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Post by Jamie Esker on Jul 29, 2013 5:46:53 GMT
Epsilon Blue || Commissioned 2183 || Mark II | Overview
History Epsilon Blue was part of the second wave of Jaegers constructed after the emergence of the Kaiju, and the among the first to receive drift technology. Blue was designed and built as part of Project Epsilon, overseen by Shannon Esker. Shannon's husband, Jamie, was assigned to the project as software designer and pilot. Eventually, Shannon joined her husband in the drift, and Blue became renowned as one of the best Jaegers in the galaxy. However, after going up against Kaiju Shoryuken, Epsilon Blue was left damaged and missing a pilot. She was repaired, but no other pilots have successfully bonded to her neural structure in the same way that her original pilots did, and she remains in storage aboard the Shatterdome.
Pilots Jamie Esker and Shannon Esker
Appearance Blue is a large but elegant Jaeger, who walks with the swagger of a boxing champion and fights with eastern grace. She is painted blue and white, with the Pacific Defense logo across her chest. She wears asymmetric defense armor that allows her both mobility and durability, and carries a deployable blade into combat.
Strengths Epsilon Blue is fast, maneuverable, and tough enough to take plenty of hits before losing her ability to fight. Her blade takes care of any opponents that prove too much for her fists.
Weaknesses Despite her speed and raw stopping power, Blue is not the most durable Jaeger there is, though she can take her share of punishment. She burns hot and can wear out faster than other Jaegers. She requires specialized heat sinks to deal with the power generated from the movements of her 'muscles,' and when her heat sinks are tasked to capacity, she either has to submerge in water to cool down or return to base for re-arming.
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Post by Jamie Esker on Jul 29, 2013 5:49:33 GMT
Jameson Kikai Esker || 12 January, 2155; 30 || Software Design | Overview Jamie Esker can decode, deconstruct, and rewrite any piece of software he comes across, always making it faster, better, and more efficient. When the Jaeger program was developed, he discovered that he had a unique ability for understand the operating systems the Jaegers used, improving it, and, ultimately, drifting. However, after a number of solo drops in his Jaeger, Epsilon Blue, Jamie realized he needed a copilot. The only person drift-compatible with him was his wife of five years, Shannon Esker, someone whose mind was at least as brilliant as Jamie's, if not more so. That all changed after an encounter with a massive Kaiju left Jamie in a coma for three weeks. When he emerged at last, he discovered that, due to some form of brain trauma, he was unable to drift for more than a few minutes at a time. He and his wife now serve as support staff aboard the Shatterdome, and Jamie longs for the day when he learns to drift again.
History Jamie was born to a middle-class family in the mega-city of London on Earth. His father, a laidback man compared to Jamie's ultra-religious mother, was a software designer, and taught Jamie how to work what came close to magic with computers. Jamie struggled with his identity as a teenager, as so many teenagers do, and rebelled against the monotheistic religion his parents tried to instill in him. When they died in a shuttle accident, Jamie inherited the meager money they possessed, and used it to travel the world. Eventually, he found his way to Asia, and was exposed to the concepts of Buddhism through a series of events and encounters that seemed almost karmic in the way they coincided. Jamie was fascinated by the idea of reaching inner peace, and by the way that Buddhism viewed both the concepts of deities and supreme Creation as unnecessary. Jamie began to study the teachings of the Buddha, so different from the dogma his parents had tried to force down his throat as a child. He settled in a temple in Japan, and began training to become a priest. Due to an exchange program, Jamie was given the opportunity to travel to Thessia, where he studied Siari and Asari programming techniques before returning to Earth to finish his training to become a priest.
Jamie's plans were derailed when he met his future wife, Shannon, who convinced him to return to the world from the lofty intellectual position he had occupied. He followed her gladly, as he would follow her to the ends of the universe.
All the while, Jamie was refining his skills in software design. His work with robotic technology and artificial intelligence, of which he is an avid proponent, gained the attention of the early Jaeger project, and Jamie was hired to help design the software for Project Epsilon.
Jamie's wife, Shannon, was the head of Project Epsilon's design team, and the one who appealed to Jamie's sense of duty when the Kaiju appeared, and convinced him to work with the Jaegers. Eventually Jamie volunteered to pilot the newly-constructed Epsilon Blue, and succeeded in bonding with the machine's proto-neural net almost instantly. Due to his training in eastern martial arts, Jamie was able to pilot the Jaeger to great efficacy, despite the problems posed by being a single pilot. It was discovered that Jamie and Shannon were drift-compatible, and Epsilon Blue was quickly retrofitted to accommodate them both. With Shannon as co-pilot, Epsilon Blue's kill count skyrocketed and the Jaeger was almost single-handedly turning the tide against the Kaiju invading Earth.
That was until Kaiju Shoryuken. Epsilon Blue was heavily damaged in the fight, though she emerged victorious, and her pilots were badly injured. Jamie suffered a head injury that left him in a coma for three weeks. When he emerged from it, he was unable to drift for more than a few minutes at a time without massive strain to his nervous system, resulting in internal hemorrhaging. Since then, Jamie and Shannon have worked as support staff for the Jaeger Program.
Personality Jamie has studied various forms of human Buddhism as well as the Asari religion of Siari in an effort to reach inner peace and enlightenment. This gives Jamie an aura of calm and grace, though his wife brings out a more passionate side to him, and he would do anything to be with her. This fact sometimes worries him, as he fears that his love of his wife may keep him from enlightenment, though he is beginning to discover that he simply doesn't care. He and his wife often partake in benign practical jokes on and with his coworkers and the Jaeger pilots, but they always stop short of doing any actual harm. Jamie is not a man given easily to addiction or to any kind of loss of control, but he can't seem to kick the habit of smoking relatively-harmless Illium Blue cigarettes. While Jamie tries very hard not to allow his inability to drift affect him, he feels isolated and almost empty because of it. He misses the connection he felt to his wife and Epsilon Blue in the drift, and longs to have it back.
Appearance Jamie looks like the old Earth actor Jude Law. He is just over six feet tall, with light brown hair and blue eyes. His build is fairly muscular but not bulky, reflecting his training in eastern martial arts. He moves and walks gracefully and quietly. He smiles often, frowns little, and rarely makes an uncontrolled action. His laugh is fairly loud and hearty, on the somewhat rare occasion that he laughs. It's usually in the company of his wife.
Strengths Jamie is strong, confident, highly intelligent, and madly in love with his wife. He is capable of hacking into or otherwise manipulating almost any computer system, and he rarely loses his temper. He is a natural leader through his innate sense of calmness and compassion.
Weaknesses Many of the traits that make Jamie strong also make him weak, in some ways. His love of his wife makes him concerned as to whether he will reach Nirvana, and his suppression of his own emotions means that when he loses control, he is prone to intense displays of emotion. Usually the only things that can cause him to break down are immense sorrow or rage. Additionally, Jamie is unable to kick his smoking habit, as often as he tries, and his inability to drift has left him frustrated and confused. | |
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Post by Shannon Esker on Jul 29, 2013 8:18:36 GMT
Shannon Renée Esker || 4 May, 2157; 28 || Engineer | Overview Shannon Esker can take Jaegers apart, piece by piece, and then promptly put them back together without a problem. After the repeated attacks by the monstrous kaiju, she jumped at the chance to assist with the Jaeger program, and donated her understanding of engineering to the effort. She married her husband five years ago, and was the only logical choice for his copilot upon the realization that solo piloting put far too much strain on him. Though Jamie is currently out of commission, she is still capable of piloting with another co-pilot, though this is difficult, as she typically can not maintain a drift with another for very long, and as such, Shannon has taken on more of a support role while her husband recovers.
History Shannon was born in Duncan, British Columbia, Canada, the second child of Robert and Marlene Stein. Nicholas was five years of age at the time, and not too thrilled that he was no longer the center of attention, as with most first-born children. Their home was small, but comfortable, with Robert co-owning and operating an auto repair shop with his brother, Mark, and Marlene working as a secretary for a small business in town. The family was happy together, despite the usual sibling conflicts, for four good years. Just before Shannon's fifth birthday, Marlene did not return home from work at the proper time. After Robert had tucked his children into bed with assurances that "Mommy is just fine," and, "Everything will be all right," their home received a call from the hospital. Everything was not going to be okay, and Marlene was not okay. She had passed away after traumatic injuries sustained in an auto accident.
Needles to say, things changed drastically in the Stein household. After school, both Nicholas and Shannon were brought to the auto shop, as the man could not afford day care or a sitter with his suddenly limited income. Shannon brought along coloring books and dolls and her homework. Her brother brought homework, but often spent the time watching his father and uncle at their work, learning things here and there, bringing them wrenches and water as they needed it. It didn't take long for Shannon to become jealous of this meager form of attention lavished on her brother, and on top of that, she was bored. She couldn't very well be expected to play dolls by herself for hours until it was time to go home. With a few stomps of her tiny feet, she stood before the two men, fists on her hips, and demanded that they let her get the wrenches, too. Though there was suppressed laughter, it was not in the men to deny her, and she quickly caught up to her brother in terms of knowledge and skill. The family was no longer whole, but they settled once again into an uneasy rhythm that carried through most of Shannon's younger years.
As she aged, a teenage Shannon discovered physics and chemistry, an entire world of science that spread out before her, waiting to be played with, uncovered and absorbed. Her father, perhaps a bit disappointed that she wasn't interested in art or dance, supported her as much as he could. Unfortunately, she quickly outstripped his understandings, and outpaced her brother as well, who was much more content under the hood of a car than he ever was sitting in school. It was only to be expected that one day she leave for university, and she eventually did, though it pained her to be far, and she settled in Vancouver for her higher education.
She began her studies in mechanical engineering, and excelled, going so far as to take on more than she probably should have. It was simply all too fascinating for her to turn down. Not the work itself, but what the end results could achieve, and the small modifications, the little signatures people left in their projects. The Quarian engineers were her particular area of interest, though there was little for her to study of the non-Council race. But they were hardy, and efficient in a way that escaped almost all other species. Everything could be retrofitted, remade, reworked to serve another purpose, to serve both purposes. The alien race seemed almost technopathic to the young human woman. Her dream was nothing more than to one day visit the Flotilla. Lofty, perhaps, but so were her dreams of being a space-exploring moon-princess.
Long before graduation, Shannon began looking in to graduate programs. Never one to rest on her heels, she had long grown out of her separation anxiety and ultimately made her way to Tokyo, Japan. A steady stream of technological advances had been pouring forth from the country, and the woman certainly had to be in the middle of it all. With the help of a translator, she settled in rather well and took up a position as a more or less informal teacher's aid at the university. Of course, engineering students don't sleep, and she spent a good deal of time on campus. At 3:30 A.M. late one night, or early one morning as it may be, another sleep-less soul stopped by to find out who was still awake. A man by the name of Jamie Esker introduced himself and offered Shannon a cup of tea. She was more than happy to accept. After all, early-morning nerds had to stick together. He was working on AI research, and that was all she needed to hear. A year or so later, they were married. Having picked up only a modicum of Christian leanings during most of her life, she easily adapted to his Buddhist habits, adopting a few here and there herself, as well.
With the attack on San Francisco in 2183, the woman's energies shifted drastically. The Jaeger program was starting up and in need of brilliant minds-- in Shannon's eyes, she was just what they needed, and she was taken on as an engineer for the project. She helped design and build the first wave of Jaegers to defend against the strange bio-synthetic kaiju that were ravaging coastal areas across the galaxy. She pulled expertise from Quarian engineers, their resourcefulness and eye for efficiency putting them in a position of high demand wherever Jaegers were being built. Though she had not yet met one of the aliens in person, she spoke with a number of them frequently, consulting them as much as they would allow her.
But her greatest achievement, her crowning joy, was the Epsilon Project. Epsilon Blue was her very own, and built for her own husband, whom she'd dragged into the project with her. He was, after all, a master of computer programming, and nice to look at after a long day. Jamie had been trained in martial arts while abroad, and adopted Buddhism, which Shannon was happy to incorporate as she could, giving her Jaeger a powerful grace and lotus emblem. However, it was quickly discovered that the strain of piloting solo was too much, and Jamie was in need of a co-pilot. Shannon was the only logical choice, and she ran head-first through her training as Blue was retrofitted according to her plans. They drifted seamlessly, and were quickly back in the business of wrecking Kaiju faces when they came up against Shoryuken. A monster of a kaiju, it seemed to have an answer for every trick the woman had built into her beloved machine. The battle was too long, and too strenuous. Though the monster was eventually ripped into chunks by the Eskers, their trip back to base was barely manageable, and ended with Jamie collapsing and slipping into a coma. One of the most powerful Jaeger teams was suddenly out of commission.
Shannon herself was injured as well, though they were all superficial compared to her husband's plight. She spent three weeks at his bedside, doing what she could for the program from there. The sheer volume of datapads that passed through her hands was tremendous, but she would not leave. Having felt Jamie slipping away left her anxious and strangely guilt-ridden. Much to the woman's relief, Jamie did eventually return to full consciousness, but in a severely damaged state. He could no longer drift for long enough to maintain control of their Jaeger, and Shannon could not manage it by herself.
Unwilling to simply hand her Jaeger over to some rookie pilots, Shannon underwent drift-tests with several other pilots, a number of which had a modicum of success, but it would seem that Shannon's mind was no place for strangers, and neither was Blue's neural network, both of which seemed to refuse a bond with another. Even Nicholas, responding to his sisters desperate pleas, was unable to drift with his sister. Finally accepting her limitations, Shannon made attempts to alter Blue's network so that she might once again be piloted, but eventually there was nothing more she could do; no new pilots had been able to master the machine. And so, while Jamie works on returning to his full strength, Shannon has reprised her role amongst the engineering staff, and Blue stands in storage.
Personality Like the Jaeger she designed, Shannon is full of tricks, from those (harmless) pranks she and her husband pull to the innovations she brings into her designs. So while the woman is clever, she's far from devious, and avoids bothering anyone who doesn't appreciate the occasional joke. However, she is stubborn, and may beat her head against a wall rather than give up on a problem that's been bothering her for a while. Outside of her areas of expertise, she's much more likely to follow than lead, but that's not to say she's always happy about it. She's also rather proud of herself and her designs and doesn't always handle criticism of them well. Starting with Jamie's first deployment, she's picked up her husband's bad habit of smoking. Though she isn't a heavy smoker, she steals a few from him here or there, and tends to pay him back with a pack of his favorites every now and then. Maybe with a few missing.
Appearance There is nothing about Shannon that would strike fear into anyone's heart, should she be encountered in a dark alley late at night. She is of a standard height, reaching 5'5", and has recently developed a muscled, though lean, build due to her Jaeger training. Her eyes are narrow and blue, offset by hair that changes with the help of a bottle from brown to blonde as the woman whims. Her face is round, with a pointed chin, but generally soft features. Her mouth is small and has a characteristic quirk to it which very nearly resembles a smirk. Scars litter her skin here and there, though she is free from tattoos.
Strengths For the most part, Shannon is fairly adaptable, which has allowed her to solve a great deal of problems when grouped with her sheer stubbornness and raw intelligence. She knows Epsilon Blue inside and out, from her wiring to the bolts that hold her armor on; this gives her a nearly unprecedented ability to pilot the machine. Similarly, she knows Jamie nearly as well (though she can't explain his obsession with halving sugar cubes for his tea) and their love for each other allow them a neural handshake that's hard to match in terms of strength and stability. She learns quick, and would likely be able to repair or modify to some degree any Jaeger whose schematics she can get her hands on.
Weaknesses Adaptability can leave Shannon looking for an inventive solution and missing an otherwise obvious fix, and a bullheaded nature won't let her realize that something is staring her in the face. Furthermore, she is no soldier. Every time she faces a kaiju, a very real, very serious terror wells up within her, and while this has gotten better over time, it is something she has to work very hard to control. Furthermore, she has very little formal martial arts training, with most of her knowledge coming from her connection with Jamie or occasional sparring matches.
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