desk and sank into the chair, closing his eyes and rubbing his temples, trying to alleviate the headache that was raging in full-force, now. Well, whatever was or wasn't going on with Shepard, he still had eighteen hours left in his journey to the Citadel to mull it over.
Network Sample:
[Audio]
I'm getting the feeling that I'm outside of Citadel space here, so I'll skip the command protocol. I'm Staff Commander Kaidan Alenko, with the Systems Alliance, and any light shed on what this place is, or how exactly I ended up here would greatly be appreciated.
[There's a pause, before he clears his throat]
Ah, and if there are any other Alliance soldiers around, I'd appreciate notification.