Harrier (Mercedes Thomas-Arasaka)

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The Harrier Player: @RexCelestis Class Focus: Martial Artist/Detective Power Level: Confidential Research & Development: Confidential Personal Data Real Name: Mercedes Thomas-Arasaka (Known) Known Aliases: Kid Harrier (Formerly known as) Species: Human Ethnicity: Japanese/Caucasian Age: Height: Weight: Eye Color: Violet Hair Color: Red Biographical Data Nationality: Japanese Occupation: Student Place of Birth: Arasaka Castle, Japan Base of Operations: Millennium City, Michigan Marital Status: Single Known Relatives: Korinna Arasaka, Mother; Chance Thomas-Arasaka, Father; Akemi Arasaka, Sister; Shin Araska, Brother; Yukiko Watanabe, Aunt Known Powers Enhanced strength, reflexes, and speed; Regeneration; Limited teleportation Known Abilities Highly qualified martial artist, superior skills of deductive and inductive reasoning, talented infiltration and exfiltration specialist. Equipment SHINOBI

Background

The child of Silent Strike (Korinna Arasaka) and the Harrier King (Chance Thomas) from an alternate future, Mercedes Thomas-Arasaka arrived in this dimension due to an accident with Juryrig's time machine. Once on this plane, she contacted and re-established a relationship with her erstwhile parents, leading to her adoption and the assumption of her father's former heroic roll, Kid Harrier. As Kid Harrier, Mercedes fought alongside the Offspring and the Harassment of Harriers to protect Millennium City's West Side from criminals of all ilks.

Mercedes left Millennium City to attend the Harvard Business School. After two years of study, she has returned, ostensibly to take a position as an intern at the local Arasaka Corporation office. While in the city, she has adopted her father's former nom de guerre, Harrier, and fights crime part time as a reserve member of the Protectors of the World.

Origins

The Arasaka Mon, or crest

Nearly one thousand years ago, a meteor crashed into rural Japan. The qualities of the meteor's ferrous heart allowed the master blacksmith Hirokuni Fumio to bind spirits to his creations. In 1477, founder of the clan, Arasaka Hiroto, commissioned Fumio to craft the Blade of Night, a mystical sword of great power imbued with the spirit of Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto, a Shinto God of the Moon. Beyond its own mystical properties, the katana empowered its wielder with superhuman abilities, powered by yōkai(Japanese spirits).

Over the next hundreds of years, the leaders of the Arasaka Clan wielded the sword to build power. Acting as shinobi, coverts agents, the clan gained respect in the shifting landscape of Japanese politics. In 1570, Arasaka Akio fought alongside Hattori Hanzo in the Battle of Anegawa in 1570. Arasaka Yoshio led the family out of direct service to the Shogunate in 1581. 1854 saw Arasaka Takumi create Arasaka Shipping and Trading. At the dawn of the 20th Century, the company had emerged as one of the country's major zaibatsu, exerting significant influence over domestic and foreign policy and slowing drawing the country towards war.

During the Rape of Nanking, a spirit of vengeance infested the Night Blade and tainted its wielder, Captain Arasaka Isao. During the "Night of a Thousand Screams," Isao personally murdered over 1,000 Chinese. For the next 600 years, the weapon would temp its users into bouts of violent rage. In 2012, with the help of then fiance Chance Thomas, Korinna Arasaka completed a ritual to free the katana from the influence of vengeance and changed the relationship between yōkai and clan members. From that time forward, the spirits would choose certain family champions to grant powers with the goals of better protecting family interests and benefiting humanity.

Mercedes is one of these Arasaka Champions. The spirit of Toyotama-hime grants her supernatural abilities and powers. For long as Mercedes shows proper respect to the Gods of Japan and uses her powers for good, she will maintain them. The spirit bound to Harrier appears as a long, sinuous, wingless dragon to those with mystical sight.

Toyotama-hime as drawn by Flaxblossom (http://flaxblossom.deviantart.com/art/Hope-for-Japan-Toyotama-hime-205115938)

Powers

Enhanced Physical Abilities

Observed data and testing places Mercedes' kinesthesia, proprioception, dexterity, and reflexes slightly ahead of those of human Olympic athletes. She can lift just over 350 kg above her head and run 50 meters in 6.20 seconds.

Limited Teleportation

Through her study of Kuji-in with her mother, Harrier can teleport within her line of sight or to specially prepared places. The spells of Kuji-in require her hands and finger be free to move and gesture. A lengthy Buddhist ritual, lasting several days, prepares a location as a target for teleportation. Current locations include a secure room at Arasaka Castle on Yagishiri Island, Hokkaido, Japan; her apartment in Millennium City; and Kori's, her father's restaurant in the West Side of Millennium City.

Equipment

Sensory Holographic Information Networked Optical Biometric Interface