Banana Posted May 28, 2019 Report Share Posted May 28, 2019 "There is no need to suppose that human beings differ very much from one another: but it is true that the ones who come out on top are the ones who have been trained in the hardest school." -Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War Quote Basic Information Name: Lionel Mercier Place of Birth: Harlan County, Terra Date of Birth: 13 September 2272 Age: 26 Gender: Male Height: 5’11” Physical Description: Weight: 180lbs Hair colour: Black Eye colour: Brown Military Information Rank: Lance Corporal Branch: Mobile Infantry Date of Enlistment: 4JUN92 Years of Service: 8 years, 0 months Service Record: Recruit, Mobile Infantry Private, Mobile Infantry Private First Class, Mobile Infantry Lance Corporal, Mobile Infantry Corporal, Mobile Infantry Sergeant, Mobile Infantry Lance Corporal, Mobile Infantry Corporal, Mobile Infantry Sergeant, Mobile Infantry Lance Corporal, Mobile Infantry Corporal, Mobile Infantry (9JUNE) Currently Maintained Certifications: Marksman (Instructor: SSgt. Jane Evans) Grenadier (Instructor: Lt. Elaine Asper) Personal Information Family: Thomas Mercier, Father (Corporal, Mobile Infantry Engineers) [Deceased] Yasmin Mercier, Mother (Private, Mobile Infantry) [Deceased] Lucas Mercier, Brother (Staff Sergeant, Mobile Infantry) [Status Unknown] Backstory: Lionel Mercier was born in the infamous Harlan County of old Kentucky on Terra to a lower class family, as life goes there. His parents, one from a very long line of coal workers, and the other a former factory worker-turned seamstress, were only able to provide young Lionel a meagre standard of life, but nevertheless there was always a roof over his head and food on the table. Even then, Lionel found that he’d have to acquire more food through other means -- originally this meant stealing it, but a few reprimands set him on the path towards honest work. Even with a few honest jobs here and there, the culture of Harlan County caught up with him in his young adult years: an addiction to alcohol and gambling set him back on whatever money he did manage to scrape up through an honest day’s work. His brother, the smarter one, was the first of the family to join the Mobile Infantry -- the first one in the family to get away from home. A few years after finishing high school, and seeing that his brother was already a Corporal in the Mobile Infantry (his brother being a few years older than him anyways), Lionel Mercier decided to take a hard look around him -- seeing empty moonshine jars, rampant poverty, bleak hills which stared back, and no future -- signed the dotted line to follow in his brother’s footsteps. All he wanted was out, and didn’t care where he was going. The new Trooper seemed to perform admirably in his early service, working his way up from Recruit to Sergeant rather well as he wielded a high level of competence among who he counted as his new family, and his new home was wherever his platoon went. His real family, all located in different units but nevertheless close by constant contact, gradually disappeared on him. Some months after learning of his father’s death, a single shot from a sniper while examining an explosive device made by a colonial separatist front, and of his mother’s death, her squad having been killed by arachnids in close combat, Sergeant Mercier found himself on the receiving end of punishment for an alcohol-related offense, and thus demoted back down to Lance Corporal. He took this opportunity to take a look back at the familiar backdrop he found himself slipping back into, and decided to pull himself back together, and push himself up further than before. Then reaching Corporal, Lionel Mercier decided to attend tryouts for Pathfinder Selection. It cost the Corporal a broken arm and a recycle before he was admitted back in for another shot to eventually receive the coveted Pathfinder qualification. To honor his own success and avoid his past failures, Lionel found himself forgoing alcohol completely (though he’s been known to participate in the odd wager, when the stakes are low). Soon after, the pathfinder found himself in a high operational tempo, mission after mission, where he took on a new outlook on life and leadership in the Mobile Infantry -- audacity, initiative, intensity, and above all, competence, were the keys to success. Among Sergeant Mercier’s more successful operations was Operation Marlow, and soon after accepted a transfer to 1st Platoon of his Company after being convinced by then-Staff Sergeant Holtz, with whom he now drops. In order to fit in, and that there was a large amount of Non-Commissioned Officers, he was required to take a demotion to Lance Corporal. Although he wasn't particularly happy about the demotion, he has so far been accepting of it, because he was still anywhere but Harlan County. Characteristics: Lionel Mercier bases all his relations on how much he respects and trusts the individual. He has a basic level of trust and respect for his fellow junior enlisted trooper, and understands that not everyone is a Pathfinder, nor does everyone want to be one. However, he has been known to act on the borderline of disrespectful to leaders, moreso against non-commissioned officers than the commissioned, who display gross negligence and incompetence. He has a few in mind. A subconscious yet permeating confidence could possibly be the root for his social personality as well, as he’s been known to be cynical or plain witty at times; humour is his way of dealing with stressful situations, and the point where Mercier transitions from being quiet to being a chatterbox spewing out humorous and cynical statements is the point where Mercier’s become stressed. Strengths & Weaknesses: For strengths, Mercier maintains a high level of professional proficiency and tactical competence. He’s found that he excels in a small team of competent troopers, such as a recon team, or a subordinate leader task, such as an Assistant Squad Leader, than he is necessarily at leading a whole mob of troopers. As for weaknesses, the trooper can become a bit cocky at times, perhaps even where some might perceive it as disrespect. As well, owing perhaps to his lesser levels of quality education as a youth, Lionel is not quite as competent in technical or the more intellectual tasks, especially those which rely on higher end systems like high-tech computers and communications arrays, or those tasks which require otherwise a very high level of expertise -- save those that would be expected of a former Pathfinder. Personal Relationships Friendly | Liked | Neutral | Disliked | Hated Espinoza, Roger - His incompetence in intelligence gathering and/or dissemination, his job, led to the situation which resulted in the deaths of Mobile Infantrymen and three court-martials for our own troopers (only one of whom was in the wrong and deserved to be tried). Then he had the gall to sit on the court-martial panel and judge the tried as if he were unattached to the scenario. Harlesda, John - A highly competent medic, who I met as a Specialist and is now their Technical Sergeant. He has a good sense of humor too, and I imagine he's just as cynical as I -- a good quality for a medic, indeed. Hawkins, Jeremy - I used to like him, and he's normally a good trooper - we even got captured as POWs together once, and Holtz ended up having to come bargain for us. However, what he did to those Mobile Infantryman, that resulted in a Court-Martial, was unnecessary and blatantly immoral. Holtz, Aaron - We were pathfinders together once, and that's a bond hard to break. In fact, that's all that should be needed to be said here. Nash, Jeremy - Commander....who? I've seen him around, of course, and I know he's the First Mate of the Upham, but other than that not much opinion of him. Oakwood, Rodrick - A good leader to follow. I haven't had much bad interactions with him, but where I have, it's been good so far. I trust him as a Corporal. *Good work on making Sergeant, you'll do fine. O'Mara, Fallon - I've only had two conversations with her, one of which became clearly a lot more awkward for me than for her. An odd one, for whom I'll have to keep an eye out. *I'm sorry that I had to be the one to lash her (and Rosangela), but it was better myself than someone else overzealous. I don't ask for pity, but I hope I can be forgiven for it. The theme of following orders seems to be hitting hard for all today. All in all, a solid first date, and we didn't even have to have dinner. *Pretty alright. Rosangela, Noemi - Although I don't know you well, I'm sorry that I had to lash you. Saiphan, Atichat - Quite competent as an engineer and as a burglar. He saw me hit that guy upside the head with a crowbar and then knock him out before stealing the dude's stuff, so I guess a literal partner-in-crime. Ziola, Emily - Although she had nothing to do with the mission, so far as I could tell, she still delivered a sentence but failed to carry out the punishment herself, instead requiring me to do it. Link to comment
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