Membership: Ruination/Harbingers
Race: Human
Height: 5’5
Weight: 170
Apparent Age: 60+
Archetype: Cybered Physical Adept: Circle (Good Fucking God!!!)
Preferred Weapon: Denver Guard Revolver (Modified)
Runner Song:
Bio: It’s time to discuss the Locksmith the man that helped define the Walled City of Denver with Oakley Doyle in those early days. This man is a true monster when it comes to those that try to hurt the innocent and his vengeance is always swift, for the Locksmith is not the man you ever want to make angry. Archie has been at Oakley’s side for many a decade and is also an elder of the military’s failed Immortality Program, this is where things begin to get fuzzy and veiled in mystery. The Locksmith’s military records still remain classified and are under the lock and key of the Department of Defence, though his jacket from the L.A PD is wide open and reads like an old dime novel.
This man seems to the cop of cops and with his long time partner being Oakley Doyle it is hard to pin down the truth from these old case reports. Now I am not saying that the Locksmith’s records are fabricated but if what I read is true than I am a bit concerned and yet thrilled that these old friends are still working together. Archie’s known military records show that he served in the US Navy and the US Marine Corp like Oakley and we can interpret that these men served within the same units and fought in the same conflicts. Though without seeing the actual records I can only assume and hypothesis, though military service aside this man’s police records are spotless and he has received some of the cities and nations highest accolades and solved over 1,000 homicides and stood in the direct face of terrorism numerous times.
My team has gone through both his and Oakley’s records and they are both nearly perfect and spotless, this duo of law enforcement officers was once the pinnacle of what a police officer should be. The Locksmith would retire from the L.A Police department the second most decorated officer only to be outdone by his partner and dear friend Oakley and reach the rank of Lieutenant. They would solve the unsolvable and stare evil in the face numerous times putting murderer and serial killer away case by case, these detectives have been declared the nations best and even hold Presidential Accolades from John F Kennedy, Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan not to mention holding federal authority as honorary FBI Special Agents.
One can wonder why would such a decorated detective like Archie Luna walk away from the LA Police Department and a city he called home for many decades. Well that answer is easier than I thought it would be, Archie and Oakley would both retire from the LAPD at the same time in 2018. They would than move to Denver where their history becomes intertwined and we have the birth of the Denver Guard and the Elite Guard. Well it seems that during the Great Tragedy of 2018 the LAPD would be required to ignore the mass murders and fail to report to calls of distress from the citizens, something that neither hero cop would be able to do let alone stomach. These men would go against a direct order numerous times and report to calls of shots fired, officer down and discoveries of slain civilians. They would not only report to these call outs they would begin their investigations and this was something the government of the UCAS and the Usurpers would want to silence.
The Locksmith was not going to sit by and watch as his people where gunned down in the streets like animals, and nor would Oakley, this would lead them into the lion’s den and open up a box that they couldn’t close back up nor seal. The Usurpers grew angry and began to increase the pressure and even went as far as killing Archie’s wife and children to send the detective a bloody message. Well all that did was strengthen his resolve and they would create a problem that would take another five plus decades to solve. We learned from the records of the dynamic duo that they had solved the murder of Archie’s family but couldn’t slap the cuffs on and where chased out of California before they could arrest James O’Brian for four counts of murder one with special circumstances; this is Archie and Oakley’s only unsolved case on record, though unofficially it was solved mere months after they took on the case.
Now one can wonder why this duo would be allowed to reinvent the police force within Denver the crown jewel of the UCAS when Archie and Oakley where on the government’s hit list. Well simple really the Great Tragedy of 2018 would leave the nation in chaos and the Civil War of 2020 and the Information Crash of 2029 would be a major distraction thus allowing the men to vanish into the Mile High City and claim it as their own. When the Storm Riders would assault the city in 2033 the Denver Guard and the Elite Guard would be the lynch pin in keeping the city from falling to the rebellion. Well this would turn the UCAS’s most wanted men into their beloved citizens, the Usurpers believed that Archie and Oakley where loyal pawns and moved onto their focus in Detroit. Well according to Archie and Oakley this couldn’t be farther from the truth, they had learned the horrid reality of the UCAS while investigating the murders of Luna’s family and they watched as the UCAS demanded they and other police officers simply allow the citizens to be butchered and allow justice to go unpunished.
Both men having scene two major wars first hand and having lived through many others, refused to accept war and a violent rebellion as the answer and they believed that if they could turn the crown jewel against the UCAS than the people’s voice would spread like a wildfire and peace would come through diplomacy. This was their ideology and thesis when they created the Guard, they implemented the Denver Guard to be Peace Officers and hold true to the standards of “To Serve and Protect”. Well this was a noble idea and plan, but upon execution things started to unravel and even with Oakley and Archie pulling the reigns it would only be a matter of time before the Guard would fall to corruption and the evils of man.
Now not to fault Archie nor Oakley this was neither of their faults, they did the best any man could do and well seeing that it lasted till 2065 before it truly became corrupt and nothing more than a secret police order is a miracle to say the least. Also to say that these hero’s still breath is another example of good triumphing over evil, though the price they paid was great and the horror that haunts them is great. Now I already spoke about how the Guard would be turned into the Secret Police and how they would toss Oakley out in 2065 well the same is true for his direct second in command Archie Luna and both men would be shoved in the forgotten poor section of the city known for it’s high crime and murder rate.
Those now in charge hoped that the locals would simply murder the two former white cops and that would be the end of it. Well what I neglected to mention in Oakley’s report is that Archie and Oakley would help to renovate the troubled region, use their military, police, and guard training to secure the location. They would chase the gangs out of the neighbourhood, use their city connections with Jane Winter’s father and bring repair crews in and as well increase the food, water and recreation within the district. They would also open up a community centre and begin to educate the young people and old helping them with life and job skills that could get them out of the district and go beyond the walls to a life worth living.
Now I know your going to say well the people where divided and many tried to kill Oakley, yes that happened when the Usurpers figured out that their plan to murder the duo had failed and they had turned the once troubled neighbourhood into one of distinction and had helped create a local security division and increased local morale. The people actually loved the duo, this was something the Usurpers needed to quell and well they would begin to dump the criminal scum from the prisons into their district and use Death’s Hand tactics of cutting off power, food and water. Saying that Oakley and Archie would be rising up and creating a militia unit to overthrow the legally elected government of Denver.
This is where the issues would begin but those trying to kill the two men would be the criminals unleashed into the region and when innocent lives would be lost in the process, well Oakley and Archie would take the blame knowing that they should have been able to brig the scum to justice quicker. The Usurpers only created a martyr out of them and allowed for the real rebellion to rise in the shadow of these two men, they fulfilled a self proclaimed prophecy and that reality was about to slam into Denver at a million miles an hour.
The order known as the Tunnel Rats wold be born out of the ashes of the Denver Guard, this rebellion would have one major advantage and that being the Locksmith as well Oakley eventually at the helm. These men would show why being immortal and within leadership positions for over a century by this point would be something the UCAS should never have forgotten nor under estimated. Archie would become the field commander of the Rats while Oakley would once again take up his duties as sniper passing word through a cryptic code the two developed many decades earlier and never shared with anyone till that day.
Archie would teach the Tunnel Rats the secret language so they could directly communicate with Oakley while he kept them safe from his eyes in the sky, and he would show them why he was called the Locksmith as Archie would bypass the security codes for the under tunnels and use the cities old sewers as a base of operation and a well a way to traverse through the city unnoticed. Archie and Oakley had one simple rule and that was No Civilian Casualties their enemy was the government and the Guard. They wanted to show the Usurpers and the UCAS that good men when pushed to far could achieve greatness and thats just what they did, they united the people and attacked under the cover of night when the streets would be clear and only the guardsmen would be out to enforce an unlawful curfew.
They would strike at government buildings, military offices, guard barracks and food distribution points. They would train the Tunnel Rats in the ways of less lethal combat and how to determine a security threat and a decoy. They would deploy traps and mass chaos to distract the enemy and allow the Tunnel Rats to secure their targets either food and water or supplies to start and eventually public figure that allowed this corruption and sickness to spread. The duo had turned from Peace Officers to Rebel Leaders and no longer could diplomacy be the only weapon for they had become Liberties Teeth and they were about to bite down hard at the tyranny that polluted Denver.
From 2070 till March 13th of 2074 they would command the Tunnel Rats and slowly increase the threat of the Rebellion hoping that the UCAS government would desire a peaceful outcome to a very deadly problem. Though this was not the case and as the violence increased and the Tunnel Rats would up the ante by turning the people of the varied districts against the guard by bringing down the sector gates and leaving drop boxes with homemade Guard weapons and ammo for the people to defend themselves. The UCAS would turn the volume up to eleven and start to bring in the military from outside of Colorado to help quell the violence and hope to intimidate the people into surrender; this tactic was a total failure and it only drew the attention of the Freedom Patriots and by January 2074 Kingsbury had aligned with the Tunnel Rats and began supplying them with weapons and troops. All out war had truly begun in Denver in February of 2074, though little did anyone know what was waiting for them in the secret military tunnels below the city.
With the city know engaged in a full fledged rebellion and looking as if Denver would as well become a sovereign state, a blow that would have brought the entire revolution to a halt. This would have saved millions of lives as the UCAS would have surrendered after the crown jewel of the UCAS fell to the rebels and became yet another state of freedom and liberty. The plan was enacted by James O’Brian in January of 2073 and that was to destroy Denver and murder all within the city, thus ending the Tunnel Rats once and for all, he also set it up so the Rebels would become the victims and absorb all the blame for the death of millions of UCAS/CAS/NAN/Tir/CFS and Aztlan citizens that resided within the heart of the UCAS.
Well I already wrote about his plan and how included Alexander of the Deaths Hand and countless rebel demolition experts and masters hired by Alexander. Everything seemed to be going as plan according to James O’Brian and for Alexander it would spell the end to the tyrant city of Denver and for the rebels this has always been their plan to sack and destroy Denver in the name of freedom. Well thanks to Violet Meisner, Johnathan White, Ethan Oliver, and Dennis Holmes they would figure out the impeding attack and Violet would get word to Asteroid a close friend of Violets and a master decker and communications specialist who worked for the tunnel rats from the safety of his Colorado Springs home. This warning would only come in one day prior to the bombing that would fully destroy Denver and end the life of millions in a single second; Oakley and Archie would decide to warn the citizens of impending doom and broadcast an evacuation order through the cities emergency broadcast system.
All this did was create pandemonium inside Denver and cause many to perish before the bombs from civil unrest and panic. Others would stay put feeling it was a simple scare tactic and the threat wasn’t real and many would be trapped beyond the gated walls of their districts or the walls of their hospital beds, prison wards, or mental facilities. This panic would spread across the city and create gridlock and chaos for miles, the government knowing what was to come and wanting mass destruction would purposely blockade roads, bridges and shut down the airports. They sent out contradicting warnings telling people to stay home and lock the doors as this was just a ruse set up by the rebels, those outside the city in the suburbs felt safe and secure in their homes and others ran off into the mountains to prepare for armageddon.
The Tunnel Rats under the command of Oakley and Archie would oversee the evacuation and use their own Black Hawk Helicopters as a means to evacuate people but time was not on their side and not knowing the exact time of the detonation their hands where eventually tied. By the time Archie’s cybernetic code breakers and his advanced audio implants picked up the frequency of the bombs they knew they had to evacuate as well and as hundreds of civilians crowed near the helicopters for rescue they had to give the signal for lift off and watch as the people who trusted them and they loved with all their heart where left to die a needless death.
Ten Black Hawks would take off from Denver just moments before detonation, only three would land safely within Las Vegas the other seven would get destroyed by the shock wave and debris from the explosion that devastated the region for hundreds of miles. That entire region of Colorado was lost in a blink of an eye and Archie would witness the total destruction of the place he had called home for over six decades. The duo would witness first hand the ultimate price of war and just how far the UCAS would go to discredit the rebels, Denver was unlike Detroit as there were no protection wards put in place prior to the blast, no they just let the munitions do as intended and the damage was felt for miles outside of Denver. The only ward was within the boarder of Yellow Stone National Park to keep the Super Volcano from erupting from the sheer devastation of that blast wave; reports indicate that the tremors could be felt from coast to coast and damage reports are still being filed from boarding states.
The destruction of Denver will rank in as the number two most devastating act of terror on American Soil with the Great Ghost Dance of 2018 being number one and Detroit being now number three. The Deaths Hand attack barely ranks on the charts, and 9/11/01 being a tragedy and thats all. More people perished on March 13th 2074 than in World War One, World War Two, Korean War, Vietnam War, The War on Terror and the Great Tragedy of 2018 combined and the nation is still trying to recover from this tragedy.
As for Archie and those that escaped Denver and survived they are racked with guilt and anger over the unnecessary loss of life and act of direct terror against the American people at the hands of their own government. Archie believes that this entire tragedy is on his hands and he and Oakley are to blame, if they had only just turned themselves in to the LAPD and not tried to birth something that became a toxic entity. They blame themselves for allowing the rebellion to turn violent and are living in deep regret for the lives that ended up being lost to terrorism.
Where Oakley focused his rage and frustration into protecting his son and starting another project with Ralph Rivers and Norman Patton. Archie needed time to decompress and he for the first time in over a century and half would go on his own and just try to rationalise the events and live a normal life. Well for the Locksmith this wasn’t going to happen as the horror wouldn’t let him sleep, survivors guilt would consume him and he would quickly grow very dark inside with his only release being a bottle of alcohol and a handful of pills. Suicidal thoughts mode cloud his thoughts and the screams of the people would become an opus he would hear in the dead of night. Archie would awake in the throws of nightmares and regret and tears stained his pillow a he slept, the horrors of his life would become a blanket that would leave him in terror to even rest his eyes.
The weary old veteran and survivor of Denver would become a shell of himself and yet he couldn’t bring himself to end his misery. He wanted to simply end it all but he couldn’t do that to his brother in arms and his god son, as much as he was hurting he knew Oakley was dying inside and this would eventually break the Locksmith out of his self pity and as much as his heart aches with sorrow he knows that he must be strong for Oakley and Cardwell who he loves like family. Archie would learn of Ruination and the order of remembrance from the news and there location within the Waterways Military Compound and well he just one day woke up packed his bag, put on his Denver Guard Dress Tan’s, and headed down to reunite with his brother in arms after eight months apart.
Archie would quickly feel at home with Oakley and the other Guardsman inside Ruination and for the first time in months he felt as if he actually did some good in those final days inside Denver. Hearing of the election of Oliver McKeen and August Prichard would give him hope that peace would one day be realised and the Harbingers would become a shining example of what happens when good men are pushed to the limit. When Archie would learn of the US Elite from Oakley he would quickly put pen to paper and once again sign up with the military and for this veteran it is a hope that they are never needed but when they are hopefully they can save the innocent from hell’s inferno.
Like Oakley he joined the Harbingers and is more than happy to share his experience with the others veterans on that team and help groom them into the true hero’s they are destined to become. Though he might have accepted that the tragedy of Denver was set up by James O’Brian and executed by Alexander Church and both men have paid the ultimate price for their betrayal. He is not fully ready to forgive those rebel demolition experts that actually placed the bombs and pulled the trigger killing millions in the name of freedom. Denver could have been saved and turned into a refuge for the rebellion, yet now it sits as a steady reminder of what happens when evil is allowed to triumph.
Archie has spent his life protecting and serving the people and he sacrificed everything to keep his honour whole, he never once wavered and even through tragedy he never allowed it to defeat him. His anger burns deep inside and so does his patriotism and we can only hope that his new focus and his lifelong friendship with Oakley can keep him focused and directed, if the anger fully consumes Archie he can become a true terror to behold and without direction he will become a loose cannon with nothing to loose. The Harbingers and US Elite are blessed to have the Locksmith in their ranks, but this blessing comes with a curse and thats he will never forget about the tragedy of March 13th 2074.
Page Written By: Shadow Writer
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