Run Like Hell Character Feature: Part One

Run Like Hell Character Feature: Part One

This week, we commence our weekly look at the characters of Run Like Hell, Interplay's upcoming entry into the survival-horror category. In the coming weeks, we'll showcase a new character every Wednesday, divulging to you the character's vitals and background. And we'll show you nifty in-game artwork to boot. So check this space every Wednesday for your weekly Run Like Hell fix.

We're starting out with Captain Nicholas Conner, the game's protagonist and an all-around hero type. A genuine tough guy, Conner had a rough time growing up, though it didn't stop him from becoming a war hero. His mettle will truly be tested in the game; taking on the hordes of bloodthirsty aliens aboard a derelict spacecraft will try his spirit. So here's the skinny on this rough, tough man, courtesy of Interplay.

Name: Nicholas Conner
Rank: Hegemony Captain
Race: Human
Age: 35
Height: 6' 4"
Weight: 240 pounds
Birthplace: Welfare Island, Washington DC, Old Terra

Background: Born in Welfare Island, Washington DC, Nicholas Conner was raised there by his cab-flying father after losing his mother at an early age. It's no secret that Conner had it rough, but he still managed to pull high marks in school. And spending time with his father on cab flights through DC's inner cities gave him a deep respect for the art of vehicle piloting. But his ambitions weren't Earth-bound; Nick knew he wanted to conquer the most dangerous and unruly of frontiers--outer space.

Conner joined the Hegemony Air Force Academy at age 16. There, he impressed his instructors and superiors with his almost supernatural level of intelligence and insight. A minor blemish exists on his record, however; along with a Jaxn'trep buddy and the daughter of the Academy's dean, Conner managed to somehow create an enormous crater where the dean's office used to sit. Exactly what happened isn't talked about very often, but the site of the disaster is to this day referred to as the Academy Crater. No one was hurt during the event, in any case, so Conner managed to escape expulsion from the Academy. He ended up graduating in the top 10 percent of his class and went directly into active service.

Conner quickly rose through the ranks of Hegemony, becoming, at age 27, its youngest major. He was in command of the HSS Gunnar during the Neh-Lok War, and during his short three-year commission of the ship, he experienced the high point of his military career--the historic Battle of Freyr.

In command of the HSS Gunnar, and accompanied by the battle cruiser HSS Thrym, Conner was instrumental in destroying a Neh-Lok science station. But both ships came under heavy fire as a result. Defying his general's orders to abandon the system, Conner maneuvered his ship toward a nearby gas giant, where he had a hunch the Neh-Lok fleet was hiding. Turns out he was correct--the enemy had discovered a way to escape scanner detection by hiding in the atmosphere of the gas giant.

Acting on his hunch, Conner ignited the planet's atmosphere with his ship's weapons, subsequently destroying the entire enemy spearhead. Though this proved to be a major turning point in the battle--the Neh-Lok ultimately surrendered to the Hegemony--Conner had risked his crew's life in the process..

Conner was decorated as a war hero but was demoted because he had disobeyed a direct order on a mere hunch. As such, he was demoted from major to captain and was forced to spend the remainder of his commission monitoring the Border Worlds. At the outset of Run Like Hell, Conner is stationed on the Forseti space station, where he lives with his fiancée, Dr. Samantha Reilly.