Catalyst Gaming
Backup Sections => Authorization Applications => Applications and appeals => 
Half-Life 2 Roleplay => Archive => HL2RP Development[ARCHIVE] => Accepted Authorizations => Topic started by: garry :D on April 11, 2013, 10:42:05 AM
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Player Section
Steam Name: OzJackal
Age: 18
How long have you been Roleplaying? (can be any game): Six years.
How long have you been playing Serious GMod RP?: Four years.
Character Section
Authorization(s):
Skills:
- Expert environmental survival knowledge; an emphasis is placed on turning natural materials such as herbs, plants and other items into assets which help him achieve set objectives.
- Exceptional experience in combat situations and hostile environments as part of the United States Army, a private military contractor before the establishment of the Union and later, his role in the Special Tasks Group of Third Eye.
- Advanced hand to hand techniques; particularly in the field of close quarters dirty fighting.
- Advanced rope climbing techniques; used for ascending/descending surfaces which cannot be traversed by regular means.
- Heightened level of physical fitness.
- Basic first aid skills; bandaging minor wounds using manufactured tools and equipment.
Equipment:
- Synthetic climbing rope;
- Colt Pathfinder survival knife;
- Load bearing vest w/ mid-grade upper body Kevlar;
- Four-tone corrective camouflage kit.
Name: Saul Breckenridge
Age: 37
Gender: Male
Affiliation: Resistance
Write a detailed in-canon back-story how your character obtained these authorizations.
Old King Saul; that’s what Third Eye used to call him, even though he was only thirty four at the time of his enlistment with us. Saul Breckenridge was by far one of the most interesting people I've met in my time. Others in the Special Tasks Group would call him borderline psychotic, but personally I think it was just an act he put on to keep the others under his thumb. Under that shell he always had good intentions for aiding the ‘greater good’, whatever that was. He regarded morality as an obstacle and projected an image that he only ever interested in the task at hand, not the feelings of others.
But alas, I am rambling. First: a history lesson. Third Eye was formed in 2015 at the time of the arrival of the Union by a man known as Thomas Mason. The aim of the group was to address and patch gaping vulnerabilities in the Resistance intelligence community. It had proved to be highly successful as a counter-intelligence group which was made up of the ‘the original ten’ (or as the public called them, Cell One.) In 2016, the Special Tasks Group (STG) was forged from the successes of the original ten and served to function as an overt wing of Third Eye which was usually tasked with snatch and grabs, assassinations, sabotage and activities that took place outside of urban centres. City-dwellers may have heard of Third Eye before. Most of those rostered members came from civilian backgrounds. The Special Tasks Group, on the other hand, was very overt in their methods of operating.
The operators in the STG represented the upper tier of Third Eye and had undergone intense physical and psychological conditioning to achieve their place in the group. Many of the STG operators had come from backgrounds which were usually military in nature and only 10 percent of regular operators successfully navigated the intense training and testing of STG. On the topic of statistics, 90% of the operators that worked in an offensive capacity with STG were from a Special Forces background with those from a civilian intelligence background taking close-range support roles.
The rest of the pack who did not pass all components of STG training were reassigned throughout the unit as support staff who worked in logistics or as a standby team for offensive operations. STG operators who were on active duty were notorious for being emotionally unstable and were kept in an unvarying state of cautiousness and hunter's anxiety. This was believed to enable them fight more competently but it came at the cost of developing social relationships which made many of the operators unsuitable for undercover duty within urban centres.
Old King Saul just happened to be of those Special Tasks Group operators.
Saul Blackwood was born in Salida, Colorado in 1981 to a middle-class family of whom were his primary carers for twenty years before he left for the military lifestyle. Saul later adopted the name Breckenridge in dedication to a favourite ski lodge of his that was destroyed in the Seven Hour War. Most of what’s available in his operational record censors out the first names of his immediate family and thus it is quite hard to trace the origins of his family history and their fine details of relationship to Saul. What is known, however, is that Saul was born without siblings. He was an only child and although there were no brothers or sisters to compete for the love and affection of his parents, he felt emotionally empty for much of his childhood.
I remember him once telling me that he was first set on the path of being a survivor through the Boy Scouts. In an effort to inject a sense of passion and excitement into his life, his parents pushed him in the direction of a local Boy Scouts unit and gave him the subtle nudge to sign up. While at first he was only ever intending to stay in his shell and just stick with the program for the sake of his parents’ sanity, he soon became heavily involved with the activities of the Scouts. Surprisingly enough, he soon discovered that he was a very capable outdoors person and excelled in achieving his badges and putting into practice various accolades that would stick with him for the rest of his life, especially during his military years.
Saul was by no means a high achiever during the years of his primary education. He relied on the generosity of his enduring parents to pay for private tuition. A worrying trend had been observed in his behaviour; he only took interest when something had a desired and direct benefit for him. This trend developed through both junior and senior high school where his studies in the natural world sparked creativity and a deep interest within his mind. By the time of his barely outstanding graduation from high school, it was 2001.
Saul’s dedication had helped him to climb the ranks of Salida’s Boy Scout unit and he acted proudly as a leader for many of their extra-curricular activities until stepping down that year. Throughout his membership with the Boy Scouts of America, he had earned the respect of his peers and even more so his parents with core merit badges such as backpacking, camping, hiking and orienteering. In the final months of his membership as a Scout, Saul had dedicated his time to revisiting and eventually conquering the other skills he had picked up with some of the more ‘elective’ badges like conventional archery, athletics, climbing, medicineand wilderness survival.
“Everyone all packed up for the hiking trip tomorrow?” ~Scout Leader Reginald Hanlon; Salida, Colorado - 1994
It was the September of 2001 when Saul stepped out of the association, fitter than he ever had been before. At the age of twenty, the eleventh day crept upon America and the consequences of it had instilled a sense of patriotic duty in his mind. Without a further thought and with full confidence in his physical and mental condition, he enlisted in the United States Army and enrolled in the Special Operations Preparation Course (SOPC) as an 18X enlistee with the intention of earning the coveted position of a Green Beret. The start-of-year intake for new recruits pushed him in a previously unexplored life path and after an intense amount of effort it gave him the opportunity to put a new set of new skills into practice with which his experiences in the Scouts had contributed towards.
Although his instructors did not regard him as a particularly outstanding soldier in training once the physical fitness component was passed, he found it very easy to learn and engage in hand-to-hand combat when any opportunities presented themselves. It proved to be an outlet for stress that had built up in the first month of Green Beret training where discipline had been drummed into him, despite his quiet disregard for authority. Hand to hand combat soon became a strong passion through which he could channel and dispel the drama of boot camp into. Saul was by no means an expert during his initial training but it was clear to his fellow recruits that he strongly admired the idea of moving into close range with the enemy and meeting them face-to-face with no holds barred.
The one month ‘breaking-in’ period had finally ended and phase two of training had begun. He was instructed in small unit tactics and live-fire drills which would become essential parts of military life. His understanding of land navigation in a practical aspect really made Saul stand out among his fellow recruits. With this being said, however, he did not display any real enthusiasm for an officer leadership role commanding a group of Green Berets during the course. The instructors looked down at his attitude with concern but with just a close margin to the point of failure, he was passed through the training with his skills being assessed as competent. This attitude was repeatedly knocked out of him on the proving grounds of Fort Bragg by his instructors.
“You’ve got 18C written down as your preference. You’re looking to be an engineer sergeant? Good choice, son.” ~Instructor Blainely; Fort Bragg - 2001
Another month and Saul was still finding it difficult to accommodate to the military lifestyle. He had been successful in passing the preliminary sections of his training and had progressed to the third phase where he learned how to apply many of his previously acquired skills which he had learned in the Scouts to a military background as a Special Forces Engineer Sergeant. Within the month of his speciality training, he became competent in understanding and applying Special Forces doctrine and organisation, unconventional warfare operators and airborne operations. As part of a smaller sub-course, he also took the time to become fluent with an Arabic dialect and some of the common phrases used within that language but he never did master the language. In his later years, the memory of that language would fade completely because he had normally delegated the honour of speaking in another language to other members of his unit.
The final section of Saul’s training was by far the most gruelling experience he had been through: the SERE course at Fort Bragg. Survival, evasion, resistance and escape – these were the four words that would become the unofficial creed of Third Eye’s Special Tasks Group after it was founded. The scenario that he was presented with as a solo escapee from a fictional prison would challenge every aspect of his being: his physical strength, mental endurance and how well he could apply the skills he had learned in the Scouts and SOPC till this point. The skills taught during the SERE course included wilderness survival in various types of climates, emergency first aid using readily available materials, land navigation, camouflage techniques and how to make improvised tools with natural resources such as animal remains, branches and leaves. Needless to say, every moment spent studying survival skills had paid off for this pivotal moment in his life. Years of dedication and hard work cemented his results in training. Deployment was the next hurdle.
Hello, viewer! Your eyes must be tired from reading this ridiculous wall of text. Here’s a comic to bridge the gap between him leaving the Green Berets and being employed as a member of Blackwater Worldwide.
http://img803.imageshack.us/img803/448/saulcomicbackstory11420.jpg (http://img803.imageshack.us/img803/448/saulcomicbackstory11420.jpg)
Blackwater Worldwide accepted his letter of interest without a second thought at the end of his mandatory six year service. Saul was right, they loved pooling together ex-special forces. Corporal Patrick Ruben was equally right in his view that mercenaries who were working in Iraq and Afghanistan were creatures bred from the fires of conflict and aggression. Saul’s mentality and attitude towards serving his nation degenerated with each consecutive paycheque and within a year of leaving the Green Berets, he was floating in cash.
Despite his generous amount of earnings from various private contracts, it was never enough to buy the respect of his family or his former Green Berets who grew to despise him for the greedy man he had become. Within months he found that he had lost the confidence of his family and former soldiers to act patriotically and more importantly; in the best interests of his home country – the United States of America.
It was through Blackwater (now known as Academi due to a tarnished brand name gained through massacring civilians) that he became acquainted with the secretive world of military intelligence. It was also through this private military company that Breckenridge had finally earned that long awaited holiday, though not in the way he had expected.
In May 2015, he was deployed as part of a twenty man sentry-duty rotation for a CIA operated facility in northern Romania which was used as part of the intelligence agency’s Extraordinary Rendition and Detention program. Saul didn’t have a clue about the specifics of his contract; he never did. All he cared about by that point in his life was cold hard cash. At least, that’s all he seemed to care about until the incident occurred.
The Seven Hour War.
Carnage, destruction and mayhem.
The best of training simply does not prepare one for the consequences of the Seven Hour War. Every rule in the book was thrown out the window when he took flight to the northern steppes of Romania’s mountainous regions. Having barely escaped the facility before it was destroyed by a bombardment, he managed to miraculously scavenge most of his survival kit: a Colt Pathfinder survival knife, a corrective camouflage kit and his Blackwater load-bearing Kevlar vest. It took days to relocate himself out of the newly established ‘exclusion’ zone which was patrolled by synthetic units every waking hour and it most certainly strained every fibre of his being just to scrap enough food for a nightly meal while he lived in the wilderness of Romania.
I had only learned until recently that Saul had a CIA acquaintance who had escaped with him from the black site. An American national, of course, and he seemed rather educated with computers and was in charge of deployable local area networks at the facility. Saul told me that they weren’t too keen on introductions because of ‘trust issues’ and ongoing obligations to his contract, despite the fact they were still on Hell’s doorstep.
A month after the arrival of the Union and Saul was officially a renegade. The intelligence officer from the CIA had parted ways with him earlier but not before finally opening up to him. ‘Dan’, as he simply referred to himself as, had plans to join his old mentor in Bucharest capital city for the purpose of organising counter-intelligence efforts against the aggressors. Saul never saw or spoke to him again after that, though he did receive one particular set of instructions.
“I know some guys further up north. I want you to meet them and coordinate a response. I’ve got work to do back down in the middle of Romania. Take care, Saul. I hope to see you again someday.” ~ CIA intelligence officer Daniel Slater; 2015
So, we’re this far into the story and there’s no real reason to stop now for a coffee break. Let’s revisit Third Eye’s Special Tasks Group for a bit. I had mentioned that it was infamous for being stacked and populated with ex-Special Forces and support staff who were poached from the military intelligence community. They were, in effect, a melting pot of skills and expertise blended for the sole purpose of disruptive activities against the Universal Union. For security reasons, I can’t discuss the absolute specifics of what Saul was trained in as part of the Special Tasks Group. It’s above my level of need-to-know but from speculation, it would look like his survival skills were reinforced over and over. His hand to hand skills were assessed and luckily for him, old habits die hard.
No longer bound by the conventional rules of warfare, he was pushed to his absolute limit by instructor Aaron Hudson to engage, incapacitate and eventually kill opponents in close range using any tools within a hand’s reach. Sustained choke holds and knife-play became a particular favourite of Saul of whom by this stage was deemed to be too temperamental for undercover operations.
“Field craft is particularly important to an STG operator because it's by far the most prominent element that determines if they are successful or if they're lying face down in a pool of their own blood. Understanding and learning the essentials of field craft comes with practical experience and its effectiveness is determined by how much time is spent honing it, the level of the operator's attention to detail and how quickly they can adapt to changing situations. Don’t suppose they taught you how to make bombs in the Boy Scouts, ‘ey Breckenridge?”
~Third Eye STG Instructor Aaron Hudson; 2015
By the end of 2015, Saul had been inducted as a sworn member of Third Eye and later, he would prove himself as a very capable STG operator. At the age of thirty four, he was quite possibly the go-to guy on survival knowledge for the unit. Old habits continued to stick with him though, and on more than one occasion it was noted that he took too much of a ‘mercenary’ approach to accomplish his objectives and thus brought unneeded pain and suffering to those he was meant to protect. In the end he believed that if the objectives were met, it was a success. Military discipline was now disregarded by Saul as ‘archaic’ because of the extent it had gotten in the way of his objectives in the past. Blackwater and his contact with the CIA had shown him that rules almost always end up being bent to suit mission requirements.
And so, we come to the part of Old King Saul’s story which still continues to be authored as we speak. Equipped with a custom-tailored STG load-bearing Kevlar vest and his survival gear, he was deployed into the Ineu Valley.
Third Eye is back.
What will these authorizations give your character in regards to perks or defects?
Perks
- Expert level knowledge on most of the common variations of Eastern European plant life will allow Saul to conjure together remedies for less serious injuries for himself and refugees alike.
- Saul’s experience as a solo operator in harsh environments has granted him exceptional knowledge in how to construct small tents, fires and traps out of locally available materials. In addition to this, Saul also has expertise in the field of hunting wildlife and preparing meals of adequate quality.
- With sharp, sustained practice of his hand-to-hand skills, Saul is more than capable of holding his own in a close-quarter struggle. He has placed an emphasis on developing choking techniques which are normally used when operating in hostile environments.
- After deploying to Iraq several times as part of the United States Army and carrying out several contracts with Blackwater Worldwide, he knows just what is required of him in a combat situation. He is quite capable of keeping a level head in stressful situations and would not be affected to the same degree of fear as others who were less conditioned would be.
- Advanced rope climbing techniques allow him to traverse various surfaces which cannot be accessed by regular means. Steep cliff faces and vertical walls can be ascended with relative ease with the correct equipment.
- Basic first aid allows him to move back from natural materials and use manufactured tools and equipment to treat wounds that he might suffer from in a combat situation.
Defects
- Plants are not always in ample supply due to seasonal shifts and it will be quite time consuming to gather what is available when he migrates between areas or when there is a change in the conditions of the environment.
- Harsh environments that regularly experience floods, fires and other natural disasters have the capacity to destroy the quality of the plants and would thus limit the availability of those resources.
- Saul is quite confident in his abilities as a hand-to-hand practitioner but he is almost certain that if he were faced with more than two hostile individuals he would find himself in hot water. Bringing a knife to a gun fight would most definitely be disastrous.
- Having witnessed several traumatic incidents in Iraq and Afghanistan as a Green Beret, as well as his time as an operator in Third Eye’s Special Tasks Group after the establishment of the Union, he suffers from post-traumatic stress. He tends to socially isolate himself from others as much as possible unless his objectives include them. With that being said, he does stop in to visit more populated areas on occasion to gather basic supplies.
- Saul’s ability to climb surfaces is only as good as the material he uses for the job. If he loses his twenty meter length of synthetic rope then he’s going to have to find an alternative and he’s sure that it doesn’t come in ample supply.
- Manufactured tools which are generally used for first aid are regarded by Saul as being too easy to lose and are prone to breakage. His stubbornness has resulted in wounds becoming infected on previous occasions and would thus hamper his health.
- As a member of Third Eye’s Special Tasks Group he is expected to maintain peak physical condition. This can prove to be very difficult at times due to the energy he burns through when nutrients are in short supply – it is worth noting that edible and safe-to-eat plant life alone does not sustain him and he would require a steady amount of prepared fruit to survive long-term.
- Saul may be presented as a killing machine at times, but if there's one thing that Blackwater didn't detract from him, it's that he recognizes the potential for failure when he sees it. Overwatch still hold a special place as a death squad for him and would be more susceptible to fear than others.
What do you plan to do with these perks/defects?
I want to have a change from directly organizing resistance stuff in an urban setting and with this character I am looking to extend the Third Eye story line by being based in a new environment. This character is semi-IClly tied to the Dark Chapel faction and I would like to find new challenges and meet new people in a different kind of resistance RP setting. This set of skills that I am applying for would be used to benefit a group of people as well as my own. I want to bring some new opportunities to others as well as myself in the Outlands with this new story. Above all else, I want to take part in resistance RP from an observer perspective who facilitates the growth of new situations rather than organizing it in a small cell.
Will anyone else need these auths? (If so, list OOC and IC name(s))
No.
Which server does this apply for?
Outlands
Extra Notes (optional):
I checked with Khub on including Daniel Slater as a very minor part of the story just to give me an injection point for Saul to be introduced to Third Eye and he said it was fine so long as no knowledge of other people’s characters/current situations was shared between them. The backstory has been written to reflect this.
Edit #1 - fixed up formatting issues when I copy/pasted from MS Word.
Edit #2 - fixed font size tags being in wrong place.
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Oh god, it begins....
+ supports are oozing from all my orifices! Help!
Well done Oz, as usual, and the comic was a nice touch too!
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Fantastic. Truly fantastic. At first I was like "Damn that's a lot of auths" but then I was like "Damn, this guy knows what he's doing."
Support from my end all around.
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Does it even need to be said?
Oz is the best RPer in the community.
The story was a good read, everything was explained, not a single error.
Useless from me, but +soup art
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Does it even need to be said?
Oz is the best RPer in the community.
The story was a good read, everything was explained, not a single error.
Useless from me, but +soup art
I have to totally agree on this one. I have read some of the backstory but I am assured that he is good at what he does. +support
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Usually i'm really cautious and weary when it comes to Military Characters. But i'll make an acception just this once.
+Support.
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Oh jesus... Oh god...
**Dallas vomits up projectile supports all over the application.
Oz can handle it, no question about it.
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You wrote a book, you did.
I couldn't read all of the backstory due to not wanting to die from overload, but what I saw when I skimmed seemed pretty detailed and well though out. I really love how descriptive the perks and defects were, and they outlined your auth very well. You don't see authorizations as good as this that often.
For that, you have my + support.
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ty kind people for support
saul is love saul is life
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Hello, viewer! Your eyes must be tired from reading this ridiculous wall of text. Here’s a comic to bridge the gap between him leaving the Green Berets and being employed as a member of Blackwater Worldwide.
http://img803.imageshack.us/img803/448/saulcomicbackstory11420.jpg (http://img803.imageshack.us/img803/448/saulcomicbackstory11420.jpg)[/size]
0/10 /size error -support would never recoomend!!
Obviously OzDongle has my full support, it was written well and Oz has obviously put a lot of effort into this - and he's achieved a masterpiece of an auth app.
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Accepted.