Tecton
<infobox> <title source="name"><default>Tecton</default></title>
<image source="Image"></image> <image source="image"></image> <group><header>Basic Information</header> <label>Civilian Name</label> <label>Aliases</label> <label>Gender</label><default>Unknown</default> <label>Death</label> <label>Age</label><default>Unknown</default> <label>Post-timeskip</label> <label>Ward start</label> <label>Relations</label> <label>Family</label></group> <group><header>Professional Status</header> <label>Occupation</label> <label>Classification</label> <label>Unique Features</label> <label>Alignment</label>
<label>Status</label><format><label>Location</label> <label>Teams</label> <label>Previous Team(s)</label> <label>Base of Operations</label></group> <group><header>First Appearance</header> <label>Worm Debut</label> <label>Ward Debut</label></group> </infobox>
Tecton is the leader of the Chicago Wards team.
Personality
Everett is a natural leader, but he is just as willing to defer leadership to someone else as he is to take it upon himself. He is understanding and empathetic in nature, which lends to his tendency to mediate conflicts between team members. Above all else, he is fair. He stands for justice, even if it means bending the rules on occasion, although he ultimately trusts his superiors and their reasoning.<ref name="19.3 e1">“Worrying about him is fine,” I said, and the image of Grue sitting at the base of the wall flickered through my mind’s eye, “But the best thing you can do for Raymancer is get through this thing alive, and when you’re done, you can do your job as team leader and find someone who can help him.”
“Myrddin will do that.”
“Maybe,” I said. “But are you really willing to trust the well-being of your teammate to a supervisor? Wouldn’t it feel better to handle it yourself?”
“Unless I have reason not to, I’ll rely on Myrddin and I’ll feel better doing that,” Tecton replied. “All of this, this whole scenario, the organization of it all, it doesn’t work unless there’s a measure of trust.”
“Okay,” I said. His reply had caught me off guard. I hadn’t expected Tecton to have that kind of faith in his superiors, and I couldn’t be sure if it was my own bias or naiveté on his part that were at fault for this gap in understanding. Even if I were right, though, it wasn’t my place to ‘fix’ him. “You lead the way you have to. Sorry to make assumptions.”
“S’okay,” Tecton said. “Doesn’t matter if you do or not. I’ll just keep making sure you and your team don’t create trouble.” - Excerpt from Scourge 19.3</ref> At least when he is first seen.[citation needed]
Everett dislikes being referred to as a "tech geek" and resents the stereotype which accompanies his tinker classification.<ref>Excerpt from Drone 23.1</ref> He still does not like to have his intelligence insulted, just like everyone else.<ref name="29.1">“Biting people is more satisfying,” Rachel responded.
“No, look… uh… Tecton. You gotta give me something really smart and scientific sounding. Like, say what Taylor said, but in smart-guy words.”
“Critical mistake here: you’re implying Tecton is smart,” Romp said.
Tecton sat up straighter. “Hey. Just because I’m not your team leader anymore-”
“-You’re totally not the one who gets to order me around,” Romp replied. “Deal with it.”
[...]
“Maybe if I come with?” Tecton offered. “I’ll distract whoever Dr. baby-talk is, and you can talk to Miss Militia about dosing your dogs.”
“Or you can tell me what you were going to write down and I memorize it,” Rachel said.
A few people in the group exchanged glances.
“Really simple solution,” Rachel said. Except now she was talking to us like we were the idiots.
“I’m not sure I could memorize it,” Tecton confessed.
“The kid that’s running the lap said you weren’t that smart,” Rachel answered. “Try me.” - Excerpt from Venom 29.1</ref>
Relationships
Gully
Learned a lot for the Case 53 which helped him advance far and fast as a tinker.<ref name="19.3 e5"/>
Raymancer
A good friend of Tecton and mourned his passing.
Weaver
First met Taylor when she was still Skitter. He became friends with the former villain and did a lot of work together, whether they became real friends is an open question.
She would replace his friend Raymancer as co-leader of the Wards regardless of regulations given her probational status.
Appearance
as Everett
Unknown.
as Tecton
Tecton wears bulky power armor in a glossy rust-brown<ref>I nodded. Tecton, in what looked to be a fresh outfit of bulky rust-red power armor, gave me a salute. - Excerpt from Drone 23.1</ref> with brass highlights. He is roughly seven feet tall in the armor as it puts him head, shoulders, and chest above Taylor, who stood roughly five and a half feet at the time, when standing perfectly straight.<ref name="19.3 e1">Tecton shifted position, straightening his back so he stood a little taller. With his power armor, it put him head, shoulders and chest above me.
I had to admire the power armor. Even the idea of power armor, it was kind of scary to me. Putting together a piece of machinery that could bend steel bars and punch through concrete was impressive enough on its own, but doing that and then climbing into said machinery, walking around in it, knowing that a single malfunction could cause a potential catastrophic failure? Being trapped in that armor, or worse, having it accidentally leverage that terrible strength against the wearer inside?
I was still operating like I had when I was blind. A centipede crawled over the lens of my mask, obstructing my vision. I willed it to move away.
Tecton wore his suit well. He was a walking tank, wide as he was tall, a glossy rust-brown with brass highlights. His eyes were barely visible, but I could see his eyes behind the mask, studying me. He wasn’t venturing a reply. - Excerpt from Scourge 19.3</ref> It has heavy piledriver gauntlets with visible spikes and pistons. His helmet covers his face, but not the back of his head, with a single lens on a telescoping nozzle, dead center.<ref name="18.3">Queen 18.3</ref> His eyes are visible and reachable though it.
Abilities and Powers
Everett is a tinker who specializes in creating power armor suits,<ref name="Tinkertypes1">Tecton - Tectonic Templar - reddit comment by Wildbow.</ref> see equipment below. He also has Thinker abilities when it comes to sensing and intuiting architecture and geology.<ref name="Tinker1">Defiant has the 'tinker up efficiency/hybrid/minimized technology' skill tree. Stinger has the 'missile' skill tree. Tecton has the 'Seismic and Architecture' skill trees. - Spacebattles post by Wildbow.</ref> For example he could create controlled collapses to cancel out shock waves created by Behemoth,<ref name="24.1 e1">“-We’re going to do what we can to keep him from murdering people,” I completed my thought, belatedly.
“Right,” Tecton said.
“You know about earthquakes and architecture, Tecton?”
“Yeah.”
“What can we do about the shockwaves, or whatever else he’s been doing to make the ground shake?”
“I have ideas. Not perfect, won’t hold for long, but ideas.” - Excerpt from Crushed 24.1</ref> or tell how best to take down a particular building.<ref name="26.2 e1"/> Thanks to his power armor, and the data collected from Gully, Tecton effectively has shaker capabilities; the suit allows him to ‘ground’ kinetic energy,<ref name="18.5 e1">“Tecton,” said the power-armor wearer. He had to raise his voice to be heard over his heavy footfalls and the rattle of furniture around him. He indicated the boy to his right, then the girl, “This is Wanton and Grace. Our ranged attacker here is Raymancer.”
[...]
“And you? Tinker?” Grue asked.
“Tinker and thinker both. Architecture and geology sense. Armor lets me ‘ground’ kinetic energy like you might do with electricity. These are piledriver gauntlets,” he patted one gauntlet, “For creating fissures, generating localized earthquakes and other controlled demolition.” - Excerpt from Queen 18.5</ref> allowing Tecton to create controlled collapses that can explode.<ref name="18.6 e1">Tecton slammed one gauntlet into the ground, creating a crack that rushed toward the taller Vista. It exploded in a geyser of debris and dust as it reached her. She staggered, then staggered again as Grue landed a shot with Raymancer’s power. She tried to raise one hand to defotherend herself, but the thin, curved bone of her upper arm had been shattered. Her broken arm dangled in front of her. - Excerpt from Queen 18.6</ref>
Further examples of his power includes when he uses his piledriver gauntlets to send kinetic energy into the earth and other solids for a variety of effects. This includes but is not limited to create fissures to sink and hold back enemies.<ref>Tecton slammed his piledriver-gauntlets into the ground, and a fissure opened beneath Noelle. The ground shattered around her, denying her the footing to move out of the way as Chronicler and Young Buck worked together to multiply Young Buck’s offensive power. Tecton repeated the process, disintegrating the ground beneath her. - Excerpt from Queen 18.8</ref> Consequently he is less effective when the medium he is using is soft, such as sands and similar.<ref>Noelle advanced on the burned cape and Grace. Tecton slammed the ground, but the effect was muffled. He’d shattered the ground for blocks around, had maybe killed or eliminated several of the two dimensional clones, but his piledriver gauntlets wouldn’t be as effective on this soft surface. - Excerpt from Queen 18.8</ref> He can also generate localized earthquakes, and cause controlled demolition of buildings.<ref name="Cast">Tecton – A Chicago Ward, Tecton has power armor capable of shattering the earth, creating fissures, localized earthquakes and pits in his immediate surroundings. - Cast (spoiler free)</ref><ref name="26.5 e1">Tecton slammed his gauntlets into the ground. Murder Rats were knocked down from the walls. The streets had been shattered, and the dismantled craft lay in the streets, with one dead Miasma nearby.
Another slam, combined with an activation of both piledrivers, and he created a fissure, breaking up the ground beneath the two remaining Hatchet Faces.
[...]
The fight was well in hand. Murder Rats leaped up onto building faces so they might be able to leap down and strike a vulnerable target, but Tecton made the entire neighborhood shake. The Murder Rats were trapped where they were, clinging to the surfaces, unable to attack. - Excerpt from Sting 26.5</ref>
Like gully he could create ground protrusions to form barriers and similar. He lacked her precision though.<ref name="19.3 e3">"Can you remove that section of ground without breaking the middle?"
Tecton took a half-step forward, but Gully stopped him. She tapped her shovel against the ground, and the area in question rose from the ground, perfectly cylindrical, three feet high.
[...]
She rested the cylinder with the vaguely pointed bottom down on the ground, tapped her finger on the top – what had been the road's surface. - Excerpt from Scourge 19.3</ref>
More important is his grasp of tactics and leadership allowing his team to function more cohesively.
Unlike other tinkers he can not create a 'megaproject', such as creating Nano-thorns,<ref name="WDT:T">The Templar Tinker (Combat x Combat)
A general specialist with access to a branch of tinkertech, the Templar is a combat tinker through and through. Emphasizing short ranged tools and weapons, the Templar has exceptional power armor, melee weapons, and a small assortment of ranged weapons with a maximum range of 20’ or so. Use of melee weapons and meeting certain other combat-limited criteria generates a charge, which the tinker can use to get a temporary advantage or activate special features. Depending on the melee weapon or criteria, the Templar may generate a charge every hit or every two hits. Not all items will have a way to utilize charges.
Draws on a specialty, dipping into related fields. The tinker’s power armor is potent, always having the Armor and Heavy qualities, giving 2-3 additional wounds by way of armor.
[...]
Difficulties
With the exception of the utility/combat item, the tinker has no difficulty building anything on the above list. Said item typically deviates from the tinker’s combat focus somewhat - being a drone, vehicle, or the like. Researching new melee weapons and power armor is 133% effective (carries over, will unveil a free, random weapon/armor after three builds), new guns and patterns are 100% effective, and new utility/combat items are 75% effective - generally drawing on excess % from prior builds or taking several goes to perform effectively.
Branch specialties can be researched or picked up with scans, to limited effect. Scanning unique parahuman effects will produce weapon, armor, gun or utility item ideas (research % focused in one or spread among several, 50% effect for utility), Alternately, will unveil a new specialty if the effect is related to branch, or give progress to a branch spec if they aren’t related to branch. Megaprojects cannot be built. Vehicles only if they’re the combat/utility item. - TEMPLAR TINKER, Excerpt from document by Wildbow.</ref> it is unknown if he could upgrade his armor into a mech.
Equipment
He uses the kinetic force of his pile drivers as a vector for launching teammates and other items such as nets.<ref name="26.5 e2">Cuff was helping Tecton stand, using her metallokinesis to push at his armor. Once he was standing, they worked together to outfit Tecton with one of the specialized shots we’d prepared.
The Mannequin wasn’t going to go down to fast moving projectiles or short-range attacks.
They’d take him down the same way I’d fought him ages ago.
Tecton used his piledrivers as a sort of gun, launching two cup-shaped hunks of metal with material strung between them.
The net unfolded in the air, and it draped over the Mannequin. Spider Silk and metal wire interwoven. It caught on the ice and the extended blades, and snagged on fingers and chains.
The Mannequin was still struggling to escape when Chevalier slowly closed the gap, bringing his sword down like a great guillotine. - Excerpt for Sting 26.5</ref> His suit gives him advanced strength and durability,<ref>Tecton pushed the door open, splintering the lock and snapping the chain with just the strength of his power armor. - Excerpt from Drone 23.1</ref> Letting him go toe to toe with enhanced capes like Hatchet Face.<ref name="26.5 e3">“Direct your attacks on the Hatchet Face, now!” I ordered.
A piledriver-gauntlet hit him, followed by another. Cuff used a discus to slash at his throat, but it barely cut.
He was still alive – his power wasn’t canceled out.
The Mannequin let blades extend from his wrists and elbows. Not long, sleek, elegant blades like the original Mannequin had used, but heavy, crude ones, like axe heads. Cuff screamed as he brought one down onto her armored shoulder. She folded over in an awkward way as she collapsed to the ground.
He spun around, almost skipped to one side to avoid Tecton, then directed attacks at Romp.
She took shelter behind her no-longer-animated creation, and the Mannequin-thing turned away, directing his attention at Tecton, who was trying to bash the Hatchet Face’s head in. It was a narrow window of opportunity, here. The other, injured Hatchet Face was approaching. If he didn’t manage it in five or so seconds, there would be two to contend with.
A heavy bullet caught the Mannequin in the back of the head. Ice cascaded out the back in a giant spike.
Tecton used the opportunity to slam the upper ridge of his gauntlet into the Hatchet Face’s mouth and extend the piledriver full-force.
That did it. - Excerpt from Sting 26.5</ref> Without worrying about the loss of his tinker powers from the brute's trump cancellation effect.
History
Background
Presumably a natural trigger, may have been bulled given his tinker speciality.<ref name="Tinkertypes1"/><ref name="WDT:CT">
- The Templar, a power-armor wearing tinker, with weapon options being primarily melee or very short ranged, forcing the tinker to get into the fray. A shard-gear link allows the tinker to charge up gear for special actions by attacking in melee.
Combat tinkers arise from a threat to one’s person, of a physical nature. Such threats exist over the long-term, but typically require a special element to make them into a tinker trigger rather than another classification with long-term context: the threat has to be present for a time, be relentless, or have a problem-solving aspect tied into it.
[...]
Helplessness and frustration are common elements here, as are close relations to the attacker.
A key element here is the aspect of melee vs. range vs. defense, both in the long and the short term. - COMBAT TINKERS, Excerpt from document by Wildbow.</ref>
Worked with Gully, from the San Diego Wards, in the past. He claims to only be as strong as he is because of the data he got while studying her power.<ref name="19.3 e5">"Tattletale, Undersiders, this is Gully. I'm only as strong as I am because of the data I got from studying her power. There was a time that she looked after two members of my team, when they were based in San Diego. Wanton was one of ‘em. If you treat her with anything less than the utmost respect, you won't get any more cooperation from me. Got it?" - Excerpt from Scourge 19.3</ref> At some point he joined the Chicago Wards and became a co-leader with Raymancer.
Post-Slaughterhouse Nine
The Chicago Wards were called in to help fight a new S-Class threat in Brockton Bay. They were directed to pair with the Undersiders by Miss Militia. Later, Tecton made the choice to join the Undersiders in abandoning their armbands and defending Eidolon, showing a degree of trust in the villains. During the Echidna battle, Tecton emphasized organization, trust, and communication between the participating groups.
He fought Echidna one on one with some help from Eidolon and Grace. She eventually overwhelmed him however.<ref>Interlude 18</ref>
He was freed from her by Weld<ref name="19.1 e1">Another wave of flame washed over the clones. They were Regents, Tectons and Graces, as well as various dogs, and none were able to withstand the heat. Each and every one of them burned.
[...]
Grace and Tecton fell, and Weld dropped after them. He turned the blade of one hand into a scythe, then chopped a segment of Echidna’s foot free. With one motion of the scythe, he sent Tecton, Regent and some of the dogs skidding our way, sliding them on the vomit-slick floor like a hockey player might with a puck on ice. - Excerpt from Scourge 19.1</ref>
Post-Echidna
Tecton fights with Weaver and several others in New York during one of Weaver's field assessments.<ref>Excerpt from Drone 23.1</ref>
He later asks to have Weaver placed on the Chicago Wards team, and defers leadership to her during the Behemoth attack in New Delhi. After having his team gutted, he built his new team with the intent of having a more synergetic power line-up (like the New York 'lancer' teams, etc.), rather than trying to have a wide power spread, like other Wards teams. He thinks they need a "certain kind of leader" to make this work. He knows Skitter pulled it off with the Undersiders, and hopes Weaver can do the same for this team.
Planned a successful operation against the Folk and carried out several more roll outs in the area around the city to put criminal groups down.
Timeskip
Deployed against The Twins where his load out and powers proved useful.<ref name="25.6 e1">There was a distant sound of something massive crumbling. I now knew it was Tecton, tearing through the area. I’d be using bugs to direct him to trapped citizens. I was avoiding the terrain features, he was simply plowing his way through them, doing maximum damage. - Excerpt from Scarab 25.6</ref>
Post-Timeskip
Tecton becomes a member of the Prused to discuss geology such asotectorate, and tries to convince his long-time teammate to join as well.
Deployed against The Slaughterhouse Nine-Thousand.
Helped Golem against his first test by causing controlled demolitions on a building some slaughterhouse members were operating out of.<ref name="26.2 e1">A rumble marked Golem’s real direction of attack. A second hand, down on the street below, gripping the large, six-story tower he’d created earlier in the fight, pulling it down.
It toppled on top of the building that Winter and Crimson had emerged from.
Toppled towards Screamer and Cherish.
In that same moment, Chuckles made an appearance. He moved so fast it was almost as though he teleported, appearing beside the two girls. My bugs barely had time to make contact and try to get a sense of him before he was moving again, holding the two villains this time.
They jerked to a stop. I felt a fraction of the same confusion Chuckles no doubt did. I sensed his arms, extended to ridiculous lengths. He realized they were caught, bound to the computers. Too entangled to take along.
And then he was gone, out of the building as the hand struck home. Two floors crushed, the two villains crushed with them.
Tecton had provided the calculations on what the building could withstand, I’d provided the general data and information on where the hostages were. The damage was controlled, the hand crashing a specific, certain distance into the building before coming to a halt. - Excerpt form Sting 26.2</ref>
Over all he acquitted himself well against the innumerable threats involved.
Gold Morning
He was seen in the early engagements, was not seen at the end.
Fanart Gallery
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Illustration bu ridtom on DeviantArt.
Trivia
- Tecton derives his name from tectonic. A name of greek origin that relates to building and construction as well as the more modern geology usage when discussing tectonic plate activity.
- Copies of Tecton by Echidna are given the name 'Temblor', a word of spanish origin that means Earthquake, mirroring how Tecton deals with siesmic forces.<ref>Interlude 18</ref>
References
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