Zack "Volt" Gage

"Don't shoot him! I think he's on our side!"
-- Zack in Play: OC Area
Zack "Volt" Gage is a 17-year old anthropomorphic black vulture. Created on Fanfiction.net by R.M. Hunter, he appears on the Sonic OC RolePlay Station forum. He is one of the three members of The Krait, along with Firetail Taragon Jr. and Krysten "Gobi" Taragon.
== Physical Appearance ==
Zack is a common black vulture; he has black feathers with a dark grey beak that is hook-shaped and broad. He has chest down that is pure white and feathers on his head that are pulled back into a slick spike. His eyes are bright blue and are lined with red eye shadow. He is pretty muscular and consequently weighs more. Being the brawler of the group, he wears much more armor than the others. He constantly wears his thick, black, knee-length armored jacket that looks like a trench coat, along with a pair of thick dull-green trousers and brown jump boots. He carries a rifle sheath on his back and a heavy utility belt around his waist, the latter in which he holsters his blaster. He wears white gloves and chrome knuckles. A clip on his utility belt allows him to carry his portable computer as well, and he has an arm-mounted radar on his right arm.
== Description ==
=== Personality ===
Zack is a rather violent bird of prey. Much like his leader, he is completely addicted to action and refuses to go for very long without some sort of physical exertion, be it in the form of training, conditioning, or combat. His greatest trait is his combat skill and improvement. He learns from his mistakes in every fight and is more lethal after losing a battle than after winning one.
Aside from his rather aggressive behavior, Zack isn't much different when around those he can trust. He is irresponsible, forgetful, and unreliable. All in all he has a fairly poor reputation. He enjoys seeing beings of power, even if they are about to attempt to destroy him. He even more enjoys defeating beings that appear to be more powerful than he.
Zack is more of the closed-minded stubborn types. On almost every situation or circumstance, he forms a very firm-set idea in his head about how it should be handled and will not be waived from this decision unless those disagreeing with him have a very good logical point. He holds grudges and is very judging.
His main 'good' trait is his zeal. He will not let anything at all sway him from achieving what he wants. This gets him into some deep trouble more often than not but he is definitely not known as a quitter.
=== Combat Skills ===
* Quantum Dak Computer - 2/3 lb., can connect to all dataports
* TSI Executive Laser Blaster - 8 laser shots, 8 lbs., range 100 yards
* Sniper Rifle - 20 lbs.
* Chrome Enforcers II - 2 chrome knuckles, 2 lbs. each, spikes
* Toi-Ki - Martial art that improves mobility, utilizing mid-air jumps, flips, rolls, and leaps. Zack is currently learning this art.
* Street Fighter Technique - Personal technique that involves punch combos, kicks, flips, and dives. Zack has perfected this technique.
=== Strengths ===
Zack's greatest strength is his great software intellect and application. He is a Grade-A programmer, one of the most brilliant programmers in the entire quadrant. He uses this ability to create antivirus software and security measures, but also to hack systems open and create viruses.
From being the whipping-boy of The Krait, Zack has developed some sort of artificial resistance to physical pain. However, if he is too damaged or in a poor mental state, his resistance is lowered and he becomes much more sensitive.
He is also an experienced hoverboard master, being Firetail's only real competition back when they both worked for TerraStar Industries. He knows more tricks and attacks on hoverboards than any of the others, but he is often over-aggressive, and his performance suffers from this.
=== Weaknesses ===
Zack's main weakness is his many personality flaws. Since he is unreliable, irresponsible, often dishonest, aggressive, stubborn, arrogant, and insubordinate, he often doesn't perform very well on his own, and Firetail often has to keep him in check.
His only other real weakness is his ineptness at fighter combat. He is the least experienced and least efficient fighter pilot of the entire group, mainly because he prefers to sit on the edge of a combat stage and hack the enemy systems instead of rushing into fights. Due to this, his survival chance in a fight is greatly increased.
== HistoryCategory:Characters ==
=== Origin ===
Zack had the "good life," or at least so compared to the other members of The Krait. He was born into a wealthy family on the planet Meiton, a large planet population center. The Imperial Meiton Navy was attempting to unseat the dictator of Draykeon, a neighboring planet. But Zack took no part in the war, rather he began a formal education.
Quickly learning his father's trade, that of a software designer, Zack began to show an interest in computer programming, and he had the talent to do so. Eventually his intellect grew to a level so high that when he was thirteen he won second prize in an interstellar cyber competition, and he eventually graduated his school at age 15. But during that time, he had begun to dabble in the arts of hacking.
=== First Job ===
Easily securing a well-paying and well-deserved job at TerraStar Industries' Design and Programming Department, Zack was happily employed for about a year and a half. During this time, he met Firetail and worked with him on several occasions, the two quickly becoming best friends. Firetail trusted Zack enough to show him his own homemade combat and weapon designs, and Zack allowed Firetail access to his own hacking and virus software that he had completed.
The two took a downward spiral and began to hang out at bars and get themselves drunk, often showing up late for work. They grew restless and began racing on hoverboards, earning them several speeding tickets which they passed on to Zack's parents. After a fight with his parents, Zack left his home for good.
=== Joining The Krait ===
Firetail was fired from the firm not soon after Zack was turned out of his house. Enraged at the executives, Zack also quit his job and managed to catch a ride to Cyris, where Firetail was headed. They met up again at the spaceport. That was when Firetail revealed his plan for revenge against the mega-corps. Zack opposed this idea at first but gave in at the prospect of a life filled with action, danger, adventure, and money.
Because Zack was now recognized as a hacker, Firetail suggested he changed his name. Zack chose the name Volt (to make his name a play on the word "voltage") in order to cover up his true identity. He is the main brawler and hacker of The Krait, and has the largest bounty of any of The Krait members: $5000 for a confirmed kill and $30000 for his live capture.
== Relationships ==
Firetail Taragon Jr.
Volt and Firetail have been best friends ever since their old days at TerraStar Industries. Occasionally they have fights and brief fallout periods, but are always brought together by their unwavering loyalty and desire for action. Firetail almost always confides in Volt everything he knows, and Volt does the same.
Krysten "Gobi" Taragon
Gobi and Volt share a sort of mutual trust relationship, but that's about as far as it goes. More often than not they disagree on how situations should be handled. Volt is slightly jealous of Gobi because Firetail listens to her advice more often than his. However their differences are always settled and do not prevent them from admitting their mistakes.
== Forum Appearances ==
=== Play: OC Area ===
Volt's first appearance on the forum was as himself, the left wingman of The Krait, and he generally plays the role as the guardian of the equipment that they keep at base. Although he did leave the outpost a few times, such as when he attempted to aid Gobi's escape, most of the time he relaxes in the command tent and doing various jobs, be it fixing Firetail's hoverboard after an EMP blast, keeping the location of the base relatively unknown by driving off other bounty hunters, or just tinkering with equipment.
=== Play: Science Fiction ===
In the reboot of the science fiction role play, Volt was the first to appear on the scene to represent The Krait. After a few heated conversions with a Solarian ship in the Polaris System, as well as evading some shots that were fired, he and his friends returned to their home stars and, after an unsuccessful attempt to raid a shuttle, lost interest in the craft and departed.
== Trivia ==
* Volt is required to carry Gobi's sniper rifle around. Because he knows of how poor a marksman he is, he often uses it as a club. Understandably, Gobi resents this, but it doesn't stop him from doing so.
* Volt may have a deadly blaster, but it is medium/short-ranged and will only cause effective damage on a direct hit.
* Since his Chrome Enforcer II's are very heavy, he can't wear them all the time. Instead he clips them to a holder on his utility belt.
* Volt is the ammo-boy for The Krait, carrying several cases of rounds inside his armored jacket.
* His original concept was to be a red-tailed hawk, but a vulture was decided upon later.
* Volt likes to tease Firetail about his desire (or lack thereof) for a sexual relationship. Firetail becomes extremely irritable when he does.
* Volt was first introduced to the Sonic OC RolePlay Station as "Gage the Vulture."