Elijah Arshad Marzban (Heavy Metal Magellan)
About Elijah.
Overview
| Name: | Elijah Arshad Marzban |
|---|---|
| Rank: | Raqīb of the 1st Special Forces (SF) of the Afghan National Army (ANA), Honorary-Sergeant of the North Atlantic Alliance Joint Military (NAAJM) |
| Role: | Counter-terrorism, Direct action, Foreign internal defense, Special reconnaissance, Unconventional warfare, |
| Nickname(s): | Eli |
| Call sign: | — |
| Age: | 29 |
| Gender: | Male |
| Sexuality: | Heterosexual (but inexperienced) |
Appearance
| Height: | 1m 78 / 5’9” |
|---|---|
| Weight: | 68 kg / 150 lbs |
| Eyes: | Black |
| Hair: | Black |
| Skin: | Brown |
| Physique: | Athletic, exotic, lean, muscular, rugged |
| Distinguishing marks: | Various scars from surviving in a war-torn country since his birth. |
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Biography
Elijah Arshad Marzban was born in Afghanistan, the Graveyard of Empires. Throughout its existence, everything from the war elephants of Alexander the Great, to the British Empire, to the nigh-unstoppable mechanized Red Army had attempted to invade and conquer Afghanistan… and had all failed. Elijah’s parents were of Iranian ancestry and could trace their lineage back to the time when Iran was named Persia. They instilled in their youngest son a deep respect for the ancient, near-mythical land from which they hailed and love for the country they lived in now. His mother was a polyglot diplomat and taught young Eli Farsi, French, English, Arab and Russian (as well as their associated written forms), history, culture and the power of words. “Know of where you come from, my son. Know of where you are now. Know of those around you, near and far. Know of their people, their history and their culture.” His father was a mechanical engineer and taught young Eli technical knowledge and the power of the mind. “Know as much as you can, my son. Knowledge is never useless. Know of science, know of mechanics, know of mathematics. Your mind is a muscle; without exercise, it will shrivel and be weak. If your mind is weak, what good is your body?” His older brother, a soldier and martial artist, taught young Eli physically and the power of the body. “Know your body, my brother. Know your limits and know how to push beyond them. Strike only when you must, not when you want. But when you must, strike hard, fast and without hesitation. Know fear and accept it, but never let it control you. To control another is strength; to control oneself is true power.”
Eli worked hard, learned hard and practiced hard. Demanding more of himself than others demanded of him. Learning to depend on himself first and foremost. This hard upbringing might seem cruel, but it was a necessary cruelty. Afghanistan (or what is left of it now) has been assaulted from all sides by rogue armies, mercenary companies and power-mad warlords since it was first colonized thousands of years ago. But the modern armies that threatened them were different. Battle-armor wearing soldiers that can level a whole village within minutes. Gigantic mechanical horrors that could bombard positions from hundreds of kilometers away with pinpoint accuracy. Mechanical vehicles that could enter any grotto, travel through any valley and circumvent any mountain. Afghanistan’s mountains were nearly useless as natural defenses now. Technology had finally won over the harsh, unforgiving terrain of the country. Territories were abandoned and people fled for their lives. The last vestiges of the NATO military forces in Asia sent hundreds of emergency escape pods throughout the Eastern hemisphere, to allow refugees a chance to flee the violence and escape with them to the safety of the newly-formed Oceania (a conglomerate of Australia, New Zeland, Tasmania and a few micro-islands in their periphery), NATO's fiercest ally on this half of the world. Elijah’s family left his homeland; he chose to stay and defend it.
He was fourteen years old when he enrolled in the NATO-backed Afghan National Army. Since they could not officially take him as a soldier, Elijah served as a scout and a lookout, using the knowledge passed down by his brother to achieve whatever tasks were set upon him. When he turned 16, he was able to become a solider. Two years later, he was recruited into the Special Forces. There, he learned the techniques of unconventional warfare and stealth. For six years Elijah served with the SF, deployed thousands of miles from any friendly territory. Often, he and his fellow forces members would remain on mission for months, with no supplies or reinforcements of any kind. They would take whatever they needed off of their foes even as they worked against the invaders. Cutting off supply lines, destroying depots and making every advancing step a grueling, tedious affair. Entire fire-teams of infantrymen would be captured or simply disappear with little traces of a struggle. Convoys would vanish or be rendered unusable, vehicles would be commandeered in the dead of night. It was during one of these raids, deep within what was once known as Siberia, in the heart of Red Army territory, that the Special Forces happened upon a stockpile of battle armors. These were obviously suited for reconnaissance and stealth, not frontal assaults. Using his knowledge of the Russian language and the Cyrillic alphabet, Elijah helped his brothers-in-arms with the basic functions of the walkers. The Special Forces left the supply depot with every single one of the 40 mechanized armors stockpiled there, returning to Afghanistan with them.
Over the next five years, the ANA learned how to build and use these battle armors. Reverse-engineering allowing the military to begin production of their own reconnaissance mech suits, renamed the Scimitar battle armors. All the instructions and engineering had been transferred from Cyrillic into Farsi and the first users were the Special Forces. Using these mechs, the SF was able to hold out much longer than it would have normally been possible against superior foes using enormous war mechs weighing almost a hundred tons. But soon enough, the war was clearly lost to the chaos of the rogue armies rising and falling around them. The looming, vengeful shadow of the Red Army was threatening to swallow the entire Asian continent. The ANA General Staff gave the order and the army retreated, abandoning Afghanistan to its would-be pillagers. Within a few weeks, the remnants of the army were reunited with the civilian masses that had taken refuge in Oceania. It was a bittersweet reunion, as the presence of the army indicated that they could not hold their country against the waves of the mechanized, armored raiders.
Elijah did spend a few months enjoying the peace that this conglomerate of countries offered, but it was not a peace that would satisfy him. Even as he reunited with his family, they understood the storm that brewed within the youngest boy of the Marzban family. They were well-treated and lived with millions of others, but… They were still refugees, outcasts of their own homeland. This gnawed at the young man, who attempted to find other means to being productive and useful to his people. It is not to say that Elijah enjoyed the bloodshed or combat. Truth be told, he disliked it immensely. But it was a necessary thing if they were to free their country and he fought because he could, not because he wanted to. If they did nothing, then the exiled peoples of Earth could never be able to return home if they so chose. Though he was talented for war, he wanted peace. He fought because he wanted peace, both abroad and back home.
The ANA General Staff seemed content to concentrate on the protection of its people for now, so Elijah approached what he thought was a NATO military base. It turned out that during his decade of fighting in the more dangerous places of Earth, much had changed in the way of politics. NATO did not exist here; instead, the North Atlantic Alliance Joint Military was in place, a mishmash of several old allied countries of NATO under a new banner. A meeting with a few very high-placed officers of both armies decided that Elijah Arshad Marzban could continue to actively serve the ANA and also serve the NAAJM by providing security upon civilian and military transports to and from the Lunar colonies. During his work with the NAAJM he would retain his military grade of sergeant, with all the privileges and responsibilities that came with it. Elijah used this position to learn as much as he could about the ever-shifting situation of the world and especially that of Eurasia. But the best he obtained were bar rumors and hearsay. The Red Army had apparently crumbled, all of Russia divided into warring territories directed by tyrants throwing ultra-sophisticated mech units against one another in futile displays of strength. The most savage and bloodthirsty was known as the Ryazan Empire, and it would apparently either drape the world in the red of its flag or drown it in seas of red blood.
During a recent deployment as head of security upon a cargo vessel, something went terribly wrong. The captain explained that much of the cargo needed to be jettisoned in order to be able to land safely. Upon hearing that passengers may be forced to crash land upon the Eurasian continent, Elijah was the first (and only) member of the security force to voluntarily crash-land with the first dropped containers, knowing they would probably land in some of the most hostile environments on Earth (they were fast approaching the Ryazan Empire's slowly-but-surely-expanding borders at this point). They would need someone to take point, a scout and a guide, someone who knows the lay of the land and how to guide them as safely as possible through the canyons, valleys and mountains of what was now clearly Hell on Earth. As Xenophon reluctantly took the role of guide for the remnants of the Ten Thousand in the ancient texts of the Anabasis, so too will Elijah Arshad Marzban do everything in his abilities to guide those around him to safety.
