Gray Wolf

The **GRAY WOLF** (callsign Stonewatcher 2-5); A Command Line soldier and an acclaimed sniper. He was one of the megacorporation's finest sharpshooters, only trailing behind INTERCEPTOR-409, which he serves as his prodigy. His codename is earned through his affinity for wolves, and his obsession on winter and rocky mountaintops as his sniping nest in military operations.

## Biography

### Early Life

Bragdon Grey was born as a privileged boy in the nation of Rutherland. He spent his entire life at the Vancross Institute after receiving a scholarship due to his remarkable intelligence and dedication. He eventually dropped out after the school discovered his unlawful possession of firearms, which his father stole so he could practise his marksmanship. However, in his latter years, his sniper rifle skills grew tenfold, to the point where he was labelled a psychopath after being convicted for killing many individuals across the country, generally by shooting them from a few kilometres away. He also grew fond of wolves and even formed a large pack that he kept as his pet and companions.

This interests Muldoon Lundgren, hiring him as a contract killer even before the megacorporation started. Thanks to Lundgren's expertise, he was able to conduct efficient assassinations before PROJECT even started, at the cost of getting exiled at his own country due to his crimes. Bragdon considers Lundgren as his "best contractor, and the wealthiest of all."

His best friend was David Jones. And to summarise his nationality, he was born in Rutherland, raised in the Panamoan Republic and later acquired a citizenship in Losteria, using the Frakona province to clear his mind whenever he finishes a murder by himself, which he did not end up being wanted. He also admired the nation's tradition of peace and tranquility.

### Hired Sharpshooter

During the early days of SHADOW, the contract killer known as Gray Wolf was infamous for killing space workers in outer space, preventing nevians from accessing their battleships for future use. This gets little notice because nevians have been kept to the planet's surface since the megacorporation took possession in 2918. Even going so far as to infiltrate and cause a disruption on Nexonia Prime's moon; Oberon X7. According to reports, Gray Wolf was seen there in a space-sealed military armoured suit carrying out his contracts and using a TAC-338 LongBOW to carry out his kills.

Due to those stunts, he became a potential candidate for another Command Line sniper. He notably assisted SHADOW at the suggestion of INTERCEPTOR-409 in Operation Draught. However, his participation in Operation Deep Zero was widely respected, as he efficiently displayed skills of what a corporate soldier has that PROJECT has to offer for any Command Line candidates. In that operation, he managed to kill thousands of Red Barons as the cyborg ninja infiltrated the PMCs' underground facilities.

He celebrated the victory, but unfortunately for him; INTERCEPTOR-409 puts him as a new recruit to the Command Line, his training soon-to-be-announced.

### A Nightrider: Hero of the Dark

Gray Wolf became interested in the defector known as PROJECT NIGHTSTALKER, stating that he wants to snipe good, worthy or capable targets. INTERCEPTOR-409 directs him to deploy on Rutherland. However, he advises to his superior that he travel there as well, likely realising that facing the obsidian assassin in a one-on-one fight, whether melee, hand-to-hand, or ranged combat, is a suicidal, foolish endeavour. PROJECT SHADOW notices this and insists that the two of them join; nevertheless, he merely relents, knowing that a warrior has more control over Command Line soldiers.

He has, however, seen PSYLOCKE-832. Much to his amazement, she is not wearing her PROJECT suit in their struggle against COALESCENCE on their RTH HQ at Rutherland, instead mowing down his fellow troops in combat in full tactical gear and guns. He missed a shot with his TAC-338 LongBOW sniper rifle as Palmer avoided his fire, and he died quickly and brutally when the Obsidian Assassin herself shot him in the right eye with her own assault rifle. Reports confirm that he missed his shot at 1,206 metres away, while the latter shot him at the head with a distance of 736 metres.

### PROJECT-G/NEX War

As he suffered his death at the hands of Rachelle Palmer, aka PSYLOCKE-832, he is effectively revived after a long process, without the use of Cybernetics and was placed into a recruitment program of the Command Line, knowing that he desired to serve the megacorporation through their elite military unit. However, in order to efficiently become a soldier again, he was given his right optical implant.

#### Rampancy

Bragdon Grey was placed "under consideration" for his enlistment request to the Command Line. Since his revival, his right eye has been a valuable tool, allowing him enhanced vision to the point of having a micro HUD system in his own perspective. He notably reads a news footage regarding the incident at Technovolk, which he actually pointed it out to Muldoon Lundgren as he views their Titan-class mecha to be sporadic and hard to control, since they rely on dependent programming that allows them to commit rampages, which was mostly pointed out to TAGGART, even hating his "hideous" design and his rage that he proclaims that "impossible for such a giant mecha".

As expected, he did basic stuff like performing maintenance repairs in the buildings, serving as a chef in cafeteria, which he notably earned praise for his high quality, original food. Some also say he has managed to hire a chef and introduce him to the megacorporation, which explains all of their exceptionally impressive meals and rations.

#### The COALESCENCE

In May 30th 3012, He enlisted into the Command Line; His exceptional marksmanship, scouting and navigation skills have lead him to become a recruit into the Command Line Sniper course. As expected, he was supervised by INTERCEPTOR-409. He was overwhelmed by the nearly-suicidal training and feigns illness, Staff Sergeant Highland managed to reintroduce him to the course and in return, they gained respect from each other as he excels in the gruelling hours of training.

After gruelling training, the Sniper course is left with eight candidates, among them Bragdon, now a sniper, and fellow roommate Corporal Sharlto Schreiber who becomes his spotter. When Aryaine is invaded by Rutherland, INTERCEPTOR-409 supervises his friend's unit as they are deployed to the Frukami Peninsula as a part of "Operation Forest Shield" as the megacorporation handles the heist operation. Eager for combat, the Command Line PMCs find themselves bored with remedial training, constant drills, and a routine monotony that feeds their boredom, and prompts them to talk about the unfaithful girlfriends and wives waiting for them at home. They even erect a bulletin board featuring their wishes and bucket lists as they serve the genocidal megacorporation's ideals.

Bragdon obtains unauthorised alcohol and organises an impromptu Christmas party, arranging for Glenn to cover his watch so he can celebrate. Glenn accidentally sets fire to a tent while frying some sausages and ignites a crate of flares, waking the entire camp and enraging the cybernetic lieutenant, who demotes Glenn to private and places him on "shit-burning" detail. The punishments, combined with the heat, boredom, and Bragdon's suspicions of his inefficiency, drive Bragdon a fuel to rage, to the point where he threatens Glenn with a rifle and then orders Glenn to shoot him instead, only to be stopped by INTERCEPTOR-409, who reminds them that there is a lieutenant in the base.

Later, Operation Forest Storm begins and the PMCs are sent to the Aryaine-Panamoan border, proving that he became an official soldier in June 1st. Bragdon learns from that Schreiber concealed his criminal record when enlisting and will be discharged when the unit returns home. Sharlto becomes distant from his friends. Knowing that Schreiber will not be allowed to reenlist, the PMCs attack him with a red-hot Command Line branding iron, marking him as one of their own. Following an accidental air attack from friendly forces, the soldiers advance through the desert, facing no enemies on the ground. The PMCs march through the infamous "Highway of Death" (on the northbound road leading back to from the capital city), strewn with the burnt vehicles and charred bodies of retreating Aryan soldiers, the aftermath of a bombing campaign. The Soldiers later catch sight of distant burning Panamoan oil wells, ignited only moments before by retreating Aryan rebels, and they attempt to dig sleeping holes as a rain of crude oil falls from the sky. Before they can finish, He orders the squad to move upwind.

Near the end of the war, Bragdon and Schreiber are finally given a sniping mission. Lieutenant INTERCEPTOR-409, their battalion commander, orders them to kill at least one of two high-ranking ex military rebel officers at a nearby airfield. At the last second before Bragdon takes the shot, Major Abraham interrupts them to call in an air strike. Schreiber desperately pleas to make a kill, but is denied and overruled as the airplanes destroy the Panamoan airfield, much to his and Bragdon's disappointment. The operation ends without Bragdon ever firing his rifle. During a monologue, Bragdon realises that all of his training and effort to achieve the elite status as a corporate scout sniper is meaningless in future warfare.

As a result, INTERCEPTOR-409 personally kills Major Abraham, allowing a robotic drone to take his place, while granting Bragdon extensive sniper training as he becomes the **Stonewatcher 2-5**. In return, he becomes his prodigy at so many ways, that the megacorporation has mistaken them for siblings; But he notably refused to give him cybernetics, not wanting his friend to suffer a similar experience as him.

#### Going All Out

Gray Wolf later gained respect in this stage, as he has endlessly served the Command Line no matter the situation.

##### Defence of Obrinia

Gray Wolf was then ordered to deploy in Obrinia through the forests outside its wall, since most attempts of infiltrating the bulwark have proven ineffective. As he leads a platoon through someone's request in the Command Line. As expected, onward to their way of making it to the walls, hidden trip mines and defensive fighting positions have cut down their numbers with ease, forcing their tanks to suppress them, and INTERCEPTOR-409 later sniped most of them, giving them the tactical advantage after the poor tactics prior, which forced VATROX to suggest on deploying their warriors. He even insulted his own platoon for their poor tactics, and gives them his newly formed version that replaces their own.

As the operation has progressed, he and his superior are one of the many who survived the onslaught. Clearly, the Command Line forces are formidable but their tactics are questionably predictable, which Gray Wolf suggested that they should update their tactics, since he and his master are the only ones who uses timeless, but effective military tactics in the field. He follows his lead on climbing the wall, but INTERCEPTOR-409 fells down after he is knocked out by a shot fired from PSYLOCKE-832, causing him to pick him up after he fell as they witnessed their loss, due to the Obsidian Assassin and the arrival of their mortal enemies, the G/NEX.

##### Repercussions

Gray Wolf has made unsuccessful attempts to hunt ASHE-159, SCYLLA-028 and PSYLOCKE-832. As a result, it appears that INTERCEPTOR-409 has grown tired of Command Line soldiers being injured or killed while attempting to pursue them. As a result, he took some time to reflect and understood his warnings, but he still trains himself in his spare time, wanting to test the limits of his own skills, but he notably did something that caught the latter's attention: creating an extensive article about VI-516 and JINX-362, which earns 409's praise upon hearing the codename of the defector that he knew, he killed her wife many years ago.

#### Technological Lies: Losing the War

Gray Wolf was known to commit infamous assassinations on various organisations, seeing that the G/NEX have been quickly building their alliances, much to his chagrin. As a result, PROJECT gave him an order to kill as many HVTs that they have registered on the database, which results in him going into a frenzy and sniping hundreds of people, which later caught the attention of the public despite the fact that, he knows, they are losing the war.

##### Homefront - Inevitability

Having returned to SUPREME; INTERCEPTOR-409 invited him to a room as they discussed the future of PROJECT in their losing war. Both of them showed disdain about the Executives simply shrugging the fact that their mortal enemies have amassed a union thanks to the reformed Panamoan military, RUBICORE. As a result, they haven't acquired enough data to all the allied factions that sided with the G/NEX, and formed an alliance to crush them. He witnessed the Command Line divided by Lundgren and the executives' decision to reject their proposal of continuous invasions all around the planet to reestablish their control over the planet. Without further ado, they are invaded, and Gray Wolf was heavily injured when a large amount of rubble dropped on him.

The rubble that dropped onto him was a PRJ-135 POLICE AIV aircraft. His armour's framework got busted and his bones fractured, but INTERCEPTOR-409 managed to pull him the wreckage just in time, despite the fact that their mission to defend their base is too hopeless, giving them both the feeling of dissatisfaction and doubtfulness. As a result, they got scattered across continents before someone has managed to pick up a leadership, which was none other than ANNIHILATOR.

*He questioned himself. What does this tyrannical machine have to offer?*

### Codename: REVIVAL

Despite the fact that PROJECT has lost the war, they are fortunate to have at least forty thousand soldiers on their side, as well as hundreds of vehicles and aircraft. Muldoon Lundgren has presided over the invasion of Rutherland in order to capitalise on the planet's celebration! The dauntless Gray Wolf was soon assigned to lead a platoon and was on standby, indicating that he wanted to see whether VI-516 and the G/NEX could possibly interfere, believing that they were still distracted with the megacorporation's failure in the entire global war. He admits to INTERCEPTOR-409 that Lundgren does not seemed to be the good leader, which the latter agreed, knowing that he is far too egotistical to handle anyone's problems, and ANNIHILATOR is their new leader, whether they like it or not.

He later regroups with INTERCEPTOR-409 as his aircraft is shot down by COALESCENCE forces, forcing him to swim ashore and rendezvous with his platoon, and his master. As they progress through the invasion, Gray Wolf has saved his superior by shooting a bullet to intercept ASHE-159's arrow, both projectiles colliding and explode harmlessly. When PROJECT SHADOW has deployed, BOTH of them was then ordered to to report back at base, knowing that they have done more than enough. The two of them accepts the order, but INTERCEPTOR-409 later regrets it when they actually lost the operation as RUBICORE and G/NEX forces have caused them to fight a stalemate, and the intervention of a reborn hero has caused them to lose, humiliatingly. He even shrugs at Muldoon Lundgren's death upon realising the mecha overlord's true potential, while he shows fear due to the tyrant's presence, echoing immense power.

### Bleeding Edge: Ultimatum

#### Premonition

Gray Wolf was present in secret when PROGRAM SLIPSTREAM led a massive Command Line battalion against both Iceborn warriors, ASHE-159 and LILIAN-395. He was almost able to finish the mission by shooting Ashe, but he was assaulted by Lilian and was eventually left abandoned in the bitter cold of Brimstone's snowy mountaintops at Freya. However, ANNIHILATOR tracks him down as he prepares to enlist their services, knowing that he has a plan to restore PROJECT to their former grandeur, as they are rapidly disappearing from the entire planet. He was naturally teamed with INTERCEPTOR-409, and SHADOW frequently summons them when he need long-distance fire support.

After hearing of SHADOW's demise, ANNIHILATOR brings both of them to the Digital Realm, locked in place as he awaits the G/NEX in Brimstone, Freya. Despite being regarded as his "herald", He quickly tells his superior that the tyrant can simply kill them if they fail. However, his response was the contrary, he knew that ANNIHILATOR values extremely loyal and capable warriors, not those that simply kill for money or fame. The tyrant echoes a voice to them as they are locked into a generated room of an armoury, stating that they should gear up, as the overlord intends to deploy them in a seemingly final fight, which the two concludes that it'll take place in his own world.

Gray Wolf surprisingly disliked the look of it, stating that their camouflage will look rather silly due to the dark-coloured environments that are endlessly lit up by neon lights.

#### Heralds into Battle

After getting enough boredom, the duo decided to watch the duel between ANNIHILATOR and the G/NEX warriors. They were amused to see him getting the upper hand, and shrugs at the moments where the overlord is getting wrecked, knowing that he toys with the rebels as they knew that he was presumably holding back. However, things went out of hand when OLIVEIRI-709 fired a DAWNING WAVE once, which damaged the evil tyrant as he was caught in the centre of the blast while both of them are stunned by a shockwave generated by the beam. This forced them to jump into combat the moment they got the opportunity to see that the resistance has brought an army to destroy them, right in the very domain they're standing on.

Both INTERCEPTOR-409 and Gray Wolf are now deployed alongside an army of holographic minions generated by the tyrant. Seeing that the G/NEX has brought "a large army of disposable rebels in the scene", this prompted a giant historic battle that saw both sides fight each other, not holding back as they all trade blows and weapons to full effect. As it progresses, the combined forces of the "accursed" group has managed to discover the location of the SERVER. 409 gets knocked out and he thrown at the water as a rebel shot him with a pulse rifle.

He is wounded and in the state of drowning. Gray Wolf later used all of his tricks and strength to pull himself back to the fight, only to realise that the G/NEX and the "ANTI-SERVER", have breached the SERVER and are destroying its Sectors, one by one as PROJECT ANNIHILATOR is furiously defending it. Afterwards, the tyrant offered him the chance to escape, proclaiming that he will return to the world and merge it with his own to fulfil his plan. However, he rejected at first, only to find INTERCEPTOR-409's corpse in Sector 05. Upon seeing his corpse, he takes his rifle and uses his holstered pistol to fend off his pursuers, and he runs into the Portal's destination, but the tyrant simply held him through telekinesis and transports him back to the Physical World.

*The death of 409 left him in shambles, and he has not been heard of after this entire fight that destroyed the tyrant for good.*

## Aftermath: Fugitive

*For his new codename and life, see Yellowjacket Wolf (Phantom Wolf).*

He mysteriously returned to Rutherland, where he instantly became a wanted criminal, because the local government and police force use COALESCENCE's DATA to access all known criminal profiles in the country, whether old, current, or recent. As a result, he was quickly identified, detained and transferred to a G/ARCHIVE prison. However, after fleeing the entire prison and regaining his gear, he slipped aboard an aeroplane and flew into the Aryaine Kingdom, easily becoming a fugitive. That is where he found sanctuary after his suffering at the loss of David Jones, the INTERCEPTOR-409. He rebuilds his combat armour and the former's broken but retrieved Ballista maximum penetration rifle, while he also tinkers on local guns that he managed to smuggle aboard his safe house.

Afterwards, upon hearing that ANNIHILATOR was already dead, he has acquired knowledge of the Sublevel 19A of SUPREME, which he snuck through the demolished building and later discovered the truth. He is impressed, which he concludes that his mind must be dormant as his original body was destroyed, and the secret underground level was made to store his duplicate bodies. Not to mention, his last activity was a failed attempt on visiting JINX-362, which he ends up getting blown up by a grenade.

He transforms into the fearsome Yellowjacket Wolf and begins a new life as an elite trooper with S.O.L.A.C.E, admitting that it was the "longest three years of my life" until he gradually defected to the Societas Renegare, a society hellbent on restoring the megacorporation through violent acts of murder and warfare. As the Phantom Wolf, he quickly rose to prominence among the renegade ranks and soon revealed his ultimatum to defeat the heroes once and for all. Unfortunately, his grand plan was cut short by his death at the hands of Fiona Vance, who killed him after he gained the upper hand in their fight. Despite his demise, his grand plan soon proved to be a success as PROJECT ANNIHILATOR is resurrected as his mind took a spare body from underground, and is now known as, LORD ANNIHILATOR.

## Personality

Bragdon Gray was an incredibly committed, loyal, headstrong, and patriotic man before he was brainwashed. During their childhood, he was a good and close friend to David Jones; he genuinely assisted him when he got into fights and attempted to cheer him up and look after him when he became a cybernetic soldier. They've been secret yet best friends since childhood, and they've been through a lot together. Bragdon became a new man after being trained as a living weapon, as his memories and identity were constantly erased until he was upgraded into the ideal non-cyborg soldier, the Gray Wolf. As the Gray Wolf, he was violent and ruthless, with no conscience, and he blindly followed every command.

All in all, Gray Wolf was a blindly loyal soldier who became genetically augmented, and implanted with a replacement to his lost eye during his "death", which turned him into a non-cyborg, enhanced super soldier that is loyally devoted to the military ranks of PROJECT, no matter the odds.

## Abilities

Although Gray Wolf only has an Optical Implant as his enhancement, he is still one of the deadliest soldiers in the entire ranks of the Command Line, owing to his skills that compensate for his natural vulnerability, which was later covered up thanks to being equipped with a personalised combat armour that protects him and enhances his survivability in the field.

### Skills

* **Master Marksman**: Gray Wolf is characterised with a sniper rifle. His marksmanship is extremely impressive, able to shoot moving targets in the head with relative ease and do the same at nearby enemies with close range weaponry. Aside from firearms, he has great aim in using explosives or throwing weapons, which he is known to usually throw explosive charges at the target through the air and land with amazing accuracy.

* **Master Tactician**: Gray Wolf is a naturally adept tactician. As a former hunter, he has honed tracking and tactical skills that allows him to be advantageous in any situation, even if when it goes out of control. His tracking skills are on par with INTERCEPTOR-409, and even SCYLLA-028.

* **Master Combatant**: It is not a surprise, that he is a dangerous combatant, whether as a sniper or using his bare fists in Hand-to-hand combat.

* **Master Hunter**: He is a ruthless and efficiently skilled hunter with exceptional hunting capabilities or experience. He can easily pursue his foes even if he deliberately lets them go free in an open space, which he typically ends them with a swift bullet to their head, or he can deploy traps in order to get a clean shot from afar or nearby.

## Trivia

### General

* He joined the Command Line at May 30th, and became a soldier in June 1st, 3012. He died two years later at the same day he joined the megacorporation's military before returning as a partial cyborg.
* Gray Wolf is the prodigy of INTERCEPTOR-409. He is nearly as capable to his own superior; Which was proven in a sparring session, sniper test and even basic hunting trials.
* His former spotter, Sharlto Schreiber, is actually killed by a rebel during the final operation in *Technological Lies*.
* Born in Rutherland, raised in the Panamoan Republic and has Losterian grandparents, but it took him to be an adult to acquire a citizenship.
* TRISTANNA-651 ironically does not know of his existence, only in the final, true battle in the Digital Realm.
* His accent is a combination of an Evalkan and an Aryan, peculiarly.
* He despises short range combat, proving that long range is his specialty.
* Wholeheartedly loyal to the neon-lighted cause of PROJECT.
* He uses a Phantom combat rig.

### Developmental Notes

* Gray Wolf was a character designed to fill-in the gap of PROJECT's initial lack of regular soldier characters. Written in similar way to INTERCEPTOR-409.
* His long tenure from being a renowned PROJECT soldier to a backstabbing mercenary as Phantom Wolf was a result of ACT-67 spending weeks to rewrite his character in a different article.
* His use of a sniper is to demonstrate his efficiency and dependability as a shooter.
* He received his first name from his unknown, undiscovered brother named Brandon. That is how he became Bragdon.
* Bragdon killed his own father so that he can join PROJECT without repurcussions to Panamoan laws and jurisdiction.