Piers Nivans

"I'm right there with you Captain, but your personal vendetta isn't going to get us anywhere!"

- Piers, to Chris.

Piers Nivans was a member of the North American Branch of the B.S.A.A., assigned to the SOU (Special Operations Unit). Nivans served under Chris Redfield during the investigation into the incident at the Marhawa School; the 2012 Edonian Civil War and the 2013 campaign in China.

Early Life
According to his file, Piers' family has a history in the military dating back to his great-grandfather. Piers personally wanted to follow this tradition for as long as he could remember. He graduated at the top of his class from an elite military academy and soon joined the army's Special Forces.

At some point in his tenure within the Special Forces, Piers began to want a greater calling to make use of all of his training. In 2010, he met Chris Redfield, who was so impressed with Piers' skills as a sniper that he asked him to join the BSAA. Piers' eventually became a member of Alpha Team as Chris' second-in-command.

Edonia, 2012
In December 2012, the B.S.A.A. took part in crushing the Edonian Liberation Army after they began using the C-Virus during their war; Piers served in the North American Alpha Team alongside Captain Chris Redfield; Ben Airhart; Carl Alfonso; Finn Macauley and Andy Walker.

At one point, the team came across uninfected ELA mercenary Jake Muller and a Federal agent called Sherry Birkin, during a battle against infected liberation soldiers and two Ogroman. Despite protests to Chris, Jake was allowed to leave on a helicopter. Reaching their mission objective, the city hall, Alpha Team came into contact with a woman calling herself Ada Wong. The woman later lured the team into a trap and used a special "needle bomb" to explode C-Virus syringes across the room. Ben; Carl; Finn and Andy were caught in the blast and were infected, leaving Piers and Chris as the sole survivors.

Lanshiang, 2013
"What happened to the legendary Chris Redfield, huh?! What happened to you?!"

- Piers confronting Chris about his change in personality.

Six months after the tragedy, Piers finds Chris - habitually smoking and drinking - in a bar in Edonia. At first Chris does not remember anything of bio terrorism, the B.S.A.A., or Piers and his dead comrades. However, Piers brings the memories to surface by forcing him to face the truth and convinces him to return to the B.S.A.A. and help with a mission in Lanshiang.

During their mission in Lanshiang, Chris and Piers headed to the rendezvous point at a tenement house, dubbed the "Ace of Spades". There, they were to rescue United Nations diplomats who had been held hostage by J'avo. After the diplomats were rescued, the building was bombed by the UN to take out any remaining J'avo. Almost immediately after regrouping with Alpha Team outside, one of the men was attacked and dragged away by the Iluzja.

Following the giant snake's trail, Alpha Team was led unawares into its lair. Searching for the beast in the hopes of finding the missing man alive, the snake attacked and killed soldier after soldier until only Piers, Chris, Marco and Jeff were left. On their way down to the presumed location of the Iluzja, the snake grabbed Jeff from behind and killed him. The remaining three succeeded in defeating the snake after much effort. Realizing that Chris would stop at nothing to kill Carla, Piers confronted his Captain with regards to the deviation from the mission. Unfortunately, Carla had chosen that time to attack, infecting Marco with the C-Virus before escaping.

As the only survivors of Alpha Team, Piers and Chris received intel from HQ that Carla's was headed for the dockyards. Pursuing her in a high-speed chase across the city, HQ quickly deduced that Carla was going to escape using an aircraft carrier just off the river.

Searching through the J'avo-held carrier, the two finally found Carla and crossed paths with agents Leon Kennedy and Helena Harper. After Leon convinced the two to bring her into custody over killing her, they cornered Carla outside the carrier. She was later shot by an unidentified man fired on a passing helicopter and fell to her death. Examining Carla's briefcase, Piers discovered a modified strain of the C-Virus which was kept for the purposes of vaccine research.

Chris and Piers commandeered a VTOL aircraft awaiting deployment at the other end of the ship. In the air, Chris and Piers attacked a second J'avo-controlled carrier that housed the missile. Taking out the poorly-controlled anti-aircraft batteries, Piers was dropped off onto the deck, and he started toward the missile in the hope to de-activate it manually. Unfortunately, the sudden emergence of an Ogroman from its Chrysalid prevented Piers from reaching the target. The defeat of the Ogroman re-started the launch process; Chris fired a missile at the silo, trying to destroy it and the carrier. The plan failed, and the missile was launched on the Taichi district. After a communication between Chris and Leon, the Alpha Team was sent over to a far-off oil rig in search of the abducted Sherry Birkin and Jake Muller.

Mutation and death
"I'm sorry... Captain... I did it for the BSAA... For the future!"

- Piers apologizing to Chris for injecting himself with the C-Virus.

The two landed on the rig and made their way down the elevator which descended down even into the ocean. Arriving at an underwater research complex, Chris and Piers began their search for the missing persons. During the fight with Haos, a giant aquatic beast resembling a squid and a human, Chris and Piers made their way to the top of the complex, where they intended to use the escape pods.

The creature's surprise attack in a later chamber left Piers in such a state that his right arm was practically destroyed, crushed by debris. Moving over to the C-Virus vial - dismembering his arm in the process - Piers infected himself with the virus. After injecting the virus into the wound, Piers develops a squid-like appendage, a being capable of releasing massive quantities of bio-electric energy.

Beyond that, Piers physical mutation was no different from Simmons' human form. After he defeated Haos, the two rushed to the escape pods. However, Piers refused to follow Chris into the sphere; throwing him inside, Piers sealed the door and launched the pod. Piers chose to end his life while he was still capable of thinking for himself. As the facility's water pressure built up further, the structure began to come apart in more and more places.

Before Piers died, Haos attacked Chris' escape pod. Immediately afterward, the creature was hit by an electrical discharge identical to one of Piers created, suggesting that he saved Chris' life. In the end, Chris honored Piers' memory by remaining in the B.S.A.A. as Piers wanted instead of retiring.

Personality and Relationships
Piers Nivans, the young ace of the B.S.A.A., was a naturally gifted  marksman, much like his squad leader, Captain Chris Redfield. Due to his extreme sharpness and concentration, he was known as "the man who never misses a target".

He is characterized as an individual with a strong sense of responsibility and an astute discernment, being able to influence his teammates into the correct course in the battlefield. It's because of these qualities that make Piers a trusted and valuable comrade of Chris, who regards him as a future leader in the B.S.A.A..

Piers' sense of responsibility drives him to act as a moral compass for Chris, most notable in Lanshiang (in Edonia Chris and Piers show no signs of internal conflict, due to Chris not having any psychological trauma). Dedicated and focused, Piers' moniker of being the man who never misses a target could very well apply to his personal interactions as well. When tasked with bringing Chris back to the B.S.A.A. six months after the tragedy in Edonia, Piers maintained a calm and collected attitude, and never faltered in retrieving the legendary B.S.A.A. operative.

Piers has a strong sense of justice. His morals guided him to the B.S.A.A., in order to combat Bio-Terrorism. Piers greatly admires and respects his commanding officer Chris Redfield. Piers refers to him as "Captain" respectfully at all times but a few rare instances; Piers calls Chris by name in the bar when Piers is retrieving Chris, in Edonia after the B.O.W. turned Finn attacks and throws Chris, and in China when Piers confronts Chris about the change in his personality.

Piers is shown to be a good soldier, oftentimes covering other people with his trademark Anti-Material rifle and notable marksman skills. Piers also tried to maintain the condition of the other men under his and Chris' command. When the squad fights the giant snake, he commands Marco to wait for the rest of the squad to regroup before attacking. He also has respect for the chain of command, and even follows orders he does not agree with. A noteworthy instance of this is in Lanshiang, when Chris tells Piers to "fall in line, soldier". Piers appears visible shaken afterwards (despite holding his gaze with Chris), once realizing that his actions were bordering insubordination. He also shows a rough equivalent of compassion in Edonia when he tells Finn to "suck it up", in an attempt to help Finn surpress the grief over his comrade's death.

Skills and Abilities
Piers is a skilled marksman and is the B.S.A.A's top-ranking sniper according to the files in-game. Further evidence of his abilities as a marksman is shown when Piers dismembers a J'avo's arm with a single shot from his MP-AF.

Piers seems to have an understanding of hacking software as he was able open a locked door in the prototype testing room. He may also have a certain understanding in mechanics as he is able to re-activate a missile to blow up the bulkhead. Piers also has a certain knowledge in pyrotechnics as he can be seen destroying metal containers blocking his way with explosives.