Shade

"""Whatever deity may guide my life, please lord don't let me die tonight. But if I shall before I wake, I accept my fate."

- Shade, reciting a line from a Jay-Z song prior to the Alien Incursion. Lance Corporal Jesse "Lamp" Shade was Red Team's unofficial third-in-command and Squad Leader for Squad Four. He arrived with the third generation of soldiers to arrive at Blood Gulch. Shade took on a semi-active combat role in the canyon, getting involved in fights and conflicts that he deemed "actually worth fighting". As such, he was mostly detached from most of the day-to-day chaos of the canyon.

Early Life
Jesse enlisted into the Army at age 20, having dropped out of university and moved from job to job. After passing basic training, Jesse went onto Recon School where he became a qualified Force Reconnaissanceman.

Jesse's first deployment was to Timberland, a deployment that lasted around six months. Shade was transferred to Blood Gulch as part of his punishment for events that occurred during the "Timberland Massacre".

Blood Gulch Deployment
Jesse Shade arrived to Blood Gulch in the first wave, along with Sergeant Meredith and then-Private Sam Filch among others. Shade was quickly promoted to Private First Class and given command of Squad Four, mostly as Shade was one of the few soldiers to match or best Sergeant Meredith in hand-to-hand unarmed combat.

Over the following months, Shade would find himself wrapt up in the canyon's major conflicts; notably the Alien Incursion in which he provided SAW and sniper fire from one of the cliffs, and when he was leading Fireteam Delta in an effort to rescue Agent Hawaii and Colonel Campbell of Blue Team (the latter of which had been kidnapped from the canyon by PFL Splinter forces).

During the Green Team debacle, Shade was promoted to Lieutenant and held a reserve command position in Purple Team. However, upon the dissolution of Green Team, he was demoted to Lance Corporal. As of present, he holds the position of Red Team's Third In Command (TIC).

Post Gulch Life
(The following is the result of the 2016 RP Reboot, and will be updated as more information is made known.)

Towards the end of his military career, Shade enquired to Red Army Command regarding his disciplinary status. It was revealed that after his initial punishment was given, his case had been filed incorrectly and had not proceeded any further. Shortly after his enquiry, he was summoned to a military tribunal for a review of his case and for formal charges to be laid.

The tribunal found that while his actions were unbecoming of a Red Army soldier, and that he had broken several rules and regulations, they could not hand him any formal punishment or charges given the circumstances of the assault that took place. They found that Shade was 'not of sound mind' and 'under significant stress' when he struck his CO, and that his actions 'were not premeditated but instead driven purely by emotion'.

Whilst not formally charged with assault or grevious bodily harm, the tribunal did effectively freeze Shade's prospective military career; barring him from any further promotional training and any supplementary skills training. It was this reason why Shade elected to resign from the Army. With two years left on his current enlistment contract, Shade was given an "Other Than Honourable Discharge" with no re-enlistment option.

Doctor Winters
Doctor Anne-Marie Isabell Winters, a neutral psychiatrist, was Shade's girlfriend. The pair met after Shade was seeking medical treatment for injuries he had sustained earlier on, and they hit it off straight away. The pair had been close ever since, were one of the closer couples in the canyon. They shared a mischievous streak, seen when they teamed up to flour-bomb Filch's room during a prank war (a war that both parties now regret).

Winters has since broken up with Shade and left the canyon with her former partner and friend Logan Connors. (This was due to the player for both Connors and Winters having left the RP).

Corporal Filch
Shade considers Filch to be his 'best mate'; the two of them forming a solid command team whenever Sergeant Meredith is absent (which is a lot of the time). They had mock-dated for a brief period of time as a way to see how people reacted, but eventually decided to stay as friends; a decision neither of them regret in the slightest. Their friendship has been tested at times though, with Shade's tendency to act recklessly and without thought in the heat of the moment causing Filch major concern.

There is currently a rumour that he has started seeing Filch, though this has not been confirmed as yet.

Private Connors
Shade's other 'best mate', Connors and Shade's friendship started upon their arrival to the canyon. Despite Connors shooting Shade in the shoulder, Shade has long since forgiven him as he was under the influence of mind-altering crystals found during a cave expedition. Even when Connors had switched over to Blue Team, Shade was always the least-hostile towards him whenever he visited.

Equipment
Shade was a qualified Force Reconnaissanceman, and his equipment reflects that:


 * 1x SRS 99S-5 Anti-Matériel Rifle or 1x M395 Designated Marksman Rifle (Depending on mission type and environment.
 * 1x MA5D equipped with a BR85N Reflex Sight Attachment, threaded barrel for a suppressor (for general purpose missions)
 * 1x M7S Suppressed Caseless Submachine Gun (on missions when either a DMR or SR is his primary)
 * 1x M6H Personal Defense Weapon (for all other missions)
 * 2x M9 HEDP Grenade
 * 3x M20 Smoke Canister (2x White, 1x coloured)

Armour
Shade wore the following components for armour:


 * Recon Helmet (Fitted with internal IFF and A-RCN package)
 * Soldier Torso Armour
 * Gungnir Left Shoulder Plate (with additional plating)
 * Defender Right Shoulder Plate
 * XV-27 Shifting Leg Plates

Trivia

 * Shade is one of the few native Australians in the canyon, a fact that he is proud (but humble) about. Even though he doesn't necessarily fill the stereotype, his accent gets noticeably stronger whenever he is emotionally charged.
 * Shade's nickname, Lamp, came about due to his tall and lean body build in combination with his surname: Shade > Lampshade > Lamp. (Meta: The user behind the character posted a picture of himself with a lampshade over his head as he and two other users discussed a Lampshade Wearing trope in an Out-of-Character discussion.)
 * Shade's character has since been retired following the 2016 "reboot" of the Blood Gulch RP, now known as the Red Vs Blue RP. While Shade in full was not carried over to the new page, elements of his character are seen in Private Jesse Kerry, notably his Australian heritage and his easy going temperament.
 * Shade is however being continued in the spin-off RP, Vegas Quadrant RP. In this, Shade has since left the Army after taking an "Other Than Honourable" discharge.