Helvetia was the national hero of Switzerland, though her career was tragically short-lived.

Art and Origin: Thom Chiaramonte

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Helvetia

Name: Freda Bern
Affiliation: n/a

Attributes:

Melee: 10
Reflex: 25
Muscle: 15
Vigor: 20
Acumen: 35
Observation: 25
Will: 35

Life: 70
Influence: 95

Abilities:

Enhanced Physiology: As a result of her relatively primitive posthuman process, Helvetia enjoys a modest 10 AP of physical and energy damage resistance, as well as moderate improvements in her Attributes, above.

Alphorn: Helvetia’a latent ability is essentially sound generation. However, without enhancement, the frequencies she emits vocally are so high that they clear the audible spectrum, and the harmonics are phased so as to be non-destructive. With the use of the Alphorn, designed to amplify and modulate her vocal emissions, the harmonics are phased to be destructive wavelength patterns, allowing her to create a multi-toned call that causes 40 points of sonic damage over a Range of 20. The Alphorn has an effective Armor of 15 and a Core Strength of 20. All victims within range and without sonic protection must make an automatic Save vs. Stun/Shock or be incapacitated by searing pain in the inner ears and vertigo, for 1d6 rounds, and are unable to perform complex actions, suffering -3 CS to all attacks.

Force Field: Helvetia’s uniform contains a small forcefield generator, powered by a cold fuel cell, offering 30 AP against energy attacks.

Flight: Helvetia’s latent abilities also include limited flight of 10 IV at 15 Range and Speed.

Origin:

Dr. Freda Bern was one of the senior researchers in Switzerland’s own posthuman development program. When the three candidates for experimental study were deemed genetically unsuitable for the process, it was discovered that Dr. Bern was herself an ideal candidate. She was convinced to undergo the treatments, and proved to suffer only minimal side effects and disorientation, moving into training and latent ability study within three weeks of the procedure, a record among similar programs in Europe at the time. Though she was initially believed to only have developed a limited flight capability, the diagnostics revealed that she was emitting ultra-high-frequency soundwaves as she moved about the facility. The team determined that these emissions, which were being generated orally, could be harnessed and manipulated with considerable effect. This technology was employed in the development of her uniformed persona as Helvetia, in the form of her Alphorn, which was actually a sophisticated transmitter, based loosely on assumptions made about Liberty Group’s Bette Bellwether’s equipment, thanks t leaked whitepapers that were obtained by the Swiss government.

Helvetia debuted in the Spring, rescuing trapped tourists at a popular ski resort, then again at a fuel transport vehicle explosion near Lucerne. In both cases, she performed well above expectation, and grew to be very popular, both within Switzerland and abroad. The government planned to use Helvetia to campaign for a isolationist policy among the loose cadre of European postuman programs generating a national hero agenda. The European Union was, at the time, encouraging individual member countries to fund their own programs, with little forethought going into how the global interest in these programs might lead to a posthuman arms race, with the Americans and the Chinese well in the lead. Though not a member of the EU, Switzerland’s government favored keeping the arena of operations for European posthumans close to home, in the hopes of avoiding the growing tensions between the United States and her Eastersn rivals.

Unfortunately, on the eve of Helvetia’s speech before the European Union’s International Policy Committee, she was assassinated by a single shot, fired from what was eventually determined to be over 4 km distant. The impact of the projectile was immediately fatal to Helvetia, puncturing her torso and hurling her several meters down the grand stair leading to the administration building into which she had been entering, before a shocked crowd of journalists and spectators. Unprepared for an ambush, her forcefield was not engaged, though it was later determined it would have been insufficient to withstand the impact of the strike. The projectile was never publicly revealed, but the confidential investigation concluded that the deformed material had been some sort of aluminum arrow with a weighted bolthead. No suspect was apprehended.

The Swiss government have plans to put another individual in the Helvetia uniform, but have been unsuccessful, to date, in finding a suitable candidate.

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You can see this illustration herein the TRDL Universe Gallery.

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