Left-Right: Shark Guy, Wahoo, Gator, Cuda, Mako and Kelpie
CLEA DATA FILE
Team Identities:
- Cuda – Bahri “Barrie” Snallfree
- Shark Guy – Fergal Hagan
- Gator – Alan Gupton
- Kelpie (previously Flying Fish) – Tallea “Talia” Mackelar
- Mako – Seassan “Susan” Divlar
- Wahoo – Malynn “Marlin” Befrishu
Group Association:
CLEA Classification:
- Species Beta/Hybrids
Special Skills and/or Abilities:
- Cuda and Wahoo are members of the Meramin race of “aquatic people”, species Beta hybrids that have both human and fish DNA. This enables them to transform into a half fish/half human, making them quick swimmers and giving them the means to breathe underwater.
- Kelpie comes from a species Beta race of people closely related to the Meramin known as the Nestriall. Instead of an “ordinary” fish tail their lower bodies become like that of a Seahorse.
- Mako is another different type of species Beta race that are distant cousins of the Nestriall and Meramin called the Cartolos. Whilst the other two have animal DNA linked to bony fish, the Cartolos have DNA of sharks/rays. As such her lower body becomes shark like in appearance.
- Shark Guy transforms into a humanoid shark. In the water he can smell blood from several miles away allowing him to home in on an injured casualty.
- Gator transforms into a humanoid crocodile. He can see in murky waters and gains terrific strength, ideal for separating a casualty tangled up in debris
- Kelpie as a Nestriall is not as fast as the others but like a seahorse she can move and navigate with ease in the vertical plane and grab things with her “tail”.
- Mako is a member of the Nestriad tribe of Cartolos. In her half shark form she is perhaps the fastest member of the group and also shares Shark Guy’s means to detect blood from great distance.
Limitation(s)/Weakness(s):
- All of them apart from Lookout are vulnerable to “drying” out if they stay out of the water for too long in their animal forms.
Rap Sheet/Criminal Traits:
- N/A
Notes/History
The Beach Patrol is a loose collection of “heroes” that are dedicated to saving lives, as opposed to fighting crime. Though they act as lifeguards for the Harmony Island Beach Resort their activities are not solely limited to the area. With help from TTR they can assist in saving lives over much greater range. However whilst the guests on the resort island might accept them for what they are, the general public would have problems with some of their aquatic guises. This means that any rescues away from the resort often end up with getting the casualty to safety before the group retreat back into the sea.
Like many of the other “employees” of the Harmony Island Resort, the team have been selected for the fact that they need a safe haven as they have nowhere else to go.
Gator and Shark Guy
Gator and Shark Guy were both originally homeless which made them idea test subjects for Citadel. Since homeless people were not likely to be missed, they like so many other victims had been taken against there will. Due to the actions of the Menagerie they had escaped with others but not before scientists had succeeded in modifying their DNA.
Until coming to the island the pair had never actually met each other but had ended up trying to use their special gifts to help others through saving lives. Gator had been hiding inside Pacifica close to a river that ran through the city and had helped rescue many people who had fallen in. As many of the casualties were drunk, afterwards if they had remembered seeing Alan in his animal form they would have assumed it was the effect of alcohol.
Nevertheless word still got around but most people who had heard of sightings of a human crocodile mistook him for “Rex” (Chimera) or “Snapper” (Beast Warriors). Both were regarded as criminals which created fear in the region. Though safe in a human guise, every time he transformed to try and rescue someone he ran the risk of wannabe trophy hunters trying to bag a criminal.
Fergal found similar problems in Atlantica. Though homeless and hiding on the beach he would not sit idly by if he saw someone in trouble. When wearing his animal guise he was often confused with another of the Beast Warriors, namely Lockjaw despite the fact that his criminal counterpart could not transform. That meant after saving a life, Fergal had to move on and find a new place to hide.
Both Fergal and Alan were identified by “Network” and offered a “job” at the Harmony Island Beach Resort by Lance. In exchange for having everything they ever wanted and a safe place to stay they only needed to continue doing what they had done before.
Malynn’s story
Malynn was next to be recruited. She belonged to the most predominant of races of underwater people, namely the Meramin. Being exceptionally good at keeping themselves hidden these aquatic hybrids have only been recently discovered but are believed to have been “created” after the first release of Bacteria Z occurred in China thousand years ago.
Throughout the centuries Malynn’s race, the Meramin had been responsible for the legends of mermaids and mermen. Whilst they would fight with other undersea races they fear the land dwellers and so had developed skills to keep themselves secret from surface dwellers. In the past being sighted was never a problem but with advances in technology the Meramin were forced to retreated deeper to avoid being detected.
When it comes to dealing with land dwellers, their many tribes, have one rule and that is to avoid contact. Whilst some Chieftain’s could be forgiving in exceptional circumstances, Malynn’s tribe, the Crandaar, was very strict in regards to the law traditionally designed to keep the tribe safe. In recent times some of those younger Crandaar members had grown tired grown tired of hiding in the shadows and tried to sneak out of tribal waters to explore their sense of adventure.
Such acts were highly risky because if an individual was caught engaging in such practices considered to expose the existence that person would face a most severe punishment known as fin stripping. This was whereby an individual would have his or her tail flukes cut off. This prevented both changing into a human form or swimming from the tribe.
Despite such a threat some Cradaar had been known to have willingly chose to live with the Land People but their names were never mentioned. Those “Land fish” a derogative term they were known by had one problem and that was they needed to return to their natural habit for a few hours after a couple of days or else suffer painful side effects. It was often when such renegades returned that they were caught by the Cradaar patrols. In Malynn’s case her path to becoming a Land Fish was all down to bad luck.
To limit the chance of detected, her tribe like a lot of other Meramin hunted at night. One night, Malynn made a mistake and got caught in a trawlers net. Knocked unconscious with the catch she only realised what had happened when the net was starting to be winched in. Using her knife she freed herself but by this time she had been pulled inshore and with dawn breaking she did not want to risk being seen and allowing land people to track her back to her people.
Adopting a human guise she headed for a beach and decided to lay low until evening and keep contact with the land people at a minimum. When darkness fell later that day she headed back out to sea, with the intention of reuniting with her people. En route though she met a friend who told her that scouting parties were searching for her. Since she had not returned the night before the Chieftain had decided she was a Land Fish and needed to be punished. Malynn protested that she was innocent but her friend warned her that the rule was so rigid that she would not get the chance to state her case. Unable to return home she was forced to become the Land Fish that she had been accused of being.
It took her some time to understand the ways of humans. In the beginning most people she met assumed that since she did not understand English she was a foreigner and tried to help her out as best they could. Considering the picture she hand been painted in regards to Land People, most of the ones she met were kind. Using their help, in time she managed to educate herself and fit into human society but would never remain far from the sea.
Every third day though she had to return to the water. This she knew was dangerous but by carefully choosing her swimming areas she managed to get away with transforming in daylight which lessened the risk since she knew her Shoal would not come inshore during the day.
One day she was taking her swim when she caught sight of a small boy drowning. Whilst she knew that she could not been seen by humans her first instinct was to save him. Throwing caution to the wind she acted on her instincts and got him to close to the shore. She hoped she had not been noticed in her natural form but within a few days rumours spread. To avoid anyone linking her to the “fish woman hero” she moved down the coast.
Her desire to repay the kindness to the Land People that had helped her would lead to several other “incidents” of people being saved and it was these that attracted Network’s attention. After tracking her down Marlynn was offered the chance to carry on helping people but be able to live in a location where she did not have to fear being hunted by her own people or being turned into a media circus. In coming to the Harmony Island Beach Resort, Marlynn was able to finally swim free once more.
Cuda
Whilst Marlynn might have been labelled a Land Fish by her own people, Bahri was a different story. He had been swimming one night and encountered a human female, Alissa McClain, and instantly fell in love with her. Having come from a tribe whose ways were as strict as the Cradaar he knew how unforgiving his people could be, but the warmth he felt in the presence of the human female meant he had no choice but to go with her.
Knowing that the pursuit of love could never be founded on a lie Bahri explained who and what he was. She of course did not believe him and so he showed her how he transformed from fish to human which left her shocked and surprised. McClain was an actual beach Lifeguard and though the revelation of Bahri could make her money by selling a story to the press, she too felt a connection to him and therefore chose to keep him a secret.
In time they got married and since she had no living relatives there was never any issue of the families meeting or not meeting. Tragedy though would strike and Alissa became ill with an incurable disease that took her from him within nine months of being diagnosed.
Bahri was then left with a problem on moving forwards. Alissa had been so full of life and dedicated to her work in helping others that he decided he should try and take her place to carry on her legacy. Ironically those he worked alongside had no idea he was not human. They never could figure how he could beat them every time he jumped into the water nor why his shorts came off almost every time.
No matter though how careful he was there was always a chance that his transformations to and from a human would get witnessed. When it finally happened there was something of a media storm and Bahri went on the run to escape the reporters wanting a career building story. Unable to continue the work he had dedicated his life to, he started to fall in depression. That was when Network identified his dedication and talents and he was offered a job at the resort.
Tallea
Tallea’s arrival had somewhat different story. A member of the deep dwelling Nixus tribe. Her people were the Nestral and differed from Meramin in that instead of having normal fishtails their lower bodies transform into something akin to seahorses. In the depths her people had little competition from other tribes and races. Because of this they were a largely passive people who believed in both non-violence and that all life was precious. In any other instance this would have made them an easy target for aggressive species but in the deep her people never encountered such problems, that was until the Glissen arrived, (the same race that had attacked the people Lir of the Menagerie belonged to).
Having no experience with a hostile people the Nixus were oblivious of the danger posed by the alien race. Without any warning the Glissen attacked without provocation and decimated most of the tribe before they could get clear. Neighbouring Meramin tribes tried to provide aide but they too hand never encountered an aggressive race for it was an unthinkable scenario in their territories. Those that tried to put up a fight were of no match and that meant most of the Nixus were massacred. The Glissen seemed not to want any evidence of their invasion so they killed rather than take prisoners.
She was “discovered” by the Taniwha team while out on a “mission”. They found her close death with severe injuries to her lower limbs. The brought her back to Harmony Island and Doctor Psy set about trying to save her life. Malynn recognised here tribal markings and realised she was a Nixus and offered her services since she guessed that the casualty would never have been in contact with humans of any kind.
The doctor was confused as to why the woman showed no underwater “enhancements” other but Malynn explained that she just because she was in her human guise did not make her any less an aquatic dweller than her, suggesting that the life threatening injuries the body could have triggered a random transformation.
Working on this hypothesis Doctor Psy investigated and found Malynn’s theory to be correct as it appeared the actual transformation was triggered by nerve damage sending out faulty signals. He doubted that she could have be found alive if it was not for the fact that being a Nestral meant the female could breathe underwater in both animal and human forms.
From the look of her injuries Doctor Psy concluded that the Nixus had been hit by a sharp bladed weapon of some sort. At first he had considered she had been struck by a ships propeller but the damage was too “clean” with both legs being almost severed off below the knee area. To save her life he had to amputate the legs below the knee. Malynn had tried to get Dr Psy to save the legs since in they were gone the Nixus female would have been “locked” in her human form. Without a fully trained surgical team the doctor had limited options in the time available and so performed the procedure.
Since Malynn was aware of the Nixus people, the Cradaar having crossed paths with them before, she decided to remain with the patient, figuring that she was the closest thing the female had to a “friendly face” when she awoke. As predicted when the Nixus women came around she was filled with mixed emotions of panic and horror and then ultimately shock when she realised her legs were gone. Malynn’s hunch paid off since the woman appeared to “recognise” her tribal marking and this in turn allowed the Cradaar to calm the Nixus down. Communication was difficult at first since the Nixus used a very old dialect. Due to the Nixus – Cradaar links, Malynn could just about understand some of what was being said but Bahri, despite being another Meramin could not. Eventually Malynn was able to deduce that the Nixus female was called Tallea.
As the months past Malynn was able to understand more of Tallea’s language and at the same time Tallea was able to learn some of the newer Meramin dialect. This enabled a breakthrough in understanding that had happened to her.
Tallea confirmed most of what Dr Psy had speculated. She said that her people were attacked by a race of people they did not recognise. By the time they had managed to realise the danger they were in and summon help the aggressors had herded the tribe into a bottleneck where they became easy targets.
Since Malynn was the only one able to communicate with Tallea the language barrier made it difficult during her after care and rehabilitation amongst humans. This she found frustrating and with time on her hand decided to learn the human tongue rather than have Malynn relay both sides of a conversation between her and her carers.
Mental wounds thought took longer than physical ones to resolve and all Tallea wanted to do was return to the environment that she regarded as home. Without her lower legs that seemed an impossibility. Disability was unknown to her people, for an injury such as hers meant that she would simply be easy pickings for ocean predators. However she soon started to discover that humans did not consider disability a problem. They were masters of the land and had found ways to adapt and get around life changing injuries.
After learning through the use of media that Libra of Team Zodiac had similar disabilities to her, Tallea realised that her life did not need to be over, albeit her old life as she knew it was. Showing an interest in prosthetic limbs she asked Doctor Psy about the possibility. He told her that unlike Libra who could not use cybernetic body parts she had no such limitations. However he was equally aware that most aquatic races did not use tech. As well as environmental issues, mainly electricity and water being a bad mix he was also aware that Meramin shunned anything human and considered it “bad” and presumed the Nestral would be no different. This was why he admitted to being hesitant to suggest the idea. Tallea told him that her people would reject her anyway for being with humans and there was a good chance that none of them had been lucky like her, and survived the onslaught.
After a good deal of research, Doctor Psy and his colleagues on Harmony island came up with a light weight cybernetic limb. His intention was to find some way in which he could get Tallea back into the water, something she still secretly longed for. They eventually came up with a lightened set of waterproof cybernetic legs that they had to graft permanently to her.
Able to move around on land, the plan did not go as well as expected when it came to water. Though she could “swim” she found it difficult to use legs as a means of propulsion since she had relied upon an animal tail for her entire life as well as the fact she previously swam in upright. The solution was to add clip on waterjets. Whilst that would mean she wasn’t swimming “naturally” she liked the compromise.
With all the tech, Tallea now had to decide what to do with her life. No longer able to return to her own people as they would reject her, and though she had learned to accept and even appreciate humans she felt more at home with Maalynn and her “friends” and so decided to join their “group”.
Since the power of the waterjets enabled her to jump out of the water she used the code name “Flying Fish” for a while. Having become accustomed to life as a human, she was never 100% happy with her life. Things would eventually swing full circle, when Mr N E Bodie took refuge on harmony island.
Assuming his role as the island’s Butler he was curious as to why Tallea was always surrounded by an aura of sadness. Despite his alien empathic abilities he could never make her feel totally happy. Puzzled by this he spoke to Dr Psy and learned of her history.
Having had others putting themselves in danger to save him in the past, Mr Bodie decided it was time he returned he favour and presented the doctor with a small vial. Each member of his race carried such a tool and it was designed to rebuild their bodies if they ever became severely injured. Since they were shape shifters they could be injured in any form and hence needed to be “repaired” before they could assumed any other shape, or even their natural form. The liquid acted like some sort of universal DNA “grower” and could extract the DNA template of its target and rebuild any damage.
The golden liquid looked the ticket to curing any injury which got Dr Psy excited but herein there was a problem, There was no guarantee it would work on human or part human DNA and the liquid could not be reproduced. It was extracted naturally on his homeworld and since his own people had wanted him dead, once the vial was used there was no more.
Dr Psy warned Mr Bodie that should the vial be used on Tallea then he should he sustain injury later then there was no guarantee he could be saved. The alien accepted the risk and Tallea was offered the experimental treatment. She was also at risk as there was no chance that her body could be restored and there was equally a chance the liquid could do far worse. Like Mr Bodie she accepted the risk and Dr Psy carried out the procedure.
Once applied to her stumps the liquid got to work straight away. Tallea was forced to endure several hours of excruciating pain but in the end her legs were fully restored. She then needed several days rest as she had been left very weak following the process.
However once recovered she was able to transform at will. Now without the need of her artificial legs and able to resume her original animal form her code name was no longer appropriate. Having now learned about humans and their myths rather than use the obvious “Sea Horse” reference which people said she resembled, she chose Kelpie since she was able to turn into a “horse” and a “human” not unlike the mythological creatures.
Seassan
The last addition to the team was Seassan. She was a member of the Nestriad tribe of aquatic people. These lived in the depths like Tallea’s people but fewer in number. They as a race belong to the Cartolos and transform into half human/half shark. Unlike the Nixus though the Nestriad were once considered aggresors due to their built in hunting instinct, a trait they have overcome over many generations but not one forgotten by other under water races, hence they keep apart.
Her tribe had also past history with humans and though no hostile people had been encountered in the depths for decades they chose to remain vigilant and maintain a small army of warriors.
Though they would later became victims of the Glissen conquest when the alien race encountered the Nestriad they were not in for an easy time. Once the aliens attacked the naturally aggressive Nestriad managed to hold their ground for nearly a day before the lines were eventually broken due to enemy’s greater numerical advantage. The battle quickly turned into a rout and the tribe scattered in all directions.
Seassan’s parents wanted to protect her and so they bought her time to escape but with the tribal warriors defeated they were no match for Glissen combatants. She saw them die but the Glissen did not stop and were soon after her. It was clear to Seassan that the aliens wanted no survivors. They chased her for hundreds of miles before they unexpectedly broke off the chase. Exhausted an close to death, she was actually rescued by Shark Guy and Gator when they found her floating, ten miles south of Harmony Island.
After she had recovered they assumed that she would rejoin her people. However Seassan had pretty much decided that they were gone. Tallea having gone through a similar experience helped her through the mental trauma.
With no life to go back for Seassan was left with a life without purpose, that was until Tallea and Cuda suggested that perhaps she could join their “group”. They explained how they helped save humans who got into trouble in the sea. This intrigued her.
Though she had been taught from a an early age that other aquatic races feared her and their people in turn feared the Land People having been cared for by some of these people she had not found the other Meramin and Nestriall avoiding her and the human were not the monsters she had been told they were. In fact some seemed capable of great compassion. If her people had gone then she thought that her future living with these new Land People might be best served returning that compassion. Saving lives seemed a good way to do that.
In time she would learn of other tribes of Cartolos but by then she had found a “tribe” of her own.
Beach Patrol
The group’s original purpose was to protect the guests from the Harmony Island Beach Resort from getting themselves in trouble. Despite the fact that each of the visitors to the resort were technically “heroes” the purpose of the area was to give them all time off and so someone else took on the responsibility of keeping them safe.
However over time, with the help of other Resort employees such as Network and TTR the group would often perform rescues well away from the island when things were less hectic. This kept them in training as individuals and as a team. The only thing they would not do was get involved in fighting crime. That was not their purpose.
