Difference between revisions of "Tal Ravis"

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===Early Life===
 
===Early Life===
  
Tal was born on August 6th, 798 A.S. in Bedford-Stuyvesant, [[Planet Manhattan]]. The first of three children born to a disadvantaged family of blue-collar workers, he was also the least successful in comparison to his brothers Hudson, who became a Primary Fleet [[Liberty Navy]] Officer, and Xavier, who dealt in the lucrative [[platinum]] trade before joining the [[ALG]]. Indeed, he showed little potential in academics and labor skills, and upon graduating from high school at the age of 18, he found himself enlisting in the Libertonian Marine Corps for lack of anywhere else to go.
+
Tal was born on August 6th, 798 A.S. in the Bedford-Stuyvesant district on [[Planet Manhattan]], to a family of relatively poor blue-collar workers. Of the three Ravis children – Hudson, Xavier, and himself – he was the least successful, nearly failing out of grade school twice with a terrible disciplinary record. He also showed no talent or interest in the arts, spending most of his free time playing in the streets with his friends. Later on, he helped form a small street gang with a handful of his friends, lurking in alleyways at night, waiting for unsuspecting targets to rob.
 +
 
 +
Young Ravis soon found out that this new gang lifestyle was volatile and unsustainable, as an LPI crackdown on crime ended in the arrests of all of the gang but him. Lucky enough to avoid the cops, he sought an alternative to life on the streets, and after graduating from high school, he turned to the Liberty Marine Corps, a far cry from the wishes of his parents, who were vehemently anti-war and anti-military on top of being disappointed in Tal's life choices. This led to his official disowning from the Ravis family, although Hudson Ravis would later become an officer in the Navy's First Fleet without any repercussions.
  
 
===Service History===
 
===Service History===
 
[[Image:Talmarine.png|left|thumb|200px|Tal Ravis in standard Libertonian Marine EVA armor. Note lack of "Underscore" on helmet - this picture was likely taken during early training.]]
 
[[Image:Talmarine.png|left|thumb|200px|Tal Ravis in standard Libertonian Marine EVA armor. Note lack of "Underscore" on helmet - this picture was likely taken during early training.]]
  
Tal turned out to be a rather unspectacular Marine despite his outstanding marksmanship abilities, and was only able to obtain the rank of Lance Corporal in four whole years of service. Trained to be a "Reconnaissance Man, Parachute Qualified, Combatant Diver and EVA Certified", he was subsequently assigned to the elite 1st Reconnaissance Battalion, based out of [[Planet Los Angeles]].  
+
Tal Ravis proved to be a rather mediocre Marine, taking up a four-year enlistment contract to become a gunner in a machine gun section. Promised action by his recruiter, he was disappointed when his enlistment consisted of little more than carrying a thirty-pound general-purpose machine gun around the deserts of Planet Los Angeles. Indeed, the war in Rheinland hadn't yet made it to Hamburg, and the effectiveness of an MG team in the tight confines of a Junker Salvager or Pirate Train was dubious at best, and he was relegated to planetary garrison for most of the years that he was in the fleet.
 
 
As there was not yet a large-scale ground offensive that required the deployment of such specialized deep reconnaissance units, his unit was relegated to their secondary mission of conducting boarding raids on transports stopped by Navy or Police vessels. Considered to be part of the "striking arm" of Liberty's latest method to crack down on the [[Cardamine]] trade, he took part in many raids on unmarked, Freelance, [[Junker]], and Pirate transports, taking enemy fire on at least three separate occasions. Despite this, however, he never once had the opportunity to fire a shot in anger during his entire four-year enlistment.
 
 
 
Later in his enlistment, mostly in order to comply with battalion regulations that required at least one scout sniper in each platoon, he was selected to attend the prestigious Scout Sniper School, where he was able to successfully graduate after a long period of intense training and testing. Once graduated, he returned to Los Angeles, where he conducted several more raids on contraband transports before his enlistment ended.  
 
  
Promised action by his recruiter, he was severely disenfranchised and demotivated at the end of his four-year enlistment, and as such he separated from the military at the age of 22.
+
While waiting for his opportunity to stack dozens upon dozens of [[Rheinland | Kraut]] bodies in front of his MG, he did manage to qualify expert with the standard-issue rifle of the time, Ageira's "Backblast" tachyon rifle, and also graduated from EVA school. Sadly, his enlistment contract ended before he could fulfill his dream of indiscriminately slaughtering scores of Rheinlanders or Gallics, and he chose to seperate from the military at the age of 22 instead of reenlisting, mostly due to his lack of motivation.
  
 
===Later Career===
 
===Later Career===
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{{Ship List | GMG<nowiki>|</nowiki>Tal;Ravis |''Hercules'', [[Kaichou]] | Hw_t_bomber.png}}
 
{{Ship List | GMG<nowiki>|</nowiki>Tal;Ravis |''Hercules'', [[Kaichou]] | Hw_t_bomber.png}}
 
{{Ship List | GMG<nowiki>|</nowiki>Valdez.Maru |''Exxon Valdez'', [[Stork]] | Dsy_trainx4.png}}
 
{{Ship List | GMG<nowiki>|</nowiki>Valdez.Maru |''Exxon Valdez'', [[Stork]] | Dsy_trainx4.png}}
{{Ship List | GMG<nowiki>|</nowiki>Tal.Ravis |''Gas Grazer'', [[Kamome]] | Gmg.png}}
 
 
{{Ship List | GMG<nowiki>|</nowiki>Underscore |''Space Amoeba'', [[Garanchou]] | Hw_t_fr.png}}
 
{{Ship List | GMG<nowiki>|</nowiki>Underscore |''Space Amoeba'', [[Garanchou]] | Hw_t_fr.png}}
 
{{Ship List | Tal | ''Money Longer'', [[Kestrel]] | Kestrel-s.png}}
 
{{Ship List | Tal | ''Money Longer'', [[Kestrel]] | Kestrel-s.png}}
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|Dexterity
 
|Dexterity
 
|<span style="color:#516363;">█ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ </span> ░ ░
 
|<span style="color:#516363;">█ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ </span> ░ ░
| - Well-trained and versed in rapid operation of manually-cycled (bolt, pump, and lever-action) weapons.
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| - Well-trained and versed in the operation of firearms.
 
|-
 
|-
 
|[[Image:Strength.png|30px]]
 
|[[Image:Strength.png|30px]]
 
|Strength
 
|Strength
 
|<span style="color:#516363;">█ █ █ █ █</span> ░ ░ ░ ░ ░
 
|<span style="color:#516363;">█ █ █ █ █</span> ░ ░ ░ ░ ░
| - Sufficient to haul significant quantities of equipment on long missions.
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| - Sufficient to haul significant quantities of weapons and equipment on long missions.
 
|-
 
|-
 
|[[Image:Martial Arts.png|30px]]
 
|[[Image:Martial Arts.png|30px]]

Revision as of 05:03, 7 February 2017

"SYNTH PASTE FOR MY BREAKFAST, HOLD MY PISTOL AMBIDEXTROUS!"


Tal Ravis
Error creating thumbnail: Unable to save thumbnail to destination
"God forgives. I don't."
Profile
Origin Flag-liberty.png Liberty
Occupation Interceptor Pilot
Gender Male
Affiliation Gas Miners Guild
Liberty Marine Corps (Former) 4 years
Rank Lance Corporal
Status Active
Born August 6, 798 AS, Planet Manhattan.
Died N/A

Tal Ravis, also known as Underscore, is known for being an intergalactic hero.

Biography

Early Life

Tal was born on August 6th, 798 A.S. in the Bedford-Stuyvesant district on Planet Manhattan, to a family of relatively poor blue-collar workers. Of the three Ravis children – Hudson, Xavier, and himself – he was the least successful, nearly failing out of grade school twice with a terrible disciplinary record. He also showed no talent or interest in the arts, spending most of his free time playing in the streets with his friends. Later on, he helped form a small street gang with a handful of his friends, lurking in alleyways at night, waiting for unsuspecting targets to rob.

Young Ravis soon found out that this new gang lifestyle was volatile and unsustainable, as an LPI crackdown on crime ended in the arrests of all of the gang but him. Lucky enough to avoid the cops, he sought an alternative to life on the streets, and after graduating from high school, he turned to the Liberty Marine Corps, a far cry from the wishes of his parents, who were vehemently anti-war and anti-military on top of being disappointed in Tal's life choices. This led to his official disowning from the Ravis family, although Hudson Ravis would later become an officer in the Navy's First Fleet without any repercussions.

Service History

Tal Ravis in standard Libertonian Marine EVA armor. Note lack of "Underscore" on helmet - this picture was likely taken during early training.

Tal Ravis proved to be a rather mediocre Marine, taking up a four-year enlistment contract to become a gunner in a machine gun section. Promised action by his recruiter, he was disappointed when his enlistment consisted of little more than carrying a thirty-pound general-purpose machine gun around the deserts of Planet Los Angeles. Indeed, the war in Rheinland hadn't yet made it to Hamburg, and the effectiveness of an MG team in the tight confines of a Junker Salvager or Pirate Train was dubious at best, and he was relegated to planetary garrison for most of the years that he was in the fleet.

While waiting for his opportunity to stack dozens upon dozens of Kraut bodies in front of his MG, he did manage to qualify expert with the standard-issue rifle of the time, Ageira's "Backblast" tachyon rifle, and also graduated from EVA school. Sadly, his enlistment contract ended before he could fulfill his dream of indiscriminately slaughtering scores of Rheinlanders or Gallics, and he chose to seperate from the military at the age of 22 instead of reenlisting, mostly due to his lack of motivation.

Later Career

Once out of the Corps, he quickly realized that he'd need a method of providing for himself, but found out over the course of six months that he lacked the patience to fly freight, the temper and personality to be a cop, and the mechanical skills required to be a mechanic. After a slew of more disastrous jobs that left him no options, he finally realized that he could exploit the few achievements that he had under his belt, and began to flaunt his Rifle Expert qualification and Scout Sniper graduate status in an attempt to find contract work. The Core was one of the first organizations to offer him a job: a week-long search and destroy mission on backwater Nauru, in the desolate Omicrons.

As usual, everything rapidly went south, with no Corsair sightings on top of his deployment being extended to a six-month occupation in order to better secure the planet for future Core operations. It was also during this time that the Neural Net suffered a massive disruption that severed communications with Core Command, leaving him and his band of fellow mercenaries under the command of Paladin Nova Hawken, who's tenure as Company Commander severely demotivated the mercenaries. Communications were eventually restored, although the damage had been done: trillions of credits worth of damage across the entire Sirius Sector had been reported.

After Nauru, he wandered around Sirius looking for work, finding small contracts here and there until he was offered a job by the Gas Miners Guild. He accepted their offer to become a Stork captain, and flew freight for a brief period before being transferred to the GMG's esteemed paramilitary division as an interceptor pilot. Stationed on Gas Miner Ogashawa, he flew combat sorties in a Karasu heavy fighter dubbed Silver Bullet, after the ship's distinctive appearance and an incident that could be classified as an aerial ramming attack.

Unfortunately, the original Silver Bullet was disabled in a confrontation between Guild forces and Nomad-Infected Kusari Naval Forces pilots. While conducting a strafing run on an Isejin-affiliated gunship, his vessel was caught by a full primary battery salvo from a Hatchet destroyer which erased the entire rear half of the fighter. With no weapons or engine remaining, he coordinated an ejection to avoid capture by Wild forces and was rescued by Guildmaster Keiji Namura, suffering minor injuries related to the ejection.

Tal Ravis during a night operation on Planet Tomioka.

Once he recovered, he temporarily took a leave from the Guild to participate in a small-scale offensive on Planet Tomioka, operating under the alias Daniel Recker with the Blood Dragons in their attempts to recover a downed Togo battleship. His injuries were relatively minor in comparison to the intensity of the fighting, and he returned to service with the GMG shortly afterwards.

He returned to the Guild in time for the final stages of Operation Ashigakari, the GMG's preparation phase for the invasion of Samura's holdings on Planet Kurile. Assigned a new Karasu interceptor that was quickly named the "Silver Bullet II", he flew several preliminary combat sorties aimed at disabling Samura communication and air defense capability, until he was transferred to Niigata Star City's squadron following station renovations.

In late-823 A.S., he and the rest of the 2nd Interceptor Division were temporarily reassigned to Iejima Station following a threat from an independent group of Corsair battleship captains, flying T-493-B Kaichous from Iejima. Once two weeks had passed without an attack, he and his squadron were relocated back to Niigata Star City.

Tal was later given command of the 2nd Interceptor Division, nicknamed "Dealers in Death", and was reassigned to Gas Miner Ogashawa to fly combat sorties in support of the VWA-BD-Order Anti-Corsair Joint Strike Force. The 2ID will be stationed on Ogashawa for the forseeable future.

Nickname

Tal's "formal" nickname, Underscore, stems from his service in the Liberty Marine Corps, when, in an attempt to commemorate his first VBSS (Visit, Board, Search,and Seizure) mission, he drew what he assumed was a tally mark on his helmet. However, he had held the helmet at an improper orientation as he did so, thus resulting in the tally mark resembling an underscore. His attempts to cover the mistake up failed, and from then on he became known to his unit simply as "Underscore".

Ships

Hw t h int.png
GMG|Tal,Ravis
Silver Bullet I, Karasu (Destroyed)
Hw t h int.png
GMG|Tal,Ravis
Silver Bullet II, Karasu
Hw t bomber.png
GMG|Tal;Ravis
Hercules, Kaichou
Dsy trainx4.png
GMG|Valdez.Maru
Exxon Valdez, Stork
Hw t fr.png
GMG|Underscore
Space Amoeba, Garanchou
Kestrel-s.png
Tal
Money Longer, Kestrel
Bw fighter.png
Tal.Ravis
Cruel Summer, Scimitar
Bw vheavy fighter.png
Tal.Ravis!
So Help Me God, Sabre
Jackdaw-s.png
Tal,Ravis!
Late Registration, Jackdaw

Silver Bullet I

The first Karasu interceptor used by Tal Ravis during his tenure with Gas Miner Ogashawa's resident interceptor division, serial number 22-045 (the 45th Karasu produced in 822 A.S.). It had "OG" (OGashawa) painted on the outer sides of both top fins as the tail code, with the serial number stenciled in under it. The ship was easily distinguished by the color offset between the nose and fuselage, as his infamous ramming attack rendered the front of his craft squashed up and his scanner array inoperable without a full-on replacement. Karasu serial number 20-023, an older reserve ship stashed in the cargo bay of Ogashawa, was cannibalized for parts, providing Silver Bullet's new nose and Advanced Deep Scanner array.

Following an incident in which Tal used the ship to ram straight through the hull of a pirate Waran bomber after depleting his ship's powercore, successfully disabling the hostile craft in the process, the ship was repaired and the nickname Silver Bullet was bestowed upon it, written underneath the cockpit in black paint next to his three kill tallies. There were plans to get his aerial ramming "kill" immortalized in the form of a cartoon-y silver-colored bullet smashing a brick clean in half; however, the vessel was disabled in action by an Iseijin Kusari Destroyer before the drawing was finished and applied.

Silver Bullet was outfitted with a standard loadout of 2 swivel-mounted CP-M Mark 1 Mod. 0 Improved Debilitators and 4 swivel-mounted Sunblast A photon cannons. Aftermarket struts for the cargo bay were later installed.

Silver Bullet II

The second Karasu interceptor assigned to Tal after his short departure from the Guild, serial number 23-011. Initially, his tail code was OG (for OGashawa), but following his reassignment to Planet Kurile, the code was changed to AS (short for AShigakari, the GMG codename for the Kurile Invasion). While awaiting orders on Kurile, he had mechanics paint "Silver Bullet II" onto the ship, as well as a large shark mouth on the nose and a black line around where the nose of the original Silver Bullet had been cut off.

Silver Bullet II participated in several pre-invasion operations, mostly utilizing specially-modified Firestalker missiles to target ground radar and communication systems in preparation for the invasion. Ravis was personally credited with the destruction of 3 radar arrays, 2 surface-to-air Sidewinder missile sites, and 4 radar-directed Sunfrenzy AA guns. After the Kurile strikes, Silver Bullet II was reassigned to Niigata Star City in Sigma-59, gaining the new tail code of "SC", until it was reassigned to Gas Miner Ogashawa just a week later. It continues to serve with the GMG to this day.

During an action in which Tal was able to disable a Mako-class battleship in Sigma-19, Silver Bullet II sustained heavy damage that resulted in the loss of his number one and two engine. Regardless, he was able to make it home in one piece and has since had a Mako kill mark painted on his ship.

Silver Bullet II is equipped with 2 swivel-mounted CP-M Mark One Mod. 0 Improved Debilitators and 4 swivel-mounted synchronized Sunblast A photon cannons. Additional armor plating and iridium cargo bay struts were installed upon delivery of the vessel to Ogashawa.

Cruel Summer

A Scimitar, bought secondhand from a dealer on Planet Los Angeles by Tal shortly after he graduated from boot camp. Registered in Liberty as POI998 with the serial number 14-009, the ship has been with Tal for over 7 years now, facing extensive modification along the way.

The first of these modifications involved caging off a section of the cargo bay for re-purposing as a living area, featuring a small metal cot, a folding table attached to the wall, and storage drawers underneath the bed. A small bathroom with shower, toilet, and sink is placed across the small hall, which leads back up to the cockpit. These modifications were necessary considering that Tal was disowned by his vehemently anti-military parents following his decision to enlist, and as such he had nowhere to stay during the downtime between boot camp and further training.

The second of the modifications were two navigation lights, one red and one green, placed on the wingtips of his ship. These help to alert other ships of his presence and lower the risk of collision.

The third of his modifications involved getting a lift fan installed and hooked up to his ship's stock engine, allowing him to conduct vertical takeoffs and landings. While completely unnecessary with the inclusion of stock vertical thrusters, he purchased the modifications anyways to better distinguish himself. This VTOL system was used once on Planet Nauru, where the jet exhaust from his engine kicked up sand hard enough that it chipped paint off of a nearby parked Anki freighter.

The last of his modifications so far are mainly cosmetic, as he got his stock engine swapped out for an HN-series light fighter engine. The new engine's longer exhaust proves to be a hazard when used in conjunction with VTOL mode, as it has been shown to melt some older-model launchpads on Manhattan.

Cruel Summer is armed with 4 Enforcer VIs and 1 CP-L Mark 1 Mod. 0 Advanced Debilitator, with iridium armor struts (Universal, Level VIII) in the cargo bay.

Skillset

Attribute Value Additional Notes
Health.png Health █ █ █ █ █ █ █ ░ ░ ░ - Missing a few pieces here and there.
Fitness.png Fitness █ █ █ █ █ █ ░ ░ ░ ░ - Combat diver, parachute, and EVA certified.
Dexterity.png Dexterity █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ ░ ░ - Well-trained and versed in the operation of firearms.
Strength.png Strength █ █ █ █ █ ░ ░ ░ ░ ░ - Sufficient to haul significant quantities of weapons and equipment on long missions.
Martial Arts.png Martial Arts █ █ ░ ░ ░ ░ ░ ░ ░ ░ - "What's so hard about swish-swish-stab?"
Firearms.png Firearms █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ - Can blast the balls clean off of a fly at 350 yards with a scoped rifle, and at 225 with iron sights.
Leadership.png Leadership █ █ █ ░ ░ ░ ░ ░ ░ ░ - Terminal Lance.
Observation.png Observation █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ - Trained extensively in information-gathering and deep reconnaissance.
Self-control.png Self-control █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ ░ ░ - Keeps it 300, like the Romans.
Charisma.PNG Charisma █ █ ░ ░ ░ ░ ░ ░ ░ ░ - As charming as a 25-year-old brick wall.


Shotgun Diplomacy (Faction)

Faction Relationship
Gas Miners Guild
Allied
Everybody Else
Unfriendly
Hogosha
Hostile
Samura
Hostile
Outcasts
At War
Corsairs
At War


Diplomacy (Personal)

Faction Relationship
Guildmaster Keiji Namura (MIA)
Allied
Everybody Else
Unfriendly