Richard Howzer

Name: Richard Howzer
Callsign:

Level: 6

Background: Mechanic - Mechanics (starship), Electronics, Information Systems

Age: 38

THE STORY: A grungy salt of a man from good ol' Kepler-186f, a cold, dry planet that was one of the first habitable planets humanity identified pre deep space flight. These days, it's called Axis Mundi, and a popular stopping port in the northern Milky Way. Richard grew up the son of a Northstar miner, and grew up learning how to repair and operate the heavy mining mechs operated by the company. He proved to be a bit of a miscreant as he slipped into young adulthood, associating with biker gangs and getting more than one mark on his permanent record, but eventually he seemed to settle and got a job with IPS-Northstar post merger working on the mechs since converted into antipiracy platforms.

Life was good for a while. He settled down, started a family, and was happy with his work despite it being a far cry from the bareknuckle days of his youth. It was unfortunate, then, when shortly after moving to a new frontier colony meant to expand corporate shipping, his colony was hit by remnants of the Tian Shan slaver rings looking for ways to recoup their losses. In the chaos, his husband was killed and his son went missing. He only survived because he was already in one of the mech hangers and managed to hitch a ride aboard an escaping Tortuga with its pilot. Since then, he's spent no small amount of time desperately trying to find out more details about the battle on that colony and where his son might have ended up. When a Union Representative told him he'd been selected for cavalier training, he signed on immediately. That was two years ago. Since then he's learned to operate the biggest, baddest beasts he can get his hands on - and though he knows there's not much of a likelihood he'll see his kid again, he holds on to hope, and in the meantime vows he's gonna make sure every sonuvabitch who tries to repeat the incident gets a taste of cold, hard artillery. Whether the Five Voices recognized the fire in him as a powerful driving force in service of the Union, no one can say.

Physical Appearance: Nearly six foot and husky, but also burly. Dark brown hair down to his shoulders, with green eyes that tend to stare through you, and a well-groomed beard. Tends to wear sunglasses and an old biker's jacket that's a little small for him, with a stylized logo on the back reading AXES MONDAY depicting a mech with an impractical horned helmet cleaving through the logo with a bloodstained nano carbon axe.

Traits:

Resilient - No matter what sort of things trouble him, he digs deeper and doesn't let an inch past his poker face.
Protective - His first priority in combat is making sure his allies and civilians aren't in danger. THEN comes the shelling. Off the battlefield, he often sticks up for his friends and those who don't deserve the treatment they're being given.
Reckless - He doesn't have a lot left to lose. Not really a lot at all. While he does take precautions, his personal safety is usually thrown to the wind. This may seem to be in conflict with his levelheadedness, but it's actually somewhat unnerving to see a man like him wade quietly into danger with who knows what sorts of thoughts in his head.

Skills:

Grease Monkey 2 (Can no longer fail engineering checks to stabilize systems, can choose 3 options. Mech storage increases by 3 small items or 1 large. All limited systems and weapons gain +1 use. That system can explode, be careful. )
Siege Specialist 3 (Blast weapons gain +1 blast, cone weapons gain +1 cone, line weapons widen to two squares. Can choose different fire modes for +1 difficulty each. Action to activate Siege Mode to become crippled, but +10 range for specific weapons and they lose inaccurate and unreliable.)
Scrapper 1 and 3 (Can harvest weapons off the battlefield to use with limited usage. Can install a weapon or system for free. Mech is now permanently volatile and vulnerable.)
Uncanny Reflexes 1 (Gain the Dodge reaction, allowing you to convert half of damage you take in one hit to heat damage.)
Technophile 1 (Any AI core installed on your mech is no longer hostile to you when unshackled and may even be friendly (though still controlled by the GM) and costs 0 points to install. Dummy plugs installed in your mech cost 0 points to install.)

Licenses:

Harrison Armory Barbarossa 3
Harrison Armory Sherman 3

Storage:

1. GLOO Gun
2. Handheld Printer
3. Mag-clamps

Kit: +15 HP, +2 Engineering, +3 Aim, +2 Heat Capacity, +5 range on ranged attacks, +2 EP/IP

Mech: Barbarossa
Name: Boss Hog

Size: 3

Hull: 11
- HP: 26/26
- Repair Rate: 7
- Melee: 1

Agility: 9
- Speed 5
- Evasion 9

Systems: 10
- E-Defense: 10
- Sensors: 0
- Invasion: 0
- Scan: 0
- Lock On: 0

Engineering: 13+2
- Heat: 0/17
- Cooling Rate: 8
- Repair Cap: 8

Aim: +3
Armor: 4

EP: 9/11
IP: 9/10

Weapons:

FREE: Integrated Siege Cannon. Range 35, Indirect, Blast 3, 3d6 Explosive damage. 2d6 heat (self). Ordinance. Range 45 in siege mode.
4 EP: 2x GMS Type 1 High Arc Mortar. Range 20, Indirect, Blast 2, 1d6+1 Explosive damage. Inaccurate. Range 30 in siege mode, loses inaccurate.

Systems:

1 EP, 1 IP: External Ammo Feed. Siege Cannon loses the Loading tag.
1 IP: EVA Module. Propulsion in space and underwater.
1 IP. Redundant Systems. Limited (4). You can activate this to make a stabilize system check as an end of round action.
2 IP: Reactor Stabilizer. For the first overheat roll you make in a round, cancel volatile.
1 EP: Personalizations. +2 HP. External speakers, Horns and Spikes, Sprinkler system (internal and external)
1 EP: Grapplers. Bonuses to grappling.

Deployables:

Armor:

1 EP, 2 IP: 3x GMS Armor. +1 Armor.
1 EP, 2 IP: Juggernaut Armor. +3 Armor, cannot boost.

AI:

Asura: ASURA protocol
Protocol
1d6 heat/turn while active
Limited (1)
Gain an extra action each turn while active. This protocol lasts for 5 rounds. You can end
it as a free action.