Connor

Connor 'Volk' Blake
Portrayed By	Sean Biggerstaff
Gender	Male
Date of Birth	January 22nd, 1993
Age	30
Zodiac Sign	Aquarius
Aliases	Current - Volk, Former - Chase
Place of Birth	Seattle, WA. USA
Current Location	Unknown, Presumed within the US
Occupation	Smuggler/Terrorist, former Author
Known Relatives	None - Deceased
Significant Other	None or Unknown
Identity	Secret, Presumed
Known Abilities	Teleportation, Portal Generation, Mass Effect Field, Cloaking Field, Energy Skuriken
First Appearance	Volk - July 2018

"Because there are no Happy endings…"

History

"Because there are no happy endings…"

The last words that anyone alive has ever heard the former Xavier student and author speak before his supposed disappearance in 2016.

Connor stayed at the Xavier school for two extra years past his graduation in 2011, allowing for more time to help understand and control his powers, serving as a teacher's assistant and supervisor for school outings, while at the same time working closely with Beast and Forge on how to best deal with the side effects of his abilities. During the two-year stint as a teacher's assistant, he ended up being a basic self-defense instructor for many of the young students who came both years, along with helping teach classes in classic literature, and doing writer's workshops for those interested in the same line of learning as himself.

In 2014, he went back to Washington State and returned to his roots, using a letter from Xavier's and a recommendation from Doctor McCoy to put him on a fast-track one year program to complete his Bachelor's of The Arts in English from University of Washington, with a minor in physics, due to the heavy instruction taken while under the Excelsior's teacher and mentor. By the time 2015 was coming to a close, many of his friends and cohorts from his limited time at Xavier's were pleased to hear of his being officially published. The title of the book was 'A Generation Born', and instead of being his usual forays into the fantasy worlds dark and macabre, instead it was a book into the insights of children growing up with mutant abilities in a world where the fantastic is taken for granted and held at arm's length, using his time at Xavier's and talking with the other students, learning people's lives, and retelling much of it to try and showcase how the special abilities and mutations being experienced by the new generation were marking them so outside the social normals it had started to create a new set of rules to live by. While not publically out as a mutant, this catapulted him up to the top 10 most 'wanted' list for the Friends of Humanity, and to protect the company who had at first authorized publishing, he agreed to not tour the book, and for it to be sold outside the US only. However… he did get enough copies so that each of his friends, and his mentors would receive one.

It was during a writer's convention in London when the attack happened, and Connor was completely unaware of the actions being taken to remove the mutant threat at Xavier's and Barnes, or the destruction of SHIELD… only hearing about it on the news, and after the fact… once the destruction had already taken it's toll, and he discovered when he ported back to the Academy that all that was left was corpses and Sentinels. Quickly he vanished once more, but unfortunately… and perhaps fatally… his face was caught and logged in the Sentinel database.

On an early foggy morning in 2018, the Blake family with their son was teleported to a Morlock tunnel entrance, following Addison's telepathic guidance… the deal being that if the Redeemers would protect his family, he would help them in any way he could. He and his now-deceased mentor Yuri had done everything in their power to this point to protect the family, but time was up… and more than once it had come too close. But the Hunters were waiting for them, and this time there was no easy out. Connor fought with every trick he knew and learned from his time at the X-Mansion, but it wasn't enough… and before he could stop them, his family was killed while he was dazed from a surprise attack by James, of the mutants-turned-Hunters assisting the group, and former friend. Instinctively and in a semi-conscious state, he ported out to his last familiar location… and nothing was seen of him since.

The last thing heard of Connor Blake was a surprise appearance by Rashmi at a safehouse he was staying in New York shortly after this incident, with a plea and demand that he stop hiding and use his powers for the benefit of the resistance. That he should not turn his back on them, especially when his powers would be so useful and would save lives. He turned his back on her, the person she'd known so long ago no longer in the eyes of the hard-edged man standing before her. When she asked why… those final and fateful words were uttered.

"Because there are no happy endings."

Six months later, the first rumors of a Mutant only going by the name of 'Volk' appeared in the underground.

Using a cache of money, and secrets left behind, and a stealth combat suit stolen from a SHIELD depot that had been raided and the items stored once more in a warehouse for repurposing for Hunter use, the person that was once Connor Blake began a one-man war on the government. Volk does not speak, using his teleportation abilities for not only transport, but as set-ups for assassinations, placement of demolitions, and even out and out kidnapping. The first image of him was captured in St. Petersburg just before a Hunter representative bartering a deal to place Sentinels in Russia was killed by him with a knife through the back of the neck, leaving the scene.

Since then, he has been a thorn in the side of the government, the Sentinel Program, and even Ahab and his Hounds. Volk does not speak to anyone, preferring to let people read his words on the screen of a cell phone or arm-mounted micro-computer. His preferred weapons are silenced pistols and combat knives, occasionally employing other small arms, and explosives where and when. Government supply centers, personnel, production facilities… Volk seems to have no particular target or agenda, seeming to prefer to let fear and chaos do the work for him. Many of the rebels see him as a hindrance, some as a rogue, others as someone who is 'getting it done'. He has no qualms about civilian targets, even at one point destroying a food distributions center in New York that was secretly supplying the underground. He has performed public executions of individuals linked to the programs involved with increasing Hunter and Sentinel presences in major cities and outlying regions… he has bombed public gatherings of the rich and wealthy as they attempt to skim the cream off the top of civilization for themselves.

Volk has worked with the Rebels and the Redeemers both, but only when it seems to suit his mood. He seems almost violently opposed to telepaths, having to have been restrained more than once when his mind was probed by those attempting to reach him. There is a strange sort of emnity that exists between Volk and James… a rumor placing the pair of them having fought on multiple occasions in multiple areas, their intent towards each other almost murderous. Any of the former Xavier students who have been forced to become Hounds, or have willingly joined the Hunters seem to be a particular target… which has more than once been used to divert him when it has been discovered he is preparing to assault a facility or someone seems to have been marked as a target… but it seems the hyena in particular seems to almost always draw Volk's attention. Despite knowing his true name and background, the current government psychological workup assumes that his inherent instability has stemmed from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in the wake of the deaths of his family, or because of the nature of the side effects of his energy manipulation powers. He is classed as a most wanted terrorist, and his image has been posted up several times.

Between 2019 and the current date, he is currently a mercenary for hire and terrorist at large, his abilities making him not only a top-rate thief and smuggler, but also allow for him to be several places at once. If he has a known base of operations, it is assumed it is outside of the United States, though he can still get inside. Sentinels can still track him, but he tends to make anything he does a rapid strike, preferring to leave immediately once a Sentinel enters the operations field. As a teleporter, he is considered a threat of importance against the current regime, and due to his past actions, the capture order on him has been rescinded, and he has been placed on the kill lists for all active field agents.

Timeline

• Graduated High School from Xavier's Academy -2011
• Graduated Bachelor of Arts, English and Literature - 2014
• Published 'A Generation Born' - 2015
• Underground - 2016-2018
• First Appearance of Volk - 2018
• Destruction of Brooklyn Federal Food Distribution Center - 2019
• June 2020 - Assassination of Dr. Martin Keeler in Salem, New York
• June 2020 - Rescue Team Leader - Retrieved Captain America's Body, and Storm from execution site.
• January 2022 - While exonerated for most charges having to do with the United States Human-Mutant conflict, Volk still retains outstanding warrants for crimes committed in Russia, South Africa, and Singapore.

Powers as of 2020

Teleportation

His range is considered planetary, but he must have an image to study of the location he is going to in order to reach it safely. Effective combat teleportation now is extremely fast, and often done in concert with his fighting style to allow for fast, sudden, and vicious strikes. His teleportations can be heard from the start-point due to the collapse of air into the space he occupied.

Portal Generation

A powerful development of his abilities is the creation of a six-foot circumference, wormhole-like disc of energy that is an effective point to point transportation for others than himself. This ability seems to require a high level of concentration on his part however, so it is not employed in combat situations… merely as a quick entrance or exit for those who have hired him to get people someplace, or as a means of ferrying supplies to or from locations. Currently he can generate 6 pairs of portals within 24 hours, up to 3 minutes without serious stress, and to 10 minutes with moderate fatigue.

Mass Effect Field

Volk's ability to shift mass by using graviton fields surrounding a target has been refined and strengthened to where he can shift up to 1 ton of mass, or 2000 pounds per hand, and deliver enough crush/energetic force equivalent to up to the same weight, or strike with enough of kinetic force equivalent of a baseball travelling at 100 mp/h. Despite the powerful applications of this ability, his tendency is not to use it in combat in favor of his other abilities, unless the situation demands it, since it causes physical muscle damage and fatigue.

Cloaking Field

A newly developed ability to allow evasion of cameras and detection is to shift himself slightly into his own gravitic Event Horizon so that he is visually out of synch with his surroundings, and not detected by most modern surveillance gear… however a mutant with enhanced hearing or sense of smell might detect him, or one noticing his movements through good training/instinct. This has been used to the advantage of the Hunters more than once when it has been thought that Volk was on-site. Sensors fine-tuned to detect gravitic anomalies can also pick up his presence while this is active, and while this is active, he cannot access his other abilities.

Shuriken Discs

An offensive extension of his portal power is the creation of small, compact-disc sized versions of the portal, which he can throw and exhibit some control over. Being hit with once will cause a person to feel intense pain and fall unconscious… a second strike can kill… a third can disintegrate. While the discs are less effective against machines than organics, they can cause interruptions in power flow and systems, disabling camera and targetting systems in a similiar fashion to Shadowcat's phasing powers.

Skills

Systema

Since a young age, Connor has been trained by his mentor Yuri in Systema, a Russian martial system that emphasizes freedom of motion in body and form to meet the situation. Training was focused mainly on hand to hand, with a strong bias towards binds, takedowns, and combination strikes to parry and counter. In the last decade, he has only refined this skillset, including the knife-work, stick-work, and firearms training that was originally intended with the more modern art.

Writing

From almost the time he was able to pick up and hold a pencil, Connot has written stories. From fantasy, to history, to fact-based fiction… he's attempted to hone his ability to craft images with words. Predominantly, his works are bent towards the horror-fantasy genre, in something of an HP Lovecraftian vein, but he has written in other genres in the past, and will continue to try and extend his knowledge and ability so that one day he might become a professional author or script-writer.

Athletics

While an athlete of some note, Connor's favorite and primary sport was Tennis, focusing mainly on agility and movement on the court, which played well to his previous martial arts training. While he has played Tennis, Volleyball, and Basketball during junior high and high school until he came to Xavier's… all his sports time was always in sports that could be played indoors, or on clean courts. With the war on, he seems to have added some gymnastics to his repetoire.

Trained Ambidexterity

Volk apparently has been taught to use his off-hand equally well as his primary hand, and often is seen using paired pistols, submachineguns, or knives.

Military Training

With the Sentinel Assault happening, and the potential threats to his life and the lives of his family, Connor was given a full Spetnaz training regimen by his mentor, including training in CQB with knife and firearms, basic sniper training, demolitions training, stealth operations, and training in use of most modern warfare equipment, along with maintenence and field modification of that equipment.

Equipment

• The last known NSA/CIA Profile done up of Volk based on images taken and reports from 2021 and 2022 indicates he has access to the following weapons and armor: SHIELD Mark V Stealth Combat Armor, Stark Industries Freedom-Series Rapid-Deploy Kinetic Damper Shield, Zigana TISAS Fully Automatic 9mm Pistols (note: reports show rechambered to fire .357SIG Ammunition), Heckler & Koch UMP45, FAMAS G3 Assault Rifle, Heckler & Koch HK417 Recon Battle Rifle, Barrett XM500 Sniper Rifle, Spetznaz Spring Knives, and various small munitions and explosives traced back to purchases in Southeast Asia.

• The device worn over his right eye is a multi-optic sensor including low-light, thermal imaging, sonar imaging, and tactical feed for targetting purposes. However he leaves his dominant eye open in order for better vision and the ability to use a scoped weapon unimpeded.

• Volk keeps a cell-phone like device on him that is mainly for image storage, text communication via various prepaid accounts between forwarded phones, and to keep general information available. One of the primary uses of this is keeping images for teleportation to locations he needs to get to, having to study it for a few moments before initiating.

Quotes

• On a note left on one of his victims "A strong body makes the mind strong. As to the species of exercises, I advise the gun. While this gives moderate exercise to the body, it gives boldness, enterprise and independence to the mind. Games played with the ball, and others of that nature, are too violent for the body and stamp no character on the mind. Let your gun therefore be your constant companion of your walks." - Thomas Jefferson

Trivia

• Volk does not speak whenever possible, rather instead communicates when necessary via text message or note. Former members of the Mutant Underground and Redeemers attests this seems to be from personal choice or psychological trauma, and not from any injury.
• The word 'Volk' is Russian for 'Wolf' and may be a keepsake from his former mentor.
• He tends to not wear anything in public that shows more than one eye, or keeps himself covered so as not to be spotted on standard cameras.
• Last Known Associates: Rashmi Franklin, Robyn Larkin, and Heather Brown. Suspected to still be in contact with Rashmi.

Gallery

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