Sidereus

Sidereus
Age: 21

Height: 6' 1”

Weight: 160 lbs

Race: Faunus (cat)

Hair: Light brown

Eye color: Gold

Appearance
Tall, lithe and rather unsheavled, Sidereus is not quite the archetypal image of a cat Faunis, with only the small ears resting atop his head that give him away. His slightly longer hair is kept clean and out of the way, though little else as Sidereus had never cared for it. His features are merely above average, not exceptional though attention is usually drawn to his eyes and away from scars that mar the vestiges of his face and betray his origins.

Sidereus usually wears his school uniform wherever he goes, a by-product of his more practical mind often not even bothering to dress up or down for the occasion, simply disposing of the jacket and tie, leaving the top button undone and shirt untucked.

If something more subtle or combat-ready is needed, he dons a suit of Grimm leather and darkened chitin armor. The chitin plates and thin layers of  leather are placed symmetrically across the body, though otherwise irregularly to create a camouflage pattern, disguise any weak points and reinforce joints. The most unique part of this armor is the head-wear, which consists of a hood with thin, overlapping chitin plates sewn between the layers of leather and hide; and a small scarf having blunted strands of bone and chitin interwoven into the fabric, providing some stab protection. In addition to this, Sidereus wears a harness to provide a place for tools and weapons that's easily in reach, as well as pockets and straps for small amounts of loot, contraband or extra equipment. While the armor is most impressive from a technical standpoint, it was specifically designed and built to provide whatever protection it could without sacrificing any speed or maneuverability, thus its ability to absorb strong blows is underwhelming when compared to its heavier counterparts, even the more “off-the-shelf” varieties. On the plus side, it weighs little more than ordinary set of clothes and is even less restrictive.

Personality
Sidereus is usually quite aloof, preferring to practice and study alone rather than socialize with his peers, rarely forms attachments to others and is commonly unassertive to those that know him. This does not mean that he actively avoids social situations, nor that he is uncomfortable or passive in them and usually enjoys them, but rather that he doesn't seek them out and rarely forms the strong or long term connections they tend to foster. Also, as a byproduct of his previous employment, he's learned to be something of a social chameleon, able to take on a variety of personas in order to blend in as needed.

Otherwise, Sidereus does tend to be both self-centred and greedy (though of course never lets this on), taking what he needs and damn the rest. He will lie, cheat and steal whilst diverting attention away and, as using people more directly usually leads to complications, Sidereus will usually only do so if there is truly no other way out. Thankfully for his team and the rest at Beacon, Sidereus is genuinely trying to improve his abilities and mind; and is currently dedicated to keeping up the appearance of an aloof, untethered college student, incorporating few aspects of his true personality.

Abilities
His upbringing has left him with the skills of a good spy, thief and burglar; a master of all things stealthy or grab-y, he relies on these skills both to make a living and to carry him through Beacon and so his abilities within the realms of infiltration and influence have been extremely well honed. Also of note, his experience with the underworld has given him the knowledge and ability he needs to seeks out the goods and services of fences, smugglers and other such criminals.

Of course, never being one to fight fair or (until recently) attend school means that there are many skills Sidereus lacks that even the most lagging Beacon student should have: higher order maths, science, geography, history; essentially any form of academia that can't be gained breaking and entering. Even those crucial fighting skills usually picked up on the streets are lacking, and in an honorable fight he's not much of a match for the majority of Beacon students, having to rely mostly on flanking, dirty tricks, the environment, and just generally his wits to win. That said, his experience using surprise and blind spots to quickly overcome his foes is well above most of his 'comrades', though in truth he'd likely just use any advantage he has to just flee or hide.

Physically, he neither strong nor tough having instead achieved excellent reflexes, near peak speed and incredible flexibility, another hold-over from his burglaring days.

Semblance:
Sidereus's semblance is his ability to create a small electric spark, no stronger than 2 volts, within 25 metres of himself which cannot be stopped by any means whether concrete, dust or even aura.

Pis aller
Sidereus uses a pair of matched submachine guns, replete with hand guard, telescoping barrel, counter-weights, in-built silencer and piercing white dust rounds. These are mere details however, compared to the two features that makes these weapons unique.

The first is that the rounds travel over the hand guard from the magazine on the way to the gun's chamber, creating a chainsaw type weapon over the guard and triggering the white dust in the bullets on an impact and vastly increase it's striking power (at the cost of seriously reducing the effectiveness of the projectile). The second is that the trigger and magazine can rotate relative to the rest of the gun, extending or retracting the guard as needed and readjusting the weights to re-balance it, combined with the telescoping barrel this allows the weapons to fire in any direction whilst the guard is still used in melee.

Finally, if the guard is fully extended, the triggers may be locked in firing mode and the weapons thrown like a discus, filling the air with 1200 rounds per minute each as the recoil keeps it flying, chainsaws allow for the guns to ricochet around the battlefield and the moving weights let the airborne weapons 'wobble'; spraying bullets more randomly and making it more difficult to catch without being familiar.

Background
Sidereus never met his parents, doesn't have a face to put them to or even prove they fucking existed. His youngest memories are those among other street urchins and orphans, eking out a living begging and picking pockets in the sprawls of Vale, living in abandoned buildings when times were good and sewers when they weren't. There was no love lost among them though, the group was little more than a makeshift gang together for protection and infighting of all kinds was common. Few remained throughout Sidereus's childhood either, as betrayal, abandonment, police and even death constantly stole from their numbers and so stole any opportunity to make friends too.

Sidereus himself left when he was twelve, having learned many important skills both for thievery and survival until he was able to rent a one room apartment (off the books of course) and get by on pickpocketing and a few B&E's from time to time. After two years and one seriously botched robbery, the police raided his 'home' and missed catching the thief by mere chance. Being kicked back onto the streets with nothing more than the clothes and his back and what few treasures he had pilfered. He needed a serious comeback. He needed a plan.

Over the next four months he played the part of a poor Faunus servant to a Schnee Dust Company executive. He quickly learned that noone ever questioned someone who looked like they knew what they were doing, whatever the hell that happened to be. Over 4 days he cracked the safe in the main study, slowly and painfully going through the thousands of possible combinations, hiding his actions and pretending to clean if someone entered. What he found inside surprised him, not only were there a few stacks of lien but also numerous papers bearing strange lines and sigils throughout. Sidereus continued to suffer through his employer's increased agitation and abuses as he deciphered what the pages meant. After a few months of studying the writing, and a few acquisitions from the library he figured out the letters, and from there it was a simple, albeit painfully slow, task learning to forge them exactly as they were along with the signatures they accompanied.

At last he'd made it, with the papers in hand and the knowledge of exactly what they were he managed to sell them for an enormous sum. With that his modus operandi changed from burglary to infiltration, using disguises and impersonation he managed to steal secrets of all kinds as well as more valuable items and lived off the avails. The most dramatic change however, was that for the first time in his life, Sidereus was happy. And so he continued to live his dream for the next three years.

The only real issue he encountered was that his line of work needed a certain amount of complacency on the mark's part and anonymity on his, things that were quickly becoming scarce. But like so many times before, an opportunity from the blue saved him; a mysterious benefactor offered him more lien than he could spend in his lifetime in exchange for attending Beacon and Signal academies, and reporting every detail he could. Having little other choice (or desire), Sidereus began the work entailed, forging an identity and applying for Signal.

His time there was relatively uneventful, despite being one of the oldest students he was still one of the least educated which distanced him from most of his 'peers'. Still, he made the most of his time there, learning and practicing (as constantly cheating would draw too much attention, and his employer wanted to know exactly what future hunters were learning), even building his weapons. Three years later, Sidereus had finally graduated, not upset in the slightest to leave the school or most of it's students behind. Now Beacon was all that remained between him and a life of comfort....

Trivia
-Sidereus means “starry”, referring to his chosen profession and his ascent through the social ladder.

-The infiltration technique Sidereus specializes in, the Bavarian Fire Drill, is a real one which can be so effective it was once used to almost steal France.

- I can't come up with any more trivia for Sidereus

-BlurgadurHOOOOONK!