Sean Roland

> "*Flamenco is the match that ignites a man's soul.*"
> ― Sean Roland
>
>

Following in his father’s footsteps, Sean enrolled at West Point Military Academy after completing his high school education. Though he received surprisingly high marks, Sean was turned back a year due to a conduct violation. Despite this setback, Sean graduated two years later. His first assignment stationed him out of the frigid city of Norilsk, Russia.

## Appearance

Standing at a mighty 6'5", Sean is imposing in his figure. His build focuses on his arms and chest, forcing his body into a v-shaped frame. Sean tends to favor raw power over toning. While he runs regularly to keep his heart healthy, Sean avoids pushing his body to extremes. His skin is fairly pale and easy to burn even after he attempts to tan himself in the summer months, though his hair will turn from its usual reddish-brown to a muddled strawberry blonde. Sean keeps his hair short and messy, rarely messing with his hair after drying off from a shower. Sideburns extend past his eyes and nearly reach the stubble that often adorns his strong jaw. Sean's blue eyes are a stark contrast to his hair's red and brown hues.

V-necks are a staple of Sean's clothing. When forced to button up the collars of his shirt he will complain about not giving his chest enough room to breath, but friends suspect this may be an excuse to show off his chest hairs. Sean tends to prefer 'classic', timeless fashion styles like jeans, white tank tops, leather jackets, and a worn pair of sneakers. When working out he prefers more comfortable clothing and usually sticks to elastic shorts, a printed t-shirt, and basketball shoes.

Has a tattoo that circles around his right arm just past his bicep that represents his former squad, the "Frost Giants". The tattoo is of the rune 'Thurisaz', meaning 'giant'.

## Personality & Interests

Outgoing, hot-blooded, and impulsive to a fault. Those who can handle the heat of his fiery personality will find an earnest, considerate, and protective friend in Sean. Those who can't may end up feeling burned. Sean refuses to mince words with those who act selfishly or maliciously, even when the target of their ire is a shared enemy. This extends to his superiors; he believes that respect must be earned, not freely given.

Sean does not back down from a challenge, even when he is clearly outmatched and outgunned. His personal quest for glory verges on self-destructive.

### Interests

"Flamenco is the match that ignites a man's soul." Sean's passion for the musical genre has become an integral part of his performance in combat, and he always carries around an old-school Walkman to play his favorite tracks on-the-go. In order to better appreciate flamenco Sean has learned the basics of Spanish as well as Caló, an obscure language often found in its songs. He uses this when coming up with his own spin on classic tracks, which he plays with the guitar in hand. Sean's Spanish guitar is one of his most prized possessions.

Sean is just as much of a demon on the court as he is on the battlefield. His sheer height made him a shoe-in for his high school's basketball team, whose members urged him to join despite his inexperience. While his throws left something to be desired, Sean's long hang time made him a powerful asset in overcoming the opponent's vertical defense. He continued playing basketball for the Black Knights at West Point Military Academy until a conduct violation forced him to quit the team.

While he may not look the type, Sean has always had a love affair with video games. He most enjoys fighting games, but will play just about anything that has a robust player vs. player experience. In the twilight of his teenage years he would stay up late into the night and play *Titanomachia*, a massively-multiplayer online game based off the code from an Olympus Inc. combat simulator. To make up for his lack of expensive peripherals like flight sticks and virtual headgear, Sean became highly proficient with macros.

## Skills & Abilities

* **Hollywood Tactician:** A tactician first and foremost, he excels at using unconventional tactics to turn the tide of battle. This often leaves him in precarious positions that could have been avoided by approaching the problem more directly.
* **Key Binder:** What he lacks in raw piloting ability he makes up for with an extensive selection of macros at his fingertips. These are loaded into a chip that can be inserted into any modern AAA and is kept around his neck inside one of his dog tags.
* **Grease Monkey:** He believes that any good pilot should get to know their machine intimately. He always volunteers to help fix damage on his machines and enjoys brainstorming with engineers on how to improve their specs.
* **Lightning Bruiser:** On the ground, he likes to get up close and personal with opponents using a mix of short-range firearms and close-quarters combat. These guns aren't just for attracting mates.

## History

### Prior to the Menaulion

#### New Aberdeen Colony

Born to James "Donnie" Dohmnall Roland and Elizabeth Marie Hackworth on March 15th, 0361 PC, less than nine months before his sister Ramona. The two siblings spent the first several years of their lives together in New Aberdeen, a lunar colony that had been their father's hometown. Their parents' relationship soured, however, after their father was discharged from the military on disability. Charged with escorting a key politician to the outer colonies in an attempt to make a diplomatic breakthrough between the ESU and MCC, their father's unit was ambushed by a group of pirates looking to take the politician for ransom. Staff Sergeant Roland overexerted himself while protecting the politician, fainting inside his cockpit. He was diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, an often asymptotic heart disease. Their father's struggle to adjust to civilian life after years in the service put a strain on their parents' relationship that led to Elizabeth filing for divorce.

#### Living with the Past

While their split was amicable, Elizabeth wanted to return to her hometown on Earth. The cost of weekly, monthly, or even yearly visits proved too expensive to justify; they decided that Sean would stay on the moon with his father, while Ramona would move to Earth with her mother. The siblings had a difficult time understanding why they had been split up, and Sean began to believe that his mother had abandoned him.

Despite the hardship that his family endured, Sean and his father maintained a close relationship. His extended family in the colonies supported the two while Sean's father looked for a job, finally landing a position as a mechanic for his brother-in-law's shop. A steady income kept the two afloat while Sean's father silently suffered from depression. He tried his best to hide that fact from Sean, even as it took its toll on his physical health. The onset of the Six-Month War exacerbated his guilt over being discharged from the military while his former companions remained on the battlefield. He would listen to radio broadcasts over his Walkman while he worked at the shop, waiting to hear the names of his old friends. Years of stress and loneliness eventually took their toll on Sean's father, who died from sudden cardiac arrest when Sean was 13.

#### Adolescence on Earth

The death of his father shaped Sean's adolescence. His mother took custody of him, but his feelings of abandonment had long hardened into outright hostility. Burdened with a daughter that had fallen in with a bad crowd and a son that was quick to express his resentment towards her, Elizabeth became cold and at times downright cruel towards the two teenagers. This only pushed the two to behave more rebelliously. Mona would often receive detention, and further disciplinary action threatened her with expulsion. Sean started to reshape himself in his father's image, lifting makeshift weights at home and cutting his own hair to match his father's at Sean's age. As soon as he was old enough to drive, Sean began working part-time to cover the cost of an old fixer-upper. This allowed him greater freedom to hang out with friends outside of school. By the time he graduated, he only used his mother's house as a place for storage and a place to sleep... from time to time.

#### West Point Military Academy

Having applied for admission to a large selection of military academies, Sean was ecstatic to learn that he had been admitted to West Point. Living away from the watchful eye of his mother made him feel freer than he ever had before, even under the strict guidance of the academy's ironclad rules. West Point challenged him in a way that motivated him to excel. Sean found making new friends natural, his outgoing personality attracting students and faculty alike. Elmyra Shirdel, a foreign student one year his junior, was particularly close to him. This prompted rumors about their relationship that remained unsubstantiated throughout their tenure at West Point. The only person that Sean remained in contact with from his past was his sister, Mona. Despite assurances that she was doing fine for herself, her well-being became a serious concern for him as her relationship with drugs became increasingly unhealthy.

Sean faced a heap of trouble himself in his third year at West Point. While details of the encounter remain murky, school records indicate that Sean had physically engaged with another student, quite frankly knocking his opponent flat onto their ass. The student's father had made significant donations to the academy and held a prestigious position in the military. Sean was lucky to have key instructors vouch for his character and witnesses to back him up, ensuring that he was not expelled but was instead turned back a year. Much to his chagrin, the other student escaped with a light slap on his wrist. Nevertheless, Sean graduated two years later with grades that would have qualified him for honors had it not been for his conduct violation.

#### Stationed at Norilsk

He was deployed as the First Lieutenant of an AutoTank squadron stationed out of the frigid city of Norilsk, Russia. Sean suspected that his post had been manipulated by the father of the student who he'd knocked the lights out of, a vengeance served very, very cold. Still, Sean grew to care deeply for his comrades-in-arms. His second-in-command, Staff Sergeant Gabriel Crwydryn, was the most frequent target of Sean's impassioned (and often one-sided) discussions. After hearing about a test pilot program for a set of fancy new Martian AAs, Sean suggested that they apply for a chance to escape the harsh climate of Norilsk. The two were accepted and transferred to the *Menaulion*, where they were immediately deployed off the coast of Russia.

### The Christmas War

#### Russian Front

In their first operation as a squadron, Sean and his teammates successfully fended off two enemy BLADEs and three Hoplites from the border between Russia and China. Four DAGGERs managed to slip by their defenses using a nearby mountain range as a ramp. Kara and Myra left to help defend the Grodekovo base while Sean and the others stayed behind.

Their second mission, Operation: Lucky Foot, split the pilots into two teams. Sean, Cain, Alaina, and Ernest were deployed near Baykovo off the Sea of Okhotsk to distract the enemy from their real target, Sobolevo. After hitching a ride from Ernest's Hippokon, the *Highlander* dropped into the sea to launch a surprise attack from below. A modified Athen called the *Hellfire* attacked, but Sean and Lana managed to fend him off until the pilot disengaged to attack the *Menaulion* directly. A laser from Cain's Phoros struck one of the machine's limbs and caused the Athen to sink deep into the sea.

#### Shanghai Shuffle

The pilots were split into four teams for their third operation. Three teams were sent to infiltrate Shanghai and investigate leads on a smuggling operation inside the city. Sean and Linnea were paired up as Beta team, disguising themselves as a jazz duo to find and question Dr. Kamille Euzone, who had been witnessed inside the *InterContinental Nin-Yo*'s hidden casino. Staging himself as the victim of a stabbing, Sean and Linnea drew the attention of their target, who confronted Linnea directly while Sean was being treated for his wound.

While his part in the operation had concluded, Sean received an ominous text instructing him to meet with Gabe and Lana, who had been paired up as Gamma team, at the nearby shipyards. Sensing a trap, he left the hotel alone to confront their abductors. He killed several armed guards on his way to free Gabe and Lana from inside a half-built freighter. The three escaped the ship, guns blazing as they fled to regroup with the *Menaulion*.

Sean was being treated for his reopened wounds in the *Menaulion*'s medical ward when sirens warned of an incoming attack. He was immediately sortied with Cain and Linnea, helping the former walk to his machine after being shot in the leg. The three deployed deep inside Shanghai, engaging with three Peltasts in the city's streets. After defeating the small enemy force, they lured three more machines lurking deeper in the city to a bridge near the *InterContinental Nin-Yo*. There they confronted Hansel in his Hoplite, the *Garmr*, Gretel in her Phalanx, the *Lotus*, and Bianca in her Spartan, the *Milkweed*. The Lotus nearly eviscerated Linnea's cockpit before a skyscraper crashed down on top of the Phalanx, bombarded by a mysterious white machine that confronted the *Kirin* alone. The *Highlander* and *Wolfsbane* fought off the *Milkweed* and *Garmr* respectively.

Though both machines sustained damage from the fight, Sean refused Cain's offer to return to the *Menaulion* without Linnea. The *Wolfsbane* retreated alone while the *Highlander* chased the mysterious white machine piloted by none other than Dr. Kamille Euzone. It made short work of Sean's Spartan, bashing its head in with its own severed arm. The *Wolfsbane* returned, armed with heavier armaments that bought Linnea enough time to extract Sean from his cockpit and return to the *Menaulion*.

#### Battle over Mozambique

With the *Highlander* totaled and the *Wolfsbane* in poor condition, Sean and Cain were deployed on-foot to scout targets for the *Neu Alma*'s experimental kinetic weapon. Though they expected to purchase a ride in the nearby town of Macalange, the two found themselves short on cash. Luckily, they were able to hitch a ride with Val, an engineer who was in the area for an upcoming underground AutoArmor race. The two parted ways with the engineer once they reached Lichinga, finding a more affordable vehicle to make the rest of the trip up the mountain. There, Cain marked several targets for Kara to destroy. This prompted the enemy forces to send out two Hoplites to their location, forcing the two to retreat before they were spotted.

## Gallery

Sean and Lin's plot to find Dr. Euzone, furry version.A shirtless, furry Sean.Sean Roland by @bigslabofmeat