Amber and Azure
From Champions MUSH
| Amber and Azure |
|---|
|
| Alignment |
| Heroes |
| Secret Identity |
| Jenn/Jess Markham |
| Affiliation |
| Starguard Gamma and New Blood |
Amber and Azure, AKA: Jennifer and Jessica Markham, under-achieving high school students by day, occasional instructors at Steel's Gymnasium, part time clerical workers at Starguard, and members of Starguard Gamma and New Blood in heroic identity.
Contents |
Description
As Amber and Azure: These identical twins are clearly superagents of some kind . They wear military style uniforms, tight fitting urban-camo fabric with black trim and silver buttons. There are no unit patches or insigna on the costume but it's easy to see where such were attached before being removed. Metallic link harness are fastened around their torsos. At their waists are wide utility belts holding various small tools and gadgets. The twins each carry a crystalline device in their right hands, roughly the shape and size of a large goose's egg. They have soft leather boots protecting their feet, allowing silent movement. Their hands are bare and uncovered. Both twins have shoulder length pale blonde hair and sky blue eyes behind amber and azure hued domino masks covering most of their upper face. Their build is slim, athletic, with movements feline in smoothness.
As Jennifer and Jessica Markham: These identical twins are smartly dressed in slacks and white blouses. They wear soft leather boots that protect their feet without making a sound as they walk. Their hands are bare and uncovered. Both twins have long pale blonde hair and sky blue eyes. Their build is slim, athletic, and their movements are feline in smoothness. They have the appearence of someone who spends time outdoors. Their skin is tanned, with maybe just a hint of nordic ancestry visible, although their eyes have an almost oriental tilt and if seen without contact lenses the pupils of the eyes are oval rather than circular.
Jennifer at Stephie's 18th birthday party.
Origin
The twins are genetically engineered Wolfguard assassins. Their genetic makeup is roughly 85% captured metahuman genetic material and 15% Bengal tiger. Combat training begins as soon as they can walk. While under Wolfhead instruction they were trained in the full range of assassin skills for over sixteen hours a day and seven days a week. Any failure to perform in training is punished brutally. Neural whipping is the usual consequence, inflicting terrible pain but leaving no marks or scarring.
The genetic engineering and training would be sufficient on their own to make Wolfguard assassins feared. What elevates the threat from a Wolfguard assassin to an even more deadly level is the nature of the link between the two members of a team. A Wolfguard assassin team is always two members, identical twins, and they share a single consciousness between them. Military organisations know how important teamwork is. With Wolfguard assassins the coordination between team members is total and flawless, since there is only a single mind controlling both team members.
Gemini, which was her original Wolfguard name, is one of the trainee Wolfguard assassins who surrendered to Starguard at Colonial Bay City after discussions with local heroes. With the rest of her siblings, Gemini was placed in an English school for metachildren after willingly accepting mind control to not use her combat abilities or harm anyone. Giving up her Wolfguard name she became known as Jennifer and Jessica Markham, taking the family name of the school's Principal.
She stayed at the school for a year and then vanished along with all the other Wolfguard siblings. Six months later Gemini reappeared at the school having aged nearly seven years in the intervening period. She has told nobody except the Principal of the school the reason for her absence. Instead of resuming her studies at the school in England, arrangements were made to have Jennifer and Jessica move to Colonial Bay City. They are now sixteen and exchange students at one of the City's High Schools. Unlike their generally extrovert siblings, Jennifer and Jessica tend to be reserved and even a little shy on occasion.
Powers
They have exceptional strength, dexterity, and resilience to injury, with their natural resistance to injury enhanced by sub-dermal skinweave that is implanted at a very early age. In addition they have the standard equipment package of a Wolfguard assassin team plus a few minor items picked up from here and there on previous missions. Their protective Force Web Harness is nothing special. The harness is fitted with a number of self contained and self-powered force-field generators that create a segmented force shield around them when activated.
Wolfguard energy whips are something else entirely. Generated by a device the rough size and shape of a goose's egg, the whip can be extended up to 10m in length and is as flexible as a squid's tentacle. It takes years of practice for a Wolfguard assassin to fully master the energy whip, but when it is mastered it becomes almost an extention of their reach. A skilled energy whip user can juggle eggs without breaking them, crush a vehicle, snake the whip in through a hole no bigger than a fist to manipulate objects inside a room, or curl it around to strike an opponent in the back.
Personality
Wolfguard assassins are taught to believe they are the most deadly combat experts in existance. Amber and Azure share that belief despite their generally shy nature. They view themselves as combat professionals and other heroes and ordinary military personnel as skilled amatuers at best. However when it comes to social interactions they feel lost and out of their depth. Before coming to Colonial Bay they had lived in highly structured environments, first Wolfguard and then in a British military unit. Their experience of normal civilian life is minimal. They can frequently be overheard stating, "I'm not trained for this." when faced with the need to interact in a social situation.
Relations
Amber and Azure have made friends with Rebound, Midnight, and especially Matthew Regent. They have a lot of respect for Random Factor their SGG team leader. Their relationship with Matthew Regent is complex. It's more than just friendship, potentially much more, but it also scares them.
History
Amber and Azure, then known as Gemini, first appeared in Colonial Bay in 2054, one of a group of a dozen trainee Wolfguard assassins who surrendered to Starguard after discussions with local heroes Fortitude and Random Factor. They were sent to Lord Markham's School for Talented Children, in Oxfordshire, England, vanished along with all their siblings a year later, then reappeared having aged seven years in the space of six months absence. Instead of resuming studies at the English school they moved to Colonial Bay to study at Colonial Heights High School as Jennifer and Jessica, and join Starguard Gamma as Amber and Azure.
OOC History
The original trainee Wolfguard to surrender to Bolt and Fortitude was Lycori (who became known as Sally and Joanna Steel). They were transferred to Lord Markham's School for Talented Children in Cambridgeshire, England. They were subsequently adopted by Jessica Steel, a teacher at the school. Jessica Steel, a retired member of Britain's elite SAS regiment, moved to Colonial Bay to open Steel's Gym. Using a reconditioned British army battlesuit Jessica Steel also served in SGG under the codename Steel. Sally and Joanna returned to the city with her. Several informal, and entirely unknown to the Wolfguard Royal Caste, meetings occurred between Lycori and her siblings. These meetings culminated in the mass surrender of the entire class of third generation Wolfguard trainess to Starguard.
These Wolfguard trainees were also sent to Lord Markham's School for Talented Children after they agreed to be subjected to mind control to not use any of their combat skills. That turned out to be only a limited solution. The trainees stayed at the school for less than a year. Gemini, aka Jennifer and Jessica, were adopted by Lord Markham during this time. However part of the less desirable consequences of the genetic engineering of the trainees is an adrenaline addiction. The trainees need danger and action to remain mentally healthy. So the trainees were taken out of the school and recruited into the British army as a special unit of the SAS. Jessica Steel rejoined her old regiment with the rank of Major in charge of the new unit.
Over the next few years the Wolfguard trainees were taught soldiering skills to go with their existing assassin training. They started going out on active duty assignments, mostly in the Middle East, from the age of twelve onwards. They were commissioned as lieutenants in 2063 at the age of sixteen, the minimum legal age for army cadets in Britain. Shortly after being commissioned Jennifer and Jessica were badly hurt during training when the tear gas in a chemical warfare exercise was replaced by Sarin gas by a Wolfguard infiltrator. Jennifer and Jessica were medically discharged from the army.
Cast involuntarily loose from the only life she knew, Gemini took up an offer to move to Colonial Bay City and take over managing Steel's Gym. She also took with her a letter of introduction from Jessica Steel to Random Factor, the Starguard Gamma team leader. Timmy, the super-gadgeteer boyfriend of Lycori (Sally and Joanna) used a time travelling device he had invented to send Gemini back in time to the period when Random Factor was still the SGG leader...
