Mark Hazzard (deceased)

Strength 8a

Agility 7b

Intellect 6b

Willpower 9b

Hand Size: Edge:

4 (25) 2

Powers:

(none)

Equipment:

Arsenal: a mercenary, and a very good one at that, Mark has built up a large array of weaponry for use on various missions. It is assumed that Mark can, if he has the preparation time, get his hands on virtually any standard, conventional weaponry before a mission.

Furthermore, Mark has a plethora of standard equipment ready to aid him on missions, such as flashlights, shovels, emergency rations and purified water, tons of spare ammunition, etc... His personal preferences, the stuff he usually carries on his person at all times, include:

* Handgun (a): Mark always, always has one of these secreted on his person, unless it has been taken away from him or left behind for a specific reason. This gun is a +4 weapon, and Mark often equips it with armor piercing bullets (treat defense as if it were -4 in intensity).

* Knife (s): to supplement his gun, in the event that it is lost or its use is suddenly impractical, Mark can instead assault a body with his long, serrated knife. He can use this deadly blade as a +2 weapon, causing some serious damage - and it's quieter than his gun.

Kevlar Vest (s): when he knows he's heading into trouble, Mark will usually be wearing a thick kevlar vest, in order to improve his odds of living. This armor, adding a +2 to Mark's standard defense, acts against any attack hitting him in the torso (either front or back).

Hindrances:

(none)

Skills:

Aerial Combat (a): a certified H.A.L.O. (High Altitude, Low Opening) paratrooper, Mark has been trained in basic aerial combat techniques, and as such, is allowed to use his Agility instead of his Intellect to determine the declaration of his actions in an exchange - while in the air, that is.

Boxing (s): no stranger to violence and mayhem, Mark is a skilled hand to hand combatant. Thanks to this skill, he is allowed to divide his pre-cardplay action score between two attacks, the last of which will occur as a contingent action.

Brawling (s): in addition to his high speed fisticuffs, Mark knows how to take a body down while unarmed, and keep him there. If Mark k-o's an opponent in unarmed melee, said opponent will immediately slip into a coma, and will be down for the count for quite some time.

Clubs (s): though he prefers to fight unarmed in a scrap, Mark nonetheless has the ability to wield any sort of blunt object effectively in battle. This reduces the difficulty of his striking a foe with anything from a lead pipe to a baseball bat by one difficulty level.

Espionage (i): as a large portion of Mark's work involves staking out a target, he's sort of picked up this skill by osmosis. This allows him to effectively tail a target undetected, piece together various clues about a mystery easily, and be able to tell when he, in turn, is being followed.

Flinging (a): part of Mark's extensive weapons training involves his throwing various deadly objects at an opponent, and even catching such items on their way towards him. He can reduce the difficulty of such actions by one difficulty level.

History (i): an expert on conflict, both past and present, Mark knows almost everything about humanity's wars, from the dawn of time to the present. This shows in his advanced tactical ability (knowing what works and what doesn't), as well as his scholarly nature in this area of history.

Knives (s): knowing that a gun isn't the last word in violence and conflict, Mark has learned how to effectively use any sort of blade in combat, either in melee or (especially) when throwing them at somebody. He'd rather not, but one never knows when he's going to be suddenly out of ammo...

Leadership (w): his training at West Point, in addition to years and years of real-life battle experience has groomed Mark into a leader of fighting men. When he's leading a group, they add +1 to all actions they make, unless his leadership disappears; then, the +1 turns into a -1 for the duration of the encounter.

Linguistics (i): Mark has shown a natural disposition for languages, and is known to speak at least five different tongues. In addition to English, it is assumed that he can speak Spanish, Russian, German, and Arabic, if not more.

Marksmanship (a): Mark knows guns. Years upon years of combat training and experience have taught him to effectively utilize just about any non-energy rifle or pistol known to man. In fact, Mark is almost, but not quite, a world class marksman, so watch out!

Military (w): born a military brat, from several generations of the same, Mark found he had little choice but to join the U.S. Army, though it really made a man of him. He can easily interpret military commands, understands military protocol, and can easily lead troops into battle.

Survival (w): Mark's ranger training has taught him how to keep himself alive virtually anywhere, from the darkest jungles to the deepest glacier fields. No matter where he finds himself, Mark can scrounge up food, water, shelter, and just about anything else he needs to keep going.

Calling:

Soldier: more than anything else, Mark likes conflict. Whether he's starting or ending one, the man loves getting into the thick of things. However, he's also highly principled, and won't let his love of fighting come before his personal scruples, which has caused him to kill more than one employer...

Costume:

When expecting to get into a fight, Mark often wears a black t-shirt, gray pants, and black boots, supplemented with a brown leather shoulder holster for his current gun of choice, and the occasional bullet proof vest, worn underneath his shirt. Sometimes, Mark also wears a green camo vest over his shirt, which he can use to hold all manner of tools and small weaponry (in the pockets).

Personality:

Mark is a rarity in the mercenary field: he's an honest, principled man. Mark won't do a job for an obviously bad person, and if he finds his employer to be such a person, he'll make sure said employer has a really bad day. On the other hand, Mark is a very stubborn man, with a black, sardonic sense of humor, and enjoys his combative life very, very much.

Real Name: Cpl. Mark Hazzard, Ret.
Occupation: mercenary
Legal Status: American citizen with an impressive criminal record, deceased
Marital Status: divorced
Alias(es), if any: none
Group Affiliation: his mercenary crew (unnamed)

Height: 6' 4"
Hair: brown, balding
Eyes: blue
Weight: 240 lbs.
Other Distinguishing Characteristics: Mark is balding, and has several facial scars; one lies vertically across his left eye (though he can still see with it), and the other runs diagonally from his right cheek to his upper lip.

Story:

Mark Hazzard grew up in a rather cold, heartless family. His father always wanted him to be the best at everything he did. While he did rather well in everything he tried, such as football, he was never good enough in his father's eyes, and Mark's father couldn't tolerate this. All the way through military school, at West Point, this 'tradition' of disappointment continued.

Events came to a head, however, when Mark's father decided that the woman he loved, the woman he was going to marry, also wasn't good enough for a Hazzard man. That was the last straw, and with that Mark got married, quit West Point, and signed up for several tours in Vietnam (as that conflict was raging at the time).

During this tours of duty, Mark put his extensive military skills into play, doing all sorts of tricky missions for the U.S. military. Patrols, seek and destroy missions, and even the occasional stint as a tunnel rat were all a part of Mark's work, and he enjoyed it thoroughly. In fact, his three tours in 'Nam helped to form his vast military theory into impressive practical experience.

Also, Mark assembled a vast array of friends, contacts, and favors to be called in at a future date, as he was about the best there is at what he did, and he often pulled less skilled people's fat out of the proverbial fire. Eventually, though, the war was over, and Mark was shipped home. He couldn't get a job, though, in that nobody would hire vets, so he turned to mercenary work.

At first, Mark simply served as one of many fighting men in a mercenary company, but over time, Mark grew into a leader of such men, and formed his own merc crew. This crew included such rough and tumble fellows as Mal Rossi and Louis 'Treetop' Barrington. This three man crew grew to include lots of other occasional, part-time help, and their reputation grew.

Eventually, however, Mark's marriage went bad, namely because his wife forced him to choose between her and his work, and they eventually got divorced. Her new husband, a slime-ball lawyer named Gordon (last name unrevealed), never got on too well with Mark, always feeling that his wife and step-son liked Hazzard more than they liked him - and, of course, it was true.

As such, Gordon eventually set up Mark to die while on a mission in Iran, hoping he would disappear in that godforsaken desert once and for all. Mark's friends mounted a rescue to save him, and once he got back, Hazzard learned who was behind all of this mess - thanks to some leg-work done by his pal Lincoln Griffin. After dealing with the middle man, one Henri Graymalkin, Mark went after Gordon.

Already wounded from his encounter with Graymalkin, Hazzard was just slow enough that Gordon managed to plug him several times before Mark bore down on him, strangling him with his bare hands. Though he had finally gotten rid of his unknown enemy, the damage was done, and Mark collapsed in a heap of his own blood.

Taken to the hospital immediately, Mark nonetheless was too far gone by the time he'd gotten there, and after a long and arduous operation, Mark was effectively dead, being kept alive only by the hospital's life-saving machinery. Scott, Mark's son, told the doctors to turn the machines off, thinking that Hazzard would want things that way, and as such, the doctors let him die, ending Mark Hazzard's tale.

Extra Goodies:

The Mark Hazzard entry written with Ty R. States!

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