<div class="floatleft">(http://i.imgur.com/MlSR2yb.jpg)</div><strong>Name:</strong>Zachary Ellis<br/><br/><strong>Aliases:</strong>Zac, Z<br/><br/><strong>Role:</strong>Engineer<br/><br/><strong>Age:</strong>24<br/><br/><strong>Race/Place of birth:</strong>Human, Earth<br/><br/><strong>Description:</strong>Long, blonde hair tied into a thick braid; a lean, athletic physique; and an unremarkable height of 5'2".  His right arm was replaced after an accident when he was much younger and is now a heavily modified cybernetic limb.  A number of tools are stored within the limb and a number of other functions can be utilized through it, such as direct connection to electrical systems.<br/><br/><strong>Personality:</strong>While not anti-social, Z has a very peculiar personality that can sometimes grate on others.  He finds other people to be difficult to relate to, either because he assumes they aren't smart enough to understand him, or because their emotions are unreadable.  With a wicked wit he can easily offend the wrong people at the wrong time, though he gets along reasonably well with the rest of the crew (most of the time).  Due to his difficulties with people, he is more than happy to spend his time tinkering with "simple" electronics, mechanics, programming, or other technical endeavors.  He tends to think very highly of himself due to his genius-level intellect.  His height is a sore subject.<br/><br/><strong>How did they come to join the Aurora:</strong><br/><br/><em>Early History</em><br/>Growing up on Earth might seem like a great thing in the wide universe.  Unfortunately it's anything but.  Continual consumption of the natural resources of the planet had left much of it a wasteland while the rest of the planet became a sprawling new-age metropolis.  The dichotomy of the planet also split the residents of the planet into a dual caste.  Zac was born into the lower class, and his family was always scraping just to get by.  Growing up was hard, but it gave him an inner resolve and helped him to hone his mind.  Despite his lack of any real formal schooling he was a prodigy when it came to anything mechanical.  He was building small bionic trinkets by the time he was ten, and was hacking into sophisticated computer systems before he turned 16.  Naturally he got himself a job doing maintenance in the bowels of the city-planet.<br/><br/>Maintaining the city was dangerous.  Machines were large and old, which was why the lower class citizens were typically the ones used to maintain them--the upper class simply imagined no one would really miss them if they didn't come home from work one day.  When one of Zac's coworker's became trapped the young 17 year old quickly went to his rescue to try get him out.  His heroic efforts caught him between to massive pylons which slowly moved as they transferred energy through the system.  Unable to free himself he could only watch and wait as his right arm was slowly crushed.  It took nearly an hour before the pylons moved enough to let him get free.  With one crushed arm he still managed to free his coworker and help him to safety before passing out.<br/><br/>The bills for treatment should have been taken care of by his employer, but instead he was fired and his parents were left stuck having to pay for the medical treatment, something they'd never be able to pay off.  Resentful of this fact he spent the next few years recovering, building his replacement arm and planning revenge.  Through hacking, sabotage, and good old fashioned terrorism he managed to ruin his employer, get enough money for his parents to live a slightly better life and find himself a way off of the planet since he'd broken a number of serious laws.<br/><br/>Of course Karma isn't without a sense of humor.  The transport he was on was raided and he was taken prisoner, his mechanical arm removed by the attackers so he couldn't use it against them.<br/><br/><em>Meeting the Captain:</em><br/>Luckily for him his captors were greedy and they settled in on Apollo II to pick up another load.  Among them was Karen Black.  Despite her being captured she was still determined to reclaim her freedom and the cunning resourcefulness of the woman was enough to help motivate Zac to help her however he could.  While she took care of the gang members he took care of the ship making sure that it couldn't be used against them as they mounted their insurrection.  Killing the gang didn't sit well with him at first, but eventually he decided he didn't really care--if someone tries to kill him he decided it's fine to try and kill them right back.<br/><br/>Without having anywhere else to go he decided to stay with Karen "Blackstar".  He lended her his expertise as a genius-level engineer and has stuck with her ever since.  He is exceptionally loyal to her and holds her in the highest respect.  She is also the only one he's shared his full history with.<br/><br/><strong>Important Notes:</strong><br/><ul class="bbc_list"><li>He has a high tolerance for pain</li><li>His cybernetic limb has a number of functions.  The fingers can be opened to reveal a number of fine tools.  It is exceptionally strong.  It contains a welding function which can either join or cut metal.  It can permit him to directly interact with computer systems.</li><li>He is fit and reasonably skilled at hand-to-hand combat, utilizing the strength of his right arm primarily.</li></ul><br/><div class="floatright">(http://i.imgur.com/0dcAhHk.jpg)</div>