scenario .....

[Preacher]

With special forces there are bound to be some interconnection and with the formation of a new special ops detachment like Aegis I figure there would be enough latitude to hire the right man for the job, so that was my assumption with that.

I am kind of excited to get cracking on this, it feels like fun and the other soldiers I have in mind are some interesting characters that will make for some fun. The big obstacle might be the hook that will spur st. Pauls willingness to take the offer. Appeals to patriotism might not work, so I need another avenue to have the general go down.

[polymath]

So the question the actor asks the director is; What's my motivation? What is St. Paul's initial irresistible motivation? Private or public? Patriotism is one example of a public motivation, a participation mystique a close-knit society actively engages in. Both private and public? Private: A personal connection to the victims? A personality that won't tolerate injustice? A blood lust requited by legitimate means? Revulsion for aberation and abomination? Machisimo status competition? An ex-Marine probably has some or all of the above.

I think the anwer to his motivation might lie in why he separated from service to begin with. More time to be with and provide for family would tie in thematically with the mad Geneticist's aberations. More money from civil sector employment. More leisure time when he's not training or deployed.

[Preacher]

Given the backstory I have created, I would have to say that the motivation for St. Paul would be both public and private. Private in that something happened to a family member and ultimately he will be seeking justice and his brother may still be alive. Public in that he does not want to see anyone have to go through what he did. He would have a desire, both as warrior and man, to protect those who can't fend for themselves. Those strings would have to be pulled on really hard since St. Paul has left active service. I am not sure if that works, or even makes sense.

[polymath]

Perfect sense, and exactly the kind of circumstances I was trying to prompt without imposing. Masculine identity, personality, and behavior traits are generally associated with status competition and providing for and protecting kin, kith, kit, and kine.

Projecting. Since he left service for better opportunities to compete and protect and provide, maybe he separated due to circumstances beyond his control that don't oppose his recruitment. Like maybe he was enticed to separate to go mercenary in a moment of weakness because the Marine Corps was a bit too bass-ackwards unsophisticated for him, but didn't find mercenary service satisfying or honorable. I'd think he'd jump at the chance to get back into the fold, so to speak.

[Preacher]

Your prompts are excellent, Poly. I considered this in the last hour or so. Being weak because of the brother, the Marines buried his requests to investigate or let him take a team in under mountains of bureaucracy. So, he left to pursue a career with a Blackwater type outfit because of the lack of regulation. He was allowed more freedom to do things his way but ultimately that lack of bureaucracy led to him leaving as he became sickened by the rampant corruption and other things in this type of outfit. He retired maybe to be the sheriff of a small town and when they come back for him they can use certain allowable freedoms he never had as a lure. Well, something like that I would say.

[polymath]

I think you've now got all the basics lined up. Now comes the fun and hard part of realizing it on the page.

Oh, by the way, if it were mine to write, I think I'd want the story structure to be all about St. Paul, his recruitment, probatation, and acceptance by Aegis. In other words, initiation, apprenticeship, and journeyman. Sort of an early to middle adult life stage process with wider age group appeals.