Echo 5

**Echo 5** is an ally of Adventure Squad and the International Safety Committee. He is a large robot rebuilt from a retired set of Bullet Train cars, and one of the Squad's most valuable assets.

Echo was eventually rebuilt with a more robust frame, and was made into the leader of the new Rail Force. His original body, however, served as the direct basis for his Mechatrooper counterpart Korvaka, while serving as the template for the other Rail Force-based Mechatroopers. A modified version of his original body was also the basis for Skatana, his other Mechatrooper counterpart.

Following a failed attempt by Richard Murphy to dispose of the Rail Force by selling them, Echo became the third member of Adventure Squad's leadership circle following Carson's purchase of the team.

## Biography

With the ISC spread out thinly, the Global Transit Terminal science group opted to build another defense mech. Needing a vehicle for parts, Sir Takaboushi Hideki donated a retired set of Bullet Train cars for the project, with Carson Lavern of Adventure Squad assisting in his development. The resulting mech was young and testy, so he was assigned to the Leonolds for proper tutelage. Echo quickly proved to be a nerve rattler, but after his first mission, he became a highly valuable asset.

Although Echo gave a good deal of service for the ISC, general Richard Murphy, a washout from Thurston Dinsmoore's army, was set on getting rid of him via any chance he can get. As such, Echo was due to be replaced by a more modern remote-controlled battle unit sharing his exact same vehicle form, with his data drive to be wiped clean, effectively erasing his mind completely. He almost got this chance after Echo was near-irreparably damaged by Automon in battle. However, a series of missteps by Murphy and a number of secret tactics by Carson resulted in Echo's data drive being left intact and replacing the remote module in his would-be replacement, resulting in a far more effective solution than the original concept.

Towards the end of the battles with Demon X, Murphy would try to hamper and spite Adventure Squad by selling the entire Rail Force to the highest bidder. Unfortunately for Murphy, the highest bidder was Carson, who dipped into the Leonold family's reserve fortune for the task. While Thomas was unimpressed with his usage of the emergency funds, he was more than accepting of the motivation behind it, and welcomed the Rail Force as members of the family. Echo was more than willing to accept the entailing conditions, and was made part of the team's leadership circle not long after.

## Personality

Echo 5 was given the same basic programming as General Orion, but his personality codes were altered so that his personality was lightened. Because of this, Echo's behavior is largely like that of a young teenager, which is evidently in his skater-lingo speech patterns. He has a lighter version of Gordon's ego, impatience and a self-image vanity not unlike James's, Percy and Rebecca's naivety, Edward's skepticism, Emily and Nia's sassiness, and in comedic instances, Toby and Henry's cowardice. These have caused problems for the team in the times he spent with them, but Thomas's influence served to mature his green quirks. This increase in maturity was shown when it was revealed he was to be replaced; while Echo was far from happy about it, he didn't openly protest against it, but he didn't hesitate to state when Murphy was abusing his authority.

While Echo's personality remained intact following his rebuild, he is much more serious in combat and has shown several behavioral traits much like Thomas, primarily his leadership abilities. This makes him much more competent than the rest of the Rail Force, who he managed to defeat effortlessly even while unarmed. Disturbingly, however, he began using the dismembered head of his original body as a decoy in combat. The Rail Force's integration into Adventure Squad also added another fold to his personality; he is far more tempermental and attacks anyone who willingly disrespects his family out of malice or selfish interests. In this state, Echo attacks the offender immediately after the action has passed, using far more effort than he would have used otherwise.

Much like Thomas, Echo does not tolerate sexual gags or black comedy, though he is more than accepting of romance than the tank engine ever was. Ironically however, Echo is far more uncomfortable around naked people than Thomas, despite sharing his complete dislike of wearing a full outfit. He is also much more emotive than the tank engine, showing much more extreme reactions compared to Thomas's subdued behavior.

## Appearance

Echo 5 was built with a tall, athletic and slender body frame, with broad and thin shoulders atop thin forearms. His leg structure is the reverse build, with slender thighs and thicker calves. Golden claws can be found on his feet, while halves of a Bullet Train cab can be found on the sides of each leg. A full cab section forms much of his chest, while the back of his shoulders house glowing pink wings. Much of his body is white and metallic green, with gray internal workings and pink stripes. His head has a tall thin crest and a white mouthguard (which protects a speaker that enables him to speak vocally), while his eyes are colored a golden yellow.

After his rebuilt, Echo was given a stockier frame and had numerous structural differences, though he still retains key elements of his original body. This body would later serve as the template for the rest of the Rail Force.

## Abilities

While Orion was built for strength and power, Echo 5 was built with speed and agility in mind. Because of this, he can move at speeds near that of the speed of light. His reflexes are also much quicker, and with the help of his wings and twin thrusters in his legs, Echo can achieve limited flight or simply jump much higher or farther than his usual distances. As a tradeoff, however, his strength is around average levels in terms of power. Echo can also glide on his feet thanks to his thrusters, but the claws they possess allow him to gain traction while running.

Echo 5 wields a large sabre that utilizes glowing pink energy to deliver energized slashes or to simply slice or cut whatever he is dealing with. When not using it, Echo uses his agility to place well-timed blows in hand-to-hand combat. He possesses little to none ranged weapons aside from a sonic cannon that gives him his name. The cannon fires sonic blasts in green energy bursts from Echo's chest, though it can only fire 5 full power blasts before it has to cool down and recharge.

Like Orion, Echo 5 is capable of assuming a vehicular form, namely an E5 Series passenger locomotive with an alternating number of cars and an end car. Echo possesses little to no weapons in this form, but he still retains access to his sonic cannon. Like Decka and Herman, Echo 5 can generate energy tracks to travel in areas with no tracks while in train form. While Echo is in robot mode, his passenger cars can roll on their own to assist in evacuation.

Following his rebuild, Echo 5 was given an increase in strength and power, while additional thrusters meant he could also run much faster than in his original body. His reflexes also increased dramatically, and his original jumping abilities were upgraded to limited flight. A set of deployable wings can also be deployed behind the shoulders of his new body, further increasing his flight skills and speed.

Echo's new body is armed with a pair of large short-swords, which in addition to being handheld are also capable of being launched like oversized throwing knives. His original sabre was also upgraded, now being far more robust in design and functionality. In addition, Echo's sonic cannon was given an upgrade, now able to fire more powerful sonic blasts in addition to firing energy beams.

Carson built special data card slots into the abdomen section of every Rail Force unit meant to arm each member with up to 2 support modules. As such, Echo had these equipped after his rebuild, and like on every other Rail Force member they are equipped with activation controls on each side of the sockets. Unlike the rest of his teammates, Echo had free reign on what cards he can use from the beginning; Automon and Doc were initially limited to their own personal set while the rest of the Rail Force had them locked until they advanced enough in their training.

### Weaknesses

Echo 5's speed-based skill set means that he burns through a lot of energy, leaving him vulnerable to attack if he overuses his abilities. This was eventually overcome after he was upgraded with a more energy-efficient power system.

## Behind the scenes

* Echo 5's model is from Plarail's *DX Shinkalion* subiline, and in particular, his model is the *E5 Hayabusa Movability Plus*. This version was chosen over the original due to it possessing hip and waist movement, articulation points otherwise absent from the other releases in the line. However, the model's shoulder connectors quickly degraded to the point they were unable to stay in place unassisted, resulting in his rebuild.
* Echo's rebuilt model is once again a E5 from the Plarail *Shinkalion* line, but this time from the *Z Combine* series. This model is much more stable and posable than the original.

## Trivia

* Echo 5 was partially named after Margaret "Echo" Pearl from Netflix's *Fast & Furious Spy Racers* animated series. While he shares her street-lingo speech patterns, Echo 5 is primarily based on Tony Toretto, the lead of the series, though much of his character was also written by the creator.
* In addition to Echo 5's included opening carriage, the creator intends on purchasing extra stock Plarail E5 carriages to give Echo 5 a more realistically long train for his motor cars to pull.
* Much like the vast majority of the Adventure Squad universe robot characters, Echo 5's eyes flash when he speaks, synched to his words as he talks. His eyes are also the only parts of his head capable of facial expression, as like the other robot characters, he makes up for it with body language and vocal tones.
* A running gag throughout Echo's appearances is his tendency to ingest fuel orally despite it being impossible design-wise.