OOC:Name: Noah
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Characters already in the game:Suki |
sokkasfangirl Oerba Yun Fang |
higherwinds Applejack |
roughntough Kim Pine |
sidescrolling How did you find us?: Been here forever
IC:Character name: Miranda Lawson
Fandom: Mass Effect
Timeline: After leaving Cerberus (post Mass Effect 2, pre-Mass Effect 3)
Age: 36
~*Magical*~ abilities and strengths: Miranda is a powerful human biotic, granted a genetically engineered one, capable of creating mass effect fields. Her abilities are mainly offensive, such as using the fields to fling opponents into the air or sending a powerful orb of energy that detonates on impact. She has also received intensive training in firearms and machinery, showing prowess in pistols and submachine guns.
A brilliant woman, Miranda knows how to use her advantages. She has an entire network of informants, people who owe her favors, you name it and she manages it. Quite the hacker too, easily keeping tabs on other people’s email. Though nowhere near Shepard’s level, Miranda is a skilled tactician and able to command a unit.
She also heals faster than other humans and has a longer lifespan.
How would they use their abilities?:For keeping herself alive…and the occasional good deed. The woman has her priorities at the moment, and while she is likely to help out when asked, she’s not going to get into a situation that’ll jeopardize her safety,
unless it’s a favor for Shepard.
Appearance: Modeled after actress Yvonne Strahovski, Miranda is an exceptionally beautiful woman. With a classic “femme-fatale” look, black hair and blue eyes, built not as a soldier but not as a delicate flower neither. She’s usually dressed, if not always dressed, in a skintight white catsuit, a black leather jacket (more like sleeves but whatever I don’t know fashion), black belt with a gun holster, and black knee-length boots.
Oh. And she has a perfect ass. Normally I wouldn’t mention it…but the game makes it really hard to ignore.
Background: In the not too distant future…
next Sunday ADIn the year 2148 CE (Council Era) humanity discovered a small cache of Protheon (an ancient and highly advanced alien civilization) tech hidden deep beneath the surface of Mars. Using this discovery to their advantage, humanity quickly developed more and more advanced technology through the study of mass effect fields, leading to the development of faster than light travel. The following year, 2149 CE, humans discovered a Mass Relay built by the Protheons near the planet Pluto. The Mass Relay could actually propel ships across a vast network, making travel across the galaxy possible. With all their new technology, humanity began discovering distant planet and varying alien races.
Miranda Lawson was born in the year 2150, the daughter and genetic clone of Henry Lawson, a very powerful and ego-maniacal businessman. Miranda had no mother, but instead was the result of Henry Lawson doubling his X chromosome to ensure a genetic dynasty. He genetically engineered Miranda to be a specimen of human perfection, from her intelligence, physical constitution, biotic abilities, and even her physical appearance. Miranda grew up spoiled, and was seemingly given everything she could ever want. She went to the best schools and received the best training.
But her gifts were a burden growing up. Despite all of Miranda’s accomplishments, her father never showed an inkling of approval or pride towards her. Instead he always expected more and better from his daughter, imposing a very strict lifestyle on her. She was forbidden from having a social life, even friends. Henry Lawson didn’t want a daughter as much as he wanted a dynasty, whatever Miranda’s accomplishments were, they were because of her father. The only thing she truly owned were her failures. On top of all that she discovered her father had made a another clone of himself, a twin sister of sorts, and had named the girl Oriana.
The constant pressure and lack of affection finally caused a breaking point in Miranda and she ran away from home as soon as she was able. ‘Able’ as in when she could successfully take Oriana with her, to give her sister a better life. She managed to remain one step ahead of her father despite his extensive network of contacts across the galaxy, and was able to find refuge in the human-supremacist organization Cerberus led by The Illusive Man. Miranda negotiated safety for Oriana, managing to get the baby girl adopted into a new family on Illium. Her father was a major backer for the group, and once hearing of Miranda’s joining, he ceased pursuing her and severed his ties to the organization. Despite their past dealings with her father, Miranda sympathized with Cerberus’ desire to help humanity, and was glad to be able to work with people as smart as she was. Cerberus gave her the breathing room she wanted all this time, giving her an objective, all the resources she needed, and nothing more. In due time, Miranda became indispensible to the organization, becoming the leading operative of the Lazarus Cell, being one of the few who directly answers to The Illusive Man. She met Jacob Taylor while being his informant on an assignment and the two held a short-lived relationship. It was her time in Cerberus that Miranda learned of the true threat of the Reapers (an ancient yet highly advanced race of Synthetics) and began her work to counter them.
Then came along a man named Shepard.
“But Shepard…they’ll follow him. He’s a hero, a bloody icon.”
While Miranda was busy working on operations for Cerberus, the first human Spectre (an elite taskforce for the Citadel) Commander Shepard was off saving the Citadel from the former-Spectre Saren and learning of the Reaper threat himself. Only a few weeks after the battle for the Citadel, Shepard’s ship was attacked by a Collector(more evil aliens) vessel and Shepard died ensuring most of his crew made it off the ship. His body landed on a nearby planet, recovered by the mercenary group the Blue Suns.
“But he’s just one man.”
A month after the attack, Miranda, along with two Cerberus operatives, find the asari (race of blue female aliens) researcher Dr. Liara T’Soni, who was close friends and a former squad member of Shepard’s, and the drell (reptile-like aliens) Feron on the planet Omega. The two groups held a similar goal, finding Shepard, so an uneasy alliance was made. Miranda brought Liara to the Illusive Man, who explained that the Collectors were after Shepard’s body and were in leagues with the Shadow Broker (a very powerful information broker) and, by extension, the Blue Suns. For the information and (unbeknownst to her at the time) Cerberus support in Feron, Liara was to rescue Shepard’s body as well as find information as to why the Collectors were after it.
Miranda kept close tabs on the two, staying behind the scenes for the most part as the pair had their run-in with the Blue Suns and the Shadow Broker’s salarian (amphibian-like aliens) hitman, Tazzik, in the middle of their trade. Tazzik managed to escape with Shepard’s body, but Miranda was denied permission to pursue the salarian. Instead, the Illusive Man instructed her to be patient and wait, reminding her of the importance of the information they needed.
In the end, Liara’s mission was a success, her obtaining Shepard’s body and a collection of data for Cerberus, at the cost of losing Feron to the Shadow Broker. Liara joined Miranda at the Lazarus Research Station where Shepard’s body was transferred for recovery. Cerberus’s intention for the body was to resurrect Shepard, restore his life with billions worth of tech and resources. Though, with the shape the body was in, the process had a high chance of failing. Liara was apprehensive of their plans, telling Miranda to let the dead rest before reconsidering her words, unable to let Shepard go. Miranda reassured Liara that their intentions were different than those of the Collectors (though they were still unsure of what they were) and that Cerberus would spend every resource they had and all the time it would take to bring Shepard back the way he was before. Despite her reservations about the Lazarus Project, Liara left Shepard’s body with Cerberus as she made plans to rescue Feron.
Meanwhile, Miranda spent the next two years overseeing Project Lazarus personally.
“If we lose Shepard, humanity might well follow.”
On the Lazarus Research Station, Miranda had every brilliant mind her cell had to offer, with her old friend Jacob heading security. The Lazarus Project ran smoothly, even with a small scare with Shepard regaining some consciousness before it was time. It was almost perfect, until Wilson, a medical officer working closely with Miranda on the project, chose to betray Cerberus. The base came under attack by security mechs, and Miranda was forced to wake Shepard up early. She tried to remain in contact with him over the intercom, but an ambush on her end forced her to cut communication. Shepard, Jacob, and Wilson made it to the transport shuttle, finding Miranda there waiting with a bullet aimed for Wilson’s head. With the traitor dead, Miranda and Jacob took Shepard to meet with the Illusive Man.
According to Cerberus intelligence, several human colonies have gone silent, with every man, woman, and child disappearing into nothing without even sending out a distress signal. With the latest disappearance, Freedom’s Progress, being fairly recent, Shepard was tasked to find out what happened. On the colony, the party ran into a group of Quarians (aliens that live in environmental suits), led by Tali’Zorah vas Neema, another old friend of Shepard’s. Together the groups were able to find a survivor of the attack, another Quarian, who was able to give Cerberus the confirmation that the attack was carried out by the Collectors.
With this confirmation, Cerberus could focus on the main mission at hand: stopping the Collectors by going past the Omega 4 Relay. To do so, Shepard was given the Normandy SR-2, a full crew including his old pilot Joker, and Miranda and Jacob as a means to keep Shepard in check. Next he had to recruit a squad, ranging from several races and backgrounds, willing and loyal enough to go on what amounted to a suicide mission. Mordin Solus, the salarian professor. Garrus Vakarian, the turian (militaristic aliens) sharpshooter and old friend of Shepard’s. Grunt, the genetically engineered krogan (large reptilian aliens) super-soldier. Jack, the extremely powerful and dangerous human biotic. Kasumi Goto, the master thief. Samara, the asari Justicar. Thane Krios, the drell assassin. Zaeed Massani, the mercenary. Tali’Zorah, the quarian engineer. And eventually Legion, the geth (race of synthetics) mobile platform. Miranda stayed on along with Jacob, acting as Shepard’s second-in-command and the Illusive Man’s proxy. With a word, Miranda could override Shepard’s orders for the good of the organization.
Though skeptical of Shepard’s importance in the grand scheme of things, it didn’t take long for admit the Illusive Man’s estimation of Shepard’s value to their cause was accurate. After a fair bit of recruiting and learning more of how to get to the Collectors, Miranda heard word from Illium that her father had just found where Miranda hid Oriana and had made plans abduct her. Unwilling to trust the information to just anyone, Miranda called in Shepard to help make sure Cerberus was able to relocate Oriana before the abduction. On Illium, Miranda had two contacts, an asari Lanteia and Miranda’s childhood friend, Niket. Niket was in charge of moving Oriana and her family, but had ratted Miranda out to her father once he learned of how Miranda kidnapped her sister to save her. After dealing with the mercenaries and taking out Niket personally, Miranda was finally able to oversee her sister’s transfer personally. Hesitant at first, Shepard was able to convince Miranda to talk to her sister since this was their first time really meeting the other. Miranda talked to Oriana, and the two hit it off rather well. They still had a job to do, but at least Oriana now knew she had an older sister looking out for her.
Miranda got along with most of the crew well enough; despite misgivings about Cerberus as a whole (ie they’re space racists), Miranda believed in the pro-human aspects of the organization, not the anti-alien aspects. The only squad member that Miranda had the most issues with was Jack, who was a former Cerberus test subject. Miranda never condemned Cerberus as a whole for their illicit and inhumane experiments, brushing it off as the work of another cell that was shut down. But some Cerberus’s actions were beginning to get to Miranda.
Past the Omega 4 Relay, the crew found themselves in the Collector base, and it was discovered why the Collectors were after the colonists. The Collectors were building a reaper, a Reaper made of humans. Shepard chose to have it destroyed, but the Illusive Man wanted to salvage the data. He ordered Miranda to stop Shepard, but she refused.
“Consider this my resignation.”
The base was destroyed in a glorious explosion, and the whole crew managed to survive. Life slowed down a bit, but because of her defection, Miranda was forced to go into hiding. From both Cerberus and her father.
Personality:Because she lacked most social skills growing up, Miranda doesn’t exactly make the greatest of impressions. She’s outwardly cold, ruthless, serious, and very stubborn. When in work, Miranda focuses heavily on the goal at hand, invests all of her on the results, lets no one stand in her way or sabotage her, and yet remains emotionally distant, almost robotic. Betray her or mess with her work, and you will get a bullet through the head. There’s a certain “matter-of-fact” quality to her speech, at best making her effective at giving clear orders, at worst making her come off as arrogant and harshly critical. She only expresses concern in certain people, those she has built a strong relationship with, and her loyalty is not easily earned. In short, she comes off as a cold-hearted bitch.
Her intelligence and loyalty are commendable though. She was the head of one of Cerberus’s most costly and important scientific endeavors after all. As Shepard’s Second in Command, Miranda is a fully capable leader, can remain calm under fire, use the environment to her advantage, and keep her party in line. There’s always a backup plan in mind, Miranda being crazy-prepared for most scenarios. Which is good, given that she’s more or less on the run at the moment Miranda is not the kind of woman that you so much like as you respect.
But Miranda does have her flaws, mainly stemming from her severe daddy-issues. Henry Lawson was not a good father by any stretch of the word: he was controlling and extremely ego-centric. His word was law. Miranda did not grow up with a real family; she didn’t grow up with love or support, merely doing simply what her father told her. Accomplishments became very emptying experiences, since what successes she had was because of what her father made her, not her own ability. Despite appearances, instead of being proud of her “perfect” genetics and intelligence, she’s actually extremely insecure because of them. Miranda fears her father’s influence more than anything. For all her resentment over his domineering attitude and how he attempted to control her entire life, she herself veers dangerously to falling into this territory when trying to protect her sister. Looking back on it, Miranda is actually very resentful of ever wanting to install a control chip in Shepard.
A known way of defrosting the Ice Queen is her younger twin, Oriana. Miranda is highly protective of her sister, and it’s not hard to see why; after all, their father takes whatever measure necessary to try and obtain Oriana again. After the life she grew up with, Miranda swore Oriana would never know that harshness, and her sister would know the love of a family. Despite having little interaction with Oriana, only just meeting her and establishing a communication, Miranda becomes a very loving, slightly scary older sister. Partially due to a big sister-complex, partially due to a Freudian Excuse. Due to a benign neoplasm, likely caused from her father’s meddling with her genetics, Miranda is unable to conceive, and not for a lack of trying. Unable to have a family of her own, Miranda chooses to close herself off to the only family member she loves.
Like the rest of his squad, Shepard has definitely made his impact on Miranda, culminating in her departure from Cerberus. Before, she would defend the organization at the drop of a pin, shutting down legitimate criticisms of their moral and ethical decisions. Working with Shepard, Miranda became much worldlier, even disgusted at the lengths the Illusive Man would go to achieve his goal. She believes in helping humanity, but not at the cost of thousands of lives.
Have you read up on how the game works?: The Guide plugin is called Flaming Ferret, and ways to earn money includes missions, odd-jobs, and begging.
1st person sample: [text/anonymous]
Not quite the end of the universe I had anticipated. Not a bang, not a whimper, a bit amusing but relatively insane on several levels. Almost curious to what stories the other refugees have heard.
I am skeptical, but who wouldn’t be, given the circumstances. Waking up on a foreign vessel, no signs of the familiar, then they stick you in a line, force some paperwork at you and tell you likely everything you know is long gone. Exactly how much should I believe? Or rather, was everything in those forms actually relevant? For something with an impressive amount of detail, can’t say a few things didn’t fly over my head. [Yes she did go through every line on every single page.][FILTER: NORMANDY CREW. LOCKED: 67%]You will forgive me for taking precautions and attempting to filter this. Tech’s a bit old for my expertise, though I was able to dig up a few familiar names for my troubles. Admittedly, one, or rather two names do make me question my work a bit. [No sign of you know who, but can’t be too careful.]So, someone mind giving me a decent explanation of what happened? Dealing with the Vogons isn’t doing me much good. Seeing that my schedule is clear now, I don’t mind the long version.
-Miranda3rd person sample:The Arrivals area was too much of a hassle to work in, it didn’t take Miranda long to figure out the way to her lodgings. The size of the ship was rather impressive, but anyone with decent map reading skills could find their way through with little trouble. Barely big enough for the bed and desk she was provided with. Of course a room this small won’t cut it, but seeing that everyone had to work their way up from nothing…
“Dammit." Slamming the Guide on her desk, Miranda needed a moment of silence. Her hand cradled her head, perhaps being the only stable part of her right now. There was nothing. No records, no word of mouth, not even a name anywhere to be found. Oriana wasn't here. Chances were she never was. Another ship might've picked her up somewhere, but what little comfort that brought. At best Oriana was on another ship alone or with her family, at worst she was on another ship with their father. Of course, this was if Oriana was rescued at all.
It hurt to feel this blind. In Cerberus, Miranda had any resource she could ever need at her disposal. A network of contacts keeping her updated if anything ever went wrong. Even after Cerberus, she still had friends. A few friends, but still able to send her word. And Oriana kept in constant contact. But now, there was just nothing. Some blind hope maybe, but that was stretching it.
Questions?: None
Did you put your characters name and fandom in the subject: Yes’m
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