Ripper (Maelstrom)

Ripper is a character in .
==Biography==
===Early history===
Ripper was an average, yet notable enough street enforcer of the Maelstrom gang during the Time of the Red. Working under Quake, Ripper was known for his sadism against their enemies, feared for disemboweling Inquisitors, slicing parts off deadbeats, or dragging traitors behind his van for a "disciplinary" chat. When Maelstrom was in need of an organizer for the scavenging efforts in the Hot Zone, Quake decided to sponsor him, and soon enough Maelstrom leader Warlock chose Ripper to oversee the scavver army.
In his new job, Ripper became the worst nightmare for potential rookies. With a new way to satisfy his cruelty, the Maelstromer herded disposable streetrats to work in radioactive deathtraps, enticing them with the chance to join the gang if they complied with his orders. He liked to call them his "diggers," abusing their well-being with the harshest of treatments. Of a team of twenty diggers, one possibly survived the ordeal to become a newcomer, some either resurfaced on the street or elsewhere, and the vast majority — a number much higher than what Ripper reported to Warlock — simply never came back from the radiated ruins. Even those that made it back brought with them the scars of their exploitive work. These "working conditions" caused Ripper to always be on the lookout for new recruits.
Over the years, Ripper developed pseudo-mystical "tests" for those who survived. These rituals were so intense that some members began to truly believe in them, as if it were some sort of religion. It became notable enough for both Ripper and occasionally Quake to make new recruits participate in them as well. One notorious survivor was Ghoul, whom Ripper put through the worst before admitting him into the gang. For Maelstrom, Ripper brought in money, and Quake liked how the wannabes idolized him. However, there were rumors that Ripper's methods would one day either sink Maelstrom, or he would simply split off to create his own gang, taking his diggers with him and making all the decisions by himself. Unbeknownst to Maelstrom's leadership, Ripper was already diverting the best parts his crew scavenged to Rocklin Augmentics for personal profit.
===2044 - 2045===
After years overseeing the scavenger efforts, Ripper had built his own little army of diggers, which he led with the help of his "guard dog," a heavily chromed, cyberpsychotic Maelstromer known as Skippy. He had become very knowledgeable about the ruined district, including the tunnels below it. Ripper also kept his own headquarters on a ruined old hotel in the Hot Zone.
In January 23 of 2044, a group of squatters living in what was left of the old Brookhaven Co-op apartment building in Little China were being thrashed by Maelstrom to keep working for Ripper in the Hot Zone. Since most were veterans and peripherals, the nearby Forlorn Hope staff and patrons decided to help them, fighting off the Maelstromers long enough for the squatters to leave town with the Jodes. In the process, the Hope's people rescued a streetkid named Valence, taking her in as one of their own. This act of kindness infuriated Ripper, who took it very personally. While in the Totentanz, he occasionally ranted about wanting revenge against the Forlorn Hope.
In 2045, Ripper's vengeance was executed when he forced a group of squatters to carry duffel bags filled with explosives into the sewers below the Forlorn Hope, using a detonation device to cause an explosion and set the building ablaze. Unbeknownst to him, this act was recorded by one of the many hidden cameras David Ling Po, a notorious local criminal lord, had placed all over Little China. Some months after, Ling Po sold this evidence to Harriet Woodward, a close friend of the Hope's owners, who were looking for the culprit. Once they found out, they hired a mercenary crew for 4,000eb each to take Ripper down in the most painful way. For this task, the mercs had the option to either confront the Maelstromer directly, or let his corporate partners end him. If they chose the later, Harriet guided them.
===Busan Back Door (2045)===
Harry told them her plan, create a fake story about a cash of old and valuable tech, then post the need of a salvage crew in the Hot Zone, and lead Ripper towards an off-books Rockling Augmentics facility. To obtain Ripper's contact number, Harriet told them about the Redline, an infamous bar in the Watson Development that the Maelstromer frequented. They had to go there, talk with him, and get his number while impressing Ripper at the same time in order for him to pick up the mercs' call.
Ripper was too cheap to buy a private booth in the lower levels of the Redline, so once at the bar, the mercenaries found him and his cronies cheering from a table on the upper bar area, close enough to the cage below where a fight was taking place and where they could smell the scent of blood. Ripper was surrounded by several hangers-on, who were soaking up his stories about life at the "top of the Maelstrom heap," and unless the conversation was about himself or something that picked his attention, he was not interested. If the mercs were successful, Ripper gave them one of his burner phone numbers before leaving the establishment.
A few days later, the mercs, who had prepared everything for their plan, called Ripper for a meeting where they talked about an invaluable cash of tech located in an underground ruin in the Hot Zone. If they managed to convince him, the Maelstromer and a team of diggers followed the mercenaries through the tunnels underneath Upper Marina, where they would get him lost in order to reach a different location; an underground, off-books Rocklin Augmentics Research Warehouse. Planning on letting Ripper's "corporate friends" end him, the mercs pointed out the wall the diggers needed to excavate through, and ten minutes later they were inside the underground warehouse. While Ripper was distracted ordering his people to take as much tech as they could, Rocklin Augmentics security prepared to assault the warehouse after being warned by a silent alarm. The mercs escaped just in time before the corporates stormed in. Whether Ripper managed to flee as well didn't matter, as he was pursued by either the corporation for his betrayal, or by Maelstrom for leading the corp into their business. Soon after, Ripper was either killed or simply made to "disappear."
If at any point Ripper suspected the mercs were lying to him and they were not able to convince him otherwise, he battled them, either dying in the process, or successfully escaping. If the later, the mercs approached their objective from a different perspective.
===Bullets Are Simpler (2045)===
With the guidance of Valence, a former digger for Ripper working at the Forlorn Hope, the mercenary crew instead decided for a direct assault on Ripper's hideout in the Hot Zone. After equipping themselves for a trip into the radioactive ruins, the mercs met with Valence at a service tunnel entrance in the border between Little China and the Hot Zone in the following day. Once ready, they all began the trek. After hours of walking through a very dangerous landscape, the all reached Ripper's hideout, however, Valence decided to stay back while the rest of the crew advanced, only approaching the area to tell them how to access the ruined structure. The large sign on the side of the building read Ashcroft Hotel, which Valence identified as Ripper's home. To access it, Valance told them about a makeshift walkaway that reached the seventh floor, as all ground accesses were either shut close by twisted, armored shutters, or blocked by rubble. While Valence stayed put, the mercs followed the trail upwards.
After traversing the ruins of the Ashcroft and dealing with Skippy, the crew reached Ripper's private playground where he stashed the most valuable tech, as well as where he did his testing grounds, using people to "test destruction." Due to Ripper's paranoia, he didn't trust anyone to be in the same floor as him, so, other than Skippy who also had a "bed" in Ripper's room, he was completely alone. While investigating the rest of the floor, they soon reached Ripper's bedroom. Of interest, they found his laptop, and if they managed to hack it, they were able to find information on his dealings with Rockling Augmentics, horrific, yet very well-kept notes on his experiments, and even a report about a Nanoswarm Incubator, a unique cyberware that Ripper had installed on himself. Another room held Ripper's depot, holding very valuable tech that he either kept for himself and Maelstrom, or sold to his partners. After finding Ripper's dungeon, where he tortured his victims, the mercs were able to see how much of a monster Ripper really was. In that room they found Lago, Ripper's personal ripperdoc and assistant, with a scarred body and strapped into what looked like a linear frame, with the whole thing on roller wheels. However, he was not able to move by himself. He told the mercs about the horrendous experiments Ripper was doing, and that they had to get him out of there. He preferred to go to prison than stay one more day, that, or a bullet in his brain were his demands. In the neighboring workshop was Dustbunny, Ripper's latest victim. This room also had the screens which showed what the observation cameras recorded. The cage where Dustbunny was held was in one of the room's corners. Next to it was an elevator shaft which apparently went down only three floors, but if looking right at the bottom, the mercs were able to see an uncountable number of corpses in different states of decomposition. No matter what the crew decided, there was enough evidence for both MAX-TAC or Maelstrom to want to stop Ripper and his cyberpsychotic behavior. Either killed by them, or in a fight against the crew, Ripper's days were over.
==Appearance & Personality==
Ripper is described as grimy, shave-headed "little scalawag" and abusive, sadistic boss who likes booze, drugs, violence, and talking about himself or other topics he is interested in. He wears black and red Maelstrom leathers and lots of cybernetic implants. Ripper also rejoices in violence, especially when he is the one causing it. Despite his behavior, he is a cunning individual who has built a small scavenger empire for himself. He avoids bringing his Agent to places where it would be easy to hack. Despite his cleverness, it is relatively easy to distract him, especially if he is obfuscated on something.
What the mercenary crew found at Ashcroft Hotel showed that Ripper was worst than common a cyberpsycho.
==Stats & Equipment==
==Gallery==
Ripper 02 REDTOTRHR.jpg|In |
Upper Marina Sewers REDTOTRHR.jpg|In the Upper Marina sewers
Ripper 01 REDTOTRHR.jpg|At the Ashcroft Hotel
==References==
Category:Cyberpunk RED Characters