Thomas "Spike" Hornsby

 Death from Above  

Spike, born as Thomas Hornsby, is one of the newest Rangers protecting the wilds of Kytheria. He doesn't show his emotions often, but he does crack a smile when he sees something neat in nature.

Coming from a job as an oceanic drill opeartor nature is an escape; one that he is eager to turn into a career. His most defining feature is a scar that runs from cheek to the back of the skull, caused by a reciprocating drill on his last mining job.

Early Life

Born as the son of Syndicate laborers in one of the oceanic mining colonies of Jōminato, Thomas Hornsby's upbringing had a singular common theme: to work is to be happy.

The young Thomas Hornsby became infatuated with nature and her elements at a young age. His educational center was located near the cities nature reserve, and he spent most of his free time volunteering or relaxing within its biodomed walls.

That love of nature kept him going as he travelled down the vertical tram to the sub-oceanic mining hub that he called home. While the sights below the ocean were beautiful, he could not be a part of it. So to him, it was not as real and visceral as the greenery above.

The Natural Course

As he grew up the son of miners, so too did he learn how to mine. His strength as an IreHeart made him perfect for working the heavy machinery. Noted in his performance reviews for being a self-starter and kind soul if not a tad unenthused about his line of work. His coworkers say that his apparent lack of enthusiasm is just because he doesn't get excited about most things.

Despite his 'lack of enthusiasm' he became a Senior Specialist Operator and took responsibility over the heaviest and most expensive machinery that the Syndicate had. Over the years, he earned the nickname "Spike", due to him always being behind the drill on an operation.

He gathered quite a group of loyal friends through both his day job as a mining equipment operator and his secondary volunteer role in the hydroponics and farms. He used the opportunity to learn how to cook, as he grew tired of the processed and packaged foods that were common in the Syndicate.

Yeah, spent my first decade of adulthood locked underwater for half of it, and underground for the other half.

It wasn't bad, it just made me feel cooped up at first.

But it just spiralled out of control.

— Thomas

A Hard Time

After a decade of his work, Thomas began to suffer from depressive fits that would hit hardest when he took the elevator down to his home. The walls around him clawed at him, and the flash storms passing overhead didn't bolster his desire to be in nature.

His work suffered first, where he previously held a near perfect attendance, he took sick and personal leave multiple times during his last year of service. During one such vacation, he camped out in the nature preserve for an entire week. Spending a good chunk of change for the license to do so.

Soon his personal life suffered. His coworkers and parents showed concern enough to file a motion for physcological treatment for depression. He was evaluated but managed to test out of have any clinical depression, he showed no anger to those who helped him but he grew more and more distant as the weeks went on.

The Drill

His life changed when a reciprocating drill burst out of its case directly back into Thomas's skull. Miraciously and with the help of his closest friends, he survived the ordeal of having a spike lodged through his face and head.

The injury was horrific enough to cause a shutdown of the mine for a week, with an investigation coming out that it was a fluke in the drill housing.

Getting out

Despite the investigations coming up to show that the drill was not operated correctly, the Yamamoto Defense company handled Thomas' case in a way that surprised even Thomas.

He expected criminal charges, but instead he was made an offer to relocate to a new planet with a different assignment, one that brought him out of the ocean and onto actual land. He was to join the Kytherian Rangers, where they had need of someone with his strength and love of nature.

Thomas accepted the offer immediately, after a teary farewell to his family and friends, he shipped off to Kytheria.

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Species

IreHeart

Ethnicity

Jōmanite

Age

35

Pronouns

He/Him

Sex

Male

Eyes

Coal

Hair

Short-cut dark brown hair

Height

6' 5"

Opinions

The Syndicate

"They treated me right, despite them not having to."

The Haimarchy

"I heard they got some insane gardens..."

Poachers

"It's my job to take down who ever would fuck with this place, and it's my passion to do it well."

Violence

"I like settling things with words and drinks, but nature is nature."

Vices

Stimcigs, Alcohol, Coffee, and Nature

Desires

Protect nature, learn about animals, and plants.

Suffers From

Night Terrors, Stimulant Addiction

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Inspirations

Vinny from Atlantis (Monotone personality, dry humor)

Player Notes

Two Weeks into training, spotted the first Kytherian Sazakraht of the training. Not as big as I thought they'd be but it was heck of a sight. Lounging on one of the big trees

Day 1 - Not the Bees

Got the job to take out in five seperate locations.
Slog Oasis Refugees taking shelter - (Overrun base in Swamp)
Terraformer infestation Farmstead
Goal is the get as much information on the bees as possible. Capture a specimen if possible. Our information will be used to plan a counter attack.
Emberwasps have a glowing thorax. Farmer says they are big as cats. Type of Rutas, make their hives out of bioplastic.
Went flying over the slog oasis, found incomplete nests built on top of some of the abandoned habitats. Marked the location on the map of the infected houses.
The pattern of the buildings we found infected seemed to follow the path of the river. Which means we may have a source at the deltas or other water ways.
Moving water seems to be where they are the most.
A bunch of huts have been set up between the deltas, they have a landing pad but there's a crashed vessel blocking it. Red Lorry has been crashed there for a while. The survivors of the camp are trapped in their huts.
Landed on the dock on the water, really nice wooden dock and structures. Looks real nicely done. Lots of boats moored in the docks.
Hiserabi and Ral-mi mostly, refugees are also held out. Ral-mi got stung by one, tackled off a roof as well. They have a long prehensile tail with a stinger.
They got aggressive when attacked, and when the emberwasps couldn't find slog. Might be a food situation.
We gave our lunches to the folks, they have a dead insect to look at so let's take care of that. We will also try to smoke it out once we know a bit more about what we are dealing with.