Brighton, Aaron

[Guest]

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CASE FILE: Alchemist/Amestrian Militant

"There is a subtle art to what I do. I call it Diplomatic Violence."
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FULL NAME:
→ Aaron Sakhr Brighton

AGE:
→ 25

SEX:
→ Male

BIRTH PLACE:
→ South City

RACE:
→ 1/2 Ishvallan, 1/2 Amestrian

DATE OF BIRTH:
→ June 18th

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HEIGHT:
→ 179 cm.

WEIGHT:
→ 89.8 kg.

PICTURE:
→

Spoiler:

DESCRIPTION:
→ Aaron is a tall, bronzed man with a distinctly slender body befitting an acrobatic gymnast instead of the meaty bulk of a soldier. His heritage gives him away through his naturally tanned complexion, snow-white hair, and eyes the color of hot blood. He stands awkwardly as well, brought up to maintain regal bearing and posture at all times. He has a peculiarly short torso, lined with washboard abs, broad shoulders that do not particularly fit his slender frame, lean arms that support a decent amount of wiry muscle, and overly large masculine hands. His waist begins high upon his hips, leading down into long, powerful legs.

The Wild Man of Borneo wears a slightly modified uniform consisting of rubber polymer armor worn beneath a uniform top that stops just above the midriff and is worn mostly open and tied across the lapel area with knotted rope ending in tasseled tips. The neckline of his body armor ends in a metal plate at his throat resembling a tabbed clerical collar. He wears a matching plate for a belt buckle and modified pants designed to discreetly trap sand along their inner folds. Off-duty, Aaron typically just wears his bodysuit around town without the top to signify himself as a soldier. If he is however made to wear civilian attire, he rarely wears anything other than jeans, t-shirts and his specialized combat boots. He typically wears his hair in a messy style, shaggy and wild, or hand-brushed back – just as wild, usually.

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PERSONALITY:
→ At the surface, Aaron is your typical big brother, friendly, caring, and a bit rough-around-the-edges. His glib demeanor belies an otherwise nurturing nature and he often finds himself going against his beliefs in order to help those he cares for. He loves his sister dearly, despite never wasting a single opportunity to prank or tease her mercilessly. Despite having been one of the few survivors of a tragic military massacre in the far south, Aaron typically maintains the façade of a generally happy-go-lucky individual who values close interpersonal relationships over career advancement, opting to work with those he knows and trusts to have his back in a pinch. Long ago, Aaron set out to join the Military as a means to protect those he holds dear – his sister – in his own way. However, his military career has tarnished the optimistic views he once held as a child; Aaron knows fully well how futile it is to attempt shield the world with just his bare hands.

During his childhood, his grandfather discovered unnatural violent impulses in the child. Believing Aaron to have been acting out negatively due to feeling helpless at his sister's condition, Ulrich had the boy learn to channel his frustrations through more constructive means. His brand of earth-based alchemy was originally developed by his grandfather and mentor as a method of protecting others. However, during the infamously botched Operation Borneo, far to the south of Amestris, Aaron awakened a darkened and more sinister side of himself—born out of the desire to survive and see his sister just one last time. Driven by this sole purpose, Aaron's alchemy became an instrument of quick and efficient murder – for virtually every alchemist will eventually have to touch the ground at some point. As his nature darkened in the fight for survival against his own comrades, Aaron developed what was once a peaceful and elegant art into something as cruel and merciless as he himself had become.

Aaron is complicated. At any given point in time, there are always 'two' of him enacting out their desires; the 'Lightside' and 'Darkside' of him. The lightside of him are the qualities Aaron truly wants to possess. He wants to be a loving older brother, a friend to those who need him, a model soldier, and eventually a father with his own children someday. This part of Aaron loves the world he was born to and, although he struggles to accept the cruel fate she was cast, he loves his sister more than anything else. The Lightside is kind and fun-loving, a free-spirited pretty boy that enjoys practical jokes and pranks, and would never betray anyone's trust. This is the part of him that desperately clings to those childish ideals that the world is always a bright and sunny place if you just believe in it.

And then there is the Darkside…

Aaron is a merciless cynic who will do anything to survive, even at the cost of those he cares about. Ultimately, with his life on the line, he will always do what it takes to escape death—even if it means sacrificing a comrade, harming an innocent, or whatever else must happen to ensure another sunrise. With Aaron, the ends always justify the means and conscience is just one unnecessary precaution that stands in the way of progress. The Darkside of Aaron Brighton loathes the hypocrisy of this life, often comparing to how his sister was born with a 'pure-hearted soul' but left with an incurable illness. He has grown up virtually detesting the fact that he was given so many opportunities while Shula (his sister) had to sneak just in order to enjoy time outside.

Upon returning from The Desert Region and the failed Operation Borneo, Aaron has attempted to reintegrate himself back into a more relaxed lifestyle, but the memories still plague him of what he did just in order to ensure that his sister would never be left alone. He knows that he can never wash the crimson stain of blood from his hands, however many times he feels he must wash them. And although there is no redemption for the atrocities committed as the 'Wild Man of Borneo', whenever he hears his sister's voice over the phone, or looks at her picture in his wallet, Aaron honestly has no regrets. In more recent months, Aaron has begun applying his earth-based alchemy more fundamentally—learning to use the earth shifts he controls in order to locate and 'push up' ore he uses in weaponsmithing. Outside of his not-so-illustrious military career, Aaron is gradually making a name for himself not as the Wild Man of Borneo, but as the Black Steel Alchemist – garnered from his preference of working with Damascus steel.

[Update: 2/24/12] Since the conflict at West and subsequent aftermath, Aaron has become even further withdrawn into his grief and resentment, becoming remarkably cold and unfeeling toward others-- including his mentor and likely best friend, Rose. Alchemy has slipped away from his preference, as he blames his uselessness at it as both the loss of his legs and many of the psychological scars he let befall Rose Connel. And while he has not stricken it from use, he has come to rely more upon firearms and ruthless cunning in battle. Extremely ruthless cunning.

LOVE:
→ Pestering his sister.
→ Drinking.
→ Girls with glasses.
→ Coffee.
→ Video Games.

HATE:
→ Stuck up people.
→ Indecisive women.
→ Dogs.
→ Birds.
→ Fried Chicken (just cause he's Ishvallan does NOT mean he 'ethnically' loves fried chicken, sheesh).

DEEPEST SECRET:
→ When Operation Borneo turned sour, members of his unit were forced to turn against themselves in a sadistic game of survival that left them forced to resort to cannibalism in order to survive. Aaron survived.

IDOL:
→ Ulrich Brighton. You try having a renowned military alchemist as your mentor! His mere presence demands respect, seeing him the flesh is worthy of idolatry or more.

→ Shula Brighton. Because facing all the odds head-on and retaining your optimism is no small feat.

→ Rose Connel. His former CO during Operation Borneo. She alone shares his shameful secret and knows his Third Regret firsthand.

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HISTORY:
→ Aaron originally had all the makings of a happy childhood with his sister, Shula. But we all know that the 'road to ruin is paved with good intentions'. Perhaps that was what lead their parents to divorce; Aaron honestly remembers very little from this time in his life besides the often look of confusion the adults made whenever he questioned why his father suddenly began living apart from the household. And more often than not, his mother would offer only a few small words of consolation: "Baby, daddy has to go away now." By the time they'd moved with their mother to a town just southwest of South City to live with their grandfather, Aaron had already decided in his young heart that he would find a way so that no one he loved would ever have to 'go away' again. He would find a way to have everyone 'make friends' and 'be happy together'. Looking back, he must have been so innocently naïve. Life never let him make that decision in the end. Meissen was not kind to Aaron Brighton and adjusting to the school system was literally and figuratively painful for a skinny half-Ishvallan kid whose straightforward grammar often left him confused with the usually roundabout Amestrian language. He often got into scraps with the local kids, forced to defend himself from rampant bullies who found his red-eyed stare far too offensive to let go without a good beating.

Sensing a relentless frustration rooted in the boy, Ulrich Brighton decided to mentor the child in alchemy as an outlet for his anger. Instead of responding to the taunting of bullies, Aaron became patient as stone, with skin just as thick. Instead of trading punches outside the schoolyard, Aaron learned to defend himself without ever needing to lend a blow—developing his body sturdily enough to injure his enemies merely by blocking and parrying. And by the middle of the first school-year, Aaron had all but befriended most of his would-be tormentors through passive self-defense and good-natured friendliness learned from the application of rock-like patience. It was a good thing to have mastered, perhaps. Tragedy struck scarcely a month later when his sister, Shula, fell mortifyingly ill and became bedridden for the next few months. Despite being concerned to the point of obsession with his sister's ailment, his grandfather insisted he spend more time devoted to his alchemic studies. Only later in life would Aaron realize that his grandfather had provided a much necessary distraction to keep the poor boy from worrying himself to death over something he would later learn he could not change. This was Aaron's First Regret.

The year was a long one and he made up for his brief negligence in spending every spare moment with Shula, often doing his homework at bedside, often reading her stories aloud until she passed into slumber, bringing her tasty little treats from the local confectionary, anything he could do to make the time pass more comfortably for her. Even after her diagnosis, Aaron continued to find little ways to ensure his sister had every opportunity to experience her life in vibrant color and with as much freedom as their mother would allow. But as his sister took interest in alchemy as a means to sate her fox-like curiosity, Aaron took focus on the whole picture ahead of them. The treatments Shula required came with a hefty price-tag. There would be no way that their mother and grandfather could shoulder the financial weight of his sister's illness forever. It was around this time, shortly after his sister's eighth birthday, that Aaron set his sights on joining the military and earning the necessary cash to continue Shula's treatments in the future.

As the years passed, Aaron immersed himself deeper in his studies, wasting no effort in finding a style of alchemy that suited him best. It wasn't until the words his grandfather offered him once on a rainy day it had been too wet to escort his sister outside. "You can't protect Shula with just your bare hands, boy. Get a bigger umbrella." That's precisely what Aaron did; he developed his alchemy to provide a greater degree of shelter to those he loved most. In time, he would become an Alchemist and with his trademark smirk and a clever little catchphrase from their childhood, Aaron donned his uniform with all the pride he could muster, took a photograph, and mailed it home with the note which read: "Nya, nya!" It was a happier time; he never suspected that his harmless goading would further inspire his sister to join the military. If he'd known then what he knew now, he would have stopped her at all costs. This light-hearted joke proved to become his Second Regret.

Things went smoothly for Aaron for a while. His adaptively in training earned him an election in a top-secret mission in which alchemists familiar with earth and the desert were required. And who would know more about sand and rocks than an Ishvallan who reportedly used earth alchemy? He would soon find himself under the command of Rose Connel, a woman reputedly shrewd and merciless as a commanding officer. The mission – known only as Operation Borneo – was to secure a so-called underground trade-route into Xing that had apparently been discovered months ago, but as the area was rife with cave-ins and other wild creatures, only the best alchemists in the element would stand a chance at liberating the route from terrorist insurgents. The mission turned sour the very second they reached their objective. The team of twelve soon discovered that they had been set up from the very start, having fallen victim to a leak in intelligence that left them strolling right into an ambush. Cut off from their escape route and forced to take up shelter in an enigmatic labyrinthine maze, Connel did her best to keep her men in line.

But as the weeks rolled into months, and the months piled up without word from Central, desperation pushed the members of Operation Borneo to their limit. A quiet mutiny almost took place between Connel and the next two in the line of command, where Connel wasted no time burying a combat knife into the throats of the would-be traitors before they could further incriminate themselves against military code and procedure. By the end days of isolation in the field, starved, and mentally broken against enemies who knew the layout of the maze and had proper rations and sleep, Connel began cooking and serving the remains of their fallen comrades as a last resort, first in secret, but later openly once the lowest ranking member of Operation Borneo discovered what she was up to. Stunned that Brighton said nothing of her actions, she appointed him her 'butcher' of sorts, in charge of quantifying the meat so that it would be carried easily and consumed on the move. Agreeing to this mortal sin would become his Third Regret.

To this very day, neither of them have offered details on how they managed to survive the lengthy ordeal without starving to death. And while the higher ups at Central have many speculations, none dare to face the touchy subject. What is known is that upon return and reclassification to West, Aaron has allowed his career to fall lax, slipping into lethargy and having missed a mandatory exam pertaining to his State Alchemy License, per the regulations update of the newly appointed Fuhrer. As it stands, Aaron is at risk of losing his rank and title if he does not work up the resolve to reschedule this exam at some point soon.

[Update: 2/24/12]
During the conflict at West, Aaron fought briefly-- but incoming fire caught him from a blind side and brought a wall collapsing down toward his comrade, Rose Connel. In a last ditch effort to protect his mentor, he swiftly shoved the woman to safety and took the brunt of the crumbling debris, both legs being crushed beneath. Doing all she could, Rose managed to pull him from the rubble. With conflict spreading between them and the rest of the Amestrian forces, Connel quickly beat a hasty retreat—using her alchemy to keep Aaron from rapidly bleeding out whilst carrying her friend to the nearest town with the intent to find medical attention. However, by the time she made it there, it was far too late to save what was left of Aaron's mangled legs. When he finally awoke, he found that Rose was left with no choice but to allow doctors to amputate, leaving him permanently bound to a wheelchair for what would be for the rest of his life. Perhaps he would have been furious at his friend, but for the life of him, he couldn't remember why; his earliest memories had begun waking up in a hospital bed with Rose worriedly watching over him while he slept. He'd suffered a severe blow to the back of the neck when the wall collapsed on him, leaving him without a trace of his past.

For months, things were peaceful. Rose managed to scrounge up what she could in order to rent out a small cabin on the outskirts of town and took care of him while he recovered. He took to reading to ease his curiosity and cut through the boring days while Rose was away at work; somehow it soothed him, as though it always had before. And Rose's tales of her often frustrating work-days were an easy source of amusement whenever she was home. Nonetheless, Aaron grew restless. He just knew there was something he was missing about this carefree life; something his friend was keeping from him. Having grown weary of veiled white lies about his past, Aaron decided to follow after her into town—only to find her being accosted by a gang of local thugs. Ordinarily, they would have been little match for a trained soldier like Rose, but all of them were well armed. Fearing the worst, and unaware of Rose's hidden talents, Aaron rushed to act, snatched a pistol from the back of one of the thugs' waistband and let off a few dead-aimed shots with skill he shouldn't have possessed, nailing two of them in the legs before being kicked over out of his chair. Rose rescued him from being killed, warding the rest off, but not without leaving her friend with so many unanswered questions as she helped him back into his seat.

But rather than answer questions for him, she had railed about his endless stupidities and nearly getting himself killed—again. Feeling chagrined and useless, he asked no further questions when she came home one evening with a fully functional and nearly top-of-the-line set of automail legs and a thick instruction manual. Typically such surgeries were performed by only trained automail mechanics, but as theirs was a special case and he was desperate to regain the position to be better equipped to keep them both alive, Aaron allowed Rose to install the devices. The only thing he asked was where she had gotten something so insanely expensive, and she had merely grinned and rubbed her nose as she stated she couldn't tell him her contacts.

It had been a lengthy process in retraining himself to walk with his new extremities, but the ever patient Rose was there with him to encourage him and chivvy his self-pitying moments. But Aaron Brighton was nothing if not cockroach-like in his stubbornness, and he got himself walking as soon as he could retain decent balance on the clunky metal legs. His own agility and skill, even with such a handicap, surprised him more and more. But if he had been pleased with his progress, he noticed Rose becoming increasingly pensive. She'd never really been Miss Sunshine, but ever since their escape from that POW prison in Creta she had been more withdrawn than he'd ever known since waking from his hospital bed. Aaron himself didn't know all the details. He had spent a long time convalescing from his injuries and Rose did her best to keep the worse aspect of those days from him. But, the time was soon coming for him to get some answers from her now that he could walk and move with relative ease again.

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TRIVIA:
→ Aaron likely suffers from Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, common to soldiers. His refusal to offer much detail into what went down in the desert region and his reluctance to seek counseling since returning to active duty hints that he suffers deep psychological scarring in silence and uses his sarcastic since of humor to avoid the subject altogether. He displays an extreme case of hypervigilance, often experiencing paranoia to the point of extended periods of insomnia.

→ Although he takes just as much pride in his heritage as an Ishvallan, Aaron tends to lean more toward a life uncharacterized by his bloodlines alone. Often, he tends to completely ignore that there is a racial difference between himself and most others, even when faced with the issue directly. This is likely due to some difficulty faced during childhood, being of mixed heritage. Like most issues in his personal life, Aaron refuses to speak on the subject without a quick sarcastic joke to change the subject completely.

→ Aaron typically speaks in riddles from time to time, but references a system of believes he calls his 'Greatest Regrets'. They are a system to keep him from repeating past mistakes, something his grandfather installed so that there would be only four major regrets in his life. One for each cardinal direction. When he could look in any direction and see regret, only then would he be able to ascend mortal doubt and uncertainty and reach the true potential of his alchemy.

→ Speaks Amestrian & Ishvallan.

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ALIAS:
→ Aaron Brighton

OTHER CHARACTERS:
→ None ATM.

CREATOR'S COMMENTS:
→ Just a re-post of my original character.

FACE CLAIM:

Code:

[b]Fate/Stay Night[/b]/[i]Archer[/i]

CUSTOM RANK:
→ Wild Man of Borneo

OFFICIAL TITLE:
→ "The Black Steel Alchemist."

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[Reila Tsukino]

Archive date is the 29th.

[Guest]

Alrighty. Better go ahead and wrap this thing up, then, eh? *finishes it*

[Reila Tsukino]

APPROVED

Welcome baccckkk. If you have to leave again, you should let us know~ Also, I can't wait until he meets Spade! XD

[Reila Tsukino]

Rolling rank...

[Dai]

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'Lieutenant Roll' : 3

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