[OOC] Application: Javik McButterfingers The Third

[ancientalien]

P L A Y E R I N F O R M A T I O N
Your Name: Donna
OOC Journal: spacecadette
Under 18? If yes, what is your age?: No
Email + IM: beatfu@gmail - Aim:beatfu
Characters Played at Ataraxion: NA

C H A R A C T E R I N F O R M A T I O N
Name: Javik
Canon: Mass Effect 3
Original or Alternate Universe: Original
Canon Point: Just before the mission Priority: Earth, as the Normandy is heading towards the final battle with the Reapers.
Number: 147


Setting: The distant future of our own universe after the discovery of ancient alien artifacts propels humans onto the galactic stage. This new frontier is populated by numerous and varied alien races, most of which are facing the threat of imminent extinction at the hands of an ancient machine race bent on the harvest and control of sentient species.
More here: Mass Effect

History: Born over 50,000 years ago at the tail-end of a hard-fought war, Javik was bred and raised to be a warrior.

The Protheans ruled a galactic civilization that was comprised of many races united under one empire. This unification was instigated by Javik's people in response to the threat of machines- artificial intelligence- which nearly destroyed their people. This united front was successful, and after a long war they defeated the machines. This helped to foster an ideology of strength through unification and led to a society built on conquest. Their philosophy was based on what they called "the Cosmic Imperative": that the strong must conquer and the weak must die. Over time they learned of the existence of Reapers, a machine race that had destroyed entire civilizations countless times before wiping clean the slate of the galaxy until the next groups of sentient species emerged only to be harvested again. In response to this threat, they worked on developing strategies to combat the Reapers.

None, however, would save their people.

Nevertheless, they managed to battle the Reapers for centuries. It was in this war of attrition that Javik was born to a life of constant battle and destruction; his earliest memory was seeing his planet burn. Javik was a warrior and more. He was an 'Avatar', a Prothean ideal: individuals who represented specific concepts, who embodied them. In his case, Vengance. He lead a group of soldiers who eventually turned on him after becoming indoctrinated (a process Reapers used to control sentient species). He later tracked them down, killing them with his own hands. This experience changed him and how he viewed the world. Afterwards he was chosen to be the leader of the last hope of the Protheans: hundreds of thousands of soldiers kept in stasis and hidden away, to be awoken after the Reapers had retreated back into the void. He and his men were tasked with reclaiming the galaxy in the name of the Prothean people and with strengthening the races of the next cycle so that they in turn could defeat the Reaper, avenging his people and all who came before.

Unfortunately, things did not go as planned. Javik's people were betrayed by indoctrinated forces, their hiding place found and attack by the Reapers. In the resultant battle the pods containing his soldiers were damaged, as was the system meant to revive them. Many live pods were destroyed then and over time most of the remaining were shut off, one by one, to preserve as many Protheans as possible until they could be awoken by some other species. Only Javik remained alive by the time he was awoken on Eden Prime by Commander Shepard and her crew. Their first meeting was less than auspicious. Confused and barely awake, he lashed out at them, driving them away with biotics. Staggered, and confronted by a radically different Eden Prime, he was still long enough for Commander Shepard to touch his shoulder. This contact allowed their minds to touch. It showed Shepard the last moments that Javik remembered and in turn allowed Javik to read Shepard’s physiology, to learn their language. For her to learn, in turn, that he was the last of his people. Shepard invited Javik to join them on their mission and he agreed, tentatively, but refused to shake the hand Shepard offered.

Aboard the Normandy, Javik was confronted with a very different galaxy than the one he had known. Unlike his cycle, where his people ruled the subservient races, the galaxy was divided among many races who ruled cooperatively. Most of them were, when he went to sleep, primitive races not yet worthy of joining his own people's empire. In addition they had received his people’s warnings, had seen their beacons, and had done nothing to prepare for the Reaper invasion. This was far from his ideal situation, once again thrown into a war that already seemed lost.

Despite that fact, he worked with Shepard's crew in order to accomplish his own goal of destroying the Reapers. He accompanied Shepard on her mission to Sur'Kesh, the Salarian homeworld, to rescue the fertile female Krogan who was cured of the genophage: the first phase in assuring a turian-krogan alliance. He failed to understand the point, feeling they should demand the Krogan's help, not barter for it. The diplomacy seemed unnecessary and weak. During this time he had a conversation with Garrus Vakarian and another Normandy crewmember about the wars that had occurred during this cycle. Garrus explained who had tried to kill who over the last few thousand years; in turn, Javik related very similar stories with different names. During their discussion of Reaper indoctrination and conversion, the young crewman is appalled by the Reaper tactics. Garrus respects them, as you would a virus. Later, Javik is surprised at the innocence of many members of the crew- they had not been born in the middle of a constant war as he had.

From there they traveled to the Krogan home world to rescue the son of the Turian Primarch, and later to discover and assist on his mission to disarm a bomb the Turians had left on Tuchanka during the Krogan Rebellion. Javik could not understand the empty threat. In his mind, the genophage was an unnecessary distraction; the bomb itself should have been used first thing, destroying the Krogan all at once. Striking them down for their transgressions. The inherent contradiction of searching out the Krogan help as one of the best defenses against the Reapers now and the insistence that they should have been destroyed centuries before did not bother him. He later had a conversation with Garrus, telling the Turian that he believed Turians would have made a good addition to the Prothean empire. Garrus appeared to take some offense, questioning the difference between a subservient race and a slave race and ending the conversation somewhat abruptly. Javik, however, stated that he found some enjoyment in talking to Garrus as he understood war.

He accompanied Shepard on her mission to assist Grunt and helped her to save the Rachni Queen. In his own cycle, the Rachni had been bred to be weapons until they turned on their masters. He believed them to be strong, surviving two attempts to wipe their species out, and was interested to meet Grunt, whose room he occupied, learning about him through the imprints his psyche left behind.

The crew returned to Tuchanka to spread the Genophage cure. They had to battle numerous Reaper forces before reaching their destination, and they witnessed the death of a Reaper at the hands- or claws- of the mother of Thresher Maws. During the ride Shepard revealed that the Salarian Dalatrass had told her that the Shroud, which they intended to use to spread the Genophage cure, had been sabotaged to prevent just such a thing, and that Mordin would undoubtedly fix it. The Dalatrass had offered Shepard a deal- if she assured the sabotage of the Genophage cure, the Dalatrass would assure Salarian assistance in the war and the Krogan would be none the wiser. After the spread of the cure and the death of Mordin, Javik tells Shepard that he would have betrayed the Krogan in order to assure Salarian assistance for the Crucible and the battle. Friendship meant nothing during war.

Soon afterwards they interrupted a Cerberus coup attempt on the Citadel, the hub of the galaxy. The human councilor had attempted to kill the others and gain power with the help of Cerberus and their assassin Kai Leng who, during the resultant battle, killed Shepard’s old friend and ally Thane Krios. After finding the council Shepard shot the traitor Udina and convinced Kaidan, a former teammate, to join them. Javik had a deep dislike of Cerberus, and traitors in general, harkening back to his own betrayal and the later betrayal of his people that lead to the death of his soldiers in stasis. He questioned the wisdom of trusting ex-Cerberus operatives such as Jacob Taylor and especially questioned trusting Edi, an AI who was created by the organization.

After the battle they returned to the Citadel, and Javik took the chance to visit for the first time in his life. During the height of the Prothean empire it had also been the hub of his people, as it was in Shepard's cycle. However it had been lost long before he was born. While there he encountered a Hanar who recognized him as a Prothean. The Hanar and several other Citadel citizens questioned him about the war and about their chances when the Protheans themselves had been defeated. At first he answered- blunt, honest- that they would probably die, but with some prompting from the Commander he changed his tune. He told them that they weren't defeated yet. That they could fight back because they, unlike the Reapers, were alive.

Later, in an attempt to save numerous Quarian ships from a strengthened Geth, the rebellious AI of this cycle, the Normandy's crew infiltrated a geth dreadnought. During the battle they found Shepard's ex-teammate Legion and rescued him from his restraints. The Reapers had been using him to broadcast a signal to control the Geth, as well as to upgrade them. Javik distrusted the geth inherently and believed them to be enemies. Machines, in his mind, could never be trusted. He insisted that Shepard throw Legion out of the airlock, despite the fact that she disagreed with him, having done her best to make peace with the Geth.

At the request of the Quarians and with new intelligence from Legion, they went on a mission to rescue the Quarian Admiral Koris of the Civilian Fleet. They convinced him to join the rest of the admirals, forcing him to abandon his men below on the planet. His presence would later be key. After sabotaging the Reaper signal on the Quarian home planet below, and with his and Tali's help Shepard managed to diffuse the situation between the Geth and the Quarians, giving the Geth reaper-enhanced intelligence, allowing them to become true AI, and stopping the Quarians from attacking them- an action that would lead to their own destruction. This action secured both the Geth and Quarian assistance in the war and helped win the Quarian home world back, but Javik disagreed with this decision. The Geth could not be trusted. The Quarians are biological, and therefore more trustworthy. In his mind Shepard should have allowed the Geth to be destroyed by the Quarians, wiping out another machine threat from the galaxy.

During the mission on Thessia, where they had gone to retrieve and Prothean VI to assist in the completion of the Crucible, he revealed to Liara T'soni and Shepard that the Protheans had in fact guided much of the Asari's growth as a young species. In fact there was a beacon on Thessia that had given the Asari a leg-up in the galaxy. After the occupation of Thessia by Reaper forces and the loss of the VI to Kai Leng, this proved to be the final straw for Liara. Already disillusioned by Javik failing to live up to her idea of what Protheans were, she attacked him, angry about his people's interference, devastated by her loss. Shepard managed to defuse the situation, allowing Javik to explain to Liara that his people had interfered with hers because they thought the Asari had the greatest chance of defeating Reapers in this cycle, that they were the wisest of the young species, the best of them. Shepard questioned him afterwards, wanting to know the truth of his statement. He told Shepard what she “wants to hear", that he meant what he said to Liara.

On Horizon, the last of the trail of breadcrumbs they had to find the Illusive Man and the stolen Prothean VI, the crew witnessed humans performing tests on other humans- turning them into reaper husks in an attempt to learn how to control Reaper troops and, ultimately, the Reapers themselves. These experiments, run by Henry Lawson and guided by The Illusive Man, shocked and appalled the crew excepting Javik who had seen worse, including the sacrifice of a planet's worth of children to appease the Reapers.

Shepard later went to Javik's chambers, and for the first time Shepard's opinion appeared to matter to him. With her advice he decides not to touch the echo shard, which contained a history of pain and loss, and to leave the past alone- to let the dead lie. He considered, for the first time, his plans for after the war: the possibility of writing a book with Liara about Protheans. He pictured a future without war.

With this possibility in his mind, and with the chance to avenge his people so close he could almost touch it-

That is when they take him.


Note- I'm not including the Citadel or Leviathan DLC as part of Javik’s history.


Personality: Javik was raised as a leader and a prime example of his people among a race of aliens who viewed themselves as superior to all others. So 'superiority complex' does not begin to cover it. When he went to sleep the dominant races of Commander Shepard's time (including humans) were mostly living in caves, hitting each other with sticks and eating flies. As a result he views all the races of the 'current' cycle as primitive as well as being automatically lesser (they aren't Prothean). On top of that he's smug, confident, and self-assured.

His people communicated not just with words, but by reading memories and emotions off of each other and their environment through touch. This might be part of why he is so honest, or to be frank: blunt. He tells things like they are or at least like he thinks they are, which means that most people will be met with regular insults and derision. In addition he is aggressive and violent- as a warrior he delights in battle.

His people did not have good luck with Artificial Intelligence- their Empire was founded due to a war with AI and his people were destroyed by the Reapers. As such he hates all machine intelligence, finding them inherently untrustworthy and destined to pursue the destruction of organic life. Even teammates are not immune to his prejudice. Javik is also single minded and usually bloody minded. As a soldier he is mission oriented, as an avatar of Vengeance he is Reaper oriented. His beliefs are nearly unshakable, his opinions immutable; as the last of his people it is very possible that he cannot bring himself to doubt Prothean ideals now, when they are the last connection he has to his people and his past.

Despite all these charming aspects of his personality, he does have some softness to him- whether it's something he was born with, something he has learned since his time among the crew of the Normandy, or a mixture of both, he can be incredibly sensitive when it comes to people who are truly in despair. People who feel defeated are more likely to be met with a rather inspiring pep-talk than they are with open aggression, and the first time Shepard sees him, in a memory, he is dragging a badly wounded Prothean soldier to safety despite the surrounding chaos and severity of the situation. In addition he is loyal to his mission and to his teammates. In the words of Tali, "he likes them", and despite frequently disagreeing with Shepard’s decisions he continues to work with her and he does not interfere with her choices.

That doesn't mean he's a fun guy to chat with; without the use of his touch empathy he can be unaware of other people's feelings. During conversations limited to words, he either has difficulty picking up other people's displeasure and reluctance or he doesn't care. During an intercom conversation with Garrus regarding the suitability of Turians as a Prothean subserviant/slave race Garrus is clearly and obviously not amused and eventually awkwardly ends the conversation. A similar conversation about blowing up Tuchanka ends equally awkwardly. Talking to Javik can be like getting your teeth pulled, strapped down, as your dentist reads you his manifesto.

Abilities, Weaknesses and Power Limitations: Javik is a talented marksman, he can use most projectile weapons, but he specializes in assault rifles and heavy pistols. He is also skilled in hand-to-hand combat and self-defense. In his Prothean body he is also a powerful biotic, capable of flinging his enemies across the battle field, lifting objects with his mind, and eating away at his enemies strength with powerful mental attacks in addition to the touch-based empathic power of his people. However, his human form does not have these strengths.

In fact, his new body puts him at a decided disadvantage; Javik is used to a wider field of view (four eyes) and a different body structure, as a result his marksmanship and his physical abilities will suffer. In addition he will have none of his innate psychic abilities or biotic powers. He does however have a fairly thorough understanding of basic tech, minor hacking, and certain heavy machinery (the sort used for war). However the technology is he more accustomed to is Prothean based on reaper-influenced designs. This allowed him a certain amount of leeway in Shepard's cycle, where much technology was based on that of his own people and those that came before them, but will leave him relatively untried in other forms of technology.

Basically in human form Javik is a guy who can shoot and punch ok and not much else.

Inventory: An Echo Shard, the last connection to his dead people (useless, either broken or not human compatible), his armor (useless except for the under suit)

Appearance: Both as a work around to Javik’s rather broad range of natural psychic/biotic powers, and because it’s both depressing and hilarious, I’d like to bring him in as a useless primitive human. So while Javik is used to being bipedal four eyed vampire bug he is now human, with only two eyes and two nipples, and he looks like Wesley Snipes ala Blade.



Age: 35 HUMAN YEARS

AU Clarification: NA

S A M P L E S
Log Sample:

Another day of fruitless searching left Javik with nothing. No useful information. This place had never seen the Reapers, or if it had they had forgotten. It did not bring him any closer to finding out how to return from where he was taken, how to return to his war. The irrational movement of the lift does nothing but aggravate him further, reminding him of the sheer distance he is forced to cover. The wasted space. It was all so primitive, so backwards. His people understood what ships were for, they were not for comfort. They were for battle, for transport. The Tranquility made Normandy seem efficient. Curse this place, these people, this-

He refused to hold onto anything, his pride would not allow him, so the sudden jerk sets him off balance on his narrow, strange feet, forces him to bend his knees to compromise, and still sends him nearly tumbling over. Righting himself with a small growl he pushes his way through the doors, finds himself again in a quiet, empty hallway, alone with his thoughts.

He does not want to be. The third night, if indeed that much time had passed, he realized that he missed the feel of the Normandy’s core, the hum of its engines. The echoes of the crew, their fear and sadness and surprising hope. The incessant questions of the Asari- Liara. He should not. They had been so close. So close to completing his mission, to the vengeance he had sought for so long, and torn away from that the thoughts that come are not the pure drive of the last voice of the Protheans but-

He is certain this body has tainted him somehow. This place would ruin him if he did not escape.

Comms Sample:

This is unacceptable!

[The raised voice and clipped words enforce the sentiment, righteously indignant. It is somewhat spoiled by the fact that Javik had placed the device on a table, the camera pointing mostly up his nose, with a side-order of the bottom of his chin.]

I am aware that you humans view a state of filth as somehow natural, but even you must have somewhere to clean the disgusting secretions your primitive bodies produce off of yourselves.

[He’s not focused on the screen anymore, looking around what is, most likely, his cabin. He doesn’t look pleased and disappears off-screen for a moment, accompanied by the sounds of minor destruction, the sliding of furniture and the rustle of fabric. He is muttering something to himself, not quite clear from the distance although the word ‘primitives’ can almost be made out. When he comes back into view he looks even less pleased.]

The fact that your people do not keep even water in your rooms reveals much about you. Do none of you understand the importance of personal hygiene? [He leans over the comm, undeniably looming] You will tell me the location of the nearest private bathing facility.

[He does not say “or else” but it lingers heavy in the air.]