Barb Albert (Echo)

 Membership: Freelance

Race: Human

Height: 5’6

Weight: 145

Apparent Age: 60

Archetype: Physical Adept: Circle Unknown

Preferred Weapon: Sabre

Runner Song:

Bio: The runner known as Echo is one old bat that you seriously need to avoid at all costs, she might see feeble and an easy mark but that couldn’t be farther from the truth; Echo is a highly skilled physical adept that has been in operation since the earliest days of the awakening and maybe even prior as the records from that time are mostly lost and left to speculation. Echo currently is truly blind as a bat, but yet has adapted her astral sight, with a natural sonar detection system; rendering Echo fully able to see her entire environment far better than anyone else. Do to her crippling injury at the hands of the Freedom Task Force and the lose of her sight, Echo’s other senses have adapted and expanded beyond anything anyone could imagine or even replicate; add her advanced tactical computer gifted to her by Dr. McGowan as a experiment to see if these devices can assist the physically blind and you have one very dangerous and deadly assassin.

Echo can be considered a Mercenary do to the code of ethics she follows and that she is a consummate professional constantly keeping an eye out for the young and trying to help guide them down the proper path; though for Echo she is fully committed to the order of assassins known as the Presidents Men and thus is not simply for hire; and for anyone to work alongside some of the most powerful assassins and mercenaries in that order just attempting to hire Echo could prove lethal for the employer. She likes to play the part of the feeble old lady but don’t be fooled she is one of the most powerful swordsman to exist and has proven time and time again that she is a true force to be reckoned with. Echo’s true circle is unknown to everyone but those within the Presidents Men and is close friends with some very terrifying runners besides the Presidents Men would include the runners Stamps, Ringmaster, Marshall, Professor, Accountant, and Khan not to mention she has been trained by some of the best and has trained some of the worlds best in the arts of martial combat; her prowess in battle is unmatched and many a Dark Arms Ronin have fallen to Echo and her Emerald Green blade.

Echo lost her sight when the Freedom Task Force lead by Agent Johnathan White began their purge under the orders of Director Mitchell and she would catch a face full of buck shot from Agent Whites shotgun blast; believing she was dead the Task Force would leave Echo laying in a pool of her own blood. This would become a fatal mistake as the runner known as Scourge would find his downed friend and bring her to his close friend Moray DiCane for healing; Echo’s wounds would be beyond even his ability restore her sight and do to the limited cyber technology at the time, she couldn’t have optics placed in. So Moray would magically infuse a mystical crystals into Echo’s missing eyes and thus the legend of Echo would be born, she would stalk the night hunting down those that where considered the enemy and helping others of her order survive the purge; many would still perish but if it wasn’t for the work of Echo and Scourge the Presidents Men might have fully gone extinct. She would prove that even a women could keep up with the men in her order and even becoming a master of the blade training many of her fellow assassins for the day they would get retribution.

During the days of the purge and the reconstruction the surviving Presidents Men would scatter to the four winds and go deep into hiding until the day the winds wold blow again and they would be needed to restore law and order: well for Echo she might have went into hiding but that doesn’t mean she stayed out of the game, she would gladly keep watch over the district she called home and make sure that the enemy of the people stayed clear of Iron Side. Echo might seem to walk with a walker and act like a crazy old cat lady, but again she is just playing a game and one that she learned directly from the master himself Enigma. Echo was last scene helping a bunch of newbie runners out of a jam, before abandoning her home and returning to the Presidents Men; though when it comes to Echo this is one women that holds a grudge and with her power unknown and the city once again at war, it will be a matter of time before the UCAS feels the wrath of this professional assassin.

Now as for any reports on Echo’s ability’s and skills are unknown, she can’t be ascended by any known magi and it is assumed that she is in possession of many focuses that are beyond the legal level. Echo like Set is  total wild card with her return, she is known for her work within the Presidents Men, but at the same time this women has assassinated many leaders that would fall outside their jurisdiction. She tries to help the young find their place, and yet she understands that no one can stand up to her blade in combat, Echo has been seen slicing battle tanks in two with ease and standing back to back with the Deaths Hands one man army Gladius and fending off countless enemies with ease. It seems that Director Mitchell was looking out for the people when he ordered the purging of these assassins seeing that nothing seems to be able to match them in battle and with the introduction of the Spartan and the return of Set this once shadow order has taken centre stage and has made some serious waves in the days current conflict age.

Echo is one women that needs to be respected and not one to ever end up on her list, for that only means a quick trip to the morgue and do to her advanced senses and tactical computer this women can’t be surprised or ever caught of guard, there are reports of Echo slicing sniper bullets out of the air and killing a would be assassin with his own arrow as she deflected it back at him. Echo has been run through the wringer and has prevailed, she is one of the finest swordsman to ever live and is damn near bullet proof, she is loyal to her order and her friends but she has a score to settle with the agent who shot her in the face, and well can you blame her for this. Agent White might be currently working for the rebels and have traded sides within the revolution but that doesn’t mean Echo will ever forgive him for shooting her in the face; the Presidents Men are one order that I would never want on my bad side as they have proven time and time again that they are an unstoppable force and as the years go by they seem to only get stronger and more blasent.

Rumours indicate that Echo seems to fight in the same style of Set and Checkmate thus making her almost unstoppable as she can predict your movements and instantly counter them, she has deflected bullets with her palms, and can sense an enemies movements and react to them before they do. Echo might have been disabled by Agent White, but whatever Moray DiCane did to her has not only made her stronger, but has allowed Echo to become a true force of nature. The UCAS is living in fear of Echo’s confirmed return and if it wasn’t for a group of newbies that screwed the pooch, they might not have ever known about Echo and she could have remained within the shadows doing the Directors dirty work with no one being the wiser. So if the rumours about Echo are true, I wouldn’t want to be those newbies and I really don’t want to be Agent White; as for the UCAS they made their bed and now it’s time for them to lay in it, the Presidents Men are back and this reporter is just looking forward to seeing the fireworks as they attempt to restore law and order once again in this age of chaos.

Page Written By: Rodney Glover <Seattle Times>