Zachary Gillam

Name: Zachary Gillam
Age: 24
True Age: 23
Sex: Male
Personality: Zachary is a simple man with simple tastes. Guns, good music, and a cold beer are his three main vices in life. Zachary is so easy-going and laid-back it’s a wonder he gets anything done. He’s so full of chill, he’d happily just sit in a deck chair and listen to his music box for the rest of his life if he could. But alas, that is not possible these days. So he gets by with a witty sense of humor and an array of ways to kill a person.

Zachary is the definition of a free soul. Until he met Vyn Ashe, he wandered around from city to city, keeping all relationships professional and not getting attached to anyone. He was the drifter. But then he ended up being captured by Hanna Ashe. He assumed his life was over, but that didn’t stop him from getting off dozens of cutting remarks and quips against his captors. His resilience meant that, even through starvation and thirst, he retained his humour the whole way through his incarceration in Hanna’s Sweden compound. Upon being released by Vyn, for the first time in his life, he felt a strong attachment towards his would-be rescuer. He decided he once again had a purpose, a direction. He would protect this person to the end.

As a result, Zachary treats Vyn like a family’s loyal butler treats the family’s heir. Half-mentor, half-guardian, and half-parent. No-one said he was good at mathematics. He protects her from the world that she is trying to adjust to, while protecting the world from Vyn’s sporadic outbursts and the raw destruction that accompanies them. He uses a savvy and wit, and if that fails, a well-placed tranquilizer dart. He also treats his weapons like living relatives. He values them above most people, especially his rifle Burning Hammer, which has saved him in many situations.

Zachary is cocky, but he is also clever. He does not get involved with law enforcement often, but even then he escapes handily. The Coalition consider him a ghost, given his resourcefulness and the inability of anyone to apprehend him properly. He is a wheeler and a dealer, but deep down he has a honor and integrity, even if he doesn’t know it. He keeps people at arm’s length until he determines their worth. Until then, he trusts only his guns and his music.
Likes: guns, good music, protecting Vyn Ashe
Fears: harm to Vyn Ashe, confinement, damage to his music box



Height: 5’ 10”
Weight: 175 lbs
Physical Traits:
Zachary is an athletically built guy, with strawberry blond hair and blue eyes. His mouth and jaw area is covered with a scratchy stubble. He also has various scars on his body, some of them from his older brother Isaac.

Zachary (without mask):


Clothing: Zachary’s outfit does not generally change too much. He always wears his red trench coat, usually coupled with a single-color t-shirt, cargo pants and durable boots. Behind his right ear is a device that when pressed deploys his mask, which covers most of his head.

Zachary (with mask):


Accessories:

Zachary’s Walkman: Zachary carries this portable cassette tape player, complete with headphones, everywhere with him. It only has one cassette tape in it, a compilation of catchy and relaxing songs from the 70s and 80s. The casing of the device is specially reinforced with both high-grade metals and lightweight nano-polymers, making it durable enough to withstand the firefights Zachary gets into.



General Fighting Style: Zachary is primarily a ranged combatant, though if forced into close-combat, he is skilled in hand-to-hand combat and is a master at improvising. He possesses unmatched skill with his guns, making getting near him a challenge in itself. He will use guile to lay ambushes and traps for powerful enemies, and his knowledge of terrain is excellent, which allows him to find ways to use the environment to his advantage. These traits all combine to make Zachary a very slippery opponent.

Closing to melee is not entirely effective either. Zachary is effective at using his hands in a fight, as well as improvising weapons from his environment. His thruster boots allow him short bursts of speed that enable him to escape if he does become overwhelmed. Zachary never goes into a fight unprepared, and his quick mind allows him to react to unexpected events, enabling him to somehow always be in the right place at the right time.

Strengths:
Gun Skill: As detailed above, Zachary is quite possibly the finest marksman alive. His accuracy and speed with his weapons is second to none, and his knowledge of gun tech means his weapons are also of the highest caliber.

Unarmed/Improvised Combat: If faced with a close quarter fight, Zachary is adept at using his fists, guns, chair, table leg, spanner, car door or anything else that he can get a hold of. He’s not the strongest of fighters, even with his suit, but he still packs a wallop. Everything he hits you with hurts.

Strength: Zachary is very strong compared to an average human, but he is still far from the strongest out there. He possesses enough power to use the largest of his weapons, and to hurt somebody with his fist.

Toughness: Zachary possesses a resilience and stability that is uncommon for humans with no powers and virtually no spiritual pressure. He can take a fair amount of punishment before he has to withdraw.

Weaknesses:

Average stats: Despite his accuracy and strength, Zachary is still average in most other departments.

No Sensing: Zachary cannot sense spiritual pressure on his own, relying on his mask sensors to even see spiritual beings.

No Spiritual Pressure: Exactly what it says. No powers. He registers as a non-advent human.

Quirks:
Hyper Competence: Users possess incredible skill in one, several, or in some cases every possible field. It can be any discipline, intellectual or practical, formal or mundane : mathematics, cooking, strategy, sports, games, politics, fighting, mechanics, psychology, economy, art, medicine, investigation, and so on. All users demonstrate a mind-boggling level of perceptiveness and efficiency in their respective field(s), multiplying virtually impossible feats with ridiculous ease. Their unbelievable level of competence truly puts them in an unreachable category of their own, that simply eludes others' understanding. In Zachary’s case, it’s limited to Ballistics and Weapon Technology.

Hypersensitive Instincts: This quirk uses all of the user’s senses to react to dangers around them subconsciously. So if attacked from behind, the user's body will instinctively turn to block the attack or dodge. If struck from multiple sides the user may unconsciously activate a shield ability or other defensive ability such as teleporting away from the danger, or dodge/brace against the attack. It works best against unseen attacks as long as the user can hear or somehow detect, but will also work against attacks seen with the peripheral vision. Coupled with something like Hyper Intuition this makes the user very hard to hit.

Hyper Intuition: Essentially, instead of sensing spiritual pressure, it senses intent, outside of eyesight. If it's directed at Zachary or very strong, he'll be able to track it back to the person. It also acts like a lie detector, though that part isn't perfect as certain characters can hide their intent or shift it completely, namely master manipulators and Serions. This is not a mind reading ability, as intent does not equal thoughts, surface or otherwise. This is also how he often knows that a sneak attack is coming, as those wishing to do him harm give off that intent...and thus track it. If the person is in eyesight of him, it allows her to predict their movements accurately like how Tsuna's Hyper Intuition does for him, and is 60% accurate. This does not work with robots. This also does not allow him to sense spiritual pressures, period.



Equipment Name: Zachary’s Mask
Description: The device that Zachary wears behind his right ear is an extremely advanced device that when activated deploys a mask around Zachary’s face and head. The mask is airtight, and allows Zachary to breath in environments that a human wouldn’t otherwise be able to. The eyepiece if the mask also provides night-vision, as well as the ability to see spiritual beings. He can also use his mask to see infrared and ultraviolet, as well as thermal. However, he can only use one type of vision at a time.

Equipment Name: Zachary’s Suit
Description: The armored suit that Zachary wears under his trenchcoat is a remarkable piece of engineering. The suit protects Zachary from environmental hazards when the mask is deployed, being about half as effective as Serion endurance. On it’s own, it provides protection from weapons, providing the equivalent of average hierro when fully sealed. The suit also provides first aid to Zachary, detecting breaches and sealing them up. He will not receive healing from this, but he will be stabilized. The last benefit Zachary’s suit provides him is an increase in physical strength. The result is, when he wears his suit, Zachary’s strength is increased to Shikai level.

Equipment Name: Zachary’s Utility Belt
Description: Zachary wears a utility belt with several pouches and compartments, each of which share all of the properties of a Coalition Container. They use their inter-dimensional properties to provide ample storage space for Zachary’s array of equipment, while also allowing quick retrieval of exactly what Zachary needs each time. All of Zachary’s equipment is kept in the pouches except his knife(which is kept in a holster behind his back), his Vindicator Pistol(kept in a quick-draw holster at his right hip), his Burning Hammer rifle(which he keeps either in his hands or hanging by its strap from his body), and his Zachary Special(which takes the form of a steel satchel when folded up).

Equipment Name: Shield Module
Description: Zachary can throw one of these devices on ground in front of him to project an energy shield facing in the direction he threw it. The shield is a wall of energy 4 ft wide and 7ft high, and remains up until it has absorbed a Gran Rey Cero worth of damage. If one were to reach the device it can be easily disabled, though it’s highly likely they will have been shot by then. Zachary carries 2 of these.

Equipment Name: Smoke Canister
Description: As the name suggests, these canisters produce a thick blanket of smoke when detonated, obscuring vision. Unless a combatant has thermal vision, they will not be able to see very well. Zachary carries 2 of these.

Equipment Name: Electro-magnetic Pulse(EMP) Device
Description: These devices can be thrown like a grenade or planted like a mine. Upon detonation, they emit an EM pulse that interferes with electronics in a 5 yd radius. Unless the electronics are shielded, they will experience malfunctions ranging from garbled displays to outright system failure, depending on the character. The interference lasts for 2 posts, with a 2 post grace period. Zachary carries 2 of these.

Equipment Name: Frag Grenade
Description: Your bog-standard military Fragmentation Grenade. Functions like a 1-3 tier Cero that Zachary can throw. Zachary carries 3 of these.

Equipment Name: Flashbang Grenade
Description: These grenades are for stunning unsuspecting enemies. If a character is caught in the blast without ear protection, they will be deafened for 2 posts. If a character looks at the blast without eye protection, they are blinded for 2 posts. It is very possible a character can be caught unawares and experience both of these effects simultaneously. There is a 1 post grace period for both of these effects. Zachary carries 2 of these.



Weapon Name: Zachary’s Razor
Weapon Description:

Zachary’s knife is slightly larger than the average army knife, with a serrated edge  complementing the straight edge, and an ornate wooden handle. The knife is made with a similar principle to a Vibro-knife, with a high-frequency energy field projecting from the blade, allowing it to penetrate most hierro, while the adamantium-edged blade allows it to cut through most armors.

Weapon Name: Vindicator
Weapon Description:

This obscene piece of weapons technology is Zachary’s back-up in a pinch and has indeed save his life on many occasions, despite its impractical construction. By all widely accepted laws of construction and physics, a handgun of this spec should blow itself apart at first use. By some engineering miracle, Vindicator has never experienced such a fate. Indeed, its victims are the ones that end up coating surrounding surfaces after firing. Vindicator is in essence a handheld cannon. It uses an experimental matter/antimatter reactor, built into the handgrip. The reaction sends a metallic alloy slug - which has been adapted for use against spiritual beings - towards its target with such speed and force that it penetrates most armors. Not to mention what it does to skulls. It deals damage equal to a Cero, but the speed of the shot is equal to a bala. The drawback is each slug must be loaded manually and the gun itself must cool down before it can be loaded. The cool-down is 1 post. Zachary carries 5 rounds into any given thread.

The pistol has a secondary function also. If Zachary is disarmed of it or it is otherwise not on his person, he can push a button on one of his gloves to have it travel to his hand at the speed of a cero. This will only work if the pistol is within 100 yds of him, and it cannot travel through solid objects.

Weapon Name: Burning Hammer
Weapon Description:

This sleek assault rifle is Zachary’s main weapon and most prized possession. This high-powered rifle has multiple firing modes and ammo types, as well as a multi-purpose underbarrel launcher, making it extremely versatile and well-rounded. The first firing mode is semi-automatic. The second firing mode is a three-round burst. The last mode is a full spread, consuming the rest of the clip by spraying bullets over an area. Zachary can switch firing modes either by using the manual switch on the gun or by a vocal command. Each clip holds 30 rounds, and all rounds are modified to combat spiritual beings. Zachary carries 7 clips of ammo with him in any given thread. Burning Hammer has within it a sophisticated chambering and priming mechanism that takes a bullet and in a matter of milliseconds, switches the payload of the loaded bullet and every subsequent bullet in the magazine until changed again. The currently equipped ammo type can be switched the same way as the firing mode, either by manual switch or vocal command.

Ammo Types:
Standard Rounds: These rounds are your standard 7.62mm assault rifle rounds, used widely as the standard munitions for rifles. These bullets inflict the equivalent of one-and-a-half bala.
Armor-Piercing(AP) Rounds: These rounds do exactly what their name suggests. They can penetrate strong armor and hierro, at the expense of damage. They only inflict a bala worth of damage.
Rubber Rounds: The rubber-like substance that comprises these bullets inflicts “non-lethal damage” to targets. These are used for when a target is required alive. The bullets are painful, but the only way they are lethal is a stray shot to the wrong part of the head. But Zachary is too good for that, so the worst thing that can happen is you end up unconscious. These are mainly used for clearing civilians out of the way and distracting foes.
High Explosive (High Ex) Rounds: These bullets are made for destruction of property, people, and everything inbetween. With help from Gaige, Zachary has modified a plasma injector into his rifle, allowing each bullet to be modified with a miniature plasma charge, exploding on impact and penetrating most surfaces. Only one of these can be fired before the plasma injector has to cool-down for 2 posts. The bullet explodes with the power of a Cero from a 1-3 tier character.
Incendiary Rounds: These rounds inflict half of the regular rifle damage, but with the added effect of causing a bala of fire damage, and setting the target ablaze of they are flammable enough and slow enough.
Hotshot Rounds: These rounds resemble signal flares when fired, and are designed for penetrating armored structures, such as vault doors and tank armor. The round embeds itself into the target and dissolves, unleashing its payload inside. The payload is a capsule of super-heated plasma that melts through almost everything. The drawback is the rounds are very heavy, thus reducing the speed to that of a cero and making them difficult to use against people.

Underbarrel Launcher:
Tranquilizer Darts: These darts are made to subdue more powerful foes. Each dart is packed with a high amount of military-grade anaesthetic, making these among the most potent tranquilizers out there. As a result, Zachary is only able to take 3 with him at a time. (Obviously, they will require permission to work against other PCs)
Sonic Boom Pulse: The launcher emits a large pulse of sonic energy, blasting back most things in front of the gun but causing no damage in itself. Roughly the equivalent of Hado #1 from a 1-1 tier character. Zachary carries 5 of these devices.
Flame Canister: If loaded with one of these canisters, the underbarrel launcher doubles as a flamethrower. One canister allows Zachary to fire a cone-shaped jet of flames up to a distance of 20ft for a 3 second burst. Zachary carries 3 of these canisters.
Transphasic Module: Zachary can use this device to mimic the ability to teleport. Once fired, the module will travel for 50 yds or until it hits a surface, whichever happens first. It will then activate, teleporting Zachary to its position. Sensors in the device allow for accurate and quick teleportation without the risk of accidentally teleporting into a wall or a person. Zachary can immediately pick the device back up, but it must cool down for 2 posts before it can be used again. Zachary has only one.
Grenades: Any of the hand grenades that Zachary is carrying can be loaded into the launcher and fired up to 100 yds away.

The underbarrel launcher can only load one device at a time.

On top of these features, the stock has been reinforced and modified to project a power field, for those occasions where the only way to get the point across is a rifle butt across the mouth. The force field increases the power of blows made with the rifle butt substantially.

Weapon Name: Zachary Special
Weapon Description:
This bombastic piece of tech is used when the situation calls for a really big gun. The gun takes the appearance of a steel satchel bag when not in use, which Zachary wears almost all of the time. When deployed, the full might of this devastating weapon is plain to see. The Zachary Special has two different forms it can be deployed in. Each form has a devastating attack to go with it.

Zachary Spread Special:

When this fire mode is used, it sprays out a barrage of destruction that you don’t want to get in the way of. The attack consists of 100 rounds, fired in a spread pattern that covers a large area, but is highly inaccurate(think Tadatomo’s Apollo ability, but on a vastly larger scale). Despite its damage, the Zachary Spread Special is not a true energy weapon. Instead, the minigun magnetically flings clusters of superconducting toroids. These donut-shaped projectiles are designed to shatter upon impact, arcing electricity between the fragments and flash-converting them to plasma. The gun's punishing, automatic blast impacts with the heat of a cutting torch. Each round hits with the damage of a bala from a 1-3 tier character, but they also penetrate all but the strongest of armors and hierros. After this attack is used, the Zachary Special overheats and cannot be used for 7 posts.

Zachary Mega Blaster:

When this fire mode is used the Zachary Special cannot be used again in the thread. The gun fires a large projectile made up of hundreds of superconducting toroids. The result is a large plasma explosion that engulfs the target in a 100yd explosion that deals damage equal to 2 Cero Oscuros from a 1-3 character to any poor unfortunate that gets caught in it.



Background:
To say that Zachary Gillam had a non-conventional upbringing, would be a massive understatement. Zachary originated from Davenport, Iowa. The younger of two boys, Zachary was not as big or as strong as his older brother Isaac, which meant he had to rely more on brains than brawn from a young age. Isaac never liked how Zachary always excelled at things, and while Isaac himself had a very respectable athletics background, he still took it upon himself to make Zachary’s life miserable for it. Life wasn’t easy anyway, Zachary’s mother had died while Zachary was still young. Their father raised them until Zachary was 10 and Isaac was 17. Until then, their father had shown a more nurturing attitude towards Zachary, whereas Isaac received what he perceived to be neglect, when in fact their father loved both of his sons deeply. Then, their father was killed in a seemingly random shooting. Isaac “looked after” Zachary from that point on, punishing him for any hint of excellence he showed. While this meant Zachary lowering his academic performances to average, Zachary was still able to outsmart his dim-witted brother and divert time to projects beyond Isaac’s notice.

One of these projects, was the creation of Vindicator, the beloved handgun that Zachary would continue to use well into adulthood. Upon reaching his teens, he began expanding the scope of his projects. He would often stay out late, under the guise of remedial studies, and chill in an abandoned warehouse just down the road from his school, creating random things. He didn’t go to either one of his proms, for he was tinkering with electronics and ballistics on those nights. Vindicator was the project he most invested in. He smuggled stuff from everywhere to construct it, and constantly tried to think of ways to make it work better than conventional weapons of the time. He formulated an ambitious plan of using a matter/antimatter reaction that would propel the warhead at unprecedented speed and force. He just needed antimatter,  a rather large ask for a civilian. But, as he always did, he had a plan. Upon his completion of high school, Zachary would leave his older brother’s tyranny and strike out into the world.

Zachary applied for a job as a physicist. While they was mistrusting of him due to his age and lack of college education, he aced the competence test, particularly shining in the particle physics area. He managed to gain access to one of the labs that was dealing with antimatter, and stole a small amount. He brought it to the warehouse, and completed his new device. ”I think I’ll call you, Vindicator!” He couldn’t wait to test his weapon, and prepared to go to a firing range just outside of town. However, Isaac stumbled into the warehouse, brandishing a shotgun and a crumpled document. Apparently, their father’s will had been found, and he had left a seventy-five percent majority of his estate to Zachary. Isaac was drunk, angry, and wielding a weapon. He yelled at Zachary, then fired his gun at him. The blast knocked Zachary backwards into the warehouse wall. He was gravely wounded, but thanks to his brother’s drunkenness and inaccuracy, he had survived. He looked up at Isaac, his vision blurry from blood loss. Isaac, sensing his dear little brother’s demise, revealed his final secret. He had killed their father, in an effort to gain control of his estate and force Zachary out.

Zachary was blinded by both injury and rage. He looked at Vindicator in his hand. It was untested, but there was no better opportunity. He swiftly aimed and fired. The slug, propelled by a matter/antimatter reaction, shot forth and went straight through Isaac’s head, causing it to explode violently. Isaac’s headless body had no time to even fall to the ground, before the round struck a fuel tank and exploded violently. Flames danced around the warehouse, as Zachary drew what he thought would be his final breath. But he rested easy in the knowledge he had avenged his father. He lost consciousness, the last thing he remembered being flames, and darkness and death. But it was not to be on that fateful night.

Zachary awoke in a hospital, not remembering much of what happened. The man sitting across from him smiled. ”Mister Gillam. I have an offer for you.” Zachary began the next phase of his life. The man was an agent for Regno Nero, a mercenary organization that completed assignments for the highest bidder. Zachary had been chosen for his expertise and his ability. He became one of their best assets. He was responsible for the creation of a pair of spiritually-fueled handguns that went to another agent called Tadatomo Fukushima. He traveled the world, gaining experience and knowledge. It seemed to be going well. But then it wasn’t. On one job, he was betrayed by his handler. He tried to fight his way out, but the betrayal was too complete. He was grievously injured in the resulting fight and the last thing he remembered was being dragged away, barely alive.

When Zachary regained consciousness, he was in an infirmary of some kind. A woman stood over him. ”The subject is regaining consciousness. Activate restraints.” He felt himself being bound to the surface he lay upon. He woke up to see a red-headed woman in a scientist’s uniform hovering over him. He looked down to see restraints binding him to the bed. ”Where am I? If this is hell, I thought it would be... hotter...” The face didn’t even smile. ”Subject appears to have regained full cognitive control. He appears ready for repurposing. Beginning spiritual evaluation.” Zachary never felt so much pain in his life, as a device began to drain something from him, something that he didn’t understand. ”Subject appears to be non-Advent with remarkable intelligence and adaptability. Appears ready to move to observation.” With that, the red-head left, the door sealing up pretty definitively, behind her. The restraints on Zachary’s bed released, and he fell to the floor. A second door opened and a voice spoke from a speaker in the ceiling. ”Subject Z, proceed through the door to the next room.” Zachary sighed, wondering what he had gotten himself into. He followed the instructions and entered the next room.

Zachary spent 2 years in the next room. He was given clothing, and told to just exist. He thought momentarily that it was one of Isaac’s crude tricks, but then he remembered that Isaac was very dead. Zachary’s room was one that encouraged creation. There were tools and workbenches, lab equipment, material dispensers and computers. There was also a bed and a food dispenser. He used the computer to research everything that was happening in the world. He discovered that his captor was Hanna Ashe, a leading genetic scientist. He learned about the events surrounding spiritual incursion into the Living World. But there also were cameras everywhere. Zachary had no doubt he was being observed to see what he could do. So he made Burning Hammer. Zachary had fiddle with a few bits and bobs before creating the masterpiece that was his assault rifle. Sleek, lethal, and with multiple firing modes and ammo types, Burning Hammer was the complete weapon. He also made an armor suit, as well as a dimensional storage belt and a combat mask. But he also kept himself fit and strong, lifting heavy objects and doing laps of the room. His work was astonishing. But he wondered what the point of it all was. He found a point soon enough.

One day, one of the doors opened suddenly, and the voice he hadn’t heard for 5 years spoke. ”You must exit this room and return to your pod.” Zachary took all of his equipment with him, and left. Upon reaching a room full of what looked like stasis pods, he was accosted by two humans he had never seen before. They took his belongings from him and forced him into a pod labeled “Subject Z”. He looked back out of the pod and saw his belongings being put into a container and locked away. Then, he went under again. His “attendants” left, and the stasis pod claimed him.

The next memory he had, was his stasis ended. Zachary’s pod opened slowly, and he awoke when he felt the sudden coldness of snowy mountain air. The face he saw looked at him with curiosity. The face had the same crimson hair as the one before, but this one was younger and had the bearing of one who was still trying to discover herself. ”Well, I don’t recognise you. Mind telling me your name?” The person’s name was Vyn Ashe. Zachary looked into her eyes, and she told him her story. Upon completion, he walked over to the crate that contained his stuff he had made in his previous incarnation. He strapped everything on and looked at Vyn. In that moment, he knew what he had to do. Even if Vyn didn’t.

”We will discover our destinies. Together.”

Side Notes: [Anything you left out, put it here]
RP Sample: [Show us what you got. Rp with your character that you are applying for.]

approved 2-1? Is that what you want?

I'll take whatever I get sir.

Seconded.

Note: The reason his attacks that hit above his actual tier are even being allowed let alone considered... he's literally a human without powers with only one thing at shikai level and nothing else. He's the glass cannon of glass cannons. He trades off a bunch of stuff for a very controversial combo and that. Just so peeps are aware of why this is still legal.