Hiro "Ghost" Nomura - Speculative Origin

[gigamach]

So, I wrote this in reply to another thread, but I feel like this post belongs here. I kinda got carried away in that other reply, and this came out longer than I thought it would. So, for your consideration, here is my personal origin story for Ghost", one of the currently missing Corps members in the war against The Curse, and key player in the Marauders struggle and The Corps rebirth.



Hiro "Ghost" Nomura: Son of a Japanese father and Thai mother. Grew up in Thailand, trained in Muay Thai from a young age, and educated in wealthier schools. Father had money as a "business man", but Hiro learned in his teens that his father was a former Yakuza on the run, having abandoned the gangster lifestyle after being forced to kill a shopkeeper in his old neighborhood in a suburb of Tokyo. An informant for a Thai group affiliated with the Yakuza family Hiro's father once betrayed spotted Hiro's father when Hiro was 17, and the aging Yakuza boss's son ordered a hit squad in Thailand to bring back the former gang-member or kill him if he resisted. The gang broke into Hiro's home, but didn't count on the young Nomura. He and his father fought off the six-man hit squad, but in the fight, Hiro's father and mother were both mortally wounded. The Thai police, unsympathetic to Hiro's plight as newly orphaned, used the boy's rage to recruit him to go undercover into the local gang-groups. Hiro agreed, aiming to work his way up to the man that allowed the hit on his family to happen. For three years, Hiro wormed his way deeper and deeper into the gang, compromising his integrity in a quest for revenge. Before he could exact it, a new player came to Thailand - One Arturo Zorin, who was making a play for control of the gang's territory, especially including their shipping interests and weapons smuggling. Zorin had secretly recruited over half of the Thai gang-members, who turned on their brothers in the takeover bid. Hiro saw the chaos as the time to make his move, but he was caught in an explosion. When he awoke, he was facing "Rucker" Brody, who told Hiro what had happened, and made him an offer.



"The police chief tells me you're one of his," said Rucker.


"I don't belong to him. Or anybody," spat Hiro.


"I believe you," answered Rucker. "How would you like to belong to something. Not as a tool, but as a partner?"


"What do you mean?" asked Hiro.


"I'm putting together a team. Highly skilled individuals who've seen the life, and are ready to do something about the chaos in this world. We're not beholden to bureaucrats or corporate interests. We're just soldiers looking to do our part to make the world a little safer from those who would burn it for their own gain."


"Sounds like a line of crap," said Hiro. "Who has that kind of idealism?"


"I don't know. Maybe the kind of man who won't stand by and follow orders they don't believe in. Maybe the kind of man who'd risk it all for a family, even if he's done some bad things in his past," said Rucker.


Hiro paused. "What about the police? They've been tracking me here. I've done terrible things myself, to get where I am... Where I was, in this gang. They're just going to let me go?"


"What can they do to a man who died in an explosion?" asked Rucker with a wry smile. "Hiro Nomura is a ghost now."


Hiro looked around the burnt warehouse. He saw the corpses of those he'd eaten with and laughed with for the past three years. Scumbags. Bodies on his way to revenge. And now, revenge seemed distant. Out of reach, and hollow. Why was he fighting? Why was he compromising all his parents had taught him? To get ...what? And for whom? Hiro stood and faced Rucker. "If I'm truly a ghost, I can just walk away?"


"You can." said Rucker. "Just know - my team is watching. Don't waste your death on an unworthy rebirth, Hiro."


Hiro nodded, and took a deep breath. "I'm in. But know this...I'm in on my terms. I'll never compromise for anyone else again."


"Understood," smiled Rucker. "Welcome to The Corps."

[AWCramer]

Pretty cool man!

[plasticfan]

"Sounds like a line of crap," said Hiro. "Who has that kind of idealism?"


^ That line is the "lynch pin" in Hiro's potential in my opinion (your story is so good I'm already using it as a foundation piece and looking ahead ).

Imagine that personality working along side Shadow. Shadow was confident / arrogant / isolated enough to assume he could and would make the final decision regarding the ready state and application of the nano technology. No need for oversight was necessary in his opinion.

Perhaps Rucker fostered that type independence considering his statement to Hiro in your story (not being beholden or official)?

Hiro, like Shadow, has a background that includes taking risks with the threat of bodily harm (criminal network infiltration ) and making important but questionable decisions unilaterally. Those two personalities together in a technology field , which typically attracts the independent type, with access to weapons and funding via the CORPS! group?

...there is far more story to be told .

With regard to Hiro specifically I can't see him working with Plague due to deep seeded father issues based upon your fiction. In fact I can imagine him going solo with his own sub team and only being loosely connected to the CORPS! team after Shadow turned.

Oh the amount of stories to be told !

[gigamach]

Yes! I was definitely considering his pending conflict with teammate Shadow once Shadow decided to become Plague. In my mind, it's Hiro's realization that he cannot compromise his ethics to achieve success - He tried it, and it failed. His father, though flawed, had gone through much the same thing with the Yakuza: He'd sought a family in the Yakuza, but realized they were using him in ways he couldn't accept, so he left, but after committing a terrible crime.

I love the idea of Ghost going with his own group. We know that Rucker stays on the team, but has turned over leadership to Rain because of his history with Plague. I could see him watching original members like Ghost falling away, making him question his judgement at every turn, but believing enough in The Corps! and his ideals to stay on, albeit in a reduced leadership role.

Great feedback! I love talking through story stuff like this.

[plasticfan]

At some point I'd like to see the bio tags and / or all available fiction for the corps characters that way we can all put together a story that actually stays as faithful as possible to what's been establisted.

With so little data it would leave a wide berth for creativity.

[MagicWazard]

I'll be honest--I kind of expected to cringe a little bit while reading this, given the typical quality of fanfiction writing one encounters on the Internet (and not just the erotic variety). But I have to say--this was surprisingly well-written! I've gotta give you credit for that. And surprisingly gritty...

"Hiro 'Ghost' Nomura--his parents murdered by underworld gangs, manipulated by local police forces as a pawn, and driven by revenge to kill those who murdered his family! Ages 3 and up."

[gigamach]

Sept 10, 2016 23:58:51 GMT MagicWazard said:

"Hiro 'Ghost' Nomura--his parents murdered by underworld gangs, manipulated by local police forces as a pawn, and driven by revenge to kill those who murdered his family! Ages 3 and up."

Ha ha! Yeah, I got carried away.

Thanks for the kinds words, btw.