Johanna "Midas" Fleet

Skills

Primary Class: Mechanic
Secondary Class: Scout
Occupation: Master roboticist, seasoned survivalistTraits:

Additional Skills:

Equipment and Weaponry:

Personality

Gentle, Loyal, Kindhearted / Gruff, No-Nonsense, Strong-Willed / Short-Tempered, Stubborn, VengefulMidas is a woman who has lived a very long, very hard life, and has come out the other side hardened and scarred. She finds pleasure and festivity to be a frivolous luxuriance, and her eternally grouchy demeanor (paired with her imposing figure) has a tendency to intimidate those around her. Despite all this, at her core she has a heart of gold, and her friendship and loyalty are unyielding- once you earn them, of course.

History

CONTENT WARNING: Death, Major Injury, Violence, Illness/Infection, Amputation, Psychological Trauma
, Implied Cannibalism

TL;DR: Born to poor farmers on Mars, Midas and her best friend Bertie rose from the dust to become acclaimed engineers (with a little help behind the scenes from those in power). Selected to be on an elite team of roboticists, they were sent to earth to work- but soon discovered proof of human life on what was meant to be a lifeless planet. After an attempted uprising amongst her fellow mechanics resulted in their deaths- including Bertie's- and the loss of her right leg and vision in her left eye, Midas spent years in relative isolation, only leaving her desert home to trade for supplies and occasionally help wanderers who showed up at her door. However, a recent and unexpected surge of new neighbors have made Midas finally leave her solitary life, heading to Salus in search of greener pastures.

Early Years

Johanna Fleet was born on Mars to a family of farmers from Midgard, a small, blue-collar settlement just outside of Valhalla that specialized in raising luxury meats for the upper class living in Valhalla. She was a quiet child, too shy and self-conscious to make many friends- she has never been a small person, and was often picked on by other children for it, so she spent much of her early years alone or in the company of her parents.Even from a young age, her prospects for life were grim- had a certain person not come into her life early on, she would likely still be on Mars to this day, tending to livestock for the rest of her life. Even so, a part of her wonders if perhaps she would have been happier to live in that simple ignorance of the lowborn than have faced the tragedy that has befallen her in her attempts to rise from her station.That disruptive force came to her at the age of 10 in the form of Bertrand Bright, a boy who, despite a clubbed foot and a poor immune system, was quick to be labelled as trouble by Midas' quiet community. Orphaned and deemed too weak to join the workforce, Bertie was sent to live with his aunt in Midgard, where he met Johanna and quickly became her closest friend and conspirator. He was a mischievous young scamp, goldenhearted and quick witted and filled with lofty ideas of success and escape from their dull existence, ideas the young and somewhat introverted Johanna absorbed with wonder and enthusiasm.He instilled in her his fascination with mechanics, enlisting her help to take apart machines and automata so he could draw their parts, copy their make- and improve upon their designs, which Johanna would then build. This partnership lead Johanna to begin developing her own interest in engineering, although she never thought herself as good a designer as her friend. He, however, refuted these ideas, dubbing her Midas and claiming All she created was pure gold- a childish sentiment, perhaps, but one she took pride in. Together, they dreamed of a life in one of the grand citadels, creating the machines that ran their society.This dream would become increasingly plausible as the pair progressed through school. Their skills as an engineering team would catch the attention of their educators, who in turn alerted those in higher seats of power. They quickly found themselves elevated above the lowly circumstances of their birth, on the fast track to apprentice under some of the best robotics engineers of the day. They were thrilled by this opportunity- their hard work had finally been recognized!They didn't see the meetings behind the scenes, the discussions by the propagandists- after all, what is more inspiring to a beaten populace than a real-life bona fide rags-to-riches story? They were proof of the idea that anyone could make it with hard work and determination, even the lowest of the low- a lie, of course, but a pretty one, and one well worth the investment of time and resources.And so, at 17, Bertie and Midas packed their things and said farewell to their families, never to return home again.

Journeymanship

The pair were fast tracked through their apprenticeship, quickly becoming journeymen, their work greatly praised by their masters. Their team was unstoppable, well on their way to becoming masters themselves, quite the feat for a couple of nobody hicks living on a hope and a dream.It was at this point that they were recruited by the military's Guardian workshops, set to work creating the next generation of mechanical monsters to terrorize the pale blue dot so far away. Of course, they didn't know that- in their minds they were working to reclaim earth from its invaders, to return the planet of humanity's birth to human rule, a noble pursuit if there ever was one. Despite her soft-spoken nature, Midas was quick to build a healthy circle of friends amongst her fellow gearheads, and Bertie stuck to her side, quick to weedle his way into anyone's heart and create space for the gentle giant.While at the workshops, the pair began work on their greatest project to date- drafting plans for what would eventually be known as the Tortuga, a mobile biome that could transport itself to metaphorically greener pastures year round as resources available to it ran dry. They were young, their ambitions were lofty, but they wanted to see it through, to make their mark, their masterpiece- and they did not go unnoticed by the powers that be.After a few years finding great success working on Mars, Midas and Bertie found themselves approached to head the the Orpheus Project, the chance to actually build a prototype Tortuga on site on Earth under the watchful guidance of General Isabella Garcia, an impressively decorated member of Mars' military- to ensure the safety of these brave pioneers, they were told. Bertie was selected to lead the team, which consisted of 30 up-and-coming engineers, mechanics, and roboticists hand-selected from the top of their classes to undertake this endeavor. Beyond the Tortuga, the Orpheus Project would provide the space to prototype new guardian models on-site, allowing for environmental experimentation previously only achievable by simulation. Truly, this was the opportunity of a lifetime.

Arrival on Earth

On the eve of her 23^rd birthday, Midas found herself packing up and shipping off to earth surrounded by old friends and complete strangers alike. Over the course of the long journey from Mars to the Blue Marble, she would come to know them all as the closest of comrades- though none would ever be so close to her heart than Bertie, for their bond was stronger than ever. To solidify their bond, they created dog tags for the team, each stamped with their name and an insignia of a tortoise.Arriving at what was once the Mohave desert, the crew of the Orpheus Project found their work cut out for them, but they were young, bright-eyed, and desperate to prove themselves- and under the watchful eye of the Martian military, which certainly was a motivator in its own way. Under this pressure to succeed, the full-scale prototype of the Tortuga, which was dubbed The Big Lady by the crew, was constructed within 2 years of arrival and put into testing.With the actual construction finished and tests underway, the Orpheus crew found themselves with time to devote to other projects- namely, the design and prototyping of new models of guardians, as many had come from that background back on Mars. Midas and Bertie were no exception- Bertie had hatched an idea for a wave of hominid guards, which he modelled (with Midas' help, input, and physical manpower when it came to actual construction) after himself. although only one "Tin Bertie" was ever actually created (General Garcia found the project to be a "frivolous waste of resources"), the robot stood as a testament to their team and friendship, and was quickly adopted by the crew as an unofficial mascot. The work was hard, but times were peaceful and they were happy.

The Fall of the Tortuga

No good thing lasts forever. Especially not on Earth.The end of everything good did not come all at once. It was foreshadowed long before it all fell apart, when a roving guardian's camera feed picked up what appeared to be a few shallow bootprints in the sand.At first, the crew tried to chalk it up to a fluke- perhaps someone had taken a late night stroll, or there was another biome close by. Neither of these held much water, of course, but no one wanted to believe there could be human life outside their isolated little crew. The evidence only kept mounting- a bit of radio interference here, a scrap of fabric there, and although General Garcia continued to deny this evidence, Midas found her words harder and harder to believe.Then one night, while on watch duty, Midas saw it plain as day on her monitor- a pair of wanderers on bikes, clearly not from any biome.Midas quickly woke up Bertie to review the footage as the head of the team, and the rest quickly followed suit- all except, of course, General Garcia, who had only ever denied their previous claims. She was now deemed suspect- why would she have so vehemently gone against the notion of human life on Earth? Unless, of course, she already knew- and of course she already knew. She had served no purpose other than as a military representative, so why would they send a general?Mars had lied, and they were caught in the middle of it.It was agreed to keep quiet about their discovery while they decided on a plan, going about business as usual while pretending to be in the dark, but the mood had clearly shifted and morale was at an all time low.By day, they trudged through projects they no longer enjoyed. By night, they planned a mutiny.There was only one General Garcia, after all. The guardians housed on the Big Lady were their own projects- they knew their workings inside and out and were confident in their control of the machines. By all means, it should have been easy- they would seize control of the Big Lady, enforce it with their own combined abilities as a crew, then drive the mobile biome off to investigate more thoroughly the people they had seen.It would have been easy... had one of the crew not ratted them out to General Garcia.When they discovered her gone on the day they had planned to take their stand, they were left confused to what had happened and where she had gone- until the eyes of the guards turned on them. They had naively believed they had control over the robots, being their creators. Now, as Isabella gave the execution order from a safe distance flanked by her own chartered guardians, they found themselves at the mercy of metal teeth and claws.Midas and Bertie were two of only 12 who escaped that day, and Midas paid dearly for it. Her face was by a experimental canid unit, with her jaw being broken by its initial bite and suffering a major burn scar when, after stabbing into its neck, burning oil spurt from its jaws. Despite the excruciating pain, she still managed to find and carry Bertie out unharmed, reconvening with the other survivors to lick their wounds and figure out what they were supposed to do.That night, as the bedraggled crew pulled out what little they had salvaged in the escape and took turns removing the chips from their bodies, Midas couldn't tear her one good eye from the lights of the Big Lady off in the distance, unaware that her troubles were only beginning.

The Desert and Death

One by one, her remaining companions fell.They lost Washer the botanist first, his injuries from that terrible night becoming too much for him. They buried him in the rocky earth, leaving a small stack of stones as a marker.Rio and Danny, two young roboticists, went a few days later, poisoned by cactus juice and unable to recover from the sickness.Lizza collapsed from the heat only two weeks in, as what supplies they had ran thin and rations became scant.They never saw where Sol went, or asked where Johnny got the meat for the stew. Rations had run out days ago. They no longer buried their dead anyways.Skip and Andy both went scouting, but neither came back. Midas would find bloody scraps of their suits two days later.Thirst took Candy on a different failed scouting mission. Mar was ambushed by a Sabre unit while trying to retrieve her body.Finally, Johnny went mad in the night, stripped himself naked, ran off into the hills, and promptly froze to death. Midas wouldn't find his body until a year later.This string of tragedies eventually only left Midas and Bertie, once again just them against the world. They fared better than their unfortunate fellow crew members- unlike their companions, they had grown up in hardship and were better equipped to stave off their inevitable doom. Bertie would attend to their camp, and Midas would search for what little game could be found. All the while she hoped to find the travellers whose presence had started all of this bloodshed, prayed they'd come to her aid. She never found even a trace of them.The final blow came three months in, in the early hours of the morning, when she arrived home to hear Bertie screaming. A small pack of Canid guards had broken into the camp, and one had gotten its teeth in her friend.Midas managed to fight them off long enough for the pair to make a limping retreat, but not before one managed to get her leg, leaving her wounded and limping. Bertie had gotten it worse- the canid had managed to rip into his side, leaving him with a large abdominal wound. Midas did her best to take care of him and successfully kept him from bleeding out, but he had never had a strong immune system.He died of infection two days later. Midas used what little she had left to burn his body.She was really and truly alone.Midas wandered the desert for days, limping aimlessly over the scorched earth, until pain, thirst, and exhaustion made her collapse. As she lay there, half-dead, she thought she heard the rev of motors and the silohuette of riders in masks.

Life on Earth

Midas awoke in a tent, laying on a makeshift medical cot and surrounded by people she had never seen before. They quickly explained they were nomads, and that they had stumbled upon her and brought her back with them when they realized she was still alive.They also informed her that her leg had been septic, and they had to amputate to save her life.The following weeks were a numb haze for her. She let her saviors take her through the motions of recovery, eventually allowing herself to be fitted with a simple prosthetic. Once back on her feet, she packed a bag with supplies and a map to a nearby settlement and wandered back out on her own.She spent a few years like this, wandering from outpost to outpost, camp to camp, working for essential supplies but never staying anywhere long, never making friends- the wounds were still too fresh.In time, she managed to trade a week of labor on some broken farming equipment for a small herd of Nigerian dwarf goats- two bucks and four does. She took back her long forgotten role as a farmer, wandering with her herd back out into the desert, looking for a place to finally settle, to finally rest.She didn't realize she was walking a familiar path until she saw the gleam of metal and glass in the distance, and realized with soft horror where her feet had carried her.The Big Lady lay in abandoned ruins, her garden wild and overgrown, her trees and flowers fed by the bodies of her crew. Without maintenance, her guardians had fallen into disrepair, most no more than scrap at her feet.Most, but not all. Although his body was broken and his firearms were long since spent on ammo, Tin Bertie's eyes still shone from the darkness.Midas set to repairing him, making a few modifications to his mainframe to regard her as his leader and take her orders as law. This project, this penance for her failures, reignited the fire of creation with her, and she was quick to clean the wreck up, turning it into a suitable shelter and workshop for her. She buried the remains of her crewmates, built a small barn for her goats, and got back to work.The years passed slowly, and her home continued to grow and change. Fences around the wider perimeter were in order, alongside a well. A broader range meant further to travel, so she built new machines out of salvaged and traded scrap- mechanical beasts of burden made of salvaged parts to transport her around her small farm. She made a sturdier leg, though she always stuck to a peg, a simple, inelegant solution to an inelegant problem. Tin Bertie watched the goats as she began travelling back and forth from her one-woman base, returning with seeds and poultry and finer scrap.She also found herself drawn to more creative pursuits- making small machines and whimsical mechanisms for nothing but the pure joy of creation. These fetched a higher price at markets and trading outposts, which she used to improve her little oasis.She wasn't always alone, either. Wanderers of all stripes found their way to her door, and though she feigned disdain for these travellers she secretly enjoyed their company, brief though it always was. Her favorite guests were always androids- even with everything that had happened, she held a soft spot for the mechanical folk who found their way to her door.Though not an android, a standout amongst these guest was the young Adrik Von Doppler, a young man she found collapsed and bloody a few miles from her home. Like her own rescuers had done decades prior, she nursed him back to health, but he stuck around longer than her previous guests. For a short time, he learned from her like an apprentice under a master, and although he too eventually went out into the wastes, he frequently and regularly returned.

Return to Society

All things change, and everything comes to an end, good and bad.Recently, a nomadic group who call themselves The Walking City have arrived on the Big Lady's doorstep, seeking wisdom and knowledge from the famed hermit of the Mojave.Midas had intended to hide in her home and wait for them to get bored and leave- only, they didn't. Months went by, and every time she left her paddock there were more people there- and more permanently set up, too. Something had to be done about all this nonsense.And so, when Adrik returned, she set him up as her stand in, directed him to take care of her house, gathered her goats and Tin Bertie, and snuck out the back to escape to greener pastures.She had heard tale of a large settlement a few hundred miles away- a long journey to be certain, but she had taken longer. Sure, she was trading large group of strangers for another, but at least these new people- these Salusians- wouldn't have any sort of misguided faith in her.Besides, what's one more journey for this old wanderer?