Crimson Raptor: Blackheart

As promised, here's the bio and character vision for 'Blackheart'. As usual, the information has a bit vague, by design. They'll clear up as we get deeper into this thing. But let's not get too far ahead of ourselves...

Blackheart
Dark Entity

Born “Maxwell Leslie Black-Hart”, his family’s wealth assured that he’d never have to work a day in his life. In fact, his childhood was about what one would expect for someone born into old money….with one major exception. At a very early age, young Maxwell began to exhibit certain “abilities”; specifically, the ability to start fires with his mind; a talent known as “yrokinesis”. Initially, it presented itself only during times when Maxwell was in an extreme emotional state. Fearing that their son would be labeled a pyromaniac, or worse, his parents made the decision to send him off to a military academy. Their hope was that with a firm hand and some strict discipline, he’d outgrow his gift. They couldn’t have been more wrong.

Early on, he did, indeed find it easiest to try to ignore his power, in hopes of just fitting in with his peers. As he got a bit older, though, he started to embrace his power, and attempted to control it. It wasn’t long at all before he’d attracted the attention of General Philip Sheets. His role with the military was rather hard to ascertain, as he was in charge of several “special” projects; none of which would ever be acknowledged publicly.

On his eighteenth birthday, Maxwell left the academy, and moved to a military base, called a “blacksite”. While there, he, along with four other young men, underwent extensive training and testing designed to identify and maximize their unique abilities. Eventually, all five of the young men were subjected to a surgical procedure. While they weren’t given much information beforehand, they were told afterward that each had been fitted with a neural implant. The day after the procedure, they were all taken out to a remote location in the middle of the desert…all except for one of the men. He found out later that he’d died during the procedure.

Each of the four survivors was given a new designation. They were told that they were now members of the top secret “Raptor” squadron. Each man was given a new distinction; “Black”, “White”, “Gold”, and “Crimson”. After a very short debriefing session, the four men were led down to an underground bunker. The bunkers were heavily fortified, and there were several heavy arms stations throughout.

They were then told to activate their armor and weapons by calling them up from the “hase buffer”. They were told they’d only get one chance, as this was a live fire test of this new system. The first to go was “Crimson”. The man, in his early twenties at most, was led into the middle of the bunker, and told that he had to secure it through any means necessary. The door than slammed shut and the red light came on, indicating that the weapon systems were hot. He couldn’t believe his eyes as a strange distortion wave seemed to envelope his squad mate for a short time. When it had disappeared, the man was standing in full tactical assault armor. He moved so fast, it was difficult to keep track of him, and his weapons, which were unlike anything he’d ever seen, just materialized in his hands; then vanished almost at will.

As soon as the smoke cleared, he was told that he was next. He must have been in shock, because all he could do was stand and nod as the director explained how he could call his own armor and weapons. As he walked into the room, he could only vaguely recall something about a phase buffer, and a dimensional shift. The door slamming shut behind him, brought him back to his senses, but all too late. He heard the click of the trigger, and instinctively rolled for cover. Just as he rolled behind the shipping crate, he felt several rounds from the machine gun rip into his side and leg, and knew he was badly hurt. He quickly focused his attention on the gunners nest, and tried to use his gift of fire to stop the assault; then….blackness…

When he awoke, he was in a place he’d never seen anywhere, except in his nightmares. The pain in his head was excruciating, as he pulled himself to his feet, and staggered towards a small stream. His limbs felt very heavy, and his hands and feet were completely numb. He began to think that he’d had a stroke or something, likely due to that damned implant. He swore that as soon as he could, he was going to slip away, and go home. Then he’d sic the family lawyers on those doctors….

…Finally, he reached the stream. He looked down, and felt his stomach turn at the sight of whatever was staring back up at him. He confirmed the worst had happened, as he fell to his knees. He wanted to cry, but all that came out was a deep growl.

He had no idea how, or what had happened to him, or why; but it was painfully obvious that so0mehow, someone had turned him into …. a monster. His sorrow and shock were slowly replaced with a burning rage. He wanted answers, and revenge. Someone was going to pay, and pay dearly…