Heavy Duty - Saga Style
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Heavy Duty

Strength
8d
Agility
7b
Intellect
5x
Willpower
6c

Hand Size:
Edge:
4 (25)
2

Known Powers:

(none)

Equipment:

the Joe-Com *:
this is a new device given to all Joes since the group's reactivation. This high-tech wristband functions as an audio/video transceiver with an intensity 6 - 250 mile - range, is equipped with a G.P.S. system, a heart monitor, and can store up to a terabyte of raw data - not bad, eh?

Of course, this device also stores a variety of nutrients it can use to supplement activity, which are absorbed directly into one's pores (think of this as intensity 1 life support, where food is concerned). So, not only is the thing a nice, high tech video phone, but it can also save one's life in a pinch!

Knives: Lamont always has two handy knives on him when on missions, at least one of which is always stored in a boot sheath (the other may be on his other boot or a bandoiler). Either way, these blades are made from strength 12 metals, and can be used to inflict damage per a +2 weapon in melee.

Machine Gun (v1): when quantity is needed over quality, Lamont will typically wield his machine gun instead of his rifle. He can fire this slug slinger to inflict his Agility +4 damage in a controlled, semi-automatic burst, or his Agility +5 damage in a fully automatic hail of lead.

Machine Gun with Grenade Launcher Attachment (v2): later in the year, Lamont stopped carrying his standard rifle and machine gun in favor of this weapon. It functions per the machine gun (above), but can also launch grenades capable of inflicting intensity 10 damage to all within striking (near missile) range of their target.

Rifle (v1): when he needs precision more than sheer mayhem, Lamont often makes use of a standard-issue Army rifle instead of his machine guns. He can fire this weapon to inflict his Agility +4 damage per shot, but can usually hit just about anything within line of sight (far missile) range equally well.

Semi-Automatic Pistol: a handy back-up should he lose all of his other hard core ordinance, Lamont always has one of these around on missions - just in case. This large hand gun can be fired to inflict damage as would any other +4 weapon with a single shot, or +5 in a leaden burst.

the Sledgehammer (v3): at the end of the year, Lamont traded in all of his heavy firepower for the Sledgehammer, a B.T.R. vehicle that he can reconfigure in the field into one of two different forms - either a tracked or wheeled gun platform. The rather versatile Sledgehammer is described in its own vehicular entry.

* The Joe-Com is something that the Joes started using in their new (as of 2001) comic, and was featured on the first two 2004 Heavy Duty action figures, but not the third.

Hindrances:

(none)

Skills:

Artillery:
Lamont feels just as intensely about firing large rockets at a body as he does regarding making music; both are an art form to him, and both are immensely satisfying. When utilizing any line-of-sight weaponry (like his laser guided missiles), Lamont may do so at a reduced difficulty level.

Boxing: one facet of his basic training, one that has been enhanced time and again in battle against Cobra, this skill describes Lamont's ability to defend himself should he find himself unarmed. He can divide his pre-cardplay action score between two attacks, the last of which occurs as a contingent action.

Marksmanship: another part of Lamont's basic training involved his learning how to fire a gun - any modern gun, really - in a competent fashion. As such, when using standard, semi-automatic, or fully automatic rifles or pistols, or even fun guns like a shotgun, he does so at a reduced difficulty level.

Military / United States: being a member of the United States Army, Lamont has this skill as a general matter of course - and it handily explains where almost all of his other skills came from. This skill grants Lamont an almost instinctual understanding of military protocols and procedures.

Performer / Musician: before hooking up with the Army, Lamont had begun a love affair with classical music - he loves playing it as well as listening to it. If performing for an audience, Lamont can typically enrapture them to the point that they might not notice otherwise obvious things occurring in the area.

Vehicular Combat: having served as a vehicular combatant for a large portion of his time in the G.I. Joe team, Lamont has definitely picked up the finer points of this form of battle over the years. As such, when making any sort of offensive action while behind the wheel, Lamont does so at a reduced difficulty level.

Calling:

Soldier:
while he may rather be a classical musician / performer / spectator with his days, Lamont knows that it is his duty as an American citizen to stand up for the rights of his fellow countrymen, and as such he serves with pride - to the best of his ability - alongside the G.I. Joe team.

Costume:

Lamont's eighth uniform is simply a variant of his seventh. It consists of an impressively snug gray T-shirt, light green trousers with darker green padding, black leather boots, black leather gloves with black steel wrist guards, a black leather belt with a black metal belt buckle, black webbing, and a blue bandana.

His ninth uniform is again a variation on his seventh. It includes an tight, grass green T-shirt, pastel orange trousers with brown padding, black leather boots, black leather gloves with black steel wrist guards, a black leather belt with a black metal belt buckle, black webbing, and a black bandana on his head.

Lamont's tenth uniform is, unlike the previous two, completely original. It consists of a dark gray, long sleeved shirt beneath a bright green, pouch-laden vest, tan trousers, a dark gray pair of boots, a dark gray leather belt, dark gray wrist guards, and a sort of pastel orange bandana on his head.

Personality:

Lamont is definitely gutsy. He has no problem training a laser-guided rocket down a body's throat - even when they're shooting at him! He's rather cultured, though, seeing his martial prowess as being but one of his many skills, almost an aside for him when he's not going about the performance of his classical music.

Furthermore, Lamont is incredibly cheery and good-natured. While you'd expect someone that can lug and fire a .50 cal Browning uphill to be full of meanness, Lamont can do it with a smile on his face - which is probably the only reason people haven't hurt him for being such a horrible mess hall chef...!

Real Name: Lamont A. Morris, grade E-5
Occupation: heavy gunner, indirect fire infantryman
Legal Status: citizen of the United States with no known criminal record
Marital Status: single
Alias(es), if any: none
Group Affiliation: G.I. Joe, the Star Brigade

Height: 6' 1"
Hair: black
Eyes: brown
Weight: 185 lbs
Other Distinguishing Characteristics: Lamont occasionally wears a moustache or goatee, though not all that often. Lamont also has at least one tattoo, worn on his upper left arm.

Story:

This Chicago-born fellow has always been talented, having remarkable hand-eye coordination, the ability to concentrate on multiple tasks at once, and of course left and right hand independence. These abilities make for quite the skill in music - or as Lamont's vocational choice wound up, a heavy gunner.

He demonstrated early on in his military career that he had what it takes to fill that job, and won a position as a laser weaponry system operator. His skills with such gear, being able to train a rocket on a body despite the presence of enemy fire trained on his position, got him a job on the G.I. Joe team.

For a couple years, Lamont served the group well, doing all kinds of damage to the forces of Cobra - and their expensive gear. He did so well at that, in fact, that when the Joes needed a heavy ordinance carrier for their hastily formed Star Brigade, they chose Lamont to fill that position.

Donning a highly advanced, exoskeletal weapons platform, Lamont got to do the same job he basically did on earth - only the Cobra gear he got to trash in space wound up being even more expensive than before... not that he minded this, oh no. This gig didn't last forever, however, thanks to budget cuts.

Determining that Cobra was a threat that conventional forces could handle back in '94, the Pentagon deactivated the G.I. Joe team, though when Cobra resurfaced a few years later, it was decided that the Joes were needed after all. As such, Hawk pulled the group back together again.

Though he didn't make it for the team's first Cobra-stomping mission, Lamont indeed returned to dish out some damage, working as a M.O.B.A.T. operator for a time with Thunderwing. Once again having proven his prowess with incredibly dangerous ordinance, Lamont got a new ride to call his own.

This thing, a refurbished Hammer, was re-christened the Brawler by Lamont. Naturally, the name is rather apt, as Lamont tends to drive into the thick of Cobra forces with it - taking them apart before they can even react to his presence. He can barely hear the sound of his own explosions, though.

What with the symphonic music he's usually got blaring in the Brawler's stereo system...

Extra Goodies:

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G.I. Joe directories featuring a version of Heavy Duty:

  1991 1993 1998 2002 2003 2004  

* Note: 2002 saw two versions of Heavy Duty (Versions 4, 5 and 6), as did 2004 (Versions 8, 9 and 10).