Dusk

Name: Thomas "Dusk" Robbins

Species: Black Panther (Jaguar) Recom

Height: 5'6"

Weight: 143 lbs

Eyes: Yellow-gold

Hair/Fur: Black, touches of gray on his muzzle and chin.

Age: Born September 4, 2331 (24 years old)

Faction: Independent, but affiliated with the Confed Rebellion

Profession: Consultant on Extra-Dimensional Threats

Background: Dusk's parents had lived a nomadic life, working as technicians on terraforming projects, a job that required that they travel all along the fringes of known space. Dusk was born in the medical bay of a commercial transport, the Shelley Thompson, en route to one such world, hundreds of light years from civilization. All the human contact he knew was among a small crew of around forty workers onboard the Shelley Thompson, a ship that, while large, offered little freedom for a curious child to explore. He was eight when their ship had brought them to an Earth-like world, with a hostile atmosphere and no signs of native life....a prime target for terraforming. Two weeks into the project a few of the workers discovered an alien relic wedged in a valley. In exploring it they inadvertently activated something in it....a way for something to come through. What it was, exactly, wasn't clear. But it took away half of the Shelly Thompson's crew in one night, never to be seen again. Including Dusk's mother. Others on the crew, including his father, had seen what it was, but could not give any coherent description of it. They were deeply disturbed by what they saw and couldn't sleep and wouldn't eat. They eventually committed suicide, two days after the incident. The surviving crew decided to leave the planet, abandoning any hope of finding what happened to the missing workers, and they headed back to civilized space. Dusk, orphaned and having no surviving family that could take custody of him, was handed over to the authorities on Osiris and placed into their foster care system.

For his next six years, Dusk was moved from foster home to foster home, proving to be a difficult child to care for. He had become withdrawn and paranoid, frequently haunted by nightmares, and he had an extremely difficult time socializing with other children. He ended up being expelled from a grade school and from a junior high school for getting into fights in which he had badly injured human students with his claws. The authorities feared that he may have developed Regressed Carnivore Syndrome and he had to take drugs to suppress his aggression. The drugs caused him to become depressed and suicidal, and after a failed suicide attempt he ran away from home. Living on the streets, he drifted from city to city, shaking off the effects of the drugs and finding release for his aggression while fighting with other transients. He proved to be a good survivor, and eventually came to the city of Alexandria where he met an old man who offered to take the stray cat in and give him a home.

The man, a human by the name of Erik, ran an old theater. He put Dusk to work, cleaning the massive building, and in return provided him with food and clothes and a place to sleep. When asked for an explanation for his generosity, he said that he noticed something odd in Dusk, a sign of having been marked by some experience, having been touched by something otherworldly. Dusk was surprised to have someone identify what was bothering him as something other than a mental illness, so he opened up to Erik, and told him his story. Erik confirmed that Dusk had an encounter with something he called The Greys. He explained that there are forces at work in the universe, well outside of the understanding of human science. That these forces can intrude upon our universe at their leisure and prey upon innocent people, spiriting them away to conduct terrible experiments upon them. But then he also explained that it was possible to identify these beings, and to fight them. Over the next few years he taught Dusk how to combat such threats, helping the cat to overcome his own nightmares. Together they had discovered a couple of attempts by such entities, in this case the Imaja, to intrude upon Alexandria, and they fought back with amazing success, going so far as killing one of them.

Being able to beat something that he had always thought untouchable, Dusk's confidence grew and he started to see a new side of things, where he could make a difference in the world. But then he took a huge blow when Erik unexpectedly died from a heart attack, leaving Dusk alone. The theater was sold, but Dusk had managed to retain control of a part of it, using his newly found abilities to sequester that part away from the rest of reality. There he created a sanctuary where nothing could invade and harm him, and from there he went about devising means to fight these alien threats. His skill in such matters led to him being consulted by people from around the city, looking for help in cases where they had unwanted visitations or abductions. Many cases were frauds, but some he found to be legitimate, and he was able to put his knowledge to work. But working alone, he no longer had anyone to confide in, no one to help him deal with his dreams. The forces that he fought could attack from anywhere, could use anyone as a weapon against him, and in his isolation his paranoia grew, eventually leading him to spend the majority of his time hiding in his sanctuary, only helping those who would come to him. And most wrote him off as being crazy....no one took stories of extra-dimensional threats seriously.

That is, until the Imaja attempted to displace the entire city of Alexandria into another dimension, taking it to their homeworld of Tarlec in hopes of recruiting new members en masse, at the expense of millions of innocent lives. Having been drawn by Nikopol into an alliance with members of the crew of the Hammerfall, they were able to foil the plot, and he was offered a place onboard the Hammerfall, where he would never have to be alone.

Skills: Dusk's primary asset is his knowledge. He is familiar with a variety of alien races, especially those of extra-dimensional origin: their behaviors, strengths and weaknesses, as well as where and how to find them. He has a certain knack for exploiting those weaknesses, and he tends to couch his methods in a lot of mysticism, making it appear to be magic. Perhaps he has some psi-talent, or he's just good at trickery, but he can pull off some miraculous feats when combating alien threats. Physically, he is in very good shape, being very quick and strong, and having the enhanced senses that are typical of a recom of his type. He is quite adept at physical combat, using his hands and feet with considerable skill. He's not very skilled at the use of firearms, having a rather poor aim, and he can barely drive a ground car, let alone operate air or spacecraft.

Personality: Dusk is withdrawn and reclusive, exceedingly shy and distrustful of strangers, rather like a feral cat. He has had few friends during his life, since he has had to move around so much, and finds it very difficult to make new one. Yet when he does make a friend he is fiercely loyal and protective. He dislikes confrontation, and tends to resort to passive-aggressive behavior when in a stressful situation. Yet in spite of his shyness he is not afraid to confront injustice when he sees it, and can transform very unexpectedly into a brave warrior when he's standing up for what he thinks is right. He does possess a dry, somewhat morbid sense of humor.

Appearance: Dusk is a humanoid black panther, having a strong yet very lean build. He's not very tall, and tends to hunch a lot as he stands and so appears shorter than he really is. He has a nice glossy coat of fur, which he takes pride in, so he prefers to dress minimally, usually wearing just an open jacket and slacks, going bare-chested and barefoot where he can get away with it.

Theme song: Danse Macabre by Camille Saint-Saëns