Ace
| Strength 6d |
Agility 7b |
Intellect 5x |
Willpower 6d |
| Hand Size: Edge: |
4 (25) 2 |
Powers:
(none)
Equipment:
Flak Jacket (s): for a large portion of his career as a Joe fighter pilot, Brad has taken to wearing a bullet proof vest, should he get shot down over hostile territory; this happened several times during Brad's career, despite his best efforts. While wearing this jacket, Brad receives +2 protection against any assault that strikes him in the torso - front or back.
Flight Helmet (s): nicely complementing his flight suit, this helmet gives Brad all he needs to dogfight with the best of 'em. Like his suit, his helmet varies depending on just what he's flying, but the helmet itself is armed with shatterproof glass, giving him +6 protected senses on his vision - including being polarized to resist light flashes - and +2 resistance to any sort of head shot.
Flight Suit (s): though his flight suits have varied over the years, they've all had the same capabilities. They're all armed with +4 resistance to both cold, heat, and pressure variance, allowing Brad to withstand intense aerial maneuvers, and extreme environments should he have to eject in a hurry. Further, its got a special breathing apparatus that allows normal breathing at almost any altitude.
the Joe-Com (i): this newer, advanced device was given to all Joes upon the group's reactivation at the beginning of the 21st century - and thus, to Ace as well, since they always need his high-flying combat ability. This high-tech wristband functions as an audio/video transceiver with various other goodies built in to help a soldier on the go, and is described in greater detail in its own equipment entry.
Knife (s): every self-respecting fighter pilot carries a blade on his person at all times, should he be faced with a runaway parachute upon ejection, and need to cut the straps before he drowns or is pulled over some cliff or another. Brad can use this blade as a +2 weapon with each deadly strike, or cut through objects of any material strength up to 10.
Pistol (a): holstered on his right ankle, this handgun is a handy replacement for his submachine gun should Brad run out of ammo or similarly lose the weapon. In battle, Brad can use this pistol to as a +4 weapon when firing single shot, +5 in a semi-auto, clip-extinguishing burst of lead. He usually only wields this firearm as a last result, however - his SMGs are more effective.
Submachine Gun (a): though the exact models have varied over the years, Brad has always carried a submachine gun on him during missions, should he get shot down over hostile territory. He can use these guns as a +4 weapon with a single shot, +5 in a semi-automatic burst. He also carries several clips on his person, in order to fight for lengthy periods of time.
Hindrances:
(none)
Skills:
Aerial Combat (a): a pilot since he was a wee youth, Brad naturally can fly almost any plane out there. However, it takes a special person to actually perform fighter to fighter combat - and win - like Brad does. When he's operating any aircraft, though especially fighter planes, Brad may reduce the difficulty of any applicable combat roll by one difficulty level.
Boxing (s): though he prefers to fight with an airplane all around him, Brad's military training includes the ability, should he find himself in a pinch, to defend himself bare-knuckled. When engaged in unarmed melee, Brad can divide his pre-cardplay action score between two attacks, the last of which will occur as a contingent action. He makes said attacks at a lower difficulty, as well - comes in handy when you're out of ammo...
Marksmanship (a): one essential military skill that Brad picked up in basic training is the ability to fire any standard, semi-automatic or fully automatic rifle or pistol effectively. When utilizing a gun in battle, Brad may do so at one difficulty level lower than is usually necessary, though he rarely makes use of this skill, other than during target practice; he's a good enough pilot that his fights never come to that.
Military (w): the skill that has made most of his other skills possible, this represents Brad's years in the military, offering him an intimate knowledge of military protocols, basic leadership and instruction training, and of course, has given him more non-Joe military friends than you can shake a stick at. Brad can make any action dependent on such knowledge at a reduced difficulty level.
Piloting (a): though it goes without saying, Brad is one of the best fighter pilots in the Air Force - much less the Gi Joe team. He's so good, in fact, that he was a fighter pilot instructor before hooking up with the Joes! When piloting aircraft of any stripe, Brad can make any maneuver - reasonable or otherwise - at one difficulty level lower than would otherwise be required.
Calling:
Thrill-Seeker: Brad is a competent fighter pilot, to be sure, but he's constantly pushing his abilities further and further every time he gets in the cockpit. One could go so far to say he takes crazy risks, but the sheer truth of it is that the man knows planes so well that he can do the impossible with them - and come back to try again the next day. What do you expect... he used to be a Hollywood stunt pilot!
Costume:
Brad's eighth flight suit is similar in look to his first, but comprised of different components. It includes a white flight jacket with red bands on the arm over a red T-shirt, white chaps with red stripes down the side over burgundy trousers, burgundy knee pads, white leather gloves, white leather boots, and finally a translucent flight helmet attached to a red, gray and white breathing apparatus.
When he's not about to hop into a plane and shoot down some terrorists, Brad wears a completely different uniform, however. It consists of an Army green jacket, a pair of Army green trousers, black leather boots, black leather gloves, overlapping black leather belts, a series of straps and holsters holding several black gear pouches to his chest, and a green flight helmet (in case he hops in a plane after all).
Personality:
Brad is a highly skilled and highly dedicated pilot, capable of combat feats that would make other fighter jockeys cringe in terror. He's also a good guy, never rubbing in the fact that he's saved the Joe team from certain doom on numerous occasions with his airborne savvy. Unless, of course, you find yourself opposite him on the poker table; if you do, you'd better look out, because Brad NEVER loses at poker!
Real Name: Brad J. Armbruster, Grade O-3 (Captain), later O-4 (Major)
Occupation: fighter pilot
Legal Status: American citizen with no known criminal record
Marital Status: single
Alias(es), if any: Wendell L. Armbruster (as he's known on some dossiers)
Group Affiliation: Gi Joe
Height: 5' 9"
Hair: brown
Eyes: blue
Weight: 160 lbs
Other Distinguishing Characteristics: none
Story:
Brad was a natural born pilot. He's had a love for flying since high school, during which time he worked late into the night so he could afford flying lessons. Once he'd graduated, he got a job flying various jobs that allowed him to flex the muscles of his piloting skills, such as a year run on the Alaska Pipeline, and a two year job flying as a Hollywood stuntman.
Brad decided to do some real flying eventually, and at the tender age of 22 he enlisted in the Air Force, where he continued to excel as a pilot. In fact, he was so good at flying that he became the lead instructor at the USAF Fighter Weapons Squadron affectionately known as the 'Aggressors' (a fighter pilot training school). His service here eventually earned him a spot on the Gi Joe team.
Immediately upon hooking up with the Joes, Brad's piloting skills were put on the test, and they were repeatedly tested for years as the man served as the Gi Joe team's only fighter jockey. He was virtually all the team's air support - when Wild Bill wasn't on the scene - and kept most of Cobra's air forces away from the team's ground pounders while they were going about the business of fighting the forces of evil.
Over time, however, Brad was joined by several other fighter pilots, and he wound up flying increasingly complex missions with them as they got better acquainted. Through the years, Brad became exceptionally good friends with Slipstream and the man you can't help but forget (the pilot code-named Ghost Rider, for those of you that are copyright-impaired).
Many of the missions that Brad participated in involved Cobra Island, some of which were shortly before that blighted land came into being (a part of which Brad himself was unwittingly responsible for). Various missions afterward involved reconnaissance missions flown by himself, or flown as cover for other pilots (like Ghost Rider) while they did the dirty spying deed.
Though the Joe team had numerous pilots over the years, all of which flew various aircraft in the fight against Cobra, Brad tended to be known as the leader of the bunch, having been around the longest and, most importantly, being the most skilled. He was active for the duration of the team's actions against Cobra, and flew missions up to the day the Joe team was disbanded in '94.
When this happened, Brad returned to regular Air Force duties until the Joe team was resurrected a few years later. When Hawk began to reassemble the team anew, Brad was one of the very first of the Joes to hook back up with the unit, and both he and Hawk began flying as a two man team in the A-10 Thunderwing, blasting Cobra goons from here to eternity with their superior skill and firepower.
Brad has been with the team ever since, through thick and thin - even during its second, false deactivation. Though not needed much while the team resumed its more covert status, Brad was more than ready to lend a hand when needed, as he did when Cobra instigated none other than World War III. He and every other still-living Joe returned to make sure their long-time enemies didn't finally succeed and take over the world.
With this done, Brad presumably is assisting the team in clean-up operations against Cobra insurgents who escaped capture, not to mention others like them that may rise in the face of a weakened, global infrastructure.
Extra Goodies:
Gi Joe directories featuring a version of Ace:
| 1983 | 1992 | 1993 | 1997 | 1998 | 2004 | 2008 |
* Note: 2004 saw two versions of Ace released (Versions 6 and 7), as did 2008 (Versions 8 and 9).