Gabriel Ascheron (OU)

Gabriel Ascheron, more commonly known simply as Ascheron, is the charismatic, militaristic leader of the Republic of Luria. His sole aim appears to be enacting his expansionist policies, and establishing the Republic as a universal empire, with him as its leader. To this extent, he will do anything he feels necessary to achieve his goals.

Biography
Ascheron resembles the archetypical warlike leader; headstrong, antagonistic and nihilistic. He is an incredibly powerful fighter, preferring not to fight with ranged attacks or melee weapons but an ancient martial art known as the Prominence Powers. Ascheron is the most talented user of this art to exist, and is extremely concerned with keeping the texts and the techniques a secret, for the exclusive use of him and his successors. However, Ascheron is still extremely talented with melee weapons, and prefers heavy axes and greatswords over lighter, quicker weapons.

Arguably more important than his military expertise and raw fighting strength are his shrewd statesmanship and incredible charisma. He is a profound orator with an almost superhuman ability to influence his listeners. He understands the importance of keeping up the spirits of his people and will often turn any possible situation into a propaganda item, such as when he broadcast his fight against the Sha'lyhte sect to prove the superiority of the Lurian people. He maintains an immaculately deliberate public persona in order to bolster the morale of his people.

Lastly, Ascheron's scholarly, intelligent nature allows him to use his aforementioned strengths to bring his plans to fruition. He is a master of the art of war, and as such his value on the battlefield as a fighting unit is outweighed tenfold by his value as a commander, even given his incredible strength. He has studied many ancient and esoteric texts in order to seek the answers he needs, such that his quarters on the Assault Shadow features innumerable bookshelves lined with them. A keen student of history, he has studied the universe's many conflicts, hoping to avoid the mistakes previously made.

Prelude To Conflict: Ascheron's Script
Ascheron's sole goal is the creation of an Ubermensch, hewed from the present populace of the Lurian people, thereby creating a race with the power and right to rule over the universe effectively. Even though he fully understands that an individual could never attain the power of beings such as Blackout and The Architect, an entire race of individuals that are even only a tenth as powerful as them would pose a serious threat to them, purely by virtue of number. Ascheron's goal is to see out the era where the universe is effectively controlled by a select few individuals, and to distribute that power to the entire Lurian race - though, conveniently, with himself as leader.

The main initial opponent to Ascheron's goal is Altero, a sworn knight of the Republic who believes Ascheron's plan will bring the Republic to ruin, and that Ascheron is no different from the people he seeks to usurp - he just wants to rule over the universe himself. However, the general citizenry of the Republic is behind him; due to millennia of being caught in the aftereffects of the immense battles which have raged across the cosmos, as well as destructive wars raged against many of the incredibly powerful races which inhabit the universe.

The Conflict Begins: Original Sin
Having consulted ancient holy texts from Earth, Ascheron decided his best course of action would be to take the Fruit of Knowledge from the Garden of Eden. Understanding that its first consumption elevated humanity to its present state, he believed that it could be used to elevate the Lurian people to the superhuman position he desired. He spent years searching for a psychic powerful enough to open the barriers between the present reality and Guf. When this had been completed, he infiltrated Guf as a means to enter the Garden of Eden.

He eventually made it to the Garden of Eden, but was surprised to find that Altero had somehow beaten him there. Altero accused Ascheron of being out of touch with the true wishes of the people of Luria, and attacked him. However, Ascheron managed to both retrieve the fruit, and escape.

The Sha'lythe Sect
Almost immediately after returning to his ship, monks of the Sha'lythe Sect appeared to warn Ascheron that the taking of the fruit would lead to the destruction of the Lurian timeline. Taking offense with this, Ascheron prepared to fight. He demonstrated his first Prominence technique here; Jikan seishoku ryūki o (Time-weaving Prominence). Later, he demonstrated two more techniques Ryūki o kyūshū (Prominence absorb) and Ryūki o attō suru (Prominence overwhelm). He defeated the monks, but more importantly had gained evidence to support his narrative. He wasted no time in putting this to use, and immediately organized a grand speech in favor of tending to his wounds, and the damage to his ship.

Solidying the Narrative: The Speech
Having defeated the Sha'lythe monks, Ascheron gathered his soldiers in the hold of his ship, and had the entire scene broadcast to the Lurian homeland. He then gave the following speech;

Citizens of Luria. Brave soldiers of the Republic. You will have all seen the footage of the battle fought on this very ship. Many of you may fear for the safety of Luria after the events that have unfolded. To you people, I will say this: feel no fear! Instead, it is the enemies of the Republic who are trembling in the face of our glorious advance. We have attained the power of Gods!

The elite that rule over this universe, and do with as they see fit, have finally been forced to recognize us and the threat to them that our destiny poses! And they are in absolute terror of what we represent! The attack you have all witnessed it just the first of many. But to those who would attempt to defeat us, I say; come! It is a clear sign we are on the right path! We gain nothing by sitting idly by and letting this imbalance of power perpetuate itself. Instead, we shall hunt down our oppressors! We shall overwhelm them! We shall destroy them, and leave no survivors!

The cycle of injustice shall be broken! The injustices done against the people of Luria will be avenged, a hundredfold! We will restore this universe to its natural order, with us as its rightful rulers! Too long have we waited in the shadows, clinging to the ground in the hopes that our civilization might survive to exist, in the face of every urging of the human soul! And now, at this crossroad of destiny, we cannot turn down from the tremendous fate we have been awarded! We will take our fight to the stars! We will take our fight to the heavens! For the perpetuation of the ideals of the Republic! For justice, and for vengeance! SIEG! LURIA!

Needless to say, the speech was a success. Ascheron left the hall to repeated chants of "Sieg Luria", before returning to his quarters to meet with Sefer Yetzirah. Across the homeland, cities were drowned out in cries of the new chant. Altero was horrified by the sight, and unable to do anything, turned and fled, planning to gather allies to his cause to defeat Ascheron.

Sometime after the speech, Ascheron was confronted by Altian as to Sefer's identity. He explain who she was, and revealed her contributions to the Lurian fleet reorganization project.

Attack on Saskana
Ascheron headed to the world of Saskana, and momentarily observed the battle on the surface. Afterwards, he prepared the Assault Shadow's Ignatus superweapon to destroy the planet. The Pale Fire and Bahamut engaged the Assault Shadow in a battle, which was interrupted by the arrival of Rokubungi Gendo aboard the Divine Providence. Angered by Ascheron's endangerment of the Takemikazuchi Empire by engaging in conflict with ZFT and the Dominion, Gendo attempted to force Ascheron to apologize to Blackout and Malygos, to which Ascheron refused, heading down to the planet's surface alone to defeat them. His first victim was Rylou, who he killed with the projectile of the Ignatus weapon, using it as a melee weapon. He then offered Mazkertis the chance to fight alongside him. He then fought alongside Mazkertis, engaging in combat with Malygos.

Prominence Techniques
The first technique used by Ascheron. He begins by slowing himself down so that his actions appear to be in slow motion. Prominence energy appears from his fingertips as he builds up enough of it for his attack. Then, he moves at incredible speed wherein his individual actions are impossible to view. He encircles his target, stabbing from all directions with twin finger-blades made of Prominence energy. Correctly executed, this attack hits over two-hundred times. Converts an incoming energy attack to Prominence energy. However, it provides no protection from said attack. Rapid stabbing with Prominence blades followed by impaling the opponent with a combined Prominence blade. The opponent is then lifted into the air on the blade, and the twin blades seperated to tear them in half from the inside.
 * Jikan seishoku ryūki o (Time-weaving Prominence)
 * Ryūki o kyūshū (Prominence absorb)
 * Ryūki o attō suru (Prominence overwhelm)

Trivia

 * Ascheron's appearance is based on the character of Full Frontal from Gundam Unicorn. However, Ascheron and Full Frontal have almost nothing in common other than this.
 * Ascheron's Prominence techniques are quite obviously based on the martial arts seen in the Fist of the North Star series.