Profile

Tarik is an inhabitant of the Human Sphere, a sci-fi setting around 200 years in our future. Humanity is divided among a handful of trans-national powers, each holding at least one planetary system. One of these post-nations -the one to which Tarik belongs- is Haqqislam, the Pilgrim Islam.

Haqqislam
Settled on the arid world of Bourak to escape religious conflict on Earth after the murder of its founder, this moderate and humanistic new branch of Islam made great advances in both terraforming and biomedical science to help their population adapt to the ruthless environment. They also found the Silk, a substance that allows several breakthrough biological and genetic modifications and most importantly facilitates the use of craneal implants called Cubes to store a person's memories and personality and implant them into an artificially-grown body. This process, called "Resurrection", has become far more common throughout the Human Sphere thanks to the Haqqislamites discovering how to synthesize the Silk. Artificial forms of Silk exist, but their effectivity is much lower and their cost much higher. The control of such resources and their commerce are what make Haqqislam an influential power despite its smaller size and general lower technological level compared to the grand players of the political arena. And to defend those resources and the freedom of its people, Haqqislam has a large, well-trained army. One of the keys for the Haqqislamite Army to stand its ground against the troops of rival factions are its biomedical enhancement programs, of which the first was "Runihura" (The Destroyer), the program that gave rise to the Khawarij.

The Khawarij
The Khawarij are an elite unit, a troop of lightly-armored assault commandos who have undergone the enhancement program known as Runihura, gifting them with superior physical capabilities, most importantly enhanced reflexes, endurance and senses. They are also given religious training, being considered Ulemas (Scholars) of Haqqislam. Thus, troops often turn to them for advice, example, and leadership in times of crisis. The Khawarij are well aware of this role, and proud of it.

Tarik Mansuri

[Excerpt from a briefing session on Haqqislamite military forces to new members of the Hexa military counter-intelligence unit of the PanOceanian army.]

"This legendary Red Turban has been serving in active duty for over forty years. Let that sink in... Clearly their Runihura Super Soldier program works. Tarik is obviously their crowning achievement. Whatever the process is, it worked more effectively on him than it has for anyone else. Records and statistics complied over the years document him as being 25% faster, being able to jump 50% higher, 5% more accurate, his melee reflexes are 15% quicker, and he still has 5% greater lifting capacity while carrying 10% more armor and other equipment. These are all approximations of course, since we can't very well sit him down and give him a physical... but obviously we have been tracking his progress for a long time. Our technology may be superior, but we are far behind in the medical field... they created this monstrosity nearly half a century ago..."

[End of Excerpt]

Tarik was one of the first subjects to undergo the Runihura program, and the best result ever gotten out of it. His metabolism seemed to fit the enhancements perfectly, raising his performance to near-superhuman levels and all but stopping his aging processes. It is rumored that his body was altered in more peculiar and mysterious ways, but military authorities aren't telling (Which only serves to further fuel his legend). Now, forty years afterwards, he is a veteran of several wars and the de facto leader of the Khawarij unit. Nevertheless he is often seen in the field, leading the advancing forces on the offensive, reinforcing the line wherever it starts to falter, and rescuing those who have been pinned down by enemy forces. Like all Khawarij he is a pious man, knowledgeable in Haqqislamite doctrine, and a capable military leader, but he is also firmly convinced that the Khawarij's place is at the frontline, leading by example.

Physically Tarik is quite imposing, standing at around 6 feet 4 and with a broad-shouldered, muscular build. His dark hair and trimmed beard are shot through with gray and his eyes, set in an aquiline and somewhat grim face, are a very dark green. He is always seen wearing the red tagelmust (A length of cloth used as a combination turban and face veil) of the Khawarij. Aside from that he usually wears light body armor and a standard Khawarij combat uniform of dark gray and tan with red markings and a brown leather officer's coat.

Personality-wise he is devoted to his nation but not a fanatic, determined and more than a bit stubborn, a grizzled veteran with a caustic sense of humor who sometimes forgets compassion in the heat of battle but always tries to make up for it. At the core he is both a warrior, feeling alive in the midst of battle, and a modern officer aware that a cool head is a must if one is to survive and lead his men to victory. His is a path as dangerous as a sword's edge, and he walks it without much time for hesitation.


[OOC Info]
[Tarik's physical capabilities aren't defined exactly on the canon material, but can be extrapolated (more or less) from the miniatures game stats. He is extremely strong, on the upper limit of human ability and comparable to a powered armor suit in his own 'verse. He's also extremely agile and gifted with superhuman jumping and acrobatic ability, being able to vault over obstacles six or seven feet tall mid-run without pausing and similar feats. His senses are also enhanced to the upper limit of the human range. The strangest effect of the Runihura process on him has been the change of his blood into a mild contact poison, hardly powerful enough to kill, but causing nausea and/or partial paralysis if it affects a sensitive area (Like the eyes, for example).]


Disclaimer
Tarik Mansuri is from the setting to the miniatures game Infinity (http://www.infinitythegame.com/infinity_ENG/), and is the property of Corvus Belli. He appears here because the setting is so good I felt the need to role-playe someone from it in (http://milliways-bar.livejournal.com/profile)milliways_bar (http://milliways-bar.livejournal.com/). The only profit derived from this is the possibility to share a good setting with other players.