Age: 28
Race: Human, although with combat skills like his, you could almost swear he had some Noxchi in him. He doesn’t, though…if you were really thinking that… What are you, stupid or something?
Appearance: Archer has short, natural white hair and clean features. Some say he's rather handsome. Some say he's just another pretty boy who failed to grow up with the rest of the adults. And those who actually know him say he's the devil in sheep's clothing. But more on that later. His piercing blue eyes are rarely ever...well, piercing, unless the person he's talking to is a woman with a nice bust. Although, he does seem to hold something slightly more meaningful deeper inside. He wears a variety of different coats, cloaks and jackets, usually leather, and is fairly fond of the color red. Alongside that, he slides himself into some cozy black pants with plenty of "legroom", if you catch my drift, and tops it off with your typical boots for everyday use. Fingerless leather gloves for proper use of his two sidearms, which are safely held in the straps of his dual holster that wraps around his waist, and a belt with a handy little box that provides him with the kinetic energy shield found on most armor suits, enabling him the option to forgo the heavy burden of a full bodysuit; dexterity being his ally. Although, when the mission is said to be a tough one, his crew may force him to wear his armor underneath the shield, out of fear of losing their idiot leader. Finally, he has a beautifully hand-carved red crystal necklace that he seems to cherish rather a lot. The stone is made from some special type of mineral that is alien to humans. It's said that it could be sold for quite a lot of money... And underneath all that garb is a physically fit young man who forces himself to stay in shape at all times. His build is that of your average human soldier, albeit slightly more refined due to his training and on the field experience. Having peaked when he graduated military school, he now stands at roughly 6'1".
Personality: Zack Archer is a fairly twisted individual. As if being the leader of an eccentric group of mercenaries wasn't enough for him, he tends to come off as a bit crazy at times. Not as insane as Jag, mind you, but still very far from normal. He can be rather zealous in the most idiotic ways, as well as completely random with how he goes about his daily life, and this can often lead to a mutual annoyance among his "subordinates". Always seeming to be in several places at once, his style of leadership can be very tiring for the others. On top of that, he has a very large ego that tends to get in the way of his better judgment of everyday life, which makes him a huge liability towards any situation outside of combat and something truly important. On a regular day, if he’s not already drunk or banging one of the female hands on deck, he can typically be found in his cabin, reading Shakespeare while drinking a glass of brandy. No, I’m serious. He actually does this.
Anyway, on most nights, he’s generally just running amuck like an immature child who refused to fully grow up. Wait, who am I kidding—he’s ALWAYS acting like an immature child who refused to fully grow up… With everything he includes himself in; he is over-the-top, cocky, vulgar and ultimately idiotic. Sarcasm and a laid-back—practically carefree – attitude are his two best friends in any conversation. He comes off as rather silly, lazy and informal, which tends to go against his title of “leader” quite a bit. That being said, he’s strong, and still somehow keeps his crew moving from each mission to the next. But still a total dumbass when it comes to anything other than the real important jazz. Which is something he never addresses himself, and simply either ignores, evades or redirects whenever someone else brings it up. No one on his crew, and to their knowledge; no one in the galaxy can figure him out. Some may think they do, but you can never tell what the guy is thinking, or what he’s going to do or say next. In that light, he can be pretty unpredictable. But the one thing you can always count on is for him to be an idiot about whatever it is.
All that having been said, Archer is also many other things. He's generally always very cheerful; his humorous attitude can sometimes break the tension of a really serious or depression situation, and to top it all off, he can be surprisingly kindhearted and selfless under the right circumstances. But above all else, he is loyal to his allies, and would do anything to see that they all make it home after a difficult mission. Although many who think they have him completely figured out might think otherwise, he would take a bullet for any member of the crew, human or not, and if he happened to survive the first one, he'd do it again and again-- as many times as it took. And despite his generally natural charismatic nature, God help you if you ever truly piss him off. Fatally injuring one of his crew is one of the few things that pushes him over that thick line, and in short, he could almost give Jag a run for her money in terms of slaughter. So, in hindsight, despite all of Zack Archer's cons, his pros tend to outweigh most of them in the long run. His mind may be rather twisted, but his heart and soul are just where it counts, and that is why he remains the leader of the little ragtag group of mercenaries in which he considers his one and only true family.
He treats everyone on his crew the same as he would anyone else he meets. The only difference between the two is that he actually cares about his team. No one is exempted from his idiotic manner, and, in a strange way, that makes a lot of the crew feel truly respected by him. Of course, that’s just a load of shit—Archer is just Archer. End of story.
History: Before he could become the man that would one day be known as founder and leader of the infamous mercenary group "The Second Horsemen", Zack Archer had to undergo quite the traumatic experience... Once upon a time, a young boy no older than 3 years lost his parents; KIA on a distant planet in an even farther off system. These parents were both enlisted in Earth’s military, you see, and bought the bullet a little before their time. The young boy, who was then taken into custody by the military due to his parents having had no next of kin for him to go to, who then shoved him off into some orphanage. He lived there for 5 years before choosing to break out because of the horrible caretaker who owned the orphanage being, well, horrible. Now out on the streets, young Zachary had no choice but to do whatever it took to survive. Stealing clothes, barn-hopping (so to speak), eating thrown-out food, you name it. Until one fateful day a few years down the road he encountered an Execrul vendor who, after accusing young Zack of stealing a highly valuable trinket from his stall, refused to believe the boy was telling the truth when he protested otherwise. This led to an uproar between the local humans and other non-humans; the human side believing that the aliens were all merely being petty and making outrageous accusations due to their prejudice towards humanity, while the aliens having been in an uproar for not apprehending a little thief-in-the-making for questioning, despite what would have been done if the roles were reversed. At that point, the Execrul whose trinket was stolen from him eventually gave up, albeit with clear frustration and utter exhaustion. By the time things finally died down and the people went back about their business, Zack chose to stay and try to talk with the Execrul about what had happened. By which, the Execrul merely grunted at him out of anger that humans were all the same, big or small, young or old. This worried the young Zack into thinking that the Execrul may have been right in that assumption, which led him to blatantly refuse believing it, causing him to shout out at the Execrul that he would prove him wrong; prove to him that not all humans were alike in as horrible a way that the Execrul had previously stated. To do this, the boy swore to find the missing item he was currently under suspicion of stealing, and demanded that he work for the Execrul, without pay, until he had either worked off the price of the item, or found the original one that had seemingly been stolen. At first, the Execrul merely guffawed in Zack's face, but he was soon convinced into letting this clearly stupid boy work for him. There were no laws against it, and hey – the boy had sworn to work for free. The Execrul saw this as a chance to get justice for what the little brat got away with.
And thus, young Zachary Archer began working off the item he didn't even steal, until, on his final day, he came across the man who had stolen it one morning as he was passing by an alleyway. Zack had overheard him trying to sell what he described to be something strangely similar to that of the trinket the BLANK had reported stolen. It didn’t take much brainpower for Zack to realize that, whatever it was, the deal was definitely illegal, so he went straight to the authorities. Didn’t take more than a few SECONDS before the authorities rushed to apprehend the thieving bastard-- not after Zack had described the man to them. This man happened to be someone they were trying to arrest for quite some time. Then there was the matter of the trinket. Well, if it hadn’t been for the very detailed list of all the objects the man had stolen over the years and who he’d stolen them all from, the police likely would have held onto that little trinket, which, seen with his own eyes for the very first time, Zack was permitted to return to the old Execrul vendor, the whole town knowing all too well that the boy worked with him as an assistant. It was a beautifully hand-carved red crystal that could fit in the palm of his small hand. This stone was attached to a golden frame and a thin chain, forming the most magnificent necklace Zack had ever laid eyes on. He now understood why it was so irreplaceable; the Execrul’s line of work was crafting jewels with minerals from his home planet. Each trinket was one of a kind, and this one in particular was one of the best he had ever made… It was a few years later, but the Execrul recognized the trinket instantly. The Execrul was utterly taken aback, as the boy had not only proved him wrong, but actually stayed true to his word and worked for 3 straight years without pay in order to help earn back the money that would have been gained from the item, had it not been stolen. Needless to say, the Execrul apologized fiercely, and even offered up the item in question as penance for his mistake in blaming Zack. He accepted the gift graciously, and proceeded to gloat playfully on how the Execrul really was wrong about ALL humans being such a blight on the galaxy. However, he still felt true to his beliefs, and while Zachary Archer had earned a better title than "Just Another Human" in the Execrul eyes, just one soul wasn't enough to change his views on the rest of humanity. Telling him this, the Execrul apologized yet again, and offered up some wisdom for the young boy. “There may be a handful of good people among your race, but suffice it to say, Zack…humanity is, by majority, corrupt, and beyond fixing. You may have changed my opinion towards YOU, but my opinion towards the rest of your people remains the same… I’m sorry. Perhaps you will understand when you are older.” And with that, Zachary knew what he wanted to do with his life: he was to become important enough that he could forever change this Execrul’s, as well as every other race's, outlook on humanity. Just like 3 years before, the BLANK merely guffawed at the boy, telling him that it was impossible for one man to change the ways of an entire race, which is what he would have to do in order to see him concede. With eyes as determined as they were 3 years ago, young Zachary Archer swore to the Execrul yet again that he would one day prove him wrong...
Well, needless to say, that dream eventually died. Zachary Archer, the boy with the dream of one day changing the galaxy's view on humanity, wasn't destined to see that ambition through to the end…
Earth's military was just about the coolest thing a young human boy could ever hope to become a part of in this day and age. That or a mercenary... But who wants to ACTUALLY become a mercenary, am I right? Pssssht. Anyway, when he was 18, that's exactly what he did; he joined up with the military. Showing great promise, young Zachary Archer climbed on up and through the ranks in a matter of just a few short years, reaching that of lieutenant by the time he was 23. Okay, so he may have been smiled upon by an old superior of his parents, so what? The kid had potential! Ahem, moving on… After gaining the attention of a couple of high-ranking government officials, Lieutenant Zachary Archer was offered a spot amongst a select group of young up-and-comers; a team that was put together based on each individual's outstanding achievements in such a short amount of time in their early career. Not knowing any better, Lieutenant Archer was compelled to accept this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Egged on by an old friend of his parents', who, at the time, didn't know the true intentions of either official, Lieutenant Archer gave in, much to everyone's delight. Within a few short weeks, he was enrolled into what was officially filed as 'Project Epsilon': a top secret project funded by some unknown, highly confidential backer. The object of this project was to see if humanity was ready for advanced augmentations, some of the higher-ups not believing the human race had much of a substantial footing among the other races that were so much more advanced in technology than they were, and so they decided it was high-time they attempt at another giant leap for mankind. However, the file which provided the Intel on the government's project had only described the tip of the iceberg... For the only ones who knew just what the actual project was truly involving were the two government officials that were leading the project, and the subjects who would be volunteering in its experiments.
In reality, the level of enhancement these two officials were trying to achieve was simply too much for the majority of humanity as they were now, no matter how much potential each willing candidate had within them. Genetics were absolute, and humanity's just wasn't ready for such a leap. But that isn't to say the two dumbasses didn't try anyway. Before it would be outed as a misconduct and, ultimately, utterly idiotic mistake, the select group of young over-achievers would undergo a series of horrific experiments over the course of 6 long, ever-so-grueling months. More than half were killed in the recovery stages of the surgery, their bodies turning out to have been less than 20% compatible with the augmentations they were implanted with. Fortunately for Lieutenant Archer, he was among the 35% who managed to pull through and survive, although not without...changes... Some of the soldiers were irrevocably damaged. More than a few were permanently paralyzed from the waist down, were left in a state of vegetation, or significant brain damage, while the last remaining 3 were left with severe alterations to their body's chemistry. Things such as the stress-levels from the surgery and experiments causing their hair follicles to become erratic, changing its color to a pure white; other symptoms included schizophrenia, post-traumatic stress disorder, and change in personality. Not every candidate was subject to all of these things, but each did suffer from at least one of them. Lieutenant Archer, for instance, lost his natural hair color and showed signs of personality alteration and ultimate deviation from his original standpoint. While the other two, also having lost their natural hair color; one suffered from PTSD, and the other had developed a minor case of schizophrenia. The soldiers who were still stable enough to maneuver wheelchairs or crutches, yet no longer capable of continuing the experiments due to the heightened risk of death, and were thus removed from the program and relieved of duty, while the remaining 3 soldiers of the Project Epsilon spent the remainder of the project getting used to their new enhancements, until they were scheduled to test out the augmentations in real combat half a year later via a high-risk mission taking place on a planet called Kulnari Eda-- a mission known only to the very top-tier officers in the military at the time. This mission would mark the beginning of the end to who Lieutenant Zachary Archer was...
What happened on that life-changing mission is still not entirely known to the public, or even to that of the majority in the military. The only people with any actual knowledge over the finer details are the two out of the 3 soldiers who survived the mission, and the team that orchestrated the entire program, which, speaking of, was disbanded immediately after reports of how the two high-ranking officials who lead the experiment went about conducting it led to connection with what happened on Kulnari Eda. Apparently, dozens of young, promising soldiers dying in an operating room, while the rest either ended up incapable of furthering their military campaigns, or ended up going borderline insane during a dangerous mission is fairly frowned upon in the human military. The two officials were then both subject to court-martial, and were thrown in prison for the rest of their lives. The remaining staff on the project were merely suspended from active duty indefinitely, with some demotions to tarnish their reputation. As for the two soldiers left behind, well... One of them had gone AWOL after causing what is now known as the Kulnari Incident, which resulted in the murder of Lt. Commander Arther Jackson, AKA, the third Epsilon soldier, among many other innocents, before fleeing after a confrontation with his other squadmate. The military has labeled him as a rogue and a traitor, and regards him as one of their most high-priority targets. He is still missing to this day... The man's name? Vincent Harley... As for the other, our one and only Lieutenant Zachary Archer, he was fully debriefed; first on the mission that set things in motion for ruin, and then again over his experience with Project Epsilon once it came to light that Harley's psychotic break and ultimate betrayal were caused by the whole program. With numerous reports from the surviving victims who failed the experiments backing this investigation, it was only a matter of time before those responsible were brought to justice.
Lieutenant Archer, on the other hand, was forced to undergo a mandatory psych evaluation after a Hearing that would decide whether or not he too should be reprimanded for his unwillingness to come forward with information regarding the inner-workings of the Epsilon Project BEFORE things escalated to near genocide. Needless to say, he was let off easy due to his status, but mainly because of his service in saving planet Kulnari from Harley's slaughter. This netted him the honorary promotion to the rank of Captain, a title those at his Hearing figured he rightfully deserved after proving his loyalty during the Kulnari Incident. However, that promotion wasn't worth its weight in gold, because, as stated above, Captain Archer was scheduled for a psych evaluation in order to determine whether or not he was still mentally fit for duty. Deeming him no longer capable of sound judgement and logical tactics, Captain Archer was relieved of duty, effective immediately... This was in good reason, too, as Captain Archer's personality was so far from what it was when he first joined up with the military. He no longer had any ambition towards changing the galaxy's view on humanity, and he wasn't anywhere near as compassionate as he was when a child. The effects of the Epsilon Program tied in with his further trauma over the Kulnari Incident, which left his mind in shambles. All it had left to do was protect itself from those afflictions, and to do that, it merely had to give in to the experiment's side effect of personality deviation, giving birth to a whole new Captain Archer... Had it not been for the fact that he would have been killed if they were removed, the military was fully ready to extract Captain Archer's augmentations, feeling that they were too powerful for an ex-military operative to hold onto, as well as that they were the product of an unlawful method of enhancement which resulted in the loss and permanent damage of several lives. Captain Archer was more than fine with hearing he was allowed to keep them, as his augmentations were mainly accustomed to enhancing his reaction time and overall speed, which, in his words, was a fun privilege in his life. 2 months down the road and he received a very handsome severance package, which he would soon use to fund his future mercenary faction that would be known as... The Second Horsemen.
History - Archer and Kaine: The story of how Zack Archer and Avis Kaine met is a rather simple and fairly generic, yet lightly humorous one. Shortly after Archer had officially established the Second Horsemen's place in the galaxy, yet before he had even managed to acquire a ship to represent it, he happened along a young man who had come to the same Human governmental office as he. Archer's reasons for being there involved obtaining his promised severance check from the military, and then to purchase the registry of his new mercenary business. And then to...buy a hotdog. Because he was really hungry. Anyway-- Kaine's reason for being there was to officially retire from the job, and to collect his paperwork proving his involvement with the military in case he ever needed it for a future job in need of his skills. By mere chance of Archer, who was eating a chili dog at the nearby food-bar, letting fly an enormously loud sneeze, Kaine's attention -- along with every other citizen in the immediate area -- was drawn to him by reflex. At first thinking that the man was just some regular fool, Kaine did a double-take, now realizing just who the man was thanks to the very unique stature that came with pure white hair. Any member of the human military would have at least heard of Captain Archer back then, and this was Kaine's first time seeing him in person. Once his business with the office were dealt with, he chose to greet the hero. Archer, having already recognized the young man when he first walked up to the counter, returned the gesture, albeit somewhat...unprofessionally. After a short conversation regarding either ex-soldier's achievements, Archer confessed that he was thinking about asking Kaine to join his mercenary group when he first noticed him, but was suddenly too absorbed in the wonderful chili dog in his hand, and so decided to give up on the idea. Since Kaine had ended up initiating a meet instead, Archer chose to offer him the position anyway, claiming that he "needed a good pair of eyes to watch his back in case things ever get shady". In short, he was asking Kaine to be his personal bodyguard, as well as the crew's official sniper. Kaine saw no issue in the idea of becoming a mercenary, but asked Archer to prove that his business was real, upon which, Archer pulled out the papers he had just received moments before, which were now covered with smeared prints of oil splotches here and there, showing the details of the Second Horsemen's registration. With that, Avis Kaine became the second member of Archer's crew; Archer being the first. And that's when Archer slapped him on the back with a smile, said "Great! Now let's go and find us a ship!", and headed off towards the building's exit, leaving Kaine standing there, dumbfounded, as he realized that his new idiot captain hadn't even acquired a ship. He was already regretting his carelessness in not having been more specific in regards to Archer proving he was for real; his future with the man and his ship-less crew appearing rather bleak already... And thus ends the tale of how Archer acquired both his first crew member, and his ship: The Second Horsemen's Revenant.
History - Archer and Aranoth: Archer's history with Aranoth goes back to the Second Horsemen's first year of establishment, when he happened across the talented Xilass at a space station after heading there with his small crew to finish a job that they had been working on over the past few days, which involved the interception of a group of troublesome pirates that had been plaguing system after system for over a year. After managing to take out most of the group at their home base, the leader of the crew fled with his few remaining members. Archer caught up with them after nearly losing track of their whereabouts, only having spotted them when they foolishly let their position be known after attacking a small station not too far away in order to refuel. Archer, whose ship was also beginning to run low on its resources, chose to head in after them, not wanting to let this chance at finally eradicating them from the galaxy slip him by yet again. Having been lured into somewhat of a trap, Revenant sustained a fair amount of damage, effectively leaving them stranded at the station until they could find a way off of it. However, that didn't stop the intrepid captain from finding and killing the leader once and for all. Once all the action finally died down, Archer was approached by a rather interesting Xilass, the likes of which he had never laid eyes on before. The Xilass, name of Aranoth, offered to repair The Revenant at a fair price, which Archer happily accepted without a moment's hesitation. Impressed with the level of quality in the robot's work, as well as the speed in which he pulled it off, Archer offered him a place among the ranks of his small crew as the ship's official technician. Aranoth had no reason to refuse the captain of his offer, and agreed to the position, granted that the Xilass have the chance to make regular stops to the Dephdra each year for personal reasons. Archer saw absolutely no problem in that request and gladly accepted his terms, welcoming in his ship's new techie with open arms. Well, one open arm, as the other's hand was preoccupied with one of the chili dogs he was sharing with a certain Vaegoth Execrul.
History - Archer and Tyraus: Archer actually met Tyraus Ravia Pratix along the way to his eventual meeting with Aranoth. The Execrul just hadn't made the official decision to join until after Archer was getting ready to leave the station. Pretty interesting story, actually. So, there was Captain Archer, on a mission to thwart a band of pirates who were living far beyond their means for an even longer length in time. Thing was, Archer wouldn't be the only one hunting the illusive group that day. A pirate hunter (or so Archer referred to him as, whether he personally went by that profession or not) named Tyraus Ravia Pratix was also after their hides. At first, the two heads clashed upon encountering one another on the planet the pirates were housing their base at. While at first things seemed capable of being handled through professional, calm compromise on Archer's part, two very sound arguments were taken into account that would lead to an outright disagreement between the two. On one hand, Tyraus was there first, and had been after the pirates for months. But on the other... Archer wanted to get paid. This resulted in somewhat of a heated competition between Archer's small squad of mercenaries (really only just him and Kaine, for the most part...) and the explosives expert who just wouldn't back down. Neither side feeling the immediate need to kill the other, the race to the pirate leader's head was more-or-less a friendly one. Over the next few hours, Archer was at the mercy of more than a few well-timed non-lethal explosive traps that would slow him down each step of the way. It wasn't until after Tyraus realized that Archer no longer seemed to be following along the same path as he, that he made his mistake in judgement of the white-haired devil: Tyraus believed him to have given up upon admitting he could not best the intelligent Execrul after all. However, Archer merely decided to take another, albeit, longer path to the goal. With Tyraus remaining one step ahead of Archer for the majority of the event, much to the hard-headed Captain's annoyance, he managed to nearly take out the pirate leader, only to be thwarted by Archer in the end, effectively allowing the bastard the chance he needed to escape via ship. Outraged with the Captain for letting him get away, Tyraus made to leave after the remaining pirates in his own ship, which he had strategically placed ahead of the canyon before heading further down on a speed-glider to attack the group of pirates at their headquarters; his plan having been to move them along through the narrow canyon, and back to his ship where he would have an ambush waiting for them. What he hadn't planned on, was an idiotic Captain showing up to plant some explosives of his own along the hull of the Execrul's ship while he was dealing with a battle against the remaining pirates. Once it came to light that Archer had planted explosives in a rather important place, Tyraus pulled his gun on him, telling him to hand over the trigger. Apparently ready for this very scenario, Archer merely smiled and told him "go fuck yourself", upon which Kaine let loose a bullet from atop the canyon behind Archer, disarming the Execrul with great finesse. From there, a rather humorous exchange took place between the two men: Tyraus made it a point to question Archer's logic in sabotaging his ship, rather than the pirate leader's, which Archer admitted to not really thinking about, as he was too obsessed with getting one over on the Execrul by then; completely forgetting all about his original mission. From there, Archer promised the man that he wasn't about to damage his ship, since he was just trying to outdo him. Of course, as luck would have it, just as Archer was lowering the hand that was holding onto the trigger, a breeze of dust rolled by, causing him to sneeze, which in turn resulted in him reflexively squeezing his thumb down onto the tool that would damage Tyraus's ship so that he couldn't even dream of chasing after the pirates, much less leave the planet they were on. Longer story made short, with that, he felt obligated enough to give the unfortunate Execrul a ride off the planet, with a return trip to fix up the now-broke down one. As they left, Tyraus proposed that the two of them at least worked together towards killing the pirates, resulting in both their win. Archer agreed, seeing no reason to turn down someone of such high caliber as he. And thus, their chase led them to the station that would allow them to meet Aranoth, who quickly became a part of Archer's crew. When settling matters with Tyraus over chili dogs, Archer figured that it made more sense for him to simply join his team, since he'd be on The Revenant for awhile longer anyway. Tyraus, seeing no reason to refuse the captain, merely replied with "Might as well... I've been desiring a change in scenery for some time now."
History - Archer and Salis: A few months after Aranoth and Tyraus joined the Second Horsemen's ranks, nearing the end of its first year of creation, the quickly rising group of mercenaries made a stop at a local station to replenish their resources before another long trip to another system. It was there that Captain Archer spotted -- you guessed it -- a hotdog stand. Completely ignoring the fact that the stand itself was in very poor conditions regarding hygiene, much less the actual food, the young, intrepid mercenary chose to purchase one of their chili dogs, much to Tyraus's clear advisement not to beforehand. Needless to say, Archer came down with a foul case of food poisoning shortly thereafter; one which attracted the attention of many people nearby, yet no possible doctors among them. Just when all hope was seeming lost, and Archer was fated to die a horrible, agonizing death at one of the galaxy's dirtiest space stations, a reluctant would-be doctor came forth. Thinking that the illness he was stricken with had begun to eat its way into his remaining sanity, Archer damn near had a panic attack upon seeing a talking dog offering to treat him to the best of her ability, despite his natural love for the beasts. Shortly thereafter, once it was established that she wasn't there to play games or waste her time, Kaine, Aranoth and Tyraus advised Archer to comply. And by "advised", I mean they totally carried him off to the Tatari's office against his will. About an hour later and Archer was more-or-less fully healed; the doctor's skills having been more than readily capable of remedying such a weak stomach ailment. Instantly back to his usual self as though nothing at all had happened in the first place, Archer made to recruit "the pup", as he called her while petting her head lovingly at the same time as calling her "cute" and "cuddly" with a baby voice, until finally offering her an official job aboard The Revenant as the Second Horsemen's medical doctor simply because he "Loves dogs!". However, in truth, finding a decent doctor who was looking to join up with a mercenary group was slim to never-happening-in-a-million-fucking-years, as it were, so it was safe to say that Archer was ready to take just about whoever he could get. Lucky for him, this particular doctor had an incredible amount of potential, which he noted as a bonus. Not willing to take no for an answer (despite her having said yes anyway...), and without even bothering to ask for her name (which was Salis Hunar by the way), Archer personally dragged the doctor off to his ship, afraid of letting such a once-in-a-lifetime chance slip him by. Salis has been on the team ever since. Does she regret her decision? Probably... Is she happy? I doubt it. But hey, she's getting paid better than she was back at the station, so there's not much room for complaints.
History - Archer and Jag: What led Archer and his crew to finding their next two members was a rumor of a rather powerful Noxchii warrior who was looking to join a mercenary group. Apparently, every one that met with this warrior had turned them down on account of not agreeing to one very specific term. When Archer first met the hulking behemoth of a woman known as Jag, the first thing that crossed his mind was “I'm cravin' a chili dog…”, and then, after he made himself a chili dog, he actually met eyes with the giant: “HOLY SHIT, DOES THIS NOXCHI BITCH WANNA EAT ME OR SOMETHING!?” But only for a fleeting moment. Once he understood what her strengths were – which was more-or-less ALL OF HER – he knew he couldn’t turn her down. He saw a Noxchi woman who was built like a friggin’ tank, and someone who had been through more shit than any 5 star general he’d ever heard of. He didn’t care whether or not she could get results, or provide a solid balance to the team. No, he was more interested in the fact that, like him only to an incredible extreme, she was entirely unpredictable in combat. Having watched a video of a fraction of what she could do as he calmly ate his delicious carb-filled treat, he saw it. And from that moment on, he knew he had to have her on his ship; part of his crew. There was, of course, that one condition she had for coming aboard: a little Minagora with whom she appeared to have established a rather tight bond with. Archer had his own reasons for accepting the little thing, but had he not, he was still perfectly fine with having her on-board. “The more the merrier!” he’d say. Of course, there was also the small fear of some large, 7 foot tall Noxchi ogre of a woman crushing his skull like a watermelon if he didn’t accept the little Minagora hanging in the back of his mind, but it was mostly that other profound thing I mentioned.
History – Archer and Rin: As previously talked about in Jag’s meeting, Archer had to bring the young Minagora known as Rin-Naera, who was practically attached at the hip with Jag, as per her only terms. That being said, Archer found his own reasons for bringing the little one along. She was small, quick, had wings, and was just incredibly adorable. But that last part is neither here nor there. Archer wanted her on his ship because he sensed in her a kind heart and soul. Something he felt that would be needed in his crew of misfits. Plus, she seemed good with math, so she’d make a fine treasurer! But more importantly, he saw someone he could likely rely on to take care of the stuff he wasn’t all too interested in taking care of himself. Like the Second Horsemen’s finances, or gaining information on potential future missions. Plus, the little thing was just so warm and cuddly-looking, and she had an air about her that screamed “LET ME CODDLE YOU!!”, so having her on-board might have helped keep people feeling as though they had someone with whom they could rely on. Like a mother or an older sister. And so, Rin-Naera became pretty much the only responsible person on Archer’s ship, other than Tyraus and Salis. The only thing that she does which tends to get on Archer's nerves is that she's somewhat against him eating a chili dog at every chance he gets, feeling that he needs to cut back on all the carbs. One time, her intervention led to something of a war between the two of them. For awhile, every time she caught him with a chili dog, she'd smack it out of his hand and scold him for it. It got so bad to the point where Archer became akin to that of defiant child, resulting in a large food coma thanks to eating a platter full of them. Rin, feeling partly responsible for this outcome, made to hold back on her attempts at getting him to eat healthier, while Archer decided that maybe cutting back a little was probably a good thing after all, and so chose not to eat them all the time, remembering the coma. Yet despite that small bout with Rin, he still feels the need to refer to her as his “Assistant and Adviser”, which is somewhat true for the most part, but this little Minagora more-or-less takes care of everything herself in place of the ship’s oh righteous leader. Remember, Archer’s a lazy jackass. Of course he’d shirk his responsibilities onto some poor little girl with butterfly wings who was more than eager to help people. He’s Zack Archer. Come on. It was later found out that the one who supplied the "mysterious space chili dogs that just happened to appear on my desk in my private cabin one night" was none other than, you guessed it; Jag.
General Skills/Specialties: Crack-shot with certain firearms, giving him the proper title of a regular gunslinger; expert hand-to-hand combatant and a total trickster when it comes to fighting tactics; incredible reaction time due to physical enhancements and progressive training; likely the fastest human aboard his ship, with only Rin-Naera giving him a run for his money; void of true fear; a great cook when it comes to heating up some instant noodles or left-over pizza; total hit with the ladies...most ladies, anyway-- can be quite persuasive when the need arises; often-times odd, yet motivational speeches; once had an IQ of around 190, until...stuff happened; is a surprisingly good singer when he wants to be; decent dancer too; knows how to brew the shit out of some coffee; spontaneous combat tactics that usually tend to work out surprisingly well when you'd least expect them to; and to top it all off, he's a professional jackass! For lack of a better word...
Typical Weapon Loadout: Dual ballistic pistols. These two pistols were personally made for Archer about a year after he left the military. There are many models similar to his, but currently none of them that are as advanced. Rosa & Lilly's -- yes, he named them – beauty lies in that the rate in which they overheat before needing a new thermal clip is incredibly low, meaning they can typically outlast any average ballistic weapon in open combat. Aside from that, they both have a hair trigger, allowing for speedy gunplay whenever, and a higher rate of fire than most pistols their size. Dexterous, speedy and reliable, Rosa & Lilly are literally Captain Archer's right and left-hand men. Or, uh…girls. Whatever. The two weapons allow him to be quite formidable in close-quarters.
Transportable energy shield that attaches at the back of his belt. This energy shield is rather powerful and lasts a decent amount of time longer than your average shield, but because of that increase in power, the recharge rate is considerably slower. Normally, such a sacrifice for one over the other would be insane, but Archer’s fighting style works with it quite well, in that he doesn’t plan on staying in one spot for very long, and always aims to end a fight as quickly as possible.
