Quantum Gunner
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| Quantum Gunner | |
| Player: @scathain | |
| Origin: | Technology |
|---|---|
| Archetype: | Sentinel |
| Threat Level: | 50+ |
| Server: | Everlasting |
| Personal Data | |
| Real Name: | Miranda Artigliere |
| Known Aliases: | Artiglieri Quantici |
| Species: | human (cyborg) |
| Age: | 32 |
| Height: | 6'0" |
| Weight: | rude! |
| Eye Color: | chrome (cyber-eyes) |
| Hair Color: | black |
| Biographical Data | |
| Nationality: | Italian-American |
| Occupation: | Rogue |
| Place of Birth: | Bologna, Italy |
| Base of Operations: | Rogue Isles |
| Marital Status: | Confidential |
| Known Relatives: | Valentino (father, deceased) |
| Known Powers | |
| Beam Rifle, Energy Aura | |
| Known Abilities | |
| Leadership, Martial Arts | |
| Equipment | |
| Cybernetic Augments, DEWs (Direct Energy Weapons), Drones, & Exo-Suits | |
| Enjoys long walks on the beach, hunting xenos, & punching fascists! | |
Biography
Miranda Artigliere grew up in Bologna, Italy, a child prodigy who dismantled machines before most children could ride them. By fifteen she was enrolled at the University of Bologna, dazzling professors with her mastery of high-energy physics, exotic materials, and dimensional mechanics. But for all her brilliance, she lacked an instinct for the darker realities of power and politics.
Fresh from graduation, she accepted what seemed like a prestigious offer from a wealthy industrialist - only to discover her employer was a front for the fascist Council, in league with the alien Nictus. Trapped by their threats against her family, Miranda became their star engineer by day and a secret saboteur by night, smuggling scraps and blueprints to build weapons of her own. Her double life collapsed when her forced experiments opened a rift that let more Nictus into Earth, one of whom possessed her father, Valentino.
At that moment, Miranda chose war. Donning a heavily modified exo-suit and wielding her Quantum Array Rifle, she turned her creations against her masters. In a single night she razed the Council facility, killing both her captors and her father, consumed by the Nictus. In the ruins, Miranda shed her old self and became the Quantum Gunner, dedicating her genius to annihilating fascists and alien parasites with the weapons only she can forge.
Appearance & Demeanor
Appearance
Muscular build. Jet black hair, shoulder length, blunt bangs. Always wearing data goggles, few have seen the chrome cyber-eyes beneath. Practically lives in her exo-suits, only changing into a grey jumpsuit when performing research, socializing, or sleeping.
Demeanor
Cold and calculating, prefers to remain professional with strangers. Respects chain of command and follows orders when they make sense, but has a tendency to get reckless when facing off against her preferred prey.
Affiliations
University of Bologna
Graduated top of her class. Keeps tabs on former teachers and classmates to this day.
Georgia Institute of Technology
After fleeing from Italy to the United States, Miranda's first real career was teaching Mechanical Engineering at this university. Here she picked up some southern phrases and dialect choices from her students.
Vanguard, Shield Division
The Quantum Gunner was approached by Vanguard almost immediately after breaking out of the Council facility. As it turned out, the UN-backed organization had been monitoring the Council's dealings with hostile xenos for quite some time. After much coaxing, she was convinced to lower her rifle and follow the Vanguard operatives back to their base. Once there, she instantly fell in love with the Vanguard's high-tech accoutrements and almost blood-thirsty desire to defend Earth from antagonistic xenos. Recognizing that this was her new home, she signed up for Shield Division on the spot and hasn't looked back since.
After several long years and numerous successful missions, the Quantum Gunner has risen to the rank of Captain. Now she directs companies of the Vanguard's elite to stand against the alien menace in the Rikti War Zone, low orbit, and beyond.
"Quantum Gunner is a reliable and utterly professional asset to Vanguard's Shield Division. Her icy demeanor and lax morals are well made up for by her effectiveness in combat and willingness to follow orders. However, I would not suggest pairing her with any Kheldians if you value unit cohesion." - Levantara
Quantum Tech Commissions
To fund her ever-growing research projects, the Quantum Gunner has had to get creative. She operates a small business -"Quantum Tech Commissions"- which provides customized personal-scale technology, armor, and weaponry to clients. Acquiring the materiel for these projects is no simple task, so she often has to resort to theft against larger orgs like Arachnos and Crey to meet her deadlines.
As she is always ambivalent about her creations winding up in fascist hands (again), the Quantum Gunner constantly self-audits her business. If she finds out a client is using her technology for authoritarian purposes, she repossesses it...usually by force.
Agents of GEMINI
For a short time, Quantum Gunner worked with the Agents of GEMINI. She advanced several of her scientific projects with the help of this extradimensional organization.
Expanded Equipment
Cybernetic Augments
Bone Lacing
Miranda's bones have been reinforced with a titanium lattice, increasing her durability and strength.
Brain-Machine Interface
This small implant consists of a panel on the back of Miranda's neck which feeds straight into her visual cortex. A detachable Impervium cable provides the connection this implant needs to feed machine-data directly into her brain, giving her precise control over many types of technology.
Cyber-Eyes
One of the first things disposed of after Miranda's transformation into the Quantum Gunner was her poor, astigmatism-riddled eyes. Her new cyber-eyes come with a multi-spectrum sensor suite, stunning HUD, and a predictive AI assistant.
Cyber-Liver
What, the girl likes to drink! The Council has also attempted to poison her on several occasions, so this augment has literally been a lifesaver.
Cyber-Lung
When the Rikti shot a hole through her chest, Miranda didn't think about her survival chances with a collapsed lung. Instead, she was already plotting her new upgrade: a sleek, state-of-the-art cyber-lung that greatly increased her breath control and resistance to pressure changes.
Reflex & Strength Enhancements
Steel-braided muscle, osseus actuators, limbic system supports, & motor cortex augmenters. Underneath her cold Impervium shell, Miranda's neuromusculoskeletal system hums with electromagnetic enhancement.
Drones
Assault Drone "Bruno"
A compact UAV equipped with vector thrusters and a coherent plasma cannon, firing searing blue bolts capable of liquefying armor. This drone is loud, vicious, and utterly disposable - perfect for clearing out xenos nests.
Reconnaissance Drone "Cassini"
A sleek, hand-sized scout that unfolds like a steel dragonfly. This drone sees through walls, smoke, and darkness with layered sensors that read heat, sound, and even the vibration of footsteps. The drone flies almost silently on whisper rotors, sending the encrypted data it gathers straight to the Quantum Gunner's HUD.
Shield Drone "Galilei"
A hovering pearl of refracted light that hums in sympathetic resonance with Miranda's armor. This drone projects a phase-stabilized energy shell that bends kinetic force and plasma alike into harmless scatter. It flickers between Barrier Mode for full frontal defense and Overlay Mode for agile protection on the move. This drone protects the Quantum Gunner while researching or when she otherwise can't access her exo-suits.
Exo-Suits
All Quantum Armor (QA) exo-suits come with the following: Bio-Monitors, Environmental Sealing, Jet Propulsion, Nano-Repair Swarm, Nuclear Core, Sensor Suites, and Temperature Control Systems.
(typical operational range of -120 to 120 degrees Celsius, but heat shields designed for planetary entry are graded for upwards of 3,000 degrees Celsius)
QA-Mk. I “Beta Test”
Bulky, jury-rigged, dangerous fission core. Created discretely in a Council facility basement.
QA-Mk. II “Vanguard”
Her most frequently used exo-suit, expertly designed for one purpose: resisting the attacks of antagonistic xenos and adapting to their preferred environments. This suit consists of an Impervium Armor shell interlaced with Kheldian energy-weave and has weathered numerous Rikti assaults and Nictus ambushes.
QA-Mk. III “Hypersonic”
Sleek and speedy, favoring maneuverability over defense. Used primarily to hunt xenos and fleeing fascists. Her personal record for circumnavigating the globe in this suit is: 12 hours.
QA-Mk. IV “Helldiver”
Her most recent experiments with exotic energies and rare alloys have produced this piece of bleeding-edge tech. Blending the durability of the Mk. II with the maneuverability of the Mk. III, this experimental (and highly unstable) suit is only brought out against existential threats.
Weaponry
Quantum Array Rifles (QAR) are direct-energy weapons that fire a variety of beam types, from ablative to ionic.
QAR-Mk. I “Kinslayer”
Her first love. This is the weapon she killed her Nictus-possessed father with, so safe to say it was a toxic relationship. Hasn’t been touched since that fateful day.
QAR-Mk. II “Workhorse”
Her ex she can’t give up. With a wide array of beam functions, a simple switch can turn this rifle from non-lethal stun mode to full disintegration. This is the last thing most Nictus or Rikti see when the Quantum Gunner is on patrol.
QAR-Mk. III “Catabasis”
Her current toxic love, its name means ‘descent’. Attuned to a lower-order dimension, this rifle uses nano-swarms to deliver entropic ordnance to her enemies. She hasn’t yet worked out where the obliterated/phased matter of her victims goes, but that doesn’t stop her from using it against her most hated nemeses. She calls these lower-order dimensions the "Phase Sink” and “Substrate-9”, among others. Allies have right to worry when this weapon is drawn.
Archives
Dropship Kills
1/6/24
Catabasis Experiments
Mission briefings below represent ongoing research into dimensional apertures opened using the Mk. III Catabasis.
CATABASIS LOG: AVL-SF-9-Alpha
WORMHOLE LABEL: “Substrate-1916”
MISSION DESIGNATION: “The War Was In Color”
DEBRIEF:
“The dimensional portal collapsed without warning. Upon reorientation, I found myself embedded in a temporal-psychic construct consistent with Great War conditions: trench warfare, chemical contamination, sustained artillery impact. Sensorium override occurred; I inhabited the perspective of an unidentified infantryman during active engagement. Environmental data confirmed catastrophic loss of life: mass small-arms fire, gas deployment, and widespread structural collapse of defensive lines. Subjective response: acute empathic overload, visual saturation described as “the war rendered in full color.” Attempted synchronization with Catabasis quantum tether failed—local reality field resistant to extraction.
At termination of engagement, host body incapacitated. Final recorded statement —“We cannot let anything like this happen again”— registered as emotional signature across the entire construct, suggesting collective psychic broadcast rather than isolated utterance. Extraction re-established under duress. Upon return, residual imagery persists in memory buffer: chromatic distortion, blood and soil motifs, unresolved sensory echoes. Summary conclusion: the dimension operates as an enduring mnemonic of industrialized death. Recommend containment protocols and psychological debrief before next phase insertion.”
CATABASIS LOG: AVL-SF-9-Delta
WORMHOLE LABEL: “Substrate-700”
MISSION DESIGNATION: “The Doom Song of Amaranth Seahold”
DEBRIEF:
“I entered the wormhole under standard temporal compression—thirty seconds elapsed outside, but by my own metrics the transit lasted days. The exit aperture manifested above an inland sea, black and still as crude oil. The target structure rose from the surf: a citadel sculpted from coral and bone, identified in legend as Amaranth Seahold.
Upon arrival, I was subsumed by the local sensorium—identity overwrite complete. I was a noblewoman of high standing, a queen in mourning garb, commanding a court obsessed with immortality. We ruled through ritual murder. The villages below our cliffs supplied the chorus for a forbidden hymn, a “Doom Song” whose resonance stripped life from the singers and fed it to the nobility.
I observed the process dispassionately: peasants driven into the sacrificial pit, their vitality siphoned by the entities beneath. The coup attempt came later—pitched, futile. The guards and a twin-headed troll neutralized all but two survivors. Only after the nobles completed their ascension into undeath did the wormhole reopen, permitting egress.
Mission outcome: dimensional infection contained. Residual emotional contamination: moderate. Recommend auditory quarantine—no singing for seventy-two hours.”
CATABASIS LOG: AVL-SF-9-Gamma
WORMHOLE LABEL: “Substrate-1899”
MISSION DESIGNATION: “The Devil on the Moor”
DEBRIEF:
“The transition was abrupt—sensorium distortion followed by atmospheric drop and a full environmental rewrite. The portal deposited me in lowland terrain: heather, peat, standing mist, and the smell of rot. The locals called it the moor. My instruments failed calibration; I assumed cover as Mira Kløharn, a Vaesen huntress assigned to investigate ongoing sabotage at an engineering encampment attempting to drain the bogs.
Initial intelligence indicated industrial conflict—machines disabled, personnel missing, and blame placed on “witchcraft.” Our team consisted of a physician, a writer-archivist, a parish priest, and an occult scholar. The doctor stabilized casualties; the writer extracted oral testimony from the villagers; the priest liaised with local clergy; and the occultist and I handled containment. Field interviews identified a deceased woman, Sign Anderdaughter, and her abandoned infant as focal entities. The infant’s remains—classified as a Myling manifestation—had been disturbed when workers unearthed the late engineer Sandman’s personal journal.
Manifestation pattern: nocturnal cries, mechanical interference, and kinetic attacks on equipment operators. Threat rating: lethal. We traced the locus to a neglected plague graveyard beyond the moor. Countermeasure protocol required reconciliation of the spirit’s physical and emotional anchors. We recovered the infant’s bones, secured the mother’s burial site, and conducted a joint rite under the priest’s supervision, utilizing liturgical structure supplemented with the occultist’s protective geometry.
Outcome: the Myling dissolved following ritual completion; EM flux and anomalous temperature gradients returned to baseline. Local population stabilized. Engineering operations resumed under supervision, with restrictions on excavation near consecrated ground. Portal resonance detected post-ritual; I re-activated quantum tether at 0340 local time.
Conclusion: Subject appeased, mission parameters achieved. Recommend cultural sensitivity protocols for future industrial expansions in folklore-dense zones.
Addendum: I’m 95% sure the occultist -Beckland- was one of the Vaesen. I’ve heard stories about Changelings, stories I didn’t believe until I met her. Will exercise further caution in similar dimensions.”
RP Hooks
Quantum Tech Commissions provides rapid home delivery for priority clients. Need a gadget, gun, or armor? I'm your gal.
Throwing an antifascist rally? Miranda is happy to provide muscle or surveillance for the cause, no questions asked and free of charge.