FEV_Strain_Blue: PROJECT ALEXANDRIA

When IMB began using their newly developed Virus strains on animals soon after their founding, they were met automatically with problems with the mutants practicality, such as a lack of intelligence or insufficient strength increases which eliminated creatures such as members of the Chelicera family as a reliable weapon. These problems in practicality and usefulness lead the small company to drastically change tactics in order to produce cunning mutants who while strong were also easy to control. Their solution, various sets of forced human experimentations in the hopes the human intelligence would bleed into the projects.

Enter PROJECT ALEXANDRIA

PROJECT ALEXANDRIA was one of the few Human Based Experiments started by IMB in response to failed animal experiments. This B.O.W. Project was named after the first successful mutation, and sadly enough, the name of the first victim-a woman test subject abducted from the Commonwealth Wastes by IMB forced to undergo a plethora of biological experiments using a new strain of FEV, dubbed Strain Blue. She became important in the development of FEV-Strain-Blue as she became the first modern human to survive the infection as well as the patient zero for the attempted creation of more mutants like her, The resulting experimentation mutated poor Alexandra and many women into a monstrous abomination known as a BOLTER.

Appearance and Abilities

Bolters are a vastly uncommon quadrupedal humanoid-mutant that is noted for its impressive flight response to threats, bolting away from potential danger before leaping out again at whatever disturbed them. The extent of this creatures mutations goes far beyond many others, for while many are built with strength in mind such as Hekatoncheir (PROJECT COLOSSUS) but lack speed or endurance, Bolters are designed with aerodynamics in mind so much that it epitomizes speed with a almost arrow shaped head, long legs, and muscular rear end. With a body type similar in design to that of a greyhound, these strange creatures can top speeds at thirty miles an hour in a single sprint, making them a speedy catch. However, although several cloned specimens were cultured and displayed impressive combat performance, practical application as a B.O.W. was shelved due to unsourced reasons.

A deadly monster of grotesque appearance, Bolters are slim, yet streamline built, whose combination of long, powerful legs, deep chest, flexible spine and slim build allows it to reach average race speeds exceeding 64 kilometers per hour (40 mph).
Bolters are dolichocephalic, with a skull which is relatively long in comparison to its breadth, and an elongated muzzle.

While this variation of the Mutation does not create massive muscle growth like the Heka, added strength in the lower quarters has given the Bolter the ability to repeatedly jump and pounce from long distances and rapidly scale the sides of buildings with ease, apparently not suffering from perpetual lactic acid build up from muscle overexertion or impact damage after experiencing a large fall, the latter of which entailing a “Internal Padding” or something similar as the “cat righting reflex” where a cat has the innate ability to orient itself as it falls in order to land on its feet. In addition to the potential “Bolter righting reflex”, were the creature 'orients their limbs horizontally after achieving maximum velocity so that the impact is more evenly distributed throughout the body, it is believed that bolters have other features that reduce damage from a fall such as small size or potentially a lighter bone structure.

Attack Patterns

• Burst Combo

The creature will swipe its claws up to four times in succession. Alternates between vertical and horizontal swipes.

• Soaring Pounce

The creature will leap and swipe toward the player. The boss variation of this beast can cover a large distances with its leap.

• Bite

The “Bite” attack carries a 30% chance of entering BLEEDING status when hit on all difficulty modes.

• Claw Combo

Up to six slashes with heavy stun, ending with slow headbutt

• Pin Pounce

Leaps and pins down a helpless Survivor while the creature claws at them

Trivia

• While roaming the world, Bolters may be in the presence of Pups. Pups are small fetus like beings that occur when a runner is pregnant at the time of their change. Pups are the most strangest type of mutant for many a reason, but the main is that their appearances HIGHLY depends upon how far a woman was in her pregnancy at the time of her change. Where as normal mutants have a set look at the time of their change, Pups created at around 16-28 weeks of fetal growth are generally more likely to LOOK human/semi then those born 12 and lower. Those born 12-lower are LESS likely to look human and will instead take on the characteristics of, you guessed it an underdeveloped fetus, who despite the virus are generally useless and instead provide a first sickly meal of sorts to “older” pups

• Bolters have been known to parrot their victims last words, or random phrases they’ve heard survivors say/utter. It ain’t really that good at mimic but it can make it sound convincing, thus allowing them to pursue prey easier. Pups which are weaker but still just as fast, can’t mimic like their parents, but have better weapons like claws and sharper teeth and just generally weird anatomy.

• The initial prototype’s data was lost some time after PROJECT ALEXANDRIA got off the ground. As a result not much is known about what happened to “Alexandra” after she was mutated and cloned, though general consensus says odds are she was terminated or still exists somewhere in hiding. FEV-Strain-Blue and its mutations seem to be sex-linked as only female have been observed. How they produce pups outside of already being pregnant during their change is unknown but it is believe to be a form of hermaphroditism, a extremely rare and practically unheard of side effect from FEV, which often causes sterility in its hosts, leading Bolters too be the only “human based” mutant to retain its reproductive abilities