Name: Axton Howe

Gender: Male, Straight

Age/DOB: 28@Arrival, RY9

Origin: Aperturth, New Mexico, rebranded Black Mesa, had been in Austin for RC

Family: Unknown, mother was alive at time of departure, has no known other family

Other: Might be tapped for samples, given his abilities

Height: 5'8" around 5'10" in the suit

Weight: 165, quite muscular, so it's a bit of a tight fit in that HEV suit. With it on, he is rather a lot heavier

Hair: Light brown, auburn tint in the sun, hardly ever seen because he is quite fond of the headgear protecting him... it's normally very short, slightly curly

Eyes: brown with a slight hazel green tint, small, deeply set, under usually furrowed brows

Appearance: fair skin with a decent amount of body hair and facial stubble, but he does like to keep his look clean. He is almost always seen in the HEV suit as shown, though notably it's an Aperture brand orange, not Black Mesa... When he's out of that armor, he's still just as strong looking, with great torso strength and broad shoulders; has a midwestern twang, he's very similar to Barney in most respects, though he is not a doppelganger

Genetic Abilities: none overtly, but Melissa asserts that his baseline Vortal energy is very strong and in the direction of 'survival and fitness', which is pretty easily seen on his body. He actually is around 2.5 times stronger than a normal man, and has an endurance fit for long marathon runs; he is also seemingly preternaturally aware of his surroundings, even without a headset he knows where danger might be lurking or what direction an enemy is. He's never been known to miss a work day, which is why he was kept on after Aperture took over the Black Mesa facility on that world

Image Credits: Valve

Icarus Processing: none, but prolonged exposure to all of the weird shit at any given location on Aperturth certainly affected him. Melissa has made note that even without Icarus treatments properly, any offspring she might whip up will act as though he's had it, so any child he might sire should be screened for negative markers before hand, as she also suspects it might interact poorly just as it did on her world.
Skills or Profession: Axton went through college with his eye on Olympic training. He'd been very good at sports, but also was and still is quite flexible, so while football was his go-to, he was equally good at hockey, volleyball, and hip-hop dancing... He excelled in all of those, and also in his studies, because he knew that at some point, all that muscle wasn't going to be worth much - so he was in training as a physical therapist, with strong medical background and a broad understanding of the field of sports medicine. He can operate an X-Ray machine, help a patient with their stretching without harming themselves, and even restrain hard to manage patients. All of that said, when he did get a job to put himself through the last couple years of college he started at Black Mesa, and enjoyed it quite a bit. He never did go to the Olympics, but he has mastered the Black Mesa Decathalon four years running. Though strongly physical in all of his obvious ways, Axton is hardly a jock mentally or emotionally. He has a practical set of skills for managing dangerous situations, and obviously this suits his new life in the Rookery. He can be relied upon for a very wide variety of tasks, and he's rather proud of that fact.
Personality: Steady, practical, and a decent guy. Axton would love to have more of a say in how things go when he is at work, and honestly he is trusted with quite a bit given that he's 'the new guy in the HEV suit'. He could easily be mistaken for both Gordon Freeman or Barney Calhoun - even by Melissa. While he's exceptional at a lot of group events, he prefers knowing his role, and what that role is expected to know or do. Once he's got that footing, he can be in charge of a large group, manage a small tour, or just work on his own depending on the needs. He is friendly and kind, and like Barney he's definitely a cat person, enjoying the fluffy critters much more than any natural or unnatural crab things...

Events or History: As above, he was exceptionally strong and lithe in high school and was encouraged by over-eager coaches to try out for any number of professional or college teams before telling them he was interested in a career rather than being a brief star. He did rely on grants and scholarships, because he's not stupid! He went straight from high school to college in Albuquerque, and did very well in everything except the assorted - boring - History courses. He did graduate with a BA in Sports Medicine, but by that time he'd been working at Black Mesa and felt his skills were best put to use both in action and theory there. When Black Mesa was bought out by Aperture, he knew things were going to go a bit wierd, and he was not mistaken. He had been relocated very briefly (so he was told) to the Austin facility for some reason, and the place already was filled with super fucking strange shit, but... eh, he rolled with it. And he still does. He was responsible for aiding Therese and the others when the Resonance Cascade happened, and he knows perfectly well that Barney and he are 'the same dude only different' - they have a lot in common, and he truly enjoys matching skills, or diverging as well. He remains convinced that if Barney put his mind to it, he could easily have done all the things too. He's glad that now he is back 'home' in Black Mesa, even if it's not quite the same one. He loves what the Lanes have done with the place, honestly.

He is relied on to do both medical checkups and security, so if he's the only one on hand for treating an injured rider, he is completely capable of stabilizing them. Doesn't hurt to have a Silkwing to aid him.

Dragon

Name: Admiral - because Monarch is kind of obvious
Gender: Female
Size/Shoulder/Length: Medium-large (broad wings) 12' s / 52' l / 78' and 34' ws
Colors: face, neck, under from chest to tail tip, behind limbs medium-dark grey; mid armor and wing arms dark grey; dorsal scales, limb/wing armor graphite; all have brilliant orange and white markings, tail is orange with white tip; wingsails vibrant black, orange, white monarch pattern; claws and spines warm dark grey, antennae black and orange, eyes orange
Features: Silkwing, large for her breed
Powers: Winged Flight, powerful and surprsingly durable in the air, though she can also be pretty quick for short bursts she's not remarkably agile. Can carry half a dozen human-sized weights and has a harness for such duties. Because she and Axton are security as well as medical, she is not expected to be a combat dragon, however she's very protective and fierce, and can badger Combine troops or Striders with quick attacks in the air and escape without harm. She is large, however, and though she's a Silkwing with a 'delicate' look, she's actually pretty heavy, and tries not to land on anything that will break under her.
Communication, She has an oddly familiar voice, certainly she picked up the tone and style from listening to Axton's HEV suit; She speaks English clearly, and can understand technical terms with a bit of training, and Draconic, though she generally does just speak human tongues and considers dragons that won't a bit rude. She and Axton do have a Vortal connection, though it's not all that strong she considers him her steadfast friend and he can rely on her at any time.
Silk Production, Admiral uses her silk to weave both protective and offensive webbing, from netting that can carry larger or ungainly weights, to triplines and heavy lassos to trap or topple Striders. Her protective silks are much more durable, multi-layered, and used to carry both supplies and people to and from battle sites. She has mastered intricate weaving, so she can create slings, holsters, and even individually-wrapped medical syringe holders. Notably none of her silk is sticky, but it is still somewhat temporary - you don't want to keep that same sling on your arm, as it will eventually dissolve in about a week. The bigger structural cords to use for attacks and outdoors defenses last around two days at most, so it's usually put into place right before a battle, and not for longer term defense. She really loves making those carrying satchels, and has helped groups of humans and Vorts keep their friends and family close by using springy woven lines between them. She also has her own protective gear, which is basically a thin mesh of her own silk with a ton of local detritus on it: she can blend in more easily with the surroundings if she doesn't show up like a ... well, a bright butterfly. But this will slow her flight down a bit.
Strong Senses, her antennae and keen ears will pick up the slightest whisper or vibration, so she will occasionally be sent to listen in at key points on a rescue mission. She can also tap out messages to other dragons when she knows they are listening in, particularly she can walk on other Silkwing lines and make their presence known as friend instead of foe. She does see and sense draconic laid traps, including those from ... well, 'enemy' dragons that are on the loose around the area. When she finds those traps, first she'll tap out a message of warning, then if there's no reply she will remove the danger. If there is a reply... she'll go get help if there's to be a confrontation.
Parentage: unknown pure Silkwings. Though she and Flightpath have very similar markings, they're not related, and people are honestly expecting them to hook up.
Origin: Adopted from LunarSolstice981 on Deviantart, WoF by Tui Sutherland
Other Info: As reliable and steady as her human friend, Admiral has been called the Most Visible Black Mesa dragon, which she is kind of fond of! From the top of the facility to the depths, she and Axton are remarkably comfortable.